Hanzel

Another week, another book in the Cradle, now I have finally caught up with the most famous series in Amazon's best books............

This one was a lesson in humanity, no matter how good you have become, how changed, people will never revise their thoughts of you, a lot will judge you with their first impressions!!!!

Lindon's path was supposed to culminate with his advancement in the sacred arts to protect or stave off the attack of a massive and powerful creature(now we know it as a Dreadgod), having reached this moment, to fully realized, it was not enough, no matter the road he had to take, it still fell short, on top of that, that single factor to fully evacuate/save the people of Sacred Valley : TRUST, was again withheld against him, he even had 3 of the Uncrowned challengers with him, and they still were not enough..............

This particular book taught us the inevitability of human will, no matter the danger, no matter that your heart and brain is screaming at you, as long as your first impression is negative, humans as a rule will never believe until it is too late!!!!

The drama of trying to convince all the people/factions/clans was both funny and infuriating, so many times, I felt leaving all this fools behind, but Mr. Wright just kept on squeezing and squeezing, in the end, it was all for naught, Lindon should have pulled all those people, no more wheedling, pleading, just plain strong-arm the whole population.

Still the dream lives on, we continue to marvel at the scope of this particular world and it's populace and their abilities, the celestial beings who are undergoing their own battles, and this is already book 9. Do we need more books even???

Book 10, and to all the questions I posed......YES, YES, YES!!!!! More!!!! MORE!!!! MORE!!!!!

That must be one of the most surprising turn of events in the series, in fact there were a lot of surprises, one of the best books in the whole series, I just can not believe what happened, I was already thinking of something mind blowing, but what happened was way, way better than I imagined!!!!!

As the story progresses, each book becomes better but Lindon, you are still the same, naive, always thinking of the small matters not the big picture....

Yerin, what can I say, genius, selfish, inferiority complex, but still.............no wonder Cradle has such rabid fans!!!

Eithan, my, my, oh was I calling you, no please do continue whatever plots and plans your devious mind is developing

Mercy, you are becoming a female Lindon, naive inspite of being a Monarch's daughter and allegedly successor, I was hoping you will come out of your own darkness, shining but unfortunately.........

And more, a lot more, the foreshadowing, the battle between Monarchs and Dreadgods, Abidan and their unseen enemy.......

Book 9 and still a lot of mysteries.........from an Unsouled and now..................dreams do come true....for some.......and those bloopers HAHAAHAHAHAHA, from straight drama, action packed storyline, to just plain funny..........

Oh that ending, but before it ends, this is the only time I felt really, really, really bad for Lindon, for doing what he was supposed to...........that really hurts.

Another fine book, we get to see more background story, something big is coming, not just planetwide, but universal, more interactions between sage and herald, of course, just Charity(Sage) and Fury(Herald), the Akura clan deserves their status as one of the ruling elite. More factions, Monarchs than you can throw a stick at.............slowly but surely, the grand picture is unfolding, all the different players and clans.......but the book is still short, I would love to read some more battles between the contestants....

We have a lot of characters already, still not fully formed, Soulsmithing, I really would love to read more, how to, which is best part, the best remnants, a lot of possibilities, but there are just so few scenes............... there must be a big difference between an Underlord soulsmith to a Truegold but what is it??????

Again next book please, I wonder what will now happen..........I still think Kiro should have.............I like him........a lot and Meira.............

Another day, another book in this action packed series, Underlord, when all he was hoping for was just Truegold, the pace becomes faster, the challenges steeper, and still I see the old Lindon, whiny, reckless, always looking for a way to cheat, I mean he has all the tools, every single one.........and he still thinks like a copper.........as in competition, there are winners and there are losers, this time, I feel bad for one of the losers......I mean he was an Underlord before Lindon became an Underlord, but on both accounts he lost, I miss one of the characters introduced earlier, I am hoping they can both come back........

As I have mentioned, this series becomes better every single book, imagine combining Asian kung fu fantasy with Sci-fi, and you can clearly distinguish which is which.........definitely this series needs to be animated or made into a TV series..............

Book 7, as soon as I cycle my madra.......that left my core soooooooo low........

Ohhhhh.......read the bloopers!!!! DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST AND FUNNIEST!!!!

Now this is what we all need, no more whining Lindon, no more this ungrateful, whatever is so...so......and whichever alibis he can come up with, still I felt Lindon was always cheating, his life has always been hard, from being an Unsouled and all he had to go through until he is now a Lowgold, and always that catastrophe looming before his future and how far he would have to be to avert that cataclysm, I have always seen him scheming, thinking on how to further enhance his skill level, naturally from being a nobody, now to being sonething, his mindset is really different, he has to be ahead of his competition, his goal, the reason to his “cheating” again in Ghostwater we see that, does it make the story better........Yes, I want to see how high Lindon can reach, but hopefully something that involves his true ability, his thinking, but not this, I am so weak, pathetic line of thinking, I wish to see him use all this newfound ability, “wisdom”, make use of everything that he has been taught, seen and so on.........

Silly of me to think otherwise, this series has been out for a lot of years, and I want to think, hope that it can change or Lindon can change, when the series is almost at its end, that is how invested I am with this..........

A lot of levels, a lot of really powerful figures, Heralds, Monarchs, Dreadgods and finally Suriel's level, this is what makes this series interesting, a veritable “zero to hero” story...........

Truegold........and now the next chapter “Underlord”...................

Lots of things going on, finally we see characters that are much, much stronger than your regular sacred artists, to think this is just Book 4, still hoping for, but frustrating to see Lindon's climb towards truegold or higher, Yerin's steady increase in rank, and a new character.......

All I can say for a series that has already foretold some parts, this remains mysterious, exciting, what else would come out, how high is the pedestal for which our favourite characters are climbing for????

When the series sinks it's hook unto the reader, it stays hooked, my interest has never dwindled nor wavered, but the feeling for Lindon's plight shifts, for a meticulous and shrewd person, he is always scampering around for rank upgrade........I would like to throttle him, USE YOUR MIND WEI SHI LINDON, avoid the gimmicks, the shortcuts!!!

What can I say, riveting, page turning story telling....like the song “Who let the dogs out”!!! Except instead of dogs, we have sacred artists.......all along you already have knowledge that Lindon is destined to be someone great.......still, reading along, you just keep saying “how will he become something much more”???!!!!

If you want to read a progression story, this is it!!!! From someone who can not do anything, to becoming a Lowgold, in a span of three books, and no, no shortcuts(which Lindon loves to do and look for), and no not only Lindon, but Yerin, Jai Long and the rest..........if this were animated or made into a series or movie, this would be GOOD!!!!!!

The only rant, stop with the I am so weak and whiny attitude!!!! Also the the fists pressed together............a simple bow is always enough!!!!

Book 4 here we go!!!!

I like this one, a lot of toughening, Lindon and Yerin finally having some decent companions, We also get a look at one of the more interesting occupation in this universe, A Soulsmith, not a lot, but some glimpses, and finally more powerful practitioners or sacred artists, I wonder if Mr. Wright was weaned on chinese fantasy, because this one reads like one of those, not the same, but it has it's own mythos.........

I honestly thought this would be boring........but totally different and the characters, I just can not believe the power levels shown, this is one story where-in the future is written, but Lindon and company has a chance of changing, a really, really intense volume!!!

Actually, I have been reading this for awhile now, I just keep forgetting to add to my TBR.

The first few pages was like how anyone lives in this mundane world of ours(the reason I kept forgetting, writing was good, just plain, no embellishments, but it did not grab me like some), plain and earthy, no excitement, and reading a person who does not have any astounding ability, well it made it more tedious, the fun part came in little bits and pieces, I think this was our author's intention, lull you to everyday chores, a bit of information here and there...........

Then it happened, a page before, I was yawning, the next page............WHAT????!!!!!(let me re-read that), then IT STARTS............

Reading this then trying to imagine the actions of the characters, this looks, sounds like those Hong Kong fantasy movies, asian melodrama, fantasy and action all rolled into one, and it works......really works.....imagine Chow Yun Fat, practicing Snake Style, with Chi meditation, then suddenly he shouts “Seh Chu Chi”(Snake coming out!!!!!) and the boulder in front of him explodes!!!!

A devious way of storytelling, some prophetic vibes.........this is one tantalizing start to a series!!!

As a rule, I always believed the stories written by any author comes from their heart, their soul, their identity, so DNFing any books is a waste of their effort, the time they spent rolling around ideas.......but sometimes you can not agree with what is presented........

Giants, Dragons, Gods/Goddesses, Demi Gods, Devils, Demons.........the most powerful, noble, despicable creatures anyone can ever think of.........Unfortunately, in this particular world, they are just plain BORING and inconsequential, Giants.......... timid, fearful, I have no words to describe how inconceivable this concept is/was.......then there is the language, thees, thous, thy, I have been weaned on such language, I consider them the highest in my pedestal, this is the angelic, demonic, chtonic vernacular, but again, it falls as awkward.....even laughable...........

Book rate.......the hardest for me for this particular novel, I wanted to like it, the first few pages........but I can not........not even a 1 or a .5, this concept/idea was really, really, bad.........

Mr. Pedro Gabriel, I sincerely apologize for a no rate.........but for me this one was a waste of time.

4.5, Why???? There was something missing in this one, little bit more action, whenever Thrawn is thrown in, expect the story to be analytical, and that is one of the reason Darth Vader and Thrawn side by side is chemical, our Dark Lord who only needs to gesture if he feels slighted, angry, in other words intolerant and volatile, together with a shrewd tactician, analytical. Volatile plus calm, I would love to be under them both at the same time, except on days Lord Vader feels picky.......

The point of view between Thrawn/Anakin and Thrawn/Lord Vader, here we see the differences between Anakin and Vader, the inherent volatileness, being always angry but always trying to control it, and the other anger controlling your actions, I guess the only good thing becoming a Sith Apprentice is no more conscience to answer to, either you do or you do not(Master Yoda must be rolling around laughing).

Thrawn on the other hand, calm, controlled, always figuring things out before he acts. Even with Lord Vader at his side, he is not afraid to countermand any action he deems unsuccessful, I wonder if Emperor Palpatine is in command, would he even countermand a direct order from Palpatine himself.........

Grand Moff Tarkin, Darth Vader, and now Grand Admiral Thrawn, The Emperor has surrounded himself with the finest personages albeit with their own shortcomings, no wonder the Empire had no competition, no Jedi to foil the Sith, no tactician as shrewd as Thrawn, and no commanding officer as brilliant and cold as Tarkin.

Alliances was a study of different points of view of two powerful figures, then and now. Anakin is gone, Thrawn, if we are following the New Jedi Order universe(not the Disney universe) will always remain as one of the bright spot, the upcoming Chiss Ascendancy series would be a barometer for Thrawn's direction......

And that is, as the saying goes, how the story started, I have to thank Petrik for this, without his insistence that this series was really good, I would not have even tried(oh maybe in 5 years), I also have to acknowledge the booktube of Petrik's and his interview with Mr. Abercrombie(he really is nice and very, very intelligent, as is his characters and story)..........

So the first book, when I started reading it, it does not have that page turning feel, I was more invested with the characters rather than the story, I like Glokta, the Practicals, Jezal is an @$$, Ardee, now Ardee, I would be really disappointed if she would be just one of the couches in the story(or wooden bench), Logen is your usual brawn(but a very cunning one), Bayaz(your Gandalf type), the usual High Lords/Nobles, your barbaric King in Bethod, your desert savages in Uthman, and a lot more, as I mentioned several sentences before, the story was the same(I shudder at the word trope, it demeans an Author's imagination, his universe, type is better), A Kingdom besieged by the most barbaric opponent, with another in the wings, a magic system that is still a mystery(hmmmmm flesh eating, I think I have already read something of this type, anyway it still is relevant).

Ohhhh the fencing contest, now why fencing, not to look down upon fencers, but watching fencing in the Olympics is......., I admit dull and boring, you have a certain stance, a certain hit......an MMA sort of match would have been better(my opinion only), with your preferred weapon, the reason I mentioned this was Gorst was ill suited as a fencer(imagine all that strength, he would hammer away at you, that should been foul already), well this book was already how many years old.......so pointing on things like that makes me look trivial.

Anyone else think that the main protagonists have disabilities
Logen missing a finger
Luthar missing humility (not a disability)
Ferro missing the pain receptors, and color blind
Bayaz missing a good friend (another one)
Glokta hahahha missing a lot......

All in all, an enjoyable book, really fascinating characters, On to Book Two!!!!!

This was better, way, way better than book one, a good mix of the supernatural and the mundane, both elements were really stretched to their maximum!!!!!

Whoever said that the supernatural can not be paired with real GI Joe, well both these books might jump at your jugular, and insist themselves upon you.

The first book was a good opening salvo, but this second one, hahahhahahhaa just WOW, I mean I really love a good international war or action, but couple that with the supernatural, well two thumbs is just way, way below the GOLD standards, Mr. Currie the Seal Team 13 universe is such a unique blend, and reading it was truly something, I hope that your standards do not deviate, if I can just recommend one book for this year, I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS ONE IN A HEARTBEAT. You want magic, checked, action, triple checked, story driven, another check, all in all the only rant in such a rave filled book, are sometimes the action/dialogues of some of the characters, sometimes tongue in cheek comments make it soooo cringy!!!!

Waiting for the third book!!!!!

Simple, yet full of action, unlike your ordinary fantasy setting, our hero is not that strong, he is not intelligent, but streetwise, a thief, scoundrel and a killer, unfortunately those are the good qualities, he suffers from amnesia, and until the end of the first book, we still have no idea on who he really is, except the name Enra Inkblood.

A curious, mysterious and exciting read, it just goes on and on and on, even what happened in the past, it makes you want to scream “WHO ARE YOU?, “WHAT ARE YOU?”, ahhhhh the magic system, it appears like elemental with verbal components......still there are a lot of unknowns that makes the story better in my opinion.

This is one of the best fantasy books I have read in a long while, mystery, truly villainous opponents, princess in distress, ummmmm knights that are so brave and handsome, shishkebabbed (is this the right word??!!) in seconds(why not make your 2nd tier guys last longer and with brains please!!!!).......main protagonist just a real regular piss of the world........all in all, a wonderful, fantastic first book.

Ohhhhhhh those typos are really, REALLY, REELLY, typos.........it might rub off others but I just breezed through, but yes do get your book proofread!!!!

Finally, an ending and (I hope) a new beginning...............

What started as something unique, imagine your children, or your neighbor's children, at the stroke of 6 in the evening, wherein normally, the family is preparing for dinner, but within Mr. Stroud's universe, it is time for children to fight.

The first book was an engaging read, the start of Lucy Car lyle at Lockwood & Co., the challenges they had to overcome, and on to numerous adventures, now the final book is done, and some questions were answered, the start of the Problem(when spirits or ghosts started appearing and attacking humans, how only children can see, hear, talk to these entities), how the various Agencies were formed especially two of the biggest and well known Fittes and Rotwell, how a small agency was able to hold it's own, and solve one of the mystery in this universe, the aforementioned start.

Reading The Empty Grave was like having and holding on to a secret knowledge that is so time sensitive that it made the atmosphere so tense, manic and every action taken by Lockwood, George, Holly, Lucy and last but not the least Kipps in a hurried manner(ohhhhhhh no spoiling of the why of this....), the volume was crammed with a lot more information, a lot more action and comedy(such a wonderful feeling after so much horror and fear), the action especially the latter part was enjoyable, I was hoping Mr. Stroud would continue the series, those type two's and three's are really fascinating, added to that is the hope that finally adults can now fight too............

I really would recommend binge reading this series, I felt the fourth book should have been this one massive volume instead of having a fifth one since they were closely interconnected........so many answers to questions but at the same time so many answers that spawn new questions..........

Finally, finished this one, I did not realized I kept pushing it off until two years has passed already, it does not mean Mr. Stroud's story are boring, in fact, it is the opposite, I just had a lot on my list, and decided I will finish this series this year!!! So come on in everyone, let us join Anthony, George and Lucy, ohhhhhh Holly too, and bring the fight back to the ghosties, revenants, and spirits that refuse to be at peace.

The fourth book had a lot going on, Lucy going freelance because of a previous incident, hints of things to come, and most of all a glimmer of the histories of Fittes and Rotwell agencies.

This volume also had a lot of ghost fights, which is the reason for this series, and kudos to Mr. Stroud for giving all sorts of reasons why a spirit refuses to “enter the light”, especially the malevolent ones, the cannibal of Ealing's is one of best I have read. Each volume of this magnificent series has a different take on ghosts, the first two, it comes across as the how and whys of hauntings, a house, a library, the third was multiplying the ghost “sources” and increasing the area from a single home to numerous domiciles in a certain area, the fourth had locations outside London, signifying the scope and area of these “Visitors”.

I think the fifth book will finally tie all the proverbial loose ends, and with the tidbit of information Lucy received from the last page of Book four, the last book is shaping up to be the best!!!

Definitely a good read, except for some nitpickings on my own POV.

General Mikael, one of a series of robots known as a liason robot, with a sentient AI, he was turned into a combat robot when a rogue AI started attacking humans, due to his heroics, he was one of the few fully sentient robots that was allowed to “live”, as years turned to decades to century, he was the only one left to carry on fighting, earning the rank of General, fighting the good fight.

The story was straight forward, fighting a war to liberate the Erudians from the clutches of Shamblers(mind controlling aliens that sends their controlled subjects to destroy their own planet, thus making their invasion easier) and the Vesuvian Empire (an empire based on stealing technology from others and subverting into their own), we have mechs, soldiers and Shambled Erudians, a war on two fronts, then the main plot surfaces, a charge of treason on General Mikael and his effort to clear the allegations while a war is ongoing.

Rant time, I love sentient robots, watching R2D2 and C3PO and countless others, but General Mikael comes as unique and at the same time exasperating, I would be so engrossed in reading then suddenly, human like mannerisms would just spoil it, I mean his oil boiling like the proverbial blood, and so much more, just nuisances, but overall a good, good sci-fi universe, ohhh did I mention “TIME -JUMPERS”!!!!

Waiting for the second one eagerly, just please Mr. Anthony, no more of those mimicking human emotive traits........”shudders”........

So, any better way of beating the dumps??? Why not something that makes your heart beat in fear, from the unknown, especially the supernatural............with the hope of beating away this funk.........I started reading this............

Unfortunately, being scared was not I had in mind after finishing this book, more like second chances, Everyone needs a second chance, this much is true(I believe this fervently, unfortunately, I squandered all of it).
What if you were given an opportunity, to right some wrong, to be able to talk to someone you loved so much that was taken from you, the ability to become someone better........would you???

After the last line was done, I tried hard to think of anything that made my hair stand on end, goosebumps........the only feeling I had was sadness, loneliness and above all, if only.......Should this be a paranormal book, the feeling is forced, this could be anyone's life story, injected with something beyond our normal view, again we do not need the supernatural to frighten us, Humans definitely are worse than any............

I love Ms. Hightower's way of writing, clear and you can feel the emotion, just not what the premise gave us, will I go back to this if there is a sequel.........Yes, that something this book gave a glimpse of is good enough for me, but scared........No.

I was thinking 4.5, but I guess those were just nitpickings on my part, I grew up to stories of gods, devils and etc. I am a proud Chinese Filipino individual(a bit of here and there, but Lam-ang alone, I gave this book a 4, to be able to correctly identify Filipino, as against Philipino or the other ehem, ethnic term. This one deserves a round of applause and BRAVO!!!! And you proceeded to describe him, commit some paragraphs and to read his actions on an Ashtonversian saga!!!!)

Sacrifice, sacrifice to achieve something, to walk down the good path, to seek out the twisting and dark road, the whole Ashtonverse (Dyrk Ashton's universe, I hope I am not insulting, I tend to think of each Author's creation as a universe) has always been about this. The Pater's patermentia, sacrificing his long life to periods of dementia(either voluntary or not)to come back better/worse, Khagan's sacrifice, to hurt the Pater, for what he did to Khagan, Billy/Samson's sacrifice, Arges and a lot more, to think you have these Gods, Goddesses, Ancient and True Ancients, this beings should be invincible, omniscient, omnipotent, and yet SACRIFICE!!!!!

While reading the first and second book, “Oh ok”, “Now this is the good stuff”!!!, “Whoaaaaaa, really”???!!!! These were the words floating in my head or sometimes just blurt out.......but the last book, it was all definitely “WOW”, THAT GOOD!!!! All expectations were turned inside-out, dragged from left to right, then spin cycled, those last few chapters, gut wrenching and heart breaking!!!! (Damn!!!! Gods, Goddesses, death was not supposed to touch them???!!!!!!)

In the end, we had to have finality, was I satisfied with the ending, uhhhhhhhh, I guess, so hard to say, all that happened in the final book, I wanted to rant, to rave, sigghhhhhh........sacrifice, for the betterment of everyone...

Mr. Ashton, a heartfelt THANK YOU!!!! A wonderful epic!!!

Wow, finally finished, such a slim book, but it took me 8 months to finish, to think this was a re-read.......

World of Darkness was a popular gothic/horror campaign setting two decades ago, wherein all the creatures of the night came out, wreak havoc, vengeance, bloodshed and so forth, where mankind is the cattle as well as the wolf in sheep's clothing........this trilogy is a fine example of that, Vampires, Mummy, Zombies, Wraith, a rousing and supposedly action packed story......but, No, it just did not read that way
Nicholas Sforza - Ankhotep the Mummy and his followers.
Thea Gandour and the Hunters, humans that hunt all sorts of creatures of the night.
Vampires, the ruling elite in this fascinating world.
Of course, the main protagonist and antagonist of this horrific slugfest.......Maxwell Carpenter our lovable, dastardly, like a stain that cannot be removed Wraith
It just came out wrong, reading it, there is no sense of adrenaline rushing, the what, the how, the only parts that gave a bit of those feelings, was the last chapter, it came out as monotonous, stale and I always woke up feeling.......ohhhhhh, it made me sleep again....
I can not remember actually how I felt, reading this the first time.

Even with the nosy Beckett, who just brings additional spice to any Vampire setting, it just made a mess, as usual with Beckett around, he just sucks the story and this in turn gave no progress to the stalemated struggle.

I just hope Book Three would be better.

THIS IS A FIVE!!!!!!!!

So with that said, let us write down the reasons.
First, the story finally took off, and I mean it really became faster, we had alternating flashbacks, battles, even multiversal ones.
Second, just when you thought, the usual Deity Pantheons, we are introduced to Native American, Egyptians and a lot of others.
Third, the sheer scope of the characters, beings that are included.

With the resurgence and popularity of the Norse Mythology, Odin and his Asgardians are probably alive and having fun around the world, masked as human beings, you never know that barista that has been making your latte, that could be Mímir in his earthly guise.

So what is the difference between Paternus and American Gods, well Mr. Ashtons pantheons still travel all around the world, even to parallel earths, whereas Mr. Gaiman's chose to stay in the Americas(my opinion only).

Book Two made me pay more attention to the story more, as I mentioned the story began to reveal more, we are given glimpses to a lot of things happening, parallel universes, weapons used to eliminate Firstborns and True Ancients.

A truly sensational sequel!!!

A nice sequel to the first book, more alien races that has my mind swimming already, I think, I need to read the Ember War series to better understand this universe.

What really happened to the Ibarran Faction and the ruling government, this book introduced (or gave us a peek, while savaging one of the protagonist's armor) to us the armor from the Ibarrans.

A lot of history, a lot of unknowns, I am hoping to get a hold of all these concepts, still the story really does get better and better.....

I am armor.
I will not fail.
Pretty good start to a Gundam like universe, wherein instead of tanks, we have big tank robots(??).

I like science fiction that makes humanity the least among the interstellar races, then slowly build them up due to their perseverance and ingenuity plus their willingness to go to war.

Mr. Fox has a lot of books, but I like this one among the others, actually this is my first time reading his work, I chose this series because of mecha (hopefully) and the armor contingent, the armour contigent in any battle is the hammer(at least I think), they are deployed as a last resort, either to protect or act as a spearhead to breach any stalemated battleground(tales of WWII, panzer division, General Patton's mobile heavy units), and the story is quite exciting, a lot of stellar races, which are flying above my head, a lot of unknowns, but little by little, I hope to piece together the puzzle. Very, very good first book.

History, a story of beforehand, yesteryears, the personalities, events and so forth........

Magic for the mundane, muggles, uninitiated, something to be afraid of, for the wielders of this magnificent energy, cantrips, symbols a joy to behold and held unto.........

A combination of both surely would have been a natural 5, Yes and ...............no.......

The story opens years before the French Revolution, where westerners think was the time of critical thinking and burgeoning concepts of freedom from everything(for the slaves moreso), the narrative was simply superb, you can feel the urgency, the pain, suffering of the people that were slowly being introduced, this being an account of an important world event(I had to google the historical figures), I was back to my classroom, simply turning page by page, not to mention, the fleeting descriptions of mages, the abilities.......the mystery of vampire mages(this one further deepened my appreciation of this book), ohhhhhh......did I mention the debates, the words(the single most powerful tool EVER), I was thinking, another all nighter(which are fewer now as my lifeclock starts malfunctioning, must be the age creeping in slowly but surely), one of them moments wherein going to the john, drinking water(sometimes I truly forget about it), I was so obsessed with what was happening, and then..............everything slowed..........my page turning became lesser and lesser, the narrative was still there, the persons are still interesting, they even started showing their true abilities.....but I suddenly found myself just plodding along, not the same zeal, or the why has become a huh(???), then it started again......Necromancers!!!!! Shadowmancers!!!! A vampire mage hiding in the parliamentary......and again.......you stumble to a halt, what once an engaging discourse(the debates), turned into so much word flinging that made the narrative stumble and then completely threw my reading enjoyment, I literally had to force myself to finish the last few chapters, also as I abovementioned, reading on this particular groups of personages, it somehow dampened my curiosity(the magic was still there, but still in glimpses, in phrases...), if not for the way she words each sentences, I would have been bored, really and utterly bored.......

I sincerely wished that the story travelled a different path, is that not the reason why we tell a story as opposed to re-reading an alternate history...........

I am still with Ms. Parry on this one, I believe her storytelling ability, I just hope we do not get a retelling of history again(exciting as it sounds, that is why it is called history, we are supposed to learn from their mistakes)

Ohhhhhh.....there will be a second book......YES!!!!!!

Actually I did not finish this in one seating, Thank you very much, Ms. Chowdhury for entrusting me with a copy of your book.

I like Ms. Chowdhury's way of writing, simple, no embelishments, straight to your head and imagination, the characters are intriguing, the female characters to be exact, strong, intelligent, principled, the dashing Ruqaiya, the fun-loving but willful Rito Shian(I apologize, Ms. Chowdhury, I really can not remember her full name), the vicious, egotistic Rinisa, now not to be outdone is our main male protagonist, Dr. Jehan Fasih, genius but a lone wolf, oh and let us not forget Abhijiat Shian, stoic, unfortunately gullible...........

Ok, simplicity sometimes just is.......I loved the pace of the narrative, but the story was just.....too run of the mill, a drug that makes the victim pliant to the injector's ideas, a high level conspiracy in the government to publicize the usage of the drug, and of course Men being men, brutes and easily manipulated, except for Dr. Fasih, a genius scientist who also moonlights as a tactical mindbender(I kept thinking and re-thinking on this one, he is a scientist but he can outthink and outbluff anyone), from start to finish, there were a few bumps but nothing derailing........you can already guess where it is going.........

Maybe I need to read some of her works, but as a primer, it was just too simple........