Mini Reviews: Fantasy Novels with Female Heroines

Hello, everyone! I have more mini reviews for you. All of these novels were interesting in their individual ways and really deserve their own reviews, however, as I read them whilst trying to complete university, I never got around to chatting about them with you! Because it’s now been a while and my memory has gotten a little foggy (but I don’t want to ignore these novels completely), I thought mini reviews were the best solution. 🙂

Overall Impression: An engrossing adventure through a sophisticated, supernatural, criminal underworld.

First off I would like to say that I cannot recommend this series enough! It’s brilliantly original, has a completely immersive world and Shannon’s writing is compelling. The Mime Order is book two in the dystopian series, The Bone Season, which follows Paige Mahoney, a dreamwalker able to manipulate spirits. It picks up where the first story left off, with Paige and other captives fleeing from their otherworldly prison Sheol 1, where they were treated like slaves by the Rephaites. They all go into hiding, seeking salvation where they can. But Paige soon finds herself on her government’s most wanted list, and is forced to go underground and rely on her old Mime Lord, Jaxon, and his numerous connections in the criminal underworld. However, she soon realises she’s trading one prison for another.

Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan Review 4/5

Overall Impression: Intelligent world building and complex storytelling at its best.

I don’t normally like this phrase, but at this point I think it’s safe to say that I am one of Trudi Canavan’s ‘biggest fans’. I was first exposed to her work aged 15 Since, I have bought all of her books, visited her at an author signing and followed her general online updates with a bucket of over enthusiasm. Naturally, I was looking forward to the release of Thief’s Magic in May with a sort of excited and impatient hysteria. A new book AND a brand new series? I couldn’t wait to see what Canavan would do with a new fantasy world.
So of course I was in a state of shock when the Little, Brown Book Group offered me an ARC of Thief’s Magic, the first book in the Millennium’s Rule Trilogy in exchange for an honest review. Holding back shouts of ‘Gimme, gimme!’ I accepted, and a pretty brown package turned up the next day. I raced though the pages of Thief’s Magic quickly, once again Trudi Canavan did not disappoint!

In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen’s world faces.
Elsewhere, in a land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer’s daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it – should she dare to risk the Angels’ wrath.
But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands. Not even the people they trust.

The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan Review 4/5

Overall Impression: FEELS. SO MANY FEELS.

(To read my review of the previous book from The Traitor Spy Trilogy, The Rogue, click here.)

Don’t you just love how majestic and powerful this cover is? The whole thing is so slick and bold, I really love it! When life is stressful or getting a little overwhelming I always know that I can turn to Trudi Canavan to brighten my cloudy day. The Traitor Queen was no exception to this and felt like a breath of fresh air. This is the last book in the Traitor Spy Trilogy which takes place 20 years after the events in The Black Magician Trilogy. I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with how Canavan tied everything up in this last novel. Once again I find myself feeling sad because I have to say goodbye to so many of my favourite characters all over again!

Please note: For those of you that haven’t read the previous Black Magician Trilogy or the The Ambassador’s Mission, this review will contain spoilers about previous plots and characters from those books. However, this review will not contain any major spoilers for The Traitor Queen.

Events are building to a climax in Sachaka as Lorkin returns from his exile with the Traitor rebels.
The Traitor Queen has given Lorkin the huge task of brokering an alliance between his people and the Traitors, and Lorkin has had to become a feared black magician in order to harness the power of an entirely new kind of gemstone magic. This knowledge could transform the Guild of Magicians – or make Lorkin an outcast forever.

The Traitor Queen picks up right where The Rogue left off. Tensions within Sachaka are mounting and Lorkin has been given the difficult task of promoting communication between the Guild and the Traitors with the hopes of forming an alliance. Plans go array however 

Rambling, Rambling, Complaining…and a Little More Rambling.

Ohh fellow WordPress friends, I feel like it has been far too long. That may sound strange since I posted a review just the other day and have been managing to keep up with Quoting the Quill but I have been struggling to find the time to fit in blogging…. or socialising….or reading…or sleep.
Anything remotely fun or essential basically.
Although I have churned out a few posts this month, my reviews of Picture Me Gone and The Lovely Bones had actually been sitting around in my draft sections for almost two months! I felt they were in need of a bit of finessing (being a perfectionist and all) and each only needed a mere 20 minutes of my attention to finish them off, yet every time I went to do so I was either too knackered or not in the mood. Consequently it has been a loooooong time since I have had the pleasure of sitting down at my laptop a writing a proper blog post, and I miss it. I guess this post is an attempt to rectify that.

Content Warning: From this point onwards this blog will contain rambling, complaining and a lack of writing quality of any kind as I attempt to update you on the general goings on in my life. If you are of frail disposition when it comes to moan-ey students and bookworms, I suggest you don’t read on. 😉

This month has been an absolute soul sucker, 

The Rogue by Trudi Canavan Review 3/5

Overall Impression: An enjoyable meander around the world of Kyralia that lacked some of the fire of Canavan’s previous works.

(To read my review of the previous book from The Traitor Spy Trilogy, The Ambassador’s Mission, click here.)

After getting to meet Trudi Canavan, one of my long time favourite authors, I thought it was about time I settled down with the next installment of The Traitor Spy Trilogy! I was originally planning on giving this book four stars, but on reflection I have changed it to a three. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Rogue as an escape from deadlines but as heartbreaking as it is for me to say, there is nothing memorable about this novel. Already its content is beginning to fade and it has left me wondering how exactly Canavan managed to fill five hundred odd pages.

Please note: For those of you that haven’t read the previous Black Magician Trilogy or the The Ambassador’s Mission, this review will contain spoilers about previous plots and characters from those books. However, this review will not contain any major spoilers for The Rogue.

On Meeting Trudi Canavan

It was an odd sequence of events that led to me meeting one of my all time favourite rockstar authors. For starters, the wonderful Cindy ignited a spark of curiosity in me after relaying some of her author signing experiences. Secondly, an advert for Trudi Canavan’s new Facebook page just happened to pop up as a suggestion on my sidebar. I don’t tend to spend a lot of time on Facebook and rarely if ever like pages, yet for a reason that still eludes me, I clicked the link to discover a status stating Trudi was going to be in London for a signing! Thirdly, I had recently vowed to spend more time outside of my work filled Hobbit hole in order to investigate more of London. I don’t believe in fate, but it did almost seem as if the universe aligned. 🙂 After finding out the information I proceeded to text one of my best budds, an enthusiastic fangirl and native Londoner (and therefore my first port of call for all things London) to find out if she knew the area. Though she had no clue who Trudi Canavan was, she squealed along with me as if it was the best discovery in the world and offered to go with me to my first ever book signing, for which I will be eternally grateful, I would have been too scared to go on my own!

DAY 25: The Most Surprising Plot Twist or Ending.

Yay, another easy question! It didn’t take much thought to come up with this one because there is one book out there that I found to have the most surprising ending AND it was also a plot twist at the same time. 🙂

Yepp, it’s that Trudi Canvan woman again. Are you sick of her yet?

If you said yes, tough, because I’m talking about her anyway! 😛 

DAY 19: A Favourite Author.

Okay, so I am going to look at this question as picking from one of my many favourite authors because seriously, I would be here all day otherwise! Since I have already talked about my love for J.K. Rowling, Emily Brontë, Kelley Armstrong, Tolkien and Sarah Dessen these guys are out of the running. So, can you lovely bloggers guess which author is missing? I’ll give you a clue, she’s Australian and I’ve mentioned her many times on this blog before.

Still stuck?

I will give you another clue, 

The Ambassador’s Mission by Trudi Canavan Review 3/5

Overall Impression: Trudi Canavan’s writing still shines among the rubble of some awkward plotting.

Just throwing it out there that my current nail varnish matches the colour of this book, I think that’s kind of awesome considering it was coincidental. 😛
So I’ve finally finished the novel I have been eagerly anticipating for years! This is the first book in the Traitor Spy Trilogy which follows up 20 years after the events in The Black Magician Trilogy I fell in love with so swiftly. You definitely need to read The Black Magician Trilogy first as this book follows many of the old characters and helps with the background history of how the world works.
For pure enjoyment this novel would theoretically get 4 stars because I love the author’s style. However, here in sucky old reality there were a lot of issues holding this book back from being amazing that the reviewer side of my brain couldn’t shut off. This is the second book set in this world by my favourite author I’ve given 3 stars, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME TRUDI? WHHHYYYYYY?!?!

