If you haven’t heard yet, the news just broke 2 days ago, but it came as no surprise to me. Shelfari has been acquired by Amazon.

There are definitely areas where the two sites could have synergies in terms of their objective of community building amongst book lovers. From an online marketing perspective, I think Shelfari complements what Amazon already offers. As a fan and user of both Amazon and Shelfari, it means I can have the best of both worlds. 

Josh sent an email to Shelfari members assuring “that Shelfari will live on and only get better. We’ve got some big plans ahead. In the meantime, you’ll continue to enjoy the great community features you’ve always known and used on the site.” And that “Shelfari and Amazon will work hand in hand to create innovative new ways to enjoy the books you love.”

So, what do you think of this latest partnership? I don’t know about you but I’m already looking forward to what they will unveil in the months to come.

Sit tight … 

Right after reading these two books, I’ve this weird sense of déjà vu. The story arc itself has strong biblical undertones to it, what with the Armageddon-like final battle, the rebirth, the blood sacrifice … it was as if I was reading something meant for heavier reading.

But there’s one theme that’s kind of common with other fantasy epics I’ve read, and that’s the topic of incest. I don’t know about you, but I noticed that this seems to be a recurring subplot in quite a number of authors’ works … Melanie Rawn, MZB comes to mind. I’m digressing, however, so let me get back on the review track and introduce these two Sara Douglass gems properly.

Pilgrim and Crusader bring Sara Douglass’ epic fantasy series centred on three diverse races to a climactic ending. Pilgrim traces the journey of the TimeKeepers across the land of Tencendor and bears witness to the carnage they spread as they raced to resurrect Qeteb; while Crusader deals with Drago’s quest to reclaim his true heritage as Starson and the crusader destined to battle the evil Qeteb in a bid to save Tencendor.

Am taking a break between Olympic watch and reading Blue Dragon – that’s right, I finally tracked down a much awaited copy of this book — to bring you this lil’ catch-up post.

Let’s see now … on the way up, I popped into Harris books, it was the only shop open at 5am in the morning, so of course, my hands got itchy. I ended up adding three more books to my carry-on, namely Tangled Up in You by Rachel Gibson, An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell, both editions published by Little Black Dress and a rather forgettable Temptation of the Warrior by Margo Maguire. 

I was rather intrigued by the synopsis of the third book, but the Temptation of the Warrior turned out to be a dud with me.  I won’t be reviewing that book as it warrants at most a 2.5 rating.  I didn’t like it enough.  Let’s just say the fantasy and magic angle of the story was a little contrived, and really could have been better developed.

Disappointing book aside, the upside of visiting Sydney was the opportunity to hunt down the elusive next instalment of Aussie author Kylie Chan’s Dark Heavens trilogy. I mean, where else would I have a much greater chance of finding the sensational fantasy writer’s book than on her own turf, so to speak, right? 

And I wasn’t disappointed … found it waiting for me on the bookshelf of Timeslink at the Kingsford Smith Airport.  And not a moment too soon … as I was rushing for my return flight home, and having had no chance to go sightseeing at night, I was banking on finding a copy there.  And now, I simply have to get back to the story of Emma and John … Kylie Chan simply gets better.

Am off to Sydney, New South Wales early tomorrow morning for work. Be back to fill you in on the loads of books read  since last post (yeah, there’s a whole backlog of reviews) … and maybe, just maybe, Kylie Chan’s last instalment of Dark Heavens trilogy, which I despair of ever finding in local stores and on Amazon.

p.s. Fingers crossed.

p.p.s Let’s see if I could get some bookcrossing done while I’m there.