2020 Rewind

Hello!

Posting this today, as I will most likely not be around on NYE. Despite everything this has been an excellent year for reading (it was how I survived lockdown #1 – and it along with writing – will see me through the current lockdown). As a result, I finished this year having not only completed my Goodreads Reading Challenge target of 200 books, but surpassing it to read (and listen as I have dipped into audiobooks this year) to 333 books. I’ve had favourites, discovered lots of new authors especially indie authors, and sure there have been some that I haven’t enjoyed quite as much for one reason or another, usually that they’re just not meant for me and someone else will love them as much as I love my favourites.

This year, between all the sudden debate I have seen about best/worst of list, and just because 2020 has been a hell year, and none of us need to add to that, least of all when we are about to be free of 2020. I have decided instead to highlight ALL the books that I have read this year. Below the cut you will find a gallery of all the books I have read – some I’ve reviewed in one format or another on this blog, others are only across on GR and some only have a rating because sometimes it’s nice to read a book and not have to try and arrange words into a review. I have not included covers more than once, even though there are a few books that I have read more than once this year.

Anyway enough rambling, here are my 2020 books.

Along with a massive thank you from me to the authors, illustrators, narrators, agents, editors and publishers that have brought these books to life over the years, and given me a chance to lose myself in their pages.

**
Rowena

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Ten of My Most Anticipated Sequels for 2021

Hello!

As promised here is my second post about some of my most anticipated reads for 2021. In this post I will be looking at sequels that are due to be released next year. Again this is not a comprehensive list, and I have also not included any that are part of the series I intend to read in 2021. The only downside is that many of these haven’t had cover reveals yet.

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Book Review: Map’s Edge (The Tethered Citadel #1) – David Hair

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Hello!
Today I am delighted to be reviewing ‘Map’s Edge’ by David Hair, the first in a new series which is published today 15th October! There is also a blog blast happening on twitter today, so please check out the other blogs participating as well as other release days reviews and show this wonderful book some love.
Disclaimer – I received an e-arc via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Book Summary:

Follow a renegade sorcerer off the edge of the map, in a thrilling adventure perfect for fans of Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson and Sebastien de Castell . . .

Dashryn Cowl has run out of places to hide. The erstwhile sorcerer of the Imperial College fled the Bolgravian Empire when his high-flying family fell from grace, but the tyrannical empire is still hunting for him.

So when he gets his hands on a map showing a place outside the known lands rich in istariol, the mineral that fuels sorcery, he sees a way back to power. There’s only one problem: it means masquerading as an Imperial Cartomancer (an instant death sentence) and finding some dupes to help him mine the istariol in secret, no questions asked.

But somehow, amid the dangers of the road (floods and avalanches, beasts, barbarians and monsters), a strange thing begins to happen: Dashryn starts to care about his ragtag followers and their strange odyssey into the ruins of an ancient forgotten civilisation.

But his past won’t let him be: the implacable Imperial Bloodhound Toran Zorne has caught his scent, and Zorne has never yet failed to bring his quarry to ground.

At the edge of the map, there’s no going forward and no going back . . .

Continue reading “Book Review: Map’s Edge (The Tethered Citadel #1) – David Hair”

Book Review: The Bell in the Lake (The Sister Bells #1) – Lars Mytting

Hello!
The first post for today is a review of The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting, a historical novel in translation, which was one of those books that called to me and I ended up enjoying even more than I expected.

*Disclaimer – I received an e-arc via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Book Summary:

Norway, 1880. In the secluded village of Butangen at the end of the valley, headstrong Astrid dreams of a life beyond marriage, hard work and children. And then Pastor Kai Schweigaard comes into her life, taking over the 700-year-old stave church with its carvings of pagan deities. The two church bells were forged by her forefather in the sixteenth century, in memory of conjoined sisters Halfrid and Gunhild Hekne, and are said to have supernatural powers. But now the pastor wants to tear it down, to replace it with a modern, larger church. Though Astrid is drawn to him, this may be a provocation too far.

Talented architecture student Gerhard Schönauer arrives from Dresden to oversee the removal of the church and its reconstruction in the German city. Everything about elegant Schönauer is so different, so cosmopolitan. Astrid must make a choice: for her homeland and the pastor, or for a daunting and uncertain future in Germany.

Then the bells begin to toll . . .

Translated from the Norwegian by Deborah Dawkin

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Book Review: The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire #1) – Andrea Stewart

Hello!

         Today  I am reviewing ‘The Bone Shard Daughter’ by Andrea Stewart. Spoiler: I loved it, and I hope you will check out the author and this stunning fantasy debut which is out next week!

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Book Summary:

In an empire controlled by bone shard magic, Lin, the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her magic and her place on the throne. The Bone Shard Daughter marks the debut of a major new voice in epic fantasy.

