Book Review: Dead Sexy by Tate Hallaway

Title: Dead Sexy

Author: Tate Hallaway

Series: Garnet Lacey #2

Publisher: Berkley Books

Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Garnet Lacey has been on the run for a year. The previous Halloween,  her coven had been attacked by members of the Order of Eustace, a witch hunting order sanctioned by the Vatican. Garnet arrived late to their gathering to find all the other members murdered. Garnet escaped only by calling the Goddess Lilith into her, allowing the Goddess to control her body and take vengeance. With help from her ex boyfriend, the vampire Daniel Parrish bodies were disposed of and Garnet fled Minneapolis for Madison, Wisconsin.

When FBI agent Gabriel Dominguez shows up at the bookstore Garnet works at several days before the anniversary of the murders Garnet panics. She thinks she is being looked for as a suspect for the events that night. resorting to Magic to get Dominguez to listen to her, Lilith adds an oomph to the spell that results in unexpected results. Add in that Garnet's current boyfriend Sebastian, who is also a vampire, is jealous of her continued friendship with Parrish bringing relationship problems to the forefront. On top of everything else, there is a voodoo queen killing students from the University of Wisconsin and turning them into zombies to attend to.

There is so much to do before Halloween. Can Garnet prove her innocence and that she was under the control of Lilith and that her actions of the year before were self defense or will she end up in jail for murder? Can she stop the woman who is turning the student population of U.W. Madison into her zombie slaves? Can she complete the unfinished business between herself and Parrish to get Sebastian back in her life?

I picked this up last fall from a local little free library because of the cover and the back blurb. I was sucked into the book. While it is the second book in the series, it stands on it own well. It was fast paced, and full of magic, romance, and mystery. I'm a sucker for gothy, witchy characters and Garnet Lacey fits those parameters to a T. I thought it the perfect fun slightly fluffy book to read on a summer's day off and finished it in one sitting.  I'm looking forwards to picking up the third book in the series which has just jumped to the top of the TBR pile.

Book Review: Ill Wind

Title: Ill Wind
Series:The Weather Warden Book 1
Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: Roc
Publication Date: December 2003

Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. A member of an elite group of magic users who can influence the elements, Joanne's talents allow her to manipulate air and water. Joanne is a strong magic user who can  manipulate the fiercest of storms with little more than a thought and the wave of her hand. But it's her strength that has led her to her current problems. She had been employed by "Bad" Bob Biringanine one of the the most powerful Weather Wardens on the world council. A warden who unknown to everyone had made a pact with a demon for more power. When Bob tries to forcefully take Joanne's power from her he ends up dead. Now, Joanne is on the run fleeing a murder charge, In order to clear her name she needs to find her friend Lewis who is the most powerful warden in the world. Her cross country trip is hindered by powerful storms that are hunting her, traps laid by members of the ruling world council and is helped by a free Djinn named David - a being of incredible power, Will Joanne be able to find Lewis before her pursuers catch up with her? Can she get the help needed to clear her name and reputation, or will she face the  council to have her powers stripped from her and her memories scrubbed.

This is an older series that I have had a few friends recommend to me over the years but haven't had the urge to read. in 2015 I had three of the books sent to me and last fall I found  most of the missing books between books 2 and 6 at the resale shop. This was chosen for me to read in June by my pick it for me partner on the bookobsessed forums. I finally picked it up in July during one of the read a thons hosted over there. I had mixed feelings about this book. I spent the first 3/4 of the book feeling like it was dragging as the plot jumped back and forth between Joanne's past and present. I know this was needed to set up the character history, but it slowed down the story in my opinion. However, the last 1/4 of the book I couldn't put down. I really liked the magic system (elemental magic) and the fact that Djinn are used by the wardens to enhance their powers.  I have the next 5 books waiting to be read so will be jumping ahead into this series.

Book Review:The Bretton Katt Alliance – The Lorrondon Saga book 1 by Margaret Garside

Read and reviewed for Front Street Reviews.

It is the year 2441. The two major powers in the galaxy are the Terrans and the Neorans. Currently it is a time of strife between the two races. Great civil unrest is occurring because of the Terran military leader Victor Bastian’s movement against Neoran populated planets in Terran Space. This leaves more and more Neorans fleeing for the safety of Neoran space as refugees with little to their names besides the clothes on their backs.

Anna Lorrondon-Helsak The chancellor of the planet Bowman secretly breaks the long term alliance with the Neorans. Unknown to anyone, she makes a new alliance with old enemies of both the Terrans and the Neorans. When she is approached by her old friend Russorin the Neoran representative she holds fast to her idea of neutrality for Bowman. This is despite Russorin’s predictions of bad things to come for both races.

