Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Mail Call, Part 2

When it rains it pours around here!

Look what else was in my mail box today.


A collection of Basic Psionics books from +Richard LeBlanc including a sticker and a pin.


Alpha Blue and Liberation of the Demon Slayer from +Venger Satanis!

Looks great with the batch I got on Saturday.


Now to come up with something that ties all these together!

Though I do want to point out that the Basic Psionics and White Star books have been BEGGING me to mix them up into something different.  I already talked about how well the B/X Rogue and the Psionics books work together.


Thursday, January 14, 2016

Reading Challenges

I am going to participate in a few reading challenges again this year.

Once again I am participating in The Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf.

2016 Witches &a Witchcraft Reading Challenge

I doubt I will do as well as I did last year, but I am going to give it a try.

Also I "read" a lot of audio-books.  So this year I am also going to participate in the Book Nympho's 2016 Audiobook Challenge.  This one I expect I will do well on.  I have to commute everyday to work so I have lots of time in the car.

I have already started on both.

Another one I would like to do is the 2016 Victorian Reading Challenge.  But I don't currently have anything in my TBR piles that qualifies.  Except for games really.

Belle's Library

Still.  I enjoy these and it is a fun way to talk about something I was going to do anyway.

ETA: A few more.

2016 Prequel & Sequel Challenge




Retellings Reading Challenge 2016



2016 EBook Reading Challenge



Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge




2016 Horror Reading Challenge




New to You 2016

New To You Square

Friday, January 8, 2016

Birthday Witches

Today is a special day for two of my friends. Not only do they have new witch books out but it is also their birthdays!

Amber Benson's new book in the Witches of Echo Park series came out this week.  "The Last Dream Keeper" continues the story of the Echo Park coven and the discover that one among them, Lizbeth, is the last Dream Keeper.  In this book their enemies outnumber their friends and the coven will need to protect Lizabeth no matter the cost.



+Elizabeth Chaipraditkul also has a birthday today.  Her new game is "WITCH: Fated Souls".  I am still reading this one, but enjoy what I see so far.  I supported her Kickstarter for the book and I am quite pleased to have done so.  From the book:
You are a member of the Fated. An entire new world has opened up to you. This new world is filled with different planes to explore, each more beautiful and terrifying then the next. It has magical creatures, beasts woven from dreamstuff and monsters wrapped in nightmares. It is filled with a deep and beautiful history, some which only seems like a fairy tale. Your world will never be the same.

Together with your coven, other witches and warlocks who have been Fated, you will explore all the world and planes have to offer. Your coven will protect you, share in your joy, but also be the group of people who understand the harsh realities the life of being Fated brings. You’ll deal with the society, other Fated who have formed groups and government, ruled over by a group of Fated called the Council.


It *seems* like to me you could use Elizabeth's game to play in Amber's world.  I need to read more of each book to know for sure.  But I do know I will have a great time trying to find out!

Please wish these wonderful ladies happy birthday today by buying their books.  I consider them both to be freinds and I know the time, energy and love they put into their writing.

Happy Birthday to you both!

Thursday, December 3, 2015

DIY D&D

One of the great things about the whole self-publish, self-produce, osr movements is the ability to  not only have games we loved in no forms, or books we never had (B/X Companion and Adventures Dark and Deep) but it has allowed us unprecedented access to all sorts of material both new and old.

My fondness for PDFs is pretty well known.  But I love books, first and foremost. Hardcovers especially.  Thankfully I grew up in a town that had a book bindery so I managed to get this done:


It's not great, but it is a hard cover of the old Realms of Horror "super module" of the S series.
The nice thing is it has lasted me nearly 30 years.  So I guess I should not complain.

Today we have Lulu.com and DriveThruRPG/PRGNow (and I assume others) for our PDF or physical book needs.  We just have to provide the digital files.

Since I already was providing the files for the print copies of The Witch and Eldritch Witchery, I thought I would make my own hardcovers as well.


I like the hardcover a lot.  I generally like the hardcover Witch better than the softcover one, but prefer the softcover Eldritch Witchery to the hardcover.

Since I was at I thought why not round out the whole collection.


I am not selling these.  You can still find my old netbooks online somewhere. But these were for my own collections.

You might see where I am going here.

So what am I supposed to do when I have this:


But my Rules Cyclopedia looks like this:


Sad. I know.

Well. I love the RC, but cover never really struck me as being "D&D" enough.  But you know what is D&D enough? Uriah Heep's "Demons & Wizards".  So some scanning. Some work late night when I couldn't sleep and I have this:



I will freely admit I am unsure of the legality of this.  I mean I will never sell it (I have my name in it now anyway).  It looks like if I own the PDF I can print it for my own use. Of course I don't own that cover art.  This would be a "table copy".
That aside I think it looks pretty sweet.


It has been a nice little challenge to put together versions of book I have physical copies and pdfs into something new.

My favorites are this combined Basic and Expert hardcover and a combined World of Greyhawk one.


Again, just my own private use at the game table.  But I think they are pretty nice.

I have done something similar to some print outs I made of the Basic and Expert PDFs, which can see here: I Cut up My B/X books!   I think I am going to have to print out the B/X Companion as well and stuff it into this binder.

Now we just need Wizards of the Coast to start giving us more POD options for classic D&D books.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Grimalkin, The Witch-Assassin

Gimalkin is the assassin of the Malkin witch-clan and is the best one they have ever had.
She is tall, thin but muscled and covered in leather straps and daggers.
In addition to being a powerful witch she is a peerless assassin and always chooses to make her own weapons.
Her weapon of choice is a razor sharp pair of scissors that she uses to snip off the thumbs of her victims.  While she is deadly and cruel, she also has a sense of honor. She will not fight against people much weaker than herself and she never, ever lies.

You can read more about her here:
http://thespooksapprentice.wikia.com/wiki/Grimalkin

Grimalkin the Witch-Assassin
Female Human Assassin 4/Rogue (Rake) 1/Witch (bone-witch) 5
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +11

Defense

AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 53 (5d8+5d6)
Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +6; +2 vs. poison
Defensive Abilities uncanny dodge

Offense

Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +4 (1d4+3/19-20) and
   dagger +0 (1d4+1/19-20) (x13)
Special Attacks bravado's blade, death attack (DC 18), hexes (coven, disguise, healing), sneak attack +3d6, true death (DC 19)
Witch Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +11):
3rd—arcane sight, bestow curse (DC 17)
2nd—alter self, darkness, hold person (DC 16)
1st—cause fear (DC 15), charm person (DC 15), command (DC 15), infernal healing
0 (at will)—daze (DC 14), mending, message, read magic

Statistics

Str 16, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 9
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 21
Feats Acrobatic, Agile Maneuvers, Alertness, Blind-Fight, Endurance, Quick Draw
Traits focused mind, killer
Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +3, Craft (weapons) +15, Diplomacy +3, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +12, Fly +5, Heal +5, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (planes) +14, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +11, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +14, Survival +7, Swim +7, Use Magic Device +10
Languages Abyssal, Common, Daemonic, Dark Folk, Infernal
SQ hidden weapons, patron spells (bone magic), poison use
Other Gear leather armor, dagger x 13

Special Abilities

Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Arcane Familiar Nearby You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Blind-Fight Re-roll misses because of concealment, other benefits.
Bravado's Blade (Ex) On sneak attack, forgo damage dice for free Intimidate with +5 bonus/dice reduced.
Coven (Ex) Count as a hag to form covens, and aid another can increase coven witch's CL.
Death Attack (DC 18) (Ex) You can kill or paralyze for 1d6+4 rds with a prepared sneak attack.
Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you.
Disguise (5 hours/day) (Su) Can change own appearance, as disguise self but with longer duration.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Focused Mind +2 to Concentration checks
Healing (2d8+5) (Su) Use cure moderate wounds once per day/person.
Hidden Weapons +4 (Ex) You gain +4 to Sleight of Hand checks made to hide weapons on your person.
Killer Add weapon's critical modifier to its critical bonus damage.
Poison Use You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Quick Draw Draw weapon as a free action (or move if hidden weapon). Throw at full rate of attacks.
Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch.
Sneak Attack +3d6 +3d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Speak With Familiar (Ex) You can communicate verbally with your familiar.
True Death (DC 19) (Su) Casting Raise Dead on a victim of your death attack requires a successful DC 19 caster level check.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.

Familiar (Bone Witch)
Grimalkin uses bones as her familiar. In particular the thumb bones of other powerful people, witches or creatures.  Right now she has in her possession the head the of Fiend, she can use that as a familiar as well.

Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge: The Last Apprentice/The Spook series

I have been terrible at posting in the Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge since June.
Well...no time like the present I guess.

Instead of doing everything I have read since July I'll focus on the "Spook Series" also known as the Wardstone Chronicles or The Last Apprentice books by Joseph Delaney.   I reviewed the first book, The Last Apprentice, back in January.

Yes these are children's books or Young Adult. But my youngest son was reading them so I thought I would read along with him.  Sometime around book four I passed him up.
I remember seeing the first book, The Last Apprentice, when it first came out.  I flipped through it and got the idea then that Spooks were something like rangers, only focused on get rid of ghosts.
The inevitable comparison though is to Harry Potter.  Like Harry, Tom Ward starts out as a young boy and grows into his destiny.  Tom's backstory is not as tragic, but he has plenty of secrets about himself to learn.  I will be honest. These books are not as good as Harry Potter, but that is hardly a slight. Hardly anything is as good as Harry Potter.  But these books do have some charm and they are a really quick read. So here are my reviews, game information will follow.

The Spook's Curse (Published in the USA as The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane) - 2005
The second book in the series deals with the death of the Spook's brother and their journey to Priestown. Here Tom are the Spook reunited with Alice, but she is in the hands of the Quisitor.  To make matters worse, the monster imprisoned in the catacombs under Priestown is waking up and exerting more control over the priests to turn them evil.  The Spook, Tom and Alice have to work together to defeat the Bane.
What I liked the most about this one was the development of Alice as a character.  You get the idea that she will be or already is a very powerful witch in her own right.
Number of Witches: Only 1 confirmed

The Spook's Secret (Published in the USA as The Last Apprentice: Night of the Soul Stealer) - 2006
Winter has come to the County and the Spook, Tom and Alice travel to the Spook's winter home.  We learn a lot more about the Spook's background and he is not as "pure" as he claims to be.  We learn he has kept his "wife" and her sister locked up in his cellar because they are Lamia Witches.  We also meet Morgan, a failed apprentice Spook turned Necromancer and now an enemy of John Gregory the Spook.
This book sets up the formula that will appear in other books, Tom and Alice fighting multiple enemies at the same time.  In this case Lamia Witches and Morgan/Golgoth.  The tone in this book is also a bit darker than the first two.  Tom's dad dies and Morgan keeps the soul imprisoned.  Fairly dark. I liked that in his youth the Spook was not so principled.
Number of Witches: 3, plus 1 Necromancer

The Spook's Battle (Published in the USA as The Last Apprentice: Attack of the Fiend) - 2007
Ah, now we are getting into the meat of the series (so far).  Tom's mother "Mam" (I'll admit, I hate that name. She really should have had a proper name) has gone home to Greece to fight the Dark there.  But in the meantime Tom's brother Jack, with Jack's wife and daughter are all captured by Pendle Witches and his mother's trunks are taken.  Alice goes ahead to Pendle, where she still has witch relatives of her own, to find out what is going on.  When she does not return Tom and Spook go into the heart of town populate by three powerful clans of witches.
In addition to learning more about Tom's mother (she was likely a domestic Lamia witch) we learn more about Alice. She is the daughter of two witch clans for example and still has plenty of relatives left.  We also meet one of the coolest characters in the series, Grimalkin the Witch-Assassin.  But the Big Bad of the series is finally revealed; the Fiend or The actual honest to goodness Devil himself.  And he wants Tom.
Number of Witches: 100s

