Early Review: The Woken Gods

The Woken Gods

Gwenda Bond

Publisher: Strange Chemistry – published 3^rd September

E-Arc courtesy of Netgalley and Strange Chemistry

The more things change…
Ten years ago, the gods of ancient mythology awoke all around the world.The more things stay the same…
This morning, seventeen-year-old Kyra Locke was late for school.
But that’s not out of the ordinary in a transformed Washington, D.C., dominated by the embassies of divine pantheons and watched over by the mysterious Society of the Sun that governs mankind’s relations with the gods. What is unusual is Kyra’s encounter with two trickster gods on her way home, one offering a threat, and the other a warning.Kyra escapes with the aid of young operatives from the Society, who inform her that her scholarly father has disappeared from its headquarters at the Library of Congress and taken a dangerous Egyptian relic with him. The Society needs the item back, and they aren’t interested in Kyra’s protests that she knows nothing about it. Now Kyra must depend on her wits and the help of everyone from a paranoid ex-boyfriend to scary Sumerian gods to operatives whose allegiance is first and always to the Society. She has no choice if she’s going to clear her father’s name and recover the missing relic before 
the impending summer solstice.

What’s at stake? Just the end of the world as Kyra knows it.

All the Gods people have ever worshipped throughout time are real and a few years ago they woke up. The world changed. Washington DC has become the centre for communication between the Gods as represented by the Trickster Gods and the Society, group who use relics to protect humans from the Gods power. Krya grew up in the midst of the awakening, but when the Tricksters start to take an interest in her, she realises that there are more secrets in her family that she ever knew...

The idea that all the Gods are real and that they have only been sleeping is such a strong premise for a world similar to ours but different in that one vital area and provides a wide range of possibilities for story-telling. Adding to the mix Krya is one damaged girl but strong and determined. She has problems over and above the usual teen romance and authority issues so when her Dad goes missing and the gods are involved, she ignores his request that she leave town and decides to find him. Her friends refuse to let her deal with it alone. I loved the relationships Krya has with her friends – both old and new. They ground her and prevent her becoming too isolated. Each have their own family issues but still stick by her side.

As well as a variety of Gods from global pantheons, there is a mysterious Society who are able to keep the Gods in line with threats. However, we all know secret societies are not always to be trusted... The mix of mythology, teen issues and action is well balanced with plenty of action and some intriguing twists – I have to admit the end really ups the stakes taking it from a personal tragedy to all out war. The books suffers a little from teens knowing better than adults every time (a lot of YA have that fault though!), but the teens are such stronger characters that it doesn’t matter too much. There is plenty to enjoy and I can’t wait to see what the next book in this series will throw up. Especially as the end is a real game changer! A fresh take on ancient mythology and a fun read!

Recommended for fans of Tom Pollock and Kim Curran. 8 out of 10

Guest Review: American Gods

Sometimes it takes a while but when either Sarah, my regular guest reviewer or I like a book we try and persuade the other to read it. Having read and loved American Gods in 2011 (read my review here), Sarah has finally got around to it!

American Gods

Neil Gaiman

Publisher: Headline

Days before his release from prison, Shadow's wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Mel reviewed this weighty tome back in 2011, so it shows just how far behind the times I am!  I am most definitely a Neil Gaiman fan, although as I prefer him in ‘straight-up’ fantasy mode, I was a little hesitant about reading one of his more surreal urban fantasy books, especially one as large as this (thank god for the Kindle!).  And speaking of gods/Gods…. 

What happens to the Gods of old? Just because we no longer believe in them, does that mean that no one else does?  Once a God is no longer worshipped, do they still qualify for the title, or do they simply cease? 

Our hero Shadow, an ex-con displaying a wealth of kindness, and the ability to articulate wonderfully exactly what he (and the reader) is thinking at the most perplexing moments, is presented with the physical embodiment of all these questions, and is expected to accept and move on.  His post-prison employer, known by the moniker Mr Wednesday, is a shadowy trickster with more linguistic tricks than a mensa tongue-twister, but the question is, is he a god, or a God?

