Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together, Young Adult

Lindskold, Jane: The Dragon of Despair (Firekeeper Saga III) (2003)

2013-08-21 humanitysdarkerside 5 Comments

The Dragon of Despair - Julie Bell — The Dragon of Despair
Cover art by Julie Bell

The Dragon of Despair is about messed up families, people who get a kick out of manipulating others, the struggle of a people to be recognized as a nation, divided loyalties and about Firekeeper trying to learn patience.

In terms of messed up families we are talking about poor little Citrine and her mother Melina. When Citrine got her finger cut off it did something to her head. It wasn’t the fact of her finger alone but the finger added to her mother’s seeming abandonment. Melina must be a prime example of a psychopath/sociopath.

Melina has established her position as the wife to the ruler of New Kelvin, Toriovico. She managed to marry him through her usual machinations and has him and most of his Primes completely in her power. Her reasons for this marriage does, of course, have to do with magic although it would probably be more correct to say that she wants all the power she can get and will use any means to get it.

What does this have to do with Citrine? For her own good King Tedric sends her along with the gang on their jaunt to New Kelvin. This time they are allegedly looking into setting up a silk-line from New Kelvin to Hawk Haven through the Kestrel and Archer families. This is the excuse for the presence of Edlin, Firekeeper, Blind Seer, Derian, Elise, Doc, Wendy, Grateful Peace (in disguise) and Citrine (also in disguise). Their real mission is to see if they can stop whatever it is Melina is up to.

To get Firekeeper and Blind Seer to go to New Kelvin, King Tedric has promised her that he will take care of the problem that has risen west of the Iron Mountains. Otherwise Firekeeper and Blind Seer would probably have gone to aid their family back there. But King Tedric feels this would only damage Firekeeper’s case with the nobles and even more importantly to him, he needs Firekeeper and Blind Seers abilities in New Kelvin.

West of the Iron Mountains a group of settlers has tried to get Bardenville up and running again. The Royal Beasts do not like this and are discussing what to do with the settlers. Only Firekeeper’s reassurance that King Tedric means to keep his promises keeps them from taking terminal action.

Firekeeper’s introduction to the human world and her struggles to understand the distinctions we make between different qualities gives us a better look at how weird human societies truly are. She still remains my favorite character (along with her companion Blind Seer). Derian follows with poor little Citrine in third place. Citrine is a person I have no trouble at all identifying with.

I am still reading to my son and he is still enjoying the tales in the Firekeeper saga. In fact, he grows impatient if I have to wait for the next book to arrive. I rather enjoy having been able to pass on the joy of reading to my sons. Stories have always been such an important teaching tool in society and the Firekeeper saga does a great job in that respect. Not only is Firekeeper an interesting and fun example to follow but Lindskold also manages to convey her respect for nature to me as a reader.

Reviews:

Hardcover: 640 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (August 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765302594
ISBN-13: 978-0765302595

Mass Market Paperback: 768 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (April 6, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765341581
ISBN-13: 978-0765341587

My review of Through Wolf’s Eyes and Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart

Fantasy

The Oatmeal: Easy and fun explanations of some grammar rules

2013-08-21 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

Comics : Grammar

This is a grammar comic about the proper usage of who versus whom.
A look at the meaning of “flushing out an idea.”
This comic will LITERALLY make butterflies explode out of your underpants.

A guide explaining when to use i.e. instead of e.g.
A little bit ironic, dontcha think?
The most feared punctuation on earth.
I created a handy guide for common spelling errors. A panda bear makes an appearance.
The right way to use an apostrophe (in illustrated form).

Adventure, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Bell, Odette C.: A Plain Jane 3 (A Plain Jane) (2012)

2013-08-19 humanitysdarkerside 5 Comments

We now come to the final installation of the A Plain Jane trilogy.

At the end of A Plain Jane II Jane had been called before the Senate to defend herself against the allegations made by Senator Cooper. He had charged her with treason and wanted her stripped of all rights given to her by the Galactic Senate. Things took a bizarre twist and the Senate realised what was really going on with Senator Cooper. This is where II left off – With the Senate in complete disarray and Jane falling.

What a thriller, what a thriller ;). All joking aside, what follows in A Plain Jane III is in fact an example of how excellent writing can draw the reader in. Odette C. Bell does action well. She(?) has all the way through the trilogy.

We get any and all questions we might have answered. What the Darq are is one example. The Paran technological superiority also gets explained. And, finally, we find out whether or not Jane manages to keep the Darq from destroying the Galaxy as she knows it.

Some of the story is downright silly, but you know, that is just part of the fun of reading. In some ways A Plain Jane is a soap opera, but in others it is a fantastic action story taking a person (Jane) through one identity crisis after the other. Not only Jane has to come to terms with who and what she is. Lucas is also having to admit a few unpleasant truths about himself and is going to have to figure out exactly what he is made of.

So, Yeah! I think I can wholeheartedly say that I have found Odette C. Bell’s entry into my life entirely charming in the good-old fashioned US way.

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Published: Dec. 02, 2012
Words: 75,070 (approximate)
Language: American English
ISBN: 9781301276394

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My reviews of A Plain Jane I and A Plain Jane II

Adventure, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Bell, Odette C: A Plain Jane 2 (A Plain Jane) (2012)

2013-08-19 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

Odette C. Bell used to publish her work under the pseudonyms “Muscularkevin” and “Scrabblecat” on Fiction Press. There aren’t really any updated blogs or websites that belong to this author. Fiction Press is the closest I can get.

A Plain Jane continues to be a delightfully light read about the search for identity.

Jane has worked her whole life at being as plain as possible. Now it turns out this has been because she has an “Assister” lodged in her head, meant to keep her safe and invisible. It turns out she is anything but plain.

A Plain Jane II begins where no I left off: Jane on the run with Racarl toward somewhere supposedly safe. But Jane doubts his intentions yet still finds herself unable to assert herself and be the Pala (ruler of her people – the mysterious Para) that she is supposed to be.

As I read A Plain Jane (all three of them) I thought about the brainwashing we are all exposed to from the moment we are born (or socialization as it is more popularly called). What if I grew up trying my hardest to think of myself as plain and boring? What would that do to me? Granted, most of us are plain and boring but do not necessarily think of ourselves that way.

I’ve met quite a few people like Jane on my journey through life. They have been told that they are stupid, worthless, boring, ugly and all sorts of other unkind names by the people they trust. Like Jane they come to believe what they have been told and find it almost impossible to break away from that belief.

In A Plain Jane II this is the phenomenon I found the most interesting. Jane struggles against the ingrained belief she has grown up with and works incredibly hard to overcome herself.

But A Plain Jane II is not a serious reality type of novel. It is in fact an extremely entertaining science fiction story with plenty of action and fighting to go around.

Lucas Stone turns out to be not quite as dead as it seemed he might be by the end of A Plain Jane I.

When Lucas was stopped by Element 52 from killing Jane at the end of A Plain Jane I, he fell an entire kilometer before smashing into the ocean. While his armor had been hijacked and caused him to attack Jane, it was also his new and improved armor that has saved him (barely). Luckily for him his true and tested friends Alex and Miranda managed to come after him with the Paran artifact that had helped Jane. Now they are on the trail hoping to get to her before the Darq does.

Reviews:

Grumpy in Pink

Published: Oct. 10, 2012
Words: 91,190 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301848454

My review of A Plain Jane I

Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Kreitzer, Laura: Shadow of the Sun (Timeless I) (2010)

2013-08-13 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

I chose Shadow of the Sun from the Kindle free reads list exclusively because of its cover. My reasoning was that someone who would go to the trouble of getting such an awesome cover would make certain their writing was good as well. Yes, I have been burned at times by this less than stellar logic.

Most of the reviews of Shadow of the Sun have been favorable. I have included a couple that are not. For once I had an incredible amount of reviews to choose between and that makes me think that there is probably a larger market for paranormal romance than there is for the stuff I usually read.

From the beginning of this story the main character, Gabriella, reminds me of Sheldon in “The Big Bang Theory“. She is extremely intelligent about theory but not always as intelligent in social relations. I like it when the main character isn’t all Mary Poppins because we are all rude idiots about some things in our lives.

Gabriella is considered an expert on all things super-natural. For the most part the super-natural part of it is faked. Not this time though. Consider yourselves introduced to the three angels in her laboratory. Of course, the angels are beautiful. And, of course, Gabriella is beautiful as well. That kind of goes with the territory of paranormal romances although it is unnecessary in my mind. And, since this is a paranormal romance there is bound to be a love triangle of some sort. What do you know, there is. I guess the reason I choose to be critical of the triangle version presented in Shadow of the Sun is because it seems formulaic.

On to the rest of the story. Shadow of the Sun is much more than romance. We get plenty of action and that is what kept me reading. I liked the whole idea of all of the angels who were conscious beyond a certain point in time having no memory of what Halos of the Sun were. That is what the trio dug up in Italy are. Collective memory loss or memory tampering is not something I think I have come across before. This collective memory loss places the three angels, Gabriella, Joseph and Karen (another angel/FBI agent/?) against the rest of the angels.

The ending turns Timeless into a serial – we are left with a cliff-hanger. Shadow of the Sun was good for a first novel.

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Reviews:

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Published: Sep. 29, 2011
File Size: 524 KB
Words: 107,500 (approximate)
Print Length: 524 pages
Publisher: Revolution Publishing Inc. (February 26, 2010)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B0076QK65K
ISBN: 9781937790998

Biography

Stensager, Anders Otte: Doktor Mengele – Liv og forbrytelse (Life and crimes of Dr Mengele) (2008)

2013-08-13 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

This summer I have been reading Stensager’s biography on Doctor Mengele – one of the most infamous doctors experimenting on prisoners in concentrations camps during WWII. Not exactly light and pleasant reading and even worse for the prisoners who had to meet him and his compatriots.

One of Stensager’s aims in writing about Dr. Mengele and his fellow doctors at Auschwitz has been to reaffirm the reality of the Holocaust in an attempt to slow down the efforts of the revisionists to deny that the Holocaust ever happened. The reason he wrote in Danish was because he felt it important that the Danish people acknowledge their part in enabling these horrible events.

At first we find out what Mengele’s growing up years were like. He grew up in a conservative Catholic family who were pretty much like the rest of the townspeople. While at university he joined NSDAP and SS and embraced the idea of the Arian race.

The war came, he went off as a unit doctor and was eventually sent to Auschwitz where he became part of the horror that was the objectification of others. All of the camps experimented on their prisoners. Different camps had different areas of “expertise” except for Auschwitz where they did a little of everything.

One of my grandfathers was tortured by the SS during WWII – he was in the underground movement here in Norway. What happened at Auschwitz outdoes what he went through.

Child_survivors_of_Auschwitz
Jewish twins kept alive to be used in Mengele’s medical experiments. These children from Auschwitz were liberated by the Red Army in January 1945.

Mengele was most known for his twin studies, but man – those doctors were seriously disturbed.

Something happens to us when we begin seeing certain people as objects. Objectification allows us to rationalise our actions. I’m not going to repeat what the book tells of Mengele’s experiments. If you read Norwegian, Danish or Dutch you really ought to get a copy. But be prepared for people at their worst.

After WWII Mengele got away. He never took responsibility for what he did. It was always a matter of following orders or other people lying about what went on during the war. But he took notes on his experiments and they pretty much spell it out for us.

What does Stensager’s biography on Mengele’s life and crimes teach me? We must never forget what we are all capable of doing. A lot of doctors both in and out of the camps were involved with the experiments that went on and were OK with them. They were just regular people who had stopped seeing certain people as people. Instead they had become things. It could just as well have been me.

Knowing this makes it possible for me to change both myself and to stand up for those who need it. I can be part of trying to prevent something like the Holocaust from happening again.

Reviews:

Bent Blüdnikow

Dutch version:

Josef Mengele, Nazi-arts: zijn leven, en misdaden (Nazilaegen Josef Mengele)
Overige betrokkenen: Geri de Boer
ISBN10: 906100635X
ISBN13: 9789061006350

Norwegian version:

Oversetter: Lars Nygaard
Forlag: Pax
ISBN10: 8253034903
ISBN13: 9788253034904

Danish version:

Forlag: Documentas
ISBN-10: 8770630445
ISBN-13: 9788770630443

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together

Lindskold, Jane: Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart (Firekeeper Saga II) (2002)

2013-08-12 humanitysdarkerside 6 Comments

WolfsHeadWolfsHeart-hc — Hard cover for: Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart
Cover artist: Julie Bell

WolfsHeadWolfsHeart-pb — Cover artist: Julie Bell

As you can tell I had a difficult time choosing between hardcover and paperback cover art, so I added them both.

Having begun reading to my son about Firekeeper we kept on going. Believe it or not, but quite a bit of snuggle time goes into around 600 pages worth of story. 600 pages is a lot of words. Sometimes I think the two of us get so caught up in how words and sentences connect that we forget to pay as much attention as we ought to. In my world that is only possible when the writing is tight and attention is paid to how writing is similar to music. Sometimes we have to laugh when I have trouble figuring out how to pronounce a name or two. What we do then is have a discussion on pronunciation and come to an agreement.

On to content. The Firekeeper Saga is about politics and relationships and coming of age if it is about anything. Sure there is action and fighting, but this is not what the series is about. I love action fantasy and science fiction and I love stories like the Firekeeper saga.

Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart is still about Firekeeper and Blind Seer’s emerging role as ambassadors between humans and Royal kind. On that journey some of Firekeeper’s illusions about the superiority of the Royal kind are torn down. Blind Seer seems more of the adult than Firekeeper in this regard and is in fact one of the people who challenges Firekeeper’s previous beliefs.

Derian is another favorite of this tale. I imagine Lindskold has made certain that I be aware of him. Derian is Carter made Counselor, a role he had never imagined and feels overwhelmed by. He is easily Firekeeper’s favorite human friend and a very faithful one.

Waln Endbrook is a really good bad guy. He is the ultimate bully – afraid of letting go of power and ready to step on anyone who gets in his way – especially if they are weaker than he is. One of the more fascinating parts of Waln’s character was the mental acrobatics he was willing employ in order to avoid blaming himself for anything. It was always something the other person had done or said that brought about trouble. I hate meeting these people in real life because they scare the shit out of me. But I have also learned, the hard way, the necessity of seeming strong around them.

Elise and Doc are the “hopeless romance” carriers of the series. Poor guys. So in love and yet bound by the strictures of society from having any kind of romantic attachment. Politics sure do stink at times.

We are also introduced to Firekeeper’s adorable adopted brother Edlin Norwood. Hugh Laurie in Bertie Wooster exemplifies just how I imagine Edlin speaks.

Reviews:

Published: August 24, 2002
File Size: 1100 KB
Print Length: 620 pages
Language: English
ASIN: B003G93YE6
ISBN-10: 031287426X
ISBN-13: 978-0312874261

My review of Through Wolf’s Eyes

Thriller

Marquitz, Tim: Requiem (Blood War III) (2012)

2013-08-11 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Requiem is by far the best of the Blood War trilogy. It seems as if Marquitz is finding his fantasy feet (although I doubt he ever lost them since feet are usually stuck on).

What I like about Tim is that we have little romance and lots of action. Tons of it in fact. The Blood War trilogy is after all about a war fought on all possible sides against overwhelming odds. Which is why I add my warning: Beware of blood and gore. War is ugly and so is this. There is no attempt at sugar-coating the brutality of warring parties in Requiem nor is there a glorification of the violence.

I retain my favorites from before: Arrin / Uthul and Zaree and this time I am adding Ellara (this is one resilient girl). Ellara is an orphan from Lathah who ends up helping orphan friends and the royal family in their escape attempts. She showed the kind of grit she had in Embers of an Age and has the same kind of gumption in Requiem. A girl to admire.

While Blood War is considered dark fantasy it is still full of hope. Maybe it is this hope that makes intelligent beings fight for their lives. My brain finds it mysterious to see the lengths of suffering people are willing to endure just so they will not die. But in Requiem we also see that for some people there comes a point when dying is an expression of hope.

Reviews:

Published: Oct. 21, 2012
File Size: 424 KB
Print Length: 226 pages
Words: 61,210 (approximate)
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B009UDZRW4
ISBN: 9781301454877

My review of Dawn of War and Embers of an Age.

Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult

James, Hadena: Dark Illumination (Dark Legacies) (2012)

2013-08-11 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

I’m glad the editing issues in Dark Cotillion have been resolved in Dark Illumination.

Dark Illumination comes with one warning. There is quite a bit of zombieish-like goryness – without the zombies (those were in Dark Cotillion).

My fascination with this strange world James has presented us with has not left me. Lucifer is catholic and married to a human. All of their children have been baptised into the Catholic church. Lucifer is not the only mythological character that gets treated this way. In fact, Lucifer and the angel Gabriel are best-friends along with Baal, Anubis and Fenrir. Mammon is Brenna’s god-father and uncle and was present at her baptism.

Who is good and bad is no longer clear-cut, but the least clear-cut is the baddie of Dark Illumination. He/She seems set on destroying Brenna after her maturing. Because of the nature of the attacks the person might be someone close to her or one of her relatives.

Add to the mystery of the baddie all of the action and I guess we have an action-mystery novel. All of the action is the reason for the above-mentioned gore. There is plenty of fighting, both magical and demonic. Poor regular humans who get in the way.

Add to this cabal dead uncle Sonnellion and we have in fact a ghost-mystery-action story for young adults.

I believe it is safe to say that Brenna Strachan has a strange family and some strange friends. Add in her own unpredictability and we have a story that is bound to interest both young and old.

Reviews:

Janey’s review

Published: Nov. 21, 2012
File Size: 416 KB
Words: 69,610 (approximate)
Print Length: 346 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00AAQ8Q5U
ISBN: 9781301107094

My review of Dark Cotillion

Fantasy

Cup of Tea (2005?)

2013-08-10 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Mother was out, and dad was in charge.

Mabel their only daughter was 2 n 1/2 years old. Someone had given her a little ‘tea set’ as a gift, and it was one of her favorite toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when she brought him a little cup of ‘tea’, which was just water, but pretending to be tea.

After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, mom came home.

Dad made her wait in the living room to watch her bring him a cup of tea, because it was ‘just the cutest thing!’ Mum waited, and sure enough, here she came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy; and she watched him drink it up. Then she said, (as only a mother would know),

“Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?”

Appears on the net around 2005

Science Fiction, Short story/novella, Thriller

Lichtenberg, Tom: Happy Slumbers (Dragon City) (2012)

2013-08-09 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Spring Hill Lake is this bizarre town where mysterious things happen. People disappear, sinkholes appear and then disappear and people suddenly appear out of the blue. In Happy Slumbers we find out what is going on and why it happens.

When Alex Kirkham comes looking for his brother Argus, who seems to have disappeared, Alex meets this old lady (Etta) on a park-bench. She starts talking in riddles and Alex follows her around trying to figure out what she is talking about.

We get a short historical recap of Alex and Argus’ encounters with the “Thing” in Spring Hill Lake. Part of the recap comes through Alex’s interactions with the “Law”.

Of course, the government has to get involved. After the last oddities regarding the stadion they are all gung-ho about making Alex spill the beans. But Alex has no beans to spill, at least not yet.

I loved the ending of the Dragon City series. Another thing I really enjoyed was my inability to place the Dragon City series in any one category. Is it science fiction or is it fantasy or maybe a bit of both? That is the joy of being a reader, at least when an author writes as well as Tom Lichtenberg does.

Reviews

Published: June 24, 2012
Words: 15,040 (approximate)
Print Length: 53 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B008EED36M
ISBN: 9781476241968

My review of Dragon Town

Fantasy, Young Adult

Leckman, J.R.: Pursuit (The Legend of Kimberly) (2012)

2013-08-08 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

I have placed this cover among my favorites (see slide show). Markov has captured one of the scenes of the story perfectly.

So, here we are with book no. 2 of The Legend of Kimberly, Pursuit. According to the author: “The Legend of Kimberly series is really about growing up and learning that life, even a fairy tale one, is never what you expect of it.” I think that all of us who have been through this process can attest to that statement.

Kimberly grew up very quickly in Inheritance, at least physically, when she was unceremoniously dumped in Auvierra. Mentally she had quite a bit of catching up to do. Through her friendship with the “fox” Ip and the troupe she ends up wandering and fighting with she finally gets an understanding of what fairly healthy relationships are like and she gains the strength to continue her fight against the cruelty that others wish to inflict on her and others.

Fighting for the “light side” continues to be part of Kimberly’s job in Pursuit. This time she has to get her friend Serra away from those freaking zealots that appeared in Inheritance and kidnapped Serra. The Brotherhood of Zor are possessed with defining anything non-human or non-conformative as demons or as being possessed by demons. These guys are nuts from my point of view but filled with the light of truth from their own point of view.

The first chapter has a wonderfully gross description of Kimberly’s encounter with the macklejacks. I must admit that I am partial to such vivid detail of muck and smells. Action-filled and humorous first pages.

Poor uncle Ben – Kimberly’s uncle. He is about to get the shock of his life. When he discovers that he is the son of an apparently insane author father and then discovers that dad really wasn’t crazy after all life can only get worse. Then he meets a mermaid. After that the Brotherhood. Oh, boy, his introduction to Auvierra stinks. Unfortunately, this makes becoming a family for Ben and Kimberly more difficult.

We have some seriously crazy people in Pursuit. In addition to the Brotherhood a wizard with an evil imagination joins the kabal (hold-over from Inheritance). His compatriot is an assassin/con-artist who loves to torment others. I’m not sure if we can add his walking staff to the evil cabal but he/it too has some serious issues. For those of you who like nasty, I am certain Maitlan’s fate is right up your alley.

J.R. Leckman writes well, really well. He remains in the flow for the most part and has an action-pace that almost takes my breath away. Add to that all of the strange characters and abilities and we have a cauldron filled to the top with a delicious word-stew. Good job.

Reviews:

Published: Aug. 01, 2012
Words: 57,370 (approximate)
Print Length: 161 pages
Language: American English
ISBN: 9781476239446
ASIN: B008RQLEHW

My review of Inheritance

Science Fiction, Short story/novella, Thriller

Lichtenberg, Tom: Dragon Town (The Dragon City) (2011)

2013-08-08 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

I was not aware of this being a series so I jumped right in with Dragon Town (no. 3) and had no problem with that. While there obviously is a thread (the strange disappearances) to the story Dragon Town seemed to stand completely on its own legs.

Sapphire Karadjian has been ordered by the top honchos of the media concern she works for to return to Spring Hill Lake to report on a sinkhole that is supposed to have swallowed a football stadion. For a war journalist that seems both unlikely and rather tame and she cannot for the life of her understand why they want her specifically. Granted, she grew up there, but she feels completely overqualified for the job. Orders are orders and off she goes.

Her journalistic career has removed any rose-colored glasses Sapphire might have had before leaving Spring Hill Lake. To an extent I know my own rose tinted glasses have come off and that I see more of the world as it is and not as I want it to be. Sapphire’s case is even more extreme than my own. I imagine doing stories about one horrible deed after another tears down all illusions you have about people.

Sapphire is the main character of Dragon Town. Dragon Town is in the style of X-Files or the Twilight Zone – you know, sort of weird and sometimes creepy. Here we have “the burning girl”. Interesting to have a person on fire yet not get hurt. Then you have the back-story of the city. Add to that the suddenly appearing hole. And finally, for those who have read them, there are the two preceding novels.

I liked Dragon Town. It is only 84 pages long, so I guess that would make it a novella. Despite its shortness it packs quite a bit of story into it and manages to give me the creep-factor a couple of times. I like it when stories abstain from horror but embrace creepy.

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File Size: 211 KB
Print Length: 84 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B004XMOZNE

Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Young Adult

James, Hadena: Dark Cotillion (Dark Legacies) (2012)

2013-08-07 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

Dark Cotillion was one of those books that surprised me. I’d gotten it from Kindle for free on the off-chance that I might like it. The blurb sounded so, so and I figured “why not”. Some surprises are really nice.

The Dark Legacies series introduces a world I have not met yet in my meanderings through the world of fantasy. Just when I think I have read every conceivable type of world-building something new comes along. As any type of addict my consumption of fantasy and science fiction literature is high and varied. I will try just about anything to get my fix. Imagine how fun it was to get a taste of something new and different.

What is not new about the Dark Legacies and specifically Dark Cotillion is the lengths to which some people will go in order to force the world to fit with their own visions. Assassination has been a favored tool of leaders for ages (probably for as long as humans have existed). There is nothing unusual in that. Telling lies to their followers is also a favored tool. All we have to do is look around at the fear-mongering and dehumanising projects that go on in the world. So nothing unusual there either.

After a slow start of world-building James really picks up the pace and brings us into one action-filled situation after the other. There are some gory descriptions and some sexual content but no more than most young adults encounter on a regular basis in the gaming world.

James has not quite gotten the flow right but she does present a world that I would like to get to know more about. There were moments when things fell perfectly into place and that is a quality worth building on. I found Dark Cotillion well worth the read and have purchased the next in line.

File Size: 595 KB
Print Length: 368 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B0093UKS82

Fantasy, Thriller

Marquitz, Tim: Embers of an Age (Blood War II) (2012)

2013-08-05 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

Embers of an Age a — Cover art by Jessy Lucero

I think a fair criticism of Embers of an Age comes from Sylvain Martel (below). Sylvain comments on the way the various nations must be squashed together as the time from one to the other takes such a short while. I had the same thought while reading but had forgotten that disturbance as I was paying more attention to the characters themselves. It is true. The pace at which these characters must travel is immense.

My favorite character continues to be Arrin. He is so obviously a tragic hero who happens to be part of a story that seems to have very few happy endings. With all of the blood and gore Marquitz places us in it is difficult to imagine any of the characters having a Disney ending to their story – Arrin least of all.

Next to Arrin come Zalee and Uthul (the Sha’ree). Zalee and Uthul are daughter and father. Both are subject to the strange illness that comes with using magic contained in the O’hra but still choose to do so. Coming out from their homeland has brought home to them exactly what the Sha’ree have missed by absenting themselves for so long. I sometimes see that in my own life. Because I am fortunate in so many aspects of my life it is sometimes tempting to stick my head in the sand and become blind to the lives of other people. Maybe that is why I like Uthul and Zalee so much. They have chosen to raise their heads and see.

Sultae is my final favorite. She is obviously out to get revenge for how she has been wronged and she has become insane with that need and her understandable hatred. I get that feeling as well. Sometimes I have felt it myself and sometimes I have had friends and acquaintances who have wanted to destroy those who have wronged them so badly. While she does not take up much space in Embers of an Age, Sultae is an essential part of the story. Without her it would not have happened.

There is tons of fighting of one type or another. People are running from place to place chased by various creatures. Action is present from beginning to end and Marquitz ends this story on a cliff-hanger. There are still hiccups but the Blood War trilogy is getting better.

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