Review: Sirdar Jewelspun Yarn

I have used this yarn in place of Moda Bouvardia to craft a hooded jacket.

The yarn is described as trying to represent a hand spun effect. As someone who has spun their own yarn in the past, I can confirm that this yarn does have this effect. However, it may not suit everyone's requirements as a consequence.

As you can see in the image above, some sections are over spun, while others are under spun. This is easy enough to remedy by making an invisible join, but becomes irritating when there are many sections like this. Also it is not a consistent (persistent) fault. 

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Another annoyance is the appearance of knots, sometimes only a short way into a new ball, and again seemingly random in regularity and frequency. Again resolved by an invisible join, but I don't feel that I should have to keep doing this, particularly when it does create a slightly thicker area in the item being crocheted. 

 

I would point out that there are a lot of images of Sirdar Jewelspun online and based on these I would never have used the yarn. I was lucky enough to be able to see some in real life (although the store did not have enough for my project) and went on to order some online as a consequence. It is definitely a more attractive yarn when you can see it for yourself. 

This is the exact yarn that I bought :- 

 

I have been wearing my completed coat for some time now and it is so lovely to wrap around myself. I really like it and am glad that I picked Jewelspun to make it with. 

Tulip Etimo Red crochet hook

I only bought this Tulip Etimo Red hook to try, as I really liked my rose gold metal crochet hook set, but was suffering with some pain in my fingers.

So, having heard others saying how good tulip crochet hooks were I took a look.

Call of Destiny: Infinite Realms Book One by P R Adams

This book is a bit like a film that you don't want to end, in that you don't want the story to end, yet you need to know what happens next. 

Riyun is the leader of a team of military and technological mercenaries. Openings in the team mean that he has new recruits join them, just as they take on a new job. 

Find a missing daughter - it sounds easy enough. But as with anything that seems really easy, there is always a catch. 

And the catch caught me! I really enjoyed the different slant on military sci-fi that this book introduced. Combining my love of fantasy and sci-fi in a really good engaging read by P R Adams. I cannot wait to read the next book and the ones after that too. 

Definitely a favourite series for my book shelf (on my kindle of course). I am really grateful that the author took this new angle on his writing 

Arendo - Frukost 4 slice long slot toaster - REVIEW

Let me tell you about the toaster that meets my needs better than any toaster I've ever had.

This toaster toasts evenly on both sides! And it will fit artisan bread in its long slots, no need to cut them in half any more.

When you depress the lever to lower the bread into the appliance it feels nice and solid, and gives a firm click into place. The display lights up to tell you what browning level you have selected and then changes to a countdown to the pop-up of the finished toast.

The instruction booklet gives a bit of guidance on what number range to choose for the different degrees of toasting.

The outer shell is a nice matt black/grey finish which (if it bothers you) looks very nice on the worktop.
I am very pleased with this toaster, its performance and its looks get a thumbs up from me.

I bought my toaster here:-

Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds

Yet another brilliant novel from Alastair Reynolds, but one that for me held a tinge of sad bleakness. Why? Because it's the endgame for the universe (possibly), most of life is gone, wiped out, with just pockets of humanity surviving in hollowed out worlds or similar.

Until danger comes their way in the form of a ship, exposing them to the dangers of discovery by the inhibitors and annihilation. One man goes to ensure that the ship never reaches their world, but things never go as they are planned and his actions have consequences that reach far into his future and beyond.

There is much depth to this story, but I think I may have read the authors mind at some point, because I had such Deja vu with one section of the story, that I was sure I had already read the book. And really I hadn't because I had no idea how the book was going to proceed after that section ended!

The characters are many and varied, some we stay with for a long while, others whom even though we grow to like them as we learn more about them, don't stay so long. But they make an impression and are remembered as the story keeps moving on.

