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Ross (3284 KP) rated Legacy of Ash in Books
Dec 21, 2020
Epic but too lengthy
A very ambitious debut novel, epic in scope, cast of characters and plot. However, I found myself struggling to pick it up too often.
The book takes place in an empire with far-from-happy constituent parts and angry neighbours. The heirs of the traitorous Southweald "phoenix" are held captive as figureheads warning off any thoughts of rebellion. Meanwhile, a cliched corrupt council tries to keep the empire safe from impending invasion.
The book is filled with interesting magical creatures and abilities, with a demon, witches, crow-themed goth assassins and ancient spirits. These were at the fore nowhere near often enough, treated as curses and cast aside in favour of political plotting and old fashioned battle.
The first third of the book was awesome: learning about the richness of the world, its history, politics and magic. It really was set up to be an epic story of political intrigue, deception, plotting and underhand nastiness.
Sadly, this all lead to a battle sequence that lasted far too long. It was really like Joe Abercrombie had taken one of the First Law books and shoved The Heroes into the middle of it. I really struggled to get past this long, fairly boring conflict.
The second half of the book then calms down and focuses once again before taking a massive left-turn and changing to something very different.
As with many books of this size, the cast was massive and a number of characters not distinct enough to remember by name. And so many had such promising abilities to offer but were largely absent when they would have been so useful. It was like having a superstar in an amateur dramatic society and leaving them out of most of the script. Having said that, I once saw a pantomime with David Van Day in the cast and it was in everyone's best interests that he was largely absent.
The book finished well, but it was an 800-page book that read like a 1200-page one, taking me 5 weeks to read.
The book takes place in an empire with far-from-happy constituent parts and angry neighbours. The heirs of the traitorous Southweald "phoenix" are held captive as figureheads warning off any thoughts of rebellion. Meanwhile, a cliched corrupt council tries to keep the empire safe from impending invasion.
The book is filled with interesting magical creatures and abilities, with a demon, witches, crow-themed goth assassins and ancient spirits. These were at the fore nowhere near often enough, treated as curses and cast aside in favour of political plotting and old fashioned battle.
The first third of the book was awesome: learning about the richness of the world, its history, politics and magic. It really was set up to be an epic story of political intrigue, deception, plotting and underhand nastiness.
Sadly, this all lead to a battle sequence that lasted far too long. It was really like Joe Abercrombie had taken one of the First Law books and shoved The Heroes into the middle of it. I really struggled to get past this long, fairly boring conflict.
The second half of the book then calms down and focuses once again before taking a massive left-turn and changing to something very different.
As with many books of this size, the cast was massive and a number of characters not distinct enough to remember by name. And so many had such promising abilities to offer but were largely absent when they would have been so useful. It was like having a superstar in an amateur dramatic society and leaving them out of most of the script. Having said that, I once saw a pantomime with David Van Day in the cast and it was in everyone's best interests that he was largely absent.
The book finished well, but it was an 800-page book that read like a 1200-page one, taking me 5 weeks to read.
Kingdom Rush Frontiers
Games and Entertainment
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The world's most devilishly addictive defense game is back - welcome to Kingdom Rush: Frontiers! ...
Kingdom Rush Frontiers HD
Games and Entertainment
App
The world's most devilishly addictive defense game is back - welcome to Kingdom Rush: Frontiers! ...
Win (The Atlantis Grail #3)
10.0
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Book
The Games are Forever! It’s one thing to Qualify and Compete… Now she must Win. Gwen...
Sci-fi Space Adventure Fiction Romance The Atlantis Grail
Win (The Atlantis Grail Book 3)
9.5
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Book
The Games are Forever! It’s one thing to Qualify and Compete… Now she must Win. Gwen...
Fiction Sci-fi Science Fiction Romance YA Young Adult
Five Tribes
7.4
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Tabletop Game
Crossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala. The...
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Azia (0 KP) rated the Xbox 360 version of Assassin's Creed 2 in Video Games
Jan 23, 2018
A Beautiful Game
A definite step up from the last game and a well thought out storyline made Assassins Creed 2 intriguing and eventful. The characters, I felt, were written beautifully and acted accordingly to their personalities.
I do have a few problems however and I understand that no game is perfect so I found ways around these glitches.
Ezio often failed to follow my demands as when I tried to freerun around the buildings, he seemed to favour jumping off them instead of safely landing on the next one. It took more than a few attempts to complete some missions because of this. It might have been me not using the controller properly or the controller being out of sync but no matter what I did to try and combat this, he still seemed to enjoy leaping to his death.
I do have a lot of praise for this game though as it made me laugh on several occasions and finally completing it felt amazing. Avoiding spoilers, the final scene made my heart race and made me maybe a little too excited for the next game.
The combat is designed well and fits with the style of the game. Although I found it difficult to get my head around, mastering fighting techniques took little effort and killing soldiers became easier the more I practiced. The health of Ezio and the soldiers was equally balanced and left you would a good and perhaps difficult at times fight but always one you could win with the right skills.
The graphics in this game are stunning and standing on a viewpoint to watch over it all reminds me how beautiful it is. The detail in the buildings and the general design are accurate.
The NPCs could get rather annoying at times with musicians running up to me in the squares and getting in my way tested my patience. The basket carriers were even worse. Soldiers would get angry with me if I knocked one over which would happen often as they liked to walk into my path.
Overall, a stunning game with a developed and intriguing storyline. While it took time to get around a few problems, this game is one of the only games I want to complete 100%. And if I can find all those feathers, I eventually will!
I do have a few problems however and I understand that no game is perfect so I found ways around these glitches.
Ezio often failed to follow my demands as when I tried to freerun around the buildings, he seemed to favour jumping off them instead of safely landing on the next one. It took more than a few attempts to complete some missions because of this. It might have been me not using the controller properly or the controller being out of sync but no matter what I did to try and combat this, he still seemed to enjoy leaping to his death.
I do have a lot of praise for this game though as it made me laugh on several occasions and finally completing it felt amazing. Avoiding spoilers, the final scene made my heart race and made me maybe a little too excited for the next game.
The combat is designed well and fits with the style of the game. Although I found it difficult to get my head around, mastering fighting techniques took little effort and killing soldiers became easier the more I practiced. The health of Ezio and the soldiers was equally balanced and left you would a good and perhaps difficult at times fight but always one you could win with the right skills.
The graphics in this game are stunning and standing on a viewpoint to watch over it all reminds me how beautiful it is. The detail in the buildings and the general design are accurate.
The NPCs could get rather annoying at times with musicians running up to me in the squares and getting in my way tested my patience. The basket carriers were even worse. Soldiers would get angry with me if I knocked one over which would happen often as they liked to walk into my path.
Overall, a stunning game with a developed and intriguing storyline. While it took time to get around a few problems, this game is one of the only games I want to complete 100%. And if I can find all those feathers, I eventually will!
Cyn Armistead (14 KP) rated Places to Be, People to Kill in Books
Mar 1, 2018
I enjoyed this anthology more than one might expect from a collection of stories about killers, but then I've read a couple of volumes edited by [a:Brittiany A. Koren|12300|Brittiany A. Koren|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] and [a:Martin H. Greenberg|26064|Martin H. Greenberg|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1247759305p2/26064.jpg] now, and I trust the pair. (Greenberg has turned out so many anthologies that I don't assume anything at all when I see his name.)
I had to explain to my family why I kept laughing while reading "Exactly" by [a:Tanya Huff|1967|Tanya Huff|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207242126p2/1967.jpg]. I'm a long-time fan of her work, so was already familiar with sibling assassins Vree and Bannon from [b:Fifth Quarter|175312|Fifth Quarter (Quarters, #2)|Tanya Huff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172433365s/175312.jpg|169357] and [b:No Quarter|175300|No Quarter (Quarters, #3)|Tanya Huff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172433338s/175300.jpg|169345]. While all of Huff's work includes some humor, this story is particularly funny.
"Breia’s Diamond" by [a:Cat Collins|380276|Cat Collins|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] was a memorable low in the book. In addition to the inappropriate and inept use of romance clichés, it's all too obvious early on that the mercenaries are being paid far too much for too little work by the necromancer. That isn't foreshadowing, it's foreshouting—or just plain stupidity on the part of the mercenaries. They are murderers for hire, nothing else, and I've never felt any sympathy for such. Why would I start now, simply because a story is told from their point of view?
[a:Bradley H. Sinor|2282520|Bradley H. Sinor|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s "Money's Worth" has the feel of something excerpted from a larger work. It's good and I enjoyed it, but I think I would have enjoyed it far more in its proper context.
