Queen of Storms is the second volume in Raymond E Feist's trilogy, The Firemane Saga. The book picks up shortly after the end of the first volume, King of Ashes, with Hatu and Hava having settled down as innkeepers in Barons Landing.
GENRE: FANTASY
The Tower of Fools
PREAMBLE I read The Tower of Fools on its release in October 2020; I had it on pre-order and finished it in two days. I'd planned to write a review as soon as I completed the book. Then, out of the blue, I hit a wall. Sometimes, it happens to me; one year, I'll read eighty books, … Continue reading The Tower of Fools
Book Review: King of Ashes
Title: King of Ashes Series: The Fireman Saga # 1 Author: Raymond E Feist Publication: 2018 THE BLURB For centuries, the five greatest kingdoms of North and South Tembria, twin continents on the world of Garn, have coexisted in peace. But the balance of power is destroyed when four of the kingdoms violate an ancient … Continue reading Book Review: King of Ashes
Five Books: I Enjoyed But Didn’t Review
I read a lot more books than I review. There are many reasons I choose not to talk about a book on this blog. Time is the obvious one. I read seventy-seven books last year; even if I did this full-time, I couldn't write that many reviews. Another might be that I didn't enjoy the … Continue reading Five Books: I Enjoyed But Didn’t Review
Five Books I’m Decluttering
Although I love books, I'm fairly unsentimental and declutter mine regularly. With the exception of a few special ones from my childhood, I seldom get attached to a specific edition. Of course, there are novels that I always have a copy of: The Lord of the Rings, The Dark is Rising Sequence and others. But if a new, … Continue reading Five Books I’m Decluttering
The Discworld Reviews: Guards! Guards!
THE FACTS Title: Guards! Guards! Place in series: #8 in The Discworld Series, #1 in the City Watch Collection Author: Terry Pratchett Published: 1989 Concerning spoilers: The Discworld Series is made-up of forty-one books. Most can be read as stand-alone novels, but they are all connected. There will be no spoilers for this particular book. … Continue reading The Discworld Reviews: Guards! Guards!
My 2019 in Books: My favorite reads of the year
I really enjoyed my 2019 in books. Most of the books I've read this year have been good. Some were average. Many were fantastic.
The Witcher Reviews: The Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake, the last book in The Witcher Saga, is a novel focused on concluding this intricate story. It’s one of the things I genuinely love about this series: The End isn’t hastily handled in a few short pages: it’s an entire book. All of the conflicts, schemes, confrontations, battles, and fights that have been plotted and foreshadowed will come to a close.
The Witcher Reviews: The Tower of the Swallow
The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing.
Happy Mail: More Discworld Collectibles
Because Terry Pratchett was so restrictive with his merchandise licensing, I always feel satisfied when I buy a Discworld collectible. The quality is always above standard. You can tell that these are items designed and created by real fans of the Discworld. They feel genuine.
The Witcher Reviews: Baptism of Fire
Baptism of Fire is the fifth book in the story about the Witcher Geralt and his child of destiny, Ciri. When we left them at the end of Time of Contempt, both found themselves in less than ideal situations.
Book Review: The Spider – Under the Northern Sky # 2
The first book in this planned trilogy, The Wolf, ends with a foreboding epilogue. The Spider, picking up just days after, begins with an equally foreshadowing prologue hinting at the disaster about to strike. With both epilogue and prologue in mind, it's no surprise that this story begins with a funeral.
So, you loved Good Omens. Now what?
The recently premiered mini-series, Good Omens, on Amazon Prime is currently all the rage on my twitter feed. The series is an adaptation of the thirty-year-old cult novel, written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. At the moment, it seems like it's either being reviewed, analyzed, raved about, or involved in hilarious misunderstandings instigated by Evangelicals Christians.
Book Review: Good Omens
What happens next includes prophecies by a slightly unhinged, seventeen-century witch, self-proclaimed witch hunters, the Four Horsemen (on motorcycles), Angels being bureaucratic assholes, and demons who overreact when you've accidentally misplaced the Antichrist. There are also Satanic nuns, patriotic Americans, and Hellhounds. Oh, and the Antichrist is an eleven-year-old boy.
Book Review: The Wolf
This is the type of book where almost everything feels familiar or reminds you of something. But not in a way that it feels like a carbon copy. There is a personality in his writing, the author has a voice.
The Discworld Reviews: Pyramids
We are finally here! At long last, it's time to review, Pyramids. This was the book that sold me on the Discworld series and showed me the magic that can happen when Terry Pratchett hits all my buttons.
The Witcher Reviews: Blood of Elves
What I love about this book is that it is not afraid to take the time needed to establish essential relationships, while also being an action-packed, adult story. Sapkowski takes his time explaining why Ciri is unique, why everyone is interested in her; she not made into a "special girl with special powers" she's a person.
The Discworld Reviews: Wyrd Sisters
Wyrd Sisters begins with the murder of King Varence I by his cousin Duke Felmet, a crime in large planned and orchestrated by the Duke's ambitious wife. During the commotion, a servant manages to escape with the king's infant son. Realizing the danger, the three witches hide the boy with a group of traveling actors trusting that, when the time is right, destiny will bring the rightful king back to Lancre to overthrow the Duke.
The Discworld Reviews: Sourcery
There was an eighth son of an eighth son. He was, quite naturally, a wizard. And there it should have ended. However (for reasons we'd better not go into), he had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son ... a wizard squared ... a source of magic ... a Sourcerer. Sourcery sees the return of Rincewind and the Luggage as the Discworld faces its greatest - and funniest - challenge yet.
The Witcher Reviews: The Last Wish
Geralt was always going to stand out, with his white hair and piercing eyes, his cynicism and lack of respect for authority ... but he is far more than a striking-looking man. He's a witcher, with powers that make him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin - his targets are the vile fiends that ravage the land.
The Witcher Reviews: Introduction
The Witcher video game trilogy is one of my favorite storytelling experiences of all time. I've sunk hundreds, upon hundreds of hours into that world and Geralt of Rivia is more dear to me than most living men. That's why it's so embarrassing to admit, that although I've played all three games numerous times, and own more than one (or twenty) collectible item, I've not given the book series it's based on the attention it deserves.
The Discworld Reviews: Mort
"“I? KILL? said Death, obviously offended. CERTAINLY NOT. PEOPLE GET KILLED, BUT THAT'S THEIR BUSINESS. I JUST TAKE OVER FROM THEN ON. AFTER ALL, IT'D BE A BLOODY STUPID WORLD IF PEOPLE GOT KILLED WITHOUT DYING, WOULDN'T IT?”
The Wheel of Time Reviews: The Dragon Reborn
I concluded my review of the previous book, The Great Hunt feeling optimistic. I felt energized, believing that after a fifteen hundred page introduction and “setting the scene” the story was now finally kicking off. I was wrong.
Happy Mail: Discworld Novels
So, really, I don't think I should be blamed for needing a little pick-me-up. That pick-me-up came in the form of an additional five titles in the Discworld Library Edition
The Wheel of Time Reviews: The Great Hunt
The Forsaken are loose, the Horn of Valere has been found, and the Dead are rising from their dreamless sleep. The Prophecies are being fulfilled - but Rand al'Thor, the shepherd the Aes Sedai have proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn, desperately seeks to escape his destiny.
The Discworld Reviews: Equal Rites
There are some situations where the correct response is to display the sort of ignorance which happily and wilfully flies in the face of the facts. In this case, the birth of a baby girl, born a wizard – by mistake. Everybody knows that there’s no such thing as a female wizard. But now it’s gone and happened, there’s nothing much anyone can do about it. Let the battle of the sexes begin…
The Wheel of Time Reviews: The Eye of the World
This was, without a doubt, one of the most frustrating reads of my entire life! I can say, with absolute certainty, that had it not been for the audiobook I would never have finished it; I would have thrown it into the nearest wall and never picked it back up again.
The Wheel of Time Reviews: Introduction
I wasn’t going to do an introductory post to this series because honestly, I’m still not sure I will read the whole thing. But, then I began an outline for the reviews of the two books I've read so far, and it just got out of hand. So here I am, writing this introduction. It’s for the best; no one wants to read a 10K book review.
The Discworld Reviews: The Color of Magic & The Light Fantastic
The story begins in the city of Ankh-Morpork just as it's inhabitants are about to experience something new and unfamiliar, a tourist.
The Discworld Reviews: Introduction
I thought it would be fun to share my journey through this universe by reviewing the books as I go.
Xenodike 