This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.
We are still recovering from a nasty attack of Covid and it’s baby steps. I walked to my local supermarket yesterday – only the second time I’ve been out and about since the beginning of March. A journey there and back, including the shopping normally takes about half an hour, if it isn’t too busy. I took nearly an hour and only bought two items. By the time I staggered back through the kitchen door, I felt as if I’d run a marathon. However, it’s now four days since I needed to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Himself is back at work, but still battling with a horrible cough. We are both taking lots of supplements and ensuring that we are eating and drinking healthily.
The photos this week are of plants blooming in the garden. It hasn’t been warm enough to sit out, but one lovely sunny morning I couldn’t resist wandering around taking some pictures. Though the garden is in desperate need of TLC and neither of us feels up to tackling the weeds, so frankly it’s a disgrace.
Last week I read:
The Recollection: Tenth Anniversary Edition by Gareth L. Powell
Four hundred years ago, Ed and Alice Rico threw themselves through a mysterious portal on the London Underground, hunting for Ed’s lost brother—Alice’s husband—Verne.
Now, starship captain Katherine Abdulov embarks on a desperate race against ruthless rival captain—and her former lover—Victor Luciano, to try and earn back her family’s trust.
Tomorrow, all their lives will be thrown together by disaster, as an ancient evil stirs among the stars, threatening the survival of all life…
I took a while to get invested in this dual narrative adventure, as initially I didn’t bond with any of the protagonists. But once things started to kick off, I was able to settle into this enjoyable space opera adventure and let the pages turn themselves. Review to follow.
The Russian Cage – Book 3 of the Gunnie Rose series by Charlaine Harris
Picking up right where A Longer Fall left off, this thrilling third installment follows Lizbeth Rose as she takes on one of her most dangerous missions yet: rescuing her estranged partner, Prince Eli, from the Holy Russian Empire.
Once in San Diego, Lizbeth is going to have to rely upon her sister Felicia, and her growing Grigori powers to navigate her way through this strange new world of royalty and deception in order to get Eli freed from jail where he’s being held for murder.
I’ve read and enjoyed the previous two books in this entertaining alternate history series and appreciated learning more about the Holy Russian Empire and exactly how it became established. There is plenty of action and more of Lizbeth, which is always a bonus…
Railhead – Book 1 of the Railhead series by Philip Reeve
Zen Starling is a petty thief, a street urchin from Thunder City. So when mysterious stranger Raven sends Zen and his new friend Nova on a mission to infiltrate the Emperor’s train, he jumps at the chance to traverse the Great Network, to cross the galaxy in a heartbeat, to meet interesting people – and to steal their stuff. But the Great Network is a dangerous place, and Zen has no idea where his journey will take him.
This YA adventure, with its sentient trains that span galaxies, is great fun. Though poor Zen is plonked right in the middle of something far bigger and scarier than he initially realised. Review to follow.
The Eyes of Tamburah – Book 1 of the Archives of the Invisible Swords series by Maria V. Snyder
Shyla is a researcher who resides in the underground desert city of Zirdai, which is ruled by the wealthy Water Prince and brutal Heliacal Priestess. Even though Shyla is sun-kissed – an outcast, considered cursed by the Sun Goddess – she is still renowned for uncovering innumerable archaic facts, lost artefacts, ancient maps and obscure historical documents.
Her quiet life is about to change when Banqui, an archaeologist, enlists her services to find The Eyes of Tamburah: legendary gemstones that bestow great magic on their wielder. These ancient objects can tip the balance of power and give whoever possesses them complete control of the city. But chaos erupts when The Eyes are stolen soon after they’re found – and Shyla is blamed for the theft.
I thoroughly enjoy the bouncy energy in Snyder’s writing – particularly now I’m feeling a tad embattled. So this cracking Sand and Sorcery adventure ticked all the boxes. Review to follow.
By Other Means – Book 5 of the Hayden War Cycle by Evan Currie
The Hayden War has ended and now SOLCOM and the Alliance are face to face in talks, but neither side has the slightest idea what happened in the ultimate battle of the war. Amid political jockeying and diplomatic gamesmanship, Captain Sorilla Aida has been given an assignment : Find a weakness to exploit, buy SOLCOM time to learn just what the hell happened to Valkyrie, and make sure that the Alliance isn’t prepared to risk another conflict in the open.
