This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Torina Kingsley will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Eleven year old Macy dreams of action and adventure that will take her far beyond her family’s farm. But what will happen when that adventure finds her?
Long ago, faeries were banished from the land after a legendary battle. So long ago that many wonder if faeries really exist or if the battle was just a tall tale. But one mysterious night, Macy’s mother is attacked, and ever since, unusual things start happening. Missing items, changing moods, and most strange of all, the family’s sheep start behaving unusually.
Her mother is suddenly determined to get rid of the sheep, and Macy suspects that the reason may be sinister. When Macy meets a boy her age, the aloof and sarcastic Jay, they embark on a journey to discover the truth and save her mother. In this twist on The Wonderful Birch, you won’t find kings, queens, or evil stepmothers. Instead, you’ll find two courageous pre-teens from the outskirts, ready to defend Odele from the magical forces that threaten it.
Read an Excerpt
The sun was just starting to set on the rolling hills of the Jensen property. Laurel Jensen climbed the nearest hill, the wind whipping at her graying curls. She looked all around, searching her surroundings.
Where did that sheep run off too? she thought with frustration. She looked back towards the pen, where she could see the rest of the flock grazing. With a sigh, she turned from them and continued on in search of the silly creature.
“How many times have I told Macy to keep the pasture gate closed?” she muttered, gathering up her skirts as she began to climb a particularly steep hill. Though her boots were sturdy and built for the rough terrain, Laurel much preferred flat ground to these hills. Each step left her more winded than the last.
All at once, she slipped and landed hard on her hip. In a panic, she reached into her pocket on that same side and pulled out a clay, beaded necklace that her daughter had given her earlier that morning. She breathed a sigh of relief to see it unharmed.
“Happy birthday, Ma!” Macy had said. Her brown curly locks framed her face, making her look much older than her eleven years. “I made it just for you.”
Laurel smiled as she remembered, knowing these moments would become scarce in the next year or two. She put the necklace around her neck and then flinched as she reached down to rub her bruised hip. She exhaled and picked herself up to continue up the hill. At the top, she saw a treeline not far ahead. Feeling hopeful, she began her descent in that direction.
About the Author
Author Torina Kingsley masterfully creates a world where things aren’t always as they seem. Beyond the Birch is an imaginative spin on an old folktale that reminds us all to hold our loved ones close and always believe in own our capabilities.
I am going to start the five one sentence reviews I will be sharing today with Refrain by Susan Griscom. I won an audible and kindle copy. I quickly got hooked, so scrolled through my Kindle and read every one of the Blood Courtesan Kindle Unlimited series stories that I had.
Oh Yeah…Vampires…I love when I see my name in a book, and even though Refrain, which is a complete story, is predictable, it is filled with enough steamy deliciousness to keep me reading more of the series and wanting more of her work.
3 Stars
Reborn (Blood Courtesans) by Michelle Fox was an Amazon freebie.
Reborn is a complete story, a novella, about the loss of innocence and I love Myra’s feistiness, the laughs, the kisses and bullets, though I did get frustrated with her casual stupidity, but my love of vampires keeps me reading most anything with them in it.
3 Stars
Wanted: Corynne by Kristen Strassel was an Amazon freebie.
One way to deal with bullies is to become a vampire…LOL…she had been bullied to the point of murder and was counting on becoming a courtesan, offering blood and sex, to find a place to belong in this action packed story that filled all my bloody needs.
Thank all that is vampire that someone wanted to pay their good fortune forward or Angelica may never have been accepted as a blood courtesan because she would would make a personal sacrifice, sell her soul for her sister, and I love her naive yet provocative personality filled with humor.
3 Stars
Ensnared: Star by Rebecca Rivard & Michelle Fox was an Amazon freebie.
She had been set up for the theft of one hundred thousand dollars and her only out was to become a courtesan…one month with Remy de la Lune, but this hunkalicious vampire has met his match and I was happy to be along for the ride.
I’m not sure if it’s common knowledge, but traditionally
published authors have limited control over the cover of their books. The Wild
Rose Press has a Cover Sheet with basic questions like genre, tone, elements an
author would like to see on the cover, and hero/heroine descriptions. Once the
form is submitted, their talented cover artists take over.
