Tag: series

First Lines Friday – 26/01/2024

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Welcome to my first First Lines Friday post of 2024 readers, and I have a great feature for you today!

More often than not, I find myself looking forward in these posts and featuring upcoming books on my reading list. Whilst I didn’t explicitly set myself a challenge this time, I decided tonight that instead I was going to look back in today’s First Lines Friday. I feature a five-star read from last year that I’m sure you will love too. Particularly, if you are a fan of Brandon Sanderson and read any of his young adult works.

Can you guess the book from the clues in the introduction?

 

A dark sphere appeared before me in the centre of the room. Scud. Was I really going to do this? In my hand, Doomslug fluted nervously.

The sterile, whitewashed, walls, enormous one-way mirror, and metal tables marked this as some kind of scientific facility. I was on Starsight: the massive space station that housed the regional offices of the Superiority. Up until this past year, I’d never even heard of the Superiority, let alone understood the nuances of how it – as a Galactic government – ruled hundreds of different planets and species.

To be honest, I still didn’t understand those nuances. I’m not exactly a “there are nuances to this situation” type of girl. I’m more of an “if it’s still moving, you didn’t use enough ammunition” type of girl.

 

 

 

Cytonic – Brandon Sanderson

 

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 432

Audience: Young Adult

Publisher: Gollancz

Publication Date: 23 Nov 2021

 

Goodreads – Cytonic

Spensa’s life as a Defiant Defense Force pilot has been far from ordinary. She proved herself one of the best starfighters in the human enclave of Detritus and she saved her people from extermination at the hands of the Krell—the enigmatic alien species that has been holding them captive for decades. What’s more, she traveled light-years from home as an undercover spy to infiltrate the Superiority, where she learned of the galaxy beyond her small, desolate planet home.

Now, the Superiority—the governing galactic alliance bent on dominating all human life—has started a galaxy-wide war. And Spensa has seen the weapons they plan to use to end it: the Delvers. Ancient, mysterious alien forces that can wipe out entire planetary systems in an instant. Spensa knows that no matter how many pilots the DDF has, there is no defeating this predator.

Except that Spensa is Cytonic. She faced down a Delver and saw something eerily familiar about it. And maybe, if she’s able to figure out what she is, she could be more than just another pilot in this unfolding war. She could save the galaxy.

The only way she can discover what she really is, though, is to leave behind all she knows and enter the Nowhere. A place from which few ever return.

To have courage means facing fear. And this mission is terrifying.

 

My Thoughts…

I have dual motives for featuring Cytonic as today’s First Lines Friday feature. Firstly, it is a book I wholeheartedly recommend and a series that I will press into almost anyone’s hands. Whilst I haven’t officially published reviews of any books in the series, as yet, you can find a summary of my thoughts for Skyward, Starsight, and Cytonic in my Sunday Summary posts around the time I finished the books.

Secondly, I’m also featuring the book today as a reminder that the fourth book in the series was released at the end of last year. I need to read it! It’s not very often that I keep up with series as they come out. Indeed, so far, I haven’t been keeping up with this one at all. But, that is my intention in future. With this in mind, I hope to pick up Defiant soon.

I enjoy reading from the perspective of the main character, Spensa. She is young, feisty, and angsty. She has a chip on her shoulder and everything to prove. Her temperament makes her a bit of a loose cannon and this keeps us as readers guessing as to what she’ll come up with next!

If you like science fiction full of action and a fighting scenes then this will definitely appeal to you. I thoroughly enjoy how these scenes are written and how Spencer‘s personality adds a little spice.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s First Lines Friday feature!

Have you read Cytonic or any of the books in the Skyward series so far?

 

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First Lines Friday – 15/12/2023

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It’s the end of another working week, so congratulations… we made it! In today’s First Lines Friday post, I am excited to feature a young adult novel I discovered through the Currently Reading podcast.

For today’s First lines Friday post, I set myself the challenge of featuring a book I don’t yet own. When I prepare these posts, I typically gravitate towards books I already own, whether that’s physical or on kindle. It’s easier to sample those and find a great intro, as they are more readily to hand. However, I wanted to break that habit. With a wealth of information at our fingertips, that’s not the only way I can fulfil this post.

Today’s First Lines Friday introduction is short and snappy, but gets the point in an interesting way! Shall we take a look?

 

The room where they at last found him was so cold, they wondered at first if he had frozen to death. Face as white as snow, skin as cold as frost, lips as blue as ice. His expression seemed, to the police, perfectly peaceful. As if he had passed away in the middle of a very lovely dream.

Except for the blood.

Blood always tells its own story.

 

 

The Kingdom – Jess Rothenburg

 

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 352

Audience: Adult / Young Adult

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.

Publication Date: 28 May 2019

 

 

Goodreads – The Kingdom

Welcome to the Kingdom… where ‘Happily Ever After’ isn’t just a promise, but a rule.

Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species–formerly extinct–roam free.

Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful “princesses” engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time… love.

But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana’s memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty–and what it truly means to be human.

 

My Thoughts…

The Kingdom is unlike other books on my reading list, and I liked the sound of the premise. It’s for that reason that I added the book, and it is because of the introduction in today’s post that I am excited to be picking it up soon! If you read my Top Ten Tuesday – Winter TBR post earlier this week, you will know that I’m looking to pick up the book in the next three months.

Having looked back at the episode in which Meredith featured her experience of reading The Kingdom, I’ve reminded myself that this book has elements of mixed media. That’s something I have discovered and enjoyed reading in 2023, and I’m actively looking to include more books in this style in 2024. The story is told through a combination of courtroom testimony and the memories of the main character… an AI.

In the podcast, Meredith also shares that the book is a great insight into some of the backstage things that happen in theme parks. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to one, but I’m looking forward to the setting and exploring that in more detail.

Meredith loved this book, and it made for a quick read for her. I’m hopeful for the same myself, and it gives me the chance to pick up something unlike anything I have read before.

Have you read The Kingdom by Jess Rothenburg?

 

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First Lines Friday – 17/11/2023

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Happy reading friends! Welcome to my First Lines Friday post to wrap-up this working week. I hope it’s been a good one?

When I decided I was going to be sharing another First Lines Friday, I decided to keep my options open. The last few times I have published this feature, I have set myself a challenge. Not so this week. Honestly, I had no idea of what I wanted to feature in today’s post. In hindsight, I can see why I left my options open and today’s feature feels like a natural choice. All will make sense if you’ve been reading my blog in due course.

Shall we get to today’s opening lines so we can enjoy my featured First Lines Friday extract together?

 

Coriolanus released the fistful of cabbage into the pot of boiling water, and swore that one day it would never pass his lips again. But this was not that day. He needed to eat a large bowl of the anemic stuff, and drink every drop of broth, to prevent his stomach from growling during the reaping ceremony. It was one of a long list of precautions he took to mask the fact that his family, despite residing in the penthouse of the Capitol’s most opulent apartment building, was as poor as district scum. That at eighteen, the heir to the once-great house of Snow had nothing to live on but his wits.

 

 

 

 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 541

Audience: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Fiction

Publication Date: 19 May 2020

 

 

Goodreads – The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

 

My Thoughts…

I first read The Hunger Games series in my later teenage years. I can’t pinpoint the exact date I read these books as it predates my Goodreads account. Looking back on my Amazon order history (as I read the books on my Kindle), we are looking at dates between 2012 and 2013 for me reading this series. At that time, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes had not been published. In fact, it is quite a recent addition to the series.

This may not come as a surprise feature. If you have been reading my blog in the last few weeks, I’ve mentioned that I have been watching The Hunger Games films on TV. I hadn’t really considered why they were airing them, until I found out that there is an upcoming film release for this prequel. Then it all made sense!

Those films have made me want to re-visit the series anyway. However, when I do so, I am also going to read this prequel novel. Initially I had reservations as the reviews weren’t great. However, as a fan of the universe, I am willing to give it a try!

Have you read The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, or both? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 

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First Lines Friday – 13/10/2023

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Good evening and welcome to today’s First Lines Friday post! I’ve set myself another challenge in today’s First Lines Friday post – to feature a book I intend to pick up and read before the end of the year.

This book is the second in a series by a much loved author. I first picked up the series in August 2020… over three years ago now! With my goal of trying to pick up and continue series I’ve started, this feels like the perfect book to pick up and make good on that promise to myself. It’s also a great series and a reliable author to revisit!

Are you curious about today’s feature? Let’s see if the introduction captures your imagination too!

 

I watched Calamity rise.

I was six years old, then, as I stood in the night on the balcony of our apartment. I can still remember how the old air-conditioner rattled in the window next to me, covering the sound of Father’s crying. The overworked machine hung out over a plummet of many stories, dripping water like perspiration from the forehead of a suicidal jumper. The machine was broken; it blew air, but it didn’t make anything cold. My mother had frequently turned it off.

After her passing, my father left it on; he said that he felt cooler with it running.

I lowered my popsicle and squinted at that strange red light, which rose like a new star above the horizon. Only no star had ever been that bright or that red. Crimson. It looked like a bullet wound in the dome of heaven itself.

 

 

Firefight – Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 420

Audience: Adult / Young Adult

Publisher: Gollancz

Publication Date: 06 Jan 2015

 

 

Goodreads – Firefight

They told David it was impossible – that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet, Steelheart – invincible, immortal, unconquerable – is dead. And he died by David’s hand.

Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life more simple. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And there’s no one in Newcago who can give him the answers he needs.

Babylon Restored, the old borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic, Regalia, David is sure Babylon Restored will lead him to what he needs to find. And while entering another city oppressed by a High Epic despot is a gamble, David’s willing to risk it. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David’s heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic – Firefight. And he’s willing to go on a quest darker, and more dangerous even, than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

 

My Thoughts…

Brandon Sanderson is an author I can revisit in relative safety of enjoying whichever book of his I pick up. I’ve read 13 of his books so far (which feels like an auspicious number on Friday the 13th no less…) and I have a couple more shelved already. Every single one of the 13 books I have read to date has earned themselves a five-star rating from me. I literally couldn’t ask for anything better!

One of the greatest selling points I love about Brandon Sanderson’s writing is that he is able to reinvent completely different worlds, magical elements and fantasy settings with no series feeling the same. I particularly enjoyed how he advanced his original Mistborn setting to demonstrate technological and industrial advancement in the 200 years between each series. It takes courage to rework something great without unsettling a fan base.

Having not picked up this series for three years now, I’m keen to get back into it. The Reckoners is a trilogy; provided I can get stuck into Firefight without any trouble, I shouldn’t wait too long before completing the trilogy. Then, I can tick it off the list and assure myself that I am whittling down my LONG list of ongoing series… hopefully!

Have you read any books in this series, or any books by Brandon Sanderson on the whole? What do you think? Has today’s First Lines Friday inspired you to give him a try?

 

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