Category Archives: Goodreads

1 Treasure Box, Contemporary Fantasy, Goodreads

The Good, The Bad, and The Undead by Kim Harrison

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Book Review: 1 Treasure Boxes
The Hollows Series, Book 2
Publisher: HarperCollins (Mobi-pocket January 2005,) 425 KB (453 pages,) ISBN 0-06-082680-0

Rachel and crew are back in business fighting against evil. However, some would consider Ivy evil since she is an undead vampire and very dangerous in her own right, expecially since she is trying to abstain from consuming blood and is thus driven by the desire for it. One must wonder why Rachel wants to live with Ivy to begin with, could it be she enjoys the thrill of danger or is it just because she feels it is safer dealing with Ivy’s unpredictability and imminent attack than she would be living on her own with the Demon made Vampire mark on her plus her troubles with the IS.

The Good, The Bad and the Undead is the second book in the Rachel Morgan/The Hollows series.  Currently there are nine books in the series, with another three or four expected to be relaesed in the future. This series is a modern day story that centers around inderlanders: witches, weres, vampires and others including the occasional demon, so it falls into the Contemporary Fantasy or Urban Fantasy genre.  It is told in the first person narrative from Rachel Morgan’s point of view, she is the main protagonist.

This book follows the same style and format on the previous book.  It takes place 3 months after Rachel’s escape from the IS. She has been working as an independent runner, just barely earning a living. She has been hired by the FIB, (the human police force,) to track down the missing witches. Kirsten plays a larger role and there is some hot and heavy sensual writing between Kirsten and Rachel. Kirsten is a friend of Ivy’s, an undead vampire and the Scion for a very powerful and dangerous vampire.

Rachel believes that Trent is involved, (he is the very mysterious, very gorgeous bad guy,) because it is his newest secretary (the last one was killed under abstruse circumstances) whose fiance (who is a witch) is missing.  As the book progresses some of the things that Rachel does are not very smart and she is very lucky she does not end up dead. At times I found Rachel to be a bit irritating. Although it is an interesting twist in how she solves this puzzle, but in some ways I thought the ending was too convenient and there were a few holes in the plot.

I enjoyed this book and I am curious to see what else Rachel is going to get up to, so I am going to read the next book in the series.  This is a stand alone book, but it is also part of a larger story, so the books need to be read in sequence.

 

 

**Spoilert alert **If you have not read the book do not read any further, but I had a few questions…

I thought it was interesting the way Rachel got the Demon “Al” to testify against Piscary, but they never did explain how Quin managed to be in time to save Rachel.  And since Rachel could draw on a ley line through Nick, why did she wait so long to do so? Anyways a few questions???

 

 

4 Treasure Boxes, Historical Fiction, Romance, Goodreads

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

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This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Outlander

Book Review: 4 Treasure Boxes
Third Book in the Outlander Series
Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (October 1, 1994), Paperback: 1072 pages, ISBN-10: 0440217563, ISBN-13: 978-0440217565


I loved this book, it is truly a romantic tale. Since it was revealed at the end of the last book that Jamie could still be alive in the past, the beginning of the book  goes back and forth between the present and the past showing what both Claire and Jamie are up to.  Claire has a hard decision to make, leave her daughter and attempt to find Jamie or stay with Brianna.

There are currently seven books in the Outlander series and book eight is expected early in 2013. These books are all considerate historical fiction, but they also include plenty of romance.  The story is told in a first person narrative by the main protagonist, a English woman, Clare, who has time traveled in Scotland to just over 200 years into the past.

Needless to say, she decides to attempt to go back and find Jamie and due to research she is fairly certain where to find him.  It is a very brave thing for her to do since it has been 22 years since she last saw him and anything could have happened in that time. It is really touching the nervousness she has when they first meet again.  I could really relate to Claire’s insecurities surrounding this event.

There are many touching scenes between the two as well as some sexy ones as well.  The story moves around over the globe covering many advertures by the couple and with trouble following Jamie around it leaves room for lots of excitement. We learn more about how the stones work and there is some interesting parts concerning mystism.  Claire is also a doctor now which makes her ability to help people in the past even greater than in the first book.

The ending is quite thrilling with an interesting twist that leaves you wanting more.

To Purchase: “Voyager” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

Romance, Goodreads, 3 Treasure Boxes, Historical Fiction

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

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This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Outlander

Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
Second Book in the Outlander Series
Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (November 2, 1993), Paperback: 976 pages, ISBN-10: 0440215625, ISBN-13: 978-0440215622


An enjoyable story with some interesting twists.  Twenty-two years have passed in Claire’s life after the end of the first book but it takes place in 1968 and introduces 2 new characters, one of them being Claire and Jamie’s daughter Brianna.

There are currently seven books in the Outlander series and book eight is expected early in 2013. These books are all considerate historical fiction, but they also include plenty of romance.  The majority of the story is told in a first person narrative by the main protagonist, a English woman, Clare, who has time traveled in Scotland to just over 200 years into the past. At times it moves into a third person narrative for the other main characters including Jamie, Claire’s husband, Brianna, Claire’s daughter and Roger, Brianna’s love interest.

The book moves back and forth through time with a flash back to 1743 where Claire explains to Brianna how she came to be in the present and the truth of her heritage. There is a fair amount of reference to historical events and how our characters relate to what is happening, considering that Claire already knows what the outcome will be.

There is lots of action and plenty of sexy parts between Claire and Jamie. There are also some very endearing and heart-rendering parts in the book as well. The ending is quite startling and leaves room for the story to continue.

To Purchase: “Dragonfly in Amber” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

4 Treasure Boxes, Historical Fiction, Romance, Goodreads

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

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This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Outlander

Book Review: 4 stars
First Book in the Outlander Series
Publisher: Dell; X edition (June 2, 1992), Paperback: 850 pages, ISBN-10: 0440212561, ISBN-13: 978-0440212560


I loved this book and have read it several times.  I thought the writing was interesting, and it had an interesting twist taking place in both modern (albeit not too modern as it was more like mid-1940s) and past (1743) times. I really liked the characters, it was a wonderful romance with some pretty sexy scenes. The book was also full of lots of action and intense thrilling parts.

There are currently seven books in the Outlander series and book eight is expected early in 2013. These books are all considerate historical fiction, but they also include plenty of romance.  The story is told in a first person narrative by the main protagonist, a English woman, Clare, who has time traveled in Scotland to just over 200 years into the past.

The main protagonist is Claire a nurse who worked in the army as a nurse during the second world war, it starts out just after the war with Claire and her husband in Scotland on a holiday where they are trying to re-acquaint themselves with each other after being separated by the war.   The other main protagonist is Jamie a sexy, manly Scotsman who lives in 1743 Scotland.  Claire somehow ends up in 1743 Scotland after being mysteriously transplanted by the stones at Craigh na Dun.

The story follows Claire’s adjustment to living 200 years in the past and there are plenty of antagonists in the book to keep the story flowing. It was interesting to see Claire adapting her modern knowledge of healing to what was available to her in 1743.  I really enjoyed the book and the book had a great ending.

To Purchase: “Outlander” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

2 Treasure Boxes, Chick Lit, In Library, Goodreads

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

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Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback; Reprint edition (March 9, 2010), Paperback: 448 pages, ISBN-10: 0385342039, ISBN-13: 978-0385342032

Twenties Girl is an enjoyable feel-good book with a new heroine, Lara Lington and her side kick, a ghost named Sadie.  It is in the same style as the Shopaholics books with a story that centres around a young woman in her early twenties who is trying to make it out in the world on her own.  There are certainly some parts in the book that are laugh out loud funny.

