In Pursuit of My Own Library

I was offered to read the first two novels in the His Fair Assassin  trilogy in anticipation of the release of the concluding novel. I have a difficult time turning down any requests made directly from the publisher of a fantasy imprint. I am really glad I didn't pass these up. After a lovely (I mean truly beautiful) fall day at the Renaissance Festival, which also seemed a wildly appropriate theme for the reading material of the weekend, I focused my attentions on the nuns of St. Mortain. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers I have read plenty of Middle Ages stories that take place in England. Authors seem to love writing the story of Camelot, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth very much. They are pretty dramatic stories that would naturally draw the nature of a fiction author. Plus, with a British heritage, I just get drawn in by the stories and their familiarity. I was intrigued when these stories took place in medieval France. The research from those eras is very limited (hence its nick

A weekend spent between my craft room and snuggled on my couch with a good book. Wonderful October! I am always in search of new reading material and Netgalley certainly feeds my reader, but sometimes an author I have gotten to appreciate makes a recommendation. This was the case for Shadows of Asphodel,  and it was on Kindle promotion to get to know the series as the second book released. Of course I bit! Shadows of Asphodel by Karen Kincy I will have to rate this book 3 stars. The writing was excellent, but the theme and content were not my niche. I have enjoyed my foray into the steampunk genre, it seemed natural to try a dieselpunk novel next. These authors veer away from a solely steam driven what-if, to a general inventor's paradise where progress wasn't shut down and magic can always be added into the recipe. Kincy introduces mechs on a level with Armored Core to her adaptation of pre-WWI Austria. It borders on my fine line of distaste for alternative fiction. I am

Oh my goodness, it is October. Oh my goodness, it is fall! That means pumpkins. Which leads to pumpkin flavored everything (yum!) and made-from-scratch pumpkin pie! It also means nights curled up under the blankets reading good books. Fire in the Blood by Erin M Evans I think I have turned into a little bit of a D&D nerd after being privileged to read the Wizards of the Coasts new Forgotten Realms series, The Sundering. I found the overall experience with the series fascinating and a good point to jump into the D&D world. I realize that the Forgotten Realms have existed well before my introduction, but I feel Wizards of the Coast has set up a great point for newbies to jump into the genre.  I was pleased to see that I would be able to continue with the story arc Ms. Evans had created in The Adversary (for which you can read my review here ).  Now that I am more familiar with the landscape and culture, this novel was much easier to get into from the beginning. I already