Title: La Madre Del Oro Author: Jeffrey Ford In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Weird western, Wild west Dates read: 2nd November 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Titan Books Year: 2014 5th sentence, 74th page: I was beginning to get a little sore as I’d not rode a horse in some time.
He’s supposed to be helping fellow lawmen and gunslingers to hunt down the thing that is killing everyone in the area. But, what they come across may be too much even for this ragtag bunch…
I love that throughout this whole story, the lead character is constantly running from the monsters that go bump in the night. It makes this story feel a little more fast paced than I had anticipated… after all, the whole story is about running. And running is fast… see what I did there?
This short story takes the fairly typical themes of gunslingers and mining towns that I constantly come across in westerns. But, it has a slightly more wild west feel to it. One that, partnered with all of the horrible things that go bump in the night left me feeling very content and happy.
La Madre Del Oro is an incredibly easy and fun read. It doesn’t so much have a happy ending. And there is a lot of gruesomeness throughout. But it’s still a story that I would love to read again and again. Gruesome murders and lack of happy ending and all.
Title: First Casualty Author: Michael Pryor In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Space, Young adult Dates read: 1st November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: We didn’t get a chance to answer.
It’s a Space Gap Year. One that has some unexpected consequences and occurrences. But this will be amazing.
For starters, this short story is a great reminder to stop the “us versus them” crap. After all, it does nothing but damage everyone and everything involved. Something that we constantly need to be reminded of in my humble opinion. After all, we all have feelings, and that’s the important thing.
The space setting and Gap Year feeling throughout this story is fun. I never took a Gap Year, so the idea of one in space and the adventure that the lead characters go on… it was a lot of fun. There is so much future potential to this story! After all, their Gap Year is just beginning when this story ends.
Not only is this a fun little science fiction, coming-of-age story, but it’s also a wonderful story full of hints of romance. I love how Pryor is able to place out hints of the relationship that is developing, without bashing you over the head with it.
Mena and Will just want to do one more job so that they can have their happily ever after. But this last job is a bit of a showdown, and seriously unexpected.
There was a really great uniqueness in this story – the idea of Scarabs and Shifters as two different beings constantly at war with one another. The fact that the Scarabs are the good guys just made me like this all that much more. I love when stories take a new and unique spin.
Mena and Will are such a nice couple. I love that as the story unfolds, you realise that everything they do, they do together. I always love stories which feature a couple that work as a team, it’s not necessarily a trope that I come across all that often.
There wasn’t anything about this short story that I didn’t enjoy. It was fun, engaging and totally unique. I would totally read more stories by Jennifer Brozek if this is anything to go by.
It’s an old house with a horrible, haunting past. Maybe you shouldn’t ignore the horrors of the past in the present.
This short story is a reminder that you really shouldn’t mess with ghosts and hauntings. That you shouldn’t ignore people when they tell you that they’re scared. The price of ignoring the horribleness of this house at the end of this tale? A really bad tragedy that kind of broke my heart.
It felt like this story was the beginning of a really horrible repetition. That this story was going to repeat again and again, no matter what people did. Unless people start to believe in the haunting.
This story was really eerie and melancholy, leaving me looking at the shadows in the corners and letting my imagination run wild. Something that I know I shouldn’t do… but I did anyway.
Title: The Stone Mage and the Sea Author: Sean Williams Series: The Change #1 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Elements, Fantasy Dates read: 29th – 31st October 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Fantastica Year: 2002 5th sentence, 74th page: “But my dad -“
In a world… where the huge, red-sanded deserts are ruled by Stone Mages and the vast coastlines by Sky Wardens, any child with magic ability is taken away to the Haunted City to be trained in the Change.
Fundelry is a small town much like any other in the Strand. The people have little tolerance for anyone who stands out, and Sal and his father are strangers, running from someone… or something. Sal is rescued from the local bully by Shilly and her teacher Lodo, a mysterious tattooed man who seems to know more about Sal than Sal himself. And, strangely, Sal’s father seems to want to stay put for a while.
But soon the Sky Wardens will come to Fundelry – before then Sal must uncover the connection between Lodo and the mother he never met, in order to escape a fate that seems to have been chosen for him before he was even born…
This has everything that a traditional fantasy novel should have. The fantasy novels that I grew up with and first introduced me to the genre had this same kind of amazing mystical feel to it. From the very first page, I was swept into Williams’ world and really, seriously didn’t want to leave. I could imagine this small town, the confused Sal and the immensity of the sea from the very beginning. Even now, when I close my eyes, I can picture it all in my mind’s eye.
The characters in this story are really strong and well thought out. Sometimes it can take me a little while to get attached to characters and find the rhythm of the story. Or, as the case may be, the world building that has constructed the story and characters. That’s not the case with The Stone Mage and the Sea. From that very first scene with Sal and his father driving into a town, you are there. Right in the moment. Pulled in, whether you like it or not.
Lodo is everything that a mysterious teacher should be. I’m hoping that he doesn’t just disappear off the face of the earth after this book. He is tattooed, enigmatic and completely impossible to predict. Partnered with his apprentice, Shilly, they are great duo that help to build Sal up and help him start on a new path in life. Which, considering how this novel ended, I think is incredibly and wonderfully important. Sal grows so much in this first novel, I can’t wait to see how he’ll grow in the next two novels.
The Stone Mage and the Sea is everything I haven’t realised I’ve been missing in fantasy novels. I have been reading a lot of urban fantasy and paranormal fantasy and all such. So picking up a novel that bought me back to the fantasy novels that first got me enthralled in the genre… well, I’m glad that I have the rest of the trilogy sitting on my shelves, ready to go.
Title: The Jewel of Seven Stars Author: Bram Stoker In: Dracula and Other Horror Classics (Bram Stoker) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Classics, Horror Dates read: 30th – 31st October 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Novel Publisher: Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Year: 1903 5th sentence, 74th page: The book was one which, on the very face of it, required special attention.
An Egyptologist, attempting to raise from the dead the mummy of Tera, an ancient Egyptian queen, finds a fabulous gem and is stricken senseless by an unknown force. Amid bloody and eerie scenes, his daughter is possessed by Tera’s soul, and her fate depends upon bringing Tera’s mummified body to life.
I really didn’t get all that into this novel. I did enjoy it at the time of reading. But once I finished it and sat down to jot down some notes… there really wasn’t much that I could think of to write. The whole thing was just a little bit “eh”.
Although I don’t have heaps to say about this, I did really like the atmosphere that the book created. It was perfect for sitting up late at night, drinking a glass of red wine and sinking deep into a classic. It was a little bit eerie and creepy. And just generally a good experience.
This is most definitely one of those classics that I’m going to have to reread in the future… I think that it is one, that will get better the more times I read it and sink into the world that has been created.
Title: Stray Author: Rachel Vincent Series: Shifters #1 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy Dates read: 30th – 31st October 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Mira Year: 2007 5th sentence, 74th page: He chuckled, sounding distinctly unsympathetic.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MOVIES AND REALITY? IN REAL LIFE, I WAS THE MONSTER.
Faythe Sanders looks like an ordinary student, but she’s hiding a dark secret: she is a werecat, a powerful supernatural predator. Yet headstrong, independent Faythe resents her power, heading to college to escape her family and her overprotective ex, Marc.
That is until a stray – a dangerous werecat without a pride or territory – catches her scent. With two werecat girls already missing, Faythe is summoned home for her own protection.
But Faythe will do whatever it takes to find her kidnapped kin. She has claws – and she’s not afraid to use them.
This is one of those novels that I have stopped and started a couple of times. And then I read it all in one sitting. There was just something about it that finally grabbed my attention and pulled me in. I think, after you get past the fifth chapter, Vincent really hits her stride and pulls you in. But it does take a little while. And then WABAM! A fantastic novel that I seriously enjoyed.
To start with, I was beyond annoyed at the gumption and attitude of Faythe’s family. And even her ex, Marc, they were just so damn heavy handed and irritating. But, as the story unfolds you kind of begin to see why they act that way. Not that their behaviour is okay, but Faythe is also a little bit of a brat and doesn’t stop to discuss things… she just informs people. I loved that the understanding for why the Sanders act the way they do grows throughout the book, alongside Faythe.
Fayth goes through an awesome transformation throughout this novel. I found it really well written. Instead of one huge moment of epiphany and understanding, she slowly grows into herself and becomes the adult she probably would always have been. It makes me intrigued to read Rogue as I want to see how her newfound maturity serves her as she grows the hell up.
I think that one of the reasons I couldn’t put this down was the action crest towards the middle. I was about to put this aside and cook myself dinner, but there is a moment that has a definite trigger warning attached. And at that point, I just really, really needed to know what in the heck was going to happen next…
Jeff Clarke has a new job as a researcher at LifeSpan. But when he catches the attention of the office recluse, he finds himself in a whole heap of trouble.
This was an intriguing and unexpected short story. At first I was a bit “eh” about it. It was fun and interesting, but I wasn’t completely drawn in. And I was most certainly wondering what this had to do with vacations. But then, at the very end, everything began to make sense. Which made everything all that much better in hindsight.
This was just fun, entertaining and a lot, lot of fun. I liked Jeff’s work ethic and I thought that his drive to discover the truth was kind of awesome. Plus, there was that whole idea that a whole new reality was opened up to him just because he had an awesome work ethic.
A fun, enjoyable and nice way to spend a spot of afternoon time. This was most definitely a short story that I will be reading again.
In a world where gunslingers rule all, Renn si the one who tuaght her brother, Kid Vicious to shoot. But how will she ever be taken seriously herself?
I knew that there were going to be little men in this story just from the title. But the way that they were in this and how the story evolved… that was something new. And fun. I really and seriously enjoyed this short story and, even after turning the final page, I couldn’t quite get it out of my head.
I love that Renn is the better shooter in her family. That even her brother, who is recognised as a gunslinger, admits that she is better. There aren’t many stories (or indeed brothers I believe) who would necessarily admit that. It made me really love her brother and left me smiling after I turned the final page.
The little twists and turns throughout this story were seriously enjoyable and kind of cute. I had a good giggle throughout and would most definitely read this short story again.
Title: The Bandit Author: Loren D. Estleman In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 2 (Managed to read it… just) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 31st October 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: He had always been first in line when magazines donated by the DAR came into the library, and while his fellow inmates were busy snatching up the new catalogues and finding the pages containing pictures of women in corsets and camisoles torn out, he was paging through the proliferating motoring journals, admiring the photographs and studying the technical illustrations of motors and transmissions.
The Bandit has been released, and now he finds out about more bandit on the Western Frontier.
This is a nice, easy and super quick read. It’s not necessarily one that completely drew me in. but was still quite fun. Definitely an enjoyable and intriguing experience. One that I would probably repeat. Although, I don’t know that I’d get heaps more out of it.
This short story was well written in style. I just… didn’t fall in love with the storyline. Even trying to write a decent review is a little difficult. So I might just leave it here…
Earth and Skye 