Best. Pick up line.  Ever.

Blood Bound

Have to say, Patricia Briggs doesn't disappoint.  And, I'll say it again, I love my kick ass heroines.  Mercy is such a blast to read about.  She's so...  Human, pardon the pun.  She just has so many layers, and I'm totally enjoying how Briggs chooses to reveal them.  Granted, I don't know how I feel about the love...  Square?  Quadrilateral?  Anyway, whatever it is, I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Definitely adds a bit of drama to the story line... And, admittedly I like a little romance added to my urban fantasy.  So what?

So, I'm looking forward to hitting the library tomorrow evening after work to pick up the rest of the series.

Book Haul (2)

Oh my word, I haven't been to the library in forever, it feels like.  I forget how much I absolutely love going.  Granted, my local library has a few issues in the YA section...  As in I could find ABSOLUTELY NONE of the Percy Jackson books.  Which made me a sad, sad panda. 

So, today's Book Haul:

Starting at the bottom--
1. The Icewind Dale Trilogy, R.A. Salvatore - FINALLY got my hands on this, which explains why they don't have a copy of The Halfling's Gem. I'm so excited to read this.  The library will be closing from the holidays starting the beginning of November (it was all I could do to not shout "What the actual @#$%?"  Who closes a library for three months?).  Anyway, finally getting to Halfling's Gem. 

2. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury - Mind you, I have read this.  A long flipping time ago.  But, every good book is well worth a re-read.

3. Under the Dome, Stephen King - Never finished this last time around, and I plan on it this time.

4. Blood Bound, Patricia Briggs - The next Mercy Thompson novel.  I love my kick ass urban fantasy heroines.  Plus, who wouldn't want to be able to shape shift?

5. The Legacy, R.A. Salvatore - the next installment of the Drizzt books after Halfling's Gem. 

I'll have to go back Tuesday after work and pick up a bunch more books to last me through winter. I may quite possibly finish the Drizzt books, and perhaps the Dark Tower as well, though at this point, I'll have to do a complete run through, as I have no clue where I left off and won't remember what all is happening.

New Releases!

This month's segment of new releases features some books that aren't coming out for awhile, but I am excited anyway.  Not to mention, I just found out about some of them!!

1. Ever After - Kim Harrison, January 2013: Hooo Boy, am I excited about this one.  I love me some Rachel Morgan.  She's just such a funny character.  It never fails that I can pick up the Hollows series and it puts me in a good mood.  There is apparently also one more book after this.  **Also, there is apparently going to be a series on CW.  SQUEEEEE!

2.  A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson, January 2013: Oh my, oh my.  Finally.  I don't say that in the sarcastic, whiny way.  It's more of the reverent sort of way.  I'm excited, I'm anxious.  I'M STILL NOT DONE WITH THE FIVE BOOKS THAT PRECEDE IT!!!!!  For those that don't know, Robert Jordan passed away in 2007.  And he's another of my idols.  One that I know I will never, ever be able to emulate, let alone touch.  Somehow, Stephen King is more real to me.  Maybe it's the fact that his On Writing gives some insight.  Maybe it's also the fact that he's still alive.  But, I admire Jordan and adore the series.  One of my 2013 challenges will be to finish this series.

3. Touchstone - Melanie Rawn, December 2012: I am ambivalent about this one.  I love Melanie Rawn.  I do.  Or maybe I should say that I love the Dragon Prince novels.  Those were awesome covered in awesome sauce with a side of.... awesome.  Ruins of Ambrai was lovely.  After she had some personal things to deal with and decided to set RoA aside, I was so annoyed that I refused to pick up any of her other novels.  I currently have The Golden Key checked out from the library.  So, we'll see after I read The Golden Key as to whether or not I pick up this one.  This is technically already released, but it's slated for paperback at the end of this year.

4. Cold Days - Jim Butcher, November 2012: If you've not read about the world's most attractive wizard private investigator, now is the time to do so, since this one is released in November (just in time for my birthday, cough cough).  I love these books.  Harry has to be another one of my favorite characters.  These books are more of those kind that can just make me feel good by reading them.  Harry Dresden will cure whatever ails you.

5. Still Life with Shapeshifter - Sharon Shinn, November 2012:  I read Shinn's Samaria series.  They were interesting and I enjoyed them quite a bit.  I'll have to put my hands on The Shape of Desire, as Still Life is the second in a series.  It sounds quite interesting. 

That's all for now!!

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.