Reseña de ARC: The Singer's Crown: The Author's Cut

+Digital ARC gently provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

{RESEÑA BILINGUE}

The Singer's Crown: The Author's Cut 

by 

Elaine Isaak

589 pages

Published July 2nd 2019 by Rocinante (first published October 11th 2005)

ASIN: B07RL81CB5 

Lenguaje: Inglés

BLURB: When his uncle murders his family to take the throne, Prince Kattanan DuRhys is the only royal left alive. . . at a terrible cost. Stripped of his manhood, Kattanan travels as a court singer from one wealthy patron to the next. Given as a courtship gift to the young Princess Melisande, Kattanan feels the stirring of emotions he thought were denied him. But her jealous fiancée has other plans--and the sinister magic to carry them out.
Must Kattanan sacrifice his song to win his kingdom, and the woman he loves?

My rating: 2.8 stars 

The wimpiest and lame protagonists of all. The secondary are a bit better and more interesting.

This is a medieval fantasy.

The story opens up as many stories of a bloody royal succession, the murdered family, and with the youngest prince to whom they forgive his life but at the same time neutralize to prevent it from being a threat of succession - they castrate him.

Reseña de ARC: The Avant-Guards Vol. 1

 +Digital ARC gently provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

{COMENTARIO BILINGUE}

The Avant-Guards, Vol. 1 

by 

Carly Usdin

Noah Hayes (Illustrator)

112 pages

Published September 3rd 2019 by BOOM! Box (first published August 28th 2019)

ISBN: 1684153670 (ISBN13: 9781684153671)

Series: The Avant-Guards #1-4 

BLURB: As a transfer student to the Georgia O’Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics, former sports star Charlie is struggling to find her classes, her dorm, and her place amongst a student body full of artists who seem to know exactly where they’re going. When the school’s barely-a-basketball-team unexpectedly attempts to recruit her, Charlie’s adamant that she’s left that life behind…until she’s won over by the charming team captain, Liv, and the ragtag crew she’s managed to assemble. And while Charlie may have left cut-throat competition in in the dust, sinking these hoops may be exactly what she needs to see the person she truly wants to be.

Plot - 2 stars

Art - 3 stars

It is not what I expected.

What's up? New girl comes to college, and is chased by another girl who waits for a member to form a women's basketball team.

But in reality, it leaves the impression that she is pursuing her for more personal reasons.

Reseña de ARC: The Dragon's Banker

 +Digital ARC gemtly provided via Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review+

{COMENTARIO BILINGUE}

The Dragon's Banker 

by 

Scott Warren

255 pages

Published September 25th 2019 by Scott Warren

ASIN: B07TX1SJKF

Edition Language: English 

BLURB: Finance: The lifeblood of any country’s beating heart and the life’s work of Sailor Kelstern — Merchant Banker. While wizards brood in their towers and great warriors charge into battle Sailor is more interested in the price of ore, herbs, and alchemicals carried by the trade ships. But when a spell of bad fortune and bitter rivalry leaves him scrambling to turn a profit on little more than winds and whispers, one such whisper catches Sailor’s ear— a dragon has been seen in the west. Sailor soon finds that the dragons are very real, and not at all what he expected. And they practice a very different sort of economy — one of subterfuge and fire.

With bonus novelette: Forego Quest .  What if you were the hero of every song, story, and legend? What if you didn’t want to be?

My rating: 3.3 pecuniary stars

Master Sailor Kelstern is a banker who goes through difficulties after losing the fortune of a nobleman who is not at all satisfied with that; but that is nothing when faced with the challenge of satisfying a dragon (which is not supposed to exist) towards a new era of change towards paper money.

Kelstern is an interesting character, he is not the hero we are used to, and yet he is no stranger to risk his own skin when necessary. But where he is most comfortable is behind a desk with his esteemed account books, and developing strategies to earn money for his clients and his bank.

Reseña de ARC: Manga Classics: Jane Eyre

 +Digital ARC gently provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

{COMENTARIO BILINGUE} 

Manga Classics: Jane Eyre

 by 

Chan Crystal S., 

 SunNeko Lee (Art)

Basada en la obra de Charlote Bronte. 

329 pages

Published August 1st 2016 by Udon Entertainment (first published July 12th 2016)

ASIN: B07GL3K51T

Edition Language: English

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jane Eyre is the story of an orphan girl, despised by her relatives for being poor, and ending in an orphanage of the time, with cold and hunger. Then she will end up going as a girl's governess in Thornfield Hall, there her employer is a temperamental and strange man named Rochester.

This is a classic of literature, and is even considered feminist by many of the character's ideas (which are from believed come from Charlotte Brontë's autobiographical material). The relevant thing about Jane is that a woman who rebels against injustices, and whose bad circumstances fail to undermine her own inner strength, refusing to be trampled by others or to give in to her own convictions.

