Seeker

Somewhere between the old world and the new, there’s a powerful magic that allows people who are wiser than most to travel beyond the normal world. These people are known as the Seekers, and they have been around for centuries, descending from the Druids. The magic is guarded by a strange triad known as The Dreads. The laws they hold are sacred…or at least they used to be.

Unfortunately, in Arwen Elys Dayton’s new book, Seeker, modern selfishness has caught up to the remaining clan of Seekers, and things aren’t as they used to be. The legends are still there, much like our tales of chivalry in King Arthur’s Round Table. But what has happened to those sacred laws to make things go so awry?

This book is going to be immensely popular when it releases in February, I can tell you that right now. I’ve already heard people talking about the ARC, and every review I’ve seen has been a positive one.

Mine is also positive–though I did think the story lost a bit of strength in the middle. I think that’s just a mental block of mine though, because I always struggle a bit with the mixture of old world magic and guns. Add a cell phone in there and I just get really confused. I feel like this story should take place in 1315…not 2015 (or later).

But, other than that, I loved it. I shipped Quin and Shinobu from the very beginning. Get out of here John. No one wants you. And can I please have a whipsword for my birthday? Please please please?

Make sure you pick this up next month. I am not going to be surprised at all to see all of Booklr posting about it soon.

 

Received ARC for free from NetGalley

Fulfills PopSugar #11:  A book with a one-word title

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Fairies: The Myths, Legends, & Lore

I’ve always been fascinated by mythology, and I think that is what most draws me to fantasy. I love the way authors use similar themes throughout to weave these stories that, even though it is fiction…there is this seemingly thread of truth to it all. It is all so familiar, and those “truths” go back and back and back so far that we really don’t know if they are fact.

As William Faulkner said, “Facts and truth really don’t have much to do with each other.”

Skye Alexander’s book on the fae was very educational and informative. I’m on my fourth page of journal notes today, which might be a record. She covers all of the basics, from Tinkerbell to Jinn (what we know more commonly as Genie). The myths and legends for all of the fairies get broken down by country.

I have mixed feelings about the structure of this book. I probably would have liked it more if I hadn’t read it on a Kindle. I think this is one of those books you need to have in your hand, because there are just so many formatting changes, and pictures, and insets. The paperwhite just couldn’t do it justice. Plus…I happen to know that this has a gorgeous purple cover (the Goodreads pic doesn’t do it justice), and ooooh do I want it so badly.

However, even knowing that my reading was tainted by ebook format, I still have some hesitations. This does read very much like a college research paper, which unfortunately means it is a bit dry. There were subject headings every single paragraph, it seemed. Bullet points were extremely prevalent. I am glad it was well cited, but part of the reason my journal is so full is because she almost overdid it with quotes from other authors. Don’t get me wrong…I love when authors use quotations…to a point. But, I think it also detracts attention from the main body of work, so there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I did really enjoy the insets, and I think I would have liked them even more if I had seen them in book format, rather than on the kindle. These were little stories about real life fairy sightings, examples to prove what Skye was describing. These made her research much more interesting.

Overall, I think this would be a wonderful thing for any fan of lore, fantasy, mythology, fairy tales, etc to have on their shelves. Also, if you are an author, you should definitely have this to flip through as a quick reference. It would be really handy just to pick this up when you need to know something about Irish legend, quickly. The book doesn’t have anything super in depth on any of the subjects, but it is really interesting basic information. I’m adding it to my To Buy list, and I’ll probably read her other books. I know she has one on Mermaids that I’m for sure going to check out!

Wars

We read The Odyssey by Homer in high school, and I remember being fascinated by Penelope. I thought her even stronger than Odysseus, though he was the manly soldier off fighting the crazy monsters on the way home. How strong she had to be, to wait so long, and then outwit the suitors who were wooing her.

I know the story of The Iliad too, of course, and I’ve seen Troy, with Brad Pitt. But I don’t think I’ve actually ever read the epic. It’s on my list, and has been forever.

My husband has these gorgeous hard paperbacks of the two epic poems, and I love to take them out and flip through them. Eventually I will sit down and tackle them, but not yet. I’m not brave enough yet.