Marked by Fire (Sons of Britain #1) by Mia West

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Eighteen-year-old Arthur burns for two things: a warrior’s ink, and Bedwyr, his older brother’s friend and shield-mate. Though the warlord’s son is beyond his reach, a Saxon incursion finally brings Arthur’s chance at the tattoo that will brand him a fighter. But when he abandons his training in the heat of battle, his reckless ambition costs Bedwyr his sword hand.

Once, Bedwyr trusted in two things: he was a warrior, and the presumed heir of Uthyr ap Emrys. Now, reeling from injury and banished by his father, he’s lost everything. The last person he can face is the cub who ignited his disastrous instinct to protect, especially when he arrives with Bedwyr’s armor and a dangerously hopeful scheme to restore him to his rightful place.

MARKED BY FIRE is the 1st book (28,000 words) of SONS OF BRITAIN, a fresh, dark, sexy retelling of Arthurian legend:

1. Marked by Fire
2. Etched in Stone
3. Bound by Blood

Content Note: Includes depictions of violence in battle settings.

SONS OF BRITAIN series
They’re a long way from legendary. Amid the volatility of 6th-century Britain, Arthur and Bedwyr are just two young men, born to fight and bound to their warlord by blood and oath. But when fierce hearts collide, loyalties can shift, creating bonds far stronger—and ideas far riskier—than their world may be ready for.

SONS OF BRITAIN is the second series of the STORM’S EDGE saga. 


I needed a quick read as I was in between books and Marked By Fire fit the bill. What I know about King Arthur is essentially what I've been exposed to in pop culture - lady in the lake, sword, knights, round table, Lancelot, Guinevere - so I was naturally curious about Mia West's reimagining of the legendary king. She certainly had fun with it. 

In West's version, Arthur is an impressionable young lad of eighteen who's ready to prove to his family and king that he's prepared for warfare. His first battle goes horribly wrong whereby the king's son, Bedwyr becomes injured when he attempts to protect Arthur from attack. Bedwyr is sent away from the village to heal and Arthur later follows after to care for him, train him and return with him to the village once he is all better. During this time Bedwyr's feelings for Arthur come to the surface. For Arthur, it's all his dreams come to fruition as he's been pining away for Bedwyr all this time. There's something innocent and sweet about their bond despite all the complications surrounding them.

I had a fun time reading Marked By Fire. Granted, it's a bit odd at first because an M/M version of the Arthurian legend has never crossed my mind. But since the legend itself has so many possible sources, it's easy for West to put her own spin on it. That time period in Britain has always fascinated me so I could hardly say no to ancient warriors, magic and romance. I liked that this starts off with a young Arthur before he discovers his destiny. This is my first book by Mia West and I plan on reading the rest of the Sons of Britain series!

~ Bel

Waiting on Wednesday (46)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.



By Marie Lu
Publication Date: January 29, 2013

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—-June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

Legend by Marie Lu

*** ½

Description taken from back cover:

Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a military prodigy committed to her country.

Born into the slums of Republic’s Lake Sector, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal.

From different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths-until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered.  And Day becomes the prime suspect.

Now, caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival while June tries desperately to avenge Metias’s death.  But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together and the sinister lengths to which their country will go to keep its secrets.

I was lucky enough to snag an ARC of Legend via librarything.com.  I have been sitting on it for a little while as I have been a little nervous to read it.  Just in case you weren’t aware, I LOVE The Hunger Games.  Worse yet, THG was the first and only dystopian series I have read.  With that being my basis for comparison, I was afraid that my expectations would be too high and that they wouldn’t be met.  But this week, I decided to put my fears aside and moved Legend to the top of my to-be-read pile.  And I am glad that I did.

Let me get The Hunger Games comparison out of the way first.  The only similarity between the two books is that they take place in a dystopian society where the government negatively controls everything one way or another.  Other than that, throw all your other preconceived THG-based dystopian ideas out the window.  The two books are nothing alike and I couldn’t have been happier about that fact. 

There were a couple things that I really didn’t care for in this book.  First, as much as I love romance, I actually would have preferred the romance to be taken more slowly or removed all together.  Regardless of the events that take place in the book, I would have expected there to be a lot more distrust between Day and June.  Second, everything seemed to be a little underwhelming and I felt that a lot of the story was predictable.  With the exception of a couple scenes, nothing shocked or surprised me. 

But you know what? This still turned out to be a really fun novel.  Marie Lu’s skills/strengths are in developing her main characters and making a story move.  Maybe I don’t think June and Day should be each other’s romantic interest but that doesn’t mean I didn’t absolutely love them individually.  Day is a future-day Robin Hood which makes you want to root for him immediately.  June is a girl that is very driven and not afraid to use her extreme intelligence to reach her goals (it was probably the military aspect but she made me think of a young Honor Harrington).  They are both very strong characters which is always a plus with the Bibliojunkies.

And even though I found a lot of this story to be predictable, that doesn’t mean it was at all slow.  Lu did an amazing job of making the action flow quickly.  This along with the love of the main characters made it difficult to put the book down.  I admit to staying up until 4 a.m reading Legend.  I finally had to force myself to go to sleep even though I only had 40 pages left.  No matter how much I was enjoying the book, those adorable pesky toddlers would be up bright and early only a few short hours later.   

The only problem now?  I have learned the down-side of reading an Advanced Readers Copy…the wait is even longer when you are looking forward to the next installment in the series.  And I will DEFINITELY be looking forward to the sequel to Legend.

Nat