The Spook's Mistake (Published in the USA as The Last Apprentice: Wrath of the Bloodeye) - 2008
Tom has entered next phase of his apprenticeship where he will go train with a different Spook for 6 months.  This time with former apprentice Bill Arkwright.  Here Tom learns more about Water Witches and learns more about the plans the Fiend has in store for him.  He is afraid that Alice is getting closer and closer to the Dark.  He also makes an unlikely ally in the form of Grimalkin.  Here also Tom learns that Alice was not the daughter of two benign witches but the daughter of Bony Lizzy and the Fiend himself.  The Spook wants to put her in a pit but Tom and Bill intervene.  *Note to be fair we learn that Alice is Bony Lizzy's daughter in the "Seventh Son" Movie, I just thought at the time they were being lazy.
Number of Witches: half a dozen or so

The Spook's Sacrifice (Published in the USA as The Last Apprentice: Clash of the Demons) - 2009
Tom, Alice, his mother, Bill Arkwright and a reluctant Spook join forces with the Pendle Witches to travel to Greece to battle one of the Fiend's greatest allies, the Ordeen. We learn a lot more in this book.  Tom's mother is not just a lamia witch, she is Lamia herself and all Lamia witches are her offspring.  She has been fighting the Dark now for centuries.  We meet some Greek Spooks who have different ways of fighting the Dark and Grimalkin continues to be a bad ass.  Tom has to make a very choice between two equally bad options and ends up under the power of the Fiend.  Alice then uses more Dark magic to keep him out.
Number of Witches: 100s

The Spook's Nightmare (Published in the USA as The Last Apprentice: Rise of the Huntress) - 2010
Tom, Alice and the Spook return home to find the County ravaged by war and the Spook's home destroyed.  Tom and Alice have to step up and do more of the work as the Spook is in a funk.  They end up on the Ilse of Mona where they encounter fear and resistance from the people.  They also discover a shaman, a cache of black magic energy, a half-demon, a demonic monster and Alice's mother Bony Lizzy.  One of the things I liked about this one was how witches become more powerful when they turn 40.  As someone in my 40s I think that is a great idea! We are also introduced to a Bird Witch which can summon birds to do her bidding.
Number of Witches: 4 or 5

The Spook's Destiny (Published in the USA as The Last Apprentice: Rage of the Fallen) - 2011
"Never go to Ireland" is the warning given to Tom by the Morrigan.  But Tom has no choice and he follows Alice and the Spook to Ireland where they have to deal with a group of "Goat Mages" attempting to summon the old god Pan.  Here Tom spends a lot of time tied up, unconscious or away from the Spook.  Alice is actually captured by the Fiend at one point and taken to Hell.  Tom must battle The Morrigan and the twin sister of a witch he and Bill Arkwright once dealt with.
He meets the god Pan (who is not as bad as everyone makes him out to be) and he even has a chance to visit Cú Chulainn in a sidhe mound.
This one started out slow for me, but I was excited they were in Ireland.  The meeting of Cú Chulainn was great and gaining the Sword of Destiny was cool too.  But the best part was more interaction with Grimalkin.  I won't spoil the end for you, but it is cool.
<spoiler>Tom defeats the Fiend and gets Alice back from hell.</spoiler>

It has been a fun series to say the least.

Need to pick up the last few books...for my son of course.

Books read: 25
Current Level: Crone,  Read 16 – 20 Witchy Books

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Dark Albion, ad initium

Good weekend for gaming purchases.  I picked some finds at Half-Price books (that I may talk about later) and this was waiting for me when I got home.


I opted for the alternate cover of Dark Albion.  It looked a little cooler on my shelf I thought,


Looks great next to my copy of Fantastic Heroes & Witchery.