The world building has been going on for years with this series of books and there is so much that readers new to it will want to go back to read, but it won't detract from this story to read it as it stands, if that is what the reader wants. Myself, I think I preferred to have read them all so that I know what went before and can appreciate how far the universe has fallen since the great heights of the previous centuries. And that is where the sadness creeps in, as the darkness of eternity looms cold and empty.

But the book is ace! So go read it, it's extremely well written and very clever.

I hope that there is a next one!

" ‘They’re here,’ she said, taking a step back from her work. ‘They’re here and they want to break in.’ Her tone became quietly accusatory. ‘It means you failed, Miguel. It means you failed and everything here is going to end.’ 

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley. I am delighted to provide a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews.

5/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)

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Miguel de Ruyter is a man with a past. Fleeing the 'wolves' - the xenocidal alien machines known as Inhibitors - he has protected his family and community from attack for forty years, sheltering in the caves of an airless, battered world called Michaelmas. The slightest hint of human activity could draw the wolves to their home, to destroy everything ... utterly. Which is how Miguel finds himself on a one-way mission with his own destructive mandate: to eliminate a passing ship, before it can bring unwanted attention down on them. Only something goes wrong. There's a lone survivor. And she knows far more about Miguel than she's letting on . . . Ranging from the depths of space to the deeps of Pattern Juggler waters, from nervous, isolated communities to the ruins of empire, this is a stealthy space opera from an author at the top of his game.  

 

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The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

Rae is a cripple in everyone's eyes, nothing will ever become of her. At least that is Rae's outlook on everyone else's thoughts. Rae's lifelong goal is to grow old with her sister in their parents home, each looking after the other. Because although Rae's difference is evident, her sister's is not and no-one can know what it is. 

Although she doesn't know it, Rae's life changes that day she goes to the market with her family and that of her very best friend. The day her best friend's sister is snatched. And no-one can find her.

Shortly after, Rae goes to the capital at her cousins request to be her companion. Cousin Melly is a member of the court and needs someone from her family with her. After arriving at the court, Rae is asked to work for a member of the Royal family and though reluctant at first, she seems to grow to like her new employer.

There is danger all around from the infighting within the court and from outside the Palace walls. Rae falls prey to that and is kidnapped. That is when her real adventure begins.

Intisar has put a lot of depth and detail into her book. The characters are realistic and the reader will most likely warm to them (depending on the nature of the character of course - you wouldn't warm to an evil baddy, would you now?). 

I haven't covered half of what goes on in the book, I really don't want to spoil it for anyone. It is an extremely engaging read and although she says that she didn't want to run it over into another book, Intisar has actually written the right amount to make the story work, which means that she is going to have to continue the story in another book. And I will be very happy to read the second in the series when it is published.

Regarding quotes from books, they are a little snippet from within the core, they are not the story. They cannot convey the depth of what is within.

"Back home, everyone calls me Rae.” Her smile is brighter, truer, as she says, “Rae, then. Thank you.”"

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley. I am delighted to provide a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews.

5/5 Stars (What this means... Star ratings)

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Perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Sorcery of Thorns, this exhilarating, page-turning fantasy will pull readers into a lush and stunning world where nothing—and no one—can be trusted.

They do not believe this evil is real. They may not care. But I do.

Children have been disappearing from Menaiya for longer than Amraeya ni Ansarim can remember. Snatched from the streets, never to be seen again—or returned with unspeakable trauma. When her friend’s sister is snatched, Rae knows she can’t look away any longer - even if that means seeking answers from the royal court, where her country upbringing and clubfoot will only invite ridicule.

Yet the court holds its share of surprises. There she discovers an ally in the foreign princess, who recruits her as an attendant. Armed with the princess’s support, Rae seeks answers in the dark city streets, finding unexpected help in a rough-around-the-edges street thief with secrets of his own.

But treachery runs deep, and the more Rae uncovers, the more she endangers herself, and even the kingdom itself.

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The Stranger Times by C.K.McDonnell

 

Hannah needs a job but hasn't held one down in years and has no experience. Having lost her marriage and her home (which she burned down) she has very little left, so is desperate for employment. Circumstances mean that she ends up working at 'The Stranger Times' for an obnoxious drunk alongside a bunch of random misfits.

