Ahoy there me mateys! I received this sci-fi thriller eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .

I have loved this author's work ever since I read love minus eighty and have gobbled up all of his novels but one.

Side note: Get me hands on soft apocalypse!

So I was thrilled to read this one. It was extremely fun. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where people wake up on Day One with no memories of who they are or even where they are. Terrifying concept. Most people are just struggling to survive. One man, Faller, wants more. He wants answers.

So with just three clues in his pockets, Faller sets out on an adventure.

And what an odd adventure. This book splits into sections about the present that Faller is experiencing and the past of how the world became what it is. Personally, the present sections were the most fun. The past sections didn't bore me but I always wanted to rush through to get back to Faller.

As usual, many of the physics concepts went over me head as physics is want to do. And, as usual, I loved the consequences of those physics principals. The world building was certainly unique. I don't believe I would ever want to live in a world like it. I am glad I could read about it though.

While Faller was definitely me favorite character, I also very much enjoyed side characters like Storm and One-Thirty-One. For me the only downsides of this novel were that not all questions are answered even though many of the pieces tied together nicely. And the ending! I didn't hate all of it and I didn't love all of it. It was just different.

It was certainly a fast read and I am glad I read it. I will read the next book he writes, too. If ye have never read a book by this author, I would start with a different one because I do not think this is the best introduction to his work. Though I do believe if ye haven't read anything by this author, ye should pick one of his books up.

Additional side note: On release day, Mr. McIntosh had this fun fact on his blog about the novel:

"FALLER is based on a dream, and not just any dream, but the dream that kicked off my entire writing career. When I dreamed what became FALLER the dream was so vivid, and felt so much like a science fiction story, that I decided to try writing it down. It was the first SF story I ever wrote, and set me on a path that eventually led me to resign my tenured position as a psychology professor to write full time.

If you decide to give FALLER a try, I hope you enjoy it."

I certainly did.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge!

If ye want to read me other reviews check out me log at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there me mateys! This novel is the fourth in the Lightbringer series. If ye haven't read any of this series then ye might want to skip this post and go read the first book, the black prism. Worth the read. If ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril.

So I was introduced to this author by the Night Angel Trilogy which dealt with assassins. Hooray! So when he began his new series I was super excited. I ended up loved the first novel, and I continued to love the next two in the series. In fact looking at me Goodreads reviews, I apparently gave all of his books 5 stars because that is how much they struck me fancy.

I am therefore a little confuzzled as to why this one didn't float me boat like the last three did. While I did enjoy it, parts of it irked me. I will not give away any plot points but here are me overall feelings:

- I rather liked the series recap at the beginning of the novel. Normally recaps are bothersome but for some reason I liked getting the in-depth review of the series thus far.

- I continue to adore Teia. She has become me favorite character in the series and not just because of her skills. Her choices seem to always suck and I can never guess where her storyline is going. I love watching her grow as a character.

- Gavin's chapters surprisingly were some of me least favorite sections of the book. I adored him in previous books but his chapters in this book seem to be rather dull. His inner struggle in this one began with a bang and grew to annoy me. I felt like nothing was resolved with him and he didn't really change or do anything at all. Of course there is a major plot twist in this book concerning his powers and his history which I rather loved.

- Karris was another highlight in the book for me. Again I love the strong women. She continues to evolve from book to book and I enjoy watching her deal with what fate is handing her. There were some major problems set up for her in this novel and I am interested in how she will handle them in the next book.

- The Kip sections also dragged a lot for me. Not enough action and too focused on sex. Some of the battle and magic elements involving him were awesome but overall I again felt that with this character nothing happened. His sections almost seemed like set-up for the next book only.

- The Mighty - can these man-boys please grow up and get over the sex jokes and young male stupidity already. It was tiresome. And a shame because I like many of their characters individually.

- There were not a lot of sections dealing with Liv Danavis but oh do I want to know what happens next with her.

- Master Sharp still creeps me out! Ugh.

- When and how (or will?) Andross finally get his comeuppance?

- That ending! It desperately makes me want to know what happens next!

So basically this book felt like the action and plot stalled to set-up the next book. Almost like a placeholder. The last three books kept me on the edge and impatiently waiting for the next installment. I still loved the book overall but I had some quibbles. Those aside, I still want the next book in the series. I continue to enjoy this author's work and want more!

