Review of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Release Date: February 1, 2010
Series: Iron Fey #1
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb:

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Teaser:

"Me? I'm a human." The moment I said it, I wished I hadn't. In the old fairy tales, which I was remembering more and more of, humans were always food, playthings, or the tragic love interest. And as I was quickly discovering, the inhabitants here had no qualms about eating a speaking, sentient creature. I held the same rung on the food chain as a rabbit or squirrel. It was a scary, rather humbling thought.

My Thoughts:

I love fairy tales, have ever since I was a little girl, so I was eager to read this series. I enjoy myths and fairy tales from all over the world. For this series, Kagawa draws from classical western European fairy tales for her inspiration and world building.

The fey are divided into two courts: Winter and Summer. They barely tolerate each other and frequently battle or engage in war with one another. Meghan, though she doesn't know it when the story starts, is the half human daughter of the Summer Court king, Oberon. There's a lot that she doesn't know and when she discovers the fey, her world changes forever.

She discovers that her lifelong friend Robbie is not what he seems, nor are some of her family members. Once in the fey realm, she makes both allies and enemies, rather quickly. These fey are true to their origins - cold, distant, capricious, manipulative, powerful, and terrifying. They are not friendly and helpful nor are they fun loving and light-hearted. They are however quite intriguing.

The story ran a little long at times, and although we see Meghan's attraction to Ash, the feelings of love seemed, to me, to happen suddenly and without sufficient development. I liked Meghan's ordinariness throughout the story and her determination to remain human. Kagawa's addition of the Iron Fey to the fey pantheon is brilliant and I look forward to seeing where she goes with it.

One of my favorite characters is Grimalkin, a cat who is a member of the Cait Sidhe. True to form, for both cats and fey, he is mysterious, enigmatic, capricious and rarely acts without an ulterior motive. He also has a dry sense of humor that I find appealing.

I borrowed this book from my local library.

Review of Duncan by D.B. Reynolds

Publisher: ImaJinn Books
Release Date: November 10, 2011
Series: #5 Vampires in America
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Washington, D.C. … capital of an empire. Powerful. Exhilarating. Corrupt. And in the shadows … vampires far older than the nation itself. 

 A power unto himself, Duncan has served at Raphael’s side for nearly the entire two hundred years of his existence. But long laid plans have finally borne fruit, and the time has come for Duncan to leave Raphael and tackle the greatest challenge of his life. He will face treacherous vampires and murderous humans. He will rock the halls of human power if necessary. But Washington, D.C. will be his. 

Emma Duquet cares nothing for vampire politics. She just wants to find her missing roommate and best friend, Lacey. But Lacey’s been playing with vampires of a particularly dangerous kind, and Emma will have to deal with the new vampire in town if she’s going to find her friend.

Battling powerful enemies who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets, Duncan and Emma will dig beneath the corruption and depravity that is Washington, D.C. and uncover the most heinous conspiracy of all …

Teaser:

That cool reserve of his was gone, and in its place was something ice cold and deadly, and absolutely lethal. This was the real Duncan, the vampire powerful enough to command others, and she knew instinctively that he could kill her with a thought. "You have no idea what i want," he said deliberately. "Be very careful, Emmaline."

My Thoughts:

Duncan has been a fan favorite since "Raphael", the first "Vampires in America" book was published. Fans clamored for Duncan's story and it's finally here. Reynolds had a lot of pressure on her, high expectations to live up to and I'm happy to say she succeeded. :)

Where to begin? There's a mystery, Duncan agrees to help Emma find who killed Lacey. There's romance and yummy smex between Emma and Duncan, and it was a very sweet romance. There are humans actively working against Duncan, displeased that he's replaced D.C.'s former Master, and also displeased that he's actively pursuing the people involved in the illegal activities that led to Lacey's death. We also get to see Duncan's background and his initial meeting with Raphael.

While I enjoyed the mystery and the murder investigation, what I liked best were the romance, seeing Duncan take over as a Master, Duncan's interactions with both humans and vampires, and learning Duncan's background. I think my favorite part of the story is the romance. Duncan is possessive and very much an alpha but he's also willing, sometimes, to temper those traits; he can also be sweet, compassionate and thoughtful. Emma is caring, loyal, smart and independent. She's not so independent that she can't accept help, with a little prodding. At times Duncan seems almost human, then he'll say or do something that reminds you he is a vampire, and not the warm, fuzzy kind. Emma, in a refreshing change from heroines in many contemporary romances, doesn't fight her attraction to Duncan, but freely admits it. I enjoyed that very much and I enjoyed their interactions.

A sweet, sexy romance, wonderful characters (I really enjoyed Baldwin, one of the vampire guards) and a strong story made for a wonderful read.

I received a PDF from the author.