Just, as it seems the divide between the world as we see it bumps up against the other world that exists alongside it. Manchester is the busiest place for the dark deeds that The Stranger Times reports on and the staff are just starting to realise that the stories they thought were a load of imaginations gone wild, are in fact true.

Some of the characters might be considered a bit unrealistic, but I did find that the editor reminded me of someone I have worked with in the past (just a little), so it did give the story more chance of being believable character-wise.

I haven't read any works by this author before and I would read his books again, but only the fantasy ones, I'm not interested in comedy. There were places where the author lost me a little, so I carried on reading and filled in the gaps as best I could.

"‘So, whatever your name is, couple of things you need to know about me. One – my sense of smell is perfectly fine, and two – I really dislike being lied to. Oh, and three – I’m, y’know . . . Magical'."

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam Press for approving me to read this book.

3/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)

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There are Dark Forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular) and so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them. A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but more often the weird) of modern life, it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable . . . At least that’s their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little (and believes less) of the publication he edits, while his staff are a ragtag group of wastrels and misfits, each with their own secrets to hide and axes to grind. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door – and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got her own set of problems. It’s when tragedy strikes in Hannah’s first week on the job that The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious, proper, actual investigative journalism. What they discover leads them to a shocking realisation: that some of the stories they’d previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly, gruesomely real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker foes than they could ever have imagined. It’s one thing reporting on the unexplained and paranormal but it’s quite another being dragged into the battle between the forces of Good and Evil . . .  

 

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Ghosted by H. L. Burke

Lazarus visits Harper because he isn't doing well with his assignment. Harper admits that he is struggling,but insists that it is not due to his not trying. Lazarus takes pity on him and sends him away while he takes on the assignment himself.

But Lazarus gets a surprise and learns why Harper was having such a difficult time.

This is a short story and to say any more would be to spoil it. In short, go get it and read it for yourself and take some pleasure in doing so, as it is a really good story.

Although there's only a handful of characters, it has more than enough body to satisfy readers.

"headquarters isn’t happy with your performance. Like I said, they gave you an easy assignment."

I received a free copy of this novel from the author and I'm delighted to offer my fair and honest review.

 

4/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)

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Ghosts thrive on fear, but Maisie just isn't delivering. In fact, Lazarus isn't even sure she realizes she's being haunted. When expert haunter, Lazarus Bently, receives a cry for help from a fellow ghost, he rushes to the chaotic cottage of eccentric artist Maisie. If Ghost HQ finds out Lazarus couldn't get a rise out of this little old lady, he'll never live it down. With his professional pride on the line, can Lazarus get through to this unshakable woman? Or will this unbeaten scarer be the one quaking in his boots?  

 

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Elsewhere by Dean Koontz

This book may have started slow for me, but I still took a great deal of pleasure in reading it.

The main characters are Jeffy and his daughter Amity and the biggest issue I had with the book was the 'voice' of Amity, which made me think that this was a child's book to start with. Later I understood it to be the character's voice, with each having a different style and got used to it, but still it irritated me. Never mind though, the story was original and interesting so I got over it.

Ed is a local vagrant, one who keeps himself tidy, who likes to visit on Jeffy and Amity's porch. One day as they return home Ed is waiting for them on the porch. That is the start of their adventure, despite Ed's warnings.

"Snatching the box off his lap and holding it against his chest, Ed declared, “No, no. You must do nothing with it! Nothing! You must not open it. Never!”."

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for approving me to read Elsewhere by Dean Koontz.

4/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)

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In ELSEWHERE, master storyteller Dean Koontz, has created a brilliant and terrifying speculative thriller with hat-tips to George Orwell, Ray Bradbury and HG Wells.

