Falling Kingdoms, by Morgan Rhodes

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Author: Morgan Rhodes [F] [T] [W]
Publisher: Razorbill [W]
Release Date: December 11, 2012
Format: Hardcover; 412 pages
Series: Falling Kingdoms (Book 1)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Magic
Avg. Rating: ★★★★✩

Goodreads | Book Depository

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power--brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.

Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished--and finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past--and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword...

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

War and politics in a book? Fantasy is sometimes very hit or miss for me - especially when these two themes are prevalent. War? Well, I have to admit that I like a good war story every now and then. Politics? Yeah, not so much. Thankfully, this book has both - so any qualms that I may have about politics is somewhat muted out by the war in the book. Add to this a few minor elements that may have rubbed me the wrong way, and I'll admit that I wasn't sure about this novel as I was reading. However, once I was finished, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the ample amounts of intrigue that I had with this book. 

Let's start with the not-so-good. As I said before, I'm not too keen on politics. Even with series that I absolutely adore like The Hunger Games, the politics sometimes makes me roll my eyes and wish for a little more of anything BUT politics. There is also the matter of dialogue. This book is categorized as historical fiction and definitely has the feel of something that happened in a different time. However, the dialogue sometimes contradicted that as it felt a little too.. modern. There was just some use of words and phrases uttered that didn't feel as if they were part of the same time period as the setting of the story. 

Aside from those two things, any issues that I may have had with the story were resolved as I was actually reading. The narrative switching perspectives for several characters was a little confusing but got easier as the story progressed. As a matter of fact, I don't think the story would have been as good without the switch of characters. Speaking of characters, I have to say that the four main characters really grated my best, most patient nerves at the very beginning - especially Cleo. However, like the switching around with the points of view, this annoyance disappeared as I delved deeper into the story. These characters actually grew on me quite a bit - all of them, including Cleo. 

The plot of this story was a little unoriginal as I have seen the premise taken on by other authors. HOWEVER, this story can definitely stand on its own two feet (or ends, as it is) quite well. The ending of this story was a bit of a cliffhanger, but in a very good way that keeps the appeal to find out more at an all-time high for me. Overall, this turned out to be a very interesting start to a series that I plan on staying with until the end. 

Rating: ★★★★✩
Source: Gift

New Year's Giveaway!

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Since it's about to be a new year and a fresh start for me after a very chaotic two years, I thought I would start the year out right. And how is that? With a giveaway, of course!

I'll be randomly setting up giveaways on Missy's Reads & Reviews every once in a while through 2013, just as a thank you to my wonderful followers/readers/subscribers. And while I normally go through Book Depository for everything, I thought I would switch things up and check out Powells. I've bought a few books through them but not as many as I should. So, let's remedy this now! 

For this giveaway, you can choose any book valued up to $10.00. If you're selected as the winner, I will contact you via e-mail and ask your book selection then - so no pressure to find something right now! 

For this giveaway, it will be US only (sorry!) since that is where Powells ships. However, I promise US only giveaways will be RARE this year!

Giveaway ends THIS coming Saturday, January 5th so ENTER NOW!

Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Another 2 awards

Thank you to

JB at Brook Cottage Books

and

Michelle at Fishsoup writing

who have also nominated me for Blog of the Year 2012 taking my stars to 4.

You can see my other nominations and the blogs I have passed this award to here

DizzyC

New This Week!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Dead And Buried, by Kim Harrington

Empty, by K.M. Walton

The Essence, by Kimberly Derting

Falling For You, by Lisa Schroeder

The Fire Horse Girl, by Kay Honeyman

Teeth, by Hannah Moskowitz

 Victoria Rebels, by Carolyn Meyer

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Dance With Darkness, by Courtney Allison Moulton

Ali's Pretty Little Lies, by Sara Shepard

Catherine, by April Lindner

These are just some of the books available this week. For more information on each book, please click the image to be redirected to the book's Goodreads page. If you're interested in purchasing the book, click on the title to be taken to the book's purchase page on Book Depository.

Day out to Leeds Castle

I am linking up with Alyce at http://athomewithbooks.net/ for Saturday Snapshot

Back in October we took a late break to Kent for half term.

We visited Leeds Castle, Kent.  We were lucky enough to have a little sun that day. 

As you can see from the collage (bottom right photo) we did have a downpour later

 in the day.  We took shelter and then continued with the maze.  AJ loved the maze 

and took charge to lead us through the maze to the underground grotto.  

There is lots to do and see at Leeds Castle including  a Falconry display, the maze, a woodland walk, ferry across the lake, land train and of course, the magnificent Castle.

The grotto has been decorated with thousands of shells (bottom left photo)

The black swan is the symbol for Leeds Castle.

You can find out more about Leeds Castle here

Wishing you all a Happy New Year

DizzyC

Blog of the Year Award 2012

I have been away from the blog/fb/twitter for a few days and returned to find I have not one but two nominations for the Blog of the Year Award. 

Awards came from   

 http://loveahappyending.com/ and http://janicehortonwriter.blogspot.co.uk/

Thank you very much for the folks at Love a Happy Ending and Janice Horton.

I would like to pass this award on to 

Kim Nash - Kim the Bookworm  

Lovely lady, lovely blog

Sharon - Jera's Jamboree (I know Sharon is award free but she has a top blog) 

Sorry Sharon, I know you are award free but I have to mention you. You have been a great support to me over the last year

Tracy at Pen and Paper 

A great blog friend for the last 2 years and always has something interesting to share

JB at brook cottage books 

A very new blog, but lovely lady who has a life as manic as mine, and yet still manages to blog

Lindsay at The Little Library Reader 

 Another lovely blog friend, who has a superb blog

Also Dot Scribbles, link to follow (there seems to be a problem with her blog at this moment.

The rules for this are:

1. Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012? Award.

2. Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3. Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012? Award – and include these ‘rules’ 
in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4. Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them.

5. You can now also join the Facebook group.

6. As a winner of the award — please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award — and 
then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars… Unlike other awards which 
you can only add to your blog once — this award is different!

When you begin you will receive the ’1 star’ award — and every time you are given the award by another 
blog — you can add another star! There are a total of 6 stars to collect.

Which means that you can check out your favourite blogs – and even if they have already been given 
the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!

http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/

End of Year Post

It has been a busy year both on the blog and personally.

My husband and I

My Husband  and I :)  set the date for our wedding back in January.  We could finally seal our love and become a family.

I had just over 7 months to plan and produce a wedding.
I made as much as I could and kept the budget down. My hubby's "favourite" saying of mine was "I have saved you money today when I bought such and such"


We wed in September!

The family are growing up fast!

My daughter and son went into their final year in School and Sixth Form.

My youngest son started full-time school.












This year the UK celebrated 2 major events that had us flying the flag. The Queen's Diamond Jubilee was first.  We had a little tea party at home with the children.

In the summer the UK hosted the 2012 Olympics.  I loved watching the events on tv, especially the Paralympics.  Those atheletes are such an inspiration.



I became a twitter fanatic. @DizzyCLBB

I took on the voluntary role of Reviews Editor for Romantic Fiction On-line

I started WIP Wednesday feature on the blog. So far 27 authors have taken part. It is an on-going feature so please do contact me for your slot.

I went to the Festival of Romance and met so many wonderful authors, bloggers and readers. I had never realised what could be gained from hearing an author read from their novel.  Author readings are great.

When I sent out an invitation to previous guest authors with a view to hosting an Author Advent for December I had no idea how popular it would be. A massive thank you to all the authors who have been guest in 2012 and those who have taken part in the Author Advent.
 You can catch up with all the authors here

Don't forget!  The Festive Quiz with Prizes (UK Only)  The clues are in the Author Advent feature.

Lastly, my Top Reads for 2012.


Well I am signing off now until the New Year, so....

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013!

DizzyC

Festive Fun - Day 24 - Isla Dewar

The last, but no means the least guest for Festive Fun only just made it with floods and flu to deal with. Glad to see Isla Dewar made it! 

Favourite Carol or Festive Song

I like Silent Night sung in German. Also jump about to John and Yoko’s

Merry Christmas. And, though it’s not exactly a Christmas thing, I love

Prokfiev’s Lieutenant Kije suite. Sometimes the endless Christmas music can

get you down. Hearing Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring – normally a blissful piece – plunked out in a wildly thronging shop as you’re being jostled and bustled can be disheartening.

Favourite Festive Film

It’s a Wonderful Life. That’s it. Watch it every year. Always shed a tear.

Favourite Childhood Memory

It was Christmas tradition in our house that presents were left on the armchairs in the living room. My sister had the one on the left of the hearth. I got the one on the right. Squeals as we ripped open our parcels. Then we’d run through to our Mum and Dad’s bedroom to show them what Santa had brought. But my favourite childhood memory is of my son when he was little.

Christmas Eve in St Andrews, church bells were chiming out carols and it was snowing. I was doing last minute shopping with my son. He was three and tired and he’d had enough. I was searching for Queen’s Greatest Hits for his older brother and eventually found it in a small shop in a cobbled side street. Adam refused to come in. Shook his head, pouted and wouldn’t budge. The street was empty; the shop had a huge window. I said he could wait outside if he stayed put and didn’t talk to anyone. I went into the shop, keeping an eye on the boy, got the record, paid and turned my back to pay. When I turned back, Adam was deep in conversation with a man. I rushed out. And the man was charming and had been charmed. He thought my boy wonderful. We chatted. I thanked him for taking time to talk to my son. It started to snow harder. The real Hollywood dream downfall. We stamped fresh footprints. And the man – I’ll never know his name – ran after us and gave Adam a huge box of chocolates.

Of course I refuses. But he insisted. And then he was gone. I’ve always wondered who he was. And who didn’t get the wonderfully gift-wrapped box of Belgian chocs. It was a real Christmas gesture.

The Tree – Real or Artificial?

Real every time. This year it is a living tree, grown in a pot and planted outside when the season is over.  We buy something new to put on it every year. So when we bring out our box of baubles we can remember Christmases past as we decorate the tree. My favourites are a set of twelve wooden carvings that represent the days of Christmas in the carol.

Bucks Fizz or Mulled Wine

Bucks Fizz. I am also fond of a mug of hot chocolate drunk by the wood stove after a walk.

Turkey or Beef

Usually turkey. But this year we’re having a haunch of venison. Still exploring recipes.

Dream Team of Carollers

I thought Maria Callas and Bruce Springsteen. Wondered what that would sound like. But my heart would still if I opened my door to Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday belting out anything at all – even Jingle Bells would do.

Isla Dewar writes contemporary fiction and historical romances including 

Izzy's War and A Winter Bride

Thank you, Isla

Festive Fun - Day 24 - Laura James

I do hope you have enjoyed my 24 days Author Advent.  It was great fun putting it together, and worth the time put in to it :)

(Don't forget, now all 5 questions in the Festive Quiz can be found in the author advent) So...........

Laura James has joined us on the last day of the festive fun.

Favourite carol 

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, sung by a choir. In candlelight. With my family and friends gathered round.

Real or Artifical Tree

 Fake tree as we have two cats and two kittens, and pine needles DO fall off no matter with what we spray the tree. I had a real tree once, pre-husband, pre-children, pre-cats, and I was stuck with it for months. No. Fake tree. Definitely fake. I know exactly what to do with that; ask my husband, Gajitman, to pack it in a box and shove it in the loft.

Favourite childhood memory

 Living in Windsor, but spending Christmas in London with relatives. To this day I have no idea how Father Christmas knew where to find my brother and me. We had taken our pillow cases, so maybe he tracked them...

Thank you for the fun trip down many lanes. I am a new writer, as yet unpublished, although I have a few credits to my name as listed on my website, www.lauraejames.co.uk

I am a member of The Romaniacs and we are always on the look out for guests, so please do visit and have a chat. http://theromaniacgroup.wordpress.com/

Festive Fun - Day 24 - Margaret James

Margaret James shares her dream Carollers on Day 24 of Festive Fun Author Advent

What is your favourite festive film/book or both? 

Shrek the Halls - I love it!

Lunch has been demolished and the dishwasher is on....do you walk, sit down for Eastenders and Queen’s speech or have another tradition for after lunch? 

