Hi guys, I hope you are all well. It’s the end of the first month in 2020, which means it’s time for my first monthly wrap up of the year. I read five books in January; two of which were novellas. I had a bit of a low month to be honest, but I’m coming out of it now, which is good. Anyway, onto the mini reviews.
The Half Drowned King / Linnea Hartsuyker / ★★★
Publisher: Little Brown & Co Inc
Genre: Historical fiction
Length: 448 pages
This one started out quite strong but I slowly lost interest in the characters as I was reading. I still enjoyed this book but I found I wasn’t fully invested in the characters or the story. The writing and historical setting are both great, however things fell flat for me with the characters and plot. I probably won’t continue on with this trilogy but I did still enjoy it, just not as much as I wanted to.
Ghost Talkers / Mary Robinette Kowal / ★★★
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Historical fantasy
Length: 304 pages
This is an alternate history story set during WW1. In this world soldiers are conditioned to report back to the Spirit Corps after they have died. I loved the concept of the Spirit Corp and think the author did a good job with the historical setting. I enjoyed this book overall, but wasn’t fully invested in the characters. I have a full review which you can check out here.
Paper Mage / Leah Cutter / ★★★.5
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 328 pages
I’m going to have a full review of this one up soon so I’ll keep this one short. This is a standalone historical fantasy set during the Tang Dynasty in China. The idea of paper mages is a really interesting one and is one of my favourite things about this book. It is quite a slow read but it never dragged for me.
Murder at the Kinnen Hotel / Brian McClellan / ★★★★
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 74 pages (novella)
This novella takes place approximately 22 years before the events of Promise of Blood and has Adamat as it’s main protagonist. I really enjoyed this one and it was interesting to see the origins of Adamat. If you enjoyed any of McClellan’s other works, then you’ll probably enjoy this one too.
Ghosts of the Tristan Basin / Brian McClellan / ★★★★
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 90 pages (novella)
This one takes place 8 months before the events of Promise of Blood and features Taniel Two-Shot as the main protagonist. Since this novella features three of my favourite characters (Taniel, Ka-poel and Ben Styke), it was the one I enjoyed most of the four I’ve read recently. The writing is great, the plot was compelling and I loved seeing the earlier stages of the relationship between Taniel and Ka-poel. I would definitely recommend checking this novella out.
That’s it for today. I had an alright reading month in January. What books have you guys been reading? Let’s chat in the comments. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next.
Pippa
thelittlebookowl 
I didn’t get a huge amount read, but I did find my first 5-star book in The Flatshare, so I was very happy about that!
Re the Kowal book here, I know what you mean about liking a book but not being invested in the characters! If I don’t really care for the characters in a story, then my rating generally isn’t more than 3 stars.
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