With no other choice left to her, Russoran turns to the free city of Breton-Katt for help. The city, a center for learning and commerce, is the Neoran’s last hope for an ally in Terran space. There, she uncovers a web of murder and blackmail Helped by Rob Lorrondon Anna’s son Russoran needs to get the alliance made and stop Anna’s plan to annex Bretton –Katt into Bowman. She needs to keep Anna from handing the city over to its enemies. But, will they be able to do this without triggering an all out war?

Science fiction can be hard genre to write. With so many books written already, it is very easy to start sounding like a rehashed plot. I’m glad to say that The Breton-Katt Alliance is not one of these books. Margaret Garside introduces her readers to a society in upheaval. Her story takes place in a universe which holds inhabitants whose ideals and communities are struggling with the ideas of sharing their resources and land with outsiders. Led by the stronger opinions of their leaders, the universe as they know it has become an unstable place to live. I look forward to the next installment of the Lorrondon Cycle, and seeing what sort of resolution to the conflict that has been introduced, in this first book of the series, is brought into action.

Book Review: The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevdo

Title: The Nymphos of Rocky Flats
Author: Mario Acevedo
Publisher: rayo an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
Published Date: 2006

Felix Gomez went to Iraq as a soldier, fighting against the evils of terrorism to keep his country safe. He returned a vampire, ashamed of his actions during the war and of the innocent deaths he had caused.

He has returned to a life in the States as a private detective. Contacted by a good friend working at the Rocky Flats Weapons Facility, he is hired to find the cause of the mysterious "illness" that is affecting the women of the plant to become nymphomaniacs.

During the course of his investigation, Felix is confronted by women with sex on their minds, integrating into the local vampire community, shadowy government agents, and the mysterious vanatori- Vampire Hunters from Eastern Europe who are preying on the local vampires. Is the cause a virus? Has the nymphomania been caused by a radiation exposure? or is there a more extraterrestrial cause?Felix vows he is going to find the cause of the Nymphomania or die trying, a promise which almost becomes true.

Author Mario Acevedo has created a world where vampires are not an uncommon occurrence. They have local communities (at least in this Colorado setting), can eat human food as long as there is blood covering it (human or animal). His story is humorous with very adult humor. I found myself drawn into the plot, and giggling at events several times while reading. This book reminded me very much of Christopher Moore's vampire books. While I wasn't exactly enamored with the alien plot worked into the story it wasn't distracting or overly silly. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

Book Review: Son of Darkness by Josepha Shermaan

Curator Denise Sheridan loves her job. She works as head of the Mesopotamian Art and Archeology department of the American Museum of Art, in New York City. Denise Sheridan tries to find ways to showcase the artifacts found from the cradle of civilization and an era of the birth of mankind in a way that honors the civilizations the artifacts have come from. But not everyone agrees with the way she does her job. Her boss wants flashier more dramatic exhibits that will pull in more visitors. She has also been receiving threatening letters from a group called the “Children of Summer”. Unknown to her, the leader of this group has started following her around with fanatical intentions towards her.
Ilarion Highborn is more than he seems. The owner of the Highborn Gallery, he sells ancient and modern day artworks to collectors in the city. However, the man’s impeccable senses of dress including sunglasses at all times hide the fact that he is not human. He is a self exiled noble from the dark side of Fairy. He has abandoned the rule he was born to take having become disgusted with the excessive cruelty performed daily by his people. He has made himself a home here in this dimension, despite the crippling effects on him by sunlight, and the iron used to construct much of the city. He has just been visited by a being from his own dimension. He suspects that this will bring his enemy Kerezar to this dimension in confrontation.
Ilarion is correct, Kerezar crosses into this dimension, allying himself with the ancient demon Lamashtu. Freeing her to walk the city, this ancient demon of plague finds herself in a world full of promise. She is urged to kill Denise Sheridan by the leader of the Children of Summer whose body she inhabits. Denise and Ilarion find themselves thrown together to fight not one, but two evils trying to take control of the city. With Denise’s knowledge of ancient Mesopotamian lore, and Ilarion’s knowledge of magic can they save the city and the world from evil overtaking everything they know and find pleasurable in life?
This is an older fantasy book. Published in 1998, it was written by author Josepha Sherman, national bestselling author known for the book Vulcan’s Forge. It is also a book that I had never stumbled across as a teenager who haunted the library looking for more fantasy books every weekly visit. I was given this book in a batch of books to pass along by a fellow bookcrosser who knows I enjoy wild releasing books into the world, who needed to clear books from her own bookshelves. I was immediately grabbed by the cover art of the book. The two figures dressed in corporate looking suits towered over by a winged lion grabbed my interest. I found a story that pulled me into its plot. It was a little pulpy feeling in parts, but it had a really nice mix of magic and technology. I especially liked the version of New York City that the book was set in. It was nice to be able to imagine the settings as I had seen a few of the places mentioned on my own visit to New York City and I enjoyed placing the fictional museum and gallery into the surroundings I had enjoyed on my visit. This is definately an author whose other works I plan on tracking down to read in the near future.

