Scrounger's Online Library

Tairen Soul 03: King of Sword and Sky by CL Wilson

2009-11-05T05:51:00.000-08:00

Returning to the Fading Lands with his Celierian truemate, Rain discovers a dissension among the most powerful members of his own council. As the Eld plot their next deadly strike, Ellysetta struggles to master her powerful magic and discover how to save the tairen, while Rain confronts open challenge to his rule and prepares to lead the Fey army to war.

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Tairen Soul 02: Lady of Light and Shadows by CL Wilson

2009-11-05T05:47:00.000-08:00

Since her earliest memories, Ellysetta Baristani has feared magic, even as she has been inexorably drawn to all things Fey, especially the poetry and legends of Rain Tairen Soul. Now claimed as Rain’s truemate and no longer able to deny her own magic, Ellysetta is swept into the very center of a struggle filled with the magic and darkness she has always feared. The High Mage of Eld wants to capture her. The most murderous dahl’reisen who ever lived wants her dead. And her enemies will corrupt even the people she loves most in their quest to claim her magic for themselves.

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Tairen Soul 01: Lord of the Fading Lands by CL Wilson

2009-11-05T05:42:00.000-08:00

Long ago, in the magical holocaust known as the Mage Wars, the immortal Fey and their allies fought to defeat the grasping evil of the Elden Mages and their dark-gifted supporters. During those wars, in a fit of grief-induced madness caused by the death of his mate, Fey shapeshifter Rain Tairen Soul nearly destroyed the world in a blaze of tairen fire.

Now, a thousand years later, the fierce Fey king must fight to save his race from the brink of extinction and once again stop the evil rising in the homeland of his enemies, the Eld. The key to his success lies in the mortal city of Celieria, where the Mage Wars began, and with a young woman whose soul sings to him in ways no woman’s ever has, whose presence reawakens the primal fury of the tairen within his soul, and whose vast, untapped power can either save or destroy him and his people.

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Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce

2009-11-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

Alianne is the sixteen-year old daughter of Tortall's legendary lady knight, Alanna the Lioness. Her mother isn't the only legend in Aly's life--from her adopted aunt Daine, a demi-goddess and mage, to her godfather, the king of Tortall, Aly lives among legends and wonders. She takes them in stride. What she cannot accept is the fact that her parents refuse to allow her the career she's been raised to by her father, that of a spy (Mom says, "not another spy in the family;" Dad says, "not my little girl!"). Aly's had enough. If her parents won't let her be a spy, then at least she means to have some fun. She gets more than she expected when she sails straight into a pirate fleet. The pirates capture her and sell her as a slave to the noble Balitang family in the Copper Isles.

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TRICKSTER'S CHOICE is the story of Aly, the daughter of the legendary Lady Knight Alanna. Trying to escape her mother's expectations that she find meaningful work outside of spying and code breaking, Aly sails away...read review here.

Uglies 4:The Extras by Scott Westerfeld

2009-10-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.

As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451,369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. But Aya doesn't care; she just wants to lie low with her drone, Moggle. And maybe kick a good story for herself.

Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. Aya wants desperately to kick their story, to show everyone how intensely cool the Sly Girls are. But doing so would propel her out of extra-land and into the world of fame, celebrity...and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.

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A few years have passed since Tally Youngblood destroyed the establishment based on pretties, uglies and specials. Now popularity runs the world. Popularity means power. Each citizen is ranked by how much she or he is talked about. Cameras record everything as they vie to be the person with the most buzz...read review here.

Uglies 3:The Specials by Scott Westerfeld

2009-10-31T04:11:00.000-07:00

"Special Circumstances":

The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor -- frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary.

And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it's easy to tune that out -- until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.

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Tally is now a Cutter, a new branch of Special Circumstances. The Cutters, led by Tally's longtime friend Shay, arrive at an uglies party looking for outsiders crashing the festivities to stir up trouble. Tally and the other Cutters are disguised as uglies, which causes Tally to feel nostalgic as she watches the poor uglies awkwardly interacting...read review here.

Uglies 2:The Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

2009-10-31T03:35:00.000-07:00

The book begins with Tally, the protagonist, as a Pretty debating what to wear to a bash. While attending the bash at which she is to be voted into the "Crims" clique, she is followed by someone who appears to be a "Special", a member of Special Circumstances, which brings back many memories for her.

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Tally's story continues from the previous book, UGLIES, in this second installment of Scott Westerfeld's futuristic trilogy. Tally is now a pretty who lives only for good times. While attending a party at which she is to be voted into the Crims clique, she is followed by someone appearing to be a member of the ominous Special Circumstances team...read review here.

Uglies 1:Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

2009-10-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

Uglies is a 2005 science fiction novel by Scott Westerfeld. Set in a future post-scarcity dystopian world in which everyone is turned "Pretty" by extreme cosmetic surgery upon reaching age 16. It tells the story of teenager Tally Youngblood who rebels against society's enforced conformity, after her new found friends Shay and David show her the downsides to becoming a "pretty". Written for young adults, Uglies deals with adolescent themes of change, both emotional and physical, and dealing with the revelation that "some of what you’re taught isn’t true, your parents are flawed human beings and the world isn’t constructed for your benefit."

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Tally can’t wait to be a pretty. Her best friend has already turned 16 and had the operation. Against all the rules, Tally sneaks into New Pretty Town and visits him, promising to do nothing to risk remaining an ugly forever. In that short summer, Tally meets Shay, another ugly who shares Tally’s birthday. The two become fast friends, but Shay, disturbingly, does not want to be a pretty. When Shay sneaks away just before their birthday, Tally is forced to go find her or never become a pretty; but after all that she discovers, does she really want to be one...read review here.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

2009-10-31T03:14:00.000-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

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The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2009-10-31T02:48:00.000-07:00

The novel, set in post- Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life.

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The Shadow of the Wind is a dream date for those who love books. It starts, in 1945, with the introduction of the young narrator, Daniel, to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Daniel’s father, a dealer of used and rare books in Barcelona, tells the young boy, “When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here.” In the Cemetery...read review here.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

2009-10-31T02:06:00.000-07:00

You're seventy-five years old, your wife is dead, and your life is winding down. What do you do next? If you're John Perry, the answer is simple: You join the military. The Colonial Defense Forces take Earth's senior citizens and retrofit them young, strong bodies -- and then throws them into the unending war humanity is waging against other civilizations up there among the stars. John Perry is in the middle of it all and learning fast to survive, because the alternatives -- for him and humanity -- are grim. And it's in the middle of this struggle for survival that Perry meets a woman who seems achingly familiar...

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Old Man's War is a tremendous, confident SF debut for well-known blogger John Scalzi. Openly patterning itself after Starship Troopers, Old Man's War takes an exciting tale of alien conflict and dresses it up intelligently with such themes as individual identity, what makes one human, the significance of mortality, and the ethics of life extension. Economically told at just over 300 pages...read review here.

