Book Review: Star of Justice

Today's book review is Star of Justice, by Robynn Tolbert.

From the "Back of the book":

"She joined the knighthood for the scholarship program...

A thwarted assassination attempt drags Caissa Ocren into a secret war between elemental spirits and dragon worshipers. More accustomed to solving puzzles than wielding swords, she undergoes a crash course in survival from a mercenary minstrel, a shape-shifting druid, and a legendary spirit warrior.

An ancient book may hold the answers she seeks, but understanding requires the memories of a wizard. With time against her, Caissa faces the hardest lesson of all: how to serve when the cost is her life."

First, a note about some other reviews. Some other reviews have said they don't like the cover, or the description. I'd agree with those, though not perhaps to the extent that others have said... I've known about this books existence for about two years, and it hasn't made it to the top of my "to be read" pile, for the reasons cited. Last week, I read a review that compared it to Anne McCaffery's "Pern" series. Now, Pern is about my favorite fiction of all time, so I picked up a copy of Star of Justice based on just that review. (After reading the series, I wouldn't say it's the same as Pern, but it does share one common plot point... namely that it's a sci-fi book that feels like fantasy.)

Anyway, from word one I couldn't put the book down (metaphorically speaking; I still had to do dumb stuff like sleep, eat, and *grumble* go to work...)

The "back of the book" doesn't begin to do the characters justice.

Caissa (The author insists it's pronounced "Ca - Shay", which I don't get...) Ocren is a knight... who is covered in ink stains, loves research, and doesn't like to draw her sword... She also has no magic in a land where almost everyone does.

Merritt MacEwan is a minstrel... or so he says. A "minstrel" who carries a giant, cursed sword, no instruments, and is drunk more than he's sober. He's thoroughly a barbarian, and won't stop tagging along behind Caissa... no matter how much she wants to be rid of him. (Favorite line: "I'm a barbarian, na a idiot!" Followed closely by: "But look, my whole head fits in the bowl!")

Raven is a druid... kind of. Half human, and half druid, most of the time Raven looks like a young woman who spends WAY too much time alone in the forest. She's a fascinating character. Really stoic, very competent, and perhaps a tad too literal.

Lots of other fun characters too. The book was a fun, fast read. I want another story in this world.

Five stars!

Book Review: Mindstorm: Parley at Ologo

Today's book review is Mindstorm: Parley at Ologo by Cindy Koepp.

From the "Back of the Book:"

"Psionic healing. Psionic combat. Inside the mind, there's a landscape like glass.

Thomas McCrady, a telepathic negotiator from Haidar Station in Earth orbit, is faced with his biggest challenge yet when he is sent to broker peace with only a rookie partner to help him. Worse, she's the doctor he blames for the death of his last partner.

Calla Geisman's telepathy is not the same as a standard Haidarian's. Some people think she's a waste of space. Some people want her dead. But she's assigned to go with Thomas to Ologo anyway, and must gain his respect before she can play her part in the war's end."

Fast review: If you liked Anne McCaffery's Pegasus, or Tower and the Hive series, you'll love Mindstorm.

Long review:
Koepp has a gift for writing great sci-fi that sucks you into the story, and Mindstorm doesn't disappoint. The characters are likeable, and are complex, have issues, and grow throughout the story. The two main characters are summed up pretty well in the "back of the book" text, so I wont elaborate on them here much. The nicest thing is that most stories about telepaths and such focus on the most powerful. This story focuses on one of the least powerful, and how even though someone may seem insignificant, they still have special, useful talents that can save the day.

The other major players in the story are the alien races that are at war on the planet Ologo. Koepp does a really good job with aliens. They're a very different culture, nicely fleshed out, and the reasons for the war make sense. I'd say more on that topic, but can't without getting into spoilers...

Couldn't put it down, want more in this story universe; Five stars!

Book Review: Quickbane

Today's review is of Quickbane: Episode One (The Vale Chronicles, Book 1) by Chelsea Starling

From the "back of the book:"

"Jesobel Vine wants nothing more than to be a typical Pyxian teenager. She wants to ride her horse, Firefly, shoot her bow, and fall in love with her dreamy best friend, Glyn. But Jesobel is marked not only as the future Royal Starkeeper of Pyxis, but as the Heart of Azimuth—the one to lead her people back to their lost realm—a burden too dangerous for daydreams. As Jesobel struggles to accept her destiny, reluctantly studying mystic magic, she becomes doubtful she will ever be worthy to rule. And when her fiery temper enrages the daemon-possessed Starkeeper of Equuleus with a hex-gone-wrong —igniting an orphic war—Jesobel must find a way to alter the global disaster foretold by a celestial legend."

I found this book on Facebook, and the cover caught my eye. So did the price. (It was free for kindle.)

Pros:
The story world is fairly interesting. There's some fairly standard fantasy stuff, but it's combined in some interesting ways.

The mentor character (Aggie) is appropriately mysterious, but she's a cranky old crone too, which makes for some fun moments and keeps her from hitting some stereotypes.

Cons:
The story kinda meanders around a lot. Nothing really happens in the book, and it feels a lot like setup for book two. I haven't read book 2, but I'm getting the feeling the pacing would be better if books one and two in the series were combined into one novel and trimmed a little.
Similar thing for the character of Jesobel. She spends a lot of time whining and avoiding work, then she gets her stuff together... then does something stupid... and the book ends. We get the character development and the setup here, but not the payoff.

Basicly, we have my two biggest pet peaves in fantasy here:
1. One story with an act in each book, instead of each book having a complete story in and of itself that ties into a larger story arc across the series.
Listen, people. Just because Tolkien's publisher told him it was impossible for his story to be printed in one book, and they had to split it up... that's no reason for you to write fantasy that way.

2. The untrained hero.
Why, oh why must every fantasy hero (the only person who can save the world) be completely untrained?
To be fair, Quickbane both does, and doesn't fall into this trap. If Jeosobel would pay the slightest bit of training, she'd be trained for the job...

I'm not sure if I'm going to read the next book or not. The world and characters were fun, and it kept me reading (at no time did I have to force myself to finish), I really don't like the whole, one story across multiple books thing. If I do read more, I'll wait until the entire series is finished, and read it all at once.

So, overall, three stars.

Cover Revel for Secret Voices

A friend of mine has a new book coming out! This is the third book in the Spirit of Destiny series by Lynn Donovan. You can read my reviews of the other two books in the series here:

• Review of The Wishing Well Curse
• Review of Thorns of Betrayal

The title of the third book is:

Secret Voices

From the "Back of the Book":

"The voices in Keisha’s head know where her fiancé has been left for dead, but who will believe her?

Keisha Moore has a secret which has been kept hidden her entire life. But when her fiancé, Clifford Valdez, disappears and the authorities dismiss it as lovers’ remorse, she has to tell somebody. Can she make anybody understand the four voices in her head are real, and they know where Clifford has been taken? How can she save the man she loves without revealing her deepest secret?"

RELEASE DATE IS MARCH 31, 2015

Pre-order available at Amazon.com

Learn more about Lynn and her books at:

SittingOnThePorchWithLynn.blogspot.com,

Release Date for A New Threat Announced!

I'm happy to announce that The Psygen Chronicles Book 1, A New Threat will be available for purchase April 21st, 2015!

After working on this for a long time, it'll finally be published! If you haven't been following along, here's the "back of the book" description:

"A simple diplomatic mission becomes a life and death struggle that could plunge the entire galaxy into a war...

When an alien ship lands unexpectedly in the middle of her clan's territory, Bast is sent to investigate as part of her scout trial. After an accident, she meets these new visitors. She and her senior scout Rrrark are invited to return with the aliens to their home planet to open diplomatic relations. What started out as a simple mission becomes complicated when they discover a pirate scheme that might be more than it seems. Are Bast, Rrrark, and two of the aliens called Psygens capable of stopping the pirates?"

And here's what the cover will look like:

 

Keep checking back as the release date approaches for more information, and a chance to win a copy of the book!

26 Books to Read in 2015

I first learned about this challenge on Pinterest....


Link is here...

If you want that list in text, instead of an image, keep reading. Also below, I'll update the post throughout the year as I read book with the title and author of books that meet each challenge, along with a little commentary on them.

1. A book you own but haven't read.

I'm going to put the Sherlock Holmes novel "The Valley of Fear" here. I could've sworn I'd read all the Holmes stories before, but I had no memory of this one.

I think the Holmes stories work better as short stories. Both this and "A Study in Scarlett" are more two books in one... one part Holmes story, and the other an adventure tale that doesn't share any qualities with a Holmes story, other than giving the needless background on the crime Holmes solves... after he solves it.

So, I enjoyed half the book.

2. A book that was made into a movie

3. A book you pick solely because of the cover.

 Quickbane, by Chelsea Starling.

Really nice cover, and it was free. Story is decent, but could use a little tweaking, in my opinion. Read my review for more.

4. A book your friend loves.

5. A book published this year.

6. A book by an author you've never read before.
Star of Justice

I've known Robynn on Facebook (from mutual acquaintances) for a while now, and I finally got around to reading her book. Review here...

7. A book by an author you love.
 Realm Walkers, One Realm Beyond by Donita K. Paul

8. A book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile.

9. A book with a color in the title.

10. A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit.

11. A book you started but never finished.

12. A book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe.

13. A book with a female heroine.

14. A book set in the summer.

15. A book of poems.

16. A book you learned about because of this challenge.

17. A book that will make you smarter.

18. A book with a blue cover.
 Mindstorm: Parley at Ologo by Cindy Koepp.
Cindy is probably my favorite living author. Everything she writes is fantastic.

19. A book you were supposed to read in school, but didn't.

20. A book "everyone" but you has read.

21. A book with a great first line.

22. A book with pictures.
Star Wars: The Jedi Path

It's an in-character instruction manual for Jedi initiates. A neat collection of Jedi lore from the Star Wars universe.

23. A book from the library.

24. A book you loved...Read it again!

25. A book that is more than 10 years old.

26. A book based on a true story.

Book Review: Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1)

Today's book is Anastasia, by Haven Lyanne Flores

From the "Back of the book":

"My family isn’t human. We are from a planet called Bolton. We moved to Earth when I was just a baby. After Earth fell apart my father decided to move back, leaving the only home I’ve ever known.
The people of Bolton have known of Earth for years. We’re the reason humans have nightmares, why they believe in certain things. We’re the creatures of the supernatural. The things that live under your bed go bump in the middle of the night.
We’ve lived in harmony until the powerful sorcerer, Daruka, started terrorizing the planet. Now we cower in fear, afraid of something more powerful than us. That was until I was born.
~*~
Anastasia had only known of the nomadic life caused by the third world war on Earth. The possibility of a permanent home never crossed her mind. When her family moves to a new planet full of supernatural creatures her life gets turned upside down.
Lost and afraid of something more powerful than herself will Anastasia be able to save the only place she has ever called home?"

Despite the bit of sci-fi in the opening, the book is solid fantasy.

The bad:

If the author didn't consult the fantasy cliche list while writing this book, the readers sure can re-create it while reading...

• orphan who doesn't know his/her parents aren't foster parents
• foster parents die
• orphan is the "chosen one"
• orphan isn't trained in any way until the moment of crisis
• ... and many more!

There are also a handful of typos. Not enough to distract me from the story, but....

The good:

Really, the cliches are the worst part of the story. Once you get past them, the story is engaging, and the world the story is set in is interesting and feels "real." There are other stories that use the "earth fairy tales and myths are based on real creatures/aliens" plotline (that's why it's a cliche), but the core idea used here is solid, and I've read books with worse implementations of it.

Anastasia's character is both fascinating and dull. In the first quarter of the story, she's dull, uninformed, and completely unrelateable. After that, she seems to wake up, and actually experience some feelings, and respond to the situation like a normal person.

Overall, despite the stories flaws, I still had a fun time reading it... until the end. The end wasn't bad, in fact, it was quite good (it made me want to keep reading) but it hit a pet peeve of mine.

......

Yeah, spoilers here....

The book just ended. She finally arrives to the showdown with the big bad.... and that's it. Apparently, the showdown is going to be in book 2, instead of here, the culmination of the story where it belongs.

....

So... how to rate. The cliches and typos make some reviewers give a book an automatic one. I'm not one of them. I care a lot more about story and characters. While both had flaws, I still enjoyed reading the story.
I've read other books with none of these flaws that I was just so bored with that I just couldn't finish, so Anastasia should rank higher than that... but that ending...

Oh well, I'm a push-over, and as a whole I enjoyed it, so, three stars.

This is the place where I'd post an Amazon link, but since I've downloaded the book, I can't find it... anywhere... but I still read it, so I'll still review it.

Here's it's goodreads link

Book Review: Chronicles of Steele: Raven

Today's Book Review:
Chronicles of Steele: Raven, by Pauline Creeden

Pauline is also the co-author of Armored Hearts, and the author of Abiding Flame.

From the "Back of the Book":

"Human life has value.
The poor living in the gutter are as valuable as the rich living in a manor.
The scoundrel is no less valuable than the saint.
Because of this, every life a reaper takes must be redeemed.

Raven has lived by this first tenet since she was trained by her father to become a reaper. But since his death, she’s been spending years redeeming the lives she’s taken. By her count, she’s even and it’s time for that life to end. If she settles down and becomes a wife, she might just feel human again. But on the way to the life she thinks she wants, the baron of New Haven asks her to complete a task which she cannot ignore… Just when Raven decides to give up on her life as an assassin, she’s pulled right back in."

The story is steampunk fantasy, and the beginning reminds me a lot of the anime "Moribito". It distinguishes itself fairly quickly after that, and I happen to like that anime, so it hooked me into the story quickly.

The story has action, adventure, and cool gadgets.  Most importantly, it has characters that I want to spend time with, and the grow over the course of the story.

I'm not sure whether to give this one four and a half stars, or five. It was really good, and I can't wait for (and for sure will buy) the next book in the series... but I'm picky with the five stars I give out. This book was very, very close, but not quite as adored as the other five stars I've given, so I'll go with four and a half.

Don't believe me? Try the first quarter of the story for free here

Book Review: Abiding Flame

Abiding Flame is the latest sci-fi title from Pauline Creeden.

From the "Back of the Book":
"Darkness can be overcome… Terminally ill Lynette Lamb is forced to reunite her wayward son and grandson. Her options are as limited as her strength and mobility. Through a fateful series of events, the rejoined pair will leave Earth to become part of a colony orbiting a new planet. Sam Austin and his wife mourn the loss of their only child and decide to make a fresh start at the space station. The same ship holds the one who will fulfill the dark planet’s prophecy, but a demonic force boards to stop the vessel. The demon’s obedient but unwilling servant is sent on a suicide mission to keep the ship from reaching its destination."

The good:

The characters were awesome. Sam is pretty much your typical "everyman" surrounded by a whole bunch of crazy/evil. He reacts like we would. Bill great as a villain. He's evil, yet you can almost sympathize with him. Jeremy... well, I'd like to get to know his character better. At first, I thought he was going to be the main character, but it turns out not. I think he'll show up in a sequel though...

The plot is pretty good, with one minor caveat that I'll get into later. A one-line summary for the first half of the book is "What if you were the last person of your faith left on the planet?" The book takes a good look at how spiritual warefare might look, and blends that with a good sci-fi setting. This is one of the things sci-fi is good at--looking at something, and asking, "What if...?"

Also, I have to mention that it read fast and kept me turning the pages, and read bits in every spare minute. Normally, this goes without saying, but I just gave up on another book written by someone else that just didn't suck me in, so I had to mention that here. Good books are like vacuums: They suck ...you into the story. ;)

The bad:

The book is going to be "too preachy" for some people. I don't think it is, as given the subject matter, a lot of faith and theology and such is going to come up, but I'll be shocked if at least one person doesn't rant about how preachy it is (and probably whines that the author should be "more tolerant" in the next paragraph, but I digress...)

Mostly what I dislike about the book is minor nit-picky things... - a part can't be machined and has to be crafted by hand because machines aren't capable of being that delicate (uh, yeaah...) - The ship is portrayed as large as a cruise ship... but is landed on Earth's surface at the beginning of the novel (this isn't really feasible, even given Star Trek type tech, it's extremely in-efficient to land such a large craft) - Jeremy gives away his Bible --one of the last left after the book was banned for being "hate speech"-- so someone else can read it, but it's okay because he typed a copy for himself (uh, if he had an e-copy, couldn't he e-mail it? And what happened to Project Gutenberg? The "Banned Books" website? I find it EXTREMELY unlikely that there isn't a single (non-hand typed) e-copy floating around somewhere, and that it's impossibly to send it to someone...)

And their's a few more, but you get the drift. Hey, If I can nit-pick Star Trek and love it, why not this? ;)

Overall, I liked this book, and want to read more... I really hope this is the first in a series, as it started to explore a theme that hasn't really been done much in sci-fi, and should be. Namely, what if there are aliens... what would that do to Christianity? The book ended before it really got to that point, but there are some hints that it's going to be explored farther.

I give it four stars.

Abiding Flame

Young Adult Author, Emerald Barnes, is releasing her latest novel, Entertaining Angels, today. It's a Young Adult Christian romance that faces the issues of self-esteem and weight in teens. It's a story that will hopefully grab the attention of girls - and boys alike - and help them understand that no matter what they are beautiful.

About Entertaining Angels

"I've read many books that tackle the issue of spiritual warfare, but I especially loved this one. Mads was alive and real and jumped off the page! Her character is so strong, she needed strong characters to balance her, and Barnes certainly provided that in the characters of Chase and Zach." - Author Precarious Yates

"This story is beautiful and so profound." - Author Sylvia Stein

"I would recommend Entertaining Angels as a graceful stepping stone to self-acceptance and self-love." - Author Christine Cunningham

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Madison Andrews can’t face her reflection in the mirror. All she sees is a big, fat nobody. Yet, deep inside she longs for something more, something that’s not skin deep.

Along comes Zach, the new guy in school. He’s smoking hot and totally out of her league. She somehow catches his eye, and he makes her feel beautiful for once. But just as she gets close to Zach, her nerdy best friend, Chase, won’t let Madison doubt her true beauty, no matter how many meals she skips. Even as Madison begins to realize that she is more than what she thinks, darker forces are at work, darker than the lies and mocking from her peers, stopping her from amounting to her full potential. Can Madison find true happiness in her own skin?

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A Word from the Author

Entertaining Angels is near and dear to my heart. Essentially, it's my story. I have struggled with my weight issues for many years, and I remember clearly the very first day I fell victim to the word fat I am more than that label. I am a Child of God, and He wanted me to see that. Making a long story short here, I have began to realize that although I am overweight, it's not who I am. I am so much more, and He wanted me to share that story with everyone else, especially young adults and woman who need to be reminded just how beautiful they are. If you do buy Entertaining Angels, I hope that it shows you just how beautiful, or handsome if you're a guy, you are.

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Giveaway Time!

Enter to win this autographed (by Emerald) tote bag with the Bible Verse Psalm 91:11 on it, and this notebook that says "God Makes Beautiful Things." (US Only please. If you're international, Emerald will send you an e-book and choose another winner.)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Where can you purchase Entertaining Angels?

Amazon / Barnes and Noble