April 2020 Roundup – Reading, Writing and Blogging… #BrainfluffApril2020Roundup

I’m conscious that I’ve never experienced a month like it in the whole of my life – and I’m not sure I ever will again… Or perhaps I will. Perhaps May and June will continue being in social isolation with lots of handwashing and staying at home. But what has kept my head straight is my love of reading and writing – thank goodness for both! I’ve also loved the wonderful sunny weather – it’s been a joy being able to sit in the garden and watch Spring springing… I’m conscious that I am very blessed. And given that none of us can guarantee if we will survive this, I’ve determined to be as thankful for every coming day as I can be. So despite everything, this has been a very precious April.

Reading
I read eighteen books in April, which isn’t quite as marvellous as it sounds, as one of those was a short story and another was a novella. This is the list:

The Book of Koli – Book 1 of the Rampart trilogy by M.R. Carey
The Last Emperox – Book 3 of the Interdependency series by John Scalzi
Shorefall – Book 2 of The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
Scythe – Dimension Drift prequel NOVELLA #1 by Christina Bauer
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. This is my EBOOK read of the month
Dead Eye – Book 1 of the Tiger’s Eye Mystery series by Alyssa Day
Arkadian Skies – Book 6 of the Fallen Empire series by Lindsay Buroker
Q by Christina Dalcher
The Hedgeway SHORT STORY by Vivienne Tuffnell
A Little Bit Witchy – Book 1 of the Riddler’s Edge series by A.A. Albright
The Dark Side of the Road – Book 1 of the Ishmael Jones series by Simon R. Green
Firewalkers by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Mirror and the Light – Book 3 of the Thomas Cromwell series by Hilary Mantel. This is my AUDIOBOOK read of the month
The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing – Book 2 of the Vish Puri series by Tarquin Hall
The Palm Tree Messiah by Sarah Palmer – manuscript read
Witch Dust – Book 1 of the Witch series by Marilyn Messik
Girls of Paper and Fire – Book 1 of Girls of Paper and Fire series by Natasha Ngan
After Seth by Caron Garrod

Writing
I continued working on my Creative Writing How-To Book on Characterisation and I’m pleased with the progress, but I woke up on 11th April with an epiphany about some issues that had been niggling me with Mantivore Warrior – so I dropped my How-To book and immediately dived back into the manuscript to fix it. I’ve learnt from hard experience not to ever put those kinds of moments off – otherwise they pass and I forget!

I have also been working on another project that I’m hoping to be able to discuss in another couple of weeks. I don’t normally flit between so many different writing projects – but right now everything is extraordinary. So it makes sense that my writing patterns would suddenly go AWOL, too… Overall, I wrote just over 43,000 words in April, with just under 17,000 words on my blog and just under 25,500 words going towards my writing projects, which brings my yearly total to just under 180,000 words so far.

Blogging
I have found keeping up with my blog such a source of comfort and encouragement – I know social media can be responsible for some dark acts, but I happen to be fortunate enough to inhabit a really lovely corner, where I meet some of the nicest people on the planet. But that’s not a surprise, because they are readers, or writers, or both. I hope May is a good month for you and that you stay safe. Take care.xxx

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Shorefall – Book 2 of The Founders trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett #Brainfluffbookreview #Shorefallbookreview

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, Foundryside – see my review here – as the magic system in particular, was original and nicely complex. So I was delighted to have an opportunity to get hold of the arc of Shorefall.

BLURB: The upstart firm Foundryside is struggling to make it. Orso Igancio and his star employee, former thief Sancia Grado, are accomplishing brilliant things with scriving, the magical art of encoding sentience into everyday objects, but it’s not enough. The massive merchant houses of Tevanne won’t tolerate competition, and they’re willing to do anything to crush Foundryside. But even the merchant houses of Tevanne might have met their match. An immensely powerful and deadly entity has been resurrected in the shadows of Tevanne, one that’s not interested in wealth or trade routes: a hierophant, one of the ancient practitioners of scriving. And he has a great fascination for Foundryside, and its employees – especially Sancia.

