Michael's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 11 Aug 2023 07:03:16 -0700 60 Michael's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)]]> 10664113 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B004XISI4A

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.

Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.]]>
1125 George R.R. Martin Michael 0 currently-reading 4.33 2011 A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Michael
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)]]> 13497 Crows will fight over a dead man's flesh, and kill each other for his eyes.

Bloodthirsty, treacherous and cunning, the Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne in the name of the boy-king Tommen. The war in the Seven Kingdoms has burned itself out, but in its bitter aftermath new conflicts spark to life.

The Martells of Dorne and the Starks of Winterfell seek vengeance for their dead. Euron Crow's Eye, as black a pirate as ever raised a sail, returns from the smoking ruins of Valyria to claim the Iron Isles. From the icy north, where Others threaten the Wall, apprentice Maester Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms to the Citadel.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory will go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts.]]>
1060 George R.R. Martin 055358202X Michael 5 4.16 2005 A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Michael
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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<![CDATA[A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)]]> 62291 An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Here is the third volume in George R.R. Martin's magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. Together, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. And as opposing forces manoeuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...]]>
1177 George R.R. Martin 055357342X Michael 5 4.54 2000 A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Michael
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/19
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<![CDATA[A Game of Thrones / A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1-2)]]> 5061675 A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings are combined together in this eBook edition. Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards who come together in a time of grim omens. Here, an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal, a tribe of fierce wildings carry men off into madness, a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne, a child is lost in the twilight between life and death, and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones. In the eagerly awaited second volume in this epic saga, he once again proves himself a master myth-maker, setting a standard against which all other fantasy novels will be measured for years to come. Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders--Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon--who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead...victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky--a comet the color of blood and flame--six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard's son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King's Landing. Robert's two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers. A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and warfare. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel ... and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors. Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment--a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.]]> 864 George R.R. Martin Michael 5 4.54 1996 A Game of Thrones / A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1-2)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Michael
average rating: 4.54
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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<![CDATA[A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)]]> 13496
Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.]]>
835 George R.R. Martin 0553588486 Michael 5 4.44 1996 A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Michael
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/06/08
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Animal Farm 170448 Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.

A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.
When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.]]>
141 George Orwell 0451526341 Michael 5 4.07 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Michael
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1945
rating: 5
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<![CDATA[Thrawn (Star Wars: Thrawn, #1)]]> 31140332
After Thrawn is rescued from exile by Imperial soldiers, his deadly ingenuity and keen tactical abilities swiftly capture the attention of Emperor Palpatine. And just as quickly, Thrawn proves to be as indispensable to the Empire as he is ambitious; as devoted as its most loyal servant, Darth Vader; and a brilliant warrior never to be underestimated. On missions to rout smugglers, snare spies, and defeat pirates, he triumphs time and again—even as his renegade methods infuriate superiors while inspiring ever greater admiration from the Empire. As one promotion follows another in his rapid ascension to greater power, he schools his trusted aide, Ensign Eli Vanto, in the arts of combat and leadership, and the secrets of claiming victory. But even though Thrawn dominates the battlefield, he has much to learn in the arena of politics, where ruthless administrator Arihnda Pryce holds the power to be a potent ally or a brutal enemy.

All these lessons will be put to the ultimate test when Thrawn rises to admiral and must pit all the knowledge, instincts, and battle forces at his command against an insurgent uprising that threatens not only innocent lives but also the Empire’s grip on the galaxy—and his own carefully laid plans for future ascendancy.]]>
427 Timothy Zahn 1780894848 Michael 0 to-read 4.29 2017 Thrawn (Star Wars: Thrawn, #1)
author: Timothy Zahn
name: Michael
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Star Wars: The Last Command (The Thrawn Trilogy, #3)]]> 216422
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!]]>
467 Timothy Zahn 0553564927 Michael 4 4.26 1993 Star Wars: The Last Command (The Thrawn Trilogy, #3)
author: Timothy Zahn
name: Michael
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1993
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (The Thrawn Trilogy, #2)]]> 216442
Yet most dangerous of all is a new Dark Jedi, risen from the ashes of a shrouded past, consumed by bitterness� and scheming to corrupt Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side.]]>
439 Timothy Zahn 0553560719 Michael 4 4.18 1992 Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (The Thrawn Trilogy, #2)
author: Timothy Zahn
name: Michael
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1992
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)]]> 40604754 Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

It is a time of renewal, five years after the destruction of the Death Star and the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire.

But with the war seemingly won, strains are beginning to show in the Rebel Alliance. New challenges to galactic peace have arisen. And Luke Skywalker hears a voice from his past. A voice with a warning. Beware the dark side�.

The Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet back into barely a quarter of the territory that they once controlled. Leia and Han are married, are expecting Jedi twins, and have shouldered heavy burdens in the government of the new Republic. And Luke Skywalker is the first in a hoped-for new line of Jedi Knights.

