C is for Cade Peregrine (Songkeeper Blogtour + Giveaway)

Greetings, Roadlings!

I’m so excited to be a part of the blog tour celebrating the one-year book-birthday of Songkeeper by Gillian Bronte Adams!

#ExploreLeira is an A-to-Z blog series making the rounds through the blogosphere, focusing on different characters, places, etc. in the land of Leira within the Songkeeper Chronicles, and it’s going to be loads of fun! 🙂

(If you’re not familiar with this series, you can read my review for book 1, Orphan’s Song, and book 2, Songkeeper.)

Today, I’m super pleased to have Gillian herself over for a guest post about Cade!

Cade happens to be my favorite character in the Songkeeper Chronicles, and although he’s not a general reader favorite, I maintain he’s misunderstood and is a fascinating character, and fairly epic, to boot. 😉 I hope you’ll enjoy this post’s insight into his character.

And now, I give you Gillian Bronte Adams and her guest post on Cade Peregrine! 🙂

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Thanks, Deborah, for hosting me here and helping me celebrate the (almost) one year book birthday for Songkeeper! It is the second book in the Songkeeper Chronicles, which tells the story of a girl who can hear the song that created the world. If this is your first encounter with the blog tour, we are continuing a series of alphabet posts looking at the world and characters and magical creatures of the Songkeeper Chronicles (you can follow the tour at gillianbronteadams.com) and we have an awesome giveaway that you can enter below!

Today, we’re looking at the letter C.

C is for Cade Peregrine

A tall boy stood before him, clad in a ragged white blouse and tattered breeches, with a fine leather vest on top and a sword belted at his side. His arms were folded across his chest, and his chin lowered so that his eyes seemed to look straight through Ky. Cade, the leader of the Underground.

– Orphan’s Song

Ah, Cade. In another tale on another day, Cade Peregrine could have been the hero of the Underground, instead of Ky. He is a young man rooted in conviction, strengthened by pride, and determined to uphold the legacy of resistance left by his father and the outlaws of Kerby.

“It is insane. For now.” Cade’s eyes glittered in the firelight. “Now, it’s just a dream, but one day it will be a reality. Even now, every dagger we steal, every purse, every coin is a step toward breaking the soldiers’ hold on Kerby. And when we’re ready, we’ll fall upon them and drive them from the city. Then we’ll be free again.”

– Orphan’s Song

It was Cade who first saw the desperate need of the children of Kerby who were left orphaned and abandoned when their parents were taken by the Khelari. He realized that their best chance of survival came if they banded together, so he decided to form the Underground. In a cavern below the city, down tunnels where outlaws once roamed, the children found a new home. In the assigned brother and sister pairs, they found both the family they had lost and mentors to teach them how to survive life on the streets. And in Cade, they found someone to look up to and aspire to. A hero, like the legends of old.

Cade is a warrior, trained in the art of the sword by his late blacksmith father. He is a boy of the streets, versed in the skills required to disappear without a trace into a crowd. He is a born leader, capable of managing, organizing, and caring for the orphans of the city. He is a skilled orator, capable of drawing a crowd in so that they hang upon his every word and are swayed to his way of thinking.

“And what is all this?” Cade turned a circle with his hands spread wide then moved toward the digging, forcing Ky to fall into place behind. “Digging your way out, are you? Like rats in a hole.”

By now all activity in the tunnel had ceased, and Cade’s voice grew to fill the silence. He always had been good at speech-making and crowd-wielding. The runners hearkened to his words like starving men begging for bread.

“Running isn’t the Underground way. Out on the streets, it may be every man for himself because that’s what we have to do to survive, but not here—not in our stronghold. Here we stand and fight together. Here we are free. We cannot run away and leave our home behind!”

– Songkeeper

He is stubborn and accustomed to getting his way, so it is no surprise that he frequently butts head with Ky—one of the main characters in the Songkeeper Chronicles. Both are convinced of their own rightness and ready to fight for that conviction. Both are willing to sacrifice for those that they care about. It is ironic that the two are more alike than either of them would care to admit. If they could just learn to work together, they would be an unstoppable force.

