AllBooksReviews

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Posted on by J.W. Martin

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA
by Scott Lynch

Spectra
June 27, 2006

From Goodreads:

An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

Ok. This book knocked me on my ass in just about every way possible. In ways I didn’t even know I could be knocked in my ass.

It surprised me in just about every chapter. Half of the time it outright shocked me. I saw a few things coming, but not many. I was very unprepared, emotionally, for many events.

These events brought several strong reactions out of me. Anger, joy, hilarity, intrigue, deception, and… what would you call it when you get sweet, sweet revenge? Whatever it’s called, THAT! tLoLL is one of those books that takes you through the whole emotional spectrum.

The characters were fantastic. You can’t help but like them, even if they really are bastards. (The series being called gentlemen bastards, I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise.) Take Locke Lamora himself. At times he seems untouchable. Perfect at everything, and never makes mistake. But each time it seems like that, we’re shown yet another flaw or watch him make yet another mistake. And it’s all wonderful. Even his intro/backstory is equal parts tragedy and awesomeness.

The writing itself is great as well. Beautiful, really. Especially the dialogue. Everyone is so verbose. Even the scum of the city have a better vocabulary than I do. And yet, it doesn’t come off as forced or too much. It all seems very natural and fitting.

My only complaint was that sometimes the narrative goes on a little long. I mean, sometimes it’s okay just to state something simply. Even Tolstoy would probably roll his eyes at some of these passages and yell out, “Dude! Condense!”

In the spirit of that, if I had to describe this book in a single word, I’d call it: masterful. That said, you need to read this. You. The one reading these words right now. You might be saying to yourself, “he’s not talking to me…” I am talking to you. Read it. READ IT!

Fun fact about this book: Buddy read with the Bionic Book Worm. It was a lot of fun to message her multiple times a week with something like, “WHAT THE HELL!?!?”
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Nominate Your Favourite Cover for… The Contest of Covers!

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Hear ye, hear ye! I officially declare the Great Contest of Covers open for entries!!

“Goodness, what are you babbling about now?”

Why, the Great Contest of Covers, of course. A weekly contest butting book cover against book cover for cover supremacy!

“How does is all work? Will there be blood?”

Of course there will be blood! Figurative, metaphorical blood everywhere! Each week, two covers will be put on display, and you, the good public of the Kingdom of Blogsphere, will vote on which should win glory and honour, and which would be shot full of arrows and sacrificed to the Demon Trilogy, Dog-Earred-Pages, Stained-Covers, and Cracked-Spines!

“I’m liking the sound of this!”

Of course you are.

“What are the first two covers to do battle?”

Unknown. The people must bring forth champions to enter the contest and wage war on one another.

“So, we nominate our favourite book covers?”

Yeah.

“This sounds great, but what’s with the weird medieval speak?”

It’s…. fun?

“How long will nominations be open?”

A fortnight, my good lady/sir. At which point, this loyal bard will—

“Fortnite? That game that kids think invented dancing?”

*sigh*

• Submit nominations over the next two weeks (April 23 – May 7).
• You can do so via comments on this blog, twitter, and instagram.
• Voting on each match-up will be handled the same way each week.
• It will be bracket/single-elimination style.
• First round will start with 16 covers (maybe 32 depending on the amount of nominations)

“There. Wasn’t that way easier than trying to talk all like a knight or whatever?”

whatever

Round 1 starts May 10th! See you there!

Fun fact about this post: The Contest of Covers needs no fun facts!
All

Top 5 Predicted 5-Star Reads

Posted on by J.W. Martin

It feels like it’s been a minute or two since I took part in one of the Bionic Book Worm’s T5T posts. I miss it when there’s a topic I don’t really had any idea about, or in the super rare case of an off week. This week is something that everyone can relate too. Regardless if you think you’re right, or if you’re unsure about anything, all you really need is unbridled hope to put together a list of Predicted 5-Star Reads!

Obsidio

This feels like a 5-star series. Everything related to it, or these authors seems likely to follow suit.

Crooked Kingdom

Loved the first one. Ashamed it’s taken me so long to get around to reading the second. Story of my life, it seems.

A Darker Shade of Magic

Can’t believe how long it’s taken me to… Oh, right. Covered this with the whole ‘story of my life’ thing.

Iron Gold

The original trilogy might be my favourite trilogy of all time. I have very little doubt that this new trilogy will be just as incredible.

Warcross

This is the only one I’m not feeling 100 on. Most of what I’ve heard is good, but there have been a number of Luke-warm feelings on it as well. I’m banking on having a strong connection to it with the gamer aspect.

Fun fact about this post: I almost included Godsgrave, which I’m reading right now, but didn’t want this to end up being a “5 Books I haven’t read yet by Jay Kristoff” which, knowing Shanah, might be an upcoming topic.
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First Impression Friday – The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Welcome to another First Impression Friday. In case this is your first time, here’s the rundown:

• Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions
and predict what you’ll think by the end.
• Did you think you’d love and ended up hating it? Or did you think
you’d hate it and wound up loving it? Or were you exactly right?
• Link back to Storeys of Stories so I can enjoy reading all the
First Impression Fridays out there!

When the world ends and you find yourself forsaken, every second counts. No one knows this more than Edgar Hill. Stranded on the other side of the country from his wife and children, Ed must push himself across a devastated wasteland to get back to them. With the clock ticking and hundreds of miles between them, his best hope is to run — or risk losing what he loves forever.

Let’s talk about The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker.

I can’t remember who recommended this one to me, but someone, somewhere said that it seemed like the kind of book I would love. So far, in the early runnings, it’s proving to be a book I don’t hate. There’s still a lot of book left, and a few things that I do find really interesting.

I don’t read too many books these days where I can see myself—as a middle-age father of young children—represented on the page, but this is one of them. This mirror-like MC even voices a handful of opinions that her and I share. So that aspect has been really enjoyable and interesting. Then the world starts to end. And this dude starts to act like the complete opposite of me (I hope!)

I’m looking forward to finishing, but I’m not clearing my schedule or anything.

My Prediction: 3 to 3.5 stars

Fun fact about this post: Does anyone else see the irony of a book with RUNNING in the title that was written by a dude with the name WALKER?!
AllBooksReviews

Armada by Ernest Cline

Posted on by J.W. Martin

ARMADA
by Ernest Cline

Crown Publishing
July 14, 2015

From Goodreads:

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.

No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?

Armada is another novel by Ernest Cline that holds something special for lifetime gamers. It’s certainly not Ready Player One, but it’s also a little unfair to compare the two. However, anyone reading this after RPO will find it’s hard not to.

Right off the bat, our lead character is sitting in school, spewing non-stop pop culture references. Is this Wade? No? Seems like Wade. Oh, Zack! My bad. Zack’s obsessed with video games and the ‘80s. Sounds familiar, I know.

Most of the plot rotates around gamers having to log onto their computers to take control of space-drones and battle an alien invasion. It was all fairly predictable, but entertaining. Scenes leading up the action were well done, but then when the action happened, everything went into fast forward. They seemed to be over before they began.

Imagine watching a superhero movie where they stand around talking for 88 minutes and then fight for 2. That’s kind of how this felt.

The big compliment I can hand to Mr. Cline on this is that no matter how many complaints I had with the above issues, I always wanted to keep turning pages. DNF never entered the realm of possibility. When I think back to the first time I read RPO, there are some things in the beginning that I’m not a big fan of. It was kind of speed bump to get over, but then it was full speed. This one had way more speed bumps, but I wasn’t stopping.

This is definitely one for kids of the ‘80s and those that are into video games, but don’t expect another Ready Player One. That one seems to be lightning that I’m still hoping can strike twice…

Fun fact about this post: This one was a buddy read with Erik from Breakeven Books. Check out what he’s been up to on his blog and his new YouTube channel.
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Books in Space

Posted on by J.W. Martin

When I first saw this week’s topic for Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday, I got really excited. I’ve always gravitated toward stories of fantasy and sci-fi, so I felt like I’d be able to make a really great list. But then when I started to think about it, and eliminate all the sci-fi titles that never actually got out into space, I realized something: I really haven’t read many space books. So this is more of a top 3, though it references more than 5 books in the end.

Andy Weir’s Books

I know. They aren’t a series. But I like to think that The Martian and Artemis take place in the same world, hundreds of years apart. Weir’s writing uses top shelf technology and explains it well enough for a 5 year old to understand. Reading Weird has the tendency to make you feel like a genius, but the whole time it’s Weir that’s the genius.

Illuminae

The Illuminae Files

Someone is yelling, “WHAT ABOUT OBSIDIO?” right now. While I’m totally confident it belongs here, I haven’t read it yet. Relax, I will be reading it this year.

Red Rising

Are you shocked that Red Rising made it onto yet another one of my lists? No? I didn’t think so. There’s also Iron Gold, the first book to a new trilogy within the Red Rising world. Again, I’m sure it belongs here, but it remains on my shelf, unread. I’m a horrible person. I know.

Fun fact about this post: Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system, even though it’s second closest to the sun. 450 degrees on average. Mercury, the closest, has no atmosphere to regulate temperature causing extreme fluctuations.
AllBooksReviews

Wicked Saints Blog Tour

Posted on by J.W. Martin

WELCOME TO MY VERY FIRST BLOG TOUR!!

Thanks to Wednesday Books & Raincoast Books for providing me with a review copy in order to review, and take part in the blog tour, for Wicked Saints! I’m probably way more excited about this than I should be, but deal with it. Time to go off the rails!

