Author: scribblermendez

‘Mira’s Last Dance’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 58/200

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Mira’s Last Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold

eBook Edition

Finished on 4/16/2018

Goodreads

Description:

In this sequel to the novella “Penric’s Mission”, the injured Penric, a Temple sorcerer and learned divine, tries to guide the betrayed General Arisaydia and his widowed sister Nikys across the last hundred miles of hostile Cedonia to safety in the Duchy of Orbas. In the town of Sosie the fugitive party encounters unexpected delays, and even more unexpected opportunities and hazards, as the courtesan Mira of Adria, one of the ten dead women whose imprints make up the personality of the chaos demon Desdemona, comes to the fore with her own special expertise.

Fourth novella in the “Penric and Desdemona” series.

Genres: Fantasy, Novella, High Fantasy, World of the Five Gods, Penric

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‘Senlin Ascends’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 50/200

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Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 3/25/2018

Goodreads

Description:

The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.

Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.

Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he’ll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassination, and the long guns of a flying fortress. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.

This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.

Genres: Fantasy, Steampunk, SciFi

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‘A Veil of Spears’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 49/200

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A Veil of Spears by Bradley Beaulieu

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 3/25/2018

Goodreads

Description:

The third book in The Song of Shattered Sands series—an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.

Since the Night of Endless Swords, a bloody battle the Kings of Sharakhai narrowly won, the kings have been hounding the rebels known as the Moonless Host. Many have been forced to flee the city, including Çeda, who discovers that the King of Sloth is raising his army to challenge the other kings’ rule.

When Çeda finds the remaining members of the Moonless Host, now known as the thirteenth tribe, she sees a tenuous existence. Çeda hatches a plan to return to Sharakhai and free the asirim, the kings’ powerful, immortal slaves. The kings, however, have sent their greatest tactician, the King of Swords, to bring Çeda to justice for her crimes.

But the once-unified front of the kings is crumbling. The surviving kings vie quietly against one another, maneuvering for control over Sharakhai. Çeda hopes to use that to her advantage, but whom to trust? Any of them might betray her.

As Çeda works to lift the shackles from the asirim and save the thirteenth tribe, the kings of Sharakhai, the scheming queen of Qaimir, the ruthless blood mage, Hamzakiir, and King of Swords all prepare for a grand clash that may decide the fate of all.

Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Political Fantasy, Middle Eastern Fantasy

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‘Harbinger of the Storm’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 47/200

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Harbinger of the Storm by Aliette De Bodard

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 3/16/2018

Goodreads

Description:

Death, magic and intrigue in this hotly-anticipated follow-up to Servant of the Underworld. A sumptuously-detailed Aztec world, which will appeal to fans of magical fantasy, historical drama, political intrigue and murder mysteries.

THE AZTEC EMPIRE TEETERS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION.
As the political infighting starts within the imperial court, Acatl, High Priest for the Dead, makes a macabre discovery in the palace: a high-ranking nobleman has been torn to pieces by an invocation – and it looks like the summoner belongs to the court itself…
Genres: Fantasy,  High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, MesoAmerican Fantasy, Alternative History, Mystery, Noir

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‘The Curse of Chalion’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 46/200

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The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 3/15/2018

Goodreads

Description:

A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril, has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, as the secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule.

It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it will ultimately lead him to the place he fears most, the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies, who once placed him in chains, now occupy lofty positions. In addition to the traitorous intrigues of villains, Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle, are faced with a sinister curse that hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion and all who stand in their circle. Only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics, can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge—an act that will mark the loyal, damaged servant as a tool of the miraculous, and trap him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death.

Genres: Fantasy,  High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Medieval Fantasy, Classic

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‘Throne of the Crescent Moon’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 45/200

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The Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 3/13/2018

Goodreads

Description:

The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings:

Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame’s family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter’s path.

Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla’s young assistant, is a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety. But even as Raseed’s sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia.

Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the lion-shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man’s title. She lives only to avenge her father’s death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father’s killer. Until she meets Raseed.

When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince’s brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time—and struggle against their own misgivings—to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

 

Genres: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Arabic Fantasy, Popcorn Fiction

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‘The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction” Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 44/200

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The Mongols by Morris Rossabi

Paperback Edition

Finished on 3/13/2018

 

Goodreads

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Mongols carved out the largest land-based empire in world history, stretching from Korea to Russia in the north and from China to Syria in the south, and unleashing an unprecedented level of violence. But as Morris Rossabi reveals in this Very Short Introduction, within two generations of their bloody conquests, the Mongols evolved from conquerors and predators to wise rulers who devised policies to foster the economies of the lands they had subjugated. By adopting political and economic institutions familiar to the local populations and recruiting native officials, they won over many of their non-Mongol subjects. In addition, Mongol nobles were ardent patrons of art and culture, supporting the production of Chinese porcelains and textiles, Iranian tiles and illustrated manuscripts, and Russian metalwork. Perhaps most important, the peace imposed by the Mongols on much of Asia and their promotion of trade resulted in considerable interaction among merchants, scientists, artists, and missionaries of different ethnic groups–including Europeans. Modern Eurasian and perhaps global history starts with the Mongol empire.

Genres: History Book, Nonfiction, Asia, Mongolia

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‘Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 43/200

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Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 3/11/2018

Goodreads

Description:

An all-new 40,000-word Stormlight Archive novella, “Edgedancer,” will be the crown jewel of Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection, the first book of short fiction by #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson. A must read for fans of the series.

The collection will include nine works in all. The first eight are:

“The Hope of Elantris” (Elantris)
“The Eleventh Metal” (Mistborn)
“The Emperor’s Soul” (Elantris)
“Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania, Episodes 28 through 30” (Mistborn)
“White Sand” (excerpt; Taldain)
“Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell” (Threnody)
“Sixth of Dusk” (First of the Sun)
“Mistborn: Secret History” (Mistborn)

These wonderful works, originally published on Tor.com and elsewhere individually, convey the expanse of the Cosmere and tell exciting tales of adventure Sanderson fans have come to expect, including the Hugo Award-winning novella, “The Emperor’s Soul” and an excerpt from the graphic novel “White Sand.”

Arcanum Unbounded will also contain the Stormlight Archive novella “Edgedancer,” which will appear in this book for the first time anywhere.

Finally, this collection includes essays and illustrations for the various planetary systems in which the stories are set.

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Novella, Cosmere, Anthology

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‘Mistborn: Secret History’ Book Review

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Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 42/200

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Mistborne: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 3/10/2018

Goodreads

Description:

Mistborn: Secret History is a companion story to the original Mistborn trilogy. Building upon the characterization, events, and worldbuilding of the original trilogy, this novella offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes at the fate of a certain reader-favorite character. Ten years in the making, Mistborn: Secret History might answer a few of your questions.

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Novella, Cosmere

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