The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (The Blood of Eden, Book 1)
A compelling read, given Julie Kagawa’s brilliant writing and ability to create characters we can sympathise with, but it offers nothing new in terms of the vampire mythos.
Oh how I wanted so badly to LOVE this book! It had all the ingredients of a five-star read—most especially in today’s young adult (YA) market. Post-apocalyptic? Check. Vampires? Check. Did I hear you say, What about zombies? Check that, too (though they’re not named thus in the book, they are pretty much the mindless, walking dead with a one-track mind: to eat you).
Throw in a feisty katana-wielding female lead and a love interest worthy of being swooned at and it should have been a straightforward A+. Ach, but it pains me to admit that it falls short of being mind blowing.
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The Lone Warrior by Denise Rossetti (Four-sided Pentacle, Book 3)
Despite some poignant moments, too many inconsistent elements may prevent you from fully enjoying the story. Best enjoyed as part of the series in which it belongs.
This review is part of the AWW2012 Reading and Reviewing Challenge. Click here for a list of books I’ve read so far.
When Denise Rossetti this year’s Australian Romance Readers Award for The Lone Warrior for Favourite Erotic Romance, I knew I had to read this book. I’m not sure who categorised this book for the awards, but it’s more fantasy romance than erotic, and the publisher label at the back of the book says ‘paranormal romance’.
When Mehcredi’s attempt to do the Necromancer’s bidding goes awry, she’s bound to the service of earth shaman Walker. Abandoned as a child, Mehcredi doesn’t know how to be with people, and effectively being trapped into dealing with a bunch of strangers brings old insecurities to the surface.
Mehcredi gradually finds some peace within Walker’s circle of friends, and some measure of self-confidence. When Walker frees her from her bond so he can pursue his quest to avenge his slain kin—he’s the only one left after they were wiped out by demons—Mehcredi insists on coming along, disguised as Walker’s apprentice.
The beginning of this story had me hooked. Until Mehcredi and Walker set off on their journey, I was invested in her story—of her awful childhood and how she makes new friends, gains self-esteem and, at times, loses progress. I was particularly moved by her description of masturbating, as a child, in a closet:
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Children of Scarabaeus (Scarabaeus, Book 2)
Not quite as compelling as the first book and the romance is underdeveloped, but still a satisfying conclusion to the Scarabaeus duology.
When Edie is recaptured by the Crib, she discovers they’ve been grooming four Talasi children to become cyphertecks for her former mentor’s pet project, Project Ardra. Edie is torn between her freedom, her obligation to free Finn, her desire to save the children, and as she learns the motives behind Project Ardra, to find a way of preventing colonised planets turning into uninhabitable mush.
This book is a continuation of the events in Song of Scarabaeus, and it’s best to read the books in order. Unlike its predecessor, Children of Scarabaeus relies on a series of smaller arcs and plots to keep the momentum going. The pacing isn’t as strong, nor are the conflicts as compelling. There are a lot of antagonists, and they’re not all well developed enough to be interesting.
There’s a bit of deus ex machina in the resolution, which is disappointing given that, for the most part, it wasn’t easy to predict how the story would go. The world building in this book also becomes mired in twists and complications.
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Song of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy (Scarabaeus, Book 1)
A page turner for science fiction readers who like a bit of romance, not the other way around.
Edie is desperate to escape her life of service to the Crib empire, so when she’s kidnapped by mercenaries and forced to cooperate with their plans, she’s worried but not exactly anxious to get back to the Crib.
But when she’s leashed to Finn, an ex-slave who turns out to belong to a group of highly trained fighters, she’s given no choice. If she ventures too far—for example, in an attempt to escape her new masters—Finn dies. If Edie refuses to help the mercenaries, they’ll both be killed.
Edie is a cypherteck, and her job for the Crib was to help seed newly discovered planets in order to make them viable for human occupation. After the planet is occupied, the Crib charge its inhabitants to keep the seeds viable. The mercenaries want her to extract keystones from existing planet seeds, which are then sold to Fringe planets so they can be free of the Crib’s control.
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Heart Search by Robin D. Owens (Celta's HeartMates, Book 10)
A good addition to the series for Celta fans who are curious to see how characters have evolved and want to catch up on previous characters’ lives.
I first read Robin D. Owens’ HeartMate earlier in the year. Within the next month I managed to collect every single book in the Celta series by visiting random bookshops in the Philippines and through some creative used book buying via @GirrlitsBooks. Needless to say, I love everything about this series—even the apostrophes.
Laev T’Hawthorn was stupid a few books ago and, as a twenty-year old, married the wrong girl, thinking she was his HeartMate. She fucked him over, to put it in simple terms, and later died when a devastating illness swept the land. Laev, now head of his family after the death of his grandfather, has since discovered that she stole family heirlooms and sold them. He is determined to get them back, and in doing so right some of the wrongs he felt he has brought upon his family by choosing the wrong woman.
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Storm's Heart by Thea Harrison (Elder Races, Book 2)
My new auto-buy author. Even if the hero had turned out to be a wimpy web-footed shapeshifter from outer space whose non-human form was even weirder looking I’d probably still buy it.
Tricks, former head of PR for Culebre Enterprises, has come out of hiding after the death of the Dark Fae King to reveal herself as the heiress to the throne. Not surprisingly, people are trying to kill her. Enter Tiago Black Eagle, wyr sentinel sent by Dragos, her ex-boss who gave her refuge (see previous book), to make sure she’s okay and find out who tried to kill her. They haven’t had much interaction until now, but they make up for lost time pretty quickly. Can Tricks and Tiago find out who’s trying to kill her before she ends up dead, and still have time for some nookie?
I think I’ve written a similar summary before. Hell, I think I might have done it for Dragon Bound, the first book of this series. But hey, why ruin something that works?
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The Girl In The Steel Corset by Kady Cross (The Steampunk Chronicles, Book 1)
Delivers a good mystery at the expense of world building and character development.
This book has everything going for it. Look at that gorgeous cover. Check out the gushing reviews online. It’s teen steampunk—two of the subgenres du jour in popular fiction. I squealed in delight when the folks at Mills and Boon were kind enough to send me a review copy.
In hindsight, I should’ve known better than to raise my expectations to a level that few books could possibly attain. The Girl In The Steel Corset might have worked for me ten years ago, but now I’m just left wanting more.
Sixteen-year old Finley Jane knows something lurks inside her—something strong and dark and unpredictable. She tries to hide it, but she can’t always control it. After Finley escapes an assault, she’s taken in by Griffin and his friends. She doesn’t want to cause them any trouble…and yet they, too, seem to have their secrets. And their abilities.
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Wandergurl’s recommended reads from 2010 and a self-imposed challenge to conquer her TBR pile.
Book picks for 2010
The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne
Effectively the prequel to The Spymaster’s Lady, this equally wonderfully written novel is about ‘Maggie and Doyle’. Marguerite de Fleurignac, a French noblewoman, encounters William Doyle in her burnt out chateau. They both pretend to be people they are not, as she is trying to desperately smuggle out people during the revolution and he is an English spy looking for her father. The romance is lush and lovely, the spy plot moves around nicely, and I was kept captivated. Highly recommended.
Feet of the Chameleon by Ian Hawkey
This is a largely anecdotal history of modern African football and how it has shaped various countries’ political histories. I read this book during the football (soccer) world cup while in Africa so it was especially poignant. It explained a lot of things that were interesting to me, and would be interesting for anyone with an interest in Africa, its people and its history.
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HeartMate by Robin D. Owens (Celta's HeartMates, Book 1)
A well crafted book that will appeal to fans of Jayne Castle’s series. Just ignore the attack of the apostrophes.
Rand T’Ash is a member of one of the Great Families on the planet of Celta, colonised by the people of Earth many years ago during a search to find a suitable location to develop their psychic gifts. Formerly a street rat he is now a respected nobleman with a talent for shaping stones. He has crafted a necklace as a HeartGift, as is customary in their culture, for his HeartMate, the woman who is destined to be his. Danith Mallow walks into his shop one day and is drawn to the necklace, but after some alpha grunt-type discussion and a bit of chaos caused by other customers, she leaves, and T’Ash has to find her and somehow convince her that they are destined to be together. Thus the story and the apostrophes begin.
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In keeping with Halloween, this month’s Mixed Bag is a mix of (mostly) otherworldly books by (mostly) Australian authors.
Fallen by Lauren Kate (Fallen #1)
Fallen by Lauren Kate (Fallen, Book 1)
When Luce starts senior year (year 12 for us) at a boarding school for troubled teens, she discovers that her classmates aren’t, well, normal, and that the reason the school hottie is avoiding her at all costs has something to do with her destiny—until for some reason her destiny doesn’t happen on schedule.
I might have enjoyed this story more if I hadn’t already read the many—oh, so many—teen urban fantasy books with similar characters and conflicts. The brooding, I’m-no-good-for-you-so-I’ll-turn-down-your-advances-by-being-rude-and-offensive hero just doesn’t work for me anymore. At least, not unless the heroine calls him out on it—and Luce doesn’t do it enough. It got interesting towards the end, but the main characters didn’t have enough shades of grey for me.
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