Two ravens and a very badass crow

Just finished Kevin Hearne's Two Ravens and One Crow.  It was brief, quickly read, and as always entertaining.  My calling it brief was not a complaint or form of criticism, it is as intended a novella, about 52 pages(not counting the sneak peek at Trapped) long(Nook pages), and fills in some blanks.  You see, between the last installation about everyone's favorite druid and the next, 12 years in the story and several months reader wise will have passed, so Mr. Hearne, being the awesomely cool guy he is, decided to provide us with a wee bit of filler on both accounts.

The story takes place 6 years after Tricked and gives us a little insight to a few things.  We learn about the Morrigan's unique perspective of baseball, a peek at the progression of the dynamic between Atticus and Granuille and what I am sure will be some background to explain some of how Atticus will be interacting with the Norse in Trapped.

One nugget of detail that I really appreciated was the dive into how the druid gets his ink repaired. That was definitely interesting. 

There wasn't as much banter with Oberon, but there wasn't much opportunity with the length of the story.  As always, I was left wanting more, not in a dissatisfied, the story needed more way, but in a, darnit, I love this story and could just keep reading on and on about anything Kevin Hearne writes kind of way.

All in all, I'm happy that he took the time to pen it for us to read. I hope Kevin knows how much we all really love his story and I for one appreciate him for giving us some filler.  Now I'm ready Trapped. 

I will add one more thing, if you haven't read the other books in this series, you will be lost if you just pick this one up. It's not intended to be a stand alone read, so don't try it, you will be doing yourself a huge injustice.  Buy the books, all of them, start at the beginning. They aren't expensive and they are well worth the time. 
-Del

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Today Sucks

I got up early and put a yummy sunday meal into the crock pot. Thinking that YAY something good to have later and I didn't really even have to work at it very hard.

Then about an hour later, I get a call from my brother.

BAM

My dad's in the hospital.

Luckily I have a best friend who works in that ER. She's at the beach in florida but that that did not keep her from calling up there  and making sure they knew who he was and to take care of him.

I have nothing but respect for nurses. Their job is hard, they work very hard and get little thanks. They see so many patients that it gets to be routine and sometimes people can start to become numbers. I don't ever want someone I love to be just another number on a chart. I wanted them to see him as a person.

So she called up there, made sure he had a good doctor and made sure he got a on a good floor with good nurses.

Have I mentioned that I love my best friend.

Well I do, she's amazing.

Dad's CHF has flared, his kidneys are sucking. He's stable but we don't really know what is going to happen. If it's good, his CHF will straighten out, his numbers will come down and he'll be able to go home.

Let's pray for that outcome.

Gunmetal Magic

ilona-andrews.com

I love, love, love the Kate Daniels series written by the husband-wife duo known as Ilona Andrews. Gunmetal Magic is set in the Kate Daniel universe. Instead of following Kate we are seeing the world the Andrea Nash's eyes. Andrea has been Kate's bff for most of the series and she is pretty badass. Where Kate wields a sword, Andrea can take out a target either up close and personal or far away all sniper style.

Andrea has issues. She had an abusive past, mistreated by her clan (they set her on fire as a kid, I don't know how much more effed up of a childhood you could manage). She is beastkin and not a regular shifter, so she's often shunned. She was playing at being human and got outed during the last book. She is also on the outs with her mate. There is plenty there to make this book work. To make it interesting.

I read on the author's page that many people felt it was too short. At first I thought the same thing, but she's right it's just as long if not longer than many of her other books. It just goes at such a good pace, that it doesn't feel that long.

I enjoyed this book. I loved the resolution, I loved the continuation of the story line, I loved finding out more about Andrea and I loved seeing a character have actual growth. Many times during a series, it takes forever for a character to just "grow up". Not here. She gets it, she has to make changes, she has to take responsibility for her actions. It was refreshing after reading countless books this summer where the characters seem to never learn from their past, never change their game.

I don't want to forget to mention, but this book is also funny. There's plenty of "heh" moments. It is smartly written and rather enjoyable all around. I would suggest you read the entire series from the beginning or you won't fully appreciate everything that is going on during the course of the story. Seriously, you'll wonder who is this "volhv".

I give this book a solid A.

Side Jobs filled in the time

So, I'm patiently awaiting...ok semi-patiently awaiting, a few different new releases.  I'm waiting on the novella that Kevin Hearne has coming out next month, as well as the next full length IDC book that will be hitting the shelves in November, the third installment of Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller epic trilogy and Jim Butcher's newest Dresden Files release, which I'm hoping will be no later than Halloween. 

Hearne's Atticus and Butcher's Dresden are two of my favorite book characters at the moment.  I catch myself wondering what is going on with Harry. You're right, it's sad and I know it, but I am still hooked on finding out how Butcher is going to terrorize Harry's life next. 

You see, he has built an entire universe surrounding the detective wizard(or wizard detective, not sure), and after a dozen full length novels, there is a lot going on, with a lot that CAN go on. It has become a soap opera for me.  I GOTTA find out what is happening next.  The beauty of the series is that you not only get literarally(is that a word?) involved, even attached to the main character, you also become engrossed with several other characters and you also want to know more about them.  This has given the Butcher the opportunity to be able to spin off some short stories that center around other characters. 