But thousands of light years away, where a few skirmishes are still taking place, the last of the Emperor's warlords has taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet. He has made two vital discoveries that could destroy the fragile new Republic—built with such cost to the Rebel Alliance. The tale that emerges is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story that is worthy of the name Star Wars.]]>
434 Timothy Zahn Michael 4 4.24 1991 Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)
author: Timothy Zahn
name: Michael
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1991
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[Das Schwert der Vorsehung (Hexer, #2)]]> 3283052 464 Andrzej Sapkowski 3423210699 Michael 0 currently-reading 4.25 1992 Das Schwert der Vorsehung (Hexer, #2)
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Michael
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/12/04
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Of Mice and Men 890 “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.�

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.

While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful.

A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.]]>
107 John Steinbeck 0142000671 Michael 4 3.88 1937 Of Mice and Men
author: John Steinbeck
name: Michael
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1937
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)]]> 40603587
But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good... and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

Librarian's Note: Alternate cover edition of ASIN B0010SIPT4]]>
400 Andrzej Sapkowski Michael 4 4.12 1993 The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Michael
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 4
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date added: 2022/05/13
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<![CDATA[The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France]]> 438538
In the midst of the devastating Hundred Years� War between France and England, Jean de Carrouges, a Norman knight fresh from combat in Scotland, returns home to yet another deadly threat. His wife, Marguerite, has accused squire Jacques Le Gris of rape. A deadlocked court decrees a “trial by combat� between the two men that also leaves Marguerite’s fate in the balance. For if her husband loses the duel, she will be put to death as a false accuser.

While enemy troops pillage the land, and rebellion and plague threaten the lives of all, Carrouges and Le Gris meet in full armor on a walled field in Paris. What follows is a fierce duel, the final one sanctioned by governing powers, before a massive crowd that includes the teenage King Charles VI, during which both combatants are wounded—but only one fatally.

Based on extensive research in Normandy and Paris, THE LAST DUEL brings to life a colorful, turbulent age and three unforgettable characters caught in a fatal triangle of crime, scandal, and revenge. THE LAST DUEL is at once a moving human drama, a captivating true crime story, and an engrossing work of historical intrigue with themes that echo powerfully centuries later.]]>
242 Eric Jager Michael 3 3.91 2004 The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France
author: Eric Jager
name: Michael
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/10/25
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Dune (Dune, #1) 44767458
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.]]>
658 Frank Herbert 059309932X Michael 5 4.33 1965 Dune (Dune, #1)
author: Frank Herbert
name: Michael
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1965
rating: 5
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Metro 2034 (Metro, #2) 6667916
A year after the events of METRO 2033 the last few survivors of the apocalypse, surrounded by mutants and monsters, face a terrifying new danger as they hang on for survival in the tunnels of the Moscow Metro.

Featuring blistering action, vivid and tough characters, claustrophobic tension and dark satire the Metro books have become bestsellers across Europe.

**

Review
"The Metro universe is still one of the best realized apocalyptic settings around." —Nerd Like You

About the Author
Dmitry Glukhovsky is a Russian writer and journalist. His first novel, METRO 2033, a post-nuclear dystopia set in the Moscow subway, the world's biggest bomb shelter, was written as an online interactive experiment and published on his own website as a free project in 2002, then completed in 2004. Several years later, the novel came out as a printed book and became a success. It is translated into 37 languages has and has already sold over 2 million copies. Millions have read the free text of the novel in the original Russian language on its official website. Glukhovsky's following books, Metro 2034 and Metro 2035, Sumerki and Futu-re have also been published online and become an international success. Dmitry Glukhovsky is also known as one of the global pioneers of the transmedia storytelling. His 'Metro' saga is being told across his own novels 'Metro 2033' and 'Metro 2034', the two video games inspired by the books and continuing their storyline - 'Metro 2033' and 'Metro: Last Light', as well as novels written by other authors within and for 'The Universe of Metro 2033' international book franchise (70 books published by October 2015). Dmitry's most recent novel, a dystopia named 'Future', Dmitry Glukhovsky first published in a social network, Russia's leading 'VK'. Chapters of the novel were attached as free-download PDF documents, and were accompanied by a free-to-listen original soundtrack and illustrations; within few months, the page of 'Future' gathered over 300 000 subscribers. As a roving reporter for Russia Today and EuroNews, he traveled from Morocco and Guatemala to Iceland and Japan. He was deep in Chernobyl area to film the destroyed nuclear reactor, watched Russian rockets' launch at Baykonur, reported Israel's standoff with Hezbollah under the missiles in Kiryat-Shmona and made the world's first live report from the North Pole. Apart of his native Russian, Glukhovsky fluently speaks English, French, German, Hebrew and Spanish.]]>
526 Dmitry Glukhovsky 3453533011 Michael 4 3.53 2009 Metro 2034 (Metro, #2)
author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
name: Michael
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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date added: 2021/09/19
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Metro 2035 (Metro, #3) 33113864
The only survivors of the last war were those who made it into the gates of the Metro, the subway system of Moscow city. It’s there, hundreds of feet below the ground, in the vaults of what was constructed as the world’s largest air-raids shelter that people try to outlive the end of the days. It’s there that they created a new world for themselves.

