Bloggiesta (22 to 24 March)

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 22 March 2013 - 8:53 AM | ,
13 Comments

Bloggiesta is a blogging marathon revolving around ticking off those items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing. Our awesome mascot Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize) is ready to break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two! It’s nothing short of an awesome fiesta!

Bloggiesta was originally started in June of 2009 by the lovely and tenacious Natasha from Maw Books Blog. In March of 2012 Natasha graciously passed the torch on to Suey from It’s All About Books and Danielle from There’s A Book.

Goals

  • New layout! It’s officially autumn in South Africa, and I feel like having a layout that matches
    • Create new rating system
    • Attempt to create a WordPress theme from scratch
      • Learn more CSS
  • Streamline sidebar content into a single, non-cluttered sidebar
  • Set up review archives for per genre and per series
  • Rewrite the About Me page
  • Rewrite my Review Policy
  • Write and schedule discussion posts for April
  • Buy a new keyboard, one that doesn’t require hitting the A key 3 times before it works

I think I need incentive here. How about, the amount of stuff I get done is how much I’m allowed to spend on books this month? Of course, that means I am going to attempt to cheat by breaking stuff down into smaller components. Then again, smaller components are easier to accomplish, so that might just be perfect after all.

Completed

  • Find a new feed reader and re-evaluate which blogs I follow
  • Move fanart related stuff to a Tumblr instead
  • Participate in at least one of the Twitter chats
  • Reviews written and scheduled: 4
    • Astrology for Writers by Corrine Kenner
    • My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
    • Undeadly by Michele Vail
    • Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
  • Write and schedule details for Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway
  • Plan posting schedule for April
  • Worked on various items for the new layout:
    • Create Vector for Header
    • Create Actual Header
    • Create Social Media Icons
    • Create Post Content Banners
    • Create Meme Post Headers
    • Mockup Layout in Photoshop

Incentive Earnings: $15

Mini Challenges Participated In

Review: Tamed by Douglas R. Brown

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 22 March 2013 - 5:00 AM |
1 Comment

Tamed by Douglas R. Brown

Title: Tamed
Author: Douglas R. Brown
Published: February 13th 2013 by Rhemalda Publishing
Genre: Adult Horror
Source: Netgalley

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Werewolves are real.

And they make excellent pets.

Owning one of the legendary creatures is the latest fad. The WereHouse insists their werepets are loyal, docile, and 100% safe, but what happens when these gentle giants turn on their masters?

While on a routine EMS call, paramedic Christine Alt is attacked by a rogue werepet. She escapes with her life, but the encounter leaves her with more than just scars. As her body begins to change, she discovers the WereHouse is hiding a terrible secret, and they will stop at nothing to keep her from exposing them.


Werewolves are discovered, and mankind’s reaction to this? Kidnap them, enslave them, break their humanity and turn them into pets. It’s certainly a new and intriguing spin on ye olde werewulfen story. And, sadly, something I can actually see happening.

That said, I had some difficulty suspending disbelief for this one. How are the Werehouse allowed to sell seven foot tall beasts with teeth that can take off heads? Werewolf bites are infectious. It doesn’t matter how “tame” a pet is, shit happens, dogs bite people all the time. Shouldn’t there have been some kind of health and safety testing that put the brakes on this venture? It’s mentioned once that PETA isn’t impressed, but I would have expected more to happen on this front. The company is pumping out full grown werewolves, and they are all male. Did no one step in to see why? Where are the females? Where are the little ones? Is it some sort of puppymill? Granted, the wolves are crazy expensive and apparently the Werehouse has representatives everywhere and a lot of money exchanges hands, but there should still have been something. Protesters picketing.

No wild animal is ever really tame, and it doesn’t take long for things to get completely out of hand. Considering the abuses the werewolfs suffered, I’m surprised it took even that long. At this point the story turns quiet gory and action packed, which I really enjoyed. Douglas R. Brown doesn’t hold back from really putting his characters through the grinder, mentally and physically. Somewhere in the middle there is one particular scene that had me reading with one eye closed and a permanent cringe, worrying just how far he would take it.

Character wise, we have the very resourceful Christine Alt, a paramedic who gets attacked by a rogue werewolf during a routine callout and accidentally gets some of its blood in her mouth. Then there is Steve, the homeless man who has turned to alcohol to numb his memories of war and losing his family, until mysterious strangers in a van turn up and take him for a ride he’ll never forget. There is also the love interest, whose name I am not recalling at the moment, who after witnessing his beloved childhood pet slaughter his family, is brainwashed into hunting down rogue werewolves like the animals everyone thinks they are.

Oh, and if you were wondering why no female wolves, it’s because they are too stubborn and difficult to tame. Which I found very amusing.

The ending of the story was on the predictable side, and it tied things up a little too neatly. I had questions about the hows and whys there as well, but in the interest of not spoiling things, you will have to ask them yourself. Also, it has a pretty smart villain at the heart of things, for the most part.

(4/5)

Douglas R. Brown is a fantasy writer who lives in Pataskala, Ohio. He began writing more than five years ago as a cathartic way of dealing with the day-to-day stresses of life as a firefighter/paramedic for the Columbus Ohio Division of Fire. Now he focuses his writing on fantasy, where he draws on his lifelong love of the genre. He has been married for 14 years and has a son and two dogs

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Review: Double Feature by Brent Hartinger

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 20 March 2013 - 5:06 AM |
4 Comments

Double Feature by Brent Hartinger

Title: Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies
Series: Russel Middlebrook #3
Author: Brent Hartinger
Published: February 1st 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers
Genre: YA Contemporary GLBTQI

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Book 1: Geography Club
Book 2: The Order of the Poison Oak


It’s a horror-movie extravaganza in this companion to Brent Hartinger’s Geography Club Two books in one recount the stories of best friends Min and Russel who sign up to be extras on the set of a zombie film – then learn that there’s nothing scarier than high school romance Read one story, flip the book over, and read the other In “Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies,” Russel must choose between his long-distance boyfriend and a close-to-home ex who wants to get back together. In “Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies,” Min struggles to accept her cheerleader girlfriend’s decision to stay in the closet.

Russel and Min’s separate stories affect each other in surprising ways – but you’ll have to read both books to find out how.


Well, it should be said I hate the title of this book, and I kind of hate the cover. I also hated that it was a flip-it-over kind of book because the events in Russel and Min’s telling of the story overlaps quite a few places and I do not enjoy reading the exact same scene twice. Not even from different perspectives.

In book 3, we finally get to meet Russel’s parents. And they are kind of awful. Well no, they love their son and all, and perhaps the dad isn’t so bad, but egads, they are every gay teen’s worst nightmare. Including a nice trip to the local clergy to try and set Russel straight.

While all of that is happening, we also see the return of the infamous Kevin Land, Russel’s first boyfriend who hadn’t been willing to come out and had been dumped in book 1. It’s 8 months later, and he’s now very willing to flaunt his gayness at school. Not only that, Kevin wants Russel back. Unfortunately, Russel is now dating Otto, the unbelievably sweet boy he met at summer camp. Otto who lives very, very far way vs. Kevin who is within kissing distance and still hot as sin. *sigh* Even in gayYA I can’t escape the love triangles.

Then there’s the story of Min, who keeps falling for girls who aren’t ready to be out and proud. Truthfully, this story wasn’t that interesting to me, I just could not get into it. I blame the same scene twice syndrome. The story did provide insight into what’s going on with Kevin, but I kind of preferred not knowing, it gave me a bad feeling about what’s going to happen in the next book.

To me, of all the books in this series, the second one is the better. But, I have one left to read, so let’s hold thumbs that I am finally going to be blown away.

(3/5)

Brent Hartinger is the author of a number of novels, mostly for and about teens, including Geography Club (HarperCollins, 2003) and three sequels: The Order of the Poison Oak (HarperCollins, 2005); Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (HarperCollins, 2007); and The Elephant of Surprise (2013).

His other books include The Last Chance Texaco (HarperCollins, 2004); Grand & Humble (HarperCollins, January 2006); Project Sweet Life (HarperCollins, 2008); and Shadow Walkers (Flux Books, 2011).

Mr. Hartinger’s many writing honors include being named the winner of the Lambda Literary Award, the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award, a GLAAD Media Award, and a Book Sense Pick (four times).

A feature film version of his first novel, Geography Club, will be released in 2013, starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky.

Hartinger is also the author of many award-winning screenplays and plays, including a stage adaptation of Geography Club, which has received regional productions in Tacoma, Salt Lake City, Edmonton, and elsewhere. A feature film version of his play The Starfish Scream, which has also received many regional productions (and was twice produced Off-Off Broadway in New York), is in active development for a possible 2014 release.

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Top Ten: Books I HAD To Buy…But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 19 March 2013 - 7:00 AM |
5 Comments

Top 10 Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly feature at The Broke and the Bookish featuring her love of all things lists!

Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy…But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

I am SO glad I am not the only person doing this. I always feel like a terrible person for letting the books just lay there sad and alone. One day, man, one day.



1. Huntress by Malinda Lo
2. Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr
3. Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout
4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
5. Gravity by Melissa West
6. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
7. Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith
8. Providence by Jamie McGuire
9. Possess by Gretchen McNeil
10. A Devil in the Details by K.A. Stewart

Blog Tour: Disconnect by Imran Siddiq

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 18 March 2013 - 5:51 AM |
2 Comments

Disconnect by Imran Siddiq

Title: Disconnect
Series: Divided Worlds #1
Author: Imran Siddiq
Published: January 27th 2013 by Flickimp Publishing
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Source: Xpresso Book Tours

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In space, love has boundaries.

Dirtying fingernails in sewers is fast approaching worthlessness for Zachary, a 16-year old Underworld scavenger. When footage of an Overworld girl, Rosa, is discovered, his intrigue heightens at why she expresses sadness with a lavish lifestyle.

In meeting Rosa, Zachary is scorned by her opinion of the deprived. She pities him and provides a means for them to communicate. With time, friendship and something he’s never felt grows; love for another human. Knowing Rosa calls him when it suits her isn’t enough; he wants to meet her, but how? Relationships in Underworld are few, let alone the impossibility with those above the ceiling.

Underworld will suffer when plans to conquer Jupiter’s moon, Europa move ahead. Worse is Rosa’s father, a disgraced Overworld ambassador, approving the plan.

Zachary must defeat the prejudice of the worlds, sneak within opposing forces, lose friends and challenge Rosa’s sadness. In doing so, a twisted secret is uncovered that may devour the reason he lives; Rosa


What a pleasant surprise this was!

Zachary Conner lives in Underworld with his dad and Patch, a semi functional android welded to the wall. He spends his days rummaging through the trash that drops from Overworld, trying to find salvageable items for sale so that he can put food on the table that isn’t contaminated and funny smelling. His life is dreary, and he mistrusts most people. Until he finds an intact communication device while scavenging one day. Finding one in working condition is practically unheard of, and Zachary could make very good money off it. If he could get himself so far as to sell it. You see, the device contains pictures and diary entries of a girl unlike anyone Zachary has ever met in Underworld. She’s practically from a different world, and he wants to know more about her. Wants to know everything.

The fascination gets even worse when he manages to meet her. Once is not enough. He has to see her again.

Life is not that simple. Orders have been given that the Underworld districts evacuate. Its inhabitants are considered as dispensable as the trash that drops on them, and nothing will be allowed to stand in the way of expansion.

This was a nice, clean, easy read. I enjoyed the main character, Zachary, though for some reason I thought he was 14 for most of the story. The gritty, struggling to survive and stay human feeling of Underworld contrasted well with the cold, clinical Overworld where they would rather make androids more human than care about wasting actual human life. I see you, social commentary.

By far Patch was my favorite character. Robots need love too!

(4/5)

Imran Siddiq may have tried to leave Leicester a few times, but its become his place to wake up to two cats, freeze when the heating’s off and most of all, get down to writing. At a young age, his primary school teacher commented on his creativity and ability to tell stories. At the age of 29, during a night in the jungle, the bug inside awakened, and for the last 5 years he’s been sacrificing every second that he can to write. A veteran of writing festivals, a presence on Twitter and gobbling up all forms of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, he hopes he can bring a smile to others in the same way that he had, aged 5, reading with a torch under his duvet. Imran’s preferred genre is YA Sci Fi, and he has a tendency to throw a droid in every novel.

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Review: 15 Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 15 March 2013 - 9:13 AM |
4 Comments

15 Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins

Title: 15 Days Without a Head
Author: Dave Cousins
Published: May 8th 2013 by Flux
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Netgalley

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Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it’s not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he’s a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that’s when the trouble really starts .


Okay, wow. This book is kind of heartbreaking, but beautiful.

Life pretty much sucks for Laurence Roach. His dad died when he was young. His mother is nearly always drunk, with the violent mood swings that goes with. His little brother is both and adorable and unbearably obnoxious at the same time. Their family is strapped for cash and they live in a dump. He is often late for class because he has to take his little brother to school. And that is all before his mother goes missing.

No matter what happens, Laurence doesn’t give up hope. That is where the beauty of this story lies. This 15 year old kid who will do anything to keep his family going. He spends his evenings in a telephone booth with a stolen call card, imitating his father (with a Scottish accent lifted from a Teacher), play a trivia game on a radio show in the hopes that he can win his family an all expenses paid vacation. Surely that would cheer his depressed mother up. They could get away, if even for a little while, and live like normal, carefree people.

Then the worst happens, and his mother doesn’t come home. Days pass with no sign of her. Money runs out. Food runs out. Jay becomes ill. It’s all Laurence can do to keep it together.

Laurence and Jay form their own little Scoobygang, with Laurence as Shaggy and Jay as Scooby, and a girl from school as Velma. Together they set out to find the missing mother, but real live sleuthing isn’t as easy as it looks in cartoons.

It’s a tale of courage and determination. It even has a lovely, quiet romance for our lovely, quiet hero. My heart goes out to Laurence, to everyone who’s ever been a victim of bad and neglectful parenting, to the amazing souls who have risen above it to be more than what they know.

There are a couple of good chuckles mixed in, as well. For as sad as the subject matter is, at no point did I feel like it was a downer. Or that the book lacked action. With all the in your face male characters and bad boys of YA floating around, reading about a guy like Laurence gives me hope, you know? Sometimes the overlooked boys are the most beautiful of all.

(5/5)

Dave Cousins completed his first novel in the back of a van, while touring with his band (who were almost famous!)

He went on to be a winner of the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Anthology 2010 and his debut novel for teens, 15 Days Without a Head, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2012.

Originally from Birmingham, Dave now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and family, in a house full of books and records, and writes in a corner of the attic with an anarchic ginger cat for company.

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Review: The Order of the Poison Oak by Brent Hartinger

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 13 March 2013 - 5:30 PM |
6 Comments

The Order of the Poison Oak by Brent Hartinger

Title: The Order of the Poison Oak
Series: Russel Middlebrook #2
Author: Brent Hartinger
Published: March 1st 2005 by HarperTempest
Genre: YA Contemporary GLBTQI

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Book 1: Geography Club


Summer camp is different from high school. Something about spending the night. Things happen.

Geography Club’s Russel Middlebrook is back, and he and his friends are off to work as counselors at a summer camp. Brent Hartinger’s third novel is the story of Indian legends, skinny-dipping in moonlit coves, and passionate summer romance. It’s also the story of Russel’s latest club, the Order of the Poison Oak, a secret society dedicated to helping its members see life’s hidden beauty and accept its sometimes painful sting.


The last book ends with this kid Bryan saving our hero, Russel Middlebrook, from being outted to his entire school. This book opens after Russel has decided to out himself anyway. And lo and behold, people are treating him badly.

To get away from it all, he and his two best friends, Gunnar and Min, sign up to be camp counselors for the summer. The first group of campers are burn survivors, and Russel’s cabin are 10 year old little monsters to boot.

One of the other counselors in particular catch Russel’s eye. Web is hotter than the sun and gives off mixed signals. Even worse, Min is also interested in him.

Then there is Otto, a burn survivor himself. The nice guy to Web’s bad boy. Another prominent new character is Em, a cool, geeky girl that Russel thinks would be great for Gunnar. Only Gunnar has sworn off girls because he only makes a fool of himself in front of them anyway. And he really, really does.

Overall, I liked this book a lot more than the first one. Russel can be very sweet, but he can also be remarkably stupid. I love the way he finally won his cabin of monsters over. Russel continues to break the fourth wall, which I found pretty irritating. That said, the writing is nice and light and the story amusing at times. The underlying message is handled a little heavy handed, but I’ve come to expect that from Mr. Hartinger.

