Hello readers. I hope you have had a good week. I apologise in advance if this WIR does not sound quite as polished as they normally do (or as I intend them to be). I literally just put down my iPad after finishing one of the books I want to tell you about. I need to get this written before my bedtime :). So without further adieu.
I was having a little trawl through NetGalley when I found the next book of Lindsay Pryor's Blackthorn series will be out soon. Blood Instinct focuses on the story of the serryn Phia and the Alpha Jask. It has only been a week but 2 books ago where Phia gets turned into the vampire killer serryn, gets herself captured and then falls into love with the broody wolf shifter Jask. A lot of has happened in that short amount of time and a lot more happens between start and finish of Blood Instinct. Unfortunately for this unlikely pair, Phia's serrynity brings out the worst in Jask and leads him down a very destructive path. All this in the back drop of the unrest within Blackthorn, the military lockdown and impending prophecy of the rise of the vampire Tryan.
Nearly all the characters we have met in the previous books play a part in this plot including Phia's sisters, Caitlen, Jessie, Eden, and of course, the vampires Caleb and Kane. This instalment is quite different from the other books as there is less romance than in the other books. While the sexy scenes start quite early in the story they are more 'ouch' than romantic. There isn't quite the same level of subjugation of the female leads as I felt there were in the other books and the sex scenes were a slightly more aggressive, in part due to the changes both Phia and Jask are experiencing. The plot arc of the prophecy involving the serryn, the Tryan and the fourth species doesn't advance until towards the end of the book but is discussed throughout.
The other main plotline involving Sirius and the Third Species Control Division ("TSCD") advances farther in comparison. Pryor has really created an excellent villain in the TSCD's head honcho. Thankfully, Pryor gives us a bit of a re-cap of the overall plot and the prophecy but does this in a very subtle way. I was grateful for this as there have been a number of twists and turns throughout the series. In fact, I have decided that if you stripped away the romance and the sex from this series you are left with a complex, intricate and well constructed plotline. I am still not sure who is going to come out the winner in the end. A great read and I am looking forward for the penultimate book. Hopefully Pryor won't make me wait too long.
Book number 2 for me was City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett which is the second in The Divine Cities series. You may remember that Qwill already reviewed this book in January 2016. You can check out what she thought here along with a video interview with Robert Jackson Bennett. As this book has both been out for a while and reviewed I am not going to recount the plot for you and I am sure you will agree that Qwill is much more eloquent in her review. I loved book 1 - City of Stairs - and this instalment passed me by as I waited for the price of the ebook to drop a bit. I finally discovered it on Amazon this week and decided that it was time I continued the series. I will admit I was initially disappointed that story centered on Turyin Mulaghesh rather than Shara Thivani who I thought was an excellent character (from book 1). My disappointment didn't last very long however, and I was soon completely engrossed in the story of Mulaghesh and the City of Blades. I really enjoyed this story and I didn't think it was possible for Bennett to get any better at world building than he already was but he really stepped it up with the landscape, the culture, the history and the mythology the story is based on. City of Blades is a fantastic book and the series is definitely worth starting at book 1 - City of Stairs.
The final book I can tell you a little bit about is The Men Who Killed God by J. Alex McCarthy. I found this book on NetGalley and while not my typical choice of subject matter I thought I would give it a go...plus I loved the cover. I was really disappointed and I regret to say that I stopped reading before I got to the 4th chapter. From the book description August sounded like the hero that saves the world from the tyranny of God but comes across as a truculent, lazy killer who murders his own father in chapter 1. It seems like it was almost a non-event and while his father was evil August shows no remorse and barely acknowledges the event in any 'real' way. I felt that the characters lacked and depth and the writing style wasn't sophisticated enough to keep my interest despite this. Sorry, folks one of my very few DNFs. (great cover though)
That is all for me this week. You are going to have at least 1 week off next week as I will be flying to Canada rather than writing my WIR so until May (*gasp* May already?) Happy Reading.