If ye liked this review, see me others at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there me mateys! This novel is the conclusion to the Age of Legends series. If ye haven’t read any of this series then ye might want to skip this post and go read the first book, sea of shadows. Worth the read. If ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril.

I love Kelley Armstrong! The first book of this trilogy was the first book I ever read by her. I was hooked. I also loved the sequel empires of the night. This book was a very satisfying ending to the trilogy.

I continue to adore the twins, Moria and Ashyn. In this novel their experiences in the previous books have certainly changed their viewpoints of the world and how they make choices. While they are still flawed, as all humans are, both girls continue to grow towards the strong independent leaders they will one day become.

In general, this novel had some plot points that were rather predictable especially in terms of the villain’s shenanigans. But I still enjoyed the overall journey and the ending was lovely. The romance aspects of the story were handled and resolved very much to my satisfaction.

Also mehaps the story made me a little teary in the telling. Or was that just the salty wind in me eye?

I would love to see future stories of the scalawags in this world. In any case, this is in me mind a strong enjoyable young adult fantasy series that should get more hype.

It is time to abandon ship me mateys!

I heard about this novel from Angela @ pooled ink who wrote a raving review. In fact, the review was so exuberant in its praise, that I immediately went and downloaded the novel, which was available for free on Amazon.

Now I had issues with this novel at the start. I didn’t like the prologue. But I thought to meself, “well, we are obviously not supposed to like the bad guy.” So I kept going. Then the novel proper started and we were introduced to the heroine.

The main character Sora was a whiny brat of a 17 year old. Yes, her father is a bit of an unlovable jerk but she didn’t seem to have the worst life. I mean, I get that she doesn’t want to marry. I was cool with that. However, she didn’t seem to have any other plans except to run away. And how she went about it didn’t seem that bright.

Now of course as she is attempting to run away, she is instead kidnapped by an assassin. I have a soft spot for assassin novels, so I got excited and thought that here is where it is going to start getting good.

Sadly that was not true for me. New characters kept getting introduced and I didn’t like any of them. Not only that, but the world building seemed almost non-existent and flat. Add to the fact that the group wanders in the swamp in seemingly circles for the majority of the novel and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Now if I found the novel so irksome then why ye ask did I read to 79 percent? Because I somehow wanted to magically capture the reading enjoyment that Angela had. I mean, obviously she loved it and she quickly downloaded and gobbled up the remainder of the series. I kept thinking that if I kept reading the hook would catch me and the enthrallment would begin.

But this seems to be a case of this novel not being for me. I had to abandon the book and subsequently the series.

I am glad however that it has captured the fancy of other readers. So don’t necessarily take me word for it. Read the pooled ink’s contrasting viewpoint and if ye like to give this one a chance.

As always I find when people disagree with me reading tastes to be sort of fascinating.

If ye want to see me other reviews go to https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there mateys! Though the first mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do recommend books to each other. Books the first mate introduced to me included xom-b, holes, and the perks of being a wallflower. He and I both read the following:

wolf in white van (John Darnielle)

We were talking about the book and I enjoyed his viewpoint so I ordered asked him to write a review. So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew. Please note that I write like I talk and the first mate writes like he thinks. Hope you enjoy!

From the First Mate:

A professor of mine once opined that while anyone can start a poem, it takes a poet to finish one. Many years later, after having read several novels written by poets, I’ve come to the opinion that the literary skill set that allows a poet to craft stunning poems typically doesn’t translate to prose. Most often you get Gregory Corso’s The American Express: poetic inclinations smashing headlong into the requirements of story. But sometimes, just sometimes, you get poetry in your prose; mystical words skittering just along the edge of story requirements.

Like most, I know of John Darnielle from his work with (as?) The Mountain Goats. The “about the author” section of Wolf in White Van states “he is widely considered one of the best lyricists of his generation,” and I’d have to agree with that assessment. Much as I consider Bob Dylan a poet (an easier position to hold now more than ever), I’ve long considered Darnielle a poet, and a damn good one at that.

