#Viola marek

[paintsandquests]

Viola Marek, vampire and real estate agent, from Olivie Blake’s Masters of Death!

[panic-at-the-fiction]

APPARENTLY NOBODY HAS MADE ANY MASTERS OF DEATH POSTS

so here I am having to fulfill my own hearts deepest desires myself. Gonna fill up all the tags to get people to read this book

Types of people who should read this book

If you’re a good omens fan like me and are struggling with the ineffable husbands divorce this book is for you

If you like stories about death, literally about death as in like the entity that collects souls.

If you like vampires or angels or demons or reapers or lore for creatures you’ve never even heard of

If you like a romance where both counter parts are immortal chaotic bastards who have both been wallowing in self pity over love for the last century or two

If you like romance where both counter parts are actually sweet hearts but are dicks to each other and in denial of their feelings

If you like romance between two sweet hearts who are sweethearts and would never dare hurt each other.

Yes there are multiple romance sub plots. Hints at sex or morning after but not spicy.

You enjoy happiness

This book is a nice read, I describe it as a short story with just a lot of build up and background information. Almost as if you’re supplied with everyone’s life story just for it to build up to this crossover where you must understand everyone’s motivations and wants.

In masters of death there is a game that immortals play where there is only one rule, don’t lose. In the story you have Fox who was raised by death himself, their dynamic is the best thing I’ve seen. Death consistently calls Fox out as a little shit. Viola a vampire real estate agent who failing to sell a haunted house with an annoying ghost in it. Mayra the Angel who is in love with Cal the reaper, Brandt the knows it all the thief and Isis the demon who honestly is just there to watch the chaos.

You’ll follow the book in a dizzying head spin as it reveals so much about each characters past, present and their deepest wants. There will be huge reveals and low kicking cuts as the story progresses and not mention lots of jokes and gags that were just too damn funny. Did I mention the philosophical moral of the story about the meaning of life? It’s as if it were a brother’s Grimm tale (which Fox and deaths story is based on) or a legend of heroics almost too good to be true.

So just freaking read it already before I spoil too much.

[thatoneacecryptid]

Viola: What are you doing?

Brandt: Offering moral support.

Viola: You have morals?

Brandt: No, but I support those who do

[jjaybank]

wait why is there nothing on here about masters of death by olivie blake??? i expected all of you to be obsessed with this book 😭😭

[mysteryofvampires]

This is just Masters of death by Olivie Blake haha..

ghost in the house: GET OUT. I WILL TAKE YOU-

real estate agent: chill, its me.

ghost: oh hey. have you sold it yet.

real estate agent: obviously NOT, idiot.

[lesser-known-composers]

Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884): Smyčcový kvartet č. 2 d mol

Allegro; Allegro moderato. Andante cantabile; Allego non piu moderato ma agitato e con fuoco; Finale. Presto

Pavel Haas Quartet: Veronika Jarůšková – housle / violin

Marek Zwiebel – housle / violin

Pavel Nikl – viola Peter

Jarůšek – violoncello

[torpublishinggroup]

5 Literary Encounters with Legendary Beings

by a cat

Many mortal constructs began as stories, we say, confident in spite of our unwillingness to invest the research hours necessary to prove such a thesis. Why else would we tell time? 

Anyway, having thus established the relevance of myth within our lives, let’s talk about something more fun than the ticking of the clock. Let’s talk about vampires, werewolves, and other myth-folk* by running down some awesome books within whose pages they reside. 

Check it out!

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

Werewolves are for kissing. Don’t believe us? Let the gay lycans of TJ Klune’s Green Creek series melt your heart, and then achingly break it. These books are about a pack of werewolves, yes, but it’s important to remember that many mythical beings are people too: Given to all the messy yearning, loving, and hurting that comes with being alive. 

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

Vampires kind of have an image problem, unhelped by numerous depictions of bloody splatterfests and exploitative aristocratic legacies. Now who better to act on an image problem than a real estate agent? Viola Marek might be a vamp but she’s also got houses to sell. Unfortunately, one of them is very inconveniently haunted, and this is the inciting incident in Masters of Death by Olivie Blake—a story about (among other things) how immortality doesn’t actually spare the indignities, gifts, and difficulties of life. It just gives you more time to experience them. 

Ebony Gate by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle

And the next entry in our rundown of legendary entities is an urban fantasy full of assassins and dragon magic in San Francisco. Here’s a partial list of the mythical beings encountered within this thrilling debut: 

a guardian foo lion

a shinigami in a business suit

a cat yokai

a LOT of ghosts

Spring’s Arcana by Lilith Saintcrow

The mythical and magical entities that populate our stories often embody aspects of our mortal lives. From this oblique angle, we as narrative-enthusiasts can sneak up on emotional and abstract truths otherwise inaccessible. But our lives change, and so do our stories, and Spring’s Arcana by Lilith Saintcrow is an excellent candidate to demonstrate this phenomenon. Nat Drozdova’s mother is sick, and she must cross an America full of modern divinities (the God of Money, Law and Order, the King of Thieves, etc.) in order to procure a stolen relic for a winter goddess in a skyscraper office who has the power to save her ailing mother. 

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

“Toadling was, more or less, lucky. She was not harvested by the flesh-smiths nor devoured by redcaps, nor raised in the retinue of a great lord of Faerie. Instead she was thrown to the greenteeth, the slimy swamp-dwelling spirits who devour unwary swimmers. Boy-children they eat, always. Girl-children they eat, mostly. But occasionally their numbers will fall, or one of them will be seized with some murky maternal instinct, and they will raise a child instead.”

This snippet comes from the beginning of T. Kingfisher’s twisted fable, and already we are blessed with a dearth of fae folk. If you like mythical beings in fiction, pick this one up as soon as you can!

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

*Tor Blog-cat’s Note: Diligent readers may note that the introduction to this book roundup seems to imply the veracity of werewolves, vampires, and other beings of legend. While this question certainly lays beyond the scope of the Tor Publishing Group to answer, we do heartily encourage all readers to show kindness to any vamps, wolves, etc. that might or might not exist <3

[ensemblethesaurusmusicum]

Ensemble Thesaurus Musicum / Farby barokovej Európy

Galéria Provinčný dom, Stará Ľubovňa, 19. júl 2024

Sándor Szaszvárosi – viola da gamba

Michal Hottmar – theorba

🎶

Foto: Marek Tokarčík, EK

[thesaurusmusicum-oz]

Ensemble Thesaurus Musicum / Farby barokovej Európy

Galéria Provinčný dom, Stará Ľubovňa, 19. júl 2024

Sándor Szaszvárosi – viola da gamba

Michal Hottmar – theorba

🎶

Foto: Marek Tokarčík, EK

[deanncastiel]

2024 Book #105

Title: Masters of Death Author: Olivie Blake Genre: Fantasy, LGBTQIA+

Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the house has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on. Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death. When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with her ghost-infested mansion, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few high-functioning creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.

Rating: 4.5 ⭐

Quick thoughts: loved the writing, why is Death my favorite character????? Fox and Brandt made me want to sob, Vi and Tom were surprisingly endearing. Last 1/3 of this really brought it up. (Somehow the summary actually tells you nothing about this book 🤔🤔🤔)

[panic-at-the-fiction]

Part 4 of trying to fill these damn tags

Be subjected to my home made memes, no they are not store bought.

Nobody:

Absolutely nobody

*Fox enters the room

Death: Ah yes there’s that little shit

[16strings]

Antonín Dvořák - String Quartet in F major "American" op  96 / Pavel Haas Quartet 

Pavel Haas Quartet: Veronika Jarůšková – violin Marek Zwiebel – violin Pavel Nikl – viola Peter Jarůšek – cello

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904): Smyčcový kvartet F dur „Americký“, op. 96 00:00 - Allegro ma non troppo 10:21 - Lento 18:15 - Molto vivace 22:23 - Finale - Vivace ma non troppo

[thatoneacecryptid]

Now that I’ve finished reading it, I hope everyone is prepared for me to be annoying about Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

By god if I have to forge the fandom for this book myself I will do it

[dearworms]

Worm's TBR List

One Last Stop

"One Last Stop" follows the life of August Landry, a young woman who moves to New York City to start over. She meets a captivating and mysterious woman named Jane on the subway, but soon discovers that Jane is trapped in a time loop on the Q train, unable to leave the 1970s. August and her friends embark on a mission to unravel the mystery behind Jane's predicament and free her from the time loop. Along the way, August and Jane's relationship deepens, leading to a heartwarming and magical love story that transcends time and space.

Masters of Death

Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the house has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on. Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death. When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with her ghost-infested mansion, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants).

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. he odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low.

Love on the Brain

Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project - a literal dream come true - Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward. Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school - archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away. But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas... devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

[mallysj]

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

I know Olivie Blake from her Dramione fanfictions and I love her and her works. I am in awe of her way with words, how realistically distinct her characters are, and in general, how she weaves her worlds together, forming a great masterpiece.

That’s why when I learned she has published books, I bought one! It was my first time buying something online from the other end of the world. (It was my first time buying from Amazon too.) I bought Masters of Death as a Christmas gift to myself although it is only recently that I read and finished it (because of acads and all).

Let me just say, as expected of Olivie Blake. She delivered, as usual. I love her characters, their complexities, their motives. There are many characters, but you really wouldn’t mix them up with each other because that’s how distinct they are. @littlechmura‘s illustrations of the characters are also immensely helpful with imagining these characters into life. The dialogues and interactions are witty and so raw, definitely a skill Olivie Blake has mastered. (I keep remembering The Commonder’s Guide to Bedding a Royal while reading because of the dialogues among the groups).

In terms of the plot, a great beginning for setting up the character’s contexts. Everyone was accounted for, enough windows to see each character’s personality. The middle kind of droned, but maybe that’s just me. The climax was so human though. It was highlighted by the connections between the characters and I think that really set the point home, that at the end of the day, it’s these connections with others that are most important (bordering on cliché too). I think the ending was wrapped up nicely, too nicely, if you get what I mean, but hey, an ending’s an ending.

Overall, I really liked the book. I’d definitely buy another book from her again and read her fanfictions too!

Olivie Blake is an amazing writer, and Masters of Death is one interestingly beautiful story: That’s it, that’s my thesis statement.

Go check @olivieblake out!

[lesser-known-composers]

Ludomir Różycki (1883-1953) - String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 49: I. Andante – Allegro ·

Royal String Quartet ·

Violin: Elwira Przybyłowska, Violin: Izabella Szałaj-Zimak

Cello: Michał Pepol

Viola: Marek Czech