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Thrawn Ascendancy
I absolutely loved the Star Wars trilogy where Grand Admiral Thrawn tries to resurrect the Empire after the events of "Episode VI: Return of the Jedi". However, when Disney purchased the rights to the franchise, non-movie books were rejected as "not canon" meaning they never actually occurred. Well, Timothy Zahn had issue with this, so got permission from Disney to write more books about Thrawn, first a trilogy which depicts his rise within the xenophobic Empire to the rank of Grand Admiral, and now more recently a new trilogy which goes even further back, to the rise of Thrawn within his own race's military ranks, before he ever gets sent to join the Empire as a titular spy. I love Thrawn...I love the books by Zahn... just a perfect match of author to subject!2 -
Painting the Light by Sally Cabot Gunning (5*)
Turn of the 20th century orphaned art student marries a charming prodigal and ends up on his family sheep farm on Martha's Vineyard neglected, belittled, her inheritance squandered, and most of the work. When he disappears, she finds her circumstances are more dire than she knew and secrets and mysteries are soon to surface.
I really loved this drama--intriguing plot, rich background, well-drawn characters, natural and often acerbic dialogue, depth and gravitas. This is an exceptionally well-constructed and well-written novel. There are no perfect people here, but realistic, flawed people who make misjudgments and behave badly. These characters reside in a starkly realistic world of sheep and storms, not unicorns and rainbows. After all, you can't paint light without any dark.1 -
Book 1 was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Book 2 isn't. This is a trilogy. One of the characters has cerebral palsy; it is pretty rare to have a character with a physical ailment like this in a fantasy novel.
Great to see you, Catfish_Fan! My have you changed! Interesting comment. People with CP are rare in any book genre, now that I think about it.
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Thrawn Ascendancy
I absolutely loved the Star Wars trilogy where Grand Admiral Thrawn tries to resurrect the Empire after the events of "Episode VI: Return of the Jedi". However, when Disney purchased the rights to the franchise, non-movie books were rejected as "not canon" meaning they never actually occurred. Well, Timothy Zahn had issue with this, so got permission from Disney to write more books about Thrawn, first a trilogy which depicts his rise within the xenophobic Empire to the rank of Grand Admiral, and now more recently a new trilogy which goes even further back, to the rise of Thrawn within his own race's military ranks, before he ever gets sent to join the Empire as a titular spy. I love Thrawn...I love the books by Zahn... just a perfect match of author to subject!
I recently finished The Hand of Thrawn duology from 1997 (on June 4) and enjoyed it, I look forward to reading more! There are the Disney Canon books and the pre-Disney books separately, but not lesser in my opinion.0 -
The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin (4*)
This novel of Londoners during the Blitz is a most heart-warming and inspiring story. The writing is more akin to that of the romance genre, making it a fast and easy read, but did the job, and the characters are more stock types than complex rounded humans but they did the job, too, and, in spite of all their porcelain wonderfulness, were likable and sympathetic. Still, the plot and circumstances were well-thought out and developed, so it was an engrossing, entertaining read that showed integrity in its authenticity.0 -
The Awakening (The Dragon Heart Legacy #1) by Nora Roberts (3*)
Insecure young doormat from Philadelphia travels to Ireland and discovers she is descended from fairies and an evil god. She has undiscovered powers that the fay need to save the world and her evil grandfather wants in order to help him destroy it.
Although this book has elements of a good story, it shows potential but nothing more. Not only is it not a stand alone story, it isn't even a story. it goes nowhere. Its just an long introduction to the future novels in the series--all build up and no resolutions. You'd be wise to wait until the rest of the series is written.0 -
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker (5*)
Local cop in a small CA coastal resort town investigates the murder of an old friend after another old friend is convicted of that crime, but our protagonist is convinced of the man's innocence.
This is one of the better psychological suspense/whodunnits that I've read in a while, which surprised me because it started out rather sketchy and confusing, taking a while before the author gave the reader enough information to begin to follow what's happening and get really engrossed in the tale. It is a tragic story made up of very sad, unfortunate characters and full of unexpected twists and turns. The who in the whodunnit will surprise you.0 -
I'm reading a pair of novels, The Getaway God (Sandman Slim #6) is cheesy urban fantasy by Richard Kadrey, and The Last Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone is cheesy western.0
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I hate trying to read multiple novels at once. Takes my brain too long to switch gears from one storyline to the other, to remember what significant events/characters had been presented so far, etc. My daughter, on the other hand, at any given time has a minimum of three novels going at once, but considering how fast she reads I don't know why she bothers and doesn't just finish one at a time. (She's like me when I was her age... at least 7 novels complete per week. I at least raised one of my four kids right...)2
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My library loan hold for the 8th Star Trek: Discovery e-book came in finally, entitled Wonderlands. That's great, because I just finished the 7th one on June 9. If you've watched the show, Wonderlands stars Michael and Book. Someone pointed out to me that the abbreviation for these stories (and the show) is quite unfortunate, STD.