Protector of the Small 2:Page by Tamora Pierce

2009-10-31T01:30:00.000-07:00

Kel fights to maintain the rigorous regimen of a page while confronting the prejudices that come with being a female in a man's world and coping with a crush on her closest friend, Neal.

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Protector of the Small 1:First Test by Tamora Pierce

2009-10-31T00:47:00.000-07:00

Continuing after Alanna the Lady Knight...In the medieval and fantastic realm of Tortall, Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl to take advantage of the decree that permits females to train for knighthood. However, all is not well as the male-minded traditions of the Realm of Tortall take her on a probationary basis. She must prove herself before her teachers, her classmates, and sometimes...even her friends.

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For ten years now the Kingdom of Tortall has allowed girls to train as pages and squires, but not one has stepped forward to do so. Then Keladry...read review here.

SOL Update

2009-10-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been uploading for a while...okay, for a long while. But I just haven't been able to decide what to do. I have some crappy ebooks here, mixed in with some half-way good ones, as well as some really spectacular books. I haven't been able to decide whether I should upload them all since their just cluttering up my memory space (the crappy ones mostly). And true to my own fashion, if I don't really want to think about something, I relegate it to the back of my mind right next to the soon-to-be-forgotten pile. Hehe...it actually hasn't been all that hard to forget about this blog, what with school and everything. But since the semester's done now, I've decided to immerse myself in this once again (since I have nothing else to do) and upload all the books currently in my laptop. I'm still debating on others, like the Uglies series by Westefeld which I never particularly favored, and some romances (since I'm a romance fan) that aren't really SF or F. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be able to make up my mind in time.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

2009-09-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

Twelve-year-old Meggie’s father has a special gift: when he reads a book aloud, the characters actually come to life. Unfortunately, some books contain creepy villains and magical creatures! Inkheart is a rousing adventure full of chases, narrow escapes, and surprising twists.
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Godspeaker 03:Hammer of God by Karen Miller

2009-09-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

PUBLISHER: Voyager
FORMAT: Paperback
RELEASED: 02-Jun-2008
ISBN-10: 0732284538
ISBN-13: 9780732284534

The powerful conclusion to this compelling series ...

In Ethrea, Rhian sits upon a precarious throne. Defiant dukes who won′t accept her rule threaten the stability of her kingdom. Dexterity has been banished from court in disgrace. The blue-haired slave Zandakar, a man she thought was her friend, has been revealed as the son of a woman sworn to destroy her world. And Rhian′s husband, King Alasdair, is unsure of her love.

The trading nations refuse to believe Mijak is a threat, and promise reprisals if she dares protect her realm. Only Emperor Han of mysterious Tzhung-tzhungchai knows that the danger from Mijak is real.

But is he an ally, or an enemy in disguise? As she struggles to learn the truth and keep her embattled crown, the murderous warhost of Mijak advances ...
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Godspeaker 02:The Riven Kingdom by Karen Milller

2009-09-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

PUBLISHER: Voyager
FORMAT: Paperback
RELEASED: 01-Dec-2007
ISBN-10: 073228452X
ISBN-13: 9780732284527

The second fabulous story in the Godspeaker trilogy ...

The King of Ethrea is dying and his only surviving heir is the Princess Rhian, but if her enemies have their way the kingdom will not be ruled by a Queen.

Ethrea, a small island of strategic importance, is known for its ability to keep the secrets of its business partners. Now civil war threatens as men of ambition eye the empty throne, and the other nations are getting nervous ... and greedy.

If Rhian cannot secure the crown, others will descend and conquer her lands. A toymaker and a mysterious exile from Mijak may be her only hope ...
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Sidenote: For a moment, I thought I was reading another book entirely. You find yourself in another Kingdom with a different culture and outlook compared to the Empress of Majik. The worldbuilding of The Riven Kingdom is to be the complete opposite Majik. What it brought to mind was a carpenter tirelessly building a sturdy foundation block by block, until a shape is formed that can stand even the strongest of earthquakes. Karen Miller devotes an entire book to the imagination of a Kingdom wholly different from her first, in both it's people, their cultures, tradition, and most importantly...Religion.

Godspeaker 01:Empress of Mijak by Karen Miller

2009-09-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

PUBLISHER: Voyager
FORMAT: Paperback
RELEASED: 01-Jun-2007
ISBN-10: 0732284511
ISBN-13: 9780732284510

When a scrawny unwanted girl child is sold into slavery, a chain of events is set in motion that will have a profound impact on all the civilized world.
Hekat is taken in chains to Mijak′s largest city, home of the warlord Raklion. She is sold into his service and learns all she can about power - its wielding and its uses - as she fetches and carries and cleans and serves. She grows into a beautiful woman and through ambition and manipulation, Hekat becomes a powerful woman eventually taking over the rulership of Mijak ... and then she sets about making it the greatest Empire ever known.

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Sidenotes: This is the beginning to a great series. It's a fantasy setting of slavery, war, and magic set against the backdrop of a cruel God, absolute obedience, and the knowledge that ,...yes...God is All-knowing, All-powerful, and Unmerciful.

Temeraire 4: Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

2009-09-07T03:51:00.000-07:00

When a virulent epidemic strikes the Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire must race to find the cure.
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Temeraire 3:Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

2009-09-07T03:45:00.000-07:00

Laurence and Temeraire travel to Istanbul for a priceless cargo of dragon eggs, but disaster threatens their mission.
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"I took a jaundiced view of "cute dragon" books until Novik won me over with her first novel. The combination of military history, sympathetic characters, and engaging style makes this series great, intelligent fun. This book, involving a perilous expedition from China to Turkey, climaxing at the siege of Danzig in 1807, is possibly the most exciting yet."
—The Times (UK)

Temeraire 2: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

2009-09-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

Laurence and Temeraire face a long and terrible journey to Imperial China, where political intrigue may divide them forever.
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Temeraire 1: His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

2009-09-07T03:21:00.000-07:00

Captain William Laurence of H.M.S. Reliant is swept from his naval career when he captures a rare dragon egg.
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Sidenotes: I loved this book. In fact, from this book, I went on to love the whole series. It's interesting how the author twined the history of the French Revolution with dragons and sea lore. It was realistic and fantastical at the same time. One of my personal favorites as a series.

Nigtht Angel 03: Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks

2009-09-07T02:59:00.000-07:00

Published: December 2008
Format: MM : $7.99 / £7.99

Logan Gyre is king of Cenaria, a country under siege, with a threadbare army and little hope. He has one chance — a desperate gamble, but one that could destroy his kingdom.

In the north, the new Godking has a plan. If it comes to fruition, no one will have the power to stop him.

Kylar Stern has no choice. To save his friends-and perhaps his enemies-he must accomplish the impossible: assassinate a goddess.

Beyond the Shadows is the action-packed conclusion to the Night Angel Trilogy.

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Night Angel 02:Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks

2009-09-07T02:57:00.000-07:00

Published: November 2008
Format: MM $7.99 / £7.99

Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin’s life. The Godking’s successful coup has left Kylar’s master, Durzo, and his best friend, Logan, dead. He is starting over: new city, new friends, and new profession.

But when he learns that Logan might actually be alive and in hiding, Kylar is faced with an agonizing choice: will he give up the way of shadows forever and live in peace with his new family, or will he risk everything by taking on the ultimate hit?

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Night Angel 01:The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

2009-09-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

Published: October 2008
Format: MM $7.99 / £7.99

The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets.

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city’s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly — and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics — and cultivate a flair for death.

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Song of the Lioness 1-4 & The Immortals 1-4 by Tamora Pierce

2009-08-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

The Song of the Lioness is the first quartet of fantasy books by Tamora Pierce. They tell the story of how Alanna of Trebond (disguised as the boy Alan) swaps places with her twin brother Thom to train as a knight in the royal palace. Alanna meets new friends along her journey, including George, the charming and mischievous King of Thieves; the lovable but unkempt scholar Sir Myles of Olau; Gary of Naxen; Raoul of Goldenlake; Princess Thayet of Sarain; Liam the Shang Dragon; and Prince Jonathan of Conté, Alanna's best friend. She also meets several foes, including Ralon of Malven and Duke Roger of Conté, Jonathan's charming but sly cousin. Alanna also acquires a new pet—her mysterious black cat Faithful, who, true to his name, keeps her from harm.

The Immortals quartet is the story of Veralidaine Sarrasri (known as Daine), an orphan with an unusual talent: she can speak with animals.
Daine is accompanied on her travels by the black-robe mage Numair Salmalin, a young dragon named Skysong (or Kitten), and her trusty pony Cloud. She is also friends with Onua and the legendary Alanna of Trebond (also known as the Lioness), King Jonathan and Queen Thayet of Tortall, and many animals, immortals, and other humans. Born in a town called Snowsdale in the country of Galla, Daine also travels to many other kingdoms, including Carthak.

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Dresden Files 1-7 by Jim Butcher

2009-08-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

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Fever Series 1-4 by Karen Marie Moning

2009-08-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Darkfever
MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands. . . .

Bloodfever
Mackayla Lane's ordinary life underwent a complete makeover when she landed on Ireland's shores and was plunged into a dark, deadly realm unlike any she ever imagined. In her fight to stay alive, Mac must find the Sinsar Dubh—a million-year old book of the blackest magic imaginable that holds the key to power over both the worlds of Fae and Man. Pursued by Fae assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she cannot trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and irresistible men: V'lane, the insatiable Fae, who can turn sensual arousal into an obsession for any woman; and the ever-inscrutable Jericho Barrons, a man as alluring as he is mysterious.

For centuries, the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them...

Faefever
He calls me his Queen of the Night. I'd die for him. I'd kill for him, too. When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister's journal, she is stunned by Alina's desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister's killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it.

Mac's quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V'lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

As All Hallows Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds with devastating consequences.

Dreamfever
MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master's spell. In the New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning's stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin's battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest-and most erotically charged-adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister's murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac's every thought-and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V'lane vie for her body and soul, as she rallies the sidhe-seers to fight an impossible battle, and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac's greatest enemy delivers a final challenge...

It's an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth-about herself, and about the world she thought she knew

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The Alchemist's Legacy 01:Tracing the Shadow by Sarah Ash

2009-08-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Sarah Ash’s acclaimed trilogy, the Tears of Artamon, was a stunning blend of sorcery and intrigue, politics and breathtaking imagery. Now she returns with the tale of a siege between kingdoms, and a battle between heretics and believers—each with their own truths, their own lies, and their own soul-shattering discoveries waiting to be made.

The kingdom of Francia has purged its magi. But when a young Guerrier rescues an orphaned street waif, little does he know that she is the daughter of a magus who met his end on their pyres—or that she is guarded by an aethyric spirit and driven by the name of the traitor who condemned her father to flames. With the gift of song infused within her, her voice will bring her before the most powerful heads of state. And she will craft herself into a weapon—aimed at the heart of the man she despises.

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-08-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

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 one 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, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

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Jumper 03:Griffin's Story by Steven Gould

2009-08-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Griffin has a secret. It’s a secret that he’s sworn to his parents to keep, and never tell. Griffin is a Jumper: a person who can teleport to any place he has ever been. The first time was when he was five, and his parents crossed an ocean to protect the secret. The most important time was when he was nine. That was the day that the men came to his house and murdered his parents. Griffin knows that the men were looking for him, and he must never let them find him. Griffin grows up with only two goals: to survive, and to kill the people who want him dead. And a Jumper bent on revenge is not going to let anything stand in his way. Jumper, based on Steven Gould's earlier novel of the same name, will be a major motion picture scheduled for release by 20th Century Fox starring Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Doug Limon. Jumper: Griffin's Story features the character played by Jamie Bell in the film.

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Jumper 02:Reflex by Steven Gould

2009-08-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

Davy has always been alone. He believes that he's the only person in the world who can teleport.But what if he isn't'A mysterious group of people has taken Davy captive. They don't want to hire him, and they don't have any hope of appealing to him to help them.What they want is to own him. They want to use his abilities for their own purposes, whether Davy agrees to it or not.And so they set about brainwashing him and conditioning him. They have even found a way to keep a teleport captive.But there's one thing that they don't know. No one knows it, not even Davy.And it might save his life....

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Jumper by Steven Gould

2009-08-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

An American Library Association "Best Book for Young Adults"
An International Reading Association "Young Adults' Choice"

Deciding he has finally had enough abuse from his drunken father and is now determined to get away--any way he can--Davy discovers that he has the ability to teleport anywhere he wants. So he "jumps" to New York City. But next he finds himself desperately short on cash, so he "jumps" into a bank vault. While living the high life in the Big City and testing the limits of his power, Davey makes another startling discovery--the mother whom he thought had abandoned him.

But a new tragedy and other events plunge Davy into a dangerous and mysterious world of terrorists and government espionage. This time there may be no safe place for "the Jumper."

***download here***

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

2009-08-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter—the world's only totally reliable guide to the future—the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea...

***download here***

Side Note: Don't be deceived by short synopsis. This is one of the best books you could possibly read out there. It's funny, apocalyptic, and controlled by demons and angels who play both sides, what could be better?

Queen of Orcs 03:Royal Destiny by Morgan Howell

2009-08-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

“Dar never loses our admiration and compassion–qualities at the heart of any struggling hero.”
–Karin Lowachee, author of Warchild

A delicate alliance between human and orc has been achieved. Now Queen of the Orcs, Dar works toward making that peace last. Her position has helped her to finally feel part of a community, to find a life to call her own.

But sudden, strange outbreaks of unrest and ominous signs throw both realms into turmoil. Dar must draw on her knowledge and skills to confront a merciless long-time enemy–and an evil she once only barely survived. To keep human and orc from destroying one another, Dar risks everything on a desperate gamble–and her own future on a heartbreaking sacrifice.

***download here***

Queen of Orcs 02:Clan Daughter by Morgan Howell

2009-08-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

Enslaved by King Kregant’s army, Dar survived by befriending the fierce orcs who were also forced to serve. Now she has escaped–only to find that the price of freedom may be her destiny.

Calling on her untried leadership abilities, Dar guides the surviving orc soldiers to the safety of their homeland–but the clan leaders refuse to accept her unless she can release their queen from Kregant’s fortress. Shaken by her growing gift for dark prophecy and a fate she feels unprepared to accept, Dar must infiltrate the very heart of the despot’s empire. There she will discover unexpected treachery and an ancient power that threatens the future of all.

***download here***

...read review here.

Queen of Orcs 01:King's Property by Morgan Howell

2009-08-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Born into hardship, Dar learns to rely on herself alone. When her family betrays her, Dar is conscripted into King Kregant’s army and its brutal campaign to conquer a neighboring country. Now she is bound as a slave to a dreaded regiment of orcs, creatures legendary for their savagery and battle prowess.

Rather than cower, Dar rises to the challenge. She learns the unique culture and language of the orcs, survives treachery from both allies and enemies, and struggles to understand a mystical gift that brings her dark, prophetic visions. As the war escalates–amid nightmarish combat and shattering loss–Dar must seize a single chance at freedom.

“Original and vivid. I was captivated.”
–Nancy Kress, author of Beggars in Spain

***download here***

Tattoo Faeries 03:Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

2009-08-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone—but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he'd ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who'd always terrified her—but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she'd ever imagined.

In Melissa Marr's third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

***download here***

Tattoo Faeries 02:Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

2009-08-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.

The tattoo does bring changes—not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils. . . .

***download here***

Tattoo Faeries 01:Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

2009-08-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.
But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faerie intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning 21^st century faery tale.

***download here***

Sevenwaters 03:Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier

2009-08-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

Magic is fading... and the ways of Man are driving the Old Ones to the West, beyond the ken of humankind. The ancient groves are being destroyed, and if nothing is done, Ireland will lose its essential mystic core.

The prophecies of long ago have foretold a way to prevent this horror, and it is the Sevenwaters clan that the Spirits of Eire look to for salvation. They are a family bound into the lifeblood of the land, and their promise to preserve the magic has been the cause of great joy to them... as well as great sorrow.

It is up to Fianne, daughter of Niamh, the lost sister of Sevenwaters, to solve the riddles of power. She is the shy child of a reclusive sorcerer, and her way is hard, for her father is the son of the wicked sorceress Oonagh, who has emerged from the shadows and seeks to destroy all that Sevenwaters has striven for. Oonagh will use her granddaughter Fianne most cruelly to accomplish her ends, and stops at nothing to see her will done.

Will Fianne be strong enough to battle this evil and save those she has come to love?

***download here***

Sevenwaters 02:Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier

2009-08-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Son of the Shadows continues the saga of beautiful Sorcha, the courageous young woman who risked all to save her family from wicked curse and whose love shattered generations of hate and bridged two cultures.

It is from her sacrifice that her brothers were brought home to Sevenwaters. But not all the brothers were able to escape the spell that transformed them into swans, and those who did were all more—and less—that they were before the change. It is left to Sorcha's daughter Liadan to take up the tale that the Sevenwaters clan is destined to fulfill. Beloved child, dutiful daughter, Liadan embarks on a journey that opens her eyes to the wonders of the world around her...and shows her just how hard-won was the peace that she has known all her life.

She will need all of her courage to help her family, for there are forces far darker than anyone could have guessed and ancient powers conspiring to destroy this family's peace—and their world. And she will need the strength to stand up to those she loves best...for in the finding of her own true love, Liadan may doom them all...or be their salvation.

***download here***

Sevenwaters 01:Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

2009-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Lord Colum of Sevenwaters is blessed with six sons: Liam, a natural leader; Diarmid, with his passion for adventure; twins Cormack and Conor, each with a different calling; rebellious Finbar, grown old before his time by his gift of the Sight; and the young, compassionate Padriac.

But it is Sorcha, the seventh child and only daughter, who alone is destined to defend her family and protect her land from the Britons and the clan known as Northwoods. For her father has been bewitched, and her brothers bound by a spell that only Sorcha can lift.

Exiled from Sevenwaters and cast out into the forest and beyond, Sorcha falls into the hands of the enemy. Now she is torn between the life that she has always known and a love that comes only once.

Thus the famous legend of the six brothers who turn into swans, and the sister who must save them, is beautifully retold by Juliet Marillier

***download here***

The Veiled Web by Catherine Asaro

2009-08-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Lucia del Mar, professional ballerina, finds her life turned upside down when she is accidentally pulled into an international conspiracy involving a new brand of artificial intelligence, with her unique perspective holding the power to make that force a good or evil one. To make matters more difficult, the source of the issue is the man she loves—Rashid al-Jazari—who may or may not be the idealist he appears to be. On top of these problems, Lucia also has to adapt to living in a conservative Muslim household.

***download here***

The Night Bird by Catherine Asaro

2009-08-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

For centuries the women of Aronsdale have lived freely among the green and misted valleys. Creatures of exotic beauty and sensuality, they possess powerful skills of enchantment...and young Allegro is no different. But her life--and Aronsdale's independence--is threatened when Jazid nomads invade, carrying Allegro into the desert as a prized trophy...or worse.

Until an unexpected ally falls under her spell. From the moment feared Jazid warrior Markus Onyx sees the alluring beauty, he knows he has found his queen.
But even the promise of love cannot quell Allegro's determination to save her homeland. Summoning her powers, she casts herself north--out of passion's grip--and into the dark heart of conflict....

***download here***

Misted Cliffs 01:The Charmed Sphere by Catherine Asaro

2009-08-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

Once Chime had been the most promising mage in the land, feted and celebrated for her potential and future role in the kingdom. Then Iris, her young competitor, made a stunning leap in skill and turned Chime's world upside down.

Now no longer the most powerful, no longer promised to a prince -- and still unable to harness her magic properly -- Chime was set adrift. As was the new king's cousin -- and former heir -- Lord Muller. Yet when the neighboring kingdom threatened war, Muller and Chime were tasked with uncovering the plot. Both were flawed, yet unwilling to accept a lesser destiny than they had once known. Could this quest be the opportunity for redemption -- or would it lead them to their deaths?

Award-winning author Catherine Asaro, creator of The Skolian Empire, creates her first full-length fantasy novel in a world rich with magic and power. Fans who caught a glimpse of the kingdom of Aronsdale in "Moonglow" from the Charmed Destinies collection are delighted with the result!

