Fathomless by Anne M. Pillsworth

Fathomless
by Anne M. Pillsworth

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Twitter @AnneMPillsworth

Just released: October 27, 2015
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: Fantasy, Magic, YA
Hardback: 320 pages
Rating: 3 (DNF)

Redemption's Heir series:
Summoned
Fathomless
book 3 - tba

First sentence(s):
Arkam's Independence Day festivities had drawn thousands of souls to its harbor, including Redemption Orne, who looked for a single should of peculiar quality.

In Anne M. Pillsworth's Fathomless, Sean dips even further into his magical destiny, but will blood prove thicker than the mysteries of Innsmouth's briny depths?

Sean Wyndham has tried to stay away from the lure of magic-the last time he tried to dabble in the dark studies, he inadvertently summoned a blood familiar, wreaking havoc on his town, and calling the attention of the Elder Gods. But now Sean has been offered the chance to study magic with a proper teacher, overseen by Helen Arkwright, a friend of Sean's father and heir to ancient order of much power, who protects New England from that which lurks in the coastline's unseen depths. But will learning theory be enough, when there is a much greater magical secret hidden in Helen's vaulted library?

Accompanied by his best friend, Eddy, and their enigmatic new friend Daniel, Sean wades out deeper into mystical legend and shadow. With hints and secrets buried long in family lore, they turn to the suspicious Reverend Orne once more for assistance. But as Sean deepens his understanding of his power, a darkness is waking...

Zombie sighting:
"Yeah. I got this series idea, too. Apocalypse, but not with zombies. Zombies been run into the ground." -chapter 1, page 12

My two-bits:

Got through 100 pages, and decided not to finish. Ack! I usually try to finish review copies but with the holidays and so many books on my pile, I am going to start to be stricter with myself and not waste reading time. So, I am rating the book based on what was read so far.

Although this story has an ensemble cast of characters, I could not connect with any to keep me reading.

Despite being book 2 in the series, it worked alright as a standalone. I did not feel that I was missing anything. But maybe knowing more of the backstory from book one would have interested me enough to follow at least one of the character story lines.

The pacing was slow at the start.

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* review copy courtesy of TOR

Stacking the Shelves - 11.28.15

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
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!

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For Review:

Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye: A Novel
by Tania del Rio and Will Staehle
-Middle Grade, Paranormal
courtesy of Quirk Books -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads | WIN a copy (here)

The Coal Thief
by Alane Adams
-Children, Historical
courtesy of BookSparks -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads | WIN a copy (here) and (here)

Fathomless
(Redemption's Heir #2)
by Anne M. Pillsworth
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads
Library:

The Silkworm
(Cormoran Strike #2)
by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling
-Mystery, Detective
Amazon | Goodreads
Private investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestseller The Cuckoo's Calling.

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...

=====> Listening to the audio version which I also did with book one. The narrator portrays the characters well. Reeeeally got into this series after listening to the first book in the series, The Cuckoo's Calling. Loving the main characters and their back stories.

UNBOXING:

From Owlcrate package @owlcrate (details & signup):
OwlCrate is a subscription service that sends you magical monthly boxes tailored to a chosen theme. Each OwlCrate will contain one new Young Adult novel, as well as 3-5 other bookish treats to help you get your nerd on.

Box includes:
- Soundless by Richelle Mead and bookmark
- Vampire Academy series tattoos
- Fairytale tea, Snow White from Adagio Teas
- Camp Half-Blood bracelet created by The Colorful Geek
- Castle locket necklace from The Geeky Cauldron
- Pocket mirror (dragon scales) designed by My Clockwork Castle

Soundless
by Richelle Mead
-China, Fantasy, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiugo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever...


OTHER things: kinda book-related

Participating in this...

Black Friday Book Bonanza
WIN books (here)

Books on the Nightstand 2015 Holiday Gift Guide is now available. GOT mine, get your free copy (here).

Tweet #GiveaBook - For each tweet Penguin Random House will donate a book to kids in need!

AND watched: in theatre

By The Sea (2015)
Director: Angelina Jolie
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt
-Drama, Romance | imdb | my rating: 4.5
Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.

=====> Loved the visuals. A couple dealing with love on the rocks.

