Welcome to this week’s post! Last week I wrote about the first two books in a fantasy trilogy I had really enjoyed. This week I finished the third…
The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart
The series by Andrea Stewart is The Drowning Empire and this final book is The Bone Shard War. Here is the blurb:
“The Bone Shard War is the epic finale to the unmissable, action-packed and magic-laced Drowning Empire series.
Lin Sukai has won her first victory as Emperor, but the future of the Phoenix Empire hangs in the balance – and Lin is dangerously short of allies.
As her own governors plot treason, the Shardless Few renew hostilities. Worse still, Lin discovers her old nemesis Nisong has joined forces with the rogue Alanga, Ragan. Both seek her death.
Yet hopes lies in history. Legend tells of seven mythic swords, forged in centuries past. If Lin can find them before her enemies, she may yet be able to turn the tide.
If she fails, the Sukai dynasty – and the entire empire – will fall.”
I really enjoyed reading the series and can’t wait to see what Andrea Stewart’s incredible imagination comes up with next! When I wrote this review on Goodreads I did have some reservations about the last episode:
I definitely enjoyed the trilogy as a whole, but this book did not quite live up to the others. It was too long, for a start. Whilst the characters were interesting and developed over the three books, some of them became very annoying in the finale.
I also felt that the magic elements became over complicated and confusing with new developments that didn’t really make sense or add much to the plot.
All in all, the ideas behind the books were very inventive and much of the writing was excellent, with a few caveats. I will certainly look out for new books by Andrea Stewart as I am sure that she has even better ones to come.
Welcome to this Friday’s post! In terms of our health issues, we seem to be trundling along reasonably well. Lovely Husband is slowly getting stronger, Elder Son has gone back to work and Younger Son is investigating a huge change in the direction of his life. As for me, well I am struggling to get out of bed. My long term physical conditions are having a strong impact. I suppose it is all a reaction to the events of the past few months when I had to force myself to step up and take control of the household whilst LH was so incapacitated.
Anyhow, I decided that I deserved another treat. My birthday is coming up and I usually get myself a present (good excuse!!). Also, at this time of year I tend to add a couple of new jumpers to my wardrobe. I simply couldn’t resist this lovely cashmere crew neck from Marks and Spencer’s Autograph Collection…
Pure Cashmere Ombre Crew Neck Jumper – Marks and Spencer
The colours are beautiful and the cashmere is really soft and comfortable to wear. I don’t think a scarf would work with it – what do my readers think? A necklace might, though. I will try my lapis lazuli pendant or my pearls and see what works. There also may be something else in my collection of cheap and cheerful jewellery that would enhance this gorgeous jumper.
Hello and welcome to this week’s post. Every Wednesday I like to write about the books I have read during the previous week. I add each book on the Goodreads website so that I can link to my quick reviews/responses on there and so that I can maintain a list of my books and track my reading habits.
Here is the first book…
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
I chose this book purely at random: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, #01 The Drowning Empire. First of all, the title and the series intrigued me greatly: what fantastic images these words conjured in my mind! Then the blurb sounded interesting…
“Magic. Revolution. Identity.
The Emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.
Lin is the Emperor’s daughter and she spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.
The Bone Shard Daughter is an unmissable fantasy debut – a captivating tale of magic, revolution and mystery, where a young woman’s sense of identity will make or break an empire.”
This is an excellent fantasy book and well worth reading. The different threads for each of the main characters were a little challenging at first, but it became easier to sort them all out as they became woven together.
The world building was superb and the plot was different and intriguing. Each of the main characters were well drawn and developed across the book. I am not surprised to see that the book has been nominated for awards and also won many. I will definitely read more books in this series and by this author.
As you can see, I enjoyed the book so much that I awarded it the full five stars, bought the rest of the series and immediately began to read the second book!
The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart
The second book is The Bone Shard Emperor and I just finished reading it yesterday. This is the blurb…
“Andrea Stewart returns with The Bone Shard Emperor, the second installment of this unmissable, action-packed, magic-laced fantasy epic.
The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor.
Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don’t trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in the north-east of the Empire, a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force.
Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga – the powerful magicians of legend – have returned to the Empire. They claim they come in peace, and Lin will need their help in order to defeat the rebels and restore peace.
But can she trust them?”
I dived into this book and read it pretty quickly too! Here is my quick review on Goodreads…
This was another enjoyable read in the series. Once again, the main characters continued to be realistically developed, as much as magically talented characters can be realistic! The plot took some very interesting steps forward, although the first parts of the book wandered around quite a bit.
I liked the way that LGB characters were woven into the story in natural and realistic ways, without some of the unnecessary fanfares which can be jarring in some other books.
The plot picked up its pace in the final sections and became much more gripping and exciting, leading the way towards the third (and final?) book. I am really looking forward to finding out what happens next.
Hi, dear friends and visitors to my blog. For the past few months, I have been using the Friday posts to write about my family’s difficulties with our health and the fallout from these. I am pleased to be able to say that this aspect of our lives seems to be settling down for now (well, I jolly well hope so!). Lovely Husband is very slowly becoming stronger and more mobile. The stairlift has made such a difference to him and he is also starting to potter around the kitchen again – he has always been the family cook. We all ended up with the nasty virus that sent me to hospital, but we are now all almost over it, which is great. Younger Son is trying to choose a new path for his life and we also taken the time to listen to his ideas and plans. I wish he weren’t so far away.
I am trundling along as ever, trying to help with family matters but also resting quite a lot. We have had quite a major issue to sort out with Elder Son. I won’t go into the details, as those are his own private business, but I had to get up extremely early on Wednesday to go into a meeting as his “support Mum”! I only just managed to do this, but then I will try to do just about anything for my three “chaps”.
Anyway, this is the outfit that I wore:
Outfit of the day 18/10/23 with Hermès’ Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage scarf
For Wednesday’s meeting, I decided to stick with the idea of a navy column with added interest from a gorgeous scarf. The navy cotton twinset is Lands’ End, the jeans are Klass and I wore navy shoes by Hotter (not in the collage). I accessorised the outfit with gold earrings, and a pink enamel and gold bangle by Halcyon Days. The finishing touch was Hermès’ Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage silk scarf in shades of pink, a deep red, airforce blue and white. I tied the scarf casually, using a gold tone scarf ring by MaiTai. My handbag from Massaccesi picked up the dusky blue shades in the scarf.
The whole outfit helped me to feel confident and as strong as possible, despite my numerous health conditions. There will eventually be a second meeting and, if LH is unable to attend, I will have to go instead. If I concentrate on creating a lovely outfit, it might help combat my nervousness!
I will show you a larger image of the scarf (apologies for the lack of sharpness. I cannot find a better one). If you are interested, here is the link to the Scarf of the Moment post I wrote about it.
Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage by Laurence Bourthoumieux for Hermès
Welcome to this week’s post about the books I have been reading. Today, I have two books that were written as part of a series…
Lion by Conn Iggulden
These two books are part of a larger series about Ancient Greece, but they tell the story of one of the most important men of 5th century BC Athens: Pericles. The first book is called Lion, #01 The Golden Age.
Here is the blurb:
“Ancient Greece, 5th century BC
The age of myths and legends has given way to the world of men. In the front rank stands Pericles, Lion of Athens.
Behind Pericles lies the greatest city of the ancient world. Before him, on land and at sea, stands the merciless Persian army. Both sides are spoiling for war.
Though still a young man, Pericles knows one thing: to fight a war you must first win the peace.
It’s time for a hero to rise.
For his enemies to tremble.
And for Athens, a city of wisdom and warriors, to shine with glory . . .”
The book didn’t take long to read and I then wrote my response on Goodreads:
I enjoyed reading this book and am going straight on to the sequel, however, it was not my favourite from this author. Having studied this period at university, I was interested to read a fictional account of these famous and noted men and the deeds that made them so. I felt that the female characters were shoehorned into the book just to avoid cries of sexism, but Ancient Greek society was incredibly restrictive towards women.
Anyway, I will read on despite the writing being rather dry.
On finishing the book, I went straight to the sequel, Empire, #02 The Golden Age…
Empire by Conn Iggulden
First we have the blurb:
“Pericles returns home more than a hero: he’s the leader of Athens, the empire’s beacon of light in the dark.
But even during times of peace, the threat of Sparta – Athens’s legendary rival – looms large on the horizon. When a sudden catastrophe brings Sparta to its knees, Pericles sees a golden opportunity to forever shift the balance of power in his city’s favour.
For sometimes, the only way to win lasting peace is to wage war.
Sparta may be weak, but their power is far from extinguished. Soon a ruthless young boy steps forward to lead the Spartans back to greatness.
As the drums of battle draw closer, can Pericles rise once more or will the world’s greatest empire fall under his watch?”
I have now read both books about Pericles and thought that the second was slightly better than the first. Having studied this period, I realise that Iggulden simplified the complex events for the benefit of his readers. The ending to the tale was rather abrupt, but the whole book was well paced.
These have not been my favourite books by the author, but I did enjoy reading them and they are worth looking at if you are interested in the famous characters and events of this period of history.
Perhaps these books were just what I needed after a few days in hospital a fortnight ago! Anyway, I am now enjoying a totally different genre and will tell you about it next week.
When the new scarves and shawls for the Hermès Autumn/Winter 2023 season began to emerge online in the summer, I immediately saw one design that I liked. None of the others called to me at all. I loved the playful and cheerful design of Au Royaume d’Helios.
In the end, it took some months before the design appeared in the online shop and I changed my mind a couple of times as to which colourway I preferred. As soon as I saw this one, my mind was made up: Au Royaume d’Helios, designed by Matthieu Cossé, 70cm silk, colourway #06 Bleu Ciel/Jaune/Rose, Ref: H984028S 06.
Au Royaume d’Helios by Matthieu Cossé for Hermès
Description
The design is both cheerful and rather cartoonish. Hermes the messenger god plays in the heavens: dashing around on his winged horse, skipping through the clouds and racing his chariot. These comical scenes are placed around the scarf, surrounded by colourful clouds, stars and planets. An owl, a cat and a bird look on in amazement as the sun, in many forms, watches his antics. Even the moon is amused!
The whole scarf glows with colour. The contrast hem is orange with a pale yellow border to the design. The playful scenes have a light blue background with the different elements in pinks, orange, and yet more blues. Hermes’ clothing makes me laugh! He appears to be wearing a jolly pink and yellow jumpsuit with his fine winged helmet and staff. His horse also stands out in brown and the other animals are in navy or brown. The whole effect is joyous and uplifting.
Colourways
These are the colourways for the Autumn/Winter 2023 silk 70cm scarves. I have added in the codes to help those of you who may wish to purchase a scarf.
Here are some closeups of my scarf in a slideshow format:
How I wear the scarf
This is such a fun scarf , but due to illness I have only managed to wear it once since I purchased it. It looked great with this outfit, but I think it would also be lovely with my other pink or navy clothes and, perhaps, grey? I am not sure!
Outfit of the day 27/09/23 with Hermès’ Au Royaume d’Helios
Scarf ties
I have tried on this scarf in a variety of ways. At the moment, as it is so new, the silk fabric is still quite crisp (although less so than the silk twill of the 90cm scarves), so doesn’t fall easily into soft folds. Anyway, you can get the general idea of how it looks when worn. As this is a smaller scarf, I would be reluctant to choose the more complex scarf knots. This is a fun design, so it calls for more casual ties, in my opinion. Here are a few attempts:
Au Royaume d’Helios – scarf ties
I’m not going to even try to name these scarf ties as they are fairly random. The gold tone scarf ring in the top left image was from MaiTai. I wish she still stocked these.
