Kiki's Rating: 5 stars
H.P. Mallory does it again delivering another home run with Great Hexpectations. This very entertaining story ran me thru the gambit of emotions and left me wondering how in the world does she keep coming up with this stuff. This time around I was excited because I felt as if H.P. was reading my mind and finally gave me exactly what I wanted from the Dulcie series. Then she threw in this giant wrech and one whopper of a cliffhanger that left me picking my jaw up off the floor.
In this 3rd installment of the Dulcie O'Neil series, Knight, our favorite hunky Loki, has poured on all the charm and proves to Dulcie that she needs to stop thninking with her head and start trusting her heart. As we all know, this does not come easily for Dulcie and she brings all kinds of drama along with her decision, but she agrees to give Knight a chance. This time her leap of faith comes with a mighty big cloud overshadowing the new couple because we finally find out the reason behind Knight's "green eyes", and boy does that have some strings attached. But Dulcie dives into the relationship in true Dulcie style, head strong!
The giant wrench comes in the form of the Underworld Courts who are nun too happy that Knight decided to skip out on his court hearing. Of course we know it was for a good reason, but they don't seem to care. So they pop in at the most inopportune time and arrest Knight. This frightens Dulcie because she knows that Knight is willing to sacrafice himself in order to save her from any harm, even take the punishment for her crime. So she does what anyone of us would do, she grabs herself a vampire and marches down under.
The remainder of the book takes us on a ride to what I feel ar the two most pivotal points in the book. The first point, which by the way is my favorite moment in the book, is when Dulcie and Knight are in the prison cell together for what they feel will be the last time. Dulcie lets out the big "L" bomb and tells Knight she loves him. Knight then promptly tells her that she has to leave him and move on with her life even though he will love her always. Who could do that? Thank goodness Dulcie had no intention of keeping that promise, but at what cost? At this point Dulice is willing to risk it all to keep Knight in her life, even make a deal with the Devil. That's where pivotal point two comes into play, the cliffhanger. I refuse to tell any details about the ending, but will leave you with this: "Who's your daddy?"
Happy Reading!!
~Kiki
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The Carbon Series By Jason J. Berg and Christopher J. Cox
Kiki's Rating: 3.5 to 4 stars
In the realm of Terra there lies a river town, Sunnfal. This town can seem to some as a sanctuary, a fortress to protect the inhabitants form the unknown creatures that torture the lands of Terra. To others it feels like a prison, keeping their poor souls entrapped in overcrowded walls. To those willing to travel outside, along the water, danger most certainly awaits. It takes someone special, a hero, to overcome this danger. It takes a man on a mission, one of remorse and vengeance, one set to stop at nothing til all the demons and creatures outside the wall of Sunnafal are punished...starting with the demon who killed his wife and 9 year-old son. This is the story of Arin.
Arin is a poor man that takes the most dangerous of positions daily scavenging the shores of the river. He then takes his finding to the market and trades in order to provide for his family. It is on one day, a special day, his son's birthday, that Arin comes upon the perfect gift. The katana, a sword. He gives this special gift to his boy, but the gift is short lived because that night his family is attacked and killed. Arin, stricken with grief and an overwhelming feeling of worthlessness, he vows vengeance and takes the sword, now tainted with demon blood, and ventures outside the safety of Sunnfal to seek his revenge.
The first session is just the beginning. We learn of determined vengeance and what it takes to be a hero in Terra. We learn very little of the katana and all the powers it yields. We do know it should have been discarded, as told by the Wanderer, because the taintness is slowly taking over Arin. We hear of the Chosen and the Ancients, but know nothing of them or what they are all about. We do get to meet the demon, Shenmaru, and don't call him demon to his face, he gets a little upset. So by the end of the first session we are left on the edge of our seat with bunches of questions begging for answers. Who are the Detrelli?
The second session continues right where the first stopped with Arin fighting Shenmaru. So in this session we start to see the story behind the Detrelli and how Arin is now cursed to become one. He meets a creature that is following a similar path as him and shares the curse. He tells the tale and explains a lot of the pieces we were missing. The creature sees in Arin a gift and sacrifices himself to give Arin the power he needs to go on his new task. The task of relieving Terra of the Detrelli and making all the lands safe for all who live there. Just when I thought I was catching on, another twist is brought back in with the Wander, who we now know as Vail. He now has some weapon call the Tear of Heaven that he took from a demon who took it from Arin who won it in a battle from Onix. (lost yet?) It looks as if Vail may have sent Arin on this mission of vengeance for his own purposes. I will have to read on to see.
The Carbon Series is unique in its telling. It reads like manga and flows much like the tales told in my sons' video games. Actually as I was reading this and describing it to them they declared with much excitement, "when does the game come out." The sessions are very quick reads and only give you small incites into this intriguing world. They definitely leave you wanting more. Make sure you travel all the way to the end and enjoy the wonderful artwork that accompanies the stories. The drawings give such insight into the characters and really drives the stories home for me.
Happy Reading
~Kiki
In the realm of Terra there lies a river town, Sunnfal. This town can seem to some as a sanctuary, a fortress to protect the inhabitants form the unknown creatures that torture the lands of Terra. To others it feels like a prison, keeping their poor souls entrapped in overcrowded walls. To those willing to travel outside, along the water, danger most certainly awaits. It takes someone special, a hero, to overcome this danger. It takes a man on a mission, one of remorse and vengeance, one set to stop at nothing til all the demons and creatures outside the wall of Sunnafal are punished...starting with the demon who killed his wife and 9 year-old son. This is the story of Arin.
Arin is a poor man that takes the most dangerous of positions daily scavenging the shores of the river. He then takes his finding to the market and trades in order to provide for his family. It is on one day, a special day, his son's birthday, that Arin comes upon the perfect gift. The katana, a sword. He gives this special gift to his boy, but the gift is short lived because that night his family is attacked and killed. Arin, stricken with grief and an overwhelming feeling of worthlessness, he vows vengeance and takes the sword, now tainted with demon blood, and ventures outside the safety of Sunnfal to seek his revenge.
The first session is just the beginning. We learn of determined vengeance and what it takes to be a hero in Terra. We learn very little of the katana and all the powers it yields. We do know it should have been discarded, as told by the Wanderer, because the taintness is slowly taking over Arin. We hear of the Chosen and the Ancients, but know nothing of them or what they are all about. We do get to meet the demon, Shenmaru, and don't call him demon to his face, he gets a little upset. So by the end of the first session we are left on the edge of our seat with bunches of questions begging for answers. Who are the Detrelli?
The second session continues right where the first stopped with Arin fighting Shenmaru. So in this session we start to see the story behind the Detrelli and how Arin is now cursed to become one. He meets a creature that is following a similar path as him and shares the curse. He tells the tale and explains a lot of the pieces we were missing. The creature sees in Arin a gift and sacrifices himself to give Arin the power he needs to go on his new task. The task of relieving Terra of the Detrelli and making all the lands safe for all who live there. Just when I thought I was catching on, another twist is brought back in with the Wander, who we now know as Vail. He now has some weapon call the Tear of Heaven that he took from a demon who took it from Arin who won it in a battle from Onix. (lost yet?) It looks as if Vail may have sent Arin on this mission of vengeance for his own purposes. I will have to read on to see.
The Carbon Series is unique in its telling. It reads like manga and flows much like the tales told in my sons' video games. Actually as I was reading this and describing it to them they declared with much excitement, "when does the game come out." The sessions are very quick reads and only give you small incites into this intriguing world. They definitely leave you wanting more. Make sure you travel all the way to the end and enjoy the wonderful artwork that accompanies the stories. The drawings give such insight into the characters and really drives the stories home for me.
Happy Reading
~Kiki
Way Behind!!
Wow Oh Wow, where has the time gone? You blink and it's November. Jules and I have been busy trying to piece together chapters for our upcoming series All Things Enchanted, and still reading away. We have had several requests come in recently and have been busy reading them all. What we haven't gotten around to is writing all the reviews....so sorry!!
We have on the board for this week:
1.The Carbon Series - a unique fantasy for any fan of Final Fantasy or anime. I liked the story and LOVED the drawing...all I can say is this would be an awesome video game. I told my boys about the story and the first thing they said was "when can we play".
2. The Iron Knight - the final book in the Iron series. Jules and I read it in one day and loved every second!!
3. Great Hexpectations - The next in the Dulcie series. Let's just say that H.P. Mallory finally gave us exactly what we wanted between Dulcie and Knight, but of course it came with a price...like an enormous cliff hanger!!!
4. Athena's Promise - The first in a series about Pallas and all the antics that go on at her hotel in Zombietown. Let's just say I don't know if I will be visiting there any time soon, but if I did I so won't stay in room 302!!
We also have several more requests that are coming our way that we are ready to read, so patience please as we catch up!!!
Thanks and Happy Reading
~Kiki
We have on the board for this week:
1.The Carbon Series - a unique fantasy for any fan of Final Fantasy or anime. I liked the story and LOVED the drawing...all I can say is this would be an awesome video game. I told my boys about the story and the first thing they said was "when can we play".
2. The Iron Knight - the final book in the Iron series. Jules and I read it in one day and loved every second!!
3. Great Hexpectations - The next in the Dulcie series. Let's just say that H.P. Mallory finally gave us exactly what we wanted between Dulcie and Knight, but of course it came with a price...like an enormous cliff hanger!!!
4. Athena's Promise - The first in a series about Pallas and all the antics that go on at her hotel in Zombietown. Let's just say I don't know if I will be visiting there any time soon, but if I did I so won't stay in room 302!!
We also have several more requests that are coming our way that we are ready to read, so patience please as we catch up!!!
Thanks and Happy Reading
~Kiki
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)