Book Thoughts2 Comments

Tower Climber by Jakob Tanner

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A copy of this book was very kindly provided me by the author. I can’t promise that this didn’t affect my feelings about it, but a book is a book is a book, however I acquire it, and I can promise that all opinions are my own.   I had tons of fun reading this book. While only vaguely aware of the term LitRPG, I remember reading a magazine series called The Ancestral Trail when I was a young teen, which followed a similar pattern of storytelling, and which I loved. I didn’t know what to expect when I first … Continue reading Tower Climber by Jakob Tanner

Miscellaneous Thoughts30 Comments

Some Thoughts and a Problem

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So, I’m on holiday this week and thought I’d share some of the things that have been on my mind. None of this is hefty stuff, just me working through thoughts until I reach a satisfactory solution for myself.   Goodreads is dead to me First off, GR has pissed me off for the last time. You don’t really need to know the circumstances as it’s just a series of small annoyances that have reached tipping point. The reason I haven’t moved away from GR sooner is simply because I’ve not been able to find a suitable replacement app/site. I … Continue reading Some Thoughts and a Problem

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Seven Deaths of an Empire by G R Matthews (ARC)

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A review copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher. I can’t promise that this didn’t affect my feelings about it, but a book is a book is a book, however I acquire it, and I can promise that all opinions are my own.   The Emperor has died and before his heir can assume his mantle, his body and the sacred amulet he wears must be returned to the capital for the coronation rituals. Unfortunately, he died while campaigning in the North and while an honour guard has been chosen to bear him home, any number of … Continue reading Seven Deaths of an Empire by G R Matthews (ARC)

Miscellaneous Thoughts14 Comments

Fun for Monday: Quick Fire Fantasy Books

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Tammy did this tag just the other day and it was too tempting to ignore. It was originally created by Jo The Bookworm Dreamer whose responses, along with Tammy’s, only added to my already-quite-large-enough-thank-you TBR. (Reader problems, eh? *grins hugely*). Anyway, let’s see Wyrd and Wonder out with a wave and a smile, and some rapid-fire responses to Jo’s prompts …   5 Star Book:   What’s that? I’m getting repetitive? Well, I don’t read as fast as some of you and when I like something I do tend to go on and on and on … I don’t think … Continue reading Fun for Monday: Quick Fire Fantasy Books

Miscellaneous Thoughts9 Comments

My Wyrd & Wonder wind down … or, how I did with that bingo challenge in the end

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  Wyrd and Wonder is always such a blast and this year has been no different – I’ve made some new friends, read swathes of awesome posts by awesome people (and I’m still catching up), and seen my TBR list double in size (yet again) – what more could a book blogger want? Maybe only a book bingo. Which one of our three most excellent hosts, imyril, provided, and which I possibly spent a disproportionate amount of time agonising over. Because, you know, lists and achievements are how I work. So I did some extracurricular reading – crammed into lunch … Continue reading My Wyrd & Wonder wind down … or, how I did with that bingo challenge in the end

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The House of the Stag by Kage Baker

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In The Anvil of the World Kage Baker introduced us to a fantasy world peopled with the calamitous Children of the Sun, the gentle Yendri and the chaotic race of demons. There was a lot of fun to be had in the meeting and mingling of these three peoples, along with some pointed observations about humanity that made the book more than just another amusing fantasy adventure. So when I found The House of the Stag in the discarded books pile at work (with a badly broken spine) I swiped it. Naturally. In Anvil Baker created the Master of the … Continue reading The House of the Stag by Kage Baker

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Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 4)

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Wow! I’ve never been so frustrated at the conclusion of a book! Cliffhangers are a killer (which is why backlist reading is sooo appealing, I hate to wait), and Stewart has left us (or maybe just me?) with more questions than answers. Which is handy, in one sense, as I’m providing this week’s prompts, but, phew, it’s made answering them difficult! So without further ado, let’s talk about the end of The Bone Shard’s Daughter.   GIANT SPOILERS TO FOLLOW – DO NOT PASS THIS POINT IF YOU’VE NOT READ THE BOOK …   …   Chapters 36 to end … Continue reading Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 4)

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Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 3)

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Sheesh! Some Things have been revealed this week! And while none of the many mysteries have been truly unravelled yet, we are starting to see shapes in the mist … the truth may be stranger (and way creepier) than we think. This week’s prompts have been provided by the awesome Lisa of Dear Geek Place, one of our three rather marvellous Wyrd and Wonder hosts. Schedule details for this read-along can be found here. Watch out for the SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS!   Chapters 24 to 35 inclusive Sand appears to be organising something of a rebellion herself – but against … Continue reading Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 3)

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Mordew by Alex Pheby

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Let’s get this out of the way first: Dickens, Hardinge, Miéville, Peake, Pullman, Swanwick. At different times along the way Mordew made me think of each of these authors. This book, this story, this world, is dark and weird. It revels in language. It toys with tropes and with the reader’s expectations. It’s a glorious trip down the rabbit hole. It is also entirely itself. Nathan lives in the slums of Mordew with his mother and father. His mother prostitutes herself and his father is dying, his body infested with lungworms. Nathan tries to help, earning money where he can … Continue reading Mordew by Alex Pheby

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Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 2)

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We’ve very quickly reached the halfway point in The Bone Shard Daughter this week and I’m still not sure about most of my feelings. Puzzles and questions abound! Let’s see if we can untangle a few thoughts, at least. This week’s prompts have been set by imyril of There’s Always Room for One More, which is also where you should go for schedule details about this Wyrd and Wonder read-along. As ever, SPOILERS can be expected from here on out.   Chapters 12 to 23 inclusive Jovis has begun to show strange new strengths since escaping Deerhead Island. What do … Continue reading Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 2)