Jemis Greenwing returned to Ragnor Bella from university in disgrace and has to adapt to reduced circumstances and former high society acquaintances avoiding him. It‘s an engaging story but I‘m reading it on my Kindle and finding the smaller page size distracting.
This story takes place after the Fall but (4.5 chapters in) I‘m still frustrated in trying to discover the fall of *what*?
The beginning and ending. I like the last lines. I don‘t think it‘s spoilery but I‘ll hide it, just in case.
E-book ISBN: 9780062275141
So glad there‘s a map at the beginning. She must be a fan of the Belgariad - place names include Torak and Kel 😊
Agatha and Sophie have solved the School Master‘s riddle - so now they should be able to go home. But I‘m only halfway through the book.
It got off to a slow start initially but picked up. It‘s not obvious where it‘s going yet, which is good. There were some odd vocabulary choices which didn‘t make sense to me.
ebook ISBN 9781741769562
Where Sabriel came from Ancelstierre to the Old Kingdom and travelled all over on her adventure, so far Lirael has only been in the Clayr's Glacier. Mind you, she's only 14.and I'm only up to part 2, ch 14.
I notice that in Sabriel, we never learned the (old) Abhorsen's real name, nor Touchstone's.
audiobook ISBN 9780593742013
Wyatt broke Sam's heart 12 years ago since when she hasn't seen him but this summer she takes her fiancé to her family's beach house - and Wyatt is there too.
Ch 24; still haven't got to the reason for their break-up. Looks suspiciously like Sam's family is throwing them together in spite of the fact that she & Jack are looking for a wedding venue.
Told from 1st person POV. Aurora has a memory from someone else‘s pov of when she was captured as a toddler. 1/3 of the way in. Starts off well but now is losing its polish; things are left unexplained, it‘s started jumping between events leaving gaps and the tone is a bit young.
In 2119 she lives in a domed institute where they train to be Young Enforcers of sunset curfew in the city of Vencen. Magic is abhored & has been stamped out
Ramesh Ryan is a high-flying Sydney detective until he loses a sure-fire front page news case against a drug king-pin and is asked to move to the Central Coast town of Barton for his health. Coincidentally a drug shipment is mishandled and bodies start turning up in droves just after Ryan arrives. Plus there's a 15 year old mystery tangled in. (set in 2021, published 2024)
so-soER from LT. Picked it because I have family in Oz and for the lead character‘s name, detective Ramesh Ryan. About 1/6 in. Decent writing, could use some editing (eg reverie not revelry, letter 4, blood wrenching cry) and polish - and fewer random exclamation marks! POV is 3rd person but can suddenly switch between people which disrupts the narrative flow.
Back in the publishing world but a different company. Clementine has inherited her aunt's NYC flat - which can send you 7 years to the past. There are LOTS of references to 'Dead Romantics', Poston's previous book (including Benji himself)
Just starting (1/10th in). All the names are confusing at the beginning especially when they're given their proper name the 1st time we see them but a nickname (without explanation) at their 2nd mention. Plus, a lot of names are similar: Ma/ Max, Nika/Zika all on the same crew but not related. Though Nika has an adopted sister with a completely different name.
OMG the tension! I know from experience that Duncan can kill off his Blades and now they‘re going into a parallel Russia where a despot Czar rules and his son, who‘s even worse, is just waiting to take over. The Czarina and her sister, betrothed to the King of Chivial, live on a knife‘s edge
Florence (the ghostwriter) and Ben (the ghost) see Ann Nichols's books in the bookshop of Florence's hometown.
ISBN 9780008566579
A book about a ghost-writer - who also sees ghosts. 2 chapters in, getting lots of other book titles and authors. 📕 📙
So many puns in this one.
And so many mentions of golden retrievers. I think I like this one ...
ETA: heaven's sakes, the town mayor is a retriever. I *love* this one.
#DogsOfLitsy
And above all don‘t impersonate the client. Please. It never goes down well.‘
‘That‘s an awful lot of don‘ts, Lucy,‘ Lockwood said.
‘Too right it is.‘
‘You know I‘ve got an excellent ear for accents. I copy people without thinking.‘
‘Fine, copy them quietly after the event. Not loudly, not in front of them, and particularly not when they‘re a six-foot-six Irish dockworker with a speech impediment, and we‘re a good half-mile from the public road.‘
ISBN 978-1-448-12178-6
Set in London, presumably contemporary since they have Velcro. Not sure why she ‘fixed‘ tea though.
On ch 2. They are ghost hunters since only children can sense paranormal phenomena properly and on a case in a haunted house
Kerith has many humanoid and non-humanoid race living uneasily together including the Vaelinar from another world. There are politics and war brewing. Against this epic fantasy is interwoven the everyday life of the Farbranch family which gives it structure. Nicely done 👍🏼
The timeline is a bit confusing; years/ decades can pass between chapters, maybe because some of the characters are long lived Vaelinars (elves). I‘m ~ 1/4 way through and following a few characters. I‘m not sure yet how they relate to each other, though they do interact unawares.
There are many different races/ species on this planet (Kerith) who live uneasily together.
I do like the warmth of the Farbranch family, who are Dwellers (dwarves).
I love the chapter heading illustration; it evokes that summer adventure‘ vibe.
I do like Tavin‘s irrepressible, flippant humour. He knows how to break the tension; they‘re running for their lives with Queen R and the equivalent of the KKK after them and they‘ve just realised everything is even worse than they thought.
(Fie has had to make up Crow alibis for them and give them fake names; Mongrel & Pissabed.)