It's time for the Great Present Opening!  Soon, the sitting  room floor will be knee deep in wrapping paper and we'll have got all the presents mixed up, but we'll be so sloshed we won't care. 

You open the door to Carollers, who would be your dream team of Carollers? 

Richard Armitage and his three brothers, if he has any brothers - they can sing to me all day and all night. The song from The Hobbit, preferably. I'd appreciate it if they were dressed in leathers, studs and whatnot, too.

Thank you, and hope you have a lovely Christmas!

Margaret says...

My lastest novel, The Penny Bangle, came out in May. It's the third volume of my Dorset family saga and is set during World War 2. The heroine is a new character called Cassie Taylor, an orphan from Birmingham who arrives on the Denham family's farm knowing nothing at all about the countryside, but destined to be a land girl. Then both of Rose Denham's twin sons fall for Cassie.  So there's trouble ahead!

www.margaretjamesblog.blogspot.com. 

I’m on Facebook and Twitter – www.facebook.com/margaret.james.5268 and 
www.twitter.com/majanovelist.

Thank you, Margaret
DIzzyC

My Year in Books - Top Reads for 2012

It has been another fantastic year for reading.  I had not had quite so much time with the wedding and the children, but reading is still my favourite way to relax and unwind.

My top 10 reads for 2012 are

• Publisher: Sphere (29 Sep 2011)
• ISBN-13: 978-0751547634
• Also available on Kindle

A magnificent debut novel from Jane Sanderson. When is the sequel due? 
5 out of 5 for me!  

I loved the way Laurie Graham gave us just enough to know that Enid and Bernard had missing pieces to their history without giving everything away. I felt Enid's frustration about the situation. She left me wondering whether Enid still had unanswered questions about Bernard at the end of the novel.  I found the way Enid handled Bernard at the end  of the novel satisfying and funny.

5 out of 5 for me!

• Format: Kindle Edition
• Publisher: Thornhill Print (4 Dec 2011)
• ASIN: B006ICFIZG

The storyline, set in Scotland, had me engaged right to the very end, with some very funny moments and some "I didn't see that coming" moments, too . All the characters were lovable, even Ross, in his own way. I loved it!
5 out of 5 for me!

• Publisher: Piatkus (2 Feb 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-0749954499

A detailed and beautifully written novel that will stay with me for a long while.
5 out of 5 for me. Oh wow!  I loved it!

• Publisher: Ramjam Publishing Company (3 Oct 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-0957378209 
• and on Kindle ASIN: B007RFBZPA

I warmed to all the characters.  John was especially handsome and oozed charm.  I hated the villain of the piece, Greg. I look forward to more from this author.

5 out of 5 for me!  Loved it!

• Publisher: Piatkus (3 May 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-0749957766

This novel is brilliant. I was expecting a gentle regency romantic tale, which I do enjoy,  but this one can only be described as a regency rom-com.  It had me giggling away and could rival Bridget Jones any day.  

The weekend fun and frolics kept me entertained right to the very last page.  Such a shame the weekend came to an end.

5 out of 5 for me!

• Publisher: Choc Lit (7 Jun 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-1906931728

The storyline flowed easily and the writing was superb, one of those novels that makes me wish I could write.
This story would appeal to historical romance and saga fans.
5 out of 5 for me!

• Publisher: Quercus (16 Aug 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-1849164191

Oh yes, this one hit the spot.  A lovely read to curl up with on these autumnal evenings. 
Fabulous!  
4.5 out of 5 for me!

• Publisher: Choc Lit (7 Sep 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-1906931674

I was not sure whether to put this in the historical fiction or historical romance genre.  It is much more than just a romance with wonderful descriptions of the landscape and people of Ladakh.
10 out of 10 for me! 

(I changed ratings from 5 to 10 to eliminate half scores)

• Publisher: Sandstone Press Ltd (16 April 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-1905207855

In this novel mother-daughter relationships are explored through Willow's story and Beth's story. The author captures the fears of a mother with an asthmatic child, who is becoming more independent, very accurately. 

I loved this novel, not only because I could identify with Laura, but also because it was set in a familiar setting.  

10 out of 10 for me! 

The best of the rest.......

DizzyC