Mis dramas favoritos 2019

Mis dramas asiáticos favoritos vistos este año:

Oh My Venus (2016)

(la he visto varias veces para subirme el ánimo)

Las química entre los actores principales es fantástica. Los secundarios son estupendos.

¿De qué va? Una abogada pasada de peso (para estandares coreanos, no para los nuestros en realidad) rompe con su novio de toda la vida justo cuando cree que él le pedirá matrimonio, y por casualidad conoce a un entrenador famoso por convertir a una estrella gordita en una superestrella. Claro que dicho entrenador es perseguido por los papparazzi y no le conviene que su familia caiga en el escándalo que rodea esa imagen.

Reseña de ARC: Silverlegs I: Seed of Rage

*Digital ARC gently provided by publishers and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*  {RESEÑA BILINGUE}

Silverlegs I: Seed of Rage 

by

Camilla Monk

 400 pages

Published August 27th 2019 by Yaypub

ASIN: B07SY6SL58

Edition Language: English 

BLURB: A fifteen-year-old girl with a gift for violence and nothing left to lose, Constanter is running. To escape the farm she grew up on in a remote part of the Western Lorian empire.  She runs east, toward the distant war she knows only from the tales of travelers—a twenty-year long conflict, opposing the Western and Eastern halves of the empire. Mistaken for a boy after she stole the gear of a dead soldier, she is captured and drafted by a band of mercenaries whose leader recognizes her innate speed and agility. Her face hidden under a mask, Constanter surrenders to the anger she wears like a second skin and becomes Silverlegs, a legendary killer, an uncontrollable weapon in the hands of power-hungry rulers and religious fanatics.  As the Western empire spirals into madness in the name of the One God, Constanter will have to choose what she truly fights for, before Silverlegs’s rage leads her down the road to hell...

My rating: 3.5 death is my gift stars

Hear the warnings, kids: rape , violence galore, and tons of profanities in this book.

In a Romanesque world (different names and 2 moons) a farmer girl runaway to ends recluited into a mercenary army as male warrior. Constanter was good at it. Mortal, as a matter of fact.

Uh, I'm debating with myself since yesterday how to rate this. Certainly, not my usual reading preference. I never got to watch Spartacus the series so only can compare this to that excellent HBO's Rome series for the kind of viciousness and show how the real society was. So it's a historical drama. Religion divide the Empire between 2 forces at war (you know is not that simple, but... ) ; one is monotheist and the other worship old gods.

Reseña: Counter Culture

Counter Culture 

by 

J.L. Merrow

 344 pages

Published November 4th 2019 by Riptide Publishing

ISBN13: 9781626499218

Edition Language: English 

 

 

BLURB: Robin Christopher, beleaguered retail worker, isn’t having an easy November. His boss is raising stress levels planning a Black Friday to end all Black Fridays, his family doesn’t understand him, and his best friend thinks his new crush is a hallucination brought on by watching too many episodes of Doctor Who.

Archie Levine dresses in Victorian style and divides his time between caring for his young son and creating weird and wacky steampunk gadgets from bits of old junk—when he’s not looking after his mum and trying to keep on good terms with his ex. The last thing he’s got time for is a relationship, but the flustered young man he met while disembowelling a fridge is proving very tempting.When his mum’s social conscience is roused by a local store with a cavalier attitude to the homeless, former rough sleeper Archie shares her anger. Little does he know that Robin works for that same store.

My rating: 3.8 stars

Robin and Archie meet by chance in the street, while one came back from work worried about Black Friday, and the other determined to crumble an old refrigerator in search of steampunk pieces.

It is a romantic comedy with a social message could be said, against prejudices and preconceived ideas. The protagonists are from a very different environment, but they get to connect and discover that their interests are not so diverse after all. It had the grace to make me laugh a couple of times and that always raises points in my case.

Reseña: Angélica rumbo a la esperanza

Angélica rumbo a la esperanza (Angélica #12)

by 

Anne Golon

Serge Golon 

426 pages

Published 1985 by Círculo de Lectores, S.A. (first published 1984)

Original Title: Angélique: la Route de l'Espoir

ISBN: 8422619490 (ISBN13: 9788422619499)

Sinopsis: Por fín, todo parece sonreírles, Angélica y Joffrey de Peyrac están más unidos y enamorados que nunca.  En el curso de un viaje por Nueva Inglaterra, la pareja hace escala en Salem, ciudad de la costa atlántica, no muy distante de la puritana Boston. Angélica y Joffrey acarician ya, ciertamente, la cristalización definitiva de sus esperanzas de dicha y paz. Creen tenerlas al alcance de la mano. Sin embargo, la felicidad nunca llega a ser completa. La hora del parto llega prematuramente en condiciones nada seguras y cuya vida no deja de correr peligro. La fama de Salem, el pueblo donde han recalado, dista mucho de ser ejemplar. Habitan allí mujeres extrañas, a quienes sus propias convecinas llaman brujas y, en consecuencia, tratan de evitar...