The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.

Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.

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Book Review: Ashes of the Sun (Burningblade & Silvereye #1) – Django Wexler.

Hello!

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks as I am finally back at work after three months of furlough, which is great because I have missed being there, but also exhausting and reading and reviews unfortunately were the parts of my life that fell slightly to the wayside. That said, I have finished several – so I have a few reviews in the pipeline now I getting into the swing of things, and I am determined to get out a couple of posts for the #womeninsff on twitter before the end of July.

That said today – somewhat later than planned – I am reviewing ‘Ashes of the Sun’ by Django Wexler. It was the cover that immediately grabbed me with this book, I just love that combination of colours and the entire composition is just eye catching, and I really liked the premise.

Best of all, I really enjoyed this book.

*Disclaimer – I received an e-arc via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
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Book Summary:

Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer, and two siblings will fight on opposite sides to save their world in the start of Django Wexler’s new epic fantasy trilogy.

Gyre hasn’t seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre’s sole focus is revenge, and he’s willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order.

Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn’t who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order’s cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.

Continue reading “Book Review: Ashes of the Sun (Burningblade & Silvereye #1) – Django Wexler.”

Book Review: Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) – S.A. Chakraborty

Hello!

Today I am reviewing one of my most anticipated reads for 2020 and the final installment in the Daevabad trilogy – The Empire of Gold. I picked up this series when both City of Brass and Kingdom of Copper had been released, and devoured them in quick succession and I had been counting down the days for book 3 and it didn’t disappoint!

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Book Summary:

Daevabad has fallen.

After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people.

But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies.

Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. While Nahri finds peace in the old rhythms and familiar comforts of her human home, she is haunted by the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind and the people who considered her a savior are at the mercy of a new tyrant. Ali, too, cannot help but look back, and is determined to return to rescue his city and the family that remains. Seeking support in his mother’s homeland, he discovers that his connection to the marid goes far deeper than expected and threatens not only his relationship with Nahri, but his very faith.

As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali, and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved . . . and take a stand for those they once hurt.

Continue reading “Book Review: Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) – S.A. Chakraborty”

TOP 5 – Anticipated Reads 2020

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Hello!

Today for #WyrdandWonder I thought that I would share 5 of my most anticipated reads for the rest of 2020. I’ve listed them purely in order of UK release dates (so I don’t have to try and choose between them). Four are the final books in series that I have enjoyed immensely and the other is the first in new trilogy from one of my favourite authors.

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Blog Tour (Book Review) – Fallible Justice (Wilde Investigations #1) – Laura Laakso

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Hello!

Today is my stop on the blog tour for ‘Fallible Justice’ by Laura Laakso, organised by Damppebbles Blog Tours. I was delighted to participate in this tour, and I hope that you will check out both the author and the book.

*Disclaimer: ‘I was given a copy this book in exchange for an honest review.’*

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Book Summary:

In Old London, where paranormal races co-exist with ordinary humans, criminal verdicts delivered by the all-seeing Heralds of Justice are infallible. After a man is declared guilty of murder and sentenced to death, his daughter turns to private investigator Yannia Wilde to do the impossible and prove the Heralds wrong.

Yannia has escaped a restrictive life in the Wild Folk conclave where she was raised, but her origins mark her as an outsider in the city. Those origins lend her the sensory abilities of all of nature. Yet Yannia is lonely and struggling to adapt to life in the city. The case could be the break she needs. She enlists the help of her only friend, a Bird Shaman named Karrion, and together they accept the challenge of proving a guilty man innocent.

So begins a breathless race against time and against all conceivable odds. Can Yannia and Karrion save a man who has been judged infallibly guilty?

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review) – Fallible Justice (Wilde Investigations #1) – Laura Laakso”

Wyrd and Wonder: May TBR

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Hello!
Something a little new today, as I will be sharing my planned TBR list for May. I will be participating in Wyrd & Wonder (1-31st May) a month long blogging event where all things fantasy will be celebrated. As much as I read other genres, fantasy is where my heart – and my own writing – lies, so I couldn’t miss the chance to hop onboard for this event.
If you are interested in participating or seeing more about the event you can find more information right here or follow on Twitter @wyrdandwonder. With the event being hosted by Lisa from Dear Geek Place, Imryl from One More and Jorie from Jorie Loves A Story.

Firstly I have the following Fantasy reviews coming up:

2nd May – The Ranger of Marzanna – Jon Skovron

4th May – Along the Razor’s Edge – Rob. J. Hayes

5th May – The Heron Kings – Eric Lewis

7th May – The Girl and the Stars – Mark Lawrence

9th May – The Unspoken Name – A.K. Larkwood

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