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Urban Fantasy

7/27/2013

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I received this book as a free download from Amazon during the author’s promotion of the work. I thank the author for this opportunity.

At the outset, I note that there were few editing/grammar errors and thus, they are not accounted for in this review.

I suppose I would categorize The Beholder as urban fantasy. It is set in New York and its surrounds. The main character, Jason, is the “Beholder,” a magic figure of some sort. At the very end, we read that Jason “finally understood that there was no one stronger or quicker in the whole world” (than himself). Yet, this reader would like to have known why Jason was so different from others and how that came to be the case. Having said that, the magic elements, to the best of my knowledge, have not been done before, and I give Amberlake a great deal of credit for having created something new.

Perhaps the biggest downside for me was that I was not convinced of the relationships between people. I was told that Jason was so close to his friends Matt and Debbie, that his connection to them caused “Soulfusion,” a bond stronger than the bond of twins. However, I never really “felt” the connection, nor did I find any particular reason for why the three were deemed so close to one another. Yes, they were friends, but that seemed to be it. Likewise, Jason notes that Matt has a thing for Debbie, but at the end of the story, when Debbie is upset because she thinks Tyler has died, pleads as she sobs for Tyler not to leave her, then falls into a deep depression when Tyler goes away for a time, Matt doesn’t seem the least bit bothered. Indeed, upon Tyler’s return and Debbie’s clear choice of Tyler over Matt, Matt merely “exchanged a laughing glance with Jason.” Similarly, I thought Jason’s sudden and strong attraction to Emily was believable, but then, just days later, when “it dawned on him how empty and meaningless his life would become if she wasn’t in it,” or when Emily thought, “[i]f I lose him there will be no reason for me to live,” the attractions and bonds of one to the other seemed forced on me. I simply didn’t believe them.

Occasionally, some things seemed odd and inconsistent to me, like why Jason and Emily flew somewhere by plane, given that Emily had the power to take Jason from place to place instantly. In this regard, at times, it seemed that the magic power or ability that was needed was introduced and used just as and when it was needed.

Amberlake drew some engaging word pictures, such as for example: “The army of buildings in downtown Manhattan stood like a line of jagged teeth, piercing the inky heavens, with bright lights reflected in the puddles at their feet, the only vestiges of the morning’s rain.” (Buildings looking like “teeth” is a new one for me.) Another example: “The old man’s face was distorted into a queer mix of rage and smug satisfaction. . . .” (I think I’ve seen that look before!) Finally, consider: “He lay in a dark room thick with the smell of neglect.” (I think I know that smell.)

Amberlake created an interesting world in which “energy is the fifth element, the quintessence pervading all the other elements,” (namely, earth, air, water and fire), the enemy has a great name (Pariah), people are either Sighted or Unsighted, and the reader travels to a number of places with the principal characters. All in all, fans of urban fantasy are sure to enjoy The Beholder.

Learn more about this work and Ivan Amberlake here. Purchase The Beholder from Amazon here or Barnes and Noble here. Follow Ivan Amberlake here.

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A Child's Perspective

7/26/2013

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I was provided a copy of this book through Goodreads’ READ IT AND REAP program in exchange for my fair and honest review. I thank the author for this opportunity.

I often ask myself what is at the heart of my rating for a particular work. What is it that moves a book from the middle of the pack up to a four or five star status? I think that if I had to settle on one thing, it would be that a book that ranks higher for me is one that I am hesitant to put down, one to which I look forward to returning, one to which I find my thoughts returning when I am not busy reading, one I am sorry to see come to an end. . . . Raised by Hand was such a read.

At the outset, I note that there were few editing errors in this work, making it a genuine pleasure to read.

The introduction to Raised by Hand references Charles Dickens’s use, in Great Expectations, of the phrase “raised by hand.” I loved that read and found therein, Pip’s discussion of what it meant to be “raised by hand” thoroughly engaging. Indeed, it made me laugh so hard, tears ran down my face! While Thomas’s work is altogether different from Dickens’s work, both tell the story of a young one raised by someone other than that child’s mother and both tell the story from that child’s perspective.

The story opens with a child’s request: “First, call me Lilly—no matter your inclination.” Here we get our first glimpse at how the desires of a child may differ from how things will operate in real life because, of course, Lilly is known by everyone, throughout, as “Lil Bit.”

My favorite thing about Raised by Hand was that Lil Bit gave voice to the story and that Lil Bit’s voice was consistent throughout. The same “dialect” used in the dialogue was found in the commentary. This is difficult to do because the rules of grammar do not apply in quite the same way. That is, what would have been “proper grammar” if the story had been told from an outsider looking in, would not have been proper for the voice of Lil Bit. In some ways, this makes the reading more difficult, but for Raised by Hand, this approach effectively set the stage.

The setting was the 1930’s south. While not drastically poor, neither was there any extravagance to the characters, to Bubbah’s home for Lil Bit, or to the larger community of Arcadia. These simple people and places were drawn clearly through such statements as: “Bubbah had been married to Uncle Bobby’s daddy, Mr. Dalton, for ten years til the two went their separate ways, leaving Bubbah with the Buick and the house, and Mr. Dalton with a near full book of Green Stamps.” Or, like this one: “He wore a coat as if it was cold and not Florida in the summer. He wore it across his shoulders like a cape. Around the collar there was a dead animal, squirrel or, perhaps, another close rodent relation.” And finally, consider: “Bubbah, herself, was the product of a Dalton straddling the color line.”

I very much appreciated the attention to detail in Thomas’s story—those little touches that made the story so “real.” For example, when the sheriff brings Lil Bit home, his hand cupped around the scruff of her neck, we find that “his jacket, coated with the faint scent of King James cigars and Vitalis” hung loosely across Lil Bit’s shoulders. Or, when Bubbah requests Lil Bit to put something back in its place, we read: “I placed it carefully back atop the mantle, alongside Bubbah’s framed pictures of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Miss Eleanor, President Roosevelt’s Missus, and her [Bubbah’s] Tommy, along with all his [Tommy’s] letters, bundled and tied with blue ribbon, their envelopes yellowed with the passage of time.” Finally, consider: “Since her last visit to the beauty parlor, Bubbah’s hair was quite poofy, spring loaded from temples to nape with wiry gray hairs, each strand appearing ready to do whatever necessary to dominate.”

Because Raised by Hand is told from an innocent child’s perspective, we are served up some very funny lines—though Lil Bit may not have intended for them to be such. Consider, for example a reference to a dishonest person: “That, and if he was ever to try and shake her hand, you’d best bet she’d count her fingers, then, too. . . .” Another example, in reference to Lil Bit’s best friend, Tippett: “I still could think of no sufficient reason why he shouldn’t continue in his role as my shadow. Ghost, really, with him being white.” Actually, numerous scenes made me laugh out loud. I especially liked when Bubbah is surprised that Lil Bit doesn’t want some bun to eat. Bubbah looks at the buns, “unsure whether with my child’s eye I had spotted something she had missed and, perhaps, swallowed.” And I liked when Uncle Bobby gave Lil Bit a birthday present of new flip-flops: “Barely able to keep from tripping over the tufts of grass, I now wore only my newly acquired size eight women’s flip-flips on my size three kid’s feet.” All said, my favorite funny bits, the parts that not only had me laughing out loud, but that I also shared with others, were when Uncle Bobby met Lil Bit’s new teacher, Miss Dare, and the encounters between Lil Bit and the new girl in town, Beneatha Atwell.

Raised by Hand offers interesting and well drawn characters, a glimpse into the world of the old south and a bit of a mystery. It is an engaging read from start to finish. Well done, Willett Thomas!

Find out more here.

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Possible full works?

7/20/2013

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I was provided a copy of this book through Goodreads’ READ IT AND REAP program in exchange for my fair and honest review. I thank the author for this opportunity.

At the outset, I note that I found very few editing or grammar issues with The Awakening & Other Stories. This made it a genuine pleasure to read!

Generally, I do not read short stories, but I have read some over the past months. I’ve decided that I rather enjoy them. While they may not satisfy that desire I have to get to know a character well and to follow her for a good long while, they do awaken something else in me, namely, they get my creative juices flowing. I find myself wondering what the author might do if the story were turned into a full length work. . . .

Ghost Story – I admit that I saw it coming—the grandmother’s connection to the ghost story—but that did not take any enjoyment from the read. My favorite line in this story was: “A musty, old paperback smell filled her nostrils.” Ha! We all know that smell, don’t we?

The Awakening – Not my favorite, but well done.

End of the Line – I found this story rather intriguing. Whenever I hear that someone decides to call it quits because they can’t take any more, I think—why quit now? If you can’t take more, then the worst is here or better yet—it’s behind you! I hope that Cassie went on to discover just that. The best part of this story was how quickly, and fully, the various characters were drawn and I also appreciated the attention to detail—the mention of chipped fingernail polish, the smell of unwashed bodies, the time and direction of a train at issue, the shuffling of the cards, the picking at a loose red thread. . . . It was these little things that made the story “real.” Well done.

Milsa Loris – My favorite lines were:

“Haggard trees, withered from violent storms, had been left to stand like crooked little men.”
“It [the city] now stood derelict and silent, a chipped jewel in the dark cave the world had become.”
“Once the symbol of wealth and glory [the city], barbaric heathens had knocked it to the ground.”
“Tendrils of cobwebs hung from the ceiling like a shimmering mist, touching the books lying on the highest shelves of her wooden cases.”

Interesting word pictures, all. Also, I am grateful for a great new word that I learned from this story, namely, “craic” which is “fun and entertainment, especially good conversation and company” or “mischievous fun.” (Thank you, Emma!) Finally, this story really got me thinking: where would this go in a full length work? (Emma? You might you consider this. ??)

The Old Vampire – Hailey seemed so real. I imagine there are many Haileys out there. . . . My favorite line?: “Inside his cape existed a deep abyss of nothingness, the bottom of a hundred foot deep well, the inside of a coffin, a curious space without stars, the total absence of light.”

The Knocking – Alison and grandfather—I feel I’ve known them both. I liked this: “Now that he could no longer climb the stairs to his bedroom, it lay silent and dormant. Shut up like a museum.” But, it is this one that made me laugh: “She sat at the kitchen table waiting for the kettle to boil and felt warm air at her feet. Without glancing down, she knew her granddad had put the heater in, in the middle of summer. Typical.”

The Boy on the Beach – Another that was not my favorite. Maybe this is because I just can’t breathe when a story takes me under water or below ground. . . .

Snowglobes – The relationship with Maggie and Eddie would feel familiar to many, I am sure.

All in all, these short stories were well told.

Find out more about Emma on Goodreads here, on her website here, and follow her on Twitter @emmameadeirl. The Awakening & Other Stories is available on Amazon here, at Amazon.co.uk here and on Barnes and Noble here.

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Fantasy or no?

7/15/2013

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I received The Realm when it was promoted as a (temporarily) free download on Amazon.

The Realm is not what I would classify as fantasy—both because the author says the story is based on true events—and because I would classify it as a Christian read, no more or less. That is not a fault by any means—it is simply the case—and I think, particularly when readers pay for a download, that they should rightly know what they are getting.

When I read The Realm, there were a number of editing and grammatical errors--enough to effect my rating. However, I understand that they have since been corrected.

I did have some issues with the characters and relationships in The Realm. For example, I found it hard to believe that a man as difficult as Celeste’s father, a man only concerned with outward appearances and what the community might think of him or his family, would turn around after a single session with a counselor. Likewise, how could it be that a young man like Wes could have so many chances to get things right, yet could continue to fail to use good sense (hanging out with Oakley, the events at the party, telling Oakley—who was not a friend of Celeste—private information about Celeste, etc.), while Celeste would continue to look beyond those failings? Then, in light of all of that, why would Celeste think it her fault that Wes is hurt? Because she sent him away? I understand Celeste wanting to learn to forgive, but was she supposed to allow Wes to mess up and then be prepared to accept the blame? Was that to be the pattern for her life? Finally, in light of all of Wes’s mistakes, why would Celeste so readily accept Wes’s proposal? Because Wes was fool enough to propose in public and Celeste did not want to refuse him publicly? (This reader thought so.)

Having said all of that, The Realm had some shining moments. Specifically, there were some real life truths and wisdoms presented, such as when Celeste realizes that while her parents are not perfect—neither is she. Another example was when Celeste follows Ezra’s advice and asks her mother—in an effort to better understand her—what it is like to be a mother. The story that Celeste’s mother told Celeste in response, of events from days gone by, was one of the most moving moments in The Realm. Also, I very much enjoyed Celeste’s grandmother and her relationship with Celeste. Finally, the friendship between Celeste and Gia seemed genuine and was believable. All in all, I have no doubt that there is a significant audience for a story like The Realm.

For more information about the author and her works, find her on Goodreads here and on her website/blog here.

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Visiting Ancient Greece and its Surrounds

7/13/2013

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I was provided a copy of this book through Goodreads’ READ IT AND REAP program in exchange for my fair and honest review. I thank the author for providing me with this opportunity.

In Hetaera, we follow Doricha from her early days as a child in Thrace, through her years of slavery, to her rise to fame as Rhodopis, then finally, to the very throne of Egypt. I was engaged in the story from the outset, as Doricha witnesses her father’s death during an invasion of her village by the Greeks. Doricha is thereafter driven to follow her father’s last words and wishes for her: LIVE FREE!

I will say at the outset that it was a pleasure to read a book that was so well done in the sense of proper grammar and punctuation and so forth. While there were a few—there were only a few such mistakes or editing errors. This made for a smooth and easy read. In this regard, I have just one “criticism” really and that was about those things intended to be italicized that showed in my e-copy as underlined. I also have a question about timing. When Doricha becomes a slave, the sense of the number of year that pass seems confused. . . .

There were some very adult situations. But for those, I would have recommended Hetaera to my daughters. Even so, it seems these scenes were used to show the unique world that was ancient Greece and its surrounds and not necessarily for their “erotica-effect.”

I appreciated Coffey’s word choices and word-pictures. She successfully brought me to each place, engaging my senses not just of sight, but also of sound, smell, taste and touch.

Coffey successfully created full and interesting characters—including those whose presence was short lived: Doricha’s strong father; her persevering and sacrificing mother; the jealous and hateful Aidne; the concerned Meriko; the helpful, old Samothraki slave; and so forth. They were, each and all, believable. Having said that, while I felt sorry for Doricha through much of the story, I did not particularly like her. I cannot say why that was. She just didn’t pull at my heartstrings—notwithstanding her circumstances. Another main character that was very interesting was Aesop. I especially liked that he was included in the story—but again, I did not particularly like him.

Well done, Coffey!

For more information on J. A. Coffey and Hetaera, see here.

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Looking for Heroes

7/12/2013

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FAR FROM HOME is the story of Mara Cross who is kidnapped by Ethan, her tennis coach, then finds finds herself in another world where her memories of her lost parents give her magic strength to fend off threats. Having read FAR FROM HOME and a number of other stories of late, written by men who fashioned young women as their main characters, I find that I want to swear off such stories—at least for the near future. The reason: with few exceptions, the young women portrayed have been shallow and unbelievable and have left me wanting. For example, Mara thinks Ethan might be a predator when she and her friend, Niki, first meet him at the local sports store because of the way Ethan touches Mara and because of the questions he asks her. Yet, as the story unfolds, Mara believes Ethan’s claims that it is Mara’s own mother who is the evil to be avoided. Notwithstanding the fact that there had been no reason other than Ethan’s word for this, Mara believes him. Back and forth the two go from being the best of friends and helping one another, throwing accusations of falsehood at one another. Of course, Mara’s mother does show up in the story as the harbinger of evil, but not until somewhere quite near the end. In the meantime, why does Mara believe Ethan? I am sorry so say that I never figured out the answer to that question—which left me with the impression that Mara was easily impressionable. Gullible. Foolish.

