The books I read on the cruise:
Grave Mercy by
Robin LaFevers. Great news! The sequel to this book, due out in April, has been announced,
Dark Triumph.
This series revolves around a convent dedicated to the god - or saint - Mourtain, Death! As Brittany struggles to maintain independence against onslaughts from France, the nuns and novices of this abbey learn arts of subterfuge and murder. Our heroine, Ismae, is Death's daughter. This may be a metaphor for the circumstances of her birth, or it may be truth. She is trained to be an assassin and her specialty is poisons. Poisons have no affect on her.
At the age of 17, Ismae is sent to the Duchess' court to kill the man Duval, supposedly a traitor to the Duchess. Oh, if only Duval was not so honorable, so righteous, so immune to her charms and so awesomely handsome!
The themes of women as objects, pawns in political negotiations, and victims of physical and sexual abuse underline the strategy and subterfuge of this novel. LaFevers' writing moves the reader right into the plot. There is plenty of treachery, here, plenty of doubt, plenty of action, and enough romance to quicken the pulse from time to time.
It looks like
Dark Triumph will follow the adventures of another novice, the dark unpredictable Sybella. Good. She has an important role in
Grave Mercy. I hope her story ends well.
Check out
LaFevers website to find out just how much of this novel is set in history and how much is fiction. Fascinating!
I also read;
Return to the Willows by Jacqueline Kelly
In Search of Goliathus Hercules by Jennifer Angus
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
And a get-healthy book and some magazines and ...that's about it.
Tomorrow, I will review
Goliathus Hercules.
Robin LaFevers wrote an amazing post at Writer Unboxed last month. It's the story of her years as a mid-list author and, with the release of her most recent book, GRAVE MERCY, marks the transformation of her writing career. Read what she has to say about writing below, and then head over to read the full post here.
The thing is, once we have reached a certain mastery of craft, craft is no longer the issue. In order to take our writing to the next level we must embrace our strange, unique, and often embarrassing selves and write about the things that really matter to us. We need to be willing to peel our own layers back until we reach that tender, raw, voiceless place—the place where our crunchiest stories come from. We need to get some skin in the game. It should cost us something emotionally to tell our stories. But many of us who come to writing do so because they were voiceless at some point in their lives, so doing that can be the most terrifying risk of all.
This book just sounds absolutely interesting. Fantasy that doesn't involve anything paranormal! The cover is amazingly gorgeous and I'm so ready to read this one. I know it's been on Netgalley for a while but this book doesn't come out until April 3! (one week before my birthday!) I think many people are really looking forward to this one as well. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads. Definitely look this one up when it's released!
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin), Robin LeFevers is by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, released on April 3, 2012.
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"It should cost us something emotionally to tell our stories. But many of us who come to writing do so because they were voiceless at some point in their lives, so doing that can be the most terrifying risk of all."
I read the post too, Caroline. And I really loved this part. :)
Wonderful post, Caroline. Thanks for leading us to it!
So glad it spoke to the two of you.
wow!