You make a good point, nossmf, as I have put down the cheesy western in order to read the other books. I will get back to the western but I have waited a long time for this library hold. If the storylines are complex at all it is tough to read multiple books and remember everything. The western is not complex though, I'll pick it back up in a day or two without missing a beat.1 -
Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
British officer returns from Waterloo to find his family in debt and disgrace because of his father's scams and suicide. Now working as an investigator of clemency appeals for condemned prisoners, he is expected to just confirm the verdict, but he's sure an accused is innocent and sets out to find the real killer.
A departure for Cornwell, an historic murder mystery and a good one at that! There were places that I found repetitious and dragged out, and there was something about the ending I wasn't keen on (but that's just me), still the characters are well-rounded and compelling and the mystery plot well-planned and executed (pun!) I am surprised with such great characters and setting that it wasn't made into a series. It was still a very engrossing and entertaining novel on a par with Gabaldon's Lord John series.0 -
--The Flame Bearer (The Last Kingdom #10) by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
Our beloved Uhtred has a plan to take back his family's impenetrable fortress of Bebbenburg from his cousin, by stealth and cunning. But deadly attacks by the Scots from the North and Saxon enemies from the South keep distracting him from his goal. A powerful old enemy is onto him and races to warn and support the cousin.
--War of the Wolf (The Last Kingdom #11) by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
Life is never easy for the aging Uhtred. He is called to defend Anglaland from Sköll, an extremely brutal Norseman and Uhtred's daughter's killer, who, like Uhtred, also fights under a wolf standard. Uhtred has a skirmish with Sköll's son that leaves the young man a brain-damaged invalid. Now the war for the new nation has become really personal.
When it comes to historical fiction, nobody does it better than Cornwell, and this is his best anti-heroic hero and best series ever, IMHO, as narrated from the POV of the acerbic, fatalistic bad*** Uhtred. You not only get to read some of the most exciting and engrossing battle novels ever written, but with the side effect of now knowing more early English history than you ever thought possible.
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LadyCalico2 wrote: »--The Flame Bearer (The Last Kingdom #10) by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
When it comes to historical fiction, nobody does it better than Cornwell, and this is his best anti-heroic hero and best series ever, IMHO, as narrated from the POV of the acerbic, fatalistic bad*** Uhtred. You not only get to read some of the most exciting and engrossing battle novels ever written, but with the side effect of now knowing more early English history than you ever thought possible.
I have these on my TBR mountain, and I enjoyed the first season of The Last Kingdom TV show. It reminded me a lot of Vikings on History and when that moved to Amazon Prime I continued watching Vikings and kind of quit The Last Kingdom (which is a Netflix show now, was BBC). I imagine that the books are very much superior to a TV show. Cornwell is such a prolific writer and I want to read some of his stuff, he has the Sharpe's books, the Starbuck Chronicles, King Arthur trilogy, The Grail Quest, and some others; I don't know where to start.
I said I would finish this cheesy western by Johnstone and I will, then on to something new (and hopefully exciting). The Star Trek book I finished up this morning, it was the best of the Discovery novelizations so far in my opinion, if you are a fan of the show.0 -
Currently reading Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Interesting so far.
Just finished Defending Jacob by William Landy - Had a book hangover from this one so it's taking me a bit to get into my current reading.2 -
Currently reading The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies. I think I heard about it on Spark People, but perhaps it was elsewhere. In any case, it's quite dated in some ways, but I'm sticking with it for two reasons. 1) it's set in a Canadian university and has some humorous moments and I like academic comic novels and 2) it's part of a trilogy and the second part is supposed to be really special.
So glad to find you all here, especially Lady Calico and Catfish Fan from the old World of Books!
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Oooh, I've got Mexican Gothic waiting to be read, I hope it's good too!Currently reading Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Interesting so far.
I finished The Once And Future Witches, so good! I also read The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, which was a fun read for Pride! My next is also a YA Pride pick, too, Love & Other Curses, it's got me hooked already.1 -
kellibee2000 wrote: »
This author is on my mountainous TBR list too. I have Mexican Gothic on audiobook already. It won the Nebula award and the Goodreads Choice award for horror, so it was on my radar. Hopefully I'll get to it soon.
I'm now reading the third book of the Cursebreakers trilogy by Brigid Kemmerer, A Vow So Bold and Deadly. I'm not very far into it so I don't yet see how the series will concude.
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I finished that, but forgot to add the other one that was squeezed in recently, Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas. It is the prequel to The Hate U Give. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. It was a backstory about the family in THUG, very compelling.
My library had Mexican Gothic actually checked in on e-book so I will begin that one next.1 -
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane (5*)
Two cop families live next door, one plagued by mental illness and alcoholism. The son of one and the daughter of the other develop a deep and committed relationship opposed by both families. When something horrible happens, a chain of events starts that will have consequences that take 34 years to overcome. This is an excellent and oh so real novel but one that is serious, deep, and complex. The multidimensional characters in here are human, flawed, injured, and makes mistakes, just like us. Forgiveness is not forgetting, and you may forgive by suppressing your feelings but that doesn't mean the harm done to you is gone and may still come back to bite you until you deal honesty with the damage and really come to terms with it.1 -
I'm reading some good stuff, but I have way too much reading to do on my plate.
Right now its Impetuous Innocent, by Stephanie Laurens.
So far, so good. I'm enjoying it. I actually really enjoy Robyn Carr novels. Those are awesome!2