Madeleine Wickham is the author of this book written under the pen name of Sophie Kinsella. She has written numerous books under this name, both Shopaholic books and the other standalone novels centering on various characters. Please see my other Sophie Kinsella reviews at https://books-treasureortrash.com/?s=sophie+kinsella. All of these novels including Twenties Girl are considered chick lit. Most of her books also fall under comedy as they are usually funny and amusing. The story is told in the first person narrative with the voice and thoughts of the main character, Lara Lington, as we follow her through her life

It took me a while to warm-up to this book as I found the ghost Sadie to be a bit irritating in the beginning of the book, but as the story goes on Sadie becomes more likable. Lara is not as quirky as Becky is in the Shopaholic books, and most of the humour stems from things that Sadie does but Lara is a very likable person. It would be a lot of fun to have someone around who can go an anonymously check things out for you and who can influence the people around you to do what you wanted through ghostly influence.

I liked both Lara and Sadie’s stories although it was very formulaic. I enjoyed the twenties aspect of the story as well and it was a nice tribute to the elderly. Sadie’s story was very sad although it did have a satisfying ending.  I also thought the uncle’s journey was unrealistic, but overall it was a lot of fun to read and it left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end of the book.

Question to ponder: Would you like a helpful ghost around helping you with their ghostly influence?

To Purchase: “Twenties Girl” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

 

 

Goodreads, Book Review, Fantasy, 1 Treasure Box, Contemporary Fantasy

The Great Book of Amber (Books 6-10) by Roger Zelazny

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This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series The Towering Fantasy Saga

Book Review: 1 Treasure  Box

The Complete Amber Chronicles, books 6 -10 (Last half of the Novels of the Towering Fantasy Saga)

These books are quite different than the first 5*, in that there is much more magic in these books and they deal more with the Courts of Chaos. The last 6 books take place a number years after the happy conclusion of the succession and the repair to the pattern. These books are told from Merlin, son of Corwin’s point of view and he is a sorcerer who is living on our shadow earth where he went to college received a degree and was working at a computer company as a programmer.

I liked the way book 6 starts, where Merlin has just quit his job as a programmer and wants to go on to the other things including work on his own special unique program that he has created in a different shadow world. However, first he must deal with the annual April 30 attempt on his life. The story starts right in with a number of mysteries.  I also liked the descriptions of Chaos, I thought they were very imaginative and descriptive.

However there were numerous problems with the story and I found Merlin’s character to be a bit bland. I also found the non-stop problems that kept coming up a to be a bit contrived.  Plus, Merlin seemed to spend a lot of time explaining his situation to anyone who would listen and half of these people were enemies so it did not make much sense as to why he kept doing so.

During the book Merlin kept mentioning how Corwin was missing and that he wanted to  find him, then it  was very simplified in how he found him and also very sketchy as to how Corwin was kept prisoner as he was. There were also several things that were mentioned but were never properly resolved, which I found very unsatisfactory.  Things like what happened to Carol, what happened to the Jewel and why was it put into Carol’s eye.  It seemed really dumb, if the jewel is so important, there would be a better place to keep it, and since it is in her eye, why not just kill her and get the jewel?  Also, they address the second pattern, but not what is going to happen with it.  The book sort of explained why Jurt did a complete turnaround, from trying to kill Merlin to helping him, but did not ever explain why Jurt hated Merlin so much.  Over all, I felt it was a very unsatisfying ending.

*See my blog on books 1-5 for more information about Amber.

Book six: Trumps of Doom, Book seven: Blood of Amber, Book eight: Sign of Chaos, Book nine: Knight of Shadows, Book ten: Prince of Chao

 

Fantasy, 3 Treasure Boxes, Contemporary Fantasy, Goodreads

The First Chronicles of Amber (Books 1 – 5) by Roger Zelazny

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This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series The Chronicles of Amber

Book Review: 3 Treasure  Boxes
The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-5 (First half of the Novels of the Towering Fantasy Saga)
Publisher: Harper Voyager; 1st Avon Eos Printing: Dec. 1999 edition (December 8, 1999), Paperback: 1264 pages, ISBN-10: 0380809060, ISBN-13: 978-0380809066


An interesting and compelling concept for a fantasy book and a very different kind of fantasy.  Some elements of the story take place in modern times and some elements take place in medieval times. I found the writing to be imaginative and quite deep.

Amber is the only real place upon the real Earth. It is the substance from which all other realities are but a shadow, including the world that we now live in and there are unlimited numbers of shadow worlds that extend from Amber to Chaos and consequently all roads (through shadow) lead to Amber.  A prince or princess of Amber has control over shadow and as such can enter and influence shadow worlds.  There is no magic, per say in the first five books, instead there is substance and shadow, order(Amber) and Chaos.  As such  a descendant of Amber  can move through shadow with his thoughts.  He thinks about what should be next and then it is there, so he thinks about a green sun and purple sky and it becomes so, he thinks about eating and a diner appears or he wants to get to Amber so he thinks about the various shadow worlds near to Amber and eventually Amber will appear.

In the vicinity of Amber the world is more like medieval times where , gun-powder, cars and other electric gadgets do not work, in some shadow worlds, such as our earth, these things do work and are utilized in the story. We learn that the nine Princes of Amber all want to win the crown and since their Dad, the King is missing. As a result of this there is a lot of violence, intrigue and energy going into this pursuit.  The four Princesses of Amber are also involved in the conflict in various ways.

The Chronicles are a culmination of 10 small novels that make up the world of Amber into one big book of over 1200 pages, the first 5 books revolve around the protagonist Corwin, who is a prince of Amber and are told in first person from Corwin’s point of view. These first 5 books are a complete story in and of them self and in fact are much better than the last 5 books.  The last five stories are told from Corwin’s son Merlin’s point of view and tell a different story and we learn more of Chaos in the second half.

Corwin is introduced and the premise of the book is set up.  I like the way it starts as a mystery where Corwin has amnesia and we learn with him about Amber and about shadow.   It should be noted that the Royalty of Amber have incredible speed, strength and regenerative qualities. They all live seemingly endless lives, unless they are murdered, which they can happen since they are not immortal. The basis of the first five stories stem around the succession of Amber and the various family intrigue and disputes in resolving this. I liked how the story evolved as well as how it concluded ay the end of the fifth book.  Overall a very good read, at times I found it hard to put the book down.


Book one: The Nine Princes in Amber


Book two: The Guns of Avalon


Book three: Sign of the Unicorn


Book four: The Hand of Oberon


Book five: The Courts of Chaos

 

 

 

1 Treasure Box, Contemporary Fantasy, Goodreads

Daemons are Forever by Simon R Green

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This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Secret Histories

Book Review: 1 treasure box

Second book in the Secret History Series


The story itself is very interesting and I really enjoyed most of the book, except the ending, which I found a bit disappointing and forced. On the whole, the book has interesting characters and some interesting concepts.

This book continues in classic Simon R. Green style.* In this book, Eddie is now the head of the family and determined to prove himself. He decides the best way to do this is to bring down the other dimensional beings. Once he starts this process he finds out just how dangerous they are and he realizes that if he doesn’t destroy them, they will destroy the world. I liked the other dimensional concepts and descriptions. I found them to be original and well thought out. There are a reasonable amount of fighting scenes although some of them are pretty graphic.

There were a couple of big plot holes about ¾ of the way through the book (why not just use the mirror to go back 3 years in time) that I found to be annoying and if plugged would have really simplified the ending. Although the ending did wrap everything up in a nice neat bow.

*Please see my post of The Secret Histories Series by Simon R Green at: https://books-treasureortrash.com/?p=486 

2 Treasure Boxes, Contemporary Fantasy, Goodreads

The Man With the Golden Torc by Simon R. Green

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This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Secret Histories

Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes

First book in the Secret Histories Series


This is a different twist on modern fantasy. The protagonist is Eddie Drood, a member of the Drood family. Eddie has been taught all his life, that the purpose of the Drood’s is to defend the world against various evils and the family is capable of doing this through the use of living armour that when activated makes the individual virtually indestructible*.

Green’s writing is amusing, but sometimes also a little silly while still being entertaining. We learn what the Droods are all about, first what they appear to be and then what they are really about and we learn how the world functions and about all the various creatures and beings that exist in this world.

In this book, Eddie is introduced working for the family but maintaining distance from the family.  He soon discovers that he has become an outcast when he is chased while leaving the family’s estate by various creatures including Elves, UFO’s, attacking Cars and dragons who he manages to evade after a pretty intense fighting scene. Eddie then spends the remainder of the book trying to determine what is really going on culminating with a big discovery and in the process turning the family upside down.

