1.28.2013

Book Review: Free Fall (Retrievers, #5) by Laura Anne Gilman

Free Fall (Retrievers, #5)Free Fall by Laura Anne Gilman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Free Fall was better than the previous book in this Retrievers series. It brought back some of that action, killer attitudes and more focus. It had some intense moments, life changing moments for Wren that really gave her character a serious mind twist that effects her the rest of the book. It was one of those things though, that should effect someone.

The relationship drama between Wren and Sergei is there, it's just not the main show, which was nice. It did feel a bit more realistic, as did the friendship thats growing with P.B.

The writing in this novel was much better than the last, the plots felt more directed and there was tension so that you kept on reading to find out what in the world is going on and going to happen. You can feel the build up in this book and it doesn't disappoint.


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Book Review: The Seduction of Elliot McBride by Jennifer Ashley

The Seduction of Elliot McBride (Highland Pleasures, #5)The Seduction of Elliot McBride by Jennifer Ashley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Overall, I like this series, Highland Pleasures. I just didn't feel that book was all that exciting. There was not as much romance, little history on whatever romantic feelings the 2 lead characters felt for each other. And

Elliot, I felt for the poor man but how many times did we need to be reminded of his PTSD charactistics in any given chapter? I felt like I was re-reading the same sections over and over in some cases with that.

I actually enjoyed more of some of the secondary characters than the leads. Elliot's uncle was a hoot.

It was an easy but plain read for me. It's a good book to pass the time but I could have skipped it and been just a happy reading something that caught my imagination more.

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Novellas vs Books

I've been noticing that a lot of authors that I like publishing Novella's. It's harder for me to get into these works because of the cost. If they were priced right, I would probably purchase them.

Case in point, Neferet's Curse: A House of Night Novella by P.C. Cast. P.C. Cast is well known author and published a slew of books.

This Novella is 160 pages and Amazon has it "on sale" for $10.39 as of today. The retail pricing is $12.99

See, if a normal paperback book is $7.99 and is on average 350 pages, that's $.0228 per page. So, a Novella would be $ 3.65 for the 160 pages like the one from P.C. Cast. Of course, I have no idea how they calculate the price, but coming from a logical/data stand point, it seems a little more fair. A great example is Feral Magic by Robin D. Owens (one of my favorite authors) who has also writtens tons of books. Her Novella is 96 pages and is only $2.99 for the Kindle version. That's $.0311 per page. This one I will probably end of getting once I have some of my other books read.

What I'm say is that if authors want more readers, more sales, then their publishers need to be a bit more realistic. The pricing structure needs to be amended to something us readers can afford to pay for these smaller installments that we would like to read. And yes, of course that means that the authors would get less per sale - but maybe it would even out in the end??

Now I'm not saying that authors don't have a lot of stress, it's not easy to be creative and write well. I know that they have dead lines and normal every day life as well. And I would totally love to read many of the novella's that I am seeing published lately.


To me, especially with how fucked up the economy has been for the last several years, I have been very careful (aka frugal) in my book purchases. I use my local (and state wide) library system for most of my reading needs. When I do purchase books, I try to get the most bang for my buck. I will buy used books through Amazon (those priced less than $1.00 and have $3.99 shipping or free shipping) or locally at Wonder Books. For instance, I just book 7 books for $28.86 which is an average of $4.12 per book and that was because there was some tax added in. My other criteria are: Most amount of pages, most recently related books read, favorite authors, something I've been waiting & wanting to read.

Also, it's not very often I buy hard backs anymore, unless I can get them on sale or 2nd hand and a whole lot less in price. Unless it's a book that has a ton of pages and is one of my favorite authors and I've been dying to read it. Though, now that I have a Kindle Fire, I will look at the Kindle price and might get it that way. Or I will wait.

I honestly doubt it's the writer/author that's putting the price on these things. It's the publisher and merchant. They need to be shaken so that their sense or reality can be resettled into their brains. That way we can all win. Less price =  more sales = happy readers = more sales = more $$ for author/publisher/merchant. At least, that's my theory and opinion. I could be wrong...

Books that I ordered through Amazon: All purchased based on the Best Price and Free Shipping from Amazon.

1.27.2013

Book Review: The Never King by George Tyson

The Never KingThe Never King by George Tyson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.75 stars

This is a very unique novel.

Using a composition of spy themes, fantasy, Arthurian genre, and to be honest probably a multitude of others - the author expertly breathes life into this story and the characters. It was intriguing, intricate and I did not know what to expect next while reading it. You don't get lost, even though so much is going on and situations will just pop into a scene, but it's like a potato chip - you can never just have one. You have to keep reading just to see what happens next. It was exciting to read as the author continuously pulls you further into the story.

This is an exquisitely well written novel. The concept is amazing, I loved how so many elements got blended but not dissipated at all.

You can tell there is room for the story to continue, and the way it was written you want to read what is next.


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Book Review: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

Scent of Magic (Healer, #2)Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked Scent of Magic.

Like the previous book in this series, Touch Of Power, the characters, the multi-plots going on, the magic and the world building are all just incredible. The author is an amazing writer.

It was a great combination of relationships (with a hint of love), action and good old fantasy. I think one of favorite aspects of this series are the Death and Peace Lilies. There is something about them that really intrigues me.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next novel.

Highly recommend

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