Apologies dear readers. I had so wanted to get my October Month in Review posted in October. I could have done it and was pretty close to having it written. Alas, the lurgy hit with probably the worst case of sinusitus I have had in at least a decade. I could barely think let alone write a review. There was almost tears folks especially when my GP told me she didn't want to give me any antibiotics because of the growing resistance to them. Boooo. I am not quite 100% but thought I better get my review out to you before it turned into an October & November months in review. So what did I read?
I am going to start with what I listened to rather than the first book I devoured in October. All hail the fantastic combination of Philip Pullman and Michael Sheen with The Secret Commonwealth the second in the Book of Dust series. If you read my September post you will know that I thoroughly enjoyed book 1 La Belle Sauvage (the audio version) and this instalment is even better. Set 20 years later and Lyra is now a young woman, studying at university while Malcolm in a professor and agent of Oakley street. When Lyra's daemon Pantalaimon witnesses the murder of a botanist no one would have ever guessed the epic journey he and Lyra would find themselves on. Across Europe and to Asia Lyra, Pan and separately, Malcolm find themselves on the search for a city haunted by daemons and to uncover the secret of Dust. All with the Ministerium's agents in hot pursuit. The race is on!
I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Commonwealth even though I found the adult Lyra a bit obnoxious in parts. Michael Sheen's performance narrating this tale is a masterpiece. He had me on the edge of my seat throughout. There is one scene in a train station and he does so many different voices it was like you are watching a play or a movie. Pullman successfully advances the plot line, in fact, several different plot threads and slowly develops Lyra and Pan. He has been quite ambitious and I think he is going to struggle to wrap everything up in the final book. I am not sure how he is going to do it without leaving a few teasers. Just a note to parents and guardians. This isn't a suitable book for a younger reader due to one of the scenes is quite disturbing and adult in nature. I don't want to say any more and give anything away. For anyone who isn't a young reader and fans of this series this is a must read and for added tension go for the audio version.
Next up is Mark Lawrence's One Word Kill which is the first in the series Impossible Times. Set in the mid 80's Nick is a pretty normal Dungeon and Dragons loving teen. He has friends and doing OK in school and things start to look up when the new girl in school decides to join his group of friends and D&D games. Everything changes when he finds out he is dying...dying from cancer. The diagnosis is only the start of big changes that are about to take hold of his life. A strange, yet very familiar man enters his life with a cryptic message and an uncanny knowledge of Nick's life. He has to save the girl. What can this mean and why? Nick is soon to discover that something or someone else might end his life before the cancer does and its game on.
I enjoyed One Word Kill. While the plot isn't that challenging (I always guessed what would happen next) it was quick and enjoyable read. It wasn't as harrowing as some of Lawrence's other novels which was a bit of a change for me. I thought Nick was a believable D&D fan who had a 'Stranger Things' like group of friends that all had their own part to play in the story. The plot was well paced but while Nick was well developed, not all of the characters were. Certain characters, especially the main villain were a bit one dimensional. However, Nick's experiences with chemo and the people he met while having it were very believable and true to life. I don't know if Lawrence has personal experience with childhood cancer/cancer treatment but this was very well done. I have book number 2 - Limited Wish all ready to go. Stay tuned to find out what happens next.
Back to my audio selection - I went back in time but still on a Pullman theme and listened to his Sally Lockhart series. In this post I am going to tell you about the first 2 novels The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. I read these novels around the same time as His Dark Materials but Pullman first published them in the late 80s. The Ruby in the Smoke is set in the late 19th century and the teenage Sally believes her father has died in a tragic accident on sailing back from Singapore. When she receives a cryptic message from her father she couldn't possible imagine the dangerous mystery she would be embroiled in. Lucky for Sally she meets people who would soon become her family and they would do anything to keep her out of harms way. It's a mystery of a different kind on The Shadow in the North. Sally is now in her early 20s and a financial consultant. When one of her clients loses all their life savings in an failed investment Sally is determined to uncover what has gone wrong and to get the money back. This mystery takes Sally and her friends all over London and England following the money trail with rather tragic results.
