Monday 27 February 2012

The Devil's Desire

The Devil's DesireThe Devil's Desire 
by Laurie McBain

"IMPETUOUS DESIRE ... SEARING PASSION ... ENDURING LOVE
In a rousing, unforgettable saga that sweeps across the valleys and peaks of human destiny, the stormy alliance of beautiful young Lady Elysia Demarice and Lord Alex Trevegne plumbs the depths of raw human emotion -- lust, jealousy and hate -- for though Lord Alex has married Elysia, he cannot possess her in flesh or spirit. Out of the turbulence of their clashing wills comes one of the greatest love stories ever written, as their twin passions mingle at last, in a rippling tide of liquid fire!"
 

I first read this book when I was 12 years old. I just thought it was wonderfull but it were my ingenuous and innocent heart and mind talking.
 
I read this book again some weeks ago and I still think the same!
 
It's lovely, romantic, old-fashioned and I love it.

Sunday 26 February 2012

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

Friday 24 February 2012

Kushiel's Dart


Kushiel's Dart

Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel: Phèdre's Trilogy #1)

by

"The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission...and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair...and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.



This book is tight, intricate and addicting. I have never guessed that I would like a character with masochistic tendencies who sleeps with "whoever she wilt". But I did. I also liked the way the author weaves politics, war, betrayal, treachery and love into this story. 
It's a light and involving story to read before  go to sleep and to forget for some moments stressing things.

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Magician: Apprentice


Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga, #1)

Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga #1)

by
To the forest on the shore of the Kingdom of the Isles, the orphan Pug came to study with the master magician Kulgan. But though his courage won him a place at court and the heart of a lovely Princess, he was ill at ease with the normal ways of wizardry. Yet Pug's strange sort of magic would one day change forever the fates of two worlds. For dark beings from another world had opened a rift in the fabric of spacetime to being again the age-old battle between the forces of Order and Chaos."
 
Feist creates a wonderful tale about politcs, war, love, and becoming a man and this story pulled me in very quickly and I loved it from the first chapter. The epic scope it as well as it being the first time I'd ever read about dragons, magicians, elves, dwarves etc.
 
It's a fantastic book and I highly recemend it.

Assassin's Apprentice


Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)

Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1)

by
"Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom."
 
The world presented in this book was a little too familiar (not that far from generic fantasy) but I do like the way it was presented, through the narrator's experiences, which made it and the people who live in it quite real enough. 
 
Things don't always go so well for Fitz. The poor bastard. How much punishment can one person take. His story is heart-wrenching, and I felt so sad in the end. Life isn't a fairy tale at all for him.
 
This is the kind of fantasy I need more of!

Daughter of the Blood


Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels #1) 

by Anne Bishop 

"The Dark Kingdom is preparing itself for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy--the arrival of a new Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But this new ruler is young, and very susceptible to influence and corruption; whoever controls her controls the Darkness. And now, three sworn enemies begin a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal, and the destiny of an entire world is at stake."

 This is a story different from we ever seen, with a society highly female orientated, where males taking up the positions of the sexual whores that service the witch queens. Some of the characters even wear a Ring of Obedience around their private member to keep them in line. They are used for sexual pleasure and torture and if anyone jumps out of line, they end up shaved.

I really enjoy this book because is different from the others and brings the idea that dark is not always associated with bad thing.

 

If you enjoy reading Dark Fantasy, I'm sure that you will love this book.

Saturday 18 February 2012

A Game of Thrones


A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1)
by George RR Martin

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.  

This is the first volume of an amazing and magnificent cycle of novels by George RR Martin. At the beginning I found it hard to read because there were so many characters and places to know and I became a little confused, but after that I start to enjoy it.

Well, I can say that I became addicted to the story and I just left the book after I read it all. I entered in the story and felt pain, affection, anger like my favourite characters.

If you like stories with action, suspence, intrigue, romance, devotion, greed, arrogance, a little bit fantasy, lots of characters and unpredictable moves, this is for you. This book have it all!

Loved it :)

Introduction

Hi everyone!

I’m a huge fan of books and I’m here to share my opinions, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and, at the same time, try to become a better writer in this language that is so important nowadays and it is not my native language.

I have a great interest in fantasy and epic books because they can always make me forget the real cruel world we all live, at least while I’m reading. I like to think that I have a very creative mind and, when I’m reading, I can actually imagine that I’m in the middle of the story as a character and I live passionately the story.

Well, now that you know me a little bit I want you to enjoy this blog and my readings. 

Feel free to suggest me books you think that I could like.