Once again Ilan has to leave the life she has known so well. Her feelings are conflicted and prickly. With her she tries to bring her mother’s brooch. But Terrac takes it from her. Terrac decides to leave the criminal elements as well. He feels as though he is losing himself, or rather who he had hopes of being (a man of peace).
The Fist had been waiting for suckers to come back and get their stuff at the camp and Ilan and Terrac turned out to be those suckers. Terrac gets captured while Ilan manages to escape.
Ilan and her bow bonded in Magic of Thieves. Its strange qualities and seeming awareness puzzle Ilan and she sets out to find help in figuring out what this magic is all about. If there is one thing I have learned in my long acquaintanceship with fantasy and science fiction it is to be wary of objects that seem to have mysterious powers. They always end up getting you into trouble.
Betrayal of Thieves was a pretty good fantasy read. I like prickly Ilan. I sure would not like to find myself in her position. For some reason I always look for common ground with the characters of the various novels I read. No matter how evil or how good they are, there always seems to be something I can recognize. Ilan and Terrac are just average people and therefore pretty easy to connect with. Terrac’s changes are interesting. Maybe I will continue reading this serial.
The end of The Wicked Heroine left Meena in a sticky place. We now discover how she gets out of it. Definitely one of the novel’s high points and humorous at that. If you are a proper young adult you will like the grossness of the scene (especially if you have a good imagination). “… his knife skittered against the blade of a short sword jammed up from below” on the bottom of page 3 sets the tone for the rest of Oathen. Jasmine writes grosse well – an excellent and important quality in an author.
Anjoya Meseer (Geret and Salvor’s language teacher) ends up leaving Salience with Count Runcan for Vint. The two of them have a surprise change of of transportation on the way. Anjoya turns out to be important to the political climate in Vint, so hurrah to her for taking a chance on a change in future.
Then we have the love-triangle/quadrangle of Geret, Sanych, Salvor and Rhona who travel with the returned Meena and the chased Gryme/Kemsil. Talk about messy love. I think this was the bit about Legend of the Shanallar that just didn’t do anything for me, but I am not really a romance reader and definitely not a YA one.
Did Oathen have action. I guess that is one way of putting it. Plenty of action and magic. All of them learn what they are made of and Meena finally gets her heart’s desire fulfilled. I think you could say that Oathen had a happy ending – at least for some of the characters. The others, well you learn to live with the choices you have made. Consequences can suck.
At times the story hiccupped, but that happens. Other than that Oathen was a great YA novel (I think, being 48 and all).
Cover design by Sarah A. Hoyt Cover art by Thomaspajot, Ejb1287, Andreas Meyer and Sergey Markov at Dreamstime.com
I love it when an author gives me good details on their covers. A few include this on their copyright page, others on their websites and some again I have to contact. Thus far each author I have contacted has been kind enough to share the details for their cover artists. Yeah! to authors. In Amanda S. Green’s case I was just too blind to see the names on the copyright but she still gave them to me.
Below you will find three reviews for Nocturnal Origins that showed me what the rest of the world (well, three people) thought of this novella. They have a pretty good description of the contents of Nocturnal Origins.
My first impression of Nocturnal Origins was humour. We get it in the 5th paragraph on the first page. Mac describes her “unholy” miracle of coming back to life with these words: “Ask the poor attendant who’d run screaming from that cold, desolate room in the hospital basement, when Mac had suddenly sat up, gasping for breath and still covered with too much blood. He’d been convinced a demon from Hell had risen to come for him.” The visualisation with those words was excellent and hilarious.
Mac’s would-be murderer is insane. Completely and utterly insane. He just has to kill her and damn the consequences. Serial killer is what he is and a gory one at that. I kind of feel sorry for him because he is so lost to his own psychosis.
And then Mac has her whole world view blown apart. I mean shape-shifters and weres. Come one. They don’t exist. Except in Mac’s world they do and drumroll she is one of them.
Nocturnal Origins is meant for a somewhat adult readership. I had fun reading about Mac’s surprises and her reaction to them. Better her than me (or is it “better she than I”).