I have to admit, that this novel was a bit too surreal for my tastes, but it will be up many people’s curvy street (Mel for one!).  If it hadn’t have been for Gaiman’s sublime grasp of storytelling, and his ridiculously likeable hero, I might have had to bail out early.  However, I was in it to the end, which earns this (one for fans of China Mieville) an 8 out of 10 

Early Review: Midnight Frost (Mythos Academy #5)

Midnight Frost (Mythos Academy #5)

Jennifer Estep

Publisher: Kensington Books – Released 30^th July 2013

E-Arc Copy Courtesy of Netgalley & Kensington Books

Just when it seems life at Mythos Academy can't get any more dangerous, the Reapers of Chaos manage to prove me wrong. It was just a typical night at the Library of Antiquities--until a Reaper tried to poison me. The good news is I'm still alive and kicking. The bad news is the Reaper poisoned someone else instead. As Nike's Champion, everyone expects me to lead the charge against the Reapers, even though I'm still hurting over what happened with Spartan warrior Logan Quinn. I've got to get my hands on the antidote fast--otherwise, an innocent person will die. But the only known cure is hidden in some creepy ruins--and the Reapers are sure to be waiting for me there 

Gwen Frost is Nike’s Champion and she has embraced that this means she and her friends will have to face evil God Loki and his Reapers of Chaos. However, her honey Logan is absent still unsure of himself after Loki’s interference in Crimson Frost. When another of Gwen’s allies is poisoned by the Reapers, she and her friends have to go to the one place they can find antidote knowing it is a trap...

Gwen is so much more confident now then she was when we first met her and her developing strength and fighting skills are joys to see. Her selection of friends and allies are fun and you just can’t help rooting for them all. Gwen is still smarting over Logan’s abandonment but she carries on regardless. She also discovers more about her father now. There are some exciting action scenes and I really loved how everyone accepts and looks to Gwen to guide and lead them. She is going to be one strong general in this fight.

The story is fast paced with little wasted time taking place over just a few days but in terms of the wider story arc, it doesn’t feel like much has changed. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong and this is just laying the groundwork for the end battle, but it feels like Gwen ends in the same place as she was at the start. Saying that, this is still a great series and one of my favourite YA series – I just love Gwen’s natural charm and determination. Plus the mixture of mythologies from Greek, Roman, Viking in the modern world is just a blast!

Overall, this is a good instalment in a great series – superior to other YA series but not the peak of its own high standard. It was a great summer instalment and I am happy Jennifer Estep is a fast writer as if I had to wait a whole year between visits to Mythos I would miss all my Gypsy, Amazon, Viking and Spartan friends!

Recommended for fans of Marissa Meyer and Richelle Mead. 8 out of 10

Early Review: Mist

Mist

Susan Krinard

Publisher: Tor Books

E-Arc Courtesy of Netgalley and Tor Books

Centuries ago, all was lost in the Last Battle when the Norse gods and goddesses went to war. The elves, the giants, and the gods and goddesses themselves were all destroyed, leaving the Valkyrie Mist one of the only survivors. 
Or so she thought.
When a snowy winter descends upon modern-day San Francisco in June, Mist’s quiet existence starts to feel all too familiar. In quick succession, Mist is attacked by a frost giant in a public park and runs into an elf disguised as a homeless person on the streets…and then the man Mist believed was her mortal boyfriend reveals himself to be the trickster god, Loki, alive and well after all these years. Loki has big plans for the modern world, and he’s been hanging around Mist for access to a staff that once belonged to the great god Odin. Mist is certain of one thing: Loki must be stopped if there is to be any hope for Earth. But the fight is even bigger than she knows….Because Loki wasn’t the only god to survive...

Mist is a Valkerie – one of the few immortals who survived the Last Battle, when the Norse Gods faced the Trickster, Loki’s armies and both vanished forever. Ever since Mist has lived in the human world, protecting the one gift the gods had left her, and has finally managed to build a life for herself. Unfortunately, not all the Gods and Immortals are gone for good – and Mist finds herself in the middle of a new game and the possibility that the Last Battle may be continued in modern day San Francisco.

This is a slightly different shade of Urban Fantasy than I’ve read before. Our kick-ass heroine is thousands of years old and comfortable with who she is – even if she has suffered and lost during her time in the modern world. While she discovers some big secrets about herself during the course of the story she doesn’t really doubt herself and I like that confidence. Unfortunately not all her allies are telling her the truth...some of story is told is told from other points of view so we know more than Mist does about what is happening which gives me a real pantomime feeling – like I should be shouting “Look behind you!”.

There is plenty of action with Mist getting involved in ice-giant fights as well as magical battles as Loki attempts to establish himself in San Francisco. I also liked the Norse Mythology which makes a difference from the vampires and werewolves that so populate Urban Fantasy. It feels fresh and different especially Mist’s sister Valkeries who don’t appear much in this story but I hope will make more appearances in the next story. There is a lot of ground work laid for future stories which does slow down the story once in a while, but that is common in first books and there is a very unique and intriguing set up.

Recommended for fans of Suzanne Johnson and Chloe Neill. 7 out of 10  

Guest Review: Big Machine

Once again I have Sarah dropping by to review a bizarre sounding book...

Big Machine

- Victor LaValle

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau

A fiendishly imaginative comic novel about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.Ricky Rice was as good as invisible: a middling hustler, recovering dope fiend, and traumatized suicide cult survivor running out the string of his life as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York. Until one day a letter appears, summoning him to the frozen woods of Vermont. There, Ricky is inducted into a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard The Voice: a mysterious murmur on the wind, a disembodied shout, or a whisper in an empty room that may or may not be from God.

Hello Random Reviews readers, me again, and today I'm reviewing Victor LaValle's novel Big Machine.  Now, normally I appear here because I've really enjoyed a book and wanted to share it with you, this time, well, it's for the opposite reason.

I bought this book after reading a good review in SFX magazine, and on paper it sounds intriguing - the protagonist Ricky Rice, a recovering drug addict, receives a mysterious train ticket in the post, and ends up at the Washburn Library with a whole cast of washed-up members of society and nothing but piles of daily newspapers.  From here unravels a plot, that is, frankly, wierd.

I just didn't get this book, not one iota.  Yes, I understood the individual words, but together?  I have a vivid imagination (just ask Mel!) but one cast member developing a limp after two identical bobcats tried to eat his soul out of his right foot - eh???  Throw in often pointless back stories and truly random moments of horror that seem to have no bearing on the plot, and I was all at sea. Whilst the book is obviousy trying to deal with some weighty issues - addiction, suicide cults, racism, redemption - it either does so with the subtlety of a flying sledgehammer, or in such a wierd, convoluted way that I just couldn't get what the author wanted me to think.

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who have enjoyed this book (apparently it was very popular in America), but it really wasn't for me.  A decent premise, and a few illuminating pages right at the end didn't make up for all the rest - 5 out of 10.

American Gods Review

American Gods

- Neil Gaiman

Publisher: UK - Headline Review

Days before his release from prison, Shadow’s wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.
Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm or preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

I’ve been pondering how to review American Gods for a while…there is so much to say and yet most of it has been said already by reviewer far more worthy and cleverer than little old me. But at the same time I couldn’t not review it. It is a weighty tome and it’s story is equally as weighty, but as soon as I started reading I felt drawn in as the world was built around me. The reading was like watching the baking of a tiered wedding cake from the inside - complete with measuring, adding a touch of this and an ounce of that, stirring, watching the mixture rise and then adding frosting to the outside.

Shadow, just released from prison is seeing the world for the first time in three years as we see it anew through him. He has no-one to hold him down so he accepts the offer of a job from the mysterious Mr. Wednesday and gets swept up in a world where gods can be con artists and leprechauns can be six-foot tall. The writing is smooth and atmospheric with vivid pictures that stay in your mind long after the pages are shut. I was rooting for Shadow throughout even if half the time I didn’t have any more idea what was going on than he did! There was some hypnotic to the writing and plot that drew me deeper and deeper.

American Gods is ultimately a story about stories. Some tales are on gods, folk lore, myths and legends. There is mystery story, a romance, a supernatural, a war story and of course a road trip. It is a tale of big cities and small town; a story about society and a personal growth; a story about the weather; a philosophical tale and an action adventure; a story of America and the age old tale of new verses old. I don’t think this will be for everyone tastes but if you have some time to spare and want a leisurely stroll around the role of gods in modern America there are much worse ways to spend a few hours. It will be a book that will sit on my shelves for a long time to come.

Recommended for fans of Kate Griffin and Homer’s Odyssey. 9.5 out of 10.

Part of FTC's Speculative Fiction Challange Book 7/12

Goddess of Legend Review

Goddess of Legend

-          P.C. Cast

Publisher: UK – Piatkus

Isabel, a world-weary photojournalist, is grounded back home in Oklahoma, when her car plummets off a bridge into a lake. Struggling on the edge between life and death, she's miraculously saved by the Water Goddess, but with one tiny caveat: Isabel must travel to another time to seduce the legendary Lancelot du Lac away from Queen Guinevere. Simple. After all, the handsome knight is a dream for any woman in any century. Unfortunately Isabel is the one who's seduced - by the soulful eyes of the wise and soft-spoken King Arthur. But for Isabel, a deal is a deal. Now, the King watches as fate takes from him the mysterious beauty he has come to worship, knowing all too well that any interference on his part could destroy the kingdom he loves.