First line: The shabby little man in the worn brown suit paused nervously on the corner of Madison Avenue and Seventy-Eigth street, glancing about him in the early morning sunlight.

Book Review: Nocturne The Fourth Book of Indigo By Louise Cooper

Indigo is traveling with the entertainer troupe The Brazabon Players. When they reach the town of Bruhome to participate in the yearly festival they notice that there is something wrong. Townsfolk as falling into a coma like sleep, then disappearing from their homes. When one of the players, Chirya, suddenly falls into this sleep the players are roused to act. Indigo sets off with Grimya and Fort (One of the other players to go get a physician from a neighboring town. Only to discover that an ominous and impenetrable forest has moved into place around the town. Separating it from the influences of the outside world.

When Chirya walks off into the forest, still under the influence of the evil forces controlling her, Indigo watches as Grimya and the leader of the Brazabon Players get pulled into the forest along with the sleepwalking girl. Indigo, and two of Chirya's siblings Fort and Esty themselves follow another sleepwalker into the forest. They find themselves in a world of illusions, and together, the four unaffected players need to work together to shatter the demon's powers and return the town to its rightful state.

In this book Indigo matures a bit more and learns to control her destiny rather than have her life controlled by it. As a member of the Brabazon entertainer troupe, Indigo stumbles into the clutches of the third demon she must face and conquerer before her penance for releasing the evils of the seven demons onto the world is completed.

In this book, Indigo must face her fears of being abandoned by her companion the wolf-dog Grimya as well as face the vampire like demon before it drains the entire town of it's life force and moves elswere in the world.

Book Review: Infanta the third book of Indigo by Louise Cooper

This book takes Indigo to the Eastern Continent. There she rescues a noble woman and her infant to be captured by the warlord that they had been fleeing from. Unexpectedly, the new ruler of the kingdom of Simhara welcomes the infant with the plans of marrying her when she comes of age. Indigo is welcomed into the palace routine as the Infanta's caretaker and companion.

But not everything is as idyllic as it seems. Every year around the Infanta's birthday she and the entire palace are plagued with nightmares of being chased by something evil. Indigo suspects that the warlord is the demon in disguise and over the yearsa of living in the palace treats him cautiously.

But as the Infanta turns eleven, it is discovered that not all is as Indigo suspects. Can she find and conquer the demon before it is too late.

This is Indigo's second demon faced. The plot for this chapter in her story is much slower paced than the first two books in the series. I found myself getting a bit impatient for the story to progress and at Indigo's slothful actions as she is lured into a false sense of security by the drugs she uses to combat the bad dreams and feelings that emanate from the unknown demon. This is probably my least favorite book in the series so far.

Book Review: Inferno The Second Book of Indigo by Louise Cooper

In Inferno, Indigo and Grimya travel far North to the volcanic area where copper is mined. While visiting the town near the mine, she stumbles into the cult of Charcharad that is taking control of the townspeople. Indigo starts to investigate this cult, which leads her to the mines themselves.

There she meets the sorcerer priest Jaskar, and discovers that the cult of Charcharad is in fact controlled by one of the seven demons that she released in her past life as Princess Anghara. Indigo must find a way into the valley where the demon is housed, and with Jaskar's help unleash the power of the fire goddess Ranaya to defeat the demon Aszareel and his hold over the miners.

In this second book of Indigo, we get to see more of Indigo's struggles with her internal demons as well as the first of the seven demons that she must face to end the punishment given her by the Earth mother for releasing the demons in the Tower of Regrets.

I found the imagery in this second chapter of Indigo's story amazing. Louise Cooper shows us a fiery world of lava flows, demons and the people impacted by the beliefs of those members of the cult of Charcharad. There were still times where Indigo's nativity irked me, and a few moments where I wanted to throttle her for acting so stupidly. But all in all, it is a good step into a very intriguing story.

Book Review: Nemesis Book the First book of Indigo

Nemesis introduces the reader to Princess Anghara. Firstborn to the king and queen of the Southern Islands, she is not the heir to the throne. Headstrong and willful she starts to wonder what is contained inside the lone tower on the tundra plains - The Tower of Regrets. Envious of her brother who is going to be the holder of the forbidden knowledge, and urged on by her desires Indigo opens the forbidden tower.

Anghara's actions release the seven demons that have been imprisoned in the tower for as long as man can remember. As a result of which Indigo is sentenced to find and conquer the demons that she set free in the world. While she wanders the world searching for them she will remain immortal. Unable to die until her quest is completed. The emissary of the Earth Mother who charges Indigo, as Angharad is now known, with this task also shows her an incentive to help her progress. Her beloved Fenran has been captured by the demons. Tortured yet still alive he will be freed upon Indigo's successful completion of the quest she has been charged with.

I first read this book when I was in high school in the mid 1990's. I adored the series. It was one of those starts to a long series that sucked me in and I rushed to the library to go get the rest of the books.

But only up to book 6 was available and I got overwhelmed by other series and never finished the Indigo books.

I received a copy as part of the 2nd tiara sweeps books sent to me, and I couldn't get past a very important part of the book. I found it a bit to horrific and gorey and passed it along unread.

This time around reading it, I made myself read past where I got hung up last time (and started to this time), and found myself back in that rush of feeling that this was such a good story!

So, it is a little slow at times, and I wanted to shake Anghara for being so stupid a few times. But I enjoyed rereading this book

Book Review: Have Space Suit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein

Teenager, Kip Russel has been longing to travel to the moon. Faced with the option of becoming a soldier (to be stationed at the moon base), an engineer (which requires getting accepted to a good college), or as a tourist (as part of the newly opened space travel industry). Kip's father has been pushing Kip to increase the coursework that he takes to get him ready for life in college. But Kip has not heard back from any of the schools that he has applied to. So when a slogan contest is announced with a first place prize of a trip to the moon, Kip jumps at the chance to win.

Kip ties for third place in the slogan contest and wins a genuine space suit. He names the suit Oscar, and spends the next few months restoring Oscar to space travel condition. When he does not recieve a scholarship, and is faced with working to support his way through college at the less than stellar local college Kip needs to face reality about how he can save up some money to pay for school. He finally decides that he will have to sell Oscar to help pay for his first year in college.

While taking Oscar out for one last walk, Kip answers a call for help over the space channel on his suit's radio. A space ship lands, closely followed by a second, and Kip finds himself journying out of New Jersey into space as a prisnor of the "Wormface". Wormface is a species of alien that had been hiding on the moon looking to take over Earth for their own evil purposes.

Kip and his companions, PeeWee (a twelve year old girl) , and the alien entity known as the Mother Thing travel from the moon to Pluto to try and stop Wormface's evil plans. The mother thing calls her Vegan companions, who capture the Wormface. Kip and PeeWee find themselves in an interstellar courtroom representing Earth in an interstellar courtroom. The fate of the Earth's future is balanced on the two young humans as they represent the planet to the alien judges.

This version of Have Space Suit Will Travel was the Full Cast Audio recording. I love the productions put out by Full Cast Audio. They are like listening to the radio plays. The recording features multiple cast members, music between the chapters, and the melodious bird song voice of the Mother thing and her fellow Vegans. Originally written in 1959, Have Space Suit Will Travel is on of Robert Heinlein's two books written for young readers. It stands the passage of time well, and I was transprted to a relm where space travel is possible.

Book Review: Anatham by Neil Stephenson

Fraa Erasmus is a young Avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar. The concent is a sanctuary for academics. Where mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers are able to come up with their theories while being protected from the secular world by stone towers and walls. The cities and governments around the concent have changed through the ages, and always the avout have been able to survive. However, as Fraa Erasmus and his fellow academics prepare for the upcoming rite of Apert, where the cloistered academics may leave the walls of the concent for the first time in ten years, he finds his heart torn. Erasmus is faced with seeing the family he was taken from as a young boy, and is challenged to remain a part of the academic life he has grown into.

However, unknown to Erasmus and the other members of the Concent, there are things happening outside in the secuelar world that will change the Concent and the life Erasmus knows so well. Suddenly the secuelar world calls for the help of the academics, and Erasmus and many other academics are called forth from the Concents all over the world. For there has been a sighting of a ship orbiting the planet, and it is not known if these newcomers are friends or foes. But will the academics be able to solve this problem that they are faced with? Or will they not be able to keep their world from being destroyed by an unknown race?

