Book Review ~ Darien ~ C.F.Iggulden ~ Fantasy Fiction

 

TITLE - Darien - Empire of Salt

AUTHOR - C. F. Iggulden

BOOK SERIES - Empire of Salt - Book 1

BUY LINK - Click here

SYNOPSIS -
The city of Darien lies at the heart of a dying empire.

Twelve families race for a throne soon to be made vacant - by murder or civil war. Into this fevered, hungry city come six strangers:

An orphan and an old swordsman.

A hunter and a pitiless killer.

A young thief and a cynical chancer.

As the sun sinks the city will know no slumber. For long dormant passions have awoken. Fortunes will be won and lost. Lives will be staked and claimed.

And a story long waiting to be told will catch fire in the telling . . .

Darien is the first book in the Empire of Salt, THE epic fantasy series of spellbinding imagination.

My Husband has, for a long time, raved about Conn Iggulden's historical fiction novels. This is a move for the Author under the pseudonymn C. F. Iggulden, into the fantasy world. 

I thought I would give it a try as I'd been told he has a good way of writing stories. Well for those who normally enjoy fantasy novels, I don't think you'll be disappointed. The City of Darien is a city full of magic, intrigue, and much more. It reminded me some, of the TV show Merlin with it's peasants, it's Royal Family and it's magical intrigue. As with Merlin, there are disputes, assassination attempts on the King, and dark characters. I would describe it as a well packed book, with a lot going on. 

The main characters are well written and a picture of them formed in my mind, so I found it easy to follow them, however the story not so much. I think because it is a busy story line, I found myself having to go back a few pages and re-read them as I got confused. I am not normally a fantasy book reader so this may be normal, but it slightly puts me off reading it. I did persevere though. 

In summary, an action packed book, with some well rounded, although not all totally likeable characters.  Not particularly my personal cup of tea, but If you love fantasy novels I'm sure this will be a series you would enjoy as it's well written.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Publishes under author name Conn Iggulden and C.F.Iggulden.

I was born in the normal way in 1971, and vaguely remember half-pennies and sixpences. I have written for as long as I can remember: poetry, short stories and novels. It’s what I always wanted to do and read English at London University with writing in mind. I taught English for seven years and was Head of English at St. Gregory’s RC High School in London by the end of that period. I have enormous respect for those who still labour at the chalk-face. In truth, I can’t find it in me to miss the grind of paperwork and initiatives. I do miss the camaraderie of the smokers’ room, as well as the lessons where their faces lit up as they understood what I was wittering on about.

My mother is Irish and from an early age she told me history as an exciting series of stories – with dates. My great-grandfather was a Seannachie, so I suppose story-telling is in the genes somewhere. My father flew in Bomber Command in WWII, then taught maths and science. Perhaps crucially, he also loved poetry and cracking good tales. Though it seems a dated idea now, I began teaching when boys were told only girls were good at English, despite the great names that must spring to mind after that statement. My father loved working with wood and equations, but he also recited ‘Vitai Lampada’ with a gleam in his eye and that matters, frankly.

I’ve always loved historical fiction as a genre and cut my teeth on Hornblower and Tai-Pan, Flashman, Sharpe and Jack Aubrey. I still remember the sheer joy of reading my first Patrick O’Brian book and discovering there were nineteen more in the series. I love just about anything by David Gemmell, or Peter F. Hamilton or Wilbur Smith. I suppose the one thing that links all those is the love of a good tale.

That’s about it for the moment. If you’d like to get in touch with me leave a comment in the forum or you can tweet me @Conn_Iggulden. I’ll leave it there for the moment. If you’ve read my books, you know an awful lot about the way I think already. There’s no point overdoing it.

Conn Iggulden

Book Tour, Guest blog post & Giveaway! - Sky Song by Sharon Sant - Young adult fantasy

 Sky Song ~ YA/Fantasy

 

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 360 KB

Print Length: 167 pages

ASIN: B00B0CQWV8

What the man told him was too incredible to believe, yet Jacob did believe it.  On some deep unconscious level he had always known it to be true. He was an invention, a fictional character.  Jacob Lightfoot didn’t exist.