Goddess of Legend reads like a guilty pleasure but without the guilt. There is a twenty-first century heroine who is feisty, independent, fun and encourages others around her. There is hero who is handsome, brave, protective, amusing, and moral, who just happens to be Arthur, King of Camelot. A lot of the pleasure of this book comes from the interaction between them especially the banter and misunderstandings that occur – I love that both Isabel and Arthur take the fact that he is married to someone else seriously and are honest with other about that means to them.

I gobbled up this novel – it may not have a well defined bad guy and most of the conflict comes from the character and their moral codes rather than any action as such, but there was something so relaxing and easy reading about the relationship and the changes that Isabel makes at court. A fun, enjoyable read that makes a difference from some of the shades of grey in many of my reads.

Recommended for fans of Ilona Andrew’s Edge series and Traci Harding’s Ancient Future trilogy. 7 out of 10.

On My Wishlist #26

**SHAMELESS PLUG - Don't Forget to check out my INSIDE OUT Giveaway here - ends tomorrow!**

This is a meme from Book Chick City. There are so many books out there that I want to read that this is the only way I can keep track! This week I'm having a Gods theme...

Sins and Shadows - Lyn Benedict

Publisher: UK - Ace Books (April 2009)

Sylvie Lightner is no ordinary P.I. She specializes in cases involving the unusual, in a world where magic is real - and where death isn't the worst thing that can happen to you.
But when an employee is murdered in front of her, Sylvie has had enough. After years of confounding the dark forces of the Magicus Mundi, she's closing up shop - until a man claiming to be the God of Justice wants Sylvie to find his lost lover.
And he won't take no for an answer.

I've had my eye on this for a while - it looks like a detective story with a difference. After all who wouldn't want to met the God of Justice...

Goddess of Spring - PC Cast

Publisher: UK - Little Brown (January 2010)

Lina's trendy bakery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is proving to be less than lucrative and she must come up with a plan to save it. When she stumbles upon an Italian Goddess cookbook, she can't help but think she's found the answer to her problem - even if it means invoking a goddess to save her business. Soon enough, Lina finds herself face-to-face with Demeter, who has a plan of her own. She proposes that Lina exchange souls with Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, who will breathe new life into the bakery. In return, Lina must set order to the Underworld. Before all this, Lina's problems mostly involved dough and second dates. Now that she embodies the enchantingly beautiful Persephone, Lina has weightier things on her mind - like the formidable task of bringing Spring to a world of spirits. But when the handsome, brooding Hades kindles a spark in her heart, Lina wonders if this Lord of the Underworld might be the man of her dreams...

The Persephone myth has always been one of my favourites. Added to that I love PC Casts writing this is a book I want to get my hands on soon!

Goddess of the Rose - PC Cast

Publisher: UK - Little Brown (January 2010)

It's not green fingers that have kept the Empousai family's roses blooming for centuries - it's the drops of blood that their women secretly sacrifice for their gardens. But Mikki would rather forget this family quirk and lead a normal life. Until the day she unwittingly performs a ritual and ends up in the strangely familiar Realm of the Rose. As its goddess, Hecate, reveals to her, Mikki has the blood of a high priestess running through her veins. And the realm has been waiting for her ...In a long ago flash of temper, Hecate cursed her Guardian beast with a slumber that only her priestess can undo - and Hecate is counting on Mikki to set things right. At first the beast terrifies Mikki - but soon he intrigues her more than any man ever has. But the only way he and the realm can be saved is for Mikki to sacrifice her life-giving blood - and herself ...
Another Goddess Summoning novel from PC Cast which looks like a retelling of beauty and the beast. 

So what are you wishing for this week? :)

On My Wishlist #13

This is a meme from Book Chick City. There are so many books out there that I want to read that this is the only way I can keep track!

The heavenly theme continues this week with books based on a Gods theme...

Amercian Gods - Neil Gaiman

Publisher: UK - Headline (September 2005)

After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the time until his release ticks away, he can feel a storm brewing. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But the storm is about to break...

I've been eyeing this book up for months, possibly years. It made such a big splash when it was first released but I some how missed it. Since then, I occasionally pick it up in the book stores but never quite made it to the till with it. One day I will read it!

The Broken Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy 2) - N.K. Jemisin

Publisher: UK - Orbit (November 2010)

In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a homeless man who glows like a living sun to her strange sight. However, this act of kindness is to engulf Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy. Someone, somehow, is murdering godlings, leaving their desecrated bodies all over the city. Oree's peculiar guest is at the heart of it, his presence putting her in mortal danger - but is it him the killers want, or Oree? And is the earthly power of the Arameri king their ultimate goal, or have they set their sights on the Lord of Night himself?

I really enjoyed The Hundred-Thousand Kingdoms, the first of teh Inheritance Trilogy earlier this year, so I'm looking forward to getting this, the next in the trilogy!

Goddess of Legend - PC Cast

Publisher: UK - Piatkus (January 2010)

Isabel, a world-weary photojournalist, is grounded back home in Oklahoma, when her car plummets off a bridge into a lake. Struggling on the edge between life and death, she's miraculously saved by the Water Goddess, but with one tiny caveat: Isabel must travel to another time to seduce the legendary Lancelot du Lac away from Queen Guinevere. Simple. After all, the handsome knight is a dream for any woman in any century. Unfortunately Isabel is the one who's seduced - by the soulful eyes of the wise and soft-spoken King Arthur. But for Isabel, a deal is a deal. Now, the King watches as fate takes from him the mysterious beauty he has come to worship, knowing all too well that any interference on his part could destroy the kingdom he loves.

PC Cast is an author I've been exploring this year - love some books, not keen on others. So I'm curious to try her Goddess summoning series which is being released in the UK in the next few months!

Aphrodite's Workshop for Reluctant Lovers - Marika Cobbold

Publisher: UK - Bloomsbury (February 2010)

Rebecca Finch is a highly successful romantic novelist who has fallen out of love with love. When she heads off for a weekend in Paris and doesn't care that she has absent-mindedly left her boyfriend on the platform in Waterloo, things look bad. But when her god-daughter, struck with pre-wedding jitters, asks Rebecca if marriage is a good idea, and she can't think of a single reason to reply 'yes', she realises it's serious. The 'High Priestess of Romance' is having a crisis of faith. On Mount Olympus, things aren't any easier. Aphrodite is stressed because divorce rates are rocketing and nobody is taking her seriously any more, and Eros, going through a difficult phase, seems to be carelessly shooting arrows without even a thought for the basic compatibility of his victims. So with even her favourite earth-bound acolyte, Rebecca Finch, showing signs of disillusionment, Aphrodite resolves to take drastic action.

This seems like a fun read - I haven't read any chick-lit for a while so I'm looking forward to some lighter reads!

So what are you wishing for this week? :)

Review of Divine By Mistake

Divine By Mistake
- PC Cast

Publisher: MIRA Books (UK)

Why I picked it up: To be honest I was looking for a third book in my local Waterstone’s 3 for 2 offer. While I’ve seen the House of Night series PC Cast writes with her daughter, they’ve never appealed me but this book is aimed at a more adult audience – there’s even a warning on the back ‘Not Suitable For Younger Readers’ and from the first page the heroine Shannon Parker personality shines through. I left the store with this as my third book with no regrets.

Back Blurb: The only excitement Shannon Parker expects while on holiday is a little shopping. But when an antique vase calls to her, she finds herself transported to Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess...Somehow Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while there's an upside - what woman doesn't like lots of pampering? It also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Can Shannon survive this new world and ever find her way home?

What I thought: Not exactly an urban fantasy, not exactly fantasy, Divine by Mistake has an element of both while avoiding a lot of the clichés of both genres. There’s a woman discovering what she’s capable off in extreme circumstances. Shannon is not a regular heroine – she’s 35, a teacher, she’s underpaid, she’s never felt anything was missing in her life, she has no dark past. All this makes for a refreshing character in what has become a crowded genre for feisty but strong women. Having said that, Shannon is not some weak, crying useless girl but has a heart and soul and is very comfortable with who she is: I’d very much like to have a drink with her! In addition there is a Goddess, centaurs, an attractive love interest, evil vampire creatures intent on taking over the world, doppelgangers and some exciting battle scenes. One of the most refreshing novels I’ve read in a long – have gone straight out to purchase the rest of the Partholon series!

Recommended for: Traci Harding fans

Rating: 9 out of 10