Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Leaning Pile of Books

For reviews, I'm working on a review of The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, which will be followed by Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews and Servant of a Dark God by John Brown. I'm taking a break from reading Feed by Mira Grant to read Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder because I have read very few of the authors who are going to be at Book Expo America. So I picked a book by one of the authors who was going to be there that I had unread on my shelf (and that looked like something I could have read by the time I go).

This week I received one review copy and bought one book. Both of these are books I am very much looking forward to reading.



Stealing Fire by Jo Graham

Jo Graham writes historical fantasy, and I really enjoyed her retelling of The Aeneid entitled Black Ships (review). So I am very much looking forward to reading this book, which is told from the perspective of a soldier of Alexander the Great after Alexander's death, and I probably "squeed" a bit when I found it in my mailbox. Stealing Fire is due for release on May 25, although it appears to be available on Amazon now.

Alexander the Great’s soldier, Lydias of Miletus, has survived the final campaigns of the king’s life. He now has to deal with the chaos surrounding his death. Lydias throws his lot in with Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals who has grabbed Egypt as his personal territory. Aided by the eunuch Bagoas, the Persian archer Artashir, and the Athenian courtesan Thais, Ptolemy and Lydias must take on all the contenders in a desperate adventure whose prize is the fate of a white city by the sea, and Alexander’s legacy.








The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

After reading The Queen of Attolia, my new favorite book read so far this year, I knew I had to get a copy of the next book. This book is longer and it includes a short story! I was actually very happy that it was longer because I just loved The Queen of Attolia so much that I wanted it to never end.

As a side note, right now the first book in this series, The Thief, can be read for free online.

I'm leaving out the blurb because there are spoilers for earlier books and this is a series that you do NOT want spoiled. I'm struggling with my review of the second book for just that reason... There's so much I want to say but I'm trying to decide how much is too much information.

7 comments:

Angiegirl said...

Oh, cool! You're reading POISON STUDY. I thoroughly enjoyed that one.

Memory said...

I found THE KING OF ATTOLIA even better than THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA. I think you're in for some awesome reading there.

Kristen said...

Angie - Poison Study is a lot of fun so far! And I'm saving Magic Strikes for reading on the bus to BEA.

Memory - Ooh, I've heard that a couple of times now about The King of Attolia. REALLY looking forward to it. But first I must be good and finish my review of The Queen of Attolia!

orannia said...

I need to read Megan Whalen Turner's books, yes? *grin*

I enjoyed Poison Study, even though I'm not a first person fan, so I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it...and Magic Burns :)

Kristen said...

Orannia - Megan Whalen Turner is a good one. If you're not convinced by the first book in the series, though, the second one is a lot different (and better, in my opinion anyway).

I'm about a quarter of the way through Poison Study and so far I really like it. It got me interested right away and hasn't had a dull moment since. Have you read the rest of the series?

orannia said...

I have read the rest of the Study series. I like it, but I think the first book was the best. To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of the first person. It has to flow perfectly to work for me.

I've also read the first book in a parallel series (same world, different primary character).

Kristen said...

Orannia - That's mostly what I've heard about the rest of the books in the series - that the first one is the best.

I love first person - but as long as it's well done. If the main character is irritating, it doesn't work. But a lot of my favorite books are in the first person - Monette's series, the original Wraeththu trilogy (the followup trilogy is in third person), Transformation. And of course I can't imagine the Mercy Thompson books any other way since she makes such a great first person narrator.