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Woven Magic Books

~ Book reviews, Book-ish Babble, and occasional writing advice.

Woven Magic Books

Tag Archives: urban fantasy

Dragon Coast By Greg Van Eekhout

17 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

author, book, book reviews, books, California Bones, characters, fantasy, fantasy heist book, fiction, Greg Van Eekhout, heist book, literature, novel, Pacific Fire, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing

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Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Heist

Pages: 320

Point of View: Third (Daniel, Sam, Gabriel, & Cassandra)

Released: September 15th 2015

Series: Daniel Blackland 3

Predictability: 4 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Review request.

Warning: People eat people to gain powers.

My Rating: 8/10 Stars

Small spoilers for book two were unavoidable. (Really only one spoiler, and more is revealed in the official summary than I tell.) To read my review of California Bones book one instead click here.

My Summary:

Sam is now a Dragon, or trapped inside a Dragon. Daniel’s doing everything he can to get Sam back. He had a perfect plan, but then the Northern kingdom kidnapped the Dragon. So now Daniel has to go undercover in the North to get Sam back.

My Review:

When starting this novel I immediately remembered how much I enjoy the author’s writing. He has a great voice, especially in the way he describes things.

The Good:

I wasn’t sure how he would do the whole Sam is a Dragon thing, but he impressed me. Rather than being the dragon, it’s more like Sam’s trapped inside it. As much as he tries to control it, with a cockpit and controls he fashioned out of bones, it proves stubborn and only occasionally listens.

Daniel’s been working for months on a plan to get Sam back. His old friend Moth and Em, (one of the many golem Emmas.) who is friends with Sam, are helping him. I liked them both and I’m glad they’re back. Cassandra’s in it too. My ship hasn’t sunk yet! I still think she belongs with Daniel. Jo’s even back! (The shape shifter) though not for very long.

I enjoyed all of the new characters. Annabel was my favorite! (I can’t tell you who she is without spoilers. Sorry. But she was one of the best parts of the book!) All of the people at the Northern court were interesting as well, even though Daniel couldn’t trust anyone.

Gabriel and Max’s joking, demeaning, friendship is as great as ever. Cassandra was a good addition to their group. (The three teamed up to locate the dragon while Daniel and Moth went undercover.) Water magic is as complex and interesting as everything else in these books. It’s nice that the author didn’t just do it mentally like most magics. I liked the pipe contraptions Gabriel used to manipulate water.

The pacing was steady until the end when it got a bit intense. (I may have lost some sleep.) The plot, while mostly what I expected, was done well. There wasn’t much thievery in this book, but I didn’t mind.

I hate it when a series ends! I didn’t want this one to end and I was afraid it wouldn’t end well, but I’m very satisfied. And happy. There could so be more books though!

The Bad:

It’s over!

There were a couple small continuity issues. Daniel explained his plan to steal the stone to Moth after he already knew about it. (I’m probably the only one who noticed.) And a stuffed duck momentarily turned into a rabbit. (It makes sense when you read the book.)

Do you mind it when a character comes back from the dead? (Not a spoiler, kind of the whole premise of this book, Daniel trying to get Sam back.) I used to be really annoyed back when I read comic books at all of the reincarnations, but I don’t mind it now as long as it makes sense. (My change in opinion might be due to Supernatural.)

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Sequel Reviews: Miss Misery and Quanta

11 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

author, book, book reviews, books, characters, cypher, Darkest Misery, Darkest Misery By Tracey Martin, dystopian, fantasy, fiction, literature, Lola Dodge, miss misery, new adult, novel, plot, Quanta, Quanta By Lola Dodge, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, Shadow Ravens, stories, story, Tracey Martin, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing, young adult

I always enjoy batch review posts and neither of these were particularly long, so I thought I’d stick them together.


Darkest Misery By Tracey Martin (Miss Misery 4)

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Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Pages: 279

Point of View: First (Jessica)

Released: August 25th 2015

Series: Miss Misery

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: NetGalley

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

See my review of the first three books in the series here.

I needed something to cheer me up after the Croak trilogy and these books always do just that. Though the fourth book in a continuing series, I’m pretty sure you could jump right in and it would still make sense, because everything is explained well.

My Summary:

Jess convinced the various Preds, Maji, and Griffins to sit down and work together to stop the Furies from essentially ending the world. But a murder and some evil Preds from headquarters complicate matters.

Spoiler free explanation for those who haven’t read this series: Preds are supernatural races that feed on negative emotions. Both the evil Furies and the Satyrs are Preds. The magi are magical bird shifters and the Griffins are the magical human police force. Jess is a member of the Griffins, albeit an unwilling one.

My Review:

All of the old characters came back. My favorite, Steph (Jess’ terrific transgender best friend) wasn’t in the book much. Tom, Jess’ supervisor at the Griffins, is growing on me though. I actually like him now, go figure.

I was worried when I read the official summary that Jess pushes her boyfriend away, but doesn’t really, she just goes to France without him. (But that isn’t until halfway through the book.)

The love triangle is still present, and I still don’t care. I love both these guys! And not because they’re perfect, because they aren’t. I know, this doesn’t sound like me at all! I promise I haven’t been body snatched! I just really like the way she does the romance in these books. Though there wasn’t as much banter as the last book there was a sappy moment. (Which shockingly I enjoyed too!)

The romance doesn’t take over the plot though. It’s still about solving mysteries, kicking butt, and saving the world.

The Bad:

Jess still lets her temper get the better of her. Who thought it would be a good idea to make her a mediator anyway?

I hated the head Satyr who showed up! I know I was supposed to, but I seriously want that guy dead! He attacked Jess and that scene really bothered me, because I was afraid he was going to rape her, but he didn’t.

Though it wasn’t to be continued, more storylines were left dangling than in previous books.


Quanta By Lola Dodge

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Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Modified DNA, Seeing the future

Pages: 248

Series: Shadow Ravens

Point of View: First (Quanta & Altair)

Released: October 13th 2015

Predictability: 4 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Netgalley

My Rating: 6/10 Stars

Age Rating:  Swearing, implication of rape and torture. (We know it happened even though it happens off screen and only implied.)

Even though this is the second book, it features a new story and all new characters. Does it stand alone? Mostly. Quanta didn’t do as good a job explaining the world and since I remembered little from Cypher (My review) I was rather confused by all of the terms.

The Stuff I forgot:

In a world where people have scientifically altered DNA the color or your Helix tattoo reveals what you can do. White Helix, also known as the Seligo are the elite. They don’t get sick and they don’t age. Black Helix are warriors with superior strength and stamina, greens have super smarts, blues are mysterious, but have some sort of mind control abilities. Then there’s the red helix, which are said to have unstable DNA. They have out of control powers and are to be captured or killed on sight. The Shadow Ravens are working against the government to free the red helix and protect them.

My Summary:

Quanta is a red helix who can see the future, so she’s spent most of her life in a cell.

Altair lives in a different sort of prison. He’s a green helix, a scientist, pretending to be the perfect son for his senator parents, but he’s only doing it to get information for the resistance.

When Quanta meets Altair she knows they are going to fall in love and she knows it will end badly. (Like both dying badly) So she fights her growing attraction to Altair. It’s not like she trusts people easily anyway. She doesn’t have a choice but to work with him though, because someone came up with a list of red helix’s and they have to discover how.

My Review:

The Good:

I liked how Quanta saw the future and the past. I’ve never read anything like it! She sees time ghosts, people in the space she’s in or connected to an object or person. Sometimes it was jarring having her visions in present tense and the rest in past, but that might have been the point. A lot of thought went into her powers.

We get to see how the elite live through Altair. They were as vain as expected. But some of their kids aren’t as stuck up. Altair’s crazy gamer sister was a great character! Not that the other characters weren’t good, but there wasn’t much opportunity for levity.

The Bad:

Like Cypher, the main characters in Quanta were ‘magically’ linked. Paired. Destined. Whatever. She requires him to have control of her powers. I didn’t like it in the first book and I don’t like it here. This one is a little better, but I still wish it was just a coincidence that he has this effect on her, or their feelings allowed this connection. And I don’t like that Lady Eva scientifically paired them together. Talk about controlling. Plus it spoils the romance!

Although stuff happens, the plot was rather slow for me. They spend the whole book not escaping from the lab. I also didn’t like the way Quanta’s powers grew. (Plot wise I mean.) It’s been done before and this book had the potential for more. (Sorry spoiler avoiding)


Do you like multiple review posts? Because I still can’t find the words to describe the awesomeness that was One Good Dragon Deserves Another, so I might wind up sticking it with another book.

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The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr

19 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, fantasy, fiction, Frankenstein, literature, novel, plot, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, Steampunk, stories, story, The Diabolical Miss Hyde, The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr, urban fantasy, Viola Carr, write, writer, writing

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Genre: Urban Fantasy, Scifi, Steampunk, Mystery, Retelling

Pages: 464

Point of View: First (Eliza and Lizzie)

Released: February 10th 2015

Series: Electric Empire 1

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Bought

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Warnings: Sex and some grossness (see the bad below)

My Summary:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s daughter also has the same affliction. Eliza Jekyll is a scientist and works with the police force. Miss Lizzie Hyde is a thief and likes going to rowdy bars in the bad part of town. Eliza takes a serum to prevent the change, but its starting to not work.

All magic is illegal, so she’s determined to keep her secret, but when a royal society enforcer gets involved with her latest case things get complicated.

My Review:

Let’s see how good Molly’s memory is. I read this book in April, but for some reason I didn’t write a review. (And now I’m angry with my past self.)