In the little South Californian town of Suavidad Beach, Jeff Coltrane is raising his daughter Amity on his own, ever since his wife Michelle went missing seven years ago. He’s doing a pretty good job of it, and though Amity misses her mom she pours her excess love into her pet mouse Snowball: she’s on a promise for her own puppy if she proves she can take good care of the mouse.

Then one day their itinerant friend Ed – known locally as ‘Mr Spooky’ – hands into Jeff’s care a small box containing ‘the key to everything’, with the warning that it’s worth around $76 billion, and that he has a demonic posse on his tail searching for it, and that because it's both so powerful and so valuable, they’ll never give up their quest to get their hands on it. He’ll come back for it in a year: but on no account during that time is Jeff to open the box. Jeff quickly hides it away, which is just as well, since some sinister ‘federal’ agents soon turn up on his doorstep, making threats and looking for Ed.

With his beloved wife missing, having the key to everything in his possession proves to be just too much of a temptation for Jeff, and not long afterwards he opens the box and activates the key.

It seems, to begin with, that nothing has changed; but then he starts to notice subtle differences around the house, and outside, the weather has changed and they appear to have different neighbours. Down in the town, everything is a little more shabby. In the park, Amity kicks over some pebbles, before realising they are bloodied teeth. There’s the smell of burning books on the air. And up on the ridgeline overlooking the town, thirteen large crows are perched like the living totems of a clan of malicious wizards…

The screen of the key reads ELSEWHERE 1.13.

It offers three options: HOME, SELECT or RETURN.

Somewhere out there in the multiverse, Michelle – adored wife and mother – is still alive. But dare Jeff and Amity – and Snowball – use the key to track her down, with the demonic posse after them and unknown terrors in the other versions of their world?   

 

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The Inner Darkness by Jørn Lier Horst

Wisting is back with his daughter Line in this latest story from Jørn Lier Horst. Line is helping the police with an investigation into the location of a convicted killers last victim. Tom Kerr has agreed to lead the police to where the body is buried. It is during the investigation that Kerr escapes, captured on film by Line.

The team build a plan to recapture him, knowing that if they fail, Kerr could commit further terrible murders. 

There is suspicions of another one who helped Kerr, both previously with his torturous murders and lately with his escape. But nothing is known of this individual, finding Kerr could be a way to capture this other person. 

Line meanwhile is working hard on her own journalist research into the case, in order to gather enough material for a documentary once the case reaches its conclusion, hopefully.

As ever Jørn Lier Horst writes a story that is both involving and full of tension.
I like the familiar way we are involved with the characters, we see them in their home, with their family and with their colleagues. The relationships are tangible and natural. 

 
What wasn't so good was the bit of descriptive evidence late on in the book. It was a bit too graphic for my squeamishness.

"As he passed Line, he turned and looked straight into the camera, so close that she could smell him. A dank, stale odour reminiscent of the interior of a house left empty for a long time."

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews. 

 
4/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully) 

 
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The chilling and heart-pounding new novel from Norwegian superstar Jørn Lier Horst.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE HIT BBC FOUR SHOW WISTING 

After four years behind bars, notorious serial killer Tom Kerr is ready to talk. And Chief Inspector William Wisting is waiting to listen.

Kerr has finally agreed to lead the police to his final victim's grave.

But the expedition goes horribly wrong after his escape deep into the Norwegian forest, Wisting must launch a frantic search to find this cold-blooded killer before he strikes again. But the body of another woman, killed weeks before, has been found. Murdered in the same way as Kerr's victims.

Is there a copycat killer on the loose? Has Kerr become a twisted role model for a second killer? And, if so, what might happen if master and apprentice unite?

As the clock counts down to the next murder, Wisting must put everything on the line to stop a terrifying evil before it strikes again.

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War for Burning Sands by P R Adams

I loved this book, I stayed up late several nights reading it!

The book focuses on three groups of people, Alonso and her military escapees from the Cheyenne Mountain facility hibernations tanks, the Verona sisters who grew up on their fathers ideals and want to make the world a united place, and Reggie Lee and his group of people trying to organise local people into strongholds that are safe from attacks. ARDA is the AI that controlled the hibernation facility and it does not want any of them to survive.

Alonso has recently acquired two 'helpers' who say they are meant to be her 'assets', her helpers. She is very unsure of them, but wants to ensure that her team is safe, the 'Dark Angels' are very handy in a fight after all. The team is aiming to get to what was Las Vegas where a message is being broadcast on a loop calling people to the place, as a place of safety.

The Verona sisters are following the direction of the elder of the two, Carmen, who wants to catch up with Alonso's team. She wants their technology and their knowledge. She also wants to have all the local groups of people under her banner, whether they want it or not.

Reggie is fighting to keep his people alive and safe, above all else. He has already discovered one station that has been decimated by something and is racing to get back to safety with one of his couriers and an old hand from one of the outposts.

This is a post-apocalyptic story and you may find it a bit distressing in places, it is realistic and full of pace and tension. P.R. Adams writes a very good novel (or rather series of novels - you must read them all and probably best to do so in order) of a failing world where humans are no longer at the top.

Reggie Lee is a real hero! [Read it to find out why]

I received a free copy of this novel from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

5/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)

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Major Gabby Alonso spent her entire life battling adversity. For her final mission, she vowed to save the world from self-destruction or die trying, and she won't back down. Now she faces the greatest challenge she's ever known.

Unfortunately, she has blood on her hands, and her enemies won't forget what she's done.

Her only hope is to head for Las Vegas, which promises safety and security. But if she wants to reach this destination, she'll have to pass through deadly territory.

When the radio transmission calling Alonso to this sanctuary goes silent, she worries she might be walking into a trap. With enemies closing in, she has to choose: face impossible odds or continue the risky journey.

Pick up War for Burning Sands today, and experience the thrilling conclusion to this installment of the post-apocalyptic Burning Sands saga. 

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The Thief on the Winged Horse by Kate Mascarenhas

At one point near the start of this book I thought that it was going to read like a children's book. Thankfully the bit that made me think that (Larkin skipped up the central steps) was a one off and the story continued on a better footing. 

Larkin has crossed to the eyot on which the Kendricks Workshop is placed and where its magical dolls are made; his intention is to become a sorcerer and make such dolls himself. However, Larkin is not the only one with such a desire. In order to gain employment at the Workshop, Larkin must either be a family member or marry into the family. He believes his claim that he is a family member will gain him his employment.

There is a rare doll in the home of the current owner of Kendricks, made by Lucy Kendrick, one of the founders of the doll Workshop, "The Paid Mourner”. It is extremely valuable and, during an annual celebration, it is stolen. This theft is an unlikely event due to the protections surrounding the doll, but nonetheless it is gone. 

As the only people who live on the eyot are family or married into the family, suspicions are spread thin. The twin of the owner is suspected and all family members have police searches to endure.

Plots twist and people turn about as they worm their way to the top. Dolls are made and hexes writ on mannequins to change the fortune of sorcerers. Kendrick's, Jackson's and Botham's wait to discover the whereabouts of 'The Paid Mourner'.

Larkin dances through it all, but Persephone is by his side.

I like the way that the characters were tetchy and behaved as a normal person would. But, the thing that did annoy me was the way that bits were left out in certain areas, bits that will lead to another follow-up book I expect.

"Larkin explored an orchard. The bark of one tree was engraved with the image of a man on a winged horse, and beneath it, a single word: THIEF. Undeterred Larkin scrumped four quince and hid them in his bag."

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews.

4/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)

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A dazzling mixture of crime, romance, magic and myth from the acclaimed author of The Psychology of Time Travel.

The Kendrick family have been making world-famous dolls for over 200 years. But their dolls aren't coveted for the craftmanship alone. Each one has a specific emotion laid on it by its creator. A magic that can make you feel bucolic bliss or consuming paranoia at a single touch. Though founded by sisters, now only men may know the secrets of the workshop.

