Sunday, June 26, 2011

Book Thoughts: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott



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There has always been a mystery surrounding their connection to each other. Michael Scott's book The Alchemyst, takes advantage of this with Sophie and Josh Newman. Heck they may even save the world!

The Alchemyst is book one in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. It starts out as normal everyday life with a little luck. Josh and Sophie have both gotten jobs and they are just across the street from each other. Josh worked in a bookstore and Sophie in a coffee shop. The bookstore was owned by Nick Fleming and his wife Perry. We soon find out that Nick is Nicholas and Perry is Perenelle and their last name is actually Flamel. They were both born in the 14th century. What has kept them alive are spells and potions in a book called The Codex or Book of the Mage.Within the first couple chapters, the twin's lives have changed forever.

The main villain in the book is Dr. John Dee and his primary goal is to acquire The Codex. Naturally he is very old too. In fact he worked for Queen Elizabeth I and was a student of Nicholas Flamel to learn the art of Alchemy. At some point Dr. Dee got mixed up with the "Dark Elders". The Elders are ancient beings we hear about in mythology. Many of them are still alive and live in places called Shadowrealms which hide them from the human world. There are other immortal beings too like the second generation of Elders and some humans that have acquired or found ways to achieved immortality. There are many other mysterious creatures that pop up in the book.

I really enjoyed this book. There is a lot of action and I think the characters are developed well. I will definitely be continuing with the next book in the series The Magician. 

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Book Thoughts: Hillserpent Academy by Richard Denney


Move over Harry, Owen is on the scene now! This short novel is a magical romp with an American Harry Potter twist. Mr. Denney does not try to hide this, in fact he mentions Harry a few times in the book.

I read the ebook version which has 80 ebook pages. In a very short time we have mayhem, murder, witches, werewolves, vampires and a little romance thrown in. Owen Davinforth is our protagonist and I am not sure I liked the character's personality; he is quite sarcastic and cynical,  but this may be Mr. Denney's intention. However, Owen has been through a lot, at least in as much as we know about him through book one. I am hoping that as the series progresses I will like him better. I know Mr. Denney through his YouTube videos and I can hear Owen's voice through him. It makes this character more vivid for me.

I don't rate books with a system, but I enjoyed the read. With this book you enter the story, bang, bang, bang things happen, lots of things happen, and you get out. Mr Denney confesses that his writing is all about the story you get a little character development and a little description, but the story takes the front seat. I am OK with that. You get through the story quickly; you feel stunned when you reach the end. Then a little later, scenes and characters start popping in your mind! It is a phenomenon I noticed with his first book I read A Girl's Guide to Falling in Love with a Zombie. With me anyways, Mr. Denney seems to find a way to do this. Maybe it's magic?

Hillserpent Academy is available as a paperback and ebook for Kindle from Amazon. The ebook form for other eReaders is available from Goodreads.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Hillserpent Academy Read-a-thon!

June 24-26, 2011


I am hosting a read-a-thon for a bunch of us to read Hillserpent Academy by Richard Denney on said weekend. Come on along and join us!

You can purchase an ebook for Kindle at: Amazon Kindle or Paperback
-or- purchase an ebook for other readers or your computer on: Goodreads



Amazon Haul 06/21/2011


I purchased this first as an eBook. Well, I liked the cover so well I decided to buy the physical book and there is hype going around that this is the next Harry Potter series. That remains to be seen when I read it. I have not seen any reviews on it that I can think of - at least on YouTube. This was published April 5, 2011.












I bought the physical copy of this book because (all together now) I liked the cover! I may do the reversaroo of The Emerald Atlas and get this also as an eBook. Christmas in July anyone? Yep, I am probably going to host a little ditty-do if anyone wants to read some Christmas with me. There will be a post about it later. This book only manages to get 3 star ratings, but I don't care I like stories about Christmas time. Hallmark Channel is a favorite of mine. I think they do Christmas in July too.









Oooo, a new release just out! A creepy fantasy about a girl who is a Skilled - one of those who can cross the veil between life and death. This was published as Wintercraft in the U.K.














In an attempt to find my inner journalist, I have a few books on the subject. I am just starting to "get into" doing this. I saw this one on Amazon and I totally don't know how I connected it to whatever I was looking at. Perhaps I can finally become that perfect person by journaling my way - heh?