Archive for category Fantasy
Review: THE GLENDALE WITCH by Deborah Winter-Blood
Posted by Amanda in Fantasy, Speculative Fiction on January 27th, 2012
The Glendale Witch
Deborah Winter-Blood
ISBN-10: 146108265X
ISBN-13:978-1461082651
$12.95
271 pages
Reviewed by Amanda Capper
The Glendale Witch, the debut novel from Deborah Winter-Blood, sent me on a magical mystery tour with a cast of characters so endearing I missed them as soon as I finished the book
Shortly after Celeste McAllister’s seventeenth birthday, her iguana starts talking to her. Kind of freaks her out (as to be expected), but it’s what the iguana tells her that really sends Celeste’s world spinning out of control. Celeste is a witch; the iguana, her familiar and before she can wrap her head around that mind-boggling idea, her roommate, Ashley, falls in love with a Satyr and is promptly whisked away by a minion of the monster Glor. But the minion made a mistake. Glor has no interest in Ashley, it’s Celeste he wants, and after all sorts of adventures in her attempt to save her roommate, Celeste is captured.
Who makes it out of this underworld? Celeste? Best friend, Ashley? Love interest, Jason? How about the Satyr? And what about the mother Celeste never knew, held captive all these years by Glor? Must read to find out.
The dialogue is genuine; the banter easy and funny. The pace is steady and certainly never dull. A good, entertaining read.
Copyright © 2012 Amanda Capper
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: TWIN SPIRIT by Matthew Thompson
Posted by Diane in Fantasy, Young adult on December 28th, 2011
Twin Spirit
Matthew Thompson
Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: Domino Galaxy (1 Oct 2011)
ISBN-10:0956974600
ISBN-13:978-0956974600
book Published by Domino Galaxy for Smashwords
218 pages
Reviewed by Diane Grace
A book, a spell, and a moonlit night allow twins separated at birth to speak to each other for the first time. Lily, a primitive spirit trapped on Earth from the time she was born with no means to make herself heard or felt, is used to disparaging her living twin with no effect. She is totally amazed when her sister, Rose, reads a spell that reveals Lily to her. Lily convinces Rose they must go to the distant world of Kiian to find their mother, the only one that can separate them so Lily can have a life of her own. There just one slight hitch. Neither humans nor primitive spirits are allowed in the alternate galaxy called Domino where the girls must go to find their mom. And the dangerous journey begins. The girls meet those who would help them as well as those who would harm them.
Twin Spirit is an interesting read despite the somewhat disjointed method of delivery. Once the actual journey begins we get the back story of every new entity the twins encounter. It makes for an abrupt stop every couple of chapters while we learn another history.
The main protagonists of this story are reputed to be nine, shortly to be ten. It is my understanding that, typically, readers prefer the main characters to be a little older than themselves which would make the average age of the reader eight to nine. Yet a good deal of the novel is written in a more mature style than that age group would indicate. I would put it in the category of young adult if I had not been told the ages of our heroes in the first chapter.
I no longer quibble about typographical errors, it’s in too many professional publications to be worth the page space to complain. I will say the ebook version of Twin Spirit contains its share.
If your tween likes alternate universes, scary but not graphic violence, she may well like this book.
Copyright 2011 Diane Grace
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: The House in Windward Leaves by Katherine L. Holmes
Posted by Agnes in Fantasy, Humor, Young adult, adventure on November 16th, 2011
The House in Windward Leaves
Katherine L. Holmes
Couchgrass Books
ISBN13: 9780615507170
153 pages
$9.95
Reviewed by Agnes Dee
In The House in Windward Leaves , the children are intrigued by a mystery man who has come to the small town. Hired to paint a house owned by the town’s spinster, the painter works to finish the colorful murals in time for a Halloween party that turns into a true fantasy for seven children. Though the storyline is a bit confusing, and the plot slight, it’s a very pleasant read. Each child assumes a character, establishes a new life on the ‘far away star’, and finds that by the end of the book they have developed a new talent, interest, or have discovered something about their life. Marketed for youth, this story is best suited for younger readers. Though set during Halloween, there are only positive characters.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: THE DRAGONFLY PROPHECY by Jacquelyn Castle
Posted by Laura in Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Young adult on October 29th, 2011
The Dragonfly Prophecy
Jacquelyn Castle
Published by Class Act Books
ISBN-978-1-935048-83-1
281 pages
$17.95 soft cover
Reviewed by Laura Hartman
Lexi Blane has a pretty good life as far as seventeen year olds are concerned. Her parents love her and she mostly likes them. Her gorgeous boyfriend William is as crazy about her as she is about him. The only fly in the ointment is the fainting spells Lexi has been experiencing. To make matters worse, she thinks she must be developing some sort of mental illness because she is beginning to hear voices that no one else can hear.
The undiagnosed fainting spells and mysterious voices ruin the surprise island vacation her parents and William planned for her. After fainting, then experiencing odd dreams, she wakes up in a hospital to find she was only dreaming the vacation and her reality is more of a nightmare. What is the truth? Did she really dream the vacation? If so, why does she have a scar from a cut she remembers getting there. Is she dreaming the new life she woke up to? Could both of them be connected and real?
When she begins to reacquaint herself with old friends, something seems out of sync. Then she begins to dream of meeting each night with William, whom everyone says does not exist. Lexi can’t tell friends from enemies or who is lying and who is telling the truth. Something mysterious and possibly magical is happening to her that she doesn’t understand it. Even worse, she may not survive it.
Author Jacquelyn Castle’s bio states she worked in finance but has written stories since she was a teenager. She has dozens of incomplete manuscripts sitting on her computer waiting to be finished. It is our good fortune that she listened to her inner calling and followed her passion for writing magical stories. The Dragonfly Prophecy is her debut novel, and we can only hope she is typing feverishly right now if her other manuscripts in progress are as good as this one.
It has been a long time since I read a book in one day. I literally could not put down this book. Multilayered characters with an unusual and interesting plotline kept my interest from the first paragraph to the last page.
Copyright © 2011 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Magic, Mensa & Mayhem by Karina L. Fabian
Posted by Agnes in Christian Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Paranormal, Speculative Fiction, adventure on April 2nd, 2010
Magic, Mensa & Mayhem
Karina L. Fabian
Swimming Kangaroo Books, March 2009
Paperback, 232 pages
$13.99
Reviewed by Agnes Dee
Vern is a dragon, subdued by St. George. He is now around half his former size, and though no longer possesor of “The Knowledge of the Ages”, Vern has learned to put his trust in the Lord. His partner is Sister Grace; a nun gifted as a mage who works God’s magic with a beautiful singing voice. That’s the way it is in their Faerie principality, an alternative of our own, and that’s the way it would stay, if a rift hadn’t opened between their world and ours.
On this side of the rift, Vern has found a calling as a private eye, and that is what he is in most of Karina’s stories. This time, however, he and his partner get to watch over a group of Fairie folk at a Mensa convention - without even getting paid.
There’s no telling how the customs and idiocyncracies of the Faerie world, and of our world, clash. Vern and Sister Grace do a good job of keeping everything runing smoothly - if you don’t count the Elvish war declared against Florida, or the enviornmental uproar over Vern’s late-night snacks.
Karina manages to weave in some wonderful ideas about the nature of quantum physics, the nature of time, and the dangers of artificial sweeteners: That, and many funny situations. Throughout the book, her ideas remain faithful to christian thought, Catholicism in particular. This book is a funny read all the way through, engaging in the smaller as well as the larger parts of the story.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
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