M.R. Pritchard's Blog, page 27
September 17, 2014
September 15, 2014
Mockingjay Trailer
Since I am a super Hunger Games fan, I was pretty excited to see this today!!
August 31, 2014
A Review: Of Bone and Thunder
ARC received from NetGalley 3/5 stars
First thing, let’s talk about the cover. Beautiful, amazing, intriguing. The cover drew me to this book. I love it. Pure fantasy.
Now let’s talk about the book. I have a hard time connecting with books that have an epic war at the forefront of the storyline without knowing some background information. This is where I would have appreciated a LOTR worthy prologue. The literary world says prologues are dead, but I think this book deserves one, especially since Of Bone and thunder is hailed as a LOTR-esque read. From a LOTR reader, what do I see that this book has in common with LOTR? Dwarves and Dragons and the hint of an epic battle. Except, I don’t care much for the battle, since, as a reader, I have not been introduced to the danger of the Slyt’s, as I have been to the evil of Sauron. I can understand why the soldiers didn’t understand their mission, because neither did I.
Moving on. Of Bone and Thunder is told from multiple points of view. We see through the eyes of the enlisted men at the forefront of the battlefield, a man on the ground who just might be a secret weapon in winning this war, and the eye-in-the-sky dragon riders. There is war, deception, drug use, the mistrust of new technologies, the role of women on the battlefield, and they are all artfully intertwined.
What did I love? The scenery and the mixing of magic, dragons, weaponry that deserve a fantasy novel of their own. Our most captivating characters, Jawn, a trained Thaum (think mind magician with electricity) and trained military officer in the Kingdom’s army, as well as Vorly and Breeze with their dragons are the plot points that kept me reading. Not only were these characters the most captivating, but the scenes were well written and imaginative. I think I did fly on a dragon while reading this, and I did that crazy mind-meld thing that Breeze and Vorly did using the crystals. But what we were given wasn’t enough for me. Deep in my heart, I wanted more dragons, More magic of the Thaum, More Jawn, more Vorly and Breeze and Carduus. We are only given hints at the strongest characters and most interesting storylines, and then they are heavily coated in jungle sweat and frontline banter and combat. I really wanted to connect with the front line military men, but since (yes, I know I’m beating a dead horse here) I have no way to connect with this war, they were simply a lot of static in the storyline. That being said, Of Bone and Thunder is still a great read. Does Evans combine the best of fantasy and military fiction? Yes. Is it for me? Some of it is. I think my problem is that I just prefer more fantasy and less military fiction If you’re more into military fiction than you are into fantasy, this is a good read for you. If you’re fond of fantasy, but not a fan of military fiction, consider moving on.
Find Of Bone and Thunder on Amazon.com
#10 books that have stayed with me
I was nominated on Facebook to take the #10 books challenge.
These are the results:
This was a bit of a walk down memory lane. Of course there are plenty of books I would like to add but there just isn't room. Super-boo.
These are the results:
This was a bit of a walk down memory lane. Of course there are plenty of books I would like to add but there just isn't room. Super-boo.
August 28, 2014
The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski
I guess I have to give any book that keeps me reading until 5am five stars. Not only did it keep me up until 5am, but when I woke up a few hours later, I turned on the coffee and read until I finished the book. This was a great read. I will say, I could sense a bit of a tragedy coming on, and when I started chapter forty, I wanted to kick myself in the teeth and then I got to the fourth paragraph and all was well with the world. The Edge of Never starts out sweet and while I felt like I easily could have put this book down during the first few chapters, I didn't, and then it was too late because I didn't want to put the book down. The author gave me everything I wanted from a NA romance read, it wasn't over the top, it wasn't raunchy. There was simplicity and fun and just enough "Deepness" to stick in my heart. My only negative idea was that I did get a little annoyed with every male character wanting to bone Camryn.
Great read.
August 24, 2014
A day spent in the garden
Spent the day outside today! Unfortunately, I wasn't reading. I was sweating it. Note to self, stake up tomato plants before the last week of august!
August 23, 2014
August 22, 2014
August 15, 2014
August 12, 2014
Rainy Day revamp
Revamped the merchandise today. Everyone got a rainy day makeover (except Sparrow Man)
