The Qwillery

Happy Mother's Day to any Mom (or should say Mum) from the UK who is reading this. For any Mom in the US or Canada you have to wait until May! I had a productive reading week and I am quite chuffed with myself. So what did I read?

If you read my WIR last week you will know that I read River Road by Suzanne Johnson, which I quite enjoyed. I also had book 3  - Elysian Fields and DJ's face seemed to follow me around the room saying 'read me....read me'. I couldn't resist so I started it Sunday morning and finished Sunday evening. What a result! In this instalment a serial killer called The Axeman is loose in New Orleans and killing a path towards DJ. A powerful necromancer is in control of this undead maniac and is determined to take out DJ. If this wasn't enough her friend and potential love interest Jake, the loup garou, is having problems controlling his wolf and Quince Randolph, her best friend's boyfriend, is getting a little too close for comfort. DJ is not short of hunky heroes however, as she has both the undead pirate Jean Lafitte and the former sentinel Alex Warin who are more than willing to save her bacon...and boy does she need their help. This series really improves and I enjoy each book more than the previous. There are only a few weeks between the events in books 2 and 3 but DJ continues to mature as she realises the consequences of her actions. This plot has a number of threads including The Axeman, her romantic entanglements and her elven heritage. There is a lot happening in this book with DJ travelling both to Jean Lafitte's home in The Beyond and to the elven home world. More is also explained about the 'undead' such as Jean Lafitte which I appreciated. I couldn't figure out from the previous books what they were as the term 'undead' makes me think of zombies rather than the corporeal dead. The only problem with reading so many books of one series close together is that when you have finally read the last book to be released it seems AGES for the next one to come out.  Now I have to wait another year to find out what trouble DJ gets into next.

Book two on my reading list was Dream London by Tony Ballantyne. I can say with certainty that Dream London is by far the most surreal book I have ever read. The only way I can describe it is if Alice took acid before she jumped down the rabbit hole.  It is strange with a capital 'S'. Dream London is changing and Captain James Wedderburn has been reluctantly recruited to find out why. During the night the geography of the city changes while at the same time the fortunes of its inhabitants change just as quickly. No one knows who is in control but Captain James is going to find out no matter what it takes. This book reminded me a little bit of the movie Dark City but it was much, much darker and much, much more odd. For starters, James owned a brothel and didn't feel too guilty about feeding his 'girls' candy flavoured drugs to make them feel what their clients felt. James' career wasn't an oddity though as sex and prostitution was the norm in Dream London. Its not until nearly the end of the book that we find out why and you almost wish you didn't know.  Hats off to Ballantyne as he has one prolific imagination. Not only can he convey the weird and wonderful, he can do it for over 600 pages. This book requires some significant investment in time, tolerance for the morally inept and lots and lots of swearing. This is an excellent book but you really have to be in the right frame of mind to read it. I am glad that I paced myself over a few weeks to read it rather than rushing through.

The final book I finished (just a few hours before I wrote this) was Silver Mirrors by A.A. Aguirre. This was a special one of surprise from The Qwill and I am super lucky to get this ARC. I hate to disappoint but I can't say too much about this book as I will be writing a full review. Keep your eye on the blog for this to be posted to find out what I thought of the second book of the Apparatus Infernum series.

As I write this I am watching the Ender's Game movie which you may know is also a book by Orson Scott Card. I can't say I am enjoying it that much despite liking kids' movies and YA fiction. I watched Catching Fire, the movie version of the book by Suzanne Collins, when I was writing my last WIR and enjoyed it a lot more. I guess some books makes better movies ....or are better cast. Thoughts?

Well that is it for me this week. I hope you have a great week ahead and Happy Reading.

In my first week back at work for a while was a middling success on the reading front. I finished two books, I continued with one and started another. So what did I read?

I will start with the books that I finished. I discovered that the third book in the Blackthorn series, Blood Torn had been released so I had to read it. I have had a bit of a love/not love so much feeling with this series. I really liked the underlying plot but didn't like how the female characters were bullied and virtually forced into a sexual relationship by the heroes of the story. I thought that book 3 has turned a corner and focused much more on the plot than the sex. While the book's plot focuses on the love story between the werewolf Jask and the new serrryn Sophie a few characters from the previous books, mainly Caitlan Parish from book 1 return to help advance the plot. We find out what happens to her following the trial that exposed her friends and family as the villains. But back to the book's main characters, Sophie has just inherited her serryn powers and struggles to reconcile her attraction to Jask and her mission to fight the third species. This plot point takes us nearly to the end of the book before it is resolved in its almost happily ever after. The more interesting plot however, takes place behind the scenes in the overall plot arch. I am really looking forward to see how it unfolds. I was slightly disappointed with the cover. I really loved the gothic style book covers from the first two books but Blood Torn looked much more commercial. I am really looking forward to book 4 as there was some nastiness at the end of this book and I want to see someone get their comeuppance!


I also finished book 2 of Sentinels of New Orleans series, River Road by Suzanne Johnson. This was another book that I received in my Qwill book care package and one where I thought that the series has really improved. I liked book 1 - Royal Street but I thought that the lead character, DJ had some seriously growing up to do and grow up she did in the three years between books 1 and 2. In this instalment of the series DJ has been asked to investigate a conflict between two families of merman. Its starts as a simple case of 'who's poisoning the river' into a full blown murder investigation when two wizards are found murdered in a most disturbing fashion. DJ teams up with the undead pirate Jean Lafitte, her sentinel buddy Alex and his cousin and now loup garou Jake to solve the mystery. DJ has matured since book 1 and some of the dialogue (and inner dialogue) is quite amusing and I thought the plot was interesting. Johnson also creates an great teaser for the next book by bringing the elven connection of DJ's heritage more into the forefront of her life. The elven stick that DJ rescued from her father Gerry's house in book 1 is still with her and starts to become a silent character in her life. It is this magical tool that also brings DJ to the notice of the local elven kingpin who wants to get to know her. The elven stick reminded me a a similar plot device in the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. Perhaps magical sticks are a big thing in elven folklore but I hope Johnson doesn't go too far with this. I love this book cover (and book 1's as well). I think the model is exactly how I pictured DJ and in combination with the swirling pattern of her hair and the elven stick make this an appealing cover.

So what didn't I finish? I am still reading Dream London by Tony Ballantine. This is a long book and quite confusing so I want to take my time with it. Plus I am reading it on my iBooks app (which I love) and didn't take my iPad into work with me this week so I only had a few opportunities to make much progress. A few weeks ago I started reading David Daglish's A Dance of Cloaks which is the first of the Shadowdance series.  I dip into it once or twice a week but never seem to make much progress. This book is everything I usually like - fantasy, complicated plot with different characters brought together in a series of plot twists and strong female leads but I find it hard to read. I can't quite put my finger on it other than I just haven't found a character that I really like and therefore, I am not really interested in them. Anyone else find this? I would like to know if I should persevere. I LOVE the cover though, so dramatic.

I am hoping to finish some of my 'in progress' books this week and start one (or two) more. I hope you have a good week ahead and until then Happy Reading.

I started to worry when I hit Wednesday and I hadn't finished a single book and therefore would have nothing to say to you in this Week in Review. I didn't even have a excuse like I was studying for a test but then it all came together towards the end of the week and I got two books read. I am returning to work next week after 2 months away so hoping that with the commute time that I am able to get back in the reading saddle and get through some books.

I started and finished the week with The Kingmakers by Susan and Clay Griffiths. This was the final book of the Vampire Empire trilogy and wrapped up the story for the Queen Adele and her vampire consort Greyfriar/Gareth. This was another treat in my book care package that I received a few weeks ago.  I read the first two books - The Greyfriar and The Riftwaker back in 2012 and had been searching for the final book since then. I could only find it here in the UK in the very expensive hardcover version and didn't feel like parting with £15+. I was very lucky to receive a review copy.

I enjoyed Griffiths' alternate world where vampires ruled Britain, Ireland and parts of France with Persia, Egypt and the rest of the middle East as the civilised world in the domain of humanity. I thought both lead characters Adele (a human Queen) and Gareth (a vampire prince) were well developed throughout all three novels and Griffiths' steampunk world was rich in detail. The start of this story found the pair in the midst of the war which was slaughtering most of the Empire's army and civilians as well.  Back in Britain, Gareth's brother Cesare was making plans to place himself as the king of the vampire race after a little patricide. This part of the story was really engaging and I was a little surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did as I don't often like stories with military themes. The story seemed to almost slow down once the main battle was done and felt like it was dragging. The rest of the action including the culmination of at least 3 different plot lines all happened in the last 15-20 pages. It felt very rushed after drawing out the middle chapters. Overall, this is a good series, set in an interesting world.

I also finished The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian which is one of the debuts out next week and the first in the Chaos Theory series. I will be writing a full review of this book so be sure to check back on Tuesday to find out what I thought.

I only just started Dream London by Tony Ballantyne which has me really intrigued as I have no idea what  is going on! Sometimes, I like the feeling that a book is going to challenge me and get my brain working.  I hope to tell you more about this book next week when I will also hopefully figure out what it is all about.

I am keeping this WIR short and sweet as I have been taxing my typing skills and your reading skills over the last few weeks. Until next week Happy Reading.

‘Why London? Why not twist Paris, New York or some other well known city?’


Funnily enough the sequel, should it be written, will be set in Dream Paris...


Actually, as a resident of Greater Manchester, the obvious place for me to write about would have been Dream Manchester, but that would have been a completely different novel.


Dream London has a claustrophobic quality to it. Strangely, London is a smaller place than Manchester, the streets are narrower, the buildings more crowded together.


Land is cheaper in Manchester. Returning to the area fifteen years ago I rode a taxi north on the Oldham Road and I was struck by the sense of space. The wider streets, the empty lots where businesses had failed and no one had bothered to reclaim the land. Back then, it seemed that the principle industry was lots of weeds and rubble, fenced in and secured by padlocked gates.


All that has changed. The new trams run through the city centre, they glide past nineteenth century red brick buildings cleaned and polished for the 21st century. Manchester is a place that knows its foundations, it's a self starting, self made city that does things it own way. Beings trying to subvert Manchester couldn't buy their way into the roots of the city, they would simply be yet another faction trying to establish themselves.


In Dream London, the city changes a little every night and the people change a little every day. The city has been sold to someone, or something, and the populace are trapped amongst the narrow streets, preyed on by their fellows. The establishment is written right the way through London. London has more history than Manchester, the roots of privilege run deep in London, they take far longer to dig out.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound