Stacking the Shelves #96

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Click on the link under the book to find its page on Goodreads or Smashwords. 

Please note that I always leave a message on your STS/SP if you visit me, but if you use DISQUS or a similar third party I will not be able to leave a comment on your page. And sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress so you might get a double message sometimes! Blame them, not me!

                 

This has been another productive week for me. I've got some reading done, checked out a few new TV series that I found on some old VHS tapes ie Legend of the Seeker, Prisoners of War, Camelot and Hunted, and got another bit of the house tidied. I've even been able to watch a few favourite films just for fun! (Resident Evil and Jurassic Park 1-3!) I bought a few things this week which has not helped my TBR but you can't resist these darn shiny new books can you! I was excited by the arrival of a pre-ordered book, the latest in the Alex Verus series. Yes! Now I just need to catch up with the series...

 

My birthday is coming up and my dad gave me the package today! Having NO restraint it has already been opened and he has bought me Arrow season 1 & 2, Hannibal season 2, Strike Back seasons 1-4! Yea! Very happy with that haul...I've watched season 1 of Hannibal so I was happy to get season 2 but the other series I haven't seen so I'm excited to get stuck into them!

 

DOWNLOADS:

 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3429805-dinosaur-lake 

 

BOUGHT PAPERBACKS:

 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25076719-mercy-thompson 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24868956-veiled 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17230472-the-shadow-aspect 

 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12295280-as-the-world-dies 

 

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Book Review: The Hades Contract by Ken Mooney (The Last Olympiad #2)

Olympus has been restored, and demons ravage the world once more.

Aphrodite, ally to the demons for so long, has eaten of the sacred tree, her full powers restored; Hannah Noakes, daughter of Hera, claimed her birthright with a bloody murder that may be the loss of her soul. And Unity Vaughan has risen from the dead with the power to defeat a goddess.

To a dead god-king, they are all part of a bigger plan, a plan that is older than the city, older even than the gods.

Deep beneath Olympus, bound by the crystal roots of an impossible tree, the Father of Demons stirs.

My Review:
Whatever you thought you knew about Aphrodite's wicked plans in Godhead, prepare yourself for a big surprise as you jump into The Hades Contract! There are twists and surprises in store as you go through the book and you just aren't sure what is coming next.

Aphrodite becomes aware of the evil Typhon, buried under Olympus and sending his corruption up into the Tree and the Gods themselves. The only way to purge this evil is to destroy those who have been corrupted. With nobody listening to or helping her her, she decides she must ally with Kaos and destroy it from within. This was a very surprising development! I already had some sympathy for Aphrodite losing her husband in such a manner, understanding her need for revenge, but her true motives were much less selfish, if a little misguided. I liked the fact that she did evil things for the greater good and lost a bit of herself along the way, proving that even a Goddess can make mistakes.

The flashbacks piece together Aphrodite's journey as she tries to deceive Kaos and defeat her enemies within the Gods, namely Hera, Zeus and Hades. We also see how Kaos was able to manipulate her and the others to do its bidding. There is lots of interesting mythology here as we meet The Fates and The Furies, and it is blended perfectly into the story, past and present.

The good guys from Godhead are going through their own changes in this book. Hannah is coming to terms with her choices and keeping her deeds and God status from her friends, working to her own agenda. At the start of the book, she is displaying aspects of her mother's personality which led me to wonder how much of Hera's arrogance and coldness is within her. Unity seems to be in denial over what her new abilities are but her determination to destroy Aphrodite causes her to push away the people she cares about. Megan is finding confidence in her abilities and is a bit mellower in this book, while Karl is having a crisis of confidence in his abilities and his shaky relationship with Adam. I liked seeing more of Sandra in this book as she struggles to be part of a world she doesn't understand. Nick is about to discover his own bloodline-this was one thing I did guess, based on his abilities in Godhead.

Karl is having a hard time. He feels useless and scared, resenting that he the one who needs saving each time. I felt sorry for him! I also liked the way his relationship with Adam stutters along with awkward dates, keeping secrets and feeling guilt about moving on with his life. It felt real and believable because dating isn't always easy! No instaluv and easy HEA here! Adam's frustration and hurt at the way things are going are so understandable. You were left hoping that they could work things out in some way. There is still emotion in this book as each character faces their own challenges and it was nice to see them develop in different ways. We also have a great action scene at the Greek fundraiser where Hell literally breaks loose!

There is a lot to like in this book-action, awkward romance, twists, betrayals, death and disaster, demons, mythology, secrets...there are no complaints from me about the plot or characters, and I'm so looking forward to more after the way this book finished...Argghh!

PS Don't you just love the cover for this book?!!! 

Book Review: The Libations by Ken Mooney (Stories from The Last Olympiad #2)

An angry goddess has struck once more. The Greek gods continue to die.

They must regroup. They meet to honour their dead...and to decide their future.

In Godhead, Ken Mooney brought the Greek gods to life in the present day; now, discover more about their world in Stories From The Last Olympiad.

The Libations is a short story companion piece to Godhead and a prelude to the sequel, The Hades Contract. It is also a direct sequel to The Fall Of Bacchus. This story takes place after the fall of Olympus, but before the present-day of Godhead.

Please note: this is a work of approx 2500 words that was previously available on other sites. It has been published on Kindle at the request of fans of The Last Olympiad who want to complete their collection.

My Review:
This short story follows on directly from and explains the events in The Fall of Bacchus so I think it's important to read them both in order to understand where everything fits in the timeline of our story.

Hera reluctantly agrees to meet with Apollo and Athena to discuss what they have just found out. One of the Gods is dead at the hands of Aphrodite and his adopted daughter is being looked after by Apollo. Hera has plans for the girl when she discovers the whole story...

This was an intriguing read! I was pleased that it explained what we witnessed in The Fall of Bacchus but it also moved the story forward from there. We see the true nature of Hera in this story-her disdain for humans, her indifference to their suffering and the level of scheming that she is capable of. Her plans for this poor girl are interesting and it made me think!

Hera is pleased that Athena has done her part to keep her bloodline alive by mating with humans but is unhappy that Apollo has failed to do the same. Discovering that the girl is pregnant offers the opportunity to further Apollo's bloodline if he makes the child his. My brain was whirling with this thought...who is the unborn baby? Is it Karl who we know is of Apollo's bloodline? Does Hera do something in some way to make the child hers ie Hannah? Is it someone else we haven't met yet? The smart money is on Karl but I've learned that Ken Mooney is never predictable in his twists so who knows!

What I can say is that I liked seeing more of the missing years of the Gods. I would love to see more of the short stories from this period or even a prequel novel to cover the events as Aphrodite hunts down the Gods and The Order tries to stop her. There is a lot of plot potential here to explore and I look forward to more from this era, and the 2nd novel The Hades Contract which I am already reading and will review shortly! 

Book Review: The Fall of Bacchus by Ken Mooney (Stories from the Last Olympiad #1)

A father paces, ready to give his daughter away to the man of her dreams.

But an old enemy awaits their happy moment, an unwelcome guest at the wedding and she cannot wait to pay her respects to the bride.

In Godhead, Ken Mooney brought the Greek gods to life in the present day; now, discover more about their world in Stories From The Last Olympiad.

The Fall Of Bacchus is a short flash-fiction companion piece to Godhead; this story takes place after the fall of Olympus, but before the novel's present.

Please note: this is a work of less than 1000 words that was previously available on other sites. It has been published on Kindle at the request of fans of The Last Olympiad who want to complete their collection.As a bonus, The Fall Of Bacchus also includes the opening section of Godhead.

My Review:
A woman gets an unpleasant surprise when she arrives at the church for her wedding. What exactly has Aphrodite done now...?

This is a story which only has a few pages to it so I literally can't say anything more about it without telling you everything! When I read it I was wondering who the people were and where it fits into the Godhead world, but those questions are answered in the second of the short stories available-The Libations. I suggest reading both short stories before writing any reviews!

This is meant as a little teaser, showing something that happened after the war of Olympus but before we meet Hannah and the gang in Godhead. 

The TBR 100 Book Countdown Challenge (522-519)

My tbr has managed to sneak up over 600 books again and action must be taken!!! So I am setting myself a pretty tough challenge-to get that tbr from 612 as it stands today, down to 500 books by December 31st. Yes it is an impossible sounding task but not everything on the tbr is full length reading-there are short stories, novellas and novels to be devoured! Even if I don't get to the target, I'll be pleased if I get close. It would be the first time in 5 years that my tbr was 500 or less! My updates on my progress won't be weekly, just whenever I have something to report! Anyone who wants to try and reduce their tbr is welcome to post on my update posts about their progress!

FYI: A few people have asked why the number of books I've reduced the pile by in the post title does not match the number of books I mention in the actual blog post. Simple really, I'm still adding new books to the tbr each week, and a few are rereads.

It doesn't look like a successful week as the tbr has only come down by three books but I did buy a few this week! I was also rereading Godhead by Ken Mooney so I could read his two short stories ready to read the sequel this week! Exciting times! 

FINISHED:

Mark Walden-Hive 2 Overlord Protocol
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2507322.The_Overlord_Protocol 

Mark Walden-Hive 3 Escape Velocity
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10137876-h-i-v-e-3 

Daran Little-Coronation Street Around the Houses
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2682739-coronation-street 

Kevin Hearne-Grimoire of the Lamb (Iron Druid #0.4)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16280685-the-grimoire-of-the-lamb 

Kevin Hearne-Kaibab Unbound (Iron Druid #0.6)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16280685-the-grimoire-of-the-lamb 

Ken Mooney-The Fall of Bacchus
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25082236-the-fall-of-bacchus 

Ken Mooney-The Libations
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25113754-the-libations 

Alex Hughes-Rabbit Trick (Mindspace Investigations #0.5)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21402185-rabbit-trick 

Deborah Blake-Wickedly Magical (Baba Yaga #0.5)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18803802-wickedly-magical