Blog Tour: Storms of Lazarus

Posted by cat2002116 on July 29, 2015
Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

July 2015 Review tour

STORMS OF LAZARUS

STORMS OF LAZARUS, by Karen Kincy

Genre: Historical-fantasy romance

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Date of Release­­: July 29, 2015

Cover Artist: DamonZa

Find Online: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Description:

  1. Christmas Eve. Ardis hardly expects a quiet holiday with Wendel, between fleeing Constantinople and hiding from an ancient society of assassins. And they owe a debt to a certain archmage.

In Königsberg, Prussia, they work with Konstantin on the next evolution of Project Lazarus. Wendel once called Königsberg home, the city now besieged by the Russians and their clockwork engines of war. This may be Wendel’s last chance to save his family and find redemption, but he’s tormented by nightmares and tempted by laudanum. Ardis fears her love isn’t enough to save Wendel. Her hands are full piloting the automatons, and she’s terrified to tell him a secret of her own. Will they—and their love—survive the storms of war?

 

My Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did enjoy the first book in this series, so I jumped at the chance to read the second. I enjoyed this just as much… albeit in a slightly different way.

I do like Ardis and Wendel together. It was nice to see that they did have issues… and that Ardis was worried about the possibility of her being pregnant. Wendel wasn’t just all right after the events of the previous book and I thought that came across really well… not just at the beginning of this book, but all the way through, too.

The setting of the book is really intriguing and I liked reading about the different types of technology there was. I was a bit surprised to see Wendel return to needling Konstantin… even though there were some references to what had happened with them. It was nice to see that Wendel did apparently care about what happened to Konstantin, despite later trying to deny it.

The inclusion of vampires in this was an interesting concept, but I would have liked a bit more detail about how they fit in with necromancy. Some of Wendel’s behaviour did make me a bit suspicious… he comes across as something of an addict, which isn’t something that can be easily fixed or dealt with.

I really liked seeing Konstantin and Himmel. It was sweet, the way they were almost skirting around each other. Plus, it was nice to see that Konstantin had someone who actually seemed to care about him.

There were a couple of amusing moments in this book, which were good, since they helped to lighten the mood a bit… especially considering how much tension there was in parts.

It was interesting to see Wendel’s family, though I really disliked his father and didn’t find his mother that better. It was good to see his relationship with his brother, though. I liked Wolfram.

I’m very interested in seeing where the characters go next, in particular Konstantin and Himmel. I definitely plan to read any more books set in this world in the future.

 

About The Author

Karen Kincy

Karen Kincy (Kirkland, Washington) can be found lurking in her writing cave, though sunshine will lure her outside. When not writing, she stays busy gardening, tinkering with aquariums, or running just one more mile. Karen has a BA in Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College.

Find Karen Kincy Online:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

About Curiosity Quills Press

Curiosity Quills Press (CQ) is a small hybrid publishing company specializing in genre fiction of the highest quality. With 150+ titles in our catalog already and approximately 6 new books coming out each month, there’s never a dull moment at CQ. We work with major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible to ensure that you, the reader, can find whatever you are looking for at your convenience.

Founded in 2011 by Eugene Teplitsky and Lisa Gus, CQ was initially a resource portal for writing and publishing, created in an effort to help writers, like themselves, survive the publishing industry. After rapid success, CQ morphed into publishing press that over time has solidified its share in the market. Now we spend our days searching for the next great escape!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

The Lure of Fools

Posted by cat2002116 on July 29, 2015
Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

The Lure of Fools

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

The first part of this book didn’t exactly start off with a very sympathetic character. I felt a bit sorry for Jove at first… and then that was quickly derailed when I realised what he was like even before he became possessed; or whatever it was.

I liked the opportunity to see the beginnings of the characters that I’d seen in The Soulless Grave. It was good to be able to see more of Kairah in this book, since I only saw her at the end of the second. I have to say, though, I really didn’t like Maely at all in this. I did like Mull and I felt a lot of empathy for him… but his sister didn’t really seem that nice; especially with her keeping on hurting Jekaran. That kind of reads more like anime heroines who hit the guys they’re romantically interested in…

Although I didn’t really like Jenoc in this book, it was good to have the opportunity to see a bit more detail about why he was acting in the way he was. He was one of the more interesting villains; one who actually sees himself as doing the right thing.

Speaking of villains… Gymal (I think that’s the right spelling of his name) is a thoroughly nasty piece of work. Given what’s revealed about him in book two, I thought I might be able to see something redeeming in him in this book… but no. I find it very difficult to reconcile the two books; they just seem completely different characters.

I did think that Ezra’s reasoning for not allowing Jekaran to leave was… shoddy at best. And the prophecy about him that caused Karak to appear was… well, if the only aspect about someone is ‘green eyes’, and that colour exists on more than one person, there needs to be more than that for why Karak would automatically assume Jerakan is the one.

I did find this book really easy to read. It was nice to have the opportunity to see more of this world and the different races that populate it. I have read book two… and I’m hoping to read book three in the near future.

Pixels

Posted by cat2002116 on July 29, 2015
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Pixels

(This review may contain spoilers).

It’s been a little while since I’ve seen a movie with Adam Sandler in it, but when I saw this advertised, I was immediately interested… and it was really good to be able to go with my sister to see it.

It was pretty cool to be able to see the older arcade games utilised in this movie, both at the beginning and throughout. This film didn’t require a lot of thinking, but it was really entertaining to watch.

The interactions between the main characters are established very early on. I couldn’t help feeling a lot of sympathy for Sam’s character, especially when he’s talking to Violet. She did come across as a bit shallow and, yes, snobby in her first appearance… but her character becomes better as the movie goes on. And the main romance is allowed to develop naturally and comes across as quite realistic.

There are a lot of amusing moments in this movie and me and my sister were laughing out loud a lot. There were also a lot of plot holes… while at the same time, there were a couple of elements of foreshadowing that worked really well.

There were some quite tense scenes in this movie, even though it’s mainly a sci fi comedy. It was a bit disappointing not to have the opportunity to see more of the aliens sending down the pixel-created creatures, even though there was an opportunity to learn more about them. The way they sent messages to Earth was a pretty cool concept, too.

I recognised quite a few actors in this film and it was nice to see them playing well off each other. It was also amusing to see the American president and the English prime minister trying to communicate and not able to understand each other.

This film didn’t require much thought and although there were plot holes, it was entertaining to watch with some pretty cool cast members. I’m sure I wouldn’t mind watching this movie again.

I’d suggest staying for the credits; at least the first part. There are some pretty cool scenes there.

Inside Out

Posted by cat2002116 on July 29, 2015
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Inside Out

(This review may contain spoilers).

I went to see this film Monday, with my niece and a couple of other people.

I thought the whole idea was an interesting concept. Despite there being the different emotions living inside humans’ heads, there was a whole other complicated world involved there, too. It was cool to have the opportunity to view the workings of a girl’s mind… her different islands and how each of those made up different aspects of her personality.

Although I felt a lot of what happened with Sadness was a bit too heavy for many children, I did feel very sorry for her. Although children do deal with being sad, some parts of what Sadness comes out with aren’t exactly family friendly. At the same time, she was probably the character who evolved the most over the course of the movie.

One thing that was a bit confusing was why Riley had emotions of different genders in her head, while her parents had all of one or the other – female for her mum; male for her dad. It’s probably reading too much into this, but that was one of the things I kept wondering.

It was good to see Fear, Disgust and Anger having to deal with the problems that arrived after everything that happened. Anger was fairly amusing, though Disgust did come across more as a teenaged girl… the whole broccoli thing was an amusing scene to watch, too. (I don’t know any place that would put broccoli on pizza…)

Although there were humorous elements in this movie, it did deal with a lot of serious issues that children do have to go through. In some ways, it was interesting to see Riley having to deal with moving house, her friends moving on without her, etc.

My niece did enjoy this movie, despite it being somewhat adult in parts. It was an entertaining movie, but possibly one a parent might like to view first… just in case.

