Top Ten: Favourite Fantasy Books

(Top Ten Tuesdays is a fantastic meme from The Broke and The Bookish. Check it out here.)

(Also, I know some of these books come more under supernatural, but I tend to count supernatural as a sub-genre of fantasy. To me fantasy is essentially everything that's not real or based off science. Enjoy :D)

Top Ten:
Favourite Fantasy Books

As a huge fan of fantasy you'd think it'd be easy as pie for me to come up with ten fantasy books that I love. Well, you'd be slightly mistaken. This is the part where I open up my Goodreads "read" shelf to remember what books I've read.

10. All The Birds in The Sky
by Charlie Jane Anders

The two main characters are an engineer and a magician. Need I say more?

9. The Pygmy Dragon
by Marc Secchia

This guy is one hell of a writer. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes bad. I read and reviewed his book Dragonfriend last year, which I found to be quite confusing despite being a fun read, but The Pygmy Dragon was a completely different kettle of fish. The world and story is beautiful and conquers the topic of social segregation. Secchia is an indie author so if you're into supporting indie authors I recommend picking up this book.

8. Unspoken
by Sarah Rees Brennan

I still need to read the rest of these! I absolutely loved the idea of two people who had been able to speak to each other telepathically forever before finally meeting. The whole development of how they realised that the voices in their heads were each other was done fantastically. I really need to read the other in this series. But then again, I really need to read everything.

7. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
by Holly Black

A devout Holly Black fan, I couldn't not include one of her books in this list, my favourite being The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I can't say I remember a great deal from this book, but I can't really say I remember a great deal about anything haha. All I remember is reading the damn thing in one sitting at the library and wishing for the life of me it was in a series. It's not. Cri.

6. The Dragon Children: The Prophecy
by Hannah Byrnes

A beautiful telling of two children brought to a world of dragons to fulfil a prophecy. As a lover of dragons, I had to include this. I remember finishing it and being like "No. Can't stop. More pls. No stop. You do me an upset." The dragons were beautifully described. If I were to live in a dragon universe it'd be this one, hands down.

5. The Witchstruck trilogy
by Victoria Lamb

I love Elizabeth Tudor and I love witches. This book was a brief moment of heaven about a witch named Meg who goes to work as a maid for the exiled Lady Elizabeth. Despite its glaringly obvious historical mistake, claiming that Dr John Dee went to Oxford - M8 no, he went to Cambridge - and the dire ending, Lamb creates a story that twists around you as you read it.

4. The Witch's Daughter
by Paula Brackston

Right. Don't get me started on this book. It's sooooooooooooooooo good! The main character is a witch named Elizabeth and the story switches between telling her life story (of 384 years) - which is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read - and present day, in which she's teaching a new witch named Tegan, all the while awakening old memories. The whole structure is beautiful and unmatched. Stunning.

3. The Watcher in the Shadows
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Very gothic and very steampunk. The writing is breath-taking and the world is creative and mind-twisting. This isn't as character-driven as I usually like, and very much relies on Zafon's masterful descriptions, but it's definitely one of my favourites. Zafon is a favourite author of mine; he knows exactly how to take you away to another world. ;)

2. The Magician King
by Lev Grossman

This is one I'm reading at the moment, but I already know it's going to be influential and a classic in my life. I've done my usual and read the second without realising there was a first here, but DAMNED IF I CARE. I'll read the first one after as a kind of back-story because The Magician King is FANTASTIC! The world is mesmerising. When I'm not reading it, I'm thinking about it, I'm drawing it, or I'm doing maths. I haven't drawn in a long time but Grossman writes characters, things, places that need to be drawn. Plus: The main character, Quentin, has completely unexpected and unprecedented Asperger's. It's great. Can't been a good bit of casual Asperger's in a book.

1. The Half Bad trilogy
by Sally Green

I'm pretty sure I recall writing a review for Half Wild, and if you read that review you'll know exactly how I feel about this series. There was a bit of an uproar about the end of Half Lies (the third and final book in the trilogy), which I won't mention because spoilers and that, but I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was a bit shoved into the end like she'd had an idea that didn't fit with the story so she had to make the story fit with the idea and it didn't quite work, but still: This was a damned good series and ain't no one changing my mind about that.

Review: Dragonfriend (Dragonfriend #1) by Marc Secchia

I received this book as an ARC from the author however this in no way affects the opinions expressed in this review

Dragonfriend (Dragonfriend #1)

by Marc Secchia

Release: 11th April 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Dragons
Other books by Marc Secchia:
Shapeshifter Dragons (Series)
Shioni of Sheba (Series)
IsleSong (Series)
Feynard

Goodreads Description:
Stabbed. Burned by a dragon. Abandoned for the windrocs to pick over. The traitor Ra’aba tried to silence Hualiama forever. But he reckoned without the strength of a dragonet’s paw, and the courage of a girl who refused to die.

Only an extraordinary friendship will save Hualiama’s beloved kingdom of Fra’anior and restore the King to the Onyx Throne. Flicker, the valiant dragonet. Hualiama, a foundling, adopted into the royal family. The power of a friendship which paid the ultimate price.

This is the tale of Hualiama Dragonfriend, and a love which became legend.




My Review


I was flickering (I'm already on the puns ;D) between 4 stars and 5 stars for this book but I finally settled on the latter since it was my fault I found it confusing at times for picking completely the wrong period of time to read it! It took way longer than I expected to read this book but it was definitely worthwhile. It's not actually that long, however due to the nature of the writing it takes a lot of focus and can't just be lightly read like most YA novels.

The book begins with an adopted princess named Hualiama being thrown off a dragonship by Ra'aba, an evil power-seeker who's trying to steal the throne from the rightful king. As you can tell, she didn't die; that wouldn't have been much of a story! She's saved by a feisty dragonet called Flicker. As the story progressed Hualiama and Flicker search to save the Onyx Throne and in the process attempt to figure out Hualiama's past and why she remembers being raised by dragons.

First off, I'd like to mention the impressive character and relationship development at the beginning, when Flicker is looking after Hualiama. It was weeks ago when I read the first couple of chapters and I still remember how in awe I was of how they bonded and got to know each other. Honestly, I think that was my favourite section. Flicker is like no other character I've ever seen before and he quickly became my favourite dragon character - and I've read a lot of dragon books! His attitude towards humans, including Hualiama, had me laughing throughout the novel and was the main factor in keeping me interested before the dragon Grandion was introduced. The development of Grandion's character wasn't as great as Flicker's but it was still impressive. In fact, all the character relationships in this book were pretty amazing.

One thing I have to say about this book though, is it can be confusing as heck. With all the old English language and new made-up words it was a challenging read. Although I did enjoy the language used, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who'll be preoccupied whilst reading it. It needs a heck of a lot of concentration. So basically, don't read it whilst you're doing exams. Tried and tested. Doesn't work. I had to break off every few chapters to think about what was happening so I'll definitely be setting aside some devoted reading time for the next in the series.

Back onto a bright note, this book is one on its own. Normally I'd be saying who I recommend it to here but I honestly have no idea. I've never read anything like it. As I tweeted last week, Dragonfriend is more of an experience than a story. The lyrical writing takes you on an extremely strange journey of thoughts and emotions and you come out from reading this as if you're waking up from a pretty amazing dream. I'm not entirely sure how to explain the feeling of reading Dragonfriend but it's different. I recommend you give it a go because, whether you come out loving or hating it, you won't ever forget reading it.

This book is the first in a series.


Links
Goodreads
Amazon UK
Amazon US


Abi Ainley

Book Tag: Help Me

This book tag was created by Aria (bookgeekmoviefreak) You can view her Youtube channel here . Enjoy!

The Questions:

1. You have a test tomorrow, but instead of studying you’ve been reading. Which fictional character do you call to help you cram for this test?
Elfie from A Lonely Magic. Just have her tattooed onto me and I'll be good to go ;)

2. Payday is still 2 weeks away, but you are broke. Which rich character do you ask for money to help you out?
I don't think I've ever actually read a book about a rich character... crap.

3. There is a burglar in your house, which character do you call to help you beat up the burglar?
Riley/Cobalt from the Talon series. Not much a burglar can do against a dragon ;).

4. There is a spider/snake/something else that really scares you in your house. Which character do you call to get rid of it for you?
Hagrid. He does all that malarkey.

5. You’ve had a really bad week, which character do you call to cheer you up?
Flicker from Dragonfriend. He's absolutely hilarious and I could really have a good laugh with him!

6. There is a zombie apocalypse going on, which character can totally handle him/herself in this apocalypse? Pick the character that would give you the highest survival chances.
Wes from the Talon series. He could hack into everything and could track the zombies and stuff to keep us away from them.

7. Your house caught on fire, you need a place to stay. Which character’s house do you want to stay in?
Lazarus' house from The Watcher in the Shadows. It's HUUUUUUGE and full of awesome mechanical toys. Even if they do get possessed by shadows <.< >.>

8. Because your house caught on fire, you obviously don’t have any clothes. Which character do you want to borrow clothes from?
Just Irene from The Watcher in the Shadows :p. It's in the 30s so she'll have loads of cool clothes!

9. You’ve been wrongly accused of something, which character can weasel him/herself out of any bad situation and can certainly help you get out of this pickle.
If I'm literally stuck in a pickle I'm sure Hermione Granger could get me out with a bit of magic. However, if this is not a literal pickle, I'll go Cassel from the Curse Workers trilogy. He's sly and seriously good at getting out of bad situations ;)

10. You just broke up with your boyfriend/girlfriend, which character do you call to be your rebound.
Riley from the Talon series. He's not with Ember yet; it's fine xD


Thanks for reading this! Unfortunately, due to it being exam season, I won't be able to do as many blog posts as preferred over the next month and a half, but I'll still post up maybe one a week. I'll be doing a giveaway when I get back so keep an eye out for about 6 weeks time!


Abi Ainley

New Releases: May 2015 (plus a sneaky one ;))

Quick Notes:

1. Under normal circumstances there'd be more books in a wider variety of genres but I've been stuck for time so unfortunately it's majority fantasy for May. Hope you still enjoy and can find a book you want to read :)
2. If there's a book you see on this list that you want me to review, comment and I'll make sure I add it to my list!

Click on the picture of any book to visit its Goodreads!

In order of appearance left to right, top to bottom.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Release: May 5th 2015
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge Release: May 5th 2015
Illusionarium by Heather Dixon Release: May 19th 2015 (I am way too excited to read this book!)
Compendium by Alia Luria Release: May 5th 2015
Nil Unlocked (Nil #2) by Lynne Matson Release: May 12th 2015
The Guardian, A Sword & Stilettos by Kristin D. Van Risseghem Release: May 20th 2015 (This one looks like a bit of fun lol)
The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass Release: May 5th 2015
The Reaper's Daughter by K.M. Randall Release: May 9th 2015 (View the review HERE)
Dragonfriend by Marc Secchia Release: tbc (The kindle version is already out HERE. From what I've gathered it will be coming out in paperback, however I'm not certain when. I'm putting it in the May releases under the assumption that it won't be too far off. And because I'm reading it at the moment and am more than slightly obsessed with it.)



Abi Ainley

Review: Rogue (Talon #2) by Julie Kagawa

Rogue

by Julie Kagawa

Release: 28th April 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Dragons
Other books by Julie Kagawa:
The Iron Fey (Series)
Blood of Eden (Series)
Talon (Series)
etc...


Goodreads Description

Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant.

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?


My Review

In this upstanding sequel to Talon, Ember, Riley and Garret continue to run from Talon and St. George, whilst Ember continues to battle between her feelings for the bad boy dragon, Cobalt (Riley), and the enemy-turned-ally human, Garret.

Contrary to Talon, Rogue is definitely a lot less teeny-I’m-kinda-a-dragon-romance and more YA- I’m-a-badass-dragon-fantasy. I loved this even more than I loved Talon, and probably for this reason. Not that I don’t like the romance aspect, I just like it quite a bit more when there’s dragons and fire and bloodshed involved! It adds a bit of an edge to the cliché girl meets two boys and can’t choose between them part. So, first off, Rogue is a hell of a lot more badass than Talon.

The increased badass-ness (I’m sorry, but it’s the best term to describe this book ;D) definitely made me root for the characters a lot more. On top of this, the characters seemed a lot more 3D in this novel, whether that’s because I was more interested in it due to all the action, or because the characterisation was actually better. Riley stole me this time. Originally, in Talon, I’d been a little dubious when it came to him, not quite sure what to make of the whole “look how amazing I am: come join me and be awesome too” thing. However, in Rogue, we find a lot more out about Cobalt (Riley) and he quickly loses that act, as I now know it was, becoming a pretty amazing and exciting character. I noticed that the characters’ faces all seemed to be a little more characterful in my mind’s eye. Again, probably because of how much Rogue sucks you in compared to Talon.

I found myself reacting to almost every situation: laughing, gasping, “f**k you”-ing. The one thing I’m waiting for is a bit of a sob. Yes, something a little sad happened at the end, but it wasn’t to the extent of tears. I’m strongly hoping that the next book in the series can reduce me to tears, because, well, no book series should go without at least one breakdown.

Julie Kagawa, if you can hear me, I’m ready to get out the buckets!


Links
Goodreads
Amazon UK
Amazon US


Abi Ainley

The Dragon's Hoard: This Week's Book I'm Grasping After for my Collection

This Week's Book I'm Grasping After for my Collection

Dragonfriend by Marc  Secchia

Released: 11th April 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Dragons (yes, I have given dragons their own genre)
Other Books by Marc Secchia:
Shapeshifter Dragons (series)
Shioni of Sheba (series)
Islesong (series)
Feynard (standalone)
The Legend of El Shashi
(They all look pretty damn amazing)


Goodreads Description

Stabbed. Burned by a dragon. Abandoned for the windrocs to pick over. The traitor Ra’aba tried to silence Hualiama forever. But he reckoned without the strength of a dragonet’s paw, and the courage of a girl who refused to die. Only an extraordinary friendship will save Hualiama’s beloved kingdom of Fra’anior and restore the King to the Onyx Throne. Flicker, the valiant dragonet. Hualiama, a foundling, adopted into the royal family. The power of a friendship which paid the ultimate price. This is the tale of Hualiama Dragonfriend, and a love which became legend.


My Idea

DRAGONS! In case you haven't been able to tell I love dragons! Other than the cover looking darn amazing, this book seems like a brilliant epic dragon story to follow up the amazing The Dragon Children: The Prophecy by Hannah Byrnes. Unfortunately, this is only available in ebook format - and as you may know, I have an issue with ebooks - however I won't let this put me off, as I can definitely see this being enjoyable even amidst the imminent headaches that appear when I read ebooks!


Abi Ainley

Review (MUST READ): The Dragon Children - The Prophecy by Hannah Byrnes

The Dragon Children - The Prophecy

by Hannah Byrnes

You know those books? The ones where you’re like:
“Why did you end? I did not permit this! Continue! Now!”
So, yeah… excuse me; I’m suffering from book buzz syndrome.

Bridget and Kai are about as opposite as you could imagine. Bridget is a feisty young girl with ambitions to become a knight. She was brought up in a family of travellers, is home-schooled, and her best friend seems to be a white pony named Robber. On the other hand, Kai is a shy and forcefully studious young boy, who lives under pressure from his eccentric father to get a “successful” job, when in reality he aspires to become a healer like his mother. The characters get brought to a seemingly impossible land called Dragonreach where the last two remaining dragons, Seralak and Mirsoth, reside. Bridget and Kai must learn the ancient secrets of runes and legends in order to defeat the evil that threatens to wipe out all belief in magic.

There is so much I would like to say about this book, I don’t know where to start! One thing that amazed me about this book and the main reason, I think, why it left so much longing for more, is the enchanting and enticing imagery used consistently throughout the story. Every landscape, every dragon and every mechanical animal: my imagination went wild in a way it hasn’t done in a long time. Even as I'm writing this, I’m still imagining the soaring dragons; the swish of Calidori’s hair; the shattered lake; and the whirring mechanical crows. I really haven’t read anything this beautiful in a long, long time.

The characters… don’t even get me started on the characters. One thing I noted down in my notebook, was: “Where did the personalities come from?”. Where did the personalities come from? In most books there’s always a bit of obvious “Jim held a constant uneasy smile” or “Jane was a bouncy young character” but no. Not here. Here, the characters just happen to have the most 3D and unique personalities and could easily be real people. Where did they come from? We may never know. By far my favourite character is Calidori. I actually wrote in my notebook at chapter two: “More Dr Calidori please! Such swagger much wow.” When he brought Bridget and Kai to Dragonreach in the beginning, I prayed that he would come back later on in the book. And oh boy did he come back. Alongside the biggest plot twist ever that made me feel like a simpleton because, seriously, there were clues. There were clues and I didn't even bother to notice them!

I have to add a bit of constructive criticism as I do in all of my reviews, so what I have to say is solely to do with the first chapter/prologue. I'm halfway to blaming this on the fact that I was adjusting to the writing style after just having finished a tedious adult novel, but I did note down some specific things that didn’t sit with me so well. There was a serious lack of fluidity. The writing seemed a little sporadic, as if the author wasn't quite settled into the writing at this point. If this book is rewritten/re-edited in any way, I hope the first chapter is rewritten. Although, to be honest, I’m kind of just writing this to warn you not to put the book down at the first chapter. It’s not all like that and oh boy does it get better. It really does get better!

Will I buy this book?: YES! Not only do the proceeds go to the magnificent charity, Make A Wish, who organise great experiences for children with life-threatening illnesses, but it’s a blooming great book and you’d be barmy not to buy and read this book!

Abi Ainley