I've been a fan of Neal Stephenson's books since I first read Snowcrash many many years ago. However, I had a hard time with this book. It wasn't the focus on hard science rather than computers. It wasn't the fact he went from the more cyberpunk plot to a fantastical world of monastaries and cloistered academics. It had a little to do with all the alternate words used for names of places and items and events.

The biggest hindrance that I had with the book was all the length to the build-up of the setting. It felt like when the plot finally started to turn to the events driving the story that it was almost an afterthought

Once events actually started happening, I really enjoyed the book. But it seemed drawn out and overly lengthy. Also, I "read" the audio version of the book. This is a multi-cast recording, this recording also features a cameo by the author and original music inspired by the story. Unabridged, it was almost 38 hours long.

I believe that Neil Stephenson is a very gifted author, and look forwards to his future works. But I was a little dissapointed with this one.

Book Review: Signature by Ron Sanders

Read & Reviewed for Front Street Reviews

On the celebratory night of New Years Eve, four colleagues- academics all – welcome in the new year of 1346. Their leader Titus Mack has invited them to his home in the observatory outside of the outskirts in unprotected land with an arm of the colony coming up from the depths nearby.

Titus, begins to show and tell the trio of academics about the information that he has researched with the help of his advanced computing program Solomon over the past year since any of them had seen him last. His revelations show them a past history that has been erased from the history books, that the actual date is 2509 rather than 1346. He starts to show them why their world is strongly atheist with little religion at all. During his lecture, the perimeter of the Observatory is breeched my members of the colony, and the men are abducted and taken down into the depths of the underground colony.

The men find themselves in a strange world where nothing is what they know. Religion leads these people. In the years that they have been shuttered underground it has evolved into a society ruled by rituals and rules like nothing the four men have encountered before. The men are taken to meet the judgment of Mama and the ‘Postle, and nothing they do will let them escape this fate that has been handed to them.

I had a little bit of a hard time getting into this book. I found the first twenty or so pages slow reading. However I am glad that I pushed past and kept reading. Signature is an intellectual thrill ride that makes you think. It explores topics like what would happen if religion was segregated from the everyday world, and what would the world be like if its history was erased and restarted. This book was short, but really made me think while I was reading it. While I can see it not being something that everyone would enjoy, I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I originally thought that I would.

-----------------
I enjoyed this book so much that I have two paperback copies to pass along to readers.

Both are autographed by the author, one is slightly worn from being toted along in my bag on the bus to school and work.

Both have been registered at Bookcrossing.

Leave a comment with a way to contact you, and why you would like to read the book.

I'm leaving this open until the 31st of December, and will announce the winner on January 1 or 2nd.

Book Review: The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks

Read & Reviewed for Front Street Reviews

The Gypsy Morph is the third book in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy.

With the United States fallen into ruin, the Knights of the Word, Logan Tom and Angel Perez face a challenge in facing the evil that is rampaging towards them.

Logan Tom has to keep the promise that he made to the boy Hawk and his band of survivors called the Ghosts. Hawk, a magical being called the Gypsy Morph, is leading the ghosts to meet with other survivors in the wilds of Oregon. He is charged with leading them to a place of eventual safety.

Angel Perez has risked her life to help the elves in their fight against the demons of the void. She has helped the young elf Kirisin Belloruus and his sister find the legendary Lodestone. Kirisin has been entrusted with the knowledge of an ancient magic. This magic will put his people and their home of Arborlon inside of the Lodestone. Kirisin is charged with taking the magical gem to safety with the help of a small band of elves. They must get past the demon army waiting to crush the elven city and find someplace safe.

Will the Knights of the Word guide their charges and keep them safe long enough to reach the gypsy morph, Hawk’s, safe haven? Or, will the demon army from the void sweep away the survivors, be they elven, human, or mutant, and bring about the destruction of the world?

I have been a fan of the Terry Brooks writing for a very long time. The first time I read my father’s copy of The Sword of Shannara I was transported to a world of magic and conflict that I fell in love with. Sadly though I’ve not kept up with reading the Shannara books over the years. The Genesis of Shannara trilogy gave me a chance to revisit the writing of a favorite author. In this trilogy, I found a story that shows us the readers the actual happenings of the appocolyptic past that was hinted at during various points in the original Shannara books that I read so many years ago.

