Leningrad: The People's War (Leningrad #1) by Rachel R. Heil
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Leningrad, 1941. As Europe crumbles under the German war machine, the people of the So-viet Union...
World War II Historical Fiction Leningrad
The Times of London: World News, Sports & Election
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Enjoy The Times of London quality journalism anywhere with one app, 7 days a week. Download the app...
The Grand Tour: Letters and Photographs from the British Empire Expedition 1922
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Unpublished for 90 years, Agatha Christie's extensive and evocative letters and photographs from her...
The End of Apartheid: Diary of a Revolution
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On 2 February 1990, FW de Klerk made a speech that changed the history of South Africa. Nine days...
Ross (3282 KP) rated Redemption's Blade: After the War in Books
Jun 15, 2018
Over the last few months I have been lucky to read three new Tchaikovsky books. As this was the first fantasy book of those three (the other two being war sci-fi) I had fingers crossed for a return to the heights of the Shadows of the Apt series. I was sadly disappointed.
The scope of this book is truly epic in every sense. The world we are thrown into has a diverse range of beings, species, cities, religions and beliefs and a rich history. The events follow on from the end of a tyrannical reign of the Kinslayer, a power-mad demi-god who tried to break the spirit of those races he didn't just wipe out. We see the Kinslayer-slayer Celestaine's attempts to do good in the aftermath of this war, and try to make one species whole again. This aim leads her on a journey across the world where we are introduced to a range of new peoples and places. The journey goes on from place to place, the company increasing all the while.
I have real respect for Tchaikovsky trying to do something new - tell the story that follows on from a somewhat typical fantasy tale. Sadly for me, the story that went before sounds so much more interesting and engaging - the besting of a truly despicable being. This story is instead something of an empty, largely pointless journey. The ending leads us to believe someone had been luring people with the promise of magical items, to come to him and ultimately their doom - however, the trail leading to him was not exactly clear and the chances of anyone following it would be minimal (let alone someone following it at exactly the right pace to witness certain key events!). The world-building is epic and yet completely forgettable. I found myself forgetting who people were, why they were doing things and I completely missed one major reveal in the final chapters, only to re-read and find that there pretty much was no reveal.
I am a fan of Tchaikovsky's writing style but for me this book was a struggle to get through. I had no feelings towards any of the characters and couldn't remember or care where they had been or why, or what had happened. Not a worthwhile investment of my time.
Slimming World Magazine
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Blue Dahlia, Black Gold: A Journey into Angola
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"A rich and fascinating book about an overlooked African powerhouse by a travel writer of rare...
House Sitting - The ultimate lifestyle magazine
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Welcome to House Sitting - The ultimate lifestyle magazine House sitting is a popular travel and...
Merissa (11830 KP) rated Demon Princess (Demon Kingdom Fairy Tales #1) in Books
May 24, 2023
This is a well-written, detailed, fantasy that skips on some parts and not on others. There is a generic description of places, oftentimes vague, but the characters are well-described and rounded. With connections between the main ones, they are easy to read about. There is obviously a lot more to come with this story, and it does end with a sort of cliffhanger, just to advise you. Time skips ahead with this novel, and months pass in quite a quick time.
With no editing or grammatical errors that I found, this was an enjoyable read into a world with magic and perils aplenty. Definitely recommended.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 27, 2016