La situación todavía empeora más cuando, de pronto, una nueva amenaza se cierne sobre el matrimonio: un siniestro mensajero se presenta ante ellos y les informa de que acaba de producirse la muerte del padre D´Orgival, su enemigo acérrimo. Y de esa muerte se acusa a Angélica. Todos los sueños se desintegran bruscamente. Angélica y Joffrey de Peyrac tienen que hacer frente de nuevo a la catastrofe que les acecha, aprestarse a la lucha...

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Angélica pasa por Salem con Jofrey , alli conoce a unas "brujas" cuaqueras y de nuevo pasamos por todo el enredo de religión entre puritanos a franceses, jesuitas y reformados , indios y peleteros , todo ese conjunto de la costa americana de Maine hasta de nuevo las montañas.

«Angélica no se acostumbraba a oír a estos personajes, barbudos, severos, intolerantes, gruñones en su mayoría y pesados de convivencia, apropiarse, como si de un amigo personal se tratara, de la personalidad de Jesucristo, que los Evangelios presentaban más bien como un hombre joven afable, lleno de indulgencia hacia los pecados del mundo, de dulzura y de ternura con respecto a las mujeres y los niños. Podría apostar con mucho que este Maestro, este Señor, que ellos reivindicaban, comentando cada una de Sus palabras como si las hubiesen discutido horas tendidas con Él en el Templo de Jerusalén o en los Recintos del Coloquio o de la Meeting-House, con la más franca de las amistades, podría apostarse, pues, que, en vida Suya, no Le hubiesen sufrido ni tolerado tal como era Él, y que Él se hubiera visto en la picota más a menudo de lo que parece, esperando la cuerda de la horca.»

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 2 

by 

Jordie Bellaire

David Lopez (Art) 

128 pages

Expected publication: February 25th 2020 by BOOM! Studios

ISBN1684154820 (ISBN13: 9781684154821)

Edition Language: English

Series: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Vol. 2

  

Buffy must face the hardest choice of her already not-so-easy life: save her friend or stop her new enemies, Drusilla (AKA The Mistress) and Spike from opening the Hellmouth. But where does the mysterious vampire with a soul named Angel fit into this mess? And what secret is he hiding that will forever change the war between the Slayer and the Mistress?

Eisner Award-nominated writer Jordie Bellaire (Redlands) and artist David López (Captain Marvel) present the next chapter of the fearless pop culture reimagining that generated headlines worldwide. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5-8.

 

My rating: 2.5 stars

El cambio de dibujante de Dan Mora a David López no le hizo ningun favor a este reinicio de serie, el dibujo no me gusta (no tomen en cuenta esa portada que no representa al resto).

(are those candles floating or something??)

Reseña: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1: High School Is Hell Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1: High School Is Hell

 {COMENTARIO BILINGUE}

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1: High School Is Hell

 by 

Jordie Bellaire

Dan Mora (Art) 

128 pages

Published May 28th 2019 by BOOM! Studios (first published May 7th 2019)

ISBN: 1684153573 (ISBN13: 9781684153572)

Edition Language: English

Series: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Vol. 1

BLURB: Go back to the beginning as the critically acclaimed pop culture phenomenon Buffy The Vampire Slayer is reimagined under the guidance of series creator Joss Whedon!

This is the Buffy Summers you know, who wants what every average teenager wants: friends at her new school, decent grades, and to escape her imposed destiny as the next in a long line of vampire slayers tasked with defeating the forces of evil...only this time around, her world looks a lot more like the one outside your window.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Into every generation , a Slayer is born; a chosen one. They alone wield the strengh and skill to fight the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number.
They are the Slayer."

Buffy Summers is a normal teenager 16 years old girl, who goes to school, lives with her mother and her boyfriend, wants to have friends, and ... is the Slayer.

In January 2019, with the approval of Joss Whedon, this relaunch of the Buffy series from its very beggining was made by Jordie Bellaire and BOOM. We have the same characters from the very iconic series of the 90s, but at the same time they are not unchanged, many peculiarities that made them so special for a generation are gone: Willow is not longer the lovely shy or geeky know-it-all; Buffy no longer uses her miniskirts or her so precious high heels to go on patrol ; and Xander reveals his insecurities , and frankly signs of depression, more openly to the reader. Oh, and our Cordelia is ... it's ... nice and friendly :shudders:. I don't know frankly if we can survive a lack of acerbic comments from Queen C.

Reseña: The Choir in Hope Street

 Reto Popsugar #17: Libro acerca de un pasatiempo
{COMENTARIO BILINGUE}

The Choir on Hope Street 

by 

Annie Lyons

336 pages

Published April 6th 2017 by HQ 

ISBN13: 9780008202118

Edition Language: English

BLURB : The best things in life happen when you least expect them

Nat’s husband has just said the five words no one wants to hear – ‘I don’t love you anymore’.

