« June 2004 »
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
You are not logged in. Log in
Entries by Topic
All topics  «


Reading Log
Monday, 21 June 2004
The Tower of Ravens by Kate Forsyth Book 1 of Rhiannon's Ride
I thought this was going to be a new series but I was wrong it is a sequel series which is even better. It is set about 20ish years after Lachlan became Righ, and details the introduction of half fiary Rhiannon into Lewen's life. Lewen is the son of Liathane and Niall and he is an apprentice witch, the day before he leaves to go to the Tower of Two Moons to study, Rhiannon, drops into his life astride a beautiful black winged horse. Liathane sensing Rhiannon's power sends her with Lewen and Nina and Iven and other apprentice witches. They choose a shorter path through the land that brings them no end of trouble and when ghosts and dead challange their passage, they must 'uncover' the story. But Rhiannon is also hiding a terrible secret that eats her up inside. Awe it is so sweet and at least Rhiannon isn't wild one moment, perfect the next she still has her wild side from growing up in fear of her life, looking for any chance to escape. The whole necromancer thing is neat too, handled better than some other necromatic books that I have read recently. I must say I truely enjoyed it and no you don't have to read the first series to get stuck into this one but from the looks of the sample of the next book, it might just be a good idea. Though if you loved the first one, this one is set up to be a good series. Note it doesn't have very much of Lachlan in it, but he does make an apperance :)

Posted by fantasynode at 3:12 PM NZT
Sunday, 20 June 2004
The Charmed Sphere Catherine Asaro
I really enjoyed this book, most people think that Luna is going to be a fantasy book imprint that is really just romance novels wrapped in fantasy but in actual fact I found this book not to be the case. In fact I have read 'hard core' fantasy that is much much more romantic than this is. It is actually just an ordinary fantasy book really. But it is nice to see the break away from Sci-fi backgrounds that I find some fantasy novels get stuck into. Anyway enough of the promotion of the new Luna imprint and onto the actual book. I enjoyed it, simple as that I was reading Tower of Ravens and got sick of it after a couple of hours and picked up Charmed Sphere for a light read before bed and before I knew it it was 1.30 and I was starving, at that point I decided that sleep might be a good thing so I put the book down and eagerly started it up again the next day. So what is it about you might ask? Well Chime is a Shape-Mage and she is the strongest found in her generation so this means that she must marry the current heir to the throng, Prince Muller. But Muller doesn't want to be King, he has issues of his own and when Iris comes along, a stronger Mage than Chime and a new player to the throne enters the picture things become a little hectic. Not to mention that Varquelle, King of a neighbouring country wants the throne to him self in a first step to create an Empire but also he has Anvil a very strong Mage himself who twists others gifts. It's fun and exciting and yes of course a little romantic but somewhat less than Goodkind or even Eddings romance. Give it a go, you might just be suprised.

Posted by fantasynode at 12:01 AM NZT
Updated: Monday, 21 June 2004 3:16 PM NZT
Saturday, 19 June 2004
Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick
Really I didn't enjoy it overly that much but I did finish it and I probably will read the next books in the series but it was a little slow and dry for my tastes and some what a little predictable which is kinda annoying. That and the maps really didn't help - they are great maps and all but just not overly useful - would've been better if it had "trace route" or something - that would've been more helpful than mountain range charts. I'm suprised there wasn't a cross section or two in there - oh wait there was. But at least a lot of effort went into building the landscapes it made that bit at least interesting and the little 'legends' stories were cute.
That being said the story was a little dry it started out nicely with Leith and Hal going out after their parents that had been kidnapped and met all sorts of interesting people along the way but that's about it it was just a journey a few squimishes and that's all. Maybe the next books will have some more action in them instead of getting into the heads of the characters - meh I don't know. Give it a go if you want a sedate read

Posted by fantasynode at 5:27 PM NZT
Wednesday, 16 June 2004
Blood and Memory by Fiona McIntosh
I loved it so much. It is the second in her Quieckening Trilogy and I enjoyed it. Wyl has yet again suffered the Quickening's curse and walks in a woman's body, an assassin at that. But when she is travelling to find Myrrin's real father and a possible way to break the curse something hinders her path. Not only that but Wyl still has friends in the North under Caliech's hand and his sister is on the run too.

Sure enough I hope the story goes in one direction and doesn't stray and twist horribly in the end (I'm sappy I know - hey I'm allowed :) ). Though I love the little twists and turns it does make such as what happens to ******* and oh yeah all about ******. Okay am I annoying you a lot now? I loved it - if you enjoyed the first book then you'll love the second :)

Posted by fantasynode at 9:44 PM NZT
Shadow of Arat by Thomas Harlan
It was an okay book. I really enjoyed the first part of the story but it got a little weird towards the middle with the whol "Oath of the Empire" bussiness. I was expecting a nice little Roman story not some way out their fanatsy one. So I guess that's why I didn't enjoy it as much as I would've had I been expecting the latter rather than the former. That being said I read it to its end and whilst I wont be rushing off to find the next books in the series I am curious. Ahmet is my favourite BTW. So what IS it about? It is set in Roman times, the Persians are warmongering whilst the Emperor of the West goes to the East to help that Emperor quelch the Persians once and far all. We follow Maxian, the Western Emperor's younger brother, Dwyrin a young Scottish 'mage' and Thyatis a Roman woman of many talents. It is good though a little weird read it if you enjoyed Ash by Mary Gentle.

