One Word Kill – Impossible Times #1 – Mark Lawrence
In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week. Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now. He finds himself in a race against…
The Near Witch – V.E. Schwab
The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. There are no strangers in the town of Near. These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. As the hunt for the…
The Fall – Thieves of Fate #2 – Tracy Townsend
An apothecary clerk and her ex-mercenary allies travel across the world to discover a computing engine that leads to secrets she wasn’t meant to know–secrets that could destroy humanity. Eight months ago, Rowena Downshire was a half-starved black market courier darting through the shadows of Corma’s underside. Today, she’s a (mostly) respectable clerk in the Alchemist’s infamous apothecary shop, the Stone Scales, and certainly the last girl one would think qualified to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders a second time. Looks can be deceiving. When Anselm Meteron and the Alchemist receive an invitation to an old acquaintance’s ball–the Greatduke who financed their final, disastrous mercenary mission…
Spotlight: The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon
About the book: A world divided.A queendom without an heir.An ancient enemy awakens. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her…
Update: February 2019
Another month has come and gone. February was a month of contradictions: we had a full week of weather that felt close to summer here in the UK. This felt like such a relief after some dreary and cold weeks, but it’s also incredibly scary in the context of global warming. Personally, it has also been a month full of ups and downs for me. I applied for a job (which was a long shot to be honest) and didn’t get it. My research has been slightly disappointing and my shop is still not online (though it’s close now!). On the other hand I have been enjoying creating and designing…
Spellslinger – Spellslinger #1 – Sebastien de Castell
There are three things that earn you a man’s name among the Jan’Tep. The first is to demonstrate the strength to defend your family. The second is to prove you can perform the high magic that defines our people. The third is simply to reach the age of sixteen. I was a few weeks shy of my birthday when I learned that I wouldn’t be doing any of those things. Magic is a con game. Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage’s duel and the start of four trials that will make him a spellcaster. There’s just one problem: his magic is gone. As his sixteenth birthday approaches, Kellen…
Spotlight: Seraphina’s Lament – Sarah Chorn
About the book: There are the old stories. And then there’s what actually happens. The world is dying. The Sunset Lands are broken, torn apart by a war of ideology paid for with the lives of the peasants. Drought holds the east as famine ravages the farmlands. In the west, borders slam shut in the face of waves of refugees, dooming all of those trying to flee to slow starvation, or a future in forced labor camps. There is no salvation. In the city of Lord’s Reach, Seraphina, a slave with unique talents, sets in motion a series of events that will change everything. In a fight for the soul…
Cross Stitch Project #2: The Grey Bastards
It’s finally finished! I’m so happy with the result but damn, this one took a LONG time. Colours: 35 Thread: DMC Fabric: 25ct Lugana Evenweave (white) Book: The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French Publisher: Orbit Original Artwork by Larry Rostant and Duncan Spilling
The Last Sun – The Tarot Sequence #1 – K.D. Edwards
Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment’s missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home. With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam’s relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune’s Court. In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family’s death and the torments of his past? Review This book had been on…
Update: January 2019
We’re almost through the last day of January over here in the UK. I can hear a collective “ALREADY?” from everyone coming to the same realisation. Most of the people who made New Years Resolutions will have already kind of forgotten about them and Christmas is already a full month closer again. Personally this January has been pretty good for me. I moved to a flat on my own, started seriously working on the handmade business I want to start (soon!) and I made some decisions about my future with thesis submission looming on the horizon. All in all, I’ve been feeling quite confident and happy about my life choices.…
