February 2024 Reading Wrap up

 Hello everyone & Happy Thursday!!

Today is the last day of February and I want to share with you the books that I read this month. 

In total I read 5 books & 1 magazine and among them there is one 5 Star read.

This year I want to read as many as possible from the Little Black Classics & Modern Classics Collections from Penguin. 

This month I read 3 of them:

- A Hippo Banquet by Mary Kingsley (LBC 32) - 1 Star
- The nightingales are drunk by Hafez (LBC 37) - 2 Stars
- I Have More Souls Than One by Fernando Pessoa (MC 19) - 3 Stars

 

I finished two books:

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang 

I just adored this book and of course I gave it 5 Stars.

Check out my full review here

 Gogmagog: The First Chronicle of Ludwich by Jeff Noon & Steve Beard 

 I really liked it and I found it interesting & weird at the same time.

I gave it 4 Stars and I will post my full review really soon.

Lastly I read a Greek magazine about geography which is called Geography is really Cool. 

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang - A Review

 

“I’ve never needed a sword to protect you—to raise you the way your father wanted. Caring for my family meant putting away the fighter, so I did.”

― M.L. Wang, The Sword of Kaigen

This book is magnificent in very aspect of it and if you haven't read it yet, you should go and read it now.

The Sword of Kaigen is a japanese-inspired military fantasy standalone and it explores the complexities of family dynamics, the weight of honor and tradition, all set against the backdrop of an impending war. The book is adventurous but at the same time emotional, with strong character development and amazing world building.

Our main charcters, Misaki and Mamoru, are perfectly written but they are not perfect. They have their flaws and that makes them better. 

The world and the setting feel very unique. The author has done a great research and everything is spot on. 

Lastly, the ending of the book was very satisfying and everything wrapped up nicely.

Rating: 5 Stars

About the book:

A mother struggling to repress her violent past,

A son struggling to grasp his violent future,

A father blind to the danger that threatens them all.

When the winds of war reach their peninsula, will the Matsuda family have the strength to defend their empire? Or will they tear each other apart before the true enemies even reach their shores?

High on a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire’s enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name ‘The Sword of Kaigen.’

Born into Kusanagi’s legendary Matsuda family, fourteen-year-old Mamoru has always known his purpose: to master his family’s fighting techniques and defend his homeland. But when an outsider arrives and pulls back the curtain on Kaigen’s alleged age of peace, Mamoru realizes that he might not have much time to become the fighter he was bred to be. Worse, the empire he was bred to defend may stand on a foundation of lies.

Misaki told herself that she left the passions of her youth behind when she married into the Matsuda house. Determined to be a good housewife and mother, she hid away her sword, along with everything from her days as a fighter in a faraway country. But with her growing son asking questions about the outside world, the threat of an impending invasion looming across the sea, and her frigid husband grating on her nerves, Misaki finds the fighter in her clawing its way back to the surface.

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Forgotten Beasts f Eld by Patricia A. McKillip - A Review

 

"You can weave your life so long -- only so long, and then a thing in the world out of your control will tug at one vital thread and leave you patternless and subdued.”

― Patricia A. McKillip, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

To celebrate its 50th anniversary of The Forgotten Beasts of Elm the publisher (Tachyon Publications) are releasing a special edition of the book with many beautiful illustrations by Stephanie Law. 

I haven't read anything by Patricia A. McKillip before and this book intrigued so much that I will definitely read more of her works. 

This book was really magical and with very beautiful and powerful writing. It feels like you are reading a fairytale but a modern one. There is no much world building but that does not matter. We have magical talking animals and powerful wizards. 

It is an atmospheric and character-driven story, a story of love, revenge and forgiveness.

This edition will be published on February 29th & you do not want to miss it!

Rating: 4 Stars

About the book:

Fifty years ago, the soon-to-be celebrated young author Patricia A. McKillip (the Riddle-Master trilogy) penned the tale of an iron-willed young sorceress. Brought vividly to life by McKillip's gorgeously lush prose, Sybel, living with her captivating menagerie, is powerful and resourceful, yet headstrong and flawed. Sybel and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld continue to enrapture new generations of readers, and they continue to inspire generations of new fantasy writers. This lovely 50th anniversary hardcover special edition features cover art by World Fantasy Award-winner Thomas Canty and a brand new introduction by bestselling fantasy author Marjorie Liu (The Tangleroot Palace).

Sybel, the heiress of powerful wizards, needs the company of no-one outside her gates. In her exquisite stone mansion, she is attended by exotic, magical Riddle-master Cyrin the boar; the treasure-starved dragon Gyld; Gules the Lyon, tawny master of the Southern Deserts; Ter, the fiercely vengeful falcon; Moriah, feline Lady of the Night. Sybel only lacks the exquisite and mysterious Liralen, which continues to elude her most powerful enchantments.

But when a soldier bearing an infant arrives, Sybel discovers that the world of man and magic is full of both love and deceit, and the possibility of more power than she can possibly imagine.

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars #1) by Thea Guanzon - A Review

 

“You've been fighting all your life, Your instinct is to strike first, before anyone can hurt you. But, sometimes it's the blow the molds us. Taking it. Letting it ring against our defenses, until we are assured in the knowledge that, when it's over, we will still be standing.”

― Thea Guanzon, The Hurricane Wars

The Hurricane Wars is a fantasy romance and the 1st book in a series. I have heard many conflicting reviews but I really enjoyed reading this one last month and I cannot wait for a sequel.

The book has a very intricate political backdrop and magic system that makes it even more interesting. I hope we get to see more of that in the sequels.

The author takes inspiration from the mythology and lore of her native Philippines that I really enjoyed.

There is a lot of information in the first part of the book that is necessary to the story but makes it a little bit slow paced.

The writing of the author is very beautiful. It is very expressive and flowery.

We follow the story through two POVs from our main characters and the author can seamlessly transition from one POV to the other. The main trope here (and one of my favourites) is enemies to lovers. I really liked the dynamic between Talasyn and Alaric, their chemistry was vey clear. 

Rating: 4 Stars

About the book:

The Night Empire will rule all.

Nothing can stand in the way of its might and power.

Little by little, year by year, the Hurricane Wars take more and more from those who resists the empire’s supremacy.

And yet, there is hope in the darkness.

One lone light stands against the empire.

Talasyn was left on the steps of a Sardovian orphanage as a baby. All she has ever known are the Hurricane Wars, as her people fight for freedom from the tyranny of the Night Emperor Gaheris. But are they her people? Talasyn dreams of one day finding where she comes from – her true place, family, and the source of the Lightweave magic that flows through her veins like sunlight.

Alaric of House Ossinast, Master of the Shadowforged Legion and Gaheris’s only son and heir has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating the Sardovian Allford alliance with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, all Alaric can see is their goal: extinguish all threats to the empire.

That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. He tries and fails to kill her, his now greatest enemy slipping through his fingers.

But a greater threat is coming. One that will overshadow the Hurricane Wars.

Will these mortal enemies be able to come together to confront it or is everything that has been fought over for so long about to be destroyed?

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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