reviews August 8, 2013

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels 3) by Ilona Andrews

When her werewolf friend Derek is discovered half dead, Kate Daniels knows that she cannot rest until she neutralizes his attackers. Her hunt for the culprits ultimately leads her to the Midnight Games, an invitation-only, no-holds-barred paranormal fighting tournament. Magically appealing. (Goodreads)

Kate gets a call from the shapechanger Saiman that he’s got Kate’s werewolf sidekick Derek after he tried to break into his home. In exchange to Derek’s freedom Kate agrees to go to Midnight Games, highly illegal tournament to death, as Saiman’s date. Derek won’t tell why he tried to steal Saiman’s tickets but makes her promise to deliver a message to a girl in the Games without reading it first. Kate does as she promised but it comes with a price as she comes too late to Derek’s rescue and finds him nearly beaten to death, unable to shapeshift nor heal himself.

At first I have to say that this was the book that made me love this serie for sure! I’ve liked the previous books but this is by far the best so far.

There’s lot of action and ass kicking and I loved it. Kate seems to have matured a bit and started to care for others more. I loved how she went to Julie’s rescue to the school. Relationship between Kate and Curran takes to another level and the bath scene *drools* I like that the relationship is building in stages and she’s not just jumping into his bed at first chance.

I laughed aloud many times and the book is great mix of humour and action.

I found myself to become more curious of Jim too. It’s not easy when there’s too many hot men there! And poor, poor Derek!

I admit that everyone was right, these books just gets better.

4,5/5
Published: Gollancz (2010)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 310
Source: my own

reviews August 8, 2013

Shadow Blizzard by Alexey Pehov

Shadow Blizzard (Chronicles of Siala 3) by Alexey Pehov

Shadow Harold, master thief, and his band of companions have reached the deep catacombs of Hrad Spein, where Harold must go in alone to face unknown horrors and retrieve the Horn that will save Siala. He is magically bound to the Key with which the dark elves sealed Hrad Spein, and the Master’s servant, the sorceress Lafresa, is close behind him.
Harold and his companions must face H’san’kors, evil magic and the agents of the Nameless One, but unless they find the long-lost Horn darkness will overrun the realm of Valiostr. Harold’s destiny is tied to the fate of the kingdom… (publisher)

Large part of the book is about Harold and his quest through Hrad Spein. It’s also called as Palaces of Bones and it’s very describing name… Creepy place!

I like Harold as the hero because he’s not your typical hero. Thieves are rarely called heroes but Harold is very likeable. And then there’s Kli-Kli, who wouldn’t like the jester? And speaking of jester, I totally didn’t see that coming! Even though I liked Harold my fav people were the elves. I wish there would have been more of them and I would have liked to learn more about their world and history.

As it is in war, we lose more characters and I understand that it belongs to war but how could you do that! And it was evil to do it so soon in the book! But we meet few people who I had totally forgotten about which was nice. I should have reread the first 2 books before this…

My only complaint is that the part in Hrad Spein could have been tiny bit shorter and the battle scenes in the end less jumpy. There were too many perspectives to the battle and from people we hadn’t meet before.

I enjoyed these books so much and I’m gonna miss this world. I hope more of his books gets translated because I’m reading those for sure!

4,5/5
Published: Simon & Schuster UK (2012)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 464
Source: my own

reviews August 8, 2013

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels 2) by Ilona Andrews

Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive… (Goodreads)

Someone stole maps from the pack and Kate promised as a favour to retrieve them. Some mysterious guy just keeps getting into her way and tries to stop her. Kate meets young girl and helps Julie to find her missing mother. And sparks continue to fly between Kate and Curran.

I really like Kate and she’s a great heroine. She can seriously kick ass and she stands up to Curran, the Best Lord of Shapeshifters. They annoy the crap out of each other but you can see there’s something between them. I love that it’s not love/lust at first sight-kind of thing between them.

I can see myself becoming total Curran fangirl but I can’t help myself! I wish there was more Curran and I love the interaction between him and Kate.

“Not only will you sleep with me, but you will say ‘please.’”
I stared at him, shocked.
The smile widened. “You will say ‘please’ before and ‘thank you’ after.”
Pg. 184

More Curran for me, please!

I was happy to see Derek again. It will be interesting to see how far he will climb because he showed power growing.

And I hope we learn more about Kate and her powers. Things are hinted but never explained and I hope we get some answers at some point.

I liked the book and can’t wait to see what way the books will go. I’ve heard the books get only better so can’t wait!

3,5/5
Published: Gollanz (2010)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 260
Source: my own

reviews August 8, 2013

Control Point by Myke Cole

 Control Point (Shadow Ops 1) by Myke Cole

Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.

Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military’s Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down–and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he’s ever known, and that his life isn’t the only thing he’s fighting for. (Goodreads)

All over the world people are getting magical powers. Oscar Britton, military officer, and his unit are told to take part of an operation to take down two Selfers (who use magic unsupervised) at a local school. Britton is not happy when he discovers that they are hunting two teenagers and to his horror the girl is executed in front of his eyes. So when he manifested magical ability after the operation, he’s convinced that they will kill him on the spot and decides the best action is to run.

The book is very action packed from the start but it still moved little slow when Britton was on the run. It did pick up pace when he was in training and learned to control his powers.
At first I was bit overwhelmed with all the military terms and acronyms but I soon gave up trying to memorize them. It’s a very good thing there’s a glossary at the end of the book and I would have been totally lost without it. I just wish I had noticed it from the start because I was about half way through when I saw it.

I’m in two minds how I feel about Oscar Britton. At times I couldn’t follow he’s reasoning and he couldn’t make his mind if the SOC are bad guys or not going from one opinion to another. He seemed to make huge amount of collateral damage and seemed indifferent to it. But I did like seeing how he grew and changed when he tried to adapt to his new life and trying to learn to use the magic.

This was out of my comfort zone with all the army stuff but it’s still great debut from the author. My struggle with the terms and acronyms lessened my enjoyment little bit but I’m happy I got a chance to read this. It was definitely different from what I’ve ever read.

3/5
Published: Ace (2012)
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 389
Source: publisher

reviews August 8, 2013

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weir’s enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey–“the Nine Days’ Queen”–a fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century.

The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn’s beheading and the demise of Jane’s infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane’s adolescent cousin, and Henry’s successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor.

Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy. (Goodreads)

Jane Grey’s parents desperately wanted a son and Jane was a disappointment from the start to her parents and her mother, Frances, was very strict to her. As Jane grows she goes to live with Queen Katherine Parr and finally finds some happiness in her life. But the queen’s death changes everything and once again Jane finds herself to be a pawn in her parents hands.

This was my second fiction book I’ve read from Weir and I remember liking the book about Elizabeth more. I found Jane to be extremely boring and too self-righteous. She spent lot of time just whining and judging other people.

One of the problems was that there was way too many POV’s. There was like 9 POV’s and the good thing was that it was clearly stated who’s chapter it was. I understand the need of shifting viewpoints but enough is enough. Some people like Jane Seymour had just one chapter and I didn’t see point of it.

Jane’s mother Frances was showed to be overly strict mother who punished Jane for even the smallest things. I’m sure there was other strict families so I don’t see the point of hammering this detail so thoroughly.

And who doesn’t love to learn new words like “zounds”. You know, the words you can use in everyday life? Especially when the book is written in so modern day style words like zounds just fits naturally there…

I’m thinking I should stick with her non-fiction books from now on. But I do have her book on Eleanor of Aquitaine in here somewhere…

2/5
Published: Hutchinson (2006)
Format: Hardback
Pages: 408
Source: my own