tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28712200438453225892024-03-13T12:45:13.803-07:00adam-p-reviewsadam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-84332988117021232772016-08-22T04:41:00.000-07:002016-08-22T04:41:22.333-07:00Kings or Pawns, J. J. Sherwood<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Publisher:</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Silver Helm</span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pages:</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> 383</span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Main Characters:</span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Hairem, Jikun, Navon, Ilsevel</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Set in the
fantasy Elven realm of Sevrigel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kings or
Pawns </i>is the first book in J. J. Sherwood’s epic fantasy series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Steps of Power</i>.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With a
young new king and a war that has lasted many lifetimes still furiously waging
on, Sevrigel looks for a period of peace. However, the new king Hairem seeks to
revolutionise the way Sevrigel is ruled and wishes to wrestle power away from
the corrupt, selfish Council of Elders whom has controlled the capital city Elvorium for
centuries. Nevertheless, Hairem must tread carefully as the council will not
give up their powers easily. Hundreds of years of self-motivated policies have
provided the Council with both power and wealth and they are not above murder
to ensure that their demands are filled. The young king must look to his old
and new allies for help as he tries to press his will on the council.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Jikun is
the General and supreme commander of the Elvorian army. After fighting years
against his nemesis Saebellus, he is growing weary of war and weary of the
southern rulers he has been serving for a lifetime. Jikun wishes to return to
the cold north of his childhood and hunt the wild and dangerous Thakish with
his old comrades. However, with the cunning Saebellus on the loose in Sevrigel,
Jikun knows he cannot leave the army until his duty is done. When an opportunity
arises that seems too good to be true, Jikun snatches it in the hopes of
finally defeating Saebellus and ending the war for good.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For me this
was really a book of two halves. The first half had me totally engrossed with
the political intrigue between Hairem and the Council. In addition, I extremely
enjoyed Jikun’s back story. I thought Darvial was a unique part of the Sevrigelian
world and I’m excited to learn more about his past and his upbringing in
Darvial. I think Sherwood did a fantastic job of fleshing out her world in this
half of the book and instantly had me engrossed with the situation in
Elvorium and what Hairem’s plans were to try and fix it.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">However,
the second half took away from this and added new characters which we had not
met before and completely forgets about some major plots points opened up in
the first half of the novel, especially ones about Nilanis. All these new characters then go
on a mission together to rescue a princess that has been captured. I felt this
new plot point came out of nowhere with no real explanation as to why the
princess was taken. Later on in the novel you find out why she was captured,
however it still seemed a little random and strange and I honestly think the
rescue mission didn’t need to be in the book. Then for no apparent reason,
Jikun goes to fight a war against centaurs, which for me bogged down the plot
line and again seemed kind of pointless. With both of these points I knew what
the author wanted to do, but wish both sub plots could have been done a little differently
or not at all to keep the pace of the narrative going. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Nevertheless,
at the end of the book there was a great, though predictable twist, which had
me speeding through the last 100 eBook pages just like I did with the first
half of the book, so this was a redeeming quality after the slow and somewhat
random second half of the novel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">All in all
this was a good book and good start to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Steps
of Powers</i> series. The ending made me extremely curious for book two and I’m
looking forward to reading it!</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Kings or Pawns</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> is like a mix of <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.at/search/label/J.%20R.%20R.%20Tolkien" target="_blank">Tolkien</a> and <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.at/search/label/George%20R.%20R.%20Martin" target="_blank">George R. R. Martin</a>.
So if you like political intrigue mixed in with high fantasy then I think you
will really enjoy this book.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I’d like to
say thank you to J. J. Sherwood for including me in her blog tour and providing me
with a copy of her book. Can’t wait to start the second novel in the series <i>Heroes or Thevies</i>! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For author’s
official website please click <a href="http://www.stepsofpower.com/" target="_blank">here.</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-47257928585075232362016-07-02T06:42:00.001-07:002016-07-02T06:42:56.246-07:00The Black Stone, Nick Brown<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oXjKJ7sPTDo/V3fB5ptG6zI/AAAAAAAAB6w/QrNXi_g_O3A2egU1s8SRCZRf4Bp6mYunwCLcB/s1600/The%2BBlack%2BStone%2Bpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oXjKJ7sPTDo/V3fB5ptG6zI/AAAAAAAAB6w/QrNXi_g_O3A2egU1s8SRCZRf4Bp6mYunwCLcB/s200/The%2BBlack%2BStone%2Bpic.jpg" width="129" /></a><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></u></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Publishers:</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Hodder & Stoughton</span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pages:</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> 470</span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Main Characters:</span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Cassius, Indavara, Khalima</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When the
sacred Black Stone of Emesa is stolen by a mysterious enemy of Rome, Cassius is
set the task of recovering it for his Emperor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The identity and location of the thieves are unknown. Nevertheless,
Cassius must create a small task force to gain information from an imperial spy
in Petra and then use that information to track down the stone. However, the
Corn Man soon finds out that the theft of the sacred object could be linked
with Rome’s allies the Tanukh: a confederation of Arabian tribes that
traditionally guards Rome’s frontier. Cassius must come up with a plan to
return the stone to Rome and ease relations with Rome’s old ally, ensuring
another rebellion does not spark in the Empire’s eastern provinces.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Yet again
Brown has managed to create a captivating and thrilling historical fiction
book. I think the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.at/2013/10/agent-of-rome-imperial-banner-nick-brown.html" target="_blank">Agent of Rome </a> </i>series
is by far my favourite Roman series out there at the moment. This is because
Brown creates excellent characters and actually gives them personalities that
make them feel human. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Typically
in Roman novels of this type, there are always two main ‘chalk and cheese’
protagonists that really shouldn’t get along. Usually it’s a young buck that
has been thrust into leadership and throughout the books that follow, the
youngster grows into an amazing warrior and leader. Then there is the old
veteran, who has distain for the young officer because of his quick elevation to command, but then over time gains a sense of
respect for the young man as he develops into this great leader.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I believe
Cassius and Indavara aren’t like that. Sure, Cassius was thrown into his
position but he was literally bred from birth to deal with these situations as
he comes from a rich family. Nevertheless, he is no hero and honestly not a
character I like, as he is cowardly and very self-centred. However, this makes
him a great character to read about as he is someone different from the usual
zero-to-hero protagonist that defines this genre of historical-fiction. His
partner in the books is also unusual because at times I don’t think he even
likes Cassius. In addition, there is an air of mystery around Indavara, which
I’m excited to learn more about in future novels. This again makes him
interesting to me because he is not the two dimensional character you usually
see in this genre. We don’t really know what his motives are because we
don’t know that much about him, which is great for the reader as this factor
sometimes makes him unpredictable.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Finally,
another character that shone in this book was Gutha, the German mercenary
working for the Arabians. I thought the small parts in the book about his past
were very interesting and I would love to read more about him in a short story,
so Nick if you’re reading this, please consider it because I’d be the first to
review it!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To conclude
this was a great edition to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Agent of
Rome </i>series and I can’t wait to read the next two books. I would suggest it
to fans of authors like <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.at/search/label/Ben%20Kane" target="_blank">Ben Kane</a>, <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.at/search/label/Anthony%20Riches" target="_blank">Anthony Riches</a> and <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.at/search/label/Simon%20Scarrow" target="_blank">Simon Scarrow</a>. If you are
a historical fiction fan please check out this series, it is a true gem in a
genre that I am starting to feel more and more disillusioned with.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For the author's offical site click <a href="http://www.nickbrownauthor.com/" target="_blank">here.</a></span></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-91918458539136796552016-06-30T13:51:00.000-07:002016-06-30T13:55:41.239-07:00Five Awesome Books that Need Your Help: The Best of Kickstarter June 2016<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Kickstarter
is a great way for ordinary, creative people to crowd source money to help fund
projects and publish them to the world. I initially heard about Kickstarter a
few years ago as many video game developers and publishers were using the
platform to gain millions of dollars to fund their games. Since then, a whole
range of different categories have developed on the website. There is music,
technology and most importantly (for me anyway) publishing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qihvt4cRT7g/V3WB8R2_8UI/AAAAAAAAB6g/_nRJrmbDDOYFw-2cnhtM6PT_n1GLsJqZQCLcB/s1600/kickstarter-logo-whitebg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qihvt4cRT7g/V3WB8R2_8UI/AAAAAAAAB6g/_nRJrmbDDOYFw-2cnhtM6PT_n1GLsJqZQCLcB/s320/kickstarter-logo-whitebg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How
Kickstarter works is that each project sets a goal it has to reach within a
certain time. The goals range from $10 to literally MILLIONS of dollars depending
on the ambition of the creator. Fans or ‘Backers’ pledge money to help a
project reach its goal. There are usually several different tiers, each of
which is set at a different price point and normally, each tier has a special
reward linked to it. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">These rewards are sometimes small, such as free artwork or
they can be huge; gaining you special perks with whichever project you
supported. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kickstarter is a great way to
support ‘indie’ publishers and usually if you are willing to
wait a while, it is an excellent way to get a bargain.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So here are
five awesome books that need your help to get published from June 2016. Some
may have gained their goal by the time you read this. However, if you’d like to
help the authors, please check out their Kickstarter pages!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1. </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Bastion of Sun, Matthew Wolf</span></b></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is the
third book in Wolf’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ronin Saga </i>and I
believe his third book to be Kickstarted. As Wolf says, the book is ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Rings meets the Knights of the Round Table’ </i>with
Japanese Samurai undertones flowing throughout the series. From his ‘pitch’ video,
the novel sounds very intriguing for fantasy fans and the artwork from the book
looks magnificent. If you’re interested in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bastion
of Sun </i>by Matthew Wolf then check out his Kickstarter <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/603494848/bastion-of-sun-book-three-of-the-ronin-saga?ref=category" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/603494848/bastion-of-sun-book-three-of-the-ronin-saga/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2. </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Boy in the Castle, Inkylizard</span></b></span><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I think
this is the most unusual book in this list and the hardest for me to define. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boy
in the Castle </i>is a fairy tale picture book for all ages. The book is written
by Scottish song writer Matt Johnston and illustrated by Katie Rebecca Siegle.