I really like the cover of Magic of Thieves. I don’t know if the gold effect carries over to paper-backs. On the screen a feeling of magic shines through.
Magic of Thieves seems to be a novel meant for a Young Adult audience. Our novel begins with the death of Ilan’s parents. Ilan is a “half-breed” as propaganda calls her. Being half Skeltai/half human is frowned upon. Having a parent who is a magic user is even worse. All of a sudden magic has become evil and the Praetor is on the hunt for all magic users.
While trying to escape the soldiers hunting for her, Ilan’s magic is triggered. The family friend Borlan takes her in but realises that she cannot stay. He gets a peddler to take her to Cros where she ought to be safe as a magic user. But they get waylaid by the thieves of Dimmingwood. This is where Ilan’s life takes a strange turn and she grows up among the thieves with the one called Brig taking a special interest in her raising.
Ilan is a feisty girl having to deal with the loss of her parents and the new father figure in her life. As she grows up her emotions grow up with her. I think Greenwood has made a believably tiresome and brave person who just tries to figure out her place in life. Encountering those who are stronger and weaker than herself is just part of the game.
Terrac was a self-righteous pain in the butt, as I guess he was intended to be. This too seems to be part of the teen-agy hormonal thing that we all have to go through. Some of us even retain that less than stellar quality. But Terrac had guts. He was brave enough to do what had to be done while trying to stick to his convictions.
These are the main two characters of Magic of Thieves. It was interesting to behold the changes they went through as life’s usual surprises hit them.
It seems Jasmine Giacomo deems her Immortality Archives/Legend of the Shanallar novels adult fantasy. I don’t see it. There is no explicit sex nor explicit violence. Neither are the novels overly dark.
I chose to read The Wicked Heroine exclusively because of the title. I wouldn’t say that our main character (the Shanallar/Meena/Jacasta) is exactly wicked. In my opinion strong, experienced and unwilling to take a whole lot of BS is more descriptive. She makes her choices and faces the consequences of those. Sometimes those consequences are other people being hurt while at other times she is the one getting hurt. Sometimes everyone benefits. As I kept on reading about Meena, I found I liked her more and more.
Another favorite character was Geret Branbrey Valan. Geret is highly intelligent, naive and bored – all poured into one of the nobility. He has the best pranks but understands very little about other people. Maybe he is the one who goes through the most personal changes. I guess you could say that by the end of the duology he has been forced to grow up.
Sanych is another appealing character. Her main flaw is that she is extremely single-minded. Single-mindedness is a great quality if you are willing to learn from your mistakes. It takes her some time but Sanych figures out that despite all her bookish knowledge she too has plenty of real life learning to do.
Off the three of them go to find The Dire Tome, each of them with different motives for joining the journey. Like all heroic journeys there is plenty of action, a lot of death and wicked opponents. The three meet interesting people on their journey. We get to observe a love-triangle or two and the various feelings that go along with love/lust. The various love-triangles were what made surprised that Giacomo has classified her novels as adult. They were more of the kind found in YA novels in my opinion.
This is not a series. The books are not stand-alone but of the serial type. You will have to begin reading The Wicked Heroine for book no. 2 (Oathen) to make sense.
I love the cover by Misa Buckley. She has managed to get that dark, gritty feeling of the short story that Chantal Halpin has created.
Foul is Fair is a 10-page long short story about the witch Sam – not a very powerful witch. Although not powerful magically, Sam does happen to have the strength of “The Terminator”. Sam works for an insurance company that also protects people in the Community (paranormal).
Like in the real world politicians have something to hide. Vampirism might not be the most common thing one tries to hide (that I’ve heard) but you never know. You know there is going to be someone who is threatening to out the politician – just the way of the political world. Sam’s job is to prevent this from happening.
Sam, herself, seems to be hunted by a witch-hunter. Witch-hunters are judge and jury in one. If they suspect you of black magic you are a goner. This is where Chantal Halpin follows the trend in paranormal writing – Sam feels extremely attracted to the witch-hunter. He, of course, is a hottie.
Despite the predictability of the hottie hunter I enjoyed this short story. Halpin’s resolution was fun. Sam’s character is what makes the story. Obviously anything else is difficult as the story is only 10 pages long.
