The Bastard Cadre serial just gets better and better. I think I am a sucker for the traditional Hero. I have to admit that I am a sucker for just about any type of character as long as they are well written.
One example of a well written character in The Dead God’s Shadow is the Death priest Avril has his gentle encounter with. Crazy or what? That is one dedicated priest. I don’t know if it is more fun to write about the “bad guys”, but in my head it must be. I cannot even say that the Death priest was a well-rounded character because he was utterly and completely boinkers. No more than some people out there, but still …
Obduron’s dad isn’t exactly a sweetheart either. I guess that in a world left as harsh as the one Avril lives in the term “survival of the strongest” does not necessarily mean that the strong are going to be nice. Probably quite the opposite in fact. Maybe it comes from holding power for as long as Valan has.
You must know by now that The Bastard Cadre is a post-apocalyptic tale. The land is decimated and people struggle to hold on to life. Desertification seems to be huge in the area Avril travels through. Avril is one tough dude. He is like the Energizer bunny – just keeps on going and going and going. He retains a certain kind of innocence about him in spite of the many opportunities to turn into a cynic. I think he is the kind of person I would like to be.
I keep on wondering about those gods. Who exactly are they? They aren’t immortal and they certainly do not agree on matters. In fact they war against each other using humans to fight many of their battles. Right there we can tell that they aren’t very nice nor do they care about people. I feel like throwing a hissy-fit demanding to know right now what the rest of the story is. But authors are cruel people who like to keep their fans waiting and it seems Lee Carlon is no exception to that rule.
The Dead God’s Shadow is definitely dark and so is the humor. There is something so refreshing about dark humor that cannot be found anywhere else. Carlon is subtle about his points as well. They sort of sneak up on you (well, me).
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 297 KB
Print Length: 146 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Clockwork Samurai; 1 edition (30 July 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B00E96LAMI
I was given a reviewer’s copy by Carlon. The only preferential treatment I am aware of giving is to read the novel ahead of others on my general to-read list.
Barrenlandsis my first meeting with Doranna Durgin and a pretty good one at that. My read was an updated and reworked edition.
In its basic form Barrenlands is a mystery. Who killed the king (Benlan) is the question that is eating Ehren up. The reason Ehren feels so passionate about finding the murderer (not every one else wants him to find him/her/them) is because Benlan was his best friend. Most of Ehren’s guard-friends had also been killed at the same time.
Ehren is an interesting character yet familiar in a fantasy sense. He is our hero, the one with the quest he must fulfill. He is also the strong, silent type. In his case his silence and strength are very much tools. When one is silent one sometimes listens and is able to hear things one might not otherwise hear. As a hero Ehren has several helpers and not all of them are people. Two killer horses (that is for any other person than Ehren) are among the assistants. Ehren has trained them well and we get a few episodes illustrating how dangerous they are.
Two people also come to his aid. In the one case the helper places Ehren in an awkward position. Ehren is actually supposed to kill Laine (or Lain-iee! as his sister calls him) and his family. Laine is the nephew of the dead king Benlan. He has a weird ability – to see magic. He has another ability but that comes out late in the novel so hush to me. Sherran is the other person that turns up and happens to be the T’ieran of Clan Gurran. She, too, has a magical ability that Ehren will need.
Varien is an interesting character but the opposite of Ehren’s helper. He becomes quite fun in a nasty way as the story evolves. The more I learned the less confidence I had in him. Not exactly the kind of magician I would want at my back. And he just happens to be the new king’s (Rohan) most important advisor.
We begin with a fight scene and there are several to follow. I would call this a YA novel with little emphasis on romance but a whole lot on friendship and action with some magic thrown in.
B. Throwsnaill is a pseudonym for Bill Ainsworth. Pity! I rather liked Throwsnaill. I like this cover by Elena Dudina.
Something is wrong with magic. For some reason it is less efficient than usual. That is a major bummer for Hemlock’s sister’s stomach problems. Hemlock’s main goal in life is to take care of her sister. Only the two of them live in SanCyra. Their parents are either dead or living elsewhere – details revealed in the novel.
Hemlock is an interesting character. With the help of her adopted father figure, Safreon, her ways have gone from thieving to policing the area she lives in. Because the area is poor, the guards do not feel it has high priority. We never see that in real life, do we??
Both policing and the problems with magic bring Hemlock into the way of the Wizards and their odd creations. Because of her strange powers Hemlock is of interest to the Wizards. They wish to either bring her into their fold or to kill her.
Hemlock is very goal-oriented. In fact her one-tracked mind often lets her forget to plan. The advantage of such impulsiveness is that things get done. The disadvantage is trouble of all sorts. But Hemlock is usually lucky in some way. Maybe that has to do with her powers or maybe she is just one of those people. I am so clumsy I would probably stumble and fall all over the place.
I did not read the novel until just recently. It seems most of the previous comments were listened to and followed as the author saw fit. Hemlock and the Wizard Tower is a pretty good young adult novel. We get a look at an interesting world of magic, one I have not seen before (I think). The whole idea of the city of SanCyra is pretty cool.
Great cover. You will find each item in the novel.
Thanks again to Lorena Angell for providing me with a reviewer’s copy. Does receiving a copy influence the review I write? I would hope not, but knowing human nature it probably does to some extent. I try to be aware of this possibility. Hopefully that does not make me harder on the author than I need to be.
A Diamond in my Heart is my favorite of the three novels. Brand is probably part of the reason. I like him a lot more than Chris.
Chris is difficult to get a handle on. I’m sure that is Angell’s intention. Is he for Mathea’s work or is he against? How does he tackle the whole situation with Calli? It is obvious he at least lusts for her and he has previously seemed to love her (according to surface thoughts). But loving a person does not necessarily mean that we look out for their best interests.
Calli is even more confounded by Chris’ behavior than I am. It must be weird having a person change their behavior toward you almost from day to day. Realising the seriousness of having a shard of diamond lodged in her heart is a process. Coming to accept that protecting her heart also means keeping a distance between herself and Chris would also be difficult.
Freedom craves having Calli’s shard in his possession. He will go to any length to get it. Killing her is only part of it.
Brand’s ability to repeat comes in quite handy in The Diamond of Freedom. Life would be a whole lot more difficult without him.
There was plenty of action in The Diamond of Freedom. At the beginning of the novel Chris and Calli are on the run after Brand saved their lives. They are trying to stay off-radar but are finding that a challenge. From there on we go from one adventure to the other. Some of it is kind of funny (like the biker gang) and Chris’ uncle was adorable (yes I mean that). Kind of cute in his own way.
We are told a bit more about the world of Mathea and meet some of the other Diamond-bearers. I’m left wondering what sort of person I would be after 5000 years. How would it be possible to keep up her motivation for keeping the world in balance for all that time? Is it even possible to retain all of the flighty emotions we short-lived people have? Thankfully I will never find out.
How do I know Lorena Angell (and her son Joshua) have created a well-written fantasy novel? I am left wondering and pondering the characters and their future. That really is the sign of a good series/serial. The author has to keep her readers interested in the story-line and characters that live in it. Good job Lorena. I certainly want to read the next addition to The Unaltered series.
My reviews of books no. 1 (A Diamond in my Pocket) and 2 (A Diamond in my Heart).
Cruciblecontinues where Crossfireleft off. Nancy Kress was married to the author Charles Sheffield. In Crucible the characters Lucy and Karim talk a bit about the effects of the McAndrew drive. Charles Sheffield invented the term in his books and Nancy has borrowed the term as an explanation for the way the space vessels behave while travelling at their various speeds. If you are a nerd/semi-nerd like myself, you will probably check the information out.
One of the effects of travelling at near-light-speed is the problem of your ageing compared with the people you have left behind. They will be older (or even dead) when you return to them. I imagine that could be quite traumatic. Crucible deals with that question.
Crucible can mean “test by fire”. We see Karim and Lucy go through their test of fire when they are stuck on the Vine world trying to survive and hopefully get back to other humans. The Vines are strange plantlike creatures whose existence seems very harmonious. For humans that can be difficult to deal with. We probably get off on a bit of conflict in our lives, predator/prey that we are. That and the fact that Vines don’t communicate the way we do makes life extremely difficult for Lucy and Karim.
Crucible is also the name of the vessel travelling from Earth to Greentrees. The passengers onboard are modified humans. What they bring to Greentrees is an arrogant attitude toward the people living there. Being modified makes the people on Greentrees listen to their beautiful voices and beautiful looks. Even Jake Holman (at age ancient) is fooled by them. But the people from Crucible come with an agenda of their own.
A lot of conflict is in the cards and Kress manages to convey the various personalities quite well. She is an interesting writer.
2005: Nominated – Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
I started reading Artemis Fowl to my oldest son until he got into the whole reading thing himself. Once there, he took over and went through the books below. After I’d thoroughly brainwashed him, I set out to do the same with my youngest – first by reading to him and then through audiobooks. Audiobooks are a miracle for dyslectics. A dyslectic brain is just as brilliant as any other brain, it’s just the whole sorting letters into the right order thing that baffles them. Needless to say, I managed to convert my youngest as well. You’ve probably guessed by now that I’m a fan of Eoin Colfer’s creation of the less than legal character of Artemis.
Artemis Fowl II is the main character of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series. Artemis is a teenage criminal mastermind on the lookout for enough gold to restore his family fortune. He considers himself fairly wicked, but as the series progresses we see that there is plenty of good deeds to balance the bad. My kids loved all of the tricks he played on both his friends and enemies. We have not read it yet, but the conclusion to the series was released in July 2012 – The Last Guardian.
Eoin Colfer begins our journey into the world of Artemis Fowl II in the novel Artemis Fowl. Some of the characters we meet will appear in all of the novels while some of them we’ll only see in a few of them. His faithful bodyguard, Butler is one of the characters that will appear again and again.
Artemis is 12 years old. His father is an Irish crime lord, Artemis Fowl, who has disappeared. Through research Artemis thinks he can prove the existence of faeries and when he tracks down The Book of the People he has his proof.
Artemis decodes the book – only natural for someone of his genius – and travels the world looking for locations for a magic-restoring ritual. They discover and capture Captain Holly Short who is out restoring her magic. Holly is then brought to Fowl mansions. The faeries are not pleased with Artemis and sends a crack team (LEP) to recover her.
A graphic novel adaptation was released in 2007. A film adaptation was reported to be in the writing stage in mid-2008, with Jim Sheridan directing.
AWARDS:
W. H. Smith Book Award
British Book Award
Whitbread Book of the Year Award: Shortlist
Lancashire County Library Children’s Book Award: Shortlist
Bisto Book of the Year: Shortlist
New York Times Best-Selling Series
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award Master List (2003)
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Award (2001)
In The Arctic Incident, Artemis is a year older (13). We once again meet Butler, Captain Holly Short and Commander Julius Root.
Artemis is set up to take the blame for supplying contraband to goblins. When Artemis and Butler defeat the real baddy, the LEP decides to help Artemis recover his father from the Russian mafia. The rescue group is ambushed by goblins.
It becomes apparent that Opal Koboi of Koboi laboratories is involved somehow, leaving it to Artemis and Holly to figure out how to save the day – both for Artemis’ father and the LEP.
The story in Eternity Code happens shortly after the Arctic Incident. While Artemis has changed somewhat since the first book, he still loves to scheme and steal from the fairies. Artemis has created a supercomputer which he calls the “C-Cube”. It gets stolen and in the process Butler is killed. However, Artemis comes to rescue – along with a bit of fairy magic.
Artemis convinces the fairies to help him recover the Cube and they agree – but with one condition. Artemis is to be left with no memory of the fairy world.
Our lovely Opal Koboi (from The Arctic Incident) has gotten away from the asylum where she was being held by the LEP.
She then sets out to revenge herself on Commander Root, Captain Short, Artemis and Butler.
Holly is desperate for help and turns to Artemis – against the wishes of the LEP. The only problem is that Artemis is left with no memory of the fairy world.
While Artemis likes to think of himself as someone who chooses to do bad, it turns out he is a softy after all. He is still full of trouble and deviousness, but it is difficult to come out of reading the book and not liking Artemis. Mulch provides all the laughs a kid could need.
Artemis and Butler are demonhunting. He is somehow able to predict when a demon materializes. This comes to the attention of our trusted Foaly. This brings Holly and Mulch (who now have their own PI business) into the story.
In the meantime, there is trouble on Hybras (demon island where time is nonexistent). However, it seems that the spell holding Hybras in stasis is fraying and an answer to the problem is needed. Bullying is a favorite pastime, and No1 is one of the victims. He is convinced to come to the human world.
Right now, its glaringly obvious that everyone is going to meet – probably with a huge bang somewhere. The Artemis series does have a habit of loads of action and humor. Thankfully Colfer is keeping up the good work.
When Artemis’ mom contracts a fatal disease, Artemis turns to the fairies for help. Unfortunately the only cure to the disease is through the silky sefaka lemur of Madagascar. It is extinct. The last specimen was killed 8 years ago with the help of Artemis. Talk about the past coming back to haunt you.
Through lies and deception, Artemis gets the fairies to help him time travel. The goal is to save the lemur – hopefully for good. Holly and Artemis go back in time and need to avoid their younger selves.
Everything has a price, so too Artemis’ lies to Holly. Colfer portrays this rather well. He also brings up the issue of the cost of abusing our environment. I find myself wanting to preach here, but The Time Paradox does a much better job of illustrating the issue.
One of the consequences of The Time Paradox is that Artemis is left with a clearer sense of responsibility toward the environment.
When Artemis unveils the Ice Cube – an invention to stop global warming – the fairies discover that Artemis has developed something called Atlantis Complex (including OCD, paranoia and split personality). Artemis has a break-down during the presentation. Holly and Mulch are left taking care of things, while Artemis is dealing with his episode.
In the meantime, Butler is on an adventure in Mexico. Artemis tricked into travelling to help Butler’s sister. Turns out it was a good thing after all.
Songs of The Earth is Elspeth Cooper’s debut novel and a pretty good one at that. There are some rough patches (text hiccups mainly), but all in all Songs of The Earth is solid. There is content that somewhat detailed sexually and there is some descriptive violence.
Songs of The Earth is book one of The Wild Hunt series. In it Cooper brings us into the world of Gair, a world where hearing music is considered of the devil. Historically, we know what happens to people who are considered devilish. They are burned. This is to be Gair’s fate, but against all odds he is saved and gets to live out his story.
Cooper’s novel is concentrated on Gair and his path into magic. It touches upon his main enemy, Elder Goran and one of the good guys, Masen, a gatekeeper.
These three are well-developed characters. I feel their fear, lust and worry. Fortunately Cooper manages to avoid black and white thinking. We see this in the personalities of her characters, except for Goran. He is pretty dark.
humanitysdarkerside 