Malazan Book of the Fallen - Endings

I am glad that I got into this series when it was pretty much completed; by the time the last book came out I had finished all the others so it was wonderful timing. The endings of the books would have left me the most frustrated reading ever, for example the ending in Dust of Dreams. The final giant battle that you read before the last four or five pages gave me goosebumps. The part about it that really strikes home is the idea that humans, despite the overwhelming odds are able to make a stand. The tanks that stood the line when the marines had to fall back because of being overwhelmed, the giant Short-Tails (don't have the book in front of me to look up the spelling) were actually halted. And it was awe inspiring, especially seeing it from Brys' perspective. It looked like the Bonehunters would be annihilated, and yet they managed to hold their ground for a period of time in order for everyone else to retreat.

These battles remind me of the moments that are talked about in the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce. The Goddess, when talking to Alanna speaks about times being at a Crossroads. Where gods are unable to really affect the outcome, and it is essentially up to mortals to choose where the worlds path is going to go. Steven Erikson makes those major battles feel like those crossroads. In Y'ghatan the Bonehunters could have lost their spine for good, but through the determination of some people they managed to make it out. Same with this battle against the Short-Tails. It was either going to be a complete failure and everyone would die, or they would make it out against all odds. This goes in line with something that is mentioned in the beginning of the Crippled God. The Bonehunters, like the Bridgeburners and Dassem Ultors army and even Coltaine's army in what they were able to achieve, stand out in the history of the Malazans and the human race in general because they manage to achieve the impossible. And the idea is that those armies are essentially reminders of the greatness that once was in the 'golden ages' where there was always glory. And the importance of them doing this final fight in this book not being witnessed by others is that it would truly show how far everyone else has fallen. Especially seeing the sacrifices that they have made and will continue to make as this book progresses to the final act.

To me it feels as if it took a whole army to fill the shoes of Anomander Rake in the sense of shouldering the hard burden that no one else will. Which says a lot about both the army and Rake.

Crochet One-Skein Wonders: 101 Projects from Crocheters around the World

So outside of reading I do enjoy doing some crochet. I don't do it as often as I would like and since it IS technically a book I figured why not talk about it for those of you who enjoy crocheting. This has numerous patterns that I think look absolutely beautiful, and I cannot wait to try them out. The only issue that I have been running into is the technical 1-skein aspect of it. Every pattern is designed from someone and they managed to do the hat or scarf, etc. with one skein. Which only really works if you are able to track down the same exact yarn brand in the stores around you or want to order it online. There are two different projects that I planned on doing and I sadly had to go and buy a second skein because everything I could find was a few yards short or wasn't even close. And one issue I could see coming up specifically is the pillow cover on the cover. If you want the same effect you had better make sure and order that exact yarn; or just be happy with whatever yarn you can get your hands on. Other than that, I feel like this book will definitely keep me busy with random projects to do. 

For those of you who use Etsy and generally use the Lionbrand free patterns or what not for what you create and sell on Etsy, you are not allowed to make and sell using the patterns in the book according to the publisher company of the book. They said that you can sell if you have made some alterations to the pattern essentially making it your own.

Inamorata by Megan Chance

This book was a free book of the month offered by Amazon Prime a few months ago, and one that I read before I started this blog. I generally do not pick books based off of their covers, but when I was looking at what was offered me it really came down to which cover looked the most promising. And I would have to say that there is something about this cover that makes it one of my favorites. So kudos to that.

The premise of this book is that there is a succubus and to survive with her youth and luster she must drain the creative power of an artist of some sort; musical, sculptures, authors, poets, etc. And every so many years she must choose one artist to inspire them to create their greatest work of art at the cost of their life or sanity; and if she does not then she reveals her true self to the world, and needless to say bad things can happen. And not to mention that every person she drains of their creative power generally commits suicide once she ends the relationship with them. It was very well done how Megan Chance ties in the idea of the succubus with different amazing works of art/poetry/etc. The story goes through a few different points of view. There is the succubus whose name is Odile, Nicholas who was one of the men she drained of creative power, Joseph who is the brother of the main character Sophie. Sophie is an extremely interesting character because she is almost the mirror image of Odile. Odile, through acting as a muse, sucks out the creativity in others while Sophie inspires others without taking anything. Sophie is specifically the muse for Joseph which is why Joseph has been able to last as long as he did in Odile's clutches.

Nicholas plays into the story by being the first to figure out what Odile is, and he makes it essentially his life's work to see an end to her; by trying to prevent her from finding the key person who extends her life. And he tries to warn away those who are the temporary fixes to the aging problem before they get to the point of committing suicide. Nicholas finds out for a brief moment that, when he thought all of his creativity and inspiration gone, that Sophie is able to inspire him. However, that all comes crashing down in the end. One of which I shall not spoil for you. What I will say though is that this book is definitely a good read and I would recommend it.

Maria V. Snyder's new book!

So, I realize this is most likely going to be old news for those who are big fans of Maria V. Snyder and all of her books. But she is coming out with another trilogy of books that follows with the Study series characters! So happy! I have a nice little countdown on the right side of the page for when the book is released and I hope you will all at least read the study series in preparation for the release. If you are a little leery and want a more specific review on the Study series, I am going to probably be reviewing it next after I finish the Malazan Book of the Fallen. If on the other hand you are a really big die hard fan, there is a giveaway going on for a signed copy of the book on the Two Chicks on Books page. The release date is Feb 24, 2015 and I really just cannot wait.

Runes by Ednah Walters

 I was able to get my hands on a kindle version of this book through one of those random special offers they have on Amazon where you can get a book for free. Right now if you have Amazon Prime you are able to buy the Kindle version for 99 cents. So on to the review. 

This book was...interesting. I really liked the concept of using Valkyries and the Norns in Norse mythology. The idea of using the runes to perform magic and what not. However, other then that I was not particularly impressed. All the main character thinks about is how hot her neighbor (who you find out is one of these Valkyries) is and what an electric effect he has on her. And it is like that just about every time he shows up in the book. The most annoying part is when she admits to herself that she loves being around him (Torin), and eventually really likes the effect he has on her; and yet she is still with her childhood friend. She goes out of her way to sneak out and see Torin, but just cannot bring herself to break up with Eirik. She goes from feeling that the runes are strange and interesting, to them making her a freak, back to them being strange and interesting. 

Towards the end of the book her and Torin end up making out, and through some jealous actions by Torin's brother's girlfriend she is put in the hospital. I feel like if she finally made out with the other man that she should probably break up with Eirik. No. She doesn't. Torin sits with her practically 24/7 in the hospital, snuggles with her at night, and she still does not break up with Eirik. I think that is what mainly annoyed me about the book. She feels like it would hurt him more for her to break up with him than if he were to find out about the sneaking cuddles and the make out session. I also think my viewpoint on the whole thing is also possibly skewed because it seems as if the main character loved the book Twilight *shudder*. She bases her guessing that Torin is not a vampire based off of the fact he does not sparkle. I mean really? Really?! There are many vampire novels BEFORE Twilight and none of them featuring bedazzled vampires, and she decides to rule him out as being a vampire based off of him not sparkling in the daylight. My goodness. 

I think generally to sum things up; it had a great concept, and it was not like pulling my eyes out of my head to read it. However, I will probably not finish the remaining 3 or 4 books that follow this one. I probably would not feel right recommending this to any of my friends (just based off of their tastes), however if you are looking for a quick read and do not mind being constantly reminded of the hotness that is Torin and the effect he has on her then you might as well give it a try while it is only 99 cents before it goes back up to being $9...because really...I would not have spent $9 and am glad I got it for free.

An Ode to the Dead Characters So Far...*SPOILERS for those who have not read the books*

One thing I like about certain authors are the connections that they cause the reader to make with the character; connections that go beyond just being able to relate with the character. The connection I am talking about is when the essence of that character makes a deeper connection of some sort. And to tie this in with the current books I am reading, this connection makes it evident upon the death of a character. There is no sugar coating it, there are plenty of extremely heroic people who die on this series; the people that Erikson chooses to die makes George R. R. Martin seem 'nice' with who he picks in general to see the chopping block.

Throughout this series there are four different occasions where I am trying to read the book to teary eyes. The death that was probably in my opinion the most tragic...and yet most necessary death in the book was Anomander Rake. I already highlighted in a previous post about him being one of my most favorite characters, so of course it was an extreme blow during his death scene putting him in Dragnipur and then through his complete and utter sacrifice. It is in that moment where you truly realize how selfless of a character he is. He did stuff that would be considered bad in a sense, but he knew that it was necessary and he chose to take the burden of doing so entirely on his shoulders alone. He also chose to step up on Mother Dark's stead when she turned away so that the Tiste Andii would continue to have someone to look to. To me, Rake really is the definition of being a true hero.

Whiskeyjack was another character I was extremely sad to see leave, and another one that I was reading the book through teary eyes. You don't really learn much about him except through his perspective; the few times that it happens, and not much about his past. However, it is the indirect knowledge you have of him that makes it almost impossible to not absolutely love his character. Essentially the reader (or at least me) falls under the same spell that literally almost every soldier of his (i.e. the Bridgeburners specifically) has fallen under. To know the kind of loyalty and camaraderie that he inspired in those serving under him (even though yes, learning from Hedge there were some bad eggs in the basket) speaks volumes about a character. He is essentially made up of the same stuff that Rake is, just in human form. This really hits home when he chose to take the burden of killing the Mothers of the Dead Seed before they had a chance to recover from Rake. He chose to take on the burden of those all around him seeing him summarily execute every one of them. He was able to do for Rake, what Rake has been doing for almost everyone for his whole life. Whiskeyjack went above and beyond being a decent human being, and so it was extremely happy to see him show up in Hood's army for one last hurrah. It was SO frustrating to see him die when he chose to try and defend the last bonecaster from Kallor, and having his knee give out (the one that he kept putting of being healed essentially throughout all the books up till then).

