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EmmaMaree.com

Scottish Writer of Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Books

Kushiel’s Dart Read-Along: Week 5

It’s time for another week of the KUSHIEL’S DART read-along, and today, we’re actually on time! Week 5 brings us nicely to the middle of this book, where things are changing in major ways.

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Week 5: June 7, Chapters 37-45, is hosted by Igret at Igret’s Corner. You can find the read-along schedule HERE, and anyone and everyone is welcome to join in. There’s also a Goodreads group for SF/F read alongs.

This is a really pivotal point in the book — in most normal series, I think this would be the cliffhanger ending before book 2 – so BUCKLE-UP FOR SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT.

[Read more…] about Kushiel’s Dart Read-Along: Week 5

Emma Reviews: THE ART OF FORGETTING by Joanne Hall

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Book: THE ART OF FORGETTING by Joanne Hall

Series: RIDER, Book #1 | Genre: YA Fantasy

Buy It: Amazon UK | Amazon US

 Gifted and cursed with a unique memory, the foundling son of a notorious traitor, Rhodri joins an elite cavalry unit. There, struggling with his own memories of his father, he begins to discover a sense of belonging. Until a face from the past reveals a secret that will change not only Rhodri’s life, but the fate of a nation.

I’ve been meaning to review this lovely book for a long time, and I’m glad to finally be able to shine a light on this wee gem of a story released by small press Kristell Ink (the sci-fi/fantasy imprint of adventurous new publisher Grimbold Books).

Rhodri’s story, at first, seems like a fairly standard fantasy beginning: he’s a farm boy with a perfect memory, raised by a foster father after being abandoned as child. He joins the King’s Third, a cavalry unit of the army, and this is where the world-building really comes into its own. We see the clash of personalities between men and boys, delve into some brutally realistic issues about race and sexuality, and get a sense of the wider conflicts in the world.

As the story developed, I could see what made it stand out from more mainstream fantasy stories. It’s a bold, diverse read, with LGBTQ characters and a bisexual protagonist, that really makes it stand out from the crowd. We need more diverse epic fantasy out there in the world, and THE ART OF FORGETTING delivers that in spades. It was so refreshing to see.

It is a *very*, *very* dark read though, and at times the rape and violence was too much for me, so I’d definitely advise reader caution there — but if you can handle the current GAME OF THRONES TV show and books, then THE ART OF FORGETTING will be familiar, as they both delve into similarly grim and violent spaces.

I’m really looking forward to reading more of Joanne’s detailed world, and unravelling the secrets behind Rhodri’s gradually returning memory and his mysterious past. Especially after that cliffhanger ending!

If you’re a book blogger and would like to read THE ART OF FORGETTING, Joanne welcomes reviewers with open arms. The details for how to request a copy are here.

Cover Reveal: Leah Raeder’s UNTEACHABLE

I finished Leah Raeder’s  Unteachable in record time last year, and I have to say, without hyperbole, that it’s one of the finest examples of New Adult fiction currently on the market.

It made me proud to see a member of the AbsoluteWrite writing forum blazing through the self-published bestseller books with a book that was brilliantly written and well-deserving of the success it got. And now it’s got a trade publishing deal, and a shiny new cover to match!
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An edgy, sexy USA Today bestseller about falling for the one person you can’t have.
 
Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.
 
But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.
 
When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.
 
That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.
 
Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
 
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
I love this cover, and I love how they haven’t strayed too far away from the original rainbow cover. I hope it finds a lot of success in this new format!

How to Buy It

2014’s Only Just Started & I’m Already Forgetting to Title These Posts

IT’S 2014! And you’d think for once, just this once, I would’t be able to complain about the year going fast. But we are EIGHT DAYS INTO JANUARY and if you’re not scared by that then I’m jealous of your disregard for our fragile mortality.

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What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

What I’m Reading

5thwave

Getting back into the swing of things slowly, continuing my read of THE 5TH WAVE. It’s a really well-crafted book, but it’s not hooking me. I think I’m getting a bit burnt out on YA, I’ll need to start varying up my genres more.

I finished STORM FRONT (Book #1 in THE DRESDEN FILES) and urgh. It was TERRIBLE. I’ve been tempted to do a post discussion just how problematic the first half of this book was (the second half was more focused) but I’m conscious that a lot of people really love this series.  Hmmm. We’ll see where the mood takes me.

unteachableUNTEACHABLE by Leah Raeder isn’t my usual type of novel, but it was doing fantastically well and it’s by a fellow member of the Absolute Write forums so I had to check it up.  If you’re at all curious about the (18+ only) New Adult genre, this is a good book to start with. New Adult isn’t really my thing but I’m very certain Unteachable is the finest NA novel currently out there, and it goes a fantastic job of both meeting and defying genre expectations.

I’m also reading a few comic books. LOKI was decent, pretty art and an decent storyline, but what’s really grabbed my attention is YOUNG AVENGERS: STYLE > SUBSTANCE.  Its got a lot of that slightly hipster attitude and meta humor that you see in Hawkeye, and it plays with it to great affect.  It’s also the start of a new series of YOUNG AVENGERS comics so it’s a great jump-in point.

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My goal is to shift from books to my beta reading backlog, though issues with my old Kindle make that easier said than done…

What I’m Writing

I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things, writing bits and pieces in an unfocused ‘warm up’. But this week my plan is to pull attention back to the BROKEN THINGS revision, with a middle grade plotbunny on the side for when I need a break from revising.

Easier said than down when I’m battling the heavy-eyed, foggy-headed flu demons, mind you…

What Inspires Me

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

THIS SHOW. OH MY GOD. THIS SHOW.

I’ve been meaning to watch it for a long time but I was so unprepared for its majesty. Within the first episode the first five minutes I was hooked by the deft way they introduced characters and told you so much about them with very little time or dialogue.

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Nobody told me there would be PUNS in this show. Nobody told me there would be any humor at all. I was expecting it to be a super serious space drama and it is, in the best way, but it’s also funny and sweet.

If you’re a writer, this show is worth watching just for the lessons you’ll learn about characterization and pacing.  It’s an almost flawless show.

(Weird side note: I’ve concluded that Russell Brand is the closest thing we have to a real life version of Battlestar Galactica’s Gaius.)

What Else I’ve Been Up To

I got hit by Wintervitus, the usual malady of flu-like bugs that circles around like a vulture at this time of year. It started out as a chest cough but, coupled with a heavy dose of sleep deprivation, flu symptom are imminent.

That’s not even mentioning the incident last night where a dog owner let this off-lead dog race towards ours and I got dragged to the ground because my own thought we were about to get attacked. I have bruises everywhere and I feel so old.

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My Top 5 Meaningful Books

This morning, Sennydreadful (author of THE COPPER PROMISE, out February 13, 2014) set out a fun challenge on Twitter.

#Meaningful5 exploded across Twitter, and I joined in with mine, but I wanted to go into them in more detail here on the blog. So here are 5 Books that Mean A Lot to Me.

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Chronicles of Narnia (cheat!) by C.S. Lewis

Read these growing up, and loved them. Didn’t pick up on the biblical allegory until years afterwards, at the time I just loved the fantasy story.

This is a cheat entry because I loved all the novels, but if I had to pick one favorite it would be The Last Battle. The train accident caught me completely off-guard and I still get chills thinking about it.

(These books were also my first box set, and I spent a lot of time staring at the beautifully painted, matching covers.  A cover snob was born that day, who still flinches when book series change their cover half-way through.)

[From what I can find online, the hardback set was release either in 2002 or 2003.]

The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullmanamberspyglass

Growing up, I didn’t exactly read novels in order. So I started The Dark Materials series by reading the newly-released third book, The Amber Spyglass, and being thrown into epic battles, a massive word, and a tragic ending. I immediately set out to find the other books and understand the true depths of that heart-breaking ending.

[I read the 2001 paperback edition.]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. RowlingHarry_Potter_and_the_Prisoner_of_Azkaban

Remember how I don’t read in order? After attending a Girls Brigade parade event of some sort, my parents let me pick one book from the supermarket as a present. I’d been eyeing up Harry Potter’s beautiful, fantastical cover before, but the blurb gave me pause. Not only was there a massive, creepy-looking, drooling dog but it talked about an “escaped mass murderer on the loose”. That sounded very grown-up. Very dark. Very violent.

I was quite convinced that this book was too grown up for me, and the adults would not allow me to buy it. So I nervously asked my parents if it was okay to buy that book. And they said it was okay.

That’s how I fell in love with the Harry Potter books.

[I read the UK first edition, released in 1999.]

The Truth (A Discworld Novel) by Terry Pratchettthetruth

Fast forward a bit to a lower-level of a tiny, cramped Waterstones bookstore. A friend of mine had recommended the Discworld books, and I paged through them, unsure where to start.

Then I found The Truth. The cover had shiny silver font, declaring the the “25th Discworld Novel”. It involved murder, but Harry Potter had taught me murder could be perfectly readable, and it involved newspapers, which I liked.

There was a mention of “humorously shaped vegetables” which again gave me pause — this was an adult book, of this I was sure, and was I ready to handle lewd, humorously shaped vegetables? Probably, I decided.

That’s how I became a Terry Pratchett fan, and learned a lot about the newspaper industry in the process. Discworld vampires remain my favorite vampires and Pratchett remains my favorite fantasy writer.

[The Truth was published in paperback in 2001.]

Carrie by Stephen King

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They say you always remember your first Stephen King book. Carrie was mine, and it was my first memorable experience with a close point-of-view. The book got me right inside Carrie’s head, using all sorts of unfamiliar tricks like wild, tangential thoughts and side-thoughts crushing together as part of the narrative.

[I read the 1999 paperback.]

hungergamesHonorable Mention: The Hunger Games, for making me fall in love with first person present tense stories and cliffhanger endings. You taught me more about the craft of writing YA than any craft book.

[I read the e-book, which was for the best, because I was able to urgently move from book to book without having to run to the shops. I bought The Hunger Games on 25 March, Catching Fire 27 March, and Mockingjay 29 Mar 2012]

What are your favourite/recommended posts by The Bloggess?

I’m going to assume a lot of you bloggers out there already read The Bloggess, a hilarious, devil-may-care blog from wonderfully blunt writer Jenny Lawson. She openly suffers from a laundry list of conditions (OCD, ADD, anxiety, depression and rheumatoid arthritis) and has a fondness for amusing (ethically performed) taxidermy.

A friend was asking for post recommendations, which had me wondering. If you read The Bloggess, what are your favorite and recommended posts? Here are a few of mine.

And that’s why you should learn to pick your battles. The story of what happened when she bought a giant metal chicken.

Beyonce, the giant metal chicken
Beyonce, the giant metal chicken

It doesn’t take much to make me happy. The story of what happened when she bought a giant bear head.

Her name is Juanita. Juanita Weasel. Unless you can think of something better. Her adventures with a taxidermied weasel.

The Fight Goes On and Wow, two more somber posts where she admitted to self-harm and received a massive flood of support, including over 2,600 comments

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