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Merissa (12492 KP) rated Sky Stone (Sky Stone #1) in Books

May 20, 2023  
Sky Stone (Sky Stone #1)
Sky Stone (Sky Stone #1)
Scarlett Van Dijk | 2014 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Skyla doesn't fit in at home, although you are never really given a reason why. She is fostered and has weekly psych visits which she feels that she doesn't need. One day, just as she's about to go on such a visit, she sees a flash of light and follows it. She is then transported to a different world, with war and betrayal the only constant.

Completely written from Skyla's perspective, this comes across as a young tale, which is not surprising considering the author was only fifteen when she started writing. That being said, it is a very well-written piece, full of adventure and insta-love, magic and sword-play.

For anyone looking for a detailed, light work of fantasy, then I can definitely recommend this.

* I received this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 29, 2016
  
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David McK (3508 KP) rated The Aeronaut's Windlass in Books

Dec 20, 2023  
The Aeronaut's Windlass
The Aeronaut's Windlass
Jim Butcher | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.6 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first book in Jim Butcher's new series: Cinder Spires series, if I'm honest I was a little unsure what to make of this at the start: it's not 'traditional' fantasy (that would be his 'Codex Alera' series); nor is it the urban fantasy (his - still ongoing - 'Dresden Files' series).

Rather, this is probably best described as Steampunk, which is a genre I previously had little exploration in, and which Google defines as:

"...a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.".

Reading that description, this definitely fits right into that bracket!

To my mind, it also falls more towards the fantasy aspect of Steampunk: after all, we have a new magic system, airships, the ability to communicate with animals (cats), and monsters from the ground all within the pages of this story even if (for my money), it never quite gripped me as much as a Harry Dresden book.
  
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David McK (3508 KP) rated Skulduggery Pleasant in Books

Jan 26, 2024  
Skulduggery Pleasant
Skulduggery Pleasant
Derek Landy | 2007 | Children
6
8.9 (15 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first in Derek Landy's 'Skulduggery Pleasant' series, which I decided to borrow recently from Kindle Unlimited.

I read (or heard) somewhere that this was attempting to be the heir to the Harry potter crown, and I can definitely see the similarities: a secret world alongside our own full of magic, where a dark sorcerer wants to gain control over the mortal world, and where a young pre-teen is introduced to the world and has (to them) unknown connections to it already, and some unpleasant relatives...

However, unlike the Harry Potter series, this is primarily set in and around Dublin (rather than London) - and so, to me, is closer to home - while the home life of the protagonist is far more settled: she's not an orphan, and lives with her family.

I also found Skulduggery Pleasant to be more of an interesting character than Dumbledore, as well as playing a far larger role in the proceedings.

Finally, I may yet read more of these.