This isn't the first time that the Emperor has given Hadrian an impossible task, but it certainly seems more boring than the others. And the boredom is starting to get to him. There have been numerous attempts on Hadrian's life, and that is one of the reasons he has been relegated to an obscure planet where his talents are going to waste. As Hadrian, humanity's most effective effective weapon, sits on the sidelines for decades, the war between the Empire and the Cielcin rages on without him. There is however one thing that has changed - humanity is now clearly losing the war. The Great Prince Syriani Dorayaica has united the Cielcin clans and is driving the Empire back at every turn. Hadrian has high hopes when he learns that the Emperor is coming in person to give him a new mission, but he is quickly disappointed when he finds out what it is. Hadrian is commanded to travel to the Lothrian Commonwealth and convince them to join the war on the side of the Empire. An impossible task for sure, and a boring one. Or not?

A Midsummer Night's Dream is my least favorite work by Shakespeare and at this point book shelves are collapsing under the weight of books with Fey or Faerie characters, so this book was a nice surprise. Author Sydney Cobb apparently likes Midsummer enough to ponder the identity of the child that Oberon and Titania were fighting over and realized there had to be a lot more to the story than Shakespeare knew. Of course the first thing Robin Goodfellow tells us is that Shakespeare didn't get the story quite right in the first place. The second thing he tells us is that he was still young and impulsive back then before admitting that not much has changed. It took a few hundred years but Titania has finally figured out why Oberon wanted her handmaid's child and she complained to her older sister Mab, Queen of the Gray Court, as opposed to Oberon's Green Court, who is now threatening war for the sake of her sister's honor. Naturally, Oberon has turned to his favorite and most trusted courtier to keep the half-fey boy hidden. Matching wits with Mab is exactly as difficult as Robin expects but he's determined to save the young man he loves like a brother even if it costs his immortal life in this twisty faerie-tale.

After defying death at the hands of the Cielcin, Hadrian Marlowe is now known as the Halfmortal and has become a bit of a legend within the Sollan Empire. His prominence has also amassed him quite a few enemies who feel that he is a threat to the throne, and he must now worry that the Emperor himself could be one of them. To make matters worse, the Cielcin have also upped their game and they now have a new leader known as the Scourge of Earth. This new leader is a lot more strategic and that has turned the tide of the war in the favor of the Cielcin. Despite all of those threats to Hadrian, what really grabbed me about this book was related to the "ancient" alien race known as the Quiet. Although some of the new revelations will make your brain hurt at times, for me the Quiet have now gone from a slightly boring thread in the series to a very interesting one.

Alustin, called the Last Loyal Son of Helecote, is poised to get revenge on just about everyone when he detonates the Tongue Eater in Haveth City. He just has to get it there and keep everyone distracted while he does it. To that end he has assembled an army of Powers from Helicote's former allies. He has told them that The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells, the death curse promised by the Lich of Helicote as he died, will shatter Haveth City's defenses and that the Chitin Wand, stolen from Skyhold along with the Tongue Eater, will destroy the city if they can use it at the right spot. But Alustin has refused to tell them what the Last Echo is and failed to mention the Tongue Eater at all because these "allies" failed to come to Helicote's aid when the Dominion destroyed them. He too will die, but its worth it to get his revenge. There's just one minor problem. According to Kanderon as she "died", detonating the Tongue Eater won't just destroy Haveth City, it will destroy the entire continent. As the Haveth Dominion rallies their strongest Powers and Kanderon's allies race to stop Alustin everyone ends up in a dramatic three-way battle full of magic and chaos.

Hadrian Marlowe has managed to free himself from his gilded cage and is now in a position to pursue his dream of seeking peace with the Cielcin. For 400 years the Sollan Empire has been at war with the alien Cielcin and it has now become a war that both sides have inherited rather than started. Because of this, Hadrian thinks that if humanity could just find the Cielcin leadership it might be possible to discuss peace with them and end the bloodshed. Rumors indicate that the path to finding the Cielcin lies with first finding the lost planet of Vorgossos, and that is something Hadrian has been pursuing for decades without much success. He has been chasing down one rumor after another and has nothing to show for it except yet another "promising" lead. With the limited support he has from the Empire eroding quickly, Hadrian finds he is at a crossroads. He must either commit treason against the Empire in order for it find peace or give up on his dream and return to his former captivity. For Hadrian Marlowe, that is no choice at all.

