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The High Druid’s Blade: The Defenders of Shannara

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The High Druid’s Blade: The Defenders of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Mr. Brooks has written many excellent fantasy novels, and I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t read enough of them. Quite some time ago, I read The Original Shannara Triology, which I enjoyed very much. After that, I did not continue with the Shannara books, although I’m not sure why.

Years later, I came across Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold!, the first novel in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. This, at the time, happened to be free for Kindle, and was the first book I read using Amazon’s Kindle app on my iPhone, before I purchased my first Kindle. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire Magic Kingdom series and reminded myself that I needed to return to the Shannara series.

As it turns out, I forgot, until I happened to come across The High Druid’s Blade, the latest of many in the Shannara series, on NetGalley. I was thrilled when I was approved to receive an advanced copy.

The world of Shannara consists of The Four Lands: the Northland, home to the trolls; the Southland, the land of men; the Eastland, where the dwarves and gnomes fight for territory; the Westland, where the Elven race resides. Present knowledge and science has been lost in Shannara, and science has been replaced by magic. But the magic is wild, and almost uncontrollable.

The High Druid’s Blade tells the story of Paxon Leah, a descent many generations removed from Flick Ohmsford and Menion Leah, from The Sword of Shannara. Paxon doesn’t know much of magic, as it’s outlawed in the Southlands and policed by the Federation and controlled by the Druids.

Paxon’s sister is kidnapped by a mysterious and dangerous man, and Paxon is the only one who can save her. Over the course of the novel, Paxon learns much about himself, his family, and magic.

While readable as a standalone novel, I feel that many readers would prefer to start at the beginning, with The Sword of Shannara. There are many references to historical events and people, which I imagine are covered in some of the novels that I skipped.

Like The Original Shannara Triology, I highly enjoyed this book. Brooks has created a robust, compelling and magical world, along with an engaging set of characters. I can’t wait to go back to beginning and read them all.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this through NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches: A Flavia de Luce Novel

/ Brienna / 1 Comment

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley is the 6th book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series.

In general, I find mystery novels hard to review without giving away too much of plot. This is doubly so for Flavia’s 6th murder investigation.

11-year-old Flavia Sabina de Luce is one of my favorite protagonists. She is the youngest of three sisters, and lives in a mansion, where she has taken over the chemistry lab of her dearly departed Uncle Tar. When she is not experimenting with poisons in the lab, she is out sleuthing for clues to the latest murder in Bishop’s Lacey, the quiet English village where the de Luce family resides.

If you haven’t read any of the series, I highly recommend you start with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first in the series. From here, you will follow Flavia on her journey and come to know the de Luce family, as well as many others from Bishop’s Lacey, and the surrounding towns.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is one of the best yet. This novel propels Miss Flavia into a new chapter in her life, and illuminates some of the mystery surrounding her mother Harriet’s disappearance.  I am eagerly awaiting the next in the series, to see what future awaits for dear Flavia Sabina de Luce.

Disclaimer:  I received an advance copy of this through NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A Rule Against Murder

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A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

My rating:  5 / 5

This is book four in the Chief Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. Over the last three years, I have read the first five books in the series.  I’m currently reading book six, and I believe the ninth book will be coming out this year in August.

 After years of investigating murders Chief Gamache knew one thing about hate. It bound you forever to the person you hated. Murder wasn’t committed out of hate, it was done as a terrible act of freedom. To finally rid yourself of the burden.

The series follows Chief Inspector Gamache, of the Sûreté du Québec. The Chief Inspector and his team work homicide cases, and each book focuses on a different investigation.  The novels so far are set in, or related to the characters from, the tiny fictional village of Three Pines, Québec.

In Three Pines, you will be meet Clara and Peter, the artists; Ruth, the acclaimed poet; Gabri and Olivier, the gay couple who run the B&B and the bistro, and many others.

Murder was deeply human.  A person was killed and a person killed.

The novels are mostly of the “whodunit” genre, and while I don’t read a lot of mystery-thriller type books, I am in love with this series. Oddly enough, I did not start out in love with the series. The first novel, Still Life, was very good. The second, A Fatal Grace, unfortunately, was not so good. It is, however, worth reading in the long run as it builds up the characters that we see throughout the series. After reading A Fatal Grace and not loving it, it was hard for me to continue the series. I eventually read The Cruelest Month, which is book three. Better than the second, but not as good as the first.

It’s a shame that creativity and sloth look the same.

And now, almost two years later, I decided to pick up where I left off. Guess what? Book four is amazing and so is book five. In the last four days, I read both book four and book five, and about one third of book six. I won’t be reviewing the next few novels in the series individually, but as I said earlier, the series has turned out to be fantastic.

“You have a rule against murder?” he asked.
“I do.  When my husband and I bought the Bellechasse we made a deal with the forest…Everything that stepped foot on this land would be safe.’

A Rule Against Murder is set at Manoir Bellechasse, an inn regularly frequented by the Chief and his wife for their wedding anniversary. This year, however, they must share the inn with the Finney family, who are gathered for a family reunion. Surprising guests arrive, a summer storm sweeps in and leaves a body in its wake, leaving the Inspector to sort through it all.