Kim's Review : The Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons

No, I'm not reading Dan Brown's novel a decade late, this book is a compendium of short stories on the Supernatural beings - Angels & Demons. Of course, it was George RR Martin's name in the credits that made me pick it up. I'm restless with waiting, for the next book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (more popularly know as "The Game of Thrones")

This compendium of stories concerning Angels & Demons is a mixed bag. Some of the stories were hugely fascinating and made me want to read other works by the authors like Richard Parks, Caitlin Kiernan, Tanya Huff and Chelsea Yabro. There were other stories that I really enjoyed, but some were not too exciting. But that's what happens when you pick up an anthology, you love some stories and could be indifferent to others, even going so far as to hate some of them. Fortunatley, my reactions were not so extreme on the negative side.

I loved the little introduction that the editor of this collection - Paula Guran provided and the beginning of each story. It was a lovely way to create a setting and provides an insight into specific beliefs concerning Angels & Demons in other religions and traditions.

Its a great collection if the subject matter interests or fascinates you.

Rating : 3.75/ 5



#100BooksPact 9/100

Brajesh's Review : Blood Red Sari

While we have Ashok Banker’s entire Ramayana series on our book-shelf, I haven’t had the courage to pick up an 8 volume series. I really turned fan of Ashok Banker through the beautiful Ten Kings.

When I saw that Kindle was offering “Blood Red Sari” for free, I downloaded it to see how a master of historical fiction would treat a pure modern fiction. In the end my response to this book is kind of mixed. While I love the characters and speed of the narrative. I simultaneously felt the actual story line and situations were really far-fetched and believability was a big challenge.

The other irritation for me was to figure out at the end of the book that this was first in a series and most resolutions were left hanging for the sequel. I felt cheated that an author of this repute would hide the fact that the book is not complete and lure me to the last page and then leave me hanging. If the attempt is to make me buy the next few books (first being free on kindle) I must say the author and publisher both have failed miserably as they have an irritated reader at hand.

Rating : 2.5/5

Brajesh's Review : Scion of Ikshvaku

I am a huge fan of Amish Tripathi, and was delighted to get my copy of Scion of Ikshvaku in London, through my parents. I finished the book in 3 days and continue to be excited by his unique rendition of the historical epics.

Many of the usual tricks return from the earlier trilogy of Meluha in the form of DeviAstra, Somras and Nagas. While one is by now quite familiar with the tricks and plot movers, the unusual take on such a familiar epic and subtle but significant movement of key plot-line with really strong character definition makes this another lovely read.

The references to the coming of a strong suryavanshi society in a city named Meluha give joy to the readers of the earlier trilogy. Economics and power remain at the centre of the plot while subtle conversations and hidden agendas lurk in the background.

Overall this book remains a page-turner and I just can’t wait for the next book. Amish you are truly the modern literary rockstar of India.

Rating : 4/5

Brajesh's Review : Hedge Knight (Song of Fire & Ice)

I am sure all “Game of Throne” fans continue to wonder if (a key character in GOT, not to be named as spoiler alert) is dead or alive. I am also sure we all are trying to find innovative ways to deal with our respective withdrawal symptoms. As the next series if still over 10 months away, I decided to go find solace in a prequel graphic novel by GRRM.

While I never read the original series given the sheer size of the books, I decided to give this short graphic novel a shot.

Now that the book-worms (like my wife) no longer have the snob advantage over us the TV types, I decided to take the advantage through the graphic novel route. Unfortunately the book added nothing to the intrigue or mystery. Even as a stand-alone, the story wasn’t very strong. The drawing too was nothing special. However the book does end at an interesting place and GRRM clearly has a new franchise in mind through the journeys and exploits of the hedge knight.

Rating : 3.5/5

Also see Kim's reviews of :
1. A Game of Thrones
2. A Clash of Kings
3. A Storm of Swords (Steel & Snow, Blood & Gold)
4. A Feast for Crows
5. Dance with Dragons (Dreams & Dust, After the Feast)
6. The Hedge Knight

Brajesh's Review : Blood Line

John J Davis, Blood line has a really interesting cast: Ex-CIA hit-squad agent married to a female Mossad assassin. No wonder their daughter is greatly gifted in all the cloak & dagger stuff. The book is the first in the Granger Series, and sets it up well.