A love story that tries to tackle and challenge the stigma around depression, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boy in the Castle </i>seems like a
beautifully illustrated novel with much more depth than first appears. The
artwork is wonderful and worth checking out even if you don’t want to support
the book. Find Inkylizard’s Kickstarter <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1070314698/the-boy-in-the-castle?ref=category" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1070314698/the-boy-in-the-castle/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3. </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Delta Vol 1, Ryan Nichols</span></b></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As you can
probably guess from the title, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delta Vol
1</i> is a comic book. Based in a world created and neglected by a cruel God
and with artwork from over 30 artists, Delta is packed full of unique
characters and brutal stories. The thing that drew me to this comic was its range
of different art styles and the huge variety of characters in the comic. In
addition to the comic itself, the perks are pretty awesome too! If you pledge
enough money you may be added as a character to the book. This is a great opportunity
to get into a new and original comic book and if you’d like to learn more about
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delta Vol 1</i> click <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1196722052/delta-volume-1-by-ryan-nichols?ref=category" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1196722052/delta-volume-1-by-ryan-nichols/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4. </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Angelarium: Book of Watchers, Peter
Mohrbacher</span></b></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is the
second book in the Angelarium series and boasts almost twice the content of the
original book. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angelarium is based
thousands of years ago when angels came to Earth to help teach mankind.
However, with their descent from the heavens, the angels also brought catastrophes
no one could have foreseen. This book is a collection of amazing gothic-style
artwork coupled alongside short stories and poems from the world Mohrbacher has
created. Such a cool concept for a book! Find out more at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Angelarium: Book of Watchers</i>’ Kickstarter <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1680814846/angelarium-book-of-watchers?ref=category_recommended" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1680814846/angelarium-book-of-watchers/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5. </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sherlock Holmes Re-Imagined, Steve
Emecz</span></b></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Perhaps the
quirkiest book on this list, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sherlock
Holmes Re-Imagined </i>is a picture book which re-enacts original Sidney Paget
illustrations (from the Sherlock Holmes books) in LEGO! I think this is such a
great idea to get kids interested in Sherlock Holmes and anything with Lego is
cool to me! To learn more about this book check out their Kickstarter <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/sherlock-holmes-re-imagined-with-lego-figures?ref=category" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyutXp8jwr0/V3WBgM7TtUI/AAAAAAAAB6U/20jgB1YbnkI7OmxfVX4d2qpxOhUR-1SqwCLcB/s1600/Sherlock%2BHolmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyutXp8jwr0/V3WBgM7TtUI/AAAAAAAAB6U/20jgB1YbnkI7OmxfVX4d2qpxOhUR-1SqwCLcB/s320/Sherlock%2BHolmes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I found Holmes fast asleep" (Case of Identity) from Kickstarter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So there
you have it, Five Awesome Books that Need Your Help! Please let me know what
you thought of the books I’ve listed and what you thought of the list itself. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I plan to
do one every month so any feedback would be great! Just reach out to me on
either <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adampreviews/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/adam_p_reviews" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</span></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-63500146465952369592016-06-26T07:17:00.000-07:002016-06-26T07:34:19.224-07:00Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKT6V_0sntA/V2_eoR2EklI/AAAAAAAAB5w/xjFpZzx6gqo3UdJhPWYbZGpGD0kWoCY-gCLcB/s1600/HMC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKT6V_0sntA/V2_eoR2EklI/AAAAAAAAB5w/xjFpZzx6gqo3UdJhPWYbZGpGD0kWoCY-gCLcB/s200/HMC.jpg" width="131" /></a><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></u></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Publishers:</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Greenwillow Books</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pages:</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> 336</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Main Characters:</span></u></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Howl, Sophie, The Witch of the Waste, </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I first
read this book after seeing it beautifully visualised in Studio Ghibli’s and
Hayao Miyazaki’s movie adaptation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Howl’s
Moving Castle. </i>The artwork of the film was breathtaking and after finding
out the author of the book was actually Welsh, I really wanted to see for
myself how the Japanese movie differed from the novel.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iwROgK94zcM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iwROgK94zcM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Trailer for the movie </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The book is
based in a fictional kingdom called Ingary and the main character is a young
girl called Sophie Hatter, who as the name suggests, is a hat maker’s
apprentice. After a chance encounter with the local wizard Howl, Sophie is
cursed by one of his jealous old lovers and turned into an old woman.
The worst part of the curse is that Sophie can’t tell anyone that she was cursed and
therefore the curse cannot be lifted. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Overcome
with anger and fear, Sophie decides to leave her home town of Market Chipping
and wander the wastes surrounding the city, looking for the witch that cursed her.
However, what she finds is something much more peculiar; a magical, mechanical
castle the roams the wastes on its own free will. Sophie is forced to shelter
inside the castle and there meets the wizard Howl again. After making an
agreement with Howl’s fire demon Calcifer, Sophie decides to stay on as the
Wizard’s house maid, which leads her on a magical fairy-tale of love, jealousy
and tragedy.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This novel
is great but for the first time ever, I think I have to say that I preferred the
movie more. The artwork is so beautiful in Miyazaki’s masterpiece that I think
the film is one of the best ever. The book was really enjoyable too but I think
Miyazaki did a fantastic job of trimming some of the fat from the novel which I
think was not necessarily needed. For example, there is some inter-dimensional
stuff that happens in the book which I didn’t like. I thought Jones’s world was
so incredibly imagined that she didn’t need to bring the plot into our actual
world. I thought doing this made the plot line increasingly confusing and killed
the pacing of the novel. Almost like the weird scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Empire Strikes Back </i>where Luke fights Darth Vader in that
strange cave. As this book is part of a trilogy maybe this inter-dimensional
stuff is explained in the last two novels, however, I still believe that in
this novel it made no sense.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To
conclude, this was an extremely enjoyable and imaginative fantasy/ fairy-tale
but I really can’t stress enough how beautiful the movie is, so make sure you
check it out too. I’m very interested to see what happens in the following
novels in the trilogy and will hopefully review them one day soon!</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For author’s
official website click <a href="http://www.dianawynnejones.com/dwjflash.htm" target="_blank">here.</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-7762358445755614442016-05-13T08:17:00.001-07:002016-05-13T08:17:17.699-07:00Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Eastman,Waltz, Duncan (Comic Book Review)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M4IVBzZZom4/VzIMmxqvvLI/AAAAAAAAB5I/ta_ruHor5DACNBAGxzjI4NBW0v2adHJLwCLcB/s1600/TNMT%2BPic%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M4IVBzZZom4/VzIMmxqvvLI/AAAAAAAAB5I/ta_ruHor5DACNBAGxzjI4NBW0v2adHJLwCLcB/s320/TNMT%2BPic%2B1.jpg" width="209" /></a><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I decided
to give this comic book series a try as I was such a huge fan of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles </i>TV show
when I was a kid. Plus, the fact that a new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TMNT</i>
video game is getting released in a few weeks also swayed me to pick up these
comics. This is because one of the lead artists on the game also worked on the
comic books. As the game looks amazing, I thought I’d love the comics too.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4NDzsqyAJsw/VzINc_eTGcI/AAAAAAAAB5U/aSik4l_-L_IQv4wXGCb8wx8due9tQ-aZwCLcB/s1600/TMNT%2BPic%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4NDzsqyAJsw/VzINc_eTGcI/AAAAAAAAB5U/aSik4l_-L_IQv4wXGCb8wx8due9tQ-aZwCLcB/s320/TMNT%2BPic%2B3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork from game</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Unfortunately
this wasn’t the case. The art style in the video game was very bright and easy
to look at and enjoy, whereas I found the comics to be almost monochrome,
limited to blacks, greens and reds. It gives the art style of the comic a much
more grown up feel, which it could be argued is the comic’s target audience as
most of its reader would have grown up with the Turtles as kids (like me).
However, I felt it was too harsh for me because the limited colour pallet didn’t
distinguish each individual tile of artwork from one and other. This led me to
mostly just read the text in the book and not look at the corresponding
pictures because I enjoyed the story more than the artwork.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-esOfGYVa-7I/VzINKXiz3LI/AAAAAAAAB5M/d5p5QCDRHLcuUlf76qFPc0rMUDleN8KJACLcB/s1600/TMNT%2BPic%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-esOfGYVa-7I/VzINKXiz3LI/AAAAAAAAB5M/d5p5QCDRHLcuUlf76qFPc0rMUDleN8KJACLcB/s320/TMNT%2BPic%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The story
is the origin story of the Turtles and their master Splinter. Though some parts
of the story were ridiculous; like Splinter (as a rat and not a mutant)
defeating two Ninjas as they try and steal the Turtles, I still thought it was
very original and more dynamic than the original origin stories from the TV
show and numerous movies following it. The loss of Raphael was interesting and
used well as it gave the writers a chance to introduce other key characters in
the series, which I thought was an refreshing sub-plot and really enjoyed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I won’t be
continuing this series as I feel it’s not for me. However, if you are a
TMNT fan I think you should give <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vol 1</i>
a try, as it is quite short and actually has an ending where you can walk away
from the series feeling content.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">To buy the comics click <a href="https://www.comixology.eu/Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles/comics-series/6433?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC9zZXJpZXNTbGlkZXI" target="_blank">here.</a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-72740967730560463642016-05-09T03:49:00.000-07:002016-05-09T03:49:13.659-07:00Dead Eyes, N. H. Brown<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-95PSh9ZF33A/VzBpdxN5WaI/AAAAAAAAB44/ardHh6UW318R222tOGy-E_eFUw71-qtOgCLcB/s1600/Dead%2BEyes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-95PSh9ZF33A/VzBpdxN5WaI/AAAAAAAAB44/ardHh6UW318R222tOGy-E_eFUw71-qtOgCLcB/s200/Dead%2BEyes.jpg" width="124" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Publishers:</u></b> N. H. Brown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Pages:</u></b> 40<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Main Characters:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mackay, Hayley Drasic,
Donald Mathews-Vartini<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dead Eyes</i> is a
collection of three short sci-fi stories by author N. H. Brown. For fans of
historical fiction, Nick also writes the amazing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Agent of Rome </i>series that I have reviewed <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.at/search/label/Nick%20Brown" target="_blank">here</a>. The three stories
are called: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dead Eyes, Four Numbers </i>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Afflict</i>. The stories are based on
different characters whom seem to all co-exist in the same universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dead Eyes </i>tells
the tale of Captain Mackay, a down on his luck Captain looking for his big
break. Mackay and his crew are somewhat like bounty hunters but instead of
hunting people, the crew look for rare resources on distant planets in the
universe.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Mackay finds his break on
the planet of Chasseur-Malcom where a huge deposit of crude oil has been
discovered. Mackay and his crew must race to the newly surveyed planet before
his competitors can lay claim to the lucrative crude oil. However, what Mackay
and the small crew of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Great White </i>discover
there is far more dangerous than their competitors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hayley Drasic is a soldier serving on Cygna 8, a small human
colony on the far reaches of space. With a population of around 600, most
people believed that the planet should have been abandoned when ruthlessly
invaded by a mysterious alien race. However, orders are orders and the defence
force fought valiantly against the ‘Sticks’(as the bionic aliens have become
known). Nevertheless, the humans have been pushed back into a canyon and the
future looks bleak for Hayley Drasic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The final story is very short and I think the most
intriguing. Donald Mathews-Vartini is met by a mysterious figure in his office.
The strange looking man offers to take all of Earth’s most evil people and
wrong doers and make them disappear. Though the offer seems too good to turn
down, the stranger’s plan for the wrong doers are never revealed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could they come back to haunt Donald in the
future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I really enjoyed these short stories and it was very interesting
to see Brown turn his hand to Sci-Fi. Each story teased me enough to want to
know more about the characters and read more about them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I also thought the stories were unique in their sci-fi
setting because they weren’t too heavily focused on futuristic science.
Different cultural identities still exist from Earth in Brown’s universe and
their goals still feel human. What I mean by this is that Earth is still
looking for oil on far off planets and still has problems that affect humanity
today. In some respects, I found this limited the stories because I like
my Sci-Fi to be epic and be withdrawn from the plights of humanity today.
Nevertheless, I did like the stories and would be interested to read more about
these characters, especially Mackay and the crew of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great White.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dead Eyes</i> is priced
at £0.99 on Amazon at the minute and is a steal at that price so go and get it!
If you like Sci-Fi definitely check it out and let me know what you think of
the short stories!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For author’s official website click <a href="http://www.nickbrownauthor.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-51916183404219962852016-04-04T11:30:00.000-07:002016-04-04T11:30:44.725-07:00The Skull Throne, Peter V. Brett<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<u><br /></u></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VF2GeZ-MDYg/VwKwOtoQHSI/AAAAAAAAB4k/LwI5CqXu2_0AtVsvrZbrb8OdCItPuDYzg/s1600/Skull%2BThrone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VF2GeZ-MDYg/VwKwOtoQHSI/AAAAAAAAB4k/LwI5CqXu2_0AtVsvrZbrb8OdCItPuDYzg/s200/Skull%2BThrone.jpg" width="131" /></a><u>Publishers: </u>Harper
Voyager<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Pages:</u> 786<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Main Characters:<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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<u><br /></u></div>
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Arlen, Jardir, Leesha,
Rojer,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>The Skull Throne </i>is
the fourth book in this ever expanding dark fantasy world and takes places
directly after the ending of <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-daylight-war-peter-v-brett.html" target="_blank"><i>The Daylight War</i></a><i>.</i> With the battle between Arlen and Jardir ending in the disappearance
of both potential ‘Deliverers’, the whole of Thesa is thrown into chaos as
rivalling powers struggle to fill the power vacuum Jardir leaves behind.<o:p></o:p></div>
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His two sons Jajan and Asome both set out on their own paths
to seek glory and stake their claim to their father’s skull throne. Jajan is
sent by his mother Inevera to Dock Town to fulfil his father’s plan of
attacking the Duchy of Laktons’ source of food for the winter. Whilst Asome
tries to build support by defying his father’s wishes and letting his Dama
warriors fight in Alagai’sharak.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meanwhile, Leesha Paper and Rojer Halfgrip travel to Fort
Angiers to assist the Duke there. However, what they don’t realise is that they
are walking into a vipers pit, where court intrigue rules. Mixing this with old
enemies, Leesha, Rojer and his wives must be cautious in the capital if they
are to survive and fulfil Arlen Bails’s plan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve been reading and listening to this series over a number
of years now. It has always been a series that I enjoy coming back to, however I never
rush to read the new novels when they are first published. I've always found them
to be interesting but never all engrossing like other fantasy series can be.
However, this book totally, totally changed that. </div>
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The plot moves away from the
focus of killing daemons which was the emphasis of the first three novels. With the disappearance of Arlen and Jardir, the focus of the
novel twists to the spiritual conundrum of humans fighting each other for the power
to lead and continue the war on daemon kind. Jardir’s sons tare their father’s
hard earned Empire apart as they both struggle for control. Honestly, the
intrigue and plots in this book are epic and I haven’t been so immersed in a
novel like this since <i>A Game of Thrones. </i>So much so that all I’m thinking about is what could happen next!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>The Skull Throne </i>is
by far the best book in the series and I’m so excited for the next novel! I
would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of epic fantasy like <i>A Game of Thrones </i>or <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Mark%20Lawrence" target="_blank">Mark Lawrence's</a><i>The Brocken Empire </i>series.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For author’s official website click <a href="http://www.petervbrett.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><o:p></o:p></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-29665301592703227542016-03-18T14:54:00.000-07:002016-06-27T08:20:56.085-07:00Hominids Book 1 (Chapters 1-6), Jordan Kotzebue (Comic Book) <div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--dEBzlCdo-U/VusT4psFnTI/AAAAAAAAB4I/LvWsG-3jWiYS5hSwMJfe3oA-cc9ICb0ew/s1600/Hominids%2BPic%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--dEBzlCdo-U/VusT4psFnTI/AAAAAAAAB4I/LvWsG-3jWiYS5hSwMJfe3oA-cc9ICb0ew/s400/Hominids%2BPic%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comic covers for Chapters 1-3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It’s not very often that you can read a book or watch a
movie and tell within the first few seconds that you love it. From the first wonderful page of <i>Hominids </i>by Jordan Kotzebue, I was totally hooked. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The comic is based in a mystical, pre-historic forest that
is as old as time itself. Within the forest are a number of different
human-like species that are all waging war with each other for the scarce
resources in the deadly undergrowth. Dominant among these are the Tree-Dwellers,
who try and live pacifist lives and do their best to co-exist with the other
species. However, their biggest rivals are the Mountain-Dwellers who jealously
look upon the people of the trees and crave their life of prosperity and
plentifulness. The Mountain-Dwellers are the most violent faction in the forest
and want to consistently wage war on the Tree-Dwellers and turn them into
livestock; to help rebuild their once great city.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nevertheless, when a stray Mountain-Dweller is found
wondering the forest, the leader of the Tree-Dwellers Zona hopes to teach the
boy that her pack (tribe) do not wish for war and want to co-exist with the men
of the mountain. However, men’s hearts don’t easily change and though they
befriend the boy, his elders still seek the imprisonment and
extermination of the peaceful Tree-Dweller pack.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qDhB7_Zk3Ds/VusRIy8tzhI/AAAAAAAAB38/ceSp69b4D9ID9RjrR6jZMU6oTT5k2TJxA/s1600/Hominids%2BPage%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qDhB7_Zk3Ds/VusRIy8tzhI/AAAAAAAAB38/ceSp69b4D9ID9RjrR6jZMU6oTT5k2TJxA/s400/Hominids%2BPage%2B1.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Page 1 that got me so hooked!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As you can see from the image above, the artwork in this
comic is beautiful. I think it’s such a unique twist to base a comic book in a
pre-historic forest. This is because most comics are based around futuristic superheroes,
which I’m not always a fan of. But for me, artwork isn’t everything when reading
a comic. Sure there are thousands of great comic book artists who post on
twitter and reddit and though their artwork is great, their writing isn’t
