Tag: Books

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The Bookish Owl – Hard in Hightown by Varric Tethras

Hard in Hightown Varric Tethras

Time for some nerdy noir with Hard in Hightown by Varric Tethras!

(Also known as Mary Kirby… considering that Varric is a video game character.)

For those of you not familiar with the Dragon Age games, Varric Tethras is a crossbow-wielding dwarf as well as a successful writer of multiple genres.

Basically everything I aspire to be. Except maybe for the dwarf part… but if it’s a requirement for getting the crossbow, I’m willing to invest in a stepladder.

Hard in Hightown, a noir detective story and Varric’s most popular book, is mentioned in Dragon Age II, and you can find all the individual chapters around the world in Dragon Age: Inquisition. So it’s really just my nerdness that made me buy a physical copy. But this one has illustrations!

I do, however, think they could have made the story a bit longer when they decided to release it as its own book. But I enjoyed it, even though it’s short and rather predictable. Sometimes it’s nice to just read something like that.

Hard in Hightown
by Varric Tethras

Prolific dwarven author and heroic companion of the Dragon Age games, Varric Tethras brings us the collected edition of his breakthrough crime-noir drama, Hard in Hightown (with help from his trusted human confidante, Mary Kirby)! This volume is beautifully illustrated by Stefano Martino, Alvaro Sarraseca, Andres Ponce, and Ricardo German Ponce Torres, with a painted cover by E.M. Gist!

Twenty years of patrols have chiseled each and every stone of the Kirkwall streets into city guardsmen Donnen Brennokovic. Weary and weathered, Donnen is paired with a recruit so green he might as well have leaves growing out of his armor. When the mismatched pair discover a dead magistrate bleeding out on the flagstones, they’re caught up in a clash between a shadowy organization known only as the Executors and a secretive group of Chantry agents–all over some ancient artifact.

Hard in Hightown Varric Tethras

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The Bookish Owl – Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett

Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett

I’m still alive. And to prove it, I give you Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett!

I swear that I’m really back this time. It’s been a couple of weeks since things calmed down around here, and now I’m finally done hiding under a blanket because I’m scared of checking my emails. My brain still sounds like the engine of an old car on a cold morning when I try to work on blog posts, but after a few false starts, I do get it rolling.

This also means that you are now allowed to hunt me down and kick me in the ass if I don’t reply to comments on here. There are no more excuses.

(Though I might try to come up with a few…)

About the book: Johnny and the Dead is the second book in the Johnny Maxwell series and I liked it more than Only You Can Save Mankind. However, I could not tell you the morale of the story, even if my life depended on it. I get the strong feeling that there is a morale in there somewhere, but in that case it flew right over my head. But hey, who needs a point to the story when it’s funny?

Johnny and the Dead
by Terry Pratchett

Over their dead bodies . . .

Not many people can see the dead (not many would want to). Twelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell can. And he’s got bad news for them: the council want to sell the cemetery as a building site. But the dead have learnt a thing or two from Johnny. They’re not going to take it lying down . . . especially since it’s Halloween tomorrow.

Besides, they’re beginning to find that life is a lot more fun than it was when they were . . . well . . . alive. Particularly if they break a few rules . . .

Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett

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The Bookish Owl – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins

I know it’s been a while, but I’m back with new Bookish Owl posts, and today’s book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins!

I’m so sorry for being absent lately and not keeping up with replying to comments or staying in touch with my blogger friends. It’s just been crazy lately (you might have noticed I recently published a new book), and it’s been all I could do just to remember to do basic things such as eating…

I hope you haven’t all given up on me!

But seeing as I’m 18 books behind, I better get on with the book stuff. As mentioned above, the featured book in this post is ‘The Hunger Games’. I first read this many years ago and while I remember liking it well enough, it didn’t really drive me to rush out to get the next book in the series, and in the end I never got around to it at all. However, after rereading it, I absolutely loved it!

I think the reason I didn’t really love it the first time around was because I found it a bit far-fetched. But now, after America got a reality star who have dick competitions with dictators as President, somehow I can TOTALLY imagine a government turning kids into celebrities before throwing them into an arena to kill each other.

It’s a slightly depressing reason for changing your mind about a book, isn’t it…?

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

WINNING MEANS FAME AND FORTUNE.
LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.
THE HUNGER GAMES HAVE BEGUN. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and once girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.

The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins

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Broken Melody is Out Today!

Broken Melody Book Graphic

Broken Melody Book Graphic

Broken Melody is out today, which means that you can now get it as both ebook and paperback!

Happy Release Day to me!

I’m celebrating on a beach on Crete right now, but that does not mean it wouldn’t make everything just a little better if I see some numbers on the sales report when I get time to check in.

Is that enough of a hint or do I need to try harder?

Go buy the book.

You can get it at Amazon and a lot of other places. I expect even more vendors will follow in the coming days, so there should be plenty of options.

For now, I will enjoy a well-earned break in the Greek sun. But I look forward to coming back to the online community I have grossly neglected over the past couple of months, so don’t completely give up on me!

…Now go buy my book.

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Questions I Would Ask My Favorite Authors

Terry Pratchett

Time for another Top Ten Tuesday, because it’s… Tuesday.

I know I have been quiet for the past couple of weeks, but for once I have a good excuse, since I have been busy working. I promise you’ll soon get your weekly dose of owl photos again, but today you’ll have to make do with the weekly book blog prompt hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the topic is Questions I Would Ask My Favorite Authors. I tried coming up with something different to the usual tired writing interview questions, so there won’t be any “Where do you get your inspiration from?” or “Do you ever get writer’s block?” chatter here.

Here we go!

Terry PratchettTerry Pratchett

“What’s the weirdest thing that ever happened to you?”

“Which Discworld character do you most identify with?”

“Are any of your characters based on real people? And if so, were those people pissed when they found out?”

“What do you think of the adaption of Good Omens?”

George R R MartinGeorge R. R. Martin

“Have you ever regretted killing a character?”

“Have you ever regretted NOT killing a character?”

“Do you ever wish you could transport ungrateful fans to Westeros and let them fend for themselves?”

Agatha ChristieAgatha Christie

“If you were going to commit murder yourself… How would you do it?”

“And where would you hide the body?”

J K RowlingJ. K. Rowling

“What the hell is wrong with you…?”