For Friends to the End,
I felt the tone of the cover should be suspenseful, mysterious, and just a
little spooky. It’s a ghost adventure, after all. And since Zach and his new
friends are looking for a mysterious vanishing house, I suggested that the
cover might include a spooky house or a room in a spooky house. And maybe even
Zach’s silhouette or the silhouette of four kids. From there, it was a waiting
game. I had no idea what the cover artist would do.
I was thrilled when I saw what cover artist Diane Carlile
put together. I really couldn’t ask for a better cover for this book, and she
included elements I hadn’t thought to ask for. The moon is full on the night
Zach and his friends find the house, and their first glimpse of the old
Victorian home is through the trees. Before they reach the house, they visited
a graveyard. And I like that on the cover we only see the backs of the kids.
This allows the reader to use their imaginations. The dark purple and yellows
give an ominous feel. The cover is better than anything I had imagined. There
isn’t anything I hate. I feel lucky about that, but then The Wild Rose Press
does a wonderful job on their covers.
What do you think about the cover? Is it spooky, yet not too
spooky to scare you away? I hope so because the adventure is worth braving
ghosts.
Thanks for having me on your blog!
BLURB
Twelve-year-old
Zach is convinced he’ll never be happy without his best friend Jeremy by his
side. But both of their lives changed with a bang five months ago, and as far
as Zach’s concerned, it’s his fault Jeremy will never see his twelfth birthday.
When Zach moves with
his family to a Chicago suburb, he quickly becomes friends with a group of
thrill-seeking kids trying to find a disappearing haunted house. But Zach’s not
worried. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he follows them into a wild,
dangerous encounter that becomes a battle to decide what’s real and what’s not.
Excerpt
We stopped a few yards from the cemetery, our mouths hanging
open and our eyes wide.
“Please tell me you see that,” I whispered.
“If you mean the white lights floating above the ground,”
Josh said, “we see it.”
“They’re orbs,” Morgan corrected, as if knowing the proper
name for the glowing spheres made it okay to see them.
“Orbs?” Josh asked.
“Spirits of the dead,” I replied, remembering what Morgan
had told me.
Dom scooted his bike closer. “Maybe we should ask them if
they’ve seen the house.”
“Seriously?” Morgan asked.
“Yeah.”
Morgan shook her head, causing her ponytail to swing from
side to side. “Oh, no! I learned my lesson the last time we were here. I’m not
stepping one foot off the shoulder of the road.”
“Your right foot is in the grass,” Dom said, shining his
flashlight on her sneaker.
Morgan scowled and repositioned herself to have both feet on
concrete.
Three iridescent orbs floated over headstones. I thought
about the movies that warned people to stay away from the light. Maybe they
weren’t warning us about a bright beam of light, but instead small glowing
balls. Maybe if one of them touched you, the spirit would take over your body.
Maybe they were waiting for someone to be stupid enough to come closer. I
suddenly wondered if I’d met anyone who’d been possessed by a spirit and
immediately thought of Olivia and her strange habits.
Then I told myself I was being ridiculous.
Or was I? Think about it. How would anyone know if a ghost
hitched a ride with the person in front of him or her?
AUTHOR Bio and Links
C.L. Colyer
found her love for writing in first grade when her class was sent to the
library and asked to find a book for their first book report. While she doesn’t
still have this book report, she’s very proud to say she got an A on it. Her
favorite thing about the book was that it had no words. That’s right, not one!
That gave her the freedom to interpret the pictures in any way she wanted and
write her own story.
This sparked
her love for writing essays. It wasn’t until she was an adult that she sat down
and penned her first novel. This story has a special place in her heart because
it’s the story that helped her discover her passion for writing. She has since
written several books, many of which may never see the light of day, but all of
which helped her learn to combine her passion for writing with her fascination
with all things mythical. You’ll find
examples of this in her novels.
Just like the TV show, we have trials and tribulations, realistic life situations, sorrow and happiness, and a happy ever after with a touch of danger.
3 Stars
I won a paperback copy of Etched In Tears by Cheryl Hollon.
When the Moon Shines Lucia Ashta (Six Shooter and a Shifter, #1) Publication date: April 1st 2022 Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Western
Welcome to Traitor’s Den. I hope you like it here, because there’s no leaving the small western town that’s more theme park than authentic. Once you walk through the portal, you’re stuck as a boot heel in a half foot of mud.
I’ve never seen the outside world and I don’t care. The cannon-toting, trigger-happy residents here are like family, even if most of them are a few spoons short of a full set. Eventually, everyone grows on you, kinda like nail fungus. But the booze flows freely, and Tiger keeps me company. He’s as much a prisoner as I am.
I don’t figure there’s much point in wanting what you can never have. I’ll eventually accept one of my boyfriend’s marriage proposals and then keep policing the one-way town while I pop out the babies he wants. I was born knowing how to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.
At least I won’t be bored. Denners aren’t fans of following the rules, and the longer they’re in town, the worse they behave, thanks to the spell that keeps us all trapped here.
Just when I think I’ve made my peace with my lot, the portal pops open and two men shoot through, throwing punches before their feet even finish landing in my town. When they finally look at me, all I see is problems. Big, ginormous, entirely-too-handsome problems. And that’s before I even take into account the little “surprise” they brought through with them.
No one’s ever looked at me the way they do.
They aren’t the kind of men who back down after claiming something.
Or someone…
Did I say I had my life in Traitor’s Den all figured out? Hell, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
* A sexy fantasy western with growly shifters, sketchy vamps, peculiar mages and creatures, and one badass cowgirl sheriff. Within this small town, magic and gossip flow as freely as whiskey, and work and pleasure are nearly the same thing. Weird things happen on the regular in Traitor’s Den. Come and join the quirky family, where everyone’s packing. Oh, and don’t mind the tiger.
Rhett snorted. “Got a little cheering section, don’t
you? Do you make them say that stuff? Part of your little welcome speech?”
At that, the crowd went eerily still and silent. All
but Tiger and Jolene. Jolene whinnied her protest outside, but Tiger was my
immediate concern. As he rose to his large, heavy paws, I placed a calming hand
on his head and kept it there.
“It’s okay, Tiger. I got this.”
A low rumble rolled deep in his chest.
Rhett had the good sense to appear intimidated, though
he hid it well. The tension in his jaw and the mild tic in one eye gave him
away.
Zeke didn’t bother to hide his apprehension, sliding
his chair back from the table to more clearly distance himself from the jackass
with a stupid retort on the tip of his tongue for just about everything.
Keeping one hand on Tiger, I slid my drink to the side
with the other, and leaned on the table, closing the distance between Rhett and
me.
Up close, it was easier to make out that his eyes
weren’t a flat forest green; flecks of yellow, blue, and brown made them so
much more interesting. His face was beautiful and yet still masculine, his
square jaw reinforcing the manly aspect of his features.
Too bad he was one of the biggest jerkwads to ever
come through the portal.
Dropping my voice so it vibrated with all the danger I
was purposefully injecting into it, with a cold smile, I said, “Here in
Traitor’s Den, we’re all judged on our actions. Not where we came from, not
what we did before, not who we used to know. Connections from the outside world
won’t help you here. In here, you earn your reputation, fair and square. If I
have a cheering squad, it’s because I put the needs of others first as much as
I should. I give respect when it’s earned and treat everyone fairly. You treat
others like shit, you’ll have me to deal with, and trust me, so far you’ve only
seen my nice side. Mess with me or my Denners and I’ll come after you and make
sure you never make that same mistake again.”
Author Bio:
Lucía Ashta is the Amazon top 20 bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and paranormal women’s fiction filled with wild magic, spicy romance, and quirky characters that make you snort-laugh.
A former attorney and architect, she’s an Argentinian-American who lives in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains with her husband and daughters.
I know Rick Riordan has written 200+ books, but I think this is the first one I have read and this epic fantasy, with a vividly detailed world and characters come alive through his words, making this a wild action packed adventure…and you will be forced to pick a side.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.