Friday, August 21, 2015

Kickstart Your Weekend: Kings or Pawns

A new Kickstarter was brought to my attention this week that looks rather cool.

I love audio-books.  I spend a lot of time driving to work, to campus so I get to listen a ton of books.  So this new one from JJ Sherwood looks really great.


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1484616180/kings-or-pawns-steps-of-power-book-i-audiobook




Honest this looks really fun.
Recording a quality audiobook takes time and money.  This would be a treat to finally hear.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Gen Con Haul

The BEST thing about taking my wife and kids with me to Gen Con other than having their company and dedicated gaming time is that I pretty much get to buy what I want under the guise of "it's for the family gaming nights!"  Well. It also happens to be true.

So here is this year's haul.



This is a cheat since I had already backed the Kickstarter.  But I got my book, dice and Martian princess figure.


Got these half-off because a Beyond the Supernatural game I was in was cancled.


My BIG buys.  Notice a theme?  Occult Adventures looks fun. Victoriana 3rd Edition is one I have been wanting for a while.  But the big win?  CHILL 3.0!!  OMG people this is such a cool book.



Mayfair D&D.  All of this for about 10 bucks.


Still loving Castles & Crusades.


AND an autographed print from Jacob Blackmon of my iconic witch Larina for "Strange Brew".

And last, but not least...although I didn't buy it at Gen Con, it came in the mail today.

My "Death Wand" from Magical Miscellany.  The newest endeavour by my friend Kim Pauley.
http://www.kimberlypauley.com/etsy-creations/




It is a real work of art!  I am going to need to stat this up!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge: June Reviews

Here are the reviews for May for the Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge.

Lots of books this month!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
All things must end...I started my reread of the Harry Potter series with much enthusiasm and I was rewarded every step of the way. But I was dreading this one.  Not because of the deaths or the loss, but because this was the end, no more Harry, no more Hogwarts, no more of the world that enchanted me and millions of others.
J.K. Rolwing is a genius. Pure and simple. While I thought some of her later books could have had a deft hand at editing I find in the end I would not want one line changed.  The best thing about this book, and the last one, is you really, really get a feeling of how and why Ron and Hermione got together and why Harry and Ginny are together.  The movies, as fantastic as they are, glossed over this subtle storytelling.
Every fan of fantasy needs to read these books.
Witch Count: Hundreds

Witches with the Enemy: A Novel of the Mist-Torn Witches by Barb Hendee
Book 3 of the Mist-Torn Witches series sees Céline and Amelie Fawe heading back into the land of their birth, Shetâna, to do a job for Prince Damek who once tried to have them killed.
Like the previous two books this one involves a mysterious murder, but the murders keep happening and it is soon obvious that no one is what they appear to be at all.  This one grabs you from the beginning.
Hendee is great at character development and it was nice to see Céline get some much needed growth and the spotlight for a while.  The previous book featured a lot of growth for Amelie.   I also like that the witches may have made a terrible new enemy by the end of the book.
The potential for this series really is unlimited. I would like to see some new powers or new nuances to their powers for the sisters, but I also see no end of their troubles.
I think what I like the most about this series is that both the two main female characters and the two main male characters are allowed to be strong when they can.  That is, one character or gender does not show strength at the expense of the others. They all have the potential to work as a greater team but finding their roles is the trick.  In any case there is plenty of more room for future character growth and that is exactly what I want in my series reading.
While these books are set in a fantasy realm of magic, witches, ghosts and even vampires these are solidly murder mysteries.  Can't wait for Book 4!
Witch Count: 3-5 (including hedge witches)

Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave
The classical Russian tale of Baba Yaga and the brave young girl Vasilisa.  I actually read a couple of different versions of this tale over the month, but since they only differed by a detail here or there I am counting this as one.
Witch Count: 1

The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston
This one has all the elements I like. Welsh countryside, ancient witchcraft, new you witch coming into her power.  It just didn't grab me like I thought it would.  Now by the end of the book things had gotten better.  I liked the character Morgana and I liked how her magic worked.  The author is quite good really, I just found the pace a bit slow for my liking.  I think if I had not just come down from my Harry Potter fueled high I might have enjoyed this one a lot more.
Witch Count: 3

Books read: 18
Current Level: Crone,  Read 16 – 20 Witchy Books

Friday, June 5, 2015

Chrys Fey, Libby Sawyer and the Witch of Death

Recently I had the pleasure to read a pre-release copy of The Witch of Death thanks to author and fellow A to Z Blogging survivor +Chrys Fey.  This introduced me to her newest character Liberty "Libby" Sawyer, a police detective and kick-ass witch.   Which of course means she is perfect for this blog!

So please allow me to introduce Libby and Chrys.

Liberty “Libby” Sawyer
“Actually, I’m a witch.” She smiled when Reid jolted and turned to face her. “I’m Detective Liberty Sawyer." She stuck out her hand.

Cinematic Unisystem Rules (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Magic Box, Ghosts of Albion)
Experienced Hero 
Libby, off duty obviously

Drama Points: 10
Life Points: 39

Attributes
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 3
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 3
Perception: 4
Willpower: 5

Qualities: Attractiveness 2, Contacts (criminal) 2, Contacts (occult) 1, Empathy 2, Hard to Kill 3, Magic 2, Magical Family, Nerves of Steel, Occult Library 2, Psychic Visions 1, Rank (Detective) 2

Drawbacks: Adversaries (various. supernatural and criminal) 3, Honorable 2, Love (Reid) 4, Obligation (uphold the Law)

Skills: Art 1, Computer 3, Crime 3, Doctor 2, Driving 3, Getting Medieval 2, Gun-Fu 3, Influence 2, Knowledge 3, Kung-fu 2, Language 2 (English, latin), Mr. Fix-it 1, Notice 3, Occultism 5, Science 2, Sports 1

Initiative: +2
Spellcasting: 1d10 + 12
Notice: 1d10 + 7
Magical sight: 1d10 + 9

Gender: Female
Age: 33
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 138 lbs

Combat
Gun +6 by type
Punch +5 4
Kick +5 5
Spells +12 by type
- Witch Bolt +12 damage 4
- Deflect +14

Liberty "Libby" Sawyer is a witch from a long line of family witches.
Her personal occult library is growing, but she has access to much larger collections through her magical family connections.  Unfortunately because of these ties enemies of her family are hers as well.  She is not sure, but suspects that she is distantly related to Elizabeth Sawyer.

Like most witches Libby can read auras, is sensitive to psychic impressions, and has magical sight.
She is likely to have the Anamchara quality with Det. Reid, but it is still undeveloped at this point.

New Spell: The Bleeding 
Quick Cast: Yes
Power Level: 4
Philosophy: Evil
Requirements: A command word, line of sight, and a drop of blood from the target.
Effect: This spell causes the target’s blood to evaporate if he is within 50 feet. He must resist the spellcasting roll with a Constitution (doubled) roll each Turn or suffer one-third of his total Life Points in damage (round up). The effect lasts for a number of Turns equal to the half the Success Levels (round down) of the spellcasting roll. Multiple castings of this spell on one target have no effect.
Once the blood has been removed from the body the witch casting the spell gains the victim’s Magic Levels.  For every 2 levels of magic the victim has the caster gains 1.
Note: This is not one of Libby's spells.

You can find Chrys on the web at http://writewithfey.blogspot.com/
And more about Libby at The Faux Fountain Pen and Tasha's Thinkings.



Title: Witch of Death
Author: Chrys Fey
Genre: Supernatural/Suspense
Format: eBook Only
Page Count: 45 (short story)
Release Date: May 20th, 2015
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Blurb: 

Detective Reid Sanders doesn’t believe in the supernatural, but when he’s faced with a crime scene that defies the laws of nature, he has no other choice but to start believing. And solving a magical murder involves working with a witch.

Liberty Sawyer embodies the look of your classic evil witch, so, it’s no surprise when she uncovers the murderer is a witch that she becomes Reid’s number one suspect. If she can’t convince him otherwise, more people could lose their lives to dark magic, including her.

BOOK LINKS:


ALSO AVAILABLE:


Blurb:

Jolie Montgomery, a twenty-one-year-old woman, wakes up in an alley next to her corpse. She has no memories of her murder or the night she died. She didn’t even see the killer’s face before he or she took her life. Wanting justice, Jolie seeks answers in the only way a ghost can...by stalking the lead detective on the case. 

Avrianna Heavenborn is determined to find the person responsible for a young woman’s death. She gets closer to the killer’s identity with every clue she uncovers, and Jolie is with her every step of the way.

But if they don’t solve her murder soon, Jolie will be an earth-bound spirit forever.

Book Links:



BIO:

Chrys Fey is the author of Hurricane Crimes and 30 Seconds. She is currently working on the sequel to Hurricane Crimes that’ll serve as book two in the Disaster Crimes series.

When Fey was six years old, she realized her dream of being a writer by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve, she started writing her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen. Fey lives in Florida where she is waiting for the next hurricane to come her way.

You can connect with her on Facebook and her blog, Write with Fey. She loves to get to know her readers! 

Author Links: 

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge: May Reviews

Here are the reviews for May for the Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge.

Lots of books this month!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
One of my favorite of the Harry Potter books in what is arguably Harry's worst year ever.  This is the book that gives us the evil, awful Dolores Umbridge.  This book drips with so much teen agnst. It is also the book that when I first read it I realized the J.K. Rowling was no ordinary author and I moved her right into "Genius" territory.  She captures the feelings of these 15 year olds so perfect that she made it look like it was effortless on her part.  The magic went to wayside and the focus was on Good vs. Evil.   The scenes of the DADA courses vs. the Dumbledore's Army ones are pure genius.
We are also introduced to the character of Luna Lovegood.  Honestly I forget we only knew her in less than half the books, but she became such an integral part of not just the Harry Potter universe but also the tale themselves. Was this JKR's plan? Introduce a character so well loved (Luna) in the same novel as one so universally hated (Umbridge)?  I think so.
I will also add this.  This book improves with the second reading.
Witch Count: Hundreds

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Also another favorite.  I think this book has the most deviations from the movie.  I had forgotten about how much Harry had thought about Ginny in this one. They ended up together for the last month of the book as well.  I think this book is such an integral one because it is almost Shakespearean in tone.  Harry's best year ever at Hogwarts crashes down on him in the worst possible way.  He is treated more like an adult in this one too, only to have face all his issues as an adult.
Even though I know how the tale ends I still can't help but hating Snape in this.  I remember the first time I read it I was screaming at the book, shouting "I knew it! I knew Snape was a traitor."  It is the sign of a true craftswoman that JKR can still get such thoughts from me now.
Can't believe I only have one book left!
Witch Count: Hundreds

Weiser Field Guide to Witches, The: From Hexes to Hermione Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz (Weiser Field Guides) by Judika Illes
A fun book that discusses all sorts of witches.  The mythical, the historical, the new age region to Harry Potter and Charmed.
Each section covers something a little different.  Say Witches in Literature (Harry and Hermione are here), Movies and TV (find the Charmed Ones here).  Even historical witches like Agrippa, Marie Laveau and Merlin (is he historical?).  Doesn't go in depth into any topic, but it says time and again that it can't. But it does cover a lot of topics.
Witch Count: Hundreds




Witch of Death by Chrys Fey
Great short story introducing Liberty "Libby" Sawyer, police detective and witch.  When murders with no means of explanation begin to happen it is up to Libby and her new partner Det. Reid Sanders to figure out who or what is causing them.
I will have some more from Libby and +Chrys Fey next month!
Witch Count: Two



Books read: 14
Current Level: Mother, Read 11 – 15 Witchy Books