Listening to the 4th Wing audiobook. Bit confused as to when the narrator says 'rider' or 'writer' (Violet has trained all her life to be a scribe but her mum decrees she will be a dragonrider). Also never sure when characters are speaking/ protagonist is thinking
Seems weird when dragon riders are desperately needed to defend the borders that the training is so dangerous that cadets die/ are allowed to kill each other.
Hmm. Well, if it's an ancient Chinese proverb, maybe there's something in it?
Appropriately, it starts at Chinese New Year, which happens to be coming up in a couple of weeks.
Just starting. Love the description of the garden. And house.
Just finished listening to 'Quiche of Death' full cast audio (including brass band sound effects). Love hearing Penelope Keith's voice. Though I enjoyed watching Ashley Jensen in the TV adaptation, those 'To the Manor Born' tones are great to hear and suit the character well. 😃
On to 'Vicious Vet'!
Subtitled ‘A summer tale of 4 sisters, 2 rabbits and a very interesting boy‘. The motherless Penderwick girls (aged 4, 10, 11 & 12) + dad and their dog, Hound, are on their summer holidays in a rented cottage in Massachusetts attached to a mansion and, of course, have adventures. Same vibes as the books I grew up with - though they were set in early C20th UK. This was written in 2005.
Halfway through. Lots of fun.
It‘s been over a decade since I read this and I wanted to get back to the series so I‘m re-reading. But it‘s been even longer since I re-read the 1st 2 books so I‘m a little lost at the beginning (why Karigan is sad and angry for example). I‘m sure it‘ll come back to me as I go along.
Told in the first person, collection of short series about Mia (who has hitherto unknown metallurgical pows) who lives, with her dad, next door to the unfairly attractive necromancer Leander Fabian. A light and fun fantasy romance. Obviously a collection rather than a novel even though the chapters follow a timeline because information is reintroduced at the beginning f chapters.
I like Smith‘s Sartorias-deles series and was recommended this series. I recently read ‘Prisoner of Zenda‘ 💔and I really enjoyed Smith‘s ‘Crown & Court‘. I‘m I the mood for a fantasy with a (clean) romance so this is my first pick for the year. Nearly halfway through and enjoying it.
Kim is in Europe trying to solve the family mystery of where her mum and gran came from. She‘s mistaken for missing royalty and finds answers - and more questions
I'm enjoying Polgara's story. Somehow, though they're (the Eddings) rehashing the events for the third time, they've managed to keep a fresh perspective. I did, in the early chapters, get a bit fed-up with the 'twin-speak' between Beldaran and her though, conversely, Beltira and Belkira are now quite loquacious. I still find the Poledra angle a bit puzzling; I think they sort of resurrected her in hindsight at the end of the Mallorean.
Legend says the Shepherd King tricked the Spirit of the Woods to give him magic, with which he created 12 types of Providence cards. In revenge the Spirit surrounded the country of Blunder with mist. Children caught in the mist run the risk of infection which gives them magic; they're rounded up by Destriers & Physicians. 11 years ago Elspeth, eldest child of the Destriers' Captain was infected and survived - but only her family know her secret.
pickSuffers from an abundance of superfluous adjectives (and then, from chapter 4, unnecessary parentheses) but still entertaining.
Each chapter is prefaced by a ‘quote‘ from a history book or guide from that world which may be from more modern times (mention of tarred roads, motor cars and petrol sheds); maybe this is meant to indicate its set in the distant past but instead feels awkward.
Still reading
I received this via LT Early Reviewers and am just starting this novella. Reminiscent of 'Steerswoman'.
Rhia is a courier. She's sent to a small town where there's a drought, a missing girl and a greyhowler - which supposedly hunts liars. The elements resolve into a mystery which she has to unravel.
I enjoyed this novella - though I did find that the occasional profanity and colloquialisms threw me out of the story and its world.
Another re-telling of 'The Goose Girl'. I tend not to pick up re-tellings but I was hit by a BB for this. Oddly, I was expecting an Eastern slant, given the author's name, but it's not there. The writing is decent but, so far, the plot meanders and I don't fully get the protagonist. She actually prefers her substituted life. At the moment, 3.5 stars but I'm still reading.
Laney's cooking isn't the best - though she kindly offers to swap recipes.
So the hero is an older female orc warrior, retiring. Take every trope and turn it on its head. 🙃
Your family always knows the true you
The connection between the Rassendylls and the Elphbergs
This may be spoilery but I'm trying to work out the characters here. Legendborn have a secret society which fights demons (Shadowborn); they are descended from the Round Table. Onceborn are humans.
There are 13 Lines descended from knights and they can take Onceborn Pages and Squires who become part of the society. There are also Vassal families who don't get involved in the fighting but are pledged in service to one of the Lines.
More-ish; enjoying this. I'm not keen on the instances of intolerance Deonn creates for 16 yo black-American Bree (starting at Early College, Uni of North Carolina), though I understand why the author put it in (I feel it detracts from the story). It's not contributing to the story (yet)*
Bree saw something supernatural and has now stumbled on the secret society called the Order of the Round Table which we are now (ch 9) discovering more about
There is some humour along the way in this story
Not the most romantic proposition, I'm thinking.
Oops!
How not to capture a city.
First Beings, the Destroyer of Worlds and the creation of the First Mortal.
I like the way she interweaves the myths and legends of her world with the story.
Metal is inimical to First Beings, immortal creatures of magic.
The legend of how the Sand Sea was formed. Later, as they're walking through the desert, a whole shipwreck is revealed by the shifting sands.
pickAmani is desperate to leave the desert town of Dustwalk before she's forced to become one of several wives of one of the men who work in the munitions factory. So she disguises herself as a boy to win money in the gun pit in the next town but comes up against a foreign boy. Then she meets him again in Dustwalk and they escape together to cross the desert to further adventures.
