Fantasy

Dark Currents (The Emperor’s Edge #2) By: Lindsay Buroker

dark-currents

Dark Currents (The Emperor’s Edge #2) By: Lindsay Buroker

Plot:

It’s been three months since former enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon and the notorious assassin Sicarius thwarted kidnappers and saved the emperor’s life. The problem? Nobody knows they were responsible for this good deed. Worse, they’re being blamed for the entire scheme. With enforcers and bounty hunters stalking them, and the emperor nursing a personal hatred for Sicarius, it’s going to be hard to earn exoneration.

When Amaranthe’s team discovers mutilated bodies in the city aqueducts and a mysterious illness incapacitates thousands of citizens, she and Sicarius see an opportunity to solve the mystery and prove their loyalty. But they’ll have to defeat vengeful shamans, man-eating predators, and deadly mechanical constructs, all while dodging imperial soldiers who would rather kill them than accept their help.

Nobody said exoneration would be easy.

Review:

I love the fact that romance is in these books but it’s very much on the back burner for most of it. Buroker doesn’t make the hero or heroine do anything truly stupid because they’re in love it’s all for their cause. Mainly. I like that.

The world didn’t really grow much in this book, though you did learn more about outside kingdoms, just not a lot.

The other characters didn’t really grow either, though we got to be in Books’s head. Feel kind of bad for him.

The kingdom still thinks they’re bad guys and I’m not sure if that will ever change. If it does it’s not going to be any time soon. I’m also not sure why Amaranthe likes Sicarius. Every few chapters you find out something horrible he’s done. I get that he was brain washed basically and doing it because his emperor told him too, but it just seems like an excuse with how easy he kills people. Not sure how I feel about the relationship.

Anyway, enjoying the series but I might take a break before reading the next.

4/5

The Emperor’s Edge (The Emperor’s Edge #1) By: Lindsay Buroker

the-emperors-edge

The Emperor’s Edge (The Emperor’s Edge #1) By: Lindsay Buroker

Plot:

The adventure starts here…

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire’s most notorious assassin, is in town. He’s tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills… or someone wants her dead.

Review:

This was a nice follow up after reading the Aeronaut’s Windlass. It didn’t have quite the same fleshed out world that I was looking for, but I loved Amaranthe. She was so capable that I really enjoyed reading her. Some of the other characters were better fleshed out than others and I like that things didn’t work out completely perfectly in the end.

This was the first book in what I can see could be a very fun series. The fact that the next few books are already written is awesome too. No waiting for me!

4.5/5

The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) By: Jim Butcher

aeronauts-windlass

The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) By: Jim Butcher

Plot:

Jim Butcher, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera novels, conjures up a new series set in a fantastic world of noble families, steam-powered technology, and magic-wielding warriors…

Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.

Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.

And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake…

Review:

One hundred and thirty-five pages into this book and I loved it. I knew it was a part of a series, but I didn’t realize the next book hadn’t been written yet, which immediately made me sad. I ended up putting the book down several times just to prolong it, something I normally only do with Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews books. It’s been a few years since I read a Dresden Files book but I seriously think I’ll have to go back to the series just to tide me over for the next book in The Cinder Spires.

I loved the fact that there were strong female characters, each of them unique and with their own weaknesses. I loved that the men worked well with them, were smart, and didn’t question their ability to do anything. I loved the way cats were used. I loved how freakin creepy the female villain was. I loved the world and the fact that the book wasn’t filled with minute detail, there was enough to paint the picture and build everything but you weren’t overloaded with all the fine details. I loved the fight scenes and the battles.

I seriously loved everything about this book. I can’t think of anything I didn’t like. There were large spider like monsters and I still loved this book and I am terrified of spiders. The only negative I can think of is that I haven’t found a release date for the next and I just don’t want to wait.

5/5

 

Side note: If anyone has any recommendations of books like this I would love them.

Goldenhand (Abhorsen #5) By: Garth Nix

goldenhand

Goldenhand (Abhorsen #5) By: Garth Nix

Plot:

For everyone and everything there is a time to die. Lirael is no longer a shy Second Assistant Librarian. She is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, with Dead creatures to battle and Free Magic entities to bind. She’s also a Remembrancer, wielder of the Dark Mirror. Lirael lost one of her hands in the binding of Orannis, but now she has a new hand, one of gilded steel and Charter Magic. When Lirael finds Nicholas Sayre lying unconscious after being attacked by a hideous Free Magic creature, she uses her powers to save him. But Nicholas is deeply tainted with Free Magic. Fearing it will escape the Charter mark that seals it within his flesh and bones, Lirael seeks help for Nick at her childhood home, the Clayr’s Glacier. But even as Lirael and Nick return to the Clayr, a young woman from the distant North braves the elements and many enemies in a desperate attempt to deliver a message to Lirael from her long-dead mother, Arielle. Ferin brings a dire warning about the Witch With No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning? Once more a great danger threatens the Old Kingdom, and it must be forestalled not only in the living world but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

Review:

I love this world.

After reading Clariel I meant to go back and read the first three but I didn’t get around to it before reading Goldenhand, because of that I think it took me a little while to remember certain things about the characters. It’s been close to ten years since I read them though.

It was like returning to old friends once I got there. Everyone makes an appearance and the story was building up to be as epic as the last. I told my husband when I had less than a hundred pages to read that the book was going to be a cliffhanger because I couldn’t see it reaching a satisfying conclusion in time. I was sure that’s what was going to happen and I was kind of excited, but then everything was neatly wrapped up. It was disappointing and felt rushed. Everyone was paired up and allusions to the future were made and then the end.

I don’t know if Nix is just tired of writing Old Kingdom books or was under deadline or what, but I wanted more. Kind of sad. I’m still rating it four out of five because the rest of the book was awesome, it was just the ending that left me dissatisfied.

4/5

First Among Sequels (Thursday Next #5) By: Jasper Fforde

first-among-sequels

First Among Sequels (Thursday Next #5) By: Jasper Fforde

Plot:

It’s been fourteen years since Thursday pegged out at the 1988 SuperHoop, and Friday is now a difficult sixteen year old. However, Thursday’s got bigger problems. Sherlock Holmes is killed at the Reichenbach Falls and his series is stopped in its tracks. And before this can be corrected, Miss Marple dies suddenly in a car accident, bringing her series to a close as well. When Thursday receives a death threat clearly intended for her written self, she realizes what’s going on: there is a serial killer on the loose in the Bookworld. And that’s not all–The Goliath Corporation is trying to deregulate book travel. Naturally, Thursday must travel to the outer limits of acceptable narrative possibilities to triumph against increasing odds.

Packed with word play, bizarre and entertaining subplots, and old-fashioned suspense, Thursday’s return is sure to be celebrated by Jasper’s fanatical fans and the critics who have loved him since the beginning.

Review:

I took a break from this series because the last book came to such a perfect and logical conclusion I didn’t really think I needed to read more. However, since I love the series and the characters so much I had to see what Fforde did next and I wasn’t disappointed.

This book takes place fourteen years after the last and Thursday’s life is solid, for the most part. You get to see her in a comfortable relationship with her husband and be a mother who mostly has her stuff together. Then you start to see how that’s not really the case and it’s all done in Fforde’s usual awesome style.

I’m not sure if this book added much to the world or really even the characters, but it was great to be back and I loved every minute of it. The next book doesn’t sound quiet as appealing so I’m not in a rush to read, but I know I’ll get around to it and one day.

5/5