One day, Magnus learns that someone else is trying to track him down—his uncle Randolph, a man his mother had always warned him about. When Magnus tries to outmaneuver his uncle, he falls right into his clutches. Randolph starts rambling about Norse history and Magnus’s birthright: a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.
The more Randolph talks, the more puzzle pieces fall into place. Stories about the gods of Asgard, wolves, and Doomsday bubble up from Magnus’s memory. But he doesn’t have time to consider it all before a fire giant attacks the city, forcing him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents. . . .
Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die.
Daemon Blood Mary Maddox (Daemon World, #3) Publication date: March 8th 2022 Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Horror
Our war will not unfold in your imaginary heaven. We will fight on Earth with human beings as pawns and weapons.
Lu Darlington is a seer, bound to the daemon Talion through ritual and blood. It’s not a role she enjoys, but she has little choice: daemons take what they want and destroy whoever stands in their way.
So Lu’s surprised when Talion doesn’t punish her for her newfound ability to keep him from possessing her whenever he likes. In fact he’s pleased. The stronger she is, he explains, the more powerful he becomes.
And he needs that power, because a war is brewing in the daemon world, a war that will be fought by—and through—humans.
Lu’s friend Lisa Duncan can’t see daemons but she’s seen what they can do and so has stayed far away from Lu for years. After a bizarre attack on Lisa leaves half a dozen people dead and she learns it’s just the first skirmish in the daemon war, Lisa realizes the safest place to be is with Lu.
Then Talion sends Lu away to teach her skills to another seer and Lisa must stay behind to look after Lu’s son Solly, conceived through a daemon ceremony with Talion. At four years old Solly’s seer abilities are already so strong Lisa is sometimes more afraid of Solly than for him.
As Talion’s enemies grow bolder, Lisa and Lu face attacks from every direction. There seems little hope any of them will survive—until Talion and his allies devise a plan.
The only problem is how much it will cost.
“With Daemon Blood, Mary Maddox has crafted a timeless tale of good against evil. With compelling characters and a keen sense of the darkness that lurks within us all, Daemon Blood will stay with you long after you turn the final thrilling page.”
Panic wells up in Lisa as the drugstore’s automatic door
slides open and winter air balloons against her face. The idea of stepping
outside suddenly terrifies her. Post-traumatic stress, says her therapist,
Sandi—as if naming a thing steals its power. A bearded guy in a camo jacket is
close behind her. She has to move. Clutching her plastic bag of antidepressants
and tampons like a talisman, she hurries through the door.
A semi rumbles past on the two-lane highway beyond the
drugstore’s narrow parking lot. Its diesel fumes trigger the usual nausea. The
clouds unveil the sun. She imagines getting in her beat-up Honda Civic, driving
until it runs out of gas, and then walking until her legs buckle. Wherever she
ends up will be fine with her.
“Hey Lisa!” A gaunt man pops out of his SUV and trots
across the parking lot. His glossy parka, unzipped despite the subfreezing day,
bounces against his fashionably threadbare jeans.
He’s no one she knows or wants to know. She plunges her
hand into her purse as she runs for her car. Where are the stupid keys? She’s
still groping for them when she reaches the Civic.
A hand seizes her shoulder and spins her around. The man in
the parka presses her against the car, his groin against hers, and pokes her in
the ribs with something hard. She looks down at a pistol with a short barrel,
almost toylike. His open parka conceals the gun from anyone watching. Not that
anyone is. Halfway across the lot, the bearded guy is climbing into a truck
jacked up on monster tires. She doubts he noticed her at all. “Sorry, Lisa,”
the gunman says. “I know what you’ve been through and I hate—really hate—doing
this. But we need to talk.”
Panic muffles everything but her thumping heart. She
wrenches her gaze from the gun to his face and opens her mouth to scream, but
his eyes silence her. Colorless irises encircle the bottomless wells of his
pupils. Her scream drowns in their depths, but she manages to whisper. “Who are
you?”
