Books! Mailbox! and Summary!

Hosted by The Story Siren
Getting packages in the mail always gives me a thrill especially when the packages may contain books. It's just so much fun to open them and see what I got! Anyway, I hope you guys get a chance to check out the titles below. (Covers books in the last couple of weeks).

For Review


Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
- Treachery in deep space means survival is at stake

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
- What it means to be chosen when life has not prepared you for such

My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison
- More adventures when our 'Fair' godmother takes on Tansy as her charge

Heroes at Odds by Moira J. Moore
- A marriage contract to be avoided and a vow to protect.


Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
- In the midst of a town tourist revival a brother goes missing, and a missionary in Africa loses his faith. 2 plots that intersect somewhere.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
- A twin brother is captured and an epic journey to get him back ensues.

Some Swag


Oh My Gods by Tera Lynn Childs

Fins are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs

Reviews you may have missed
Bloodspell by Amalie Howard
Angel Burn by L. A. Weatherly
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
The Sweetest Thing by Christine Mandelski

A Proposal you should check out

Giveaways around the blogosphere
Summer Giveaway Hop from Imaginary Reads
Share the Love Giveaway from Better Read than Dead
Deadly Destinations with Gretchen McNeils Giveaway from Dark Fairy Tales
Final Blogiversary Giveaway from See Scoot Read
Summer Giveaway Hop from Coffee Books and Me
Summer Giveaway Hop from Stuck in Books
Forever ARC - from Starting the Next Chapter
Blogiversary Giveaway #4 from My World...in words and pages
Best Summer Releases Giveaway from Evie Bookish
Damned giveaway from Confessions of a Bookaholic
Summer Giveaway Hop from Karissa's Reading Review
200 Follower Giveaway from Laine's Fiction Book's Corner
100 Follower Giveaway from Book & Movie Dimension
Summer Giveaway Hop from Ester's Ever After
Forbidden Giveaway from Ester's Ever After

Read Dangerously Read-A-Thon

Taking part in this read-a-thon ^.^ hosted by All By MySHELF

I'll be keeping track of my progress here when the time comes!

Review: Bloodspell (Bloodspell #1) by Amalie Howard

Bloodspell by Amalie Howard

Copy Courtesy of JKS Communications and Langdon Street Press
Already Released

Summary
Victoria (or Tori for short) has a curse that flows in her blood. She learns of it on her seventeenth birthday, but will it control her or can she be her own master? And, there's also this really cute guy at school, Christian, but perhaps he's more than just a pretty face.

Commentary
I really liked the blood curse part of the book; I thought it was a good take on something that was almost vampiric in nature but wasn't. Thus, all the parts pertaining to the curse itself made me want to keep reading the book. A lot of the rest of it was disappointing though.

The love interest, Christian, has an attraction to Tori (and vice versa) that is really quite inexplicable, and I am really tired of love at first sight without any real reason to like the person besides the whole almost pheromone thing.

Click for spoiler

The line it followed was Romeo and Juliet-esque, which some people will really like. Me, not so much.

And then there was the villain (well really there were villains, but I am referring to the one that is a boss fight at the end of this book)who just didn't seem right for the part. The issue for me was that the proper motivations weren't established beforehand and suddenly this character was the main bad guy to contend with. I prefer slower revelations, but perhaps this style will appeal to some of you.

So, curse part good while romance and villain didn't appeal to me.

Star Rating: 2.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for Bloodspell at Amazon

Bookish Proposal = Awwww!

Photo Credit: Omnivore Books
Here in the Bay Area, we had a bookish proposal! It took place at Omnivore Book, and from the looks of it, was super cute. Hit this link to get the full story.

[via Shelf Awareness via The Bay Citizen]

Review: Angel Burn (Angel Trilogy #1) by L. A. Weatherly (Audiobook)

Angel Burn by L. A. Weatherly

Copy Courtesy of Candlewick Press and Brilliance Audio
Already Published

This is a review of the AUDIOBOOK version

Summary
Willow is a half-angel in a world where angels are kind of evil. Alex is an angel killer who has dedicated his life to bringing down the soul-sucking monsters. Fate brings the two of them together, sparks fly, and of course the world needs to be saved too.