A strange-eyed boy with no memory of his true identity or real parents, Jacob could have no idea of the mortal danger he has been in every day of his fifteen years. Now that danger has found him and suddenly he doesn’t know who he can trust and what is real anymore.  All he knows is that his new identity is almost as terrifying as the peril unleashing it has brought. Caught in the universal power struggle of an ancient race of beings and a destiny demanded of him that he does not want, he must fight to protect his own life and everyone he holds dear.

But when the time comes, will he be strong enough to make the sacrifices that saving them will demand?

Sky Song excerpt  

Jacob was still in his school uniform. He glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table.  It had just gone three in the morning.  Moonlight streamed through his open bedroom curtains, throwing the sharp edged contours of his furniture into silvery relief.  Uncle Dan was downstairs on the sofa, asleep.  Jacob could hear the low, throaty rumble of his snoring and wished he would just go home; he couldn’t stand being around him. He couldn’t stand to be around anyone.  He wanted to be alone, not to have to speak ever again.  He wished he could cry.  It didn’t seem normal somehow not to, it seemed distinctly alien.  The burden of guilt was hard to bear; it tore at him and made him want to scratch and pinch himself in sheer spite. 

Eventually, he slid off the bed and padded across the hall to the bedroom that his parents had safely occupied only the night before.  Jacob pressed his ear to the closed door, willing a sound - steady breathing, the crack of the bedsprings as someone got comfortable, a low snore.  The pain the silence brought felt like a hole being carved into his heart. He pushed the door open and gazed at the empty bed.  Suddenly feeling the need to be close to the scent still lingering on the pillows, he crossed the room and threw himself onto the bed, face down, breathing deeply and trying desperately to hold on to the memory of the smell, to store it away so that they would never leave him.
As he lay, his face buried close to the only biological traces of his parents he had left, echoes of the evening’s conversations began to crowd his head.  Why had his mum called his dad out of work?  Something to do with him - but what?  There were witnesses who had seen the silver car break through the roadside barriers and plunge from the bridge into the swirling waters below, but as yet police divers had failed to recover any bodies.  How was it that their car had breached the barrier? He couldn’t accept what the police had told him, that there was a freak weakness in the metal. He had questioned them again and again. When they had gone he had questioned Uncle Dan again. None of it seemed right. How could they be so sure his parents were dead?  It didn’t add up. And it didn’t feel like they were dead, deep inside him, it all felt wrong.  He had tried to explain this to Uncle Dan, who gave a small, sad smile and muttered something to the WPC about denial. 

The next few days of waiting for news were an excruciating blur. There was no structure to the day, no hours to mark it out, only darkness or daylight.  When he wasn’t lying on his parents’ bed, their scent fading daily along with his hopes of their ever coming back, Jacob was in his room, on his own bed, staring blankly at the walls.  Ellen and Luca phoned him, but he ignored the calls; they sent him texts which he didn’t reply to. Every day he heard their low, earnest voices at the front door, speaking to Uncle Dan, and heard their receding footsteps as they left again. 

On the fifth day, Uncle Dan came up to his room and sat on the end of the bed upon which Jacob lay with his arms folded above his head, unmoving, staring into space.

‘I’m sorry to be talking practical, Jacob…’ He wiped his sweaty palms over his canvas trousers. ‘But I can’t stay here forever.’  Jacob continued in his silent contemplation of a dagger of impertinent sunlight that blazed across the ceiling, as if to mock his sorrow.  ‘And there isn’t room for you with us… you know I would if I could, but…’ His voice tailed off. 

Jacob sat up and fixed him with a shrewd look. ‘Aunt Carol doesn’t want me, that’s what you mean. I’m going into care - right?’ 

Uncle Dan shifted uncomfortably.  ‘I’m sorry. You’ve been allocated a social worker. Linda. She sounds nice.  She’s coming over later.’

Jacob saved him further explanation by swinging off the bed and striding across to his wardrobe. He began flinging clothes onto the floor.

‘Fine,’ he muttered through gritted teeth. ‘I’ll pack, then.’

Luca answered his front door, addressing Jacob in a low voice as he glanced back down the hall to make sure that no members of his huge family were in earshot.

‘Jakey, you can’t stay here, mate.’

‘But they’re going to put me in a home.’

‘Running away isn’t going to help,’ Luca snapped back.  Jacob pouted. ‘I’m sorry, but you can’t,’ Luca added more sympathetically. ‘Mum and Dad would go mental if they found out.’

