Book Review: Firefight by Brandon Sanderson (The Reckoners #2)

January 17, 2020

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
Published by Random House Children's Books on January 12, 2016
ISBN: 9780385743594
Genres: Young Adult, Action & Adventure, General, Boys & Men, Dystopian
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
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The #1 New York Times bestseller and sequel to Steelheart--a novel that James Dashner called "fantastic." Brandon Sanderson, the author of Words of Radiance, coauthor of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, and creator of the internationally bestselling Mistborn trilogy, presents the second book in the Reckoners series: Firefight. And don't miss Calamity, the exciting conclusion to the Reckoners series available now!
David Charleston has lived for one purpose: to kill Steelheart, the supremely powerful, seemingly invincible Epic who murdered his father. Now Steelheart is dead and David is beginning to question everything that he--and the world--understands about the superhumans they call Epics.
David's suspicions are the reason he follows Prof to the flooded city once known as New York. But what he finds there could be what ultimately ends him. The truth might just burn deepest of all. . . .
Praise for the Reckoners Series:
#1 New York Times Bestselling Series
"The suspense is relentless and the climax explosive." --James Dashner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series
"Another win for Sanderson . . . he's simply a brilliant writer. Period." --Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Name of the Wind
"Action-packed." --EW.com
"Compelling. . . . Sanderson uses plot twists that he teases enough for readers to pick up on to distract from the more dramatic reveals he has in store." --The A.V. Club

Our favourite assassins are back in a break-neck, punch to the throat journey, Firefight. David has finally fulfilled his destiny and his father’s firm belief- that the heroes would come. Steel heart is dead. They are all intact, just. Life goes on and the trouble in this dystopian world is that a new epic will only take over and create a new empire of destruction and trauma. David never rested until Steelheart was nothing…what is his purpose now? Megan is gone, her betrayal still feeling hot in his chest. Move forward and aim for the next bad guy…

My name is David Charlton and I kill people with superpowers.

David is now a fully immersed member of killing group, The Reckoners. He’s proved himself worthy. His research and knowledge of The Epics weaknesses has proved invaluable and it could all be the vital key to taking them all down. There is just one sticking point behind that line of thinking. Are all Epics inherently bad? Do they have any capacity for holding back their destructive nature? If they can, what damage is it doing? Before killing Steelheart, he truly believed that all Epics must die. They killed his father, they also destroyed everything that they had known. Megan aka Firefight, changed his thinking. He was smitten with her. Her attitude. The love affair with her weaponry. Her banter. But, she wasn’t everything she portrayed.

“I hadn’t been a nerd, mind you. I’d just been the type of guy who spent a lot of time by himself, focused entirely on a single consuming interest.”

David is now a living breathing celebrity. He’s gained the nickname Steelslayer. He had defied everything that shouldn’t have been possible. He killed Steelheart. One of the most powerful High Epics there is. No-one knew his weakness. He was a paranoid Epic who did everything to remain in the shadows. This Epic was taken down by a mere mortal, a boy. A boy called David.

So now they need to move forward and deal with the next biggest threat to the world. Welcome to Babylon Restored, formally known as New York City. Epic Regalia rules over the dominion and she might not lay down without a fight. She has the added bonus of having other Epics being her muscle. One such Epic is the utterly frightening, Oblivion. This dude isn’t going to be easy to get rid of. He has obliterated several cities and has the added bonus of being able to teleport when he senses he’s in danger.

The Reckoners have another cell team based in Babylon Restored carrying out surveillance. David, Prof and Tia join them, and they work to overcome Regalia and her goons. Can they take care of the threat or will they rue the day they left Newcago?

“Reckoner Super Plan for Killing Regalia…

Step One: find Regalia, then totally explode her. Lots and Lots.

Step Two: put Val on decaf.

Step Three: Mizzy gets a cookie.”

Firefight is the perfect continuation in this dystopian series. It’s got everything a fantasy lover could dream of. Superpowers. A forbidden love. Bad decisions. Death. Layered betrayals.

