Denna Holm

Four out of five stars.

The Fall of Ossard by Colin Taber turned out to be an interesting novel.  If you are looking for a fast pace and lots of action then this is probably not the book for
you.  The action scenes we do read about are well written and exciting, but the biggest portion of the story is written around them.  Colin Taber has a great
imagination and for the most part he was able to bring this fantasy land and
people into full 3D detail.

We first meet Juvela when she is still a young girl.  There have been child abductions taking place in the area and her wealthy parents hire Sef, a one-time soldier, to protect her, a body guard.  Juvela’s grandmother was burned at the stake as a witch by the Inquisitor Anton and her parents fear a similar fate for her if they don’t take immediate action to avoid it.  I was a little taken aback by the actions of Pedro, Juvela’s future husband and the father of her daughter.  Without giving anything away, I never quite understood his role in what was done to her—beyond the obvious—nor her willingness to still marry him.  There
were a lot of questions raised about Pedro that I never did feel satisfied with
the answers.  Perhaps more about him will come in the sequel.

As evil takes a firmer grip in Ossard, Juvela’s own powers begin to awaken.  At first we are led to believe her dead grandmother is trying to help her, but this becomes questionable as Juvela’s power continues to grow.  One almost begins to feel her grandmother is using Juvela as a means to steal souls and build her power base in the Celestial.  As Juvela’s ability to look into the Celestial—the realm of gods, spirits, souls, and raw magic—becomes stronger, she gains in magical powers and is able to help keep her people alive when they are attacked.  But she is not strong enough to stop the kidnapping of her husband, child and her in-laws.  Will she be able to find those she loves and rescue them before they can be sacrificed in a battle for power?

After the kidnapping of Juvela’s family the story begins to lag quite a bit.  People are being drawn to her and we end up sitting through story after story as they tell Juvela what they’ve been through.  A lot of it began to sound repetitious and I found myself starting to skim.  Her body guard, Sef, turns out to be one of
the most interesting characters in the novel.  There is much more to him than first meets the eye and he is definitely going to be an important part of this story as they continue on this quest.  I love the hook we are left with at the end
of this first novel.  Though I enjoyed this beginning a great deal, I have a feeling the next one is going to be where the real action starts, because it’s not just the city of Ossard, Juvela and her family left hanging in the balance, it’s the whole world.  Juvela is becoming more powerful with every passing day, but will it end up making her as corrupt as the people she is trying to stop?  I have no doubt I’ll be back to pick up the middle part of this trilogy when it becomes available so I
can find out.

Four out of five stars

Harold Finn—Ninja Warrior by Paul Donovan is a fast, fun read, with quirky characters that easily held my attention right from the first page.  Harold appears to be an average, somewhat bumbling, office nerd at the beginning, but we soon learn he is much more than that.  After he and his lifelong friend Connie stop for Chinese food one night on their way home from work, Mr Doshi, the owner, tells Harold he is the Ninja Warrior, one they have been waiting for.

These characters remind me a lot of “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” stories by Christopher Golden in the fun way they interact with one another.  Harold becomes the Ninja Warrior in much the same way Buffy became the vampire slayer.  It’s the way these characters work off each other that makes the novel so much fun to read, a perceived lightness to otherwise dark and dangerous circumstances.

When Connie’s parents are killed under odd conditions, Harold must hope he has learned enough from Mr Doshie to keep him and Connie alive.  Their boss, Kendall Kirch, doesn’t care who he has to eliminate in order to proceed with his evil plans, even pulling the plug on his own father at the hospital.  He ordered Connie’s parents killed and will think nothing of adding her and Harold to the list.

I would have liked more information to be given about this mysterious warrior—where did he originate from, why Harold?  Was he born the chosen warrior, or did it come later on in life?  This part was more or less passed over, but even so, the characters still each had separate 3D personalities and I was easily able to picture the scenes.  There were some issues with editing that I found mildly irritating.  I felt the text could have used one more round of editing to catch the occasional typo and a few issues with punctuation before it was released to the public.  Though I took note when I ran into these places, they weren’t enough to seriously take away from my enjoyment of the story.  Without the editing issues taken into account I very likely would have given Harold Finn, Ninja Warrior five stars instead of four.  A highly entertaining read and I recommend you take a look.  For sure I’ll be watching for the next novel by Paul Donovan starring Harold Finn and Connie Stinson.

Five out of five stars

Here is another exciting page turner by Lynne North. This one is sure to capture
the attention of all young boys and girls’ age ten and up who are on the lookout
for a new adventure. Follow Zac, a fifteen-year-old stable boy who sees his
ordinary life turned upside down when he finds himself in the middle of demons,
magic and a perilous quest he has to undertake to save the people he loves. Zac
and the group of soldiers traveling with him must find Aldric, a great and
powerful wizard, if there is to be any hope of saving his people. Strange dreams
and demon attacks are only a part of the exciting magical journey Zac carries to
the reader during his quest.

