Tag: Lisa Shearin

Book recommendation: All Spell Breaks Loose by Lisa Shearin

On By MikaelaIn Uncategorized

My name is Raine Benares—and it sucks to be me right now. I’m a seeker who managed to “find” the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone that gave me unlimited power I never asked for or wanted. Now I’ve managed to lose the rock—and the magic it gave me—to a power-hungry goblin dark mage whose main goals are my death and world domination.
I’m still bonded to the Saghred, and the dark mage can’t use the stone as long as I’m alive. If he kills me and gains control of the Saghred, he’ll become an evil demigod with the seven kingdoms at his mercy. This is more than enough incentive to plan a little trip to the goblin capital of Regor with a small band of good friends, not-so-good friends, and one outright enemy. Don’t ask.
All we need to do is destroy the Saghred, kill the mage, and put a renegade goblin prince on the throne. Did I mention I’ll be doing that with no magic?
Release date is May 29th. 

Pre-order the book from: Amazon, BN, Book Depository

Review: Magic lost, Trouble found by Lisa Shearin:

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations

The Particulars: Fantasy, Ace, available as e-book and in print
The Source: Purchased at Kobo
The Grade: A-
The Blurb:
My name is Raine Benares. I’m a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound. I’m a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, I can usually take care of myself. But when my friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, I find myself wrapped up in more trouble than I care for. I like attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting me down is not my idea of a good time. The amulet they’re after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when I take possession of the item, it takes possession of me. Now my moderate powers are increasing beyond anything I can imagine-but is the résumé enhancement worth my soul?
The Review:
What I liked:
For a long time, I thought that this was a YA series. I am not sure why I got that misconception.   I am glad that I decided to buy the first book early 2010.  I was hooked after I have forgotten how many times I have re-read it.   This book is a delightful mix of Epic Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy.  The setting is the city of Mermeia,  filled with merchants, sorcerers, elves and goblins.  It was fascinating to read about the various districts, and the familiar problems that the various characters had. But what made the book for me was Raine.  I loved her snarky opinions about everything from Goblins to the various districts.  The plot is fast paced, and at times I felt for Raine.   A lot happens in the book, she is chased by a goblin nutcase,  the Guardians would love to get their hands on her.  And a lot more. 
What I didn’t like:
It might be picky, but I wish I had a map. Not of the world, but of the city.  Why? They move through a lot of districts in the book, and it would have been nice to follow it on a map.   But that is just a minor pickiness. The major pickiness is that it took me awhile to get into the story.  But that was probably more because of  my mood.