Kane Chronicles|| Best of Character Art

Rick Riordan's character art is gaining popularity at a fast rate. See the best of Kane Chronicles Character Art.

1. Anubis

2. Isis

3. Zia Rashid

4. Ra

5. Horus

Blackveil by Kristen Britain ||poem by Obsidian Fury

Blackveil, despite entering some reader's hate list, managed to get a rather impressive 4.11 rating on  Goodreads Perhaps this is the moment to share an artistic if not enthusiastic poem about Blackveil written by Obsidian Fury.

Etherea in the breeze,
of a tainted realm,
the silvery moon,
its sheen the power of the realm,
the dreary depths of Blackveil,
a journey time will only tell,
Sir Karigan G'ladheon... 'Ur simply awesome'I wanna yell!

Traversing across a landscape, 
once the heart of all the Eletian Race,
its foundations of moonbeams,
that had shone and bathed the pool in the south leaf, but then,
his greed, his unearthly madness, driven by lust and promise of power,
his name itself a black heart of stone,
the restrains of the man he once was, are no more,
corporeal sentience whisked into the waning future,
a wrath of darkness, a wreath of tainted magic, behold the future, beheld by Sacoridia,
12 lights in the shadows, 12 driven to the tainted land,
Half the dozen of them Eletions, their hearts brimming with sorrow, with fearful hope,
of what is left of the heart of their once land,
of what, of who await them in Blackveil, though for them it still glows with the light of Avarith.
The rest, half of them again venturing by order, for glory perhaps but not of their own will power,
and then the three who remain,
Are the Legendary Green Riders,
the blood of their heroic predecessors flowing in their veins,
bolstering their spirit, giving power to their dreams,
gifted by pure magic, bearers of the winged brooches,
cloaked in the Green of their legacy,
with hearts of gold, truly brighter than the bright moonlight that once shone in murky depths of the feared realm,
One of them, hankers to volunteer his own life,
One of them, the bearer of endowment to talk with the wild life,
The last among, her honor lies in her heart,
Well aware of the lurking in the dark landscape,
she prepares to venture on the unforgettable journey,
for tis her birthright.
For she is Sir Karigan G'ladheon,
Green Rider.
Green Rider.

Cover Art|| Belgariad by David Eddings

2013 starts with the 5 book fantasy epic by David Eddings, Belgariad. The reviews will be up soon but incredible enjoy these book covers till then.

The Black Company by Glen Cook || Book Review

Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead. Until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her... So begins one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age—Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company.

I had heard alot about the Black Company, it kind of has the status of a classic in fantasy literature andd with good reason.
As I started out reading the book, the first thing I noted was the names of the characters which were very reminiscent of Joe Abercrombie's books, the use of personality adjectives and nouns like Silent, Goblin,Darling etc as names.
Starting out the book underwhelmed me with talk of vampires and were-panthers, but as I went deeper the real and more deeper issues of soldierly camaraderie and brotherhood started coming to the forefront. The prose is excellent, and is worth of the tag literature, the writing may have been better than a number of books being published nowadays, Cook's vocabulary is vast and he uses it to his advantage. There were quite a number of catchy lines.
The characterization is impeccable, each of the characters feels like a real person of flesh and blood, with his own fears and hopes.
The relationship between the two wizards One-eye and Goblin is one of the more interesting ones, with their constant bickering and show of animosity which isn't quite as deep rooted as the two would like to show.
The philosophy of evil as being a relative term and depending on where one stands is analysed.
There is much of military tactics and stratagems alongside a few assassinations. The magic is also a constant factor though it isn't the most interesting part of the book, because it takes its presence as granted and there is no explanation or root of its origin and nature.
The book was published a very long-time ago and so must be excused a few weaknesses.
Overall the book was a very worthwhile expenditure of time, totally engrossing and enjoyable.

Mark of Athena

Book Review by Elvenarya abd Obsidian Fury

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare....

Epicness unleashed... not without its share of awesomeness courtesy of my favourite characters in the world Rick Riordan has crafted.

Percy - just as cool as a son of Poseidon could get.
Nico - stays for a far lesser time than I would've liked, but I'm not complaining.
A new surprise entry into my Favourite list - Leo Valdez... I'll just say he's some hot stuff, not a bad boy yet but too good for himself. ;)

The rest... 
Hazel and Frank tie up somewhere in the middle tier of the Seven Demigod List...
Someone, unsurprisingly, has taken the official bottom list. 

So Mark of Athena: full of expected and yet unexpected surprises, new gods... new maniacal, obsessive gods... or not. 
Overall, though I was really tempted to give it FIVE stars, I had to remind myself the reason as to why I can't, and it did the trick. Some fans are in for a boring surprise. This time, the Percy 1st-person POV, I sorely missed. 

I guess pretty much large part of this amazing book is quotable - more or less revolving around Leo Valdez - Hot stuff...
Oh, and these demigods have added, yet again, a ship/tank/Argo II/'colossal-worth of adventures and run-ins with enemies... and some friends. And where there aren't much enemies... they make 'em. =D

It's action-packed. 
It's thrilling.
It's a tornado-whirling, sea-crashing, fire-breathing, transforming ride.
With a crazy goat bent on singing Old Mc Donald (with weapons in place of animals. Naturally!)  things will never be the same after this trip's over.

The infectious humour and the sweet, sweet absurdity, a much-loved of this awesome teen writer's writes, left me rolling my eyes and grinning like Coach Hedge when he's allowed to fire 'em ballistae. 
And the narrations... Oh WOW! Of course, the narrations belonging to two of my Favourite characters only of course. Read to find out. The mini plots were amazing as always with the encounter with Echo and Narcissus and the fight in the hypogeum leaving me laughing and fearing for the heroes’ life simultaneously (the later not so much in the former's case).
Brilliant setting, snappy dialogues and the depth of emotion in the characters won my heart enough to make me ignore the few dragging flat parts in the book(something I never came across in the Percy Jackson Series). This series is definitely darker than its predecessor, the threat more real and the team's fears and challenges dogging their footsteps all the way. Its hard to see all have them making their way through unscathed. That, coupled  with the cliff-hanger ending- makes me await The House of Hades with great anticipation.

Numbers#2(The Chaos)

Review and Character Synopsis by Maira Salman.

Adam sees “numbers” – when he looks in peoples’ eyes he can see their death-dates, just like his mum Jem used to. Adam has trouble dealing with his awful gift, and when he realizes that everyone around him has the same series of numbers, he becomes deeply afraid of what might happen in 2025. Desperate to find out what could be about to go wrong, Adam spends hours researching possibilities – war, nuclear accidents, killer viruses. He knows something big is coming, but what? And is there anything he can possibly do about it?

With its rich plot, suspense filled scenes and fast pace Numbers#2(The Chaos) astounded me. Rachel Ward's beautiful masterpiece was so engrossing that I had to finish it in one go. The main characters Adam, Sarah and Nelson were very well developed.

Adam was one of my favorite characters as he was willing to risk his life to protect innocent people. His ability to see peoples death dates made him realize there was going to be a massive massacre on New Year's Eve and he is desperate to save them. There are many hurdles and obstacles but he manages to overcome them albeit not without sacrifices.

Sarah has the ability to see how a certain person will die. She sees an alarming vision and remains fearful of its consequences the entire book. Although I did not like this character she was definitely brave as she left her house as a penniless vagrant to do something that had to be done.

Nelson was a true hero and also my favorite character. He is a computer geek and is consulted for help by Adam when he finds that there is going to be massive destruction soon. He takes practical steps and stands up to the police to order to save innocent people.

This book was very entertaining and interesting. However I had some issues with it.

Firstly the vocabulary and writing style had room for improvement and could have been much better. The book needed more descriptions to make it REALLY good as the setting was rather uni-dimensional and I would really have loved to read in more detail. In my opinion there were too few characters to make a prominent impression. Oh and there should be a more important role allotted for Nelson as his contributions and sacrifices were more than either Adam or Sarah.

But these are just a few misgivings I had about this book. Otherwise it is one of the best books I have ever read and I simply can't wait to devour the next books of this series. Rachel Ward has done a truly brilliant job with Numbers#2(The Chaos).

BlackVeil (green rider#4)

Review and character synopsis by Obsidian Fury.

The long-awaited sequel to Green Rider, First Rider's Call, and The High King's Tomb. 

Once a simple student, Karigan G'ladheon finds herself in a world of deadly danger and complex magic, compelled by forces she cannot understand when she becomes a legendary Green Rider-one of the magical messengers of the king. Forced by magic to accept a dangerous fate she would never have chosen, headstrong Karigan has become completely devoted to the king and her fellow Riders.

But now, an insurrection led by dark magicians threatens to break the boundaries of ancient, evil Blackveil Forest-releasing powerful dark magics that have been shut away for a millennium.

Ahhh. Frankly speaking, I honestly didn't really enjoy Blackveil as much as the 2nd, or the first for that matter.

All that really gripped me, that intrigued me, was Karigan...as usual, and then the elite Eletions, with their 'mystery and history', I made some favorites among them (ok it was only one). The most incredible and Green Rider-ish part was the journey... in Blackveil. Simply Superb. Well-wrought and well, well use of running pinpricks of fear down my spine (or maybe it was because I was devouring the book well after midnight.) 

Anyway, Weapons... O yea! One word for them... COOL! With their air of 'coolness' and the elegant yet deadly power they exude.

Well.. for now, that's all I can say... Go Karigan. Go Eletions! Go Weapons. Oh and Go Beryl! And the Riders... wow. How could I forget =P

Boo to the rest.

P.S: This book seriously changes the way i felt about the characters. 

Estora: Well, from the 2nd book I loathed her and book by book the feeling intensified until it was clear she's a SISSY NINNY! yuck.

Zachary: Well, I admired him for his 'people first' rule in his rule but well, in the end for some reason (I have no idea what) but when the second assassination attempt occured, I really hoped that he was done with it that time. Annihilated. Dead! My bad for such a far-fetched hope. AH!

Alton: In the previous book I really sympathized with, really pitied him for his sufferings and frustrations for the 'I gotta fix the Wall. It's my heritage' thing. But here... again for 'some' reason I officially now place him under the 'loser' category. Way to go Kirsten.

Another thing... Blackveil's the only interesting worth item in the book (and some other endeavors... all Karigan's again). Conclusively, Kirsten's ONLY credit is for some of her characters who're simply AWESOME! Like Arms Master Drent... yay! Oh! ANd the whole moonstone thing. I want a Moonstone!

That's all=D

A waste of 'time' perhaps like the paradoxes this story revolves around... 

Oh and the killer ending the author's been so lavish in providing DESCRIPTIONS about... the paiiinnn! I mean I Am not gonna waste four to who-knows-how-many years of my life waiting for the next book :(

From what I've heard of the Rider Series each book takes about 3-4 years? Seriously? In that case I consider myself VERY lucky for I got the 'honor' to gulp these within a year =P 

Not the Best of them to come. Albeit the snatches of humor and some of the mystery was extremely satisfying