Tag: book


Aug
2016

The Emperor’s Edge series

categories: Books

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.
Worse, Sicarius, the empire’s most notorious assassin is in town. He’s tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills… or someone wants her dead.

 

The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker
The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker

“A thrilling fantasy adventure!”  – Me

If I had to sum up the Emperor’s Edge books, that would do it.  I will admit I wasn’t sucked in on the very first page, but a few pages past that I was hooked.  A friend of mine recommended The Emperor’s Edge (probably years ago) and I just hadn’t picked it up yet.  Not too long ago I saw the first three books in an omnibus for 99 cents and decided to get it.  I mean, for that price I wasn’t even worried if I ended up not liking it.  Turns out I love it!  I read the first three in less than a week.  The third one (Deadly Games) I even stayed up late to finish although work would be waiting the next morning.  I was so hyped up, strictly from the story, that I could not sleep until I finished it.  I had to know what happened.

Buroker has a gift for witty dialogue, often making me laugh out loud.  The team she has put together in her novels works well, and allows each character to shine.  Everyone has a distinct personality and gets fair page time.  She doesn’t linger too long on one set of characters before checking in with the others, and the team is never split up longer than they need to be.  

These stories have stayed with me as well.  I’m a pretty avid reader, and honestly I don’t remember all of the books I’ve read.  With these books and characters, I want to visit again.  I’ve even dreamed about them!  

And now that I’ve finished all the books and short stories in the Emperor’s Edge series, I’m going to read her box set called The Forgotten Ages, which takes place about 20 years earlier and explores a couple of characters we meet later in the Emperor’s Edge series.  Plus a young assassin apparently makes an appearance.

If you like fantasy and adventure, go for it!  Highly recommended!

four-star

 

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Aug
2016

Wild Irish Rebel

categories: Books

 

A loner at heart…

Morgan McKenzie has been on her own since she ran away from a nightmarish foster home at the age of sixteen. Afraid to put down roots again only to be hurt once more, Morgan prefers to be constantly on the move. Until she is inexplicably pulled to the small Irish town of Grace’s Cove. Before she knows it, Morgan is settling in and forming relationships for the first time in her life. Determined to keep her walls up to protect both her heart and the touch of magick she carries, Morgan fights against her growing attraction for the town’s golden boy, Patrick Kearney.

Patrick can’t keep his eyes off of Morgan. Since the moment he saw Morgan across the dance floor at Keelin’s wedding, Patrick has been lost. Pulled in by her beauty and vulnerability, Patrick’s frustration grows as his advances are continually rebuffed.

As Morgan rebels against her feelings for Patrick, she is swept into a battle against her own worst demons.

I was excited to pick this book up on sale, and delve back into the world that Tricia O’Malley had built with Wild Irish Heart.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, and the short story Wild Irish Roots.  Which only served to highlight my disappointment as I read Wild Irish Rebel.  

The story didn’t read as a final draft, it felt like a first draft that still needed work.  There were also formatting issues with the ebook, that I feel should have been caught before being put up for sale.  But the real issue I have with this book is centered around Patrick’s character.  

His relationship with Morgan throws up red flags all over the place, and I can’t believe that we as readers are supposed to be sympathetic to him, and root for him to get the girl.  Personally,  I think Morgan should have ran the other way.  

He has anger issues, he emotionally pushes and pulls on her, forces her into situations that she’s not ready to handle, and he gives her a promise ring so she won’t run.  And no one calls him out for any of it.   

This is not the kind of story that you want someone to use as a role model for relationships.

one-star

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Jun
2016

Age of Myth

categories: Books

Since time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between men and those they thought were gods changes forever. Now, only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer, Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom, and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over; the time of rebellion has begun.

AgeofMyth

I was so excited to receive an ARC from NetGalley!  I’m a fan of Sullivan’s work, and first started with his Riyria Revelations series.  From there I read the Riyria Chronicles as well.  So maybe I was a little biased going into this, based on how much I’ve enjoyed his past work.  

When the new series was announced I was very eager.  And the first installment, Age of Myth, did not disappoint.  In the Legends of the First Empire Sullivan is expanding the world that readers have come to know through Riyria by taking us back in time so we can learn some of the history as to how this world developed.  Age of Myth is the start of that history, where we see fundamental beliefs challenged.  Humans are learning that elves aren’t gods, and the elves are learning that humans aren’t animals.  

If you haven’t read any of Sullivan’s previous work, that’s not an issue.  You can pick this one up and dive right in.  There are some throwbacks that readers will pick up on.  A few things they’ll recognize from the Riyria novels.  However, I think it would be just as interesting to read the Legends of the First Empire first, and then follow up with Riyria.

Age of Myth is well paced. I was always eager to read more, and did not get bored with any section.  Sullivan has a way of writing a large cast of characters, where each character has their own history.  Sometimes with larger casts some of the characters can come off as two-dimensional. Not here.  Even Grin the Brown has a history that’s woven into the story, making her feel every bit a full fledged character.  And she’s a bear.

I can’t wait for the story to continue in the second novel!

 

five-star

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