Sunday, January 25, 2015

Melanie's Week in Review - January 25, 2014




Hello everyone! I hope you have all had good weeks. Mine was OK. It was the hubinator's birthday on Thursday and I am super worn out by having to agree with everything he said and did all day! That birthday rule is fairly tiring to follow. It is much more fun when it's my birthday and he has to think everything I do and say is wonderful :) I had a mildly successful week in reading but the big exciting news is that the lovely Qwill sent me an ARC of the newest Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences - The Diamond Conspiracy by Tee Morris and Philippa Ballantine. I am beyond SUPER DOUPER excited!!!!! Wellington Books here I come!

 I discovered that the latest in the Dragon Blood series by Lindsay Buroker had been released. This instalment starts immediately after Blood Charged where our band of misfits almost got blown up trying to defeat the Cofah scientists. Each of the novels has centred on one of the two couples - Ridge and Sardelle or Cas and Tolemek. This time it was ex-pirate/mad scientist Tolemek and teeny tiny gun toting soldier Cas. They are continuing the search for Tolemek's sister which they think will also lead them to the source of the dragon blood the Cofah were using to fuel weapons. Their search leads them on a trek through the jungle, attacks by a number of different baddies, a life threatening disease and of course, a dragon. I thought this instalment was just OK. It was a bit dull in parts but overall quite easy to read with characters that are neither that challenging or offensive.

I did it! I finished Ministry Protocol which is an anthology based in the world of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. I considered this as part of my training for The Diamond Conspiracy. Of course, I liked the stories that featured my fictional beau - Wellington Books. I think my favourite was The Trouble with Phoenixes by Jared Axelrod. In this short story Books mis-directs his frenemy from R&D - Agent Axelrod - when he asks for advice about where to take Agent Braun on a date. Very naughty of Books but very fun to read. I also really enjoyed Delilah Dawson's Our Lady of Monsters which takes us to Paris to a bakery owned by the agent in waiting  - Annie Marie. The agent-cum croissant crafter is excited to discover that the Agency has finally brought her into active service....but have they? Well I won't tell. I think the biggest surprise, mainly because it was quite sad was The Clockwork Samurai. This story involved the antipodean agent Bruce Campbell on the case to save a young boy from the House of Usher but the story is really told from the samurai Kuro's perspective. This story involves a number of elements from the samurai code of honour to a duel to the death. It was enjoyable but as I said quite a sad ending.

I am currently reading Year of the Dragon by Steve Bein. I am only about 30% of the way through this book so far it is just as enjoyable as Daughter of the Sword. I will have more to tell you about this book next week so until then Happy Reading.


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