always that good. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eZN26kfKpRk/VusWt0qabMI/AAAAAAAAB4U/UFJZ_DmTpyosso8Jb1Dy0WalN_v3poq7w/s1600/Hominids%2Bpic%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eZN26kfKpRk/VusWt0qabMI/AAAAAAAAB4U/UFJZ_DmTpyosso8Jb1Dy0WalN_v3poq7w/s400/Hominids%2Bpic%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hominids Covers Chapers 4-6</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I’m please to say <i>Hominids
</i>isn’t like this. I thought the writing was great and Jordan did an
excellent job of establishing his characters by giving them a short bio at the
start of chapter one. Because of this, I found it easy to pick up the characters’
personalities from Jordan’s artwork. In addition, I was totally immersed in the
plot and sub-plots of the comic, which isn’t always the case when reading comic
books I’ve found on the web! My only small critique is that Jordan obviously
tries to get a point across in his comics about the state of the human race and
religion. Nevertheless, I think he could make it a little more subtle in his
writing when putting this moral into the story, instead of obviously stating his
beliefs on the human race (which to be fair, I agree with).<o:p></o:p></div>
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All in all, this was an exceptional comic book and I
thoroughly enjoyed it! If you are like me and want to get into comic books I
think <i>Hominids </i>would be a perfect
place to start and if you are a comic book veteran, why not try something new
and refreshingly different?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Please check out Jordan’s website where he posts regular
updates to his comics <a href="http://hominidscomic.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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If you’d like to buy any books of <i>Hominids </i>they are available at <a href="https://www.comixology.co.uk/search?search=hominids" target="_blank">ComiXology</a><o:p></o:p></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-63933519092529560212016-03-14T13:15:00.000-07:002016-03-14T13:15:14.361-07:00The Autumn Republic, Brian McClellan<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<u><br /></u></div>
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<u></u></div>
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<u><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HVPgo4uWdMg/VucZZrk8LMI/AAAAAAAAB3g/-pVNg3KzUcEnIX973HLQIYlnGnHhqgvsQ/s1600/Autumn%2BRepublic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HVPgo4uWdMg/VucZZrk8LMI/AAAAAAAAB3g/-pVNg3KzUcEnIX973HLQIYlnGnHhqgvsQ/s200/Autumn%2BRepublic.jpg" width="129" /></a><u><br /></u></u></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<u><u>Publishers: </u>Orbit</u></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<u>Pages:</u> 577<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Main Characters:<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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<u><br /></u></div>
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Tamas, Taniel, Adamat,
Nila.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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After absolutely flying through <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/the-crimson-campaign-brain-mcclellan.html" target="_blank"><i>The Crimson Campaign</i></a><i> </i>I was extremely excited to start <i>The Autumn Republic. </i>I thought <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Brian%20McClellan" target="_blank">McClellan</a> left the threads of each individual character perfectly placed at the end of <i>The Crimson Campaign</i> to make this final
book in the series incredibly epic! Tamas was on his way back to his soldiers
with sixty thousand new men. Taniel had escaped his captures and looked ready
to enact revenge on the Kez, and Adamat was prepared to go behind enemy lines
to find his kidnapped son.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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It saddens me to say that though I was excited to read <i>The Autumn Republic,</i> it left me feeling
underwhelmed and a little disappointed. These stories never seemed to materialise
at all. Much of the first half of the book was devoted to characters such as
Nila, Vlora and Olem and I felt that the main plots for the three leading
characters were almost rushed, as they seemed to be concluded so quickly. In
addition, as the start of the book was so heavily focused on it; I became invested
in Nila’s story. But then the novel then seemed to trail away from her tale
and onto something else (Lord Claremonte) and again, only rounded up her story
quickly at the end of the book. It almost felt like McClellan wedged in the
problem with Lord Claremonte without considering how he could properly round up
everyone else’s plots from <i>The Crimson
Campaign.</i> And though I did like that the author added a new antagonist, I
thought that the big reveal surrounding him was a little too obvious, making me
want to read on past Adamant’s detective work around Claremonte until the big
fight scene at the end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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However, though I have painted a bleak picture of the book
there was some parts that I really liked. Firstly, I still love the world
McClellan has created and feel he has left the ending open to expand on that
world with new characters. Plus, I did enjoy the events in the book but they
didn’t turn out how I expected them to be. If this was a stand-alone novel I
would definitely give it five stars, but with the build up from <i>The Promise of Blood </i>and <i>The Crimson Campaign</i> I expected more
from McClellan in this final novel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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To conclude, this was an enjoyable read but was a little
underwhelming. If you’re a fantasy fan you must read this trilogy though, it’s
one of the best! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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For author’s official website click <a href="http://www.brianmcclellan.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><o:p></o:p></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-47290378073278540702016-03-07T09:08:00.002-08:002016-03-07T09:08:46.791-08:00Dark Disciple, Christie Golden Youtube ReviewHere's my youtube review of Dark Disciple by Christie Golden. It's a great book and any Star Wars fan would love it!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4o0CHI9ZEHQ/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4o0CHI9ZEHQ?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Please be sure to like, comment and subscribe!</div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-64227133397140367562016-03-04T11:41:00.000-08:002016-03-07T09:09:16.935-08:00Dark Disciple, Christie Golden<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FX4hg2OArkI/VtncxjN5j4I/AAAAAAAABz4/v0ux4zwcFeA/s1600/Dark%2BDisciples.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FX4hg2OArkI/VtncxjN5j4I/AAAAAAAABz4/v0ux4zwcFeA/s200/Dark%2BDisciples.png" width="131" /></a><b><u>Publishers:</u></b> Del Rey<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Pages:</u></b> 302<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Main Characters:</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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Vos, Ventress, Count
Dooku, Obi Wan Kenobi<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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I’ve only ever read one other book in the Star Wars extended
universe and that was<i> <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/darth-plaugeis-james-luceno.html" target="_blank">Darth Plaugeis</a> </i>by <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/James%20Luceno" target="_blank">James Luceno</a> . In my review I said it should have been renamed ‘the secret
history of the fall of the Republic’ as the book was so packed with boring
detail about politics and economics that happen within the SW universe. Remembering this made me a bit hesitant to
try other SW novels, as I was worried that they too would be full of
important, though boring facts, about the SW galaxy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rGeo52yW4N4/VtneGQcdWKI/AAAAAAAAB0A/Qf4jWo7T39U/s1600/QuinVos-Survivor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rGeo52yW4N4/VtneGQcdWKI/AAAAAAAAB0A/Qf4jWo7T39U/s200/QuinVos-Survivor.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artist's impression of Vos</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So it was my pleasure to find that <i>Dark Disciple </i>was totally different from <i>Darth Plagueis</i>. At its heart this novel is a love story between two
star crossed lovers. I know; we’ve seen it all before in SW with Anakin and
Padme’s ‘love’ in the prequel movies. However, the two protagonists in this
novel: Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress (from SW Clone Wars) really made the love
story seem believable. This is because they both work alone and don’t need a
partner. Nonetheless, when forced to work together by the Jedi council and
asked to do something morally wrong in assassinating Count Dooku, the couple
find that they need each other to cope with the gruesome task, whilst also guiding
each other around the Dark Side. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AkJ87DZ4OsU/VtnedMHkjaI/AAAAAAAAB0E/NT0p7QJ_aZI/s1600/Ventress.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AkJ87DZ4OsU/VtnedMHkjaI/AAAAAAAAB0E/NT0p7QJ_aZI/s200/Ventress.png" width="159" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ventress</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And this dabble with the Dark Side is what I think makes
this book extremely addictive as Golden does an excellent job of making you
guess if Vos is a good guy or a bad guy. I think the author balances
this question on a knife point throughout the last third of the novel by just showing the reader enough to think Vos may or may not be evil, which envelops the reader in Vos’s inner turmoil and his relationship with Ventress.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition, by adding well known characters such as Anakin
and Obi Wan to the main plot line made this novel very accessible to readers
like me who haven’t read that many SW books. This makes it easier for the
reader to become immersed in the story as they know and love these characters and
can picture them easily in their mind. Plus, it gives a different incite onto
those established characters. This is because they are mostly in the background of the novel and the reader gets to see how they interact with other
characters that were not in the movies.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4o0CHI9ZEHQ/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4o0CHI9ZEHQ?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Youtube review of the book</div>
</div>
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All in all, <i>Dark
Disciple </i>was an amazing book and is definitely a good place to start if you
are looking to get into SW novels. I would love it if Golden wrote more novels
about Vos, especially if they were based before he met Ventress.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For author's official website click <a href="http://www.christiegolden.com/" target="_blank">here.</a></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-56220357233521656012016-02-28T02:11:00.000-08:002016-02-28T02:11:40.936-08:00The Crimson Campaign, Brian McClellan Youtube ReviewHere's my Youtube review of Brian McClellan's epic fantasy novel The Crimson Campaign.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jrq5VtTR7gY/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jrq5VtTR7gY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe if you enjoyed!</div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-68892435953445302542016-02-25T12:33:00.001-08:002016-06-26T08:12:29.285-07:00George R.R. Martin Rewards Readers with New Twist in The Winds of Winter!<div class="MsoNormal">
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Today <a href="http://uk.ign.com/" target="_blank">IGN</a> posted an interview with <i>A Song of Ice and Fire</i>’s author <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/George%20R.%20R.%20Martin" target="_blank">George R. R. Martin</a>, who everyone
knows is the author of <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/game-of-thrones-george-r-r-martin.html" target="_blank"><i>A Game of Thrones</i></a><i> </i>which
the hugely popular TV series is based on. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Though the new book <i>The Winds of Winter </i>won’t be released until after Season 6 of the show is aired,
the new novel won’t be totally spoiled by the TV show! In his interview with
IGN, Martin explains that he has taken his own artistic license to deviate from
the plot of the show and add a new twist to his novel; explaining that he will
reintroduce a character that is dead in the show but not dead in his books!