(4/5)

Brent Hartinger is the author of a number of novels, mostly for and about teens, including Geography Club (HarperCollins, 2003) and three sequels: The Order of the Poison Oak (HarperCollins, 2005); Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (HarperCollins, 2007); and The Elephant of Surprise (2013).

His other books include The Last Chance Texaco (HarperCollins, 2004); Grand & Humble (HarperCollins, January 2006); Project Sweet Life (HarperCollins, 2008); and Shadow Walkers (Flux Books, 2011).

Mr. Hartinger’s many writing honors include being named the winner of the Lambda Literary Award, the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award, a GLAAD Media Award, and a Book Sense Pick (four times).

A feature film version of his first novel, Geography Club, will be released in 2013, starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky.

Hartinger is also the author of many award-winning screenplays and plays, including a stage adaptation of Geography Club, which has received regional productions in Tacoma, Salt Lake City, Edmonton, and elsewhere. A feature film version of his play The Starfish Scream, which has also received many regional productions (and was twice produced Off-Off Broadway in New York), is in active development for a possible 2014 release.

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Review: 365 Days by K.E. Payne

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 11 March 2013 - 9:30 PM |
1 Comment

365 Days by KE Payne

Title: 365 Days
Author: K.E. Payne
Published: June 14th 2011 by Bold Strokes Books
Genre: YA Contemporary LGBTQI

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One mixed-up girl, one dull boy, two hot distractions. How does one figure it all out?

Life sucks when you’re fifteen years old, confused about your sexuality, and the girl of your dreams doesn’t even know you exist. The sudden entrance of a hot new emo at school only adds to the confusion.

Clemmie Atkins thinks she’s in love with her school friend, the mysterious and alluring J. Devastated that J doesn’t even seem to know she exists, Clemmie tries to escape her feelings by dating the nice but dim Ben. Unfortunately for Clemmie—and Josh—J just won’t leave her head, or her heart.

Until…

In walks sexy new-girl, Hannah Harrison. Before long, dreams of Hannah begin to eclipse the impossible thoughts of J and the boredom of Ben. Clemmie has exactly 365 days to discover herself, and she’s going to have a blast doing it!


I wanted to enjoy this story, but I very much did not. In fact, reading it was kind of painful. The entire thing is told in diary format, which to me made it difficult to connect with characters other than Clemmie, and I most certainly did not want to connect with Clemmie herself. She’s quiet possibly the whiniest, most selfish, dumbest character I have read in a good long while.

She’s this 16-17 year old girl who is just starting to question her sexuality due to these feelings she has for a schoolmate, J. Her friends sort of pressure her into going on a date with this guy Ben, who she couldn’t care less about. Or care less about treating like an actual human being. During the date she’s stand offish, rude, ignores him, tells us continuously how awful he is, and how she has absolutely no interest in him. So of course when he asks her out again, she says yes. Two or three more times. Then she whines about how he can’t take the hint that she’s not interested. Luckily, Ben wises up and dumps her. Good on you, boy!

When Clemmie’s not telling us how stupid and useless and boring her family is, she actively neglects her friends in favour of hanging out with the new girl, Hannah, who she is rapidly developing a crush on. Of course, the feelings she previously had for J just poof at the first sign of someone new. Hannah is an emokid, though Clemmie constantly calls her a goth (and then corrects herself!). As time progresses, it starts to look like Hannah is crushing hard too. Having her first girlfriend is the perfect time for Clemmie to decide to dye her hair black, like Hannah’s. Or think about getting a tattoo, because Hannah might like it. Or start listening to the same music as Hannah.

The diary entries themselves have massive overdoses of exclamation points. Like, she sooo calls Ben stupid for not spelling correctly, but then tooootally commits awful acts of grammar herself!!! [/sarcasm]

I think the narrative was supposed to be funny, but to me it just sounded like Clemmie has the mental faculties of a toad. At one point when she notices her supposedly very good friend has lost a lot of weight, she makes an offhand comment about hoping the girl doesn’t have this dyslexia malarkey. Of course, instead of talking to her friend about it, she blocks the girl on MSN so she can chat to Hannah instead.

Mr. Head, meet Mr. Desk. Repeatedly.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I mean, a teenager with a crush on a friend? Who hasn’t been there? *sigh* I think the cover is cool, does that count? Also, I liked that the story is set in Britain, it was a nice change of pace in the beginning. I enjoy seeing the Queen’s English used, it’s like those extra Us are welcome old friends.

(1/5)

KE Payne was born in Bath, the English city, not the tub, and after leaving school she worked for the British government for fifteen years, which probably sounds a lot more exciting than it really was.

Fed up with spending her days moving paperwork around her desk and making models of the Taj Mahal out of paperclips, she packed it all in to go to university in Bristol and graduated as a mature student in 2006 with a degree in linguistics and history.

After graduating, she worked at a university in the Midlands for a while, again moving all that paperwork around, before finally leaving to embark on her dream career as a writer.

She moved to the idyllic English countryside in 2007 where she now lives and works happily surrounded by dogs and guinea pigs.

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Blog Tour: Surrender by Rhiannon Paille

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 8 March 2013 - 12:00 PM | ,
1 Comment

Surrender by Rhiannon Paille

Title: Surrender
Series: The Ferryman + the Flame #1
Author: Rhiannon Paille
Published: December 4th, 2012
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Xpresso Book Tours

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How far would you go to save everything you ever loved?

Kaliel was warned about her love for the Ferryman. One day he will marry the land and leave Avristar forever. She doesn’t listen, and because of what she is– a Flame– one of nine apocalyptic weapons, she sparks a war. In a desperate attempt to save her home and her love, Kaliel tries to awaken Avred, not knowing she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.


Hey now, it’s been a long time since I read something with elves. That’s certainly a nice change of pace. The world of Surrender is very much epic fantasy meets dreamy fairytale. It’s beautiful and descriptive and magical.

The elven peoples are very duty bound. At a certain point in their adolescence, everyone consults with the Great Oak to find out what the plan for their future is. Of course, the oak gives the prediction in suitably cryptic rhyme so the characters have to try and figure out for themselves what all of it means. These elvens don’t fall in love, instead they are “married to the land” and are expected to carry out their duty with no deviation in plan.

Enter Kaliel and Krishani. They enter deep insta-love the moment they meet, and despite that single meeting, they spend the next year pining for each other. Both of them are not quite what their teachers would like them to be, but luckily the Lord and Lady of the land each offer to take over their training. Which puts them both in the castle at the same time. The time apart hadn’t dulled their feelings any. Of course, there is that pesky destiny thing, so all is not smooth sailing.

The book starts of pretty slow, and it takes a while to build up to the point where it grabbed my attention. Things get a lot more interesting around chapter 20, when the alluded to destinies get… not revealed exactly, since every character except the two leads seems to have figured it out before them. Let’s just say things escalate very quickly from that point.

The ending was by far my favorite part. It was like… WHAM. Not at all

If you’re like me, and you have difficulties keeping track of where things in fantasy worlds are, the author has shared a map on her blog. Also included is a picture of Pux, the feorn.

(3/5)


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Rhi was never a normal girl. Her life was an urban fantasy wrapped in a paranormal romance and served with a side of horror. To escape her everyday weirdness she began writing fantasy. She studied at U of Sedona and MIMT, obtaining a PhD in Metaphysical Science and Parapsychology. She’s married to a chef/comic book shop owner and has a fondness for architecture. She frequents twitter and facebook, but if you really want to get to know her you should visit her site.

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Series Spotlight: Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 6 March 2013 - 5:30 PM |
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Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

 

While I can’t say that I loved this series, I did certainly enjoy it. For the most part. Some parts require a little slogging through, but I am glad I stuck with it until the end.

First of, I dig the worldbuilding. I liked the way people bonded with elementals, and the abilities these bonds afforded them. It’s a pretty interesting take on magic. I also really liked the Canim. Giant wolf/man beasts with an unshakable sense of honor, and substantial thirst for blood.

My least favorite part was some of the POV changes. It wouldn’t be epic fantasy without them, and I understand why it was important to see what was happening elsewhere in the world, but some of the characters were just not interesting to me. I groaned out loud each time (and there are plenty) the story shifted to Amara. Had the story been all Tavi all the time, I would have given it 5 stars.

