My Book Haul/In My Mailbox

**Shameless Plug - Don't forget to check out my Sabina Kane Giveaway for a chance to win one of the books in the series!**

The Story Siren hosts a weekly meme where bloggers can share what goodies they've purchased/received this week. If you get a chance head over to The Story Siren and check out what everyone is up to!

I've had a bumper this week in terms of books arriving in the post - and best of all they've all been giveaway wins or gifts so I'm keeping to my vague promise to not spend so much on books...for now! :)

First up was an unexpected gift in the post from my friend, Kris. He has challenged me to read some more classics this year (of a fantasy theme) and after I said I was searching for this book, he found a second-hand copy and sent it to me - and in the process cheering me up no end!

Foundation and Empire - Issac Asimov

The Seldon Plan guided the First Foundation safely through two centuries of chaos as the Galactic Empire disintegrated. Seldon's recorded holographic image appeared in the Council Chamber on Terminus at moments of crisis predicted by pshychohistory, and his voice was heard. Even war between the Foundation and the remains of the Empire was foreseen - and planned for - by the great scientist. But Seldon had no way of predicting the birth of the Mule, a mutant of uncanny power and unlimited ambition. The Mule's conquests are effortless and his subjects mind-controlled slaves. The Foundation is powerless against the supernormal force the Mule exerts. The Seldon Plan is in tatters. Two men and a woman from Terminus flee to the ruins of might Trantor in an effort to discover where the mysterious Second Foundation was established. Its help is needed desperately against the mental powers of the Mule. But the Mule, using those same astonishing powers, is also looking for the Second Foundation.

Hellforged (Deadtown 2) - Nancy Holzner

Publisher: US - Ace

A demon is stalking Vicky's dreams-just as several of Deadtown's zombies are viciously attacked and become really dead. And when Vicky realizes she is the only connection between the victims, she suspects that the demon is somehow working through her dreams to become Deadtown's living nightmare.

I won this from Jackie at Literary Escapism and it turned up this week from Nancy Holzner with a lovely message inside - I can't wait to start reading this series!

Another surprise this week was that I won the first month bundle in Floor To Ceiling Books Speculative Fiction Challenge. Amanda got these books in the post pretty quick and I received them this week - only two days after being told I'd won!

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

I had this book on my wishlist so was very excited to win it!

Blonde Bombshell - Tom Holt

I'm a fan of Tom Holt and would have picked this up anyway :)

Nightshade (Arc) - Andrea Cremer

This has had so many positive reviews - it looks like a fun read

 And finally have you heard about the Great Transworld Crime Caper? No? Maybe you should check it out!

Transworld are offering reviewers (not just those with blogs but if you post on Amazon or other sites) the chance to read three crime capers, starting at the beginning of series. All you have to do go to their post here before 14th February and they'll send you your first choice book from this list:

1. Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
2. Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton
3. Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
4. Birdman by Mo Hayder
5. The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett
6. Past Caring by Robert Goddard
7. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
8. Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin
9. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
10. If I Never See You Again by Niamh O’Connor
11. The Accident Man by Tom Cain
12. The Business of Dying Simon Kernick

They'll send you the first book and once you post your review, they'll send you your next choice! Sorry this is for EU residents only. I signed up this week and have already received my first choice - the first of the Bryant & May series:

Full House Dark - Christopher Fowler

The story opens with a member of one of London's most unusual police units being blown up in his office. He is John May, partner to Arthur Bryant, who now starts to investigate his death. The search takes Bryant back to the time of their first meeting in 1940. London is struggling to survive the Blitz when a beautiful dancer is found without her feet. Bryant and May's investigation uncovers a weird gothic mystery, involving a killer who appears to be faceless. In the present day, May speculates whether that old adversary might be the killer. He needs to solve a riddle that began more than 50 years earlier.

I thought this sounded like a interesting mystery and the cover is fab!

Phew! What a week! What have you received this week? :)

On My Wishlist #24

**Shameless Plug - Don't forget to check out my Sabina Kane Giveaway for a chance to win one of the books in the series!**

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 feeling for the fae...

The Iron King (Iron Fey 1) - Julia Kagawa

Publisher: UK - MIRA books (January 2011)

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school...or at home. When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical fairy king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

This series has just been released in the UK and I'm looking forward to catching up on it soon - there have been a lot of good reviews plus the Fae elements make it a nice change from the Vampire teenagers! :)

Spiral Hunt (Evie Scelan 1) - Magaret Ronald

Publisher: Eos (February 2009)

Some people have the Sight. Genevieve Scelan has the Scent. They call her "Hound," and with her unique supernatural sense Evie can track nearly anything—lost keys, vanished family heirlooms . . . even missing people. And though she knows to stay out of the magical undercurrent that runs beneath Boston's historic streets, a midnight phone call from a long-vanished lover will destroy the careful boundaries she has drawn. Now, to pay a years-old debt, Evie must venture into the shadowy world that lies between myth and reality, where she will find betrayal, conspiracies, and revelations that will shatter all she believes about herself and the city she claims as home. When the Hunt is on, the Hound must run . . .