“It was your half-baked idea to leave Kerby behind. Now what? You have a plan for where we should go and how to get there? Or do you intend to walk thirty runners across the Nordlands in search of refuge with barely enough supplies to last another four days and half our number falling to the white fever already? How far do you think we would get? These are the things a leader has to think about, Ky.” He released his grip so suddenly that Ky wound up sitting on the ground. “So stop whining and think.”

– Songkeeper

Not going to lie, I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Cade. He means well, but he so often gets the short end of the stick. In the Songkeeper Chronicles, we typically only see Cade from Ky’s perspective, so it’s usually a slightly unbalanced view. Admittedly, Cade can be a bit over-bearing at times, and he occasionally has control issues, but Ky isn’t always completely fair in his assessment.

Cade is the sort of secondary character who has a story that is just begging to be told. As in, there is a file, quite literally, sitting on my desktop begging me to write it. Maybe one day we’ll get to hear a bit from his point of view …

But for now, you can read about him in the Songkeeper Chronicles! Check out the links below for a place to purchase the books.

Amazon: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

Barnes and Nobles: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

And before you leave, don’t forget to enter the giveaway! One lucky winner will take home a copy of Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, and a gorgeous handmade mug. Two lucky winners will take home copies of Songkeeper! Enter through the Rafflecopter below and be sure to visit www.gillianbronteadams.com to continue following the blog tour. You can earn new entries for each post that you visit along the way. Winners will be announced after April 15th.

Follow this link to enter –> ***a Rafflecopter giveaway***

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About the Author

GILLIAN BRONTE ADAMS is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, coffee-loving speculative fiction author from the great state of Texas. During the day, she manages the equestrian program at a youth camp. But at night, she kicks off her boots and spurs, pulls out her trusty laptop, and transforms into a novelist. She is the author of Orphan’s Song, book one of the Songkeeper Chronicles, and Out of Darkness Rising. Visit Gillian online at her blog, Twitter, or Facebook page.

About Songkeeper

War ravages Leira and the Song has fallen silent.

Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.

Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran’s fortress. Legend speaks of a mythical spring buried within and the Songkeeper who will one day unleash it to achieve victory. Everyone believes Birdie is the one, but the elusive nature of the Song and rumors of other gifted individuals lead her to doubt her role. Unleashing the spring could defeat the Takhran once and for all, but can she truly be the Songkeeper when the Song no longer answers her call?

(Eep, I so want some of Cade’s point-of-view someday! Ahem. 😀 )

So what do you think, readers? Is this your first time “meeting” Cade or have you read Orphan’s Song and/or Songkeeper? What do you think of him? Are you as excited for the third book (whenever it may happen) as I am? And are you looking forward to exploring Leira in this fun A-Z blog tour? Tell me all! 🙂

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“mine is an evil laugh” a.k.a. favorite villains

Today we have a post about villainy. MWAHAHA! *maniacal cackle*

Once upon a time, Victoria tagged me (thank you!) for “Sunshine and Villainy” two unrelated (at the time) tags… one of which was Top 10 Villains.

I don’t know if I have ten but here at least are half a dozen villains who I love to hate or hate to love or… ya know, something like that. Either the scariest, or the ones I go “IT’S COMPLICATED” (a.k.a. I kind of wish they weren’t villains…). Because abject terror or mangled confused feels are both high compliments for villains.

I don’t think a lot about villains, preferring to focus on the heroes, but these are a few who’ve made me think about them. Which means they must be pretty impressive in their villainy.

Warning: There may be spoilers for those who have not read Entwined, Orphan’s Song, and Plenilune.

(Source) Quote in title is from Firefly, of course.

In no particular order, villains from page and screen . . .