***download here***

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

2009-08-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

I guess everyone knows what Brave New World is. A futuristic prediction on what the world would be maybe a hundred years from now. Humans cloned and produced on an assembly line, all of them being divided between castes Alpha, Beta, Epsilon, etc. All of them controlled by the planning of their very regulated society. It seemed lacking not to upload it here as well.

***download here***

Elegy for a Lost Star by Elizabeth Haydon

2009-07-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Elegy for a Lost Star sets the stage for a major turning point in the Symphony of Ages series.

The dragon Anwyn--who has lain for three years in deathlike sleep in a grave of rock and black coal is freed by the cataclysm that concluded Requiem for the Sun. Disoriented and confused, she remembers only two things: the person who trapped her in dragon form and locked her in a rocky grave--Rhapsody; and an all-encompassing desire to wreak vengeance.

Meanwhile, Achmed, the Firbolg king, resumes rebuilding the his shattered home, while a guild of merciless assassins set about taking revenge on him for the killing of their leader.

A horribly deformed but magical being finds its way through a carnival of freaks to the palace of an evil despot, who sees in it the potential to be the instrument by which his plans of conquest and brutal domination of a continent will be realized.

With the rise of new leaders, good and evil, the long-awaited birth of the Child of Time, the dark plans of assassins and rulers, a confrontation that shakes the relationship of the Three, and a battle to the death between two dragons of unimaginable elemental power, the seeds of chaos are planted for a war that will, by its end, consume half of the world.

***download here***

Rhapsody and her half-dragon husband Ashe are enjoying the quiet serenity of married life. Both are elated that she is carrying his child and look forward to raising a brood of kids together. The calm has allowed their allies King Achmed and Grunthor to make progress on restoring the kingdom of Ylorc. Finally, they celebrate that their ward Gwydion has become an adult...read review here.

Requiem for the Sun by Elizabeth Haydon

2009-07-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

It has been three years since their devastating battle, and peace has settled across their land. But to the south an empire lies ready to crumble. When the Dowager Empress dies, along with her successor, a great war breaks out, threatening to overwhelm the known world.
And an old nemesis of Rhapsody’s--presumed dead for centuries--resurfaces, forcing her to choose between facing his depravity or sacrificing her own life . . . and that of her unborn child.

***download here***

After all the battles, adventures and trials Rhapsody the singer, Achmed the Firbolg king, and Grunthor his Sergeant-Major have gone through, they are now at peace with themselves and the world around them. Achmed and Grunthor are rebuilding the once mighty civilization in the ruins of Ylorc. Rhapsody and her husband Ashe, who is part human and part dragon, are the titular rulers of the loosely...read review here.

Destiny:Child of the Sky by Elizabeth Haydon

2009-07-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

When last we saw our lovely heroine Rhapsody and her two best friends Achmed and Grunthor, they had just rescued the Sleeping Child from the evil tendrils of the F'dor. But as they found out through the tragic loss of their young friend Jo, the three must follow the demon's trail of violence and blood, finding the children it has spawned across the land in order to track it down and destroy it once and for all. As in the previous two books, Rhapsody's love of her friends and desire to save children in danger drive her most reckless actions.

***download here***

The final battle between F'Dor and the triad that leads the opposition (Rhapsody, Achmed, and Grunthor) seems eminent. Though the intrepid trio has defeated F'Dor in the recent past, history cannot guarantee final victory. Grunthor trains his army for the omega confrontation while Rhapsody and Achmed search the countryside for F'Dor's 'children' to perhaps enable a backdoor...read review here.

http://thebestreviews.com/review913

Prophecy:Child of Earth by Elizabeth Haydon

2009-07-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

Prophecy continues the stories of Rhapsody, the Namer who uses song, herb-lore, and affinities with fire and starlight to heal and protect, and her adoptive family: Achmed the Snake, an obnoxious former assassin and King of the savage Firbolg race, and Grunthor, his huge, cheerfully cannibalistic sidekick. Rhapsody travels in the company of the mysterious Ashe, who becomes much less mysterious as the story progresses. She meets a dragon, trains with a Lirin swordmistress who once carried Rhapsody's fiery sword, Daystar Clarion, and races to prevent the assassination of the Patriarch of Sepulvarta. Meanwhile, Achmed and Grunthor discover secrets of their mountain stronghold and learn more of their own powers. Together they repel renewed attacks by the F'dor, a demon seeking apocalyptic destruction. But they have not yet identified the demon's host or disarmed all of its agents, and time is running out.

***download here***

Elizabeth Haydon's Prophecy follows Rhapsody, which introduced the eponymous Rhapsody (a singer of immense powers through her knowledge of the past and of names), Achmed (an assassin of legendary powers and abilities) and Grunthor (a giant creature with military bearing, who likes to talk ...read review here.

Rhapsody: Child of Blood by Elizabeth Haydon

2009-07-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

Rhapsody: Child of Blood is a fantasy/adventure novel, though it opens with a strong romantic scene. The main story begins in Easton, when the protagonist Rhapsody finds herself in jeopardy, having refused the advances of Michael, the self-titled Wind of Death. In her attempt to get away, she falls in with two mysterious men named Grunthor and Achmed and soon finds herself the unwilling accomplice in their own escape. Though they run from their pasts, they eventually realize that no one can outrun their destinies.

***download here***

I tell you now, this is a pretty hefty book, but it is worth its pages. It starts off with a confusing introduction into the story. A young boy seems to be cut off from his own time in the future and is transferred into the past by way of a Time Editor. At first I thought there was a mixing of SF until I realized...read review here.

EBook Update (about school)

2009-07-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I'd just like to inform everyone (all the people who actually go to this blog) that, as you may have noticed, I won't be able to post reliably for a while since my classes have started a while ago and they're picking up. In particular, I don't really have a great memory for things not SF & F and my course is mostly memory-work so I really have to put in a lot of my time. Good thing it hasn't got much math too, I'd just give myself up for dead if it did. Believe me, I haven't got anything against Math, but I just don't have the patience to sit down and actually try to do more than grudgingly work through the damn numbers.

Reminder to Myself

2009-06-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

Hello. These are the lists of books I want to read but haven't gotten around to downloading. I've got a lousy memory, so sometimes I stick too much to my favorite authors and don't look for any new ones. This'll keep me on track on what I'm forgetting. If anyone has a copy of these, I'd be much obliged. Or if you know where to get them, well, point me in the right direction.

Contact me: jamlebrilla@in.com.

Or if you'd prefer, comments work just as well.

PS: Please feel free to leave titles and authors of books you want to add to SOL. Or links to book sites and such. Any suggestion is welcome.

Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair

2009-06-10T03:17:00.000-07:00

The universe isn’t what it used to be. With the new Alliance between the Triad and the United Coalition, Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian finds herself serving under her former nemesis, biocybe Admiral Branden Kel-Paten – and doing her best to hide a deadly past. But when an injured mercenary winds up in their ship’s sick bay – and in the hands of her best friend, Dr. Eden Fynn – Sass’s efforts may be wasted.

Wanted rebel Jace Serafino has information that could expose all of Sass’s secrets, tear the fragile Alliance apart – and end Sass’s career if Kel-Paten discovers them. But the biocybe has something to hide as well, something once thought impossible for his kind to possess: feelings … for Sass. Soon it’s clear that their prisoner could bring down everything they once believed was worth dying for – and everything they now have to live for.

***download here***

Sass and Branden are such wonderfully well-developed characters … especially Branden, who is a biocybe (half human, half machine). He isn’t supposed to be able to feel emotions, but he somehow does, and he bears an unrequited love...read review here.

Circle Opens 4: Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

Accompanying her teacher, Niko, to Heskalifos University in the city of Tharios, Tris Chandler learns quickly of the city's rigid class system whose lowest rung is considered untouchable, and happens upon Kethlun Warder, a glassmaker whose unrecognized power mingles both glass and lightning magic as the result of a freak accident. Tris is charged with teaching this broken man to control his magic as well as his temper, but there's much more at stake. A serial killer, known as "the Ghost", has been strangling yaskedasi women from Khapik, members of Tharios' low class of licensed entertainers, and leaving them in public places to "pollute" a city whose history of survival is based on purity. Thwarted by the city's obsession for cleansing, and its moral indifference to these murders, Demokos Nomasdina, an arurim law enforcement mage, risks his soul and First Class status in his own obsession to capture the killer. When lightning-sparked glass globes, blown by Keth, reveal images of murdered girls, and deepening relationships with yaskedasi women bring them closer to those targeted and left to grieve, Dema, Keth and Tris join hands, hearts and powers to track the killer down, even at their own peril.

***download here***

Unbelievable, I couldn't find a single respectable review for this story. Well, suffice to say this actually shows Tris in a new light. She's no longer just sullen and hot-tempered. She' s a mature, intelligent mage apprenticing an older student. Kudos for her, and isn't that glass dragon just beautiful. I have a better picture of her in my head than the one in this book sitting on Tris's shoulder.

Tharios, capital of the city-state of Tharios On the Ithocot Sea

The short, plump redhead walked out of the house that belonged to her hostess and looked around, her air that of someone about to embark on a grand adventure. She shook out her pale blue cotton dress and petticoats, then wrapped a collection of breezes...read the excerpt.

Circle Opens 3: Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Wintering in the northern Namorn city of Kugisko with her mentor, Frostpine, Daja Kisubo discovers that the twin daughters of her hosts have "ambient" magic and is obliged to instruct the girls in the art of meditation while they learn the rudiments of their magics in apprenticeships. When mysterious fires begin to blaze across this frigid wooden city, Daja meets Bennat Ladradun, a firefighter with a tragic past, and lends her ability to control fire to help in rescue missions. Impressed by his courage and firefighting crusade, and drawn by his understanding of the nature and moods of living fire, Daja crafts a pair of "living metal" fireproof gloves for her new friend and kindred spirit. Guided by Frostpine, Daja struggles to find creative ways to meet the needs of her two very different learners and works with Ladradun to locate a ruthless serial arsonist whose conflagrations besiege the town and threaten the life of one of her young charges. As the investigation deepens and suspicions smolder, Daja is forced to confront another side of her heroic friend and, with magical and loving support of her dear mentor, must face the unthinkable.

***download here***

Each volume of Circle Opens concentrates on one of the four, travelling with a magical mentor to other lands to gain experience in their particular specialty. Daja is a tough-minded, dark-skinned fourteen year old, outcast from her Traders' group when her entire family died in a shipwreck. She is a smith mage, and has been honing...read the review here.

In the city of Kugisko, in Namorn: Niamara Bancanor, twelve and sometimes too helpful in Daja Kisubo's opinion, gripped Daja's left hand and elbow. They stood on one edge of a broad circle of ice where the Bancanors docked their household boats in the summer. Now, in the month of Snow Moon, eight weeks before the solstice...read the excerpt.

Circle Opens 2: Street Magic by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

Stopping in Chammur on his way to distant Yanjing with his teacher, Rosethorn, Briar Moss discerns a powerful stone magic in an unknowing street urchin at a local market. Efforts to have Evvy begin training with a local stone mage are lost when Evvy refuses instruction from the arrogant, "pampered lapdog", Jebilu Stoneslicer. Despite misgivings about his teaching abilities, Briar is moved by the ragged girl, and his memories of his own "street rat" days, and when Evvy is pulled into a local gang war, fueled and manipulated by Lady Zenadia doa Attaneh, a wealthy, cold, and dangerous noblewoman seeking to exploit her talents, Briar becomes both teacher and guardian. Swept up in gang warfare, Briar draws on his protective instincts, his own gang member background, his bond with plant life, and Evvy's stone magic to rescue his student from the lair of the villainous Lady and reveal her sinister game and the secrets that lie beneath her garden.

***download here***

Briar and Rosethorn came to fabled Chammur on their way to Yanjing, and stayed longer than they had originally intended, receiving many requests for their green magic skills with plants, herbs and medicines. Now, Brian...read review here.

For centuries it had been called "fabled Chammur," "Chammur of the Flaming Heights," and "Mighty Chammur." For twelve hundred years the city on what was now the easternmost border of Sotat had straddled the trade routes from Capchen to Yanjing. Chammur was guarded on the west by the Qarwan River and in the north and east by riddled mazes of the flame-colored...read excerpt.

Circle Opens 1: Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

"'Magic? Me, do magic?' Magic was a thing of schools and books. No proper Acalon did magic. 'Oh, no--please, you're mistaken, my lady. I'm no mage.'
Sandry met his eyes squarely. 'You just danced a magical working, Pasco Acalon. I am never mistaken about such things.'"

Not all kinds of magic were common. Sandry knew that. But what she didn’t know was whether a stitch witch and an untrained dancing mage could combat the most insidious and evil magic of all — the un-magic, the creation of nothingness.

***download here***

If, if, if. Sometimes life came down to just that, one event piled on another and another, all of them depending on each other. If Sandry’s uncle hadn’t had a heart attack, she wouldn’t have been with him and wouldn’t have helped save his life. If he hadn’t decided to ride to town on that particular morning, just...read the review here

Psy-Changeling Series by Nalini Singh 1-5

2009-06-09T05:10:00.000-07:00

Dive into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind—and none of the heart…

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”— the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was….

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…

***download here***

Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous-aching need...exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her.

Changeling Vaughn D'Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar's instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith's sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced-and keep her from Vaughn...

***download here***

As an Arrow, an elite soldier in the Psy Council ranks, Judd Lauren was forced to do terrible things in the name of his people. Now a defector, his dark abilities have made him the most deadly of assassins—cold, pitiless, unfeeling. Until he meets Brenna…

Brenna Shane Kincaid was an innocent before she was abducted—and had her mind violated—by a serial killer. Her sense of evil runs so deep, she fears she could become a killer herself. Then the first dead body is found, victim of a familiar madness. Judd is her only hope, yet her sensual changeling side rebels against the inhuman chill of his personality, even as desire explodes between them. Shocking and raw, their passion is a danger that threatens not only their hearts, but their very lives…

***download here***

Clay Bennett is a powerful DarkRiver sentinel, but he grew up in the slums with his human mother, never knowing his changeling father. As a young boy without the bonds of Pack, he tried to stifle his animal nature. He failed...and committed the most extreme act of violence, killing a man and losing his best friend, Talin, in the bloody aftermath. Everything good in him died the day he was told that she, too, was dead.

Talin McKade barely survived a childhood drenched in bloodshed and terror. Now a new nightmare is stalking her life--the street children she works to protect are disappearing and turning up dead. Determined to keep them safe, she unlocks the darkest secret in her heart and returns to ask the help of the strongest man she knows...

Clay lost Talin once. He will not let her go again, his hunger to possess her, a clawing need born of the leopard within. As they race to save the innocent, Clay and Talin must face the violent truths of their past...or lose everything that ever mattered.

***download here***

Separated from her son and forced to create a neural implant that will mean the effective enslavement of her psychically gifted race, Ashaya Aleine is the perfect Psy--cool, calm, emotionless...at least on the surface. Inside, she's fighting a desperate battle to save her son and escape the vicious cold of the PsyNet. Yet when escape comes, it leads not to safety, but to the lethal danger of a sniper's embrace.

DarkRiver sniper Dorian Christensen lost his sister to a Psy killer. Though he lacks the changeling ability to shift into animal form, his leopard lives within. And that leopard's rage at the brutal loss is a clawing darkness that hungers for vengeance. Falling for a Psy has never been on Dorian's agenda. But charged with protecting Ashaya and her son, he discovers that passion has a way of changing the rules...

***download here***

The City and The City by China Miéville

2009-06-09T03:53:00.000-07:00

New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other–real or imagined.

When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.

Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives.

What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.

Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

***download here***

Miéville creates a very credible city and then some - this "some" is another city whose borders not so much touch as clash with Beszel: Ul Qoma. Both cities are separated by a grand, twisted building, strangely called Copula Hall. Like (and at the same time unlike) the old Berlin Wall, Copula Hall is the...read the review here.

Review List:

2009-06-09T03:03:00.000-07:00

Books Reviews

Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

Upon his arrival at Discipline Cottage at Winding Circle Temple, Briar, a convicted street thief, meets three young girls and a prickly teacher named Rosethorn from whom he learns to develop his plant magic. When one of his street friends falls sick with a mysterious illness, he seeks his teacher's help, but the disease, impervious to all remedies, claims the life of his friend and develops into a full-blown epidemic. Rosethorn joins hands with Crane, an air mage of great power and difficult personality, to find a cure for the fatal "blue pox". Assisted by Briar and Tris, they determine the disease is magicked, but joy in their discovery is overshadowed when Rosethorn becomes ill. Not about to lose what he loves most, Briar follows Rosethorn into death's realm, anchored by magical and personal ties to Sandy, Tris and Daja.

***download here***

Briar is my favorite character out of the four of them. My main reason being, he's the raggedy, rebellious, most sewer-mouthed of the lot. This all adds up to him totally funny! Which is quite strange and ironic that his book ends up being the most serious in my book. Nothing gets more serious than a disease which spreads fast, and kills painfully quick. Clearly, this book is where he matures. But I just don't like it. Given, you do get sucked in when you get to reading, but I was expecting something a bit different. Oh well, poor me. :)

Daja's Book by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

Daja Kisubo, an outcast Trader, discovers her talents in metal craft when she is brought to Winding Circle Temple. Accompanying her fellow mages-in-training and Duke Vedris IV to Gold Ridge Valley in the drought-stricken lands of the north, she stops at a local smithy and fashions a living metal vine coveted by the Traders, the very people who exiled her. Bargaining in Trader style, she is reminded of family and her former life on the seas. When a fire seeks not to embrace but to destroy her, a Trader Caravan and other mountain inhabitants, she melds the magic of Sandry, Tris and Briar with hers to douse the fire, bring water and resources back to the land, and reclaim her identity as Trader.

***download here***

The Circle of Magic series is a fantasy series set in the world of middle fantasy. Most basis of the plot are take from real-world lore and beliefs. It's wonderful how Pierce combines those beliefs and makes new avenues for magic to walk. In this book, Daja faces new difficulties as she discovers an aspect of her magic that has grown and evolved into something new. Somehow, she is able to make "living" metal. It gives her the opportunity to deal with her old Trader people, as well as making a great deal of cash if she wanted. After all, she is the only mage who can create such metal. At the climax of the story Daja saves the traders from a forest fire. It nearly kills her, but she survives. I absolutely love it when characters are forced to make painful, yet character-building choices, as so happens in Daja's case. Because she saves a whole caravan of Traders, she is given the chance to join them, and be a trader herself, instead of the exile she now is. It's wonderful isn't it? Exile or Trader? Choose? :)

Tris's Book by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-08T01:45:00.000-07:00

Niko: "I wish that by now you could trust me."

Tris: "Everyone I ever trusted sent me away"

— Niko and Tris

When Winding Circle Temple is endangered by the betrayal of a visiting member of Tris' family and an attack by marauding pirates led by Queen Pahua and her mage brother Enahar, weather mage Tris must harness both temper and forces of nature to save the only home she and Sandry, Daja and Briar have ever known. Brought to the brink of defeat despite numerous efforts in magical defense, Tris calls upon the combined powers of her companions and their mage teachers. Together, they feed their magic and their very lives into the pattern of a spell, shattering bewitched barriers and vanquishing the pirates' deadly magic.

***download here***

Pierce explores another facet of magic, one dealing dangerously with emotion. Tris has always had more of a problem than the others on controlling her powers. Sometimes she does the stupidest things because she just assumes that she can do it with no problems, and sometimes, she's truly careful because, being a weather mage, she knows what little tickle with the weather and it could go disastrously wrong somewhere else. It's awesome how vicious Tris and the others can be when they really need to fight. Their magic can be evil as well as good. There's a little bit of parental guided violence in all Pierce books, so they're never boring. Oh, here's a review I found. It's a bit long, which is surprising. It's good though.

Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

Sandry's Book is the first installment of the Circle of Magic quartet by Tamora Pierce. It was first published in 1997 and has since been translated in several other languages. The novel tells the story of four young misfits from four different classes who find themselves put together to live. Niklaren Goldeye rescues Sandrilene fa Toren, Trisana Chandler, Daja Kisubo, and Briar Moss and brings them to Winding Circle Temple in Emelan. There they find themselves suddenly put together to learn and use their newfound magical abilities. All four have ambient magic, as opposed to academic magic, and the power they use comes from ordinary things all around them. Sandry has magic with threads, Tris with weather, Daja with smithing, and Briar with plants.

***download here***

It's a wonderful start to what will become an enduring friendship between four completely different people. I love how Pierce explores different forms of magic and how completely fitting for children her books always are. Check out this gallery of different covers, also an excerpt, and an audiobook sample.

The Legend of Beka Cooper 2: Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

Beka Cooper is finally a Dog--a full-fledged member of the Provost's Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Corus's streets. But there's unrest in Tortall's capital. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the city, and merchants are raising prices to cover their losses. The Dogs discover that gamblers are bringing the counterfeit money from Port Caynn. In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world, where she meets a charming banking clerk named Dale Rowan. Beka thinks she may be falling for Rowan, but she won't let anything--or anyone--jeopardize her mission. As she heads north to an abandoned silver mine, it won't be enough for Beka be her usual "terrier" self. She'll have to learn from Achoo to sniff out the criminals--to be a Bloodhound. . . .

***download here***

This is a pretty hefty book, all 550 pages of it. But you won't find it hard to read at all, in fact, probably you'll be itching to get to the next book in the series as soon as you finish this. You'll be sad to know, that in this one, Beka keeps getting ditched by her partners over and over again, not because she's bad at her job, but because she's too good at it and they just can't keep up. It was a laugh to read how difficult she found it to work undercover and pretend to be some lazy, brainless Dog. Tamora Pierce just seems able to inject her customary humor into everything. Corruption, Cowardly Officials, Lazy Dogs, you'll find them all here, and once again, Beka Cooper is saving the day.

The Legend of Beka Cooper 1: Terrier by Tamora Pierce

2009-06-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Tamora Pierce begins a new Tortall trilogy introducing Beka Cooper, an amazing young woman who lived 200 years before Pierce's popular Alanna character. For the first time, Pierce employs first-person narration in a novel, bringing readers even closer to a character that they will love for her unusual talents and tough personality.

Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat that's about to get tougher, as Beka's limited ability to communicate with the dead clues her in to an underworld conspiracy. Someone close to Beka is using dark magic to profit from the Lower City's criminal enterprises--and the result is a crime wave the likes of which the Provost's Guard has never seen before.

***download here***

Terrier's a good read. It's a young adult fantasy book, with just the faintest, really really faint hint of romance. The style is pretty much the same with all her other books, except that in this one, she writes it in journal form. It's a good first book for young adults if you're looking for something a little more mature and well-written than the usual. It's got humor, and an interesting mix of characters both good and bad, and a lot in-between. If you're looking not to get bored while at the same time keeping your mind from rotting, then this is the book for you.

EBook List

2009-06-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

EBOOK NAVIGATION LIST

Aldous Huxley

1. Brave New World

Alisson Croggon

1. Pellinor 1: The Naming
2. Pellinor 2: The Riddle

Anne Bishop

1. Black Jewels Trilogy

1.5 Succeeding offshoot stories

2. Tir Allain Trilogy

3. Ephemera

Brent Weeks

1.Night Angel Trilogy

Catherine Asaro

1. Misted Cliffs

The Charmed Sphere

2. The Night Bird
3. The Veiled Web

China Mieville

1. The City and The City

Elizabeth Haydon-Official Site

1. Symphony of Ages

Jim Butcher

1. The Dresden Files

Series #1-7

Juliet Marillier

1. Sevenwaters

Karen Marie Moning

1. Fever Series

Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever

Karen Miller

1. Godspeaker Trilogy

Linnea Sinclair-Official Site

1. Games of Command

Melissa Marr

1. Tattoo Faeries

Morgan Howell

1. Queen of Orcs

Nalini Singh-Official Site

1. Psy-Changeling Series 1-5

Naomi Novik

1.Temeraire

Neil Gaiman

1. Good Omens

Sarah Ash

1. The Alchemist's Legacy

Tracing the Shadow

Steven Gould

1. Jumper Trilogy

Suzanne Collins

1. The Hunger Games

Tamora Pierce-Official Site

1. Legend of Beka Cooper

2. Circle of Magic

3. Circle Opens

Terry Pratchett

1. Good Omens

Site Updates

2009-06-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

Still in the tinkering stages, SOLibrary is pretty much a WIP. These are all the ebooks I've read and scrapped together from every other place I could find. I've rescued some from Scribd, before management scrubbed all the less brain-dead books to nothing, and others come from other places like 4shared.com, or just freebies.

I've read all of them, so I'll be leaving some notes on what you can expect. At least, this way, you can download an ebook without having to know from advance what the title and author are. I still scroll through Top Ten Sites and type titles and authors one-by-one from time to time just to find what's new.

Genres are mostly Science-Fiction, Fantasy, and Romance. I'm still a bit of a kid, so expect to find some Tamora Pierce books here, very Young Adult. :) Drop suggestions if you like. See ya'! Have a Good Day!

Pellinor 2: The Riddle by Alison Croggon

2009-06-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

Maerad is a girl with a tragic and bitter past, but her powers grow stronger by the day. Now she and her mentor, Cadvan, hunted by both the Light and the Dark, must unravel the Riddle of the Treesong before their fractured kingdom erupts in chaos. The quest leads Maerad over terrifying seas and vast stretches of glacial wilderness, ever closer to the seductive Winterking — ally of her most powerful enemy, the Nameless One. Trapped in the Winterking's icy realm, Maerad must confront what she has suspected all along: that she is the greatest riddle of all. A sequel to THE NAMING, this second book in a captivating quartet about the ancient world of Edil-Amarandh is a sweeping epic readers won't soon forget.

***download here***

The sequel does the first book justice. Again, my complaints about not focusing on the music point, but I guess the author doesn't really have enough page space to talk about everything. With all the back-turns going on, there's really too much going on to stop and think. It makes for a fast pacing and a page-turning read, so it's good. Again, an excerpt if you like, and give Croggon's Official Site a ping as well.

Pellinor 1: The Naming by Alison Croggon

2009-06-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

In the classic spirit of epic fantasy comes this glittering saga of a young girl who learns she possesses an uncanny gift — and is destined to use it to save her world from a terrifying evil.

Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She doesn't yet know she has inherited a powerful gift, one that marks her as a member of the noble School of Pellinor and enables her to see the world as no other can. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true identity and extraordinary destiny unfold. Now, she and her mysterious teacher must embark on a treacherous, uncertain journey through a time and place where the forces of darkness wield an otherworldly terror.

The first book in a projected quartet, Alison Croggon's epic about Maerad and her remarkable yet dangerous gift is a beautiful, unforgettable tale. Presented as a new translation of an ancient text, THE NAMING evokes the rich and complex landscape of Annar, a legendary world just waiting to be discovered.

***download here***

The main character starts out to be a little bit too selfish and unlovable, despite being a slave(not cookie-cutter material, be happy), but the story more that makes up for it by channeling a David Eddings/Anne McCaffrey Harper Hall aura. There's not much of a point on the music since this is more of a journey of discovery sort of story, but the page-turning action is amusing. Here's an excerpt if you can't make up your mind.