Lady Mechanika, Vol.1: the Mystery of Mechanical Corpse by Joe Benítez

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Title: Lady Mechanika, Vol.1: the Mystery of Mechanical Corpse
Series: Lady Mechanika
Author & Illustrator: Joe Benítez
Genre: Steampunk, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Benítez Productions
Date: November 2015
Length: 152 pages

This book was free form NetGalley in Exchange for an honest review

Discover a beautifully illustrated steampunk world of airships, monsters, and one courageous but haunted heroine...
The tabloids dubbed her "Lady Mechanika," the sole survivor of a mad scientist's horrific experiments which left her with mechanical limbs. Having no memory of her captivity or her former life, Lady Mechanika eventually built a new life for herself as an adventurer and private investigator, using her unique abilities to solve cases the proper authorities couldn't or wouldn't handle. But she never stopped searching for the answers to her own past. 
Set in a fictionalized steampunk Victorian England, a time when magic and superstition clashed with new scientific discoveries and inventions, Lady Mechanika chronicles a young woman's obsessive search for her identity as she investigates other mysteries involving science and the supernatural. 
This volume collects the entire first Lady Mechanika mini-series The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse, including its prequel chapter The Demon of Satan's Alley, plus a complete cover art gallery.

Description from Goodreads

Airships, corsets, mechanical limbs, cyborg nightmares, and a mysterious heroine with a sense of humor. Lady Mechanika is an intriguing story that's beautifully illustrated and packed full of everything that makes steampunk fun.

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Leave a Comment 4.0, Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge, Graphic Novel, Joe Benítez, Review, Steampunk

Dream Magic by Joshua Khan

Title: Dream Magic
Series: Shadow Magic, book 2
Author: Joshua Khan
Genre: Middle Grades, Fantasy
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Date: April 11, 2017
Length: x pages

This book was free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

A fabulously exciting sequel to the fantasy adventure SHADOW MAGIC. 
People throughout Gehenna are disappearing, even the feared executioner Tyburn. Many of the nobles believe the kidnappings to be the work of the northern trolls, raiding south for the winter, and when Baron Sable and others head off to fight them, Castle Gloom is left guarded by only the squires.
Lily is struggling with her growing necromantic powers. The castle fills with ghosts, drawn like moths to a flame by the brightness of her magic. Zombies roam the country, some left over from those raised in SHADOW MAGIC, others awakened by Lily. Families are troubled by the returning dead, so Lily tries to incorporate them into day-to-day life, much to the resentment of the living.
Then Lily is attacked in her own castle by a mysterious sorcerer known as Dreamweaver, a young man determined to conquer Gehenna using jewel-spiders, strange crystalline creatures whose bite doesn’t kill, but sends victims to sleep. Lily soon discovers that Dreamweaver is harvesting dreams to fuel his magic.
Lily enters the realm of sleep known as the Dream Time, in an attempt to awaken all the captive dreamers. Instead she finds herself trapped within a dream, one where her family is still alive. With the help of Thorn and the ever loyal Hades, she must somehow overcome the evil Dreamweaver by using his own magic against him – and reclaim her kingdom.

Description from Goodreads

The world of Dream Magic is like a junior version of Game of Thrones set in Halloween Town. Replace dragons with zombies and Lily would be Khaleesi fighting to save her kingdom with magic and possibly a political marriage.

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1 comment 4.0, Fantasy, Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge, Joshua Khan, Middle Grades books

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

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Title: The Paper Magician
Series: The Paper Magician Trilogy, book 1
Author: Charlie N. Holmberg
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Publisher: 47North
Date: September 2014
Length: 224 pages /  Audio Book 7 hours 25 minutes

Free through Kindle Unlimited Subscription

Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic… forever.
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined — animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.
An Excisioner — a practitioner of dark, flesh magic — invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man. 

Description from Goodreads

HOW DID I MISS THIS BOOK?! I'm so upset, it's so great, so many students would love it, and I MISSED IT! I've even contacted some upper school librarian friends to tell them to consider this book for their collection. It might seem impossible for a book to be a light hearted Gothic story, but The Paper Magician pulls it off. I enjoyed this story so much and I just want to share it with all of my kids. I think there's a lot here that will appeal. My Kindle Unlimited download also included the audiobook version (which is fantastic, btw). I was so into this book that I played the audiobook in the car while I was ferrying my children all over creation. It even made me want to jog so that I could listen to the audiobook. (But let's be honest, jogging most definitely didn't happen.)

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10 comments 4.5, Audiobook, Charlie N. Holmberg, Fantasy, Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge, Review, Young Adult

It's a challenge & a book club (with Patricia McKillip!!!) - Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2017

Honestly, I hadn't really planned on signing up for another challenge, but the Flights of Fantasy Challenge (hosted by Alexa Loves Books and Hello, Chelly) was also going to double as a book club. I'm not always a fan of book club selections, BUT it would be a fantasy book club, so I kept reading. And then I saw the book listed for April/June:  Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip.  I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH! I immediately signed up. I don't even know what the rest of the book club books are, but I've signed up. I'm aiming for fantasy books this year. Since Urban and Paranormal Fantasy count for this challenge I think I'll easily meet my goal.

I'm so excited about the Alphabet of Thorn discussion - can't wait! (I'm just gonna keep fangirling for a few more minutes)

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