Trial By Fire

I was first drawn to Trial By Fire because I liked the author's first trilogy so much (Starcrossed).  I didn't even know what it was about when I picked it up to read.  That didn't matter though.  The author has a way of drawing you into the story and hooking you from the very start.  Full of action, there was never a dull moment.

This story follows Lily, a girl weak of body but strong of mind.  She is practically allergic to the world.  All she sees of her future is the eventual isolation in a plastic bubble.  When her heart is broken, she succumbs to a voice in her head asking her to come with her.  Before she knows what's happening, Lily is sucked into a world different from her own.  This world is filled with magic.  The version of herself that belongs in that world is the most powerful witch in all the Covens.  All Lily wants is to go home, but Lillian has no intention of sending her back.  Lily flees the Citadel and runs across Rowan, former lover, current enemy to Lillian.  After some cajoling, Rowan begins to train Lily on how to use magic, for she has the same power Lillian possesses.

The question is, can she progress enough in her training before it is too late?  Can she find her way back to her own world?  Does she still want to go back?  This book is filled with great characters.  I just loved Lily.  Despite being thrust into a foreign and scary world, she is able to persevere.  She makes friends, learns to control her own power, and stands up for what she believes.  She is the kind of character you can get behind and find yourself cheering on at every turn.  Rowan is another character I really enjoyed.  Powerful in his own right, Rowan is distrustful and hesitant to let another Lily into his life in any form.  He is always on guard, but will ultimately do anything to protect Lily.  The two make a great pair/team.  I am definitely excited to see where their story goes.  This is a strong start to another promising series from Josephine Angelini.  I only wish I didn't have to wait so long for the next book.  Happy reading!

Septimus Heap

A very cute kids series is Septimus Heap by Angie Sage.  The adventures follow a young boy named Septimus Heap.  He is the seventh son of a seventh son, and as such, he is destined to be one of the most powerful wizards of all time.  He is just a boy though, so he must take up an apprenticeship with the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand, in order to be properly trained to someday take her place.  The books are filled with adventure and mishap.  The characters are a lot of fun and the world the author has created is rather enjoyable.  Septimus' family is rather entertaining.  His brothers are all very different.  His sister, Jenna, is a force to be reckoned with.  His best friend Beetle is always up for an adventure.  After raising seven kids, Sarah Heap is not to be messed with.  All the characters, good and bad, are fun.  The series is full of quirky characters and great adventure, not to mention a bit of magic, time travel, possession, dragons and danger.  It is very fun.  The books are all quite thick, but the content is appropriate for younger readers than Harry Potter.  I would recommend it for about 10 years old, but could be read to kids slightly younger.  If you like fantasy and want something a bit silly, yet well written and entertaining, give this series a try.  Happy reading!

The Mortal Instruments

Most people have probably heard of this series, but if you haven't (or just haven't read it yet), here is my shout out to the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.  There are moments that will infuriate you, but over all the books are very good.  They are jam packed with action and danger.  The world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders that the author has created is very interesting.  It is set in 2008 in modern day New York (mostly).  The Shadowhunters (Nephilim) are a race of angel blessed people set to the task of protecting the world from demons.  They are warriors with special weapons and covered in runes that help enhance their natural abilities.  The main players are teenagers who live and train at the New York Institute, a Shadowhunter establishment.  Brother and sister Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, adopted brother Jace make up the three musketeers.  Enter mundane (ordinary human) Clary Fray.  She sees the trio slay a demon at a night club.  The only problem, mundanes can't see Shadowhunters.  They are glamoured to the naked eye.  She and her best friend Simon are thrown into the Shadow World, and their lives will never be the same.  Warlocks, Vampires, and Werewolves (the Downworlders) as well as the Fair Folk fill our the cast of characters.  The first three books (meant to be a trilogy) have an overall story arc that plays out at the end of book three.  The next three follow a continuing story arc with a newish big bad.  The books are well written, fast-paced, and full of excitement.  The characters are complex and far from perfect.  There is a wide variety of characters that make up the complex world expertly created by the author.  They are definitely worth reading.  If you are interested in them, the author wrote another trilogy set in the same world, only 100 or so years earlier called The Infernal Devices.  The two series tie together nicely in book six (City of Heavenly Fire), as well as set up her next series, The Dark Artifices, whose first installment is set to be released sometime next year.  If you are interested in trying one of her series, this one is the best.  Just a bit of advice, don't let any revelations in book one stop you from continuing the series.  I promise everything will be satisfactorily resolved in further volumes.  If you haven't read this series yet, give it a try.  Happy reading!