The only other story that is memorable enough to single out is "The Hundredth Kill" by [a:John Marco|9266|John Marco|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1244460712p2/9266.jpg]. It is a lovely jewel of a story, one that stands for itself, leaving little to be said other than "read it." I don't believe that I've read any of Marco's novels, but obviously I've missed out on something very good. I intend to remedy that omission shortly.
I had to explain to my family why I kept laughing while reading "Exactly" by [a:Tanya Huff|1967|Tanya Huff|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207242126p2/1967.jpg]. I'm a long-time fan of her work, so was already familiar with sibling assassins Vree and Bannon from [b:Fifth Quarter|175312|Fifth Quarter (Quarters, #2)|Tanya Huff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172433365s/175312.jpg|169357] and [b:No Quarter|175300|No Quarter (Quarters, #3)|Tanya Huff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172433338s/175300.jpg|169345]. While all of Huff's work includes some humor, this story is particularly funny.
"Breia’s Diamond" by [a:Cat Collins|380276|Cat Collins|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] was a memorable low in the book. In addition to the inappropriate and inept use of romance clichés, it's all too obvious early on that the mercenaries are being paid far too much for too little work by the necromancer. That isn't foreshadowing, it's foreshouting—or just plain stupidity on the part of the mercenaries. They are murderers for hire, nothing else, and I've never felt any sympathy for such. Why would I start now, simply because a story is told from their point of view?
[a:Bradley H. Sinor|2282520|Bradley H. Sinor|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s "Money's Worth" has the feel of something excerpted from a larger work. It's good and I enjoyed it, but I think I would have enjoyed it far more in its proper context.
The only other story that is memorable enough to single out is "The Hundredth Kill" by [a:John Marco|9266|John Marco|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1244460712p2/9266.jpg]. It is a lovely jewel of a story, one that stands for itself, leaving little to be said other than "read it." I don't believe that I've read any of Marco's novels, but obviously I've missed out on something very good. I intend to remedy that omission shortly.
Louise (64 KP) rated A Tyranny of Petticoats (A Tyranny of Petticoats, #1) in Books
Jul 2, 2018
A Tyranny of petticoats is an all female written anthology about badass females. The 15 stories consist of Pirates, Assassins, Ghosts and Robbers whilst covering relevant American history such as Gold mining, the slave trade and war.
The stories are written in historical order, starting from 1710-1968. These are my ratings for each story:
Mother Carey's table by J.Anderson Coats ⭐.5 stars
The Journey by Marie Lu ⭐⭐⭐stars
Madeleine's choice by Jessica Spotswood ⭐⭐⭐.5 stars
El Destinos by Leslye Walton ⭐⭐⭐stars
High Stakes by Andrea Cremer ⭐⭐⭐ stars
The Red Ravenue Ball by Caroline Tung Richmond ⭐⭐stars
Pearls by Beth Revis ⭐⭐⭐.5 stars
Gold in the roots of grass by Marissa Meyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐stars
The Legendary Garnet Girls by Y.S.Lee ⭐⭐⭐stars
The colour of the sky by Elizabeth Wein ⭐⭐⭐ stars
Bonnie and Clydebank by Sundra Mitchell ⭐⭐⭐stars
Hard times by Catherine Longshore ⭐⭐⭐stars
City of Angels by Lindsay Smith ⭐⭐⭐.5 stars
Pulse of the Panthers by Kekla Magoon ⭐⭐⭐ stars
The whole world is watching by Robin Talley ⭐⭐stars
I wanted to read this collection of short stories as I had heard great things about it. This book should have been ideal for me, it's feminist historical fiction. Sadly this didn't deliver, none of the stories blew me away. In actual fact I have a hard time remembering what the stories were about. Some of the stories felt like they were an excerpt from a novel, some felt rushed and others under developed.
However,I am glad I got to read this as I get to explore authors that I have not read before and got to sample their work and see if I get on with their writing styles.
The book also has a short note from the author as to why they picked the era, why they contributed to the anthology and so on. I definitely want to explore more novels with American history such as the gold mining and slavery thanks to these authors.
Overall I rated this 3 out of 5 stars
The stories are written in historical order, starting from 1710-1968. These are my ratings for each story:
Mother Carey's table by J.Anderson Coats ⭐.5 stars
The Journey by Marie Lu ⭐⭐⭐stars
Madeleine's choice by Jessica Spotswood ⭐⭐⭐.5 stars
El Destinos by Leslye Walton ⭐⭐⭐stars
High Stakes by Andrea Cremer ⭐⭐⭐ stars
The Red Ravenue Ball by Caroline Tung Richmond ⭐⭐stars
Pearls by Beth Revis ⭐⭐⭐.5 stars
Gold in the roots of grass by Marissa Meyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐stars
The Legendary Garnet Girls by Y.S.Lee ⭐⭐⭐stars
The colour of the sky by Elizabeth Wein ⭐⭐⭐ stars
Bonnie and Clydebank by Sundra Mitchell ⭐⭐⭐stars
Hard times by Catherine Longshore ⭐⭐⭐stars
City of Angels by Lindsay Smith ⭐⭐⭐.5 stars
Pulse of the Panthers by Kekla Magoon ⭐⭐⭐ stars
The whole world is watching by Robin Talley ⭐⭐stars
I wanted to read this collection of short stories as I had heard great things about it. This book should have been ideal for me, it's feminist historical fiction. Sadly this didn't deliver, none of the stories blew me away. In actual fact I have a hard time remembering what the stories were about. Some of the stories felt like they were an excerpt from a novel, some felt rushed and others under developed.
However,I am glad I got to read this as I get to explore authors that I have not read before and got to sample their work and see if I get on with their writing styles.
The book also has a short note from the author as to why they picked the era, why they contributed to the anthology and so on. I definitely want to explore more novels with American history such as the gold mining and slavery thanks to these authors.
Overall I rated this 3 out of 5 stars
Louise (64 KP) rated Now I Rise (The Conqueror's Saga #2) in Books
Jul 2, 2018
*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review*
Kiersten White has beaten the second book lull. With a lot of series I have read you find that the second book is sometimes a ‘filler’ or it just not as good as it’s predecessor – This is not the case for ‘Now I Rise’, this book was darker, brutal and action packed.
I am not going to go into too much detail with this book as I don’t want to give any spoilers away. Lada is off to Wallachia with her men, she is has having a pretty hard time of convincing people to back her as being prince and then she has to contend with assassins trying to kill her. Lada’s loyal army will do anything for her, they fight for her and then follow her when she starts taking revenge on anyone that gets in her way of the throne.
Radu is still as loyal as ever to Mehmed and fantasizes that one day he will look at him the way he did Lada. He will do anything for Mehmed even if that means becoming a pawn and risking his and Nazira’s lives.
There were some great characters in this book, Nazira (Radu’s wife) she was smart, funny, had a political head on her but foremost she really truly cared for Radu. She had this warmth about her that was very much-needed as a lot of the book is dark and gritty.
Hunyadi, we hear of him a little in ‘And I Darken’ but we really get to see him in this book and though he is depicted as some awful killer that murdered Vlad Dracul and his son, we find there is more to this man and reasoning behind his motives.
This installment is much darker, bloodier and Lada is even more badass than before. I preferred this book so much more than the first one. The first book was obviously setting the scene and giving us the back story to each of their lives and this one was jammed packed with action. There is such great character development, I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
I rated this 4 out of 5 stars
Kiersten White has beaten the second book lull. With a lot of series I have read you find that the second book is sometimes a ‘filler’ or it just not as good as it’s predecessor – This is not the case for ‘Now I Rise’, this book was darker, brutal and action packed.
I am not going to go into too much detail with this book as I don’t want to give any spoilers away. Lada is off to Wallachia with her men, she is has having a pretty hard time of convincing people to back her as being prince and then she has to contend with assassins trying to kill her. Lada’s loyal army will do anything for her, they fight for her and then follow her when she starts taking revenge on anyone that gets in her way of the throne.
Radu is still as loyal as ever to Mehmed and fantasizes that one day he will look at him the way he did Lada. He will do anything for Mehmed even if that means becoming a pawn and risking his and Nazira’s lives.
There were some great characters in this book, Nazira (Radu’s wife) she was smart, funny, had a political head on her but foremost she really truly cared for Radu. She had this warmth about her that was very much-needed as a lot of the book is dark and gritty.
Hunyadi, we hear of him a little in ‘And I Darken’ but we really get to see him in this book and though he is depicted as some awful killer that murdered Vlad Dracul and his son, we find there is more to this man and reasoning behind his motives.
This installment is much darker, bloodier and Lada is even more badass than before. I preferred this book so much more than the first one. The first book was obviously setting the scene and giving us the back story to each of their lives and this one was jammed packed with action. There is such great character development, I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
I rated this 4 out of 5 stars