The Art Of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

 

 

 

An epic fantasy ode to martial arts and magic about what happens when a prophesied hero is not the chosen one after all—and has to work with a band of unlikely allies to save the kingdom anyway, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lives of Tao

So many stories begin the same way: With a prophecy. A Chosen One. And the inevitable quest to slay a villain, save the kingdom, and fulfill a grand destiny.

But this is not that kind of story.

It does begin with a prophecy: A child will rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, a cruel immortal god-king, and save the kingdom.

And that prophecy did anoint a hero, Jian, raised since birth in luxury and splendor, and celebrated before he has won a single battle.

But that’s when the story hits its first twist: The prophecy was wrong.

What follows is a story more wondrous than any prophecy can foresee, and with many unexpected heroes: Taishi, an older woman who is the greatest grandmaster of magical martial arts in the kingdom but who thought her adventuring days were all behind her; Sali, a straitlaced warrior who learns the rules may no longer apply when the leader she pledged her life to is gone; and Qisami, a chaotic assassin who takes a little too much pleasure in the kill.

And Jian himself, who has to find a way to become what he no longer believes he can be—a hero after all.

 MY REVIEW: 4 STARS 

I absolutely loved the character, Taishi. She's an older lady with a disability but can kick your arse and take names at the same time. She's one bad ass master. She decides to take on Jian who is part of a prophecy that kinda falls flat. This puts him in hiding as people want to kill him. I loved the parts when Jian and Taishi are together the most and the humor is fantastic! 

Some of the other characters are doing their own thing. Qisami is pretty evil but she didn't kill that dog people... repeat.. she didn't kill that dog!!!!!!! 

I'm up in the air whether I want to own the physical copy. I did use one of my Audible credits to get the book as I couldn't seem to get through it with my Netgalley copy. The narration is very good and funny as hell at times so I do recommend it. 

Overall, the book was enjoyable and I will be reading the rest of the books in the series/trilogy

*I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for a digital copy of this book. 

Mel

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

 

The mind-blowing new thriller from the New York Timesbestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion 

“You are the next step in human evolution.” 

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep. 

But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways. 

The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy. 

Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost. 

Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human. 

And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution? 

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential. 

MY REVIEW: 2 Stars 

I’ve had this book for a long time when Netgalley had it available, but I couldn’t get into it. So, I waited until it actually came out at my library and tried listening to the audio. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that I just don’t love all of the authors books and that’s okay, there are plenty of people out there that love them. 

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.