Category: Books

The Last Vampire 1 & 2 by Christopher Pike

The Last Vampire (Last Vampire 1) Black Blood (Last Vampire 2)I picked up The Last Vampire the other day, after unpacking all of my Christopher Pike books.  I became addicted to Pike when I was in 8th grade and basically devoured everything he wrote as soon as it came out.  There might be a couple I missed, but I have almost all of them.  They were packed up for years because I had run out of room on my bookshelves.  When I ran across them while unpacking my apt. I decided they had to come out.

I have to say I still enjoyed the story.  I still really like Sita and I think I am much more intrigued by all the spiritual references to Krishna and so on.  When I read it while I was younger I probably didn’t even pay attention to all that, probably just thought it was made up or something.  After having a religion class in college (which I can’t remember a whole lot of) it made me look at it a little differently.  The second book continued the story, about a month or so later I believe.  I also really enjoyed it.

The sentence structure seems short to me, probably because I have grown to love complicated fantasy novels and classic literature like Jane Eyre.  I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing though, especially when the age range for these books is young adult.  The story is easy to follow and is very engaging.  Sometimes I think the shorter sentences actually puncate what the character is trying to say much better than a long drawn out explanation would.

I am currently reading the third book in the series.  There are a total of six, so I’ll try to post ever two books and let you know if I’m still enjoying the story or whatever.  So far I’m glad I decided to pick these back up.  I have a ton of other Pike books I must go back and re-read now.  I may end up making Pike books into my first collection here on Vox!


three-star


 

Some light reading…

The Frog Princess Dragon's Breath Once Upon a Curse No Place for MagicTales of the Frog Princess
E.D. Baker

I actually read these a while ago, but am just now getting around to posting about them in here.  I believe they’re considered young adult books, I’m not sure what the actual target age is for them.  They’re really good books though.  The author takes a fun twist to all the well known fairytales and such.  Things are thrown in there so subtley that sometimes you’re not sure if it’s from a fairytale you know or not.

The first book, The Frog Princess, introduces us to the main characters and builds the story from there. The other books continue that story with new plots and all the characters you’ve grown to love.  There are singing swords, dragons, fairies, witches, wizards (or warlocks – can’t remember which they call them), trolls, and all manner of mischief and adventure along the way.

Granted I’m well above the age range for these books, but I still enjoyed them immensely.  They’re good, fun, light reading that left me feeling good when I was finished  with them.  It wasn’t anything to take too seriously and I didn’t have to really work to understand the book, which is nice sometimes when you just want to escape.

Highly recommended for people of all ages!


four-star

QotD: I’m reading (or about to read)…

What books are on your nightstand?

The Black Jewels Trilogy Dreams Made FleshThe Black Jewels Trilogy and Dreams Made Flesh
Anne Bishop

I just cleaned off what might be considered my nightstand, but the books that are there right now are The Black Jewels Trilogy and Dreams Made Flesh.  All are very good books.  The Black Jewels Trilogy tells the story of a girl named Jaenelle who grows into a loving and fearsome woman.  Dreams Made Flesh is a collection of short stories that fills in some of the happenings throughout the book.

They are adult in nature, but very good reads if you don’t mind some very adult situations.  I’ve read the BJT books several times (five or six now I think) and Dreams Made Flesh at least twice.  Every time I read them I am just as engaged as the first time I read them. I also find that I tend to read them slower and can therefore learn more things about the characters and the story.

Sharon Shinn: The Dream-Maker’s Magic

Dream-maker's MagicDream-maker’s Magic
Sharon Shinn

This is the third book in the series by Sharon Shinn, and I think it might be my favorite.  Although I still love the second one too, and the first one as well. *laugh*  Maybe I should just be content to say I love them all.

One thing I think I love about these stories is that they seem to balance the good and the bad.  It seems to capture how crazy life can be and the roller coaster ride we all go on while just trying to live our lives.  This book had a very happy ending and one that made me cheer!  I think that’s why I like these so much, they give me hope that things will turn out for the best, even if it doesn’t seem like it.

Highly recommended!


three-star

The Truth-Teller’s Tale by Sharon Shinn

The Truth-Teller's TaleThe Truth-Teller’s Tale
Sharon Shinn

I just got done reading this book.  It was just as good as the first one.  I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to find out more about the characters from the first book, but this book had it’s own amazing characters and story.  I absolutely love the twins.  I guess part of it is because they seem like two sides of my own psyche.

I’m a person that people confide in, yet I am very very bad at telling a lie and can very rarely pass off anything as true that’s not.  The only way I ever do that is to stretch the truth or not tell all of the truth.  If people ask me something outright I answer them honestly.

Adele and Eleda both connected with me in a way that characters in a book don’t often do.  Usually I find traits in a character that  I’d like to have, not ones that are already so close to my own characteristics.  A highly recommended book.  What a wonderful way to spend the morning!


four-star