The Archon by Catherine Fisher
This is the second book in the Oracle Prophesies series by Catherine Fisher. It’s set in a world that is the same mix of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece as in the first book (The Oracle). I liked the first book so much that I wanted to read the second in the series and I haven’t regretted that decision.
However, just as I may have said in my review of the first book, I see very little of Greece in the book’s cultural setting (some names, basically). To me, it’s mainly Egypt, but there’s also a confusing goddess that seems to be more inspired by Native American or perhaps (I’m not that knowledgeable when it comes to the latter) Polynesian or African culture. Of course, that in no way ruins the enjoyment of the book.
I like the main character, Mirany, who is a priestess, enough to be able to relate to a her. The other characters are interesting too and the setting and the plot are well written. I don’t know what else to say except that I can recommend this to people who like fantasy that isn’t ‘the usual’. It’s not that different, but different enough, I suppose I should say.
Finger-Lickin’ Fifteen by Stephanie Plum
It’s been a while now since I finished Finger-Lickin Fifteen by Janet Evanovich and I thought I’d post some impressions.
I’ll start out with the blurb:
New Jersey bail-bonds office worker Lula is a witness to celebrity chef, Stanley Chipotle, losing his head, literally. Now Lula and Stephanie Plum, a bond enforcement officer, are on the hunt to identify the killers before Lula is next on the chopping block. Meantime, security expert Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, has recruited Stephanie for a top secret mission. Someone on the inside at Rangeman is leaking client information, determined to bring the company down. Can Stephanie hunt down a killer, a traitor, and keep her Grandma out of the sauce?
Most of these books are extremely funny and distracting. This one was no exception. It may not be one of the best in the Stephanie Plum series, but it was at least good enough to keep my thoughts occupied while I read it.
I’ve had a bit of bad luck with these books lately. Twice I’ve made a mistake and bought the same book over again. Twice also, I’ve found that a book I’ve bought wasn’t quite as funny as most of the others. Still, no harm done, at least in the latter case. Like I said, they’re at least funny enough.
As far as the plot is concerned, they’re all quite similar, and they’re more humor than mystery, but that’s ok. I really enjoy reading this series and I’m glad I’ll be able to keep reading it for a while more.
If this sounds appealing, then I can really recommend this series.
Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
It’s not that long ago that I read the first book, The Masque of the Red Death. Normally I’m not into dystopic, post-apocalyptic books, but this is primarily fantasy. The world is similar to our late 19th century, early 20th century world and might actually be meant to be our world, though I’d say the differences hint at another world.
A plague is spreading, and civilisation is crumbling. There’s even talk about a new, worse contagion spreading. Between the different faction, the spread of the disease and Araby not being sure who she can trust, the situation is definitely deteriorating. Her best friend is dying, her mother is a prisoner of an evil ruler. It seems Araby’s father is somehow involved in everything that’s happened. Can things get any worse?
I found this book well written and fascinating. The characters are well developed and engaging. I found it a little hard to relate to Araby, but that didn’t matter. The story pulled me in anyway.
I would recommend this story to anyone who likes dystopic fantasy (with a little bit of steampunk thrown in, I think – actually it seems no story is actually all steampunk, it’s always just a bit, isn’t it?).
Tourists offered chance to run a bookshop on holiday
For the sum of £150 a week, guests at The Open Book in Wigtown, Scotland’s national book town, will be expected to sell books for 40 hours a week while living in the flat above the shop. Given training in bookselling from Wigtown’s community of booksellers, they will also have the opportunity to put their “own stamp” on the store while they’re there.
Read more here.
Murder on the Rue Cassette by Susan Russo Anderson
From the description on Amazon:
The story begins in Paris at the famous First Impressionist Exhibit on April 15, 1874. But later that night, when the body of a countess is found in the Rue Cassette, Serafina is sent by the slain woman’s wealthy father to investigate the brutal murder. Her budget bountiful, Serafina and her entourage stay at the plush Hôtel du Louvre, dine at Véfour and La Maison Dorée, interview friends of the deceased, have a midnight snack at Les Halles, visit with Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Les Mardistes and other artists, and lock horns with the French police. As the plot twists, Serafina and her friends find themselves in the savage grip of a mind gone feral.
This is the third book in the series (or fourth, counting a novella, that only existed in e book form).
As I have mentioned before, I really like this series of mysteries, set in 1860’s Italy (Sicily). One thing I really like is that the main characters are so nice and interesting.
Just like the other books in the series, this is a well written mystery, in a fascinating setting, with a number of well developed characters.
Feyland: The Twilight Kingdom
I found these books on Wattpad and read the first two titles in the series (and also a sort of prequel). Then I discovered there was a good price for all three books in print, and I got them, because generally, I like to own all my favorite books in print.
Just like the first books in the series, this one was great. Well written and fascinating. The characters felt real and they were likeable (though I do find it just a little bit annoying that Jennet is so perfect). As I’ve mentioned before I really like Marny a lot better.
The relatively dystopian future setting works well. I’m not usually a fan of the new dystopian subgenre. Just like the ‘new’ urban fantasy isn’t to my taste either. In this book, the setting works. It’s not a ‘total’ dystopy, just the sort of society we’re already seeing the first traces of, in slum areas and rural areas all over the world. There’s advanced technology, but also vast areas where people live in poverty in crumbling buildings with threatening criminal gangs taking over.
In this book, we get to see a bit more of other characters, but again, not nearly enough of Marny. I think she should have been more included in the plot and it would have been great if a love interest could have been found for her.
If you’ve read my reviews of the earlier books in the series, you already know about my feelings about this series, so I don’t have much more to add, other than that I can really recommend them to anyone who loves fantasy, but also those who like modern YA books. There may not be vampires, werewolves and zombies, but it feels ‘modern’ in the writing style and the description of characters and in this context, it’s all positive.
More whining
I’m sure all my friends have missed my whining. (LOL), but don’t worry, here I go again:
People don’t visit our publishing website. Ok, I can understand that not everyone wants to buy our books. Most people don’t even know we sell books (we need to work on our marketing skills, I know). That’s ok. Well, sort of. But I’ve been working really hard on making it a nice, interesting book-related blog too. And no one visits those pages/posts. Ever. What they keep coming back for are the pages where we list free legal downloads of books, mainly classics.
People also don’t visit our vegan sites, at all really. Sure, we’ve had visitors in the past and even now, we do get maybe 2-3 per six months or so. On the Swedish site. Far fewer hits on the international one. Again, I work quite hard at finding interesting articles to link to and whenever we’ve done some vegan product shopping or made a new recipe we try to post a photo or at least a comment on that. Still, no interest at all.
And finally, my personal homepage (in Swedish) gets the occasional visitor, one measly hit at a time a couple of times a week. Which should be good. But again, I’m trying really hard to post interesting varied stuff there and whenever I have posted a link to an interesting article (or I’ve shared a review of a book or tv series/movie), and I get a visitor, I think oh, that’s why. I’m always wrong. People are only interested in checking out the links to the tests of ebook readers, a photo of a particular modest little flower and a weird search term that I still don’t get, connected to the Muses. And I never ever get any comments at all.
Sorry about coming across like a five-year-old, but I actually feel a little better after having a bit of a whine.
Early Britons: Have scientists underestimated them?
Evidence from a variety of sources suggests that the first people to resettle Britain after the Ice Age were more sophisticated than we could have imagined.
Read more here.
Twelve skeletons found beneath Swedish castle
The bodies of three children and nine men were dug up from the grounds of Sweden’s Kalmar Castle earlier this year and tests suggest the bones are up to 500 years old, archaeologists have revealed.
Read more here.
