Bookramblings

reviews October 3, 2020

Firefrost by Camille Longley

Firefrost: A Flameskin Chronicles Novel (Flameskin Chronicles #0) by Camille Longley

She’s a huntress: Sol d’Hillerod is sent on a desperate mission through a treacherous winter pass. She carries with her the only hope of her village’s survival, and she will do whatever she must to keep her world from burning.

He’s a monster: Lieutenant Kelan Birke has spent his whole life fighting for his freedom and his soul. As his control slips, and the war rages on, he knows it won’t be long before he loses himself entirely to the fire that flows through his veins.

Sol and Kelan are enemies in an age-old war, forced to depend on each other to survive a perilous journey through the mountains. As fire melts the ice in Sol’s heart, she questions everything she’s been taught to believe, and Kelan becomes more desperate to fight the flames that consume him. Together they discover that their struggle will have repercussions for both sides of this burning war. (publisher)

Flameskins have this fire “spirit” thing inside them called pyra and when they grow up it consumes them and takes over. They are feared, hated and persecuted for it. Flameskins and a kingdom called Tokken has been at war for a long time. Sol, a Tokken huntress, and Kelan, a flameskin soldier, end up travelling together and things happen.

I really liked the idea of flameskins and how pyra just takes control pretty much turns them into a demon. We get the story from both sides as every other chapter is from Sol’s pov and every other is from Kelan’s pov. The plot revolves mostly around Sol and Kelan and their relationship from enemies to lovers. I liked Kelan instantly and I did like Sol, but she was so hung up on her ideals at first.

My complaints are that there was little of world-building. We didn’t really learn about like the cultures and people in it. Sold and Kelan are most of the book alone in the mountains but still. But apparently, this is a prequel to the actual series, and I hope the world-building gets better in that. And I would have liked less focus on romance and more focus on world-building.

That being said, I didn’t want to put the book down because I wanted to know what happens next. So that’s a good thing. A great debut book.

4/5

Published: BooksGoSocial (September 21, 2020)
Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley

reviews September 16, 2020

Into the Unbounded Night by Mitchell James Kaplan

When her village in Albion is sacked by the Roman general Vespasian, young Aislin is left without home and family. Determined to exact revenge, she travels to Rome, a sprawling city of wealth, decadence, and power. A “barbarian” in a “civilized” world, Aislin struggles to comprehend Roman ways. From a precarious hand-to-mouth existence on the streets, she becomes the mistress of a wealthy senator, but their child Faolan is born with a disability that renders him unworthy of life in the eyes of his father and other Romans.

Imprisoned for her efforts to topple the Roman regime, Aislin learns of an alternate philosophy from her cellmate, the Judean known today as the apostle St. Paul. As the capital burns in the Great Fire of 64 AD, he bequeaths to her a mission that will take her to Jerusalem. There, Yohanan, son of Zakkai, has been striving to preserve the tradition of Hillel against the Zealots who advocate for a war of independence. Responding to the Judeans’ revolt, the Romans—again under the leadership of Vespasian—besiege Jerusalem, destroying the Second Temple and with it, the brand of Judean monotheism it represents. Yohanan takes on the mission of preserving what can be preserved, and of reinventing what must be reinvented. (publisher)

Aislin is a young girl in Albion (Britannia) whose village, and everyone she loves, are killed when Roman general Vespasian attacks her village. She is determined to get vengeance and ends up in Rome. There she manages to get a sort of vengeance and then her road leads to Jerusalem. While there, she meets a teacher called Yohanan.

There are quite a lot of characters and several points of views in the book. But it was interesting to see how the people’s stories intertwined through the book.

I’m not a religious person and honestly don’t know much about anything related to it so I don’t really know how many, apart from few exceptions, of the characters were real people. But even though there is a religious theme in the book, it doesn’t come off as preachy.

I loved the writing style even if I missed the finer points of the religious themes. I loved Kaplan’s previous book By Fire, By Water so I was excited to read this, and I wasn’t disappointed.

4/5

Published: Regal House Publishing (September 1, 2020)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 262
Source: Author

reviews July 13, 2020

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting.

In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. And human beings remain human, with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent.

Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows. (publisher)

So, we have Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. In an alternate London and there’s also angels, vampires and hellhounds. Sort of all thrown in together, at least it felt like it. I’m not sure what I was expecting from the book, but it wasn’t this.

Angels named Crow is our Sherlock and hellhound named Dr Doyle is our Watson. Angels have a habitation in a public building where they are bound and sort of… oversee it? Protect it/or it’s people? Crow no longer have a habitation and he’s an anomaly. Normally after angels lose their habitation, they become Fallen but Crow didn’t. Instead, he helps solve crimes.

Doyle was injured in a war in Afghanistan by a Fallen and became a hellhound. Now that he’s back in London and trying to figure out what to do, he meets Crow and helps him solve crimes.

