Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.
Official blurb for A Wizard of Earthsea.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
The Earthsea series begins with a simple premise: the age-old tale of a boy who was born with great potential and power, who learns the ways of Magic and then finds himself in a precarious situation before finally coming into his power naturally.
A Writer’s Journey is not a textbook. It is a casual sharing about creative writing, what it means to be a published writer, the challenges a writer faces in his/her writing – the ups and downs of a writer’s journey. It begins with Gina Yap Lai Yoong discovering her love of writing, the procrastination and fears that almost paralysed her pursuit to be a published writer, and how she tackled those challenges to be a best seller novelist in Malaysia. In this book, she tells you how she wrote her first novel, who are the best writing teachers, and her own ingenious approaches to overcoming writing challenges. Some of the issues she addressed include the paralyzing writer’s block, qualifications to be a writer, writing a novel in 30 days as well as how to get your writings published. Through A Writer’s Journey, you will find out what it means and how it is to be a published writer.
Official blurb for A Writer’s Journey
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s been 5 years since I first received this book as a gift from Gina and I’ve finally read it to completion! I tried starting it when she first gave it to me but I never got to finishing it. I suppose at the time, my focus was on surviving the first few years of my job and I hadn’t the time to spend on reading and writing. Writing was taken out of the equation when my work became more intense.
Brought this book to read during a short Staycation by the beach.
Finally, I’ve read the lovely book by Gina and I must say, it is as inspiring as the lady herself! I don’t remember how I first met Gina. Perhaps it was through the various bookish activities that I attended many years ago! Or maybe it was through the NaNoWriMo Malaysian forums. I can’t quite recall. All I know is that Gina has been a faithful and great friend by my side. She is an inspiration to me and I’ve long admired her work in many fields. Be it in writing, or story-telling via videos and plays! Her work in Songs & Stories is truly a delight, being a form of story-telling that highlights the many interesting and note-worthy people and places in Malaysia. Please check it out if you haven’t heard of it! I’ve linked the Youtube video to one of their stories about Sandakan below.
I’m side-tracking a little, but back to the main point – the book is a fun read. As it says on the cover, it is a partial memoir and partial self-help book. It was an interesting read, with quirky tales about how she first started writing. I enjoyed the way the book progressed as well, and the many self-tips that interspaced each chapter was not intrusive to the story, but flowed seamlessly together.
Gina also has a variety of quotes which she aptly coins the term “GinaSays”, so cute lah.
One of my favourite quotes would have to be this one as shown in the photo! As someone who has always doubted that anyone would even want to read anything that I’ve written, this quote resonated with me.
After reading this book at an apt timing, it has truly motivated me to continue my endeavours in writing. Gina is a very driven person and it shows throughout her book. I do hope I will be able to develop the same sense of urgency and determination to carry on with writing and publishing!
One of the key points in her book that I’m keeping in mind is to make writing, or any writing adjacent activities, a habit. Having a writing pact would also be conducive to one’s journey in writing. On this I absolutely agree. It can be very lonely! Gina says it best with a #GinaSays quote:
“Writing is a lonely journey but you don’t have to do it alone. Find an accountable buddy to walk with you.”
I’m still searching so far!
All in all, I can’t find anything wrong with the book which is why I’ve given it a whopping five stars! An interesting and quick read, with a lot of lovely anecdotes. I enjoyed the read even if it wasn’t a total self-help or writing book. Just take it as a fun book to have in your shelf, to open up and read every once in a while to get some motivation to continue that endless pursuit to write. Fans of Gina would definitely enjoy the read.
Thank you Gina for the book! This might be a biased review since I’m Gina’s friend and she did give me the book years ago haha! I still wouldn’t change a word of the review. So do check it out yourself.
Eli Monpress is vain. He’s cocky. And he’s a thief.
But he’s a thief who has just seen his bounty topped and he’s not happy about it. The bounty topper, as it turns out, is his best friend and master swordsman, Josef. He’s been keeping secrets from Eli. Apparently, he’s the only prince of a rather feisty country, and he’s been ordered to come home to do his duty. This means throwing over personal ambitions like proving he’s the greatest swordsman who ever lived.
Family drama aside, Eli and Josef have their hands full. The Spirit Court has been usurped by the Council of Thrones and someone calling herself the Immortal Empress is staging a massive invasion. But it’s not just politics – the Immortal Empress has a specific target in mind: Eli Monpress, the greatest thief in the world.
This omnibus edition contains: The Spirit’s War and Spirit’s End.
Official blurb for The Revenge of Eli Monpress
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
This is my personal opinion for the final two books of the Eli Monpress series. The final books of the series were a fast-paced, action-packed ride. A lot of mysteries were unveiled and characters developed. I enjoyed reading the books alot and I commend the author for her fantastic ability to write fight scenes that were wrought with tension and wonderful to read.
Eli Monpress is talented. He’s charming. And he’s a thief.
But not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age – and he’s also a wizard. And with the help of his partners – a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls – he’s going to put his plan into effect.
The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start small for now. He’ll just steal something that no one will miss – at least for a while.
Like a king.
The Legend of Eli Monpress includes the novels: The Spirit Thief, The Sprit Rebellion, and The Spirit Eater.
Official blurb for The Legend of Eli Monpress
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
Rachel Aaron’s Eli Monpress series was something that I was keen to read since a few years back. However at the time, I hadn’t gotten into ebook reading yet and could not find the physical copies in my local bookstore in Malaysia. The reason why I was drawn to it was mostly because of Eli’s description. I was excited by the premise of a thief being the main character of a fantasy book and I wanted to know more.
Since the ebook that I got was an omnibus copy with all 3 novels included, let’s talk about Book 1 first.
#1: The Spirit Thief
The first novel was mainly about Eli, a charming thief and his two companions, stealing a King. Instantly, as you start upon the first page, you’ll get a taste of how Eli charms his way through the story. This fantasy world revolves around a kind of magic that involves spirits. I won’t spoil it too much if you’re just getting into it but I found this concept of spirits to be quite intriguing and a very fun concept.
As the story unfolds, we’re introduced to the cast of characters that will be important as the series progresses. Characters in this novel all have a role to play. With Miranda, she tells us of how the magic between wizards and spirits came about. I found that most of the time, the conversation between characters was how we got the information for the world-building and such. It was the characters going about the book that made for a strong story. Through their interactions, actions and words, we’re pulled along the ride.
It reminded me a lot of David Edding’s Belgariad series because that was another book that I felt was built mostly on its fantastic cast of characters but not necessarily the way the plot moved forward.
However, there was one character that I found to be underdeveloped. I found the villain for the first book very boring. His motivations and actions were flimsy excuses to move the story. Another spoiler to the story would be the appearance of Mellinor. Mellinor being revealed and binding itself to Miranda would be an important plot point for the upcoming book but again I felt that the scene was a bit too convenient for my tastes.
All in all, Book 1 brought the story forth and made a few relevant plot points that would be important later. It was a fine enough read but I do wish there was more camaraderie between the main trio. It didn’t feel to me like they were ‘friends’, more like a group of people forced together for their own ideals.
As a summary, the plot in Book 1 is driven by a lovely cast of characters that liven up an otherwise rather cliche storyline.
As I progress with the reviews, there are plenty of spoilers and so do not read on unless you’d like to know what happens in the books. This is only my personal opinion on the books and I’d suggest for you to get a copy and read on to formulate your own thoughts.
Victorious Heart 