Central to the story of Wolf in White Van is an accident that our narrator, Sean, just barely survived when he was in high school and which has left him permanently disfigured and on disability insurance. While recovering from the accident, Sean develops a post-apocalyptic role-playing game that later supplements his income and allows him to live a modest and reclusive lifestyle. We’re told that the name of the game, Trace Italian, comes from a style of medieval fortifications, trace italienne, in which there are “triangular defensive barricades branching out around all sides of a fort: stars within stars within stars, visible from space, one layer of protection in front of another for miles.” And, to be honest, such a description is quite apt for the structure of the novel itself.

Darnielle protects the core of his story, Sean’s accident, with layers of other story fragments. We learn about the progress of several of the players of Trace Italian and some horrific fallout thereof. We learn about Sean’s love of Conan tales and his fantasies that spring from it. We learn about Sean’s recovery from his accident and some of what his life was like before it. All of it told fragmentally and non-chronologically. Typically we’re told of how something ends before learning of how it begins. And each fragment, of course, builds on the one that lays next to it. But we are never given reasons for events. The why of what we’re told is almost always hidden from view.

While reading Wolf in White Van, I found it felt very similar to Haruki Murakami’s very early work Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973, as all three novels have a poetic, dreamlike manner to them in which the story drifts from fragmented moment to fragmented moment. I tend to like such novels, but I can certainly understand where others would find the work frustrating; I’m fairly certain the Captain would hate it. I will certainly be reading Darnielle’s next novel when it comes out.

From the Captain:

I was forewarned. Got to 18%. Hated it. Should’ve listened.

Ahoy there me mateys! The beautiful cover is what drew me to this novel.

When I read the book blurb, I was intrigued. And yet nothing could have prepared me for the impact this novel would have on me. It is magical realism at its best.

The book is the story of two best friends, Miel and Sam, who are inseparable growing up. But both have secrets from the world and each other. As the two children enter young adulthood, each has to confront both their pasts and what they want their future to be like.

I particularly loved the two adult women in the story; Sam’s mother in particular was an amazing woman in her own right but also is a fantastic example of what a parent should be.

The writing style of this book was lyrical and beautiful. Yet the book is filled with poignant and painful moments of what people can do to each other out of misunderstanding and fear The juxtaposition of the imagery in the writing and the subject matter somehow made the feelings of the characters that much more substantial and heartfelt. I really don’t know how to explain it adequately. My heart just ached in the story for the beauty of the characters, the struggles they go through, and ultimately the resolution of the novel.

It is a novel that lingers days afterwords. This is a strong novel that ye shouldn’t miss.

This review was originally posted at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy me mateys! Grab your grog! Though the first mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do overlap in our reading choices. When I found out he had read this series, I commandeered his reviews! So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew. Please note that I write like I talk and the first mate writes like he thinks. Hope you enjoy!

From The Captain:

This novel is the first in Kingfountain series. The title of the book is what originally drew me attention. Who and what does the queen’s poisoner do? (besides poison people of course!) Then the book has a pretty cover.

Then I read the blurb. An evil king. An eight year old hostage. Magic. An assassin. Hooray! Me kind of book. Then I started reading it. Apparently the history of the kingdom is loosely based on The War of the Roses and the king in Richard III. It’s sort of like what would have happened had Henry Tudor lost. Having studied Richard III in depth during me Shakespearean theatre history class, I became engrossed! I finished this book in one sitting and was completely lost in the story.

No joke, I absolutely adored this book. I do not however feel that ye need to know anything about Richard III or English battle history to enjoy this novel.

For one, I pretty much thought the characterization in this novel was fantastic. The main character of Owen is just plain wonderful. He is a precocious eight-year-old whose relationships in the story are at its heart. His relationship with the Queen’s poisoner is one highlight. His relationship with his best friend Evie is another.

Side note: Can I just say that Evie is frickin’ awesome. I was kinda in awe of her. She is only eight in the novel and yet is already strong in her own way. Can’t wait to see how she grows in the series. This book was full of strong intelligent women. Hooray for that!

Secondly. the magic system. The book doesn’t get into the nitty-gritty of it in this first book but enough clues are in it to intrigue me and make me want more. In fact the magic system seems to be highly involved in the myths and social mores of the culture. It has a medieval feel to it and yet seems it is its own thing at the same time.

