Angel’s Blood

Sep 302011
 

Nalini Singh is a new author to me, I picked this up on the fierce recommendation of two fellow bloggers (Looking at YOU Book Chick City and Literary Escapism)!

The Archangels and their brethren have lived for so long, that they have become inhuman, shedding their humanity millennia ago.  The story revolves around The Cadre of Ten, Archangels that rule territories, and they are very different from each other, some so far removed from the world that they have become something else entirely. Elena Devereaux hunts rogue vampires; servants created by the angels who then try and cheat on their hundred years of service. The Guild Elena works for hunts them down and returns them to their owners.

I found the story a bit hard to get into at first. I liked the female protagonist Elena Devereaux well enough, and could easily empathise with her. Nalini made it easy to admire Elena, despite the horror in her past she didn’t give in to her father’s ultimatum to be a good girl and toe the line.  I liked that Elena’s talents are natural and it costs her a great deal personally to use them in her Guild Hunter role, that personal sacrifice really added something to her character.  I love that she was written as a snarky, sarcastic but likeable character with flaws that made her seem much more human.

The main problem I had at the start, was with Raphael, the Archangel of North America. He was detached, demanding, even a little cruel and he just didn’t gel with me.

Then I realised that was the point to his character, and was hooked. I credit Nalini Singh’s ability to create a character that isn’t instantly likeable but starts to sneak in to your heart anyway. But, it is risky, because had I not persevered, it could have put me off entirely.  His interactions with Elena were often funny and very well written, her snark against his implacable logic and the heat that builds between them was seriously sexy.

The writing is crisp, clean and very easy to read and one facet that I really liked was that Singh didn’t try to explain why there were angels in the world.  They have always been there, some very much in the public eye, so in her version of our world, it is a natural, if still wondrous thing.

I liked the plot a lot; seemingly simple but with several layers.  One of the ruling Archangels with the Cadre of Ten has gone rogue, and they need Elena’s unique talents as a Guild Hunter to be able to track him.  Of course it’s never that simple and Nalini Singh takes us through some pretty gritty and macabre scenes along with fierce action, and some truly heartrending moments.

By the end I was firmly in love with Singh’s world and her characters, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.  I wholeheartedly pass on the recommendation that this is an author to love!

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Keeping Kaitlyn

Sep 232011
 

Keeping Kaitlyn is a sweet and excitingly erotic novella set across twin worlds; our own and another filled with a history of battles between Magica and Shapeshifters. Originally one, the worlds were split apart by a mysterious force trying to prevent the destruction of humanity after the shapeshifting Lycaons rebelled against their Magica masters.  I found this premise of a world that was once part of ours, but separated through magic really interesting, and I would love to see the history of that explored more in future books.

When the split occurred, most of the Lycaon went with the Magica to the new world, while a few remained behind. Lycaon souls long to be with each other, and not even the Veil is enough to stop the mating bond from calling them.

Being a novella, Anya needed to cover a lot of ground introducing the story and characters quickly. She did that with remarkable skill, so that by chapter two I already knew the main protagonist, Kaitlyn, well enough to like her and empathise with her. Kaitlyn is from our world, and unknowingly part Lycaon.  I loved that her feisty manner was combined with a caring and practical nature, even when she finds herself in an overwhelming situation.

The characters of Lucas and Rafian were also well realised by Anya Bast. She presents the story from the viewpoint of all three characters and this allows the reader to get a good understanding of them in a short space of time.  The two male wolf shifters know Kaitlyn as their mate, they just have to convince her of the truth.  Anya gives Lucas and Rafian both funny and serious moments, but each also had a distinctly different personality which I thought was very well done.  I loved their amusing reactions when Kaitlyn would do something that proved she wasn’t an incapable female.  Did I mention that they were hot?  They were, very!

Although presenting the story from different viewpoints helped with understanding the characters, I did find it a bit confusing a couple of times. I found myself checking back to see which of the male characters perspective was currently being presented. Other than that though, I can’t find anything in Keeping Kaitlyn that was disappointing, I just wish it could have been longer!

The believable characters and interesting setting are supported by some very erotic and explicit love scenes.  Since there are so few Lycaon females, each of them always has two male mates and this allowed Anya a lot of flexibility.  The resulting love scenes were excitingly hot, very well written and even took into account the practicalities of their situation.  All I can say is Kaitlyn is a very lucky girl!

When it came to Kaitlyn’s choice near the end, I got quite choked up. I was totally invested in Kaitlyn’s character and Anya’s writing allowed me to experience her emotion and anguish first hand. I won’t spoil the context of that choice, and so can’t say much more.

Keeping Kaitlyn combines well realised characters with an engaging story and some super erotic sex.  Highly recommended!

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Leviathan Wakes

Sep 172011
 

This book is utterly amazing,  I can’t stress that enough. It hits every single sci-fi button I have; space opera, crime, horror, and just enough of a touch of romance to give it an emotional punch.  It has zombies, heroic sacrifice, interplanetary war, and some truly great action.

On paper that might seem like a book by the numbers but it really isn’t.  The writing is clever but eminently readable and the story just blew me away.  With such a heady mix of so many elements the plot could have been really confusing, yet I had no trouble following it.

The characters are believable, realistic and they quickly get into your mind, even those that are only present for a short time.  I loved Captain Jim Holden and his somewhat naive and altruistic view of life. He’s written so well that the odd mix of both admirable and foolhardy decision making is believable. The authors have given us a hero that acts like one despite the consequences.  The rest of the survivors were also well realised and added a lot to the depth and flavour of the story.  As an aside I did laugh when Naomi figuratively had to smack Jim into sense, one of a number of comic moments that help break up the considerable tension.

Detective Miller is a bit of an enigma.  A very strong character but obviously fundamentally damaged, and the complete opposite of Jim.  He sees things from a much more realistic perspective and can look at the bigger picture.  I thought the debates with Holden about his decisions, and them both being at opposite ends of the spectrum were very well written and thought out.  Neither were right or wrong but I found my own feelings on the matter coloured how I looked at it.  Miller’s involvement was excellent yet sad and the emotional writing of this character had me in tears towards the end of the book.

I thought the future technology side was well crafted and believable, taking into account physics and the forces at play when ships are moving.  I felt it all was very smooth, understandable and very creative.

The plot and pace are very much tied together as each chapter unfolds and both increase in intensity nicely.  I’ve seen some people say the ending employs deus ex machina, however I totally disagree because the groundwork had been building right from the start.  To me it was just another example of the clever writing in Leviathan Wakes.

I didn’t find out until after I’d finished, that James S. A. Corey is actually the pen name for two people; Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.  I have to say I think they blended perfectly; sometimes you can get a feel of two voices in these situations but I was unaware and very surprised when I did realise.

An amazingly exciting space opera, and I absolutely can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!

Rating: ★★★★★ 

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Summer of Love

Sep 172011
 

I was a bit disappointed with Summer of Love which is unusual for me and a Katie Fforde novel since I usually ADORE them.  It’s still a funny and sweet story but I felt it lacked Fforde’s usual sparkle.  It’s by no means a bad book, I still read it in a day and would read it again, but it is not one of her best.

One of the things I find outstanding in her writing are the characterisations; they are loveable, believable and sometimes larger than life.  In Summer of Love this is still the case but some of the reactions and interactions just missed the mark and I found some conversations a little confusing.

The plot itself while simple and sweet felt very close to a few other books I’ve read in the past which is perhaps why it didn’t feel quite right to me.  ‘Girl meets boy, has only one day before he has to leave the country, mad romp ensues and has unexpected consequences.  Forward five years to see where Girl is at now and ends up meeting Boy again, confused feelings, arguments then Happy Ending’.  Usually that’s the kind of story I love, but it just seemed to lack the impact her books usually bring.

I did like the main characters however, Sian and Rory were funny and a great mum and son team.  Fiona was just loveable and I think everyone would want her as a friend! James was a nice surprise and became much more than he first appeared. Gus had moments when he irritated me but on the whole he was just what Sian needed.

The character I didn’t like at all was Richard, he just didn’t really seem to have any impact whatsoever, except to give Sian a different option, and not really a very good one at that.

There were also a few typos which jerked me out of the story, and again this is very unusual for a Fforde book.  If I had to describe how the book felt, I would simply say it felt rushed.

Definitely worth reading since it is a sweet story but not one of her best, I’m sad to say.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

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Fallen

Sep 152011
 

I always expect great things from a Karin Slaughter novel.  She raises the bar with every book she writes and Fallen is no exception.  Right from the first chapter I was drawn in and if life had allowed it, I would have read it in one sitting.

The majority of the story takes place in just three days and every one of them is nail biting, on the edge of your seat and utterly gripping.

It was great to see Faith Mitchell back in action again after she took an amusing but back seat role in Broken due to having a baby.  Being a mother again has definitely increased her ferocity!  Will Trent is another character who I just can’t get enough of, he’s such a wonderful mix of quiet confidence, capability and vulnerability.  Karin always developes her characters so naturally over time, and after showing signs of coming out of his shell in Broken, Will continues to improve in leaps and bounds in Fallen.  The change in him is partly due to my favourite doctor, Sara Linton who I hope Karin adds as a permanent member of the cast in this series.  The attraction between Sara and Will is undeniable now and so sweet for many reasons.  With Grant County now behind her she continues to build her life in Atlanta.

In my opinion it is a major feat bringing two such distinct series together and has been a painful pleasure to read and watch it happen.  As the Grant County series started to draw to a close and the cast of the other started to merge with it.  It’s a testament to Karin Slaughter’s powerful writing that out of the ashes, we now have a new one, a blending of both.

The plot itself is amazingly intricate and extremely clever.  The crime is against Faith Mitchell’s own family and secrets that have been kept for nineteen years start to emerge.  I love how the book was like one big puzzle with the pieces almost fitting together, only to find you have pieces that don’t belong or are missing a few others.  By the time the missing pieces were found, I don’t think I had any nails left!

I’m sure there were hints along the way as to what was really going on but I was willingly led into trying to get those odd pieces to fit.  Karin did the reveal really well and the eventual outcome hadn’t even crossed my mind but made complete sense in the end.

I can’t finish without touching on the Will/Crazy Angie subject.  Trying not to use spoilers, a lot happens there, even with everything else going on and I wanted to cheer when he makes his decision.  I’m sure there will be a lot of fallout in the next book but wow, the end of the book made me cry!

Karin Slaughter is without doubt one of the greatest Crime authors around at the moment and you will really miss out if you don’t read Fallen.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

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Alterant Facebook Giveaway!

Sep 142011
 

I have a shiny new copy of Alterant by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love to give-away!  This is the second book in the amazing Belador series.

To enter all you have to do is LIKE our Facebook page and leave a comment on the Alterant give-away post over on Facebook (not on this post, but the post on Facebook).

This give-away is open internationally, so wherever you are, we’d love to hear from you!  This give-away is tied to Facebook and we appreciate not everyone uses it, we’ve done Twitter give-aways in the past, and we’ll do regular give-aways in the future!

Closing date for entries will be 23:59 UK Time, Monday 19th September, and the winner’s name will be generated randomly.  I had to stop using the hat method because Fizz the book guardian kept running off with bits of paper ;)

Good luck!

Kindle – first thoughts by Tony

Sep 132011
 

I had a reason to use the Kindle last month – a couple of medium length train journeys.  Normally I’d be quite comfortable taking a book on such a trip, but I thought I’d try out the Kindle and see if it really could replace the book experience.

I read Changes by Jim Butcher.  To be fair, I’d read it before, but I wanted to re-read it before I got stuck into Ghost Story.  In the end I read them both on the Kindle, not all on the train journey of course, but I stuck with it when I got back home.

You can’t fault the Kindle screen, it’s easy to read, easy on the eyes and very high quality.  Equally, the interface couldn’t be simpler, click to turn the page, remembers where you are and the little flash was no where near as bad as I expected.  It doesn’t really weigh that much either and it’s light enough to comfortably hold in one hand, so no issue there.

However, I do have a significant problem, and that is hand position.  My natural one-handed book grip and two-handed book grip don’t work with the Kindle.  I also have an ‘I’m being lazy and holding the book down with my whole hand’ thing going on which you can’t do either.  Basically, if I wanted to avoid having my thumb on the Kindle screen (and I assume I did want to avoid that), there’s only one place for it to naturally go – and that place is occupied by the keypad that I never used.

I need a keypad-less Kindle.

I ended up settling on a ‘holding it in my hand like a smart phone’ which was okay, I’ve got pretty big hands, and I could turn the pages, but it tired my fingers out reasonably quickly.  I had to switch between that grip and a ‘thumb between keypad and screen’ grip.  None of them felt natural compared to holding a book, where it doesn’t matter where your thumb or fingers end up, you can always move them to read a word or two.

It feels like a pretty significant issue to me, although maybe I’m alone in the matter.  Here’s a few photo’s to show you what I mean.

