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The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn
The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn
Tyler Whitesides | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Thrilling epic fantasy heist
This was a very original take on the fantasy genre (for me at least). The main character, Ardor Benn, is a roguish 'ruse artist', who runs small time cons on everyone from bar patrons (betting he can't hit a shot after numerous drinks) to gangsters. He is approached by a religious, monk-type, man who wants to hire him to run a con on the king of the Greater Chain of islands.
The world Whitesides has built is really wonderful, not totally dissimilar to that in Mistborn. However, here materials aren't ingested and 'burned' by people to get powers, they ignite specifics types of grit. This grit has been processed from materials originally eaten and pooped out and burned by dragons. Different materials before being eaten will give different results when ignited, causing a cloud of dust that bends reality - creating light or explosions, stopping all sounds or light or gravity, making impenetrable bubbles or healing. And the most valuable of all is the Visitant Grit, which will summon an all-powerful paladin to implement the ambitions of the worthy holder. This latter grit is produced by igniting the pooped out remnants of a male dragon's bones. Sadly, all male dragons have died out, meaning these saviours are no longer possible. And that's where Ardor's new job comes in...
The story is a non-stop thriller as the job they plan is so ambitious that it takes on several phases, all of which are massive in themselves. There were a few times during the early parts where I felt the story dragged a little (chapters covering one character learning how to mime an operatic aria), but these weren't too damaging to my motivation. There are a number of times when things don't go to plan, and a re-think is needed. These are also well written pieces, as the characters solve these in creative ways. There were no real deus ex machina moments where they escaped despite all odds. There is one very surprising twist/revelation in the final third which had me nervous that all my enjoyment was about to be swallowed up, pooped out and burned, but that turned out not to be the case. This weird pivot was very well handled and worked well within the story.
The action scenes are well narrated, allowing so much better visualisation than a lot of books I've read recently, and the characters are all fairly well realised and develop nicely together and on their own.
An excellent, thrilling fun book, and wonderfully part 1 of a trilogy.
  
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The Devil
The Devil
Juls S.K. Vernet, Daniela Barisone | 2022 | Erotica, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Passed a very enjoyable, if slightly longer than usual for this page length book, couple of hours.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

A rare male Omega, Skylar becomes The Devil, an outlaw. Horace, an Alpha, is the Pinkerton tasked to capture him, and bring him in, dead or alive.

So, first things first.

This book is translated from Italian. English is my first (and only!) language and in places, it comes across as very proper. There is no slang, or abbreviations. Its all very correct, mind, just very PROPER. It does make for a slow read, for me, cos my mind was making it more . . .what's the word . . . . .common? I suppose that's the best fit. I kept translating the very proper English, into everyday.

It was, however, a very good read! I liked it, quite a lot.

Horace is Alpha, and a Pinkerton, and needs to bring in Skylar. But something about Sky's picture and then his scent throws Horace. He can't give the man up. Sky doesn't want an Alpha for his heat, he'll ride it out like always. But this heat is particularly bad, and Horace arrives at the right time. It's primal, their first mating.

I liked that things with Sky's gang aren't fully explained at first. It all comes out, just not in one go. It does take a little bit of time for things to fully be explained though, and I did manage to put some of the clues together correctly (for a change!)

I liked the world building, that Alphas and Omegas (both male and female) were dying out, given how the female Omegas were now treated. Betas are the dominant type. I liked that the war ran sorta along side the American civil war, that sort of time line.

It's well written and, proper speak aside, well delivered. It's short and steamy and both Horace and Sky get a say.

Passed a very enjoyable, if slightly longer than usual for this page length book, couple of hours.

I should mention, but it in no way affected my reading, is the formatting is slightly different to a standard form. It just looks different, is all. I know that some people have issues with stuff like that, and so I thought knowing ahead of time would make it easier. It certainly helped that I​ was given a heads up.

First I've read of these two authors, I will certainly read more.

4 good, but very proper, stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Ignite (Underground Encounters #3)
Ignite (Underground Encounters #3)
Lisa Carlisle | 2017 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Ignite (Underground Encounters #3) by Lisa Carlisle
Ignite is the third book in the Underground Encounters series. This time we focus on Lily, a hard-working and driven woman, who goes to Vamps for a celebration. Whilst there, she sees, and hears, the singer of the band, and instantaneous attraction ignites! However, Lily makes him work for it - which I loved. As their relationship progresses, Lily has to keep her secrets, but Nico wants all in. This leads to some friction before decisions can be made.

This book worked really well! It made a nice change for the female to have the paranormal abilities, and the male to be 'normal'. Nico's reaction was completely believable, and so was Lily's. I also loved how the two previous couples made an appearance, and may even be working closely with Lily in the future.

This book was very well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow. The pace was smooth, and the story flowed from one scene to the other. A short and steamy read, definitely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Marvel's The Defenders  - Season 1
Marvel's The Defenders - Season 1
2017 | Action
Action packed (1 more)
Good plot
Iron fist (4 more)
Iron fist
Iron fist
Kind of dull at times
Iron fist
Dysfunctional bunch of assholes that you want to have a drink with
The Defenders was a lot of fun to watch with some really awesome action sequences that I've come to associate with Marvel/Netflix while story is nothing new it was still fun to watch and to see The Defenders come together was really awesome(except for Iron fist). For me Jessica Jones was really the stand out from the group and really saved this season for me.

You really feel the shorts season with this one and since they waited so long for them to come together the last few episodes felt a but rushed so I do wish they would have extended the season to the normal 13 episodes I feel like it really would have helped the pacing of the season.


If you couldn't tell I really truly hated Iron Fist with a passion he was such an obnoxious epitome of rich white male privilege and he really did drag this season down for me since almost every time he was on screen I found my focus drifting off. I will admit I did enjoy his interactions with Luke Cage.
  
Show all 4 comments.
40x40

Mekkin B. (122 KP) Sep 9, 2017

This is the best and most accurate list of drawbacks for this show. I would add that the set-piece for the final showdown (the underground cave/dragon skeleton) was just so godawful. It was such a weird twist for three of these gritty, realistic superheroes to be drawn into this bizarre mystical plot. The writers knew it too, they lampshade it in the elevator scene, but just because you make your characters acknowledge that they are in a ridiculous situation, doesn't make that situation less ridiculous.

40x40

BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) Sep 10, 2017

You seriously couldn't be any more right just another way Iron Fist messed up the show.

40x40

Fred (860 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey in Video Games

Mar 16, 2019  
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
2018 | Action/Adventure, Role-Playing
Epic adventure!
Assassin's Creed is one of my favorite series of video games. I loved them all & this one may be the best of all. Ancient Greece is the setting & you play as one of two characters, either male or female. You play as a mercenary, which allows for many types of missions. The story is very involved and takes you all over an enormous world. The world is beautiful & it's worth exploring every inch.

My favorite new features of the game are the way you can hunt other mercenaries in the game & move up the chain. Sort of like the Lord of the Rings games where you can hunt specific orcs & goblins. The other is hunting cult members. You do missions to find out the identities of the cult members, then hunt them down. All very exciting.

So far they have kept the Azimuth stuff to a minimum, which is fine.

This game is huge. I have played for over 20 hours so far & nowhere near completing it. Not even half I would guess.

I also love the photo feature in the game & find myself using it a lot. The game is that beautiful.

If you like the others, then this is a must buy.
  
TM
The Man Who Came Too Much
Ellie Saxx | 2012
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
★★★★ <b>4 Star Rating</b> ★★★★

Me whilst reading this ebook:

<img src="http://mrwgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Emma-Stones-Hysterical-Laugh-Gif.gif"; width="300" height="150"/>

OMG this was hilarious! And filthy! Oh so filthy!
You just have to read this.

It's smutty, it's hot and it's enough to get you drenched.
Are you male? Female? It doesn't matter...this guy just wants to cover you from head to toe.

<img src="http://buzzworthy.mtv.com//wp-content/uploads/buzz/2013/05/wanted-5.gif"; width="300" height="180"/>

I guess you could say that this guy has a special gift as in just one go he can fill jugs, pringle cans and thigh high boots.
Let's just say you're in for a surprise...in the face!

<img src="http://twilight.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/138016257052.gif"; width="300" height="180"/>

Wanna get it on with this guy? Don't forget to bring a spare pair of clothes...you're gonna need them:

<b>A night with this guy (Before and after)</b>

<img src="http://d22zlbw5ff7yk5.cloudfront.net/images/stash-3-50cceaaeb43ab.gif"; width="300" height="180"/>

A well written short story filled to the brim with smut...read it! It's feckin' hilarious!