I purchased Zac’s Destiny for my ten-year-old niece, but I found myself just as caught up in the story as she was. You won’t be disappointed. I look forward to seeing what Lynne can come up with next.

Five out of five stars

“Gertie Gets it Right (eventually)” is a children’s humorous fantasy aimed for
eight years old and upward. It is one of those fun, entertaining reads that all
ages can enjoy. I bought this book for my ten-year-old niece, but found myself
caught up from the very first chapter. Don’t pick up this page turner unless
you’re ready to have a good time. It’s guaranteed to bring a smile to your face
and quite probably more than a chuckle or two, as well.

Gertie Grimthorpe is a young witch who is born from a long line of witches.
Unfortunately, she hasn’t really got the hang of it yet. Being born
blonde-haired and blue-eyed, with not a wart to be seen anywhere, is not easy
for a witch. Try as she might, Gertie finds her best efforts in trying to cast
spells all seem to fall flat. She does manage to give her bat-headed umbrella
the ability to talk, but wishes she hadn’t when all he does is complain and
insult people. Throw in an owl for a familiar who is unfortunately short-sighted
and a Moat Monster with a flatulence problem and you find loads of fun that will
keep you and your child entertained for hours.

Follow Gertie as she is sent to The Academy to improve her spell casting abilities. Meet her new friend Bertha Bobbit, a big girl with a matching appetite, and the weirdest array of witch’s familiars possible. Not to mention a demon. I know you’ll enjoy this as much as I did.

Four out of five stars

If sad stories make you weep then you’re going to be in big trouble with Megan’s Way, an emotional rollercoaster if ever there was one.  Megan is a single parent and she is dying from ovarian cancer and worried about how Olivia, her fourteen-year-old daughter, is going to handle it.  Anyone who has children will be able to relate.  Even though my daughter is grown now, I imagine life would still be difficult for her if something were ever to happen to me.

I enjoyed reading this novel even though I ran across a few areas that I believe could have been fleshed out more.  Butting heads with Mom is typical teenager.  They all have to try to spread their wings before they are ready and Olivia is no different.  But she ends up getting kidnapped and almost raped when she spreads her wings in the wrong direction.  Only a close relationship of the paranormal kind with her mother keeps it from taking place.  Still, it’s a traumatic event and yet we never hear another word about it.  Since Megan did end up gouging the man’s eye out during the rescue, I would have thought it deserved more time.  It should have had a longer reaching effect on Olivia.  Considering how the novel ends, I also would’ve liked more information on how Megan and Olivia could have this strange connection.

A lot of time is spent building toward this mysterious ritual Megan and her best friends have every year.  The way Megan was going on about it, and her not wanting Olivia to take part, had me thinking something big would be taking place.  Nothing really ever comes of this either and I couldn’t understand why she didn’t want her daughter there, especially since it would be her last time.  Because of the way this novel began in the prologue with the fortune telling, I think I was anticipating going in the direction of paranormal at the ritual.  I have to say I felt a bit let down.  But, these two parts were the only ones that bothered me.  I love the mystery involved with Olivia’s father and it even manages to take me by surprise at the end where Megan’s best friend Holly was concerned.  I won’t give this one away.  You’ll have to read it for yourself.

The writing is very good, the main characters 3D and real.  Olivia acted a little older than fourteen in my eyes, but then again, she’s an only child who is watching her loving mother die.  If that doesn’t make you grow up fast, then nothing will.  Without the problem areas I mentioned above, I would have easily given this novel five stars.  There is no way to read it and not shed a tear or two along the way.  For me, it took the whole box of Kleenex to get through.  I’ll look forward to reading more novels by Melissa Foster in the future.

 

Four out of five stars

Liberator’s Ruin turned out to be quite an enjoyable read.  A lot of characters are introduced early on and as we are getting to know each group of people it would appear they have nothing to do with one another.  Each comes from a different part of the land, each has a different agenda in mind.  I’ll give a brief introduction to some of the main characters.

Princess Anna is the last of her royal line, an Illysian determined to lead her people against the Rhivillans who have taken over their land and killed off everyone in her family.

Pallen is a lifelong friend of the princess, an Illysian who is set up as a mole of sorts in Rhivillans territory.  His job is to train an Illysian fighter named Claye, who hopes to go up against the          Rhivillan champion one day.  But Pallen has grown old during his time away from Princess Anna and all he wants out of life is to be left in peace to train Claye.  Will he be able to pull himself together when she finally approaches him for help?