Don’t let this cover fool you. This is not some idyllic tale of life in a sunset, Oooh, no! What we have here is a regular old who-dun-it with some unexpected revelations for Sheriff Steele.
Some shots are heard in the night, a body is found with some strange marks on his neck and the Sheriff’s own son Kevin seems to be implicated in the crime. Kevin is adamant that he had nothing to do with the crime (naturally). While the Sheriff wants to believe him, he decides (good for him) to be thorough in his investigation. As the investigation progresses the weirdness increases.
I loved the ending. Perfect. What we have here is a clever way of looking at the paranormal, one that does not fall within the all-too common trap of paranormal literature of today. Mr. French keeps the pace up and the gore down. A nice addition to the world of literature.
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You can get Just Passing Through for free at and .
Cover art by Ricardo Guimaraes Cover Illustration for A Prayer for Dead Kings Alex Tooth
What would happen if you were offered the world and you didn’t want it? I think about that sometimes. Am I happy with the life I have?
I loved Hjorn. Here he finds an axe that promises him “the power thou seekest” and the poor fellow isn’t looking for any more power than he already has. His only response to the talking axe is “That’s unusual”. “Thou wilt rule the world” the axe says and Hjorn just shrugs.
Hjorn’s character is wonderful. This guy is about the most down-to-earth person I have ever met. The battle of wills that ensues is hilarious.
Scott Fitzgerald Gray has done an amazing job in building up his two main characters. They complement each other so well. Whoever heard of a needy axe? Well, now you have. What a great story this was!
Cover design by (studio)Effigy, from an image by Jose A.S. Reyes. The background to the main image is the cover art for A Prayer for Dead Kings and Other Tales (in which the story first appeared), which is an illustration by Alex Tooth
I love it when I get such detailed information on the cover art. The knife is very appropriate to A Space Between.
Scott Fitzgerald is a demanding name to give your child. Talk about pressure. Fortunately Scott Fitzgerald Gray manages to live up to the expectations of his name.
A Space Between is a dark short story. Talk about dysfunctional family. Love, secrets, betrayal, ambition and murder are all part of the game.
Charan and Jalina make an interesting set of siblings. Their love/hate relationship is what drives A Space Between. Add to that the accidental death of their father and we have the recipe for an interesting tale.
I found myself liking Charan and Jalina. Their love and the murder are very much against societal mores, but society is a fluid thing shaped by its members. Their discovery of two magical artifacts changes their ability to see each other.
It was strange reading A Space Between. Gray’s writing was so beautiful I forgot to pay attention to what I was reading. I got caught up in the flow of the words. I have said this before and probably will again: There are some advantages to being within the autism spectrum. Because my “thing” is words I get the pleasure of finding myself lost in them. A Space Between was a word autists/aspergian dream.
For those of you who aren’t that lucky rest assured that the quality of Gray’s writing is high.
First of all I would like to compliment Jeff Gunzel on his choice of cover artist. The cover of Land of Shadows is amazingly beautiful. Love the work of Ronnell D. Porter.
I see that some of the earlier reviews have asked for editing of Lands of Shadow. I have an updated version from 2013 and have a feeling that there must have been quite a bit of editing done if the previous critique was true. I like that in an author – the ability to listen to what people have to say and then decide if what is said is worth listening to. So that is one plus in Jeff Gunzel’s favor.
I loved the opening scene. The warrior Morcel’s choice to leave off the life he had been leading lately brings him in a sense back to the land of the living. All because that one last drop had fallen. Life is like that (although maybe not quite as brutal as the village scenes). Sometimes that one drop extra falls and you cannot stand your own choices any longer. Change comes – sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Morcel’s having had his fill plays an important role in the plot of The Land of Shadows.
Right away I am going to warn you of a particularly gruesome scene – the one that changes Morcel’s life. This is NOT a book for Young Adults and there are definitely trigger factors for those who have been victims of sexual abuse. Consider yourselves warned.
In this scene we meet a girl who also plays an important role in the development of the plot. If you are awake you will spot her reappearance. She is quite a strong character.
There is action from the beginning of Land of Shadows. Talk about intense scenes that just grip me and will not let me go. Not until Chapter 3 do we get a description of beautiful Tarmerria. But that beauty does have a back side. There are plenty of unwanted elements, crime and scary outlanders.
What we get in the Land of Shadows is a bunch of people who have had to make terrible choices in order to stave off a potentially terrible future. But bearing the consequences of their choices takes a toll on them and the ones they have made those choices for. Life is all too often like that. A person can only do what they think is right and hope that they do not mess up too badly.
Land of Shadows is a dark novel, dark and beautiful. It is well worth the read and I would say that Jeff Gunzel has the potential of being an amazing writer. He already hits the flow over and over again and plays with my feelings like a virtuoso.
There seem to be pirat copies of the digital version around – according to the author. Amazon has taken their copy off the air.
The Urban Elves series is a sub-series to the Elves on the Road Universe an urban fantasy universe depicting the interaction between the human and the elven world adding in a bit of diesel/gas.
As far as I can see Ellen Guon (Beeman) has written three novels: two in collaboration with Mercedes Lackey and the Bedlam Boyz on her own.
Bedlam Boyz is a stand-alone novel set in Los Angeles. It is about getting the surprise of your life and how that surprise changes your life. In a life-threatening situation Kayla discovers she has the power to heal.
A talent like that is bound to bring a lot of attention. Not all of that attention is positive. In fact most of the attention Kayla garners because of her ability to heal is quite negative. Gangs, elves and social workers all want a piece of her and only one of the parties wants to help Kayla get a better life.
Bedlam Boyz was a fairly good novel. It seemed believable when it came to the fate of Liane. I imagine that to be the fate of quite a few homeless kids. Kayla’s fears are also believable and her confusion about her talent seems natural. I imagine there are police officers and social workers who care about the homeless kids the way a couple of the characters in the novel did.
I liked it. It wasn’t great but it did entertain me enough to keep me reading to the end. With a bit more editing it would have been a much better read.
Goblintown Justice first appeared in 2011 in the Carnage & Consequences Anthology. It is the second story in the Shotguns and Sorcery series.
Goblintown Justice is definitely a mystery with Max Gibson as its investigator. Max Gibson is one of the main characters of the Shotguns and Sorcery series. He is a pretty tough guy who just happens to be a sorcerer.
Max lives in Dragon City. Dragon City is like any rough city in the world. It is divided between the powerful and the ones not so powerful. Rich and poor are as usual placed in different parts of the city and the various races also tend to congregate among their own. So, nothing unusual there. Even our capital Oslo is like this – and we are a puny country.
We find the police looking for easy answers because they want some body to blame. This time they blame Sig, one of Max’ acquaintances. Since the victim is one of their own Dragon Guard the police are especially keen on getting their perpetrator. But Max does not think that Sig did it and he is given a short space of time to prove it.
Power and corruption, fear and power, rich and poor are all found in this short story. In an amazingly short time Matt Forbeck manages to show the helplessness of the weak. But the weak have Max Gibson to bat for them and that is not such a bad thing. He fights well, takes a beating without giving up and manages to give as well as get. I like Max Gibson’s character – this hard-shelled adventurer.
I had great fun reading Goblintown Justice and wouldn’t mind reading more of Matt Forbeck’s work.
Cover photograph by Robert Glen Fogarty Cover design by Kathleen J. Cheney
Three short stories are presented in A Hand for Each. The stories are: A Hand for Each, Masks of War and Fleurs du Mal.
A Hand for Each was published in 2007 in Shimmer’s Pirate Issue. From it we learn that if your ship is conquered by natives of some island and all of its crew left dead except yourself, you had better get off that ship as soon as possible. Otherwise you are going to be in serious trouble.
I guess you could say that A Hand for Each is reminiscent of The Flying Dutchman. That would make this a semi-horror story, although with the ending it might be more appropriate to call it a horror story. I like stories like these. I just know how it is has to end but I keep on hoping that I am wrong. (It probably doesn’t help that I often read the ending before I get there).