I really enjoyed this final instalment to the trilogy. I enjoyed seeing the emergence of the elves into our world, and the destruction that caused life as we know it to fall apart and evolve into the less technically inclined world that the Shannara stories are set in. I loved seeing how author Terry Brooks brought two of his series that I enjoyed together with the Knights of the Word being involved in this part of the history of Shannara (The series being The Knight of the Word books and the Shannara books). Reading The Gypsy Morph made me realize how much I’ve missed reading this author’s writing, and I look forward to catching up with the books that I’ve missed over the years.

Book Review: Beneath the Mask by David Ward

Read and reviewed for Armchair interviews

Beneath the Mask picks up after the events in Escape the Mask. Coriko, Pippa and their friends have found life after escaping the Spears to be not quite what they had imagined. They have spent their days working on a way to escape the Grassland. However, their nights are filled with trying to avoid falling into the grasps of the Strays – the escaped children who have become wild and feral in their freedom. The night they attempt to escape the grasslands once and for all, they find their plans thwarted. The Spears, whom they thought all dead are in fact not.

Once again captured, the four friends face the trial of Separation. Coriko, separated from his love Pippa finds exactly who is underneath the masks of the Spears. The life he is forced into leaves Coriko cold. In order to protect Pippa and keep her alive, he must do unspeakable deeds. But by doing these things, he runs the risk of losing Pippa’s love and trust. Coriko is faced with a challenge. He needs to find out what he truly values in his life, and find a way to make that happen. Even if it means finally getting free of the Grassland.

I loved having the world we were introduced to in Escape the Mask expanded. Beneath the Mask shows us who the Spears are as a culture. The book delved deeper into the struggles that Pippa Coriko, Bran, and Tia find themselves thrown into. Where the first book showed us the changes happening in the lives of the children, this book focuses on the struggles they have to make the correct choice for their continued happiness. In Beneath the Mask author David Ward has strengthened the story of Coriko, Pippa and their friends. I look forward to the third book and seeing where their adventures lead them to, and if they will finally find a home of their own.

Beneath the Mask is an adventure packed, action filled journey of discovery that once again brings some very weighty topics to the reader’s attention.

Book Review: Sidhe by D.M. Paul

Read & reviewed for Front Street Reviews

An elderly archeologist has found a rare cache of artifacts in the area thought to be where the Sidhe, otherwise known as the faerie race, where thought to have originated. The most intriguing of the finds is a staff. It is considered to possibly be one of the two legendary great staves of power. The artifacts have been taken to the multi-leveled city of Cloudview, to be authenticated by the Cloudview Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, before the exhibit opens and the artifacts examined closely, the staff is stolen.

The thieves, Agents of the Sidhe queen, disappear with their stolen treasure into the wilds of the Park that composes the entire thirteenth level of the massive city.

Deep in the Park’s forests, elf scout Kestrel Greenleaf has discovered that something amiss. After discovering a trail of magic, she follows it to try and determine its source. Her travels take her to the realm of the Sidhe. The Faerie queen’s enchantment has assembled an army horde of enthralled monsters. Along with triggering the growth of the seed contained in the ancient staff. The staff, unknown to all but the Faerie queen housed a seed from the legendary First Tree. This is the magical tree that all life came from according to legend.

Kestrel returns to inform her elders of her findings. She finds herself being thrown together in a dangerous mission with Enob the High Wizard from Graylok, the sentinel Fox, and two agents from the Incantation Enforcement Agency Kase and Murdodox. Their mission is to obtain a branch from the poison trees in the heart of a vile bog, fashion it into an enchanted arrow, and pierce the young First Tree seedling before its roots take hold of the soil beneath the massive city.

Can the intrepid group get the arrow made and make it past the Fairie Queen’s army in time to save the city of Cloudview?

Sidhe is author D.M. Paul’s third installation in the One Wizard Place series. He does a wonderful job of bringing characters we have been introduced to in the previous stories and introducing new ones to bring about a full fledged and strong group trying to save the city of Cloudview. Like the past two books Sidhe has a strong fantasy setting and a well written story. I enjoyed the chance to explore the magic enhanced Park level of Cloudview, which was only briefly mentioned in past books. The book was a nicely paced fantasy setting that both younger readers and older fans of the genre will enjoy reading.

Book Review: Mind Made by Amy Lignor

Read and reviewed for Front Street Reviews

Annie, is a writer and a single mother trying to raise her daughter in a world that is becoming increasingly full of heartbreak and despair of bad news from a war that has found its way into the homes of America via the nightly news. She is living in a small Hamlet in Connecticut , and spends her evenings writing after her daughter Shelby is asleep. One cold winter night, while working, she drifts off to sleep and wakes in a totally unknown place.