FROM THE PAGE

(source)

Keeper (from Entwined by Heather Dixon)

Woo, boy, this character. O_O I’m the first to admit that for the first half+ of the book, I wanted him to be good. I liked this guy, and that in itself is kind of scary… Keeper is just utterly suave and smooth and dark and shadowy and mysterious and elegant. He would have made an amazing anti-hero, which meant I was rather surprised/sad when he suddenly turned all-out-villain. Of course then he was completely terrifying. I still have complicated feelings about this and am kinda torn, because yes he’s creepy, but he was also kind of awesome and had great potential to be a different kind of character… It’s probably the reason that though I loved this book a ton I haven’t re-read it yet. I’m not sure I want to revisit that right now. But the fact remains that he’s definitely a villain I’ve thought a lot about and is so well written.

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(source)

Carhartan (from Orphan’s Song by Gillian Bronte Adams)

Carhartan’s a bit of a mystery, but he’s a pretty scary fellow. The problem was, I started feeling like he had a shred of decency back there behind his darkness, and eventually the big reveal comes out that he used to be friends with certain good people and turned traitor. OW. The pain in my poor reader heart! Think Bucky-and-Captain-America levels of pain except worse because this Bucky is actually bad and not redeemed. Yeesh. So this was simultaneously a character that I loathed and yet felt for, a little. That takes some incredible writing skills, I tell ya. My emotions were a tangle for this book… I think I may be the only person who feels this way, but all you have to do to turn me into a wreck of emotions is say “Carhartan”. (Whoops, shouldn’t have told you that.)

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(so I obviously don’t have a picture for Rupert buuut Richard Armitage can fill in for him because he’s cool like that.)

Rupert de la Mare (from Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag)

So I wanted to like Rupert. I wanted him to be a Beauty-and-the-Beast type person, but the longer I read the book, the less possible that was. He’s the kind of cold villain that literally freezes your blood. But he’s just fascinating to read about! All the scenes he’s in, they’re just freezingly fascinating. I’ve hardly ever met as well-written a villain as this guy. His personality is incredibly overpowering and I just really liked reading about him even though he was terrifying. But I really didn’t WANT him to be a villain! I wanted to love him but eventually I couldn’t… So I think I’d have been quite disappointed in the book if it wasn’t for a certain character whose name starts with D and ends with ammerung because that way I could pour all my love of a character into him and not be too disappointed that Rupert was bad. Not to mention that Dammerung and Rupert as facing off characters are magnificent together. Eeek. Rupert’s just WOW in his villainy. I’m super impressed. Definitely a favorite on-page villain.

FROM THE SCREEN

(source)

Darth Maul (from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace)

Definitely the scariest Star Wars villain, and one of the scariest on-screen villain in the history of ever, in my opinion. I’ve been terrified of Darth Maul about as long as I can remember. His double lightsaber, always scowling, scary black and red alien with horns, his black cloak… Everything about him is creepy. Plus, as Victoria said, the lightsaber duel in The Phantom Menace has to be the best sword fight ever, so you’ve gotta give him credit for that… I don’t know, he’s just a villain you love to hate, and I know a lot of people aren’t a fan of Episode I but it’s a favorite of mine simply for the lightsaber duel. Here’s a villain done right. *shivers*

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(source)

Colonel Tavington (from The Patriot)

(THAT HAT THOUGH. O_O) This guy takes the cake for terrifying. …He would also literally take your cake. This guy is BAD. He goes around killing people without remorse and being perfectly level-headed and cool about it. He just gives me the shivers. The things he does are downright awful. Plus that British accent takes him to a whole new level of villain. Even his VOICE is creepy. He’s utterly ruthless and that makes him terrifying. Also, he’s scary with his hair both pulled back and out. Eeek. This guy’s always been my standard for villains. Nothing redeeming about him, just coldhearted ruthless villainy.

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(source)

Loki (from The Avengers)

Ah, Loki… Note that I’m referring to his role in The Avengers and leaving whatever his roles in the Thor movies might be out of it. (Because he’s more of an anti-hero in Thor 2…) In The Avengers he’s definitely a villain, but one that might be what is termed a sympathetic villain… He’s got his own bad agendas but he’s also being used and has his own fear and pain and that makes me feel for him (while at the same time, not being a fan of his villainous actions). He’s also got great lines and is hilarious and fabulous AND he’s literally always smiling. Now tell me that’s not really cool and creepy. XD

(source)

How about you? Have you read/seen any of these villains? Do any make your top ten villain list? And who are your favorite nefarious types?

Review: Songkeeper by Gillian Bronte Adams

Today’s the day! Gillian Bronte Adams is an INCREDIBLE author, whose books I devour and leave me hungering for more, so it’s with great excitement that I can happily say: The long-awaited sequel to Orphan’s Song has finally released!

*cue trumpet blast and ecstatic flailing around with confetti fireworks in the background*

As you may remember, I ADORED Orphan’s Song (in fact, it was one of the top-two-favorite books I read in 2014) and I have been anxiously awaiting the continuance of the story after that cliffhanger… The wait is finally over!

Read on for my review, and be sure to drop by the author’s blog throughout the week to see what celebrations/giveaways/fun things are going on!

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Songkeeper (The Songkeeper Chronicles, #2)

by Gillian Bronte Adams

Sequel to Orphan’s Song (read my review)

YA Christian Fantasy

Released April 15, 2016

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the author (many thanks!) in return for my honest review, and these opinions are entirely my own.

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My Review of Songkeeper

Well, THAT was a sandstorm whirlwind of a read! I’ll admit I had doubts in the middle of the book, when it felt pretty hopeless… But with the thrilling epicness overall, I ended up loving it, despite a quibble or two — which mostly boils down to the fact that I NEED BOOK THREE YESTERDAY!!! Ahem.

I’ve been breathlessly awaiting this book ever since the last cliff-hanger page of ORPHAN’S SONG, so I’m ecstatic to have finally read SONGKEEPER! It was different than I expected, but by no means disappointing!

I loved returning to this incredibly rich fantasy world… though it was less bright and green, since after all this is war-torn Leira. It’s a bit grimmer, but still gloriously original. I loved the new places and people encountered in this one, all fresh, new, and with a distinct flavor all their own (and another fantasy creature or two!). Intriguing desert dwellers — LOVED the lion-riding and the lioness looking after the little boys! — and more of a taste of the dwarves! SO excited about that, and looking forward to seeing more of them.

The writing was positively BRILLIANT. I absolutely loved the turns of phrase, the dialog, the masterfully woven narrative… It was all utterly brilliant. (Especially Amos’s point-of-view sections!) I’d read an entire book about nothing but eating porridge and counting bricks on a wall if it had this sort of gorgeous, genius writing. Naturally, SONGKEEPER was a far cry from that, and in fact a thrilling, breathtaking book!

It wasn’t like constant action? There were dashes of humorous, lighthearted moments mixed in at the most unexpected times, but the breathing spaces continually cut off suddenly and swept me back into the edge-of-your-seat danger and excitement again. VERY INTENSE. It sure kept me on my toes!

BUT BUT WE LEARN THINGS! So many hinted-at plot things start coming to light, and SO many more questions raised. Super exciting! I can’t wait to find out where it’s all going. (I also really, really want a prequel about the backstory of legendary characters we get hints about; a book about Artair, Hawkness, etc. would be AMAZING.) Also, the SONG! Ever-more intriguing and fascinating. I’m delighted with the Song parts of the story, and can’t wait to find out more!

But one of the best things? The CHARACTERS! Aaahh, this cast! They’re so real and I love them all. The interaction and banter and humor and struggles of these people who I love! Rundown of a few of them, since I simply MUST talk about them!

• Amos, ah, that testy, loyal, brave, dirk-wielding peddler with his accent and creative insults! Between the sand, lions, griffin, dangers and everything else, he’s absolutely DONE with all of it, which makes him even more humorous than ever. 😉 The way he cares for Birdie is just… alskdjflskdjl. *incoherent happy noises*
• Birdie continues to be a marvelous heroine, relateable and awesome. Love her parts of the story so much and can’t wait to follow her to the end.
• Ky is a precious little chocolate cupcake. I LOVE THIS BOY. This heroic, self-sacrificial little spitfire is doggedly determined to protect the Underground members at any cost, he won’t back down for any of the obstacles in his path. He’s just so awesome!
• Cade, still enigmatic leader of the Underground (with a definite Peter-Pan-meets-Florian-from-Lloyd-Alexander’s-Westmark-trilogy thing going, at least for me). I will stand by myself in the Cade-is-still-my-favorite corner and stubbornly insist I still like him. He wasn’t around as much, and I was a bit sad he seemed mostly relegated to a Ky’s-rival/almost-villain role, but I maintain he’s misunderstood and broken AND I STILL LOVE CADE AND NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE. ❤
• Gundhrold the griffin is… well, a griffin, so = AWESOME. He and Amos together are perfection. XD I don’t remember if he was wise/sniffy in the first book? But it’s great to see more of him.
• Sym is quite the punchy (stabby? Because spears…?) and epic lion-riding desert warrior-woman. She’s awesome and I really loved her addition to the group. She and Amos make a surprisingly effective fighting pair! Loved their bits.
• Migdon, oh, Migdon! Dangerous, epic, dramatic, and nicknamed Silvertongue for his persuasiveness, this dwarf is awesome, and his bickering relationship with Ky is so much fun. Love him, and the two of them together!
• AND I have to mention Balaam. I will say no more here, besides: AWESOME and hilarious! XD

SONGKEEPER has a darker, grimmer, grittier tone than the first book. War, violence, death (lots of death… which I wasn’t happy about) and things looking more hopeless for Birdie, Ky, Amos, and all of Leira. Not for the faint at heart, one could say. It’s the time of the story when Sam’s words from The Two Towers movie come to mind: “And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end; because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?” So here’s me hoping that book 3 will get to the “even darkness must pass” and “when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer” part. 😉

As the middle book of a trilogy, SONGKEEPER follows on from book 1 fantastically, though it ends on another cliff-hanger-type note (which has me desperate for the next book to find out what happens!) and didn’t have a lot of closure. But I will say that it feels like one completed segment of a story, and leaves the main characters at a couple of important turning-points, setting up for the next chapter of the adventure, so I’m excited about that.

I will say that I accidentally saw several spoilers online, so I knew some of the twists and deaths before they happened, which was a mixed blessing because it was sad that I already knew about them but at the same time it lessened the punch of the reveals (which is both good and bad) and I’m likely less of an emotional wreck than I would have been. 😉

I also wish I’d reread ORPHAN’S SONG before tackling this one, but SONGKEEPER had enough reminders, so it was fine, but think I’d have picked up on more of the awesomeness if the first one was fresh in my mind. I’ll just have to have an epic reread of both when book 3 releases — which will be a glorious day indeed!

So yes, very much looking forward the next book! On that note, I will be very put out if a certain character or two end up dead… AHEM. We shall see! And storywise, well, they’re all so incredibly doomed right now, I don’t know HOW they’re going to get out of this mess. I’m on the edge of my seat here and I NEED BOOK THREE! Can’t. Wait. 🙂

About the Book

Songkeeper (The Songkeeper Chronicles, #2) – Gillian Bronte Adams

War ravages Leira and the Song has fallen silent.

Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.

Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran’s fortress. Legend speaks of a mythical spring buried within and the Songkeeper who will one day unleash it to achieve victory. Everyone believes Birdie is the one, but the elusive nature of the Song and rumors of other gifted individuals lead her to doubt her role. Unleashing the spring could defeat the Takhran once and for all, but can she truly be the Songkeeper when the Song no longer answers her call?

Find the Book

Amazon | Goodreads | Publisher

About the Author

Gillian Bronte Adams is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, coffee-loving speculative fiction author from the great state of Texas. During the day, she manages the equestrian program at a Christian youth camp. But at night, she kicks off her boots and spurs, pulls out her trusty laptop, and transforms into a novelist. Orphan’s Song, book one of the Songkeeper Chronicles, released Fall 2014 from Enclave Publishing, followed in the Spring of 2015 by Out of Darkness Rising from Magpie Eclectic Press.

Connect with Gillian online:

Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Newsletter

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So what do you think, O blog-readers of mine? What say you to lion-riding? Griffins? Awesome fantasy? Do you prefer dark books with meaning, or lighter fare? Have you read Orphan’s Song, and are you going to read Songkeeper?? (The correct answer is YES!) Sound off in the comments and tell me all!

Nov. Ishness (Part 1) & Dec. Nightstand Books

In which I talk about November without the writing part, and lots and lots of BOOOKS.

So, I was working on my Ishness post, and realized I had finished the NON-writerly/non-NaNo part of it and was avoiding the NaNo stuff because it’s sooo confusing and complicated and insane and… yes. Plus it’s probably going to be long.

So I decided, Hey! Why not just post this part as Part 1, along with my December Nightstand books, and do the writerly NaNo part later?

(I WILL do it, I promise. My brain just… doesn’t want to think of writerly things right now. *collapses and wraps up in a shock blanket*)

I know what you’re thinking. “Waiiiit a minute, this person managed to do things during NaNo that WEREN’T writing?? HOW EVEN.” I know, I know. But, strangely, it did happen. So here are some highlights of my month, with pictures because I happen to love pictures.

During November, besides writing, I also managed to…

Go to a library sale.

Read a book (huzzah!), namely Archer’s Goon by Diana Wynne Jones. It was fabulous and mind-boggling and I adored it. It effortlessly blends past, present, future, ordinary contemporary, fantasy, and sci-fi, of which I have NEVER seen the like. Also the characters are in a constant state of changing around in the eyes of the reader: who’s good, who’s bad, who has devious intents, WHO IS UP TO WHAT AND WHAT ON EARTH OR POSSIBLY OFF OF IT IS GOING ON??? O_O Basically it broke my brain, mixed impossible things together extraordinarily well, had mind-blowing plot twists (SERIOUS. PLOT. TWISTS. WOW. *flail*) and was exciting and breathtaking and downright HILARIOUS! Just. Gaaah. Let me flail. All Diana Wynne Jones books are brilliant. I just love them so much. ❤

Started reading Six of Crows because it was at the library and gorgeous and new and I needed it.

Survived being an ML, i.e. doing lots of organizing, posting, emailing, and going to oodles of NaNo events. (If you’re looking for my introvert self, it’s rocking back and forth in a corner, feeling rather shriveled and glad to be back after so much excitement and fun…)

Caught a cold. Yay. (NaNo-ing when one is sick is NOT fun; I do not recommend it.)

Had Thanksgiving which was wonderful and foodish.

It’s gone. Because I ate it all. Because Thanksgiving piiiie. Nomnom.

Blogged a lot. Because I made the mistake of thinking I wouldn’t want to blog during November and so I scheduled posts… and then ended up writing at least a post every week anyway. Oops. 😛

Watched some Castle episodes between writing — good reward! (I think Leverage has spoiled me for other shows… buuut ’twas still enjoyable!)

Saw Mockingjay: Part 2, which, considering I haven’t read the books, was… interesting. (Still not sure what I think of it… I have this odd “meh” feeling that I can’t seem to sort out…) Also, FYI, going to a movie at 10 p.m. after a writing meeting when one is behind on wordcount and has a cold (and therefore going to bed at 1 a.m.) is kind of nuts, as I have now discovered. Don’t try this at home, folks.

So there are my non-writing Ishnesses of November!

December Nightstand Books

Nightstand books is a monthly meme held by Jenelle and D.J. — hop over and join in the fun! This is the last one of the year, and as I’m simply ecstatic about being able to read again now that NaNo’s insanity is over, I just can’t resist joining in this one.

I’m not sure I’ll get to all of these but they’re the ones I want to read this month:

Book of Christmas Carols: Cute collection of Christmasy songs I picked up at a library sale, this was fun to read. ^_^

Six of Crows: Um. Aslkdhadkgh. I kind of finished this one. I don’t know what I think of it except it’s totally addicting/immersing, I love heists and snarky dialog and KAZ, it’s super dark/gritty/violent (um. Wow. o.o Lost a star…), and I need the sequel LAST WEEK ALREADY. Unfortunately, it’ll probably be like a year till it comes out. I’ll just be over here dying of suspense because CLIFFHANGER noooo. (Seriously, HOW can it end that way?! *wailing*) *huggles Kaz even though he would quite literally murder me for it* 4 stars.

Skulduggery Pleasant: Scepter of the Ancients: Soo… this was weird, and adventures of a skeleton detective in a modern fantasy (Dublin, Ireland!) setting doesn’t really sound like my thing, buuut I gave this a try because I’d heard it’s hilarious with witty dialog/banter and just GIVE ME ALL THE HUMOR AND FUN DIALOG. So yes. I adored the dialog and it’s quite a fun story, a little weird at times but… *shrug* Lots of fun. And I kind of love Skulduggery a lot. 4 stars.

The Hunger Games Trilogy: I dunno if I’ll get to these but I’m vaguely contemplating reading the books now I’ve seen the movies… I’m not sure I want to inflict 1171 pages of dystopia on myself though, so we’ll see. 😛

Aaand ebooks, which sadly do not display themselves nicely on nightstands…

The Sunken Realm: I’m reading this for review and I’m SO EXCITED to get to read the sequel to The Seahorse Legacy! I basically can’t wait. Keep an eye out for a review hopefully this month…

The Poisoned Cure: I finally got this and am insanely excited to read it. *flail* For better or worse, I seem to be addicted to the Book of Sight series…

Yorien’s Hand: Because dragons! And ARCs! And yay!

Rising Shadows: Looking forward to reading this prequel to Chasing Shadows…

Heidel: Third of the Nine Princesses novellas, I finally read this! I’m giving it 4 stars… The first part I wasn’t so sure about and didn’t know if I’d like it, but it turned out quite enjoyable/adorable. 🙂

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Oh, and while I’m thinking about books (who am I kidding; I’m ALWAYS thinking about books…) — here’s a couple additions to last week’s Top Ten Tuesdays post. Because naturally covers like to appear just days after I showcase the books I want to read in 2016…

Cover for A Spy’s Devotion (ISN’T IT GORGEOUS I’M EVEN MORE EXCITED NOW AAHHH)

Aaaand cover for Songkeeper, sequel to Orphan’s Song by Gillian Bronte Adams, which Enclave Publishing just revealed the cover of and which I’m insanely excited about because apparently it’s coming in Spring 2016 AND MY EXCITEMENT KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

I will be back with tales of my NaNo writing, hopefully soonish!

Best Blogging Buddies Award

Tag Catch-Up Post #6

Right before last NaNo arrived with all its madness, I was tagged by the awesome Sarah of Light and Shadows for the Best Blogging Buddies Award! Thank you so much, Sarah!! ^_^ (Everyone. Go read her blog. Now. It is delightful and fantasy-esque and one of my favorites of ever! <3)

Due to the nature of the time I received the B-B-B Award, I didn’t get to doing it then… but that’s what this week of posting is for, right? 😉 (One left for tomorrow!)

And I’m afraid I’m going to be very lazy and pay no attention to the rules and only answer the questions… Because I am out of it and my brain literally cannot come up with fifteen questions right now, and I have a dilemma because what with all these tags all week I’m running out of people to tag! (And I have so many fabulous blogging buddies and don’t want to leave anyone out!! o.o)

However, I’m going to answer the questions because they are awesome ones (Thanks, Sarah!) and if anyone wants to steal this award or questions or whatever, steal away!

Also due to said out-of-it-ness, my brain is too tired to go look for pictures for this post so… you’ll have to use your imagination. 😉 (I know, I know, it’s cruel of me, especially on a Saturday, to put you to all that work…! Ahem.)

1. What’s your favorite pizza topping combination?

Cheese and hamburger. I have kind of boring taste…

2. If you could go back and change one thing in history, what would you change?

Meh. Everything? XD Probably something in Celtic history or perhaps the outcome of the Civil War.

3. What’s the last book that made you cry/scream/however you express book-related emotional anguish?

That’s kind of hard because there have been a few books lately I’ve been super annoyed at, but I wouldn’t say they were actual emotional anguish! o.o Maybe Orphan’s Song by Gillian Bronte Adams, which I LOVED; there was also a certain character who I got so attached to but not and… gaahh, it was very emotional-anguish-y! Of the best kind, of course! 😉 So yeah, probably that (unless unpublished books count, in which case… *points accusingly at Mirriam Neal* Creating book-related emotional anguish is basically her job description…).

4. Is there a popular (but more or less appropriate) song that you avoid like the plague? If so, what is it?

I can’t think of one in particular because I don’t listen to a lot of music that I don’t pick… In general though, if it’s rap or jazz, I’ll avoid it plague-ishly…

5. Do you want to learn another language? If so, which language(s)?

I would love to learn Gaelic/Irish/Welsh/Elvish… but I lack the fortitude and patience to do so. 😛 It would be awesome, though!

6. If you were given the opportunity to change places with a book character so you could try to do a better job than they did, would you? If so, which character?

No. I would definitely not have the nerve… There are plenty that I feel were idiots and that I know better then them, but… I just wouldn’t dare. 😛

7. Also, if you said yes in question 6, do you think you’d succeed? (Be honest!) How would your presence change the story?

I didn’t say yes, but even if I did, I don’t think I’d succeed. My presence in any story would probably only change it in a negative (i.e., this character is too terrified to do ANYTHING and is sitting in a closet reading!) way. XD

8. If you lived in a fantasy/sci-fi world, what job would you want?

Librarian, please! I’d live among the dusty shelves full of tomes and I’d help people find the ones they wanted and all of the awesome planning scenes would happen with me lurking (safely) in the background and in between I’d just read and read.

9. Cookies, kudos, awesomeness points, or something else?

Cookies! Always cookies. Or… Maybe cake. Because cake is good. *nod nod* *hands out cake to everyone*

10. Are you ready for fall?

Since I was tagged with this before NaNo, I’m guessing that’s why this question was here, but honestly YES. We haven’t actually had too much hot weather yet, but the summer is not my favorite time of year, temperature-wise. So even though summer’s kind of only barely here, YES I’m ready for fall! (Except that with fall comes NaNo and I’m SO not ready for that… O_O)

11. If you were going to dress up as a character from a book/movie/TV show/etc. (like for a costume party or convention), who would you dress up as?

Probably Eowyn. I’d wear a gorgeous but simple dress with flowing sleeves, and carry a sword around. It would be awesome.

12. Do you like romance in stories? Why or why not?

Yes, I do! Not as the main focus, usually, but I do like an occasional sweet romance. I think it adds a lot to the story and can be fun to watch the characters being clueless in love, heehee. …Okay, so I’m kind of a hopeless romantic at times. If I like the girl and love the guy involved, I just enjoy reading about them.

13. What are you really excited for right now?

Independence Day! I’m looking forward to spending the Fourth eating watermelon and ice cream sandwiches and watching fireworks.

14. What book/movie/TV villain would you most want to show up on your doorstep? (Or, to phrase it another way, which would you be least opposed to showing up on your doorstep?)

It depends if I had adequate protection. XD But as long as I knew they wouldn’t hurt me or anyone near me or burn my house down… Maybe Guy of Gisborne or Bucky or… someone like that.

15. If you were going to give yourself a personal title thing (e.g. the Taleweaver, the Pathfinder, etc.), what would it be?

Um… the… Penner of… Tales? I really have no idea. I’m not really good at naming myself. XD

16. What are you going to do now?

Go finish my tea and read, hopefully… There’s some books I’m supposed to review, and you can’t review something you haven’t finished, am I right?? So I will press onward with heroic valor, read the books, and prevail at the last! *fanfare of trumpets*

Happy Saturday, y’all!