Masks of War was published in 2008 in Fantasy Magazine. It is obviously a story about masks of some kind, in this case a literal one. Sergeant Grey is given the job of tagging along with a German soldier who has had his face disfigured. Once the soldier puts on a mask to hide his disfigurement something strange happens and off the both of them go.
Masks of War is a story about hope and change. Sometimes it is possible to right a wrong, to change your path in life by acknowledging what has gone forever. I found it fascinating to follow along with the two ex-soldiers as they watched the amazing unfold.
Fleurs du Mal was published in 2010 in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I think you could probably call Fleurs du Mal a horror story. We have here a story about possession, a really strange type of possession. Good thing I have the opposite of a green thumb. Any plant that comes near me had better run for its life.
Fleurs du Mal was fun. It’s story has all of the ingredients that a mild horror should have. I am unable to read anything harder than that. The oh, oh feeling came back again and again and I kept a running commentary on the characters of the story. (I do this with movies as well.)
So, all in all A Hand for Each was fun to read and I definitely kept reading through all three stories. Good job Kathleen J. Cheney.
First things first. You really ought to take a look at the website Chronicles of Covent. It is full of great art and loads of information about characters and storylines. The cover artist, Thom Scott, is responsible for the artwork done on the website. From what I can see on their website Ficks and Dugue aim to create a world that functions as the Forgotten Realm does – with an abundance of authors dealing with the eight continents of Covent.
The Shade Chronicles are about Shade the assassin, probably the best in his field. He is an Unseen (the best of the best) gone rogue and knows to stay away from the forest surrounding his school. Shade is also a dark elf and are exposed to prejudice just like the ones in the Forgotten Realms.
The Waiting Game is the first book of this series. It has a proper ending and that makes it a series. I prefer stand-alone novels to the serial type. Serials can be annoying.
Shade is bored. He has been trained to utilise his killing abilities to the fullest and is beginning to run out of challenging kills. Anything will do as long as the hit is difficult. He gets what he wants and from there on there is action galore.
There were two scenes that I really liked. One was in the underground while fighting his challenger. The other was in the bar when Lewd’s hench(wo)men kept coming.
It was refreshing meeting someone who wasn’t out to save the world or make it a better place. Instead we find a dark elf who strikes fear into the hearts of all who realise just who they are dealing with. Only idiots mess with Shade but despite the fear he engenders, Shade is not a bully.
Shade was an interesting character, maybe even some one I would like to meet again. What did I think of the writing? Well, Ficks and Dugue kept me reading. They are above average but fall out of the flow at times. That just gives them room for improvement and I expect we shall see that as time passes.
I am a layperson about to embark on a journey of interpretation. My family subscribes to a magazine called Teknisk Ukeblad. Every once in a while they have articles that really exite me.
The Interventional Centre, Oslo University Hospital (Espen W. Remme, Per Steinar Halvorsen, Edvard Nærum, Ole Jakob Elle and Erik Fosse)
Vestfold University College (Marc Desmulliez, Lars Hoff, Christopher Grinde, Lars Fleischer, Kristin Imenes, Henrik Jakobsen, Per Øhlckers, Hans-Jørgen Alcker, Morten Grimnes, Einar Halvorsen, Oddvin Arne, and Thomas Halvorsen.)
Department of Cardiology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet (Helge Skulstad)
have collaborated in the making of an accelerometer that measures heart motion and is small enough and resistant enough to be stitched on to the heart and remain there post-surgery.
WARNING: Pictures below are of heart surgery on a pig. It is what it is.
Medical science is a field that has changed quite a bit over the past century or so. We now have equipment that makes it possible to make tiny incisions and operate through them. I remember getting my appendix taken out when I was thirteen. That left me with ten stitches and a 5-8 cm scar. Last time I went in for an operation the surgeons cut two 1 cm holes in my stomach (one in my navel) and used one stitch and I was released the same day. Wow! All because of technical doodads that make the impossible possible.
One such doodad is being developed in a cooperative effort between The Interventional Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Vestfold University College, Tønsberg, Norway; Department of Cardiology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway. Thus far (2013) the team has been using pigs to test how well their accelerometers work. These accelorometers are used to measure heart motion during surgery.
An accelerometer is an instrument that measures acceleration. In this instance the accelerometer has moved into the medical realm and in this case to the heart.
In 2004 L. Hoff from Vestfold Univ. Coll., Horten, Norway; O.J. Elle; M. Grimnes; S. Halvorsen; H.J. Alker; and E. Fosse presented their paper called Measurements of heart motion using accelerometers [surgical applications] at the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
Placed on heart: The accelerometor is stitched on the heart’s surface. It has curved tip that helps hold it in place. The sensor itself is mounted on a flexible substrate that also works as a link to the computer. The cabel is encapsulated in medical silicon to give it electrical isolation and because body tissues and the heart can only be in contact with biocompatible materials. Photo credit: Jørgen SkjelsbækMeasures heart motion: The sensor’s shape is so it can be placed on the heart. The next generation sensors will be a great deal smaller. Photo credit: Jørgen Skjelsbæk
From the first joining of two commercially available two-axis sensors into a three-axis accelerometer work has continued on the development of the three-axis accelerometer. I am not going to go into detail on that development because I am simply utterly unqualified to do so, but I would recommend that you check out this article: Piezoresistive three-axis accelerometer for monitoring heart by Craig Lowrie, Christopher Grinde, Lars Hoff and Marc Desmulliez. Section 3 presents the design of the accelerometer and its operating principle while section 4 presents the sensor fabrication. Today three-axis accelerometers are common, fairly cheap and reliable.
This whole time the researchers and technicians have worked to make the three-axis accelerometer smaller, more reliable, biocompatible, noise resistant and able to withstand the electrical impulses that heart starters give off. So the researchers have really had their work cut out for them.
When the accelerometer is stitched on to the heart it measures the heart’s motion. While anesthesized a pig is cut open, the accelerometer stitched to its heart and motion data recorded. Motion abnormalities, e.g. arrhythmias and fibrillation, are then identified in the motion curves, and confirmed by comparison with synchronously recorded ECG data.
The truly amazing part of the miniaturized accelerometers is that they allow the medical personell to keep a watch on the patient’s heart after the chest cavity has been closed up because the accelerometer still gives off information. That way the chance of discovering a heart-attack at its beginning increases and the survival rate of open heart surgery patients increases.
Not only do the researchers aim to improve the surveillance of post surgery patients, they also wish to make heart transplants in and of themselves redundant. A heart transplant is a brutal affair (see proceedure here).
Sometimes a person’s heart is too weak to pump blood on its own – this can happen while you are waiting for a new heart. When this happens, surgeon goes in and attaches something called a “Left Ventricular Assist Device” (LVAD) to your heart and it assists in or takes over the pumping function of your left ventricle.
By fastening the accelerometer to the heart and having it remain there the LVAD’s effectivity might increase to an extent that the patient is able to continue living a long time without having to struggle with the side-effects of a heart transplant. This is because the accelerometer measures individual heart motion and the doctors are able to adjust the LVAD to the individual and keep their left and right heart ventricles in balance. It would also enable the LVAD to adjust so that increased activity also gives increased blood flow. By connecting the accelerometer to some external source (cell phone) the doctors will have the ability to adjust the LVAD long distance making life a whole lot simpler for the patient. Although the researchers have not quite gotten to that point yet, they are well on their way.
I have to say again that I am a layperson. Whatever mistakes you might find in my article are due to my incompetence and not the work of the researchers behind the miniaturized accelerator for measuring heart motion.
Lars Hoff et al (2004) Measurements of heart motion using accelerometers [surgical applications]; Sensors, 2004. Proceedings of IEEE; p: 1353 – 1354 – vol.3 – Conference Publications; DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2004.1403602
Video of a heart transplantation: YouTube; Pr Chavanon, Faculty of Medicine, CHU Grenoble Joseph Fourier University. Music: Pinnacle Studio software
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This Norwegian method has been patented and the Company Cardiaccs AS and HiVe owns the rights to the method.
Inven2 (owned by Oslo University and Oslo University Hospital) is responsible for patenting and future lisence agreements regarding the Norwegian Technology.
humanitysdarkerside 