Sunday, October 25, 2015

Melanie's Week in Review - October 25, 2015




Hello! I would just like to start this post by saying that I have had an excellent week in both the number and quality of books I have read. It has been a bit hit and miss of late and last week I had to suffer the indignity of only finishing 1 book. I am still suffering the ill effects of that terrible admission. So shall I get on with it and tell you what I read?


I bought the The Harvest by Chuck Wendig a while ago and forgot it was waiting for me on my Kindle. This is the final book of the The Heartland Trilogy and Wendig does and excellent job of wrapping up the story of Cael, the Blight and the remains of the Empyrean empire. When we last left Cael he was falling to earth after bringing down the Saranyu flotilla and now a year later he has been saved by none other than the Maize Witch. The entire world has now changed and not really for the better. While there are no longer the Obligations and the Harvest festivals many of the towns are now dead and their inhabitants turned into mechanical creatures (I imagined Cybermen from Dr Who). Cael gathers his friends for a final mission to destroy the remaining war flotilla by finding the one weapon that could kill the corn used to fuel the ships.

I have really enjoyed this series and The Harvest is definitely the best book of the series. I loved Cael and I found it hard to remember that he was only 17. This is as much a story of love, friendship and growing up as it is about defeating the 'bad guys' and there are quite a few of them in this story to defeat. All of Cael's friends are back and some of his not-so friends such as Boyland, the bully from his youth. His love interest Gwennie returns and there is an interesting love triangle that develops with the now powerfully Blight infected Wanda, Cael's obligated. Wendig gets the balance between plot development, characterisation and action perfectly balanced, not just in this instalment but all the way through.  There were so many themes at play - family, racism, facism, love, homophobia to name a few but none were rammed down your throat like in some other novels I have read, especially in fiction for younger readers.  Wendig has blended the different elements along with a richly vibrant world to create an excellent series. I am sad to see Cael disappear from my TBR but completely satisfied with the ending. Even if science fiction or young adult fiction isn't your favourite thing this is a fantastic series.


I was super duper lucky to receive an ARC of Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews. The rest of you will have to wait until the 13th November (a Friday 13th no less!) but I urge you to rush to your computers and order/pre-order Sweep in Peace, the second book in the Innkeeper Chronicles.  That is all I can say at the moment as I am writing a full review which will hopefully be posted soon. You can stare at the cover until then and read my review of Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles 1) here.


I was also very naughty this week by reading 2 books that I am writing full reviews for so again, I can't tell you much. Keep your eyes out for my full review of Lost Causes by Mia Marshall which is the 4th novel in the Elements series. Loved it!  All I am saying.


I hope you have a great week ahead and until next week (and my post Halloween sugar hangover) Happy Reading.



The Harvest
The Heartland Trilogy 3
Skyscape, July 14, 2015
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 437 pages

Blood will water the corn...

It’s been a year since the Saranyu flotilla fell from the sky, and life in the Heartland has changed. Gone are the Obligations and the Harvest Home festivals. In their place is a spate of dead towns, the former inhabitants forced into mechanical bodies to serve the Empyrean—and crush the Heartland.

When Cael awakens from a Blightborn sleep, miles away from the world he remembers, he sets out across the Heartland to gather his friends for one last mission. As the mechanicals, a war flotilla, and a pack of feral Empyrean girls begin to close in on the Heartland, there isn’t much time to make their next move. But if they can uncover a secret weapon in time, Cael and his friends might just find themselves with the power to save the world—or destroy it—resting in their hands.


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