I really liked Blood Song and was hoping for something similar in its sequel, Tower Lord. The first book was basically Vaelin's life story in his own words. Tower Lord attempts to follow its many plots from all sides which makes it a less coherent novel. The story picks up from the end of Blood Song with Vaelin's return home. As a returning hero, or notorious warrior depending on your point of view, the new King appoints Vaelin as Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches. Vaelin would prefer to search for the missing Brother Frentis, the only dangling plotline from the previous book. Instead he finds himself dealing with aggressive tribes, petty feuds, and a woman out for revenge. One guess which is the most dangerous. Then there is Frentis who finds himself in thrall to a foreign sorceress and Princess Lyra who is determined to find him even if most people think he's dead. The Scribe Venier, who recorded Vaelin's tale in Blood Song, is now serving an Imperial General and relating events as they return the favor and invade Vaelin's country. All of this is the fallout of the traitor and Vaelin's actions in Blood Song but it leaves little room for the character development that was so engrossing in that first book.

The Sun Eater is a series that chronicles the life of Hadrian Marlowe. The official blurb says "The galaxy remembers him as a hero: the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a monster: the devil who destroyed a sun, casually annihilating four billion human lives - even the emperor himself - against Imperial orders." So this is one of those series where the reader knows that the protagonist is not going to die because he is the one telling the story of his life, something I am not a fan of, but it does come highly recommended so I decided to give it a try. This is a far distant future where Earth has been destroyed and since become the basis of the dominant religion, and humanity has spread among the stars using ships capable of interstellar travel. So it is epic in scope and the quoted blurb sets the stage for big things to happen, but it all starts with Hadrian as a young noble who resents his parents and wants no part of the gilded future that is available to him.

Hugh's world has been completely shattered. His teacher Alustin betrayed him and turned Hugh's pact with Kanderon into her downfall. He also stole the cruelest weapon their world has ever produced, the Tongue-Eater, which is capable of stealing a language and rendering its speakers mute for one or more generations. Sabae always suspected that they were a means to an end for Alustin, but not even she predicted his quest for revenge against the Empire would lead to such blatant treachery. With Kanderon presumed dead, and only one injured council member left, Skyhold is broken and leaderless. Hugh is convinced that Kanderon isn't dead and he is willing to do whatever it takes to help her, while his friends concoct a desperate plan to stop Alustin before he unleashes the Tongue-Eater. It's a plan that will literally expose them to multiple new worlds in the process.

Firefly: Carnival is the 6th book in the series, but chronologically it would be first because the events in it occur during the time of the original TV series. That makes it a pretty standalone novel with a unique setting for telling a fun story because the planet Bethel has a definite Las Vegas vibe going for it. On Bethel, Carnival is approaching and that means three days of non-stop partying, but that's not the reason why the crew of Serenity have arrived there. Mal and crew have taken on a security job that requires them to guard an important shipment of minerals, which should be a piece of cake. Of course, even when Mal is trying to be on the right side of the law, things don't go according to plan. The shipment is stolen and the crew of Serenity finds themselves split up, with two of them taken hostage by the owner of the lost shipment. If Mal doesn't come up with the 500 platinum required to pay for the shipment, then those two will be executed, and local law enforcement won't do anything about it. This puts the rest of the crew at odds and it results in a lot of arguing over what the plan should be. When that fails to produce a viable option, multiple schemes are taken on by various crew members, each trying to earn some quick money before it is too late.

Hugh and his friends survived the City of Ithos but Hugh was badly injured in the process. Kanderon's enemies are coming for her, the Splinter, and the Tongue-Eater, which she's had since she originally used the Splinter. She keeps it in the Skyhold Vault with the other things that should never be used. That is, after all, the true purpose of the Librarians Errant of Skyhold, to collect dangerous items and remove them from the world. Back at Skyhold they are preparing the defenses but with most of the Council killed by Bakori there is one wounded councilor, one admitted traitor, and Kanderon who has been gone dealing with Ithos. They may be weaker than usual but Kanderon built Skyhold with strong defenses and she has strengthened her alliance with the other Powers of the Erg desert even if many of them cannot leave their territories.