‘They won’t, I’ll be quiet, stay out of sight; it’s only for a few days until I think what to do.’

‘Jake, there is nothing you can do.’

‘Mum and Dad will come back.’

Luca paused as if considering and then frowned. ‘It’s no good,’ he said finally.  ‘We’ll never get away with it. You know what my mum is like, how long d’you think you can stay in my room without being found?  I mean, if it was Ellen’s… hey, where are you going?’
Jacob was already running down the road.

ALSO FROM SHARON SANT

 

The Young Moon - Sky Song Trilogy 2

Blurb from Goodreads

'It is a prophecy, Watcher. And it foretells your destruction.'

So comes the stark warning from Astrae. But what does the prophecy that tells of the young moon actually mean?

Two years have passed and Jacob’s search for the second Successor brings him back to Earth. But his Watcher powers seem to be useless as the other Successor remains shrouded in mystery… And he soon discovers that his bitter uncle, Makash, is also hot on the trail.

Jacob’s quest takes him and Luca halfway across the globe in a race to get to the other Successor first. As they get closer to their goal the body count starts to rise and Jacob and Luca are dragged deeper into Makash’s deadly game as the net closes around them.

All Jacob has to do is cheat death, yet again, find another like him amongst the seven billion people that swarm over the face of the planet before Makash does, and thwart the prophecy that spells his doom. No pressure then…

The Young Moon is the second book of The Sky Song Trilogy

 

AWESOME GUEST BLOG POST FROM SHARON

 

A Sense of Place. 
 

As this fabulous blog is about books and travelling (two of my absolute favourite things apart from cream cakes), I thought I would honour that heavenly pairing by making my guest post for the Sky Song book tour about books and travelling.  So I’m going to talk about some of the locations that appear in the Sky Song trilogy, what I did to fiddle with them (on paper, of course), and why they’re so special to me.
 

 Although I now live in Staffordshire, my mum and dad met one fateful day whilst he was stationed on a naval base in Portsmouth.  My mum is a Dorset lass and my dad was from Stoke-on-Trent. To cut a very long story very short, they met, fell in love, got me and moved in with the In-laws in Bournemouth.  I wasn’t very old when they decided to return to Staffordshire, but I’ve never lost my love for Dorset and the surrounding areas.  There’s something incredibly diverse and inspiring about that part of the world: beaches, forests, gentle rolling hills, barren heath and moorland, dramatic cliffs, secret coves and deserted islands, cosmopolitan towns and chocolate-box villages - every setting you could possibly need for storytelling squashed into one amazing corner of England.  So it seems only natural for me to use it; in fact, sometimes it’s really more of a subconscious decision to set a story there.

 

In Sky Song, I use that wonderful landscape and although I don’t obviously name the places, there are clues to their locations hidden in the story.  Sometimes it’s necessary to splice the features of one location with the features of another to get the right stage for an event, and that also happens a lot in Sky Song.  There’s a boating lake that appears many times in the story – it’s really two actual parks in two separate towns rolled into one. Throughout the trilogy, other locations pop up that are actually named; there’s an important location in The Young Moon and a massively important one in Not of Our Sky that both get a name check and are shown in the books exactly as they are in life. Sometimes, when I need to use a location in that way, it’s a good idea to travel there and see it for myself. Handy as Google Earth is, a place can look very different in the flesh.  Many of the locations I know well I can write from memory, but others I’m not so familiar with I go to again (or even for the first time, and it’s a great excuse for a holiday!).  The Young Moon’s major location is somewhere, sadly, that I visited a very long time ago and don’t have the funds to go back to again, that’s when good old internet research steps up to fill in the blanks in my memory.

 

 I’m still working on a plot that will necessitate me travelling to the Seychelles and lying on a beach for two weeks, I just haven’t thought of it yet.  For now, I guess, I will just carry on using the fantastic locations in England.  And just in case you’re wondering, there are some pretty amazing locations in the place where I live right now, but they belong in another story… 

About the Author 

Sharon Sant was born in Dorset but now lives in Stoke-on-Trent.

She graduated from Staffordshire University in 2009 with a degree in English and creative writing. She currently works part time as a freelance editor and continues to write her own stories. An avid reader with eclectic tastes across many genres, when not busy trying in vain to be a domestic goddess, she can often be found lurking in local coffee shops with her head in a book. Sometimes she pretends to be clever but really loves nothing more than watching geeky TV and eating Pringles.

