I’ve been slurping up a high number of ebooks lately, so here’s a quick roundup about that.
Picked up from Amazon:
Beat to Quarters, by C.S. Forester, which is one of the Horatio Hornblower novels. We decided to read some Hornblower in book club, since gfish has headed off to hang out on a tall ship for a few weeks, and it seemed thematically appropriate.
Grabbed this from Amazon because I couldn’t find an equivalent version on Kobo. This Hornblower novel in particular is the first one in publication order, but the sixth in chronological order.
Pre-ordered from Kobo:
Avatar: The Rise of Kyoshi, by F.C. Yee and Michael Dante DiMartino. This is an Avatar: The Last Airbender tie-in novel, part 1 of a duology delving into the life story of Avatar Kyoshi, the Avatar just before Aang’s immediate predecessor, Roku. Kyoshi has important cultural impact still present by Aang’s day, and I will greatly enjoy reading about her.
Picked up from Kobo:
The Heiress Effect, The Countess Conspiracy, and The Suffragette Scandal, by Courtney Milan. Books 2-4 of her Brothers Sinister series. Nabbed these partly because I already knew I like Milan’s work a lot, and partly because of the eruption of the CopyPasteCris scandal. Wanted to buy a few of Milan’s titles I didn’t already have, to show her my support.
(Note: since I purchased these, I have actually finally read Book 1 of this series, The Duchess War. Recommended for fans of historical romance who appreciate camera time spent on issues outside the ton and new ways to underscore the restrictive gender roles of the era.)
A Hope Divided, by Alyssa Cole. Historical romance, book 2 of her Loyal League series. Grabbing this because Cole’s shot onto my radar as a romance author I want to regularly follow, now that I’ve read several things of hers.
Bellewether, by Susanna Kearsley. This is her latest release and I do love me some Kearsley, so yay! Bonus points for some French Canadian action in this one.
Alice Payne Arrives, by Kate Heartfield. This is a Tor.com novella and it sounded like great fun, with a time-traveling rogue type as the heroine. Book 1 of a series.
Terminal Alliance, by Jim C. Hines. Book 1 of his Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse series. Grabbing this one finally as it’s at mass-market prices in ebook form, now that book 2 is out.
“Deriving Life”, by Elizabeth Bear. SF. This is a Tor.com short story, which you can read for free on their site. But I nabbed my own copy as I felt this piece was achingly beautiful.
The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon. Fantasy. Nabbing this on general “because epic fantasy written by women” grounds, but also because I love this cover and I love the title. Read enough of the sample to go “yep I want to know more about what’s going on in this world”, too.
And last but not least:
Thornbound, by Stephanie Burgis. Book 2 of her Harwood Spellbook series, which is essentially fantasy romance. Caught my attention with the worldbuilding idea of an alternate Earth where Boudicca drove the Romans out of Britain–and the nation that grew out of that, Angland, is one ruled by the Boudiccate, full of women politicians. Men, meanwhile, serve as mages, and gender power dynamics are essentially flipped. I’m ON BOARD. I’ve already read Spellswept, the prequel novella for this series, and am looking forward to diving into the two novels.
Total for the year: 22.
