Review: The Farwalker's Quest

The Farwalker's Quest by Joni Sensel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The Farwalker's Quest is billed as a Middle Grade Fantasy, but aside from the age of the main characters (12), I really found it quite mature. It's grim (lots of death) and even gruesome at times, so I'm not sure I would recommend it for the younger Middle Grade readers. It's more adventure than introspection or romance, though, so I'm guessing that's why it's not classed as YA.

The story is set in the far future of Earth after a war of technology killed off most of the population. Technology is basically legend, and humans have returned to an isolated village sort of existence so it has more of a Fantasy feel than Sci Fi or Dystopia.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the world, and grew attached to the main characters. I'm looking forward to picking up the sequels sometime soon.



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Review: Veil of Pearls

Veil of Pearls by MaryLu Tyndall

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I picked this up as a Kindle Daily Deal, thinking the story of an escaped slave and a plantation owner's son had to be interesting. And it was, especially for this type of romance. What I wasn't anticipating was the overly mystical preachiness.

I've read some Christian authors who don't rub your face in it, but this one got to be too much for me. Too much prayer, rationalizing events to fit them into a certain idea of faith, and even worse - magical divine intervention all over the place, including disembodied voices telling characters what to do and a mysterious ghost (I mean vision) that keeps appearing and quoting scriptures. This was simply too much for me.

So I'm not the target audience, obviously. I feel it could have been a stronger story without miraculous intervention, and I'm glad to be done with it. Thankfully my list of books bought this way is getting smaller.


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Review: Kushiel's Dart

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



First, a warning. The world of Kushiel’s Dart involves a religion that includes sex as worship (some pretty weird masochistic sex-worship at that), with courtesans who have multiple partners of both sexes. It is explicit in ways that are uncomfortable to me at times. If this kind of content is uncomfortable to you - well, you might be able to get past it like I did.

I am not usually fond of books that have a strong sexual aspect, but this was part of a very well-defined religion in a world full of political intrigue and danger. Though a bit shocked at first, I grew attached to the characters, invested in their inner conflicts and caught up by their motivations. And after the foundations of the society are built, the masochism and sex-worship do fade into the background to allow a more political plot to come to the fore.

I include this series among my favorites because of the world-building, intrigue and compelling characters. It gets very dark at times (another trait I typically don’t go for), and does take a while to get going, but still I can’t help numbering it a favorite. I have to say I did prefer the second trilogy because the main character is not actually a courtesan, so the sexual aspect is a bit more muted later on.



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Review: Journey of the Wanderer

Journey of the Wanderer by Shawna Thomas

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Although I've been mostly ambivalent about this series much of the way, when I started this book there were several hanging questions that I was actually eager to get to. But I got a sinking feeling when I realized that the story had skipped ahead two years from the cliffhanger ending of the last book. That feeling turned to resignation when I realized that I was getting completely new character POVs. Those that I had already invested in just faded away - again. There's a certain level of cohesion that I hoped would emerge between the four books that just didn't happen and only confirmed my ambivalent feelings about the previous books.

I don't mind adding new characters, mind you, but I also want to follow through with already existing characters to see how their piece fits into the story. Unfortunately, supporting characters appear when they're needed as props and then disappear when they're not. I found this frustrating and disappointing since I liked some of the characters and cultures and would have enjoyed reading more about them. It would have been so much more satisfying and added some more depth to the narrative.

Now that the series is finished, there are so many loose strings left hanging without a purpose. Clearly, this story just sort of rambled out as things occurred to the author because it shifts from book to book without any cohesion other than Ilythra seeking to unite the stones (but often not really actually doing anything very decisive towards that goal), and Bredych being manipulative and evil. Even though I liked much about the world and the characters, other than Ilythra herself neither were developed well or consistently enough to provide a satisfying story for me. Overall, the series is going to rate 2 stars, having some potential but failing to realize it.



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Review: Magic Bites

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book got me out of a reading slump! It was a refreshing read, and I'm tempted to pick up the next book right away - but I won't because I'm going to pace myself on this series.

I liked the take on magic and tech in Modern-day Atlanta. Kate is a seriously tough heroine, even tough enough to admit when she screws up. There's more gore than I anticipated, but that's fine. There's also very little romance, which is great. Urban Fantasy that sticks to the point and doesn't get all steamy! This was a great start to a series. I can't wait to get to know these characters better.