Commentary
Ok, I'm not usually all that interested in the male love interests, but Alex, I have to admit was fun although I'm not entirely sure I liked the voicing of him in my audiobook version (since it was a female reader). Willow was very much a thrown into various situations and likes to curl up in a ball kind of girl, which probably annoyed me more because the audiobook made her so breathy and pitiful sounding most of the time. Sometimes though she would show signs of taking control, which I enjoyed although they were too rare for my taste.

I really liked the concept that L.A. Weatherly has created with angels essentially being soul-sucking demons, simply because it was a take that I had not read yet, and I think it was executed pretty well. The audiobook definitely made the story come to life more although I noticed things like how annoying Nina (Willow's best friend) sounded and how the author kept using the same phrasing over and over... and over again ("she hugged her arms around herself/around her knees/to her chest/etc..").

It's definitely rare for a more romance focused book to give me a positive feeling these days, and this one did achieve that so I'm giving it a thumbs up. I hope the follow-up is as good ^.^

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for Angel Burn at Amazon

Third Sentence Thursday (#35)

Grab the Code

<a href="http://snifflykitty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Third Sentence Thursday" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQN7VLa1dhdv6_Tz-fEshc6Xhbl85L9TC2UOs3PCdkYC8jsMZ1Kv2X-XOBX-8un1ivmPHfN7J7lWSORUVdZqO7Aaa-bb9y_HotDHdsVkQfhgOSUmtXTqB1KtDt4EHuUTGaG7soFSvAxWc/s800/thirdsthursday1d2%252520%252528Custom%252529.png"/></a>

Third Sentence Thursday is a weekly meme which is very sneaky when stealing cookies from the cookie jar!

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence here (in the comments) or if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments!


"Victoria shuffled past a crowded table keeping her eyes on the scuffled toes of her sneakers as the table's occupants burst into laughter" -Bloodspell by Amalie Howard

Ah the plight of the downtrodden within the social hierarchy. It definitely gives us a firm placement within it for our character. So, pretty informative as all things go ^.^

Review: Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1) by James S. A. Corey

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Copy Courtesy of Netgalley and Orbit
Already Published

Summary
The drumbeat of war is sounding between Mars, the Earth, and the outer colonies, a detective is looking for a girl, and an ice miner is on the run because no matter where he turns, death seems to be trying to catch him. These three events are somehow interconnected by a sinister plot.

Commentary
This is not a lighthearted read at all although there are what have been referred to as vomit zombies in this book and having them described that way somehow made the whole book less serious. This book is written from multiple points of view although it is never confusing as to which point of view you were on, which I really appreciated.

My favorite character was the detective. He had a lot of revelations about himself, and his personality was very engaging to follow. However, neither the detective nor any of the other characters ever really gave off a sense of hope, and while I'm not opposed to bleak, I'm not sure that the story was good enough to be worth the soul-sucking sensation that came with it.

I know there are a lot of people who enjoy bleak books (anyone who truly enjoyed The Way of Shadows may like that kind of sensation although this one is to a lesser degree) so I recommend it to you folks. As for me, I think I will pink up the next one, but perhaps not right away.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for Leviathan Wakes at Amazon

Review: The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski

The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski

Copy Courtesy of Egmont USA
Already Released

Summary
Sheridan has a talent for decorating cakes, but nothing else in her life seems to come as easily as cake decorating. Her mother left when she was young, and her father is immersed in his quest to become the next big chef star.

Commentary
There was a quite a bit of cake decorating going on in the book, and it sounded really delicious and pretty. I really wish I could see those cakes being made, and well I'm really just a sucker for anything having to do with cakes. Have I said cake enough in this paragraph yet? ^.~

Now, aside from the cake, I was annoyed with Sheridan a lot because she seemed to be stuck in her own self-pitying world, which drove all the other characters away. It was for the most part well written, but I think it was laid on too think. There were definitely times I wanted to try and slap some sense into her.

Basically, if the self-pity had been dialed back some, I would have really liked this book. As such, it was still an enjoyable and somewhat light read especially for anyone who has a cake obsession like me.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for The Sweetest Thing at Amazon

Review: Bears, Recycling and Confusing Time Paradoxes by Greg X. Graves

Bears, Recycling and Confusing Time Paradoxes by Greg X. Graves

Copy Courtesy of 1889 Labs
Already Released

Summary
A collection of short stories which are meant to give moral guidance. They cover many situations such as how to recycle and what to do when you have a vampire suitor.

