Xepherus Reads

Hello, Fellow Book Worms,   In 2015 St. Martins Press sent me an advanced reader copy of Kerry Wilkinson's latest novel, Renegade, for review. It was the second book in the Silver Blackthorn Trilogy, a dystopia-futuristic, young adult series set in England. Even though I did not read the first book, Wilkinson's writing was excellent enough to catch me up on the story thus far. After reading Renegade (my review can be found in my blog archives) I was left wanting more. I decided to track down the first book, and found it on Book Outlet at a very reasonable price.     Reckoning begins an exciting and often heartbreaking coming of age story of Silver Blackthorn. She is an ordinary (to herself at least) girl living a quiet life in the post-war English village of Martindale. The world has drastically changed since her parents were children. Many wars have ravaged the world, and countries have fought against one another for years. King Victor has risen, almost god-...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms! I am happy to be answering my first question from the Goodreads group Top 5 Wednesday. It is a group created by Lainey from You Tube's GingerReadsLainey . As a fan of her channel I was excited to become a part of her book group. Every Wednesday we answer a question and share our answers to the book community.  I am a bit late answering this one, but I wanted to answer nonetheless. Based on my current reading, here are my choices (hero and villain) from books and comics. Name Your Top Five Biggest Badasses  Wonder Woman- The Amazon Princess (queen, demi-god and God of War) has always been the ultimate badass in my opinion. In 1985 Len Wein and George Perez re-introduced Wonder Woman to the world after DC Comics relaunched their titles post- Crisis on Infinite Earths. In this new version, Diana was a young and naive woman with an idealistic view of what the world should be like. She did not speak English, was pagan, and was infinitely mor...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Star Wars Fans,   Disney-Lucasfilm and Del Rey continue to answer some questions left unanswered from Star Wars: The Force Awakens in their new canon books. The Perfect Weapon by Delilah S. Dawson is no exception, as we are re-introduced to galactic spy, Bazine Netal. Some spoilers ahead.   If you remember in the Force Awakens, Bazine was the woman who reported that BB-8 and his companions were at Maz Kanata's palace to the First Order. In the Perfect Weapon we are introduced to much of her past. Bazine is a spy working for the highest payer, and this time she has taken on a new assignment. When we first see Bazine, she can be found on the desert world of Chaaktil, taking care of problem customers at a bar. She soon is entered in to a meeting with a shadowy cloaked figure with a synthesized voice. The figure appears via a hologram message from an old protocol droid. The figure asks her to travel to an old hospital in the Outer Rim wh...

Welcome, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   If you are like me and love Star Wars, this has been an amazing year for you. I have loved reading the books released in Disney-Lucasfilm's new canon, and I have found the new streamlined canon to be fun and refreshing. New characters are being introduced and peppered throughout the latest materials. Of interest, we have seen these new characters being present at major battles that we know very well from watching the movies.  But what was the story of those men and women in the trenches? Enter Twilight Company, brave squadron and the backbone of much of Rebellion's ground strikes against the Empire.  Star Wars- Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed (Star Wars: the Old Republic) excels at bringing to the forefront the struggles of the Rebellion's many ground troops. Set during and after Episode V, it is a war novel with a galactic twist that is a page-turner from the first chapter ...