#FitReaders: Weekly Check-In Jan 23 2015 and The Lascar's Dagger review

#FitReaders hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About.

Sat, 1,5 h walk

Sun, 1.10 h walk

Mon, 9 km bike, 1,5 h yoga

Tue, 30 min walk, 6 km bike, 45 min workout class

Wed, 1 hour zumba, 4 km bike

Thu, 30 min walk, 4 km bike and I hit 15 000 steps for the first time :D

Fri, 30 min walk and 4 km bike

Good week, I was happy to reach 15000 one day :) . That was thanks to walking at work, which I did not count cos the kids walked so slowly, ha, and a trip to the library with them. And when I got home grocery shopping and that 30 min walk.

Oh and the bike thing, it's not like I workout two times in a day. I just take the bike to work...always, come snow, rain, ice...

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A theft in a faraway land --- with repercussions that reach around the world... 

The world thinks of Saker Rampion as a priest, a gentle man preaching peace. The truth is, he's a spy for the head of his faith, posted in the court of King Edwayn.

It's a time of fear --- as a mysterious and monstrous disease sweeps the country ---but also opportunity ---lucrative trade is opening up overseas, and what's grown on the Spice Islands is rumored to cure the demonic plague.

However when the king uses his own daughter as a pawn in trade deals, Saker cannot help but get involved. And for his trouble, he may just end up excommunicated, or even dead... 

My thoughts:

Arghh, I am not having a good time with my xmas books! This book had some good parts, but most of the time it was dull or I wanted to kick a character in the nuts.

Saker, our good priest who is a naive little idiot. I mean come on, you are a spy? HA. A naive little idiot. Yes I did not like him after a certain point.

Sorrel, ok she was sort of interesting but she needed backbone.

Mathilda, oh I hate this bitch. That was not cool!

So no characters to like. The world building was there, but lacking. The story felt slow and not a lot happened. The way of the Oak was interesting, I did like that, but would have wanted more explanations of this religion.

1/3 of the book was good. The rest was eh, the last part was skim worthy.

Conclusion:

I am so disappointed.

Paperback, 464 pages
Published March 18th 2014 by Orbit
The Forsaken Lands #1
Fantasy
Own

Review: Stormlord's Exile - Glenda Larke

SHALE is finally free from his greatest enemy. But now, he is responsible for bringing life-giving rain to all the people of the Quartern. He must stretch his powers to the limit or his people will die-if they don't meet a nomad's blade first. And while Shale's own highlords and waterpriests plot against him, his Reduner brother plots his revenge. 

TERELLE is Shale's secret weapon, covertly boosting his powers with her own mystical abilities. But she is compelled by the strange magic of her people and will one day have to leave Shale's side. No one knows what waits for her across the desert, but her people gave the Quartern its first Stormlord and they may save Shale and his people once again-or lead them to their doom. 

My thoughts:

I do love trilogies, why, well cos they end! It's comforting reading a series and knowing that there will be an ending in sight. Still it's always sad when they do end.

When this book starts the country is a mess. The Reduners have been chased away but they are still out there. And yes some of them are bad, but some are good and the whole Stormlord system is so bad. All people should get water not just a chosen few.

Which brings us to the characters, Shale tries to help his people, but so many of them are freaking assholes. The whole priest class should be dumped in the ocean, freaking hate this idiots. Their whole religion is a big fat lie too. Then we have 2 scheming women that makes me want to wring their necks. Laisa and her evil evil daughter. Shale is way too nice, not just with them, but with others too. Sometimes too kind is gonna bite you in the ass. It was horrible to read at sometimes cos I just wanted to go there and kick them. Yes the best of books make me so angry at characters.

Who else then, Terelle of course, the woman Shale loves, the woman who has go back to homeland because her evil grandfather put a spell on her. She is nice and, well poor her at times. Then there is Kaneth and Ryka, aww, they turned out sweet. Shale's psycho Reduner brother and then we have the big players.

The book was not as good as the first, still it was great and it does make you think. An interesting history, an interesting country and a place where I could see more stories set in the future.

Conclusion:

A recommended series.

Series: Watergivers #3
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 590
 Published: 2011 by Orbit
Source: Library

Review: Stormlord Rising - Glenda Larke

The last Stormlord is dead. War has come to the cities of the Quartern. The violent, nomadic Redunners have put every rainlord they could find to the sword and the cities are left without hope.