Commentary
Now, I like odd and weird books, but this one really just confused me. Each story was only a few pages long and had a moral of the story at the end. It seemed like the author was trying to write stories with advice that should have been funny in the context of the story but completely missed the boat and simply ended up with morals of the stories that had me scratching my head.

I will admit that there are a couple stories that managed to just barely hit the mark of funny in context, but the rest were so... bad that I almost didn't finish the book despite it only being 168 pages long.

I think the concept could have been very entertaining as the synopsis promised all sorts of strange and silly situations, but it just completely failed to deliver.

Star Rating: 1.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for Bears, Recycling and Confusing Time Paradoxes at Amazon

Book Blog Hop and Follow Friday (Jul 22)

Welcome from Book Blog Hop hosted by Crazy for Books and Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read!

What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?

I kind of wish I could get into classics, but I always find something newer and shinier to read whenever I think about it. Sometimes it makes me feel less well read because I haven't read the classics. It's ok though, I have lots of fun with my SFF books ^.^

Some Stuff You May Be Interested In:
Kelley Armstrong Twitter Chat Recap
Jennifer L. Armentrout News
Borders Closing Thoughts

Reviews You May Have Missed:
La Femme Fatale by Marilyn Yu
Misfit by Jon Skovron



Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

John Scalzi who is the author of Old Man's War is someone I would absolutely love to sit down with because he's just generally entertaining although his books are awesome too, but I don't have too many questions about the books beyond when are there going to be more.

Patrick Rothfuss, he's like a big huggable teddy bear, and it would be great to have discussion with him

I would also love to talk to Jacqueline Carey because her books are just so wonderful.

Books The Kitty Wants

I'd like to share some of what I'm really looking forward to reading. Some of the books are already out and others well... aren't.


A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Already Released
Crazy magical things being released by a manuscript, and I'm strangely drawn to the cover.



Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong
Release Date: July 26, 2011
Not in fact to be mistaken with the other Spell Bound that was just announced. This is the 12th book in the Women of the Otherworld series, and I am very much looking forward to reading it.



Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey
Release Date: Nov 22, 2011
This is the 2nd in the series, and there's no word on whether there will be more or not. Super strength girl is on the run basically... there isn't much for plot summary released yet.



Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Already Released
Forbidden love between a brother and a sister. This is a very taboo topic, and I'm very curious to see what the author has done with it. Middlesex explored this although not in quite as much detail as I imagine this book will since it didn't happen to the main character in Middlesex.

Until next time then ^.^ There are definitely lots more books I am looking forward to reading although if I listed them all at once, it would be overwhelming so perhaps in another couple weeks or so.

Third Sentence Thursday (#34)

Grab the Code

<a href="http://snifflykitty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Third Sentence Thursday" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQN7VLa1dhdv6_Tz-fEshc6Xhbl85L9TC2UOs3PCdkYC8jsMZ1Kv2X-XOBX-8un1ivmPHfN7J7lWSORUVdZqO7Aaa-bb9y_HotDHdsVkQfhgOSUmtXTqB1KtDt4EHuUTGaG7soFSvAxWc/s800/thirdsthursday1d2%252520%252528Custom%252529.png"/></a>

Third Sentence Thursday is a weekly meme which drank a lot of milk when it was younger so is super strong now!

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence here (in the comments) or if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments!


"Alex nodded as he put a Big Gulp coffee down in front of her." -Angel Burn by L. A. Weatherly

Big Gulp I think is from 7 eleven, which means it's probably pretty nasty coffee. Terrible coffee to be offering to someone although seeing as how he's actually buying it... I guess at least he's not inflicting it upon someone else.

Review: La Femme Fatale by Marilyn Yu

La Femme Fatale by Marilyn Yu

Copy Courtesy of Marilyn Yu
Release Date: Aug 1, 2011

Summary
Life of a vampire called Eve through a deck of cards. (Yep that's my summary and I'm sticking with it)

Couple pictures of the cards:






Commentary
I love this concept for a book. Sure it's artsy, and I'm not that big on artsy. But, it's just novel enough for me to enjoy it although I wouldn't say that there's much depth to the story. Also, the pictures are pretty nice although perhaps a bit clip-arty.

