
God-Fearing and Free: A Spiritual History of America's Cold War
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Religion has been on the rise in America for decades - which strikes many as a shocking new...

Green Landscapes in the European City, 1750-2010
Peter Clark, Marjaana Niemi and Catharina Nolin
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Green space is a fundamental concept for understanding modern and contemporary urban society,...

Homo Britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain
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Chris Stringer's Homo Britannicus is the epic history of life in Britain, from man's very first...
Human Security Discourse and International Law: A Principled Approach
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The concept of human security has emerged in international relations and policy as an idea which not...

Ross (3284 KP) rated The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn in Books
Mar 12, 2021
The second Ardor Benn book is another epic tale of the ruse artist taking on the royal family. The first book saw Ard's efforts depose the current king and save the dragon race (and hence the world). Sadly, the replacement royalty is no better and the Great Chain is now scattered into different, warring islands. Ard finds himself embroiled in a plot to unearth the conspiracy that the new king's dead nephew, and the rightful heir, is not actually dead.
There is also an interesting new subplot where we see a university professor tasked with discovering new Grit types (the world's magic system, whereby different materials once digested and fired by a dragon produce different magical results). This angle, like the industrial/medical revolution is surprisingly thrilling, with additional intrigue as the results become the interests of some unsavoury characters.
Ard and Raek are once again superb and quickly put together a plot to infiltrate a secret criminal underworld and discover the whereabouts of the true king. The secrecy and plotting, and use of the world's magic makes for some excellent exciting passages.
There are the usual twists and turns along the way, as the security measures in place in the secret society make it hard for Ard to progress too quickly.
As with the first book, the true nature of this strange world is unveiled a little more over the course of the book in spectacular fashion.
A wonderful fun read.

Charlie Hunnam recommended Pusher III: I'm the Angel of Death (2005) in Movies (curated)

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Vampire Games in Books
Jan 12, 2021
The beginning was a little rocky, I didn’t know what was happening and the style of how it was written felt a little awkward. By the quarter point it had smoothed out a little and I could read it easily and quickly.
Being the sucker that I am for romance books, the first hint of something, even the slightest hint of something, gets me excited. So that meeting of gazes had me smiling like a loony. I like my paranormal romances. From then I was scouring every page for more interactions between Bianka and Phillip. I quickly fell into their story. I was kind of on tenterhooks near the end wondering what she was going to choose.
The other part of the storyline; the fights, was an interesting take. It reminded me of The Hunger Games in the sort of “kill or be killed” way but this is with vampires so it’s all a little more intense. It was also filled with political undercurrents of the vampire society.
I loved the names the author came up with for the fiefdoms: Twilight Falls, Dawn Hold, Nightfall Keep…they just make me think of dark places but at the same time they sound pretty cool, right?
I liked some bits a lot more than others, but I do think I’d be interested in continuing the story at some point in the future when they’re released.
If you like paranormal romances or vampires or dystopian, maybe all three, then you’ll probably like this.

Quit Now - stop smoking today
Health & Fitness
App
Quit Now is for smokers who are ready to quit. The course will take approximately 5 days to...

Ecology of Freshwaters: Earth's Bloodstream
Book
The new edition of this established textbook, now with full colour illustration, has been...