The characters which will continue are all interesting, the history of the family intriguing although the plot of a rural defence supplier being blackmailed by a rogue FBI computer analyst is seriously clichéd. The best part of the book is when the parents go over their personal & family history to being the daughter uptodate. I might just pick-up the next one in series (Titled Bloody Truth), to see where the plot goes.

Rating : 3.5/5

Brajesh's Review : Eight - The Hard Way

Eight - The Hard Way was another free e-book downloaded on my phone for commute reading. While the book didn’t turn out to be anything great, just a decent collection of mystery stories. However at the end of this book, I did realize that may be it is time for me to invest in a Kindle and also enjoy the different experience of e-books in the future.

More importantly my next phone is going to be a phablet to avoid carrying the extra Kindle during my commute. Let’s see how long this interest in e-books lasts.

Rating : 3/5

Brajesh's Review : Echo Burning

It’s a bitter sweet feeling reading the last book in any series. Since starting the Lee Child - Jack Reacher series in September 2012, I have patiently savoured 17 out of 19 of his books. I also decided long back that I will skip “One Shot” as I had watched the movie and didn’t quite like it. So finally in May this year I closed the franchise by reading the 5th book of the series.

“Echo Burning” was a perfect finale to my love affair and all the elements of a great Reacher book. Damsel in distress, burly bad boys in a haunting backdrop of an American small-town and nature providing the dramatic final piece of the puzzle.

The beautiful feeling of ending of series was strangely conflicted with what next ?? So friends I need ideas. You all know my taste by now, any suggestion of good light-on-the-brain fiction series with a minimum of 6 book are welcome.

Rating : 4 / 5

Kim's Review : Star-Crossed Series - 1. Reckless Magic, 2. Hopeless Magic, 3. Fearless Magic, 4. Endless Magic

Rachel Higginson's Star-Crossed Series may seem like just another one of the Young Adult Fantasy novels featuring teenagers just discovering their magic, but there is something about this series that is eminently readable.

Yes, the heroine Eden Matthews is an orphaned child who gets into trouble in the normal world, because she doesn't know that she has magic - a common opening idea to almost all the Young Adult Fiction out there, but the story does build well.

Yes, Eden is a little irritating and self-absorbed at times, but isn't that teenager behavior?

In Reckless Magic - Eden Matthews is just discovering her magic and the World of Magic and the Rulesgoverning this world. In Hopeless Magic, she travels to India to test her magic. In Fearless Magic, she travels to Machu Pichu, Brazil, Paris, London, India, Morocco & Romania. Endless Magic brigs a natural conclusion to the series.

In most of the cities, she spends just a bit of time, but a considerable amount of Book 2 centers on her India experience and this is where I wish Rachel had spent just a little more time getting the setting right. A lot of the descriptions of Bangalore to Ooty seem to be impressions gleaned from a trip to Northern India. Indians don't use Indian breads to scoop up their rice and curry. Indian breads are eaten seperately from rice. Its like saying that Italians eat their pasta with risotto. These anomalies, don't ruin the story, but they do leave an uneasy feeling when reading through.

While Endless Magic brings about a natural conclusion to this series, there are a couple of supplementary novels concerning other main characters of this series.

The Reluctant King - Avalon St. Andrews
The Relentless Warrior - Jericho Bentley
Breathless Magic - brings the action right back to Eden Matthews
Fateful Magic - Lilly Mason
The Redeemable Prince - Sebastian Carter

The First Book is currently available for free on Amazon and ibooks, if you would like to try it out before buying any more.

Rating : 3.75/5



#100BooksPact 4/100, 5/100, 6/100, 7/100

Kim's Review : A Journal of the Plague Year

Daniel Defoe's - A Journal of the Plague Year - Being Observations or Memorials of the Most Remarkable Occurences as well Publick as Private which happened in London During the Last Great Visitation in 1665 - is one of the most difficult to read books, that I have ever picked up.

The subject matter itself is depressing - The Great Plague of 1665, the Language is a huge strain to read. And to compound it all, Defoe meanders, repeats himself, goes back and forth and his narrator HF is an irritating character.

However, because of Defoe's reputation as the founder of the English Novel, this Journal of a Plague Year is found on every must-read list compiled by newspapers and academic institutions, which I suspect is the only reason for its continuing sales.

I do admire Defoe for his actual novels - Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders among them, but the Journal inspite of all its literary significance, is most definitely not an easy read.

It definitely has its plus points : an eye for detail, a rich view of life in the 1660's for the merchant and the working classes and a perceptive eye for observation.