Sorilla has problems of her own, however, and after losing so much in the war she isn’t as certain of her life choices as she used to be. Unfortunately for her, the Alliance, SOLCOM, and others don’t intend to let her have time to figure it out for herself.
This offering is a thoroughly enjoyable page-turner with plenty of tension and action, despite the lack of full-on space battles that Currie tends to specialise in. Review to follow.
My posts last week:
Castellan the Black and His Wise Draconic Sayings
Review of NETGALLEY arc The Transylvania Twist – Book 2 of the Monster M*A*S*H
series by Angie Fox
Friday Face-off featuring Sourcery – Book 5 of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
Can’t-Wait Wednesday featuring The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:
Keeping up with the Martians https://earthianhivemind.net/2021/04/09/keeping-up-with-the-martians/ It’s great to get one of Steph’s handy roundups about what is happening off our planet just now…
Illuminating Histories: The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book https://interestingliterature.com/2021/04/oxford-illustrated-history-of-the-book-james-raven-review/ After having read Dr Oliver Teale’s review of this sumptuous offering, I now know it’s going to appear on my birthday present list…
Daffodils in Snow, and History Lessons https://ailishsinclair.com/2021/04/daffodils-in-snow-and-history-lessons/ A lovely article – that also ends with the exciting news that Ailish’s second book is now out! So I nicked across and got hold of a copy😊.
A Strange Easter https://thenaptimeauthor.wordpress.com/2021/04/04/a-strange-easter-2/ Another wonderful article by a talented author – this time taking us through Time to other Easters celebrated in challenging circumstances…
Music and the Art Show – Part 1 https://jenniefitzkee.com/2021/04/05/music-and-the-art-show-part-1/ I love how Jennie inspires and fires up the youngsters in her class to be fearlessly creative…
Thank you for visiting, reading, liking and/or commenting on my blog. I hope you had a peaceful, healthy week – and do take care. x
This edition was produced by Orbit in May 2006 and is quite quirky – and evidently before the True Blood TV series, which focused less on the comedic aspect of the story and ensured the bedroom scenes were far more graphic than Harris wrote them. Not sure I like this one all that much – I think the vampire looks odd. But I do like the font and think this effort captures the tone and feel of the book far better than the True Blood tie-ins.
Published in April 2003 by Ace Books, this cover is essentially the complete version of the previous offering and as such, works a lot better, I think. Again, the tone and feel of this cover very much reflects the book. My grizzle is that that mood and quirkiness is undercut by the chunks of chatter scattered about the cover – but despite that issue, this one is my favourite.
This edition, published by Ace Books in June 2010, is clearly in the wake of the True Blood series, and while it certainly reflects the tone of the TV series, I question whether it is an accurate portrayal of the book. I don’t like it much, to be honest. If I hadn’t already been a solid fan of the series, I wouldn’t have touched this with a bargepole, based on this cover, which gives the impression this is a dark fantasy book with a strong horror element.
This Spanish edition, produced by Punto de Lectura in May 2009, is also significantly influenced by the True Blood series. I’m trying to work out why you’d want to kiss someone with blood all over their lips – all I thought was, “Eww!” But perhaps I don’t have sufficient vampiric tendencies…
This Swedish edition, published by Månpocket, takes the design of the 2010 Ace Books and turns it into a drawing, rather than featuring the actual cast of the True Blood series. I prefer the effect on the design, which I think gets nearer to the tone and mood of the books, rather than the TV show. Which is your favourite?
that when he travelled down on the train on Wednesday evening, he only had a light bag to carry. Thursday was spent sorting out Robbie’s clothes – what he was going to take with him, and what he was going to leave behind for the clothing bank or his nephews. But Friday morning pitched up far too fast, when came the time to load everything in the car, drive him up to Gatwick airport and see him off on his journey to L.A. I am so thrilled for him that he has found a lovely girl and his career is falling into place. But so sad that from now on, I can’t just hop on a train and get a fix of that huge personality of his…
1. Sobriety costs extra.
the character from the first page – Harris has a knack of drawing me right into the middle of her worlds in no time flat and this time around was no exception. This dystopian, alternate history where the Russian monarchy managed to flee before they were all massacred and are now living in a corner of a very different America, works really well. The magical element is also deftly introduced and I enjoy the tension and dislike that surrounds these magic-users, which makes complete sense.
magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie.
Brainfluff 