My Kindle Stuff

Okay, I liked Skinwalker so much that I decided to try Faith Hunter's Rogue
Mage series.  Boy do I feel stupid for waiting so long!  I like the
idea of the whole 'Angel' thing but didn't think I would like the
post-apocalyptic angle.  I devoured these books like a good surf n turf
dinner paired with my favorite wine.  Good, good stuff.  Solid main
character, Thorn St. Croix who is smart, wonderfully self-aware and about as
well-rounded as you can get.  I highly recommend this series.
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I must say, this is the best urban fantasy book I've read this year-hands down. 
It is a true Urban Fantasy despite a female protagonist, which usually indicates
a Paranormal Romance.  Much to my relief, the main character, October Daye,
while flawed, does not exhibit the stupid, single-minded aggressiveness that
passes as 'I'm a bad-ass' in so many other Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
characters.
Just a moment for my soapbox–Why are so many female characters in these books
so one dimensional?  They don't seem to think anything out, stay angry for the
sake of anger, never compromise even when they see the wiser course and seem to
be slaves to their libido–bleh… October is the antithesis of those characters,
while still remaining a flawed, funny and very likable character. She
remains true to herself throughout the book.  Seanan McGuire writes a clean,
well written, very enjoyable book that I hope is the 1st of many.
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Skinwalker by Faith Hunter


I was happy to find this book, and sad that there's not a sequel yet. 
Faith Hunter is a good writer.  I never finish a lot of Urban
Fantasy because I just can't get past the protagonist's stupidity, the bad
writing or the formulaic character/plot.   The current crop of bad-ass
women characters has a new addition.  This is going to be a thoroughly
enjoyable ride, I'm looking forward to seeing this series develop.
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Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog


This started off to be a nice YA read for me.  I liked it well enough, but
it started to get predictable and I did not care for where it ended up–but I
think I would have if the author had justified the character's behavior better. 
That's just me though–remember, I hated all but the 1st and last Twilight books
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The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning

 

 


Back in my strictly Romance days, I had read some Moning, and boy was I
surprised!  Some of her romance stuff was pretty dark for romance and I see
that some reviewers found this series on the dark side.  Me?  Bring it
on.  If the characters are dealing with real evil, sometimes evil stuff
happens to them.  Do NOT start in the middle of this series–too much
happens in the 1st book.
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The Dark Swan series by Richelle Mead

 


I hope you got Thorn Queen for the few days it was free, but if you didn't buy
it, buy it!  I'm not a big fan (at all) of the Ms. Mead's other series, but
I really like this one.  Occaisionally the main character, Eugenie, really
irritates me, but since I can say that for most main characters nowadays, I
can't let it get to me too much.  She has a tendency to be a little
selfish, but by the end of the 2nd book, it looks like Ms. Mead is working on
her character a little so we'll see where this goes.   This is one of
those series that needs to be started from the 1st book.
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Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin


I really liked this book.  It reminded me of a Laurell K. Hamilton
book sans sex but with the same bad ass tone.
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Wings by Aprilynne Pike

 This is a solid, solid 1st entry and for those 'Twilight-haters' (me) a much
better example of the genre–A little light, but good YA Fantasy
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I found Graceling to be an awsome read and am really looking forward to the
sequel.  It offered some new stuff for the Fantasy genre and was an
excellent 1st effort by its author.
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Savvy by Ingrid Law

This was a nice little book.  Definately YA, but funny and original.
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Howling at the Moon: Tales of an Urban Werewolf by Karen Macinerney

I enjoyed the style of writing and the basic story; this book was a good snack. I must say, the protagonist was one of the most selfish and self-centered character that I was ever
supposed to like.  Making out with BFF's boyfriend and jumping out of boyfriend's bed to meet another guy?  Hm….
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Mortal Coils by Eric Nylund

 This book was awesome, I can't wait for the sequel.  I've finished the book and still can't decide who are the good guys and who were the bad guys.  I'll definately be re-reading this one to see if time and distance makes a difference.
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The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

 I have been slogging thru the glut of contemporary fantasy out there today (most of it not as good as I’d wish) and this book was a very refreshing change. The world and character building was complete and nuanced, the writing top-notch and the story engaging. The book made me pull one of those all-nighters just to finish. In fact, my only complaint is that the sequel’s not ready. I’m looking forward to more from Mr. Brett. Soon, please?
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Marked (House of Night, Book 1) by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast

This was okay with a shrug. The character development was a little weak and I could see every plot twist coming. I enjoyed the inner thoughts of the protaganist, but didn’t like it enough to continue on in the series. Thats a shame because I liked the some of the authors’ take on vampires and the vamp school was a good idea.
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The Kitty Norville Series by Carrie Vaughn





I started off this series really enjoying it. I am now on book 4 and have realized that I don’t like the way that, IMHO, Kitty (main character) is SO not a werewolf. She only turns once a month, is up for the Wimp of the Month award, doesn’t seem to be able to do any ass-kicking, and as the series goes on, is less and less of how I picture a werewolf to be. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, but she’s so not a werewolf that she might as well get a cure. On book 4, not sure if I want to continue–she’s just too wimpy for me.
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The Magician's Apprentice by Trudi Canavan

This was a good book with two major flaws. WAY TOO LONG and funky ending. The ending was so abrupt that it wasn’t so much of a cliffhanger, as a book chopped in half. I liked the book and enjoyed the story, but about 1/2 way thru had to go see how many pages the printed version was. It could have been chopped by 1/3 in the middle. With that said, I enjoyed the story, enjoyed the world-building (mainly because I have read author’s other books in this world) and liked the main character. Somewhat simplistic plots and character development; I wondered how I would have felt about if it I hadn’t already read the other books in the same setting.
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Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Wow–all I can say is awesome. The beginning started off a little slow for me. In fact, I put it down for about a week. What a mistake that was–this was some great story-telling. The kind of book to make you Pre-Order the next
one sight unseen. Looking forward to the sequel and hope that means its the start of a series
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Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

This was a total rip-off. I bought the book because it was listed under Fantasy and also because I really enjoyed Sharon Shinn’s 13th House series. While this is a
okay book for a YA reader, IMO, it does NOT qualify as a true Fantasy. Its more of a coming of age story. The magic is not really magical and there’s another race of people that are supposed to be faery, but that’s never stated outright. Give this book to your little sister.
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