Breaking Measures by Emma Raveling

Release date is today! You can grab your copy through the below links:
 Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Apple iBooks | Kobo

Breaking Measures by Emma Raveling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Watch the Trailer!

As soon as I heard Emma Raveling was releasing a prequel to another work in the making, I got extremely excited.

She is one of those rare writers that have an incredible talent with words that simply sweep you away with their lyrical descriptions. When I found out this was to be a contemporary novel, I was in two minds. Mostly because I was afraid that there would be a lack of imaginative story telling and leave me wanting.Could it really live up to her other work?

Any fears are completely unfounded though. Whilst Breaking Measures is indeed contemporary and has a completely different feel from her Ondine Quartet work, it still managed to completely capture me.

The story follows a young woman, Leila Cates. An up and coming Pianist who's striving to reach the expectations of her parents and the world around her. Though when one by one the steady parts in her life break, she comes to realize there is more going on behind the scenes then she has allowed herself to see. Pinned with the murder of her supposed boyfriend Carlo she desperately tries to unravel the knots and come to terms with the implications of what she uncovers.

Over the Dragonwall by Dennis Montoya and Hank Strom

Over the Dragonwall by Dennis Montoya, H.C. Strom

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Firstly I wanted to thank the authors for sending me a copy to be reviewed. It has been a little while since I last picked up a traditional fantasy and it was pleasant change of pace.

Over the Dragonwall is a stand alone fantasy novel. It  sports around 277 pages making it as long as a standard YA novel. Now this is both a  pro as well as a con.  It leaves little time for world building or delving deeper into the characters motivations to make us more invested in the story. On the other hand, it may draw in an audience that would normally shy away at the sight of a 1000 page novel and persuade them to give this Genre a go.

Over the Dragonwall follows a group of 6 companions undertaking a journey based on a tale they hear during a night out drinking. The story's told through Obi's view (a monastery librarian) and their aim is to travel over the Dragonwall and come back with evidence to the claim Dragons truly exist there. On their way to the Dragonwall they come across an elderly woman and with a word of warning and a promise to bring back a box hidden beyond the wall, they march on their way again. Though the journey beyond the wall is filled with difficulties beyond their wildest speculation.

"Well, sir, gold and fame-even magic, I have heard- they don't last. They come to you, and then you pass them on or lose them. But to KNOW, once you know something, sir, it's yours. You can pass it on to others, and yet you never lose it.

The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers

The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
 

I have a bit of a weakness when it comes to tech/hacker stories. I absolutely love Person of Interest and sometimes I wish my computer skills (and my patience level) would be bad ass enough to go underground and pull down sites to make a point or uncovering secure info from a super secret government  

* kidding of course...  well sort off * 

 I had previously been fooled when I picked up Cipher, expecting a hacker heroin only to be faced with nill action and a case of bad instalove romance.

So when I read the summary of The Silence of Six I was immediately intrigued. Could it be? A book which might actually make true on the promise of hacker action, a believable conspiracy, skirting the edge of today's issues faced regarding transparency and privacy as well as deliver on credibility but keeping it interesting enough to not put you to sleep?

I think The Silence of Six  is the perfect mix of all of the above.