I've been eagerly awaiting this book since the minute I finished The Rogue King! While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I think Kasia stole the show in a lot of ways in the first book and Skylar was a bit more enigmatic and more standoffish in this one so it made it harder to connect. It also made the connection between Skylar and Landon a bit more fickle. The chemistry was there but there was less longing and more of them scrambling to push back apart from each other. It was kinda the opposite of what I felt in The Rogue King, I was more into Kasia and in The Blood King, Landon was the beacon for me. His role and his drive to protect and do right by his people was admirable and made him more accessible. Undoubtedly they make a good pair though. He clearly needed a strong match and Skylar was definitely that.

This sequel hit every other key perfectly for me. It enriched the already lavish world, the overall plot furthered, the dragon politics raged on, characters we've previously seen were expanded on, and we meet some new ones with sure to be interesting roles in the coming novels. I have to say I'm completely fascinated with Meira and what she has been up to. I'm hoping to see a bit more of the gargoyles she's been hanging around with in the next book! Also, very curious about the Black Clan dragons and how that'll all play out. Each addition to the series only makes me want more and more!

I received an arc of this book from Entangled: Amara via Netgalley and this is my honest review.

I first read this book in 1985, in the UK, when the three short novels that make up the series were published as a beautiful Trade Paperback under the title "The True Game".

It had a huge impact on me at the time and made me a Sherri Tepper fan for life. "The Gate To The Women's Country" and "Grass" are still two of my favourite Science Fiction books.

I decided to refresh my memory of it by listening to the audiobook and see how I feel about it after thirty-one years. Sadly, there is no audiobook version, so I had to settle for Kindle, who sell the books separately outside the UK.

"King's Blood Four" was Sheri Tepper's first novel. although, at just over two hundred pages, it's a little short to be a stand alone novel.It introduces us to a world where those who have a talent for magic live in a many-layered hierarchy, determined by a taxonomy based on the type and strength of their powers, and spend their time waging "The True  Game", a ritualised form of  warfare, on each other.

Those who suffer most under this arrangement are the Pawns, normal humans with no powers, who's life force if often consumed by those with talents to fuel their magic

When I first read it, I was impressed by the breadth and the originality of the ideas and the refusal to accept that war is or should b,e a game.

Reading it again, I still found the ideas plentiful nnd powerful. I was struck by the way charisma is portrayed as magic that enables leaders to make followers love them while preventing their followers from seeing who they really are

This time around, I found the writing a little thin. The book seemed more aimed at young adult than I remember it and I found I was kept at an emotional distance by the detached, dispassionate way that Peter told his own story.

Perhaps, if I was able to erase my memory of my first reading of this book, I could come at afresh and rediscover my enthusiasm for the book and its ideas.

As it is, I won't be re-reading the other two books in this trilogy. I'd rather keep my memory in tact.

Donald Trump: The Man Who Would Be King is best read before the November 2016 elections, while his bid for the presidency is still active and immediate, and is recommended reading for all sides, no matter what political stance is being adopted: Republication, Democrat, or other.

Unlike most Trump coverages on the market, Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince employ a tabloid-style approach to create an especially lively tone, compiling newsworthy ironies, inconsistencies, and outrageous events just as they did in their prior books; but they also add a deeper level that belays any perception of Donald Trump: The Man Who Would Be King as being just a Hollywood-style gossip piece.

They take the time to examine not just Donald, but the Trump family's history and its evolutionary process, then delve deeply into how "The King of Debt" rose to arrive where he is today.

Ordinarily over 700 pages of close inspection would prove too daunting for readers seeking quick, succinct coverages; but one of the driving forces behind Donald Trump: The Man Who Would Be King lies in its ability to synthesize an unbelievable amount of information into a format and presentation which blends lively irony with outrageous observations, entertaining even as it presents eye-opening information in a format accessible to all.

Politics dovetail with American obsessions and fascinations with trends, figureheads, drama, and sizzling news stories, but blend well with the observations of sociologists, psychologists, politicians, and others in a wide range of fields who lend their expertise and insights to create a much broader review of the Trump phenomena than a more casual book could provide.

The result is a 'must read' for any American interested in issues of race, freedom, equality, and justice - and for any non-American who wonders just what is going on behind the scenes in this country's latest election debacle.