Brandon Sanderson has a white-hot imagination. You wouldn’t be wrong if you could imagine this on the big screen, fighting for the top spot with Marvel. He’s a crazy scientist that has created the compulsive formula for creating a multi-layered world that leaves you transported into an unknown world searching for clues to how it might end. The writing as always is flawless.

Steelheart Review

Review: Moroda (World of Linaria #1) by L.L. McNeil @_LLMcNeil

December 6, 2019

Moroda

Author: L.L. McNeil

Publication Date: Feburary 13th 2017

Publisher: Indie

Genre: Fantasy

⭐⭐⭐⭐

BUY A COPY

synopsis coycaterpillar - Review: Moroda (World of Linaria #1) by L.L. McNeil @_LLMcNeil

Linaria is a world where dragons are revered as gods, where airships rule the skies, and where war is stirring.

For Moroda, a former Goldstone, her life of luxury ends following her father’s sudden death. When her city is destroyed by a dragon, she and her sister ally with a sky pirate and narrowly escape the carnage—only to find a vigilante from an exiled race has left a trail of destruction everywhere his growing army has travelled. With compulsion at his fingertips, he strengthens his hold over Linaria’s people by stealing the power of dragons. It’s only a matter of time before Moroda, too, is forced to submit.

With war nipping at her heels and danger lurking in her companions and adversaries, Moroda must quickly learn about herself, her world, and the dragons so intent on reducing it all to ash.

2018 SPFBO Semi-Finalist
Shortlisted for the Best Indie Book Awards 2017 – Fantasy.

Moroda is the first novel in an epic six-book saga, following a group of characters as war rages across their world. With pirates and soldiers, smiths and princes, Linaria is a vibrant land with a deeply unsettled past and an equally ominous future.

review coy caterpillar - Review: Moroda (World of Linaria #1) by L.L. McNeil @_LLMcNeil

Moroda, the first book in L.L. McNeil’s epic fantasy series (World of Linoria sees the author knock out a finely-wrought, infatuated tale. I’ve been looking to get back into the Fantasy genre and this book just rebirthed my love for it. Step to the edge of the water, hold your breath and dive in. immediately you’ll feel the rush of adrenaline, the water rushing past your ears, the depths pulling you deeper and deeper. This book is that damn good. The writing, the worldbuilding, the dragons, I loved it all. I could completely see this becoming a series on Netflix…think somewhere between the Witcher and game of thrones.

I was particularly grateful for the in-depth and the sheer magnitude of escapism this book provides. The descriptions, the character development and the implication of human emotion indebted me towards a richer reading experience. Modora is essentially a story of a girl called Modora, finds herself in the somewhat strange situation of forming alliances with a sky pirate, Amarah. If you like your dragons, fierce, all-consuming and dangerously beautiful then this is the book for you. A dragon attack, a dragon slayer and unlikely band of hero’s try to find out why the dragons are suddenly attacking unprovoked. Their world smells of stirring war…what can they do to fight it? Moroda and her sister, the dragon slayer, a guard of the imperial guard, Itallan traders and my personal favourite, Sapora the Vakrain. Can they change their worlds fate or is it already too late?

The world building is off the scale. It’s a magnificent epic fantasy. One thing that truly stood out to me was how vivid I could conjure up images of their world, the battle sequences and their plight. The story came to life in high dimension…think cinematic sequences. It was rich in authenticity, an undiscovered gem. I sat at the edge of my seat, I gripped my kindle with such force, I felt loss, I felt joy and anger throughout the book. This story certainly extracts a spectrum of emotions from you. The author knows how much her reader can take and then pushes them over the edge, pushing boundaries, pushing limits. There is no such thing as a comfort zone in fantasy.