Shale has been betrayed, drugged, and left at the feet of his greatest enemy. Now, he must decide to work with those who have plotted against him or let thousands of the waterless die. He has great power but is no Stormlord. At least, not yet...

Terelle has escaped the Scarpen in search of her homeland and her people, the mysterious Watergivers. But a desperate message will send her back to find Shale and face her worst fears. The people of the Scarpen are in danger. Shale and Terelle must find a way to save their people and punish those who have destroyed all they ever loved.

Series: Watergivers #2, Genre: Fantasy, Pages: 665, Published: 2010, Publisher: Orbit, Source: Library,

My thoughts:

This book has 3 main POVs, and as always I had a favorite. One whose chapters I really wanted to read. I think that in book 1 it was Shale I wanted to read about, but that went and changed.

Shale, or Jasper, is a prisoner in this book as it picks up right after the fall of Breccia in book 1. He is angrier, stronger and he will not be used again. Terelle, the woman he loves has fled as her grandfather forces her to return to his country of origin. I am getting more and more intrigued by the Watergivers. Who are they really and what do they do up there in their land of plenty? Terelle's story was a about a journey, while Shale's story was about breaking free.

But then we have my fav POV, Ryka. The rainlord who finally had found love and was pregnant in book 1. In this one she turns into a Reduner whore and tries he best to hide who she really is. She was so strong, and she does not back down. She is not afraid. And her POV was the one I wanted to read about the most. Because, was Kaneth really dead? Would she be able to flee. And yes the enigmatic man who catches her was interesting.

The whole story is about journey's and the build up to one big battle. It does not end with a cliffhanger, but there is still so much to be dealt with. I do fear for many of them.

Conclusion:

I recommend this fantasy series. It can be bloody, it's real, people hold grudges, kill, love and try their best to live in a harsh world.

Cover:

Lovely

Review: The Last Stormlord - Glenda Larke

Series: Watergivers #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 674
Published: 2009
Publisher: Orbit
Source: Library

Shale is the lowest of the low-an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert water is life, and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It's the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn't get him killed first. Terelle is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous. The Stormlord is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die.
Their civilization is at the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry...

My thoughts:

We all know fantasy books are long so that should not scare anyone looking for a good book, and good it was. I was swept away by a strange new world where water was precious and I did not want to stop reading.

The book takes places in a land where men and women use magic to make it rain, but they are fewer and not as good as before. The rains do not fall as often as they did before and the country is not united either. There are the cityfolk, fair and stuck in cities. Nomadic tribes crossing the dunes and Gibbers trying to survive in small villages. The rich have the most water, the poor the least, and the waterless have nothing at all. It may not be a fair world but it is a world that is dying of thirst and decisions has to be made.

Shale is born in a little village, a shitty place really. At the end of the country where they think the Rainlords are gods. Not his fault that they are uneducated and that they kill people who can find water. But I like him and as he grows up I like him more. He has this drive and anger, I have to like him.

Terelle is sold by her father and works at a brothel. When she becomes a woman she will work as whore and  it is something she does not want. For that I like her too, she does her best to try to get away and she does get away and starts working for a painter. And here her story starts to get even more interesting, I can't say anything but yes interesting. 

There are also other people, other Rainlords like Kaneth and Ryka, Russet the painter, Taquar, and well I could tell you more but I do not want to spoil things. Some people in this book are just evil and I want to kick their asses and let them rot in the sun and die of thirst. Then there are those making difficult decisions, those trying to save lives, those trying to get power and those that are just plain stupid. Every good book has a good cast of side characters and here you will find them. The ones who hate and the ones you start to care for.

I started to read this book and I quickly liked it. It's not a nice book either, people are not always happy or get their way. No, people die, it's cruel, and it is life. And it makes me believe in this world and it makes me crave more. And yes there is a sort of cliffhanger at the end, but one that I can live with. Sure I need to know what happens and I will read book 2, but it was also an ending that did not make me crawl up the walls in desperation. But it was still an ending that leaves this world worse off than ever. Book 2 here I come.

Conclusion:

Of course you should read it. With that I recommend it.

Rating:

Great

Cover:

Ok