“Willard Steeples.” His grin displays a mouthful of capped
teeth edged with black along the gum line. “Author of Professor of Death.”
Evil parasite, feeding on people’s suffering. On her
suffering. When she was fifteen, a psychopath tortured and disfigured her, and
Steeples’ book made her into a freak show.
“You’re angry,” he says. “I get that. But your story
doesn’t end with the Professor. There’s Grifford Riley, the bent cop from
Chicago.”
She finally manages to speak. “What do you want?”
“This isn’t about what I want. My readers cry out for the
truth.”
Author Bio:
Mary Maddox is a suspense, horror, and dark fantasy novelist with what The Charleston Times-Courier calls a “Ray Bradbury-like gift for deft, deep-shadowed description.” Born in Soldiers Summit, high in the mountains of Utah, Maddox graduated with honors in creative writing from Knox College, and went on to earn an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She taught writing at Eastern Illinois University and has published stories in various journals, including Yellow Silk, Farmer’s Market, The Scream Online, and Huffington Post. The Illinois Arts Council has honored her fiction with a Literary Award and an Artist’s Grant.
The Stormriders approach, certain to leave death and destruction in their wake. Can one young man find a way to defeat them?Ten years after his father’s death, the memory of the attack still haunts 19-year-old Ary. On the eve of the draft, he faces his greatest fear: being sent to join the marines. He knows the cost of war.Ary dreams of marrying his childhood sweetheart, building a farm, and starting a family. But the Stormriders threat of war puts his loved ones and his plans in jeopardy.Wishing for peace won’t make it true.For love, for his people, and for the life he desires, Ary makes a decision that will change everything. Thus begins The Storm Below.This bundle contains the complete Storm Below Saga – that’s five audiobooks of epic fantasy! Listen to:
Above the Storm
Reavers of the Tempest
Storm of Tears
Golden Darkness Descends
Shattered Sunlight
The Storm Below is a beautifully creative fantasy epic. Action-packed, dark, and intense, this fantasy series features characters you are certain to love…and others you will love to hate.
J.M.D. Reid has been a long-time fan of Fantasy ever since he read The Hobbit way back in the fourth grade. His head has always been filled with fantastical tales, and he is eager to share the worlds dwelling in his dreams with you.
Reid is long-time resident of the Pacific Northwest in and around the City of Tacoma. The rainy, gloomy atmosphere of Western Washington, combined with the natural beauty of the evergreen forests and the looming Mount Rainier, provides the perfect climate to brew creative worlds and exciting stories!
When he’s not writing, Reid enjoys playing video games, playing D&D and listening to amazing music.
Lover of mathematics, devourer of science fiction, and connoisseur of the dad joke. When he’s not doing math for business or fun, he’s devouring science fiction and fantasy, reading up on scientific advancements, going for a jog, or, on all too rare occasions, taking a refreshing swim at the beach. At your service, you shall have an able storyteller and gifted conveyor of information. Experienced in narrating fiction, from the romantic to the post-apocalyptic, and nonfiction, from the historical to the corporate, and armed with the tools to make it all sound great, Zachary promises that, no matter the job, you’ll be read-iculously pleased!
At Audiobook Empire, audio reigns supreme, narrators are hailed as heroes, and headphones are worn with pride.
Marrying pomp and circumstance with quality you can count on, Audiobook Empire is a full-service production house that produces and promotes audiobooks with gusto.
Give your audiobook the imperial treatment by producing it with Audiobook Empire.
Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
I had been thinking about it for a while, wanting to do it, but it’s a daunting process with an epic fantasy series with books as long as this. It was always on the back burner then one day Zach contacted me. He had found my book on Amazon and was very interested in narrating it.
I listened to his samples and found he had a great voice for narrating epic fantasy.
We did some back and forth, and the first hurdle I had to cross: how were my strange fantasy names pronounced. There are some nonhuman ones that I don’t know how Zach managed to say, but he did.
After putting together the pronunciation guide, the final stage was listening to him voice my characters and making sure we were on the same page. Then it was off to the races.
Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
I think writing that’s very descriptive and has lots of dialogue is probably best for audiobooks.
Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
It was not even in the back of my mind. I loved audiobooks, but the idea that a self-published author could do it was never anything I imagined was an option.
How did you select your narrator?
He found me and after hearing his voice, I was thrilled to work with him.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
I gave him a pronunciation guide since there are some interesting names. And a brief character trait. He found my description of one character “is a tool” to be helpful.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
Yeah. I was really inspired by the Age of Discovery sailing ships but threw them up in the air. Especially the British Royal Navy. You see that in the red coats of the marines and the dark-blue coats of the officers.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
I work on multiple projects at once so I never feel like I work on one project too much in a day. I feel that keeps me fresh. As for enthusiasm, I love writing. It’s so much fun. The editing and marketing sucks, but the writing is a joy.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
I am. It started back fifteen or more years. I delivered pizzas in my twenties. And audiobooks let me listen to a story while delivering pizzas. I used to by the CD packs and just picked up new ones from half-price books whenever I could. It’s nice to listen to a story while working on other things.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
I tend to just feel a rush of a high finishing a novel and just sort of walk around. Not much celebrating but feeling the emotional rush of this.
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
A stand-alone novel is something I’m not sure I can write. I want to keep telling stories about my character. To tell big stories that one novel can’t contain. A stand-alone novel can be very focused on one idea while a series can let you really explore a world. I write fantasy, and while there are some good stand-alone novels, I think the medium lends itself to series to explore a created world.
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Read every day. Write every day. You have to develop your craft.
What’s next for you?
Shadow of the Dragon is an epic fantasy series I’m working on. It’s about a young girl who gets the soul of an extinct dragon put in her, a young man trying to be a hero and protect her, and a dark conspiracy that hunts her across the world.
Author J.M.D. Reid’s Top 10 Literary Inspirations
There are a number of works that have influenced me. They have left their marks on my writing and my choice of stories. How I tackle stories and what I inspire to write.
JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
Here is where it all began. My love of fantasy came from reading Lord of the Rings. I had started with the Hobbit in the fourth grade, but it wasn’t until the sixth grade when my uncle gave me a hardback box set of Lord of the Rings for Christmas. I loved it. I fell in love with fantasy.
From there, I descended into more fantasy. David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Ann McCaffery, and more.
Tolkien has so much world-building and history to his world. He speaks of such elemental issues and gives an insight into the ideas and philosophies of more ancient men. And at its core, there are some great characters that pull us along.
Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time
Jordan has the biggest influence on my writing style. Back in 1993, I received Eye of the World from my mother as a Christmas gift. I read this book, and this series quickly captured my imagination. I read books 2, 3, 4, and 5. And that was when I became obsessed with it. I spent my Junior High, High School, and my twenties waiting on the next book, reading fan theories, debating the foreshadowing in his books.
The way Jordan uses foretellings and prophecy as well as how he blends our mythologies to make his own coherent world. He uses elemental symbology to tell his story that only adds to how compelling it is.
I also learned some lessons about controlling your characters and plots from the mistakes Jordan made in his later books. It is a shame he died before finishing his series.
David Eddings’ The Belgariad/The Mallorean
After Tolkien, I read Eddings. I had just moved, was in the sixth grade, and had no friends. My mom bought me a book to read. Pawn of Prophecy. She had been given it as a recommendation by the Waldonbook employee.
I fell in love with it. This is the perfect book for a boy. A coming of age story and an epic fantasy quest. What I really love is the dialogue. Eddings has great banter and back and forth between enemies and allies. I try to write dialogue like him.
R. Scott Bakker’s The Prince of Nothing/The Aspect-Emperor
I have never read anything like R. Scott Bakker’s Second Apocalypse metaseries which consists of The Prince of Nothing and The Aspect-Emperor series. It is a grimdark fantasy that has worked philosophy into the world-building and the magic system.
The way he weaves his philosophy into all his characters to tell his story is brilliant. It’s not for the faint of heart. This series does not shy from the darkness that lurks in all of us. His characters are flawed and real in ways that few fantasy series are. The influences of Tolkein are all over the series, but Bakker has made it his own
I try to write characters half as complex as his.
Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen
Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen might have the most extensive world-building of any series. As an archeologist, he understands how civilizations pile on and on each other and use it to make every bit of his world is steeped in history.
On top of that, he has great humor and a sarcastic take on the world. He has created a world that exists beyond the pages. There are things going on that have nothing to do with the grander threat of the Crippled God that threatens the world.
I want to build worlds as big as this and to feel like they breathe beyond the bounds of the story.
Frank Herbert’s Dune
Dune is a book that has stayed with me. I’ve read the others in the series, and while good, they are not as great as the beginning. Great villains and heroes and some wonderful world-building. But what I love is his names. He just gives some piece of tech a name and rarely gives more description than that. But the name is all you need to understand it.
I love that sparseness of his.
Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive
I like Brandon Sanderson a lot, but his magic systems are what I find amazing. Not just how they work, but how they fit into the world. How it affects it. How it is integrated into the way civilization works. It has rules, and he finds clever ways to bend those rules or to use them in ways you didn’t think.
Walter M. Miller, Jr’s The Canticle of Leibowitz
A haunting book about preserving knowledge. About how the importance of knowledge must be maintained or we are truly lost as a species. I find this theme to be powerful. To be something worth fighting for.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Books
A weird choice, I’m sure, but I rather like the technical details of his book. How he explains complicated ideas to make the readers understand them. He weaves these technological ideas through his story to drive the plot.
Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers
I saw the movie of Starship Troopers when I was a junior in high school in theaters. My friends and I all loved it. So I was thrilled to find out there was a book. I read it. Loved it. Now Starship Troopers is the Bug Movie since it is only Starship Troopers in name only.
I enjoyed the military aspects. Adapting it to the sci-fi technology. It the sort of influence that Golden Darkness Descends has in its military aspects.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Audiobook Empire. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
I have read some of Demelza Carlton’s work and loved it, so when I saw that this was free and Broken Chains was available for review, I grabbed them both. Soooo disappointed. Heart of Stone read like a Prologue, a tease, and it did its job. I liked Ben and Pamela right away and felt they had a great story to tell. I wanted more. The bad thing is, the series is not complete, they are novellas, and you will need to read them all to get the whole story. I feel set up, cheated. I will be reading Broken Chains, because I already have it, but after that?
He walked out of the wall and announced that he was there to protect her. Tor has no memory of his past, just his urge, hes need to protect Catena. Demelza Carlton writes with wit and humor. My biggest problem, I thought this would finish the story started in Heart of Stone, but we don’t even discuss Ben. Where is he?
I enjoyed where the story was going and the laugh out loud moments, but, again, I feel hooked and left hanging. It would have been better if the entire series had been complete, then released. Now, it looks like April before Book II is ready and July before Book III is ready. I doubt I will finish the series. Too bad, because the characters were fun and had a great story to tell.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Broken Chains by Demelza Carlton.
I love dragons and this fabulous cover for Bianca and the Journey To Ryuugito is adorable. But, what is that pink thing I am seeing? Is that a Unicorn?
If any of you guys have a youngster that will be reading this, or having it be read to them, I would love to know what they think.
Let’s start off by saying…I LOVE that cover front and back. What is that pink unicorn doing there?
I have been reading and reviewing more children’s books than ever and the Bianca series by Meg Dendler fits in that genre, recommended for 4 – 18 year olds (Amazon). I think different ratings would apply to different age groups within the recommendation. This is a book you would read to the younger ones and want a little more sophisticated for the older ones. I loved it, so…what to do?
It is filled with clean adventure. We have dragons, unicorns, faeries, a water sprite, flutterpurrs (how cute a name is that?)…
Bianca has earned some independence from her father. She is still new to being out of the castle, so she doesn’t know all the ins and outs of social interaction, especially when it comes to royalty. After all, who wants to sit at dinner and not be able to talk at all, to tell of her last adventure in Book I? She is 14 and wants to share. She has questions that, the only way she will get answers to, is to be able to ask them?
Well, all that and I haven’t even looked at my notes.