Thirdly, the politics. While Owen is the focus of the story, I rather enjoyed the politics and machinations of the adults. It did not get in the way of Owen’s story but helped enrich it and the world building. Who doesn’t like plotting and secret societies?

Lastly, the plot. Of course I cannot get into this in detail without spoilin’ things but I thought how the story unfolded was fantastic. There were plot twists that entertained me, some that surprised me, and some that made me sad in a good way.

Basically I loved this book so very much that I immediately downloaded two and three. Very happy to have discovered this new author. Off to read book 2 . . .

From The First Mate:

When the Captain finished “The Queen’s Poisoner” she smiled and said, “Now, that was just what I needed.” She’d said that it was a well-told retelling of the Richard III story with magic. I was intrigued, but she said that I wouldn’t like it because the main characters were children. So, I shrugged, went back to my Murakami, and thought no more about it. That is, until the Captain finished the second book and was absolutely livid about the direction in which it had gone. And so, yes, I was well and truly interested. I hadn’t seen a reaction like that since “A Wise Man’s Fear.”

With a bit of trepidation, I dove into “The Queen’s Poisoner” and found it to be simply delightful. The children, Owen and Evie, are thankfully of the Shakespearean variety (i.e., adults with short legs) and thus their age poses no real impediment to their ability to influence the plot. Several of the characters are well drawn (the eponymous Queen’s Poisoner and the Richard III analogue especially) while others are straight out of central casting (there’s a spymaster and his name is, essentially, Dick Rat). The writing is clear and largely invisible, which is, honestly, a welcome attribute in a high fantasy novel. And I rather enjoyed the merging of religion and magic in the world.

If the book has one significant flaw, though, it’s that Wheeler had both a particular plot and several specific scenes in mind and he was going to put them into the novel whether they made any logical sense or not. One particular howler requires a character who is so paranoid that he has children test his food for poison to leave a secret passage to his bedroom completely unguarded. The circumstances in which we learn about this unguarded secret passage made me pause for quite some time to ponder other ways that scene could’ve played out without making the characters look like imbeciles. I stopped coming up with alternate scenarios at nine.

That particular flaw aside, the book and the world are really quite fun. A lot of fantasy novels in recent years have hewn to the fairly popular grim dark conventions, and this yarn is a welcome change from that. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s a Disneyfied high fantasy, but there’s rarely a moment in the novel where I worried for the life and limb of our main character. If you’re looking for grit, you won’t find it here.

This review was originally posted on https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy me mateys! Grab your grog! Though the first mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do overlap in our reading choices. When I found out he had read this series, I commandeered his reviews! So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew. Please note that I write like I talk and the first mate writes like he thinks. Hope ye enjoy!

From The Captain:

This novel is the second in Kingfountain series. Another stunning cover. And another stunning engrossing read.

This one flew by almost as fast as the first. This novel takes place nine years after the events in book one. Owen is on the eve of commanding his very first battle. Even though it does make some logical sense to skip some of the childhood events, I was startled by such a jump. I had wanted to see more of Evie and Owen as children! Nope. Owen has gone from 9 to 17 years old.

Owen has dreams and ambitions regarding his friend and love Evie. The King has other ideas regarding the use of his two loyal subjects. As Goodreads puts it, "Will Owen’s conflicted heart follow the king’s path or risk everything for his love?"

This book was not as upbeat as the first novel and is much darker. Owen is struggling in his role as Duke and being a leader of men. This story basically centers around Owen's pain and ambition. Every choice seems to have negative consequences and Owen suffers.

And oh the ending . . . it pissed me off. I have to admit I was mad at the author. How could he? Grrrrr! But I still enjoyed the book and wanted to dash into reading book 3.

From The First Mate:

That little flaw in the first book that was not significant enough to ruin my enjoyment of it? Yeah, that flaw becomes a major problem in the second book.

Movies and books about geniuses are typically problematic for one fairly mundane reason: the writer is rarely a genius. We learned in "The Queen's Poisoner" that the magic in this world (i.e., being "Fountain Blessed") confers on one great abilities. Our Richard III analogue has the ability to be extremely persuasive with his words, another character is able to influence through writing, and we're told that a very rare magic is being able to see the future. All abilities that are fairly straightforward.

