Balthazar’s Bane by Kat Ross is sixth in the delightfully dark Gaslamp Gothic series. This book, as the title suggests, focuses on Balthazar and his ward Lucas. When Balthazar kills a necromancer with a debt, and gets tangled up with said necromancer’s daughter, he ends up kidnapped by jinn and taken to a mythical city […]
In The Tiger at Midnight, first in a same-name trilogy by Swati Teerdhala, Esha, known as the Viper, sneaks into the Blood Fort, a major Jansan stronghold, and assassinates the feared General Hotha. Several elite soldiers are tasked with tracking down the Viper and returning the assassin for punishment. The reward is being named Commander […]
No Price Aislynn d’Merricksson, ©2004 What is of the greatest value- past, present and future? It is… The love of family, the acceptance of friends, finding a place to belong. A second chance, a new lease on life, a hope for the future. A newborn’s wail, the tears of a […]
Trials of Apollo: The Tyrant’s Tomb by Rick Riordan continues to follow Apollo and Meg as they work to secure the Oracles. Now at Camp Jupiter, Apollo must prepare to face a new threat, worse than even Caligula. I read this book right on the heels of the previous one, only to realise it wasn’t […]
Apollo’s trials and tribulations continue in The Burning Maze. He and Meg head to California, accompanied by the satyr Grover. The southern part of the state is withering away thanks to the trapped energy of the sun Titan Helios. Fires rage across the land and drought parches what doesn’t burn. Along the way, they recruit […]
Riordan’s second Trials of Apollo book, The Dark Prophecy, sparks the search for the next oracle, and a confrontation with another of the Triumvirate. Apollo, Meg, Leo and Calypso find themselves in Indianapolis looking for the Cave of Trophonius. Unfortunately for them, this is the seat of power for the emperor calling himself the New […]
Loki by Mohammed Ghassan Farija puts a new spin on the legends and myths of the Norse pantheon. Myth is a culture’s way of encoding important events, among other things. And, as Tolkien notes, sometimes history becomes myth under the weight of time. This story, centred on one of the Norse pantheon’s rather more misunderstood […]
The Hidden Oracle is first in Riordan’s The Trials of Apollo series. The once great god of healing, prophecy, and music has been condemned to live among the mortals on earth- as one of them. It’s not the first time either, but this may just be the worst! He’s stuck in the form of an […]
*******SPOILERS******* In The Weight of a Soul by Elizabeth Tammi, the Freding clan has suffered the unexpected death of one of the younger women. Fressa, Lena’s sister, has been taken, with no signs as to the cause of death. Unable to accept this, Lena seeks […]
A Wistful Tale of Gods, Men, and Monsters by David Ruggerio is set in the tiny New York village of Brunswick. It’s a postcard perfect autumnal setting, with lovely cider-worthy orchards, fields of giant orange pumpkins, golden rows of corn and wheat, and that close-knit feel that only rural hamlets can offer. Brunswick is also […]