Picture-perfect Caroline has to welcome her estranged mother into her house after she was forced out of an exclusive nursing home.

 Living on the same street these two women couldn’t be more different. Until the local community centre is threatened, galvanising Caroline and the people of Hope Street into action. But when the only way to save the centre is to form a community choir – no one, least of all Nat, expects the results…

2.8 stars

not yet 3 stars b/c Caroline character melted at the end and start to get sappy.

Caroline and Natalie (the 2 POV in the book) are neighboords and their children goes to the same school, but they only met when Caroline start a campaign to save the local community centre. They decide to start a community choir to involve more people with publicity and simpathy.

It revolves around their lives and marriages. And their problems and family relashionship.

Husbands aren’t compulsory but I’m pretty sure that best friends are.

Reseña : Sapphire Flames (Catalina Baylor #1)

Sapphire Flames (Catalina Baylor 1)

by 

Ilona Andrews

393 pages

Published August 27th 2019 by Avon

ISBN: 0062878344 (ISBN13: 9780062878342)

Edition Language: English

Series: Hidden Legacy #4, Catalina Baylor Trilogy #1

BLURB: In a world where magic is the key to power and wealth, Catalina Baylor is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, and the Head of her House. Catalina has always been afraid to use her unique powers, but when her friend’s mother and sister are murdered, Catalina risks her reputation and safety to unravel the mystery. 

But behind the scenes powerful forces are at work, and one of them is Alessandro Sagredo, the Italian Prime who was once Catalina’s teenage crush. Dangerous and unpredictable, Alessandro’s true motives are unclear, but he’s drawn to Catalina like a moth to a flame. To help her friend, Catalina must test the limits of her extraordinary powers, but doing so may cost her both her House–and her heart.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Este es un spin-off the la serie Hidden Legacy, que trata básicamente de una historia alternativa donde descubrieron una droga que deja expresar el legado mágico de los seres humanos, esto trajo guerras hasta que la droga debio ser vetada, y los seres humanos con poderes se organizaron en Casas donde se crean alianzas matrimoniales buscando crear seres humanos que conserven los dones mágicos más poderosos: telequinesis, pirokinesis, envenenadores, habla-bestias, cambia-formas, invocadores, etc, etc. En Hidden Legacy es Nevada Baylor quien dirige una agencia de detectives que apenas sobrevive economicamente, hasta que se envuelta en un caso con Mad Rogan, el Tornado, es uno de los tipos más poderosos y temidos de su mundo. La familia de Nevada consiste en abuela, madre, dos hermanas menores, y dos primos. 

Ahora es el turno de Catalina Baylor, cuyo poder se le llama "Sirena" . Ella lo mantuvo escondido toda su vida porque provoca que la 'amen' desesperadamente, primero la obedecen, pero luego quieren parte posser parte de ella (literalmente) , cualquier pedazo. Solamente su familia es inmune. Asi que se mantiene apartada del resto. Hasta que llega la hora de tomar las riendas de la familia, como Prime, para mantenerlos a salvo de la lucha que se viene, porque las Casas siguen luchando entre ellos por la supremacia, ser aniquilados o esclavizados es la alternativa.

Ahora una amiga, Runa les pide ayuda. Su madre esta muerta, y su hermana. Su hermano menor trato de suicidarse. Pero esta claro que alguien persigue esta familia de envenenadores. A Catalina le dicen que no se metan, que esto les traerá  enemigos poderosos, ¿pero acaso esto es novedad en este mundo?

Reseña: Brandon Sanderson's White Sand Vol. 3

{COMENTARIO BILINGUE}

 Brandon Sanderson's White Sand Vol. 3 

by 

Brandon Sanderson

Rik Hoskin (Artist)

Fritz Casas (Artist)

160 pages

Published September 18th 2019

ASIN B07Q1KCV8N

Edition Language English

Series White Sand #3

 Underpowered and overwhelmed, Kenton tries to hold the Sand Masters together as forces political and personal conspire against them. Now, in one final push, Kenton must tap the most dangerous depths of his own abilities to combat the enemies within his own guild and discover the truth behind the ambush that killed his father and almost destroyed the Sand Masters for good.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

El final de la trilogia White Sand nos deja con muchas preguntas, interrogantes acerca de la secta religiosa, del llamado Señor de la Arena, y de otros asuntos politicos que quedaron aun por resolver, al menos por ahora.

El joven Kenton continua abrumado aqui tratando de preservar su legado y a los otros manipuladores de arena y el Diem, no cuenta con suficiente poder, ni dinero, ni conexiones, y tiene muchos asesinos detras suyo. Su guardaespaldas, la policia, lo considera un hereje....