Posted by fantasynode at 9:33 PM NZT
Wednesday, 2 June 2004
The Talisman of Troy by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
Whilst not as good as the other books of his that I have read I still enjoyed it and in light of just seeing Troy it just goes to show you how different the movie's story is to the actual poem version. Anyway it follows Diomedes who finds that his wife wants to kill him and travells north to find a new homeland. Meanwhile the Dor are coming down from the North ready to take over Greece, whilst Greece is embroiled in deception and war with the Queens trying to take control themselves. It is good a little slow paced and not as exciting as Alexander or Spartan but I enjoyed it none the less - Diomedes is such a tragic hero. It is written in true Greek tradegy style - not all is good in love and war. Give it a go if you liked the movie Troy and enjoy VMM

Posted by fantasynode at 2:21 PM NZT
Updated: Wednesday, 2 June 2004 2:51 PM NZT
Thursday, 27 May 2004
Silverheart by Michael Moorcock and Storm Constanine
I really enjoyed it and it is really a sci-fi which is not the genre that I actually read very often but I really liked it - Max Silverskin is a really likeable character and so is Rose Iron, though Jenny and Jack Ash could do with a little more work and same with Menni - he's barely mentioned really though he seems very important - oh well. Okay the story is set that Max is a theif, a 'by-blow' of high Clan Silver that has taken up a life of crime and well really annoyed the Lords of Metal, when he is captured he escapes and finds himself embroiled in something bigger than just the city of Karadur. He meets new allies, old enemies and lots of new ideas and some old ones that come back to life. Like I said Max is really likeable and the story is really good though it does seem a little rushed towards the end though which is a little dissapointing but still very enjoyeable. I bought this book on special and now I'm glad I did - I will be passing it onto others :)

Posted by fantasynode at 1:54 PM NZT
Updated: Thursday, 27 May 2004 2:05 PM NZT
Monday, 24 May 2004
Boba Fett #5: A New Threat by Elizabeth Hand
LOL yep I still read Scholastic books! Come on it's Boba Fett, I have to read them though I'm still dubious about Boba being so emotional - maybe he gets harsher later on I don't know and yes I know he's a kid but hello he's Boba Fett.

Anyways Boba finally gets to wear his armour (been adjusted to his size) and he well finds a new threat - I'm intrigued to see what will happen next - sometimes I wish the books were longer and it took me longer to read and enjoy them but oh well - that's the price you have to pay

Posted by fantasynode at 12:00 PM NZT
Updated: Thursday, 27 May 2004 2:33 PM NZT
Codex by Les Grossman
This twas an intriguing book - not of my usual 'genre' but interesting none the less (the cover art caught my attention.
Edward is a private financer and on his 2 weeks break from transferring from his office in US to London he takes up a job from one of his employers - but soon finds himself in the middle of something much larger than cleaning and cataloguing an old library. Not only that but Edward, not the gaming type, finds himself constantly playing MOMUS - and really badly at that.
Things start to go a little strange when he tries to search for a particular book and is strangely told not to continue with his work - sensing something amiss Edward continues with the help of the smart but bookish Margret and they find something extraordinary.

It was a good read I thoughly enjoyed it - worth taking a look at if you can find it.

Posted by fantasynode at 11:53 AM NZT
Updated: Thursday, 27 May 2004 2:31 PM NZT
Friday, 21 May 2004
Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
Oh my goodness was this book awesome or not - I read it at a leisurely pace so I could absorb in all of the details whilst eagerly anticipating every Tehol moment. But then it becames every Tehol and Trull moment so I was really happy whenever I picked it up.

Okay it is the fifth in the Malazan series (which will all soon be reviewed on the site part soon) where by we aren't even in the world of Malazan at all and are instead in another world where the Letherii and Tist Edur live. It details the events of the Tiste Edur and what happened to Trull BEFORE House of Chains. Some characters from the previous books make appearances but not many and there are still warrens, magic and the like but no Houses, instead we have Holds and yet again some more Elder Gods coming back and well just lots of gods.

Potentially you could read this book as a stand alone BUT you would get more out of it if you had read the rest of the series before hand, though if you are a major fan of T'lan Imass then sorry but you'll just have to wait for another Malazan book.

Personally as I have mentioned before I adore Tehol - he is so delightful and funny, him and Bugg are a riot! So now I'm happy I have Toc in one Malazan thread, Pearl in the other and Tehol in the third - Me = 1 happy little Vegemite

Oh if you want to know more about the books and chat to other fans go to www.malazanempire.com and join up (I'm Khall over there). Now I'm just eagerly awaiting the next book in the series :)

[Oh and watch out for Harlest he bites :P]

Posted by fantasynode at 1:08 PM NZT
Updated: Thursday, 27 May 2004 2:12 PM NZT

Newer | Latest | Older