Saturday Snippet: Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it ^^

 

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Bound by Blood

 

Hello everyone!

 

Yes, you're seeing this right, this is once again NOT an ARC that I' reviewing.

 

What news, huh?!?

 

LOL.

 

Anyway, a while back - and I think it was quite a while back - I picked up a retelling of the Arthurian legend and fell in love with it, for multiple reasons.

 

One, it felt much closer to what might have actually happened back in the day, in terms of realism and the fact that Arthur was not actually a medieval king riding around in full armour, and two, because it was a story in which he didn't want Guinevere, but her brother.

I mean COME ON.

I was hooked, but it took me a bit to return to the series, which is what I'm doing tonight as you can see. The Sons of Britain has six books overall so I play to go through all of them, slowly.

Tonight it's Bound by Blood's turn, the sequel one.

Talkie Tuesday: House of the Dragon

 

"The only thing that could tear down the House of the Dragon ... was itself."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Saw this coming, didn't you?

 

I bet you have!

 

Or at least, you should have in any event haha. Because the best epic fantasy series to air on television this fall (for now) has just wrapped its first season and I AM HYPED.

 

Okay, there were mistakes. Tactical and story-wise, but that doesn't mean that the execution wasn't magical, however.

Considering we're coming off the horrendous last season of Game of Thrones, people naturally went into this new Westeros-based show with a lot of trepidation, myself included. Heck, I actively tried NOT to get excited, but ended up being so just the same.

I can't help it. I've ALWAYS wondered what it was like during the Targaryen hay-day, when they had all those dragons and were literally on top of the world.

If you're just as curious, dust that saddle off and let's soar above the clouds into House of the Dragon!

Saturday Snippet: The Red Queen

 

"Boo."

 

xx

*screencap by me

Tome Thursday: Of Roses and Rituals

 

Hello everyone!

 

We are back in the land of fairy tale retellings.

 

Tonight we have a look at probably my all-time favourite, and it's done very well too on top of everything, which just makes the whole thing better, honestly.

 

BookSirens once again comes in clutch and, yes, at some point I'll probably not review as many ARCs as I do at the moment, but it will not be this day.

 

Yes, I'm quoting Aragorn right now.

 

When all is said and done, BookSirens is an AMAZING online service and I'm honestly so stoked to be a member, it makes things easier for me because I read as much as I do (though to a lesser extent than in previous years, it has to be said).

 

So without further ado, let's jump right into it, shall we?

 

Of Roses and Rituals is calling, and it's a really, really good one!

 

Rings of Power: Alloyed

 

"One will always corrupt, two will divide; with three, there is balance."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, we finally made it.

 

The season finale is behind us, and with it, the mostly lackluster first season as a whole.

 

You may find this a harsh sort of criticism but, considering the incredibly high budget that Amazon threw at what I think they wanted to consider their flagship fantasy series purely because of the name attached to it - Tolkien - it really didn't deliver as much as it could have.

 

I've seen shows with a five time lesser budget do SO much better!

 

It felt as if, BECAUSE of the budget, the show creators thought they could do anything and people would love it precisely because of the money.

 

Newsflash, we don't watch shows for the money. We don't watch them for politics, either. We watch them for good, quality storytelling. 

The Rings of Power didn't achieve most of its goals, so let's look at the finale, Alloyed, to wrap it all up.

Saturday Snippet: Twice Knightley RELEASE!

 

Today's the day! 

Grab your copy of Twice Knightley in My Bed.

 

xx

*image not mine 

Tome Thursday: Twice Knightley in My Bed

 

Hello everyone!

 

For the first time in what feels like ... quite a bit, actually, I have a book review that is not, in fact, from BookSirens.

 

Shocking, I know!

 

This one comes from an author near and dear to my heart, and really I just need to go right back through her entire bibliography and read them all over again, because the universe that she's interwoven through each of her works is breathtakingly beautiful.

 

And also, it's mostly all going down in New Zealand.

 

Do you need any more reason than that to escape? I don't think so!

 

The author I'm talking about is Serenity Woods. And if you've been following my blog for a bit, you'll know I have a TON of her books already reviewed on here.

 

This one, however, releases over the coming weekend. I consider myself exceptionally lucky enough to have been sent an ARC, so here you go guys. 

 

Twice Knightley in My Bed, just for you.

 

Rings of Power: The Eye

 

"Every war is fought both without and within." 

Hello everyone!

Well, only one more episode to go, and, dare we say a lot of us are feeling relieved?

Yes, yes, I'm sure you're wondering, but why are you still reviewing this if it's obviously a bit of a slog?

I'm a perfectionist and dislike not finishing what I start. So there.

I'll be seeing this through right to the end, though you will definitely also be getting some House of the Dragon thoughts from me when the time comes and THAT series comes to a close.

Not to mention possibly a few others.

But I'm certainly getting ahead of myself, as I first need to finish this one.

If you're wondering what you need to survive a volcanic explosion, I have to disappoint you by saying: you probably won't.

A lot of characters in Rings of Power did, though, as The Eye shows us.

Saturday Snippet: The Wheel of Time SEASON TWO TEASER

 

xx

*video not mine

Tome Thursday: Coward's Truth

 

Hello everyone!

 

Once more, I bring you a goodie from BookSirens.

 

Honestly, that's probably my favourite place to grab new books from nowadays, I'll admit as much. It's really a fantastic site, and the exchange of free ARC and review works really well if anyone asks me.

 

So tonight we take a look in something that's not too far out of my comfort zone.

 

It's got rulers, kingdoms, politics, gods, assassins, and space warriors for some reason.

 

This last one is probably the most confusing of them all!

 

The author, Christan Warren Freed, served in the military for over twenty years if I remember the biography information correctly, so each of his published stories features some aspect of that. This one's no exception either.

 

As it's the first book in what's going to be a series, naturally it's a set-up and the possibilities of explanation become larger the more you dig deeper, but you'll have to decide for yourself if this kind of story if for you!

Coward's Truth, a novel of the Heart Eternal, is up.

Rings of Power: Udûn

 

"New life, in defiance of death."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Two more episodes to go in this show and we are done with the first season.

Will we return for a second? Remains to be seen.

Obviously we already know Amazon is committed to this project with five whole seasons, though granted I'm not entirely sure how they'll continue to excuse it if it performs poorly.

Or, maybe it won't perform poorly, not that I'm convinced it's doing well either.

It feels more like, the amount of views it's getting is that macabre sort of showing that people are only watching because they want to see the next version of a train wreck!

But maybe I'm being too harsh. However, I will say that after six episodes of barely anything happening, it's difficult to really argue against the fact that the season has just not been as gripping thus far as it could have been, and arguments of 'it'll be spread out over 5 seasons you have to be patient' are moot point as we have to wait for a long time between seasons. That doesn't translate well into the waiting period, trust me.

However, we still do have a review to get through, so here it is. The Rings of Power: Udûn.

Saturday Snippet: Play It Loud VA

 

Key takeaway from the Vampire Academy show!

 

xx

*video not mine