This week's WIR is brought to you from rural Ontario! I am not that far away from Kelley Armstrong...not that I am stalking her, of course. I have actually managed to get a book read in between eating too much apple pie and driving my elderly mother around. So what did I read?
I finished He Drank and Saw The Spider by Alex Bledsoe which I will be writing a full review for so can't say too much. I then did a little tour of my recommendations on Amazon and found a new book in a series that I thought had already finished - The Emperor's Edge series by Lindsay Buroker. Buroker polled her fans who wanted to read more stories of Amaranthe, Sicarius and friends. Republic is book 8 of the series and starts a few months after the end of book 7 - Forged in Blood Part 2 - with our hapless heroine and her assassin boyfriend on board the President's submarine. They are called back by President Starcrest and its not long before they are embroiled in multiple plots from a murderous cult, attempts to kill the President to an alien plant that is taking over the city. Almost everyone is back. Rather than the story being told by just Amaranthe and one other character there are multiple voices in this one. There are POVs from the main characters Amaranthe and Sicarius plus Maldynado, the president's wife and daughter (Tikaya and Mahliki) and the former child emperor Sespian. It really made for a more robust plot having it told by the different points of view. I don't think this would have worked so well earlier in the series as it would have created too much noise and distracted from the development of the characters.
I am always a bit dubious when authors finish a series and then release more books. Invariably I am left a bit disappointed especially, when I liked the ending of the series. I felt that way with Republic. I started out really liking the series but thought it went on a book or two too long and finding another book made me really hesitate. I thought familiar characters would make it an easy book to read when I had the potential of lots of interruptions. The book ended up having 2 main threads - the assassination of Starcrest and the alien plant. Both of these plots lent themselves well to the characters that were involved in each and played to their strengths but were a tiny bit long winded. Overall, I thought Republic was OK. I kind of wished that Buroker would have left these characters in book 7 but it didn't ruin the series for me. I do hope that this is it for Amaranthe and friends as another book will be too much.
Lucky me discovered a new book had downloaded on Tuesday - Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones. This is the latest in the Charley Davidson series and finds my favourite grim reaper doing what she does best - getting in trouble. I am only half way through and was really hoping to have been able to tell you all about it this week but that would have involved rushing and I wanted to savour some of the funniest chapter headings I have ever read. I will be able to tell you all about it next week so until then Happy Reading.
I am always a bit dubious when authors finish a series and then release more books. Invariably I am left a bit disappointed especially, when I liked the ending of the series. I felt that way with Republic. I started out really liking the series but thought it went on a book or two too long and finding another book made me really hesitate. I thought familiar characters would make it an easy book to read when I had the potential of lots of interruptions. The book ended up having 2 main threads - the assassination of Starcrest and the alien plant. Both of these plots lent themselves well to the characters that were involved in each and played to their strengths but were a tiny bit long winded. Overall, I thought Republic was OK. I kind of wished that Buroker would have left these characters in book 7 but it didn't ruin the series for me. I do hope that this is it for Amaranthe and friends as another book will be too much.
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