This book not only continues Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but Frankenstein too and there’s plenty of originality added in.

The Good:

It’s set in an alternate past, so women are still looked down upon, but both Eliza and Lizzie are strong in their own way and defy convention.

I liked the relationship between the two ‘sisters’ a lot. They started out hating one another, but they still love each other and they come to respect one another over the course of the book. (I’m afraid the sequel will ruin this though based on the description.)

The romance? There were two and oddly I liked the most messed up one the best. (I’m not sure what that says about me.) He sort of reminds me of Hannibal Lector.

This was your basic steampunk world with robots and gadgets. It was mostly sci-fi, but had some Fantasy elements too. (Werewolves, alchemy, and the fey) Eliza’s investigation tools were cool but I didn’t see the reason for the robots, they were just there. (Both her ‘pet’ robot and the guard robots standing around the city.)

Though set in a dark world there’s plenty of light fun dialogue that I enjoyed. The banter wasn’t the best, but it was still cute.

There’s more than one mystery going on and it was all well done. I wasn’t sure who did it until the second half of the book. (Though I did figure it out way before Eliza and Lizzie)

The Bad:

There was a bit of grossness in this book, the case involved women turning up without their limbs, but it mostly didn’t bother me. (And I’m quite the wimp.)

At first if was hard to understand Lizzie. The book starts in her POV and I almost didn’t buy it because of this. I got used to her though and overall I enjoyed her parts.

Verdict: a good, if weird book. (With an awesome cover!)

Have you ever written a review a bit late? This is my first attempt and I’m presently surprised by how much I remembered. (Especially considering how forgetful and scatterbrained I can be.)

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Nice Dragons Finish Last By Rachel Aaron

11 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 33 Comments

Tags

author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, dragon books, fantasy, fiction, heartstrikers, literature, nice dragons finish last, nice dragons finish last by Rachel Aaron, novel, plot, Rachel Aaron, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, stories, story, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing

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Genre: Urban Fantasy, Scifi, Dragons

Pages: 315

Point of View: Third (Julius)

Released: July 15th 2014

Series: Hellstrikers 1

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Mood: Fun, light, action

Source: Bought

My Rating: 9/10 Stars

My Summary:

Unlike normal dragons, Julius likes humans and spends most of his time holed in his room. His mother’s fed up with him, so one day she has him woken up, sealed in human form, and dumped in a city where there’s a bounty on dragons. If he doesn’t prove himself a true dragon in a month, she’ll kill him.

Julius hires Marci, a young mage, to assist him, but she has problems of her own. She stole something from a mobster and he wants it back.

My Review:

This book has ALL of my weaknesses! Why didn’t I read it sooner?!

A futuristic fantasy! I love when SciFi and fantasy merge and it worked great here! After a comet hit years ago, magic was reawakened and now everyone knows about it. The reawakened spirits, mages, and dragons have reshaped our world. Most of this book takes place in the city of Detroit Free Zone, a city of spirits where its illegal to pollute the water, but pretty much everything except murder is legal. The rich live in high superscrapers and then there’s the ‘colorful’ underground. The magic system was simple, but well thought out. Technology and magic mesh together to create special phones and self driven cars. It was all so cool and well done!

My favorite aspect of course was the dragons and their culture. They’re truly cutthroat and highly magical and strong. (Julius still has his strength, even if he can’t turn into a dragon with the powers of fire and flight.) His mother has dozens of children. So many that she names each clutch by a letter of the alphabet to keep them straight. A is the oldest and she’s currently on J, making Julius one of the youngest at only 24.

Julius is a great protagonist! He’s spent his life bending to his family and feeling like a weak failure, since he’s a nice dragon. (Weakness no 1, the good monster hehe!) He really grew throughout this book and not only got tougher but accepted himself. Marci’s a doctoral student who believes in very structured magic. She’s been through a lot recently, but she’s smart and tough.

Both of the main characters are awkward so that made the romance cute. She also doesn’t know he’s a dragon. (Which I loved, the whole secret identity thing! And a forbidden romance!)

The Bad:

The only thing that kept this from a perfect book in my opinion is I wanted more humor, or maybe some banter.

There were also quite a few errors in my Kindle version. (But this is a self published book)

Will I read the next one? I already am!!

I tried to get my sister to read this, since dragons are her favorite, but apparently she doesn’t like human dragons. (Picky picky)

What’s your favorite fantasy creature? Dragons are high on my list (particularly human ones) but if mages count they’re probably number one and as overused as they are I still have a weakness for vampires.