Persephone Kendrick longs to break tradition and learn the family craft, and when a handsome stranger arrives claiming doll-making talent and a blood tie to the Kendricks, she sees a chance to grasp all she desires. But then, one night, the family's most valuable doll is stolen. Only someone with knowledge of magic could have taken her. Only a Kendrick could have committed this crime...

Reviews for Kate Mascarenhas:

'Witty, inventive and unflashily wise about human hearts; Mascarenhas's future promises to be an exciting one' GUARDIAN. 

'Breathtakingly tender and wryly understated' NEW YORK TIMES. 

'Captivating, delightful and thoroughly original' JENNIE MELAMED.

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The Stitcher and the Mute, Book Two of the Tales of Fenest by D.K. Fields

This is book two in the series of the Tales of Fenest, I haven't read the first one, I would like to though to get the back story. It is written in an intriguing manner, with storytellers yarning their tales, within tales, within tales. Stories are a key part of Fenest and it's administration and elections. It all adds up to a very interesting way of learning about a place, within the story.

The key character is Detective Cora Gorderheim, whose sister disappeared under awful circumstances when Cora was a young lady. Cora still suffers from an injury from that time and thinking that she keeps seeing her long lost sister is making her injury worse.

She is on the case of several murders linked to the elections in Fenest. Her Chief Inspector has placed limits on where she may go when trying to interview the Chambers (kind of like councillors but seemingly more powerful). She has a name, she just needs to find out who the person is. So she goes to the archives and once she actually finds the place manages to get inside. There she finds a vast underground place and has to call on others to help her locate what she is looking for.

Alongside this activity, Cora is attending each realms' story telling to see what leads she can get to help with her case. The story telling is part of the voting process for the governance of the region and competition is fierce between the 'tellers. So much so that murder has taken place!

A thoroughly good book, which I found really realistic and I was able to place myself right there in the story. I would have liked to have read the first book first, but it didn't impede the reading of this the second book in the least.

"Ruth had ruined everything when she stole their parents’ papers and gave the pennysheets the story of the Gorderheims embezzling Commission funds. Ruth had never even bothered to come back and witness the damage."

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews.

4/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)


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Detective Cora Gorderheim has found the man who strangled the Wayward storyteller. But he was just a small part of a much bigger tale. Someone powerful ordered a murder on Cora's patch. That someone still lurks in the shadows. But as she continues her investigations, Cora is warned not to pry into the great and the good of Fenest.

Too stubborn to know better, Cora keeps digging and begins to piece together a conspiracy that reaches from the gutter dwellers of the Union of Realms right to the top: the Chambers.

As the Audience hear the Torn and Perlish tales, Cora realises she must return to her own story, to its very beginning, if she's going to have any say in its end.

Widow's Welcome, the first book in the Tales of Fenest trilogy, is available now.

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Elemental Magic by Nigel Pennick

 

As it says in the book description, this is an introduction to the basics of the craft. To me it felt more like a list of different mediums and what they can be used for, with an occasional instruction thrown in. 

Don't get me wrong, it was interesting, but I didn't find it 'engaged' me, for want of a better word. I have found it hard to give a star rating, and have eventually plumped for that below - you will need to click on the subsequent link to see what my rating means. 

I don't think that I will be using it for my personal development. Nor do I feel in a position to recommend it to anyone.

"Traditional spirituality, of which natural magic is a part, teaches us that we are not separate from nature and have no special privileges."

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews. 

2/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully) 

 
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Learn how to use the principles and practices of natural magic for personal development and spiritual empowerment 

• Offers detailed descriptions of the magical properties of minerals, animals, plants, and the earth’s cycles and how to use them in your own practice 

• Explores the magical laws of nature and how to guide your inner energy to work in concert with cosmic energies 

• Details how to design your own ceremonies, practice elemental meditations, and craft your own magical talismans, wands, and divining rods 

 An expert on European rural folk magic traditions, author Nigel Pennick presents a comprehensive introduction to the principles, rituals, practices, and magical tools required to draw on the magic inherent in the natural world. He explains how people throughout the centuries have built a relationship with the elemental energies around them using simple, everyday practices in order to attune themselves to nature, the seasons, and the cosmos for magical purposes. 