Normal thumb grip, with the book ‘resting’ on my fingers.

Another thumb grip, but I can put my thumb anywhere I like.

Reading with the book balanced on my leg.

Kindle – delicate thumb grip, tiring on the thumb.

Kindle – smartphone grip, tiring on the whole hand.

Kindle – side grip, not bad, but cramps the fingers.

In summary – I got on fine with the Kindle for actual reading.  The screen is sublime and reading is as easy as real paper, but it’s just not quite the right shape.  A larger section under the screen with no keys would have been ideal, or a ‘touch’ keypad that you can turn off and use as a thumb rest would have worked too.

David Gemmell’s Legend

Sep 122011
 

David GemmellIt’s been five years and a couple of months since David Gemmell tragically died, and a great storyteller was taken from us.  His final two books were published posthumously, with Fall of Kings being completed by his widow, Stella.  Even now writing these words isn’t easy; I was lucky enough to consider David a friend, and to spend time in his and Stella’s company.

I haven’t read any of David’s books since Fall of Kings, in fact I’ve read very little since completing Fall of Kings, and anything I have read has been distinctly not heroic fantasy.  I don’t think I’ve been avoiding it intentionally, but there’s definitely a small part of my reading soul that doesn’t want to accept David is gone and doesn’t want to move on.

I read a huge amount of fantasy literature in the late 80′s and throughout the 90′s but eventually I struggled to find anything fresh and enjoyable, with the sole exception of David Gemmell’s work.  His books were always entertaining, always enjoyable, and always emotional.  People can discuss style and prose as much as they want, but in his heart, David was a storyteller and that shines through in everything he wrote.  His ability to engage you, to show you the hearts of the people in his stories, to embroil you in their lives and their emotions is unparalleled in modern fantasy literature.  I struggled to find that engagement anywhere else in the genre, and although I’m sure it exists, not finding it left me jaded and put me off fantasy fiction for a long time.

While helping Grete sort out the book collection and get them all onto Good Reads, we went through all my David Gemmell books and it was the first time in a long time that I’d seen them all lined up.  I resolved to start reading them again, and there’s no other place, no better place to start, than Legend.

I picked it up last night, and put it down a hundred pages in and a couple of hours later.  It’s still as good as I remember, instantly engaging and enjoyable.  I hadn’t realised, or had forgotten, just how much of the world Druss inhabits is described in the first few chapters, and how many of the later books are based on short throw-away lines or character names in Legend.  David’s style is just so easy to read, and that’s because it’s like being there with him, listening to him tell you the story.

Legend is about honour, courage, fear, duty, age and faith.

It is as poignant and as relevant now as it was when he wrote it.

I would have sat in the darkness and listened to David tell stories to hold back the night, without that chance, I’ll re-read all his books and share my life with him again.

Faith & Fidelity

Sep 032011
 

Faith & Fidelity is a sweet, touching tale of two men finding unexpected love, dealing with what it means, and being able to accept it.

The two male lead characters are interesting and often funny individuals trying to cope with their own pain.  NYPD Vice Detective Evan Cerelli is a man broken by his wife’s tragic death and trying to keep it together for the sake of his four children. Former Homicide Detective Matt Haight is a man tainted by doing the right thing as a cop, but having it thrown back at him, effectively ending his career.

I have to say this was not a title I would have sought out, but I was intrigued by a recommendation on a webcomic site I visit daily (thanks Unshelved!) and I’ve been wanting to broaden the genres I read.

The underlying message of the book is the thing that drew me in the most; that love doesn’t always lead you to an expected place, person or gender.

The two men are great – believable, lovable and I really cared about them and whether they could make it work.  They have some great banter as well as affection and emotion, and I really felt for them every time they arrived at a confusing place in their relationship.  Evan’s kids and their interactions with Matt were often hilarious and provided some really engaging moments.  Friends, other family and partners provide the rest of the cast to make this a well rounded and heart-warming book.

The story itself is well written and the pace is a blend of fast lifestyle changes and slow periods of contemplation and understanding.  The erotic scenes were extremely hot, but also tastefully written.  I’m definitely looking forward to reading more by Tere Michaels, including the next two books in the series. Faith & Fidelity is highly recommended!

Note: I’m not sure if this is only the case in the Kindle version but there were odd errors and words inserted in the wrong place.  It is a minor thing but thought it worth mentioning.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

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