To-Be Read Books with Strong Female Characters

Posted by Marilyn Muñiz on May 24th, 2012 in Book Shelves, Books | 1 comment

Strong, Fantasy Female Characters To-Be Read Books

In my effort to find books on strong female characters, I found four books that I plan on reading in the future. They are:

Green Rider (Green Rider #1) by Kristen Britain

On her long journey home from school after a fight which will surely lead to her expulsion, Karigan G’ladheon ponders her future as she trudges through the immense forest called Green Cloak. But her thoughts are interrupted by the clattering of hooves as a galloping horse bursts from the woods, the rider slumped over his mount’s neck, impaled by two black-shafted arrows. As the young man lies dying on the road, he tells Karigan that he is a Green Rider, one of the legendary messengers of the king, and that he bears a “life and death” message for King Zachary. He begs Karigan to carry his message, warning her not to read it, and when she reluctantly agrees, he makes her swear on his sword to complete his mission “for love of country.” As he bestows upon her the golden winged-horse brooch which is the symbol of his office, he whispers on his dying breath, “Beware the shadow man…”

Karigan’s promise changes her life forever. Pursued by unknown assassins, following a path only her horse seems to know, and accompanied by the silent specter of the original messenger, she herself becomes a legendary Green Rider. Caught up in a world of deadly danger and complex magic, compelled by forces she cannot understand, Karigan is hounded by dark beings bent on seeing that the message, and its reluctant carrier, never reach their destination.

Summary taken from Goodreads.

 

Obernewtyn  (The Obernewtyn Chronicles: Australian editions #1) by Isobelle Carmody 

For Elspeth Gordie freedom is-like so much else after the Great White-a memory.

It was a time known as the Age of Chaos. In a final explosive flash everything was destroyed. The few who survived banded together and formed a Council for protection. But people like Elspeth-mysteriously born with powerful mental abilities-are feared by the Council and hunted down like animals…to be destroyed.

Her only hope for survival to is keep her power hidden. But is secrecy enough against the terrible power of the Council?

Summary taken from Goodreads.

 

 

Poison Study  (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear…

Summary taken from Goodreads.

 

 

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

n the kingdom of Raine, a vast realm at the edge of the world, an orphaned baby girl is found by a palace librarian and raised to become a translator. Years later, the girl — named Nepenthe — comes in contact with a mysterious book written in a language of thorns that no one, not even the wizards at Raine’s famous Floating School for mages, can decipher. The book calls out to Nepenthe’s very soul, and she is soon privately translating its contents. As she works tirelessly transcribing the book — which turns out to be about the historical figures of Axis, the Emperor of Night, and Kane, his masked sorcerer — the kingdom of Raine is teetering on the brink of chaos. The newly crowned queen, a mousy 14-year old girl named Tessera who wants nothing to do with matters of state, hides in the woods as regents plot revolution. The queen’s destiny, however, is intertwined with Nepenthe’s ability to unravel the mystery of the thorns.

Summary taken from Goodreads.

 

I’m sure there are plenty more out I haven’t found yet. I welcome any recommendation of books with strong female leads. It’ll give me a good excuse to start reading everyday instead of a couple of days a week.

Until next week!

A Memory of Light’s Book Cover by Michael Whelan

Posted by Marilyn Muñiz on May 3rd, 2012 in Books | 0 comments

To my delight, the last book cover of the Wheel of Time series has been revealed. Michael Whelan is an award-winning artist.  Full details behind the art visit Tor.com here.

I believe it fits quite nicely with the rest of the covers. Now I’m waiting for the cover of the eBooks.

What do you think of the covers?

 

 

 

 

A Memory of Light Excerpt and Sketch Cover

Posted by Marilyn Muñiz on Apr 30th, 2012 in Books, Reading | 0 comments

It’s the end of April already. Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is approaching it’s end at the beginning of next year. During this year’s JordonCon, an excerpt and the sketch cover from the late Darrel K. Sweet was revealed. You can read the full excerpt on Tor.com here by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

Spoilers

I skimmed through it because I didn’t want to spoil myself too much. Plus, I need to catch up with the last two or three books released. It’s from an Andoran soldier named Bayrd POV. He is appointed to guard their leader for the night. Supplies and weapons are missing. They are talking about taking Whitebridge to resupply and recruit men for their cause. That’s as far as I made before stopping.

End of Spoiler

Very typical mumble jumbo I don’t care about. My pet peeve with the series is the POVs that don’t move the plot forward. This may not be the case with this prologue, but I would be surprised if it turned out to be important.  After reading books 7 through 10, I’m not thrilled of reading more of the same. But if i want to finish the series right, then I will need to read every page in the series. It feels wrong to read the last book without reading every book.

*************************************************************************************************************

Darrell K. Sweet drew all fifteen covers for the Wheel of Timeseries. He passed away last December before he fulfilled his wish to finish the last cover for the series. Below is the image he created.

I prefer the eBook covers over the print edition, but I cannot deny Sweet’s art is wonderful and reflects the series very well. The artwork has Min, Aviendha, and Elayne standing around a funeral pyre. I can guess it is for Rand, but we won’t know for sure until the last book it out.  I’m hoping Rand gets his happy ending, but I will understand if he dies.

To view all his previous covers, visit Tor.com here.

I’m debating on whether to have a reread so late into the year. What do you think?

Is the excitement over?

Posted by Marilyn Muñiz on Apr 26th, 2012 in Books, Ranting, TV Shows | 2 comments

The new season of Game of Thrones is heading into its fifth episode this weekend. Somehow I lost the excitement of waiting for the next episode. I’m not sure what happened and why I’m not in a rush to watch the last episode aired. It’s strange but maybe I’m just not excited because nothing huge has happened to keep me interested.

Wading interest is nothing new, but this time it happened over night. I half watched episode 3 and haven’t watched episode 4 yet. I know it isn’t the graphic nature of the series. That only leaves the plot. Everything is starting to move, yet not enough for me to become involved.

This has me tied up in knots as I really want to get myself involved in a new fantasy series. TV series or book series will do. The series hasn’t been read yet because I’m afraid I will lose interest over a while based on what I heard. My excitement for the Wheel of Time is over, but I’m sure it will pick up again just before the last book comes out next year. Otherwise, I haven’t found another series to hold my interest book wise. And there isn’t another fantasy TV series on air I’m aware currently of. This leaves me to search again for something new.

At what point do you know the excitement is over for you? Is it similar to my experience or different?

Has Dark Fantasy become too much to read?

Posted by Marilyn Muñiz on Apr 19th, 2012 in Books, TV Shows | 2 comments

In my weekly #fantasychat on twitter, we started to discuss how graphic Game of Thrones show is. While it doesn’t bother me at the moment, others in the group could no longer watch or DVR the episodes. As we continued the discussion, everyone seems to be tried of dark fantasy novels in general.

Is it because the market has been saturated with the sub-genre? Or is it something more?

I don’t read many dark fantasy novels. But in short of animal cruelty and rape, I can tolerate violence in novels unless it is just for the sake of it happening. If it doesn’t move the plot forward, it doesn’t need to be shown to the readers. I write my own novels in the same way.

Since I don’t read many, does that explain why I’m not tried of it? Most likely the case but I’m a curious person and want to know your opinion on the subject. Post a comment with your answers to any question below.

What attracted you to the dark fantasy in the first place? Are you tired of reading them because of the same thing that led you to read them? Or there another reason why? If you’re not tired of reading them, why is that?

Feel free to add any additional comments or questions.