The book had good moments but mostly I was just confused. There are many cases that they work on and keeping them in order was kinda hard. And then remembering where the other case was left. I liked Crow and Doyle should have been far more interesting considering he had a lot going on and many secrets.

I’m not very familiar with Sherlock Holmes stories so those details were lost on me and I wasn’t expecting the Sherlock Holmes story/retelling, I expected more of a fantasy book. And since I’m not a fan of Sherlock, I wasn’t as excited as I thought I would be. I had to reread the book synopsis to check if it mentioned Sherlock and if I had somehow missed it but it didn’t mention it.

3/5

Published: Tor Books (June 23, 2020)
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

reviews June 8, 2020

Song of Sacrifice by Janell Rhiannon

Song of Sacrifice (Homeric Chronicles 1) by Janell Rhiannon

The heart of the Trojan War belongs to the women.
Mothers and daughters; wives and war prizes, whisper to us across time… …remember our songs alongside the mighty men of myth.

As the Age of Heroes wanes, the gods gamble more fiercely with mortals’ lives than they ever have before. Women must rely on their inner strength and cunning to survive the wars men wage for gold and glory.

Clytemnestra of Mycenae struggles for control of her life after Agamemnon ruthlessly rips it apart. Leda of Sparta survives a brutal assault by Zeus, shouldering a terrible secret in silence. Penelope raises Ithaka’s sole heir alone, praying for Odysseus’ swift return. Thetis, the sea nymph, despairs of her son’s destiny and resorts to forbidden magic to save him. Hecuba of Troy mourns the loss of her second son to a dark prophesy. And Shavash of Pedasus prepares her daughter to marry the greatest warrior who ever lived.

In a world where love leads to war and duty leads to destruction, the iron hearts of heroines will conquer all.

Sing, Muse, sing their song of sacrifice… (publisher)

This is the first book in a series of retelling the Trojan War. I went into it expecting to love it but instead feeling kinda meh.

This book concentrates on the time before the Trojan War. At the time when Paris and Achilles are born up till Paris steals Helen. I admit that I’m not a huge fan of Paris and there was too much Paris. Part one is pretty much all Paris and I thought it was too much in a book that is supposed to be from the women’s point of view.

I never fell for any of the characters, and I’m usually Hector fan girl. The story keeps jumping all over the place trying to tell everyone’s story. And there are so many people. Would have preferred to focus on fewer characters.

2,5/3

Published: Janell Rhiannon (December 28, 2018)
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

reviews May 6, 2020

Forged by Iron by Eric Schumacher

Forged by Iron (Olaf’s Saga Book 1) by Eric Schumacher

From the bestselling author of Hakonís Saga comes Forged by Iron, the first in a series of thrilling tales about Olaf Tryggvason, one of the most legendary and enigmatic kings of the Viking Age.

Norway, AD 960. The fabric that has held the Northern realm together is tearing. The sons of Erik Bloodaxe have returned and are systematically killing all opposition to the High Seat. Through treachery, Harald Eriksson slays Jarl Trygvi, an heir to the throne, and then he comes for Trygviís wife, Astrid, and son, Olaf.

Astrid and Olaf flee their home with the help of Astridís foster father, Torolv Loose-beard, and his son, Torgil, who are oath-sworn to protect them. The group escapes east, through the dark, forested land of the Swedes and across the treacherous East Sea, all the while evading the clutches of Haraldís brutal henchmen.

But the gods are fickle and the group is torn apart, leaving them to fend for themselves in Forged by Iron, a must-read for all who enjoy action-packed historical fiction.

The book is told from Torgil’s point of view and at the start of the book he is a 12-year old boy who is charged with looking after 8-year old prince Olaf who loves to get into trouble. Olaf’s father King Trygvi is betrayed and killed so Olaf, his mother Astrid escape with few others first to Sweden and then to what is now Estonia.

I wasn’t overly fond of Olaf who certainly knows he’s a prince. He came off as an arrogant brat, but it will be interesting to see how he’ll turn out as a grown-up. Torgil, who as a child was kinda shy, holds a bit of resentment and jealousy for Olaf but they grow closer during their ordeals. I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationship will turn out now that their both adults and back together. How far Torgil’s sense of duty for looking after Olaf will take him?

I enjoyed reading the book and learning more about Olaf and of this time. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

4/5

Published: Legionary – A Next Chapter Imprint (April 15, 2020)
Format: ebook
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

About the Author

Eric Schumacher (1968 – ) is an American historical novelist who currently resides in Santa Barbara, California, with his wife and two children. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and attended college at the University of San Diego.

At a very early age, Schumacher discovered his love for writing and medieval European history, as well as authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Those discoveries continue to fuel his imagination and influence the stories he tells. His first novel, God’s Hammer, was published in 2005.

To date, Schumacher has published three novels, collectively known as Hakonís Saga, and one novella. More information about him and his books can be found on his website. You can also connect with Schumacher on Twitter,†Facebook,†Goodreads, and†AuthorsDB.