The Iron Fey

For years I though about reading The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa.  It wasn't until she started a new series, The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, that I finally gave it a try.  The author said the first four didn't have to be read before book five (aka book one in the new series).  That sounded like a good deal to me.  I really liked that fifth book and was instantly intrigued by the previous four.  Of course I hurried to read them, as well as the bridging novellas, before book six came out.  I found that I actually liked the original four better.  The bad thing was, by reading book five first, a few things were ruined for me.  The second series takes place twelve or so years later and follows Ethan Chase, the younger brother or the main character in the Iron Fey series.

The original series follows Meghan Chase as she heads into the Nevernever to rescue her four year old brother, Ethan, after he is kidnapped by faeries.  It isn't long that she learns she is part faerie herself, the half-human daughter to none other than Oberon himself.  The Summer princess makes friends and enemies along the way.  Her travel companions are the Summer prankster, Puck, and his best friend/worst enemy the youngest Winter prince, Ash.  Finding Ethan is not their only problem.  A new kingdom, made of iron, is rapidly growing.  The Nevernever is starting to die as the poisonous iron overtakes the land.  None of the faeries can stop it.  Meghan's human half makes her immune to the effects of iron, so it is up to her to try to stop the Iron King before all the Winter and Summer lands and faeries are dead.  Of course there is also romance.  Puck is in love with Meghan from the beginning, but it is the forbidden Ash she is drawn to.  He is cold, cunning and lethal, just like his mother, Mab, values.  Meghan catches glimpses of who he is under that mask.  The two can't help but fall in love.  The problem, their parents are mortal enemies and it is forbidden for Summer and Winter to be together.  Will they risk exile to be together or walk away?  You'll have to read to find out.

While there is romance, as in most young adult books, it is by no means the driving point of the story.  The life and death action and adventure will keep you reading.  If you are at all interested in the world of Faerie, I think you will enjoy these books.  The Iron kingdom is fascinating to me.  I think it was a brilliant idea to shake things up in Faerie.  I really enjoyed the characters, especially Ash, although Puck's antics are always entertaining.  The stories are well-written and well-paced.  I never got bored.  The first three books are more of a trilogy, following Meghan, while book four is about Ash.  Meghan is only in it for a little bit.  It feels like a bonus book to satisfy Ash fans, although it does tie into the overall story.  Like I said, they are quite enjoyable.  Give them a try.  Happy reading!

The Ascendance Trilogy

I recently read The Ascendance Trilogy, partly to see what the fuss was about.  A while back the first book was quite popular for awhile and I was curious.  I found that I rather enjoyed these books.  They got increasingly better as the story progressed through the three volumes.  In the False Prince a nobleman scours orphanages to find candidates he can train to act as the missing, presumed dead, young prince.  He chooses a few young boys that could pass for the prince and trains them up.  He will pick one to make an attempt at the throne, if he can convince the regents that he is Jaron.  In The Runaway King, Jaron's regents don't believe the threat to Carthya is real and are pushing to place a steward on the throne until Jaron comes of age.  To save his country, Jaron flees to confront and destroy the pirates that pose the biggest threat to his country.  In the Shadow Throne, all three neighboring kingdoms have banded together to wage war on Carthya and the young King.  King Vargan of Avenia wants to overthrown Jaron and set himself up as emperor of all the land.  The war seems impossible to win and the likelihood of survival slim.  This series is very fast-paced, full of action and adventure, suspense and intrigue, loyalty and friendship.  Jaron is quite the witty young man and proves to be the thorn in many a side.  He is a very smart, strong and fast thinking leader, proving more of an opponent than any gauge him to be.  The characters are very likable.  Jaron, Imogen, Ronan, Amarinda, Tobias, Mott, Harlow, to name a few.  It is definitely worth reading.  I found myself rather entertained, trying to keep up with Jaron and his antics.  Give them a try.  Happy reading!

The Kiss of Deception

The Kiss of Deception is one of those books that reminds me why I don't like reading advanced copies from the publishers.  When you read a book early, it is an even longer wait until the next one comes out.  I was first drawn to this title by its cover.  I think it is a beautiful cover.  Once I started reading the story, I was immediately sucked in.