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The Shadow Revolution By Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

03 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, clay Griffith, clay Griffith and Susan Griffith, fantasy, fiction, literature, novel, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, Susan Griffith, the shadow revolution, the shadow revolution by clay Griffith and Susan Griffith, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing, young adult

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Genre: Urban Fantasy, Steampunk

Pages: 320

Point of View: Third (Simon, Kate, Gretta, Malcolm)

Released: June 2nd 2015

Series: Crown & Key 1

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Netgalley

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

My Summary:

A werewolf is loose in London and Simon, a magician and playboy, is after it for personal reasons.

Kate, the daughter of a rich adventurer, intends to discover what’s been done to her sister.

My Review:

This book took me longer than I expected since I couldn’t read it at night. (Nightmares) It’s rather violent, gruesome, and has scary monsters. (Although I am a wuss.)

At the beginning some of the lines were so over the top I couldn’t tell if the authors were serious, (Grins that blazed in the darkness, and striking cavalier poses) but the writing quickly improved.

Simon’s a party boy, and a womanizer, and at first I couldn’t stand him, but over the course of the book he grew on me.

Malcolm said it best:

“Once I thought little of you, but I was wrong. You are an honorable man, and while there are times I would as soon throw you through that window, I’d stand with you if you need me.”

Kate’s fiery and strong, and exactly my kind of heroine. I wasn’t sure about her judgment, being attracted to Simon and all, but she proves herself to be a smart woman. My favorite character was Simon’s best friend Nick. He’s a slob who would rather use magic to change his appearance than dress up and he always calls Simon on his failings. I wish he had a point of view too! He’s a much needed bit of comic relief. Malcolm the solemn werewolf hunter and Penny the spunky mechanic were also nice additions.

Simon’s potentially the last scribe, and uses runes to invoke magic. Nick’s a jack of all trades when it comes to magic and is Simon’s teacher. Kate practices alchemy, but despite her father’s vast travels, she’s never encountered magic before. If you ask me, magic needs limits. Those limits were unique here, as Simon acts drunk when he’s used too much magic!

There wasn’t much mystery, but I didn’t have a clue what the villains were up to. (And still mostly don’t) I prefer a little more story with my action, but the action well done so I can’t complain.

All three books of this trilogy come out in the month of June!

I probably should’ve rated this higher, but the gruesomeness was a bit much for me. I always feel guilty rating a good book lower for personal reasons. Do you rate based on your personal opinion?

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Miss Misery Series by Tracey Martin

27 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

author, book, book reviews, books, characters, fantasy, fiction, literature, miss misery, novel, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, Tracey Martin, urban fantasy, wicked misery, write, writer, writing

wickedmiseryWICKED MISERY

Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Pages: 306

Point of View: First (Jessica)

Released: October 7th 2014

Series: Miss Misery

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Goodreads First Reads

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

I won this book from Goodreads First Reads program! (I hadn’t thought that possible.)

Unlike most Urban Fantasy books I’ve found lately with the traditional vampires, werewolves, and some sort of ruling council, Wicked Misery actually has a unique world! The world building was easily the best part of the book! (You all know how I am about world building)

There are humans with magic and they all work for the Griffins, a sort of police organization. And then there are the Preds; Satyrs, goblins, furies, harpies and Sylphs. These people have to feed off negative human emotions to live. (Satyrs lust, goblins greed, furies wrath, harpies jealously and sylphs vanity) They addict people to their powers and feed off of them.

Jessica is a human, but she has a power that is similar to that of a pred. At eighteen she was kicked out of the school preparing her for the Gryphons and told her gift had dried up, but it didn’t, it changed. She’s made the most of a bad situation, using her gift to find people who are truly evil and trading their souls to the preds. People make deals with preds in exchange for becoming an addict and Jessica trades a blood sample from a rapist or pedophile to the preds to save people who have come to her for help.

Jessica was a likable enough main character, if a bit abrasive at times. I liked her best friend Steph, sassy and unique, a computer expert and transsexual. Lucen was also a mysterious and sexy love interest. He’s been her friend for ten years, but she doesn’t really trust him because he’s a Satyr. The other Satyrs were cool too. (I personally have a bit of a crush on Devon.)

The way Jess could taste negative emotions was a nice addition. Like she doesn’t like anxiety because it tastes like spearmint to her and suspicion tastes like chocolate, which usually gives her a craving for cake.

The plot was quick and well paced. The murder mystery was obvious from the beginning, but I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the preds and Jessica’s powers.

The book was written in a lighter tone which was supposed to be funny, but wasn’t really. (It wasn’t bad funny though.) Okay I realize I need an example since I’m not making much sense. This paragraph pretty much sums up her humor.

I was also a twenty-eight-year-old waitress who carried a chip on her shoulder for having her dreams crushed at the age of eighteen. Who was I kidding? The thing I had the most of was not mojo. It was issues. Enough to keep your average psychiatrist employed for years, probably.

The Bad:

I was annoyed when Jess acted recklessly. In my opinion such a heroine is only a weak plot device. I hate it when she says, ‘this is stupid, this is suicidal’ and then does it anyway. If she wasn’t the main character she’d so be dead!


