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The Last Empress - Anchee Min

7 April 2008, 8:57 pm. No Comments. Filed under Anchee Min, Authors, Reviews.

The Last Empress
Price: GBP 3.50

54 New and Used from GBP 0.10

At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by humiliating foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid.

Moving from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage, Orchid makes a dramatic metamorphasis from a strong-willed woman to a wise political leader, who must not only face the perilous condition of her fading empire but also a series of devastating personal losses. Yearing to step aside yet growing constantly into her role, only she can hold the nation’s rival factions together.

In this sequal to the bestselling novel Empress Orchid, Anchee Min brings to life one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a very human leader who assumes power reluctantly, and who sarifices all she has to protect both those she loves and her doomed empire.

When I first read this book, I couldn’t put it down. I had read the previous book about Orchid with pleasure, as I find Min’s writing style both easy to read and also vivid in the pictures it paints. I found the book interesting, as like a lot of what I read it’s historical fiction, but unlike a lot of Western Monarchs portrayed in fiction there is a different edge to Orchid. Anchee Min has dramatised the Last Empress’s life in a sympathetic and positive way, making me want to know more about this woman who ruled such a huge nation.

I would recommend both books as a interesting story that draws you in, with plenty of varied characters to keep you hooked.

Review submitted by Hattie

Heart Shaped box-Joe Hill 3 stars

5 April 2008, 12:08 pm. No Comments. Filed under Authors, Joe Hill, Reviews.

Heart-Shaped Box
Price: —

4 New and Used from GBP 4.37

Stoker-winner Hill features a particularly merciless ghost in his powerful first novel. Middle-aged rock star Judas Coyne collects morbid curios for fun, so doesn’t think twice about buying a suit advertised at an online auction site as haunted by its dead owner’s ghost. Only after it arrives does Judas discover that the suit belonged to Craddock McDermott, the stepfather of one of Coyne’s discarded groupies, and that the old man’s ghost is a malignant spirit determined to kill Judas in revenge for his stepdaughter’s suicide. Judas isn’t quite the cad or Craddock the avenging angel this scenario makes them at first, but their true motivations reveal themselves only gradually in a fast-paced plot that crackles with expertly planted surprises and revelations. Hill (20th Century Ghosts) gives his characters believably complex emotional lives that help to anchor the supernatural in psychological reality and prove that (as one character observes) “horror was rooted in sympathy.” His subtle and skillful treatment of horrors that could easily have exploded over the top and out of control helps make this a truly memorable debut.

I waited a while to get this book purely for the reason that I know who his father is, but I am glad I waited no longer. His style, while similar to that of dad’s earlier writings, is quite good in it’s own right. A new generation of writers of the creepy is emerging, and I for one, can’t wait to see what Mr. Hill summons up next.

The dream thief-Shana Abe {Drakon series-Book 2} 4 stars

30 March 2008, 8:55 pm. No Comments. Filed under Authors, Reviews, Shana Abe.

Dream Thief
Price: GBP 6.99

40 New and Used from GBP 1.52

In the remote hills of northern England lives a powerful clan with a centuries-old secret. They are the drákon, shape-shifters who possess the ability to Turn—changing from human to smoke to dragon. And from the very stones of the earth, they hear hypnotic songs of beauty and wonder. But there is one stone they fear….Buried deep within the bowels of the Carpathian Mountains lies the legendary dreaming diamond known as Draumr, the only gem with the power to enslave the drákon. Since childhood, Lady Amalia Langford, daughter of the clan’s Alpha, has heard its haunting ballad but kept it secret, along with another rare Gift….Lia can hear the future, much in the way she hears the call of Draumr. And in that future, she realizes that the diamond—along with the fate of the drákon—rests in the hands of a human man, one who straddles two worlds.Ruthlessly clever, Zane has risen through London’s criminal underworld to become its ruler. Once a street urchin saved by Lia’s mother, Zane is also privy to the secrets of the clan—and is the only human they trust to bring them Draumr. But he does nothing selflessly.Zane’s hunt for the gem takes him to Hungary, where he is shocked to encounter a bold, beautiful young noblewoman: Lia. She has broken every rule of the drákon to join him, driven by the urgent song of Draumr—and her visions of Zane. In one future, he is her ally. In another, her overlord. In both, he is her lover. Now, to protect her tribe, Lia must tie her fate to Zane’s, to the one man capable of stealing her future—and destroying her heart…

The second book was as good as the first. I am really looking forward to book #3.