Annie finds herself brought together with three others, who are also as confused at being there as she is. Matthew, Dean, and Annie’s good friend Julie. They are confronted by a horrific apparition made of mist which tells the four that they have been brought into it’s world for a purpose. The four of them had been torn from their world to play a game and prove that humanity has a right to live. To win, they must help each other through four tests. The tests will all stem from the deepest fears of each of the four being tested.

As time passes, the four strangers find the bonds of friendship and love forming between each other. As they face the harrowing trials set for each of them by their captor, these bonds give each person the strength to face their fears, and to help the others face their own trials. The combined strengths that each person brings to the group, along with their individual differences Annie, Dean, Max, and Julie are able to push themselves beyond physical and mental limits to travel the harrowing road set before them.

With love, the four can find the secret to saving mankind from the evil imprisoning them, and change their lives in the process. Will they be able to face their personal demons and accept the prize offered, or will evil triumph and bring about the doom of mankind?

Mind made is a thought provoking look into a realm where nothing is what it seems. Author Amy Lignor brings her readers a fast paced thrilling story of self development, and survival. I personally enjoyed seeing the development of the group from strangers to friends, and the tentative love that flowers between the two couples. The book made me want to know what happens next, and left me with a feeling of “what’s next?” as it came to its conclusion. This is the second book I’ve read by the author that I’ve enjoyed reading. I look forwards to seeing more from her in the future.

Book Review: Tinna's Promise by Miranda Mayer

Read and reviewed for front street reviews

Tinna, a half-blood Thran from the south, has been following a wanderlust brought on, she believes, by the Gypsy blood running through her veins. Her travels have taken her through much of the empire, from the great plain to many of the great cities and now to the forested regions that are home to the horse loving Arak. Tinna finds a home in the village of Thamatock, and a friend in its young Wiseman Taneth.

When Tinna makes a promise to go get a new puppy for a young mistreated boy in the village, her travels take herself and Rhoa, a young woman she has befriended, from the small village of Thamatock to the larger city surrounding Hildercross Academy. There, they find a puppy and the next morning start their travels home. On their way, they witness the destruction of Hildercross by an attack of dragons. Tinna and Rhoa find themselves captured by those same dragons along with a Nimru, and the landlord of the destroyed town.

Tinna and Rhoa’s journey back to Thamatock becomes complicated when they discover the reason behind the dragon’s attack. Rhoa pairs up with the tree dwelling Nimru, Draphen and continues the journey home while Tinna travels to the city of Alterat to seek help from friends in finding the person behind the dragons and stopping them before every major city aligned with the high throne is destroyed. Will Rhoa and Draphen be able to safely navigate the tree paths of the Nimru and make it home? Can Tinna find the blackmailer that is causing all the mayhem and destruction, and stop him before he uses his power over the dragons to focus on the smaller towns and villages left alone on the continent? Finally, can Tinna keep her promise, and get the puppy back to Thamatock and both the boy who she made her promise to, and the Wiseman that she has realized she has come to love?

I was very surprised by this story. The premise behind the plot is a very simple one; a promise has been made, can it be kept even in the upheaval and turmoil facing Tinna. However, the story itself is full of adventure, and action, and friendship as Rhoa and Tinna travel across a strange and turmoil filled land. I really enjoyed being introduced to the empire that the story is set in, and wished there was a little more information about the rule of the land. The setting of the story was in my opinion the best part of the story. The descriptions of the cities and places Tinna and Rhoa pass through capture the imagination and made me feel like I was right there with the women. I loved the complexity of the world we are introduced to as the women travel across the country to get back to their home.

Book Review: The Bretton Katt Alliance: The Lorrondon Cycle Book One by Margaret Garside

Read and reviewed for Front Street Reviews

It is the year 2441. The two major powers in the galaxy are the Terrans and the Neorans. Currently it is a time of strife between the two races. Great civil unrest is occurring because of the Terran military leader Victor Bastian’s movement against Neoran populated planets in Terran Space. This leaves more and more Neorans fleeing for the safety of Neoran space as refugees with little to their names besides the clothes on their backs.

Anna Lorrondon-Helsak The chancellor of the planet Bowman secretly breaks the long term alliance with the Neorans. Unknown to anyone, she makes a new alliance with old enemies of both the Terrans and the Neorans. When she is approached by her old friend Russorin the Neoran representative she holds fast to her idea of neutrality for Bowman. This is despite Russorin’s predictions of bad things to come for both races.

With no other choice left to her, Russoran turns to the free city of Breton-Katt for help. The city, a center for learning and commerce, is the Neoran’s last hope for an ally in Terran space. There, she uncovers a web of murder and blackmail Helped by Rob Lorrondon Anna’s son Russoran needs to get the alliance made and stop Anna’s plan to annex Bretton –Katt into Bowman. She needs to keep Anna from handing the city over to its enemies. But, will they be able to do this without triggering an all out war?

Science fiction can be hard genre to write. With so many books written already, it is very easy to start sounding like a rehashed plot. I’m glad to say that The Breton-Katt Alliance is not one of these books. Margaret Garside introduces her readers to a society in upheaval. Her story takes place in a universe which holds inhabitants whose ideals and communities are struggling with the ideas of sharing their resources and land with outsiders. Led by the stronger opinions of their leaders, the universe as they know it has become an unstable place to live. I look forward to the next installment of the Lorrondon Cycle, and seeing what sort of resolution to the conflict that has been introduced, in this first book of the series, is brought into action.

Book Review: The Tower of SHadows by Drew Bowling

Read and reviewed for armchair interviews

The Land of Ellenrie is under the threat of a great evil.

Roughly fifteen years before, the wizard Dale stopped the culmination of an evil sacrifice that would have opened a door between Ellenrie and the demon world. His flight through the nearby town brings him close to being attacked by the not quite human followers of the watchers, (the shadowy half summoned demons who can’t quite materialize in this world) who have been empowered by the completed portion of the sacrificial ceremony. His flight is joined by a former mercenary named Wren, Wren’s wife and a baby boy that she has saved from death at the hands of the attackers who killed his parents.

Currently, rumors of strange happenings have been circulating through Ellenrie. When Wren’s daughter Kayla witnesses the murder of the guardians of an ancient artifact, their life is changed forever. They are forced to flee Nautalia, the capitol, chased by a pair of cunning assassins. Finally they arrive at Dale’s lonely cottage, they find that he has disappeared. Eventually they join Dale’s former apprentice Adriel (now a full fledged wizard with little control of the magic he carries) who is in search of the boy Colin.

For the threat of evil to become reality, Colin’s life needs to be sacrificed by a mysterious mage living in a tower of shadows. Can the group find and keep Colin safe in time, or will a shadowy doom fall on Ellenrie?

Fantasy is a hard genre to break into. Especially the epic fantasy style of the genre. It is easy for new authors to fall back on the writing styles that have influenced them, resulting in stories that while good can be easily picked apart. However, the Tower of Shadows does not do this. Drew Bowling brings us a glimpse of a world with little magic left in it(and few people who can control it), that is being threatened by a very magical source. Also, I loved that everything strange seeming that showed up (people who are no longer quite human, foreign plant growth) are all shown to have a solid reason for happening. This epic tale is an extremely strong first novel, and I look forward to reading future works by the author.


ISBN: 0345486706
ISBN-13: 9780345486707
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication Date: December 12, 2006
Binding: Hardcover

Book Review: Sentinel by D.M. Paul

Read and Reviewed for Frontstreet Reviews

Fox Strongbox was considered special from birth. From a very early age he has been in training to become one of the Elf King’s elite guardians known as Sentinels. His final test of his training takes him and his mentor Eldin out of the elf kingdom to a remote island to test his skill. On the return journey, an unplanned attack by an elder black dragon leaves fox and the sentinel’s bird mounts wounded, and Eldin possessed by the spirit of the dying dragon’s spirit.

Draco (as Eldin has now become), learns of the location of the key to unlock an ancient and powerful artifact through the elder sentinel’s memories. Draco becomes obsessed with obtaining the artifact and the power that it will grant him.

Along with the king’s high wizard, Fox sets off to Cloudville to stop Draco, and rescue his mentor from Draco’s evil control. Their quest is joined by the two agents from the Incantation Enforcement Agency as they search for the location of the artifact’s hiding spot (long forgotten where it was by almost everyone)and keep the hidden artifact as it was meant to be: buried away forever.

Sentinel is the second installation in the One Wizard Place series. Author D. M. Paul masterfully weaves together Fox’s story with events that took place during the first book (One Wizard Place). As a contrast to One Wizard Place, the reader is treated to a more in-depth exploration of the elf kingdom and the massive city of Cloudview. At the same time, though, plot and character development do not suffer. This book has cemented in my opinion that this is one of the best new young adult fantasy series that I have read this year.

ISBN: 1598007955

ISBN-13: 9781598007954

Publication Date: September 2006
Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Series: One Wizard Place Series, #2