Rseña: In Xanadu (short story)

In Xanadu 

by 

Lavie Tidhar

Illustrated by John Anthony Di Giovanni

My rating: 3.5

This sounds like the prologue of a more longer story . Was just the first taste of a space opera conspiracy or war.

Nila is part of a Clan with the mission of protect Others (like digital entities). She is bored in Titan because nothing ever happen (so a young one) but one day the patrol found intruders.

-----------
‘Yes, I know you are Banu Qattmir.’

‘How?’ Nila demanded, outraged. In all this time she’d never met anyone from the outside. No one had ever come in, only authorised members of External Audits. To have someone just barge in like this through the perimeter, as though it were nothing!

‘I did some work for the Clan a couple of centuries back,’ the robot said. ‘Off-site contract work. After that we kept in touch…You know how it is.’
-----------

I was a bit confussed until well part of the last third of the story and when is was just getting to the good stuff... the end. I hope the author is thinking of continuing this.

Aqui en linea: https://www.tor.com/2019/11/06/in-xanadu-lavie-tidhar/

Reseña: El Cuervo

El cuervo 

by 

Edgar Allan Poe

first published 1827)

Original Title

The Raven

Trocó, entonces, el negro pájaro en sonrisas mi tristeza con su grave, torva y seria, decorosa gentileza;
y le dije: «Aunque la cresta calva llevas, de seguro
no eres cuervo nocturnal,
viejo, infausto cuervo oscuro vagabundo en la tiniebla…
Dime: ¿cuál tu nombre, cuál,
En el reino plutoniano de la noche y de la niebla…?
Dijo el cuervo: «¡Nunca más!».

Voy a hacer trampa con la edición, porque este es de mi libro de obras escogidas de Poe.





La ilustración de aqui es de B. Kriukov.

Ays, este Poe con su alma acongojada por la muerte que no puede alcanzar ; con la cual no se conforma...

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.

Un clásico imperdible.



View all my reviews

Reseña: El Árbol de las Brujas

El Árbol de las Brujas 

por

Ray Bradbury

200 páginas

(first published 1972)

Original Title: The Halloween Tree

ISBN: 9684460848

(Contraportada:) La Fiesta de las Brujas.
Disimulo. Gatos caminando de puntillas.
Sigilo y cautela. Pero, ¿por qué? ¿Para qué? ¡Cómo! ¿Quién? ¡Cuándo! ¿Dónde empezó todo?
-No lo sabéis ¿no? -pregunta Carapacho Clavícula Mortajosario emergiendo de una pila de hojas bajo el Árbol de las Brujas-.
¡En verdad no lo sabéis!
-Bueno -le responde Tom el Esqueleto- mm... no.
¿En Egipto cuatro mil años atrás, en el aniversario de la gran muerte del sol?
¿O un millón de años antes, junto a las hogueras nocturnas de los hombres de las cavernas?
¿O en la Gran Bretaña Druida al son de Sssssbummm de la guadaña de Samhain?
¿O entre las brujas, en toda Europa... multitudes de arpías, hechiceras, magos, demonios, diablos?
¿O sobre los techos de París, cuando criaturas extrañas se convertían en piedra y alumbraban las gárgolas de Notre Dame?
¿O en México, en los cementerios desbordantes de velas encendidas y de muñequitos de caramelo en el Dia de los Muertos?
¿O dónde?

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Adoro a Bradbury, qué más puedo decir. Me encanta al forma en que escribe, su prosa poética llena de pleonasmos , jugando con repeticiones y sensaciones que se deslizan por la lengua.

«De abajo de todos los árboles salió la noche y tendió las alas.»

Es noche de Halloween y un grupo de niños de un pueblo sale a divertirse haciendo "Truco o Travesura" , pero al poco notan que falta un amigo, infaltable de todos sus juegos.

«Pipkin. Una amalgama de velocidades, olores, texturas; un compendio de todos los chicos que alguna vez corrieron, se cayeron, se levantaron, y corrieron de nuevo.»

Reseña: Los Watson

Los Watson 

by

Jane Austen

59 pages

Published July 1st 2013 by Nordica Libros (first published 1805) 

ISBN: 841556418X (ISBN13: 9788415564188)

 

 SINOPSIS: En esta obra inconclusa de Jane Austen, Emma Watson asiste a su primer baile, y su belleza e ingenuidad hacen que todas las miradas se centren en ella. 

 Una vez más, Jane Austen escribe sobre la condición de la mujer de su época, su limitado papel en la sociedad y su falta de recursos propios.  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Emma Watson llega de vuelta con su padre y familia después de 14 años de ser criada por su tía, una dama pudiente, pero ahora la han dejado al garete .

«Las mentes más lúcidas y generosas siempre son las más confiadas. »

Esta es una obra inconclusa de Jane Austen, y uno lo lee a sabiendas que se quedará sin saber el final. Al parecer, del fragmento de un manuscrito, que no son más que un par de párrafos , se han hecho varias ediciones para darle forma , y hasta incluso en algunos casos le han puesto final. En este caso, hay una suerte de 'epílogo' proporcionado por el sobrino de Austen, basado en algo que le habria contado ella a su hermana Cassandra.

Reseña: Agatha Raisin y el mago de Evesham (Agatha Raisin #8)

Agatha Raisin y el mago de Evesham (Agatha Raisin #8)

by 

M.C. Beaton

 

240 pages

Published 2018 by Editorial Círculo de Lectores (first published April 1999)

Original Title: Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham

ISBN13: 9788467273182 

 

 SINOPSIS: La vida de Agatha ya no tiene alicientes. Con su amado James Lacey desaparecido, su amigo Bill Wong de vacaciones, y sin ningún asesinato por resolver, las tediosas reuniones de la sociedad femenina de Carsely eran su única y patética distracción. Pero la irrupción en su vida del atractivo y habilidoso peluquero de Evesham, que, todo hay que decirlo, siente predilección por las mujeres de mediana edad adineradas, conseguirá sacarla del tedio que la consume.

 

 

My rating: 2.5 stars in rollers

«Y nunca aprendí la lección —pensó Agatha con tristeza—. Llevo toda la vida jugando con los niños equivocados.»

Un peluquero que es un mago , y que es muy ejem complaciente con sus clientas, o al menos eso parece.

Reseña: Agatha Raisin y el manantial de la muerte (Agatha Raisin, #7)

Agatha Raisin y el manantial de la muerte (Agatha Raisin, #7)

by

 M.C. Beaton

 255 pages

Published 2018 by Circulo de Lectores (first published 1998)

Original Title: Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death

 

Series: Agatha Raisin #7

Sinopsis: Ancombe era una bella localidad de la campiña inglesa entre cuyas modestas atarcciones se encontraba un antiguo manantial que emergía a través de la figura de una calavera. Un detalle curioso que daba cierto encanto al lugar... y que pronto será fuente de malos presagios, ya que el trágico hallazgo de un cadáver flotando en sus aguas dará al traste con la apacible vida de Ancombe.
Para Agatha Raisin aquel crimen representaba una nueva oportunidad de salir del tedio y, de paso, dar un buen puntapié a su propia crisis existencial.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bueno, no puedo decir que no sabía en que metia después del desastroso libro anterior en Chipre. Agatha es una mujer en los 50s , jubilada, y obsesionada con el vecino del lado que es un sujeto machista y detestable, y que cuando se aburre -y quiere pasarla con James- se dedica a investigar asesinatos.

(Bill:)―Lo que quieres es que me saque un crimen de la manga para que lo investigues. Pues bien, no voy a hacerlo. No puedes ir por ahí esperando a que asesinen a la gente a modo de pasatiempo.
―Es un poco grosero llamarlo pasatiempo.

Reseña: El caso de los anónimos

El caso de los anónimos (Miss Marple #4)

by 

Agatha Christie

240 pages

Published June 1997 by Molino (first published July 1942)

Original Title: The Moving Finger

ISBN: 8427285426 (ISBN13: 9788427285422)

Series: Miss Marple #4 

 

Sinopsis: Lymstock es un pueblo en el que abundan los secretos inconfesables, y en el que ni tan solo una repentina ola de correos anónimos amenazantes es capaz de provocar preocupación entre sus habitantes. Pero todo esto cambiará cuando uno de los destinatarios, la señorita Symmington, se suicide. A pesar de que ha dejado una nota en la que escribe, la señorita Marple duda de la veracidad del suicidio. Pronto nadie estará seguro de nada...

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Contada desde la perspectiva de Jerry Burton, quien tras chocar su avión su médico le envia a recuperarse en un ambiente rural, resulta una novela que es algo sosa y cuyos personajes ninguno es atractivo. 

A pesar de ser uno de los "misterios de la señorita Marple", la verdad es que ella no aparece sino hasta el último cuarto del libro y apenas en dos parrafos, la mayor parte al final cuando demuestra como todas las pistas estaban ahi pero nadie lo ve.

Reseña: Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain (Please Don't Tell My Parents #1)

 +Reto Popsugar #37. Un libro acerca de alguien con superpoderes+

Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain (Please Don't Tell My Parents #1)

by  

Richard Roberts

 

 376 pages

Published February 15th 2014 by Curiosity Quills Press 

ISBN: 162007463X (ISBN13: 9781620074633)

Edition Language: English 

BLURB: Penelope Akk wants to be a superhero. She's got superhero parents. She's got the ultimate mad science power, filling her life with crazy gadgets even she doesn't understand. She has two super powered best friends. In middle school, the line between good and evil looks clear.
In real life, nothing is that clear. All it takes is one hero's sidekick picking a fight, and Penny and her friends are labeled supervillains. In the process, Penny learns a hard lesson about villainy: She's good at it. Criminal masterminds, heroes in power armor, bottles of dragon blood, alien war drones, shape shifters and ghosts, no matter what the super powered world throws at her, Penny and her friends come out on top. They have to. If she can keep winning, maybe she can clear her name before her mom and dad find out.

My rating: 3.7 mad-scientist stars

En esta versión alternativa de Los Angeles, muy al estilo del universo Avengers y Los Increibles, hay superheroes y villanos, y acaban de pasar por una guerra con los aliens. Penelope Akk es una chica normal de 13 años, un poco nerd ,  cuyos padres son dos superheroes en retiro. Papá es Cerebro Akk y mamá es Auditor. Con esos padres, ella espera tener una habilidad científica-matemática como ellos, pero con lo que no contaba es que ella en realidad es una ..¡científica loca! Porque todos saben que los cientificos locos son todos villanos, ¿verdad? errr.

Reseña: The Yorkshire Mammoth (relato corto)

"The Yorkshire Mammoth" 

by 

Harry Turtledove

3 stars

Lo curioso del caso es que escuche Yorkshire y me saltó inmediatamente a la cabeza el autor de unos cuantos de mis libros favoritos acerca de un veterinario en Escocia en los años anteriores y posteriores a la segunda guerra mundial. Si no has escuchado de James Herriot y te gustan los animales, te esta faltando tiempo para leerte sus libros que son muy divertidos. 

Este relato corto es una historia alternativa de Escocia donde aun existen glaciares y las granjas al borde del mismo pues usan ...mamuts lanudos. El resto esta en la tónica de uno de los libros de Herriot, parece un homenaje, donde se ve la via dura, el veterinario honesto y esforzado y una anecdota que te deja nostalgico.

Reseña: Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)

by  

Rebecca Roanhorse

287 pages

Published June 26th 2018 by Saga Press

Edition Language:English

Series: The Sixth World #1

 

BLURB: While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters.
Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last—and best—hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much larger and more terrifying than anything she could imagine. Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel to the rez to unravel clues from ancient legends, trade favors with tricksters, and battle dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My bookshelves: here-be-monsters, bloody-and-gory, post-apocalyptic, myth-and-legends, dinetah-navajo, hugo-nebula-nominee, locus-award, multiple-awards-nominee, deidades-y-dioses, 2019-readings, coyote-spirit, kick-butt-heroine

I remember the first time I saw the Wall. I had expected something dull and featureless. A fifty-foot-high mountain of gray concrete, barbed wire lining the top like in some apocalyptic movie. But I had forgotten that the Diné had already suffered their apocalypse over a century before. This wasn’t our end. This was our rebirth.
[--]
They say the hataalii worked hand in hand with the construction crews, and for every brick that was laid, a song was sung. Every lath, a blessing given. And the Wall took on a life of its own. When the workmen came back the next morning, it was already fifty feet high. In the east it grew as white shell. In the south, turquoise. The west, pearlescent curves of abalone, and the north, the blackest jet. It was beautiful. It was ours. And we were safe. Safe from the outside world, at least. But sometimes the worst monsters are the ones within.

En el mundo postapocaliptico de Magdalena Hoskie las aguas subieron y un muro se alza con ayuda de hombres sagrados para mantener a raya las aguas en la reservación Diné (Navajo), mientras que adentro hay una sequía y se desdibuja el tiempo de leyendas con el cotidiano. Magia y dioses conviven y despiertan dones de clanes entre la gente.

Reseña de ARC: Sparrowhawk (1-5)

+Digital ARC gently provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

 

Sparrowhawk (Sparrowhawk #1-5)

by 

Delilah S. Dawson

Matias Basla (Illustrations)

 128 pages

Published August 20th 2019 by BOOM! Studios

ISBN: 1684153956 (ISBN13: 9781684153954)

Edition Language: English

Series: Sparrowhawk #1-5

 BLURB: After a young woman is kidnapped by an evil Faerie Queen and trapped in a far off realm, she must survive teen Victorian fairy fight club in order to get back home.
As the illegitimate daughter of a Naval Captain, Artemisia has never fit in with her father’s family, nor the high class world to which they belong. However, when she is targeted by the Faerie Queen and pulled into another realm, she has no choice but to fight her way back home, amongst evil fairies who want her head, and untrustworthy allies that claim solidarity but have ulterior motives. New York Times bestselling author Delilah S. Dawson (Ladycastle, Star Wars: Phasma) and illustrator Matias Basla (The Claw and Fang) present a gripping dark fantasy tale of a young woman claiming her time and her agency.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Artemisia Gray es la hija de un comandante naval y de una mujer nativa quien fue traida por su progenitor hasta Inglaerra en en el siglo XIX. La madrastra nunca la aceptó más que como una sirvienta, de sus dos media hermanas, la menoer aprece serla única que la acepta como familia. Sin embargo tras la muerte de una de sus hermanas, la madrastra revela que estan a punto de caer en bancarrota y es imperativo un matrimonio conveniente como sea. Sin embargo, la reina de las hadas tiene otros planes...

