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thecaptainsquarters
Ahoy there me mateys! This here be the first book in my Scallywagathon 2019 Challenge. Challenge one was Looting and I had to pick a book with gold on the spine. I heard about this book from Drew @ thetattooedbookgeek and knew I had to read it because it features telepathic giant cats AND dragons. While I enjoyed the book overall, I am somewhat conflicted and am hoping that writing this review will help clarify me thoughts.
The book takes place in an a world of at least four kingdoms. There is the kingdom of Atura with a dying king who is the only one keeping the magic in check. There is Eth whose residents seem to want to kill everyone else. There is the Emperor in the Forbidden City of the East who wants to control the rest of the world. And then there is Zeera, a desert matriarchy which has the cool telepathic cats. War is on the horizon.
The highlight of this book for me were the characters. Particular favourites were Hafsa Azeina, Daru, and Jian. Hafsa Azeina is a dreamshifter who can kill people in their sleep. She is a sorceress whose main mission is to keep her daughter alive. The costs of this are high. Daru is her apprentice. Born with physical handicaps, the women and cats scorn him for his weakness. His position keeps him begrudgingly tolerated and yet his inner being is steel. His sections were me favourite. Jian is a Daeborn with an affinity for water. The Emperor owns him body and soul. He was me other favourite perspective but has the least amount of page time. But what ye do get is tantalizing.
And then there be the cats, the vash'ai. These monstrous cats are not tame, pets, or owned. They choose to bond telepathically with the people of the Zeera. They are opinionated, vain, loyal to a point, and well cats. They don't always listen but are always fun to read about. I loved all of them and their distinct personalities.
The dragons in this book are hardly present. There seem to be two. The female is kept sleeping and will destroy the world if she wakes. The male is the sun or something. Here is the start of where I got lost. There is another universe or dimension or dreamworld or all three. I didn't really understand how any of it worked or tied together. Pretty much all of these sections were befuddling. There also seems to be several types of magic at work in the world but I don't understand the rules or functioning of any of it.
The politics are also a bit confusing. The matriarchy's politics were the clearest and most easy to follow. I suppose that makes sense because most of the action took place in their kingdom. But the politics of the King were convoluted and odd. I think the goal is to keep the dragon asleep but am not sure. The Emperor's seem to literally be "domination of all." Also the character of Sulema is the pivot point on which everything hinges. She is kinda naive and selfish and a mess. But I was still engaged in her story.
The pacing of this novel was also rough for me. The beginning was fantastic but started to fall apart once the reveal happened. It sort of felt like the at the end of a 500 page book, ye really haven't progressed far enough in the plot or explanations of things. But there is an interesting story mixed in there somewhere. I certainly want to know what happens to many of the individual characters. I am just not sure if I care about the outcome of the war. It seems obvious that Sulema has to save the world.
Despite the negative sounding tone of the last couple of paragraphs, I really did like enough of the book to try the next one in the series. The author claims that there are at least three books so I will have time to make up me mind about how things turn out. And do check out Drew's review because it makes more sense and flows much more nicely then mine. Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
The book takes place in an a world of at least four kingdoms. There is the kingdom of Atura with a dying king who is the only one keeping the magic in check. There is Eth whose residents seem to want to kill everyone else. There is the Emperor in the Forbidden City of the East who wants to control the rest of the world. And then there is Zeera, a desert matriarchy which has the cool telepathic cats. War is on the horizon.
The highlight of this book for me were the characters. Particular favourites were Hafsa Azeina, Daru, and Jian. Hafsa Azeina is a dreamshifter who can kill people in their sleep. She is a sorceress whose main mission is to keep her daughter alive. The costs of this are high. Daru is her apprentice. Born with physical handicaps, the women and cats scorn him for his weakness. His position keeps him begrudgingly tolerated and yet his inner being is steel. His sections were me favourite. Jian is a Daeborn with an affinity for water. The Emperor owns him body and soul. He was me other favourite perspective but has the least amount of page time. But what ye do get is tantalizing.
And then there be the cats, the vash'ai. These monstrous cats are not tame, pets, or owned. They choose to bond telepathically with the people of the Zeera. They are opinionated, vain, loyal to a point, and well cats. They don't always listen but are always fun to read about. I loved all of them and their distinct personalities.
The dragons in this book are hardly present. There seem to be two. The female is kept sleeping and will destroy the world if she wakes. The male is the sun or something. Here is the start of where I got lost. There is another universe or dimension or dreamworld or all three. I didn't really understand how any of it worked or tied together. Pretty much all of these sections were befuddling. There also seems to be several types of magic at work in the world but I don't understand the rules or functioning of any of it.
The politics are also a bit confusing. The matriarchy's politics were the clearest and most easy to follow. I suppose that makes sense because most of the action took place in their kingdom. But the politics of the King were convoluted and odd. I think the goal is to keep the dragon asleep but am not sure. The Emperor's seem to literally be "domination of all." Also the character of Sulema is the pivot point on which everything hinges. She is kinda naive and selfish and a mess. But I was still engaged in her story.
The pacing of this novel was also rough for me. The beginning was fantastic but started to fall apart once the reveal happened. It sort of felt like the at the end of a 500 page book, ye really haven't progressed far enough in the plot or explanations of things. But there is an interesting story mixed in there somewhere. I certainly want to know what happens to many of the individual characters. I am just not sure if I care about the outcome of the war. It seems obvious that Sulema has to save the world.
