Nose in a book

I have an apology to make, internet. And to you too, TV. You only have half my attention at the moment. While both of you would normally take up 100% of my leisure time, I have something else distracting me right now: a book.

Yes, I've once again grown completely obsessed with a book series. There's not enough spare time in the day to be reading it! I haven't been this "into" a book for a very long time.

The irony is, it's a series I've read before, and was one of my teenage favourites. The book in question is "Daughter of the Empire", the first in the "Empire" series by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. If you'd ever read Feist's Midkemia novels ("Magician" may even be considered a fantasy classic) this series fits in nicely as it is set in a sister-world, and pleasingly, they make a young girl the protagonist.

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Thus, I am chest-deep in a world that unlike the Midkemia novels, which have a Medieval European feel, is distinctly Feudal Japan in flavour. Kelewan is a world where the great families strive for the honour of their House, in a great Machievellian web of intrigue known as the Game of the Council.

Sound familiar? It reminds me of Game of Thrones! There's different Houses with their own colours and crests, and when you play the Game, you win or you die...

Re-discovering these books has been an absolute joy. I bought all three from the most recent Bookfest and I am overjoyed that when I finish the first one, I don't have to hunt around for the second one. That's one of my biggest annoyances about fantasy series! You can always find three copies of books two and four, but never book one and three...

So, that's what I've been doing - in between working and watching MKR, I've been escaping to a fantasy realm of warriors, Ladies, servants and Warlords.

What are you reading right now?