Riverkeep by Martin Stewart

 

This fast paced, action packed tale follows Wulliam as he tries to save his father from a creature that has taken over his body.

Wull is a 15-year-old boy, just shy of his 16th birthday. He lives with his Pappa on the river Danek, where they keep the river running smoothly; they break up the ice, they clear the weeds and they fish the corpses out of the water. It’s not an easy life, but Wull’s Pappa loves his job and he is proud of his son who will take over as Riverkeep when he turns 16. During a routine body pick up, Wull’s Pappa is pulled from the boat and into the depths of the Danek. Will returns home on his own and while contemplating his loss, who should walk up the jetty and into their house, but his Pappa. Not all is what it seems and Wull quickly realises that his Pappa isn’t quite right. After hearing of a possible cure in the form of a once thought mythical creature he packs up what’s left of his Pappa and embarks on a life threatening mission.

He checked the bonds on Pappa’s wrists – they would hold. Fat, dirty fingers grabbed at his. Pappa met his eyes as he stood, but they were not Pappa’s eyes; clouded by milk and fury they belonged to some hunted thing, not the man who had bounced Wull on his knee and whispered stories to him in bed.

Favourite completed fantasy series

I adore fantasy, especially a completed series. I’m impatient, so knowing I can smash through a complete series makes me happy. Here are a few of my favourite series.

Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.

This is probably my favourite series ever. It’s definitely one that got me back into reading fantasy. It has everything, brilliant world building, a wonderful magic system and fantastic characters. There really is something for everyone in this book. The world is drab, with ash falling from the sky, the Skaa are oppressed and under the rule of the nobles. Food is hard to grow, the Skaa are starving. And then along come Kelsier and his team to try to overthrow the Lord Ruler.  Kelsier and his team are more used to pulling con jobs and heists, but to Kelsier, over throwing the Lord Ruler and stealing from him is the ultimate job. We are introduced to his team, they all have a talent that makes them essential and along the way Kelsier comes across Vin, a young girl, abandoned by her brother, just trying to get by on the rough streets, he takes her under his wing and trains her, he helps her develop her talents and her character development is one of the reasons she is a favourite of mine. The details and depth to the world is phenomenal. It is a must read for any fantasy fan, it’s also a great starting place for those who are just getting into fantasy. There are three books in the series and then there is the Wax and Wayne series which is set in the same world, but in the future during an industrial stage. Its kind of Wild West in a city with magic. I don’t often refer to the Wax and Wayne books as Mistborn books. They are good, just not on the same level as the original series. FYI – this is the book that if people say they don’t like it, I silently judge the shit out of them.

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The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

I received this e-book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Partial synopsis from Goodreads – Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

Book mail is the best mail.

 

I said in an earlier post that I’m not going to be a crazy book buyer this year and while this looks bad, I promise its not. I will admit though that I’m really looking forward to my birthday in April and I’m already planning what books I want to get. Until then here are my newest babies. They may have recently arrived but they aren’t 2018 purchases, so I still haven’t bought a book this year, I’ve kept to my game plan. That’s a pretty epic feat.

Bookstagram and blogging, I’m feeling grateful.

 

Just after Christmas I got a package in the mail. I knew it was coming and I was really excited. The lovely Miss Blue  was sending me a book called Riverkeep, she had two copies and knew I was wanting to read it, so bam in the mail it went. But when it arrived, the parcel wasn’t the size of a book, I opened the box (yes a box, not a satchel thing) and my mind was blown. There wasn’t just one book in there, there were four and a wonderful note that made me cry a little. The thought and effort she went to, to pick books I would like blew my mind. Also she bloody nailed it, her picks were freaking excellent.

The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

I’m still very new to writing up a somewhat readable review, so I’m concerned I’m not going to be able to do this book justice. Which would suck, because every fantasy reader out there, that has yet to read The Painted Man, needs to get out there and get themselves a copy.

It’s hard to find something that feels completely original when you read a lot, sometimes you notice similarities between plots, characters and themes within different books. As far as I’m aware these similarities aren’t intended, it just happens. People write about the same themes in their own way. While reading The Painted Man I didn’t have any of those “this reminds me of that other book” moments. It felt new.

Missed the mark in 2017

I’ve told you my favourite reads for 2017, so now I’m giving you the disappointing reads of 2017. I don’t necessarily think they are terrible books, ok some are, but most just didn’t work for me.

Dishonourable mentions go to – Brooklyn by Colm Toibin and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.

Now onto my top 5 My top 6 books that I didn’t love this year.

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli – I feel bad about this one, it was repetitive and nothing really happened. I dnf’d it almost halfway through, so I gave it a red-hot crack,  I tried to like it, I was waiting for it to get good, but it was repetitive. All of the side characters were flat, the mc was a terrible sister and dragon hunter. We were told everything, never shown and it was repetitive. I was extra bummed about this not working for me because DRAGONS!!! Not nearly enough books have dragons.

Crushed under my pile of unread books

It’s a common bookworm problem, so many books that need to be read on your shelves, yet new shiny books catch your attention, so you grab them and ignore the ones you already have. Your pile of unread books slowly gets bigger and bigger and next thing you know its time for a new bookcase. I went from two bookcases to four last year, plus a small one. My fantasy case is double stacked and so are most of the others and at least 80% of these are unread. I read a decent amount of books, in 2017 it was 120, down from 163 in both 2016 and 2015, yet I seem to be buying them so much faster than I can read them. Does this knowledge stop me from buying more? Fuck no, read or unread, my shelves are beautiful, so many gorgeous books.. Yes I’ve been known to stroke my books while looking for my next read, sometimes I tell them I love them, sometimes I just sit and stare at them like the creeper I am. The key to my book buying is op shopping. A very large percentage of my books were purchased second hand for between 2-3 dollars. I once walked out of an op shop with the first 4 books in the Peter V. Brett, Demon Cycle series. That was a happy day. I find heaps of urban fantasy, paranormal romance and books that I’m not sure if I would like, so I wouldn’t risk paying full price for it. I have come across some absolute ripper reads this way and new authors that I now love. If you are looking to expand your reading, I fully recommend op shopping. I think I’ve got enough on my shelves now, so I probably wont be doing it much in 2018. I will be getting new books of course, I don’t think I could go on a book buying ban, that’s just crazy, but I will be limiting my purchases to series I already have on the go. Nicholas Eames and Mark Lawrence have books out in the next couple of months, no way will I miss out on those. Also Brandon Sanderson is an absolute work horse, I’m sure he will be releasing something this year and I can’t miss out on that.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

It’s human nature to judge and compare right? I know I shouldn’t but I always compare an authors work to their previous stuff. So picking up Red Sister was a little daunting. Prince of Thorns is one of my favourite books and Jorg is a ruthless, determined psychopath who I just happen to fucking adore. My love of Jorg sullied my Prince of Fools reading experience, while its a great book, Jalan is no Jorg and I was hoping for a bit of Jorg like action. Well it turns out I had no need to worry as Red Sister is a complete different world and story.  (Yes sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake.) Although I will probably talk about them both as we get into this.