On the day Princess Lia is set to marry an unknown prince from a foreign land, she decides to run for it instead.  The marriage was arranged by their fathers, and she has no interest in a marriage without love, especially to who she thinks is a stuffy, old papa's boy who didn't even care to meet her before the wedding.  She flees to a small town and instantly falls in love with life she finds there.  She finds work as a barmaid, and has no intention of ever looking back.  One day two young men walk into the bar and immediately catch her eye.  Both are attractive in their own way and both have their sights set on her.  One is none other than the prince she was to marry, come to check out the girl who jilted him.  The other is an assassin sent by a neighboring land to kill her.  Lia begins to form friendships with both boys, but soon discovers she is falling in love with one of them.  She doesn't realize the danger surrounding her until it is too late.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book.  Rafe and Kaden were fun to figure out.  It was pretty obvious to me early on which one's the prince and which one's the assassin, although the author doesn't come out and tell us until Lia begins to learn the truth of it.  She is a very strong and likable leading lady.  Her fire and independence makes it obvious early on that court life was never for her.  Duty is not something she bows to easily.  She is fierce when it comes to her brothers and friends.  I am really excited to get to know her more in the books to come.  I don't want to say too much about the boys so as not to give away their identities, but they are both likable and interesting in their own ways.  This book is well paced and full of intrigue.  There is an air of suspense that kept me reading.  I hate that it ended and now I have to wait until sometime next year for book two.  I really enjoyed the writing and am excited for the story to continue.  If you are looking for a good low fantasy book, give this a try.  Happy reading!

Tuesdays at the Castle

I was planning on waiting until I read the next two books in this series before writing about it, but I just couldn't wait.  I just finished Tuesdays at the Castle and loved it so much.  I wanted to share it immediately.  It was such a delight.  I kept being surprised by how much I was enjoying it, although I don't know why.  I have enjoyed all of Jessica's books that I have read so far.  She is a local author that I have gotten to know a little and I shouldn't be surprised by her talent.  Her personality comes right through her books.  This wonderful book is about a magical castle and the royal family who inhabits it.  When the King and Queen go to the Wizarding College to watch their oldest son graduate, their carriage is set upon by bandits.  They are presumed dead.  The three children (Rolf, Lilah, and Celie) they left at home have to use all their wits and bravery to defend the throne from an evil prince from another land who is set on taking over the kingdom.  Despite his wishes, it is the castle who chooses the king, and Castle Glower is not a fan of Prince Khelsh.  This magical tale is full of fun and adventure.  The children must fight for their very lives and band together with the castle to try to get rid of the unwanted residents.  I just loved the characters.  I can't wait to get to know them better in the next books.  Such a fun series so far.  I highly recommend this for anyone eight and up.  Happy reading!

The Violet Eden Chapters

I found The Violet Eden Chapters, a.k.a. the Embrace series, to be quite good.  The author created a world involving fallen angels (exiles of light and exiles of dark) and angel-made human warriors known as Grigori.  The two sides are in constant battle.  The exiles are strong, ambitious, and a tad crazy.  Most desire to rule the humans, and it is up to the Grigori to protect the human race.  Grigori are made when an angel imbues his essence upon a baby during its first few weeks of life.  Violet is one such baby.  On her seventeenth birthday, her world changes.  She learns of the hidden world surrounding her and the new powers growing inside her.  She feels betrayed by Lincoln, the man who has been training her (and who she has been falling in love with) for the last two years.  It turns out he is Grigori and knew all along that she is too.  He was training her to become his partner.  All Grigori have partners that can help heal them and fight side by side with them, the down side is they can never be together as a couple because it weakens them.  The books are filled with the whole will they won't they between Violet and Lincoln.  They are in love, but can't be together.  Then there is Phoenix (my favorite character in the series).  He is an exile, only different from the others.  He hasn't gone mad and is able to pass himself off as human when he wants to (it is because of who his parents are).  He also has his sights set on Violet.  The two have a complicated relationship.  Part of him loves her and part of him wants to destroy her.  His dual nature makes him the ultimate unpredictable foe.  Despite all he does, Violet repeatedly trusts him.  He is a very interesting character.  The love triangle is fun too.  You always know Violet is in love with Lincoln, but a part of her will always belong to Phoenix.  Outside the love story, it is a story of life and death, survival and annihilation, friendship and loyalty.  A war is brewing and Violet and her friends have to do all they can, including give their lives if need be to stop the exiles.  There is lots of action and danger, suspense and twists, betrayal and grief.  Each book will keep you on the edge of your seat.  They are all well written with interesting and action-packed plots.  I vastly enjoyed this series and highly recommend it.  Happy reading!