Here is another example of the lack of depth in Mara’s character: she falls for the handsome Adrian Domville. Everyone warns Mara against Adrian, yet Mara accepts Adrian’s invitations. From that point, Adrian condescends to Mara: “Responsibility to your family is very important, Miss Mara,” he says by way of introduction to “a rather lengthy monologue on duty and honor.” Or: “You should never leave your horse with a stranger,” he tells her, and so on goes the unrequested advice. At one point Adrian completes some instruction to Mara with: “Wouldn’t you agree?” “Oh, yeah,” Mara responded, “not sure of what she was agreeing to.” But, agree she did. Why? Because Adrian was hot. Also, Mara thinks Adrian is going to propose. He has something to ask of her and she is going to say “yes!” Mara thinks to herself: “I’m-going-to-stay-here-forever-and-live-in-this-big-house-and-be-a-fairy-princess.” Not just any fairy princess, mind you: “a professional fairy princess.” Then, when Adrian brings her a gift in a box “four feet long, maybe two feet wide,” Mara realizes that “Okay, it might not be a ring.” Unable to face truth, Mara reasons that the sword Adrian has given her shows that Adrian loves her. Thus, Mara surmises, she should “suck it up and be grateful.” (Hmmmm.) So, it should come as no surprise that when Mara and Adrian go to retrieve an item from the Greigshown, a monster at least seven feet high, Adrian leaves all of the fighting to Mara. Mara obliges—although she thinks all the time that “this is so wrong.” After Adrian watches Mara defeat the beast, Mara inquires “What the HELL were you doing just standing there while that thing was trying to shred me?!!” But, because Adrian tells her she has done a tremendous job, and because Adrian got what he wanted from the beast (notwithstanding Mara’s having been warned against giving that something to Adrian), Mara forgives him. Oh, sure, she was “mad at him nearly the whole way home,” but, no further questions are asked. No—better Mara have the hot guy than use her own sense.

I can fully appreciate that there are young people, men and women, who are short sighted and see only what they want to see. However, it seems the idea of a heroine is that you have a character that is not the ordinary, the mundane, the foolish. The whole concept behind dubbing one a hero is that the character may be regarded as a model or ideal—or at least is one who rises above her faults and shortcomings. Thus it is that Mara is not the model I would have for my teen daughters.

Having said all of that, there are some real bonus points due to this story. Most specifically, the Greigshown was an incredibly well drawn character! His ability to shift from one personality to another, one mode of speech to another, in a heartbeat was very, very well done indeed!

For more information on this author and work, see here.

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A New Land of Magic

7/12/2013

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I was provided a copy of this book through Goodreads’ READ IT AND REAP program in exchange for my fair and honest review. I thank the author for providing me with this opportunity.

Silver Hollow is the story of Amie (aka Jessamiene, aka Jessie) as she discovers her real land of birth and magic heritage. While I found high positives, I also found fairly significant negatives with Silver Hollow. So as to end on a high note in this review, I will begin with the issues I had that really made this a 3-star book for me.

My opening sentence identified one of the issues that I had with this read—and that is with how often a single person or type of people was known by two, or even three, names. Amie is Jessamiene, is Jessie, and so forth. For this reader, the constant change of names made the story difficult to follow. A directly related issue was the use of made up terms. Oddly, this is both a positive and a negative point for Silver Hollow. As I am addressing the down-sides for starters, I will add here that it took some figuring to decipher these coined terms. I could have looked at the end for a glossary at the outset, but by the time I realized it was there, I had already spent some time trying to read beyond them. . . .

There were some editing issues, which for the most part I was able to overlook. They do make for funny lines, such as “She had always been a scrawny thing ever since she was born.” Yes, “always” would mean that there had never been a time when she had not been scrawny, in which case, she would have been scrawny since birth. Or: “Rather than seeing the beginnings of endless heather-swept moors, stout trees hugged the road instead.” Had the author meant to remove the word “instead” since that is already implied by the use of “rather” at the beginning of the sentence? Even so, these errors are not a big deal. They happen.

By contrast, I find issues of grammar more difficult because they make me stop each time to make sure that I am understanding the author’s intention—or because they simply sound odd to my ear. I confess that I have only recently realized that I was such a stickler for grammar—still, good grammar makes for easy reading. Examples of issues I found included things like the occasional incorrect use of “which” for “that.” Another example is when the author would end a sentence with a preposition such as “Amie jerked out of the haze her thoughts had fallen into.”

There was some verb confusion and misuse of verbs. For example, consider the sentence: “. . . and the longer Henry took, the more fearful she was he might try and jump.” The verb here is “to jump,” not “and jump.” Or this: “By now Underhill knew better than to try and pull Amie out of one of her moods.” Again, the verb is “to pull” not “and pull.” (I will say that people tend to make this kind of error when they speak. Unfortunately, I am finding it creep into writing more and more frequently. . . .)

There are many, many references to pop culture, movies (old and new), movie stars and characters. I think I caught most of them—maybe even all of them—and some of them were charming. However, for those readers not so keen to the shows, movies and so forth, some portion of the story would certainly be lost. Just a few examples of these references include, Jack Sparrow, Deliverance, “a vampire-loving awkward chick with a marble fetish,” Ginger Rogers, Spice Girls, Sean Connery, Errol Flynn, D’Artagnan, a “Jedi mind trick,” Rain Man, Rambo, and many, many more. One of the reasons I mention this is that the intended audience seems to be YA or perhaps NA, yet many in these age groups would not recognize a good number of these references.

As to the relationships in Silver Hollow, I admit that I was not convinced. The one that troubled me most was the central relationship to the story, namely Amie’s relationship with Uncle Henry. At the outset she wants nothing to do with him, then on a whim decides to travel to see him, and then within mere days, does not want him to leave her when he goes away for a few days because she has become so attached to him. (Hmmmm.) Another relationship I had issues with was between Amie and Morcant Hogswillow. On the word of others, Amie does not even want to meet the widow, then bristles each time the widow is around, but in the end, the widow is a central figure for helping Amie and Amie does not really question that fact. Finally, for those who want love triangles, the story does include one—but I was not convinced that Amie was really emotionally attached to either Emrys or Dearg —they both just happened to be there.

On numerous occasions, I was confused by what was happening in a scene. For example, when the cook and Underhill are mixing their magic in the kitchen, it took some time for me to figure out what was happening.

All that said, there were two very good things about Silver Hollow. The first is that the author shows great imagination. The trick for her will be to translate what she sees into words that help me to see the same things.

Finally, it must be said that from time to time, Silver Hollow delivered some unique and imaginative word pictures. Here are just a few examples:

He grabbed the hold of a nearby candelabrum as they passed its oak perch and turned to hold out a proffered arm. (An oak “perch” for a candelabrum. How charming.)

Really, with drool on the side of her face, curls a bushy nest around her head. (“[D]rool on the side of her face” made me laugh.)

They’re simply a hashout-out of your thoughts, a mental throw-up of your subconscious. (A “mental throw-up” makes for an interesting word picture. . . . )

Her eyes misted over in their new annoying habit. (An great way to describe Amie’s frequent crying.)

In the past, Amie had gotten pretty decent at making a stumble resemble a modern dance move. (Many readers will readily identify with Amie here. . . .)

She awoke to the rain begging loudly to be let inside. (Funny.)

Slaine called out to the growing puddle of people. (I found a “puddle of people” to be quite creative.)

He puffed on his pipe, smoke filling the space between them in thick ginger-scented clouds. (I like the “ginger-scented clouds.” I can see and smell them!)

Finally, I will end nearly where I started. The author made common usage of made-up words. While annoying when I could not figure them out (as I kept thinking I had missed something), they did help to build a genuinely unique alternative world. Examples of some of these fun (though at times frustrating) words include: nixy, krumplekined, epperchips, flobbergidits, wicklewashers and mushrattling.

All told, there were difficulties with this read, but the author shows a great imagination and the beginnings of her own unique writing voice.

Keep at it Jennifer!

Visit Jennifer Silverwood and learn more about Silver Hollow, here (at Goodreads).

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Patricia Reding

Posted here are a number of Patricia's reviews of the works of others.

Those reviews posted here that Patricia did for Readers Favorite are identified as such. No review of less than 4-stars for any Readers' Favorite review is posted here or elsewhere.

Those works reviewed for NetGalley are identified accordingly.

Urban Fantasy

A Child's Perspective

Possible full works?

Fantasy or no?

Visiting Ancient Greece and its Surrounds

Looking for Heroes

A New Land of Magic

Patricia Reding

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