45 Years (2015)
Director: Andrew Haigh
Based on short story by: David Constantine
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay
-Drama, Romance | imdb | my rating: 4.5
In the week leading up to their 45th wedding anniversary, a couple receive an unexpected letter which contains potentially life changing news.

=====> Interesting focus on elderly love. Another couple dealing with love on the rocks.

AND watched: on DVD

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Based on comic by: Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons
Starring: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson
-Action, Adventure, Comedy, Spy | imdb | my rating: 4
A spy organization recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

=====> After watching the latest James Bond film, I got into the spy mood. This film had it all and was light and fun.

Dr. No (1962)
Director: Terence Young
Based on book by: Ian Fleming
Starring: Sean Connery
-Action, Adventure, Spy | imdb
A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.

=====> Decided to go on a James Bond binge and re-watch all films.

From Russia with Love (here)
Goldfinger (here)
Thunderball (here)
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (here)
Diamonds Are Forever
Live and Let Die
The Man with the Golden Gun
the Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
A View to a Kill
The Living Daylights
License to Kill
Golden Eye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall
Spectre (here)

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers

Happy Release & Giveaway: Fathomless by Anne M. Pillsworth

Fathomless
(Redemption's Heir #2)
by Anne M. Pillsworth
Just released: October 27, 2015
Amazon | Goodreads
Meet Sean...

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by Anne M. Pillsworth
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My protagonist, Sean Wyndham, started fictive life as his father, which sounds like a time travel conundrum, doesn't it? The truth is that I wanted to write a series of supernatural adventures set in H. P. Lovecraft's cosmos-spanning milieu and mythology. I meant to start in Lovecraft's beloved Providence, Rhode Island, which is also my beloved (adopted) home. The star would be police detective Thomas O'Conaghan, with comic relief from son Sean and Sean's BFF, Eddy (Edna) Rosenbaum. I think there was also a bulldog and far too many snakes for a smallish apartment.

By way of "practice" for the initial novel, I decided to write a short story about Sean's first (calamitous) venture into magic. The story kept growing, with Sean and Eddy and the villainous wizard Simon (later Redemption) Orne shoving Tom O'Conaghan out of center stage. O'Conaghan was demoted from protagonist to minor character, and Sean got a new father, Jeremy, a fierce if perpetually perplexed defender of his son.

The novel that became Summoned, first in the REDEMPTION'S HEIR series, was originally titled, um, er, provisionally, Sean's First Spell. Sean thought that sounded like a little kid's picture book. He made me change the name to Servitor, a "servitor" of the Outer Gods being the monstrous familiar conjured by said first spell.

In those early days, a role-playing game was a big part of the book. Astute beta readers pointed out that the game was soon eclipsed by Sean's involvement in REAL magic. Subsequent drafts nixed the game, and Sean decided that Summoned would be a much cooler title.

As main character, Sean does pretty much boss me around. I'm told he has my voice, or I have his. Certainly he does whatever I would do in his situation, although with greater recklessness and much greater magical aplomb. For example, I would want to respond to an ad for magical apprentice, answerable by email though published in a newspaper from 1895. But Sean actually does respond. I would like to visit Devil Reef on a hot August night when merpeople lounge there among the gray seals. Sean hops in a boat and heads off.

As the series develops, repeated near-catastrophes are making him more cautious, but he'll always thrill to the lure of the uncanny -- and go down the dark staircase or up into the haunted attic. He, and I, wouldn't have it any other way.

~end

Guest post created by Anne M. Pillsworth, author of Fathomless
© 2015. All rights reserved.

About the author:
ANNE M. PILLSWORTH's novel Summoned began the Redemption's Heir series, set in the same world as her short story "Geldman's Pharmacy," which received honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Thirteenth Annual Collection. She currently lives in a Victorian "trolley car" suburb of Providence, Rhode Island, with her wife.

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by Anne M. Pillsworth
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READ more about this world...

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--
WIN a copy of this book!

Open to US only.

Offer ends: November 30, 2015

TO DO: (2-parts)

1. ADD this book to your Want To Read list on Goodreads (here).

2. LEAVE a comment.

AND, leave your email.

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Contest has ended - (winner is here)

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