A Cavern of Black ice - J.V. Jones

Forgive my lack of posting this week.  It is still chaotic at work, and I am not getting in until after 8 pm most evenings.  On top of that, I am trying to organize a raid team (if you've got a puzzled look on your face at that last statement, remember this is the blog of a nerd girl.  I stab orcs, slay the undead and do battle with the Empire on a regular basis).

It took me THREE WEEKS, but I finally finished Cavern of Black Ice today.  Why did it take me that long to read a good book, you say?  Well, this WAS a good book.  Don't get me wrong, but gosh it just had so many different angles to build the plot from that it really made for slow reading.  I got very distracted several times during my reading, which doesn't often happen with me. 

Now, it wasn't slow in the sense that the story never picked up.  Cavern had it's moments from the very beginning and I was immensely curious about the dynamic present between Ash and her foster father, Penthero Iss.  In looking over the next few books in this series, it looks as though the story continues in fragments, but it also sees the separation of paths with Raif and Ash.  (Which is disappointing, as I want them to be together!!)

I'm not sure if I'll continue the series or not.  I likely will, I just hope I can get engrossed in them like I usually do with a good series.  I like Jones's writing--The Barbed Coil was an excellent read.  So, we shall see.

Book Haul (1)

Hit up the library today.  I behaved myself and only got four books.  Mind you, I still have a ton on my TBR pile that needs to go.  Especially since I want to trade most of them on PaperbackSwap for credits and wish list a bunch of keeper books in hard back.

Much to my dismay, the library did not have a copy of The Hafling's Gem, which I really wanted.  I'm quite disappointed that I can't continue the Drizzt books yet.  I'll check online for the ebook or place a hold on the physical copy if it's just been checked out.

1. Amsterdam - Ian McEwan: This is for my book club.  I've read Atonement, which was dark, but really, really good.

2. Moon Called - Patricia Briggs: I've had my eye on starting this series for some time now.  Just hadn't bothered to get my hands on a copy.  Sadly, the library only seems to have the first three books in the series, so this may turn into a very expensive book choice if I like the series as much as the Rachel Morgan books.

3.  The Golden Key - Melanie Rawn: I refused to pick this up for the longest time, because I was frustrated that I couldn't finish Ruins of Ambrai any time soon.  But, I'm of the understanding that it is a similar story to The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones, which I loved.

4.  Under the Dome - Stephen King: I had a sample of this on my Nook forever and never got around to buying a copy.  So, in my perusal of the library, I can usually always find the Stephen King shelf.  never fails.  It's like a homing beacon or something.  But, then again, so is the fantasy section.

Dante Valentine Series, Lilith Saintcrow

As I've stated before, I love me some kick ass heroines.  Especially ones that carry swords.  AND do magic.  Because that is just the epitome of awesome.  Dante Valentine is a character I am still ambivalent about, especially as I got to know her through the five books in her series.

The first book, Working for the Devil, introduces Dante.  She's a necromancer bounty hunter with a death wish who ends up hunting a rogue demon for none other than Old Scratch himself.  Dante's world is a melting pot version of ours, except with a severely dysfunctional pot.  But, the reality of that doesn't really become clear until midway through the series.  Religion is now a mix of sorcery and witchcraft.  And the technical aspect that Dante gives her craft makes it quite realistic, which I loved.  Dante spends most of the novel investigating and arguing with her demon guardian, Japhrimel.  Saintcrow makes it obvious that Dante has a past, but again that is something we don't get much information about until we progress through the series.  I loved the first book.  I immediately went and snapped up the rest to read.

In Dead Man Rising, Dante's past is revealed and the reader gets a glimpse of why Dante is such a pill.  I'm not going to go in depth here, since it would ruin some plot points of both this book and the first one.  Suffice to say, I still really liked Dante at this point.  However, when I hit the third book in the series, I started to get annoyed with Dante.  She's beginning to get a bit whiny and petulant.  And at this point, I still had a hard time blaming her for that since Lucifer is giving her the run around and she's demon hunting again.  By book four, I considered quitting, but I already had it and book five in my possession, so I finished.

All in all, I liked the series.  I just had a hard time with Dante.  Granted, she often ended up with the short end of the stick, but I can think of other similar series where I see the main character continuing to grow and progress.  Dante merely seemed to deal with her issues and doubt herself regularly.  She really strikes me as a very flat character who just happens to have a ton of history that was quite interesting.  What saved the series was the great plot lines.  I'd definitely like to try the Jill Kismet series and see if Saintcrow has the same problem with developing her characters, which would be a shame because her story is so engaging.  If you do like urban fantasy, this would be a good one to read if it's at your library or you run across a copy.

TGIF (1)

GIF at GReads is weekly event hosted by Ginger from GReads.  The features allows us to recap the weeks posts and to answer a book-related question proposed by Ginger.  This week’s question is:

Unexpected Books: Which books did you have reservations about reading, but ended up loving once you did?