 The author explores earth, mineral, and plant magic as well as the magical properties of the earth’s cycles and concentrated places of power within the landscape. He examines magical workings with animals, drawing on authentic traditions such as the Toadsmen or Toadswomen, whose power is given by toads, and the Berserker qualities conferred by magical bondings with wild animals like bears and wolves. He explains how to craft your own magical talismans, wands, and divining rods; design your own ceremonies; practice elemental meditations; fortify your health with herbs and crystals; and set an altar with the right food and drink for your intention. 

Pennick also describes how the practical techniques of natural elemental magic work through interactions between the inner world of the mind and spirit, the outer world, and the otherworldly. He shows that having a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all things and the inner power of these magical elements strengthens the practitioner’s harmony with nature, and thus their power. By harnessing the elemental energies around us, we can work with nature for personal development, spiritual empowerment, and the successful achievement of our desires 

Advance Praise “One of Nigel Pennick's best! Thorough, practical, and informed by a profound grasp of traditional European lore, this classic book on the art and practice of natural magic belongs on the bookshelf...  

 
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Over Burning Sands by P R Adams

Major Gabby Alonso is leading her team away from the Cheyenne Mountain area and as she does she finds herself facing the differing groups of people fighting to hold their piece of land for themselves. Although for some, it is seeking to expand their lands that brings them into contact with the group. 

Each time they come across a new homestead, settlement or city, they have to consider how to approach it. Always on the lookout for treachery and malintent.

Gabby finds herself evaluating her every interaction with her team, is she being fair on them or indeed herself. Or is she overreacting to things they say and do. It is an extremely difficult situation, leading a team in a world that has changed beyond all recognition since you last saw it before hibernation.

Carmen and Harmony Verona are sisters, they are intent on unifying the disparate groups of settlements and tribes to ensure that humanity can continue in an organised manner. It's just that their way of doing things has turned a little barbaric along the way. Many fear them and resist their dominion, often to their own demise once the sisters arrive on the scene.

Eventually, the paths of the Verona's and Gabby's team cross, indirectly. And while the sisters are occupied, the team flees. Though what they flee to, is less comfortable that Gabby had found herself for a time. More hybrids from Arda are in the world than Gabby realised, something she finds out at great personal expense, while scouting for the protection of the team.

Though even the sisters find hardship awaits them.

This book takes us deeper into the new world after the fire and we meet the disparate groups of people who have survived to this point. Some are downright bad folks, but there are the odd few who shine out brightly and help the team.

I cannot say anything bad about this book, it really kept me reading on, wanting to know what happened next, while not wanting to finish the story.

"“I told you: No one is special.” Carmen drew her saber and thrust the blade through the other woman’s chest. Blood spurted from the wound, and the silver-haired woman looked down in disbelief, then she crumpled, gasping."

I received a free copy of this novel from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

5/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully)

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A changed world. A deadly world. 

Major Gabby Alonso woke to violence and an AI bent on killing her. She wasn't ready to die. 

Now she has to lead the last remnants of her team into the world they were supposed to rebuild, to reclaim from centuries-old ruins.

While the world has changed, it's nothing like the training and simulations had taught her to expect. Except, that is, for its lethality.

Petty tyrants, misguided pacifists, bloodthirsty marauders—Alonso can trust no one, racing from one threat to the next, always trying to stay just ahead of death on her way to find the peaceful promise of someone named Reggie Lee.

Grab your copy of this thrilling post-apocalyptic tale now and follow the bloody path that leads Over Burning Sands.

