10 Things I Loved About Blood of the Queen by Amalia Dillin

If you haven't read Honor Among Orcs you should go check out my review and interview, and then read the book and then read this book because this series is awesomesauce.
Arianna escaped the horrors of her father's house and survived the treacherous journey over the mountain and all of the dangers she faced with the orcs and elves who wanted to kill or control her. But her new husband, Bolthorn, is now worried about his missing brother and Arianna feels completely inadequate for the responsibilities that will fall on her shoulders as Gythja - leader with her husband of the Hrimthursar clan. Add to that the new powers she doesn't quite understand and a baby on the way and Arianna is facing a lot of uncertainty. Can she and Bolthorn rescue his brother and cousin without losing themselves in the process? And can Arianna face her past and break free of the hold her father still has on her?

This book is available today so go buy it!
Check out more about Amalia at her blog or on GoodReads, follow her on Twitter, or like her page on Facebook.
You can also check out our other posts related to Amalia's books.

Now check out the 10 things I loved about Blood of the Queen. I've avoided spoilers of this book, but it is a sequel, so if you haven't read the first book, just be aware I'll most likely be spoiling that one to some extent :)

1. The worldbuilding - Amalia does a great job crafting this complex, political world with four different races without it feeling overwhelming or info-dumping. I like the way she weaves in all the little details about cultures and customs throughout the story.
2. Arianna - I like the way everything isn't all perfect because Arianna escapes her father and finds the love of her life. She's still an individual with a lot of baggage and issues to deal with along with personal strengths that help drive her forward. She's well-rounded and enjoyable to watch grow.
3. Bolthorn - It was nice getting to learn a bit more about him, even if the focus was on Arianna. I love the way he loves Arianna and sees the best in her. But he's well-rounded as well with his own flaws and struggles to work through and deal with.
4. Their relationship - Although there is a lot of other stuff going on, Arianna and Bolthorn's relationship is still a central piece of the drama. Their relationship is impacted and impacts the larger political upheavals taking place. In addition, they're a couple dealing with the shift into being a partnership and the work of being a couple with ups and downs, disagreements, and trying to figure out how to deal together with all of the things they face. It's nice to see the couple after the traditional fairy tale ending.
5. Isolfur - I really loved getting to know more about the water horse. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil anything, but I found this aspect of the story quite fascinating.
6. Isabel and Rodric - It was so interesting seeing this piece of Arianna's past and the things that are revealed through these two people who mean so much to her.
7. The magic - I was really interested in the way the magic was explored further with its own rules and with Arianna's struggle to understand how things work and what the cost is.
8. More information about Sinmarra - I like the way that this was built from the previous book and I'm excited to see where it goes in the next one. I know that's super vague, but spoilers!
9. The cliffhanger - oh the cliffhanger. Okay, so the book is complete and the quest they set out on was completed in its way, but so many questions. So many many questions and I need to know the answers!
10. So much potential - I don't think a third book has been confirmed officially but there has to be another one. There has to be because I need to know what happens! And, the way it ended it's pretty much confirming that there is more to this story. I want so much more of this world.

Update: I forgot to mention that I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. That had no bearing on my review - I really loved it this much :)

10 Things About Amalia Dillin and Honor Among Orcs

Arianna might be a princess, but she's grown up being viewed as purely a tool for the king's use. Mocked, belittled, and humiliated she seeks refuge in the forbidden rooms that used to be her mother's. When she finds Bolthorn, an orc trapped in a magic mirror, Arianna is struck by his strength and his sense of honor. And she begins to see a glimmer of hope that perhaps they could save each other. But escaping the castle could only be the beginning of all their troubles. Do they have enough faith to survive or will their differences shatter any hope of freedom?

Yesterday Amalia Dillin's new book Honor Among Orcs came out and if you haven't, you should definitely pick it up, add it to your TBR pile, and get to it as quickly as possible. I reviewed her book Forged by Fate last year, and I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to be an advance reader for Honor Among Orcs. I met Amalia via Twitter several years ago and have loved following her as she has gotten published and moved forward in her writing career. But instead of just reviewing the book, I thought it would be fun to get to know Amalia a little bit better as well.

So first I give you five things you might not know about Amalia Dillin.

1. If you had to tweet a summary of your book what would it be?
Tolkien meets Beauty and the Beast when Princess Arianna finds an orc trapped inside a magic mirror in HONOR AMONG ORCS!

2. Where did you get the idea for Honor Among Orcs?
There's a line in the Silmarillion which says that the orcs were elves once, before they were stolen, and essentially tortured into their current form - the idea just captivated me, especially combined with the concept of the half-orc. I kept thinking, under what circumstances might a human woman and an orc get together WITHOUT violence or assault? Honor Among Orcs is kind of my answer to the combination of those two ideas!

3. Can you tell us a little bit about your publishing journey for this book?
I wrote Honor in 2012 as part of NaNoWriMo - it actually ballooned out from a short story, to a novella, to a series. I queried it a bit and got a few requests, but ultimately I signed my agent with a different project, and once we'd gotten that one out the door, I pitched her Honor Among Orcs. Because it's pretty cross-genre, my agent suggested self-publishing might be the best option, and after some hesitation and number crunching, I agreed. I hadn't ever really intended to go the self-publishing route, necessarily, but I just couldn't NOT give this book a chance. I'm actually REALLY excited about it, and the whole process of getting it ready to go live has really been a labor of love. Bolthorn and Arianna *might* be my favorites! (But don't tell Thor I said that.)
Rebecca T here - I am so glad you pursued self-publishing because the thought of never getting to experience this book saddens me immensely. It's amazing and I think Bolthorn and Arianna just might be one of my favorite book couples ever.

4. If you had to pick one, what book or author do you think was most influential, either to you as a writer or to the development of this book?
Tolkien, for sure, as the most influential for Honor Among Orcs. But I think Tolkien is kind of the answer for a LOT of high fantasy! We owe a lot to him as an inventor of the genre. I'm not exactly a Lord of the Rings devotee, but I really admire his work as a reinvention and creation of a mythology for Britain. He's pretty much amazing. Honor Among Orcs plays a little bit with Norse Mythology too, so we have that in common, as well.

5. What is your favorite dessert?
Oh man. It is a tie between cookies and chocolate pudding. Particularly home made chocolate chip cookies. I spread the dough as a big sheet and bake them kind of like a brownie, then I cut them into bars, and they are maybe the best cookies in the history of cookies, imho. But cook and serve chocolate pudding, with that awesome skin on the top after it cools a bit - I have so many fond memories of making it with my grandmother and there's just nothing else like it!
Rebecca T here again - I concur. I love pudding skin and never understood people who thought it was gross!

So there you have it - 5 fun facts about Amalia. You can follow her on Twitter or Tumblr, like her author page on Facebook, become a fan of her on GoodReads, or check out her blog to keep up with new projects she has coming up. Or just because she's a pretty cool person.

Now for 5 things I loved about Honor Among Orcs. I may have a hard time keeping this to just five, but here we go.

1. The Premise. As Amalia mentions above, there is definitely influence from Tolkien, but this is not a Tolkien story either. I love the way the orcs are constantly yearning to return to their "true" forms as elves and how that impacts the behavior, politics, and decisions which in turn affect both Arianna and Bolthorn.
2. Arianna and Bolthorn. Like I said above, I think the two of them are so well drawn. There is an amazing development of the relationship between these two characters, yet they are defined in and of themselves as well. And there is a moment in the book where I was actually sending Amalia threatening e-mails if she dared to do what I thought might happen. Prepare to get invested in these characters' lives!
3. The World. I know this is connected to the premise, but the crafting of the world that the characters live in is so vibrant. I could envision everything from the castle where Arianna is all but a prisoner to the forest to the mountaintops. It all comes to life in Amalia's deft style.
4. The Supporting Cast. Vana, Fossegrim (how much do I love him?!), Eistla, Hyndla, Bolvarr - the whole group of secondary characters is as wonderfully drawn and I am yearning to know what happens with them in the next book.
5. It has a little bit of everything. There's fantasy, romance, magic, mythology, political manipulation, danger, intrigue - everything you could want in a book.

So go find yourself a copy of Honor Among Orcs! I'm sure you won't regret it.

We Love Thor: Blog Hop Fun

So this week, Amalia Dillin's second book in the Fate of the Gods Trilogy came out! And if you haven't read her books yet, you totally should.
The first book, Forged by Fate, came out earlier this year and you can read Rebecca T's Top 10 Things she loved about it. Then Tempting Fate, a novella showing things from Mia and Adam's point of view came out a few months ago. Now we finally get to read more of the story in Fate Forgotten which came out yesterday! Amalia does such a great job of weaving together the Biblical account with other mythologies from around the world. Especially Thor. Because Thor rocks.

So this is our stop in the Thor Love Blog Hop! You can head over HERE to check out the other blogs who are taking part too.

One of the things we founded the Booksellers Without Borders NY blog on is our eclectic group of Borders family members who add different takes on the books, tv shows, or movies we review. We like to try to do group posts fairly regularly, so we thought this would be a fun time to do that. So here are some of our favorite Thor versions!

NaomiRuth: My favorite is probably Amalia Dillin's from Forged by Fate. Amalia's Thor is so interesting as a character. ... he cares so much about Eve and does the best he can for her. I like Amalia's world-building and how interactions go between the mythologies. ... it's more than just liking her Thor, but liking her Thor in her world.

Jess B: Thor is my second favorite super hero ;) My absolute favorite is Avengers Disassembled: Thor by Michael Avon Oeming. It's when the Avengers have to help fight the Norse God apocalypse and Thor doesn't know if he should be helping fight it or help usher it in. It's sooooo good! Oh!!!! And Frog of Thunder is hilarious! Throgs is the character name and he is Thor, but Loki turned him into a frog; they are hilarious!!!!

Rachelyons: The Beard and I have seen both The Avengers and Thor and absolutely love them! Thor is my favorite superhero after Iron Man. The Beard puts The Avengers on almost every day because it's on Netflix. ... He's been reading Thor comics recently - he just read a part where Thor puts Asgard in the desert and Loki becomes a woman - "typical comic book craziness" he says.

Rebecca T: I'm a big fan of comic book movies, though I'm still a bit intimidated by the comic book world of books. I really do like the version of Thor in both the recent Thor and The Avengers movies and I'm really excited about Thor: The Dark World movie coming out this week! But I never really paid much attention to Thor until I became Twitter buddies with Amalia. Her enthusiasm for Norse mythology and Thor in particular was infectious and I absolutely adore the way she writes his character in the Fates of the Gods series. But my favorite incarnation of Thor is from Amalia and Mia Hayson's Thor in Zombieland serial they took turns writing on their blogs a couple of years ago. You can find all of the links HERE and should be ready for some absolutely hilarious hi-jinks.

10 Things I Loved About Forged by Fate by Amalia Dillin

I met Amalia on Twitter (@AmaliaTd if you are interested) a while ago and we've had fun singing Disney songs and making random hashtag conversations and sharing Thor love. So when I heard that her book was going to be published I was so ecstatic for her. I knew that she was going to be writing about Norse mythology, but the tag-line on the cover of the gorgeous book initially gave me a little pause.

It wasn't that it didn't look interesting or intriguing. It's just that I'm always a little nervous when someone writes a book adapting stories from the Bible.

Behold! Gorgeous cover!

However, I loved the book so much. So here are my top 10 favorite things about Forged by Fate.

1. The way Amalia weaves together her transformation of the Biblical creation story along with Norse, Egyptian, and Greek mythology (to name a few).
2. Thor. I loved his place in the story and I am dying to see how it plays out in the next book!
3. Eve. Definitely Eve. Strong, compassionate, humble, and the mother of everything.
4. Mia! Amalia and I met through the lovely and hyper Mia Hayson so seeing Eve's sister named Mia gave me all kinds of happiness. Also Mia the character cracks me up.
5. The multiple story lines. I really like how it rotated between present day, creation, and the progression of time as seen by Thor. It moved the story line along well and helped to pull all of the threads together in a very unique way.
6. Garritt. I loved his passion for protecting Eve. And of course that leads me to
7. Reu. And the whole story of the tribe of the Lions. So cool.
8. The lions! I want a pack of lions to follow me around and protect me!
9. Ra and Athena. Though they were only minor characters they just popped on the page. Nothing flat about these characters!
10. The ending! It left me wanting more without being too horrible of a cliffhanger. Nothing was resolved, but it didn't leave me angry like a lot of books that end quite openly.

So hopefully you are a little bit intrigued about this story and will go buy it and read it yourself! I say you won't be disappointed at all :)