The Librain……retired

I have finished two books this week and am about half way through a third. Fantasy seems to be my main genre at the moment. I think that our local Library has been buying in quite a lot in this area and I always check the new books stand first! They have been getting some fantastic books in recent months.

Mageborn by Stephen Aryan

My first book was Mageborn by Stephen Aryan, #01 in his Age of Dread trilogy. This is the blurb:

It’s been ten years since the battlemage war, where thousands died as mages sundered the earth and split the sky.
Habreel believes eradicating magic is the only way to ensure a lasting peace. He will do anything to achieve his goal, even if it means murdering every child born with the ability.
As deaths involving magic increase and the seat of magical learning – the Red Tower – falls under suspicion, two students and one lawbringer must do everything they can to combat Habreel and his followers, before magic disappears from the world for good.

This was a pretty good read, but I quickly realised that I should have read his earlier trilogy, Age of Darkness, first as it is set in the same world with some of the same characters. When, however, I checked our library service’s online catalogue, I found out that they haven’t purchased this earlier series, which is rather annoying. Anyway, I have reserved the next book in the Age of Dread series and will ask if they will buy the earlier set as well. It makes sense, after all!

Here is my three star review:

As I began to read this book, it became clear pretty quickly that I should have read the first trilogy beforehand! The book keeps alluding to previous events that are clearly very important to the plot and characters of this second series. Yes, I did manage to work out what was happening, but I did find it rather irritating at first.

The characters are really interesting and intriguing, although the rapid switching between points of view meant that I found the story hard to follow at some points. The plot, however, was good and I look forward to reading book #02. Now, if I can just persuade the library to buy the Age of Darkness trilogy!

The First Order by Jeff Abbott

I had a change from Fantasy with my second book of the week. The First Order by Jeff Abbott, Sam Capra #05, is an exciting and gripping thriller, but once again it would have been a better experience if I had read previous books in the series first. Here is the blurb:

THE FIRST ORDER

Two brothers. One dead, executed by extremists on a grainy video. The other forged into a top undercover agent. But now, Sam Capra has reason to believe that his brother, Danny, may be alive. And if Danny has been living a secret life these past years, where has he been–and what has he become?

Sam’s desperate search for his brother leads him into a modern heart of darkness: the Russian elite inner circle, a group of ruthless ex-KGB billionaires who owe fealty to Russia’s corrupt president, Morozov. One of these men wants Morozov dead. And Danny will be the one to kill him–on American soil.

To save his brother–and to save the world from certain war–Sam, along with his mysterious partner, Mila, must stop Danny from killing Morozov. The mission will take Sam from the slums of Pakistan to the hipster galleries of Brooklyn to the Caribbean playgrounds of the superrich. And as Sam untangles the secret past locked in his brother’s heart, he may be forced to make a choice between his brother–and the greater good…

And this is my short review on Goodreads, for three stars:

I think this may be another instance where my enjoyment of this book would have been enhanced if I had already read previous instalments. Nevertheless, the characters were interesting and in some cases likeable (Sam) and the plot flowed well with plenty of excitement and twists. I will almost certainly try more by this author, if our local library has the books in stock, but I will choose books from earlier in the series first!

The Poppy War by R F Kuang

When I have finished writing this post, I will return to my latest book: The Poppy War by R F Kuang. I will enjoy telling you about this book next week as it is proving to be very different from my usual tastes.

Happy Reading to you all!

Best wishes,

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I have read two books this week, both by Jo Nesbo. Now I have finally caught up with his entire Harry Hole series. I can’t wait until the next one is published! I think it will be called Knife and is due to be released this year.

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo

The Redeemer is #06 in the Harry Hole sequence (I have been filling in the gaps, as it were). Here is the blurb:

Christmas shoppers stop to hear a Salvation Army concert on a crowded Oslo street. A gunshot cuts through the music and the bitter cold: one of the singers falls dead, shot in the head at point-blank range. Harry Hole—the Oslo Police Department’s best investigator and worst civil servant—has little to work with: no suspect, no weapon, and no motive. But Harry’s troubles will multiply. As the search closes in, the killer becomes increasingly desperate, and Harry’s chase takes him to the most forbidden corners of the former Yugoslavia.

Yet it’s when he returns to Oslo that he encounters true darkness: among the homeless junkies and Salvationists, eagerly awaiting a savior to deliver them from misery—whether he brings new life or immediate death.

This is my short four star review on Goodreads:

Nesbo is such a clever writer. I enjoy his dark humour, his asides that give such great colour and background to the plot. This book is one of his darkest as Harry Hole is in such a bad state. I am not sure if I would want to know such a character in real life as he would be so difficult to get along with, because, whilst his flashes of brilliance are simply compelling, his obsessions are hard to live with.

This story is complex, sometimes hard to follow, but ultimately really worth reading. There are always good plot twists in the series. Although each book works as a standalone tale, it is worth reading the series in order (unlike me!) as the main characters’ stories are interwoven throughout.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

After The Redeemer I was able to read the next book in the series: The Snowman. This is the blurb:

Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.

Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.

This book was even better than the previous one. I gave it four stars and wrote the following:

Wow! This was a truly great read. If you like a book with complex and often difficult characters, very dark humour, some very bleak events and huge plot twists then this is definitely worth a look. The book begins with scenes which are quite difficult to get straight in your mind, there are also several very red herrings. The end is extremely good and very scary!

After reading another Harry Hole, I am beginning to feel as if I am getting to know Oslo, at least the underworld of Oslo. I like how Nesbo writes small asides that give a wider picture of life in the city and surrounding areas.

I think that this is one of the best books in the series. Highly recommended.

Mageborn by Stephen Aryan

I am now about the begin my new book: Mageborn by Stephen Aryan, #01 in his Age of Dread series. This sounds as if it will be rather dark too!

Happy Reading to you all.

Best wishes,

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