Nearly all the characters we have met in the previous books play a part in this plot including Phia's sisters, Caitlen, Jessie, Eden, and of course, the vampires Caleb and Kane. This instalment is quite different from the other books as there is less romance than in the other books. While the sexy scenes start quite early in the story they are more 'ouch' than romantic. There isn't quite the same level of subjugation of the female leads as I felt there were in the other books and the sex scenes were a slightly more aggressive, in part due to the changes both Phia and Jask are experiencing. The plot arc of the prophecy involving the serryn, the Tryan and the fourth species doesn't advance until towards the end of the book but is discussed throughout.
The other main plotline involving Sirius and the Third Species Control Division ("TSCD") advances farther in comparison. Pryor has really created an excellent villain in the TSCD's head honcho. Thankfully, Pryor gives us a bit of a re-cap of the overall plot and the prophecy but does this in a very subtle way. I was grateful for this as there have been a number of twists and turns throughout the series. In fact, I have decided that if you stripped away the romance and the sex from this series you are left with a complex, intricate and well constructed plotline. I am still not sure who is going to come out the winner in the end. A great read and I am looking forward for the penultimate book. Hopefully Pryor won't make me wait too long.
That is all for me this week. You are going to have at least 1 week off next week as I will be flying to Canada rather than writing my WIR so until May (*gasp* May already?) Happy Reading.
Blood Instinct
Blackthorn 6
Bookouture, May 5, 2016
eBook, 356 pages
Blackthorn 6
Bookouture, May 5, 2016
eBook, 356 pages
‘I think what is inside of you triggers the worst of me’
Sophia McKay has always had a reckless streak, but falling for lycan leader Jask Tao gave her something to live for. Now, cursed with a serryn bloodline, a darkness inside Phia is awakening. A darkness she knows could prove deadly to those she loves most.
Approaching a blue moon, Jask Tao and his pack are living close to the edge due to a delay getting the herbs required to stop their morphing. Worse still, the growing strength of Phia’s serryn powers are dangerously provoking the lycan in Jask.
At a time when Jask and Phia need each other more than ever, their very passion has become a poison that puts both their lives at risk.
With Sirius Throme, leader of the Global Council, on the verge of invading Blackthorn – working together is the only chance of survival. But Jask is holding on to a secret that could just blow everything apart.
And so is Phia.
Will the truth destroy them all?
City of Blades
The Divine Cities 2
Jo Fletcher Books, January 7, 2016
Paperback and eBook, 448 pages
(UK Edition)
Reviewer's Own
The Divine Cities 2
Jo Fletcher Books, January 7, 2016
Paperback and eBook, 448 pages
(UK Edition)
Reviewer's Own
Do the dead sleep soundly in the land of death, or do they have plans of their own?
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions. Now the city's god is dead and the city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is just a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.
So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh - foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumoured war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister - has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten. At least, it makes the perfect cover story.
The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery with the potential to change the world - or destroy it.
City of Blades
The Divine Cities 2
Broadway Books, January 26, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 496 pages
(US Edition)
The Divine Cities 2
Broadway Books, January 26, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 496 pages
(US Edition)
A triumphant return to the world of City of Stairs.
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions.
Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.
So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh— foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister—has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten.
At least, it makes the perfect cover story.
The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery with the potential to change the world–or destroy it.
The trouble is that this old soldier isn’t sure she’s still got what it takes to be the hero.
The Men Who Killed God
Sinner of the Infinite 1
April 5, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 392 pages
Sinner of the Infinite 1
April 5, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 392 pages
They have finally done it.
They have finally killed a god.
In August’s world, everything was created by a single, secular god. HE—the creator of everything. However, HE left the world to be ruled with a subtle, iron fist by less powerful gods.
It had been two years since August stepped foot into his hometown, Sotira. It had also been that long since he’d last visited his father, seen his crooked smile, and felt those familial ties.
He wished he didn’t have to return. However, at the request of his girlfriend and his family, he was heading back home. To a place where the foundations themselves were built with false truths, hidden behind the ‘utopia’ the gods supposedly created. He knew fear lay under all that outward, deceitful happiness—a terror that Sotira would be next to come under the wrath of the gods.
When August arrived home, he wasn’t prepared for what he found. His best friend had been hung and turned into a monument in the middle of town by the order of his father and the gods. The world he thought he knew had been turned upside down. To turn it right again, August would do anything… even start down the path that would allow him to gain the power to kill God.
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