This new change in <i>The Winds of Winter </i>will give an answer to the question ‘why would you read the book when you can
watch the TV show?’ It shows that though it may be easier to watch something
than to read something, Martin is giving his loyal fans, some of whom have read
the series for over 30 years, something to look forward to. I think that this
nod to his fans needed to happen as many book lovers were starting to feel left
behind (myself included). <o:p></o:p></div>
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For anyone that doesn’t know, Martin’s books are massive and
go well into the hundreds and sometimes thousands of pages. So much so that two
of them had to be split up into two parts because they were deemed too long. I
read the first five books back-to-back and it took me months to finish them and
like everybody else, I’ve been waiting a good five years for a new one to be
released! So then to be told that the show will out pace the books really annoyed me, because
it made me feel like I was being punished for taking the time to read the
novels. However, knowing that Martin will add extra plot lines and maybe even
different characters to his next novel is extremely exciting and takes away the
bitter taste I had in my mouth about the TV series.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now I am looking forward to reading <i>The Winds of Winter</i> and catching up with Season 5; even though I heard
it wasn’t that great! Nonetheless, I will still wait to watch Season 6 until
after I’ve finished the new book! Just in case there are spoilers!<o:p></o:p></div>
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What do you think of this development in <i>A Game of Thrones</i>? Are you like me and a
long-time fan of the books and annoyed that TV audiences are given priority
over book lovers? Or are you a TV fan and just happy that you’ll be getting the
next installment of this epic series? Plus, who do you think this mysterious
character will be? Let me know in the comments below or head over to my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adampreviews/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> channel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-86616219542111896272016-02-22T11:17:00.000-08:002016-02-28T02:09:59.088-08:00The Crimson Campaign, Brian McClellan<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6OWwG7FctI/VstVSrc1DOI/AAAAAAAABy8/1-Xn4ElGUBo/s1600/Crimson%2BCampaign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6OWwG7FctI/VstVSrc1DOI/AAAAAAAABy8/1-Xn4ElGUBo/s200/Crimson%2BCampaign.jpg" width="129" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Publishers:</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Orbit</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Pages:</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> 596</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Main Characters:</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Taniel, Tamas, Adamat</span></div>
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<i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Crimson Campaign </span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; text-align: left;">is
the second book in Brian McClellan’s epic </span><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Powder
Mage </span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; text-align: left;">series and pretty much picks up the story where it was left off in </span><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Promise of Blood</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; text-align: left;">. Like the first
novel, book two is also split into three different plot lines which revolve
around three different characters: Tamas, Taniel and Adamat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Field Marshal Tamas is protecting Adro’s borders from a
gigantic Kez army that plans to invade and reinstate the monarchy Tamas worked
so hard to topple. Though his army is greatly outnumbered, the Field Marshal
feels confident that his well trained and disciplined troops will overcome the
rabble of Kez soldiers. Though he believes in his troops, Tamas knows that
nothing in war is certain and when a chance arises to outflank his enemy and
possibly end the war; Tamas takes two of his best brigades and his infamous
Powder Mages to finally wipe out the Kez threat. However, the Field Marshal is deceived
and has to watch as his army is destroyed. Now Tamas is trapped behind enemy
lines and must march his men hundreds of miles through enemy territory to get
back to Adro and save his country from another despot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Killing a god can have serious consequences and when Taniel
Two-Shot put a bullet through Kresimir’s eye, his life changed forever. After
waking up from a coma, Taniel tries to forget his old life as a soldier and falls
into a vicious cycle of drug abuse and denial as he wastes away in a Mala Den. However,
when a new breed of assassin is sent to kill him, Taniel decides that his fate
lies with the army and returns to the front-line to help defend his country. Nonetheless,
life in the army has changed drastically since his father’s (Tamas) disappearance
and Taniel finds that he is no longer the golden-boy of the Adro army. Plus,
with defeat after defeat pushing the Adro forces back towards the capital
Adopest, Taniel feels that something is amiss with the ruling elite and has to
ruffle a few feathers to find a traitor in his father’s camp.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ApjC_HI5emE/Vstddc4MatI/AAAAAAAABzI/9Aih2sxIZT0/s1600/Napoloen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ApjC_HI5emE/Vstddc4MatI/AAAAAAAABzI/9Aih2sxIZT0/s320/Napoloen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art from Napoloenic Wars, reminds me of Adro's army!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Inspector Adamat is still on the hunt for his kidnapped
family. With the help of Tamas, he manages to free his youngest children from
the lair of Lord Vetas; a conspirator against Tamas and a royalist who wishes
to see Adro returned to the rule of the King. Vetas is even more cunning than
Adamat imagined and though he saved his children, the Lord still has Adamat’s
wife and eldest son locked away in his stronghold. Adamat has to face the
challenge head on and tasks himself with recruiting allies to tackle Vetas.
However, when Adamat learns the Lord has a Privileged, the Inspector must look
to someone from Adro’s despotic past for help.</span><br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jrq5VtTR7gY/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jrq5VtTR7gY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My Youtube Review</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Like the first book in the series (which I’ve read but haven’t
reviewed) </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Crimson Campaign </span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri";">was
amazing! I am a huge fan of fantasy books and authors, but for me Brian
McClellan goes above and beyond with this series for his original story and
setting. Basing a novel in a Napoleonic-like era really hits a soft spot with
me because I am such a history nerd about the French Revolution and the
Napoleonic Wars. Then to mix in the fantasy of magic, sorcery, Powder Mages (mages that gain
their power from gunpowder) and epic Gods ultimately makes this series truly
great.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Honestly, if you are into fantasy books or authors like <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Mark%20Lawrence" target="_blank">Mark Lawrence</a> or <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Patrick%20Rothfuss" target="_blank">Patrick Rothfuss</a> you have to check out this series. I thought the
first book; </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Promise of Blood</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> was
equally as good as this one and I can’t wait to read </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Autumn Republic</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri";">! It’s so exciting to find that there are these
great fantasy trilogies out there and that they are not just dragging out
series like what seems to be happening in the historical-fiction genre at the moment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For author’s official website click <a href="http://www.brianmcclellan.com/" target="_blank">here.</a></span></div>
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adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-83071974471975409752016-02-16T13:35:00.002-08:002016-02-16T13:35:39.766-08:00Star Wars: Kanan The Last Padawan Youtube ReviewHere's my YouTube review of <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/star-wars-kanan-last-padawan-volume-1.html" target="_blank">Star Wars, Kanan The Last Padawan.</a> <br />
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If enjoyed the video please be sure to leave a like on it and subscribe to my YouTube if you want to see more videos!<br />
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adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-50548534951339051742016-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:002016-02-16T13:36:17.241-08:00Star Wars, Kanan The Last Padawan Volume 1, Weisman, Larraz and Curiel (Comic Book)<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6OI6zUVv2Ow/VrTxV7BHuPI/AAAAAAAAByA/tVFQxCpy9TI/s1600/Kanan%2Bthe%2Blast%2BPad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6OI6zUVv2Ow/VrTxV7BHuPI/AAAAAAAAByA/tVFQxCpy9TI/s320/Kanan%2Bthe%2Blast%2BPad.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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As some of you may know, I am a massive Star Wars nerd. I
love all the movies, books, video games and TV series that have been spin-offs
from George Lucas’s original trilogy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When <i>The Force Awakens
</i>launched in cinemas at the end of 2015, I spent many months prior to the
release date trying to get myself pumped for the new chapter in the Star Wars
story. Ingesting anything Star Wars, I came across the animated series <i>Rebels </i>which is shown on the Disney XD
TV channel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The series is based around a young boy called Ezra who
accidently learns that he can use the Force. In his adventures Ezra meets a
smuggler called Kanan who later turns out to be an exiled Jedi. Kanan takes
Ezra on as his Padawan learner and tries to teach him the ways of the Force.
However, it is clear in the TV show that Kanan has some sort of dark and
mysterious past as he struggles to be the mentor Ezra needs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kanan intrigued me as a character in the show. Firstly, he
looks bad ass and secondly, the hints towards his past made me do some further
research to try and discover more about this troubled Jedi.<br />
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In doing research I was pleasantly surprised to find that an
entire comic book series had been dedicated to Kanan and his days as a young
Padawan. The series is called <i>Star Wars,
Kanan The Last Padawan </i>and issue 1 was released in April 2015. Since then, issues have
been released on a monthly bases and a Volume 1 (a collection of
the first six comics) was released in November 2015.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finding out there was a comic book series about Kanan really
excited me because I’ve wanted to get into comic books for such a long time and
never really knew where to start! The oversaturation of Marvel and DC Superhero
movies put me off trying any of those comics, as there seems to be loads of different
series of those comics too. However, when I learned there was some recent Star Wars
comics in circulation, I thought this might be the time to dip my toe into the
comic book world!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kanan and crew from <i>Rebels</i></td></tr>
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So at the weekend I headed down to my local comic book store
and picked up Volume 1! I read the whole book in one night; the story was so
good! It tells the tale of Kanan as a young Padawan under the guidance of Jedi
Depa Billaba on the planet of Kaller. The Jedi and Clone Army have liberated
the planet from the iron grip of the Separatists and Kanan is enjoying his
victory. However, when his friends Captain Styles and Commander Grey receive
order sixty six from the newly crown Emperor, Kanan’s sheltered life as a Jedi
apprentice is soon cut short. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Kanan manages to escape with his life as Depa Billaba
sacrifices herself to save the young Padawan. He finds himself alone in
Kaller’s capital city, scrounging for food and trying to keep a low profile as
he plans to escapes the planet. As always, the Force works in mysterious ways
and leads Kanan to a smuggler and rogue called Janus, who takes the starving and
scared child under his wing. The former Padawan thinks he can get on with his
new life and though he has disappeared, his two old friends Styles and Grey are
still on the hunt for the young Jedi traitor that got away…<o:p></o:p></div>
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This comic was everything I wanted; it told a compelling
story about a character who I thought was interesting but knew would never get a movie or TV series of his own. In addition, the artwork was beautiful
and I felt there was an almost Anime feel to Pepe Larraz’s and Jacapo Camagni’s
art which I really appreciated. The colourist David Curiel made his art very dark
and grungy, using lots of browns and oranges which I think added an atmosphere
to Greg Weisman’s writing; helping show Kanan’s distress at losing his
master and starting a new life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DjozkmOmADE/VrTxq-krc-I/AAAAAAAAByE/2un9m9MFjDQ/s1600/Kanan%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DjozkmOmADE/VrTxq-krc-I/AAAAAAAAByE/2un9m9MFjDQ/s320/Kanan%2B2.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example of art</td></tr>
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I really enjoyed reading this comic and I am looking forward
to picking up the other editions in the series that have been released. I hope
my review was ok, it’s my first one so please be kind! I don’t know that much
about art or comic book artists, but approached this review as I would any
other book review and gave my honest opinion!<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you are an avid comic book reader please suggest some
series to me, I would love to get into more obscure comics, as I assume any
Star Wars comic is pretty popular!<o:p></o:p></div>
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My YouTube review</div>
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adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-29183819091198802842016-02-09T10:56:00.003-08:002016-02-09T10:56:53.964-08:00Northern Lights, Youtube Review<br />
For anyone who's interested, here is my YouTube review of Philip Pullman's <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/the-northern-lights-philip-pullman.html" target="_blank">Northern Lights</a>.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hQVnhNhr6lE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hQVnhNhr6lE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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If you enjoy the video be sure to leave my a like and if you want to see more subscribe to my channel!</div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-79194364924970618272016-02-05T09:48:00.000-08:002016-02-09T10:57:40.602-08:00Northern Lights, Philip Pullman<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JUbqWJgci7U/VrTXeK9gwNI/AAAAAAAABxw/O4bHnkpGiIU/s1600/Northern%2BLights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JUbqWJgci7U/VrTXeK9gwNI/AAAAAAAABxw/O4bHnkpGiIU/s200/Northern%2BLights.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
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<u style="text-decoration: underline;">Publishers:</u><u> Knopf Books</u></div>
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<u>Pages:</u> 399<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lyra, Iorek Brynison,
Lord Asriel, Mrs Coulter<o:p></o:p></div>
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Based in a magical alternative reality, <i>Northern Lights </i>tells the tale of Lyra Belacqua and her animal-daemon
Pantalaimon. ‘Pan’ (as he’s known to Lyra) is a magical embodiment of Lyra’s
soul and accompanies her in many different animal forms wherever she goes. The
two best friends live in the oldest and dustiest part of Jordan College in
Oxford. Lyra is like any child living in an old and prestigious college. She
loves to investigate and play in the ancient buildings and get up to no good.