Please note: For those of you that haven’t read the previous Black Magician Trilogy this review will contain spoilers about previous plots and characters from those books. However, this review will not contain any major spoilers about the book The Ambassador’s Mission.

As the son of the late High Lord Akkarin, saviour of the city, and Sonea, the former street urchin turned Black Magician, Lorkin has a legacy of heroism and adventure to live up to. So when Lord Dannyl takes the position of Guild Ambassador to Sachaka, Lorkin volunteers to be his assistant in the hopes of making his mark on the world.

Tomorrow’s the Big Day: Pre-Readathon Prep!

Hey guys!

The event I have been looking forward to for so long is fast approaching, Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon will begin for me in UK time at 1pm tomorrow, only a matter of hours to go! 😀
I’m so excited to be participating in this great event, so far 434 readers have signed up and I am honoured to be joining them.

I just thought I would explain a little bit about how I will be tracking my progress on my blog. In the past I have seen bloggers do it in a variety of ways, many do a new post on their blog with every mini-challenge or regularly on scheduled hours. However, I don’t want to be clogging up your inbox with multiple posts, especially for those that aren’t interested in the readathon and my progress! So,

Books I Just HAD to Buy… but are Still Sitting on my Unread Shelf

I saw this title bobbing around the blogosphere a couple of weeks ago, I think it might have been for a meme but I don’t seem to be able to find it now. Either way, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun! After all, how many books have you just HAD to rush out and buy on a whim because you read a great review of it, or it was new from your favourite author or had taken the world by storm? Before you know it you get distracted by something shiny, and suddenly it’s months later and the book is still sitting on your shelf. I am definitely guilty of this, so I felt the need to participate and make my own post! 🙂

So without further ado here are ten books I absolutely had to buy that are still unread:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I decided to buy this after reading so many great reviews. Everyone was calling it a captivating, magical story about a mysterious circus that appeared at nightfall and disappeared at dawn. At first I wasn’t sure about it, I had never really been interested in circuses. But reviews from spellbound readers continued and the cover was so beautiful (Especially in hardback!) that I came to the conclusion I absolutely, positively had to buy it!
The main reason I haven’t read it yet is that I am saving it for the right moment….if that makes any kind of sense. I don’t know, I feel like I will really enjoy it but I want to wait for a day where I can appreciate it. Plus, after all the hype I’m a little scared I might not like it. :S

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time Book 1) – I got this book in 2011 for Christmas because it was on my wishlist. It’s the first in the popular Wheel of Time series known by pretty much every bookworm dedicated to the fantasy genre. I was on a fantasy kick when I first heard about it and so I automatically wanted to read it! It was a couple of months later that I started questioning whether it had been a good idea. 

Every Bookworm’s Dilemma: When Shelf Space Runs Out.

Ok so here’s a random and vaguely related anecdote: There is currently a lot of DIY going on in my house, which means there are toolboxes and various pieces of equipment in my room. A couple of days ago my mum was helping me carry some stuff up there and I carefully reached over a mass of tools to turn on a plug, at which point I told her “You know we should move these because one day I’m going to actually step on that sword” She looked at me puzzled and said “sword?” At which point I replied “yes” She laughed “I think you mean SAW?”
*Facepalm*
I’ve been spending way too much time in the literary world lately, either that or art work’s fried my brain. Anhoooows thought you might find that vaguely amusing.
*Hears crickets*
Now on with the post!

My book buying habit has reached an almighty high. I have never owned so many. You could say I’m a bit of book hoarder. Around a month ago I went up to my room with a fresh batch of brand new beautiful shiny books to place proudly on my shelves, only to realize that I had no space left. This isn’t the first time that this has happened either, except this time, it was on a somewhat larger scale. Luckily salvation was just around the corner in the form of a very thoughtful friend who donated to me one of her old bookshelves. So the problem is fixed – temporarily.

BUT I’ve already filled that bookshelf up, I’m now precariously squishing another layer onto it.