last reads

The Forgetting Moon by Brian Lee Durfee Publishing information: Paperback; 800pgs Publisher: Saga Press; 30 August 2016 ISBN: 978-1481465229 Series: 5 Warrior Angels #1 Copy: Provided by Publisher Reviewer: Tyson Amazon Synopsis: "A massive army on the brink of conquest looms large in a world where prophecies are lies, magic is believed in but never seen, and hope is where you least expect to find it. Welcome to the Five Isles, where war has come in the name of the invading army of Sør Sevier, a merciless host driven by the prophetic fervor of the Angel Prince, Aeros, toward the last unconquered kingdom of Gul Kana. Yet Gault, one of the elite Knights Archaic of Sør Sevier, is growing disillusioned by the crusade he is at the vanguard of just as it embarks on his Lord Aeros’ greatest triumph. While the eldest son of the fallen king of Gul Kana now reigns in ever increasing paranoid isolationism, his two sisters seek their own paths. Jondralyn, the older sister, renowned for her be...

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wrecker Publishing information: Audible; 19hrs 43m Publisher: HarperAudio; 31 Dec 2013 ISBN: 978-0062110848 Series Copy: Out of pocket Reviewer: Tyson Amazon Audible Synopsis: "In The Golem and the Jinni, a chance meeting between mythical beings takes readers on a dazzling journey through cultures in turn-of-the-century New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life to by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic and dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern lite...

Children of the Different by S C Flynn Publishing information: Kindle Publisher: Self-Published ISBN: 9780954311889 Standalone Copy: Provided by Author Reviewer: Tyson Amazon Synopsis: "killed most of the world’s population. The survivors all had something different about their minds. Now, at the start of adolescence, their children enter a trance-like state known as the Changeland and either emerge with special mental powers or as cannibalistic Ferals. In the great forest of south-western Australia, thirteen year-old Arika and her twin brother Narrah go through the Changeland. They encounter an enemy known as the Anteater who feeds on human life. He exists both in the Changeland and in the outside world, and he wants the twins dead. After their Changings, the twins have powers that let them fight their enemy and face their destiny on a long journey to an abandoned American military base on the north-west coast of Australia. If they can reach it before time runs out. CHILDREN OF T...

Nora tagged along with the group, half-listening to the tour guide and craning her neck for anything that might remind her of Thomas or her dreams. They watched a short film about the history of the jail and some of its more prominent prisoners, but Thomas wasn’t among them. Then they toured the old section of the prison, three floors of claustrophobic corridors, cramped cells, and peeling paint. As they rounded a corner, Nora noticed something written in large block letters on the wall above a barred window: “Beware of the risen people that have harried and held, ye who have bullied and bribed.”  Nora shivered, frozen in place for a moment, then hurried to catch up with the group. She listened as Liz told them about the dark, desperate years of the Great Famine, when people would purposefully commit crimes in front of the authorities. They knew they were guaranteed at least one meal a day in prison, which was better than starving to death on the outside.  How bad must it have...

Unbreakable by WC Bauers Publishing information: Hardback; 368pgs Publisher: Tor; 13 Jan 2015 ISBN: 9780765375421 Series: Chronicles of Promise Paen #1 Copy: Provided by Publisher Reviewer: Tyson Amazon Synopsis: "The colonists of the planet Montana are accustomed to being ignored. Situated in the buffer zone between two rival human empires, their world is a backwater: remote, provincial, independently minded. Even as a provisional member of the Republic of Aligned Worlds, Montana merits little consideration--until it becomes the flashpoint in an impending interstellar war. When pirate raids threaten to destabilize the region, the RAW deploys its mechanized armored infantry to deal with the situation. Leading the assault is Marine Corps Lieutenant and Montanan expatriate Promise Paen of Victor Company. Years earlier, Promise was driven to join the Marines after her father was killed by such a raid. Payback is sweet, but it comes at a tremendous and devastating cost. And Promise is...

Wolf's Empire: Gladiator by Claudia Christian and Morgan Grant Buchanan Publishing information: Hardback; 496pgs Publisher: Tor; 28 June 2016 ISBN: 9780765337740 Possible series Copy: Provided by Publisher Reviewer: Tyson Amazon Synopsis: "A sweeping science-fiction saga of revenge set in a future in which the Roman Empire never fell, by actress Claudia Christian. When her mother and brother are murdered, young noblewoman Accala Viridius cries out for vengeance. But the empire is being torn apart by a galactic civil war, and her demands fall on deaf ears. Undeterred, Accala sacrifices privilege and status to train as a common gladiator. Mastering the one weapon available to her—a razor-sharp discus that always returns when thrown--she enters the deadly imperial games, the only arena where she can face her enemies. But Fortune's wheel grants Accala no favors—the emperor decrees that the games will be used to settle the civil war, the indigenous lifeforms of the arena-world ...

Red Tide by Marc Turner Publishing information: Hardback; 544pgs Publisher: Tor; 20 Sept 2016 ISBN: 9780765337146 Series: Chronicles of Exile #3 Copy: Provided by Publisher Reviewer: Tyson Amazon Synopsis: "Red Tide, the third volume in Marc Turner's The Chronicles of the Exile, following When the Heavens Fall and Dragon Hunters The Augerans are coming. And their ships are sailing in on a red tide. The Rubyholt Isles are a shattered nation of pirate-infested islands and treacherous waterways shielding the seaboards of Erin Elal and the Sabian League, a region even dragons fear to trespass. The Augerans beseech the Warlord of the Isles, seeking passage for their invasion fleet through Rubyholt territory. But they are sailing into troubled waters. Their enemies have sent agents to sabotage the negotiations, and to destroy the Augeran fleet by any means necessary. The emperor of Erin Elal seeks to forge an alliance with the Storm Lords, hoping to repulse the Augerans with a unite...