Let’s talk Tavi. He is kind of awesome, and we get to watch him grow up, from an unsure teen boy who screws everything up and who alone in the land has no magic, to this unstoppable superpower who can single-handedly change the tides of war. His story is a little predictable. Standard epic fantasy plot line, but I didn’t enjoy him any less because of it.

The romance parts of this series made me happy. Holy crap, right? Me liking the love story in a fantasy book. Madness.

Kitai is amazing. Like Tavi she grows up during the course of the book, and we get to watch the transformation through Tavi’s eyes. From their first meeting when she tries to kill him, and he thinks she’s a boy, to the passionate (and sarcastic, and also a little bloodthirsty. I have a type, okay?) young woman she becomes. Kitai is a Marat. Considered a barbarian by most folk. Her kind don’t have magic of their own, but they sort of soul bond with their animal companions. And from the moment Tavi saves her life, he becomes Kitai’s… animal companion.

Soul bonding, you guys! Who doesn’t love that?

There is a lot of war and fighting in this series, and a lot of research and detail went into describing war tactics and military procedures. Perhaps a little too much. It gets a little bogged down in things I didn’t need to know.

One of the main complaints people seem to have about this series is that Jim butcher does not like to kill main characters off. You know, I am okay with that. I don’t generally enjoy my favorite characters being brutally slain, thank you very much. Perhaps that’s why I don’t read a whole lot in this genre.

 

The books

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher Book 1: Furies of Calderon

In the realm of Alera, where people bond with the furies-elementals of earth, air, fire, water and metal, fifteen-year-old Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. But when his homeland erupts in chaos-when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies-Tavi’s simple courage will turn the tides of war.

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Book 2: Academ’s Fury

In “Furies of Calderon,” bestselling author Butcher introduced readers to a world where the forces of nature take physical form. But now, it’s human nature that threatens to throw the realm into chaos.

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 Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher Book 3: Cursor’s Fury

The power-hungry High Lord of Kalare has launched a rebellion against the aging First Lord, Gaius Sextus, who with the loyal forces of Alera must fight beside the unlikeliest of allies-the equally contentious High Lord of Aquitaine.

Meanwhile, young Tavi of Calderon joins a newly formed legion under an assumed name even as the ruthless Kalare unites with the Canim, bestial enemies of the realm whose vast numbers spell certain doom for Alera. When treachery from within destroys the army’s command structure, Tavi finds himself leading an inexperienced, poorly equipped legion-the only force standing between the Canim horde and the war-torn realm.

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Book 4: Captain’s Fury

After two years of bitter conflict with the hordes of invading Canim, Tavi of Calderon, now Captain of the First Aleran Legion, realizes that a peril far greater than the Canim exists-the mysterious threat that drove the savage Canim to flee their homeland. Now, Tavi must find a way to overcome the centuries-old animosities between Aleran and Cane if an alliance is to be forged against their mutual enemy. And he must lead his legion in defiance of the law, against friend and foe–or no one will have a chance of survival…

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 Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher
Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher Book 5: Princeps’ Fury

Tavi of Calderon, now recognized as Princeps Gaius Octavian and heir to the crown, has achieved a fragile alliance with Alera’s oldest foes, the savage Canim. But when Tavi and his legions guide the Canim safely to their lands, his worst fears are realized.

The dreaded Vord–the enemy of Aleran and Cane alike–have spent the last three years laying waste to the Canim homeland. And when the Alerans are cut off from their ships, they find themselves with no choice but to fight shoulder to shoulder if they are to survive.

For a thousand years, Alera and her furies have withstood every enemy, and survived every foe.

The thousand years are over?

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Book 6: First Lord’s Fury

For years he has endured the endless trials and triumphs of a man whose skill and power could not be restrained. Battling ancient enemies, forging new alliances, and confronting the corruption within his own land, Gaius Octavian became a legendary man of war-and the rightful First Lord of Alera.

But now, the savage Vord are on the march, and Gaius must lead his legions to the Calderon Valley to stand against them-using all of his intelligence, ingenuity, and furycraft to save their world from eternal darkness.

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 First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
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