For starters, if you haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading Foundryside, then park Shorefall and dive into the first book in this series, before going any further. I regularly crash midway into series, but this isn’t one where that tactic would end well. This book starts with a bang more or less immediately after Foundryside finishes – and with the complexity of the magic system and the fact it is essentially a continuation of the narrative arc from the first book, you’ll spend far too much time floundering to make such a strategy worth it.

It was a delight to reconnect with Sancia, Berenice, Orso and Gregory, all memorable and likeable protagonists with their own backstories and different voices – which isn’t always the case in an ensemble cast. I immediately reconnected to them all – which was important as things kicked off from the start of this one and didn’t calm down at all. Not even at the end… My favourite character, other than Sancia, was poor Clef, whose fate from the first book still reverberates through this one – and he is also involved in an amazing twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. There are some gory scenes, though nothing gratuitous, with quite a lot of dismembering going on – nothing I couldn’t handle, but I did think I’d mention it, in case you find such scenes objectionable.

The action scenes were well written, with plenty going on and a delightfully horrible antagonist I loved to hate. What I also enjoyed, was that we got see why our antagonist was quite so awful and what was driving him – I liked the fact that as far as he was concerned, the end absolutely justified the means. And he also put a strong case for it, too… He is definitely one of the more memorable villains I’ve encountered recently. The pacing issues I’d had with the first book weren’t present – fortunately Bennett took the decision to allow folks to pick up his magic system on the fly, rather than interrupting the adventure to explain it all, which I appreciated.

Overall, an entertaining and well written continuation to this memorable dystopian fantasy adventure and I’m looking forward to the final book in the series. Highly recommended for fans of well-constructed magical systems and engrossing high-octane adventures. The ebook arc copy of Shorefall was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
9/10

Sunday Post – 12th April, 2020 #Brainfluffbookblog #SundayPost

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.

Like so many others, we’re in Week 3 of Lockdown and the outside world is beginning to feel rather unreal. At least the beautiful weather has helped. I’ve been taking coffee, tea breaks and lunch outside in the garden. As you can see, it’s been hectic… And the sun has brought out the flowers… Unusually, I haven’t read much this week, as I’ve been writing hard and making good progress on my How-To book. However yesterday, I woke up with some insights into aspects of Mantivore Warrior, so – uncharacteristically – I dropped everything and spent the day editing the manuscript and tightening up one of the major subplots.

On Thursday, my sister took her car for a service before work, so she was wearing her work tunic – she works in a chemist’s. In the middle of the afternoon rush, she looked up to find her car mechanic had queued to give her the keys, as they’d parked her car in the nearest car park rather than make her walk back to the garage. And when she got home and had a chance to look at the paperwork, she discovered the lovely people had billed her for the MOT and parts, but hadn’t charged her for the labour. What a lovely thing to do!

My father-in-law is now busy making masks for the NHS with his 3-D printers, putting in about 40 hours a week, which doesn’t sound all that impressive. Until you take into account that he is now 83, caring for his wife, and battling cancer… Some people are remarkable.

I’m making Running Out of Space free until Tuesday – if you would like to dive into an escapist read, please click on the cover in the sidebar and it will take you to your nearest Amazon store

Last week I read:
Shorefall – Book 2 of The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
Having narrowly saved the metropolis of Tevanne from destruction, Sancia Grado and her allies have turned to their next task: sowing the seeds of a full-on magical-industrial revolution. If they succeed, the secrets behind scriving—the art of imbuing everyday objects with sentience—will be accessible to all of Tevanne’s citizens, much to the displeasure of the robber-barons who’ve hoarded this knowledge for themselves. But one of Sancia’s enemies has embarked on a desperate gambit, an attempt to resurrect a figure straight out of legend—an immortal being known as a heirophant. Long ago, the heirophant was an ordinary man, but he’s used scriving to transform himself into something closer to a god. Once awakened, he’ll stop at nothing to remake the world in his horrifying image.

