Posted on by Caitlin Sumner

Shepherd – Book Recommendations

A few months ago I was contacted with a request to write a book recommendations list.

This was both interesting and exciting and I have to say I’m still squealing over it a little bit. This is the first thing I have done that was from an outside source, ie. someone contacted me, not the other way around. Something about it makes me feel like a real live author!

I know it sounds odd, but I also know there are a lot of people out there who are the same as me, who look at their accomplishments and don’t really see it as much special, and that’s probably the hardest part about doing what we do, is thinking it isn’t really much but when people see it from the outside it really is a huge achievement. I just wish I felt prouder of what I’ve done and what I’ve written.

A quick update for those of you who are waiting on paperbacks as well, I’m afraid winter got to me. I’m almost done(!) with the smaller (186 pages) book and then it’s back to the bigger (400+ pages) for the readthrough and checks before I’ll submit it for being put out there as a hard copy.

At that time, I will also be publishing something new that goes with the series. But, we’re not really here to talk about that.

We’re here to talk about this really cool list I wrote! And this really cool website that when I started going through I recognized authors I look up to and now I’m a part of that and whaaattt?? It’s so cool!?

I wanted to do this fancy thing that embedded a preview of the page, but apparently you need plugins for that so have a screenshot and a link instead. Be sure to check out more than just my list too, because there are a lot of lists and so many authors have contributed and so many topics!

The best historical fiction books you can’t put down

Stay safe!

Caitlin

Posted on by Caitlin Sumner

The Powder Mage Trilogy – Review

Warning: This review/ramble will contain spoilers for all three books.

Where do I even start talking about these books?

(Now, I don’t normally do book reviews, or talk at length about things I’ve read, so if I stumble a bit, please forgive me. I’m refining as I go, and usually writing these over the course of a few days.)

Several years ago, I won’t admit how many, I spotted the cover for the first book in a Barns & Noble somewhere, and I was in a shopping phase so I would browse a store, take a picture of a book, and keep it for later. I’ve tried to add most of those to lists but there is still an entire photos folder on my phone just of books.

The cover caught my eye, as they usually do. I am not a ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ kind of person, I am all about the cover. I liked the look, I liked the uniforms, and I liked the quote. I was intrigued. Fast forward to sometime early last year when they came up on my kindle, I suspect on sale or special offer. Somehow I ended up with all three of them in my kindle, and then I went up to Scotland for a few days and went camping, so no internet, limited phone service, brought my tablet specifically for reading. (I don’t own an actual kindle, never have.)

I read all three books, some 1700+ pages, in under two weeks. I haven’t been so sucked into a set of books in years. That’s not entirely true, I read the first of Brent Weeks’ Shadows trilogy in a day, but that was because I was stuck sitting around with literally nothing to do, couldn’t go anywhere, no access to phone or anything. And I loved those too, but the speed was out of necessity. I do need to read them again because I missed a lot reading that fast.

Anyway. I started Promise of Blood on May 24th, and I finished Autumn Republic on June 2nd. So, 9 days in total. My second read through at the end of the year took about a month all told. Though, that was largely because I would read for 4 hours one day and then not read again for a week. I read one of them in two days, again.

(As a note I have the sequel trilogy, Gods of Blood and Powder, I just haven’t had a long enough span of time to sit down and start, because I know how I’ll get sucked in. They’re sitting on my dresser waiting for my attention.)

What I think I first found so interesting was, of course, the idea of a connection between gunpowder and magic. As a Sagittarius with pyromaniacs tendencies (I once took apart a handful of sparklers, put the resulting powder in a jar and threw in a match ((To be fair that is actually my most interesting moment, and my only story)) and ran. It was awesome) I absolutely love the idea of being able to have an awareness of gunpowder and do things like change the direction of a blast, not to mention just setting it off with your mind. Then of course the story dragged me in.

I don’t often see books where there is truly more than one main character. Usually you have strong supporting characters, but Taniel and Tamas really are both the main character in these books. There is of course the Inspector as well, but for me he is the strong secondary.

The image of the world is fascinating, being built up slowly around all the action. Promise of Blood just dives right in and you find out more about the land and the Nine as you go along. I have to admit, I didn’t like Tamas at first, but by the end of Autumn Republic…there might have been a tear or two.

I love how all the characters interacted, I loved that events jumped ahead by days or weeks but you didn’t feel like you missed anything. In my own writing I’ve always had an issue with time flow and feeling like large jumps are disconcerting and hard to follow, and I’m still trying to learn how to avoid that. I also enjoyed how the events jumped all over the map, but I suspect, having looked at the map, and the more detailed map of the Nine in Sins of Empire, I probably have all the directions and things backwards in my head.

One thing I look for in a book is if it feels -real-. I’m not sure how to go into more detail than that because like art, reality is an abstract concept to each person based on their perception (go away Plato) so that’s the only word I have. But I suppose I mean, I feel like I could step into the world and happily live there. I find that more with history than with fantasy books but there have been several that have caught my attention like that and these books are one of them.

My only disappointment has been that some of the companion stories don’t appear to be available online anymore. I have ready every one I can get my hands on but I know I’m missing at least two, and I hope that someday they resurface somewhere. For now I’m just going to continue enjoying what I’ve got.

To everyone reading, I would like to say thank you for sticking with me to the end of this post and if you haven’t read these books, go look for some more reviews. If I didn’t convince you, someone else just might, and I think they’re very worth being convinced.

Until Next Time

Caitlin

Posted on by Caitlin Sumner

The Last Smile in Sunder City – Review

Wow. Let me just say, wow.

I have been excited for this book for months, ever since I found out about it. A few years ago I fell into the humans/magic/fantasy mixup with things like Brent Weeks and Brian McClellan and haven’t looked back since, finally settling into a genre that my adult self likes. The Last Smile in Sunder City makes a perfect new edition to that genre that seems to sometimes be a little bit of everything.

Luke Arnold has a unique way with words, and many reviews I skimmed prior to release (attempting to avoid spoilers at all costs) used words like refreshing, and new. And it’s true. In a story about a world that has just ended, told in the voice of a man who blames himself for everything, instead of finding myself despondent, I felt like I was taking a breath of fresh air. The fast paced, yet in depth storytelling meant I was never bored, and hardly put the book down to make dinner.

I admit I was perhaps a bit more excited about this than I might normally be, having discovered Luke Arnold in a whirlwind watching of all four seasons of Black Sails in one week, and coming out the other side to find my worldview somewhat changed, but regardless of that, this book is one of the more entertaining and exciting that I have read in a long time. It joins the elite ranks of books I have pre-ordered or bought and read the entirety on release day, which previously were only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Inferno (Dan Brown).

I look forward to the continuation of the story, and can guarantee each further instalment will also be read in a single day.

Most of this review is what I’ve posted on goodreads, but here is a bit more undignified squealing:

OMG THAT WAS AMAZING! I admit, I have trouble with first person, I tend to hate first person. So it make sense that when I wrote a book it was in first person. Yes, I know, logic right? Well this…this was beautifully done. It’s hard to capture first person well, and hard to keep it engaging throughout the story.

I remember a post Luke made here on WordPress a few months ago while he was editing, about the emotional toll it takes to get inside your character’s head and to write their life. It is hard, terribly hard, and it’s even harder when you write in first person. As I read the voice of Fetch Phillips, I could easily see how hard it would be to write his voice, to feel his guilt. Those emotion’s run through you when you write and can leave you feeling raw and wrung out.

I have never met Luke, though I admit I would love to. I’ve found throughout my life that it’s easier to tell from someone’s writing if you want to be friends with them, than it is to simply sit down and talk to someone. For me writing is my better way of communicating, and I can read people better through what they write than what they say 9 times out of 10. You can read a book and then say ‘Oh…yes, I would love to sit down and just have a conversation with this person. I don’t know about what, I just want to see where it goes.’ That’s my biggest problem with people, I never know what to say.

I do hope his book tour brings him to the UK at some point, because I would like to thank him for being the inspiration that has gotten me off my backside and back to my own writing. I’ve always looked for that one thing that will make you keep going with something, and I don’t know why it was this, but it has been, and I feel more inspired than I have in years to finish my own work, to find and agent and a publisher, and to be all right with the fact that it takes time. That my search might take me another year, or another five. Somehow now it’s ok, because I realise it really is worth the effort.

– Caitlin