November Mini-Reviews

My reading has been ... well, mad. And here’s why: one book am currently reading is taking much longer to read than I expected, one audiobook that I have written the review for might be being used for a blog tour next month so holding fire, and I only finished a short audiobook a few hours ago. Plus, the idea of writing a blog post about the TV adaptaion of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, though tempting, feels me with dread as SO DIFFERENT FROM THE BOOK! Oh, so very different! And the podcasts I been dipping in and out of the past few weeks/months (The mini series in the Shedunnit podcast, Queens of Crime At War, I highly recommend)... 

Anyway, I warned you in my November And December Reading Plan that my reading was going to be a bit different. I might not read as much as I normally would and some of my reading choices might not be my normal, but I wanted to mix my reading/blogging up a little bit before I go on my winter break (I might go on my blog break a tad longer than I normally do)...

I've always said that I would try an Agatha Raisin mystery. There's something intriguing about her that made me want to try. Plus, she doesn't sound like a typical detective you read in a "cosy village mystery" - she's not likeable, quick to temper, a little prickly and bitter, and yet someone people like. And yet, I start with this one, rather than an older case such as Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death or Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House, or even Agatha Raisin: Beating About the Bush (which I have from UK publisher via NetGalley for review and not got the courage to read yet).

And yet, this is me we're talking about so, of course, I do this book blogging reading the wrong way round.

Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple in the middle of a bowling green—with the body of an old man lying at their feet. 

The Police writes off the death as an accidental poisoning as the man is notorious for his bullying and his heavy drinking and drunk weed killer that he stored in rum bottles. Agatha isn't convinced that anyone would make that mistake, but carries on with her work... until she receives an anonymous letter saying that the man\'s death was no accident...

There's not much to say about this, if I can be honest. This was a nice, fun audiobook (Penelope Keith narrates the audiobook and there's something wonderful about her take on the story), and yet... and yet, the characters felt a tad softer than I was expecting. I saw flashes of Agatha being quite prickly and blunt, but she seems much softer. Not sure if it's because the characters are getting older from when we first met them in book 1 or if because MC Beaton died and a new author (R.W. Green) taking over writing (he's done it with a previous Agatha Raisin, Agatha Raisin: Hot to Trot, and an upcoming novel from another of MC Beaton's series, Death of a Green-Eyed Monster and not got the character's down quite yet...

Probably not the best place to start but am intrigued to try one more of her earlier cases... We shall see...

And moving onto another mini-review of a different genre: Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce. 

I was meant to read/audiobook this last year after I blitz a few other Tamora Pierce books, and I did start this. But I put it down round the 30% mark and didn't go back till earlier this week and I thought it would be a good idea to continue from where I left off... yeah, that wasn't my best idea... 

The third book in the Immortals Quartet, Daine's wild magic with animals is growing and under the magical care of her teacher, Numair. So when they go to help the Emperor Mage of neighbouring kingdom, Carthak, it's in the hope that they can help smooth international relationships by helping the emperor's ailing birds. 

But Carthak's emperor, Ozorne, is charming but treacherous and ruthless and the kingdom is built on the suffering of slaves. And Daine's finds herself a pawn in the game of the mysterious Graveyard Hag...

I keep saying this when I read/audiobook Tamora Pierce that I wished I discovered her when I was much younger. Say in the early teens rather than in my mid-30s, as I think I would have devoured these and treasured all of Tamora Pierce's books. She is very much an author who knows how to write fantasy in a way that feels grounded and have the characters feel real without writing a mammoth of a book. There's something simple yet it sucks you in. 

I think, out of the books in the Immortals Quartet, I liked this a lot more than the second in the series, Wolf Speaker, but less than the first, Wild Magic. I'm in two minds over if I want to read the fourth and final in this series, Realm of the Gods, as I have heard very mixed things about it. VERY MIXED. However, I do have the first in a prequel series, Tempests and Slaughter, and I am hoping to read that in the next few months. 

I do like this book, but I wish I discovered this series when I was much younger...