Book Review: "Seven Forges" by James A. Moore

Captain Merros Dulver is the first in many lifetimes to find a path beyond the great mountains known as the Seven Forges and encounter, at last, the half-forgotten race who live there. And it would appear that they were expecting him. As he returns home, bringing an entourage of strangers with him, he starts to wonder whether his discovery has been such a good thing. For the gods of this lost race are the gods of war, and their memories of that far-off cataclysm have not faded.

The people of Fellein have live with legends for many centuries. To their far north, the Blasted Lands, a legacy of an ancient time of cataclysm, are vast, desolate and impassable, but that doesn't stop the occasional expedition into their fringes in search of any trace of the ancients who had once lived there... and oft-rumored riches. - from Amazon.com

The book description does not do this one justice. The story starts with an expedition in to a harsh land created by a great cataclysmic war hundreds of years before. They 'discover' a race of peoples from the area that they were sent to investigate. The party is welcomed in, and discover the wonders hidden on the other side of this divided land, and return to the empire with a small delegation of these new people.

That is just the start. The new people claim to have seven gods that tell them what to do, and they expected the Capt on the original expedition, and another that they trek to the Empire to meet, Andovar. I don't want to get to into details and spoil it, but events then lead us into the start of a war, with an un-yet known enemy.

This is a great start to what is appearing to me to be a great series. I am already half way through the next book, and see that there is a third, and soon to be a fourth. Definitely worth checking out!

Book Review: "Staked" by Kevin Hearne

When a Druid has lived for two thousand years like Atticus, he’s bound to run afoul of a few vampires. Make that legions of them. Even his former friend and legal counsel turned out to be a bloodsucking backstabber. Now the toothy troublemakers—led by power-mad pain-in-the-neck Theophilus—have become a huge problem requiring a solution. It’s time to make a stand.
 
As always, Atticus wouldn’t mind a little backup. But his allies have problems of their own. Ornery archdruid Owen Kennedy is having a wee bit of troll trouble: Turns out when you stiff a troll, it’s not water under the bridge. Meanwhile, Granuaile is desperate to free herself of the Norse god Loki’s mark and elude his powers of divination—a quest that will bring her face-to-face with several Slavic nightmares.
 
As Atticus globetrots to stop his nemesis Theophilus, the journey leads to Rome. What better place to end an immortal than the Eternal City? But poetic justice won’t come without a price: In order to defeat Theophilus, Atticus may have to lose an old friend. - from Amazon.com

This is the eighth book in the Iron Druid series from Hearne, and I am just really enjoy them. Hearne writes with quite a bit of humor, from Shakespeare, to Star Wars references, that truly make this an enjoyable urban fantasy series. Drag in a bunch of gods from many different parts of history/myth, through some vampires, werewolves and witches, and you have yourself this series. Again Hearne has kept my interest, and brought me another chapter in this tale he has embarked on.

Book Review: "Revisionary" by Jim Hines

When Isaac Vainio helped to reveal magic to the world, he dreamed of a utopian future, a new millennium of magical prosperity. One year later, things aren't going quite as he'd hoped. 

An organization known as Vanguard, made up of magical creatures and ex-Porters, wants open war with the mundane world. Isaac's own government is incarcerating "potential supernatural enemies" in prisons and internment camps. And Isaac finds himself targeted by all sides.
 
It's a war that will soon envelop the world, and the key to victory may lie with Isaac himself, as he struggles to incorporate everything he's learned into a new, more powerful form of libriomancy. Surrounded by betrayal and political intrigue, Isaac and a ragtag group of allies must evade pursuit both magical and mundane, expose a conspiracy by some of the most powerful people in the world, and find a path to a better future. 

But what will that future cost Isaac and the ones he loves? - from Amazon.com

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, Berkeley Publishing Group DAW, in exchange for a review, through Netgalley.com.

This is book four of the the Magic Ex Libris series, and I have anxiously awaited it's coming. Isaac and many of the other regular characters are back, taking on 'the World' as countries try to gain military superiority using magic/magical creatures. All while trying to run New Millenium, a facility to help introduce the good aspects of magic use into the world.

Hines has done a wonderful job continuing this story line. Main character development as he gains more responsibilities, and the after-effects of his actions, are good things that the readers should learn for use in their own lives. That whole cause and effect thing.

I have no idea if there will be more to this series, but it would be nice to maybe see some small stories spun from the same line.

Book Review: "Javelin Rain" by Myke Cole

The fast-paced, adrenaline-filled sequel to Gemini Cell, set in the same magical and militaristic world of the acclaimed Shadow Ops series.
 
Javelin: A code denoting the loss of a national security asset with strategic impact.
 
Rain: A code indicating a crisis of existential proportions.
 
Javelin Rain incidents must be resolved immediately, by any and all means necessary, no matter what the cost...

Being a US Navy SEAL was Jim Schweitzer’s life right up until the day he was killed. Now, his escape from the government who raised him from the dead has been coded "Javelin Rain." Schweitzer and his family are on the run from his former unit, the Gemini Cell, and while he may be immortal, his wife and son are not.

Jim must use all of his strength to keep his family safe, while convincing his wife he’s still the same man she once loved. Only what his former allies have planned to bring him down could mean disaster not only for Jim and his family, but for the entire nation...  - from NetGalley.com

I received an ARC through NetGalley.com, from the publisher, Berkely Publishing Group - ACE, in exchange for a review.