This sounds right up my street - a special power and a threat to the world with the heroine struggling between two worlds. Can't wait!

Darkfever - Karen Marie Moning
Publisher: Bantam (September 2007)

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

After seeing a lot of people going crazy over the release of Shadowfever a couple of week I was wondering what all the fuss was about having never seen these books before. But a little research and fact that it's available on kindle, I think I'll give it a go soon.

That's what I'm wishing for - what do want this week? :)

Deepwater Landing Review

Deepwater Landing

-       Ken Catran

Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books

First Published in New Zealand 1993, published in Great Britain in 1995

Yoona’s spaceship is out of control. The enemy is back – and it wants to wreck the mission. But first it wants Denie Miles. Why does it hate Denie? What makes her different from the rest of the crew? Denie must find the unknown heart of Deepwater. Only then will the enemy be destroyed. Only then can Yoona and her crew reach their final destination. But what will they find there?

I’m finding it hard to objectively review these YA of the 80s and 90s books – as soon as I pick them up I’m filled with nostalgia for my teenage years again – the look, feel and even the smell of these older stories just brings back so many summer holidays and weekends spent reading on my bed. Especially so on these Deepwater books which I’ve kept since those days when I used to re-read them all the time. So forgive me if it’s a little hard to be objective!

Picking up more or less were Deepwater Black finished, this second book has Denie Miles, a secondary character in the first book as the narrator. Like Robbie in Deepwater Black, she’s a normal school girl who suddenly finds herself part of a crew in colour space a million years in the future. As if that wasn’t difficult to get her head around, someone or something isn’t keen on having an Earth girl as part of the crew and is determined to get rid of her.

There is action as Denie is one of these characters who is determined to stand up for herself both on Earth and on Deepwater and gets into trouble quickly. But she also has a brain and uses it to think her way out of trouble. I especially liked the way Denie listens to her intuition as well. The story builds on what happened previously and moves it forward with some very emotional scenes. More happens here at a faster pace and my only quibble is that apart from Denie and Yoona the rest of the Deepwater Crew are not given as much time as previously. Ken Catran has constructed a tense, taught story which moves at a fast pace but doesn’t lack for intelligence and imagination. Highly recommended!  

Recommended for fans of Michael Grant. 8 out of 10

The Book Vixen's YA of the 80s and 90s Reading Challenge Book 2/12

Books Remembered #6: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

This is a semi-regular feature I had last year where I reminisce about books or even series that I read over and over again. Or even a book read once that changed the way I looked at life. I wanted to re-introduce it as I wanted to highlight some books that have been out for a while and maybe don't get as much attention as the new releases. It’s not a review of the book(s) but merely remembering the impact it had on me and how it’s shaped my reading habits and likes –what made that book(s) memorable. So this month, I'm remembering Bitten by Kelley Armstong...

I’m a bit of a book genre flirt and switch between different types of books fairly frequently. I get fed up of reading too many books from the same area in a row so I like variety and spice. A number of years ago I got hooked on a new genre which is still one of my favourites – Urban Fantasy. Well, that’s what it is called now, but back then there wasn’t the choice of books on the market. In my search for something different I came across a book about werewolves in my local book store. At that time I was mostly a vampire girl having read my way through all the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles, but I fancied a change so I bought Bitten by Kelly Armstrong. One of the best reading decisions I’ve ever made!

Bitten was fantastically written exploring the impact of being turned into a werewolf by the one you trust. It was tense, emotional, with character conflicts, action and heart. I loved Elena’s struggle to be comfortable with herself and her on-off relationship with Clay. I loved that she could hold her own against the men. I wanted more. So I went out and picked up Stolen. And here the world opened up to include witches, vampires (very different from the New Orleans based Lestat crowd), half demons and humans with other agendas. It was a world I wanted to be part off. Unfortunately at that time those were the only two books Kelley had written so I expanded my search to other books and discovered the growing genre of Urban Fantasy.  And now Urban fantasy, dark romance, paranormal romance, speculative fiction whatever you want to call it is one of my mainstream reading areas. I still read in a variety of other genres but given a choice in the book store my first stop is in the Urban Fantasy corner – and thankfully there’s now a wide range of different styles of books in that genre.

 I still adore Kelley Armstrong’s world and every one of her books in paperback and some in hardback. Bitten was the first book I ever felt the need to write a review on – it’s still there on Amazon UK!  It’s still one of my favourite reads and have to re-read it regularly. So if you haven’t read it – do! J

If you liked this feature, check out previous entries:
Books Remembered #1: Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles

Books Remembered #2: The Magic Faraway Tree

Books Remembered #3: Christopher Pike's Sati

Books Remembered #4: Scott O'Dell's The Island of Blue Dolphins

Books Remembered #5: Strange Orbit by Margaret Simpson

Sabina Kane Giveaway!

As I thoroughly enjoyed the third of the Sabina Kane books, Green-Eyed Demon I've decided to giveaway to one follower of one of Sabina Kane books - all three are great reads. That's right, you can choose either Red-Headed Stepchild, Mage in Black or Green-Eyed Demon! All you need to do is fill in the below form. Simples! :)

Giveaway will close on Sunday 13th February 2011 and is open anywhere The Book Depository ships too - Good Luck!

Green Eyed Demon Early Review

Green Eyed Demon (Sabina Kane 3)

-       Jaye Wells

Publisher Orbit - released on 3rd February in UK and 22nd February in US

The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. With her sister taken by mysterious captors, the Dark Races on the brink of war and a sinister order manipulating everyone behind the scenes, she's really got her work cut out. Using information provided by an unlikely ally, Sabina and her trusty sidekicks - the sexy mage Adam Lazarus and Giguhl, the Mischief demon - head to New Orleans to begin the hunt for her sister. Once there, they must contend with belligerent werewolves, magic-wielding vampires and, perhaps most frightening of all, humans. But before Sabina can save those she cares about, she's got to save herself from the ghosts of her former life. Because the past is haunting her. Literally.

This is the third Sabina Kane book and the strongest so far. I really enjoyed Red Headed Stepchild and Mage in Black but this is my favourite in the series – they just keep getting better with each book. Sabina has come a long from the heartless assassin we first met. Her circle of acquaintances has expanded to include friends, family and lovers. She is still short tempered and prone to punching first and asking questions later, but she has let herself be vulnerable and more trusting than she was (with some people at least!).

In addition to the evolution of Sabina into a more rounded individual, the storyline benefits from having a strong focus. Sabina wants to find and rescue her sister from her grandmother’s clutches. This one aim seemed to tighten the story for me and there was less teaching and waiting around that happened than in the previous stories. This meant there was plenty of action with rock stars, weres and zombies all getting some cool scenes – I especially like the expansion of Sabina Chronic powers which I hope will explored further in the series.

As ever, what makes Sabina such a readable heroine is her sarkiness and her relationships with both Adam and her minion Giguhl are such fun to read. A great addition to Sabina’s friends this time is the fae, Brooks and what he goes through was a heart breaking experience. I hope he re-appears in the next book!

Overall this was a sassy, fun read – the most action packed and exciting adventure yet for Sabina and definitely a series most Urban Fantasy fans should pick up.

Recommended for fans of Patricia Briggs and Devon Monk. 9 out of 10

This is an advanced review courtesy of Orbit and netgallery.

The Mysterious Lady Law Review

The Mysterious Lady Law

-       Robert Appleton

Publisher: Carina Press

Review copy received from netgalley and Carina Press

In a time of grand airships and steam-powered cars, the death of a penniless young maid will hardly make the front page. But part-time airship waitress and music hall dancer Julia Bairstow is shattered by her sister's murder. When Lady Law, the most notorious private detective in Britain, offers to investigate the case pro bono, Julia jumps at the chance—even against the advice of Constable Al Grant, who takes her protection surprisingly to heart. Lady Law puts Scotland Yard to shame. She's apprehended Jack the Ripper and solved countless other cold-case crimes. No one knows how she does it, but it's brought her fortune, renown and even a title. But is she really what she claims to be—a genius at deducting? Or is Al right and she is not be trusted? Julia is determined to find out the truth, even if it means turning sleuth herself—and turning the tables on Lady Law...

I don’t really read a lot of steampunk but in the last year I have been dipping my toes in the waters as it were. The Mysterious Lady Law is set in the Victorian era but an era populated with many more steam powered inventions than they had in reality. The main story follows Julia’s quest to find out why her sister was murdered – and why Lady Law is taking such an interest in a lowly case.

I really enjoyed this story – it’s not long, maybe the length of novella but there is an intriguing mystery and some great characters. Lady Law herself is only really glimpsed as a distant and enigmatic character, while the romance between Julia and Al Grant is sweetly handled and correctly done for the society they live in. I felt Sir Holly was a little underused perhaps especially considering his strong start. There are some exciting set pieces and a surprise ending that I thought fit in really well.  

However, in all I felt there was something missing – it was like I’d been given a ten minute preview of a film rather than the full feature. Basically I was left wanting more. I wanted the mystery to stretch on for longer with a few more twists and turns. I really hope this is the start to more adventures in this world – I could be a new convert to Steampunk!

Recommended for fans of Gail Carriger and Marie Brennan. 7 out of 10.