Jan 13
The Moss
By Lisa Lueddecke.
Design by Sarah Creech.
Cover art by Yorgos Cotronis.
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The Moss
By Lisa Lueddecke.
Design by Sarah Creech.
Cover art by Yorgos Cotronis.
So I'm happy to let its darkness burn, and let the starlight and sunshine and the light that comes with hope flood the shadows until they vanish like frost in the dawn.
Lisa Lueddecke, from The Moss
JOMP BPC - July 8th - The Sky
feat. A Shiver of Snow and Sky and A Storm of Ice and Stars by Lisa Lueddecke because the sky here was not feeling photogenic today lol but these were lovely Scandinavian-inspired fantasies perfect for fans of Adrienne Young or Tricia Levenseller that really deserve more love
Register now for Scholastic's event on Crowdcast, scheduled to go live on Monday October 12, 2020 at 6:00 pm BST.
Tomorrow I’ll be interviewing my friend and fellow author Lisa Lueddecke about her third novel, The Forest of Ghosts and Bones, tomorrow at 6PM (BST). Click the link above to register for free.
Above the village of Zírany, poisonous rains fall over Castle Vyesta, killing everyone they touch – everyone except Béata. As the rains move closer to the only home she’s ever known, she meets Benedek, whose dreams have shown him the way through the castle. Together, they might be able to unlock what evil lurks inside. Meanwhile, in Roşeti, mages live in fear of persecution. When she hears of the haunted castle, mage Liljana flees her country to reach it, hoping that if she confronts the dark power festering inside, she might also end the fear of magic.
Book Review
A Shiver Of Snow And Sky by Lisa Lueddecke
Genre: Fantasy
Beware the danger up ahead…
On the frozen island of Skane, the sky speaks. Beautiful lights appear on clear nights, and their colours have meaning: Green means all is well, and the Goddess is happy. Blue means a snow storm is on the way.
Red, red, the lights glow red
And then there’s red. Red is rare. A warning.
Seventeen years ago, the sky turned red just as Ósa was born, unleashing a plague that claimed the lives of hundreds of villagers, including her own mother. This time, when the night sky once again bleeds crimson, she must discover how to stop the onslaught before so many lives are lost again.
Review
Wohoo, 2nd of January and I already finished the first read of the year XD
This book was on my TBR pile for some time, and I thought I could just start with it, compensating the lack of cold and snow in this ‘winter’ (not that I’m seriously complaining).
A Shiver Of Snow And Sky flows nicely, making it a quick read, though I was honestly surprised to pick up obvious typos, awkward formulations and issues with wrong words in my copy? It’s not everywhere, but it was often enough for me to be irritated, because it didn’t seem like the tiny bits that an editorial could accidentally not pick up.
That didn’t taint my enjoyment of the book much, though. The world-building was done well, taking us onto the island Skane, where it’s winter most of the year, and where the inhabitants rely on the northern lights sent by their Goddess to warn them of danger. We’re given enough information to understand everything as the story goes along, starting almost right in the action, and I didn’t feel like there was anything missing from the background of the story.
The author used great language to paint a beautiful imagery, and we get a good insight into our main character, Osa, and her best friend Ivar, whose perspective of the story is shown in turns.
Osa goes on a dangerous journey to try and save her village and all inhabitants of the island, and her path is filled with many creatures, mysteries and tasks. During her adventure, she discovers a lot about her home - normally, the villagers don’t stray far.
It’s a beautiful story in a good pace, it doesn’t get boring because the two perspectives the book is written in always brings a new development, making it hard to put the book down for longer than a few minutes.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and if you like fantasy or books reminding a little of Viking stories, this one’s for you :)
So in the run up to Christmas I’m doing a count-down (well, a count-up). Twelve days of books! But just like the song, I’m going to increase the number of books each day, with a theme. I’ll link the previous posts on each new one, but if you’d like to follow along I’ll also be tagging them ‘hermitknut’s bookmas’.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas... the gods are among us.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is a great start to a great series. Irreverant and hilarious, Percy finds out that his father is Poseidon. Understandably, this kind of complicates his life. Adventures ensue. I’ve only read the first two Percy Jackson books, but I’ve got the rest - a project for the new year!
A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke follows Osa as she journeys to gain power from her goddess - to protect her village from invaders. It’s a pretty atmospheric story, with some cool elements to it, but I felt a little let down by the ending and by the way Lueddecke handles relationships (particularly familial). Enjoyable, but not exciting.
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett is one of his best (though I say that about around 80% of his books, so I may be a tad biased). Brutha is a novice who discovers his god, Om, has been stuck in the form of a small tortoise, and is not in fact currently instructing the church. Pratchett’s satire is brilliant as always, and he perfectly walks a fine line between cutting critique and a celebration of human nature.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman has been much discussed this year, so I’m not going to go into too much detail. Shadow is recruited by Odin in his efforts against the new gods - and this journey of a book is surreal, vivid, and wondrous throughout. Strange and intense, it’s one I’ve enjoyed multiple times.
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch is a detective story set in a slightly different London - gods, wizards, and vampires abound. I really loved the basis for this story, which I won’t spoil, and PC Peter Grant is a pretty good character.
The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek is a western (sort of) with magic and gods and two men who are very much in love. It’s an odd read - it reads very much like fanfiction, and to this day I can’t quite pin down why - but an excellent one, with entertaining and believable characters and a strong plot.
Kraken by China Miéville features a giant squid that may be a god, magic and cults and magical cults, a gangster stuck in the form of a tattoo on someone’s back, and the most disturbing version of teleportation in fiction (at least, that I’ve read). Honestly, what more do you need?
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson is a battle-laden fantasy in the fine style of A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s tricky to summarise the plot more than that - lots of fights, godly intervention, interesting magic. I found it a bit heavy and complicated for my taste, but I think it might be worth rereading at some point.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor follows Lazlo Strange as he journeys to a very unfamiliar land, and a girl living in far too familiar surroundings. They meet in their dreams, as Taylor slowly reveals what happened to the gods in this place. It’s a twist, fairytale-like story with an edge of nastiness. Fascinating.
Previously:
On the First Day of Christmas… my favourite book of all time.
On the Second Day of Christmas… books about people exploding.
On the Third Day of Christmas… the very biggest fans.
On the Fourth Day of Christmas… books about princesses.
On the Fifth Day of Christmas… memory is everything.
On the Sixth Day of Christmas… serial killers abound.
On the Seventh Day of Christmas… women growing wise.
On the Eighth Day of Christmas… dragons are people too.
x my instagram x my review on this book