Tag: Owls

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The Bookish Owl – The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant

Gather around, thieves and beggars, for The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant!

I have never read Lés Miserables nor seen any of the adaptions of the story, but maybe that’s exactly why I enjoyed this reimagining so much. I find that having preconceived ideas about how the characters should act sets you up for disappointment, especially when their roles are changed as drastically as in this story.

That being said, I really should get around to watching one of those Lés Miserable movies one of these days…

But back to the book: I think I have said this before, but I really love books about criminal underworlds, and this book is all about the politics between the various factions in the Court of Miracles. Sure, it’s also a story about a girl spending years trying to save her sister, but she really turns the criminals’ world upside down to do so.

Also, there are assassins. And I love assassins to the point where I bought Assassins’ Guild socks and wear them every Monday when I’m grumpy and murderous.

I tend to get a little sidetracked with these posts, don’t I…?

The Court of Miracles
by Kester Grant

In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina’s life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father’s fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie).

When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger–the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh–Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Her vow takes her from the city’s dark underbelly to the glittering court of Louis XVII. And it also forces Nina to make a terrible choice–protect Ettie and set off a brutal war between the guilds, or forever lose her sister to the Tiger.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant

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The Bookish Owl – War of the Spark: Forsaken by Greg Weisman

War of the Spark Forsaken Greg Weisman

We’re back in MTG territory with War of the Spark: Forsaken by Greg Weisman.

This was the follow-up to War of the Spark: Ravnica, which I read in my quest to learn more about the Magic: The Gathering universe after I joined a Ravnica-themed Dungeons & Dragons group. This book mainly focuses on the necromancer Liliana Vess, and since I’m fond of both bitchy women and necromancers, I have no complains about that. It’s also a redemption story, meaning it’s not all doom and gloom.

War of the Spark: Forsaken
by Greg Weisman

Return to the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering as the hunt for Liliana Vess is on in the aftermath of the War of the Spark.
 
The Planeswalkers have defeated Nicol Bolas and saved the Multiverse—though at grave cost. The living have been left to pick up the pieces and mourn the dead. But one loss is almost too great to bear: Gideon Jura, champion of justice and shield of the Gatewatch, is gone. As his former comrades Jace and Chandra struggle to rebuild from this tragedy, their future, like the future of the Gatewatch, remains uncertain.

As the Gatewatch’s newest member, Kaya aims to help write that future. In joining, she pledged an oath to protect the living and the dead, but now that oath will be tested. The grieving guild masters of Ravnica have tasked her with a grave mission suited to her talents as a hunter and assassin—a mission she is ordered to keep secret from the Gatewatch. She must track down and exact retribution on the traitor Liliana Vess.

But Liliana Vess has no interest in being found. Forsaken by her friends, she fled Ravnica after the defeat of Bolas. She was hostage to his wicked will, forced to assist in his terrible atrocities on pain of death—until Gideon, the last one who believed in her goodness, died in her place. Haunted by Gideon’s final gift, and hunted by former allies, Liliana now returns to a place she’d thought she’d never see again, the only place she has left: home.

War of the Spark Forsaken Greg Weisman

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The Bookish Owl – Diggers by Terry Pratchett

Diggers by Terry Pratchett

We’re kicking the week off with Diggers by Terry Pratchett.

This was the second book in the Bromeliad Trilogy, and the follow-up to Truckers. This time the alien garden gnomes – the Nomes – steals an excavator to scare the shit out of the humans.

I still don’t know what to make of this series. And not just because I have always despised garden gnomes…

Diggers
by Terry Pratchett

‘And Grimma said, We have two choices.
We can run, or we hide.
And they said, Which shall we do?
She said, We shall Fight.’

A Bright New Dawn is just around the corner for thousands of tiny nomes when they move into the ruined buildings of an abandoned quarry. Or is it?

Soon strange things start to happen. Like the tops of puddles growing hard and cold, and the water coming down from the sky in frozen bits. Then humans appear and they really mess everything up. The quarry is to be re-opened, and the nomes must fight to defend their new home. But how long will they be able to keep the humans at bay – even with the help of the monster Jekub?

Diggers by Terry Pratchett

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The Bookish Owl – Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Girls of Paper and Fire Natasha Ngan

Another day, another book. This time it’s Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan.

This story deals with the horrible themes of sexual assault, but despite that it manages to be heartwarming when it focuses on the bonds created between the girls who have to endure these awful things.

And – if you ignore the small epilogue – the ending is immensely satisfying.

Girls of Paper and Fire
by Natasha Ngan

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for…and the most demeaning. This year, there’s a ninth. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.

In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it’s Lei they’re after — the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king’s interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king’s consort. There, she does the unthinkable — she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world’s entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.

Girls of Paper and Fire Natasha Ngan

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The Bookish Owl – The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

This Saturday, we’re showing off The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty!

I know I’m coming back with a vengeance after my earlier absence, but if I don’t do these daily for a while, I won’t be caught up before the end of the year. Hopefully you’re not sick of photos of my grumpy, one-legged owl yet. If you are, well… too bad.

The Kingdom of Copper is the sequel to The City of Brass, and the second book in the Daevabad Trilogy. And really, it has it all: politics, plotting, ancient djinn soldiers, scary-as-hell water demons, and a batshit healer or two.

Basically, I liked it a lot.

The Kingdom of Copper
by S. A. Chakraborty

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her familyand one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad’s towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty