Tag: Fantasy

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The Bookish Owl – Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

I’ll continue my marathon-blogging with Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.

This was the second book in the Six of Crows Duology, and it might just have contained even more devious plots and unexpected twists. I have come to really love fantasy books about criminal underworlds, where the characters are not traditional heroes. And Crooked Kingdom has a fantastic set of characters, all deeply flawed and damaged, but somehow still likable.

I think this duology has become my favorite of the Grishaverse series, and I see a rereading in my future.

Crooked Kingdom
by Leigh Bardugo

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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Top Ten Tuesday – Non-Bookish Hobbies

Witcher School Archery Class

It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday, and for once, the prompt is not book-related.

It’s Non-Bookish Hobbies, and while I don’t think I can list 10 of them, I do have quite a few.

…And they’re all ridiculously geeky.

Cosplay

Yes, I enjoy dressing up as fictional characters. It’s frowned upon to be pretending to be a dragon at most workplaces, so I do it in my spare time instead.

I make most of my costumes myself, literally pouring blood, sweat and tears into them (as well as some burned skin). Every once in a while I “cheat” and raid a thrift store in order to put together an outfit, just so I will have something comfortable to wear once I get tired of people knocking into my horns at conventions.

Dungeons & Dragons

The heading says Dungeon & Dragons, but I really play a long range of tabletop RPGs. Currently, I have been roped into campaigns for D&D, Vampire: The Masquerade and Dragon Age RPG.

Of course, these terms will mean nothing to non-geek readers, so in short: I’m still pretending to be a fantasy character, but instead of flashy costumes, I’m using flashy dice.

Dungeons and Dragons Player Book and Dice

LARP

I’m seeing a theme here, considering this is yet ANOTHER hobby where I pretend to be a made-up character. But hey, at least this one gets me out in the fresh air!

And quite often beat up in a forest in Poland…

(For non-geeks: LARP stands for Live Action Roleplaying.)

Cat School Witcher School Season 4

Gaming

Surprise, surprise, I also play a lot of video games. My favorites are fantasy games like World of Warcraft, The Witcher and Dragon Age, but every once in a while I’ll also exercise my God-complex in The Sims.

Demon Hunter Level 1

Archery

Not much to say here. I just like to shoot stuff.

Witcher School Archery Class

Falconry

Since I couldn’t really put “I own an unruly owl” as a hobby, let’s go with ‘Falconry’. I know I have some pictures somewhere of me training various Harris Hawks, but since I can’t find them, we’ll just have to feature aforementioned unruly owl.

Owl Bite

While it bothers me not to be able to find ten things for a post titled “Top Ten Tuesday”, I simply don’t have time for anymore hobbies if I’m ever going to get any work done. So this is it!

Any of you guys share my passions? If not, tell me of your hobbies, since I so rarely get the chance to talk about things other than books in my comment sections.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book (usually) blog prompt hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. They’re a lot of fun, and it’s a great way to discover and connect with other book bloggers!

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The Bookish Owl – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Today we’re closing off the Hunger Games saga with Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

I have a lot of mixed feeling about this book. It was either a brilliant commentary on the nature of tyrannical regimes and revolutions… or simply the most pointless ending to a trilogy ever.

Either way, I cried. A lot.

Spoilers ahead.

This book got shockingly personal for me, so I’m just going to give you a little backstory: My older brother died in a traffic accident when I was 10, him 14. At that time, my family had a cat named Chaos, who loved my brother and didn’t want anything to do with the rest of us. Chaos kept up this attitude for some time after my brother’s death, but eventually she would let me pet her as long as I was sitting in my brother’s old room.

So this is why I managed to keep it together pretty well through Prim’s death, and even through Katniss subsequent grief… and then absolutely lost it at the scene where Katniss bonds with Prim’s cat over their loss. My brother died 17 years ago, and I don’t usually get emotional about it anymore, but this apparently hit a nerve. Plus, Chaos lived a long life and I grew to love that cat as well, and it was a blow when she died 2 years ago.

Sorry this got so personal! But I really felt you needed to know the details to understand why I bawled my eyes out, not over a character’s tragic death, but over a scene with a grumpy cat.

But back to my mixed feelings on this ending: Katniss’s entire character arc, which ignites an entire revolution,  is kicked off by her desire to save her little sister’s life. So killing off Primrose in the final book makes it all seem like it was pointless.

Which is why the ending could either be seen as terrible or genius. Because while it left me as a reader feeling unsatisfied, it makes a lot of sense to make the whole revolution story seem like it doesn’t matter. Because, unfortunately, that’s the case with most revolutions. They always cause a lot of blood to be spilled and atrocities to be committed, but things rarely ever get better. Most of the time – like hinted is also the case in the book – the people just replace one tyrant with another.

So yeah… Lot of feelings about this book. But do enjoy Artemis accidentally trying to copy the pose from the cover!

Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins

“My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.”

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Though she’s long been a part of the revolution, Katniss hasn’t known it. Now it seems that everyone has had a hand in the carefully laid plans but her.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay – no matter what the cost.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

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The Bookish Owl – Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Happy Halloween! I wanted to do a Halloween-centric post, but as I can’t come up with a good topic for it you’re getting another Bookish Owl post. This time it’s Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo!

Six of Crows is the first of a duology set in the Grishaverse, of which I loved the original trilogy. So it says a lot that I think this book might be even better than its predecessors.

While the main trilogy followed a girl with abilities that would lead her to become a Saint, Six of Crows follows a bunch of criminals hired to break into the most secure prison in their world. And not only does the story of the heist have so many twists and turns that it’s hard to keep up, but the characters are so deep and fleshed out that you can’t help rooting for them on their insane mission.

Now enjoy Artemis doing his best crow imitation.

(He’s not very good at it.)

Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price―and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction―if they don’t kill each other first.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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The Bookish Owl – Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett

Johnny and the Bomb Terry Pratchett

Happy Friday! Today’s post features Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett.

This was the very first Pratchett book I ever read. I think I was about 12 or 13 years old, and my English teacher got tired of trying to keep me entertained whenever I finished the books we were assigned in class while everyone else was still at chapter 4, so she went to the library and got the box with all the English books (I went to school in Denmark. The selection of English books were literally in a cardboard box), put it in front of me, and told me to go nuts.

I don’t know why it took me a decade to return to Pratchett, because I remember laughing out loud at this book back then. And I’ll tell you, I was a grumpy kid. Me laughing freaked the other kids right out.

And amazingly, I still loved it upon rereading it. It’s the third and last book in the Johnny Maxwell series, but it is by far the best one. I love crazy Mrs. Tachyon and her time-traveling shopping trolley, not to mention her insane cat Guilty.

Johnny and the Bomb
by Terry Pratchett

Twelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This has never been more true than when he finds himself in his hometown on May 21, 1941, over forty years before his birth!

An accidental time traveler, Johnny knows his history. He knows England is at war, and he knows that on this day German bombs will fall on the town. It happened. It’s history. And as Johnny and his friends quickly discover, tampering with history can have unpredictable–and drastic–effects on the future.

But letting history take its course means letting people die. What if Johnny warns someone and changes history? What will happen to the future? If Johnny uses his knowledge to save innocent lives by being in the right place at the right time, is he doing the right thing?

Johnny and the Bomb Terry Pratchett