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Review: Princess of the Sword

Princess of the Sword by Lynn Kurland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm finally getting back to review this last book in the original Nine Kingdoms trilogy. There was less blubbering in Princess of the Sword, thank goodness! I enjoyed the cozy fantasy elements of this world even though the world building was kind of vague. And this was a decent ending to the story even though the final conflict was a bit too easy to call it anything close to epic.

There was a bit too much focus on the romance for me, though. Too much romantic lingering, standing around hugging and talking quietly. And the big conflict ended so early that I thought it was a false victory for a while. But no - there were just 60 pages of happily ever after at the end. Which is why this was more romance than fantasy.

I haven’t really read much in the Romantic Fantasy genre, so now I know what to expect from it. I do like a bit of romance in my fantasy, but I think I have to be in the right mood for something like this with romance as the main focus. I probably would have done better with this trilogy if I'd taken a break between books, but the cliffhanger endings got me.

Still, I might revisit the genre again someday, and will probably pick up the next book set in the Nine Kingdoms at some point. It's enjoyable enough if you want a romance with a fantasy backdrop (especially if you want a very chaste romance). It's slightly frustrating if you’re more interested in the fantasy and world building and want a more difficult struggle for the fate of the world.

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Review: The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The Princess Bride is obviously a great classic tale, so I wasn’t sure what to expect reading the book when I’ve seen the movie many times. What I found was that I was basically watching the movie in my head, as scenes and lines were often identical. The excellent, witty dialogues that are so memorable are undeniably the best parts of the book, and I enjoyed them very much as the movie was reeling in my head.

I found the parts that were left out of the movie boring and I ended up skimming those a lot. Especially the narrator remarks - they are way too long and digress a lot on insignificant details that are probably supposed to be clever. I think the movie dealt with the 'asides' quite well considering the original. Since I never really cared for the plot device that interrupts a story anyway, I kept skipping to the actual story.

Honestly, I think this is a clever book worthy of the classic label, but the movie takes the best of the book and immortalizes it. If you haven’t watched the movie, the book is probably great. But if you have, the movie is better and I’m not sure you need to experience the book. Actually, I now feel that I need to go watch the movie again.



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Review: Shadowmarch

Shadowmarch by Tad Williams

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm a fan of Tad Williams. I've read his Memory of Sorrow and Thorn series twice, and plan to read Otherland again someday. But this one is just not for me. It's definitely in the category of Dark Fantasy, and I'm not ready to read 2500 pages of bleakness, hopelessness, and madness.

I know when it starts out bad only to get worse, when everything that could go wrong does, and everyone who started out solid begins to fall apart and twist into something else, that it's not going to improve through the next 4 books. The intro/setup is likely the highest point in the whole series, which is not saying much.

I decided long ago not to put myself through depressing reading because it's not something I can enjoy. I had read reviews saying that this series fell into the Dark Fantasy category, but I had to try it for myself. I tried it. I don't want to read anymore of it. I will still read more of Tad Williams' work that is not in this category in the future.

Edit: I normally rate books 1 star that I can't even finish, but I'm giving this 2 stars just because I do like Williams' writing style. He's good.



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Review: Everneath

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was beginning to think I had moved beyond being able to enjoy the YA Paranormal genre, but Everneath is actually one of the better ones I’ve read in a while. I will admit I’m past being able to relate even remotely to high school drama, dances, curfews and the idea of parents who still tell me what to do (maybe even to the point of nostalgia). But the selling points for me were the modern take on the Persephone myth and the romance, which was neither insta-love nor a real love triangle (although there is a 2nd guy in the mix, I didn’t see him as a real option).

The story starts in the middle, after Nikki has already paid the price for her disastrous choice to go to the underworld. We see the fallout of her decision, and flash back to the (stupid) reasons she made it. Now she’s hoping to put her old life back together and somehow avoid the ultimate fate that awaits her - the closing of the trap she’s already triggered.

As with many of these Paranormals, once I looked back I couldn’t point to a whole lot that actually happened (because a lot of it is at school or a dance or doing other high school-ish activities), but there were some tense moments towards the end of the book, and I’m looking forward to picking up the sequel and seeing where this one is headed.



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