Category Archives: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Dance of Shadows
Author: Yelena Black
I was looking forward to read this book, as I thought the plot seemed very interesting, but I was wrong. OK, I have to admit that I was not expecting magic or supernatural in this book, so I was surprised on the prologue, and although I’m not a big fan of angels and demons – I prefer vampires, elves, orcs, etc etc – I kept going because regardless of my preferences, it doesn’t hurt to read about something outside my usual scope, right? And as I just said before, the storyline was very appealing…
The book started well, but then suddenly things went downhill.
Bloodline Series – The Indigo Spell (book 3)
Author: Richelle Mead
It’s all about Sydney and Adrian. Will they finally be together or Sydney will keep holding on to her beliefs and push aside the attraction they have for each other?
Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire # 1)
Author: Mark Lawrence
“War is a thing of beauty and those who say otherwise are losing”
Prince Jorg Ancrath was 9 when, trapped in a thorn bush, he watched Count Renar’s men murder his mother and little brother. Running away and becoming the leader of a band of outlaws, he is ready, at 13, to go back home and reclaim what is his and to revenge his lost family.
I was curious about this book after reading so many reviews saying how cruel, insensitive, repulsive and violent the character (and the book) is, but I was not even a little shocked or disgusted. Jorg is indeed cruel, cold, calculating and violent, and whatever he says his motives are, doesn’t matter, it’s very hard to sympathize with him, BUT he is an anti-hero-main-character, and you cannot expect him to be nice or friendly or have a flicker of hesitation or regret – and I guess this is why he can be so hated – because you would expect him to be just a little more “human” …
Bloodlines Series – The Golden Lily (book 2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Released almost 1 year after the 1st book, The Golden Lily is as good as Bloodlines, and I reckon Richelle Mead did a good job refreshing our memory about the past events in the previous book – simple, direct and not too repetitive (which was a big problem for me on the Vampire Academy Series).
The story on this one is mainly about Sydney’s conflicts in being loyal to the Alchemists’ principles while getting closer and fonder to the Moroi (vampires) and, well, being also loyal to these friends, which is a big thing and strongly punishable by The Alchemists.
The group is still in Palm Springs: Jill, Adrian, Eddie and now Angeline, the dhampir who used to live with The Keepers. Sonya Karp and Dimitri also establish themselves there to conduct experiments on the Strigoi issue.
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Feast for Crows (book 4)
Author: George R.R. Martin
**CAUTION: IT DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE PREVIOUS BOOKS**
After the slaughter of several important characters in the previous book, one had to wonder who was left to tell the story and how the author was going to keep it up. The answer is plain and simple: a whole bunch of new POVs. 6 they are: The Prophet / The Drowned Man (Aeron “Damphair” Greyjoy); The Captain of the Guards (Areo Hotah); The Princess in the Tower / The Queenmaker (Aryanne Martell); The Kraken’s Daughter (Asha Greyjoy); The Soiled Knight (Ser Arys Oakheart) and The Iron Captain / The Reaver (Victarion Greyjoy). Additionally to them, there’s also 6 POVs already known to us from the previous books (thankfully, otherwise I would not follow it so eagerly): Cersei and Jaime Lannister; Samwell Tarly; Brienne of Tarth; Arya Stark / Cat of the Canals and Sansa Stark / Alayne Stone. All the above with a slash between names mean that character has chapters of his own with two different names – confusing, if you are not paying too much attention on the new characters. Also, the prologue is told by a novice of the Citadel.
Said that, I found the first two hundred pages a bit boring and struggled to get past it, but persistence paid off – once the story caught up, I couldn’t stop reading.
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Storm of Swords (book 3)
Author: George R.R. Martin
**CAUTION: IT DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE PREVIOUS BOOKS**
The longest book of the series until now (900+ pages), A Storm of Swords is by far the best of them, but also the most shocking. It doesn’t start from where the previous book finished, instead, it goes back some months earlier, so the 1st chapters overlap with the last ones from A Clash of Kings.
There are 10 main characters telling us the story: Catelyn, Sansa, Arya and Bran Stark; Jon Snow; Tyrion and Jaime Lannister; Davos Seaworth; Daenerys Targaryen and Samwell Tarly. The prologue is told by a man of the Night’s Watch and the epilogue by one of the hundred Freys.
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Clash of Kings (book 2)
Author: George R.R. Martin
**CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE 1ST BOOK**
A Clash of Kings starts from where A Game of Thrones ended, and it is as good as the 1st book.
9 characters tell us the story now: Catelyn, Sansa, Arya and Bran Stark; Jon Snow; Tyrion Lannister; Daenerys Targaryen; Theon Greyjoy and Davos Seaworth – the latter appearing for the 1st time in the series. The epilogue is told by the maester of Dragonstone.
A red comet, shining bright day and night in the skies of Westeros, is understood by many to be a sign of their own victory, or the beginning of a new era, and so on – everyone in Westeros has a different meaning for it – while a white raven coming from the Citadel brings the news that summer is coming to an end.
Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Kathy is the narrator of the book. In her early 30′s, she starts telling us the story of her childhood in a boarding school called Hailsham, in England. She introduces us to Tommy, a troubled but sweet boy who suffers bullying and for whom she develops strong feelings; and Ruth, a very outgoing girl with a strong character who becomes her very good friend (and Tommy’s girlfriend). At first, you may not know what they are or why they are there – isolated from the world – but even the students themselves don’t really know it, which will be revealed very soon.
Bloodlines Series – Bloodlines (book 1)
Author: Richelle Mead
The Bloodlines Series consists of 6 books, with only the 1st one published to this date. It’s called “spin-off series”, as it will use the same characters and universe of Vampire Academy series – the difference being that now it’s not Rose Hathaway telling the story, but some of her friends.
Bloodlines is told by Sydney Sage, the Alchemist.
The Alchemists are humans who know about the vampire world and are in charge of getting rid of Strigoi bodies and any mess they are involved in, in order to protect human race from knowing about vampires. They have a great knowledge of chemistry and potions, and despite working with Moroi, they do not like vampires and dhampirs at all.
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Game of Thrones (book 1)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Following my previous post about A Song of Ice and Fire, in A Game of Thrones we get to know the Starks very well, as most part of what is happening in Westeros revolves around them. We are introduced to Eddard (Ned) Stark, his wife Catelyn, their 5 children – Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon, and also Ned’s bastard son, Jon Snow – not to mention the direwolf puppies that each of the kids get in the beginning of the book. As for the story in the Eastern continent, we are presented to Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, the last of their bloodline.