However, one day her mischief directs her down a path that has been long
preordained for her, as she witnesses the attempted murder of her Uncle; Lord
Asriel. As a sort of thank you, Asriel lets Lyra secretly watch his
presentation to the scholars of Oxford and introduces her to the secretive and fascinating
world of Dust.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What Lyra doesn’t know is that the revelation has long been
foreseen and many people are looking to her to help guide and protect them.
However, for the prophecy to come true Lyra must walk this path alone and
discover the meaning of Dust all by herself, without any direct help from other
people. Of course, there are also people who want to harm her; chief among
these is Mrs Coulter. The beautiful woman with the silky voice and scary monkey
daemon is stealing children from families in England to do experiments on them
in the far North. When Lyra’s friend Roger is kidnapped by Mrs Coulter’s group,
she takes it as her personal mission to go North and find him. With the help of
the magical <i>alethiometer, </i>Lyra<i> </i>travels North to the lands of the
Aurora and fighting ice-bears. But what she finds there is way beyond her
comprehension and she will need the help of her new found friends to overcome
the adversity there and discover the secrets of Dust.</div>
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Golden Compass Trailer</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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This book really surprised me because at first I thought I
wasn’t going to like it! I’ve seen the movie <i>The Golden Compass </i>which is based on Pullman’s novel and thought it
was awful! So awful, I’m pretty sure the movie franchise was dropped as the
first installment did so badly. So after reading about twenty pages of <i>The Northern Lights </i>I can happily say
that I was hooked! This was because of the world Pullman creates in this novel.
Like I said, it is an alternative reality because the book is based in England
and the Arctic, but they are very different to the countries we know and love.</div>
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The first big difference in this world is daemons. They show
a physical embodiment of a person’s soul and you can tell a lot about a person
from the form of their daemon. Pan can change form anytime he wants because
Lyra is not yet an adult and therefore has not fully matured into the person
she is going to be. I really liked this feature as it added a dimension to the
protagonist which is not that common. It gave the main character two
personalities as Lyra and Pan were the same person but with different views and
thoughts. I also liked trying to guess what type of person a new character was
going to be, by reading about their daemons and trying to guess if they were a
goody or a bady! <o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition, I thought the steam-punk world was very cool
and it gave a very scientific and industrial feel to the novel without having
to base the world in a modern era. The idea of Zeppelins flying around and huge
clockwork machines also gave the world a great atmosphere, as it made me think of
19<sup>th</sup> Century England with smog in the air and whole cities being covered
in coal dust.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hQVnhNhr6lE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hQVnhNhr6lE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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My YouTube review of the novel</div>
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This was a great novel and came at a good time for me
because I have been looking for something different to read for ages and this
series really fits the bill! I can’t wait to check out the next novel in the
series; <i>The Subtle Knife</i>! I would
suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of fantasy novels like <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/name-of-wind-patrick-rothfuss.html" target="_blank"><i>The Name of the Wind</i></a> or <i>The Promise of Blood</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For author’s official website click <a href="http://www.philip-pullman.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><o:p></o:p></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-14221921240562347862016-02-03T13:43:00.001-08:002016-02-05T09:49:37.242-08:00Long Time No See!Sadly over the last few years I've been neglecting my Youtube channel. However I plan to be much more active over there and will be posting book reviews and some other cool things which I think you guys will like!<br />
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Please remember to like, comment and subscribe to my channel!<br />
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<br />adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-25478339053288456162016-01-28T12:05:00.000-08:002016-01-28T12:05:32.031-08:00The Daylight War, Peter V. Brett<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O7OlkY4jodg/Vqpvni9ABJI/AAAAAAAABxU/IjVmV0XWHo4/s1600/The%2BDaylight%2BWar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O7OlkY4jodg/Vqpvni9ABJI/AAAAAAAABxU/IjVmV0XWHo4/s200/The%2BDaylight%2BWar.jpg" width="131" /></a><u></u></div>
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<u><u>Publishers: </u>Random
House</u></div>
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<u>Pages:</u> 639<o:p></o:p></div>
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Arlen, Ahmann, Leesha,
Rojer<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the blackest night of the waning of the moon, Ni’s darkest
servants rise from the depths of the Earth. The daemon Queen’s partner (the
most powerful daemon that has lived for centuries) is tasked to find and
eliminate the two humans who killed her precious- though weak Mind Daemons. The Alagai Ka (Daemon Prince) decides to attack the two human leaders at once; dividing his
forces and making them reap revenge for their fallen comrades. However, the
Prince underestimates the powers Arlen and Jardir have learnt about daemon
magic and how willing they are to put up a fight.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AnbE9WIhmaY/VqpwMQ00DxI/AAAAAAAABxc/laBdAeHbGSY/s1600/Mind%2Bdaemon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AnbE9WIhmaY/VqpwMQ00DxI/AAAAAAAABxc/laBdAeHbGSY/s320/Mind%2Bdaemon.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fan art of a Mind Daemon</td></tr>
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Being possibly the most powerful and feared women in the
whole of Thesa, Inevera feels pretty comfortable on her throne. However, it was
not always so. Her life as a basket weaver’s daughter was hard and dirty and
even when she gained access to the Dama’tings’ palace, Inevera still had to
prove herself to the older girls there. Nevertheless, with hard work and
determination she managed to force her will on the other Dama girls and
eventually on her future husband Jardir. With The Deliverer by her side,
Inevera knows she can lead her people to victory against the daemons and Chin alike.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This book really propelled the series for me. It was the
step up I’ve been looking for and had me anxious and agitated to read on and
find out what was going to happen next! I loved that Brett revealed Alagai Ka and his underlings. This is because it showed who the real enemy is in the
series; not just the idiotic daemons we’d been introduced to in books one and
two. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Moreover, I also enjoyed reading about Inevera’s past and
her rise to the leadership of the Dama’ting. I especially liked this because
Brett develops our understanding of Hora Magic and how it is used to help
humans fight the daemons. I thought it gave credibility to aspects of the book
such as Wards and Arlen’s tattoos. Brett did this by actually teaching the
reader how Wards work in his universe whereas before, I felt like the reader just had to assume that they worked. This is because there was no real explanation to what Wards were in the previous novels, other than fancy symbols that people used to protect themselves from the daemons. For me, it made the novel much more accessible and in some ways believable because you could understand why Arlen and Jardir had become so powerful. In
addition, the ending to this novel is truly epic and will make you want to
start reading <i>The Skull Throne </i>as
fast as you can!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was a great book and would suggest it to anyone who
loves a great fast paced novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
However, I would read <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-painted-man-peter-v-brett.html" target="_blank"><i>The Painted Man</i></a><i> </i>and
<i><a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-desert-spear-peter-v-brett.html" target="_blank">The Desert Spear</a> </i>first to get your
bearings in this novel. I honestly haven’t read a book like this in a while that has made
me this excited to want to read the next
novel in the series- I can’t wait to pick up <i>The Skull Throne</i>!<o:p></o:p></div>
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For author’s official website click <a href="http://www.petervbrett.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><o:p></o:p></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-4995082702145960742016-01-20T11:39:00.000-08:002016-01-20T11:39:40.693-08:00Warriors of the Storm, Bernard Cornwell<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VFSr1xlzUMg/Vp_cF99sdcI/AAAAAAAABw8/p2DFwpCOANA/s1600/The%2BWarriors%2BStorm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VFSr1xlzUMg/Vp_cF99sdcI/AAAAAAAABw8/p2DFwpCOANA/s200/The%2BWarriors%2BStorm.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>
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<u>Publishers:</u> HarperCollins</div>
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<u>Pages:</u> 320<o:p></o:p></div>
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Uhtred of Bebbanburg,
Aethelfead, </div>
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Ragnall Iverson<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Warriors of the Storm</i>
is the ninth book in <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Bernard%20Cornwell" target="_blank">Bernard Cornwell's</a> <i>The
Saxon Tales </i>series and picks up the saga of Uhtred of Bebbanburg.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a fragile peace is held between the Saxons in the south
of England and the Danes in the north, Uhtred feels that his life can finally
gain some normality in his aging years. However, when news spreads from over
the sea that the Irish tribes have expelled the Viking Lords that had once ruled
there, Uhtred knows that war will soon come to England.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Danish warlord Ragnall Iverson (who once carved out a
Kingdom for himself in Ireland) comes to England to dispose of the weakened
King of Jorvik and unite the Danes in the north of England; preparing them for
