Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

 Having left her old job when her boss turned out to be a creep Evie Sage now needs a new one. Even more so since she needs to provide for her younger sister and ailing father. On the way home from a job fair she runs into The Villain hiding from the king's soldiers. Finding him to be nothing like the grotesque caricatures on the wanted posters she accept his offer to become his assistant. But there is something rotten in the office and it's not just the severed heads decorating the entryway. Someone is ruining the villains carefully laid plans. 

There's a spy in the office. 

My thoughts

I don't really know what I think about this book. Reading the blurb and looking at the cover I assumed that it would be set in modern times. The word villain leading me to think it of super heroes or James Bond. In hindsight the swords and spears on the cover should have been a clue that it is in fact set in a vaguely medieval, fairytalesqe period. But I didn't catch that and was somewhat disappointed when I started to read it. Until I had read a few chapters and realized that the historic setting is only thinnest veneer. Yes there are kings and dragons and swords and magic, but there is also Evies ongoing feud with Becky from HR, large amounts of coffee and interns. And just because The Villain (that's what he's called for most of the book) occasionally shoots arrows at them does not change the fact that interns was not a thing in medieval times.

It's basically a modern workplace drama about people working for the villain, which I suppose is what I thought it would be. But I'm still disappointed.

When it comes to the spy plot I was happy to find that my guess turned out to be wrong (it would have been too predictable if I was right). I think maybe they should have worried about it more at least after the assassination attempt. Maybe not worried because they do but there should be more descriptions of them doing countermeasures to trap the spy. Then again I like clever people competing in a game of wits and this is a romance first and spy thriller maybe third. But all in all a fairy decent plot until the end when the spy is revealed turned out to be cartoonishly evil. 

This is the part I was interested in but there was also the romantic main plot. I don't care much for  romance as a genre and I didn't really care that much about their ongoing lovestory. I mostly don't really see why they would be interested in each other, apart from him being hot and her not being afraid of him. Which is really no basis for a relationship. But it didn't impede the spy plot that much so it's fine.    

All in all its a nice book but probably better for someone who likes romance.

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Assistant.

What I did today

After a morning of posing my books for pictures to use for future reviews I decided to go for a bit of a walk.
I've recently moved to the big city and since then I've had a plan to go for a walk and take pretty winter pictures. In my mind there would be crisp white snow and clear blue sky. There has been times like that this last month but only on weekdays while I'm at work and by the time the weekend rolled around it was mostly melted or it was raining. But this week it has snowed and since it's now February I doubt I'll get another chance until at least November. So despite the cold (it was actually 1 degree) and my cold ( I've had a sore throat since Wednesday) I found my camera filled a thermos of tea and set out to a nearby park. 

I found something interesting on the way. A house that was clearly an attempt to recreate old architectural details but using modern materials, so concrete and steel. You don't see that very often and I for one appreciate the attempt, though some color wouldn't go amiss. 

To get to the park I took the path through the old cemetery. There the earliest flowers were battling the snow, snowing me that I was indeed leaving this endeavor to the last minute.  

It was very much a classic winter day, with more sleet than snow, more windy than cold (considering my goal was to photograph snow I should not complain about the cold this much but I will) and a thick cloud cover. All combined it makes my pictures look quite dreary. 

Anyway on wards to Kings park. Which is my favorite park in the city mostly because it's in the English (pretend it's actually nature) style. Where despite the weather there was quite a bit of people. Mostly walking dogs or running and also birds. Most interestingly these herons, that were chilling on a small island along with some other birds.

When I set out I had originally planned to go all the way to the beach. I have rarely been to beaches in the winter and I have a theory that it would be miserable i.e even more cold windy and damp then the rest. As I'm writing this that sounds like a terrible reason to go there and I suspect it says a lot about me that I only realize this two days later. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't end up going. By the time I got to the end of the park which by my estimate is  about two thirds of the way there the wind had picked up and I was starting to actually freeze. Also it was nearing lunchtime and I hadn't brought anything to eat. So that will have to be an adventure for another day preferably when it's warmer and I have my bike with me. 

So I went back into the park and taking a different route back I found a bench out of the wind. Where I took a break for some tea and trail mix. And no that bag is not resealable and I forgot to bring anything to seal it with. But I managed to stuff it in a pocket so there isn't almonds all over my bag.

Then I was off for home, with only took a quick detour to the library. I've only been there once before and that was for work. So I wanted to check out their sci-fi and fantasy selection. After looking for a while, there were no signs for the adult section only the YA part. I discovered when I left that 

I'd confused what floor I was on (the main floor is actually the second one and I thought it was the first). After wandering around for a bit I gave up and asked for directions. It had some interesting things and a few which I've been meaning to read. As part of moving I decluttered my bookshelves and have since decided to try and limit the amount of books I buy. The idea is that I should only buying physical copies of those that I know I'll like. So if it's by an author I haven't read before I should try to borrow it first or get it as an ebook. I'll probably frequent the library more than I have since money will be a bit tight for the next two years and I Will have more time to read. 

And that's it  

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

The murderbot diaries is a science fiction series with seven books. The first four books are fairly short, less than two hundred pages each, but well worth the read. I assume the other three are good too but haven't read them yet.

 Murderbot is a security unit (Secunit) half robot and half cloned human rented out by the Company to provide security for various research expeditions. They named themself Murderbot after a disastrous mission. That mission was then deleted from their memory banks but they still have some memories of it in their neural tissue. Just enough to know something bad happened. To stop it from happening again they hack themself. Freeing them from the Company's control. 

But the world isn't kind to a lone rouge Secunit, even one who just want to watch their tv-series in peace. The books follow them as they first seek their deleted memories and then tries to find their place in the world. On the way they make friends with humans and bots alike and fight back against the evil corporations. 

Murderbot is the most adorable character. I just want to give them a blanket, a hug and tell them everything will be alright. But they are too antisocial to want that. They mostly just want to be left alone to watch their tv-series. As for the plots the books are focused on Murderbot investigating various corporate ploys while trying to keep their humans safe. All the books are liberally sprinkled with violence in a good way. Fast paced is how I'd describe the.

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. 

If you haven't read it you can check it out here Murderbot.