Blog Tour: The Soulless Grave

Posted by cat2002116 on July 27, 2015
Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

July 2015 Review tour

Soulless Grave

THE SOULLESS GRAVE, by Jason King

Genre: High/ epic Fantasy

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Date of Release­­: 07/06/15

Cover Artist: Eugene Teplitsky

Find Online: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Description:

Adventure is the lure of fools, and excitement glamour to the gullible. The siren song of the world is as music to the wanderer’s feet, but that dance leads only to the soul less grave…

Kairah lies unconscious and upon the threshold of death, but her dire state has awakened her oracle heritage and she sees in vision a land stripped of all life. But is what she seeing the past, or the future?

Ezra, having learned that his nephew, Jekaran, has bonded the sword of the Invincible Shadow, is forced to return to the Rikujo crime syndicate for help in rescuing Jek from the custody of the king, who plans to execute him in order to take the sword for himself. But can he convince some of the most dangerous brigands in Shaelar that he is still the ruthless and cunning Argentus?

Using his illusory spell-craft, Jenoc has infiltrated the King of Aiestal’s court, and is on the brink of igniting another talis war; one that will cause humanity to wipe each other off the face of Shaelar. But when Kairah is brought to the king unconscious, he has to work quickly to set his plans in motion before she wakes and reveals him.

All the while The Eater draws ever closer…

 

My Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Due to having forgotten about the blog tour, I’m reading these books out of order… but I’m reading book one after this one.

Despite not having yet read the first book in this series, I found this book to be really easy to follow. The beginning with Jove was suitably creepy. I couldn’t really see much humanity in him. Spending time in his head was really hard and left me with an almost crawling-skin sensation, particularly in regards to his talking about dolls.

I found the world in this book to be a particularly intriguing one. Although there were a few different storylines going on at the same time, the way they came together made sense and managed to draw me into the world. I was able to connect emotionally to most of the characters, the only exception to that being Jove… but it makes sense why that wouldn’t be the case.

I found myself liking Ezra a lot as a character. It was easy to understand his motivations and the hints at what he’d done with the sword added a new dimension to his character. Plus, I really liked what was stated about how Ezra was able to break the bond between him and the sword.

There were some ways I did feel sorry for the sword, even though it’s not technically a character in its own right. Some of the conversations between it and Jekaran made it quite clear that the sword didn’t understand morals and ethics. In many ways, it did come across as more like a child… though I couldn’t help wondering if it might have the opportunity to grow and learn what the right way to act is.

I particularly liked the Crown Prince of Aiestal. (I can’t recall the spelling of his name). Although he came across as a bit too idealistic, his ideas of saving his people were quite noble. I enjoyed seeing his interactions with the other characters around him, in particular his servant, who I couldn’t help feeling sorry for.

The concept of talis was a really intriguing one and I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the different sorts. This book did end on something of a cliffhanger… but I’m looking forward to being able to learn more about the world and the characters. I have the first book to read, but I’ll definitely be reading the next book/s in the future.

 

About The Author

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SONY DSC

For years Jason King publicly proclaimed his identity as “the chosen one,” but medication and a stint in a minimum security health and wellness facility convinced him that was not the case. In order to cope with his greatly diminished role in society, he devoted his free time to making up stories.

Born in Salt Lake City Utah, Jason grew up on a steady diet of anime, science fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, JRPG’s, and chocolate cake donuts. Stockholm syndrome gave him his beautiful wife, and the stork (according to his understanding) gave him his four wonderful children.

Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in I.T. Management and is currently the Internet Marketing Manager for a local bookstore chain, but he has sworn by Grabthar’s hammer that he will one day quit his “9 to 5″ and write full-time. He is also a proud “anonymous” member of the Space Balrogs comedy troupe, and he speaks fluent Labrador.

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Website

 

About Curiosity Quills Press

Curiosity Quills Press (CQ) is a small hybrid publishing company specializing in genre fiction of the highest quality. With 150+ titles in our catalog already and approximately 6 new books coming out each month, there’s never a dull moment at CQ. We work with major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible to ensure that you, the reader, can find whatever you are looking for at your convenience.