war against the Christian Saxons. By using his cunning and cruelty, Ragnall
manages to outfox Uhtred and accomplish his goals. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Last Kingdom TV show based on these novels</div>
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However, though he is old, Uhtred is still a warrior and has
a brilliant military mind and with some bluffing, quick thinking and bullying, Uhtred
manages to outsmart Ragnall and bring him to battle. Nevertheless, a shield
wall is a place for a young man and with the fighting more intense and
desperate than ever; can Uhtred survive this epic battle? <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s not much I can say about this novel. It was another enjoyable
Uhtred tale from Bernard Cornwell with a similar plot to most of the other
books in the series. You know: peace time, war time, looks like they’re gonna lose
time, Uhtred turns it around at the last second time. Honestly, I’m just
reading these novels out of loyalty to the author and because I have invested
so much time into reading them, I actually want to see how they finish! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cFRmIsdUZfo/Vp_c5ZuGycI/AAAAAAAABxE/EUhXvZyifwI/s1600/saxon%2Bshield%2Bwall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cFRmIsdUZfo/Vp_c5ZuGycI/AAAAAAAABxE/EUhXvZyifwI/s1600/saxon%2Bshield%2Bwall.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example of Saxon shield wall</td></tr>
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I’m starting to get a little deluded with historical-fiction
writers making these long, drawn out series. There are so many good books out
there that I want to read, but year after year I return to these types of
series to read the next installment because I always hope it will be the final
one in the series. That isn’t to say that these books are bad, it’s just that
they are getting a little predictable and because they have been going on for
so long, they are starting to make me feel a little resentful.</div>
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It’s like the
author/publisher is using these series as a cash cow, bringing out a new book
every year and not really adding any effort to develop the overall plot, which
for <i>The Saxon Tales </i>is Uhtred
regaining Bebbanburg. The most excited I’ve been in this series was a few books
ago when I thought Uhtred died. This is because I thought, ‘oh, the plot is
going to go somewhere totally new and different’, but it didn’t. He magically
comes back to life in the next novel and the cycle continues. I just honestly
think it’s ok to end something at its peak. It leaves fans with a sense of nostalgia
and respect for a book, movie or TV show, which I think is always lost if that form
of entertainment is constantly shoved down your throat every year! <o:p></o:p></div>
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To conclude (because I feel like I’m ranting) this was
another enjoyable book in <i>The Saxon Tales
</i>series. I think if you’re like me and have read all the books this far then
you will enjoy it. However, for a new reader, don’t expect to be blown away by
this book; go and read its predecessors first. In fact, if you’re totally new
to Bernard Cornwell, stay away from this series for a while and go and read
books like <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/azincourt-bernard-cornwell.html" target="_blank"><i>Azincourt</i></a><i>, Harlequins </i>or
even <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/crackdown-bernard-cornwell.html" target="_blank"><i>Crackdown</i></a><i>, </i>they are my
favourites!<o:p></o:p></div>
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For author's official website click <a href="http://www.bernardcornwell.net/" target="_blank">here.</a></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-11668635132074478602016-01-14T13:26:00.000-08:002016-01-14T14:31:50.627-08:00The Prospect of this City: Being a Novel of The Great Fire, Eamonn Martin Griffin<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
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<b><u>Publishers:</u></b> Eamonn Martin Grifffin<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Pages:</u></b> 298<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Main Characters:<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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Tom, Challis, Daniel<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year (2016) is the 350<sup>th</sup> anniversary of The
Great Fire of London. New £2 coins are going to have a really cool impression
on them that marks the anniversary. Therefore, I thought I should read Eamonn
Martin Griffin’s novel <i><b>The Prospect of
the City; Being a novel of The Great Fire</b> </i>first this year, as it is set
during 1666 and gives an interesting twist on the fire’s origin and the people
that lived through it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New £2 Coins</td></tr>
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The novel is based around two main characters; Tom and
Challis. Challis is a mysterious rake who is hired by the Dutch Government to
sabotage London. The Dutch are extremely angry after their naval defeat to the
English and hope through his cunning and cruelty, Challis can gain some pay
back against their enemy. An ex-soldier with an extremely religious ethos and
moral code, Challis does not think twice about killing in God’s name. Upon
entering London and discovering the cesspit that it is, Challis murders a prostitute
to start his cleanse of the once great and virtuous city.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Living across the road from a well-known pub/whore house,
Tom is contemplating his life as a baker’s apprentice. However, his fairly
simple life becomes much more dangerous as he witnesses the murder of his
friend Lizzie at the hands of Challis. Tom decides to take judgement into his
own hands and plots to have Challis killed and gain revenge for Lizzie’s
murder. However, Tom underestimates Challis’s skill with a blade and his ferocity,
leading to Tom’s assassins easily being dispatched. Challis now knows he has an
enemy in London and this triggers him to hasten his sabotage. Yet, when Challis
gains an opportunity to wreak his own revenge on Tom, he takes it and causes a
knock-on effect that quickly brings London to its knees.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VW4LrBsWQZE/VpgRTLhXEKI/AAAAAAAABwQ/77k0wcPdjlc/s1600/The%2BGreat%2BFire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VW4LrBsWQZE/VpgRTLhXEKI/AAAAAAAABwQ/77k0wcPdjlc/s320/The%2BGreat%2BFire.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Fire of 1666 burned 2/3 of London</td></tr>
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I really enjoyed this book and I think that is mostly down
to Griffin’s writing style, but I think it needs to come with a warning! That
is because Griffin writes this novel as if it was written in 1666 using ‘ye
olde’ English. I loved this, I thought it added so much character to the novel
and depth to Challis. However, at first when reading the novel and not knowing
its style, the writing can seem quite long winded and confusing. Nevertheless,
when I realised Griffin was writing in a 17<sup>th</sup> Century style of
English, the book became more enjoyable and easier to understand. In addition,
I thought the premise of the book was really interesting and put in to the
context of the time, actually seemed very plausible. It always disappoints me
when historical-fiction writers move around dates to accommodate their plot
lines. Griffin does not do this and makes a very compelling and believable
story out of the historical facts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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However, I did have some small points that I didn’t like
about the book. Firstly, is its cover art. Now, I have to admit that I was sent
a copy of the book by Griffin and don’t know if it’s a preview copy or the
finished piece so the cover may have changed. The copy I received has a plain
white background with the title written in black ink in the style of an old
printing press. Now if I saw this book on a shelf I would automatically assume
it was a non-fiction book about the Great Fire and would not buy it. I think
Griffin needs to make the cover much more eye catching to try and draw new
readers into his very good novel. Throw a few flames on the front, maybe make
the cover look like it’s a burning page of a bible (which gives a hint to some
aspects of the book), anything that makes it more appealing to readers than a plain white page.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Secondly, I really wasn’t a fan of Challis’s Christian
rhetoric. He seems to drone on and on about the damnation of this and the righteousness
of that, which sometimes really slowed the book down. I get the impression that
Griffin is trying to make a point using the bible and religious rhetoric but it
goes totally over my head! Maybe that’s my fault, but as a casual reader of
this book it confused me and sometimes felt like it was there just to add to
the final number count.<o:p></o:p></div>
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To conclude, <i>The
Prospect of this City</i> was a very good read and a good starting point for my
2016 reading list. It is available in ebook or as a paperback via <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Prospect-This-City-Being/dp/1512224316" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. I’d
suggest it to fans of historical fiction, or to anyone who is interested in Guy
Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Make sure to check out Eamonn’s website and twitter by
clicking <a href="http://www.eamonnmartingriffin.com/" target="_blank">here</a><o:p></o:p></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-31359267602840927292015-12-21T11:22:00.000-08:002015-12-21T11:22:23.755-08:00The Desert Spear, Peter V. Brett<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LCp8hEHLk4/VnhP-yylk4I/AAAAAAAABvo/J4VW-fPup78/s1600/The%2BDesert%2BSpear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LCp8hEHLk4/VnhP-yylk4I/AAAAAAAABvo/J4VW-fPup78/s200/The%2BDesert%2BSpear.jpg" width="130" /></a><u></u></div>
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<u><u>Publishers: </u>Del
Rey</u></div>
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<u>Pages:</u> 579<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Main Characters:<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Ahmann Jardir, Arlen,
Leesha, Rojer<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>The Desert Spear </i>is
the second book in <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Peter%20V.%20Brett" target="_blank">Peter V. Brett's</a> <i>Demon
Cycle </i>series. The novel can be basically split into three parts. The first
is the tale of Ahmann Jardir- the Sha’Dama Ka (roughly meaning The Deliverer).
Ahmann’s story tells of his rise from a dirty street urchin to the best fighter
in the desert kingdom of Krasia. During his short and violent days ‘running the
maze’ and battling the daemons of the night, Ahmann meets his wife-to-be Inevera.
