Tag: Fantasy books

Categories
General Posts, Non Reviews

All My Series Reads … Why I can’t finish them, and Will I Ever?

A few books in the Malazan Book of the Fallen Series by Steven Erikson
The Malazan Book Series

I wrote a couple of offhanded notes throughout the year lamenting about dropped series. Why can’t I finish what I start? Why is it so hard to finish series when you’re a book blogger? P.S. for my purposes, I’m calling a trilogy a series but really I consider them 4+ books.

I’m going to briefly talk logistics, then share the series I finished in 2022 (yay go me) then … Ack .. you’ll see my abandon or continue list 😅😅😅🤣😭😭😭

Let’s talk about series logistics

My personal preference is to wait until a series is finished before reading it. The reason is that I have trouble remembering books, so if there’s a considerable time frame between publications I will forget what I read. The downside is that committing to a full series read takes a considerable amount of time away from ARCs, buddy reads, book tours, and other things that bloggers (myself included) like to do.

For a slower reader like me, it’s impossible to keep up sometimes.

Another point I made while reading Stephen King’s Gunslinger series, and it applies to the Wheel of Time too, and many other series: the books tend to get longer and longer as they go! It takes forever for me to read a 1000+ page book, like it’s impossible for my reading schedule! If I have deadlines to meet, don’t have time, and can’t find it on audio…that’s the main reason I will drop a series.

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The Reasons I Drop Series

  • Increasing book length vs time available (see above)
  • Availability – Hello @ my local library and Libby app.  Sticking with my prior examples, Gunslinger and WoT: they only have up to book 4 for each one. Audiobooks are extremely cost prohibitive as well
  • Getting Annoyed: this is pretty self explanatory. I didn’t finish The Conqueror Saga because I got annoyed by the second book. At this point I’d have to reread the first two and don’t really want to do that.
  • Forgetting: this feeds into the time thing. I made time last year for a The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne buddy read. I made it through Malice and had already fallen behind, then didn’t have time for book two. Now I’m afraid I’d have to re read to remember all the nuances.
  • Blog content: I mean hello yeah again for bloggers like me who rely on review content and tend to read slower, getting sucked into an 8 or 12+ book series with long books leaves us pretty high and dry for content sometimes 😅

So let’s take a look at all the series I read in full in 2022

Noting that the ones I finish tended to be on audio, or a mix of audio & print 😅 

  1. The Lunar Chronicles (6 books) by Marissa Meyer (loved it) on audio
  2. The Murderbot Diaries (6 books) by Martha Wells – Audio & print mix
  3. The Magicians (trilogy) by Lev Grossman – audio
  4. The Dreadbound Ode (trilogy) by Jordan Loyal Short – actually read these, and loved them
  5. The Harbinger Series (5 Books) by Jeff Wheeler – mix of audio & print

I’m actually really happy with this. There are also the series that had their final books published in 2022, which I finished:

  1.  The Song of Kamaria (trilogy) by T.A Bruno
  2.  The Guardian League (4 books) by Stephen Morris
  3. The Draco Sang Trilogy by Mary Beesley

(These actually all released within days of each other and having so many powerful endings at month gave me the biggest book hangover EVER)

Hardcover Copies of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

Lastly- let’s see the series I STARTED in 2022 and if the goal is to continue or not

  1. The First Law (trilogy +)  by Joe Abercrombie: continue. For sure. Just ran out of time at the end of the year.
  2. The Wheel of Time (14 books) by Robert Jordan: Abandon. I DNF’d The Shadow Rising (book 5) and don’t plan to continue
  3. Arc of a Scythe (trilogy) by Neal Shusterman: I read Scythe & Thunderhead. MAYBE will read the end
  4. The K Team, and Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt: I read the first two books in each series and will continue if I see them somewhere.
  5. Malazan by Steven Erikson (how many books? 31 according to GoodReads?) I read the first two and do plan to continue while I still remember them
  6. The Fionavar Tapestry (trilogy) by Guy Gavriel Kay – Abandon.  Just, abandon.
  7. Skullduggery Pleasant (15 books) by Derek Landy – Abandoned after four books, especially knowing the content of the “rebooted” series
  8.  Frontlines by Marko Kloos (8 books) – I read the first four this year and will continue when I have time
  9. Song of Echoes by R.E. Palmer – I believe he is planning four books, and I’m reading as they come out so yes I’ll read #3 if it releases in 2023!
  10. Blacktongue by Christopher Buehlman – yes I’m ready for whenever the next one comes, not sure how many he is planning
  11. The Founders (Trilogy) by Robert Jackson Bennett – I … Omg this list is ridiculous. Yes Shorefall and Locklands are on my 2023 reading list 😅
  12. Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar: not sure how many he is planning, I read #1 and yes, Conqueror’s Blood (#2) is on my TBR
  13. Mara of the League (4 books) by Thomas Kane – Abandoned after book 2.
  14. The Dark Tower by Stephen King (8 books) – continue when I have time to read them in print 😅
  15. Hybrid Helix (Trilogy) by JCM Berne – read #1, will definitely continue!
  16. (Green Rider ((9 books?)) I don’t expect #9 until at least 2025 but #8 came out this year, and I’m counting it as an ongoing series)
Books in the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain
Green Rider series by Kristen Britain

There you have it! This list may not be complete but I did the best I could looking at my GoodReads completed books. My main goal for 2023 is to clean up these series so I can start new ones without feeling guilty!

Hint: I’d really like to do a cover to cover Warcraft read-through …. Finish Malazan … Get into John Gwynne … Read the Prey books like I meant to in 2020… Ugh 😅

What thoughts do you have on series after reading this? Do you abandon them too? What series do you want to read or continue in 2023?

Categories
General Posts, Non Reviews

Indie Bookstore Day 2022 – Book Haul & Random Notes

April 30th was Independent Bookstore day!  I was really happy to see the other Rochester Bookstagrammers and book lovers out in force.   I actually only went to two stores and one market because holy cow, BOOKS ARE GETTING EXPENSIVE!! 

As a note, there are probably… I’m going to guess at least 10 indie bookstores in the greater Rochester area – some had cupcakes, games, totes etc, I went to my local and also favorite one to support!

So – let’s talk about my Indie Bookstore Day haul!

The closest indie bookstore to me is Liftbridge Books, and I love them dearly as people and it’s an amazing Brockport staple. They have new books and a huge used section too.  That said – their used books are expensive ,and a lot more than I would normally pay for used books, so I shopped sparingly

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I could absolutely not resist the bookmark.  One of my best tips for affordable books is to buy used if you can find good deals.  Liftbridge was also nice enough to order the regular bookstagrammer crew tshirts!

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My favorite indie bookstore, Bookends, is a long ish drive away but he has great prices and may be closing this year 😭. Down in Henrietta, he was offering buy-2-get-1 and he is normally willing to deal as well so I just had to drive down.

My favorite part of the day was sitting on the floor chatting with this random lady. I had surrounded myself with a spread out pile of gorgeous Darrell K. Sweet designs and was admiring them, I just want to amass a collection of his hardcovers honestly 😂 then we started talking about fantasy and that was that lol.

(Fun fact – I actually first saw Sweet’s artwork at a frontier museum and was shocked when I learned that he also did fantasy images)!

Here is my Bookends haul – I completed my WoT collection, most in hardcover now!

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Those are both 1/1 hardcovers not like they’re hugely collectable but it was a cool note.

Also found a copy of The Summer Tree, which is convenient because I needed it for the Wyrd & Wonder readalong!

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Then I found not one, but two signed L.E Modesitt books plus one other I didn’t have😭

Like I said, omg just give me all the covers designed by Sweet.  I’m going to try to flesh out my Saga of Recluce collection apparently too

Last but certainly not least, there is a bookish candlemaker in Buffalo that was in town for an artisan market, and it was super nice to meet her finally after a year or two of bookstagram banter!

I finally own a skull candle lol! Definitely check out The Smell of Fear on Instagram or etsy for bookish candles.  Apparently you can click on the thumbnails to enlarge, and now I know!

Long story short – it was a fun day. I am happy to see so many readers in the Roc community.  It was good to run into some other Bookstagrammers. If anyone wants a list of all of our local bookstores, I do have that available! I wish I had time and money to see more!

(P.S. I have been planning a post on obtaining affordable books, I’m just not there yet)

Do you have any favorite indie bookstores?

Categories
Fantasy

Song of Echoes (book review) by R.E. Palmer

I am reading a ton of self published fantasy this fall, thanks to some amazing indie authors that have reached out about their books. One such author was R.E. Palmer!

Song of Echoes reads like a classic fantasy. I’ve been in a huge slump recently toward all the character driven drivel and romance in new fantasy books. This book presented it’s world and told a story, one with inherent magic and two very different character points of view that don’t interact. It’s kind of what I love about self published work

Overall it was not perfect, but interesting and refreshing

Bookish Quick Facts:

  • Title: Song of Echoes
  • Series: Song of Echoes, #1
  • Author: R.E. Palmer
  • Publisher & Release: FrontRunner Publications, 07/05/21
  • Length: 434 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 for classic, adult fantasy fans

Here is the synopsis from GoodReads:

‘All that has gone before is woven into the Song; joy, sorrow; kind acts and cruel acts; creation and destruction. Past, present, and what has yet to come, make themselves known — if you know how to listen.’

For three hundred years, the people of the Five Realms have lived in relative peace, protected by their great leader, the Archon. Yet, far to the north, in the frozen lands beyond the Draegalen Trench, the Ruuk stir, driven by a rising evil, long believed banished from the world. But rumors questioning the Archon’s ability to defend the realms once more, persist.

Elodi, the Lady Harlyn, uneasy in her new role following the death of her father, and Toryn, a farmworker and outsider in his village, must discover a way to fight an enemy that all but defeated their ancestors.

The story starts with a legend, and then throws a lot of places and names and lore at the reader.  It didn’t take long to figure out what areas were important to remember though, and once the story got started with Toryn and Elodi it was hard to put down.  Who would know that maybe those old legends are true?

The world has inherent magic, but it isn’t really elaborated on or discussed at all until towards the end.  There is also workable magic, presented as a handful of feared sorcerers with inherent abilities.  The source is hinted at but will be further explored in later books.

The world seems like a geographically diverse continent, with forests and mountains and everything in between.  I did like how the setting of each area shaped the characters and their personalities, as they should. 

Elodi is the newish leader of her realm, gathered at the Archon’s keep with the other Lords to inspect the realms defenses.  Toryn is a farmer, dying to see beyond the gates of his home region but unable to due to restrictions placed by the Archon on travel.

As we learn more about the politics, dangers, and impending war of the realm, everything starts to make sense and fall into place.  There are multiple dangers to each border but the Archon is obsessed with only one enemy, totally ready to leave the rest of the realm to fend for itself on extremely limited men and resources.

I really ended up liking Elodi, she was brave as hell at the end and a credit to her title, leading her knights.  Toryn had less of an impressive story arc but set himself up to be a bigger player in the next book.  I actually liked that the storylines didn’t intersect, it’s a nice change from every author just shoving romance down my throat for the sake of it.

There are a lot of really good side characters too and Palmer doesn’t hold back from inserting some tragedy into the pages. There are some tough siege and battle scenes.

I think the physical descriptions and setting were my favorite aspect.  The mountains and bridges form some amazing natural defenses, and everything sounds so majestic.  Without being repetitive, Palmer brings each area and vista to life.

Theme wise … Honor, veteran pride, loyalty, found family, and the value in stories, are some of my favorites.

I think the down side was that the book got off to a slow start.  It does take a bit to figure out who is who, who is important, and what regions we need to remember, but I think it’s worth it.  I would have liked more from the inherent magic.  I will definitely be keeping an eye out for book 2!

Shout out to the cover artist as well –  Kentaro Kanamoto does some amazing fantasy artwork! http://www.kentarokanamoto.com/

Find the book online!

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58145883-song-of-echoes

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095XQ9VQ
Website: www.frontrunnerbooks.com

 

Categories
Fantasy

Eulogy for the Dawn (Book Blitz & Giveaway) by Jeramy Goble!

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Hi everyone! Today I’m jumping into the Storytellers On Tour Book Blitz to show some love to Eulogy for the Dawn!

Come see the Tour Link!

Bookish Quick Facts:

  • Title: Eulogy for the Dawn
  • Series: Wrathlore, #1
  • Author: Jeramy Goble
  • Publisher & Release: Self, 04/29/21
  • Length: 400 pages

Here is the Book Blurb:

Domaren constructs peace using his tools of war. He is a silencer of rebellions and a butcher of tyrants. To some, he is a champion defender. To others, he is a merciless eradicator. Together with his fellow Godknights, Domaren wields might and magic to carry out the will of the creators.

But the creators have suddenly gone silent.

As the last living Godknight present during the ancient rebellion known as Wrathlore, Domaren must rise above suspicions of deceit, faltering powers, and a world erupting in chaos if he hopes to learn the fate of the missing creators.

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I honestly have only read the prologue but Goble’s writing drew me right in. Gods of various races? Dragon knights? Named swords? I’m planning on reading it when I can!

There is a giveaway too, you have until 09/06/21 to enter!!

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Click here to enter!!

Meet the Author:

Jeramy Goble is an epic fantasy and science-fiction author, originally from Morganton, North Carolina. While traveling with his sister, mother, and military father, Jeramy accumulated passions for the wonders of world faiths, and the excitement of science and technology. In addition to being an author, Jeramy is an IT professional, composer and avid gamer. After studying music, Jeramy received his bachelor’s degree in 2004. He and his wife, Julia, were married in 2010.

Author links:


Website: https://www.jeramygoble.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeramygoble
Instagram: http://instagram.com/jeramygoblebooks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeramyGoble/

Bookish Links:

Amazon: http://geni.us/wrathlore1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43261792-eulogy-for-the-dawn

Categories
Dystopian Fantasy

Flame Riders (ARC Review) by Sean Grigsby

Thank you so much to Angry Robot for the early digital copy of Flame Riders by Sean Grigsby! This is a fast paced military fantasy, that is book 3 in a series but can be read as a standalone.  All opinions are my own!

Bookish Quick Facts:

  • Title: Flame Riders
  • Series: Smoke Eaters, #3 
  • Author: Sean Grigsby
  • Publisher & Release: Angry Robot, 06/22/21
  • Length: 320 pgs
  • Rate & Recommend: 🌟🌟🌟 for fans of military fantasy and action stories

Here is the synopsis from GoodReads:

The third and final instalment in Sean’s rip-roaring ‘firefighters meet dragons’ fantasy series

In the final instalment of the Smoke Eaters series, the New United States Army has taken over and America has devolved into a full-on dragon apocalypse. Smoke eaters are banned and have gone into hiding to avoid being held prisoner by the soldiers.

Guiellermo Contreras is a private in the NUSA, and when he’s accused of potentially being a smoke eater upon pain of death, he escapes and sets out to find the heroes who disappeared years before. But what he discovers is that the NUSA has been working on something unthinkable, and it’s going to take more than a few smoke eaters to stop them.

First off I just want to say that I may increase my initial rating once I’ve read the first two books!

Additionally the cover art is absolutely stunning for all three books.

This is a fast paced novel that occurs after some kind of apocalypse brought on by dragons, and apparently a Phoenix had something to do with it as well.

There is a ton of action and many fun fighting scenes where sci-fi and fantasy cross paths for hi tech battles of smoke eaters vs dragons.  I would have liked more info on the experiments being done and technology used by the two forces.

I liked the team of characters and banter quite a bit. Brannigan and Happy were my two favorites, although I couldn’t really get behind Guillermo (the main character). He had a good start and end but lost me in the middle after he kept freezing up and putting his teammates in danger. Brannigan was absolutely hilarious and I kind of definitely want to go back and read his book.

One thing that Grigsby did well was create a lingo and sense of team for the smoke eaters, using terms like “scaly” to refer to a dragon and there is a definite sense of cohesion within the crew.

There was some pretty coarse language as well but not too much more than I’d expect in a military based book.

My main thing was that while the book definitely could work as a standalone, there is no background to know why there are dragons everywhere, how they got there, or who the heck all the returning characters are.  I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a hi tech fantastical military adventure, but would probably recommend reading the trilogy to meet the full cast of  heroes first.

Thank you again to Angry Robot for the early read!!

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

ARC Review: House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess

Wow, thank you so much to Random House  for the free advanced copy of House of Dragons in exchange for an honest review! This book was published in 2020 so it’s out there for anyone interested! I see the sequel is coming soon so maybe they still had a few arcs lying around to send out, but I’m happy to help generate buzz!

Quick Facts:

  • Title: House of Dragons
  • Series: House of Dragons, #1
  • Author: Jessica Cluess
  • Publisher & Release: Random House Books for Young Readers, May 2020
  • Length: 438 pg (arc was longer, not sure where the changes occurred)
  • Rate & Recommend: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 yes for all YA, fantasy fans

Here is the synopsis from Amazon:

Five royal houses will hear the call to compete in the Trial for the dragon throne. A liar, a soldier, a servant, a thief, and a murderer will answer it. Who will win? Three Dark Crowns meets The Breakfast Club with DRAGONS.

When the Emperor dies, the five royal houses of Etrusia attend the Call, where one of their own will be selected to compete for the throne. It is always the oldest child, the one who has been preparing for years to compete in the Trial. But this year is different. This year these five outcasts will answer the call…

THE LIAR: Emilia must hide her dark magic or be put to death.

THE SOLDIER: Lucian is a warrior who has sworn to never lift a sword again.

THE SERVANT: Vespir is a dragon trainer whose skills alone will keep her in the game.

THE THIEF: Ajax knows that nothing is free–he must take what he wants.

THE MURDERER: Hyperia was born to rule and will stop at nothing to take her throne.

I finally found something to fill that Green Rider sized hole in my heart. This book is everything I wanted Crown of Feathers to be, except those books were terrible. Sentient dragon mounts!!

Lets start with…

The Characters: I was in love from the start with these characters. I thought it would be hard to keep track of five different points of view, but each competitor has such an extremely distinct voice and personality that it was quite easy.

From murderous, bloody Hyperia to dorky Ajax, smart and bookish but also incidentally deadly Emilia, conflicted Lucian, and brave Vespir, I just can’t get over what a random but amazing group they made.  They each excelled in certain challenges and it was interesting to watch them form tentative alliances, or not.  I felt like this was a pretty legit feeling group of teens put together.

Dragons are a huge part of the empire as well and each mount is a character in itself.  One of my favorite fantasy themes is sentient, bound mounts! The dragons are like big dogs and so friendly and funny, but also cunning when they need to be, and they hold some of the coolest moments of the book.

Imagery, setting, world building: Ever wonder what a huge golden hydra looks like, flying with the sun rising behind it and fire rumbling in it’s gullet? Let Cluess show you!  She has a knack for vivid imagery, including sights, smells, noise even.

There was a LOT of world building to cover but Cluess gives us what we need.  The reader learns why the Emperor Trial exists, the reason for it’s structure, the main characteristics of each kingdom, politics and the main alliances, and where the Priests and magic orders fit in.  The magic itself had a great backstory too, but in current practice it came out under developed.

Besides vivid images and background, we see architecture, food, a few little tribal customs and lore, history and more, enough to give the world those little personal touches that shows me the author cares.

The Plot/Story: The selection of the competitors seemed like a huge fluke, or was it? I liked the plot from the get-go, watching each character be summoned and then the book just never slowed down.  I liked the Trials too, each test had thoughtful elements and catered to the strength of one competitor or another. Each was interesting and showcased the various strengths and weaknesses of the individuals.  The characters weren’t perfect either, I loved seeing the flaws and cracks come out.

The story had a subplot of betrayal and scheming which is always a bonus.  I would love to share some quotes from the characters and images but I have no idea what made it into the final copy.

My literal only qualm:  Some of the language – mostly spoken by Ajax – brought in modern slang and expressions with threw off immersion, but only slightly. Not enough to dock a star because it was funny and made Ajax relatable where he wouldn’t be otherwise.  Speaking of Ajax, I liked that the book nodded to boy problems (sticky balls anyone?) too, to give the guys something to read.  I love when I can recommend YA books to everyone!

Gosh what a fast paced and great story though, plenty of scheming, brutality, friendships, laughs, and stabbings to keep me rapt for the entire 500+ pages.

That cover too, omg that cover.

Absolutely can NOT wait for the sequel, I requested it and have my fingers crossed!