The audio version is narrated by Anton Lesser (think Game of Thrones) which was quite interesting to have a male narrator when the majority of the book is told from one of the female characters POV. He is excellent. While maybe Lesser doesn't generate quite as much excitement as Michael Sheen he is a very, very gifted actor and is very believable with both female and male voices. Both books are very enjoyable with a great mysteries to solve and a great set of characters to join Sally. I especially loved Jim, Sally's friend. He has all the best lines and would do anything to protect Sally and all their friends. Whether you chose to read the traditional book version or the audio version these are a great series of books that give you a glimpse into life in late 19th century England.
Last up is Bec McMaster's newest Promise of Darkness which is book 1 of the Dark Court Rising series. Princess Iskvien is caught in the middle of the war between the Queen of Thorns and the Prince of Evernight. As part of an ancient treaty the Princess is forced to become a political hostage for three months. Her mother expects her kill the Prince when she is in his court but one look into his handsome face she knows she can't end his life. The longer Vi is around the Prince the more something doesn't seem right. He doesn't seem to be as evil as her mother has portrayed. Who is telling the truth? Who is the real enemy? Vi has only three months to find out.
This book is described as a twisted fairy tale and that is a an apt description. The story is full of the fairy courts, demons and mythology the romance between Vi and Thiago is almost secondary to that back story. I thought this book was a teeny tiny departure for McMaster in the hot and heavy didn't start between our lovebirds until nearly the end of the book. I really felt that McMaster was telling a story rather than than just bringing two characters together in an romantic entanglement. I will definitely will continue with this series.
Well folks that is it for me and October...or October in November. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get rid of this cold and feeling fit as a fiddle so that I can share with you my November reads before mid December. Until next time Happy Reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Commonwealth even though I found the adult Lyra a bit obnoxious in parts. Michael Sheen's performance narrating this tale is a masterpiece. He had me on the edge of my seat throughout. There is one scene in a train station and he does so many different voices it was like you are watching a play or a movie. Pullman successfully advances the plot line, in fact, several different plot threads and slowly develops Lyra and Pan. He has been quite ambitious and I think he is going to struggle to wrap everything up in the final book. I am not sure how he is going to do it without leaving a few teasers. Just a note to parents and guardians. This isn't a suitable book for a younger reader due to one of the scenes is quite disturbing and adult in nature. I don't want to say any more and give anything away. For anyone who isn't a young reader and fans of this series this is a must read and for added tension go for the audio version.
I enjoyed One Word Kill. While the plot isn't that challenging (I always guessed what would happen next) it was quick and enjoyable read. It wasn't as harrowing as some of Lawrence's other novels which was a bit of a change for me. I thought Nick was a believable D&D fan who had a 'Stranger Things' like group of friends that all had their own part to play in the story. The plot was well paced but while Nick was well developed, not all of the characters were. Certain characters, especially the main villain were a bit one dimensional. However, Nick's experiences with chemo and the people he met while having it were very believable and true to life. I don't know if Lawrence has personal experience with childhood cancer/cancer treatment but this was very well done. I have book number 2 - Limited Wish all ready to go. Stay tuned to find out what happens next.
This book is described as a twisted fairy tale and that is a an apt description. The story is full of the fairy courts, demons and mythology the romance between Vi and Thiago is almost secondary to that back story. I thought this book was a teeny tiny departure for McMaster in the hot and heavy didn't start between our lovebirds until nearly the end of the book. I really felt that McMaster was telling a story rather than than just bringing two characters together in an romantic entanglement. I will definitely will continue with this series.
Well folks that is it for me and October...or October in November. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get rid of this cold and feeling fit as a fiddle so that I can share with you my November reads before mid December. Until next time Happy Reading.
The Secret Commonwealth
The Book of Dust 2
Audible Audiobook, October 3, 2019
The Book of Dust 2
Audible Audiobook, October 3, 2019
The #1 New York Times Bestseller!
Return to the world of His Dark Materials—soon to be an HBO original series starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda—in the second volume of Philip Pullman’s new bestselling masterwork The Book of Dust.
The windows between the many worlds have been sealed and the momentous adventures of Lyra Silvertongue’s youth are long behind her—or so she thought. Lyra is now a twenty-year-old undergraduate at St. Sophia’s College and intrigue is swirling around her once more. Her daemon Pantalaimon is witness to a brutal murder, and the dying man entrusts them with secrets that carry echoes from their past.
The more Lyra is drawn into these mysteries, the less she is sure of. Even the events of her own past come into question when she learns of Malcolm Polstead’s role in bringing her to Jordan College.
Now Lyra and Malcolm will travel far beyond the confines of Oxford, across Europe and into the Levant, searching for a city haunted by daemons, and a desert said to hold the truth of Dust. The dangers they face will challenge everything they thought they knew about the world, and about themselves.
One Word Kill
Impossible Times 1
47North, May 1, 2019
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 204 pages
Impossible Times 1
47North, May 1, 2019
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 204 pages
Ready Player One meets Stranger Things in this new novel by the bestselling author whom George RR Martin describes as “an excellent writer.”
In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week.
Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now.
He finds himself in a race against time to unravel an impossible mystery and save the girl. And all that stands in his way is a probably terminal disease, a knife-wielding maniac and the laws of physics.
Challenge accepted.
The Ruby in the Smoke
Sally Lockhart 1
Audible, June 16, 2004
Sally Lockhart 1
Audible, June 16, 2004
In search of clues to the mystery of her father's death, 16-year-old Sally Lockhart ventures into the shadowy underworld of Victorian London. Pursued by villains at every turn, the intrepid Sally finally uncovers two dark mysteries, and realizes that she herself is the key to both.
The Shadow in the North
Sally Lockhart 2
Audible, November 17, 2004
Sally Lockhart 2
Audible, November 17, 2004
An elderly lady loses her money on an investment; a conjuror is pursued by thugs; and a clairvoyant mentions the name of the richest man in Europe and his mysterious company. Seemingly unconnected events set Sally Lockhart on the trail of an evil far more awful than she could ever imagine.
This thriller, by the author of The Ruby in the Smoke, evokes its 19th century setting and at the same time remains remarkably contemporary in the originality of its plot and larger-than-life characters. An unabridged reading of Philip Pullman's nerve-shattering thriller.
Promise of Darkness
Dark Court Rising 1
Lochaber Press Pty Ltd, September 17, 2019
eBook, 430 pages
Dark Court Rising 1
Lochaber Press Pty Ltd, September 17, 2019
eBook, 430 pages
Princess. Tribute. Sacrifice. Is she the one prophesied to unite two warring Fae courts? Or the one bound to destroy them?
In a realm ruled by magic, the ruthless Queen of Thorns is determined to destroy her nemesis, the cursed Prince of Evernight.
With war brewing between the bitter enemies, the prince forces Queen Adaia to uphold an ancient treaty: she will send one of her daughters to his court as a political hostage for three months.
The queen insists it’s the perfect opportunity for Princess Iskvien to end the war before it begins. But one look into Thiago’s smoldering eyes and Vi knows she’s no assassin.
The more secrets she uncovers about the prince and his court, the more she begins to question her mother’s motives.
Who is the true enemy? The dark prince who threatens her heart? Or the ruthless queen who will stop at nothing to destroy him?
And when the curse threatens to shatter both courts, is her heart strong enough to break it?
Join USA Today bestselling author, Bec McMaster, on a seductive journey through a mythic land, with a wicked prince who holds a thousand secrets, a princess determined to uncover the truth, and an evil queen who threatens to tear them apart. Download this epic fantasy filled with magic and breathtaking romance today!
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