And if Sancia can’t stop this ancient power from returning? Well, the only way to fight a god…is with another god.
This one started with a bang and continued full-throttle right until the end. Sancia and her band of companions use their ingenuity and courage to face yet more overwhelming odds. Bennett is good at creating those… I found this an entertaining foot to the floor adventure with a great magic system. Review to follow.



Scythe – Dimension Drift prequel NOVELLA #1 by Christina Bauer
Truth time. I go to a Learning Squirrel High School. Don’t judge. On second thoughts, judge away. Learning Squirrel is one step above attending class in a junkyard. But what do you expect? Everything’s made out of garbage these days. At least, I have my freelance work to keep Mom and me housed, clothed, and fed. How? I’m your regular high school science geek for hire… only my work manipulates space-time. These gigs pay really well, but the government wants people like me dead. Good thing I’m super careful about hiding from their detection systems.
As you can see, the first-person narrative voice is strong and this was an entertaining adventure – though I felt the story was just gathering momentum just as the book came to an end. Review to follow


My posts last week:

An Easter Present from Me to You

Friday Face-off featuring The Wise Man’s Fear – Book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

Review of AUDIOBOOK The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater

Can’t-Wait-Wednesday featuring The Dark Side of the Road – Book 1 of the Ishmael Jones by Simon R. Green

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Death of a Bean Counter – Book 12 of Maggy Thorsen mysteries by Sandra Balzo

Sunday Post – 5th April 2020

Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:

Mending the Cosmic Egg https://zenandtheartoftightropewalking.wordpress.com/2020/04/10/mending-the-cosmic-egg/ A wonderful article on mending an ostrich egg and the current situation by a highly talented writer…

Women in SF & F Month: Jennifer Estep http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2020/04/women-in-sff-month-jennifer-estep/ An inspirational article by a best-selling author…

Fiction Must Make More Sense Than Real Life https://jaceybedford.wordpress.com/2020/04/06/fiction-must-make-more-sense-than-real-life/ Jacey’s articles are always worth reading – and I really enjoyed this one…

Aquí hay una vida que vivir https://applegategenealogy.wordpress.com/2020/04/11/aqui-hay-una-vida-que-vivir/ What a wonderful example – so helpful right now…

Apologies for not having visited more – I had major technical issues where I couldn’t leave any comments on Blogger sites, for some reason. Thank goodness, it’s now fixed, although I’m not sure why…

Thank you for visiting, reading, liking and/or commenting on my blog – I hope you and yours have the best possible Easter and a peaceful, healthy week. Take care.

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc Foundryside – Book 1 of the Founders series by Robert Jackson Bennett #Brainfluffbookreview #Foundrysidebookreview

I spotted this one on several book blogging sites I respect, but when Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog featured it as one of her upcoming reads, I scampered across to Netgalley and managed to get approved for it. And we agreed to buddy read it…

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic–the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience–have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims. Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them…

Part of the rather chatty blurb above makes it clear the magic system is complex with a long, involved history. Back at the height of a lost civilisation, the ancients were able to wield magic to do unimaginable things and it is the discovery of some of their magical objects that has allowed the brightest minds to work out how to rekindle magical power, albeit in a bastardised form. It is the discovery of this magic powering the rise of the four merchanting families, who have a stranglehold on Tevanne. Furthermore, those who are not born into the service of these houses, or are thrown away after they have outlived their usefulness, scrabble for survival in the Commons. And there’s Sancia, whose backstory is different again…

I loved the premise and the world. It seems entirely plausible that a capitalist system would reward those with the magical skills and artefacts, while neglecting those who aren’t so fortunate. Sancia is a brilliant protagonist – one of the best I have read this year. Gritted, determined and focused on surviving, with a special ability that she would love to lose, she is a thief. Bennett writes her ability brilliantly and I found myself engrossed in her plight.

