Ahoy there me mateys!  I received an eArc of this fantasy novel through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .

I didn't think I needed to start any more series.  Well, I was wrong.  This was excellent.  This follows an Emperor's Justice, Vonvalt. As a Justice, Vonvalt is judge, jury, and executioner when necessary – with the help of a little bit of magic.  He travels a circuit to dispense justice.  Traveling with him is his clerk, Helena, and a guard, Bressinger.  Surprisingly the story is told from the perspective of Helena who is reminiscing at the end of her life.

The conflict of the story begins when Vonvalt makes a judgement in a small backwater town where an outlawed religion is in use.  His ruling is compassionate while being within the law and the cleric with them in incensed.  Later Vonvalt investigates a noblewoman's murder.  These stories intertwine and Helena relates how the world changed.

Helena is training with Vonalt with the idea that she will join the Justices.  However, she isn't so sure that she wants the job.  I loved Helena and Vonalt's relationship.  I also loved older Helena's commentary on her younger self.

It is hard to really explain the intricate plot and world building but I found it extraordinarily well done.  And I grew to love Helena and care about how Vonalt's choices are going to play out.  The ending was excellent.  I am very much looking forward to the next book.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there me mateys!  Aye, another Tchaikovsky so soon after the last.  This is a sci-fi dystopian that takes place in a West African country by the equator.  The only reason the little town exists is for the space elevator ferrying rich folks off the dying burning planet.  The town illegally harvests from solar panels but the repair robots are also dying.  Local teens have to firewalk over barren landscape to see why the solar is broken and if they can fix it.

Mao, Lupé, and Hotep are the firewalkers given this task.  I really found meself rooting for the characters.  Mao was a fantastic main character.  The world building was lots of fun and gritty and realistic.  I have to admit that I loved the first half of this book a lot more than the reveal and ending.  The ending was believable but left me feeling bereft that all three characters could make those choices.  A lot of readers found hope in the conclusion.  I really do understand that but felt that humans had sold themselves out.

A solid read by Tchaikovsky even if not a favorite.  I will be picking up more of his work for sure.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there me mateys!  In 2021 the First Mate gave me a treasure trove of the entire Vorkosigan Saga.  I have finally begun exploring this world.  After much internal debate, I decided to read the series in publishing order . . . well mostly. 

falling free (read 2nd)

No Miles in this one either.  I found out this takes place 200 years before the Cordelia story and does not share settings or characters with the rest of the series.  It did win the Nebula award for best novel in 1988.  This follows engineer Leo Graf who works for a corporation and is sent on an assignment.  Turns out his students are genetically engineered humans with two sets of arms and no legs i.e. quaddies.  Parts of the story were really fun and I did enjoy Leo as a character.  The major problem was that quaddies were bred to be naïve and let humans dictate everything for them.  This made me uncomfortable.  And also how the females were abused sexually also made me uncomfortable.  The bad guy was a ridiculous super villain.  The feats of engineering needed to survive were over the top.  But I did enjoy this much better than the previous book. Arrrr!

Ahoy there me mateys!  In 2021 the First Mate gave me a treasure trove of the entire Vorkosigan Saga.  I have finally begun exploring this world.  After much internal debate, I decided to read the series in publishing order . . . well mostly.

shards of honor (read 1st)

I have always been told that the series was about Miles though I don't know much beyond that.  Well there was no Miles in this.  Apparently this be the story of how his parents meet.  Cordelia Naismith is leading a research team on an unexplored planet.  Turns out Aral Vorkosigan and his team are already there.  She is taken hostage by Aral.  They have to work together on the hostile planet.  Love ensues.  As does politics because the two are on opposite sides of the struggle.  I loved the first part of the book.  The later half not so much.  It seemed very fragmented and there is lots of torture and rape and it was gross. Bathari made me ill as did the ending.  I was so turned off by these elements that I wasn't sure I wanted to continue.  I was expecting better from the author who wrote the curse of chalion which is one of me favourite books ever.  I wish I did not start with this. Arrr!

Ahoy there me mateys!  In 2021 the First Mate gave me a treasure trove of the entire Vorkosigan Saga.  I have finally begun exploring this world.  After much internal debate, I decided to read the series in publishing order . . . well mostly.

the warrior's apprentice (read 3rd)

Miles.  Finally.  I am in love.  Now this is more in line with what I wanted from the beginning.  Future readers, start here.  We meet Miles at the academy where joining the military is his dream despite his physical limitations.  Of course nothing goes as wished and Miles ends up traveling to his mother's homeworld to have a change in scene.  He takes a gamble and ends up in over his head.  And what ensues was not expected at all and wonderful.  Miles is somewhat egotistical, certainly brooding, a bit naïve, intelligent, and often whiny.  The story is over the top but was fun all the same.  I am also glad that Bathari is done, Elena might be happy, and Ivan does some good.  I do want to see what Miles gets into next.  Arrr!

Ahoy there me mateys!  I love Kelley Armstrong!  I discovered her through her young adult book, sea of shadows, and she became me most read author of 2016.  I have not read all her stuff because not all of it appeals to me.  This sounded interesting but it be urban fantasy which I don't usually like.  However, Matey Nicole's review convinced me to give it a whirl.  I did and then read book two.

I liked both and the duology is exactly as advertised.  There is magic, a tiny bit of romance, some action, and some snark.  I am not a romance book person but I really enjoyed Kennedy and Aidan's slow-burn friendship.  The first book's plot about a cursed necklace is a bit silly and fun.  I felt a bit like the magic world building didn't always make a lot of sense but went with it.  The characters' interactions are the focus of the series.  A there is a fun cat.

I must admit that I liked book one a bit better than book two which dealt with a series of cursed paintings.  Book two's plot was a bit convoluted and the ending was silly.  This didn't bother me too much because it was fun and the characters were me focus.  I loved the motel scene.  I got exactly what I wanted out of these books - hours of entertainment in another world.  Enjoyable fluff.  I am more than satisfied.  Arrr!

Side note:  The author wrote book one as an escape during Covid and posted it in installments online to help others have an escape.  Cool.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I love Kelley Armstrong!  I discovered her through her young adult book, sea of shadows, and she became me most read author of 2016.  I have not read all her stuff because not all of it appeals to me.  This sounded interesting but it be urban fantasy which I don't usually like.  However, Matey Nicole's review convinced me to give it a whirl.  I did and then read book two.

I liked both and the duology is exactly as advertised.  There is magic, a tiny bit of romance, some action, and some snark.  I am not a romance book person but I really enjoyed Kennedy and Aidan's slow-burn friendship.  The first book's plot about a cursed necklace is a bit silly and fun.  I felt a bit like the magic world building didn't always make a lot of sense but went with it.  The characters' interactions are the focus of the series.  A there is a fun cat.

I must admit that I liked book one a bit better than book two which dealt with a series of cursed paintings.  Book two's plot was a bit convoluted and the ending was silly.  This didn't bother me too much because it was fun and the characters were me focus.  I loved the motel scene.  I got exactly what I wanted out of these books - hours of entertainment in another world.  Enjoyable fluff.  I am more than satisfied.  Arrr!

Side note:  The author wrote book one as an escape during Covid and posted it in installments online to help others have an escape.  Cool.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I have always wanted to read this author's work and this was the first.  I wasn't sure what I was expecting with this novel (and was surprised!) but I am certainly glad to have read it.

This novel follows Girolamo Savanarola who was a priest in 15th century Florence.  The fantasy twist of this historical novel is that this Dominican friar can actually see and banish demons.  This book deals with the end of his life and the machination of Florentine politics and religion.  His beliefs on religion, and his powerful sermons, led to a truly fascinating time in Florence.  I did not know when reading this how closely the author followed history while twisting it.  So cool.