The stations of Metro became city-states, and its citizens, torn apart by religions and ideologies are fighting for the now scarce commodities: air, water, and space. This tiny underground world can only remind humans of an immense world they once were the masters of.

It’s been twenty years past Doomsday, and yet the survivors refuse to give up. The most stubborn of them keep cherishing a dream: when the radiation level from nuclear bombings subsides, they will be able to return to the surface and have the life their parents once had.

But the most stubborn of the stubborn continues to search for other survivors in this huge emptiness that once was called Earth. His name is Artyom. He would give anything to lead his own people from the underground onto the surface.

And he will.]]>
497 Dmitry Glukhovsky 1539930726 Michael 4 3.96 2015 Metro 2035 (Metro, #3)
author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
name: Michael
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2)]]> 36307674
The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times-bestselling King of Scars Duology.

The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.]]>
592 Leigh Bardugo 1510109188 Michael 4 4.34 2021 Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Michael
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2021
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[King of Scars (King of Scars, #1)]]> 36307634 Face your demons... or feed them.

The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country's bloody civil war--and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka's coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren't meant to stay buried--and some wounds aren't meant to heal.]]>
511 Leigh Bardugo 125014227X Michael 4 4.16 2019 King of Scars (King of Scars, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Michael
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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date added: 2021/09/19
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<![CDATA[Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)]]> 22299763
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.]]>
561 Leigh Bardugo Michael 5 4.58 2016 Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Michael
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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date added: 2021/09/19
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<![CDATA[Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)]]> 23437156 Alternate cover of ISBN 9781627792127

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.]]>
480 Leigh Bardugo 1627792120 Michael 5 4.47 2015 Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Michael
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/19
date added: 2021/09/19
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<![CDATA[Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3)]]> 14061957 Alternative Cover Edition #1

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.]]>
350 Leigh Bardugo Michael 5 3.97 2014 Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Michael
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2014
rating: 5
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date added: 2021/09/19
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<![CDATA[Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2)]]> 14061955 Alternative Cover Edition #1

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her—or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.]]>
435 Leigh Bardugo Michael 4 3.81 2013 Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Michael
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2013
rating: 4
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date added: 2021/09/19
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<![CDATA[Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1)]]> 10194157 Alternative Cover Edition #1

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.]]>
358 Leigh Bardugo 1250048117 Michael 4 3.93 2012 Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Michael
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/19
date added: 2021/09/19
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Metro 2033 (Metro, #1) 17274667
More than 20 years have passed since the last plane took off from the earth. Rusted railways lead into emptiness. The ether is void and the airwaves echo to a soulless howling where previously the frequencies were full of news from Tokyo, New York, Buenos Aires. Man has handed over stewardship of the earth to new life-forms. Mutated by radiation, they are better adapted to the new world. Man's time is over.

A few score thousand survivors live on, not knowing whether they are the only ones left on earth. They live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever built. It is humanity's last refuge. Stations have become mini-statelets, their people uniting around ideas, religions, water-filters - or the simple need to repulse an enemy incursion. It is a world without a tomorrow, with no room for dreams, plans, hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price. VDNKh is the northernmost inhabited station on its line. It was one of the Metro's best stations and still remains secure. But now a new and terrible threat has appeared.

Artyom, a young man living in VDNKh, is given the task of penetrating to the heart of the Metro, to the legendary Polis, to alert everyone to the awful danger and to get help. He holds the future of his native station in his hands, the whole Metro - and maybe the whole of humanity.]]>
458 Dmitry Glukhovsky 1481845705 Michael 4 4.07 2002 Metro 2033 (Metro, #1)
author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
name: Michael
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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date added: 2021/09/19
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The Art of War 10534 170 Sun Tzu Michael 3 3.98 -400 The Art of War
author: Sun Tzu
name: Michael
average rating: 3.98
book published: -400
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/09/19
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<![CDATA[The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)]]> 23807
Dr. Lecter is a former psychiatrist with a grisly history, unusual tastes, and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind. His intimate understanding of the killer and of Clarice herself form the core of "The Silence of the Lambs"—an ingenious, masterfully written book and an unforgettable classic of suspense fiction.]]>
421 Thomas Harris Michael 4 4.25 1988 The Silence of the Lambs  (Hannibal Lecter, #2)
author: Thomas Harris
name: Michael
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2021/09/19
shelves:
review:

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