So I was more than a tad fed up when the action scenes were halted by chunks of explanation of how the magic works in omniscient point of view. The most egregious example occurs about halfway through the book during a fight – where the courageous hero is left hanging in mid-realisation that his attackers are flying, while we break off for a detailed explanation as to why flying is technically a really tricky business and therefore illegal… It was the only sheer quality of the writing and characters saved the book from flying across the room at this point. I would prefer an appendix where the magic system is explained in detail for those who like drilling into such details of the worldbuilding, rather than crashing across the story so intrusively.

Rant aside, this book is a joy. Fortunately the info-dumps decrease significantly in the second half of the book, allowing the pace to pick up. The world is well described and the characters gripped me – I like the fact that despite the patriarchy running Tevanne, there are plenty of strong, not necessarily likeable female characters who punch through the institutional obstacles in their path. But the character who shines through all of this is Sancia – I dreamt of her… Damaged, scarred and struggling with mental issues, she is still battling to move forward and strive for something better. The climax works brilliantly and I liked the ending, which nicely sets this one up for the sequel, which I look forward to reading.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy detailed, urban fantasy tales peopled with awesome characters – if that appendix was in place this book would have scored a 10. While I obtained an arc of Foundryside from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

#Sunday Post – 19th August, 2018 #Brainfluffbookblog

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.

In theory, this is the week where I should have been able to get cracking on Mantivore Preys, the second book in my series about a telephathic alien, and take it a bit easy as it was my ‘free’ week. In practice, after going down to Ringwood last Sunday, I woke up on Monday feeling wiped out and headachy. During the day my sciatica also flared up. Joy…

The rest of the week I felt as energetic as a limp lettuce leaf, though my boxed set of Gavin and Stacey cheered me up when I took a duvet-day on Wednesday. By Friday I’d sufficiently recovered to have my writing friend, Mhairi over. We had a leisurely lunch and just as we set off for home, when my daughter asked if I would have the children for the weekend. We collected them on Friday evening and the rest of the weekend has passed in a blur as we shopped till we dropped on Saturday and this morning we went swimming, while Oscar helped me make lunch. I hadn’t had both children together since before the summer holidays so it was lovely to have them staying over again, before they go back to school.

And the other news – Running Out of Space is now available in paperback!

This week I have read:

Foundryside – Book 1 of the Founders series by Robert Jackson Bennett
The city of Tevanne runs on scrivings, industrialised magical inscriptions that make inanimate objects sentient; they power everything, from walls to wheels to weapons. Scrivings have brought enormous progress and enormous wealth – but only to the four merchant Houses who control them. Everyone else is a servant or slave, or they eke a precarious living in the hellhole called the Commons.

There’s not much in the way of work for an escaped slave like Sancia Grado, but she has an unnatural talent that makes her one of the best thieves in the city. When she’s offered a lucrative job to steal an ancient artefact from a heavily guarded warehouse, Sancia agrees, dreaming of leaving the Commons – but instead, she finds herself the target of a murderous conspiracy. Someone powerful in Tevanne wants the artefact, and Sancia dead – and whoever it is already wields power beyond imagining.
Wonderful characters, cracking plot and a really complex, layered magical system. I read this alongside Lynn of Lynn’s Book Blog and we will both be reviewing this during the coming week.

 

Fallen Princeborn: Stolen by Jean Lee
And there is no blurb yet – because yours truly has been asked to write one! I’m very excited at the prospect of doing so and obviously won’t be trotting out my thoughts here as Jean and her publisher need to see what I’ve got to say about this wonderfully, engrossing read.
I loved this one, which starts with bang, immediately immersing us into a very tricky situation that continues to get worse… This book is due to be published at the end of October.