The plot surprised me multiple times and I cannot spoil it but suffice to say that I was enthralled by this book.  I loved that demons and miracles did actually exist.  I loved the world building and how real Florence felt.  I loved how much I rooted for Girolamo through his ups and downs.  I enjoyed getting yet another perspective on the Medici family even though they were not the focus.  I was impressed.

The only small problem was the way the book resolved even though it made sense.  I just wasn't ready to let go.  The author does have a wonderful post about historical references and the monastery.  Minor spoilers there for the plot.

I hear Walton has written a story about Victorian times with dragons.  Must read that (and the others).  Arrr!

Ahoy there me mateys!  This author has written three novels in the world of Sarun that can be read independently from each other.  The other book I read was the winter road which was awesome.  This one was pretty darn good too.

The highlight continued to be the use of plants as a major resource.  Plants are a type of currency and have many uses.  One is for battle brews that enrich a warrior's sight, strength, and other attributes based on what is in them.  Each war band has it's own secret recipes and fiercely guard them.  What was awesome is that ye have to "pay the colour" for their use.  Besides causing the user to be violently ill and face potential death, the mixes also ruin the user's skin and cause a period of complete defenselessness.  I love it.

This installment follows Driwna Marghoster who works for the Post.  The Post is a guild that provides trade caravans and protection on the road.  Her latest trip did not go as planned when she find a dead body hidden in a barrel in a wagon.  This goes against Post tradition and Driwna is overwhelmed by the discovery.  She is determined to get closure for the dead and figure out who is breaking the rules.  It turns out to be a bigger problem then she thought and Driwna is given a huge undertaking that is rough.

I loved Driwna.  She is all the things I love in this type of character.  She is a good friend, intelligent, principled, fierce, and awesome.  I also loved her friend Cal and their history and love for each other.  I wish he would have been in the book more.  I was rooting for Driwna the entire time.  This story was so engrossing that I barely put it down.  And the ending was so very unexpected.  It hurt me soul but also fit the rest of the book.

The only small problem was the big bad was a bit flat at times and because the reader knew about him it was hard to not understand how no one else seemed to be aware of his existence.  That said, it was minor.  Oh and a bit of insta-love but I didn't really mind that either.

I know this doesn't really get into the plot much but the story is a hard one to simplify even if it wasn't hard at all to read.  I still have not read the author's debut book.  I am glad I have more to read in this world.  Arrr!

Side note: While these books can be read in any order, the chronological order is the winter road, brother red & then snakewood.  I didn't intend to read them in this order but it entertains me that it panned out that way!

Ahoy there me mateys!  I wish I would have known that this book was a reissue 15 years after its original release and that the book originally had been an expansion of a news article.  Because while I enjoyed parts of this book a lot, I believe these two facts were what led to overall disappointment.

The blurb had promised the story of John Laroche, the orchid thief of the title.  Turns out there really wasn't enough substance in the theft part.  So only some of the chapters dealt with him.  And of those chapters, many of those dealt with the Seminole nation of Florida and Laroche's relationship with the tribe.  Many of the other chapters dealt with the orchid professional in general, some snippets of Florida orchid growers specifically, and then had random forays into elements of Florida history and orchid history.

Now I did love learning about the Seminole tribe and Florida real estate history and the Fakahatchee Strand.  But I felt it was more like reading small tantalizing articles that tried to shoehorn in orchids without getting into enough detail to satisfy in any area.  Also this was written in 1998 in the earlier days of the internet.  It makes sense because it felt like the research was not its strong point and the majority of it was the author's opinions and commentary from those that she interviewed.  Not horrible but I wanted more.

I think I just wanted more in-depth orchid science and a more deftly constructed book.  I do have to give a shout out to narrator Anna Fields.  She did a great job with the given material and I don't think I would have enjoyed this nearly as much without her.  No regrets but not one to recommend either.  Arrr!