Review: Trance

Trance (MetaWars #1) by Kelly Meding

While this had many elements of my usual UF reads (kickass action, interesting mythology, and some romance), the overall feel was very different.

Trance is much darker than I was expecting. So very tense. I really wasn't sure who would make it, but I wasn't numbed to the prospect of losing anyone either. Good balance and I was left guessing to the end as to who would still be standing.

The world is still recovering from a horrific war between superheroes and supervillains. Teresa, "Trance", is the daughter of the leader of the Rangers - the good guys. She and other young superheroes were trying to get to safety when all of a sudden all metahumans lost their powers.

The children were separated and sent to live in foster homes.

Fifteen years later, Teresa is harder, more bitter, and definitely not what you would expect from the daughter of a superhero. All of a sudden, she gets her powers back, and she races to the former Ranger headquarters. She meets up with Gage, "Cipher", and they quickly learn that its not just the good guys who got their powers back. The supervillain Bane is hot on their trail. Teresa also learns that she got back her powers and then some.

They are on a race to find the others before Bane does, need to manage their public persona in a world that sees all metahumans as bad news, and stop Bane once and for all.

Betrayals, finding the truth behind what really happened in the war, adjusting to their new lives complete with the baggage of the past 15 years, and lots of action - oh yeah, there is action here aplenty.

There is a lot going on, and everything speeds by, but I liked it. I'll be reading the next one.

Review: Libriomancer

Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1) by Jim C. Hines

I loved every book geek-fueled moment. It was fun with the right amount of tension and action. I want Isaac Vainio's job and a pet flaming spider. I also really dig the idea of the power we geeks give to our beloved books, movies, and action figures (an idea also found in Geekomancy, another recent read).

Isaac is a librarian at a normal, mundane small-town library. He is also a librarian for the DZP, an organization that patrols the magical community. He used to do field work, but has been demoted due to a past "magical indiscretion." There are vampires - probably my favorite vampires I've seen in some time, and someone is trying to start a war between vamps and humans. Is Gutenberg, the incredibly long-lived and powerful creator of the DZP involved? Who can Isaac trust?

He teams up with a dryad, Lena Greenwood, who needs Isaac's help in more ways than one. Lena is a very intriguing character. It almost feels spoilery to talk about her. I did like her interactions with Isaac. It will be interesting to see where this all goes.

It's another book that I don't want to describe too much. I had such an enjoyable time uncovering everything.

I will say: very cool world & magic system + interesting characters + good action.

I'll be reading book 2.

Some links, deals, giveaways...

Not sure how long this deal will last, but Maria E. Schneider over at Bear Mountain Books reported that Neil Gaiman's American Gods is $2.99 for the eBook at Amazon. Maria is a great source for cheap and free deals on eBooks, as well as a good source for self-published author recs. And I've enjoyed many of her stories as well. There's currently a Goodreads giveaway for her Catch an Honest Thief.

Other Kindle deals:

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep $2.99

Darkwood by M.E. Breen $1.99 - Has been on my TBR list for awhile.

Today at Stellar Four it's Trailer Thursday!

Other Goodreads Giveaways:

Fading Light: An Anthology of the Monstrous edited by Tim Marquitz (US, CA, GB, and AU) - I'm currently reading this one. Creepy but not too gory.

Death: Deluxe Edition by Neil Gaiman (US)

The Silvered by Tanya Huff (US)

The Wheel of Time Book 1 by Robert Jordan (US)

The Missing by Shiloh Walker (lots of countries)

Stolen by Shiloh Walker (lots of countries)

Hounded (Iron Druid #1) by Kevin Hearne (US) - If you haven't read this one yet, I highly rec it!

Cover Reveal: The Better to See You

Today the Book Pile is part of the cover reveal for The Better to See You (transplanted Tales #2) by Kate SeRine. I really had fun reading the first book in this series, Red, and I'm eagerly awaiting book 2. I have a thing for fairytales, and when those tales have to deal with the real world and living life outside their stories, that is good stuff.

From the publisher:

"Coming February 2013 from eKensington

Once upon a time, a spell went awry and Make Believe characters were cast into the ordinary world.

And the results aren’t always happily ever after…

Everyone thinks fairy godmothers can do no wrong. But if not for a certain spell mis-cast by Lavender Seelie, Cinderella’s former fairy godmother, the Tales would not be stuck in the Here and Now. Fortunately for Lavender, she’s about to get a second chance at a happy ending…

The Refuge, a sanctuary for wayward Tales, seems like the perfect place for Lavender to start a new life—especially when she discovers an unexpected ally in Seth, the brooding werewolf who’s been typecast as a villain ever since his run in with Little Red Riding Hood. But when humans from nearby towns start turning up dead, their bodies mutilated with archaic Tale symbols, Lavender wonders if Seth’s deep sensuality has blinded her to the truth. And that distraction could put innocent lives in danger. Including her own…"

I have to be honest. While I knew that Seth would be getting his story, I was a bit surprised that Lavender is the female lead. We only got a small taste of her in Red, so I'm looking forward to seeing what SeRine does with this character. Considering that fairy godmothers are always the support staff in fairytales, I like that this one is getting her turn center stage.

And here is the cover:

Well Hello, Seth! My, what big...I think I'll let you fill in the rest.

Sidenote: Anyone want to take bets on how many times someone has uttered those words today?

I have seen many variations on the bare-chest male cover, and I'm glad that this one isn't headless. I also like that the eyes are very vivid. I was checking against Red's cover and I like that the font is carried through, but Red's simplicity remains my fav of the two. This definitely catches the eye and lets you know that there's going to be Romance here. Red skirted UF/PNR for me.

I think I'll just ruminate on it a bit more while you go check out the giveaway*.

As a special treat to celebrate the cover reveal, Kate is giving away three copies of RED (Transplanted Tales #1). Enter using the Rafflecopter widget:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Find out more about Kate SeRine and Transplanted Tales:
Website: www.kateserine.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/KateSeRine
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kateserine
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/kateserine

*This giveaway is part of the Cover Reveal Party, not a Book Pile giveaway.