WICKED SAINTS
by Emily A. Duncan

Wednesday Books
April 2, 2019

From Goodreads:

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.

A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light.

For those of you that went to see Avengers: Infinity War in the theatre, you know how when it ended everyone just mindlessly got up and shuffled to the exits, heads hung low, without saying a word? That’s kind of how I felt at the end of Wicked Saints. I was genuinely worried about the fate of these characters, and I feel like I had more questions at the end than I had before reading page 1. And, most importantly, I wanted more. Immediately.

The first thing that reached out and grabbed me was the characters. Scratch that. The first thing was the character names. A lot of them seemed like Russian names to me (though I’m certainly no expert on name etymology) and in the beginning, it slowed me down. Each time I met a new character, I’d have to stop reading and say, “Okay, how is my brain going to subvocalize this name over and over again for the next 300 pages or so?” Obviously, you don’t need to be correct in the pronunciation, but it needs to consistent and needs to flow from that point forward. This wasn’t a big deal, but it does tend to pull readers out of the story for a moment or two each time we meet another character with too many consonants in his or her name.

Beyond that, the characters are fantastic. A little whiny at times, but that seems to speak to their realism. These characters are flawed, and have a lot of mannerisms and habits to make me fall in love with them. At the same time, they also have hidden pasts and make occasional decisions that make me question why I like them, or if I should even like them at all.

And that right there is one of the running themes throughout. I couldn’t tell which characters I liked and or trusted. Each time I thought I knew, something would happen and I’d have to re-analyze all over again. Heck, I’ve finished the book and I’m still not sure about many of them. I have a feeling that this will continue deep into the series. Example: How am I feel about Malachiasz (yes, that’s a character’s name) right about now?

Watching these characters interact and show small glimpses of their desires and ambitions, only to act directly against those revelations, feels a lot like watching master chess players move pieces around a board. And just like that very scenario, my tiny brain doesn’t understand everything that’s going on, but I’m desperate to see one of the players raise a hand in victory.

And that doesn’t just apply to the characters. I’m the kind of reader that can often see plot twists coming. With this one, I wasn’t even close. Not once. It actually threw me off in the beginning. The story seemed to change directions a few times before it really got some traction and started moving. But once it did, look out! The gas pedal is stuck, the brake lines have been cut, and the steering wheel is gone.

Like I said earlier, I ended up with more questions than answers. That’s not to say you won’t have your questions answered. You absolutely will. Not all, but a lot of them. Let’s call it a bucket full of answers. But then you’ll look up as a dump truck’s worth of new questions land around you until you’re completely buried.

The good news is that this is book one of the Something Dark and Holy series, currently slated to be a trilogy. So please, Emily A. Duncan, if you’re reading this (and I know that you aren’t) please write fast. Because I can’t sleep!

Don’t forget to visit the rest of the stops on this blog tour:

MARCH 25
Flavia @ Flavia the Bibliophile
Joe @ Storeys of Stories

MARCH 26
Katelin @ Pretty Little Library
Shanah @ Bionic Bookworm

MARCH 27
Christine @ Padfoot’s Library
Carly @ Beauty & Her Books

MARCH 28
Rachel @ A Model Who’s Read
Joyce @ The Beachy Reader

MARCH 29
Wendy @ Cupcake and a Latte
Alyssa @ Reading Reading Reading

Fun fact about this post: My very first blog tour and I get to do it with my cousin, Shanah! Very appropriate since when it comes to this whole blogging thing, I pretty much just watch to see what she does and try to copy her. Poorly.
AllBooksReviews

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Posted on by J.W. Martin

THE BOOK THIEF
by Markus Zusak

Alfred A. Knopf
September 1, 2005

From Goodreads:

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up, and closed down.

I know, I know. People are screaming at their computers monitors right now, “ONLY 4 STARS?!” Four is still really good, everyone, and there was so much to love about this book.  I just wasn’t completely satisfied. More on that later. Let’s talk about what I loved.

THE CHARACTERS! They were incredible. Maybe the realest and most lovable characters I’ve ever read. I wanted Liesel and Hans to be real people that I could go and meet them, and then beg them to be friends with me. And then there was the relationship between Liesel and Hans. So great. As stated in this week’s top 5 tuesday, it was more like an amazing friendship than a parent-child relationship. And it was unlike anything I’ve read before. Then there was Max, Rudy, and Rosa, and Ilsa. The depth. I didn’t necessarily want to be friends with Rosa or Ilsa, but they were still so real.

The relationships between all these characters made it all so much better. By the time I knew them all, I was so afraid something bad was going to happen to them. One, because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to any of them and two, because any one of them dying would bring so much grief to the rest of them.

Death as the narrator took a little getting used to, but it really grew on me. In the beginning, I really didn’t like the style he was laying down. This was the first point that me and my reading buddy, Samantha from Modern Witch’s Bookshelf, totally agreed on. Too jumpy. He was here, then there, then at the end. I had trouble keeping track of all the people and places he was mentioning, not realizing at the time that he was going to rewind and go all through it again, over the course of an entire book.

I even began to appreciate foreshadowing like I’ve never done before. Usually, I’d rather not hear any kind of foreshadowing. If something is coming, don’t tell me until it arrives. But this book does it so effectively, and turns it into a tease.

Death, our narrator, will mention that someone went to war and was able to avoid him in a grand way. Your interest piques up, and then he doesn’t say any more about it. You think that’s all there is. You continue reading. You forget about it completely. Then… BAM! Here it is. The whole story that you thought you’d never hear. 

That might sound like a bad thing, and I’ll admit I wasn’t a fan of it at first. But by the middle of the book I was delighted each time I was surprised with a bit of story I didn’t think I was going to get.

Right about now you might be wondering where this book lost a star for me. Unfortunately, I can’t get into it very far. It all has to do with the ending and I’m keeping this review spoiler-free. 

I can say that there was a lot of things I wanted to ending to be, and it wasn’t any of them. I feel like I was promised a lot of things and most of them were broken. Maybe they were imagined promises, but it sill left me feeling cheated and unsatisfied. Another point Sam and I agreed on.

Ending aside, I think this is an important book for everyone to read. But be prepared to connect to these characters in a major way.

Fun fact about this post: Sam didn’t like this book as much as I did. So if you’re going to get your pitchforks and torches… 😛
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Friendships | Top 5 Tuesday

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Today’s Top 5 Tuesday (my favourite weekly meme hosted by Shanah @ The Bionic Book Worm) we’re talking ships. But not romantic relationships. Nah, we’re talking friendships. These are the duos (or groups) of people that seem destined to stay together for life, one way or another. I’m sure anyone who normally reads my Top 5 list won’t be surprised at the people I have listed below. Let’s jump in.

Darrow & Sevro

Darrow is kind of a horrible friend, while Sevro would do absolutely anything for a friend he loves and respects.

Parzival & Aech

No barriers can come between these two. Not sixers, not the contest, and not even RL. 😉

Cliff Hubbard & Aaron Zimmerman

Probably the unlikeliest of friends on this list, but find they have way more in common than any friends they already had (or didn’t have.)

The Raven Boys

These friends might be more like a family. Gansey acts like the dad, while the rest are constantly bickering brothers. Though I think that just means they hit a whole other level of friendship at some point. Who says you can’t choose family?

Liesel & Hans

This one is super fresh in my mind. And while I know Hans is Liesel’s step-father, their friendship begins before any other kind of relationship. Even after years, it’s still the friendship you can see rising above everything else.

Fun fact about this post: Runner up was The Bear and The Nightingale‘s Vasya & all the little spirits she talks to around the house and barn. 
AllBooksReviews

The Girls With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

Posted on by J.W. Martin

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
by M. R. Carey

Orbit
January 14, 2014

From Goodreads:

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her “our little genius.”

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

Me and zombies go back a long way. Books, movies, TV shows, video games, my own writing, and even a halloween costume one year. Despite how much I’ve seen/read/experienced, I’m usually always up for more. It’s one of the few subjects I can’t seem to get enough of. That being said, I was pretty sure no one was going to come along and show me something new in the field of zombies. I. WAS. WRONG.

This is a zombie tale of a whole other colour. Entertainment levels through the roof, and highly unpredictable throughout, including the ending and a very unconventional, but heart-warming, love story.

First surprise: Children who learn, think, love, socialize, and… are zombies. WHAAAA?!

That in itself was enough to make me stand up and take notice. Add to that the fact that we spend most of our time with one of these children: Melanie. We’re privy to her every thought and desire. Every question her brilliant little mind comes up with, the reasoning she comes up with, and the internal struggle that happens whenever she’s dealing with ‘the hunger.’

When the book begins, there are a number of characters who all seem like they’re just there until they can be eaten by zombies. I’ve learned to detect these people early on. They’re either instantly detestable, making it satisfying to see justice served, or they’re instantly likeable and end in tragedy. This was my next surprise. Because these characters stayed around. They fleshed out. I learned more about them. I found out the detestable had redeeming qualities while the likeables had some dark secrets that makes you think twice.

By the end of the first act, I had no idea what was going to happen next. Ever. I can’t recall a single time from that point forward where I could predict a single thing. All the way up to the ending that I didn’t predict, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. NO SPOILERS. You’ll see what I mean when you get there.

If you’ve ever enjoyed anything with zombies in it, you NEED to read this.

Fun fact about this post: There’s also a movie out for this one. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve been told by another zombie aficionado that it’s very good.