The Kingkiller Chronicles

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss is a series that everybody should read.  I have never heard anybody tell me they didn't like these books, even when they aren't really fantasy fans.  This has often been considered the Harry Potter for adults.  Not so much because it is like the world of Harry Potter, but because it has such mass appeal.  However, the main character does spend a lot of time at school training to be a wizard.  It is more scientific/alchemical in ways then waving a wand though, and the school definitely has more of a university like academic setting/feeling than magical.  There are other parallels, but I will let you discover those on your own.

The characters are so well written that you can find yourself and your friends on the pages.  The story sucks you right in.  You'll never want it to end.  Fortunately, each book is over 700 pages long.  Unfortunately, it is only a trilogy and book three has no publication date yet.  So far both books have come out in the Spring.  If we're lucky maybe book three will hit stores in the Spring of 2016.  Here's hoping!  Plenty of people have grumbled about how much time passes between books.  The author has replied along the lines of, "Would you rather I do it right, or do it quick?"  Of course us fans want it both ways, but after the superb quality of each book I am willing to wait for a quality third.  In the meantime,  I've listened to both on audio and loved them just as much as the written versions.  They are done very well.

These books are packed with masterful storytelling, action, adventure, suspense, danger, wit, humor and much more.  If I remember correctly, the entire trilogy takes place over the course of three days.  Each book consists of one day of storytelling.  It begins with Chronicler arriving at the Waystone Inn, looking to see if the rumors are true.  The legendary Kvothe is said to be there and he wants to write his story.  After considerable cajoling, the innkeeper, Kote, agrees to tell his story.  The majority of the stories take place in the past, with interludes in the present day inn.  We, like Chronicler, get to be the audience.  It is a great story to behold.  I dare you not to get carried away.  I can't wait to find out how the story ends.  If you haven't discovered this series yet, today is the day.  These are books that you simply cannot miss out on.  Everyone needs to read these.  Patrick Rothfuss truly has a rare gift.  Happy reading!

Den of Shadows

I discovered this series a couple years after starting my bookstore job.  A friend recommended it to me, and I fell in love with this author.  The Den of Shadows quartet was the first vampire series I ever really liked.  The books are not very long.  Originally they were published individually and are still available as such, but you can also get them in one volume.  The author wrote (and published) these first four books in her teens, then went on to write another non-vampire series.  She came back to this series years later and added five more books.  In my opinion, the original four are better than the rest.  She creates this world with vampires and various bloodlines of witches.  Some of the witches are healers, others are vampire hunters.  This series doesn't really have to be read in order because each book is about different characters.  They are all set in the same world and have a little cross-over, but you wouldn't be all that lost if you read them out of order.

The first book, In the Forests of the Night, is the story of a vampire, Risika.  It is basically the author's way of setting up her vampire world.  We hear Risika's story, spanning 300 years, and learn all about the vampire world.  It is my least favorite of the four books.  I actually read it after reading the others.  I understood one of the characters from the second book a little better, but it is the only one of the four I have never reread.

The second book, Demon in My View, is the story of a high school girl, Jessica, who has anonymously published a vampire book.  When a guy shows up at school, heavily resembling her main character, Jessica starts to question what's real and what is fiction.  Her ideas and inspiration for her novel came from dreams, but perhaps her dreams were more than that.  She is living on the edge of a very dangerous world, and she has gained the attention of very dangerous creatures.

The third book, Shattered Mirror, is about Sarah Vida, a descendant of the most famous vampire hunter of all time.  Despite her best efforts, she seems to continuously be drawn to her classmate, Christopher.  The problem is, he is a vampire.  He has sworn off human blood and is determined to live a normal life, but as a trained vampire hunter she has trouble reconciling her changing views of vampires.  Perhaps they are not all bad.  Enter Nikolas, a vampire from Christopher's past that will change everything for both of them.

The fourth book, Midnight Predator, follows the story of Turquoise Draka, a member in a guild of vampire hunters.  She is a bounty hunter.  When an unknown client hires her to kill an ancient vampire in charge of a the infamous Midnight, a compound where vampires rule and the humans are slaves.  She must enter their world and pose as a servant in order to carry out her mission.  What she encounters on the inside is way more than she expected and perhaps more than she can handle.