Side Jobs, his collection of short stories does just that.  The stories all involved Harry and most of them are still from Harry's perspective, but they do a good job of filling in some details between novels and they also give you a more intimate look at some other characters.

There were 2 stories that really stood out to me.  I'll not reveal much of anything here because I don't want to be a spoiler leak to anyone who hasn't read it, but you get a story from Thomas' perspective that is really enlightening in a few ways. You find out more about the vampire White Court and you also find out more about what makes Thomas click and how he views his younger half-brother.  I really enjoyed that story.

Another story that really stood out to me and I enjoyed a lot was the short novella at the end. It was written from Murphy's view and takes place immediately after the tragic ending of Changes.  It sheds light on a lot of what was going on in the next full length book and fills in some blanks for you.  Also, getting to see inside Murphy's head was an interesting revelation.

So, if you're a Dresden fan, I definitely recommend picking up or downloading Side Jobs. Its worth the few bucks and the few hours you'll spend reading it, and it's a nice way to feed the appetite if you're starting to get a bit restless waiting for the next Dresden adventure.

Busy busy busy

So, I've been horrible at posting recently.  I've been super busy and haven't read anything new in the past few weeks. I've got to get to the book store or even better, break down and buy an e-reader.  In the past, I have read e-books on my laptop, but that's not always conducive to my lifestyle.  I'm thinking that if I hook myself up with a kindle fire, nook, or new tablet, I will be able to get more reading in. Plus, there are a couple of things coming up that are in e-format only.  Also, I live so far from a decent bookstore, that I don't always make it by one when I'm really busy.  All that being said, I'm buying an e-reader this week! Presenttime for Del!

And now for my excuses....I've been working  a superlot lately...gotta pay the bills! But, I've also been working on my book a little here and there.  It's kinda crazy, I was all inspired and cranked out about 15k words in a couple of weeks, and then, I got in to a non-writey mood. Since then, I've been jotting down little "scenes". Something will come to me and I'll put it on paper(computer monitor actually).  I'm feeling like the muse is about to strike again though! My goal is to have it ready for my first re-write by Halloween. I have all the ideas there and I pretty much have it ready to go, just somedays, I can't get the words out, while on other days, I can't stop writing. I've been working on this particular story for about 7 months now.  Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I might feel bold enough to share an excerpt here.

Oh yea, I met the fantastically awesome Kevin Hearne. He was just as cool and friendly in person as he is online. I really enjoyed meeting him and hearing his thoughts and answers to our questions.  I also listened to a podcast interview with him that I enjoyed a lot.  If he comes back this way, or if I'm ever out his way, I will definitely make sure to get to speak to him again. Thanks for visiting the south Kevin!

Mini-roadtrip tomorrow

This isn't a book review, but it's book related(and I want to brag!), so I'll go ahead and post about it. 
Tomorrow, I, along with the awesome sister and her hubs, are riding up the road a piece to meet the incredible Mr. Kevin Hearne! He is the author of the fun-filled urban fantasy Iron Druid Chronicles. 
His series is chock full of great wit and adventure. They involve a lot fun twists and turns on all different kinds of theology and are just plain 'ol fun to read.

 I am going to take my copy of Tricked and get him to sign it and hopefully chew the fat with him for a few.  I'm super dorkcited!

Tricked; Dianne's Take

kevinhearne.com

I know you've read Del's take on Tricked earlier. I have been dragging my feet about posting this update. I don't know why exactly. But life has just been getting in the way lately.

Don't take my procrastination as a slight against the series, or this particular book. This installment continued to hammer on home what I've been saying all along about Kevin Hearne. He is a masterful world builder. The amount of lore he weaves into his world, is a key indicator of his exceptional writing style.

He effortlessly went from his last installment which landed Atticus heavy with the Norse, to this story which had him Ass-Deep into trouble with the Dine (Navajo) Gods.

As in the previous three books, Oberon is mega charming and one of the most shining beacons in the story. If this story doesn't make you 1. want to buy an Irish Wolfhound or 2. fall in love with a fictional hound dog, you have no soul.
Coyote is one of my favorite characters in IDC world. He's neither a good or bad character. He's just Coyote. Which If you've read any Native American stories about Coyote, you'll understand that Trickster gods are always to be watched out for and never to be trusted.

The Norse is still a problem and Atticus is coming to realize that for all his 2,000 years in this world, he doesn't always make the best decisions. There is also a resolution of sorts with the local resident vampire.

I was very happy with this book. I felt like he wrapped up a few loose ends and opened the book up for the fifth installment. Again, I always recommend this series. It's smartly written, it's fun and it's worth the read.

I give it an A++

I am super excited y'all. If all goes right we will be heading to Nashville to meet Mr. Kevin Hearne on June 9th at his book signing at Parnassus Books. Let's cross our fingers and hope that nothing happens to throw a wrench in those plans.