Inevera is a Dama’ting and is blessed with magical dice that can tell the
future. The dice tell Inevera that she can mould Ahmann into the Deliverer and that
he could unite Krasia into one kingdom, leading his people in a great war
against the Daemons. Inevera uses all of her power to direct, manipulate and help
him achieve this goal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The second part of the book focuses on Arlen, Leesha and
Rojer, picking up after the first novel <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-painted-man-peter-v-brett.html" target="_blank"><i>The Painted Man</i></a><i>.</i> After returning the battle wards to humanity and being betrayed
by his closest friend Jardir, Arlen focuses solely on sharing his new wards
with the world. Along with Leesha and Rojer, Arlen helps form the Cutters of
Cutter’s Hollow into and elite daemon killing army. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With the Hollow defended against daemons, Arlen sets out on
a solitary life, as he comes to terms with what daemon magic has done to his
body and soul. On his wanderings Arlen returns to his home village of Tibbet’s
Brook. There he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart Renna Tanner, who convinces
Arlen to let her accompany him on his travels. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Like <i>The Painted Man</i>
I listened to this book as an audiobook. I have to say that I thought the
quality of the audio was much better in<i>
The Desert Spear </i>than it was with <i>The
Painted Man. </i>Plus, I really enjoyed listening to the voices of the characters
I hadn’t heard from in over two years (since I last listened to <i>The Painted Man</i>). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UnU7dYKwvts/VnhQGmC4vMI/AAAAAAAABvw/xDo0vUEPCtM/s1600/The%2BDesert%2BSpear%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UnU7dYKwvts/VnhQGmC4vMI/AAAAAAAABvw/xDo0vUEPCtM/s1600/The%2BDesert%2BSpear%2B2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fan art of Ahmann Jardir</td></tr>
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I know some people weren’t a massive fan of it, but I really
enjoyed reading about Jardir’s upbringing and learning more about the customs
of Krasia. Some people complained that it took too long to get back to Arlen’s story;
however I actually like the bravado and intensity of Jardir. Much like other
great characters from literature (such as Boromir), Jardir’s flawed personality
and his dilemma of choosing his people or his friend appealed to me, and I
found him the most interesting character in the novel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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However, one character I couldn’t stand was Reena Tanner.
The farm girl-turn-daemon hunter continually got on my nerves throughout the
book and whenever she got in trouble, she would pretty much just sleep with
someone to try and get away with it. This keeps leading me to think; how can
this idiotic, annoying farmer’s daughter really manage to keep up with Arlen
Bails? I hope her development over the next few novels makes her a bit more
grown up and likeable because in this book I just mostly wanted to skip her
parts!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was a really enjoyable read and is a bit different to
the standard fantasy novels out there at the minute. I think the series has a
lot of potential and I’m very excited to start the next book; <i>The Daylight War</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For author’s official website click <a href="http://www.petervbrett.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-22573242207368612442015-12-09T09:58:00.000-08:002015-12-09T10:43:54.011-08:00Stasi Child, David Young<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oHydi0sA9c/VmdAaZdE7PI/AAAAAAAABvU/XxheEipbs3Y/s1600/Stasi%2BChild.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oHydi0sA9c/VmdAaZdE7PI/AAAAAAAABvU/XxheEipbs3Y/s200/Stasi%2BChild.jpg" width="133" /></a><b style="text-decoration: underline;"><u><span style="line-height: 115%;">Publisher:
</span></u></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">twenty7<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
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<u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Pages:</b></span></u><span style="line-height: 115%;"> 406<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="line-height: 115%;">Main
Characters:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Karin
Müller, Werner Tilsner,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Klaus
Jäger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">When a mutilated corpse of a young girl turns
up within meters of the Berlin Wall, <i>Kriminalpolizei</i>
officer <i>Oberleutnant </i>Karin Müller's
life is set to drastically change. The year is 1974 and tensions between the
East and West are on a knife point. Officials say the girl was fleeing from the
West into the East and was shot in the back. However, the involvement of the
East German Stasi leads Müller to believe that something much more sinister is
amiss<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Müller and her deputy Werner Tilsner are introduced to <i>Oberstleutnant </i>Klaus Jäger; a high profile member of the Stasi. Jäger
tasks the pair with finding out who the girl was and how she ended up dead on
the East side of the Wall. The detectives must tread lightly as they prod into
the girl's past, as their ally Jäger is not the only Stasi member interested in
this case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Irma is a young girl forced into living and working at the notoriously cruel
school of <i>Jugendwerkhof </i>on the island
of Rügen<i>.</i> After being punished for
looking out for her friend Beate, Irma is determined to get her and her friend
out if the hell-hole. Her plan is simple, out-think their captors and escape
into Western Germany.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The two women's tales intertwine as Müller discovers secrets from her past which
link her to Irma's fate. The detective must act quickly and decisively to save
an innocent girl's life and face her own inner turmoil to solve the murder and
satisfy the Stasi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s_SKXPOwLBU/VmdCfWHvDlI/AAAAAAAABvY/EU2_j6wQBZA/s1600/Berlin%2Bwall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s_SKXPOwLBU/VmdCfWHvDlI/AAAAAAAABvY/EU2_j6wQBZA/s320/Berlin%2Bwall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Berlin Wall</td></tr>
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The start of this book was great! The murder, the mystery and the inclusion of
the Stasi had me gripped on the story from the very start. I found Young's description
of a 70's Eastern Berlin immersive and intriguing to read about and he set the scene perfectly for the mistrusting and covert feel
of this novel. I thought the pace at the start of the book was excellent, dragging me into Müller's life with her own personal mystery which created an underlying
narrative that again intrigued me and made me want to read on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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However, the thing that disappointed me about this novel was that this pace
never really increased throughout the remainder of the book. At the start I was
indulged in the story but midway through I felt the pace and emphasis tailed off
with Müller going backwards and forwards to Jäger in search of clues.
Interlinked with this is Irma’s story, which was added towards the middle of
the book and again slowed the narrative and always made me feel like I
getting bogged down in a plot I wasn't really enjoying. I kept waiting for a
revelation that would burst onto the page and make me read the next 100 pages
without even thinking about it (like the start of the novel had) but sadly it
never came. I thought it was pretty clear early on who the murderer was and for
me there was no big reveal at the end of the novel like I believe most Crime
novels have. However, it was interesting to read why the bad guy did the things
he did. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">What I really enjoyed about this novel was the
atmosphere Young creates in Eastern Berlin. The sense of fear and paranoia,
along with a misguided and naive sense of pride to the State immersed me
in the period in which the novel was based. In addition, adding actual German
names into the novel personally engaged me! This is because I am learning German and it was
a nice little bonus to the atmosphere and setting.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">To conclude, I did really enjoy this book. I
thought the Muller's story was strong and had a lot of depth to it which I want top know more about. Plus I really liked Young’s writing
style and they way he portrayed Eastern (and Western) Berlin. However, I just wished the final two thirds of the book were as good as
the first, as they failed to grab my attention and really make me think who the villain was. I like that Young leaves the end of the novel very open and I've read that Young has signed a three year deal to publish more novels, so I'm very excited to read the next installment!</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">For Young's official Goodreads page please click <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14358496.David_Young" target="_blank">here</a></span><br />
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I'd like to say a big thank you to twenty7 for sending me a pre-release of this novel. You can get the e-book on Amazon Kindle but the paperback won't be released until February.</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: small;"></span>adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2871220043845322589.post-22989599953991519512015-10-31T09:03:00.002-07:002015-10-31T09:03:34.806-07:00The Far Shore, Nick Brown<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<u>Publishers:</u>
Hodder & Stoughton<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Pages: </u>432<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Main Characters:</u><o:p></o:p></div>
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Cassius Corbulo,
Indavara, Annia.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joining the Imperial Security Service was supposed to be
easy. Gaining the same rank as a Centurion without the risk of imminent death
is a great perk to have in the Roman Army. However, so far Cassius Corbulo’s
first few months in the service have been nothing less than dreadful. His first
posting was to a small fort in Palmyra, which he valiantly defended against the
rebellion of Queen Zenobia. Then having gained some glory in the service,
Cassius and his servant Simo were tasked with retrieving the lost Faridun’s
Banner, which was vital in gaining peace on Rome’s eastern frontier. Now
Cassius and his new bodyguard Indavara have finally been given a task they can enjoy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The mission is pretty simple. All Cassius and his retinue
have to do is travel to the Greek island of Rhodes and pick up a message from
the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Security Service. Cassius cannot wait for
a long overdue holiday on an island that is brimming with culture, good wine
and women. However as usual, Cassius is not that lucky. When he and his men
arrive at the commander’s house they find that he has been brutally murdered
and his body mutilated. The Commander’s daughter Annia, with her forthcoming
manner and all out bossiness, persuades Cassius to pursue the murder inquiry
and find those responsible for her father’s death.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After finding a Carthaginian captain to help them, the
investigation takes Cassius and his men all over Rhodes and the Mediterranean.
Dangerous storms and conflicts on the ship almost end the man-hunt.
Nonetheless, when the crew finally arrives at a small Roman town on the North
African coast, they realise that the murder and situation is grimmer than they
expected. Cassius must use his cunning and the attributes of his men to find
the puppet-master behind the Commander’s murder.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My vision of Cassius and Indavara</td></tr>
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This is the third book in <a href="http://adam-p-reviews.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Nick%20Brown" target="_blank">Nick Brown's</a> <i>Agent of Rome </i>series and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I
thought adding the murder/mystery element to the novel made it seem fresher
than some other Roman historical fiction novels that can sometimes stagnate. I really liked
learning more about the mysterious Indavara and thought that Cassius developed
more in this novel too. He came across as the arrogant aristocrat that I
believe he is. I liked this because I feel that other books in this
genre always have a similar zero-to-hero protagonist who comes from a rich
family and is forced to serve in the army. Cassius does fall into this category
too, but I think by making him arrogant distinguishes him from other characters
in other novels that always seem to take on the ‘one of the lads’
personalities. In real life I think there would have been a hierarchy, with the young aristocratic officers taking on an ‘us and them’
personality between themselves and the legionaries. This is what Cassius does in the book and it makes him seem more realistic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have to admit that some parts of the book I listened too
via an audiobook. At first I really didn’t like the audiobook as the narrator
used some very unusual accents for the characters. Cassius sounded a lot like
Micheal Gambon, Simo (a Gaulish slave) had a scouse accent and Indavara sounded
like he was from the east end of London! However, the accents grew on me and I
found myself reading the book and giving the characters the accents in my mind!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I would suggest this book to anyone who is a Roman
historical fiction fan. Like I said, it is different to most of the other series
out there and was a very enjoyable book to read. I’m looking forward to the
next one!<o:p></o:p></div>
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For author's official website please click <a href="http://www.nickbrownauthor.com/" target="_blank">here.</a></div>
adam-p-reviewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081106562505725366noreply@blogger.com0