There is a companion book that gives you the full story as well as some explanation of each card. Some of the cards don't actually have story components on it; instead, they have other pictures. The author suggests that you could use the deck much like tarot cards and/or come up with your own ideas.

Essentially, this is something that I want to touch and play with.

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for La Femme Fatale at Amazon

Jennifer L. Armentrout News

Apparently it's a news day here at Sniffly Kitty's Mostly Books.


So, there is going to be another set of books from Jennifer L. Armentrout who is the author of the highly anticipated Half-Blood. It's being published by Entangled Publishing.

What we know:
-Main guy lead is going to be called Julian
-It's an Adult Urban Fantasy Romance
-First book is titled Unchained
-It's a trilogy
-Release dates will be tentatively April, May and June of next year (2012)

She has also stated that Cursed is going to be a stand alone for the time being. Whether there are more books will depend on sales.

Half-Blood's publication date was pushed back because of the enormous amount of interest in it, and it will likely be carried at quite a few Barnes and Nobles as well as many many independent bookstores.

Kelley Armstrong Twitter Chat Recap

So, if you're a Kelley Armstrong fan like me, but missed the Twitter chat that went on earlier today then this recap is for you ^.^

Women of the Otherworld


Spell Bound is out really really soon! (July 26th!) The next is titled 13 (it is also the 13th book in the series) is probably slated for sometime next year and will be the final book in the series (super sad with dose of excitement!) although there is always the possibility that Kelley will come back in the far off future.

Facts on book 13 (the next one):
-Titled 13
-Due out probably sometime next year.
-Will be the FINAL book in the Otherworld series (super sad with dose of excitement!) although there is always the possibility that Kelley will come back in the far off future
-It will be narrated by Savannah.
-She says it will be super kick-ass
-There will be a return of a lot of our favorite characters.
-She's writing it for readers to be satisfied rather than saddened ^.^
-We will learn about the twins (Elena's kids) powers

There will definitely be more short stories/anthologies, and if Subterranean Press commissions another short story it will be about Jaime and Jeremy (Hey Subterranran Press, I really want to read this! I bought Counterfeit Magic, pre-ordered Hidden, and will definitely buy this one so this is my official plea for you to commission this ^.~). There will also be more on the twins in the upcoming short stories.


Darkest Powers



Chloe et al will be returning in book 3 of the Darkness Rising trilogy! There will be a total of 9 books in this vein so definitely one more trilogy by my count in the series to go.


Omens & Shadows
This is a new adult series set in a world that is similar to her popular Otherworld and Darkest Powers series. The first book is supposed to come out in 2013 and it is "lighter on paranormal, heavier on suspense/mystery." It's currently contracted for 3 books.


The Blackwell Trilogy
"a middle-grade Norse-based fantasy trilogy co-written with Melissa Marr" -Kelley Armstrong. Since it's a trilogy... the contract is for 3 books. They are writing this using split narration where each person writes one POV (point-of-view).

Nadia Stafford


YAY!!! There will be one more book although Kelley is looking at publishing it only as an ebook since she has so many other books on the docket already. I really hope there will be a print version!


Other Notes
She loves to drink coffee and eat chocolate while writing.

Borders Permanent Closing - Some Thoughts

It's kind of sad to see them go since the closing of any bookseller is a sad thing, but I never really shopped much at Borders being more of a Barnes and Noble person so I can't say that I'm personally heartbroken that my neighborhood Borders is going to be gone.

From this article it might be a boon for independent booksellers since the closing of a Borders nearby seems to increase their sales. I'm probably likely to visit my independent booksellers more often as a result since there will be more of them by ratio in an area. I do like the feeling of a huge bookstore though and being able to lounge around inside for hours at a time and/or sit in the corners of the store without feeling cramped; sadly, few independent booksellers offer that experience.

I'm also secretly (not so secret now that I'm saying it here :P) worried that I'm going to spend altogether too much money at a liquidation sale. I also feel guilty that it's coming at the expense of so many people's jobs.

How do you feel about Borders closing? and will you be shopping more at independent booksellers as a result?

Books that Arrived in the Past Few Weeks

Hosted by The Story Siren
I got a few books that I'm excited about ^.^


The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen
-Time travellers that want to preserve a perfect future

Michael Vey by Richard Paul Evans
-Electrical powers manifest in a boy and some other people he meets.

The Metalmark Contract by David Batchelor
-An alien gives us advanced technology and there is turmoil.

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins
-Three women with lots of drama from affairs, family turmoil, and the like.

The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum
-Love and destruction require a construction of a time travel door.



The Falling Machine by Andrew Mayer
-A socialite gets involved with a murder and discovers an automaton friend.

The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma (this came with a companion The Time Machine by H. G. Wells)
-H.G. Wells is investigating time travel that might be erasing literary classics.

Den of Thieves by David Chandler
-A thief is in a desperate situation because of the lord of the underworld.

Third Sentence Thursday (#33)

Grab the Code

<a href="http://snifflykitty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Third Sentence Thursday" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQN7VLa1dhdv6_Tz-fEshc6Xhbl85L9TC2UOs3PCdkYC8jsMZ1Kv2X-XOBX-8un1ivmPHfN7J7lWSORUVdZqO7Aaa-bb9y_HotDHdsVkQfhgOSUmtXTqB1KtDt4EHuUTGaG7soFSvAxWc/s800/thirdsthursday1d2%252520%252528Custom%252529.png"/></a>

Apologies for the late posting, have been having a rough few days.

Third Sentence Thursday is a weekly meme which drank a lot of milk when it was younger so is super strong now!

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence here (in the comments) or if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments!


"For the first two she'd remained motionless, sure that the armored men who'd put her there had been serious." -Leviathan Wakes by James S. Corey

Fear so strong you would not move for two days? That's some seriously scary stuff. I wouldn't want to be there... Most excellent third sentence

Once Upon a Read-a-thon Mini-Challenge #1

This one is hosted by IB Book Blogging!

Mini Challenge Question 1:
What is your favorite type of myth (Greek, Roman, Egyptian etc)?

I love just about all mythology. It's always interesting to read the various stories ^.^

Mini Challenge Question 2:
What is your favorite book with some type of mythology in it?

Kushiel's Dart although this may kind of be cheating since it's just one of my favorite books of all time!

Review: Misfit by Jon Skovron

Misfit by Jon Skovron

Copy Courtesy of Netgalley and Amulet Books
Release Date: Aug 1, 2011

Summary
Jael is a demon, well she's a half-demon because her mother was a demon and her father is human. On her sixteenth birthday (because of course 16 is a super magical age) she receives a gift from her father which will change everything like alert a super powerful demon who is out to get her of her whereabouts.

Commentary
I really wasn't all the intrigued with the premise, but I'm a sucker for covers or at least I was for this one even though it's not exactly pretty.

The start of the story and the mythology found throughout was actually quite interesting, and I'm liking the take on demons that this book had. There were a couple problems with this book, and one of them was that Jael struck me as whiny at quite a few points. Granted, she's somewhat justified in her rebellion, but I was still annoyed. Also, the ending was anti-climactic because it was over too fast and too easily.

I do think this author has potential as there are a lot of good ideas which were also fleshed out nicely. The end, though, just did not live up to the expectation, and I was disappointed. For me at least, a good ending is very important to my overall rating of a book you can say I have recency bias, but it is what it is.

Star Rating: 2.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Review: Naamah's Blessing (Naamah's Trilogy #3) by Jacqueline Carey

Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey

This is the third book in the Naamah Trilogy, as such there may be some minor spoilers in the Summary portion if you haven't read the previous two. Apparently I didn't review either of those books on the blog so I'm linking you to Goodreads instead Naamah's Kiss (Book 1) and Naamah's Curse (Book 2).

Summary
Moirin finally has a chance to return to Terre d'Ange, but it is not as vibrant a place without Jehanne there. Also, the Prince is off on an expedition on the other side of the world, and with him is Ralph de Mereliot, who Moirin must face and perhaps even stop although she knows not why.

Commentary
And she's back! Carey that is. After a somewhat disappointing second novel to this trilogy, the third novel brings back the level of writing, world building, and adventure which I've come to expect from her. BTW I am somewhat of a Carey fan (huge understatement).

Sadly, we still don't get to spend that much time in Terre d'Ange, but this is the case in all but Kushiel's Dart so that's not really a surprise. The exploration we get to do is fun as per usual ^.^ Possibly the best part of this book is Bao who cracks some great one-liners throughout the book, which is something we never really got with Joscelin or Imriel in the previous series since they were both so serious.

Now, there is still doom and gloom in this book, but really this series hasn't been as dark as the previous ones. If you like Carey's style of writing, you will like this book. If you haven't tried any of her books yet, I recommend starting with Kushiel's Dart.

Star Rating: 4.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Random Tibits

I hope you don't mind if I share some interesting things I found!


What has been dubbed 'Cover Couples' as you can see above, all of these covers use the same photo as its base. The list where I pulled this from can be found here so that you can peruse the various covers which look eerily similar.




Photo Credit: BBC News
An Indian granny in a region where female empowerment is pretty nonexistent who learned how to shoot when she was 60 and is still pursuing it and serving as an inspiration for a couple generations of girls to do so. Apparently, her daughter has gone on to win prizes in competition (first woman to do so in those competitions). Bravo to the change this granny is inspiring. [via BBC via Tamora Pierce's blog]

Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo.

Pretty freaking amazing time lapse video of the night sky in Australia over the course of a year or so. [Alex Cherney via Wired via Gizmodo]




A catalogue that arrived with a book this week. I thought the layout was really creative. Each of the authors of the books listed inside is introduced upon opening the catalogue and has a 'crime' that they committed.

Review: The Quantum Thief (The Quantum Thief Trilogy #1) by Hannu Rajaniemi

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

Copy Courtesy of Tor Books
Already Released

Summary
Jean Le Flambeur is a thief with perhaps no equal except that he was caught, but then he was rescued by Mieli (she's mysterious). He now owes a debt to Mieli, but he must first find out who he, himself is, because before he was caught, Jean hid his own memory from himself.

Commentary
I am torn as to the actual rating I should give this book since it had moments of brilliance, but also moments of confusion. Granted, I think that if I read this book a second time it would make more sense.

The confusion mostly stems from 1) too many character viewpoints - there are over 5 different viewpoints we encounter in this book, and some of them are characters who we meet only once (although they are mentioned in passing later on) and 2) too many concepts introduced without any real explanation of what these concepts mean. We are introduced to 3 vastly different races and cultures each with their own terminology for things, and while this is a credit to the world building of the author, it is also very disorienting to read and follow for a good 50+ pages.

Of course the brilliance must also be noted, the world building, it's very extensive. Once I could wrap my head around what was going on with who and what, the concepts were a lot of fun to read about and imagine especially the idea that privacy was built into your senses so that if you didn't want to share what you looked like while in public, you would simply appear as a blur to everyone around you. The plot itself is woven out of many moving parts which come together really well and in quite unexpected ways.

So, this review is getting a bit long-winded, but I think The Quantum Thief is worth reading for those who enjoy hard sci-fi.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Third Sentence Thursday (#32)

Grab the Code

<a href="http://snifflykitty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Third Sentence Thursday" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQN7VLa1dhdv6_Tz-fEshc6Xhbl85L9TC2UOs3PCdkYC8jsMZ1Kv2X-XOBX-8un1ivmPHfN7J7lWSORUVdZqO7Aaa-bb9y_HotDHdsVkQfhgOSUmtXTqB1KtDt4EHuUTGaG7soFSvAxWc/s800/thirdsthursday1d2%252520%252528Custom%252529.png"/></a>

Third Sentence Thursday is a weekly meme which drank a lot of milk when it was younger so is super strong now!

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence here (in the comments) or if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments!


"I don't even know if they can hear me." -The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

Oh Jean and his talking to people he isn't sure are sentient or not, but I suppose this pseudo-cavalier-ness is part resigned-ness as well. I have to say, it's not a great third sentence, but I can certainly make fun of the main character for talking at non-sentient things ^.^

Review: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7) by Eoin Colfer

The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

Summary
Artemis Fowl wants to save the world, but he develops the Atlantis Complex and is losing his mind. An old enemy has also come back to wreak havoc.

Commentary
So, for a lot of this book, Artemis is basically not himself and what makes a lot of these books interesting is Artemis' personality, which since Artemis is under the grips of the Atlantis Complex, is absent. At one point we get a simpering fool of an alternate personality, who everyone including the reader will want to slap silly upside the head.

I'm not sure that this story really adds anything to the whole arc of Artemis Fowl as there really isn't character development for anyone involved. It instead reads more like a side story, and that, for me at least, was disappointing although it was nice to revisit the old characters again.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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