Background information
This is not the kind of scarf with lots of useful background details, but I have found the following. If I come across any more information, I will add it here…
First, something about the designer, Matthieu Cossé – there isn’t much online that I can find, to be honest:
I hope readers have found this exploration of Au Royaume d’Helios both interesting and useful. Once again, if you find any errors or have any additional information that I could add, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
I can’t believe it’s Friday already! Apologies for such a meagre post last week. I had only just come out of hospital and couldn’t find the energy to write very much. Anyway, I will try to set it all out now. By the way, I am writing this out, partly to help me remember some of the details!
In the early morning of Tuesday 3rd October I woke up gasping for breath. I had been suffering from some kind of virus for over a week and it had progressed to the nasty mucus stage. This, combined with my existing breathing problems and asthma, meant that I became hysterical and frightened. Lovely Husband called an ambulance and, after loads of tests, the paramedics decided to take me to hospital. They said that I wouldn’t be in for long, but just for enough time to stabilise my breathing and rehydrate me. Ha, Ha!!
We arrived at the hospital at about 4.30 a.m. and I was admitted to A & E. I spent the rest of Tuesday in there, eventually being taken to an isolation room as the staff weren’t sure if I had COVID. Several tests were taken for this and other issues and I was then, at about 11.30 p.m., wheeled up to an isolation room in the respiratory diseases ward. All of the doctors and nurses who came into that room had to take precautions in case I had COVID: masks, aprons and gloves.
Basically, I had to remain in hospital until the results of the tests were known. I ended up staying there for all of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning until the all-clear came back. Basically, I had a nasty virus and not COVID.
I must admit that I was a very impatient patient! Oh, I try to remain polite and courteous towards staff, of course. However, my post-stroke brain was a real issue. As LH and Elder Son could not visit, I felt horribly isolated and alone. I struggled to remember past conditions and also things that I might need to pass on. Ages ago, we made information sheets for each of us with lists of medications and schedules, addresses of healthcare professionals and other important stuff. I am so glad that I had mine with me in my pre-packed hospital bag. I spoke to so many staff. A couple of consultants appeared to be interested in one of my more rare conditions, so spoke to me at length about it for quite a while. They were very kind, but I felt like a bit of a specimen!
ES proved to be my hero! As the hospital is across the county border, it had proved difficult in the past to get home. LH still cannot drive, so ES took three buses to reach me and we booked a taxi to take us home. It was so wonderful to see him enter the ward and I burst into tears on him as I was so happy that he had arrived.
In the week since, both LH and ES have contracted the same virus and have both felt quite unwell. We have managed between us by finally using online ordering from the supermarket. There was no other way. We are all hoping that we can shake this nasty bug off as quickly as possible and get back to some kind of equilibrium.
One final thing. I was glancing around the Purse Forum when I saw that the thread for the Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2024 scarves and shawls has been started. We still haven’t seen all of the Autumn/Winter 2023 offer as yet! Anyway, it will be interesting to see what they come up with in terms of new designs. Here is one that I have seen…
Design for Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2024 scarf season
Hello and welcome to this week’s post about the books I have been reading. Unfortunately, I was taken into hospital last week and was unable to concentrate on reading ebooks or writing blog posts. I have finished two books since my last Reading Roundup and here is the first one…
Light Bringer by Pierce Brown
Ooh, the anticipation! I have been waiting for the next episode in Pierce Brown’s epic Red Rising Saga with so much excitement: Light Bringer (Red Rising Saga #06). This must be one of my favourite series of all time! This is the (too short) blurb:
“Darrow returns as Pierce Brown’s New York Times bestselling Red Rising series continues in the thrilling sequel to Dark Age.
“The measure of a man is not the fear he sows in his enemies. It is the hope he gives his friends.”—Virginia au Augustus
The Reaper is a legend, more myth than man: the savior of worlds, the leader of the Rising, the breaker of chains.
But the Reaper is also Darrow, born of the red soil of Mars: a husband, a father, a friend.
The worlds once needed the Reaper. But now they need Darrow. Because after the dark age will come a new age: of light, of victory, of hope.”
Well, that doesn’t say enough! I really urge science fiction fans to seek out this amazing series. OK, here is my inadequate response – please read other, better ones on Goodreads…
I have had to wait a day after finishing this book before I could recover enough to write a response.