Unfortunately, Owen's magic is the ability to find weaknesses and formulate strategy. The finding weakness part is actually kinda fascinating; Owen is able to psychically reach out and probe people and find out if they've got a trick left knee or a balance issue because of water in their ear or, presumably, if they'll dissolve in a fit of giggles with the right joke. It's an extremely useful skill in a fantasy world, and we get to see numerous quality uses of it. It's the strategy part that leaves something to be desired.

Owen uses his magical strategy abilities three times in the novel and each occasion left me wanting to believe that his magical ability was more of the "manipulating reality" variety. That somehow his magic worked by altering the world so that regardless of what boneheaded stratagem he settled upon would lead to his desired outcome. But, no. Schemes that make no sense whatsoever lead to Owen's opponents blindly walking into his traps.

Does it cripple the book? It didn't for me. I still found a lot to like in the characters (Evie becomes very kick-ass, and the Thief's Daughter is a wonderful addition to the cast) and the further expansion of the magic ideas of the world. The Joan of Arc references were a particular source of amusement. Ultimately, though, where one comes down on this book is going to rest on how willing one is to overlook the flaws of plotting that are, unfortunately, central to the book and the main character. If, like me, you're willing to find joys in the minor characters and the world, the book will be a fun diversion, albeit less fun than the first book.

This review was originally posted on https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy me mateys! Grab your grog! Though the first mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do overlap in our reading choices. When I found out he had read this series, I commandeered his reviews! So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew. Please note that I write like I talk and the first mate writes like he thinks. Hope ye enjoy!

From The Captain:

This novel is the third in Kingfountain series. A third stunning cover. Seriously, the cover designs are just wonderful.

Unfortunately for me, this book was the weakest of the lot. To be fair, the reading was still highly enjoyable and fast paced but did not float me boat as much as the other two did.

Basically, this novel had what to me were gaping plot holes. Our bad king does not get what he deserves. For all of the strong women in the series, one of the female characters in this book has an ending that is a travesty to all women ever in her situation. The ending had a rather bad deus ex machina feeling where the individual character choices up to that point were almost inconsequential. Mostly the feeling was just “huh?”

Now this could be due to the fact that I found out this trilogy in fact continues through the next generation of children. So perhaps it is just the future set up for the remainder of the series. But as this was, for me Owen’s trilogy, the ending was lackluster and a little annoying.

Basically finished this series with the ending of Owen’s story and will not continue any further. But I do not regret reading these novels and they were quick and fast-paced one day reads. Despite the plot failings, I do actually like a lot of the author’s writing style and would be interested to read the first book of his Muirwood series. I will have to see if any of me fellow bloggers have opinions of that one. So I consider this 3 Bells installment a success!

x The Captain

From The First Mate:

It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I started reading “The King’s Traitor” in that Wheeler had made it perfectly clear where he intended to take the story and also that he lacked the plotting abilities to take the story there in a realistic manner. The question, therefore, would there be enough entertaining non-central elements to keep my interest as we made the all-but-certain-to-be-bumpy path to the conclusion? Alas, no.

For the third time we have Owen run into an age-appropriate woman who falls madly in love with him, regardless of his objections. For the third time, Owen’s opponents fall into his plans as though reality itself were warping to meet his needs. Our Richard III analogue devolves from character to caricature; at one point, the method by which he chooses to dispatch someone has more in common with a plan by Dr. Evil of the Austin Powers films than with any actual attempt at killing someone. Baddies from the past pop up, but they are dealt with so quickly and so far removed from the central conflict as to offer up practically no menace.

My central complaint of the first book was that Wheeler had a specific plot that he wanted to take the story in and he was going to tell that particular story whether it logically fit or not. Unfortunately the second and third novels showed that he did not see such a choice to be problematic. Indeed, the resolution of the conflicts in the third novel occurs almost entirely without logic. The fate of our Richard III analogue is utterly baffling. And the final scene lead this poor unfortunate soul to groan, “he’s gonna ruin that legend too?”

“The King’s Traitor” is the only novel of this series that I can say that I actually disliked. I had quibbles with plot elements of “The Queen’s Poisoner,” but loved many of the characters and overall very much enjoyed reading it. “The Thief’s Daughter” was a weaker book but still had much to recommend about it. This one? Well, I’m not sorry I read it, but Wheeler and I shall part ways here.

This review was originally posted at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/