2013 February Reading List

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb – While the writing flows nicely and the world building is not dull, reading about the childhood of a stubborn but purposeless kid set in medieval times was not all that exciting to me. 3/5 stars

To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer – I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read a translation of this book. I found the English somehow hard to stomach. Yet another example of sci fi writers expecting too much from the future. 2008? Yeah, right! 4/5 stars

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – The constant jumping between storylines was quite distracting. 3/5 stars

A Secret Atlas by Michael A. Stackpole – Book’s too big and messy compared to what it managed to achieve. Can’t say I enjoyed it, and I have zero interest in reading the other books in the series. 3/5 stars

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – A gem clearly not written for the children from this ADHD century. 3/5 stars

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead – I was so ready for this series to end, but apparently there’s more? Damn. 3/5 stars

Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi – There’s very little sci fi or fantasy in this story, except at the end when it turns full out X-men. There’s zero world building, and frankly, the world makes no sense. It reads like a bitter-sweet love story disguised as a dystopia. The narrator’s inner monologue is full of metaphors, but it’s not grating even if it uses present tense. Because it hits a little too close to home, I can’t say I hated it but… 2/5 stars

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge – It has a slow and not terribly exciting start, but the second half is absolutely great. The best read of the month by far. 4/5 stars

Blue Moon Cafe Series Review (6)

"I believe it would be particularly appropriate for the reluctant reader, who is sure to be surprised at how involved he becomes in the various short stories as well as the overall tale. I definitely recommend this book by the very talented Ioana Visan. I also urge you to keep an eye open for more books penned by her, as she is very capable of building an entertaining story." - Grampy

I particularly liked the first sentence because this is how I market this book: Shapeshifter stories for non-shapeshifter fans.

And the last sentence because... well... stay tuned! :) 

Read the full review here.

Blue Moon Cafe Series: Where Shifters Meet for Drinks is available through Amazon, Amazon.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.jp, iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords, for only $0.99 for a short period of time.  

Coming Soon: Argos Magazine

In case you didn't notice, if you go to Galileo Online and click on the Argos pic, you'll have a little surprise. By the way, I love those colors. Kudos to the art designer!

Guest Appearance on Radio Romania Cultural

On Saturday, February 9, I'm invited to make a guest appearance along Narcisa Stoica and Raluca Baceanu on "Exploratorii lumii de maine" (Tomorrow World Explorers) radio show hosted by Stefan Ghidoveanu on Radio Romania Cultural.

The show takes place between 13:15 and 13:45 (GMT+2), and you can listen to it live on Radio Romania Cultural's website. I see they have a live cam too, but don't get too excited, I won't be in the studio. I'll be calling in.

There's a big announcement waiting to be made, if time allows it, so stay tuned!

Update: It turned out that I had no reason to be nervous about speaking on the radio. It was like panicpanicpanicpanic for the last half an hour before the show, and then five minutes before the show started I told myself 'this is silly, it's going to be fine'. And it was. I mean it wasn't bad for a first live interview. Sure, my voice sounds like that of a five years old or as if I haven't eaten anything in a week when ran through a machine, but other than that I think I did well. I sure as hell won't have  any problems doing an interview in the future. So bring it on! :)

Going back to the big announcement I mentioned earlier, a Romanian collection of my short stories is planned to be published this spring and launched at the Final Frontier book fair in March. I'll tell you more when I know more.

Blue Moon Cafe Series Review (5)

Readers' Favorite has a review of Blue Moon Cafe Series: Where Shifters Meet for Drinks:

"There are plenty of humorous touches and lots of imagination in evidence in these quirky, tightly-plotted stories. There’s romance, tension, craziness, suspense, and threat. Each story in the collection has a slightly different tone, from comedy in 'Once in a Blue Moon', with the added moral of ‘be careful what you buy off someone in a bar’, and tension and conflict in 'A Mutt Problem', to definite foreboding yet optimism in 'The Day We Shot the Moon out of the Sky'. The various characters are sparsely yet adequately portrayed. This author concentrates her writing energy where it matters most - in creating atmosphere and entertainment." - Stephanie Dagg

Read the full review here.

Blue Moon Cafe Series: Where Shifters Meet for Drinks is available through Amazon, Amazon.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.jp, iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords, for only $0.99 for a short period of time.