 

My posts last week:

Sunday Post – 12th August 2018

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Garrison Girl – Book 1 of The Attack on Titan! series by Rachel Aaron

Teaser Tuesday featuring Foundryside – Book 1 of the Founders series by Robert Jackson Bennett

Can’t-Wait Wednesday featuring Select Few – Book 2 of the Select series by Marit Weisenberg

Review of Pirate Nemesis – Book 1 of the Telepathic Space Pirate series by Carysa Locke

Friday Face-off – A very little key… featuring A Wind in the Door – Book 2 of the Quintet series by Madaleine L’Engle

Review of Drifters; Alliance – Book 1 of the Drifters’ Alliance by Elle Casey

Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:

Edinburgh Bookshops https://marvelatwords.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/edinburgh-bookshops/ I loved this article from Wendle – and of course book bloggers need to know where the bookshops are! I took particular note of this one as Edinburgh is somewhere I’d love to visit. My mother met my father when working there, so there’s a strong reason to check out the place that brought me into being😊.

How to Read The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner https://thisislitblog.com/2018/08/12/how-to-read-the-sound-and-the-fury-by-william-faulkner/ I was so impressed by this. I recalled Shruti’s initial ‘ahhh’ reaction when she first sat down with this one – and surely no one would have blamed her if she’d thrown up her hands and walked away. She didn’t. And this helpful article explains how she went about dealing with this demanding but very rewarding book.

The Great Wildebeest Migration http://chechewinnie.com/the-great-wildebeest-migration/ This is one of the magical aspects of the blogging world – I may spend most of my time in front of my computer, but I can still access corners of the world I probably will never get to see. And this is one of those amazing events…

Seven Books That Gave Me a Book High https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2018/08/seven-books-that-gave-me-a-book-high.html Kimberly at Caffeinated Reviewer is celebrating her seventh blogoversary and this article was one of my favourites. She is also the hostess with the mostest as anyone who takes part in the Sunday Post will agree.

The Hack’s Guide to Buying a Writing Desk http://writerunboxed.com/2018/08/18/the-hacks-guide-to-buying-a-writing-desk/ I always make a point of reading articles from this smart, funny writer – and this one didn’t disappoint – his author biog is a hoot.

A Night’s Dream of Books https://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/2018/08/book-blogger-hop-no-139-favorite.html?spref=tw In talking about her favourite book bloggers, I was delighted and humbled to find that Maria had nominated me. But what sets this article apart are her reasons for her selection – her attitude towards the book blogging community echoes my own…

Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to visit, like and comment on my site and have a great week.

Teaser Tuesday – 14th August, 2018 #Brainfluffbookblog #TeaserTuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:

Foundryside – Book 1 of the Founders series by Robert Jackson Bennett
63% He glanced at her. “And if we pull this off—what happens to you, Estelle?”
She smiled weakly and shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll let me take charge. Maybe I’ll get a moment of freedom before they bring in another ruthless merchant to run things. Or maybe they’ll suspect me immediately, and execute me.”
Orso swallowed. “Please take care of yourself, Estelle.”
“Don’t worry, Orso. I always do.”

BLURB: The city of Tevanne runs on scrivings, industrialised magical inscriptions that make inanimate objects sentient; they power everything, from walls to wheels to weapons. Scrivings have brought enormous progress and enormous wealth – but only to the four merchant Houses who control them. Everyone else is a servant or slave, or they eke a precarious living in the hellhole called the Commons.

There’s not much in the way of work for an escaped slave like Sancia Grado, but she has an unnatural talent that makes her one of the best thieves in the city. When she’s offered a lucrative job to steal an ancient artefact from a heavily guarded warehouse, Sancia agrees, dreaming of leaving the Commons – but instead, she finds herself the target of a murderous conspiracy. Someone powerful in Tevanne wants the artefact, and Sancia dead – and whoever it is already wields power beyond imagining.

I am buddy-reading this one with Lynn of Lynn’s Book Blog. As you’ll appreciate from the blurb, the magic system in this interesting fantasy world is extremely complicated. I love the characters and the premise is excellent – but so far, the story has been punctuated by chunks of information about the magic dumped in the middle of the action in omniscient pov. I have found it rather jarring and am hoping that as the book progresses, this will lessen. Other than that, it’s a cracking read and I will be reviewing it in due course.