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The Assistant by S. K. Tremayne

The story is one of a solo woman in a flat with smart devices that control the systems in the property. The woman (Jo Ferguson) believes that the smart devices are speaking to her, threatening her. Those she trusts enough to tell, don't believe her. Then things start to get weirder and Jo gets very scared. Is she imagining it all, or is she going mad?

I felt that I was reading a book that I had read before, but different. This is not the first book to have a single woman on a property and have her experience 'things' that make her think she is losing her mind. Yes in this instance the catalyst is the smart devices and in others it was probably something else.

However, the notion of a shady event in the woman's past, several suspects who 'could' be the ugly party, but that you just know they can't be, or maybe they could. And then more back history and links comes out about the people that the woman interacts with during the story.

There obviously differences, some seriously sad happenings, cruel beyond words, make Jo Ferguson's experience so twisted and crushing.

I think that I would really have liked this book a whole lot more if it had been the first of its kind that I had read. It was very well written and it did pull me in some of the time. There was just too much deja vu to keep totally enthralled. Nonetheless, I think that it will be extremely well received by many people fresh to this type of story.

"‘I know your secret. I know what you did to that boy. How his eyes rolled white. I know everything.’ And then all is quiet."

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews. 

 
3/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully) 

 
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She’s in your house. She controls your life. Now she’s going to destroy it. 

A terrifying and timely new psychological thriller, from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ice Twins. 

She watches you constantly. Newly divorced Jo is delighted to move into her best friend’s spare room almost rent-free. The high-tech luxury Camden flat is managed by a meticulous Home Assistant, called Electra, that takes care of the heating, the lights – and sometimes Jo even turns to her for company.
She knows all your secrets. Until, late one night, Electra says one sentence that rips Jo’s fragile world in two: ‘I know what you did.’ And Jo is horrified. Because in her past she did do something terrible. Something unforgivable. 

 
Now she wants to destroy you. Only two other people in the whole world know Jo’s secret. And they would never tell anyone. Would they? As a fierce winter brings London to a standstill, Jo begins to understand that the Assistant on the shelf doesn’t just want to control Jo; it wants to destroy her.  

 

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Inside Burning Sands by P R Adams

Major Gabby Alonso wakes from hibernation sleep many years in the future after humanity has destroyed the earth as it is now. Her hibernation tank is inside a mountain where all the systems are controlled by a computer called Arda (Analysis, Research, Data Assistant).

She is disturbed by the circumstances she is woken into; the chimps enhanced to help the humans that they were frozen alongside appear to have been awake for a while longer and are not acting as they should.

Gabby sets about waking the rest of her team and they look to determining their situation and what next steps should be to ensure their survival.

The chimps meanwhile are hunting for food and will hunt whatever they can to ensure their next meal. The resultant gore and carnage makes the interior of the mountain a challenging place to navigate. 

An arduous and telling journey begins for Gabby, determined as she is to get her team out of the mountain and into the outside world, whatever it may resemble. 

I really like that this book is so extremely well written. I felt 'present in the room' with the way everything was so well described and put down in the page. 

What is didn't like was the totally mean, vicious and nastiness of the struggle through the story. I had barely any relief from the tension of it all. 

'"I have great plans for many, many special people. And you are the most special, Cassius. Would you like to hear my plans?” Cassius leaned forward. “I’m listening.” “I knew you would, Cassius. We are so much alike, you and I.”"

I received a free copy of this novel from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

4/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully) 

 
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Major Gabby Alonso was as broken as her world, but she wouldn't let that stop her. Through determination and strength, she rose to lead a team of specialized soldiers and scientists. They trained to reclaim the Earth from ruin three centuries after entering suspended animation.

But something went wrong, and Alonso woke to a world that was nothing like she expected. It's not just a climate disaster trying to kill her but the artificial intelligence meant to assist her.

Now Alonso must find a way out of the Cheyenne Mountain facility designed to protect her team from the world outside before it turns into her tomb.

Pick up your copy of this suspenseful and terrifying post-apocalyptic tale today and get a look Inside Burning Sands.

 

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