If this is a book you haven't read yet, definitely read it for it's 20th anniversary in 2023.
User Profile
Avid reader who unforunately slowed down the past couple of years. Loves so many genres and age categories, but adult SFF is my home.
This link opens in a pop-up window
fiainros's books
User Activity
RSS feed Back
fiainros reviewed Parable Of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)
In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful …
Review of 'Parable Of The Sower' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
fiainros rated Into the drowning deep: 5 stars
Into the drowning deep by Mira Grant, Seanan McGuire (Rolling in the Deep)
"Seven years ago Atagaris set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a "mockumentary" bringing to life …
fiainros rated Mexican Gothic: 5 stars
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes this reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel, a story …
fiainros rated Little Fires Everywhere: 5 stars
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (No)
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned – from the layout of the winding roads, …
fiainros reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, …
Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This had been highly recommended to me by so many people. Like others, it took me a minute to really get into it. But once I was into it, I was involved. I laughed out loud at several parts.
fiainros rated Where the Drowned Girls Go: 5 stars
Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children, #7)
There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again. It isn't as friendly as …
fiainros reviewed Cambion's Blood by Erin Fulmer
"I may have been a whole damn mess, but I was a whole damn mess …
Review of "Cambion's Blood" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I received an arc of this book by being subscribed to Erin Fulmer's newsletter.
I only got it last week and I don't have any reading time right now, but I made time for this! I enjoyed Lily's adventures in her inaugural story, Cambion's Law. I wanted to see what she would get up to and how the epilogue of that book played out.
Fulmer is great at introducing all the characters that are of importance early-on, and the villain ends up being a guessing game the whole way through. I'm not always sure about Lily's leaps of logic and at certain points, I was sure she had the wrong end of the stick (sometimes she did but sometimes I was wrong.)
The not-boyfriend story continues from book 1 (how not? City Owl is a Romance publisher.) Probably the thing I liked least about the story was the twist included …
I received an arc of this book by being subscribed to Erin Fulmer's newsletter.
I only got it last week and I don't have any reading time right now, but I made time for this! I enjoyed Lily's adventures in her inaugural story, Cambion's Law. I wanted to see what she would get up to and how the epilogue of that book played out.
Fulmer is great at introducing all the characters that are of importance early-on, and the villain ends up being a guessing game the whole way through. I'm not always sure about Lily's leaps of logic and at certain points, I was sure she had the wrong end of the stick (sometimes she did but sometimes I was wrong.)
The not-boyfriend story continues from book 1 (how not? City Owl is a Romance publisher.) Probably the thing I liked least about the story was the twist included about Sebastian's current status.
Overall, this is a fun, relatively fast read where the worldbuilding around this cambion is engaging and continually expanding.
The Epilogue of this book has me on the edge of my seat for book 3! (Please tell me there's a book 3 in the works.)
fiainros reviewed Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse (The Sixth World, #2)
It's been four weeks since the bloody showdown at Black Mesa, and Maggie Hoskie, Diné …
Review of 'Storm of Locusts' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I loved the additional worldbuilding and I can't wait to read more of Maggie.
The only drawback I had is that it has been a couple years since I read Trail of Lightning. Unfortunately, Storm of Locusts requires remembering what happened in Trail of Lightning in decent chunks with vague references and no summaries. And I don't remember the details well enough after so many (waves hand at the last two) years. And the story does not quite stand well enough as a stand-alone if you don't remember Trail of Lightning details. It's a choice not to include the summaries or specific refences, but readers should know to either have an excellent recall of the earlier book or read them back-to-back.
fiainros reviewed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Nora’s life has been going from bad to worse. Then at the stroke of midnight …
Review of 'The Midnight Library' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is a relatively fast read. There's a lot you can skim.
It's getting a 3-star review because I like the concept. However, in its execution this book wasn't for me. I'm not sure who it's for, to be honest. I could go into why, but I'm not sure that really helps anybody because the why's feel personal and not generic.
I will say every positive review I've read of this book implies I should already know who Matt Haig is, and I have aboslutely no clue who he is, even after googling. That's probably the most generic issue I have - that the book seems to be sold on his name recognitition to a good degree and I don't recognize his name.
So, again, it's an okay book. I wouldn't recommend it because I don't know who it's for, probably people who already like Matt Haig and would read …
This is a relatively fast read. There's a lot you can skim.
It's getting a 3-star review because I like the concept. However, in its execution this book wasn't for me. I'm not sure who it's for, to be honest. I could go into why, but I'm not sure that really helps anybody because the why's feel personal and not generic.
I will say every positive review I've read of this book implies I should already know who Matt Haig is, and I have aboslutely no clue who he is, even after googling. That's probably the most generic issue I have - that the book seems to be sold on his name recognitition to a good degree and I don't recognize his name.
So, again, it's an okay book. I wouldn't recommend it because I don't know who it's for, probably people who already like Matt Haig and would read it anyway.
fiainros reviewed The Queen's Weapons by Anne Bishop
Review of "The Queen's Weapons" on 'Goodreads'
Unfortunately 2021 is a hard year for me to read, so it took over two months for me to really start reading this book even though I opened it two months ago. When I managed to start reading, it took only two days to finish. You will want to have read every single Black Jewels book prior to this one, possibly recently. Anne's writing is so easy to read and devour. Her topics are not unless you are prepared for them. Her themes remain unchanged.
fiainros reviewed Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley
A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of the much-buzzed-about novel The Mere …
Review of 'Beowulf' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I was one of the rare individuals who loved Beowulf when I read it in high school literature class. We read a couple translations next to a copy of the original work.
When I read a paragraph of this new translation during a book discussion, I immediately picked up the new translation via audio.
Right now, I can't read. Since January, I've had TWO books I'd been so excited to get my hands on for nearly a year prior. I've read one chapter, total.
The introduction by the author was worth it, alone. Then ...
Listening to this version of Beowulf was like listening to contemporary music. Lots of fun, a good story, and still feels true to what I read years ago. It's well worth the 3.5 hour listen (after the 30 minute author intro which is also a good listen.) If you like your audiobooks faster, I'm not …
I was one of the rare individuals who loved Beowulf when I read it in high school literature class. We read a couple translations next to a copy of the original work.
When I read a paragraph of this new translation during a book discussion, I immediately picked up the new translation via audio.
Right now, I can't read. Since January, I've had TWO books I'd been so excited to get my hands on for nearly a year prior. I've read one chapter, total.
The introduction by the author was worth it, alone. Then ...
Listening to this version of Beowulf was like listening to contemporary music. Lots of fun, a good story, and still feels true to what I read years ago. It's well worth the 3.5 hour listen (after the 30 minute author intro which is also a good listen.) If you like your audiobooks faster, I'm not sure this is one to speed up. The rhythm and meter is important.
I highly, highly, highly recommend this story. I will be eventually reading it and there's a BBC production of it that I'm going to listen to as well.
fiainros rated Save The Cat!: 3 stars
Save The Cat! by Blake Snyder
Here’s what started the phenomenon: the best seller, for over 15 years, that’s been used by screenwriters around the world! …
fiainros rated Sky Beyond the Storm: 4 stars
Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes, #4)
The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance …
fiainros rated A reaper at the gates: 4 stars
A reaper at the gates by Sabaa Tahir
The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while …