The smoke thief- Shana Abe {Drakon series-Book 1} 4 stars

30 March 2008, 10:38 am. No Comments. Filed under Authors, Reviews, Shana Abe.

Smoke Thief, The
Price: GBP 5.59

63 New and Used from GBP 0.10

For centuries they’ve lived in secret among northern England’s green and misted hills. Creatures of extraordinary beauty, power, and sensuality, they possess the ability to shape-shift from human to dragon and back again. Now their secret–and their survival–is threatened by a temptation that will break every boundary….Dubbed the Smoke Thief, a daring jewel thief is confounding the London police. His wealthy victims claim the master burglar can walk through walls and vanish into thin air. But Christoff, the charismatic Marquess of Langford, knows the truth: the thief is no ordinary human but a “runner” who’s fled Darkfrith without permission. As Alpha leader of the dra´kon, it’s Kit’s duty to capture the fugitive before the secrets of the tribe are revealed to mortals. But not even Kit suspects that the Smoke Thief could be a woman. Clarissa Rue Hawthorne knew her dangerous exploits would attract the attention of the dra´kon. But she didn’t expect Christoff himself to come to London, dangling the tribe’s most valuable jewel–the Langford Diamond–as bait. For as long as she could remember, Rue had lived the life of a halfling–half dra´kon, half mortal–and an outcast in both worlds. She’d always loved the handsome and willful Kit from the only place it was safe: from afar. But now she was no longer the shy, timid girl she’d once been. She was the first woman capable of making the Turn in four generations. So why did she still feel the same dizzying sense of vulnerability whenever he was near? From the moment he saw her, Kit knew that the alluring and powerful beauty was every bit his Alpha equal and destined to be his bride. And by the harsh laws of the dra´kon, Rue knew that she was the property of the marquess. But they will risk banishment and worse for a chance at something greater. For now Rue is his prisoner, the diamond has disappeared, and she’s made the kind of dangerous proposition a man like Kit cannot resist….In this bewitching novel, Shana Abé transports us into a world of exhilarating romance and magic.

I really liked this book. If you’re into shapeshifters of any type, I believe you would like this book as well.

The sweet far thing-Libba Bray Book 3

30 March 2008, 10:32 am. No Comments. Filed under Authors, Libba Bray, Reviews.

The Sweet Far Thing
Price: —

8 New and Used from GBP 8.77

IT HAS BEEN A YEAR OF CHANGE since Gemma Doyle arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy. Her mother murdered, her father alaudanum addict, Gemma has relied on an unsuspected strength and has discovered an ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms, where dark magic runs wild. Despite certain peril, Gemma has bound the magic to herself and forged unlikely new alliances. Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test these bonds.The Order - the mysterious group her mother was once part of - is grappling for control of the realms, as is the Rakshana. Spence’s burned East Wing is being rebuilt, but why now? Gemma and her friends see Pippa, but she is not the same. And their friendship faces its gravest trial as Gemma must decide once and for all what role she is meant for.

Personal Demon

27 March 2008, 11:53 pm. No Comments. Filed under Authors, Kelley Armstrong, Reviews.

Personal Demon
Price: GBP 7.77

22 New and Used from GBP 6.50

Hope Adams, tabloid journalist and half-demon, inherited her Bollywood-princess looks from her mother. From her demon father, she inherited a hunger for chaos, and a talent for finding it. Like full demons, she gets an almost sexual rush from danger - in fact, she thrives on it. But she is determined to use her gifts for good.

When the head of the powerful Cortez Cabal asks her to infiltrate a gang of bored, rich, troublemaking supernaturals in Miami, Hope can’t resist the excitement. But trouble for Hope is intoxicating, and soon she’s in way too deep.

With a killer stalking the mystical hotspots of Miami, Hope finds herself dangerously entangled, and has no choice but to turn to her crooked werewolf ex-boyfriend for help. What started as a simple investigation has spiralled into chaos. And Hope finds chaos irresistable. . .

For a woman who didn’t know what she was getting into, there’s only one way out: it’s time for Hope to unleash her most potent primal instincts and open herself, mind and body, to everything she most fears - and desires.

Fans of Kelley Armstrong are not going to be disappointed with this latest novel. While at first, it’s a little odd reading from not only the female lead’s perspective but also the male’s (which, for Kelley, is not the norm) you soon get into the swing of things. The story is everything you expect from Armstrong - strong characters, a workable plot that twists and weaves and keeps you guessing right up to the final few chapters. I read this in one sitting and enjoyed every page of it.

Well worth the read. If you’ve been following the Women of the Otherworld series, then go grab it. If you’ve not tried them yet, then you should!!!

Rebel Angels~ Book 2

7 March 2008, 2:14 am. No Comments. Filed under Authors, Libba Bray, Reviews.

Rebel Angels (Readers Circle)
Price: —

16 New and Used from GBP 4.12

In this sequel to the Victorian fantasy A Great and Terrible Beauty, Gemma continues to pursue her role as the one destined to bind the magic of the Realms and restore it to the Order–a mysterious group who have been overthrown by a rebellion. Gemma, Felicity and Ann, (her girlfriends at Spence Academy for Young Ladies), use magical power to transport themselves on visits from their corseted world to the visionary country of the Realms, with its strange beauty and menace. There they search for the lost Temple, the key to Gemma’s mission, and comfort Pippa, their friend who has been left behind in the Realms. After these visits they bring back magical power for a short time to use in their own world. Meanwhile, Gemma is torn between her attraction to the exotic Kartik, the messenger from the opposing forces of the Rakshana, and the handsome but clueless Simon, a young man of good family who is courting her. The complicated plot thickens when Gemma discovers a woman in Bedlam madhouse who knows where to find the Temple; Ann shows signs of being enamored of Gemma’s loutish brother Tom, and their father’s addiction to laudanum lands him in an opium den. A large part of the enjoyment of this unusual fantasy comes from the Victorian milieu and its restrictive rules about the behavior of proper young ladies, as contrasted with the unimaginable possibilities of the Realms, where Gemma has power to confront gorgons and ghosts and the responsibility to save a world.

Gemma and friends continue with their adventure in trying to save & bind the magic of the Other Realm. They also come to learn that with the use of magic comes a price. A wonderful story of friendship, adventure and magic.

My Boring Ass Life - Kevin Smith

4 March 2008, 1:57 pm. No Comments. Filed under Authors, Kevin Smith, Reviews.

My Boring Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith
Price: GBP 5.99

57 New and Used from GBP 2.29

Silent Bob is back…

Kevin Smith, the award-winning screenwriter and director of Clerks, Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back shares his X-rated thoughts in this, his diary, telling all in his usual candid, heartfelt and irreverent way!

Lewd, crude and hilariously rude, Smith pulls no punches in this in-your-face expose of his far from boring-ass life. OK, so he does spend long periods lying in bed watching his TiVo, but he also manages to:

Make and release Clerks II

Tell the story of ‘Me and My Shadow’: the acclaimed account of his partner-in-crime Jason Mewe’s drug addiction

Serve time (on a jury)

Score acting gigs opposite Jennifer Garner and his idol Bruce Willis

Get caught stealing donuts from Burt Reynolds

Also revealed are his views on the perils of strip clubs, the drawback of threesomes, the pain of anal fissures, his unnatural love of Star Wars… and so much more!

I feel the title of his book is misleading, he isn’t boring, he’s like you and me an everyday bloke with a lovely wife and daughter and a huge extended family through his message board.

He has taken the diary of his life and put it to print, which he admits to being a very candid diary and I agree with the way he tells us about his life, but you know it’s just the same stuff we do, day in day out.

The thing is this guy is living his dream, something only a minority of people get to do.

He really wears his heart on his sleeve, if you want to know what makes Kevin Smith tick, then this a must read for you.

I’ve never met the guy, but I love him as he puts it “in a hetero kind of way”. As you turn the pages of this book you think you’ve known him all your life.

This guy has no ego to speak of, if he does he keeps it so well hidden and he is so close to his fans.

So you want to know why he has so many fans? Read this book to find out why.

Review written by Richard

Night Pleasures

21 February 2008, 4:04 pm. No Comments. Filed under Reviews, Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Night Pleasures (Dark Hunter)
Price: GBP 6.99

26 New and Used from GBP 1.40

Amanada Devereaux has a crazy family. Her other and older siblings are witches and psychics, and her twin sister is a vampire hunter. All Amanda wants is a quiet, normal life. Only when she finds herself the target of an attack meant for her twin, she wakes to find herself handcuffed to a sex, blonde stranger.

