Saturday, June 27, 2015

Empress Game: The Empress Game Trilogy Book 1

The Empress Game grabbed me from the opening scene. I gave up other books I was reading (I tend to read more than one at a time) to dive into this one. Kayla, aka Shadow Panthe, was a great character. Her internal dialogue wasn't too whiny but she did delve into her own emotions. Her connection with her remaining family member was well written. Mason didn't make her younger brother a one-note character. He reacted like a child of his age might (with some unusual abilities.)

The male lead, Malkor, was not as deep for me but I still enjoyed him. His internal conflict was fueled by the knowledge that he caused Kayla's pain.

I did think that the way the two characters came together was a bit rushed. I was torn on 4 or 5 stars because of that. It's just that the first kiss scene seemed out of place to me. Still, I couldn't put this book down.

It does end on a cliffhanger. A pretty steep, very intense cliffhanger really. Often I am left irritated by those but in this case, I saw where it had to be there. Without that ending, the book would have been less satisfying. I will be putting this author on my watch list. I can't wait to see where she takes Kayla and Malkor next.

Virtues Of War

A friend suggested I try Virtues. I didnt think I would like it as I dont read scifi - but was I ever wrong. if you like a character driven plot then you will love this book too. Strong characters and a great female lead. A plot line I couldnt put down. It's great on so many levels. As I read it I could see a movie of it playing as the visual images are so well described. Not usually my genre but this story had me gripped. No weird aliens. All the characters are human. Colonists have formed a separate federation and have revolted and and are taking over the old world and building their own space travel gates. Fantastic space war action, mixed with seemingly current day thoughts, desires. jealousies etc. It really did feel as if this ex-naval officer took what he knew of the navy and war today and projected it two millennia

The King of Swords: The Eternal Champion

This is an excellent book in a great series.  The author does an excellent job of keeping the reader enthralled in the book and enjoying the people in it.  I love how in depth this story has gotten and I can't wait for the next book to come out.  I am very impressed with the writing of this book.