Founded in 2011 by Eugene Teplitsky and Lisa Gus, CQ was initially a resource portal for writing and publishing, created in an effort to help writers, like themselves, survive the publishing industry. After rapid success, CQ morphed into publishing press that over time has solidified its share in the market. Now we spend our days searching for the next great escape!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

Posted by cat2002116 on July 26, 2015
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Next Avengers Heroes of Tomorrow

(This review may contain spoilers).

Since my niece and I both enjoy the Avengers (and this film was really cheap in the place where I work), I got this for me to watch with her.

It was an interesting concept to see the children of the Avengers. The very beginning, where the children are being told the story of the heroes, sounded more like a fairytale… which was probably the point.

It was interesting to see the similarities between the children and their parents. One could hardly fail to realise whose kid was whose. What did confuse me at first was that Hawkeye’s kid was called Hawkeye… but there was an explanation provided for that, which was good.

I liked the opportunity to see Tony and Bruce as older. I know bits and pieces of them from the comics, but it was a bit strange to see how mature Tony was, in comparison to his movie counterpart.

I think my favourite character in this was probably Pym. He was really amusing and it was fun to see the way he was with the others. Although he seemed a bit ditzy at times, I thought he was quite sweet.

It was interesting to see Torunn dealing with being the daughter of Thor and that her father was gone and hadn’t been killed. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her, even though she was quite a strong character.

Despite this movie being aimed more at children, I felt there were some sad moments in this. The movie was fairly simple and straightforwrd. There were recognisable characters from the comics, even if they were technically older. Not a lot of background was given, but there was enough to know what was going on.

Both me and my niece found ourselves laughing at various points in this and when I asked my niece what she thought of it by the end, she gave a thumbs up.

Disturbia

Posted by cat2002116 on July 26, 2015
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Disturbia

(This review may contain spoilers).

I originally watched this movie at the cinema. I found it really entertaining… so I bought it on DVD and watched it on Friday with my friend.

It was easy to empathise with Kale’s character. He was fairly likable and I had a lot of sympathy for him, due to him losing his father. It wasn’t an excuse for his actions… but it was at least a reason.

Ronald was a really amusing character. It was nice to see some more light-hearted moments brought to the movie, since there were many darker and more intense scenes.

It was interesting to see Kale having to deal with being stuck in the house. I would have liked to see more of his relationship with his mother and how his house arrest affected that. While I did think she overreacted at one point (she’d have to fork over more money to pay for a new television lead), I could understand her frustration.

I appreciated that the movie took the time to establish the characters and the relationships between them. There were good elements of tension from the beginning and I felt those showed clearly through the course of the movie.

It was interesting to see Ashley through Kale’s eyes. Although there was a lot of moments where he was a Peeping Tom, it’s understandable why he became antsy. And I felt the film did a good job of showing the sort of thing that goes on in people’s lives; that others might not see, unless they were looking closely.

There weren’t a lot of gory scenes in this movie. I felt that enough was left to the viewers’ imagination. And it was good that, although use was made of video cameras, it wasn’t a ‘found footage’ kind of movie.

I did like the police officer in this movie, even though I did think there was a conflict of interest. I recognised some of the actors in this movie and felt they did a good job in the roles they played.

I would probably watch this movie again in the future.

Review Opportunity: They Call Me Alexandra Gastone

Posted by cat2002116 on July 24, 2015
Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

They Call Me Alexandra Gastone

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found the concept of this book a really intriguing one. I was drawn into the storyline really easily and found it really engaging to read.

The first part of the story made me cringe. There was a lot of tension in knowing the violence that was about to occur, but it was good that the author left parts of it up to the imagination. Though that can be worse in some ways.

It was good to get bits and pieces of Milena’s past as the story went on. I liked the opportunity to see her interact with both Grant and Albert. There were some really sweet scenes between them, despite what her mission was.

I was a bit confused about exactly what the purpose of the organisation Alexandra was part of was supposed to be. Reading from Alexandra’s perspective, it was clear that she cared about her country and wanted to do the right thing by it… but I was pretty confused about what the overall mission was supposed to be.

I liked seeing Milena try to juggle her mission parameters with school and a boyfriend. There weren’t many minor characters who were fully expanded on, but those that were came across as really well-rounded, such as Milena’s friend outside of her life as Alexandra.

It was intriguing to see one of the operatives grow disillusioned with their organisation. I also really disliked the main leader of Perun. Even though there were times she came across as a nice person, it was clear that it was an act… though it really wasn’t clear why Milena was hated so much.

Although parts of this book were slow-moving, there were aspects that were really tense. I felt a lot of sympathy for Milena. I would have liked to see a bit more of her interactions with Perun agents, rather than having so many of those interactions glossed over.

I was a bit disappointed that this book ended on something of a cliffhanger, though I did find myself really wanting to read the next one and find out what will happen. This book was well-written and drew me in easily. It’s a good start to the series… and there are still many questions I’d like to get answered.

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

Posted by cat2002116 on July 23, 2015
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Superman The Quest For Peace

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was the third original Superman movie I remember watching, even though it was actually the fourth one. I think I was freaked out by it for a long time… possibly because Superman is in actual physical danger again.

I find it really interesting that, despite being the Man of Steel and technically invincible, each of the movies has a different kind of danger… not just for the people of Earth, but also for Superman himself.

There was a nice bit of foreshadowing in this movie. It wasn’t very good to see that the Daily Planet had been bought off… though I couldn’t help feeling some sympathy for Lacy, especially since it was obvious she was romantically interested in Clark.

I found it a bit amusing to see Superman spending time with Lois while, at the same time, trying to also spend time with Lacy as Clark. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him, having to switch places between them. For anyone else, I’m sure they would have been exhausted.

It was cool to see Lex in this movie. I can’t help but think he makes a good adversary for Superman… even though he’s a bad guy, he comes across as a genius. I was less than thrilled with his nephew. Lenny wasn’t exactly very bright.

It would have been good to see Nuclear Man evolve past his origins, since his single-minded purpose in destroying Superman meant that he wasn’t an interesting villain. It was good to see that he knew how best to manipulate Superman… like by attacking the people.

The CGI isn’t really good in this movie, but the atmosphere of it is still really good. I love the music… it definitely puts me in mind of Superman.

I personally think that Superman II was the best of this movies… but this one was still entertaining to watch, even if it does seem to disregard the events of Superman III. And it dealt with the issue of nuclear weapons… something I think is an important issue.

It’s a bit disappointing to have reached the last of Christopher Reeve’s Superman. I do have Superman Returns to watch next, though.

Power Play: Ragnarok on Ice

Posted by cat2002116 on July 23, 2015
Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Power Play Ragnarok on Ice

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I was quite taken by the blurb of this book when I read it for the first time. I’ve been interested in Norse mythology for a while now, so it was good to have the opportunity to read another book inspired by the Norse mythos.

It was an interesting concept to see a male character as the main character, since a lot of these types of books tend to have a female central character. And the fact that he wasn’t a teenager and was an ice hockey player were two more unique things about him.

Unfortunately, I felt a lot of the book could have been edited. There was a lot of unnecessary detail and the romance felt really forced. The problem I have with soulmates is that the two characters are just assumed to be together and there’s no time spent actually developing their relationship… which I felt was definitely the case here.

There was a lot of potential in this book. Rumil and Jack meeting for the first time worked particularly well. Her suspicion of him seemed natural and made her a more intriguing character.

Although I don’t mind reading first person POV books, I don’t like it when they switch between different POVs. And there were too many of those changes and not enough difference in the tones to make it easy to differentiate between the different characters.

It was an interesting concept about the conflict between the Aesir and the dark elves. It was nice to see that the author didn’t make the dark elves evil. And the touching palms thing was unique… even if the soulmate thing is over-used and cliched.

It was interesting to see the different versions of the characters from Norse mythology, though I think some of them came across as too much the Marvel versions of the characters… in particular Sif and, to a lesser extent, Thor.

I liked the opportunity to see Fenrir and it was also good to be able to see Sigyn. It was nice to learn about the culture of the dark elves.

I’m not sure I’ll read the next book in this series. This one read more like a first draft and could probably have done with some heavy editing. I didn’t really care about the characters as much as I should do.