He is Kyrian of Thrace. And while Amanda’s first thought is that this might be another of her sister’s attempts at extreme matchmaking, it soons becomes clear that Kyrian is not boyfriend material.

He is a Dark-Hunter: an immortal warrior who has traded his soul for one moment of vengeance upon his enemies. Kyrian spends his eternal days hunting the vampires and daimons that prey upon mankind. He is currently on the hunt for a very old aneadly daimon named Desiderius who has deemed it sport to handcuff Kyrian to a human while he hunts him. Now Kyrian and Amanda must find a way to break their bond before they give into their dangerous attraction to one another. Or Desiderius kills them both. . .

The first true Dark Hunter novel from Sherrilyn Kenyon opens well, with characters who were introduced in the previous novel - Fantasy Lover. Expanding on her world she brings in Kyrian - already mentioned in Fantasy Lover as a friend of Julian’s - who can be quite amusing when the mood takes him. The story follows Kyrian and Amanda through an escapade of evading daimons while being handcuffed together, finding a way to detach the cuffs while avoiding daylight - which is deadly to Dark Hunters - and the daimon hunting them.

Night Pleasures is quite a shallow read with a lot of character potential left unused, which is a shame. There are moments when the story flows nicely but then will jerk to an abrupt stop as if Kenyon lost her focus or her feel for the storyline. But the bonus is the introduction to Acheron (affectionately known as Ash by the Dark Hunters). This character has all the depth and fascination that her lead characters are missing. It’s obvioius a lot of thought has gone into Ash and, if you stick with the series, you’ll see (out of all her characters) Ash becoming more and more defined as time goes by.

Once again, we have a book that has a lot of untapped potential from Sherrilyn Kenyon but, if you’re not wanting something that takes a lot of concentration, it’s well worth a read.

Fantasy Lover

20 February 2008, 3:02 pm. No Comments. Filed under Reviews, Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Fantasy Lover (Dark Hunter 01)
Price: GBP 5.49

23 New and Used from GBP 2.97

It might sound like a man’s favourite fantasy - to live forever, destinated to be the lover of thousands of women. But for Julian oMacedon, it’s a nightmare. Once he was a proud Spartan general, now he’s a love-slave, his essence magically held captive in a book, cursed to spend all eternity pleasing women. Then, one day, Grace Alexander summons Julian to fulfil her passionate dreams - and sees beyond the fantasy to the man himself.Long years as a sex therapist, listening to other people’s bedroom problems, has taken a lot of the fun out of hte physical side of love for Grace. She’s remarkably understanding about Julian’s situation - and that’s disconcerting for all concerned. With or without sex, the rules of the enchantment cannot be changed. Julian is hers for the next month. And, as their time together slips by, Julian and grace find more to share than sympathy and conversation - and they begin to wonder if love might be within their grasp. That leaves only one question. Is love enough to break a 2,000 year-old curse?

The book that kicks off the Dark Hunter series - although it doesn’t actually have a Dark Hunter theme to it. I found the whole story a little silly, if I’m honest. While the concept appealed to the book-lover in me - man stuck inside a book for all eternity - I though the “only to be called out to be a sex-slave for women” part a little silly. But, really, this sets the standard for the majority of Kenyon’s books - the main focus being to have the two main leads to have sex together. When Kenyon forgot about the sex, she turned the story into an amusing piece of fiction with likable characters but it’s never long before the writing returns to sex or, in the case of this particular book, sexual frustration as Grace refuses to use Julian as her sex slave.

For all its faults - it reads like this is the first time Kenyon has put pen to paper and written a book - there are some scenes that did actually make me laugh out loud as I imagined the situations, eg when Grace tries to teach Julian to drive.

Fantasy Lover is certainly not the best book in the Dark Hunter series but it does give a glimpse of the potential just waiting to spill out. Pick this book up with no expectations other than a lighthearted read and you won’t be disappointed.

Next Entries »

BookWeazle

Archive for Reviews

The Last Empress - Anchee Min

Heart Shaped box-Joe Hill 3 stars

The dream thief-Shana Abe {Drakon series-Book 2} 4 stars

The smoke thief- Shana Abe {Drakon series-Book 1} 4 stars

The sweet far thing-Libba Bray Book 3

Personal Demon

Rebel Angels~ Book 2

My Boring Ass Life - Kevin Smith

Night Pleasures

Fantasy Lover

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