Tagged: masquerade tours
Book Blast: Dragonlove by Marc Secchia
When a woman loves a Dragon, that love will change the world.
Six years have passed since Hualiama and Grandion defied the Island-World’s most sacred law. They burned the heavens together as Rider and Dragon. For his crime, Grandion the Tourmaline Dragon suffered exile and imprisonment. The Dragons forced Hualiama to forget her past.
Now, the suns must set upon the age of the Ancient Dragons. Amaryllion Fireborn, last of his kind, bequeaths Hualiama an astonishing legacy. She is the Dragonfriend. Raised by Dragons. Burned by Dragon fire. Oath-bound to a Dragon. Crossing the Island-World in search of her Dragonlove, she will forge an indelible mark upon history.
As war between Dragons and Humans engulfs the Islands, Hualiama must unravel the secrets of her tragic past in order to confront an evil that threatens the very existence of the Dragonkind. For love that is tested in the crucible of fate must burn, or die.
Marc is a South African-born author who lives and works in Ethiopia with his wife and 4 children, 2 dogs, a rabbit, and a variable number of marabou storks that roost on the acacia trees out back. On a good night there are also hyenas patrolling the back fence.
When he’s not writing about Africa Marc can be found travelling to remote locations. He thinks there’s nothing better than standing on a mountaintop wondering what lies over the next horizon.
The IX by Andrew P. Weston
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Soldiers from varying eras and vastly different backgrounds, including the IX Legion of Rome, are snatched away from Earth at the moment of their passing, and transported to the far side of the galaxy. Thinking they have been granted a reprieve, their relief turns to horror when they discover they face a stark ultimatum:
Fight or die.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things that Roman historians and various scholars debate is what happened to the Ninth Legion. One day they were flushing out rebellious tribes in Caledonia and the next they’ve vanished into thin air. Logic would point to their disappearance being caused by a total massacre of the legion and yet no bones have been found. So what happened to them? Well, Andrew P. Weston attempts his own little explanation for their disappearance as well as other mysterious warrior disappearances throughout the history of warfare.
While Marcus from the Ninth Legion is one of the characters and the book is called The IX, he’s not the main character. Instead, Weston chose to follow around 3 distinct voices. Their stories start when they were all ambushed and things get really interesting when they think they’ve been killed in action only to wake up and be told by extremely tall people that they now have to save an entire ancient civilization. That really threw me for a loop because the stark ultimatum they find, ‘fight or die’, made me think that we’d be in for a gladiator show. And that’s really the opposite of what happens. Marcus and the others, including some of the tribesmen that killed him and his compatriots have to work together to protect the remnants of an ancient civilization from the mysterious Horde. I can’t go into too much detail or I’ll spoil all of your fun, but needless to say that the Horde is not what it seems.
One of the greatest strengths of Weston’s writing is how much he thought out his world. He has created an amazing scientific world where science and history combine to great effect. The only real problem with this world is how we see it. We see it through the eyes of various peoples, including the people that brought Marcus and the others there but at the same time much of the language is very technical. You see, in order to fully appreciate Weston’s world I think you have to be a fan of hardcore science fiction. That’s fine, but I’m generally not a fan of that so I found a lot of the technical explanations either confusing or boring. But at the same time I think even fans of hardcore science fiction would get bored by some of the monologue explanations for how this or that works. If Weston had cut down a little on the explanations I also think the narrative would have flowed better. It was okay as it was, but it still could have been improved.
Overall, The IX is something I’d recommend to hardcore science fiction lovers who happen to know a little history. Even if you don’t know a little Roman history, you’ll still appreciate and enjoy all of the effort Weston put into creating his world. Because of that, although this book is quite long by most standards, it will quickly be a page-turner you don’t want to put down.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Lifemaker by Dean F. Wilson
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
The Regime is on the hunt, forcing the Resistance to take refuge aboard the Lifemaker, an advanced submarine that houses a special cargo: a handful of women who are can give birth to human children.
To evade the Regime’s own submersibles, all parties must work together, but tensions are high, and not everyone on board is looking out for the greater good.
As they descend into the deeps, they quickly learn that not all monsters work for the Regime.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
Lifemaker is the sequel to Hopebreaker, a steampunk novel featuring a smuggler named Jacob as he navigates a world essentially controlled by demons. I had given the first book 4 stars in March and was eagerly awaiting this second installment. So when I saw the blog tour for it, I signed up immediately. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with Wilson’s second book in the Great Iron War series. Not because the characters had truly gone downhill or because he world-building suddenly tanked, but rather because of the plot.
Despite all of the good things that do happen in Lifemaker, I was a little disappointed in the plot. It was predictable in comparison to the first book and not more than a little boring around the halfway point of the book. There are characters interacting, sure, but there’s not really all that much for interpersonal conflict. And until the end there’s really not all that much for action either. It was essentially just Jacob and Whistler having a sweet sort of father-adoptive son bonding time and occasionally being interrupted by Taberah. Oh, and playing cards with Rommond. Compared to the sheer action of Hopebreaker, this second book was a bit of a letdown. It does set things up nicely for the third book but at the same time I did have a little trouble getting through it.