But the novel is also rambling, digressive, contradictory & repetitive. There are no sections, no chapters and the Death Bills are terribly depressing.

Since Daniel was only 5 during the plague, it is supposed that this book is based on the diaries of his uncle Henry Foe (HF). However, while he makes liberal use of statistics (The Death Bills) throughout the book, they seem to be made up for the most part.

It was this use of statistics, that had this book initially classified as Reportage and was accepted as the truth until the 1780's and eve had some people believing it as fact until the early 19th Century which should attest to the fact, that he accomplished what he set out to do.

However, this is not a book that I would recommend to anyone, unless the subject matter is extremely appealing to you.

#‎100BooksPact‬ 1/100

Kim's Review : Evensong - Meratis Trilogy

Author Jeff Powell wakes up to find the impossible has happened. He is within his own novel—summoned into the fictional world of Feldall’s Keep by a spell he didn't write. One the House enchantress hasn't figured out how to reverse.

When the villain he's been struggling to write reveals himself, unleashing waves of terror and chaos, Jeff must use more than his imagination to save the characters he created—and the woman he loves.

Trapped within a world of his own creation, he must step outside the bounds of his narrative to help his characters defeat an evil no one anticipated, even if he must sacrifice his greatest gift. In the end, he has to ask: are novels really fiction, or windows into other worlds?

What an interesting premise to base a book upon. It was quite a fascinating read by Krista Walsh. While Evensong is the first of the Meratis Trilogy (Eventide and Evenlight come next), it can be read as a stand alone book. The first part is still being given away free on amazon / kindle.

The dilemma that Jeff finds himself in is perplexing. He has a hard time believing that he has actually been sucked into his fictional world. He is an extremely relatable character. Bumbling through his scenes while struggling to come to term with his actions.

Its a very light and lovely read. The romance is just that he likes the girl at his coffee shop, so it is a very "clean" read for young adults and can even be read by younger advanced readers.

Rating : 3.75/5

Kim's Review : This Doesn't Happen in the Movies - Reed Fergurson Series

This Doesn't Happen in the Movies is the first in Renee Pawlish's - Reed Fergurson Mystery Series. Reed Fergurson is just setting up his detective agency inspite of family opposition

A wannabe private eye with a love of film noir and detective fiction.
A rich, attractive femme fatale.
A missing husband.
A rollicking ride to a dark and daring ending.

Reed Ferguson’s first case is a daring adventure, complete with a dose of film noir, and a bit of humor. With a supporting cast of the Goofball Brothers, Reed’s not too bright neighbors, and Cal, Reed’s computer geek friend, This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies is detective noir akin to Reeds cinematic hero, Humphrey Bogart.

The plot development was too slow for me, I prefer my mysteries faster paced, but noir normally tends to slow the pace down.

Even allowing for that, I often wanted to slap Reed on the back of his head, for not figuring things out faster. Thats not a good sign, so I might just skip the rest of the series unless I can brave mysefl into readig another one while trying to fall asleep.

Rating : 2.75/5

Kim's Review : Anathema - Cloud Prophet Trilogy

Megg Jensen's "Anathema", is another one of those series where I downloaded the first book for free - Amazon is still offering the first book free - but I was convinced to pay for the next 2 parts of the trilogy.

Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny.

Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.

Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

Reychel is a strong female lead. While she is involved in a bit of a love triangle, she isn't the swooning type of heroine, constantly fixated on the male leads. She thinks things through for herself and makes her decisions and follows up on them. She is willing to face the consequences of her actions and isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes is right.

For these reasons alone, I would heavily recommend this trilogy to young female adults.

Megg Jensens characters are not witches or vampires or werewolves, but there is a heavy element of  the supernatural in this fantasy series. Its easy to lose yourself in the fantasy, though it isnt a peavhes and cream one. Slavery and the belief in a saviour is the central theme of this story line.

Rating : 4 / 5

Brajesh's Review : Nothing to Lose

The standard Jack Reacher formula : one lonely man on a highway finds himself between two towns named “Hope” and “Despair”. There is an empathetic female police officer, a megalomaniacal mysterious business man and a bunch of dysfunctional muscle-men as the key characters.

The story moves at a strong pace, and the suspense is tight without being suffocating. As I reach the end of my Jack Reacher series, I thought of also summarizing the entire series in one table. The rating scores in the table will give you a good idea of my favourites and the books are listed in plot sequence, so if you want to experience this magic, you know how to go about it.