Despite the negative sounding tone of the last couple of paragraphs, I really did like enough of the book to try the next one in the series. The author claims that there are at least three books so I will have time to make up me mind about how things turn out. And do check out Drew's review because it makes more sense and flows much more nicely then mine. Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
Ahoy there me mateys! These books have a frame story in which Eva, a psychometrist (person who can read objects), works for the Institute and uses her power to find out more about the objects in the collection. There are five memories/stories in the first book and I did enjoy them even though the details have faded quite a bit now. The second book is more of the first. There is nothing new or shocking to these stories. The twist was predictable and lackluster. I didn’t really care about the frame but I did think the writing was fun. I particularly loved the haunted house ghost story. These were enjoyable and quick reads but rather forgettable to me in the long run. Arrrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! This be a contemporary retelling of a classic title. I picked this book in 2019. It be a pride & prejudice retelling. I don't normally read them but this one focused on the trial of George Wickham's associate. The combo of P&P and law is what drew me in. It was okay. This is likely due to the fact that I have never loved a P&P retelling. However, this concept was different and I wanted to see how it would play out.
I found I didn't really love the trial aspects and thought they got in the way of the story. I rather enjoyed the different take on the Bennett family and the bakery that they run. I would have liked to see more of this version of Mary. Though I always want Mary to have a better story, not get subsumed by her family, and have a better ending. I did like seeing more of Lydia and would have loved seeing more of Charlotte. I think the characters were the best part of the book.
It was a quick read that entertained so I have no regrets. Arrr!
Side Note: Ye can no longer get this on Amazon. The author was kind enough to give an explanation "Thank you for reading A Case of First Impression! I appreciate your feedback. I decided to pull it from Amazon. The early reviews were positive, but it stopped selling after receiving a certain number of low stars (without reviews to help future readers know if they would feel similarly or differently). I found it challenging to find the right audience for this story, which combines elements of many genres (classic retelling, legal drama, romantic elements without enough romance for some readers, etc.). I still love the story, so I’m planning to make it available on another platform in the future, but I might re-write parts of it to make it acceptable to a wider audience. There are a lot of copies out there, so people who already have it on their Kindles might give it a try. Thanks again for reading and reviewing it."
I found I didn't really love the trial aspects and thought they got in the way of the story. I rather enjoyed the different take on the Bennett family and the bakery that they run. I would have liked to see more of this version of Mary. Though I always want Mary to have a better story, not get subsumed by her family, and have a better ending. I did like seeing more of Lydia and would have loved seeing more of Charlotte. I think the characters were the best part of the book.
It was a quick read that entertained so I have no regrets. Arrr!
Side Note: Ye can no longer get this on Amazon. The author was kind enough to give an explanation "Thank you for reading A Case of First Impression! I appreciate your feedback. I decided to pull it from Amazon. The early reviews were positive, but it stopped selling after receiving a certain number of low stars (without reviews to help future readers know if they would feel similarly or differently). I found it challenging to find the right audience for this story, which combines elements of many genres (classic retelling, legal drama, romantic elements without enough romance for some readers, etc.). I still love the story, so I’m planning to make it available on another platform in the future, but I might re-write parts of it to make it acceptable to a wider audience. There are a lot of copies out there, so people who already have it on their Kindles might give it a try. Thanks again for reading and reviewing it."
Ahoy there mateys! This series was recommend to me by Matey Nicole. This collects three short novellas in an omnibus. I loved these! They are "fantasy-of-manners." The main character, Miss Mnemosyne Seabourne, is the only young lady who doesn't want to marry the Duke, no matter what her mother thinks. She wants quiet, libraries, and tea. And to avoid suitors. She is a fantastic character. I loved the humor, the fun magic, the excellent female characters, and even the romance! I need the lighthearted fun and how much they made me smile. I will reread these and I need to get the next two at some point. Arrr!
Ahoy there mateys! Back in the day I read the first four books only to find out the author was writing more in this world. Arrr! I love the characters in this series. There is the detective James, the 1920s ghost Dolly, the fantastic dragon Oz, and the shapeshifter Aliette. In book 5 James, using a scary deck of cards, has to figure out who is killing the players in a high stakes poker game. Book 6, the least favorite of the seven, involves James finding a missing shapeshifter and dealing with a cult. Book 7, deals with James horrible mother and trying to recover stolen artifacts. These are not books that should be read out of order. Start from the beginning. I highly recommend this series. I will likely reread some of these again in the future. Arrr!
Ahoy there mateys! Back in the day I read the first four books only to find out the author was writing more in this world. Arrr! I love the characters in this series. There is the detective James, the 1920s ghost Dolly, the fantastic dragon Oz, and the shapeshifter Aliette. In book 5 James, using a scary deck of cards, has to figure out who is killing the players in a high stakes poker game. Book 6, the least favorite of the seven, involves James finding a missing shapeshifter and dealing with a cult. Book 7, deals with James horrible mother and trying to recover stolen artifacts. These are not books that should be read out of order. Start from the beginning. I highly recommend this series. I will likely reread some of these again in the future. Arrr!