Blade Singer Review & Giveaway
I am really excited to be hosting a stop on the blog tour for Blade Singer by Aaron de Orive and Martha Wells. First you will find a summary of the book as well as the links to purchase followed by my review, information about the authors, and a giveaway. The giveaway is for two $25 giftcards so make sure to click on the rafflecopter link at the bottom to enter and also make sure to check out the other stops on the tour.
Blade Singer by Aaron de Orive & Martha Wells
202 pages
Manuel “Manny” Boreaux, a troubled adolescent from Texas, is magically transported into the body of a goblin pickpocket in an alternate world inhabited by faerie creatures. Manny must quickly adapt to the danger all around him and try to find a way to get back home, a feat complicated by the pickpocket’s association with a notorious gang of thieves. But when Manny uncovers a plot to assassinate a young king, he must enlist the aid of an elf cavalier and a cat burglar to thwart a Sidhe witch’s scheme to ignite a civil war between humans and the Fae.
*My Review*
I really loved reading Blade Singer. It is a fun middle grade fantasy about a boy named Manny’s adventure in Avalon. Avalon and our world were once connected but everyone in Avalon thought the connection had been broken until Manny found an item that transported him there. Once Manny found himself in Avalon he faced many dangers but also made some allies and ended up helping to restore peace.
Blade Singer kept up a great pace throughout the entire book but where it really takes off is chapter three. I found myself wanting to continue reading to find out what would happen next. It was interesting to see how Manny grew and adapted throughout the book. I also enjoyed the character Gaudulfus; I personally thought that he was just such a likeable character with a sense of humor and lightheartedness.
Another character that intrigued me was Tia Licha; not because of anything she did or her personality but just because of the name. My grandmother whose name was Alicia was called Licha by some people and I’ve never heard anyone else with that name so I was really intrigued by that choice of name.
I do have to say that I was surprised by the ending of the book. The end was not what I expected and I am curious to know if there might be a sequel since the ending hinted at that possibility. I would recommend this book for anyone that enjoys a fun fantasy.
*Connor Says*
Connor had not been liking the first chapter or two of books lately so I was fully expecting him to not like the beginning of Blade Singer. However, I was wrong. He loved the book from the beginning. Here are some of his thoughts:
“This is really interesting for me.”
“There are a lot of new words that I haven’t heard before.”
“I really want to keep reading this.”
Connor was really excited to get to read Blade Singer. He was mostly interested in all of the different Sidhe and also found some things funny. He enjoyed hearing new things he wasn’t familiar with and was really curious about what inspired the writing, particularly the beginning and the setting.
About the Authors:
A graduate of the University of Texas’ film program, Aaron de Orive began his professional writing career in the video game industry, serving as a lead or senior writer on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. He is also the creator of the fantasy role-playing game SHARD: World of the False Dawn. Blade Singer is his first novel. Aaron lives in Austin with his wife, daughter, and two very spoiled terriers.
Martha Wells is the author of a number of fantasy novels, including The Cloud Roads, The Siren Depths, The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer. Her YA fantasy, Emilie and the Hollow World, was published by Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry in April 2013, and the sequel, Emilie and the Sky World, was released in March 2014. Two collections of Books of the Raksura novellas will be published in September 2014 and Fall 2015. She has had short stories in Black Gate, Realms of Fantasy, Stargate Magazine, and Lightspeed Magazine, and in the anthologies Elemental, The Year’s Best Fantasy #7, Tales of the Emerald Serpent and The Other Half of the Sky. She has essays in the nonfiction anthologies Farscape Forever, Mapping the World of Harry Potter, and Chicks Unravel Time. She has also written media-tie-in novels, Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary and Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement, and a Star Wars novel, Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge.
Website | Twitter | Live Journal
Giveaway:
(2) $25 Gift Cards to Amazon or B&N (INT)
*Rafflecopter Giveaway**
Thanks for stopping by!
I had a Tia Licha who lived in California. We’d go visit her every summer. She was amazing and I loved her very much. I also had never encountered anyone who had that name. So glad to finally meet someone who did. Thank you so much for the review!
Thank you so much for the review! I loved hearing what a kid thought of it, that’s always a treat! So glad you both enjoyed it!
Hi! Found your blog through the Blade Singer tour. I really like the way you got your son involved with the review. My boys are 10/13 so I’m trying to get them more interested in reviewing on my blog. They always have an opinion (!) about what they read; it’s just getting them to write it down so I can post it that’s the struggle!!