Serpent Priestess of the Annunaki by Katrina Sisowath (Dragon Court #1)

Original Title: Serpent Priestess of the Annunaki

Year Published: 2014

Published by: 5 Prince Publishing

Number of Pages: 394

First Sentence: 

Goodreads Rating: 4/5

Plot:

The Annunaki on Nibiru lack precious metals, stones and minerals, which they desire, food on Nibiru is also running low. Their solution: establish a colony on a distant planet teeming with wildlife and vegetation. When the Annunaki discover they are ill equipped to labor under the harsh conditions found on Earth, they create a workforce called humans, a hybrid manufactured from their DNA and a species known as hominid. 

The Serpent Priestess Ninkha and her husband Lord Enki are charged with this task, battling not only the challenges faced adjusting to life on Earth, but Enki's brother, Enlil, as well. Will the humans live as Enki and Ninkha envisioned--able to learn, create and above all, reason? Or will they subjugate themselves to Enlil and his rule willingly?

At stake is the future of the Priestesses of Damuth, who, along with their serpents, service the Annunaki with their own blood, providing those who partake of the cocktail of blood and venom the ultimate in achieving a higher state of consciousness, along with youth, vigour and longevity. If Enlil, whose disdain of them is well-known, wins, what will happen to them?

To protect themselves and their descendants, they form the ‘Dragon Court’, but is it enough?

Serpent Priestesses or Witches, Gods or Demons,

Aliens or Ancestors, Oppressors or Creators? 

Perhaps all of the above..............

My thoughts:

I bought this book after receiving the arc for the sequel over at NetGalley (I didn't realise it was a sequel when I requested it), and figured that I would need to read this one before reading the arc I got. So I bought this and got reading. It was a little hard to get into but after just one chapter I found myself completely hooked. 

The world described in this book is quite fantastic and it is obvious that the author has given it a lot of thought. It is very detailed (which is awesome but has its negative sides, I'll get to that). The Annunaki's, the inhabitants of Nibiru, are a very intelligent people with several supernatural abilities. They are all matched with a dragon at birth (DRAGONS!!) and create and unbreakable bond with their dragon. They are governed by their priests and priestesses that help guiding the people through their lives. 

There are many characters that the plot revolves around, all who are very interesting. I won't go into detail about the characters as that actually would spoil the plot. The plot is a very interesting take on the creation myth (yeah, you read that right) and gives a very interesting account where the Annunaki's are the creators of humans. 

Usually, I don't like books with religious themes or allusions to religion but this book is just too good to be true. You will definitely recognise some of the stories from the Bible, along with some names, but you don't need to know the Bible to enjoy this book (I really don't. Know the Bible that is).

So, is there anything negative? Yes. The book is like only 4 percent dialogue, and since the author obviously has given the world in the book a lot of thought, it can get a little bit overwhelming. In fact, although I loved it, my brain felt kind of mushy at the end. It was just so much information to take in. Detail is awesome, but you need something to make it easier to take in. A little bit more dialogue had been great. 

Do I recommend it? 

Yes! It is amazing, and I can't wait to get started on book numero 2. 

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Original Title: Mister Pip

Year Published: 2006

Published by: The Text Publishing Company

Number of Pages: 256

First Sentence: "Everyone called him Pop Eye."

Goodreads Rating: 5/5

Plot:

On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with almost everyone else, only one white man chooses to stay behind: the eccentric Mr. Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn, who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read to the children each from Charles Dickens's classic Great Expectations.

So begins this rare, original story about the abiding strength that imagination, once ignited, can provide. As artillery echoes in the mountains, thirteen-year-old Matilda and her peers are riveted by the adventures of a young orphan named Pip in a city called London, a city whose contours soon become more real than their own blighted landscape. But in a ravaged place where even children are forced to live by their wits and daily survival is the only objective, imagination can be a dangerous thing. 

My thoughts:

This is a book that I had to read for uni. I never expected to love it as much as I did. We get to follow young Matilda, a young black girl on an island ravaged with redskins and rebels. When all the teachers have fled the island, the only white man in the village, Mr. Watts take over as teacher. Amongst other things he read Great Expectations to the children. Matilda find herself falling in love with the story and Pip becomes a friend to her.

Jones has cleverly intertwined the story of Great Expectations with Matilda's own story which is just as tragic. Matilda applies the characters from Dickens's book on people in her own life. Not only does Great Expectations allow her to travel to another world it also gives her a friend and a direction in life. 

Mr. Watts is at the start a mysterious figure, who pulls his wife along on a small red trolley, but becomes a figure of salvation for young Matilda. He is the one who introduces her to Dickens's works, and she becomes determined to figure Mr. Watts out since he is so mysterious about his own background.

This is a fantastic story about survival and imagination. It's a great example of our lives not being that different from characters in books and that you can easily find friends in books when you really need one.

Do I recommend it?

Yes. It's a great book and was very easy to read. The 256 pages just flew by and it never ceased to entertain me.