 LITTLE MISS MISERY

In the sequel she’s not as stupid, but she’s meaner. These people are your friends! They helped you! Could you get off your moral high horse and be nice for a change Jess?

Also the author decided to add in sex, which got a bit repetitive after a while. (Also the case she was investigating was sexual in nature.) At least the romance didn’t take over the plot.

The mystery was upped a notch. I didn’t know who’d done it until they told me!


 MISERY LOVES COMPANY

Finally banter! That’s what was missing from this series!

Also Jessica doesn’t act stupidly and she’s nicer! 

The mystery’s good too! (Still a little sex, but Satyrs are essentially succubus, so that’s to be expected.)

After that sequel I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue this series, but I’m glad I did. I rate this one 8/10!

I love how in each book we find out more about the world and the preds. It adds another layer of fantasy and mystery. (and since the world is the best part, it’s nice to keep getting more.)


I’m on an urban fantasy kick now. I love it when I find a series that just makes me want more. (In this case it was more Generation V that started it) Anyone know of a good Urban Fantasy? Before this year pretty much the only one I really liked was The Dresden Files.

If you’re interested in this series, they’re cheaper if you buy them from the publisher since there’s a 40% off all romance code. [COSMO1412] Yes, they’re only $5 normally. I’m insanely cheap what can I say.

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California Bones and Pacific Fire by Greg Van Eekhout (Double Spoiler Free Review)

29 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

author, book, book reviews, books, California Bones, characters, fantasy, fantasy heist book, fiction, Greg Van Eekhout, heist book, literature, novel, Pacific Fire, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing

californiabonesGenre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Heist

Pages: 304

Point of View: Third (Daniel & Gabriel)

Released: June 10, 2014

Series: Daniel Blackland 1

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: Owned

Warning: People eat people to gain powers.

My Rating: 8/10 Stars

My Summary:

Daniel’s father was a powerful osteomancer, someone who can gain magical abilities from eating bones. During one of the Hierarch’s cullings (Bad guy’s excuse to kill people) he’s killed by powerful magicians and then the Hierarch himself  ‘gains his powers’. (Yeah it’s exactly how you think.)

Years later Daniel’s become a thief and his ‘uncle’ (a mobster type business man who essentially raised him since he was twelve) wants him to break into the Hierarch’s Ossuary (vault) and steal some fangs that are worth a fortune. He can also get back his father’s sword, which is magically tied to him.

My Review:

This is one of those books that I was overwhelmed when I finished and had to let my mind stew for a day before I could write my review.

The Good:

The magical system is so unique! Mythical creatures used to roam the world; griffins, hydras, fire drakes, and more. Now oseomancer’s can obtain their powers by consuming these fossils. The magic is scientifically explained so that it actually makes sense. Most osteomancers have to keep eating the bones to keep their powers, but due to his father’s experiments, Daniel doesn’t. (He doesn’t suffer from special protagonist syndrome either.)

The other great part about this novel was the world building! Set in an alternate California, the southern portion is ruled by the Hierarchy. Though most of the economy revolves around osteomancy, they also have technology; electricity, television, and firearms. Instead of roads they have canals, and use boats for transportation. (Like Venice)

We don’t learn much about the world outside of California, and I’m also uncertain when this book takes place. Because most of the dates mentioned have to do with the Heirarch and he’s has lived for decades. (But I didn’t mind not knowing!)

The Heirarch’s one of those villains where we don’t know anything about him other than he’s creepy, evil, and powerful. (My favorite villains are the ones I feel like I’ve gotten to know, but I don’t think the author was going for sympathetic here.)

The main characters are Daniel’s old friends and fellow thieves. Cassandra (Daniel’s ex) is an expert thief and sharp shooter. She’s probably the most valuable person in the group, and the only one without magic. The other members of the heist team are Jo a shapeshifter, Moth the muscle and due to an accident he has magical healing, and Emma the inside woman who we’re not sure we can trust. I liked how Daniel’s crew had his back and trusted him no matter what.

The other narrator is Gabriel, the Hierarch’s great nephew who’s a paper pusher in the government. I wasn’t sure if I liked him, but I enjoyed his chapters with his hound Max. Max is really a man, but he was turned into a hound (not literally) by being fed magic to increase his sense of smell and now he’s treated like an animal by the government.

All of the characters were good, but I wanted to learn more about them and their histories. (You know me, I have so many questions) There also wasn’t any romance, even though Daniel still has feelings for Cassandra. I wish they bantered more, but I guess there wasn’t time.

This is a quick paced novel and though the plot was solid, it was in my opinion the weakest part of the book, especially in the end. I’m not saying there was anything wrong with it, it was just my least favorite part. (When I finished this book, I knew I really liked it but there was something bothering me. After two days of thinking this is all I’ve been able to come up with.)

The Bad:

My main complaint was that the book was so short, (Only 300 pages!) and there was so much more that could have been added. There were so many good characters I wanted more of, more of the world, and just generally more. Don’t get me wrong the author was able to write an amazing book. (It’s not a standalone but it could be) This easily could’ve been a thousand page book and I wouldn’t have complained.


 

PACIFIC FIRE 

(No Spoilers even if you haven’t read California Bones)

pacificfire

Pages: 336

Point of View: Third (Sam, Daniel & Gabriel)

Released: January 26, 2015

Series: Daniel Blackland 2

Predictability: 2 out of 5

Source: Netgalley

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

My Summary:

Sam is a golem. (Which I think is really cool!) Daniel adopted Sam ten years ago. Since then they’ve been running from basically everyone. The high magical concentration in Sam means everyone wants him.

Gabriel contacts Daniel, the powers in Los Angeles are uniting to create a living Pacific Firedrake. (Gigantic dragon of doom) Daniel is the only one with enough power to destroy it. He plans to leave Sam where it’s safe, but teenagers sometimes don’t do as they’re told.

My Review:

While book one was heist oriented Pacific Fire is more of a journey novel.

The Good:

We get to see more of Southern California outside Los Angeles, but it wasn’t anything special, dirty motels, old trucks, and desert.

The atmosphere that made the first book is present again. I’d say this is a darker fantasy, but there are still lighter moments.

The characters remain very real and flawed. (None of them are described as beautiful!) I enjoyed getting to know Sam and Em. Both were great characters, particularly Em. Sam falls in love easily (he knows this) and he hasn’t had many friends because he never stays in one place. It was nice watching him becoming friends with Em and attempting to flirt.

We also met a couple of new bad guys Mistress Cauldron and Madam Tooth. I liked how the characters from the first book appeared again and we got to see how they’ve grown over the past decade.

The best part of the books remains the magic. Here there’s new social uses and magical bombs and tools.

The plot was just as good as the first book, but it was even less predictable! All I can say about the ending is that I never saw it coming. I’m so glad the last one will be coming out later this year, because again I needed more!


 

Do you write your reviews right away or do you like to think about the book for a day or so?

I almost always write my review right away, so I don’t forget. I try to make myself write the review before I let myself start the next book. But sometimes, like with California Bones, I just needed time to process.

Sorry this review was so long! I had a lot to say about California Bones, but I didn’t want to put off my review of Pacific Fire since the book came out this week. Thanks for reading all of this. 🙂

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Generation V, Iron Night, and Tainted Blood by ML Brennan

16 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 45 Comments

Tags

author, book, book reviews, books, characters, fantasy, fiction, Generation V, Iron Night, kitsune, literature, ML Brennan, novel, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, Tainted Blood, urban fantasy, vampires, write, writer, writing

generationvGenre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, shape shifters, fairies

Pages: 312

Point of View: First (Fortitude)

Released: May 7, 2013

Predictability: 4 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: I got this book for Christmas yay!

Warning: Violence and gore (mentions child rape)

My Rating: 8/10 Stars

My Summary:
Fortitude Scott works at a coffee joint, due to his useless degree in film theory. His roommate owes him months of rent and his girlfriend is cheating on him. He’s also a vampire, or he will be after he transitions. Something he dreads and is doing everything he can to postpone.

When a girl is killed and two others are kidnapped and Fort knows a vampire is responsible he can’t just do nothing.

My Review:

By now you all probably know how much I love a funny and sarcastic protagonist, but Fort upped the ante by being a nerd too! I loved all the geeky references!

These are some of the most unique vampires I’ve read about. (And I have a bit of a vampire addiction as long as it isn’t a romance book) Also there’s the Kitsune, (fox shape shifters with illusion magic) which are a favorite of mine from Japanese mythology and they were also really well done.

Fort’s full name is Fortitude and his siblings are Prudence and Chivalry. His family are vampires, so they have questionable morals, but despite not being exactly good people they were interesting and I liked them. Fort and Suzume the fox were my favorites though.

A few reviewers complained because Fort is very much a doormat and a wimp, but I could relate to him and I figured that way he has room to grow into being a hero. (It’s only when a previously strong character gets weak that annoys me)

This book was quick and enjoyable. Feels like more. 🙂


SPOILER FREE SEQUEL REVIEWS


 

ironnightIRON NIGHT

Pages: 305

Released: January 7, 2014

Warning: Violence and gore (mentions torture)

My Rating: 9/10 Stars

My Summary:

Fortitude has a new job and a new roommate, both improvements from last year. Iron Night takes place four months after the end of Generation V and Fort’s been working out with his older brother Chivalry. He’s also gotten to be good friends with the Kitsune Suzume, which comes with its own problems. When someone is murdered and dumped in Fort’s apartment, his family dismisses it as a human matter, but Fort can’t let it go.

My Review: 

I liked this book as much as the first and the mystery and plot were even better! The growing friendship between Suzume and Fort was great! I was afraid because Suze is a tough character to pull off because she’s so complicated and unpredictable, but she was even more fun in this book!

Chivalry isn’t in the book much, because he’s spending more time with his dying wife, but we got more Prudence instead. She’s a scary character, a true vampire at heart. I enjoyed watching her relationship with Fort. (Is it wrong to like a Sociopath?)

I liked the new characters that were added as well, mostly the potential love interest. She was cute and sweet and perfect for Fort. Even though I liked her I still want Fort and Suzume to get together because I love them both, but oh boy would that be a whirlwind of a romance.


 

taintedbloodTAINTED BLOOD

Pages: 306

Released: November 4, 2014

Warning: Violence and gore

My Rating: 8/10 Stars

My Summary:

While Chivalry is spending time with his dying wife, Fortitude’s been put in charge of the family business. Along with his new partner the Kitsune Suzume. It’s been mostly quiet for the first month he’s been in charge, but now the head werebear (don’t call them that) has been murdered and it’s up to Fort to investigate.

My Review:

I enjoyed the growing relationship between Fort and Suzume. They trust each other more now and confide in one another. And joke of course. (I want a friend like Suzume!)

I like how in each book we learn more about this world. Here we not only learned about the werebears, but also a little bit about the ghouls who run funereal homes and do autopsy’s.

There was of course still plenty of family drama. I didn’t like Chivalry as much, but I feel like I understand Prudence better. (Yep she’s psycho)

It was strange that Fort had the family behind him for once and all of their resources. (Which surprisingly didn’t help much) I didn’t think this mystery was as well done as the previous ones, but that could be because I figured it out right away. The ride to get there was still really fun. I just love these books!

The fourth book, Dark Ascension will be published on August 4th 2015. I can’t wait!

If you like Generation V, I recommend Hold my Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride. (Or if you like Necromancer, Generation V) They’re quite different, but the tone is the same.

Do you ever do that, find a book you love and go looking for another just like it? 

Oddly enough I searched for another like Generation V, but couldn’t find one. A week later I started Necromancer and was pleasantly surprised.

If anyone knows of another book like Generation V, please let me know! 🙂

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Immortal By Gene Doucette Review and Interview

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Molly Mortensen in Book Reviews

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

author, author interview, book, book reviews, books, characters, fantasy, fantasy comedy, fiction, Gene Doucette, Immortal, Netgalley, novel, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, urban fantasy, vampires, writer, Writer's Coffee Shop

Immortal

Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Comedy

Pages: 279

Point of View: First (Adam)

Released: March 8, 2012

Predictability: 4 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: Netgalley

Comedy Scale: 2 amusing, but I didn’t laugh aloud.

My Rating: 5/10 Stars

Warning: This is an adult book for violence, sex, and adult humor.

I requested this book on Netgalley and I was contacted by Cindy at The Writer’s Coffee Shop who asked if I wanted to do a blitz or something to help promote the third book in the series. I hadn’t read it yet, but I jumped at the chance to interview an author! Even though I’ve never really interviewed anyone before. (I don’t figure those times for school counted.)

My Summary:

Adam has been around for thousands of years, he likes to say that he predates written history. In modern times someone’s found out that he’s immortal and will do anything to get their hands on him.

My review:

I am a sucker for funny books, so I when I read the summary I was sold. I mean, a funny immortal guy? I’m there.

There’s also more to the world than just one immortal guy, there’s vampires, iffrits, demons and all sorts of other things, which was cool.

I’m still not sure if I like the main character or not. He’s definitely an antihero; killing when necessary, and not always saving people, though he does feel bad about it later. He’s also a drunk. (He was drunk for like 90% of this book.)

The good:

I liked that for once there was an immortal who liked being immortal, even if he is a bit cynical about everything. He doesn’t want to die, and he’s a unique immortal, because he’s pretty sure that things that would kill a normal person would kill him too, he just doesn’t age or get sick.

There’s an info dump at the beginning telling about his life, but I didn’t mind it at all, because it was well done and witty. I loved his ability to blend into with whatever culture he’s around, his skin tone and hair changing. I wish this had been used more, it was a unique little twist.

He makes many observations about humans that really added to the story and made me believe the whole immortal thing. Like he comments that there are only so many faces out there, so it’s weird running into someone you used to know.

I actually liked the flash backs better than the main story. I understand the need for flashbacks with an immortal character living a long life, but the flash forwards (thankfully done in italics) complicated things a bit too much. Once it stays in one time the pace really picked up and it was a more enjoyable read.

The Bad:

I didn’t like the Iffrit Jerry, I thought he was crude. Fortunately he isn’t in the book much.