The book was a complete story which is always enjoyable but it also leaves lots of room for the story to continue which it does with the second book, Daemons are Forever.

*See my blog about the Secret Histories Series for more information about this series at: https://books-treasureortrash.com/?p=486

Fantasy, 4 Treasure Boxes, Goodreads

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

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This entry is part 2 of 12 in the series The Wheel of Time

Book Review: 4 Treasure Boxes
Book Two of the Wheel of Time
Publisher: Tor Fantasy; 1st THUS Edition edition (October 15, 1991), ss Market Paperback: 705 pages, Language: English, ISBN-10: 0812517725, ISBN-13: 978-0812517729


The writing in this book is very exciting and the plot is both intricate and well thought out. I have started the 2nd book again (I have now read it 3 times) and it is just as good as the first time, (since it has been several years between readings, I can not clearly remember what is going to happen.) I found the book hard to put down.

There are a number of interesting events in the book and we are introduced to the Seanchan (an invading army from overseas.) The story continues to unfold with new revelations and we learn more about the prophecies. I also enjoyed the way the character’s from Emonds field refer to each other and found their way of looking at life endearing.

It begins directly following the events in the first book.  They have just dealt a blow to the Dark One, and recovered the Horn of Valere.  However, the Horn is stolen and the 3 boys (Rand, Mat and Perrin) are part of the group that go to retrieve it.  They are on the trail of Padan Fain (an evil darkfriend) and Trollocs, being helped by a sniffer (someone who can smell and follow evil.) The 2 girls, Egwene and Nayneve, go with the Aes Sadei back to the White Tower for training in the One Power.

If you have not yet read the book, then do not read anymore of this blog since it details the events of the book.

Rand, Loial and Huran (the sniffer,) get separated from the rest of their group when they are carried away by a portal stone which takes them to a mirror world, a world with no people in it, but a world where they can travel more quickly than the real world.  While there, Rand dreams of the Dark One and in the process his palm is marked with the Heron.  He also meets a beautiful woman, who we later realize is Lanfear (0ne of the forsaken.) With the woman’s help they manage to get back to the real world using a different portal stone ahead of the horn, which Rand recovers.

While they wait for the rest of their group in Cairhien the horn is stolen back by Fain who is taking it to Toman Head in Falme, Rand and friends decide to get there via Portal Stone, however, the trip through the stone is very different this time.  During the trip the group experience innumerable alternative realities and when they finally arrive at their destination several months have passed.

Meanwhile, Liandrin (a member of the Black Ajah) takes Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne and Min to Falme to be collared by the Seanchan.  This is where they put collars on women who can channel the one power and turn them into slaves.  These collars are able to control the women through pain. However, only Egwene gets collared, Nynaeve and Elayne both manage to escape and with help from Min they are able to free Egwene.

Finally the boys recover the horn and when they are surrounded by enemies from all sides, Mat blows the horn and the heros from the dead (100 important souls who keep being reborn as the wheel turns) come back and fight the enemy under the banner of the dragon. Rand once again faces the Dark One, but this time it is in the sky over Falme where everyone can see the battle and his face is clearly shown.  He manages to once again strike a blow against the Dark One, but in the process he receives an injury in his side that can never really heal.  His other hand is now marked with a heron and it is another sign that he is the dragon reborn.

We are re-introduced to the Captain of the boat that helped Rand, Mat and Thom escape in book one, Bayle Doman, who just happens to have one of the Dark Ones seals in his possession.  One of Seanchan confiscate the seal and place it beside one that he already has.  At the end of the book, he along with everyone else end up in Falme for the culmination of the book and the big battle.  Once everything settles down we find that the two seals are now broken making that 3 of the 7 seals.  The final battle is approaching.

I really liked the way the book ended, it came to a good, satisfying ending, yet there is still much left to happen and I am anxious to see how it all plays out.

To Purchase: “The Great Hunt” from Amazon, click here or on picture above