Tag Archives: fantasy

Book Review of Hexbreaker (Hexworld #1 ), by Jordan L. Hawk

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HexbreakerI purchased an e-copy of Hexbreaker, by Jordan L. Hawk.

Description from Goodreads:
New York copper Tom Halloran is a man with a past. If anyone finds out he once ran with the notorious O’Connell tunnel gang, he’ll spend the rest of his life doing hard time behind bars. But Tom’s secret is threatened when a horrible murder on his beat seems to have been caused by the same ancient magic that killed his gang. 

Cat shifter Cicero is determined to investigate the disappearance of one friend and the death of another, even though no one else believes the cases are connected. When the trail of his investigation crosses Tom’s, the very bohemian Cicero instinctively recognizes the uncultured Irish patrolman as his witch. Though they’re completely unsuited to one another, Cicero has no choice but to work alongside Tom…all the while fighting against the passion growing within. 

Tom knows that taking Cicero as his familiar would only lead to discovery and disaster. Yet as the heat between them builds, Tom’s need for the other man threatens to overcome every rational argument against becoming involved. 

But when their investigation uncovers a conspiracy that threatens all of New York, Tom must make the hardest decision of his life: to live a lie and gain his heart’s desire, or to confess the truth and sacrifice it all. 

Review:
I really quite enjoyed this one. Well, it’s kind of hard not to when there is a big, lovable teddybear like Tom involved. Don’t get me wrong; I liked Cicero too. But Tom won the show for me.

I liked the idea of witches and their shifter familiars. I liked the world-building, which was never obvious but I still understood the politics and hierarchies of the world. The writing was mostly wonderful. One of my few complaints is that I thought it faltered into clunky, almost cheesy prose sometimes, but mostly not. My only other real criticism is that the sex scenes felt quite abrupt and a little out of character for where the characters were, emotionally at the time.

It’s a complete story, no cliffhanger and I didn’t feel I was missing information having not read the prequel. Gotta appreciate that. I’ve read a couple Hawk books now and I’ve been happy with each one. I look forward to more.

Under the Dragons Spell

Book Review of Under the Dragon’s Spell (Fires of Fate #1), by Ann-Katrin Byrde

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Under the Dragon's SpellI picked up Anne-Katrin Byrde‘s Under the Dragon’s Spell as an Amazon Freebie.

Description from Goodreads:
Coming from a broken home, Adrian’s biggest dream in life has always been to find a loving partner and start a family of his own. But when his boyfriend kicks him out, it’s starting to look like that’s never going to happen. Worse yet, he has to move in with his brother to keep from living on the street, and the prevalent bias against men with the ability to carry children keeps him from finding a job of his own. 

He’s about ready to give up hope when he finds a job offer in the newspaper searching for someone to produce an heir for a rich dragon shifter. Having a baby with a stranger, even if he’s enigmatic and hot as hell, is not his definition of happiness, but when he finds himself falling for the dragon, he starts to hope again. 

If only it wasn’t for the competition…

Review:
This is one of those books that if taken on its own is a pretty poor showing, but if viewed within the confines of the Omegaverse, with all the pre-established tropes and expectations, isn’t too bad. It seems to conform with the expected rules, even if those rules don’t always make a lot of sense.

Outside that, the writing was ok. The editing was ok. The plotting was ok, etc. All ok, not exceptional by any means, but not wholly bad either. I thought there were some holes and the characters were not true to the personality established for them. But generally, if you’re in to the Omegaverse in a big way, you’ll really like this. If not, you’ll probably think it a lack-luster read. I kind of did.

Book Review of The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier

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The Brief HistoI purchased used paperback copy of Kevin Brockmeier‘s The Brief History of the Dead.

Description from Goodreads:
The City is inhabited by those who have departed Earth but are still remembered by the living. They will reside in this afterlife until they are completely forgotten. But the City is shrinking, and the residents clearing out. Some of the holdouts, like Luka Sims, who produces the City’s only newspaper, are wondering what exactly is going on. Others, like Coleman Kinzler, believe it is the beginning of the end. Meanwhile, Laura Byrd is trapped in an Antarctic research station, her supplies are running low, her radio finds only static, and the power is failing. With little choice, Laura sets out across the ice to look for help, but time is running out. Kevin Brockmeier alternates these two storylines to create a lyrical and haunting story about love, loss and the power of memory.

Review:
Oddly enough, this is the second book I’ve read in less than a month about someone being stuck, alone in Antarctica during the apocalypse (The other being Good Morning, Midnight.). I guess it just strikes authors as appropriately desolate for the end of the world. The books hold another similarity too. They both ended without quite clarifying what happened next, at the end of it all, leaving a dis-satisfyingly open ‘what if.’

Beyond the annoyingly open ending, I found this enjoyable. The writing is really descriptive and beautiful and I enjoyed the characters and its tendency to show so full a variety of humanity. There are a lot of not-quite-characters that pop up to showcase life. It also quite cleverly shows Laura’s effect on people and the city, without telling the reader about it.

I don’t want to go into too much more detail, because it’d require spoilers. But, brass tacks, I liked it.

What am I drinking: An oversized Gin and Tonic. I added too much gin and then more tonic to balance it out, then it needed a bigger glass…that’s the story I’m sticking too. More interestingly, the glass it eventually ended up in was hand-blown in Mexico and I got it through Globe-in, which is kind of cool and worth exploring if you’re into the whole subscription box thing.