Tag Archives: Authors

Spartacus III: The Pharaoh’s Blade (The Spartacus Chronicles #3) by Robert Southworth – Review

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Title – Spartacus III: The Pharaoh’s Blade (The Spartacus Chronicles #3)
Author – Robert Southworth
Genre –  Historical Ficton
Length –  254 Pages (Kindle)
Publication – 4th April 2015
My Rating – 5/5 Stars

Synopsis

Empires clash as they hunt for a fabled blade. Spartacus and his friends fight for survival, amidst men who will stop at nothing to hold the legendary weapon. Danger threatens from the shadows, as old and new enemies emerge with violent intent. Spartacus and those he loves will stand together and even the Gods are undecided upon their fate.

Review

So this is Rob’s third and final Spartacus story and wow, what a great way to end it.

The story starts well with the back story into a legendary dagger, it is quickly shown to us that this dagger is not one you want falling into the hands of the wrong person. so much so Thutmose who currently holds the dagger send it away from his land as he knows the in wrong hands it could caused disaster.

Fast forward a bit and now we find ourselves back with our hero Spartacus along with his friends Cassian and Plinius,

Our friends are approached while returning from war and thrust it to one last war to secure the peaceful life they wish so much for. Crassus their enemy will do anything to get this dagger and its up to Spartacus to make sure this doesn’t happen

The book quickly moves from battle to battle, each side incurring loses and we see our hero’s deal with this loss

I really don’t want to give too much away as I think you should read the story for yourself and I hope like myself you won’t be disappointed with how the book ends. I knew Rob wouldn’t be able to keep this series going forever but I really do think he tied the series up nicely.

Rest assured if you’ve read the pervious two books you will love this.

Since reading the first two instalments I can see the editing has improved, I think I noted only a couple spelling/grammar errors but nothing that stopped my reading progress or spoilt the story

Overall I can’t think of anything that I didn’t like about this book, I felt the story progressed at a good pace so you didn’t get bogged down in fight scenes. The new characters fitted in well and the story line itself was intriguing. I found I read this book pretty quickly as Rob kept my interest throughout the story

Honestly if this is your type of genre then you should definitely read this series

Keep the books coming Rob!

Days of Throbbing Gristle by Kevin Cole – Review

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Title – Days of Throbbing Gristle
Author – Kevin Cole
Genre – Fiction
Length – 821 Pages (Kindle)
Publication – 16th April 2014
My Rating – 5/5 Stars

Synopsis

It’s 1987. Sam Henry Hay, a 17-year-old exchange student from Sheffield, hops into Texas, USA, with one burning ambition: Manipulate his gullible host parents into funding his university, and leave his dead-end life in Yorkshire behind.

But is Sam manipulating America or America manipulating Sam? The clever lad schmoozes his way into many a bed and purse, yet can’t get rid of anyone. He executes careful plans, only to watch them disastrously fall apart. Worst of all, this once proud nihilist watches in horror as he reveals a conscience, in a world growing ever darker around him.

Days of Throbbing Gristle is not your typical teenage tale. It’s a razor-slashing journey through a time and place that really was as bad as you’ve heard. For some, high school is the best time in their lives. For others, it’s a miracle they make it to the other side.

Review

Full disclosure I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for a honest review.

First of let me tell you this book a quite long. Over 800 pages which is the longest book I’ve read but It is well worth reading.

The book follows Sam as he moved to the US to begin a new life away from Sheffield and is a coming of age tale with quite a lot of subjects thrown in. This is one of the main reasons I loved the book. How can you get bored with so many topics being examined by the author. Kevin Cole tackles drugs, sex, religion to name but a few. Personally i feel this gave great depth to the book as it made it feel real

Along Sam’s adventure we meet a number of characters and you see how he outwardly deals with them while also knowing his inside thoughts and feelings. As the novel is quite long this gave Kevin a great chance to deliver with the character development and boy did he. You see relationships grow and change and if anything i was kept guessing at what next would happen.

I’ll admit from the synopsis i really didn’t know what to expect from this book and when i noticed it was over 800 pages i was a little daunted at the prospect of reading it but Kevin managed to hook me quickly and kept me reading. Most books i might put down after an hour or so but i found myself reading for longer without noticing the time passing.

For fear of spoilers i don’t want to give too much away but i wasn’t let down by how the book finished but nor did i expect the ending we were given. Such is Kevin’s style of writing that he left me with no clue what was going to happen from chapter to chapter and this made it the brilliant read it was

So i think I’ve given the book enough praise.. now to nit pick. Being such a long novel inevitably you are going to find some inconsistencies. There were a couple typos and places where i thought names might have been mixed up but really nothing that affected my reading

That’s it really.. what more can i say..Sam is a brilliant character, you’ll love and hate him at the same time. If you are a fan of reading longer novels then i would definitely recommend this. The same goes for anyone who is either stuck with deciding what to read next or like me wanted to try something outside of their usual genre.

Upcoming Releases I’m Getting Excited About

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I love the feeling when you pre-order a kindle book and you forget about it… Then you turn your kindle on one day and bam!

At the moment I have 3 books pre-ordered that i’m really looking forward to reading. Let me know what you think and if you know of any upcoming releases you think I should be reading.

1.Spartacus III: The Pharaoh’s Blade (The Spartacus Chronicles Book 3) by Robert Southworth – Release date 12th April 2015

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This is the third book in the Spartacus series. I’ve loved both of the previous books and Robert’s other work Wrath of the Furies. Robert has taken one of my favorite characters and given him a new lease of life. As we know Spartacus was a real person.. but do we know for certain when/where/how he died? no we don’t… Robert seized on this and has come up with some exciting adventures for him. I started reading the first book in the series after watching the tv series made by Starz Network and i wasn’t disappointed one bit

Click the picture above to head to Goodreads to find out more about this book.

2.The Warlords of Antares (First Contact) by Brian K. Larson. – Release date 10th April 2015

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Brian has wrote a number of books which I’ve read so i’m excited to see what he has come up with this time. His writing flows well so If you struggle with your reading like i do Brian’s works would be an excellent choice for you to read. The author himself suffers with dyslexia and i feel this comes across in his writing which is why the books are so easy to read

Click the picture above to head to Goodreads to find out more about this book.

3.The Invasion of the Tearling by  Erica Johansen – Release date 16th July 2015

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This is the follow up book to The Queen of the Tearling which followed Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn who was raised in exile as she reclaims the throne that is rightfully hers

I won’t lie. I really enjoyed the first book. I know some people didn’t but i think that was more to do with the hype of a potential movie starring Emma Watson and the fact the book hadn’t been release yet

The author signed a 7 book deal with the publishers so i’m hoping this series will grow and become something great.

I wouldn’t mind watching the movie with Emma Watson in too I might add 😛

Click the picture above to head to Goodreads to find out more about this book.

By the Sword (Spoils of Olympus #1) by Christian Kachel – Review

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Title – By the Sword (Spoils of Olympus #1
Author – Christian Kachel
Genre – Historical Fiction
Length – 370 Pages (Kindle)
Publication – September 2014
My Rating 5 / 5 Stars

Synopsis

322 B.C.

The Macedonian Empire is on the verge of civil war following the sudden death of Alexander the Great.

As a boy Andrikos watched as Alexander’s army marched through his homeland of Greek Ionia after defeating the Persians at the Granicus River.

Soon he will be embroiled in their world – and forced forced to flee his old life.

Thrust into the army, Andrikos struggles to cope with the brutal training, as Alexander’s surviving generals seek to divide and conquer the spoils of Olympus.

But Andrikos is not destined to be a nameless soldier.

By chance he is chosen for a clandestine mission – and is immersed in a world of intrigue, violence and brotherhood.

The path that lies ahead of Andrikos requires him to shed his immaturity and take on the responsibilities and emotions of a man beyond his years.

Review

Where do i start! Wow! This book was great! I’m a fan of the genre anyway but i was surprised just how much i enjoyed it.

This book follows Andrikos as he turns from a boy into a man.

The story starts slow but quickly Andrikos is thrust into the army after he and his friends get into a bit of bother with some local lowlifes. We following him as he leaves his family behind and undergoes basic endurance training while marching to join the army where he makes and looses friends along the way.

You find out a lot about his position in the army and how the structure works and there is great detail in the clashes between the warring armies

The best bit about this book comes next, i won’t give too much away but he gets involved in some clandestine actions within the warring armies and it made the book enjoyable and easy to read as you weren’t bogged down in full on army vs army all out war scenes.

I feel you see Andrikos grow quickly, he even finds a potential love interest along the way which i think fitted perfect into the story.

All in all i would definitely recommend this book. If you’ve read anything by Gordon Doherty like i have i think this book will be right up your street.

I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the series

The Martian by Andy Weir – Reblog Book Review

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I was tempted by this book but maybe i’ll pass. I don’t like books that make my head hurt..

gegrizzle's avatarGlenn Hates Books

martian

2 of 5 Makes-My-Head-Hurt Stars – The Martian by Andy Weir.

If you like science and math, you will probably love this fucking book. This is part of the reason that I couldn’t stand reading it. So much math, and science and, oh noes, I’m never gonna survive this. But wait, what if I bla bla bla…

I knew just from the description of this book that I definitely couldn’t read it, because it was just one guy’s journey, trying to survive on mars. Where’s the drama? The comedy? The relationships… There are none. It’s just this guy, and his stupid plants. It’s Castaway in space. So, it didn’t interest me as something to read, but I thought I would try the audio book, which some said was even better than the book.

It’s not. The story is the same boring math and science as the book. I mean, I…

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