A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Title: A Clash of Kings

Author: George R. R. Martin

Type: Audiobook
Narrator: Roy Dotrice
Genre: Fantasy

Series: A Song of Fire and Ice book #2

Copyright: 2004
Publisher: Random House Audio

Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary: from Amazon


A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Feelings:
I didn't like this book as much as I did the first in the series. It felt much slower than the first book to me. I kept reminding myself that this and the next book were originally going to be one book but because of length they were split into two books. That being said, it would have been very long if it was one book and splitting them was probably a good thing.

In this book we keep some of the old narrators from The Game of Thrones: Tyrion Lannister, Catelyn Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Jon Snow, and Daenerys, and gained some new: Davos Seaworth, and Theon Greyjoy. Nine points of view. We all have the characters that we would rather read and the ones we wish would just shut up, or die, but they don't seem to. I was pleased to find that Tyrion seemed to have a large potion of the narration dedicated to him. He is a wonderful character and he lends humor to a book that is often dark.

This book slowed down the series and action. I noticed that lots happened when the narration wasn't with that individual narrator. This leads to there being lots of hearsay. There were a few characters that this was not the case for mostly because of their isolation for others, Jon Snow and Daenerys. I don't know that not always being present at the moment of the battle was a bad thing but I think that maybe it would have been good to see the action as it happened rather than by messenger birds. 

The book does hold on the the reader and the world that is created is amazing. I would recommend the book to those that liked the first and the series to those that like epic fantasy. Also, be warned this is not a completed series, only five out so far, so you will be left hanging until the author finishes the last two books.

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

Title: The Warded Man

Author: Peter V. Brett

Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: Demon Cycle #1

Pages: 416
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Random House

Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary: from Good Reads

As darkness falls, demon corelings rise — multitudes and giants, from fire, wood, and rock, hungry for human flesh. After centuries, humans dwindle, protective wards forgotten. Three young survivors of demon attacks, Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer, dare to fight back.

Feelings: 
I wasn't sure at first how I was going to feel about this book but I ended up really liking it. The story mostly follows Arlen as he leaves his village and travels, at first alone and later with a messenger to a free city. We see glimpses of Leesha and Rojer as the story progresses. They are all amazing characters and fun to follow. The idea for the corelings rising from the earth at night and hunting those that dwelling in light was an interesting one and I really enjoyed the world that was created. I also appreciate that we have an understanding of how the world used to be and how it ended up the way it currently is. There are many books that create a world that is amazing and then leave the reader wondering why it is that way and why the past was better than the present. This is not one of those books.

I highly recommend this book to those that enjoy a good fantasy novel. I should note that this book may be more appealing to the male reader than the female. That being said I am female and I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Type: Novel
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: No
Pages: 552
Copyright: 2005
Publisher: Random House, Inc
Rating: 4.5 to 5


Summary: From Good reads
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.


Feelings:
I thought this book was classified wrong at the library when I checked it out and it was Juvenal Fiction. After finishing it I really think that it was in the wrong place. This is not a simple book. It is experimental, death narrates, the story of Liesel, a young girl in Germany during World War II. The topic is difficult. Death is not your conventional narrator either, he doesn't always like telling the story in order, or leaving the surprises until they actually happen chronologically. When he feels like it he tells, and then goes back and fills in the blanks.

I really enjoyed the book, even though it was quirky. The characters in the story are difficult and real. Liesel moves into a foster home when her mother realizes that being a communist is putting her children in danger. The Hubermann's are an odd couple, Rosa Hubermann is loud and loves to curse. Hans Hubermann is quite and gentle, and Liesel quickly bonds with him. Even though Hans doesn't have much of an education himself he and Liesel set out to read books together in the middle of the night when Liesel wakes up with nightmares.

There are many reasons to like this book it is well written and not your usual fare. I can also see why people might not like it. The experimentation, that I really enjoyed, would likely be it's downfall for many other readers. Don't let the Juvenal/ young adult category deter you from reading this book. I would recommend this book, however, those picking it up should know this book is not going to be for everyone.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Shadow and Bone

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Grisha Book 1

Pages: 358
Copyright: 2012
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: From Good Reads

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unraveling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.

Feelings:
I like the story but I didn't realize it was a Russian setting until after I finished the book read the Acknowledgements and saw Russian history books and then it really struck home when I looked at the map and saw the names which were very like some Russian places with a few letter changes.

At first I thought this book was going to be in third person, breaths a sigh of relief, but then after the prolog chapter the book was in first person from Alina's perspective, another first person--long sigh. The prolog and the epilog were both in third person which was interesting and added a sort of fairy tale feeling to the story. This is not a fairy tale story, it is has more of a folk story feel to it. I think the author was striving to have that feeling by placing it in a "Russian" setting.

This book puts forward another love triangle, I say another because seems that every book I read recently has one. This doesn't automatically downgrade the book in my view, a little tension is a good thing. Mal, Alina's best-friend, seemed underdeveloped for the import he held to the story. I would have like to see more of character development with him. This is not to say that I didn't like this book I did I just didn't thing that the parts with Mal were as strong as the parts with the Darkling. I bathed in the schemes and intrigue of the Darkling and in many ways he was the most dynamic of the characters.He was a mystery in may ways to and I think that added to his appeal. I liked Alina but she seemed a little like a poor sniffling child for the first half and then a "look at me I'm finally gorgeous" teenager the rest.

Overall I enjoyed the story and thought the plot was interesting. I am only giving it a three out of five rating because I felt like it could have been a stronger book with some more character development, Mal, and a bit more history of what a Grisha is and why they are divided from society. Alina seems to lack interested in the group of people she is suddenly thrust into and I felt like she would have wanted to learn as much as she could about who the Grisha were. She is curious but it seems tame for many of her other characteristics.


I would recommend this book to young adult readers who enjoy a story with magic and mystery(the Darkling).

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: Yes

Pages: 487
Copyright: 2011

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary: from Good Reads

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Feelings:
I really enjoyed the book. It was some what predictable but not all of it was. Tris has doesn't fit into just one of the clearly designed groups in the civilization she lives in but three. She has a choice to make about where she wants to be and how she wants to live. Chicago is largely abandoned and it is surrounded by a fence. I have to admit there seem to be a lot of young adult books that focus on a post-American world and what that might be like when living in America after it's fall. I'm pretty sure that The Hunger Games  was at the front of the group of books like that but there are at least four others that I can also think of.

This book focuses mostly on the initiation into Dauntless and less on the political side of things, which are clearly simmering and about ready to take over the city. Tris does seem to have an interest in why her society is the way it is and to try and search for the answers as best she can while trying to fit in.

The story is fast passed and easy to read. Sometimes a good thing when you want to sit back and go along for a ride.


There is a movie coming out in late March of the first book. I have watched the trailer and I'm not sure how I feel about it. To me looks like it might be a disappointment after the book was so good. The trailer is a mish-mash of sense throughout the story so I didn't think it gave a very good feel for what it would be like, except for lots of action.

I would recommend this book to those that enjoyed The Hunger Games series. It isn't the same as but it does have a strong female character who strives to stay true to herself while fitting into the society.