Book Recommendation

Review of The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

/ authoramysbrown / Leave a comment

Synopsis:
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must race to figure out the clues before the lights go out on Ember forever!

Review:
This book was a nice, quick, light read that still brings the reader deep into another world underground. The City of Ember continues with the ever popular middle school dystopian series that have been gaining in popularity/been required reading since before I was in middle school. This book is both meant for a younger audience and also very easy to empathize and get into. Amazon recommendations are for 5th to 7th graders, but given that this doesn’t use a lot of higher level vocabulary and the concepts are rather simple, I’d likely say 9 years and up. While this book was rather fast paced and had a great variety of depth, it very much ends on a cliffhanger of uncertainty.

For the age it was intended for, I’d give this book a 5/5. For me personally, I’d give it a probably a 4/5. A book for the same age group as this would be The Giver by Lois Lowry, with an older and more obvious dystopian series being The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. A really neat standalone Dystopian style futuristic novel for teenagers I would recommend would be Feed by M. T. Anderson.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯

Review of Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

/ authoramysbrown / Leave a comment

Synopsis:
This isn’t the kind of fairy tale where the princess marries a prince.

It’s the one where she kills him.

Marra — a shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter — is relieved not to be married off for the sake of her parents’ throne. Her older sister wasn’t so fortunate though, and her royal husband is as abusive as he is powerful. From the safety of the convent, Marra wonders who will come to her sister’s rescue and put a stop to this. But after years of watching their families and kingdoms pretend all is well, Marra realizes if any hero is coming, it will have to be Marra herself.

If Marra can complete three impossible tasks, a witch will grant her the tools she needs. But, as is the way in stories of princes and the impossible, these tasks are only the beginning of Marra’s strange and enchanting journey to save her sister and topple a throne.

Review:
I was looking for something to read on the 15th while waiting for the next Emily Wilde book to come out and I have to say that I didn’t expect to be completely swept away to another world that I did not want to leave. Instantly we are transported to a world where Marra is set trying to do three impossible things while considering her worth and abilities as the third royal daughter of a kingdom. There are so many amazing twists and turns of dark magic, forcing oneself to forge forward into what should be impossible, the knowledge gained in least expected places, and the relationships forged along the way.

Marra finds herself not as smart or brave as she wishes she could be, yet she pushes herself to become an unlikely heroine- a nun with more power than a princess. Throughout the novel she demonstrates countless times how her real knowledge came from those who nurtured her, realizing things such as “our own flaws infuriate us in other people”. (Chapter 12, Page 132) Marra has a few qualities that I found myself completely empathizing with and I’m sure many would feel the same; the desire to help others and make things right (even if the others do not see/desire it themselves), and that when putting forth to a huge task there is a daunting sense that despite having done so much it was still just the beginning and there is still so much more to do. It is a truth well known that it is quite hard to keep direction when it’s you that you are following.

I highly recommend this book and very much think it will be a standout read of 2024. It’s got an epic fantasy adventure, a demon, people who speak to the dead, those who are trying to do the impossible to save their family, and those they come to love along the way.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Happy New Year! 2022 Book Recommendations…

/ authoramysbrown / Leave a comment

In 2022 I read/wrote book reviews for 73 books (that’s one down from last year)! Of course there are always a few stand out authors/series/books so of all the books I read my top recommendations would be:

Books

A Dreadful Splendour by B.R. Myers
A Victorian spiritualist who made her way by swindling people ends up in jail. Her salvation is a stranger who asks her to help a grieving widow move on, except Mr. Pemberton doesn’t seem like the heartbroken man she was supposed to manipulate. He believes his fiancée had been murdered, and he wants her to help use her trickery to convince the murderer to confess. When odd happenings begin around the manor, they realize there may be more to the Somerset ghost than originally thought.

The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Gläser 
A forgotten book can hold such power! Emma finds a book that whatever she writes in comes true, but there are consequences. Unfortunately someone else has realized the power of the book, and she has to rely on the new boy with a sour face and rude disposition, Darcy de Winter, to help. A mixture of fairy tales meets Jane Austen, this story will suck you in and enrapture you.

The Raven Spell by Luanne G. Smith
Ian Cameron finds himself bludgeoned and almost killed, demanding answers from two witches, Edwina and Mary Blackwood with odd abilities. As their secrets are slowly unveiled, Edwina attempts to help Ian figure out his lost time and the investigative case he was on. As they search through London for a missing person, and a series of gruesome murders, they find clues that threaten the unshakeable bond of being a twin.

A Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Elisabeth, a librarian who had been orphaned and raised by the library staff, is implicated in the crime of releasing the most dangerous magical book. The only choice she has is to go to Nathanial Thorn, even though as a sorcerer he should be her mortal enemy. Once with Thorn and his demon servant, Silas, she finds herself caught up in a centuries-old conspiracy, racing to keep the great libraries, and the world, from going up in smoke.


Authors

Helen Harper
Amazon Page – Website
Originally recommended to me because of her Slouch Witch books, I found her writing style quite enjoyable, with mysteries that I often don’t quite figure out before the end. I quite enjoyed that series, so when I started reading The Firebrand series, I was surprised how much I absolutely adored her way of writing a quirky detective who doesn’t exactly listen to what she’s told, despite having been the best in class before being “demoted” to working with the supernatural squad. Very English, great descriptions of locations with The Firebrand taking place predominantly in London, England.