The characters in Moroda all affect you to some degree, whether that’s love, hate or everything in between. They grow as individuals and that really brings the relatable human aspect to them. They go through life experiencing things that we do. Trials and tribulations, joy, grief, challenges. The authors deft use of the English language left me feeling out of my depth…and I absolutely loved it! The characters have an audacious complexity to them. They aren’t superhero’s, they struggle, they trip up, mistakes will happen but above all they get up again, brush themselves off and try again. They hold each other up, they are the scaffolding for each other, they are a team, and nothing will stop them. The friendships, relationships and bonds created from adversity is quite simply extraordinary. The emotional impact it had upon me was like a tidal wave threatening to sweep me away…I felt lost at sea at times.

If anyone knows me, they know I love dragons. All I want to say is can we have more dragons please? In my view it isn’t an epic fantasy if there isn’t a dragon or two! I care for them, I get traumatised when they are hurt. I cared about them. They were important to the story…immaculately written.

Moroda is the book that you don’t want to end. Opening the first page and closing the last was a rollercoaster ride, an experience. Innovative and thrilling, a must read for all high fantasy fans. A truly authentic opening to a remarkable series.

Review: Other Words For Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin

September 25, 2019

Other Words For Smoke

Author: Sarah Maria Griffin

Release Date: April 2nd 2019

Publisher: Titan Books

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Book Depository| Waterstones| Wordery

synopsis 2 - Review: Other Words For Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin

The house at the end of the lane burned down, and Rita Frost and her teenage ward, Bevan, were never seen again. The townspeople never learned what happened. Only Mae and her brother Rossa know the truth; they spent two summers with Rita and Bevan, two of the strangest summers of their lives… Because nothing in that house was as it seemed: a cat who was more than a cat, and a dark power called Sweet James that lurked behind the wallpaper, enthralling Bevan with whispers of neon magic and escape. And in the summer heat, Mae became equally as enthralled with Bevan. Desperately in the grips of first love, she’d give the other girl anything. A dangerous offer when all that Sweet James desired was a taste of new flesh…

synopsis 1 1 - Review: Other Words For Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin

A Beautiful story with such poetic flow. A strong and prominent storyteller. A story that seeps magic, betrayal and wonder straight from the heart of the pages. The author uses the English language like an artist uses a muse. It’s well-crafted and unique.

The synopsis jumped out from the screen at me. I just adore anything magic. Talking cats, magical creatures behind wallpaper and a mysterious room with neon lights. I loved everything this book stood for. The cover is beautiful, and it just screamed for you to read it. The horror side of the story really took me by surprise, and on the most part it worked very well.

The story follows twin siblings, Mae and Rossi. They have sent to their Great Aunt’s for the summer. The mum and dad seem to have major problems and it seems like a great idea for the twins to spend the rest of the summer with an aunt that he have barely seen or had any contact with. It’s a summer of witchy delirium and figuring out what your place is in the world. The story for sure epitomises the expectation of how summer holidays feel at the age of fourteen. If ever there was a strong representation of an Irish story this is it. The descriptions, the language and the folklore that the author incorporated into the story was heart-warming.

There was certain things that I couldn’t gel with no matter how much I wanted to love the premise of the story. I finished the book and didn’t really know how to feel about it. I usually know by about a couple of chapters if I’m going to love or hate a book but with this one, I’m not sure if I felt either. The prologue starts at the very end and then tells the story backwards if you will. We flip between several point of views and at times it can be difficult to follow which direction and with whom its headed in. There were a number of big revelations/ events that with the writing didn’t appear to be very big at all. There should have been more explanation, more emphasis on whether these were extraordinary things or not. I found myself flicking backwards to work out if they were going to be big things, in general I just felt mightily confused.

It’s more a story of self-discovery. A journey from being a teen into an adult. Life can be difficult, and we don’t always get what we want. Its definitely a right of passage story. Love can hurt, and so can life but it’s all the little positive things that you can take from the experience and move forward. The story is basically about Mae. It’s the self-discovery of her sexuality and how she goes from being confused to owning it in her own right. Her naivety and shyness blooms into her becoming a self-assured and confident young adult.