Review of Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews

Publisher: Ace Fantasy
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Series: The Edge #3
Buying Links:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb:

 Audrey Callahan left behind her life in the Edge, and she's determined to stay on the straight and narrow. But when her brother gets into hot water, the former thief takes on one last heist and finds herself matching wits with a jack of all trades... 

 Kaldar Mar-a gambler, lawyer, thief, and spy-expects his latest assignment tracking down a stolen item to be a piece of cake, until Audrey shows up. But when the item falls into the hands of a lethal criminal, Kaldar realizes that in order to finish the job, he's going to need Audrey's help...

Teaser:

"What's the difference between you and me and a murderer?"

"A murderer kills out of passion or for money. We kill for our country."

Kaldar shook his head. "We kill to keep our people safe. 'Country' has a nice ring to it, but it doesn't really get to the heart of the matter. Families, Gaston. Our family. Your brothers, your cousins, uncles, aunts, grandmother. We do this so they can sleep in their beds at night, worry about their daily problems, and have delicious berry wine on their porch while their kids play in the grass."

My Thoughts:

This series is a fast paced blend of action, political intrigue, espionage, romance, and magic. In "Fate's Edge", the action continues with characters introduced in earlier books and some new characters. If you haven't read the preceding books, you could probably read this one on it's own. I read book one but not book two and had no trouble following along.

Kaldar and Audrey are both con men, with one difference - Kaldar is still in the game while Audrey has gotten out of the game. But then Audrey's no-good father, from whom she's been estranged for years, convinces her to work with him on one last job, stealing an item of magical power from a country in the Weird.. Although the job itself goes smoothly, there are difficulties at the end of the job and that pulls in Kaldar. He works for a CIA-type organization in the Weird and is assigned the job of retrieving the stolen item. He starts by tracking down the criminals responsible for the heist which leads him to Audrey. At first, she refuses to help him but her conscience gets the better of her and she agrees to work with him.

As they try to track down the stolen items, they encounter numerous obstacles, and while overcoming them, they start to respect each others abilities. Kaldar is an inveterate flirt, and when he tries to flirt with Audrey, she turns him down. Audrey recognizes his type and repeatedly rejects him. He takes that as a challenge and pursues her. She admits that she's attracted but doesn't want what she thinks he's offering. Over the course of the book, they flirt and spar as the sparks build up.

Audrey is a sympathetic character, Kaldar is the wild boy trying to be good, and together they make a great couple. There's an overarching story arc, well developed characters, a good eye for detail and intriguing plot lines. It's an enjoyable addition to the urban fantasy world.

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

Christmas Week Reviews

I've been hearing about the Iron Fey series since it was first released and it's gotten excellent buzz. I have a fondness for fairy tales, classic and new, so this sounded right up my alley. However, I tend to be disorganized and downloaded the two free novellas before ever reading any of the books. Then I got review copies of the last two books and decided that I really needed to start at the beginning so I requested the first two from my library. However, I kept procrastinating and decided that I really needed to set myself some review dates or I'd never get them done. I decided to be ambitious and do the entire series. Each day during the week between Christmas and New Years, when my school is closed, I will review a book or novella, starting on the 26th. (Christmas day itself will be a review of "Duncan" by D.B. Reynolds)

What with getting sick, then playing catch up, getting sick again (a different illness), and getting ready for the holidays, I again fell behind but I managed to get them all read and the reviews written. I'm not as fanatical about the series as other readers and bloggers but overall I enjoyed it.

Here's the schedule for the week:

December 25: Review of "Duncan" by D.B. Reynolds, Vampires in America #5
December 26: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, Iron Fey #1
Deceber 27: Winter's Passage b y Julie Kagawa, Iron Fey #1.5
December 28: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa, Iron Fey #2
December 29: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa, Iron Fey #3
December 30: Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa, Iron Fey #3.5
December 31: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa, Iron Fey #4

I hope you will enjoy the series review and happy holidays, whatever one(s) you celebrate.

Diana Gabaldon Chat Update

Yesterday's chat attracted so many people that it actually crashed the site. What a nice feeling that must have been for Ms Gabaldon, to have so many people interested in talking to her! Since the crash did mean that the chat was cut short, and not everyone who wanted to could be part of it, BookTrib has put the video of the chat up on their site.

Located on the BookTrib navigation bar is a section labeled E-vents. If you "mouse-over" that word, the menu will pop-down and reveal the words Book Parties. Click on those words and you will be taken to the page that contains all of their past E-Vents. Diana Gabaldon is at the top and you can watch her anytime.

BookTrib hopes to have her return with her next release.

Review of Killing Rites by M.L.N. Hanover

Publisher: Pocket Books Urban Fantasy
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Series: #4 in The Black Sun's Daughter series
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads): 

*Contains spoilers for the previous books*

Jayné Heller has discovered the source of her uncanny powers; something else is living inside her body. She's possessed. Of all her companions, she can only bring herself to confide in Ex, the former priest. They seek help from his old teacher and the circle of friends he left behind, hoping to cleanse Jayné before the parasite in her becomes too powerful. 

 Ex's history and a new enemy combine to leave Jayné alone and on the run. Her friends, thinking that the rider with her has taken the reins, try to hunt her down, unaware of the danger they're putting her in. Jayné must defeat the weight of the past and the murderous intent of another rider, and her only allies are a rogue vampire she once helped free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin. 

Teaser:

"So you want to finish the latte and we can get this over with?"

 "Get what over with?"

 "I know why you're here. We don't have to dance around it. You came to kill me, and I'm not up for dying just yet. So-"

"I didn't come to kill you. I came for dinner. I didn't even know you were here," I said. "Besides, I wouldn't do that. You're my friend."......

"Damn. You have it got bad. I figured we were doing that moment of camaraderie for old times' sake thing before we went all Bushido on each other," he said.

My Thoughts:

*Contains spoilers for previous books*

This series just gets better and better. My friend Sophie introduced me to the series a couple years ago; I read the first book and enjoyed it, but didn't get around to reading the other books until recently. I read books two, three and four back to back, which gave me quite an appreciation for the series. You definitely need to read this series in order, without skipping. Each book has major plot developments and action. Jayne (pronounced Zha.nay) at times seems TSTL and inclined on the one hand to just coast along, living day to day, and on the other hand to jump into a situation without thinking, but gradually she grows, matures, and learns to think ahead and to take responsibility. In this book, we see and feel her disillusionment, her weariness, and her growing realization, which started in book two, that sometimes it's okay to leave a rider inside a human being, that they can work together peacefully.

This story focuses primarily on Jayne and Ex; Chogyi Jake is still recovering from wounds sustained in book three and Aubrey and Kim are in Chicago, trying to rebuild their lives. We learn more about Ex in this book, and get to know him better, including why he quit being a Catholic priest. Jayne also learns a lot about herself, and not all of it is pleasant. There are answers to some loose ends from prior books, including the origin of the series' name, and the end sets up an intriguing new direction for the series.

Hanover does an excellent job with "Killing Rites" - it held my attention from the beginning and I read it in two sittings. It has action, a well thought out plot, deft characterization, strong world building and characters that are easy to like even when you disagree with their actions. If you haven't read this series, you really need to. Hanover has taken the stock creatures of horror and urban fantasy - demons, vampires, etc. - and given them an all new spin, mixed with a bit of religion and philosophy.

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

In My Mailbox #12

In My Mailbox was started by The Story Siren. It's a way to share and highlight all the books we receive, even if we don't review them. l share books that I buy, that I receive for review, get from the library, borrow from a friend, etc.

Click on the pictures for links to their goodreads pages.

Purchased

It was a very good week for purchasing books. Subterranean Press, who prints Kelley Armstrong's novellas, released her new one, "Hidden", in ebook format for only $5.99 and to celebrate, they also lowered the ebook price of "Counterfeit Magic" and "Angelic" to only 99 cents. I already own the latter two in print but couldn't pass up the opportunity to get them for my Kindle at such a bargain price. I initially put "Hidden" on my Kindle wish list (I pre-ordered the print copy, it should be arriving soon) but then changed my mind and bought it too. Hey, it's Kelley. 'Nuff said. :P

WOO HOO!!! After a delay of several months, the next book in JA Campbell's Into The West YA series is finally out! I  have been waiting and waiting and waiting....I really, REALLY enjoy this series. Romance, action, the Old West and time travel plus very good writing. And Julie is a really, really nice person to boot.

Review

I got one review book, the third book in a series but I think it might be doable even though I haven't read the first two.

I also downloaded some Kindle freebies and got one book from the library. That one was for my classroom but after my co-teachers and I looked it over, we decided it didn't meet our needs and I returned it.

What did you get this week?

Nora Roberts 2012 Release Schedule

I'm a fan of Nora Roberts as well as her alter ego, JD Robb, and always look forward to her new books, though I don't buy every one. I usually buy her Robb books once they go to paperback and I get her Roberts books from my library. The ones that I really like I buy when they're available in paperback. I like to know when they are being released, as do many of her readers, and Roberts thoughtfully provides a schedule on her website. She also just sent out her newsletter with a schedule of new releases (not  re-releases) for 2012. I've reprinted it below and here's a link to the full release schedule on her website.

FEBRUARY

Celebrity in Death (hardcover)

APRIL   

The Witness (hardcover) 

MAY

The Last Boyfriend (trade) The Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy #2 

SEPTEMBER

Delusion in Death (hardcover)

NOVEMBER

The Perfect Hope (trade) The Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy #3

 

The newsletter also had an excerpt from the next JD Robb book, "Celebrity in Death". There will be a link to the excerpt on her site in a few days. Enjoy!