I now only have “Echo Burning” left in the series, which has been patiently waiting on my shelf for 6 months. After a three year love affair, I think I am just scared of a situation where I have no more Jack Reacher books to look-forward to. Or maybe its just an excuse for my lazy book reading this year.

I have now targeted to carry “Echo Burning” as my in-flight read to the US holiday this week-end.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Brajesh's Review : Gray Mountain

One of the weakest John Grishams ever. The cause of rapid mining killing the environment is at the core, but the novel never gathers pace.

The start is interesting with the collapse of Lehman Brothers plunging a corporate lawyer, deep into real world. The characters also had great potential, but for some strange reason the whole thing never really came together. At the end I was left wondering "Is Grisham losing it?" or he just doesn’t satisfy my taste ?

Either way, I wouldn’t recommend this one.

Rating : 2.5 / 5

Kim's Review : Hedge Knight (Song of Fire & Ice)

George R R Martin's "Hedge Knight" is a prequel to his best selling series - "A Song of Ice & Fire" popularly known as "A Game of Thrones".

This Graphic Novel illustrated by Martin Avery and Miller Crowell is a collectors / fan's delight. Set 100 years before the Popular series.

The main character in this set of 3 prequel Graphic Novels is "Dunk" later "Ser Duncan the Tall" who grew up in Flea Bottom, squired for the Hedge Knight - Ser Arlan of Pennytree, proclaimed himself a Hedge Knight and progressed to Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under Aegon V. the next 2 books in this series are The Sworn Sword & The Mystery Knight.

If you loved the books, you will love these graphic novels which cover a few stories that are only mentioned in passing in the main novels. A bit of a historical background, you could call it.

The art work is beautiful and realistic rather than over-stylised and the story moves forward linearly through the eyes of Duncan (so no moving back and forth between character perspectives, in these books)

If you are a fan, do pick these up. I'm waiting to order the next 2 in the series.

Rating : 4.5/5 (-0.5 for leaving me waiting indefinitely)

Also see my reviews of :
1. A Game of Thrones
2. A Clash of Kings
3. A Storm of Swords (Steel & Snow, Blood & Gold)
4. A Feast for Crows
5. Dance with Dragons (Dreams & Dust, After the Feast)

Kim's Review : The Mime Order & On the Merits of Unnaturalness

Samantha Shannon's "The Mime Order" is second in her 7 part anachronistic, Dickensian, dystopian, steam punk, fantasy combination series after "The Bone Season", which released in mid-March this year. I absolutely LOVED "The Bone Season" and was really looking forward to The Mime Order and this one was very very good too, but it didn't have the impact that the first book did.

I guess my reaction was something like with "The Matrix" movies. The first one blew my mind because of the concept, the following ones were very good, but didn't have the "blow your mind" effect of the first in the series.

I must warn you, that if you do not remember too much of "The Bone Season", then you may need to catch up on the highlights, because The Mime Order doesn't really reintroduce characters, it just picks up where the first book left off. There are a few terms explained in the glossary at the end of the book. But if you don't remember characters and relationships, then you need to catch up on them before starting this one.

Paige Mahoney - The Pale Dreamer is back in London after escaping Sheol and concerned with how to bring awareness about the Rephaim and their plans to the population, while also being hunted down as "Most Wanted" by the administration.

Samantha's love for London, shines through this book and its details on local markets and landmarks.It's surprising that I haven't yet seen any "Bone Season" walking tours on the market yet.

There was a special limited edition offer for those who pre-ordered the book. And I'm very pleased to say that I am the proud possessor of "Copy 210 / 500" of "On the Merits of Unnaturalness - being an extraordinary treatise upon the Seven Orders of Clairvoyance" by an Obscure Writer.

This pamphlet is exactly as it is described in the series and while its not really a reference for the books, its a nice accompaniment, which details exactly what the title says.

Rating : 4.5 / 5

Kim's Review : HiFi in Bollywood

HiFi in Bollywood is Rishi Vohra's second book after "Once Upon the Tracks of Mumbai"

My autographed copy reached me through a long journey and courtesy the generosity of friends from Bombay to London via Ahmedabad.

