Review

Battle Magic (The Circle Reforged #3) By: Tamora Pierce

battle_magic_cover

Battle Magic (The Circle Reforged #3) By: Tamora Pierce

Plot:

While visiting the God-King and the First Circle temple in Gyongxe, mages Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy are invited to visit the emperor’s summer palace. Although treated like royalty when they first arrive, the mages soon discover that the emperor plans to invade Gyongxe, posing a fatal threat to the home temple of the Living Circle religion.

Accompanied by one of the emperor’s prize captives, the three mages rush to Gyongxe to warn its citizens of the impending attack. With the imperials hot on their trail, Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy must quickly help the country prepare for battle.

But even with the help of new allies, will their combined forces be enough to fight the imperial army and win the war?

Review:

I’ve loved Tamora Pierce books since I was thirteen so even though YA isn’t my main genre I will still read and re-read her books. Battle Magic came out a few years ago and I had pre-ordered the hardback so when it came out it was on my doorstep, but I was pregnant and barely able to work let alone read so it just sat there.

The story happens before The Will of the Empress the first book in the Circle Reforged series and with the amount of time Briar spends talking about what happened to him in that book I almost felt like I’d already read Battle Magic. Except that I feel like how he acts in The Will of the Empress isn’t backed up with the actual events. I was left feeling let down.

I love the characters in the Circle universe, I love going back and reading their adventures, but there wasn’t much growth or development of the characters here. Events kept happening around them and they kept traveling to battles but you didn’t discover anything new about Briar or the others. You learned more about the world and there were some very interesting things there, but I needed something big and emotional to happen to Briar after all the buildup in the previous book. It was disappointing.

I’ve read The Will of the Empress a few times and when I finished Battle Magic I went back and skimmed it to see if maybe I’d outgrown the series, but the story was still awesome. I also noticed a few things that Briar alludes to that just never happened in Battle Magic. I almost wish that Pierce had never written this book or written something else instead. It didn’t feel up to her usual standards.

3.5/5

The Kraken King (Iron Seas #4) By: Meljean Brook

The Kraken King

The Kraken King (Iron Seas #4) By: Meljean Brook

Plot:

A former smuggler and thief, Ariq—better known as the Kraken King—doesn’t know what to make of the clever, mysterious woman he rescues from an airship besieged by marauders. Unsure if she’s a spy or a pawn in someone else’s game, Ariq isn’t about to let her out of his sight until he finds out…

After escaping her fourth kidnapping attempt in a year, Zenobia Fox has learned to vigilantly guard her identity. While her brother Archimedes is notorious for his exploits, Zenobia has had no adventures to call her own—besides the stories she writes.

But when she jumps at the chance to escape to the wilds of Australia and acquire research for her next story, Zenobia quickly discovers that the voyage will be far more adventurous than any fiction she could put to paper…

Review:

Wow, this was really long. It wasn’t until I finished it that I noticed that Goodreads has it listed as one book but also parts, like you can buy it in parts or as a whole. Weird choice for the publisher, but it might have been more digestible though probably not as satisfying.

Loved getting to see Zenobia and I really liked Ariq. He was sometimes referred to as a barbarian but he was nothing like how other author’s I’ve read depict barbarians. He was alpha male, but he was never forceful. He was smart but they still had cultural miscommunications. I really loved how he was depicted.

There was more world building than I cared for and I did end up skipping some stuff, the book was really long.

4/5

Riveted (Iron Seas #3) By: Meljean Brook

Riveted

Riveted (Iron Seas #3) By: Meljean Brook

Plot:

A century after a devastating volcanic eruption forced Iceland’s inhabitants to abandon its shores, the island has become enshrouded in legend. Fishermen tell tales of giant trolls guarding the land and of seductive witches who steal men’s hearts. But the truth behind the legends is mechanical, not magic—and the mystery of the island a matter of life and death for a community of women who once spilled noble blood to secure their freedom. Five years ago, Annika unwittingly endangered that secret, but her sister Källa took the blame and was exiled. Now Annika serves on the airship Phatéon, flying from port to port in search of her sister and longing to return home . . . but that home is threatened when expedition leader David Kentewess comes aboard. Determined to solve the mystery of his own origin, David will stop at nothing to expose Annika’s secrets. But when disaster strikes, leaving David and Annika stranded on a glacier and pursued by a madman, their very survival depends on keeping the heat rising between them—and generating lots of steam . . .