Jacob is still a decent enough character although I’m still having problems relating to him on an emotional level. It’s much better than my struggle to relate at all with him in the first book but it’s definitely still there. He’s not a bad character and he’s more of an ambiguous figure than a bad or good person but I found that because he wasn’t really doing anything that I got bored. Essentially he skulks around the ship and bonds with Whistler, occasionally running into members of the crew. I liked that he’s finally attempting to woo Taberah back to him and is trying to mentally prepare himself for fatherhood, though. In that respect, Jacob has certainly improved.
The world-building was still good here in Lifemaker. It didn’t expand all that much, but we learned some fascinating things about Rommond’s background, Taberah’s past and the history of demons taking over. The submarine everyone is staying in doesn’t exactly make it easy to expand on a whole world but Jacob’s exploring does lead him to some interesting new discoveries. Was I absolutely as blown away in this book as I was in the first one at the world-building? Not really, but it was still very solid and despite the somewhat boring tone of the book you can feel Dean F. Wilson’s enthusiasm for the world he’s created shine through.
So overall, Lifemaker was not a bad book, but it was definitely not as good as its predecessor, Hopebreaker. The plot got a little boring and I definitely predicted the ending but it was not a book that I actively disliked. I even enjoyed some parts of it. Really, the main problem is that it suffers from Book 2 Syndrome: its trying to set everything up for the super exciting third book. Still, if you loved Hopebreaker, you’re going to want to read this book. The little cliffhanger for Skyshaker will ensure that and there’s still many things to enjoy about Lifemaker. It’s just that an exciting plot isn’t one of them.
I give this book 3/5 stars.
Cover Reveal: Tome by A. Star
I knew Tome was going to ruin my life the second I laid eyes on him.
A. Star is a fan of dirty passion. She loves to read it, and she damn sure loves to write it. She is the author of the Mythos: Gods & Lovers series, the Djinn Order series, and the Knights of the Joust series. She is a night-owl and a coffee junkie, and the only sneaker she would be caught dead wearing are Converses.
Starlet’s Man by Carla J. Hanna
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
“If you live courageously, you have scars.” -Beth, Starlet’s Man
From the award-winning author of the Starlet Series, comes Starlet’s Man, a story about a boy becoming a man amidst the mixed-messages in Hollywood culture. Discover why the Starlet Series took Gold and Silver medals in the Readers’ Choice 2014 International Book Award Contest.
Lights, Cameras, and Lies. High school student athlete, Manny Biro, is caught between the boy he should be and the man he wants to become.
Everyone around him accepts the Hollywood life. He doesn’t. Manny wants no part of acting. On the surface, his childhood best friends seem to have it all: money, power, success. Between the lines, they are all confused. Alan is a messed up want-to-be director focused on pushing scenes to their sexy potential. Beth is an athlete driven to escape from a dark past. Janet is Manny’s kid sister caught up in fashion and trends. And Marie is a lonely actress exhausted by the culture that makes everyone’s favorite stories.
[Full disclosure: I received a free paperback in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things I really didn’t like about Manny in the beginning of the first book (this is a prequel) was his self-righteousness. He criticized everything about Hollywood but proceeded to act like he was a part of that culture by fooling around with different girls and such. I wasn’t really sold on him being Lia’s love interest at first but he did grow on me as the books went along. However, in this prequel we get a really good look into his mindset while he was transitioning from boy to man
In the beginning, Manny is a pretty confused young man. He sort of likes his friend Beth, who he trains with in the mornings. At the same time, Liana Marie will always hold a special place in his heart even though she seems to be in love with her current costar Evan. And all of this takes place in a catty environment where publicity is more important than doing what you actually feel like so even if he and Liana finally admitted their feelings for each other, Lia’s bosses would not be happy with her dating a no-name. This, understandably, puts Manny in a very brooding mindset and leads to some of the stupid decisions I’ve alluded to as well as some of his hypocritical self-righteousness. Do I particularly like him at this point in his life? No, but he is an interesting character and it really does make me appreciate how much he’s changed by the second and third books in the series.
My only real complaint about this prequel is that the plot is a little disjointed. Sometimes it feels like there are random scene changes that I had a hard time keeping up with and it certainly wasn’t because of formatting issues or anything like that. I think that sometimes Carla Hanna pared down her writing a little too much and should have left in some more descriptions of the different locations and the transitions between locations. It does make for a fast read but I really would have appreciated a little more description so I wouldn’t have to deal with the occasional confusion.
The plot, however, is pretty good. It starts out with Manny learning about the kerfuffle over Lia’s last movie and it goes through her filming of Constantine’s Muse and all the screwed up things that come along with it as I saw from her perspective in Starlet’s Web. Her trials and tribulations are always at the forefront of Manny’s mind but he has his own things to worry about: money, Alan’s gossip blog spreading lies about his love life and his growing willingness to admit to Lia that he really does love her. It’s by no means a straightforward journey but that’s probably in part why I loved Starlet’s Man so much. Life isn’t a straightforward plot line and neither is this book. Manny has his ups and downs but finally comes through as a caring young man who is no longer the messed-up, self-righteous boy we meet in the beginning. It’s a satsifying journey.
Since this is a prequel you can absolutely read it before you read the main series but as a matter of personal preference I’d recommend reading Starlet’s Web first because I just like Liana more as a character. Manny is interesting enough and grew to be a better person, but being introduced to his self-righteous younger self so soon could turn you off a wonderful series. But if you like reading the prequels first, go ahead! This is a good book.
I give this book 4/5 stars.