Blood’s Pride (Shattered Kingdoms #1) by Evie Manieri Jo Fletcher Books (August 2012) Hardback, 528 pages Fantasy Rising from their sea-torn ships like vengeful, pale phantoms, the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar under cover of darkness. They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation. Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an…
Cold Days by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files #14) Orbit Books (Nov 2012) Hardcover, 515 pages Urban Fantasy Warning: contains spoilers for other books in series Harry Dresden, everyone’s favourite wizard is back in corporeal form and ready to save the day. Book fourteen of the Dresden Files starts immediately after the last book with Harry recuperating from his near death (or I guess real death) experience and in the service as Mab’s knight. Mab’s treatment method is unique as it involves physiotherapy and a daily doses of fighting for his life…
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia (Monster Hunter International #1) | Baen Books (Aug 2009) Paperback, 726 pages | Urban Fantasy Owen Zastava Pitt is not your typical bean counter especially after he pushes his recently turned werewolf boss out the the window. Owen has made a big impression not just with the FBI but comes onto the radar of the MHI – Monster Hunter International who are an elite organisation, of well, monsters hunters. The MHI are a family run business of hunters that work towards ridding the world of all sorts of monsters….
Creative Fire (Ruby’s Song #1) by Brenda Cooper Pyr, November 2012 Paperback, 400 pages Science Fiction, Young Adult Nothing can match the power of a single voice… Ruby Martin expects to spend her days repairing robots and avoiding the dangerous peacekeeping forces that roam the corridors of the generation ship The Creative Fire. Her best friend has been raped and killed, the ship is falling apart around her, and no one she knows has any real information about what’s happening to them. The social structure on board Creative Fire is rigidly divided,…
Heart of Iron (London Steampunk #2) by Bec McMaster Sourcebooks Casablanca (May 2013) | Ebook, 448 pages Steampunk Romance Warning: contains spoilers for book one Heart of Iron starts a few years following the end of Heart of Steel with Honoria happily married to Blade, brother Charley safe in the care of the newlyweds and Lena living with their secret half brother Leo in the Echelon. Following a daring kiss by Lena at the end of book one Will moved out of the house he shared with Blade to avoid chance meetings with the enticing…
‘Thoughtful Ramblings’ is where we discuss bookish topics. One’s that have us all hot and bothered and we need a good rant to air our grievances or topics that have us all thoughtful and we just need to have a bit of a ramble… Melanie’s “Brain Candy” Sometimes, when the weather is all grey and cloudy, if I have had a bad day at work, I don’t feel well or generally blue I look towards a set of books I call my brain candy. So what is brain candy? These are the…
Ice Forged (Ascendent Kingdoms #1) by Gail Z. Martin Orbit Books (Jan 2013) Paperback, 592 pages Fantasy Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine “Mick” McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor’s mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists….
Planesrunner (Everness #1) by Ian McDonald Jo Fletcher Books (Jan 2013) Hardback, 371 pages Young Adult, Science Fiction There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one among billions of parallel earths. When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this teenager has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse—the Infundibulum—the map of all the parallel earths, and there are…
While I read a lot of books with female leads there are relatively few I would categorise as truly kick-ass. I do have a few and I am sure you will agree that my top heroine is kick-ass with a capital K. So in top spot is Kate Daniels from the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. Kate’s father is practically immortal, created the vampires, killed all his other children and doesn’t know she exists…. yet. Kate’s mother was a powerful witch who brain-washed her husband’s second-in-command to go on the run with…
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke Angry Robot (Jan 2013) Paperback, 400 pages Science Fiction There’s never been anyone – or anything – quite like Finn. He looks, and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task is to tutor Cat. When the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world. (Goodreads) REVIEWER: Melanie The Mad Scientist’s Daughter…
Scent of Magic (Healer #2) by Maria V. Snyder MIRA Books (Dec 2012) Paperback, 404 pages Young Adult, Fantasy As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga…
“Thoughtful Ramblings” is a feature where we discuss bookish subjects. These posts are just our own thoughts about certain topics that may get us hot under the collar and we need a good rant or just things we want to share with fellow bloggers and readers. Print or Ebook – Which Side of the Fence Do You Sit? In this ‘ramble’ Rebecca and I will enter into a healthy debate of real books vs e-books. Have a read and let us know which side of the debate you are on….
TOUCH OF POWER (Healer #1) by Maria V Snyder PUBLISHER: Mira Books RELEASE DATE: 20 December 2011 FORMAT: Paperback, 390 pages GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy Avry’s power to heal the sick should earn her respect in the plague-torn land of Kazan. Instead she is feared. Her kind are blamed for the horrifying disease that has taken hold of the nation. When Avry uses her forbidden magic to save a dying child, she faces the guillotine. Until a dark, mysterious man rescues her from her prison cell. His people need Avry’s magic to…
Dead Spots (Scarlett Bernard #1) by Melissa F. Olson 47 North (Oct 2012) | Paperback, 283 pages Urban Fantasy Scarlett is a rarity in the magical community. She is one of a handful of nulls whose unique abilities have the power to remove all traces of magic within quite a large radius. For the supernaturals of Los Angeles, Scarlett can turn both werewolves and vampires human again and can cancel out magical spells. She has managed to earn a living using her abilities as a cleaning service to the three magical communities…
Redemption by Susannah Sandlin (The Penton Legacy #1) Montlake Romance (June 2012) Paperback, 357 page Paranormal Romance Sandlin sets the stage of her vampire series in a world where the vampire race is being driven to starvation after a rather innocuous vaccination turns human blood poisonous to them. Only a few individuals remain that are free from the vaccine and therefore, their only source of food. The vampire Aidan Murphy has made himself unpopular by creating a utopian community of vampires and their bonded human companions. Everything had been going quite…
