Smorgasbord Fantasia

After the Unwritten graphic novel series and The Girl with All the Gifts , M R Carey ( Pen name ) is now one of my all time favorite writer. His novels are a reality-check, a sucker-punch to the guts in the way things finally unfold, mostly bleak and grim but the overall narratives work wonders in terms of driving the plot forward. I love his novels. And so with Fellside . If you are here seeking a 'spiritual' sequel to Girl with All the Gifts or are looking to be taken on a similar flow, then you are going to be disappointed. Fellside is a different book - a book much closer to reality dealing with pain, guilt and greed - all things human in a very grim book set inside a maximum-security prison. But that short description really doesn't do the book justice - as Carey paints a sympathetic picture of Jess Moulson , the girl accused of manslaughter of a ten-year old boy and having deliberately set the apartment complex on fire, while being high on drugs. Jess is on ...

Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children is an intriguing title - and I confess that while I've heard of the book, I never really thought about checking it out. But yesterday, the trailer caught my attention and Tim Burton's artistic vision really brings out the mystery, adventure and creeping sense of unease that tinges the whole premise. I will get my hands on the book - but for now, feast on Eva Green!! and of course, the peculiar children.

Traitor's Blade was one of the best debuts of 2014 and also one of my best reads that year. I wasn't sure how Sebastien De Castell was going to top that. And yet incredibly, he does just that - and so wonderfully well! With the second book in the Greatcoats series, Knight's Shadow that follows the exploits of the lovable roguish trio of Falcio, Kest and Brasti - as they go about trying to fulfill their king's last wishes in a country that is rapidly falling in to the chaos of civil war. Knight's Shadow picks up right after the events in the Traitor's Blade - where Falcio is struggling with the poison of neatha in his blood, Kest after having defeated Caveil and thus taken on the mantle of the Saint of the Swords is also buckling under the unprecedented "fever" that Saints's experience and Brasti's jokes are getting even more unbearable and his shaky faith in their king's ideals are crumbling even faster. Trin is marching across th...

The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne concludes with this stunning third volume, The Last Mortal Bond , bringing to a cataclysmic explosive climax that ties up the individual threads of the three heirs to the Annurian Empire. And with this, I officially declare that Brian Staveley is my all time favorite epic fantasy writer. No seriously. I MEAN it. I haven't had so much fun reading the last part of a trilogy in a long while. I obviously didn't want the tale to end - and I kept dragging it. But the grim suspense, the bleak horror and the never-ending tales of intrigue and dark twists kept me up night after night. So I was in Malaysia, Borneo Island, holidaying for five days - and everyday I drag myself back to my room after an exhausting day of adventure ( Psst! Read snorkeling, diving, river cruises, waterfall treks!) I still managed to stay up and read the harrowing events unfolding - built like a double helix around each other, twisting and winding up the threads - a...

This week, on the Waiting on Wednesday , the featured book is Saint's Blood by Sebastien De Castell . Concluding the GreatCoats series (A sort of Three Musketeers in fantasy land romp that follows the the life and deeds of the three Greatcoats - Falcio, Kest and Brasti.) I enjoyed Traitor's Blade  a lot and am looking to wrap up the series now. How do you kill a Saint? Falcio, Kest, and Brasti are about to find out, because someone has figured out a way to do it and they've started with a friend. The Dukes were already looking for ways out of their agreement to put Aline on the throne, but with the Saints turning up dead, rumours are spreading that the Gods themselves oppose her ascension. Now churches are looking to protect themselves by bringing back the military orders of religious soldiers, assassins, and (especially) Inquisitors - a move that could turn the country into a theocracy. The only way Falcio can put a stop to it is by finding the murderer. He has...

February for some reason, has been a really long month for me. Lotta fire-fighting on different fronts! But phew - the good news, I did manage to put in time on the reading front - and the last book I finished, The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley marking the end of The Unhewn Throne, was a spectacular finish to all the events building up over the past two books! Easily one of the best finishes to a trilogy, one I couldn't have asked for more. If you do not pick up this book, I will personally come and unleash all kinds of kent-kissing shael-spawned hell's fires :) But hey - look at that date! 3rd March. Time steals another one on us - and we are already at the end of the first quarter. Doing okay in terms of the number of book, hit eleven by end of Feb and should be sitting pretty at the end of March. So March books I'm super excited about! The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley Genre: Epic Fantasy Published by Tor books (Macmillan) The stunning conclusion t...

I admit I haven't read J C Nelson - famous for his Grimm novel series, his own twist on the fairy tales. So yet again, I dove into a new author - this time, an urban fantasy with zombies thrown in for good measure and came out, absolutely in love with the book and this new author. Sometimes when I think about it, this is exactly the reason why I love reviewing/reading books. That indescribably wonderful feeling of having made the right bet - of having discovered a new author whom I will follow to the ends of the earth and beyond - provided he keeps up those precious writing chops! In case of J C Nelson, my bets paid off and am happy to say, that his latest book, Reburialists is a snappy urban fantasy featuring zombies against the backdrop of an elaborate mythology - and really kicks ass - in the action and humor department. A blazing fast read for me - as I was on vacation and hopping planes to get to Borneo and had lots of time to kill on the flights and in between. So, ...