In this book, Rishi keeps up his comfortable writing style which makes the book easy to breeze through, but the story itself is much more interesting and told with a lot more authenticity. This genre seems like a natural one for him, given his background and the writing clearly reflects his comfort with his subject - Bollywood aka HiFi (Hindi Film Industry - a term introduced by Salman Khan, that has not yet caught on in the public imagination)

Rayhan Arora is a very identifiable lead character -forced to take up "professional" studies by a domineering father when his real interest lies in  the creative field of film-making. Rayhan isn't one of the millions wanting to be an "actor", he wants to become a "director".

The characters he meets along his journey may seem stereotypical, but there's also something genuine about each of them. He doesn't focus so much on the big stars, as he does on the "aam aadmi". He again brings home the reality of life in average middle class Mumbai

I did enjoy this book, much more than  "Once Upon the Tracks of Mumbai", but then this isn't such a "difficult" subject either. Empathising with Babloo was a little difficult as there was a bit of pity thrown into the mix. In "HiFi in Bollywood", its much easier to empathise with Rayhan.

Given the sheer improvement in the last year and a half, I look forward to reading more of Rishi's books in the future, especially as he seems to be getting more comfortable with his voice and the characters he puts down on paper.

Rating : 3.75 / 5

Kim's Review : Imdalind Series - 5. Burnt Devotion

Burnt Devotion by Rebecca Ethington is the 5th in her Imdalind Series that was released on March 22nd. Her books are still primarily available as ebooks rather than printed copies.

I had pre-ordered my copy on kindle and was quite impressed to see it pop up on my screen by 12:05am on 21st night/22nd morning. I'm not yet converted into a digital book aficionado, but I was impressed. (The current spree of ebooks that I'm reading is to lighten the load of my back when I travel by tube, for my favourite books and authors, I still prefer printed paper)

Burnt Devotion follows along the lines of the previous 4 books. The first half covers the same timeline as Book 4. - Soul of Flame, but this time from Wyn and Ryland's perspective and frame of reference. It was good to read about Wyn's background from herself and to finally understand from Ryland what is going on inside of his mind. The chapters on Ovailia really provided insight into her motivations for her behaviour.

Joclyn's voice comes back in the second half and the story moves forward from there, returning back into Prague, where there are quite a few surprises in store for the characters and for the reader. This part of the story is told through Joclyn, Wyn, Ryland, Ovailia and even Sain.

If you buy the book right now, there area couple of bonus chapters available as told by Ilyan and Rosaline. The Rosaline chapter is worth buying this book "right now".

Now its just a matter of waiting another 3 months for Book 6 - Dawn of Ash to come out.

Until then, I thought you may like this picture that I found on pinterest It doesn't have ribbons running through it and the roses are made from hair itself, but it did bring the book to mind.

Rating : 4.5 / 5

Kim's Review : The Hanover Square Affair - Captain Lacey Series

The Hanover Square Affair is the first in Ashley Gardner's Captain Lacey Series set in the Regency Era. Its currently available as a free download on kindle, iBooks and Google Play.

London, 1816
An impoverished cavalry captain returns injured from the Napoleonic / Peninsular wars at odds with himself. Then a missing girl possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament and her distraught father set Captain Gabriel Lacey into investigating the dark underbelly of Regency London.

Lacey's search leads him on a merry chase to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld. He faces his own disorientation transitioning from a soldier's life to the civilian world while making new friends, from the top of society to the street girls of Covent Garden and enemies too.

Captain Lacey tries his best to be an honourable man in a less-than-honourable society, one in which wealth, privilege and position are always right. So, he fights for the underdog, the forgotten, the neglected. He does come across as a very strong character.

Plot development is really good, but there were some characters like Janet Ingram and the widow Dawson, who I'm not sure why they were even brought into the story, I'm not sure if they become major characters in the later books, but their miniscule guest appearances in this book, were distracting.

Other than this, I quite enjoyed the read. The insight into society in the 1800's is often uncomfortable, but essential to the plot.

I think Ashley has come out with 9 books in the series so far. I look forward to reading some of the others as Captain Lacey inspite of his quirks and easy temper, is quite an endearing hero.

Rating : 4.25 / 5

Brajesh's Review : Half Girlfriend

Not a Chetan Bhagat, I got this book as a free download from a friend. As I am not a great e-book reader, it took me some time to finish this one - over train-rides and bed-time reading.

The book started well for me, and I specially related to the struggle of a non-English speaker in the DU collage. Unfortunately for me that was the only part which sounded real. Post the first break-up of the lead characters, the novel turned from absurd to incredulous to down-right stupid at break-neck speed.

Rating : 2 / 5