Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is the second book in the Red Queen series, following the first book titled Red Queen. This young adult dystopian fiction with elements of magic, paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, adventure and romance is lavishly mounted on a gigantic scale, with thrilling action sequences, some nerve-wracking scenes and quite a few memorable acts. I’m in awe of Victoria Aveyard’s ability to stitch together a plot that not only reinforces the scope and ambition of Red Queen but takes the story forward to a new and higher level.

In this well-written and wonderfully conceived follow-up, Mare Barrow is still unable to come to terms with the treachery that infiltrated her ranks, and she almost paid for it with her life. However, she realized that she must quickly come to grip with the unexpected situation and carry out an almost impossible mission – to save her friends before they are found and destroyed by the King. Mare is also bent on taking revenge for the harsh betrayal she suffered. But it is easier said than done. As the Silver king unleashed his wrath on the Reds, Mare knows that she must act quickly, and act decisively. Only if the Scarlet Guard were on her side, she would stand a chance of winning…

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is a riveting read, and in more ways than one an exhilarating sequel to Red Queen. With a strong female character who is prepared for deathly duels with dangerous enemies as the main protagonist, the story is as electrifying as it can get. Glass Sword is every reader’s fantasy coming true with strong and unforgettable characters, flowing narrative, breath-taking landscape with an array of characters planted to inhabit it and a story that is free-flowing and difficult to forget. While opinions may differ if weighed against the scale with the first book, I can safely conclude that Glass Sword is one thrilling read that you won’t want to miss.

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The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

With fans baying for blood, err the third book in The Kingkiller Chronicle series - the working title of which is Doors of Stone - bestselling author Patrick Rothfuss has come out with an ingenious quickie in the form of The Slow Regard of Silent Things, to soothe and appease frayed tempers. While some are mistaken that this is the third book in the series, it is not. Unlike The The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle) and The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two which were both a mammoth tome, Pat's latest offering is far removed from them in comparison, just running a little over one-hundred and fifty pages.

The dissimilarities apart, The Slow Regard of Silent Things has a lot of similarities with the author's other works as the story, despite its limited length, is written on an epic scale. It is a fantasy science fiction full of adventures that will leave his fans clamoring for more. It is an astonishingly short but charming story of one of Patrick Rothfuss' favorite characters, Auri, of whom fans are well acquainted.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a supplementary story to The Kingkiller Chronicle series and throws much light on the Four Corners realm and the University as it follows the story of Auri, a former student, who is preparing for a visit from someone dear, perhaps Kvothe, though no name is mentioned. If readers leaf through the pages of this short story without expecting too much, many will find a story that grabs their attention, well-worth their time and helps to better understand the world of The Kingkiller Chronicle series.

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Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie

Publication Date: September 8, 2015
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover/Kindle
ISBN: 9780812998917
Price:  $ 28 Hc/10.46 Kindle

From Salman Rushdie, one of the great writers of our time, comes a spellbinding work of fiction that blends history, mythology, and a timeless love story. A lush, richly layered novel in which our world has been plunged into an age of unreason, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is a breathtaking achievement and an enduring testament to the power of storytelling.

In the near future, after a storm strikes New York City, the strangenesses begin. A down-to-earth gardener finds that his feet no longer touch the ground. A graphic novelist awakens in his bedroom to a mysterious entity that resembles his own sub–Stan Lee creation. Abandoned at the mayor's office, a baby identifies corruption with her mere presence, marking the guilty with blemishes and boils. A seductive gold digger is soon tapped to combat forces beyond imagining.

Unbeknownst to them, they are all descended from the whimsical, capricious, wanton creatures known as the jinn, who live in a world separated from ours by a veil. Centuries ago, Dunia, a princess of the jinn, fell in love with a mortal man of reason. Together they produced an astonishing number of children, unaware of their fantastical powers, who spread across generations in the human world.

Once the line between worlds is breached on a grand scale, Dunia's children and others will play a role in an epic war between light and dark spanning a thousand and one nights—or two years, eight months, and twenty-eight nights. It is a time of enormous upheaval, in which beliefs are challenged, words act like poison, silence is a disease, and a noise may contain a hidden curse.

Inspired by the traditional “wonder tales” of the East, Salman Rushdie's novel is a masterpiece about the age-old conflicts that remain in today's world. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights is satirical and bawdy, full of cunning and folly, rivalries and betrayals, kismet and karma, rapture and redemption.