Asi inicia esta aventura a lo Alicia en el Pais de las Maravillas, espejo y conejo malvado incluidos deone Artemisia abrirse paso de forma sangrienta por las tierras de las hadas con la idea de regresar a su tierra.

Reseña : El mundo sumergido

 +Reto Popsugar #41. Un libro de cli-fi (Ciencia ficción climática)+

El mundo sumergido 

by  

J.G. Ballard

 224 pages

Published September 1st 2002 by Minotauro (1a publicación: 1962)

Original Title: The Drowned World

ISBN: 8445074016 (ISBN13: 9788445074015)

Edition Language: Spanish

Sinopsis: Mares, pantanos y lagunas cubren la mayor parte de la Tierra. El aumento de la temperatura ha propiciado un clima tropical, de manera que la flora y la fauna proliferan de forma extraordinaria y el mundo parece volver al Triásico. Los pocos humanos deben desplazarse en embarcaciones y sobrevivir con los escasos restos de la civilización que pueden encontrar en los pisos más altos de los rascacielos ahora sumergidos. Viven continuamente amenazados por animales, insectos y enfermedades, que ahora son difíciles de combatir. En este mundo, Kerans intenta sobrevivir, aunque en muchas veces parece más el aliado que el enemigo de una naturaleza que intenta eliminar al hombre. Sin embargo, más allá de la aventura, el desarrollo psicológico de los personajes encuentra su reflejo en imágenes maravillosas y sorprendentes, pues la lucha se plantea también dentro de cada persona y entre ellas porque el infortunio común no es obstáculo para seguir con envidias, rivalidades y egoísmos.

2.5 cenagosas estrellas

«Meciéndose entre las islas avanzaba siguiendo al sol que le golpeaba la mente.»

Explosiones solares provocan que la Tierra hierva , hay cataclismos naturales, el agua sube y aparentemente que la mente de los humanos termine involucionando hacia tiempos si no mejores digamos que reptilicos y triasicos.


Robert Kerans es un biólogo en un Londres sumergido, junto a un par de investigadores, unos militares y una socialite que esta sumergida en la apatia . La Humanidad ha escapado a los polos huyendo de las radiaciones solares intensas y el agua que sigue subiendo. Los personajes se mueven entre la indolencia y una suerte de decadencia estertorica occidental.

«Se había instalado en el Ritz al día siguiente de la llegada, cambiando complacido la estrecha cabina entre los bancos del laboratorio por las amplias habitaciones del hotel abandonado. Había aceptado en seguida el lujoso mobiliario tapizado de seda y las estatuas de bronce art nouveau de los nichos de los pasillos como escenario natural de su existencia, saboreando la sutil atmósfera de melancolía que envolvía estos últimos vestigios de una civilización prácticamente perdida para siempre.»

Reseña de ARC: The Hockey Saint (Forever Friends 2)

 +Digital ARC gently privded by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

The Hockey Saint 

by  

Howard Shapiro

Marica Inoue (Illustrator)

133 pages

Published September 10th 2014 by Animal Media Group

ISBN: 0991255011 (ISBN13: 9780991255016)

Edition Language: English

Series: Forever Friends Trilogy #2

BLURB: Twenty-one year old Jeremiah Jacobson is the world's best hockey player, but he wasn't prepared for the frenzy and scrutiny that came with that title. Tom Leonard is an average college sophomore... just a guy trying to find his place in the world as he sorts through issues that are both very real and seemingly insurmountable.
Through a chance meeting, these two strike up an unlikely friendship. Their bond is tested when Tom discovers that his idol isn't as perfect up close as he seems from afar. With Jeremiah living a little too much in the moment and with his past catching up to him, will Tom be able to help him before it's too late?

My rating: 3.5 stars

Friendship. Sports and media. Nice story, a tiny bit preachy.

Tom Leonard is a 19 y.o. sophomore living with his grandmother after the death of his parents. He is a bit lost and still suffering nighmares. As a hockey player his idol is the famous Jeremiah Jacobson. A random decision causes an encounter between them.

Although it is about hockey players, in reality we see very little of the game itself in these pages, of course there are mentions of games, practices and things like that, but this is rather 'the other side of the coin' of the life of these athletes. Like saying: they are also human.

Reseña de ARC: Mooncakes

+Digital ARC gently provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

Mooncakes

by

Suzanne Walker 

Wendy Xu

  

259 pages

Expected publication: October 15th 2019 by Lion Forge

ISBN13: 9781549307768

Edition Language: English

BLURB: Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.
One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. 

 My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Nova Huang lives and works with her grandmothers in their bookstore; all are witches. When she goes to check a disturbance in the forest , meets her old childhood friend, Tam, a werewolf with a couple of secrets.