Siege by K. F. Breene

Siege by K. F. Breene is book number five in her Warrior Chronicles series. Loved it. 5 stars. Highly recommended for fantasy fans and woman warrior lovers. The Warrior Chronicles is not a Young Adult series. ^#suspense ^#adventure ^#thriller ^#quest ^#medieval war fantasy ^#supernatural ^#explicate sex ^#violence

The Sales Blurb from Goodreads:

The land has become unnaturally quiet. It’s as if everyone is waiting for some sign that Xandre can be beaten. That someone will stand up to him, and win.

With Shanti calling the shots, and Cayan’s battle know-how, it seems certain that the Chosen can be the catalyst. That they can lead the oppressed to freedom.

But Xandre didn’t become the Being Supreme by chance, and he doesn’t intend for his rule to be stripped away so easily. He has already started to gather his forces, and with the entire land under his control, gaining a foothold against him seems impossible.
The final battle is brewing, and the winner is anything but decided…

So far in this fantasy of medieval myth and magic we've been treated to four parts of a six part story, the story arc reaching one of its zenith points of increasing crescendo in Siege, our fifth book of the series.

At the beginning of the book we are in the quiet time of uneventful activity after having...

Invasion by K. F. Breene

Invasion by K. F. Breene is book number four in her Warrior Chronicles series. Loved it. 5 stars. Highly recommended for fantasy fans and woman warrior lovers. If you loved Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series, odds are good you'll like this one.

If you've been following my reviews on this series, I've mentioned both Dean Koontz and Terry Goodkind in my reviews. If you have read either of those authors you know what I'm saying about K. F. Breene. If you haven't read those authors, I'm giving Ms. Breene the blue ribbon of excellence and hope they win some prestigious prize for their writing.

With multiple book series, good writers usually develop several minor characters. You know some or all of them are going to be fodder -- sacrificed to the reader's emotional roller coaster ride, but you hope it won't be one of your favorites like Shanti's Westwoods Honor Guard when the next one has to be sacrificed for the reader's emotional entrapment.

Ms. Breene has certainly taken lessons from the Star Trek writers as there often appears an appreciated supporter who makes a difference… but are wearing the proverbial doomed red shirt, so to speak. While that IS an emotional train wreck, Scotty and the Doctor remain live. Still, when the rookie character catches a Hail Mary to win a battle, you don't want to see them cut from the team before the next outing.

Ok, enough babble, time to spoil the book. Those of you wise enough to walk away, now's the time to move along. Those who have read the book. What do you care? You already know. And if you've just checking to see if I have it right, you need a hobby. Read the next book instead.

Shadow Lands by K. F. Breene

Shadow Lands by K. F. Breene is book number three in her Warrior Chronicles series. Loved it. 5 stars. Highly recommended for fantasy fans and woman warrior lovers.

The Sales Blurb from Goodreads:

***Book three in the bestselling series.***

In order to finally claim her title of Chosen and lead the Shadow People out of the Land of Mist, Shanti must make it through a century's old system to test her battle awareness, her fighting skill, and her ability to stay alive. She's about to enter The Trials, and she must do it alone.

Separated from Shanti on a dangerous island, Cayan must learn to use his mental skill while keeping his men safe from the people set out to kill them. But as more Inkna and Graygual flood the island, Cayan hears of a sinister force deep in the woods, rigging The Trials and killing any who venture too close.

It is now a race against time. The battle to become the Chosen has begun, and the victor is anything but decided.

It seems it has all been sprinting to this point from the beginning. They have arrived in the Shadow Lands. I had more than a few tense moments reading this one.

Well, if the blurb hasn't spoiled it, maybe I can!. Those of you wise enough to walk away, now's the time to move along. Those who have read the book. What do you care? You already know. And if you've just checking to see if I have it right, you need a hobby. Read the next book instead.

Hunted by K. F. Breene

It has been a long time since I've been very clear on 98% of the characters. Most stories get really deep in their Persona Dramatica, leaving my Swiss Cheese memory challenged.

Well let's do this.  4.5 Stars & highly recommended for fantasy fans and adventure lovers who are are excited to watch a high-octane, indefatigable women heroine. Shanti is not an Amazon Wonder Woman, more like the Hayden Panettiere/Claire of Heroes kind of maelstrom.

This mythic fantasy is set in some middle ages type setting. The anticipation and excitement make putting it down difficult at best. It reminds me quite a bit of Sword of Truth series as there are a number of similarities. The Graygual are analogous to the Imperial Order of the Old World and the Being Supreme sound's Jajang-like, with the Hunter being similar to some Jajang minion who Richard and Kahlan struggle with. The length of the "Warrior's Chronicles" would equal maybe one and a half — of the Sword of Truth books -- say the Blood of the Fold through Naked Empire books, tops.

I suspect if you liked Terry Goodkind's Richard and Kahlan you're going to like Shanti and Cayan, as long as you aren't expecting the series to be anything other than similar. Which reminds me. I have a couple of the Nicki Chronicles I haven't tasted yet - and just now learned Mr. Goodkind has returned to the Sword of Truth series with "Children of D'hara" series.

Now, if you prefer to skip the unavoidable spoilers, go pick up your copy of "Chosen" the first of the "Warrior Chronicles" and start enjoying the fun. I've loved these type stories since I first read The Swordswoman by Jessica Amanda Salmonson.

Chosen by K.F. Breene

I completely enjoyed "Chosen". 3.6 Stars. I recommend it to fantasy fans who love female protagonist and like books with a good dose of sexual tension. It's PG13 for language, violence, and sexual innuendo.

Shanti, our protagonist, is a clone of Millicent in Fate of Perfection in Ms. Breen's Finding Paradise series and the sexual tension is the same as well. I thought Millicent was fun, but Shanti, not so much in the romantic push-pull Ms. Breene likes to write. She did a lovely job of having Shanti speak a foreign language and pick up the local language quickly. I would recommend the book on that alone if you're a blooming writer. It was the kind of humor that deeply amuses me.

The sales pitch is Shanti is The "Chosen" one, who, via prophecy, will bring powerful warriors out of some mystery place and conquer raiding hordes of Tolkienesk dark and evil foes.

I think that sales pitch will eventually be accurate for the entire series. That isn't what happened in this book. I admit I can forget what I read yesterday and read it today like I'd never read it before, but I was paying attention as this is good book with interesting characters.

Ok, I believe it is time to tell you as much as the sales blurb spoilers, so if you like going in blind, get the book and move along. If spoilers whet your appetite for more, dig in.

Out of the Dark

Gregg Hurwitz only gets better. I really liked, "Out of the Dark". 4.4 stars. I recommend you start your Evan Smoak journey with "Orphan X", which made Mr. Hurwitz one of my favorite authors. Then get through "The Nowhere Man", then put on your seat belt for "Hellbent" and "Out of the Dark".

Four books into a series even the official sales blurbs are spoilers, so if you want to enjoy this book without preconceived impressions from this review, it's time to move along. If spoilers only encourage you, lets get with it.

Hellbent

Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz

Hellbent is the 3rd Orphan X novel. I really liked this one. 4.2 of 5 stars. I recommend it. Yes, you can read it alone, I think that would be a horrible idea and may spoil the 6 book experience (as of Jan 2020).

Evan Smoak has become one of my favorite characters. I think the molding of Mr. Hurwitz's character, Evan Smoak, is being done with a hammer on an anvil — and I'm confident Mr. Hurwitz has been required to routinely open a vein and pour some of his writing heart and soul into the character. He didn't pour the Orphan X books into the genre mold, tweak it here and there, and then put some extra meat or bones into the plots. By the end of Hellbent, if you're a seasoned reader, you know that our author has spent countless hours with Evan Smoak, and he knew what Evan was going to do in book six before he was half finished writing book one. I may be wrong…

What would it take for you to become "hellbent"?

Movie goers may recall when Jason Bourne's girlfriend is murdered. Bourne was hellbent! Similar excitement junkies clearly understand "Hellbent" when John Wick's dog is killed and his car stolen.

The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz

I liked The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz: 3 Stars. Recommend 👍.

I thought book #1, Orphan X, and book #3, Hellbent, were better. This book seemed to lag and become tedious several chapters before the climax.

The Nowhere Man is the 2nd "Orphan X" novel. The novels are "Secret Agent" type of action thrillers. In these novels orphans vanish into the "Orphan Program"-a CIA type of agency where these select orphans are trained from childhood to be invisible and extraordinarily dangerous. Orphans are one person Mission Impossible agents. Evan Smoke is Orphan X a designation similar to 007. For reasons established in the first book, he has gone rogue. As our protagonist he becomes a John Wick type of Ray Donovan except he fixes the nightmares of desperate folks who have nowhere to turn for help.

She stops sleeping. She starts plucking out her hair in patches. She cuts herself at school, hoping the pain will wake her from this nightmare.

Father of one of her classmates see the signs. He finds her sobbing in a 7-Eleven bathroom when she should be in homeroom. With a cane and fresh limp he goes and gives her a phone number: 1-855-2-NOWHERE. "He'll answer. He'll help," the injured friend's father says. She dials.

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 

My Rating: 3 of 5 [I liked it]

This review is of the Amazon Classics ebook edition and the companion audiobook. For the folks who might read this review and have not read Wuthering Heights but plan to, I'll try to save you some likely frustration. 

The first three chapters are from Mr. Lockwood's point of view, which is read by Michael Page in the audiobook. Mr. Lockwood rents Thrushcross Grange and visits the landlord at Wuthering Heights to be sociable. He becomes bewildered by how he is mistreated.  Despite being informed his visit was not appreciated, Mr. Lockwood vows to return the next day.  Upon returning the next day he is stranded there by weather and discovers his earlier horrible treatment is not unusual.  I suspect he felt it similar to an undesired visit to Newgate Prison or The Tower of London Prison.

Prince of Thorns

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jorg is the Prince of Thorns. As a ten-year-old prince he witnesses his brother and mother endure X-rated brutal murders. Meanwhile, he escaped being murdered himself by flinging himself into bushes of thorns so thick, he might have been a fly on flypaper.

It is clear the thorns were as horrid an experience for Jorg as the slaughter of his brother and mother. While he escaped being brutally murdered, it took him years to heal from the near death experience in the thorns. We are given clear images of how brutally he was damaged mentally and scared physically by these thorns.

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Links may lead to spoilers

The story of The Count of Monte Cristo is a marvelous adventure that likely rates with Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Edmond Dantès is Dumas's protagonist. There are a number of antagonists and contagonists. Indeed, the number of significant characters in this volume challenges my ever more feeble memory.

Dantes is a young and talented sailor, but ignorant of politics. His primary concern is his aged father and his soon to be fiance, Mercedes. Nothing is of much importance to him beyond father, fiance, and perhaps the possibility that M. Morrel may promote him to Captain of the Pharaon, which would greatly enhance his future prospects for providing for his father and future wife. Unfortunately young is often naive. Additionally, happiness and success too often produce enemies unknown. Such as Dangler's, the supercargo on the ship Pharaon, which Dante's sails home to Marseilles after her Captain Leclere unexpectedly dies on their voyage to Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.

Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi

Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi by John Scalzi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Old Man's War" is John Scalzi's masterpiece. I will always admire him for that book. I devoured the rest of that series. To those moved by my praise that "Old Man's War" deserves: Scalzi's writing gradually devolves there after. Slowly at first. His writing was always good enough. He may have lost interest in the series after the first few books?

Today we are reviewing his, "Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi". I'm not impressed. Not initially.

When doing mindless chores and listening to the conclusion of "The Count of Monte Cristo", I set up this Scalzi's "Miniatures" book should Monte Cristo conclude before my chores were complete.

One Word Kill

One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

May 31, 2019: I've just re-read this review.  It is a pretty massive spoiler, I suspect.  Maybe not so much of you don't click, "read more".

One Word Kill might remind folks of the TV show Stranger Things as its primary characters are youngsters, perhaps who should have grown out of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), but haven't. So our co-protagonists are bonded together as a set of socially prosecuted people by their evil peers because they are, or nearly are, "geeks". At that age, 15ish, perhaps only thinking nerds who can understand complex math, philosophy, history and retain an imagination are the least likely to be evil to their "not-the-same-as-me" peers. -just a cultural observation.

Nicholas "Nick" Hayes is our leukemia riddled, Chemo soaked protagonist. His D&D character is Nicodemus, who studied the arcane; he's a trainee wizard, if you like. Our remaining D&D band of brothers is Elton, who may have seen the Avenue of the Baobabs as an infant. He is The Game Master. There's Simon who can easily paint miniatures with his fat fingers. He plays Finious the thief, but he'd never steal in real life. I think Simon's a functioning Asperger's with a savant gift of math skills, but that's barely implied in the book.

John is the "Fonz" of the group who would never admit to having geeky friends, but his debonair facade doesn't annoy his D&D pals. He's always on time for Saturday D&D, so his ego is ignored.

THEN ONE DAY Elton, The Game Master, brings the mysterious Mia to the sacred Saturday D&D session, destroying all decency and protocol. Mia is next seen in the novel with John the faux Fonz throwing pebbles at Nick's window around midnight the day of this first Chemo treatment.

The Hundredth Queen

The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I tragically did not review the book when I read it the first time. Emily R. King is an excellent author and if she did not outline this book prior to writing it, she's a remarkable "seat of the pants" writer. "Outliners" near always have tidy plots that are a joy to read. "Pantsers" are fun too, you're as surprised as they were when they write something. This one was brilliantly tidy. Having read it, I know that she knew how the book would end before she finished the first chapter.

That's a spoiler by the way. Now you know that there are things in chapter one that are relevant in the climax of the book and beyond.

Briefly, Kalinda lives under a monarchy, but she is physically in a 'far off' monastery type of place that is a woman only facility. The monastery is funded by 'benefactors', who from time to time show up to "claim" a woman as wife, mistress, or some other form of chattel.

TRAGICALLY... THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD, not the "ruin the book" kind, but spoilers. Not the kind you can blank out and still have the review seem coherent. I do recommend the book later...

The Kill List

The Kill List by David Archer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Spoiler Alert: This is Sam Prichard Mystery #5. Anything said may spoil Sam Prichard Mysteries 1-4. I think they are an endearing and entertaining set of mysteries that might be fun for anyone to read, so if you think you might enjoy these G rated books in the future, stop after the next two or three paragraphs until you've read books 1-4.

This review included the ebook and audiobook narrated by the most excellent Mikael Naramore who makes the audiobook exceptionally pleasing. I liked it. 3 stars. I recommend "The Kill List" and the previous 4 mysteries.

In a previous Sam Prichard review I called these novels "Gum Shoe Musicals". While this one retains this moniker, I may be changing the moniker to "Gum Shoe Country Musicals" or possibly - in the future to "Gum Shoe Gospel Musicals". Guessing the trend goes as I presume (possibly incorrectly).

I gave them this label as Sam Prichard is a private investigator, aka Gum Shoe, and David Archer has added links to his ebooks that play songs on his website. You can sing along with the lyrics in the ebook. If you have purchased the audiobook, there's nothing to click, where the lyrics are in the ebook, they actually play the song on the audiobook making it, at least in part, a "music audio file".