Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 150 - The Phoenix Warrior by Ella Drake, Provenance by Ann Leckie, A Death in St. Petersburg by Tasha Alexander

The Phoenix Warrior by Ella Drake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had trouble getting into this one. I found the action to be slow and the result difficult to understand. I did like the characters but did not feel the tension between the the two main ones made that much sense. I also found the book to be overly long. I felt it would have been better if it was edited down to a shorter length. I will wait to see if book two does a better job of catching me.


Provenance by Ann Leckie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a interesting story. Like my headline after I finished listening I came to the conclusion that this was story about sibling rivalry and coming of age mixed with politics. All of this is wrapped up in a complex plot while following the sibling who never expected to inherit because of her adoption background. Included were the different worlds, aliens, and the politics involved when you mixed all of this up. There is great world building and back story told from the main characters point of view. Adjoa Andoh does great job with giving voice to all the characters that are represented in this very complex plot.

Death in St. Petersburg by Tasha Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This time Lady Emily has managed to join her husband Colin while he is on assignment. This leads to a book that tells a tail of mystery as well as highlighting the city of St. Petersburg. Set at the turn of the century there is unrest but the Tsar is still in power and the rich and mighty fill the halls of the city. What starts as a magical night at the ballet turns into a tale of murder when the principal ballerina is found dead outside of the theater. Lady Emily is asked to find the killer and she accepts. I was fun to see the city through her eyes and to watch her eliminate one suspect after another. There is a hint of the coming unrest before she realizes who the killer is. At the same time Colin is looking into the situation for England and the Queen. A very nice addition to the series.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

View all my reviews

Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch #2) by Ann Leckie

Science Fiction

From Goodreads:

What if you once had thousands of bodies and near god-like technology at your disposal?

And what if all of it were ripped away?

The Lord of the Radch has given Breq command of the ship Mercy of Kalr and sent her to the only place she would have agreed to go -- to Athoek Station, where Lieutenant Awn's sister works in Horticulture.

Athoek was annexed some six hundred years ago, and by now everyone is fully civilized -- or should be. But everything is not as tranquil as it appears. Old divisions are still troublesome, Athoek Station's AI is unhappy with the situation, and it looks like the alien Presger might have taken an interest in what's going on. With no guarantees that interest is benevolent.

I loved Ancillary Justice and hoped that Ancillary Sword would be just as good.  It is even as it is different.  Breq is till the main character but now she is further away from being a ship with many bodies and more an individual who is still growing and changing.  There are so many strands to this story and while some are resolved more are left as hooks for future books.

Ancillary Sword is very character driven with Breq the one doing the driving.  There are some secondary characters from the previous books and some new to this book and each is seen through Breq’s eyes.  The writing is still first rate, the world building continues and plot still builds.  Leckie takes all of those stands and weaves a interesting and complex book that is hard to put down. 

I am looking forward to the next book and hope the high quality continues in the series.

Orbit published Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"Considering the circumstances, you could use another lieutenant."

Page 56:

"In my quarters, Kalr Five, disquieted by the day's events but of course expressionless, had my supper waiting for me --a bowl of skel and a flask of water, common soldier's mess."

From Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie. Her first book Ancillary Justice won the Hugo and just about every other Science Fiction award in 2013. I loved the book so had Ancillary Sword on reserve at my local library before it was even processed. It is next on my reading list. Like any second book in a series it has a lot to live up to. I have to admit the two quotes really don't tell me much.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Science Fiction/Space Opera

What Goodreads says:

"On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Breq is both more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was the Justice of Toren--a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of corpse soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with only one fragile human body. And only one purpose--to revenge herself on Anaander Mianaai, many-bodied, near-immortal Lord of the Radch" 

Ancillary Justice is a complex book to review.  Even though the book is written in the first person it takes awhile to learn the main character’s name.  You do get hints of what she is or was.  That just adds to the tension and really hooked me into the story.

I usually like to break a book into parts but I find it will not work here.  Things like plot, characters, and world building are all so intertwined they are impossible to separate.. 

All unfold in the story as you need them.  Understanding Breq, the main character, depends on understanding the world she lives in.  The plot unfolds as you learn about Breq.  The world building is disclosed as you learn about the Breq and as you learn about the Breq you learn about the plot.

Even the development of the other characters depended on how Breq is seen in the story.  Much of this was told using small details that added to the richness of the book.  Ann Leckie set out to build a complex world filled with interesting characters and she more than succeeded.  Her eye for detail paid big dividends in the development of the story and the characters.

Part of the reason I kept reading was to learn more about what Breq was doing, who Breq was, why Breq was where she was, when the story was taking place and where Breq was going.  All of this came slowly into focus while a very good story in a new and complex world was being told.

Recently life has been interfering with my reading but every chance I got I picked up Ancillary Justice so I could continue to read.  For me that is the mark of a really good book.

I recommend Ancillary Justice for any Science Fiction fan.  Ancillary Justice is book one in a loose trilogy (That is how it was described in an interview with Leckie in the back of the book).  Breq is successful in a way she did not suspect and that opened up new adventures for Breq.  I am ready of book two and more of Breq and her world.

Orbit published Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie in 2013.

I received an ARC of Ancillary Justice from Netgalley.

Teaser Tuesday October 1, 2013

Hunter and the turtle.  Who is teasing who?

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:"
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am posting on a day that is very sad for me.  My youngest cat died yesterday.  We don't know what he had just that nothing helped.  That is his picture on the post.  After today I will remove it.  It made me very sad when I saw it today.  He will be missed.

My Teaser is From Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie published by Orbit.  Ancillary Justice is Science Fiction and today is the release day.  I am about 17% on my Kindle.  

"I had no reason to think badly of her.  On the contrary, her manners were those of an educated well-bred person of good family.  Not toward me of course---I wasn't a person, I was a piece of equipment, a part of the ship."

This came as the not a person was rescuing the person who had been beaten and left out in the snow.  She was acting like a person so it has really caught my attention.

Stacking the Shelves September 24, 2013

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I am adding to my shelves. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their shelves.

From Amazon Vine:

Unforgiven  by B. J. Daniels

From the Library:

One Heart to Win  by Johanna Lindsey
Range of Ghosts (audio book) by Elizabeth Bear

From Author for Review:

A Cadence Creek Christmas by Donna Alward

From Netgalley:

A Study in Ashes by Emma Jane Holloway
A Study in Silk by Emma Jane Holloway
Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach
Dating a Cougar by Donna McDonald

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie