Little Known Blogs: Once Upon a Prologue

Once a month I will be hosting a new feature Little Known Blogs, in order to give the spotlight to blogs that I love that need need deserve a little more attention. In order to be considered for this feature you must have less than 200 followers and have great content. If you’d like to be considered for this feature please fill out this form.  The form isn't working so just comment or email me to be considered for the feature.

This month’s feature: Once Upon A Prologue

Why did you start your blog?

Once Upon a Prologue was created in early March 2011 out of this yearning I had to find people who would discuss books with me.  I am not lucky enough to have that many friends who love books as much as I do.  I have posted over at LiveJournal for the past seven years or so, but even there, there wasn't the outlet I wanted, the...community, the sense of belonging somewhere.  I wanted to dig deep and share my joy and my heartache over really, really good books, and know that people understood.  And I wanted to get more involved in the book community in general: be up to date on news, branch out and read books I normally wouldn't, and improve on my own writing by learning to write for various audiences.

   What is your favorite part of blogging?

Like I mentioned above in my reasoning for starting my blog,  I wanted that sense of familiarity, of people knowing my name and associating me with literature.  I love when I connect with a fellow blogger, when we love the same book or character, and get to bond over that.  I think my absolute favorite part is the sense almost, in a way that I hope sounds genuine and not trite, of coming home.  I get a kick out of coming home and checking my Dashboard for new reviews/memes/etc from other book bloggers.

    What book is your current obsession? (The one that you're so in love with at the moment)

Kelley Armstrong's Bitten.  I'd read some of her YA books but none of her adult paranormal romance.  I don't give 4 or 5 star reviews easily but I finished Bitten with a happy, sated sigh.  I'd read something fantastic.  It gets as many stars as possible; it's been on my mind since I finished it.  I HAD to go right out and buy the sequel.  I'm really invested in the mythos and in the characters, as well as the (fantastically written) main couple. 

    What do you when you aren't blogging or reading?

I'm a writer, so even when I am in a dry spell where I'm not writing I'm always, always thinking about this character or that, planning some new twist in the stories I tell.  My best friend and I have this sprawling 'verse where we've set up several big families to mix with plenty of drama, romance, and mystery.  Writing is my heart.  : )  I also love to shop (I am a bit of a shopaholic), especially for scarves, shoes, and purses, and, even though this will make me sound insane, I love my job. I'm a Installed Sales coordinator with Lowes, and after over two years the job continues to fascinate me.  I'm also a huge TV geek (I love me some Bones, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and Doctor Who.)  And of course, my friends!  I adore them and spending them with them just chilling and being silly and awesome.

    Please link any posts you'd like to give more attention.

I have a link on my navigation bar for my reviews and I'd love to get a little more feedback on them from fellow bloggers!  I want my reviews to be succinct since I kind of consider that (while I'm being honest on if I liked the book or not) I am writing not just for myself but for an audience of book bloggers. 

Sample Review:

Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly

Published: Del Rey

Pages: 352

Final Rating: 3 1/2 of 5 stars

When the Black Dragon seized the Deep of Ylferdun, young Gareth braved the far Winterlands to find John Aversin, Dragonsbane — the only living man ever to slay a dragon. In return for the promise of the King to send help to the Winterlands, Aversin agreed to attempt the nearly impossible feat again.

With them, to guard them on the haunted trip south, went Jenny Waynest, a half-taught sorceress and mother of Aversin's sons.

But at the decadent Court, nothing was as expected. Rebellion threatened the land. Zyerne, a sorceress of seemingly unlimited power, held the King under an evil spell, and he refused to see them. Meantime, the dragon fed well on the knights who had challenged him.

In the end, Aversin, Jenny, and Gareth had to steal away at night to challenge Morkeleb, largest and wisest of dragons.

But that was only the beginning of the perils they must face.

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John Aversin, Dragonsbane, hasn't actually slain a dragon in quite some time when Gareth, the King's messenger, arrives to beseech him to return to the Court to rid them of the beast currently plaguing them.  John reluctantly agrees and Barabara Hambly's intelligent and gripping fantasy tale ensues. 

Dragged out of semi-retirement, John still has a few tricks up his sleeve.  I absolutely love him, with his spectacles, and his love of lore and trivia and old books.  John meets his match in Morkeleb, a different sort of dragon.  It was hilarious and fascinating, watching their interaction - and seeing a dragon, usually the villian, in a new light.  Morkeleb has a dry sense of humor and was one of my favorite characters.

Along with the dragon, trouble - serious trouble - is brewing at the Court for John and for Jenny, his lover and a half-trained witch, in the form of a younger and more powerful sorceress, Zyerne.  She has bespelled the king, and only Jenny can see through her.  Jenny's struggles with accepting her power and her limitations are thrown into sharp relief, and Barbara Michaels writes about Jenny's insecurities with aching clarity.  When Jenny and Zyerne finally clash, my heart was pounding along with Jenny's. 

I loved the mythos of this book - from Jenny's remembrances of the mage who trained her, to the villiages, to the keep of the dwarves, and their particular brand of magic, Hambly creates a believable backdrop for her delightful and sinister tale of magic, deceit, and politics.

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Thanks for being with us today!

Categories: Little Known Blogs