I know that these books may not appeal to as wide an audience as some of the titles I suggest, but if you are at all interested in vampires, witches or shapeshifters, I recommend giving these books a chance.  The characters are very interesting.  The best ones are the evil, sadistic creatures.  Although I really like all her characters, she definitely is able to capture the whole dark prince aspect of the vampires.  The female protagonists are all strong and can pretty much take care of themselves.  They definitely are not easy prey.  Since these books are short, I have reread them a handful of times over the years.  I always find them an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.  Happy reading!

The Dresden Files

Maybe it was a little overkill to display all the covers for The Dresden Files, but they are all just such good books I didn't want to leave any out.  They are displayed in order, ending with Skin Game which comes out in a month.  I am starting to get very excited for that release.  Since it has been on my mind, I thought I would talk about the rest of the series.  It is technically classified as urban fantasy.  Most of the series takes place in modern day Chicago.  Harry Dresden is a wizard for hire.  You can find him in the yellow pages.  He is a frequent consultant for the Chicago P.D., working with their Special Investigations department solving crimes with a supernatural element.  Karrin Murphy is the head of the S.I. unit.  She is a petite little firecracker.  You don't want to mess with her.  Harry is tall and lanky, sarcastic and a frequent rule breaker.  He is a relative loner.  Each book deals with different types of bad guys, mostly humans messing with the supernatural world.  You've got werewolves, vampires (three different kinds), faeries (both winter and summer courts), rogue wizards and more.  Each story deals with a different case, but there is an overall story arc that continues throughout (the first handful of books is more about introducing characters and their back stories, all of which will come into play later in the series) .  I don't want to get into the characters too much because I don't want to give anything away about them.  All I can say is there are some fantastic characters.  My favorites besides Harry and Karrin are: Butters (the polka loving coroner/medical examiner), Bob (a disembodied all-knowing entity that lives in a skull in Harry's apartment), and Michael (a long-time friend of Harry's).  I also love Thomas (a white court vampire) and Molly (Michael's daughter).  There are lots of fun characters that make appearances throughout the series.  One thing I love about this series is that there is always a big fight scene and each and every time Harry gets his butt kicked.  He usually wins, but he never gets out of it unscathed.  I appreciate that despite how powerful he is, he is not impervious.  It just feels more realistic to me.  The books are fast-paced, layered, and full of trouble.  Life is not easy for Harry.  He is constantly battling for his very life and the world he so dearly loves.  I highly recommend giving this series a try.  If you are more a fan of audio books, these are excellent in that format as well.  All of them (except Ghost Story) are read by James Marsters (Spike to all you Buffy fans).  He does a wonderful job.  Whichever format you prefer, this is a series you should definitely try out.  Happy reading!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series

I discovered the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series last year and found myself enjoying it a lot more than I anticipated.  In a young adult market saturated with "angel" stories, this series brings a fresh approach to the topic.  Instead of angels, fallen or not, living among the humans, this series is about angels that live in their own world.  The angels are only half of the story though.  The main character, Karou, belongs to another world entirely.  She is part of the world of the chimaera.  As far as she knows, she is a human girl raised by the beasts.  In the first book she is just starting to learn the truth about who she is and the world she is from.  She has a near deadly encounter with a vengeful angel, Akiva, that leaves her little human life turned upside down.  Her people have been at war with the angels for centuries.  They are bitter rivals.  In a past long forgotten (or locked away), Karou and Akiva dared to fall in love and dream of a world where the two sides could find peace.  What resulted was death and betrayal.  Books two and three take place almost entirely in the worlds of the angels and chimaera.  There aren't a lot of humans in them except Karou's feisty best friend, Zuzana and her boyfriend, Mik.  We dive into the politics and powers of the two worlds.  Bloodshed is constant and war is inevitable.  Can Karou and Akiva find that common ground once again and can they bring their people to see each other as anything but the enemy?  These books are just awesome.  They are classified as young adult, but in reality all the characters are adults.  If you are opposed to YA books, but like fantasy, you will like this series.  There are awesome characters all around.  The evil/bad characters are truly horrific.  All the characters are far from perfect and each has a distinct personality.  There are a lot of characters, both angels and chimaera that you come to love and hate.  Zuzana is probably my favorite character.  You'll just love her too.  She refuses to be left behind and insinuates herself into the chimaera world.  She is exactly what Karou needs.  This series has a good mix of action, suspense, romance, friendship, humor and despair.  It is a dark world these creatures live in and if they can't work together all the worlds might just end.  I highly recommend giving this series a try.  Happy reading!