Trull Sengar...his death had upset me so much when I first read it that I just was angry for the rest of the day. He died after all he has been through and finally finding the love of his life, by being stabbed in the back by some stupid person who decided he wanted to kill one last Tiste Edur before leaving or dying. His character was interesting in that he consciously was realizing how his people were changing after Rhulad took over, and during the conquering of Letheras that he allowed himself to be Shorn from his people. He truly pitied his brother the pain that he was feeling from the constant revivals via the sword and the strain it was putting on his psyche. When he went back to his brother instead of escaping with Fear, he knew in a way that he probably would not be able to ask for forgiveness after walking away from Rhulad as he lay on the floor slowly dying. So essentially, it was so sad to see the character change that he underwent through his journeys so eventually die when he has what he wanted from life.

The last and final death that spoke to me in the sadness that it caused was Itkovian's death. He chose to give his life in order to redeem the T'lan Imass when the last and only blood bonecaster refused to set them free. He was a man who felt that all purpose was gone from his life, when he realized that he had one last act to perform and strode towards it without hesitation. He is essentially of the same caliber of being as Rake and Whiskeyjack (at least in my eyes). The amount of self sacrifice that was involved in this act is one that most definitely makes it one of the most touching deaths.

Essentially I felt the need to write this after I finished the Toll of Hounds, because of the emotions I was feeling at the end. And that is one thing that can definitely be said for Erikson, and why he is definitely one of my favorite authors, is the way he is able to make the endings extremely epic in one way or another.

Amazon Prime Free Kindle Book of the Month - Playing It Safe by Barbie Bohrman

 

With another month comes the opportunity for me to pick a free book for the kindle app on my phone that comes out in October. I decided to go way outside my comfort zone and choose a romance book. I partly went this way so then I could maybe find a book that I could give a negative review to. You know...to increase my credibility because most of the books I am going to be reviewing on here are books that I have already read because I am a poor, poor graduate. 

I also picked this book because this is technically a sequel in a sense, it comes after another book that she published. However, the difference between the two books is that this one focuses on a good friend of the main character in the other book. Which in some cases speaks volumes because there are numerous books I have read in which I would wish there was a book dedicated to one of the side characters because they are just so interesting. 

To start things off, for the kind of book that it is (a romance), I think the way it was written plays so well with the main character that it immediately had me in love with the book. The character, Julia is looking for love and lust in all the wrong places. She is an extremely sassy character who will speak her mind almost no matter what. The way that the character narrates this book plays so well with that, and it gets rid of some of the awkwardness that can ensue when the sexual encounters take place. It also did a wonderful job of getting the sexual tension down...a VERY good job. The writing for the sex scenes were definitely far from awkward and very well done. There were very energized parts, sweet parts, on the kinky side parts and for those who are like me and can find written sex scenes to generally fall short in the sense where it either just written badly or what IS written well is just way too unrealistic then you won't be disappointed. 

The part that I honestly loved the best though was the ending. And not in the 'glad it was over' kind of way. She epilogue was done in the point of view of the man she ends up with (won't tell you any spoilers beyond that!). And you can definitely tell the difference, it was a complete and obvious voice change with how it was written. And it did a wonderful job of being realistic. It slides in the information that she is on birth control which explains how she is fine with having sex without a condom (however, it does show that she doesn't get to sex with everyone she has gone on a date with which gives a way of explaining from her view why she doesn't worry about sex diseases without actually saying it.). 

Would I have gone out and bought this on my own? No. I see the romance section in the book store and I avoid it at all cost. I generally have a thing where porn in book form is just not my thing. I felt like this book provided a good build up to the scenes, and I will say this for the first time ever: I liked the sex scenes. 

Would I go out and buy a copy of the book however? No. I do not see myself really re-reading it, however, if you are in to romance books I would definitely recommend it because of the humor and all the characters involved. It was a very nice break from what I usually read, and I was definitely pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed reading this book. If it means anything to you, I did read this from start to finish in essentially one sitting; except for a minor food break. 

So if you are romance book inclined OR just want to go on an adventure away from the normal reading that you do and want something that is easy to enjoy then I would definitely recommend this book to you. If you are someone that looks for a book that you can read a lot into, you might find this too lighthearted with not enough substance. If you chose this book on Amazon Prime let me know how you like it, if you have read the previous book by this author let me know how you like it! 

A shout out for all of you returning to school: Have a nice school year, and try to make time for some non-required reading :) Trust me, it helps.