Dreadful Ink

From holy cup comes holy light; The faithful hand sets world aright. And in the Seven Martyrs' sight, Mere man shall end this endless night. —AUTHOR UNKNOWNIf you're getting tired of vampire tales, hold on because this one's worth reading. Like all of Kristoff's work, you can expect plenty of blood and violence. You can also expect that he's going to put his own spin on it, which is why I say if you're tired of vampire tales, hold on because you haven't heard this one. At its most basic core, this is a story about bravery, love, and friendship.

Your anger is a gift—Aristotle This book has violence like a Quentin Tarantino film. Kinslayer is the second installment in The Lotus War Series by Jay Kristoff and starts right into the action from the perspective of the Guild. We get to hear the name that Yukiko has garnered for herself. The girl all guildsmen fear. Three sky-ships are tracking Kin for his treachery from the first book, and Yukiko swoops down on Buruu to attack the three ships. This picks up very close to where the first book ended. 

The Girl and the Mountain is the second book in Mark Lawrence's Book of the Ice Series, preceded by The Girl and the Stars and will be followed by The Girl and the Moon—set to release April 12, 2022. The story involves a young girl who goes on a long journey that reveals a dark truth about herself and what she's been led to believe her whole life. For me this is a story about humanity, generosity, and compassion; and the importance of putting other people's needs ahead of our own. At its core I believe it speaks to the dangers of greed and selfishness, and, gives a well-heeded warning to our reach for immortality and godlike powers through AI.

“In the end, all questions can be distilled into one. What are you willing to give up to get the things you want?” —Jay Kristoff, Stormdancer.To me, that question embodies Stormdancer. It's is an action-adventure story about making great sacrifices, freedom, and the dangers of unchecked power. It tells the tale of a young girl named Yukiko who struggles to learn that the world she grew up in is not what it seems. It's a story about friendship and learning to understand others who are not the same as you. But at its center, it's about the love a father has for his daughter. 

The Hobbit tells the story of Bilbo Baggins who sets out on an unlikely adventure to recover a stolen treasure with a band of dwarves and a wizard. It takes place roughly eighty years before LOTR; and though mostly an original cast, there are memorable characters represented within the following trilogy: Bilbo, Gandalf, Gollum. This is a story that warns against the dangers of greed and how we all need one another to survive.

“Dark, passionate, tense, with a female hero anyone could relate to—I was utterly fascinated!”—Tamora Pierce, #1 New York Times bestselling author.   “Dark and relentless…A two -in-the morning page turner.”—Robin Hobb, New York Times bestselling author.   “It's not like anything I've ever read before.”—Rick Riordan, #1 New York...

“Dark, passionate, tense, with a female hero anyone could relate to—I was utterly fascinated!”—Tamora Pierce, #1 New York Times bestselling author.   “Dark and relentless…A two -in-the morning page turner.”—Robin Hobb, New York Times bestselling author.   “It's not like anything I've ever read before.”—Rick Riordan, #1 New York...

“Dark and Relentless”,” Prince of Thorns will pull you under and drown you in story. A two-in-the-morning page turner.”—Robin Hobb. A grim cover by Annette Fiore Defex and Jason Chan provides a glimpse of what's to come, with our protagonist standing in a field of corpses, head lowered, with his hands on the pommel of his sword. Prince of...

Gideon the Ninth is Tamsyn Muir’s debut novel, published in 2019, and could be described as a bit of a survivor slash overcoming the monster story. The story is almost entirely told from Gideon’s perspective with a little bit from the point of view of her necromancer, The Reverend Daughter Harrowhark. After several attempts of starting to run away at the age of four, by the time Gideon reached the age of eighteen they numbered eighty-six, but after Harrow receives a letter and invitation to Caanan House for a chance to become Lyctor, Gideon begrudgingly decides that she will go along to be her cavalier. There they meet with several other House heirs and cavaliers where it will be decided which one of them will become Lyctor, through a series of tests.

This book turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I thoroughly loved His Dark Materials, I’d be lying if I said that this series isn’t starting with a couple of problems. I’m not going to talk about the overall arching story, as it’s not completed yet, nor will I talk about La Belle Sauvage because this review is about The Secret Commonwealth. Although reviews for this book are overwhelmingly five stars, there are a couple of one stars that are worth noting. I’ll start by saying that if you have any issues with the f-bomb or deadly violence in a book like this it won’t be for you—but if you’re reading my blog, I’m going to assume that it’s not.

I found this to be an incredible story, and perhaps my favorite of all his books at this point. I truly enjoyed The Book of the Ancestor: Red Sister, Grey Sister, Holy Sister. I found the book to have everything that I look forward to in a story, and love not only his characters but the dystopian worlds that he builds with remnants of ancient technology. This book is no exception, and takes place on the same planet where Nona’s story took place, and not only brings us many characters that we had a chance to experience with her story, but if I’m not mistaken there were other characters that I had a chance to see in not only The Broken Empire such as The King of Thorns, but also The Red Queen’s War and The Wheel of Osheim.

King of Thorns is the second installment of The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence. Similar to Prince of Thorns, this story switches back and forth between two narratives—one that takes place presently, the other four years earlier. One narrative, taking place four years earlier, is a there and back again tale that begins early on in the book. The second narrative develops as a bit of a mystery as Jorg is uncovering information from his Aunt Katherine’s journal, we continue to learn more about the antagonist, The Prince of Arrow. The entire novel is told in first person, though switches from three points of view: Jorg in the present, Jorg in the past, and Katherine’s POV through the journal.

Episode number 007 and I'm reviewing Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

In this episode I'm reviewing Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence.

Some common tropes that I notice in grimdark fantasy.  I talk about the difference between anti hero's and anti-villains and some of my favorite characters.