Sky Song is the first instalment of the Sky Song trilogy. Book two, The Young Moon, is also available and book three, Not of Our Sky, is due for release early May 2013.

Author Links:

Website: Click here

Facebook: Click here

Goodreads: Click here

Twitter: @sharonsant

Amazon UK store: Click here
Amazon US store: Click here


 a Rafflecopter giveaway

TOUR SCHEDULE

 

Date	Tour Host
8th July 2013	Me, My Books and I
9th July 2013	Love, Laughter, Friendship
10th July 2013	A Novel Review
11th July 2013	Review Buzz
12th July 2013	Bookalicious Travel Addict
15th July 2013	Stephanie Keyes
16th July 2013	Tugcenin Kitapligi
17th July 2013	Lucky Books
18th July 2013	Amy Bookworm
19th July 2013	Bookishly Devoted

 

Book Review - A Stitch In Time by Amanda James

Title - A Stitch In Time

Author - Amanda James

Publisher - Choc Lit Publishing.

Paperback released 7th April 2013.
E-book now available.

Amazon UK // Amazon US // Book Depository


Book Blurb from Choc Lit Publishing

A stitch in time saves nine …or does it? Sarah Yates is a thirty-something history teacher, divorced, disillusioned and desperate to have more excitement in her life. Making all her dreams come true seems about as likely as climbing Everest in stilettos.

Then one evening the doorbell rings and the handsome and mysterious John Needler brings more excitement than Sarah could ever have imagined. John wants Sarah to go back in time …

Sarah is whisked from the Sheffield Blitz to the suffragette movement in London to the Old American West, trying to make sure people find their happy endings. The only question is, will she ever be able to find hers?

 

MY BOOK REVIEW

 

I loved the cover for this book and I found the book blurb intriguing. I was drawn into this book from the start. Sarah the main character was instantly likeable. She's a teacher and a girl who on the whole loves most of the kids she teaches. She also loves nothing more than grabbing a coffee with her best friend, then going home to her cosy house and husband. Many readers will identify with her. Like real life, this can all end in the blink of an eye.

 

Where the book then takes you is on a fascinating journey back in time to Edwardian England; The Blitz and across the ocean to the original American Homesteaders.

 

The concept of the book "A Stitch in Time" is so imaginative and unbelievable but it works and is at the same time wonderfully fascinating. Sarah is the "Stitch" who is sent back in time to fix things, and safe lives. She has to work out who's life she has to save. Whenever you hear again the phrase "A Stitch in Time" I can guarantee you will always think of this book.

 

Each adventure into the past is seamlessly written and you are instantly drawn into the era that Sarah finds herself in. You can visualise the sights Sarah is faced with due to the vivid descriptions by the author.

 

One of the other main characters is John, who is a Time Needle. He is Sarah's link to the tasks set for her.

 

As bizarre as the subject matter sounds, this book really works and I was hooked.

 

If you're looking for a book that's well written, romantic, imaginative and different from the norm, then I thoroughly recommend it. It's a keeper for me!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Amanda James (aka Mandy) was born in Sheffield and now lives in Bristol with her husband and two cats. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, singing and spending lots of time with her grandson. She also admits to spending far too much time chatting on Twitter and Facebook! Mandy recently left her teaching role to follow her ambition to liver her life doing what she most enjoys - writing. Lucky for us eh?

 

Follow the author here:
Blog - www.mandykjameswrites.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook - www.facebook.com/mandy.james.33

Twitter - @akjames61

 

 

 

photo's courtesy of choc-lit publishing - http://www.choc-lit.co.uk/index.html

Thank you to choc-lit publishing for giving me this book to read and review. This in no way influenced my review.
 

 

Book Review -- Johnny Digweed by Stephen Garside

This is a great little read for anyone who likes fantasy type fiction. At first I thought it was going to be a young persons book, but the language used told me otherwise.

It's the story of a 7year old school boy. He appears a lovely polite schoolboy at first but then when he starts to sing, strange things happen. Some even dangerous and people start to die.

The book is very fast fetched and quite weird in places, but strangely enough I actually enjoyed it, even though it isn't normally a book that I would choose to read. It's a very fast read and I read it in a day.

I'd recommend it to fantasy fiction buffs as a gap filler.