Category: Books

Reviews and ratings of books Toi has read for pleasure.

Categories
Books Guest Posts

Review: The Reader of Acheron

The Reader of Acheron Review

By Jaq D. Hawkins

Amazon

Traditional Fantasy as it should be. The story begins with a wizard’s apprentice learning his letters, but the mood soon turns dark as the reader is brought into a world where reading is forbidden and a collusion of renegade magicians is formed.

What I loved about this story is that it drew me in right away, instantly transported into a fantasy world where the parameters were clear even as I learned each detail of the world as I went along. This is a mark of well-written Fantasy fiction. It has all the testosterone-laced marks of the sword & sorcery genre; mercenaries, a runaway slave, renegades who hide their ability to recognise letters and that sort of mock-medieval feeling to the imaginary world.

I noted that it held my interest more than a better-known classic fantasy novel (big 6 published) that I’ve been reading at the same time. There is hope, we do have a new generation of Fantasy writers who can tell a story that is both intriguing and full of action. We just have to sift through the self-published slush pile to find these gems. I will be keeping an eye on Walter Rhein.

Rhein can write a good battle scene. Just enough description to make the movie play in your head. The book finishes on a note that leaves the door open for the inevitable sequel, but with an interesting world established, I may well have to read it. I can see this series developing as it goes along and look forward to reading more from this author.

This review has been posted to Amazon US and Amazon UK.

****

image provided by author

If you enjoyed this review, why not check out more from Jaq D. Hawkins? See what she likes to read and learn about her own writing. Go ahead and click the images provided to add these books to your Amazon wish lists or purchase.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Martian Chronicles

Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

I give this book a 4.

LikeIt

When reading this book for the first time, one has to take into consideration the period in which it was written. Bradbury’s creativity and ingenuity for space travel politics, cultural qualms, and concerns of human adaptation to space travel more than make up for the lack of technical terms and factual depictions of Mars.

These are individual accounts of trips to Mars all pulled together and retold as one chronicle of the human experience on Mars. We are giving a chance to view the human effect on Mars from multiple points of views including: disgruntled Martians, welcoming Martians, eager exploratory humans, refugees, and so much more.

This isn’t just another fast paced invasion story. The Martian Chronicles deals with of the philosophical concerns of visiting other planets and the effects of encountering an alien race. As much as I adore this story and enjoy the kooky spin the Martians and their world bring to theses matters, this story could have been told using any number of indigenous tribes right here on earth, but then there wouldn’t be as grand a feeling of exploration or adventure.

Reading story after story of how the human and Martian worlds have collided, reminded me of how it felt to watch The Twilight Zone when I was a kid. Some of it is a bit scary, but mostly it’s mysterious and thought-provoking. This is one I’d definitely recommend to any sci-fi fan and maybe even a few fantasy readers.

While there is truly something here for everyone, I don’t know that everyone would be up for it. In any case, I’d say this is a family-friendly read that dad would thoroughly enjoy.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try these link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Sacrifice

Sacrifice (Gryphon #3) by Stacey Rourke

I give this book a 4.

LikeIt

Okay, so the Conduit of the Gryphon has always been terrified of garden gnomes and now she has a reason for it, but I’m jumping ahead of myself.

Let me go ahead and tell you why I didn’t give this great story a five and then move on. Celeste is great, she really is, but her dim-wittedness is starting to drive me crazy…that’s it. I wish the Gryphon would make her smarter.

There is so much I want to say, but I usually make a point not to give away spoilers, so bear with me. I’m just going to list a few things I wish I could elaborate more on.

1. Love continues to be in the air for the Garret family, but not for too long.

2. The title is soooo fitting, it’s almost sad just how much so.

3. Mom finally shows up for a while.

4. There is another really cool conduit to meet, thus my specification in the first sentence. Go back and take a look and see my subtlety.

5. The mystery, or lack thereof, concerning Alex keeps developing…Again, here’s why I wish Celeste was smarter.

6. Titans in this mythology are very different from others I’ve read, but I’m liking them for what they are.

7. There’s something about blondes in this series.

And lastly, I’m ready for this war to finally start.

On a personal note, I’m sad that the book covers are changing with the release of the fourth book. I liked the old covers.

Now back to those gnomes…no that would give too much away.

See my review of book 2 in The Gryphon Series, Embrace.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords