Tuesday, 21 October 2014

Top Ten Tuesday | Series I Want to Start!


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top New Series I Want to Start'. I've gone with series that have been published since 2012 or later, and none of them have been completed yet. So, without further ado, here are my top ten:



by Mira Grant

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.

We owe our good health to a humble parasite - a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system - even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.

But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives...and will do anything to get them.



by Trudi Canavan

In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, discovers a sentient book in an ancient tomb. Vella was once a young sorcerer-maker, until she was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been gathering information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen’s world faces.

Elsewhere, in a land ruled by the priests since a terrible war depleted all but a little magic, Rielle the dyer’s daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows from her ability to sense the stain it leaves behind that she has a talent for it, and that there are people willing to teach her how to use it, should she ever need to risks the Angels’ wrath.

Further away, a people called the Travelers live their entire lives on the move, trading goods from one world to another. They know that each world has its own store of magic, reducing or increasing a sorcerer’s abilities, so that if one entered a weak world they may be unable to leave it again. Each family maintains a safe trading route passed down through countless generations and modified whenever local strife makes visiting dangerous. But this is not the only knowledge the Travelers store within their stories and songs, collected over millennia spent roaming the universe. They know a great change is due, and that change brings both loss and opportunity.



by S. E. Grove

She has only seen the world through maps. She had no idea they were so dangerous.
 
Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World—a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods.  Eight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission. They never returned. Life with her brilliant, absent-minded, adored uncle has taught Sophia to take care of herself.

Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack’s maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack’s life, they are in danger of losing their own.



by Nancy Bilyeau

Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London.

While Joanna is in the Tower, the ruthless Bishop of Winchester forces her to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may possess the ability to end the Reformation.

With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must decide who she can trust so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life.



by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. 



by Julie Kagawa

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.



by Chris Kuzneski

The Hunters: a team of renegades - an ex-military leader, a historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert and a thief - financed by a billionaire philanthropist are tasked with finding the world's most legendary treasures. 

The Mission: recover a vast Romanian treasure that was stolen by the Russians nearly a century ago. Fearing a Germany victory in World War 1, the Romanian government signed a deal to guarantee the safety of the country's most valuable artifacts until after the war. In 1916 two treasure trains full of gold and the most precious objects of the Romanian state - paintings, jewellery from the Royal family, ancient Dacien artifacts - were sent to the underground vaults in the Kremlin only to be lost to the Romanian people forever as Russia severed all diplomatic relations with the country and scattered the treasure to its outlying regions. With a haul valued at over $3.5 billion dollars, everyone wants to claim the vast treasure but its location has remained a mystery, until now.

Can the Hunters succeed where all others have failed?



by J. A. White

Hand in hand, the witch's children walked down the empty road.

When Kara Westfall was six years old, her mother was convicted of the worst of all crimes: witchcraft. Years later, Kara and her little brother, Taff, are still shunned by the people of their village, who believe that nothing is more evil than magic . . . except, perhaps, the mysterious forest that covers nearly the entire island. It has many names, this place. Sometimes it is called the Dark Wood, or Sordyr's Realm. But mostly it's called the Thickety.

The black-leaved trees swayed toward Kara and then away, as though beckoning her.

The villagers live in fear of the Thickety and the terrible creatures that live there. But when an unusual bird lures Kara into the forbidden forest, she discovers a strange book with unspeakable powers. A book that might have belonged to her mother.

And that is just the beginning of the story.



by Elizabeth May

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844

Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.

Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.

But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?



by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen

WHY WE LOVE IT: Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp...defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons...what’s not to love?!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT: It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gravity Falls and features five butt-kicking, rad teenage girls wailing on monsters and solving a mystery with the whole world at stake. And with the talent of acclaimed cartoonist Noelle Stevenson, talented newcomer Grace Ellis writing, and Brooke Allen on art, this is going to be a spectacular series that you won’t want to miss. 

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together...and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! 

Which books made your top ten?

Monday, 20 October 2014

Period/Historical Drama Recommendations!

It probably comes as no surprise that, considering I love historical fiction so much, I'm partial to a good old historical/period drama show, too. If you're in the mood for one such show, here are some of my recommendations!


Okay, now before those of you who love your historical accuracy flee in disgust, please hear me out! Like you I had no interest in watching The Tudors when it first came out. I love my Tudor history, but pretty much every adaptation of their lives (aside from the Elizabeth films starring the stunning Cate Blanchett) have been a huge disappointment. I turned on an episode of The Tudors when it was on TV and was immediately met with a sex scene in the woods, between who I would later discover were Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. I decided then and there that I wasn't interested in watching a show that was just about bodice-ripping and hanky panky and turned it back off. Then one of my friends introduced it to me in university and convinced me to give it another try, and I'm so glad I did - now it's one of my favourite shows!

Now I'm not going to sit here and say that this is the most historically accurate show on TV - although in its defense it put a lot more effort into being historically accurate than most other Tudor adaptations I've seen! - but what The Tudors has done that I appreciate and adore is humanise Henry VIII and all six of his wives. All of his wives, from Katherine of Aragon to Catherine Parr, are given likable and dislikable qualities, and I love all of them, grow frustrated with all of them, for completely different reasons. The Tudors is one of the few shows I've watched that has made an effort to remind its audience that Henry and his wives were real people and not just portraits.

Yes there's a lot of hanky panky - but unlike shows like Game of Thrones all of the sex scenes, apart from one which isn't graphic and is included because it is an event that is believed to have happened, are consensual - and there are a lot of pretty dresses and shaven legs and gorgeous men, but I don't care! I really like this show, and I recommend it to any history lover out there who's been hesitant to give it a try!


I discovered The Bletchley Circle fairly recently, in fact I'm still in the middle of watching it, but as soon as I realised it was a show about a group of women who broke codes during the war and were now using their skills to fight crime and the patriarchy I knew I had to watch it. Then, luckily for me, it was showing on TV again!

The first series follows Susan Gray, a code breaker during the War, who is certain there is a pattern to the killings and that she can use it to catch the killer, if only the police and her husband would listen to her. Frustrated, she contacts three women with whom she worked at Bletchley Park, and the four of them work together to solve the murders.

It's so good. Just watch it.


If I say to you: Richard Armitage. Richard Armitage in 19th century clothes. Richard Armitage in a top hat. Surely that's all I need to say to get you to watch the BBC's adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South?

This show was introduced to me by the same friend who introduced me to The Tudors, so we can blame her for me wanting to marry Richard Armitage. North and South is a very simple story, and yet it's enthralling; it follows Margaret Hale who must move from the South of England to the North when her father decides to leave the clergy and takes up a position as a teacher. The cold, dark, industrial North is very different to the idyllic South that Margaret is accustomed to, and she can't stand John Thornton, the owner of a cotton mill and one of her father's pupils.

When the workers begin to strike Thornton shows his true colours as a man who wants what's best for his family and those who work for him, and Margaret begins to see him in a different light.

At its heart North and South is a love story, but even if love stories aren't to your taste I still recommend this little serial - it's gorgeous!


Earlier this year the BBC brought another brilliant drama to our TV screens in the form of The Crimson Field, a show which follows the lives of four voluntary nurses, and the rest of the military hospital, during The First World War.

Each of the six episodes of the series explores a number of themes, from the early treatment of shellshock to the punishment of deserters, and they do so in a respectful, touching way. Sadly the BBC has chosen not to renew the series which is incredibly frustrating, not only because it is a fantastic show that deserves screen time, but also because there are many questions that have been left unanswered.

That being said the first series doesn't end on a huge question mark, so even though the show has been discontinued the first series is still worth a watch!


The Borgias is much more similar to The Tudors - it's raunchier and more violent, and oddly addictive. When I first watched the show it took me a couple of episodes to get into it - the first episode in particular I think is a little boring; when I first watched it I was convinced I wasn't going to like the show - but by episode three I was hooked, and I marathoned the rest of the first series in the space of a few days.

What really gives this show its wow factor is the cast; I love Jeremy Irons, and he's a brilliant Roderigo, but the two actors who really sell the show to me are Holliday Grainger and François Arnaud, who play Lucrezia and Cesare respectively. Their scenes together are mesmerising, and I definitely recommend checking this show out if you haven't already!

What have you been watching recently?

Friday, 17 October 2014

Review | The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman


by Neil Gaiman

My Rating: 


After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.


Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . . 

After spending the majority of my teenage years struggling to read Neil Gaiman's work and convinced that he wasn't for me, I've managed to read three of his novels this year. My first read of 2014 was American Gods (reviewed here!), then in April I read Stardust, and now, as Halloween approaches, I thought it was finally time to read The Graveyard Book which, before this month, I'm fairly certain has been unread and sat on my shelves for almost ten years. Oops!

I've always loved bizarre, peculiar and spooky stories, so you'd think The Graveyard Book would be right up my alley, but the last time I tried to read it (several years ago now) I just couldn't get into it. In fact I struggled to get into the majority of Gaiman's stuff when I was younger; in the words of C. S. Lewis, I think I needed to wait until I was "old enough to start reading fairy tales again."

When I was compiling my Autumn TBR for Top Ten Tuesday I decided to include The Graveyard Book in the hope that I'd finally read it this year, and after I finished Blood Sinister (reviewed here!) that's just what I did.

My verdict? I loved it! In fact reading this book a second time made me wonder how I couldn't get into it the first time around, because once I'd begun I didn't want to stop. I didn't want this book to end.

I loved the idea of a child being raised by ghosts, and all of the characters were exquisite. Bod, in particular, is a charming protagonist. Gaiman's imagination is just so vast and wonderful that I feel as though I could bump into any one of those characters in the street - including the dead ones! From Silas to Miss Lupescu to Elizabeth Hempstock, I loved them all.

The story ended up being told differently to what I'd expected, but that was definitely a positive thing! I assumed that the majority of the book would revolve around Bod's quest for vengeance rather than Bod's childhood spent on a graveyard and all the adventures and peculiar characters he meets, and I'm so glad it was the latter - I can't remember the last time I read a book starring a younger protagonist that was so told so simplisticly but so beautifully. I wasn't bored for a second.

I'm torn between American Gods and The Graveyard Book as to which is my favourite Gaiman book; they're both such different stories, and while I adore American Gods and think it's Gaiman's masterpiece, I think The Graveyard Book might just be my new favourite. This book reminded me of being a child again. It's melancholic, and has a haunting fairy tale quality to it that swept me up and took me away from everything for a few hours.

I loved it. If you haven't already, read it!

J.

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Pembroke Castle!

On Saturday my Dad and I visited Pembroke Castle and spent the day there. I've been wanting to go there for ages, so it was great fun to go there at last! It was my birthday on Friday and my parents got me a snazzy, brand new camera so I took a whole bunch of pictures and I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Pembroke Castle first sprung into existence as a Norman motte-and-bailey in 1093 - meaning some kind of castle has stood on the site for 921 years! - beside the River Cleddau in Pembrokeshire. It's the original seat of the Earldom of Pembroke, the birthplace of Henry VII and the place from which the Second English Civil War began. That's a lot of history!


The Castle went through a lot of restoration work in the early 20th century, meaning that it's a beautiful place to visit and there's still so much there to explore and walk around. The steps were pretty steep and slippery though; I almost broke my neck walking up and down them, so I have no idea how women managed it in their floor-length dresses!

Inside there were lots of long, dripping hallways and narrow windows and murder holes. It was very atmospheric, and really inspiring for my NaNo project this year!



One of the best things I saw while I was there was this little tidbit of information regarding the beginning of the Tudor dynasty: 

Sounds like a great party!


I love me some Tudor history. The main reason I wanted to visit Pembroke Castle is because it is the birthplace of Henry VII, the first Tudor King who won the Wars of the Roses and began the Tudor dynasty.

Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII's mother.
Baby Henry VII and his nursemaid.
It turns out that Pembroke Castle is also home to one of the only remaining Medieval dungeons that was originally built as a dungeon; many dungeons were originally built as cellars!

I quite like this shot of the dungeon tower through the arch.
During the Medieval period dungeons were reserved for nobility, most of the lower classes were either fined, maimed or executed. Then again, judging by the sad story of John Whithorne, being a member of the nobility wasn't really any better than any other punishment.


A mannequin of Whithorne in the dungeon.

Oh, and it turns out there's a cave under Pembroke Castle that's been there since the Romans were around!

It's huuuuuuuuuuuge!
So if you ever find yourself in Pembrokeshire I recommend checking out Pembroke Castle, it's a fantastic day out!

Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Top Ten Tuesday | Bookish Places to Visit


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want To Visit'. At first I didn't think I'd manage to think of ten places, but as soon as I started my list I discovered there were more places I wanted to visit than I thought, so let's dive in!

Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: This is bound to be on pretty much everyone's list, right? I don't think I have to explain myself. I'm a Ravenclaw through and through and I want to go to Hogwarts!

Hogsmeade/Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: I'm not going to go to Hogwarts and miss out on a few trips to Hogsmeade. I want to try out butterbeer and fire whiskey and go shopping in Flourish and Blotts!

Wonderland from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: I love this book (I'm sure that's no shock given the state of my blog) so I'd love to go to Wonderland, but I wouldn't want to stay there too long - it's such a bizarre place that I don't think it'd take me long to get homesick and go mad.

Narnia from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis: There are talking animals in Narnia. Why wouldn't I go?

The Garden from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I love The Secret Garden, and there's something that sounds so peaceful and cathartic about the garden that I'd love to take a picnic and spend an afternoon there.

Stormhold from Stardust by Neil Gaiman: Any place where the Queen is an immortal star I want to visit. Yvaine's awesome.

The Shire from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: This is going to sound odd, but for a couple of years of my childhood I lived in an area of the UK that was sort of similar to the Shire. No it wasn't full of hobbits (boo!) but it was, as were all the places I lived during my childhood, in the countryside. We lived in an area where there were a lot of open fields and farms - in fact my older sister dated a farmer's son for a little while and I got to meet some piglets. Then in North Yorkshire, where I'm originally from and spent the majority of my childhood, each year there was a show where people entered their animals, from guinea pigs to horses, into competitions and sold their produce and homemade jewellery. There's just something about the Shire that reminds me of my childhood and I'd love to go there. Plus if I went anywhere else in Middle Earth I'd probably get stabbed.

Helford River from Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier: First thing's first, Helford River is a real place so I can go there one day (woohoo!). I've been to Cornwall before, some years ago now, but recently I've had a real desire to go there again and reading Frenchman's Creek convinced me that I need to go back. 

Dorne from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin: Okay, I'm cheating a little here because while I watch Game of Thrones I have yet to read the books. To be honest I'd rather stay away from Westeros entirely, but there's something about Dorne that sounds like a lot of fun.

Luna from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: Luna might not be the best place to visit - Levana's crazy - but if there's a colony on the moon then hell yeah I want to see it!

Where would you visit?

Review | American Vampire: Volume 1 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Stephen King


by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Stephen King

My Rating: 

From writers Scott Snyder and Stephen King, AMERICAN VAMPIRE introduces a new strain of vampire – a more vicious species – and traces the creatures' bloodline through decades of American history.

Snyder's tale follows Pearl, a young woman living in 1920s Los Angeles, who is brutally turned into a vampire and sets out on a path of righteous revenge against the European monsters who tortured and abused her. And in King's story set in the days of America's Wild West, readers learn the origin of Skinner Sweet, the original American vampire – a stronger, faster creature than any vampire ever seen before. 

I enjoyed this. Honestly I've never been the biggest fan of vampires. I don't hate them, but if I'm given a choice between reading about vampires or reading about another mythological creature I'm likely to choose the other option. This I liked!

So many books that feature stories about vampires in the past tend to take them back to the 19th century, which is understandable considering that was when staples of vampire literature like Carmilla and Dracula were written. I loved that this was different. We have an actress in the 1920s - and I don't read enough books set in the '20s! - and then we have the origins of Skinner Sweet, mainly set in the early 20th century that has a very Western feel to it. It was great fun, and I'd definitely like to read the other books in the series.

My rating could have been higher, but there were a few flaws. The main one being that all of the women were very similar in terms of their body types - which is a real shame when it comes to something as visual as a graphic novel - and they all seemed to be, for lack of a better word, defined by their relationships with the men around them. I'm hoping there'll be as many diverse women as there are men in the other issues.

But I did enjoy this, and I think with Halloween coming up it was the ideal time to read it!


J.

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