Anyway after my brief attempt at satirical writing last night I feel refreshed and ready to get back to the main theme of this BLog. I finished another book this morning and am starting another (as I do). I will also continue with my Author's A - Z entries. More letter A authors today. So let's get on with it.
Just Finished
This was my second book by British / Canadian writer C.C. Humphreys. I enjoyed this a lot. My review is below.
"Shakespeare's Rebel is the second historical adventure that I've read by C.C. Humphreys. I liked the first, The French Executioner, but this was much better. Humphrey has found a nice mix between historical fact and interesting fiction. As a fight choreographer himself, there are also many excellent action sequences.
The story is set during the period 1599 - 1602, Queen Elizabeth's reign. Historically it is when the Earl of Essex, the Queen's favorite, is sent to Ireland to defeat the rebels and also when he leads an uprising against the Queen's counselor and spy master, Robert Cecil. Throw into the mix the Globe Theater and William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage and you've got a nicely complex and rich story.
The main character is John Lawley, who works sometimes at the Globe as a fight choreographer and has also been a loyal soldier for Essex; fighting with him in Cadiz and Holland. He has also spent time as an adventurer with Francis Drake. He struggles with drink, but there is reason, as he spent time in a Spanish prison and on his return to England was sent to prison there, suspected as being a Spanish spy. He also has issues with his mistress and son; his adventures and personal issues driving a wedge between his relationships.
It's a fascinating, entertaining story with lots of intrigue and action and also a wonderful historical tale. We meet the spider in the Queen's web, Robert Cecil, who tries to use Lawley to his ends to get rid of Essex and Lawley's mixed emotions towards Essex; loyalty but also anger at how his life has turned because of his loyalty. I enjoyed this story a lot. I liked the pace, the characters and the historical aspect. Well worth reading. (4 stars)"
Currently Starting
My next book is one of my Decade's Challenge selections, from the period 1990 - 1999.
"When Simon Hannaford is left temporarily in charge of his aunt's 20-bedroom Gothic pile he knows he must be able to make a profit from it somehow. Murder, he decides, is the only way to do it. For Madingley Grange is the perfect venue for a 1930s mystery weekend and, before long, he and his long-suffering sister have set the stage for money-spinning mayhem.
From the conservatory to the contents of the claret cellar the clues are sprinkled like potpourri, and the hired retainers Gaunt and Bennet provide the finishing touch. But when the guests arrive it is obvious that the business of murder is bound to run off course. For neither Derek, who refuses to relinquish his deerstalker, nor Mrs Gibbs, a card-sharping grandmother, nor Gillette, the 30s fiend complete with ukulele, nor any of the other ill-assorted bunch is happy to play the victim. And when a body does appear, it hardly takes a Hercule Poirot to guess it is not a volunteer. The game of detection must begin in earnest."
Author's A - Z
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| Laurie Halse Anderson |
"For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own. Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over?"
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| Piers Anthony |
c. Xanth. This is Anthony's most extensive series, featuring 40+ books, written from 1977 to the present. I believe I've read the first book in this series but if I decided to try the series, I'll have to commence from the beginning.
I'm not as familiar with his other series. There are 18 different ones. So a nice challenge if you want to check them out.
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| Kelley Armstrong |
"I've read a few supernatural series; the Anita Blake books, the Blood Ties books, etc. I'd started watching the TV series that is based on Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series before I read this first book. It was interesting to compare the two. There are differences, different characters, some different story lines, but all in all, both are very interesting. This story is told in the first person by the only female werewolf in the world, Elena, and she is a woman who has struggled to accept her werewolfness. She tries to live a normal life in the city, Toronto, but is called back to the Pack's home in the country at Stonehaven when the Pack is threatened by a group of mutts, unpacked werewolves. The story is slow at times, with Elena's time spent on Elena trying to discover what it is she actually wants to be. She can be frustrating at times, but the story moves along and the action picks up steadily. I did enjoy the story and I think part of the slowness can be attributed to the fact that I was comparing to the TV series. I enjoyed the story and will find the others in the series and continue to read up and see who the other women in the Otherworld might be. Looking forward to finding out."
"The second book in the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong, again featuring female werewolf, Elena Michaels. In this book we meet many other magical species; witches, demons, sorcerers, etc. Elena is captured by a group that are keeping a variety of species in an underground camp; to experiment and observe them. Throw in a psycho boss who also likes to hunt the various inmates and a doctor who craves the feeling of power that she thinks a werewolf might bring and you've got an interesting tale. Elena is a bit wimpy (weak anyway) in this story, but then again she is a prisoner. But when it comes to the crunch, she acts quickly and mercilessly, with the help of her the Pack and other magical beings. It wasn't perfect but I do think I'll continue to read this series. I have the next one on my bookshelf. (3.5 stars)"
"
Paige Winterbourne was always either too young or too rebellious to succeed her mother as leader of one of the world's most powerful elite organizations- the American Coven of Witches. Now that she is twenty-three and her mother is dead, the Elders can no longer deny her. But even Paige's wildest antics can't hold a candle to those of her new charge- an orphan who is all too willing to use her budding powers for evil... and evil is all too willing to claim her. For this girl is being pursued by a dark faction of the supernatural underworld. They are a vicious group who will do anything to woo the young, malleable, and extremely powerful neophyte, including commit murder- and frame Paige for the crime. It's an initiation into adulthood, womanhood, and the brutal side of magic that Paige will have to do everything within her power to make sure they both survive."
"In the aftermath of her mother’s murder, Paige broke with the elite, ultraconservative American Coven of Witches. Now her goal is to start a new Coven for a new generation. But while Paige pitches her vision to uptight thirty-something witches in business suits, a more urgent matter commands her attention.
Someone is murdering the teenage offspring of the underworld’s most influential Cabals — a circle of families that makes the mob look like amateurs. And none is more powerful than the Cortez Cabal, a faction Paige is intimately acquainted with. Lucas Cortez, the rebel son and unwilling heir, is none other than her boyfriend. But love isn’t blind, and Paige has her eyes wide open as she is drawn into a hunt for an unnatural-born killer. Pitted against shamans, demons, and goons, it’s a battle chilling enough to make a wild young woman grow up in a hurry. If she gets the chance"
"Former supernatural superpower Eve Levine has broken all the rules. But she’s never broken a promise - not even during the three years she’s spent in the afterworld. So when the Fates call in a debt she gave her word she’d pay, she has no choice but to comply.
For centuries one of the ghost world’s wickedest creatures has been loosed on humanity, thwarting every attempt to retrieve her. Now it has fallen to Eve to capture this demi-demon known as the Nix, who inhabits the bodies of would-be killers, compelling them to complete their deadly acts. It’s a mission that becomes all too personal when the Nix targets those Eve loves most - including Savannah, the daughter she left on earth. But can a renegade witch succeed where a host of angels have failed?"
As I said earlier, there are also eight more books beside the five above. So it they continue to hold my interest, they should occupy my time for a few more years.
I'll continue this theme in upcoming entries. I hope you find them interesting and maybe are getting some ideas for future reading.
Have a great week!
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