Tessonja Odette
Amazon Page – Website
Having just started another one of her books, I can say I was drawn in from the first sentence. The depth of her characters and politics within her novels is quite endearing. Her retellings of fairy tales I’d long known and loved were refreshing and while they did have a connection, the story doesn’t merely follow the same path we already know, and there are certainly times when it seems that there will not be a happy ending. I ended up reading all of the books in the Entangled in Fae series and found that none of the characters were as I expected them to be, and their depth and uniqueness made them all the more enthralling to read about.

LJ Andrews
Amazon Page – Website
Oh my goodness, she writes amazing fairy tale retellings mixed with Vikings. Once you start reading they are impossible to put down, and I binge read the entire series she’d done of The Broken Kingdoms (which starts with a Beauty and the Beast retelling) just to find the next one won’t be out until February 21st! Soon, I’ll get to continue! Her writing immediately draws you in and immerses you in the world, and her characters are both flawed but likeable. Her characters drastically change throughout the books and grow, making you feel as if you’re truly along for the experience.

K. M. Shea
Author Page – Website
She writes some amazing fantasy books. I first got hooked on The Fairy Tale Enchantress books, but there hasn’t been a book of hers I’ve read that I haven’t loved. Her writing is refreshing and her plotlines interesting and you’re never quite sure what you might be getting yourself into. Also absolutely loved her Court of Midnight and Deception book series, and of course Pack of Dawn and Destiny!

Favourites Friday: Fantasy

/ authoramysbrown / Leave a comment

Cheers for finding more books in the genre you love.  Here for our first featured Favourites Friday we’ll have a lot of Fantasy picks (talk about alliteration.)  Some of these are my suggestions, some my husband’s, and many from various family members, friends, and acquaintances across the world.

My personal recommendations:

  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  • Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
  • Witch for Hire (A Witch’s Path book series) by N. E. Conneely
  • The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
  • The Selkie Spell — though this could be considered folklore/fairy tale retelling (Seal Island trilogy) by Sophie Moss
  • The Paper Magician (series) by Charlie N. Holmberg
  • The Dresden Files (series) by Jim Butcher
  • Codex Alera (series) by Jim Butcher
  • The Dark Tower (series) by Stephen King
  • Neil Gaiman– he has so many books and they are all so wonderful!  My top three adult fantasy recommendations from him would likely be as follows.
    • Neverwhere
    • American Gods
    • The Ocean at the End of the Lane

My husband’s recommendations:

  • The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings (trilogy) by J. R. R. Tolkein
  • The Essential Conan
  • The Icewind Dale Trilogy, The Dark Elf Trilogy, the Legacy of the Drow series, the Paths of Darkness series, The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, the Transitions series, and the Neverwinter Saga
  • Monster Hunter International (series) by Larry Correia
  • Son of the Black Sword (Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series) by Larry Correia
  • Hard Magic (The Grimnoir Chronicles) by Larry Correia
  • Witch World (Witch World Chronicles) by Andre Norton
  • The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny
  • The Aeronauts Windlass (series) by Jim Butcher

 

These suggestions are from various people at a website that I frequent.

Alex recommends:

  • The Blade Itself trilogy by Abercrombie
  • The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
  • Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne (series) Brian Staveley
  • Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Ken recommends:

  • Black Company (Chronicles of the Black Company series) by Glen Cook
  • The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski
  • The Stone and the Flute by Hans Bemmann

Cael recommends:

  • The Last Necromancer (series) by C. J. Archer
  • Kingkiller Chronicles (series) by Patrick Rothfuss
  • Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan
  • Age of Iron (series) by Angus Watson
  • Traitor’s Blade/The Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell

Wolf, seconded by numerous others, recommend:

  • Discworld series by Terry Pratchett– I am told that this is more of a satire of fantasy, so be aware of that before starting.

Dixon recommends:

  • The Belgaraid series by David Eddings

Brin recommends:

  • Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
  • Xanth series by Piers Anthony
  • Runelords series by David Farland
  • The Sword of Shanara trilogy by Terry Brooks

Cederic recommends:

  • The Wayfarer Redemption (two trilogies released as a single six book series, and has a follow up sequence) by Sara Douglas

Paul recommends:

  • Dragonlance series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

 

Other various friends and family have weighed in for these additional recommendations.

Oran T Kelly recommends:

  • The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
  • The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson
  • The Once and Future King by T. H. White
  • The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard series) by Scott Lynch
  • The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy) by N. K. Jemisin
  • A Natural History of Dragons (series) by Marie Brennan
  • The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
  • Mistborn series by Sanderson
  • Malazan Empire (Malazan Book of the Fallen series) by Erickson
  • The Lightbringer (series) by Brent Weeks

N & C recommend:

  • The Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne

Kostis recommends:

  • Coldfire Trilogy by C. S. Friedman

Maria Picone recommends:
(Remember Maria recommended I read Furies of Calderon, and you can contact her here)

  • Alex Verus (series) by Benedict Jacka

Shelby recommends:

  • Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter — Shelby says she would definitely recommend this to any readers who like vampires, sex, love, mystery and death!
  • Iron Chronicles by Elizabeth Hunter
  • The Darkness Series by K. F. Breene

Cory recommends:

  • Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

 

There were more people who gave feedback, and many gave the same answers, so I attributed books generally to the first person who mentioned them.  Thank you so much for being a part of this giant list, and to those of you here looking for something amazing to read, I do hope that these 65 book recommendations featuring 54 book series help you find something fun to read in the Fantasy genre! 🙂

Next month’s genre will be Young Adult Fantasy!

 

 

If you read one of these books thanks to this list, please let me know in the comments below.
Do you like Favourites Friday or this list?  Please like this post.

Like the general style of these posts?  Please like me on my Facebook author page: Amy S. Brown