The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson

Link to The Emperor’s Soul on Amazon

Can we talk about Brandon Sanderson for a minute? Brandon Sanderson is one of my absolute favorite authors. You’ve probably heard of him, but if you haven’t, he finished the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan after the author’s death (which I haven’t read, actually) and his own work has been best-selling as well. I love his books Elantris, Warbreaker, The Mistborn Series, The Way of Kings, as well as this novella, The Emperor’s Soul. This won’t be the last time you’ll see him on my blog. I’ll definitely be reviewing more of his books, though they fall into the “Full Price but Worth It” category. He builds amazing worlds and always comes up with unique systems of magic for them.

I’m starting with The Emperor’s Soul because at $4.99, it’s priced lower than the other books and is novella length. So if you want to dip your toe in, this is a good place to start.

Shai is a thief and a Forger, which means that she can change the nature of something or create a perfect replica – of furniture, priceless treasures, or even people, though it’s forbidden. When she’s caught in the Palace replacing the Moon scepter with a copy, she discovers that the Emperor has been attacked by an assassin and left comatose. His advisors need her to replicate his personality and stamp it back onto his body. If she can’t do it, she’ll be executed. If she does by some miracle pull it off, they might execute her anyway…

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Also, how about this cover? Who is the artist of this? It’s amazing. I can’t figure it out, does anybody know?

Howl’s Moving Castle Series by Diana Wynne Jones

Link to Howl’s Moving Castle on Amazon

I bought the kindle version of this book for $1.99. I know what you’re thinking – Howl’s Moving Castle for $1.99? That can’t be! Well, you’re right. I went back and checked and it’s now $7.99, so it must have been some kind of promotion. But whatever. They had no business giving this book away so cheap. It’s a classic. If you haven’t read it, you should.

What is this book about? A F*CKING MOVING CASTLE. And witches and wizards and fire demons. I was surprised how different it was from the movie. If you’ve seen the movie and you think you know the story, you don’t (though I never did fully understand that movie… I got confused when they start chasing falling stars and Howl sprouts feathers and flies around fighting things in the air. The book explains things better).

Quick Summary: Sophie, who works in a hat shop, runs into the Wicked Witch of the Waste, who turns her into an old lady. What does she do? She packs her bags and meanders off into the Waste where she runs into the infamous Howl’s Moving Castle and barges in to become his cleaning lady.

If you have read Howl’s Moving Castle, but not the sequels, they are also fantastic.

The Castle in the Air is about a carpet merchant who buys a magic carpet and falls in love with a princess, only she is stolen by a Djinn.

The House of Many Ways is about a girl who takes care of her Uncle’s house, only he’s a wizard and the house if full of magical doors. That book also has freaky creatures called the Lubbock which look like giant insect people and they can lay eggs in your body by just touching you. Um… yeah.

On a side note, there are many great Diana Wynne Jones books available as eBooks on Amazon. I’ve been reading my way through them.

Five cupcakes? Can I give more cupcakes?

The Emperor’s Edge Series by Lindsay Buroker

Link to The Emperor’s Edge on Amazon

Okay, so I might be a little bit obsessed with this series. I might have read all of the additional side stories (it’s so awesome that she writes those).

I’m not into romance novels, at all, so I like it when there is very subtle romance. And believe me, this is SUBTLE. It takes several books before you even realize there’s a relationship going on. But I love it… Sicarius and Amaranthe! The assassin and the ex-cop (or the book’s version thereof). Extra bonus– a love triangle with Sicarius’s son.

But mainly this series is about action, and hilarious characters (Maldynaldo the butt-kicking male escort) , and steam-punkiness, though the author says she didn’t know what steam-punk was when she wrote it. I give her that one. I wrote a story when I was younger that is totally steam-punk, before I’d ever heard of it. Not that I’m any good at writing steam-punk. You have to have some mechanical understanding to write good steam-punk. Me? Not so much.

Quick Summary: Amaranthe is an enforcer (cop) who accidentally stumbles into the middle of a plot against the Emperor. The Emporer crushes on her so his advisors send her out to seduce Sicarius, an infamous assassin, in an attempt to get her killed. Instead she recruits Sicarius to help the Emperor.

Here’s the whole series so far: The Emperor’s Edge, Dark Currents, Deadly Games, Conspiracy, and Blood and Betrayal. There’s one more coming. I can’t wait for the last book! She also wrote several novellas that fit between the books: The Assassin’s Curse, Shadows Over Innocence, and Beneath the Surface. I just finished Beneath the Surface and if you don’t read it, you’re really missing part of the story. I’m not quite sure how she can put such important plot points into something that isn’t one of the main novels. How is that going to work with the sixth book? Will she tack it onto the beginning, or do a recap? Or just casually mention “Oh yes by the way these two side characters have had sex now. It happened after the fifth book and before the sixth, you may have missed it.”

I also enjoyed her other book Encrypted, to which I’m awaiting the sequel.

The Emperor’s Edge eBook is currently free to download!

Five kick-ass cupcakes!!!

The Hawk and His Boy by Christopher Bunn, and the Tormay Trilogy

Link to The Hawk and His Boy on Amazon

Epic fantasy trilogy! Jute is a thief, and when the Thieves’ Guild hires him to steal a box, there is one rule: Don’t open the box. Well, he opens the box and cuts himself on a knife inside, and suddenly everybody is trying to kill him. I really love the world that this series takes place in, and the legends it has. The land is protected by the four Anbeorun, Wind, Earth, Fire, and Sea. Since the little intro I gave was a little boring, I’ll give you hint–  the knife in the box was used to kill the Anbeorun of the Wind…

This eBook costs nothing, alright? Read it.  The rest of the trilogy, The Shadow at the Gate and The Wicked Day, are just as good. And Lo! Behold! You can get all three books for about $4. Chew on that– Link to A Storm In Tormay, the Trilogy.

Five cupcakes of chocolatey goodness!

The 19 Dragons by S.M. Reine

Link to The 19 Dragons on Amazon

The 19 Dragons is a short novel (a novella!), which as you can tell by the cover image, has steam-punk elements, but is much more than just a stream-punk story. It is truly unique. The story is written in present tense, and the author seems to be speaking right to you. Even the page formatting is creative, with empty spaces and pages that have only a few words on them and are very poetic.

The story itself is about 19 dragons. Each of them is a “pillar” of the land, which means that if they die, the land itself disappears. The dragons are immortal and can be reborn, as long as they have The Device. The Device is stolen in the first chapter, and the 1st Dragon is killed. Slowly the world begins to disappear as the dragons try to recover The Device and save the people who are still left.

Right now this eBook is free!

But if I had five chocolate cupcakes, I would trade all five for this book. (Yes, I’m a foodie. Sue me.)