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The Bookish Owl – Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne by David Gaider

Dragon Age The Stolen Throne

Here be dragons! Just in case the ‘dragon’ in Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne by David Gaider didn’t clue you in…

The Stolen Throne is the prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, the first game in one of my all-time favorite video game franchises. And it follows Prince Maric, the father of my all-time favorite character Alistair, during his rebellion against the Orlesian usurper of the Fereldan throne. You also get to see a lot of Loghain, Jackass Supreme in Origins, but very nearly likable in this book.

Though still a jackass.

While The Stolen Throne is a good and well-written book, I think I had expected a bit more from something written by David Gaider, who was the lead writer for Dragon Age: Origins. The thing about the Dragon Age games is that they have characters you can’t help falling in love with, but the characters in this book didn’t make much of an impact on me. Don’t get me wrong, I liked them well enough and I enjoyed the book… but it just didn’t have that special something I get from the games.


If you’re a fan of the Dragon Age games as well, check out my rambling post on my favorite DA companions! Or wait around for my future Bookish Owl post on Hard in Hightown by Varric Tethras…


Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne
by David Gaider

After his mother, the beloved Rebel Queen, is betrayed and murdered by her own faithless lords, young Maric becomes the leader of a rebel army attempting to free his nation from the control of a foreign tyrant.

His countrymen live in fear; his commanders consider him untested; and his only allies are Loghain, a brash young outlaw who saved his life, and Rowan, the beautiful warrior maiden promised to him since birth. Surrounded by spies and traitors, Maric must find a way to not only survive but achieve his ultimate destiny: Ferelden’s freedom and the return of his line to the stolen throne. 


Dragon Age The Stolen Throne

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Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By

Bookshelf

Top Ten Tuesday

I’m trying something new this week and doing one of the Top Ten Tuesday prompts, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By, which seemed pretty manageable for my blog prompt debut.

I have now scoured my bookshelves to figure out who would get the 2nd through 10th spots on the list, because number 1 would be pretty obvious to anyone who’s followed this blog for any amount of time, or made the mistake of starting a conversation about fantasy books with me…


Bookshelf

Terry Pratchett

47 booksGuards Guards Terry Pratchett


Obviously Terry Pratchett takes first place. In fact, he not only takes first place, he leaves every other author in his dust. Not only have I read 47 of his books… half of them I have read twice. A few I have even read three times, and one I might have read four times.

…And I just ordered three more of his books.

George R. R. Martin

8 booksA Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin


I am not entirely sure if this one counts, since two of the books in question are so huge that they are each split in two volumes in the box set I own, but I feel like it does. The entirety of A Song of Ice and Fire + one prequel adds up to a LOT of words.

Andrzej Sapkowski

8 booksSeason of Storms Witcher


Andrzej Sapkowski ties with GRRM for second place, and like GRRM, all the books I have read by this author is in the same series. In this case, it’s The Witcher.

J. K. Rowling

7 booksHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Cover


Surprise, surprise – I have read all 7 of the Harry Potter books. Honestly, they should count for more, considering I have read them in different languages (all 7 books in both Danish and English, and The Philosopher’s Stone in German as well), but that’s where we’re getting into technicalities.

Richard A. Knaak

6 books


I have read 6 of Richard A. Knaak’s World of Warcraft companion novels.

Christie Golden

5 books


Like with Knaak, I know Christie Golden from her World of Warcraft novels. I have read 5 of them, but I think I have 3 or 4 more stuffed away somewhere.

Leigh Bardugo

5 books


I have read 5 of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books, and two more are waiting on my shelf.

Tamora Pierce

5 books


Another 5-booker, where I intend to read more.

Genevieve Cogman

5 books


I have read 5 of the books in Genevieve Cogman’s The Invisible Library series.

Neil Gaiman

4 books


3 Neil Gaiman books take up the incredibly small space left over on the two shelves my Terry Pratchett collection occupies. They sit next to Good Omens, which was co-authored by the two of them.


Yeah, so… Very convincing victory to Sir Terry Pratchett!

I’m sure the list would have looked quite different if I could remember all the mystery novels I read as a teenager, but these are the authors I have read the most books from WITHOUT raiding my mother’s bookshelves.

What about you guys? Do we share any favorite authors, or do you have your own Pratchett who takes up half your available bookshelf space?

 

 

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June’s Book Haul

Fantasy Book haul

Guess what’s more wonderful than getting a package full of books?

Getting a HUGE package full of books.

But my order actually got split into three, so I just got one big package, one medium-sized package and a small package… But it still adds up to 22 books, so it’s a good haul. I know it’s July, but this is a post about June’s book haul, since it took some time for all the shipments to arrive.

Aren’t they pretty?

Book Haul

The books I got were:

  • The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
  • Six of Crows Boxed Set by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom)
  • The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
  • The Hunger Games 10th Anniversary Boxset by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay)
  • The Complete Tales of H.P. Lovecraft by H. P. Lovecraft (duh)
  • Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights by Sylvia Feketekuty
  • Dragon Age: Hard In Hightown by Varric Tethras (AKA Mary Kirby)
  • Magic: The Gathering – Ravnica by Greg Weisman
  • Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett
  • Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett
  • Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett
  • Dodger by Terry Pratchett
  • This Savage Song by V. E. Schwab
  • A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
  • The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden
  • Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
  • House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
  • European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
  • The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss

I had to rearrange all my bookshelves to fit them in (the Lovecraft collection was far too tall for my shelves, but far too gorgeous to put in horizontally), but it was so worth it. Some of these books are just so darn beautiful, and the six I’ve already read were great.

The Complete Tales of H. P. Lovecraft

I have long wanted to read some Lovecraft and when I came across this absolutely amazing special edition of his completed works, I knew I had to own it. It’s hardback, taller than any of my other books, and more than 1000 pages, so I will probably injure my wrists reading it, but it’s sooo pretty…

The Complete Works of H. P. Lovecraft

Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom and The Language of Thorns

I have quickly grown to love Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, so of course I had to get the books I was missing.

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are both pretty dull-looking next to the shiny copies of the rest of the series, but The Language of Thorns is so gorgeous, both inside and out. Not only is the hardback incredibly beautiful, each page inside is illustrated as well!

The only problem I have with the Grishaverse is that NONE of the subseries are the same height. It’s messing with my bookshelf OCD that I have one series with books of four different heights…

Six of Crows and The Language of ThornsLanguage of Thorns Page Illustration

The Hunger Games 10th Anniversary Boxset

I read the first Hunger Games book years ago, but when I wanted to give the series another try, I couldn’t find my copy anywhere. This gave me a great excuse to buy a complete boxset – with The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay – and the 10th Anniversary edition is really pretty. It’s all shiny and impossible to photograph.

Hunger Games 10th Anniversary Box Set

Pratchett YA

I guess the only thing surprising about this section is that there’s still Pratchett books I haven’t bought yet…

These are some of Terry Pratchett’s books for younger readers, Dodger and the Johnny Maxwell trilogy. Johnny and the Bomb was actually the very first Pratchett book I ever read, way back in middle school, and one of the first books I read in English, so I’m excited about getting to read the entire series.

However, a problem with availability means I didn’t get all the books in the same edition, so I’m going to be grumbling about that for a while…

Terry Pratchett Johhny Maxwell Dodger

The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club

I read the first book of this series without knowing it was part of a series, so by the end I hadn’t sated my curiosity about the mysterious plot the characters were caught up in. Nothing for it, except to buy the next books!

Dragon Age and Magic: The Gathering

My obsession with Dragon Age started years ago, so of course I needed some tie-in novels while waiting for the fourth game. And I recently became part of a Ravnica-themed Dungeons & Dragons party, but I have never played Magic: The Gathering, so I need to study some lore, so I know who all the people trying to kill me are…

Dragon Age and Ravnica books

All the Rest

These are (almost) all new authors to me that I’m excited to read!

Fantasy Book haul

Have you read any of these? If so, let me know in the comments if I need to move some of them further up my TBR list!

 

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Smashwords’ Summer/Winter Sale 2020

Book Covers Michelle Louring

Book Covers Michelle Louring

It’s time for another Smashwords’ Summer/Winter sale!

For the entire month of July, the ebook store Smashwords will have thousands of discounted and free ebooks.

I hope all of you in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying the weather and getting a lot of reading done, and not – like me – up to your ears in thistles while trying to weed the garden. Summer does have its disadvantages.

But it’s all worth it when you get to sit outside in the evening sun with a good book and a cold drink! My library is well-stocked for once, but that won’t stop me from checking out every book sale I come across. You never know when you might need those 57 new books…

Of course I’m an author as well as a reader, so as always, my own books are to be found among the discounted titles on Smashwords. I’m not telling you to go download them, but…

You should go download them.

All kidding aside, I’m truly hoping to find some great deals this year. As you probably know, I’m fond of Fantasy and Horror, but I might give some other genres a try if I see something interesting.

Readers, feel free to post your favorite Summer/Winter Sale finds in the comments!

Smashwords’ Summer/Winter Sale

1. July – 31. July 2020

Resounding Echo Michelle Louring cover
Resounding Echo – FREE
Silent Sound Michelle Louring cover
Silent Sound – 75% OFF
Quiet Whisper Michelle Louring cover
Quiet Whisper – 75% OFF
Ghostly Scream Michelle Louring cover
Ghostly Scream – 75% OFF
Redesign Fantasy Cover
Huntress – FREE
Book Cover Demon
Demon’s Dance – FREE
Song of Angels Book Cover
Song of Angels – 75% OFF
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The Bookish Owl – Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

Lights! Camera! Action! It’s Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett.

This has always been my least favorite Discworld book, but I did like it a little better upon rereading it. I do, however, think it could have been vastly improved by more scenes with the wizards. Especially since this is the book that introduces Archchancellor Ridcully, my favorite wizard and nightmare boss. But then again, there’s only so many times the poor Bursar can be nearly shot by his new boss before he loses it, and he did deserve to keep his sanity, at least until the end of the book…

But the mental image of most of Unseen University’s faculty clinging to to Windle Poon’s racing wheelchair while screaming their heads off was amazing, and I could have used more of that. Compared to that, Victor just wasn’t that interesting a main character.


Moving Pictures
by Terry Pratchett

‘Holy wood is a different sort of place. People act differently here. Everywhere else the most important things are gods or money or cattle. Here, the most important thing is to be important.’

People might say that reality is a quality that things possess in the same way that they possess weight. Sadly alchemists never really held with such a quaint notion. They think that they can change reality, shape it to their own purpose. Imagine then the damage that could be wrought if they get their hands on the ultimate alchemy: the invention of motion pictures, the greatest making of illusions. It may be a triumph of universe-shaking proportions. It’s either that or they’re about to unlock the dark terrible secret of the Holy Wood hills – by mistake…


Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett