Book Review: Seeking Unseen

Today's book Review: Seeking Unseen by Kat Heckenbach

From the "back of the book":
"It may be Angel's wish...but it's Melinda's journey.
It's been two years since Angel learned the magic chip of wood inside her locket would grant any wish. What is taking her so long to choose?

An alarming discovery about her beloved foster brother Zack makes the decision easy...but everything else gets complicated after she runs into her old friend Melinda, who demands to go along for the return to Toch Island.

Melinda doesn't fit in with the magical freaks any more than she did with the losers back in Florida, but she never wanted to belong before. A secret world surrounds her where even the bugs have magic...She's more of an outsider than ever. So when ex-con Doran Ashe slinks out of the shadows and offers her an easy road to powers of her own, Melinda follows him despite--or maybe because of--everyone's warnings."

Seeking Unseen is the sequel to "Finding Angel"

First, a spoiler about that "back of the book" text....

Angel looks at the wood chip once or twice, but doesn't use it. Yup, no major role in the book...

Seeking Unseen is a little faster paced than Finding Angel, which isn't a bad thing, and it still has a whimsical feel to it.

Angel is about the same here character wise as she is in Finding Angel, only now it's here turn to play old hat at showing the newbie around the magic island. Also, she gets a love interest in this book, which was nice, as the author writes the character interactions almost the same as she did with Angel and Gregor in the first book, which is nice, as that's one of the things that Finding Angel was missing, a nice, sweet romance.

Then there's Melinda. I'd almost forgotten here from the first book. She's back now, and I spent the first half of the book not being able to stand her. As the character changes throughout the book, she becomes more relate-able, and by the end we the readers are able to see the tiny seed of good in Melinda that Angel saw from the beginning.

The story was fun and enjoyable, and it's always nice to spend time with old friends. Four stars, easy.

Book Review: Failstate

Today's book review: Failstate, by John Otte

From the "Back of the book":
"Why did Robin Laughlin (aka. Failstate) think being a superhero on a reality show would be a good idea again? Things seemed so simple: win the show, become an official, licensed hero. But with his brother, Ben (aka. Gauntlet) stealing America's heart and his own powers proving too unwieldy even for the monitored studio challenges, Robin begins to wonder if his calling isn't to save the world after all.

Until one of his competitors is murdered.

Vowing to find the killer, Robin sets out on a very real quest to unmask the hidden villain. Can Robin find justice? Or will his lunk of a big brother ruin everything?"

Failstate is the first in a series (followed by Failstate: Legends, then Failstate: Nemesis) of superhero novels.

Let's talk about my favorite part of any book, the characters.

Failstate is basically me when I was in Jr. High... nerdy, average looking, and not popular. And he makes similar choices to what I would have made. Looking back at this from an adult prospective, he's an "average Joe" character, but I probably would have seen this differently in Jr. High or High school (most popular books then, as now, are usually about the good-looking, popular, great at everything types) So, the character resonated with me.

Gauntlet comes across as a real jerk in this book... which surprised me, as I'd read the novella "Gauntlet Goes to Prom" before I read Failstate, and in that, he's a nice guy... but then, the novella is in his viewpoint, and Failstate is, of course, in Failstate's viewpoint, so...
And did I mention that Guantlet is Failstate's older, good-looking, popular, and gets-away-with-everything older brother?

And then there's Elizabeth... *sigh* I spent the first 2/3rds of the book loving her. She's nice to Failstate, and sees him for who he really is. And then the last 1/3rd of the book hit, when she [SPOILER] (Editor's note: This portion of the spoiler is redacted for being too spoiler-y) (Author's note: These posts are edited? ...and I don't think "spoiler-y" is a word...) so after she did that, I wanted someone to throw her under a bus... and have the bus back up... and possibly forward, then back again... But Failstate has to learn to forgive her to stop the real bad guys. Sadly, that scene only got a paragraph or two... I would have loved to see a whole chapter dedicated to how Failstate learns to forgive and tolerate her mere presence after she did THAT. [/SPOILER]

On the one hand, I expected to love this book because it's basically a comic book only better because it's a novel, and you can get so much more detail. On the other hand, I'm surprised I liked it, because it combined two of my least favorite things: - High School, and - Reality shows.
Despite that, I really liked the book. Otte is great at giving characters depth and keeping the reader engaged in the story.
Four stars!

Book Review: One Realm Beyond

Today's book review: One Realm Beyond (Book 1 of the Realm Walkers series) by Donita K Paul

From the "Back of the Book":
"Cantor D’Ahma waited his whole life for this day. Born with a gift to jump between worlds, the young realm walker is finally ready to leave his elderly mentor and accept his role as protector and defender of the realms.

But mere hours after he steps through his first portal, Cantor discovers that his job will be more dangerous and difficult than he ever imagined. The realms are plagued with crime and cruelty, and even members of the once-noble Realm Walkers Guild can no longer be trusted. To make matters worse, his first assignment—finding a dragon to assist him on his quest—has led him to Bridger, who is clearly inept and won’t leave him alone.

With the help of his new friends Bixby and Dukmee, Cantor must uncover the secrets of the corrupt guild before they become too powerful to be stopped. But his skills aren’t progressing as fast as he would like, and as he finds himself deeper and deeper in the guild’s layers of deceit, Cantor struggles to determine where his true allegiance lies."

I've been a Donita K Paul fan since Dragonspell first came out, so I've been looking forward to reading her latest series. The premise is rather interesting, instead of different planets, there are different realms, described as a stack of discs sharing the same orbit. Realm Walkers can see and use portals to go between the worlds. Each Realm has it's own culture, geography, and climate.

Cantor is our main character. He's eager and adventurous, but tends to act and then think. Still, he has a good heart and cares about his friends.

Bixby was my favorite character in the book. She's fun, whimsical, and a tad mysterious. They don't really name her race, but she's short and tiny and described almost like a pixy or elf (the north pole kind.) She's a good counter balance to Cantor, and a lot more knowledgeable about the different realms.

Bridger is Cantor's dragon. Well, everyone but Cantor knows this... more on that in a moment. Bridger reminds me a lot of myself--good at his own talent, but really clumsy and too curious for his own good.

The dragons are always my favorite parts of Paul's books. The dragons in the Realm Walkers series are rather classic fantasy dragon in appearance, and part Pern dragon and part Meech dragon in temperament and intellect.

The story is written on a YA level, and, in my opinion, the characters outshine the plot. There's basically enough plot to give the characters a reason to exist. This might change as the series develops... and that leads me to my (least) favorite fantasy rant. I'll put a minor spoiler alert here. I won't say anything explicit about the plot, but still...

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Why, oh why must EVERY fantasy book I've read lately not have a self-contained story? Just as we get to the climax of the plot... BOOM the book's over. Buy the next book to find out what happens. I don't care that you have to wait six months to a year to find out. Now, don't get me wrong, you want at least one over-arching plot element in a series, but you still want to have your main plot lines wrapped up by the end of the book. This is the reason I bought the box set of The Lord of the Rings, instead of buying one, reading it, then buying the next one... it's one story, not three. Same problem here.
To be fair, Paul does this better than a lot of other authors I've read, but it's still irritating. Especially since Paul's other books aren't written in this style, and do a nice job of balancing book and series plotlines.

Overall, though, the story was enjoyable, and I loved spending time with the characters. Four stars.

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