1. Hunger Games, Susanne Collins -  Yep, you read that right.  I was initially leery of beginning Hunger Games because I was sorely disappointed by Twilight.  I was afraid HG would be yet another tween fad series that (in my opinion) stunk.  Sorry to any Twihards out there.  
2. Playing With Fire, Gena Showalter -  When I read this, I was desperate.  I had just flown in to see family and my parents are pretty tame.  As in go to bed by dark tame.  And I had devoured my plane read on the plane, of course.  My second selection, whatever it was, wasn't very engrossing.  Thus, I decided to go through my mom's stack of paperbacks, where I came across Playing With Fire.  It's a paranormal romance... I know, I know.  I claim to not read romance novels.  BUT, this one was cute without being gag inducing.  Showalter is clever and quite funny, so I ended up really liking the series.  I now read her books when I'm in need of something that's funny and brainless.

Darkfever

Oh my word, I forgot about Rewind Wednesday!  My apologies, dear readers!!  This week at work has been a bit chaotic, not to mention Cavern of Black Ice is slow, slow going, though it is quite good.

So, tonight (let's all just pretend that I DIDN'T forget to post last night) I'm going to write about the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.  These books are a great urban fantasy series that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I'm not sure how I came across them--might have been a freebie on the ol' Nook a couple years ago.  But, I read them and just couldn't stop.  There are five books total, the latest being released in January 2011. 

The series is about a young girl named MacKayla who goes to Dublin to investigate the death of her sister, who was studying abroad.  Well, MacKayla's world gets turned topsy turvey when she discovers that she is a sidhe-seer (a human who can see pass the glamour a Fae casts to appear human).  MacKayla gets caught up in a hunt for the Sinsar Dubh... and she gets to kick Fae ass while she's at it.  Nothing makes me happier than a kick butt heroine.

The one thing that kind of makes the books rub me a little wrong is the romance element, but it's not painful too bad.  All in all, it is a fun read--they go pretty quickly.  I missed the release of the last book and recently checked it out from the library, only to discover that I couldn't recall if I'd read the previous book.  So, I'll be rereading these when I get around to it.

Also, there has apparently been so much love for the books that there is talk of a movie, which would be fun (I'd rather see the Rachel Morgan books as a movie or a Buffy-esque type television series).  Now I'm thinking about who I'd like to see play MacKayla and Jericho Barrens.  Hmmmm....

New Releases!

So, this will be a new addition to my regular Rewind Wednesday feature.  It's mostly just for when I find a new release that I am incredibly excited about. 

August 7, 2012 - Charon's Claw: Neverwinter Saga Book III, R.A. Salvatore - While I am nowhere near reading this book (because books MUST be read in order), I'm still excited because a.) I'm loving me some R.A. Salvatore and b.) I adore Drizzt Do'Urden. 

September 27, 2012 - The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling - Did you love Harry Potter?  No?  What's wrong with you?  All kidding aside, I'm looking forward to this.  Rowling's first adult novel has me doing my chair dance.  I can't wait.  I smell a birthday present!!

January 2013 - Doctor Sleep, Stephen King - Okay, so The Shining creeped me out big time.  That kid and his imaginary friend, and the furnace and the spooky hallway with the little girls.  This is a SEQUEL!!  *squeeeeee!* Yes, that was me, going all fangirl.  Sorry.  At least you didn't have to actually hear it.

Unknown - The Captal's Tower, Melanie Rawn - Okay, so I've been waiting for this forever, and by forever I mean since I was in junior high.  Ms. Rawn apparently had some issues in her personal life that caused her to put this novel down, which was a severe disappointment to me, as I just loved the first two books (Exiles Vol. I & II). So, I've been anxiously holding out hope that she would come back to this project, because Mageborn Traitor left a literal crap-ton of loose ends that I must have answers to.  For example, where the hell does Collan come from, damn it!!!!!  Inquiring minds are dying to know.  Dying, I tell you.  As of October 2004, she is apparently working on it.

Winter of Fire

I was wracking my brain again for another Rewind Wednesday book and asked Sarah what I could write about.  She suggested Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan.  This is another old favorite for me.  It is sadly out of print, but I'm going to have to look for a copy to add to my "reread library."  The story takes place in a very bleak and cold future--literally.  Society is distinctly divided into castes that never mix, the Chosen and the Quelled.  The Chosen are led by the Firelord who is able to divine where the coal that is the sole source of heat can be found.  The Quelled are the workers, some are lucky and work for the Chosen.  Others are not so lucky and work in the mines.  The Earth has been so damaged that the sun no longer shines and is stuck in a perpetual winter.

Winter of Fire spoke volumes to me when I read it many years ago.  I can still remember most of the story, and I haven't picked up the book since I was in junior high I think.  I'd put this on level (for me) with Swan Song.  There is just something about the book, beyond the obvious empowerment of a woman of a lower class, the overcoming of social hurdles, sexism and the feelings of defeat that fills her people.  I mean, what girl doesn't want to read that?