Paperbacks – Page 11 – Lyndsey Hall

What I read on holiday

Earlier this month, we spent a fabulous week in Turkey, at the Sensatori hotel in Fethiye. Yes, in April. Right in the middle of Camp Nano. No, I didn’t write a single word while we were away, I relaxed and recharged my batteries after a crazy few months.

I did, however, read a few books.

First up was The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon. You might remember I attended an event at Waterstones in Orchard Square, Sheffield, where I met Samantha and got a signed copy of the book.

I haven’t done a review of this one yet, as it’s part of a longer series and I haven’t reviewed the first two I’m going to wait and review the whole series at the end. If you haven’t read The Bone Season though, I highly recommend it! It’s billed as adult fantasy, but Paige, the MC, is nineteen so it’s sort of on the cusp of YA, NA and adult, and if you like any kind of fantasy you’ll probably love this.

It’s set in a future version of London with an alternative history since the 1800s, resulting in a neo-Victorian, steampunk kind of world where clairvoyance is real, and illegal. An oppressive, anti-clairvoyance regime has taken power in London and several other cities across the world, and as a result a vast underworld of clairvoyants now exists in the shadows.

If that sounds like your cup of tea then pop down to your local independent bookstore or library and grab a copy, you won’t regret it.

Next, I read Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, and you can check out my book review here. This one was a recommendation from Cait @ Paper Fury, whose taste in books is exemplary. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the Broken Empires trilogy, I’ve already put them on hold at the library.

It’s set in a medieval sort of fantasy world, where a teenage prince is on a mission to take revenge on the man who murdered his mother and younger brother years earlier. It’s really dark and stabtastic, so if that’s your bag you’ll definitely love this series.

Also, Mark Lawrence retweeted me and replied, so my life has been made.

@lyndleloo Very many thanks! He’s actually 14 for 95% of the book, but yeah, pretty young.

Red Sister is entirely unconnected, so also a good start.

— Mark Lawrence (@Mark__Lawrence) April 26, 2017

Finally, I also listened to the audio book of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, my review of which you can read here.

It’s an absolutely enchanting, beautifully written book about a circus that is only open at night, real magic posing as illusions, and two star-crossed lovers locked in a lifelong competition with the circus as their stage.

So those are the books I managed to finish this month, what with work and Camp NaNoWriMo. Today’s the last day of Camp and I’m still 6k words away from winning, so it’s looking unlikely, but tomorrow is a Bank Holiday, so if I stay up late and write until midnight I might just make it. It would be the most I’ve written in a day – if we’re not counting last minute essays for Uni! I am the queen of cutting it fine on deadline day.

I’m now listening to the audio book of The Dream Thieves, book two in The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater. I’m really enjoying this series so far, it’s got a great ensemble cast of characters and a really intriguing sense of suspense throughout.

In a nutshell, Gansey is on the hunt for a dead Welsh king whose body is rumoured to be buried in Henrietta on a ley line, and if you wake him he will grant you one wish. The rest of the gang all have their own motivations for helping Gansey in his search, and they’re not the only ones looking. It’s a very moody, intense read, with lots of humour thrown in, and some pretty strange goings-on.

I’m also reading Black Ice by Becka Fitzpatrick, a YA thriller, which is something I don’t have much experience in. I’ve only read a few pages so far, but I’m hoping it’ll be a fun read.

So, that’s everything I read in April on my holiday in Turkey, and what I’m currently reading! What have you guys been reading this month? Let me know in the comments.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Lyndsey

Review: Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

There are two reasons I picked this book up when I joined my library last month. One, I received Mark Lawrence’s newest novel, Red Sister in the February Illumicrate and I’d never read one of his books before so I decided to start at the beginning. Sensible, no?

And two, Cait @ Paper Fury absolutely raves about this series, and her word is gospel (except on Sarah J. Maas, we’ll agree to disagree, Cait), so I knew I had to pick it up as soon as I saw it on the shelf.

TL;DR a thirteen year old prince cuts a bloody swathe across a medieval-style region with the ultimate aim of winning the Hundred War and ruling the entire realm. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you love a whole lot of stabbing and swearing, and a conspicuous lack of morals, then you’ll love this.

Prince of Thorns is set in a Game of Thrones style, faux-medieval fantasy world. I would like to say that if you love the A Song of Ice and Fire series you’ll like this, but Lawrence uses the phrase “the game of thrones” several times throughout the book, and I can imagine that annoying big ASOIAF fans – I only watch the TV show and still found it a bit jarring. There are similarities between the plots and the worlds in both series, but you can find similarities anywhere if you try hard enough – it certainly didn’t stop me enjoying Prince of Thorns. There are one or two MAJOR differences, but I won’t spoil them for you!

Honorous Jorg Ancrath, the eponymous Prince of Thorns, is a thirteen year old prince from one of the hundred separate kingdoms spread across the realm. He’s been through a lot in his short years, has Jorg. For the past four years he’s been burning down villages and killing anyone who crosses his path, helped by his band of road brothers, a motley crew of criminals, outcasts and downright psychopaths.

“There is no evil, Makin,” I said. “There’s the love of things, power, comfort, sex, and there’s what men are willing to do to satisfy those lusts.”

He’s been on the hunt for Count Renar, the man who’s responsible for killing his mother and brother, and leaving Jorg for dead in a poisonous hook-briar bush (hence Prince of Thorns). He hasn’t actually caught up to Count Renar yet, for one reason and another (no spoilers), but he decides to head back home to his father, the King of Ancrath, who he hasn’t seen or spoken to since leaving at age nine.

There’s no love lost between Jorg and his dad, who sent his Captain of the Guard after Jorg four years ago. Instead of bringing Jorg home, Sir Makin joined Jorg’s rabble, ostensibly to keep an eye on the boy and make sure nothing untoward happened to him, but the friendship between Jorg and Makin is one of my favourite things about the book. The Road Brothers are a fascinating bunch, each with their own backstory, motivations, and collection of disturbing personality traits and skills.

“Most men have at least one redeeming feature. Finding one for Brother Rike requires a stretch. Is ‘big’ a redeeming feature?”

There is also a massive plot twist about two thirds into the book that I did not see coming! If you know what I’m talking about tell me in the comments whether you guessed it or not – there are hints if you’re paying attention, but it definitely took me by surprise!

There is a magical element to the story, on our journey we stumble across dream-witches, necromancers and a tribe of mutant creatures with interesting abilities.

“I’ll tell you now. That silence almost beat me. It’s the silence that scares me. It’s the blank page on which I can write my own fears. The spirits of the dead have nothing on it. The dead one tried to show me hell, but it was a pale imitation of the horror I can paint on the darkness in a quiet moment.”

The book is written in first person, so we get a really deep insight into Jorg’s mind, which is part terrifying (especially when you remember he’s thirteen) and part hilarious because he’s full of acerbic wit. He’s one of the most interesting characters I’ve come across in ages, absolutely devious and very intelligent – he often quotes philosophers thanks to his royal education, and his strategic and tactical skill is far beyond anything a normal teenage boy would be able to manage.

At the end of the book there’s an excerpt from book two, King of Thorns, and having glanced quickly at it I think there’s a four year time jump, so it’ll be interesting to see how Jorg changes as he grows up.

“Blood is on these hands, these ink-stained hands, but I don’t feel the sin. I think maybe we die every day. Maybe we’re born new each dawn, a little changed, a little further on our own road. When enough days stand between you and the person you were, you’re strangers. Maybe that’s what growing up is. Maybe I have grown up.”

My only negative comments are related to Jorg’s age, I’m not sure if Lawrence did it to make Jorg’s actions and behaviour even more shocking, but some of the things he says and does I would expect more from a sixteen year old, or even older. If he’d started Prince of Thorns at sixteen, it might have removed the need for such a big time jump between books one and two, but without reading King of Thorns I can’t say whether the time that has passed is crucial to the story. (I’ve just read Mark Lawrence’s comments on the Goodreads page for King of Thorns and it sounds like he uses a dual timeline to show what has happened in the preceding four years alongside what is happening now, so I guess there’s your answer!)

I gave Prince of Thorns 4 stars because it’s a really gripping, entertaining and dark fantasy novel with a fascinating main character and some fun plot twists, but Jorg’s age feels slightly out of sync to me, and I found the use of the phrase ‘game of thrones’ slightly jarring – like if a character in another book was called Harry Potter! Especially a book from the same genre. I’m sure George R.R. Martin wasn’t the first author to coin that phrase, but he is the most well known.

If those things don’t bother you, definitely pick this one up! I’m excited to get my hands on King of Thorns now, I’m expecting an even better rating as we’ll hopefully get some more character development and world building, which are my favourite things!

Have you read The Broken Empires series? What did you think? Recommend me some similar books in the comments!

Lyndsey

I am a member of the Book Depository affiliate program, so if you click through and buy any of the books mentioned in this blog I might make a little commission, but I am not paid to review books and all reviews are my own opinions!

