🐉🧌 🏞️ 🏰 So Much Reading!

 

    There was a lot of reading this week--mostly fantasy, but also literary. I was fortunate to get a copy of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. It came out last Tuesday and is the third in a planned five books in a popular series called The Empyrean. Yarros keeps the story moving about Violet Sorrengal and the many, many others. Having a character list to refer to would have been helpful, but I focused on the main characters and rode out the rest. Yarros does a fantastic job of solving some problems and raising new ones. It's an exciting read. A final boss battle gives the book a feeling of an ending but also drops a huge plot point that makes me wish the next book was written and waiting. 

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    Honestly, I will enjoy almost anything written by T. Kingfisher (AKA Ursula Vernon). Nine Goblins is the tale of an unlikely protagonist, a female goblin captain who gets accidentally transported behind enemy lines with her squad. She must get her band of none-too-bright goblins through a magical forest inhabited by enemy elves, deadly wizards, and hungry predators. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

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    Elizabeth Strout is a strong writer, able to evoke deep, unsettling emotions, bring them out, and critically examine them. Her latest book, Tell Me Everything, continues the narration of the life of Lucy Barton and connects her with Olive Kitteridge. I find this book challenging to describe. There are many plots and lives woven together. At the center is Lucy Barton. She tries to understand the why of life, especially lives that are blighted by the cruelty of others. Lucy and Olive tell each other stories of unrecorded lives and what they mean. It is thoughtful, gentle, and winsome. Strout well deserves her Pulitzer Prize.

Reviews of other Strout books: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Strout

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    Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis reminds me of T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon--a compliment! A dark lord--evil sorcerer--finds himself in his burning workroom, minus his memories. A goblin minion is knocking at the door, asking if he needs help. He does, but who is trustworthy? Once, Dread Lord Gavrax, who now thinks of himself as Gav, must decide who he will be--good or evil or somewhere in between-- but he doesn't have much time before the scariest Dread Lord of all arrives, his town is destroyed, his captured princess is sacrificed, and the heroes storm the castle. 

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A British Romance🇬🇧, A Pulitzer Finalist🏅, and Only One Giant Fantasy Book🐉

 

Sometimes, after reading two massive fantasy books, you need a world that is not built from scratch but more grounded in reality- like a romance novel! I read Flatshare by Beth O'Leary. There are many, many romance books and movies in the world, and it is challenging to create a novel "meet-cute." This one was quite creative. Our main characters, Tiffy, a worker bee at a craft book publishing house, and Leon, a nighttime hospice nurse, share a flat with only one bed. Tiffy sleeps in it at night, and Leon sleeps in it during the day. On weekends, Leon stays with his girlfriends. Perfect! What could go wrong?

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O'Leary created well-crafted backstories for both main characters, with room for change and discovery. With deftly juggled storylines and characters, I found the book quite diverting.

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    Iron Flame, by Rebecca Yarros, is the second book in the series The Empyrean series. The many problems introduced in the first book continue into the second but in a good way. There are still mysteries to be resolved. Violet Sorrengail is still a feisty, intelligent dragon rider in training. Her understanding of her extraordinary power, her connection to her dragons Tairn and Andrrna, and to complex bad-boy Xanden. The second book of a series is difficult. The characters have traits and trajectories that must remain "true" to the first book but still surprise and delight the readers. Iron Flame mostly succeeds. The ending sets up the third book of the series, which is due out early next year. According to my research, Yarros plans to have five books in the series. 

    People have strong feelings about the series. There are many five-star and some one-star reviews. I'm a three-star. I like the series, but it feels like a contrived YA book with adult scenes created to sell. At its center, it lacks passion. Violet and Xanden know they love each other because of their intense attraction. Yarros tries to balance it with "and you're smart," but I'm not buying it; however, it's entertaining.

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    James by Percival Everett is a brilliant book. Everett retells the story of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man who travels the Mississippi River with Huck. Several blurbs mention that it is humorous. It epitomizes irony, but harsh realities give the book gravitas. Even though it is based on Huckleberry Finn, it stands on its own and could be read without knowing the plot of Huckleberry Finn, but it would be helpful to read over a summary. It is fast-paced without sacrificing thought-provoking. 

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🐉🌳🐲 🥖 🧌👨‍🍳💔🕯️❤️‍🩹Fantasy-Dragons, Fantasy-the Undead, Family-Fantasy

 

    Rebecca Yarros, the author of the Fourth Wing series, has written a short book describing the day that dragons choose their riders: Threshing Day. It made me want to reread the series to revisit the characters. It is a short visit to the dragon rider school, Basgiath, perhaps getting us ready for the fourth book in the series. SPOILER ALERT: There aren't any major plot twists, but I did get to peek behind the curtain on several second-tier characters. Worth the read. 

    https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Yarros

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    Some people get an astounding third act. Rottgor, an undead member of the Royal Guard, gets a fourth! For his centuries of faithful service, he receives a "body" that works well enough and compensation to pursue his dreams. If only he knew what that could be. Most of his tribe and family were wiped out, so he pursues his dream with found friends who become found family. The story is fast-paced and fun with great villains, backstory, and characters. Clever and fun to read.

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    Not From a Nice Family by journalist Diana Keough is an intimate story of her family's betrayal and heartbreak. In the mid-1980s, Diana's father became mysteriously ill and didn't get better. Most of her five siblings, like her, were grown and had families of their own. When I hear about an unknown illness in the 1980s, I think AIDS, and I wasn't wrong. The surprise was that this family looked great from the outside. Even from the inside, the father was the one the children admired and strove to emulate. I had concerns that this book would be solely about bashing hypocritical Christian--not underserved, but it was about genuine forgiveness and how difficult it can be. 

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🐲🐉⚔️🪄Two Huge Fantasy Books!🐈‍⬛👰🩸🎴🎮

 

    I learned a new word this week: romantasy. It is a fantasy romance book. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is one of the leading books in that category. As I read it, my mind sorted it into the YA (Young Adult) story in the vein of The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter. It takes place at a lethal military college where cadets train to be soldiers who fight using dragons. There are several intriguing barriers to overcome before you can ride a dragon. For one, the dragon has to find you worthy. Two, if you bond with a dragon and it dies, you will die. The book strikes a good balance between using magic "realistically"--it's tied to the dragon--and spilling oceans of ink describing exactly how it all works. The college is a brutal one. Each morning at formation, the names of those who died the previous day are read. Less than a third of the class survives to graduate. The country is at war, which lends an edgy view to their education. The rivalries and love triangles feel more like high schoolers than adults. However, the book took a decidedly sexy turn when the protagonist, Violet, and her smoldering hot, bad-boy wing leader gave in to their overwhelming chemistry. Wowza! It's adult romantasy. For sure.

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    The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman is book VI in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I say this frequently, but I admire Dinniman's capabilities as a writer to juggle a large cast of characters, action scenes, and multiple plot lines so well. The story continues for Carl and Donut as they battle for survival, this time using players' cards, much like Magic: The Gathering. I bought the cards as presents for my grandkids but lack experiential knowledge. Dinniaman's descriptions make me curious to see how it works. I anticipate being schooled by some ten and fourteen-year-olds. The series deals with mature themes like lots of gory death, foot fetishes, and other adult happenings, but at the same time, it seems aimed at gamers.

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