And that is… shock, horror, sadness and a tiny bit of hope!
How can mere black squiggles on a screen evoke such emotion? How can they make the human brain respond so passionately?
Read some of the other reviews!
I struggled with this book because my post stroke brain couldn’t remember enough of the back story. Some of it returned as I read on and I hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next episode in the saga. Mind you, it was worth the wait. The previous book, Dark Age, was truly bleak and grim. This one, while also tragic and terribly so in places, had chinks of light. There were moments of black humour and also episodes where this reader could see the possibilities that the positive vision of the future might just prevail.
Now everything seems to be set up for the next book and I am sure Pierce Brown’s amazing imagination and writing skills won’t let his avid readers down. No pressure there then!
Well, how could I find a book worthy to follow that? Luckily, I had a reservation waiting, so I turned to…
Pines by Blake Crouch
I seem to be working my way through Blake Crouch’s work as many of his books are on our ebook catalogue. This one, Pines, was part one of a series: Wayward Pines. It seems that this is also a TV series, although I haven’t seen this. Here is the blurb:
“Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a locate two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase.
As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation turns up more questions than Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out?
Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan farther from the world he knew, from the man he was, until he must face a horrifying fact – he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.
The nail-bitingly suspenseful opening installment in Blake Crouch’s blockbuster Wayward Pines trilogy, Pines is at once a brilliant mystery tale and the first step into a genre-bending saga of suspense, science fiction, and horror.”
I read this quite quickly and then wrote this short response:
Interesting and gripping science fiction with amazing twists in the plot – so I can’t say very much about it! There are more books in the series, so I am going to read the next part as soon as it becomes available on our ebook library.
Apologies for the brevity, but I wrote it just after coming out of hospital last week (more about that in Friday’s post). At least I have now recovered enough brain power to be able to read properly again and I am about halfway through my next book.
More about that in next week’s Reading Roundup!
Happy Reading to you all.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
📚📕📚📕📚
P.S. I read this a few days ago and found it really interesting. What do you think?
Hello everyone! I have just come out of hospital (nothing very serious), so am very tired and cannot manage a proper post today. I am fighting off a nasty virus on top of my usual collection of health issues, so I just need to rest and try to recover.
Welcome to today’s post. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you have probably seen my musings about the scarves and shawls available for Hermès’ current Autumn/Winter 2023 season. I have shown several pictures of the designs that have particularly caught my eye. Anyway, eventually one of my picks appeared on the UK site and I pounced straight away!
And here it is… drum roll…
The iconic box in its packingThe orange box with Bolduc ribbonA peek inside…The scarf partly unfolded
Well, what is this? Here we have Hermès’ Au Royaume d’Helios 70×70 silk scarf, Bleu Ciel, Jaune, Rose, purchase code H984028S 06, designed by Matthieu Cossé.
This is a larger image of the scarf…
Au Royaume d’Helios by Matthieu Cossé for Hermès
Aren’t the colours lovely and pretty? There are several other colourways that I really like, but this one lifts my mood. I actually wore it on Wednesday and here is a collage of the outfit…
Outfit of the day 27/09/23 with Hermès’ Au Royaume d’Helios
You can see how well the scarf worked with a simple navy column and a plain jacket. The navy top is Lands’ End, the jeans are Klass, and I wore navy shoes by Hotter. My pink jacket is by Joules and the bangles are Halcyon Days. I also carried my navy Africa leather Selene handbag by Massaccesi.
Such a happy scarf!
I have already begun to compile a complete Scarf of the Moment post for this design with all of the colourways, some modelling photos, background information and different scarf knots. This may take a few days as I am not well at the moment, but I will try to upload it as soon as I can.
Former professional school librarian, now retired through chronic illness. Trying to keep cheerful by reading, drinking lots of tea, blogging my new life, and my love of bling!
The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart
The Librain
The Librain......retired 
Dear Lauren, thank you so much for this kind and lovely comment! Love & best wishes, Anne XXX