My top 5 auto-buy authors

Welcome back to my blog! Today I thought it’d be fun to discuss those authors whose books we buy without even reading the blurb or checking reviews. The ones we know we’ll enjoy, no matter what the book is about. The authors who can lend their hand to any subject matter, whether it’s an epic fantasy based on 15th century Spain, a supernatural ghost story about a haunted bakery, or a contemporary romance between two rival ballet dancers.

In no particular order…

1. Maggie Stiefvater

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll already know about my love for Maggie Stiefvater (check out my reviews of The Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys). I stumbled across Shiver back when I was a young pup (21, then…) just looking for something to satisfy my post-Potter reading addiction. It did the trick, and luckily was a trilogy (I’m still yet to read Sinner, #4 in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series!), so there was plenty of content to sink my teeth into.

After I finished that series, I picked up Lament and Ballad, which I didn’t love as much, but I just needed another hit of Stiefvater’s distinctive writing style. Then I got distracted by the likes of The Mortal Instruments and The Hunger Games, and didn’t get around to reading The Scorpio Races or The Raven Cycle until this year, when I realised what I had been missing and renewed my adoration of la Stiefvater once more.

Seriously, if you’re looking for a great young adult fantasy read, you won’t go wrong with one of Maggie’s books. Her style is slightly eerie and very suspenseful, with lots of mythology and supernatural elements mixed with complex and flawed characters.

2. Sarah J. Maas

When I discovered S.J. Maas, she had already published three books in the Throne of Glass series as well as a collection of prequel novellas, and A Court of Thorns and Roses had just been released. There was a lot of hype around her books, and most of the reviews I saw were good – her books sounded right up my street, and I loved that there were a good few to get stuck into without having to wait too long for the next to be released.

Maas writes absolutely epic young adult and new adult fantasy, with some of the most book-boyfriend worthy male characters you will ever come across. She quickly became one of my favourite authors, and Empire of Storms and A Court of Mist and Fury cemented her newfound status as an auto-buy author. I’m impatiently waiting for the next instalments in both series!

She’s also writing a Catwoman novel which will be released in 2018, so if superheroes are your cup of tea then pop that on your TBR. You won’t regret it.

3. Leigh Bardugo

I read The Grisha Trilogy because everyone else was, and I enjoyed it, it was an entertaining read (or listen, I got the audiobooks), but where Leigh Bardugo really came into her own was the follow up series, Six of Crows. Set in the same fictional world, but a different part and a few years later, Six of Crows features cameos from a few of the main characters of the Grisha series, but with a whole cast of new characters and a gripping, exciting plot.

Leigh’s talent for world-building is what really puts her up there in my list of favourite authors, she even created a new language for these series. Set in a fictionalised version of medieval Russia, the language and culture are heavily influenced by Russian. The magic system she invented is deeply complex and fascinating, and the characters really come to life as you’re reading.

I’d recommend reading The Grisha Trilogy before starting on Six of Crows, it’s not essential but it adds to the experience and they are a fun read, lots of people loved them just as much, if not more than SoC.

Bardugo is also working on a Wonder Woman novel as part of a DC Icons project, so there’s another superhero book for your list!

4. Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was the first book I listened to on Audible, so it has a special place in my heart, but the whole series is just fantasy heaven. The whole concept of creating creatures using teeth and bone fragments, and reincarnating souls into the bodies is really interesting, and the action is fast-paced and full of tension.

The detail in the descriptions of the characters, creatures, magic and the worlds Laini has created is just phenomenal. I loved every single book and was heartbroken when the series concluded, but the ending was really satisfying.

Laini’s next book, Strange the Dreamer (out this month) is hotly anticipated amongst the bookish community online, and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on it!

5. Samantha Shannon

I was given The Bone Season by a friend who works at Waterstones, along with Half Bad and We Were Liars, so I trust his recommendations implicitly. It’s one of the best debuts I have ever read. Shannon wrote it whilst studying English at Oxford, and was a published author at 21. So, not intimidating at all, then.

The Bone Season series is set in London in an alternate future (2059, but with a different history since the 1800s). It has criminal gangs, psychic powers and alien-type creatures from another realm that control the UK government. It’s fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and just incredibly well written. It’s one of these really detailed books with a map and a glossary and a completely new lexicon. And I live for that.

The third book in the series comes out this month, and I’m going to a signing at Waterstones so I’ll hopefully be acquiring a signed copy and meeting Samantha!! I’m so excited, and also really nervous, but I bet she’s lovely. She’s a huge inspiration, so it will be a dream come true to hear her speak about the book and hopefully get a signed copy.

Who are your top 5 auto-buy authors? Do you love YA fantasy authors as much as I clearly do? Let me know in the comments!

See you next time,

Lyndsey

Current word count: 44,243

Looking forward to smashing out 35k words during Camp Nano!