Towards the middle of the book it gets into the whole sex thing.

Adam’s done some horrible things in his life, (He always defends himself in parentheses saying it was what everyone at the time did.) but some of those things are pretty unforgiveable.

For instance when talking about his early life (cave man type days) he said: “We won the fight and rewarded ourselves by raping several of their women. It’s what one did. Don’t ask me to feel bad about it if you weren’t there.” This wasn’t funny and was completely unnecessary.

Verdict: Immortal is hard book to rate, because I liked most of it and it’s certainly an amusing book, with some interesting details, but there were aspects that I really didn’t like.

forever

Odd fact: I was watching that new show Forever (which is very good by the way) and at the end of the second episode (Minor spoiler alert) the bad guy says something which totally made me think of this book.

“You want to call me something, call me Adam, feels like I’ve been here right from the beginning.“ – Adam, Forever

“I like to brag that I’ve been there from the beginning, and while this may very well be true, I generally just say it to pick up girls.” -Adam, The Immortal


 

gdoucette

About the Author

Gene Doucette is the acclaimed author of Immortal and Hellenic Immortal, the sci-fi thriller Fixer, and (as G Doucette) the erotic horror thriller Sapphire Blue. He is also the author of multiple short stories– including The Immortal Chronicles series– is a prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, and a published humorist and essayist. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife and two children.

Twitter * Facebook * Website

 

My Interview with Author Gene Doucette:

What’s your favorite place to write? Do you like to be alone and quiet or noisy in public? 

I’ve been writing for long enough to have had a study/computer room for my desktop computer, which was a vast thing that could only be carried around in the event of a fire.  In the age of the laptop, I have found myself writing in all sorts of places.  For instance, right now I’m sitting at a table at Panera.  My preference, though, is quiet.  I’d rather be home and bouncing between the bedroom and a comfy chair in the living room, provided there is no television on in the living room.

What book character are you most like? (or favorite book character if you can’t think of one)

Do you mean any book, or Immortal at the Edge of the World?  If you mean my book, then I’m most like Adam, unless he’s most like me.  He’s smarter than I am, but I’m funnier.  Probably.  If you mean out of any book in the world, still Adam.

What are your plans for the future, do you have another book series in the works?

I have The Immortal Chronicles to keep up.  Those are short stories about events in Adam’s past, and they’re fun and easy to write and people like them.  I’ll continue that.  I also have a project I’m starting called M Pallas, which will appear—whenever it’s ready—as a lengthy series of novellas amounting to a large and hopefully interesting whole.  And I’m mulling over a new trilogy for Adam.

Who are your favorite authors? Anyone who inspired Immortal?

Immortal wasn’t inspired by anybody.  I wanted to write a novel and I’d been writing a lot of non-fic humor columns, so I thought it would be fun to try writing a first person story from the perspective of an immortal man in the same basic tone I had learned to perfect in my humor columns.  So he became sort of a fictional long-form blogger.  I think my favorite author right now might be Neal Stephenson, because he’s consistently operating at a level I can’t even comprehend reaching as a writer.

Are your characters all fiction or do people you know creep in there?

A whole person would never creep in, because fiction writing doesn’t really work like that.  I will pick up traits from the people around me and use them, but that’s more about understanding human nature and using that understanding to build simulacrums.  So yes, all my characters are fiction, but they’re also real people.

Are you a planner or do your characters have minds of their own?

Those two options aren’t really opposites.  I don’t plan or outline, but I have a clear idea of where a story is going to end up.  How I get there is entirely up in the air until I start writing.  Now, characters do have a mind of their own, but that’s more a commentary on how I create characters than on anything else.  I tend to use dialogue to define a character—I was a playwright before I was a novelist—and dialogue is very much about people saying what makes the most sense in response to what was said to them.  Sometimes the characters say something that I didn’t expect, and that can change stuff around.  It just doesn’t change the ending.

Would you share a funny story with us? [I borrowed this question for Lola. ;)]

I’ve been thinking about this question for two or three days now, thanks.  Apparently, I have no funny stories.  My life is an unremitting tragedy.  Look away, look away.

If Immortal became a movie, who would you want to cast?

This has been a topic of a lot of discussions in the Cult of the Immortal.  I created Adam long enough ago that the answer to this question could have reasonably been Robert Downey Jr. or Johnny Depp, but they are both too old and too famous now.  These days I’m leaning toward someone like Misha Collins, or Chiwetel Ejiofor.

If you were a character in a book would you want to be the hero, the villain, the sidekick or the love interest?

Oh I’d have to be the hero.

Thanks for letting me read your book and interview you!


immortal-edge-of-world

 

The third book in the Immortal series, Immortal At the Edge of the World, comes out October 2nd, 2014. Preorder from: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and TWCS PH.

 

 

 

TWCS

If you had a chance to interview your favorite author what would you ask?

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