Colonel Potter departs

Today I was greeted with the sad news of the death of Harry Morgan, aged 96.  A great character actor, he is best known to most as the delightful grouch with a soft heart, Col. Potter, on M*A*S*H.

Goodbye Colonel Potter.

Harry Morgan
1915 - 2011

Farewell and amen.

And then there was three

Five Odd Honors is the final, but hopefully not last, book in Lindskold's new series.

Brenda has saved the day - again - much to her father's chagrin, but has now been ousted by Gaheris (her father) and sent off to university for her troubles.  It's here that Brenda gets hit with another whammy... now her mothers heritage has surfaced to bite her in the butt.

The Orphans are still fighting to make their way into the Lands Born of Sadie's an Sacrifice, and now they have the help of some of the ghosts of the first Horse, Ram, Monkey, Ox and the Snake.  Standing in their way is the ghost of Pearl's father, Thundering Heavens, who is still pissed off that his heir, the Tiger, was his daughter.  Now, possessing a powerful sword, he has teamed up with the enemy to take back his title.

Meanwhile, Brenda is being drawn into the world of the sidhe and will once again hold the balance of power in her hands.
This book goes off in a slightly different direction, but is still a great book.  The only let down is that there is no definitive answer regarding whether or not this is the final of a trilogy, or not.  Either way, you're still left hanging, wondering if Brenda and Flying Claw will ever get together.

Fingers crossed that a new book will be out soon.

Nine Gates a winner

Well after devouring Thirteen Orphans I had to get my hands on the other books on the series.  Thanks to Book Depository I had books 2 and 3 in a matter of weeks.

Nine Gates is the second book in this series, and is a worthy installment of what promises to be a great new series... at least I hope it is, some have been calling it a trilogy.  Anyhow, I digress.  Nine Gates picks up no more than a day or two after the conclusion of 13 Orphans.  Brenda is now a novelty amongst the Orphans - a rat, but not a rat - her position in the group has been altered due to her father recovering his memories. 

Pushed to the edge, Brenda has to deal with not only her infatuation with Flying Claw, but the fall out from his memory loss (and the subsequent regaining of memory) caused with his former lover Honey Dream - a snake with attitude.

Trying to avoid the pitfalls of life, Brenda's conflict with her father is just about the last straw. He constantly dismisses her and pushes her out.  Unfortunately for her father, Brenda is vital to the success of the Orphans plan travel to the Land Born of Smoke and Sacrifice.

If you loved Brenda's first foray into the mystical arts, then you'll enjoy this book.  Look out for the 3rd book Five Odd Honors.

Lindskold does it again!

Hi there.  I've been a tad remiss lately in regards to adding great reads to this blog, but I hope to fix that today.

I found this first book, Thirteen Orphans, at my new local library.  Like Kylie Chan, Jane Lindskold has mixed Eastern mythology with Western contemporary and come up with a winning combination.

Set in America, you follow the story of 19 year old Brenda Morris, who has just discovered her supernatural heritage.  Unlike Chan's series, Lindskold sets her story around the Chinese zodiac.  The descendants of the banished Earthly Branches are being picked off one by one by someone who knows their secrets.

Without getting into the details, Brenda and some other new initiates have to help stop the bad guys (well, a hot girl, her father and her lover) from stealing the power and memories of the other members of the zodiac.

Now, I can't really tell you about the next two books here as it'll give away what happens in this book, but rest assured, the next book, Nine Gates, starts soon after the climax of 13 Orphans.

If you love Kylie Chan, or the Firekeeper series then you'll love these books too.