It is good to once again immerse myself in this magical world that Cole has created with this series, and the Shadow Ops series! Here we continue from book one with Jim finding his wife and son, and beginning to run from those that want to control him. I don't want to throw out any spoilers, but there are some climatic shifts, and help from the unlikeliest people. Cole seems to pack more action in each newer part of the tale, and I enjoyed reading it.

Book Review: "Cauldron of Secrets" by Thomas K. Carpenter

Ignorance is bliss, unless the world is out to kill you... 

An investigation into a strange cauldron and a dead thief in Ben Franklin's parlor leaves Katerina Dashkova, Russian princess in exile, as the main suspect. With her memory damaged and Ben Franklin missing, Kat must navigate the treacherous waters of American politics to solve the mystery while ominous rumblings threaten to drag the country into a new war.  - from Goodreads.com

This is turning into a somewhat interesting series for me. The books are pretty quickly read, and continue (so far) the storyline without a large amount of time passing between books. In book two, sometime (I think it was close to a year I believe) has passed since Franklin disappeared. Kat has been trying to be in the printing press business and seems to have basically forgotten the recent memories, at least a period of time going back just over a year. Through the local constable, and a local banker's wife, she ends up getting pulled into an large Presidential assassination attempt on Pres. Washington, to try to force America into a war with Russia.

I enjoy how the story line has continued from the first book, without a large amount of time passing (multiple years), and is able to quickly summarize that not much has happened in that time. I am not into the steam-punk variety that much, but enjoy how inventions are brought into the story long before they were invented (in our time). There are many historical facts and characters that link throughout that make it fun to imagine this all in a parallel world's past.

Book Review: "The Mad Apprentice" by Django Wexler

When Alice's mysterious Uncle Geryon sends her to help capture a rogue apprentice--a boy who has the same ability Alice has to Read himself into stories--she knows to expect a wild and unpredictable trip. But even though Alice has visited the magical realms inside libraries before, this adventure is far more dangerous. Because Torment, the magic creature holding thislibrary together, has gone mad.

But he might also have information about Alice's missing father. - from Goodreads.com

This is book two of Wexler's "The Forbidden Library" series. It has been quite some time since I read the first, and I know I have enjoyed Wexler's "The Shadow Campaigns" series, that I grabbed this one up when I found it. Having been so long since reading the first book, I didn't remember all the details from the opening of the story. However, in good style, this tale took off leaving my doubts behind as to the exact details I need to remember from earlier.

There may be a few spoilers here ...

Alice has grown in her use of reading herself into stories. She has 'tapped' some additional powers she did not have access to before. She is sent on a combined mission with 5 other apprentices to apprehend another apprentice, that has supposedly killed his Reader (Master). Things take a large turn for the worse, when the group realizes, due to Alice's insight, that madness has gripped the situation. Needless to say, some new powers come about, some new facts that will lead to future stories, and some answers Alice herself was seeking.

Overall I felt it had an easy to read story line. Definitely written for a younger audience, though as I did enjoy it, I am sure there are other adults that will as well. I liked how the story basically continued on, not spending so much time recapturing what has happened in book one, but periodically making a reference to a previous part of the tale. In thaat sense, I practically read this as a stand-alone since I have forgotten/over-lapped most of the first book. Hopefully in future installments, Wexler will expand on the Labyrithine (sp?) and who really is in charge ....

Book Review: "The Accidental Demon Slayer" by Angie Fox

It's never a good day when an ancient demon shows up on your toilet bowl. For Lizzie Brown, that's just the beginning. Soon her hyperactive terrier starts talking, and her long-lost biker witch Grandma is hurling Smuckers jars filled with magic. Just when she thinks she's seen it all, Lizzie learns she's a demon slayer—and all hell is after her. 

Of course, that's not the only thing after her. Dimitri Kallinikos, a devastatingly handsome shape-shifting griffin, needs Lizzie to slay a demon of his own. But how do you talk a girl you've never met into going straight to the underworld? Lie. And if that doesn't work how dangerous could a little seduction be…? - from Amazon.com

Not a bad little story. I have been going through the (thousands) of ebooks I have in my computer library, trying to find something that sounds interesting to read of late, and happened across the first four books of the Biker Witches series, this being book one. Reading the synopsis, I was leery, because I am not much into romance-type stories, but this one wasn't terrible. There was the usual love-interest part going on throughout, and only one short scene that was a bit more descriptive than what I care to read through. 

Characters were pretty plain. The main was a spoiled twit, naive about anything magical, including anything basically could have learned from any fantasy movie or story. The Biker Witches, were pretty shallow as well. The hunk of the story, well, he wasn't even a man. Overall the story line was enjoyable, and the plain-ness of the characters made for some corny conversation exchanges, and thoughts by the main character. I did chuckle in a few places as well.

I see that there are several books in this series (Amazon lists about 8 and a novella) I may not spend the time to read them back-to-back like I usually do with a series. A little too corny for that much material to get through. Not sure if Fox will be able to maintain a decent story/adventure through that many books. Given a few chuckles, and enjoying the basic story, I give it a solid 4 in my ratings.