Tagged: book 3
Tempt the Devil by Jill Braden
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
When the body of Former Governor Turyat is discovered in the Red Happiness, QuiTai is the prime suspect. Surprisingly, she seems almost eager to be taken into custody. If Kyam Zul is to keep her neck out of the noose, he must solve the crime without her help – while matching wits with not only the real killer but his scheming grandfather, his political rivals, and his own wife.
[Full disclosure: I was sent a free paperback copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]
I loved The Devil’s Concubine. I adored the sequel, The Devil Incarnate. But this third book? There aren’t enough words to express the awesome-ness that is Tempt the Devil.
At first it starts off as your fairly standard murder mystery…except that QuiTai seems to have anticipated the murder in advance and demands to be arrested and taken to the fortress of Ponong. Kyam Zul, obviously puzzled, accepts when she dances circles around him with her wits yet again and then is devastated when he learns she’s being framed for the murder of Turyat. Of course, as with everything in Jill Braden’s stories, not everything is as it seems.
In many ways, you have to read Tempt the Devil a couple of times to really appreciate the depth of QuiTai’s plot but you can still get the gist of just how brilliant it was in the first read through. What makes the murder even more of a mystery is that we don’t actually see QuiTai’s point of view much until the end of the book when everything is revealed. Kyam has to struggle so hard to get caught up and his reaction when he thinks he’s too late is really revealing about his character and his feelings that he keeps deeply buried. I don’t want to give too much away, but the real murderer is someone so simple that it’s almost farcical. Still, the plot QuiTai cooks up around it is brilliant and will definitely set a precedent on Ponong for Kyam’s reign as Governor.
I would have liked to see more of QuiTai personally but of course that’s not the point of this particular chapter in the Devil of Ponong series. The point is that QuiTai is playing four dimensional chess and she’s playing to win but her opponent, Grandfather Zul is also playing a long and far-reaching game. It really ends up being an epic battle of wits between the two (by proxy of course) and it brings out some interesting new characters, like Kyam’s wife, a Thampurian woman unused to actually having anything resembling power or authority. Because of how this ended it will be very, very interesting to see how the social, political and economic situation in Ponong and other colonies of Thampur in the next book, The Devil’s Game.
When it comes to fantasy, you’ll be hard pressed to find any better world-building. In Jill Braden’s books there are actually things like politics, economics and social reform movements factored into the equation. They affect everyday people’s lives in tangible ways! Ponong is a very believable colony because it’s along a trade route and as such they are allowed certain liberties even as the iron hand of the Governor clamped down on the native population. Grandfather Zul’s interference in the colony to manipulate QuiTai certainly doesn’t help the separatist movement within Levapur either. It’s kind of hard to get a real hold on Jill Braden’s fantasy world but once you do it’s very easy to fall into and I appreciate the subtleties of it very much.
If you haven’t already picked up the Devil of Ponong series, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s not your typical fantasy book and even if it were, Jill Braden’s awesome writing and her characters would more than make up for it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Sins of the Lost by Linda Poitevin
(Cover picture courtesy of the book tour a couple of months ago.)
From the author of Sins of the Angels and Sins of the Son comes the newest novel in the “electric, thrilling and extremely intelligent” (Ex Libris) Grigori Legacy series.
Heaven and Hell are on the brink of war as Lucifer builds his Nephilim army and waits for his new agenda to become a reality — that of having a Nephilimchild of his own bloodline to lead his forces to cataclysmic victory.
With rumors of the pending war rampant on Earth, Alex fights to save humanity from its own panic – leaving little time for her fledgling
relationship with Seth, the man with heavenly origins who has captured her heart. But when Nephilim children begin to disappear, along with Alex’s own vulnerable niece, the inevitable war between Heaven and Hell becomes as personal as sin.Heaven has its own plans to fight the coming apocalypse, but first it needs Seth back. Asked to betray the man she loves, Alex must turn for help to the soulmate she thought she’d given up — the Archangel Aramael, who may be her last chance to save her family and humanity from the ashes of Lucifer’s Armageddon.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through the blog tour a while back in exchange for an honest review.]
The phrase ‘action-packed’ is bandied about quite carelessly when it comes to describing books, but let me tell you I’m dead serious when I say that Sins of the Lost is action-packed.
Not only is poor Alex trying to stop the oncoming apocalypse, she’s lost her soulmate and is trying to love another (who just happens to be the possible catalyst for said apocalypse). To say that there’s a lot of drama and tension in this third book in the Grigori Legacy is an understatement. It never gets into soap opera ridiculous drama levels but it really is the kind of book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. That’s why I ended up reading this book until four in the morning when I had to work at 8:00am; I just couldn’t stop no matter how much I tried to exercise my self-control.
Alex is of course my favourite character, just like in the previous two installments. This time she’s dealing with even more psychological scars and although some readers may be frustrated with her I believe her reluctance to join in the fight between Heaven and Hell is more realistic than if she were gung-ho about the whole thing. Let’s face it, she’s gone through a lot and it’s all because of their idiotic war that could have been prevented. While Alex is my favourite character, Seth is the one with the most surprises up his sleeve. His character arc, looking back, is very realistic but at the time you really don’t know where his character is going to go. He’s wonderfully ambiguous which ratchets up the tension even more. As for Aramael, I can’t really say much without giving away some major spoilers but let’s just say that his fans will be pleased.
As for the concept, I believe that some would call it ‘blasphemous’ or ‘heresy’ but I love how Linda Poitevin has arranged her versions of Heaven and Hell. God being a woman doesn’t even touch some of the other unique spins on classic Christian theology. I won’t go much further into it because I don’t want to bring my personal beliefs into things but if you’re reading this series, take it for what it is: fiction. It’s not intended to offend or harm and Linda Poitevin does an amazing job at world-building.
I can’t believe it took me so long to finally get to Sins of the Lost but I’m really glad I did. The only bad thing about it? Because of that insane cliffhanger I’m now desperate for the fourth book to come out. I guess that’s just the mark of a great book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Prophecy of Solstice’s End by Diantha Jones
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Summer Solstice is here. Let the games begin.
Nothing but lies (some of them her own) and deceit have brought Chloe to Olympus for the Solstice Olympic Games. As the Oracle and the special guest of the King of Myth, Chloe becomes immersed in a life of unfathomable luxury, taunting history, and overwhelming excitement. Though scheming and untrustworthy, the gods remain on their best behavior as the tension and anticipation builds around the outcome of the Quest of the Twelve Labors, the deadliest competition of the Games. All seems well on the celestial front…until athletes start turning up dead and a philosopher missing for months returns with a most terrifying story…
But that’s not all.
As Strafford confronts his troubled past and more is learned about the Great Unknown Prophecy, Chloe grows close to another, setting off a chain of events that will bring her face-to-face with a truth that will rock both of her worlds to their core.
And it’ll all happen before Solstice’s end…
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy from Diantha Jones as part of her blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
With the first two books in the Oracle of Delphi series achieving high levels on the ‘awesome book’ scale I thought it would be hard for Prophecy of Solstice’s End to measure up. Yet Diantha Jones keeps surprising me over and over again. Once again, this book is better than the last one! And considering how much I loved Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise, that’s even more of an accomplishment.
I love how Chloe and Strafford’s relationship intensity is cranked up to 11 throughout the book. They’ve sort of settled into the whole being in a relationship idea and what results is whole new levels of commitment on both their parts as well as more drama later on. I can’t go into much more detail without giving anything away, but let’s just say that with the passion comes doubt and misunderstandings when Chloe joins Strafford in Myth.
One of my many favourite parts of Diantha Jones’ whole series is how she portrays the gods and goddesses from the Greek myths. Apollo is manipulative even with his own children, Hera hangs on every display of affection from her husband, Zeus is a scheming letch, etc. They’re portrayed as essentially the same people they were in the myths only now they’re in the modern day and are a huge threat to Chloe as the new Pythia. I also like how the children of the gods reflect their parents’ personalities, especially in the case of Aphrodite’s daughters. What was more interesting than how the gods were portrayed was the dynamic between them and their children. Some of the demigods fully accept their roles as heroes while others like Strafford are obviously questioning them. It certainly makes for lots more tension in Myth.
As with her last two books, Diantha Jones kept throwing twist after twist into the plot that blindsided me completely. The Regalis Stella problem from the last book? That’s not resolved yet either and in fact the problem is cranked up to 11 in Prophecy of Solstice’s End. In addition to that, Apollo’s war with Zeus is looming and it’s not as simplistic as it would seem. To be fair, nothing is simplistic in Prophecy of Solstice’s End and that’s one of the strengths of the Oracle of Delphi series: it keeps you guessing as to what’s going to happen next. And with that massive cliffhanger at the end of the book in the epilogue I’ll be left guessing about what will happen in Prophecy of the Betrayed Heir, the next book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf by Gerald Morris
(Cover picture courtesy of Rainbow Resource Center.)
“A lady,” the dwarf repeated. “I’ve just been disarmed and taken prisoner by a lady.” He shook his head slowly. “I really am pathetic.”
Lady Lynet’s life has become unbearable: Her castle is besieged by an evil knight who beheads her would-be rescuers. Her only chance for freedom is to ask King Arthur for help. But to do so, first she must get to Camelot. So one night she slips away and meets a dwarf named Roger. He doesn’t appear to be the most likely companion, but Lady Lynet soon learns that people can be more than they seem, including herself.
For those of you hoping Book 3 of The Squire’s Tales would contain more about the adventures of Terence and Sir Gawain, you’ll be sadly disappointed. Both Terence and Gawain do appear at various points throughout the novel, but the main focus is on Lady Lynet. This was disappointing for me at first, but then Lady Lynet became such a strong character I had no choice but to connect with her.
Although I know the basic story of Beaumains I really did not see the twist coming at the end. Wow. And it actually made sense, but was surprising at the same time! Gerald Morris also added much more depth to the original legend, most importantly in the case of Roger the dwarf and Lynet. Lynet isn’t just a nagging woman who constantly torments poor Beaumains and Roger the dwarf isn’t just comic relief.
The plot went a little more quickly this time, but that’s probably because we were introduced to the conflict right off the bat: evil knight keeping beautiful damsel captive and killing all knights who try to rescue her until she agrees to marry him. This time the beautiful damsel is not-so-nice and it is her sister, Lynet, who decides to do something to stop the bloodbath. The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf isn’t so much plot driven as character driven. You would think that would make it slow and boring, but the characters are so vivid and the world-building Gerald Morris did was incredible so it worked in this case.
I give this book 5/5 stars.