Ooooo, we have a baby dragon. Princess Bianca the Brave and Percy the Merciful will be put to the test when a handsome visitor makes an appearance. He is requesting their assistance with a dragon egg in a far off kingdom. So over the mountain and through the woods they will go.
I can hardly wait to go on the next adventure with Bianca and Percy. And…will the baby dragon be a part of it? What ya thinkin’ Meg?
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Bianca: Journey to Ryuugito by Meg Dendler.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Princess Bianca the Brave and Percy the Merciful have settled into a comfortable life together as Bianca steps out of her sheltered, over-protected past. But a handsome visitor from a distant kingdom disturbs their peace. A rare dragon egg has been discovered, and it will hatch in a matter of days. Can Percy and Bianca keep the new dragonet from pillaging the kingdom of Ryuugito? And are they truly prepared for the journey to reach this egg and the dangers waiting for them along the way? With Percy by her side, Bianca will have to prove she is as brave and fearless as her kingdom now believes her to be.
This is the sequel to “Bianca: The Brave Frail and Delicate Princess.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Meg
Dendler has considered herself a writer since she won a picture book
contest in 5th grade and entertained her classmates with ongoing sequels
for the rest of the year. Beginning serious work as a freelancer in the
’90s while teaching elementary and middle school, Meg has over one
hundred articles in print, including interviews with Kirk Douglas,
Sylvester Stallone, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. She has won contests
with her short stories and poetry, along with multiple international
awards for her best-selling “Cats in the Mirror” alien rescue cat
children’s book series. Meg is also an editor with Pen-L Publishing and
works with independent and self-publishing authors to polish their
manuscripts for publication.
Meg and her family (including four cats and her dog, Max) live in Arkansas. Visit her at www.megdendler.com for more information about upcoming books and events and all of Meg’s social media links.
In the first book of the Cats in the
Mirror series, “Why Kimba Saved The World,” feisty house cat Kimba
learns that she is really part of an alien race and has to pick sides
between her loyal human family and her feline destiny. The second book,
“Vacation Hiro,” came out in November of 2013. These first two books in
the Cats in the Mirror series have been honored with Silver Mom’s Choice
Awards, and “Why Kimba Saved The World” won a Bronze Moonbeam
Children’s Book Award as “Best First Book.” Book 3, “Miss Fatty Cat’s
Revenge,” released on September 12, 2014. A companion book to her Cats
in the Mirror series, “Max’s Wild Night,” was published in May, 2015,
and Book 4 in the Cats in the Mirror series, “Slinky Steps Out” joined
the pack in the spring of 2016. An adult book, “At the Corner of
Magnetic and Main,” was released by Pen-L Publishing in September of
2015.
J.M.D. Reid has been a long-time fan of Fantasy ever since he read The Hobbit way back in the fourth grade. His head has always been filled with fantastical tales, and he is eager to share the worlds dwelling in his dreams with you.
Reid is long-time resident of the Pacific Northwest in and around the City of Tacoma. The rainy, gloomy atmosphere of Western Washington, combined with the natural beauty of the evergreen forests and the looming Mount Rainier, provides the perfect climate to brew creative worlds and exciting stories!
When he’s not writing, Reid enjoys playing video games, playing D&D and listening to amazing music.
Lover of mathematics, devourer of science fiction, and connoisseur of the dad joke. When he’s not doing math for business or fun, he’s devouring science fiction and fantasy, reading up on scientific advancements, going for a jog, or, on all too rare occasions, taking a refreshing swim at the beach. At your service, you shall have an able storyteller and gifted conveyor of information. Experienced in narrating fiction, from the romantic to the post-apocalyptic, and nonfiction, from the historical to the corporate, and armed with the tools to make it all sound great, Zachary promises that, no matter the job, you’ll be read-iculously pleased!
At Audiobook Empire, audio reigns supreme, narrators are hailed as heroes, and headphones are worn with pride.
Marrying pomp and circumstance with quality you can count on, Audiobook Empire is a full-service production house that produces and promotes audiobooks with gusto.
Give your audiobook the imperial treatment by producing it with Audiobook Empire.