Review:

I stayed up way to late reading this book and seriously regretted it in the morning, but I liked the characters and couldn’t put it down.

I loved that Annika came from a hidden village where only women lived, but they weren’t just strong Amazon like women. She was brave but she didn’t see herself that way. I liked that the heroine wasn’t just another bad ass woman, she was capable and smart, but not going around taking people out. David was also awesome, he was sweet and kind and still very much manly.

Great couple and lots more world building in the Iron Seas universe, I really liked this book.

5/5

The Blushing Bounder (Iron Seas #.4) The Hook (Iron Seas #.6) Tethered (Iron Seas #2.5) By: Meljean Brook

Tethered

The Blushing Bounder (Iron Seas #.4) The Hook (Iron Seas #.6) Tethered (Iron Seas #2.5) By: Meljean Brook

Plots:

The Blushing Bounder

In The Iron Duke, Constable Newberry helped save all of England. But before the events of that novel, Constable Newberry’s faced a danger of another kind: to his heart, by the woman forced to marry him. What will it take for this prudish bounder to convince his wife to stay?

The Hook

The Hook – An Iron Seas Urban Legend

Meljean’s Note: This is a very short story that I wrote for a blog post at All Things Urban Fantasy during their Spooky Legends week. The challenge was to write about a famous urban legend in our characters’ voices, and my urban legend was The Hook.

Tethered

Surviving on the treacherous Iron Seas requires a heart of steel…but how can Yasmeen hope to survive when her heart has already been stolen by Archimedes Fox…?

Tethered along the south dock of Port Fallow, Captain Yasmeen Corsair’s magnificent new airship, Lady Nergüi, awaits its departure with adventurer and treasure-hunter Archimedes Fox. But this time, Yasmeen, a fearless mercenary who has always prided herself on a heart of steel, has reasons to worry when Miles Bilson, an acquaintance from Archimedes’ earlier smuggling days, sends an urgent message requesting help.

With a past marked by betrayal, Archimedes wonders what his former partner could want—other than revenge. Yasmeen fears that Bilson could threaten everything Archimedes holds dear. Though both Archimedes and Yasmeen love the exhilaration of veering wildly off course, neither is prepared for where their newest risk will take them…or what it might cost them.

Review:

These were all either short stories or novellas so I decided to just combine my review. They were all good, but even the ones written before the first book I wouldn’t recommend reading until you’ve read the first book.

They were nice glimpses into the world and characters. With the Blushing Bounder it was a look into a side character which was fun. Tethered showed you after happily ever after so if you loved the characters from Heart of Steel definitely check it out.

They were all fun and I enjoyed them, the prices were all acceptable too.

4/5

Reader Abduction (Alien Abduction #7) By: Eve Langlais

Reader Abduction

Reader Abduction (Alien Abduction #7) By: Eve Langlais

Plot:

An alien fantasy brought to life…

It should have been a simple volunteer job. Keep the events for the Romancing the Capital convention running smooth. But from the moment Brigitte lays eyes on the male model dipped in purple, hired for the galactic party, she is thrown into a tizzy—mostly because of his stolen kiss.

Imagine her shock once she realizes he’s not an actor. This purple alien is for real!

And Phyr didn’t come to RTC alone. He brought a bunch of his mercenary friends to help him abduct all the single ladies. These readers are about to go on a galactic adventure wilder than anything they’ve ever read in a book—and hotter than anything they could have imagined.
Review:

This was one of those ideas that sounded better than it actually was. I pre-ordered this book as soon as I saw it because I love this series but also because I thought the premise was hilarious. Sadly, much like the first pilot of Fuller House I feel like there were just too many nods to fans.

Once you got past the initial abduction things progressed just like the other alien abduction books by Eve, the only problem was that so many words were spent on the beginning that I felt like the actual story was very rushed. The two main characters barely spent any time with each other but of course they were in love and of course Phyr resisted all the way up until the end.

I don’t know, maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for this? I was really looking forward to it and was so excited when it arrived but once I started reading I just didn’t feel it. If you’ve read the rest of the series I’m sure you’ll enjoy, but this is definitely not a good starting point for any newbies.

3/5