Francesca is saved from mercenaries who destroyed her town and the people who made their homes there.  She and several other women are taken prisoner, their fate to end up raped and then sold as slaves.
Nathaniel An’Rieyr is Captain of the airship Storm Brother.  He is a commodities trader who wants to keep nose out of politics, but who also happens to enjoy the spice of a little danger added into the picture once in a while.  He rescues Fran and the other women from their miserable fate and ends up hiring Fran on as a mechanic for the Storm Brother.

The crew of the ship are all interesting characters, very well drawn out personalities and a real pleasure to read about.  I especially liked Chusa and Grekhis.  Chusa is an unassuming dark-skinned man who acts as body guard for Captain An’Rieyr.  If anyone gives Nathaniel trouble, they won’t see Chusa coming until it’s too late.  What I liked was the comradery between Chusa and Nathaniel, more equals than boss and employee.  Grekhis is not quiet human.  A Markynd, he is short, but powerfully built with a snout-like nose and two tusks curving up from his mouth.  He is the head mechanic Fran works under on the ship.

Also working for the Rhivillans government is a man known as the High Inquisitor.  He uses powerful magic to assist him in his duties and will go to any lengths to bring Princess Anna and her people down, squash anyone who gets in his way.

As we follow along with each of these groups we start to see how they will all be drawn together toward the end.  Besides the great characters involved, what I found that made this such a great read was not realizing until it was too late who the traitors would be.  I turned out to be as shocked as some of the other players involved.

Princess Anna turned out to be a difficult person to judge.  She appears to be one of the good guys when we first meet her, but as we watch everything unfold it would seem she is just as ruthless as the High Inquisitor when it comes to getting her way.  I found by the end that I didn’t like her much.  But there were many twists and turns that kept me guessing right up until the last page.

On the down side, I have to say that at times I felt too much description was given out that probably wasn’t necessary.  It tended to slow the novel down a great deal and I found myself wanting to skim through parts in order to get back into the action.  Also there were quite a few typos, especially in the last half of the novel, and punctuation problems, especially where dialogue is concerned.  I’m fairly picky when it comes to these types of details, so you may find it doesn’t bother you at all.  Without the problems I just mentioned I would’ve easily given Liberator’s Ruin five stars.  A good read and definitely one I encourage you to take a look at.  I’ll look forward to reading more by P.J. Johns in the future.

 

 

 

Just Do IT

We hear a lot about how tough life is in current times and for the most part I have to agree.  Our children are flooded every day with temptations.  They come through music, television, movies, people they look up to, and many tend to point a child in the wrong direction. We hear at almost every turn about the negative side of life.  But what about teaching our children to reach out for dreams?

Do you remember playing the game as a child—“When I grow up I want to be     a . . . ?”  I wanted to work with animals, be a veterinarian.  If this didn’t work out,
then I wanted to train horses, maybe make it to the Olympics one day.  And since I loved to read, getting lost in the stories I picked up, I wanted to write novels, become a published author.  I was a lucky child in that my family never told me I shouldn’t chase dreams.  My parents taught me that anything was possible, I only needed to be willing to work hard to get there.

My dream of becoming a veterinarian didn’t quite work out, but I did end up going to work for one.  The next stop was in training horses.  Money being tight, finding a horse I could afford that was also talented enough to perform in Dressage wasn’t easy.  I eventually picked up an ex-racehorse, a four-year-old thoroughbred gelding named Oregon Sunshine, and together we began with a difficult training program.  Many times along the way I was told by other
trainers he wouldn’t be able to stand up to the competition, namely warmbloods,
a breed far more popular for this sport.  My response—plant on a smile and keep right on working.  The first time I took Sunshine out in front of a large crowd at the FEI level I almost felt sick.  I didn’t take into account that many of those
watching were people just like me, often forced to work with breeds not
associated with the demands of Dressage. When Sunshine and I stopped for our final salute to the judge, the crowd roared.  It was enough to bring tears to
my eyes.  Not many thought we could make it so far when my race-track reject and I first started out.  J. Ashton Moore, a brilliant, but demanding
trainer, I rode under used to say—“Don’t tell me you’re trying, I don’t want to
hear it.  Just do it!”  So we did it, eventually earning my United States Dressage Federation Bronze and Silver medals.

When a severe injury ended my show career with horses, I needed to find a new
challenge.  My dream of becoming an author and sharing my lifelong love of reading and science fiction seemed like a good idea, but it had been almost thirty years since I’d last gone to school.  Always one to rise to a challenge, I started to take writing courses at the local university and any creative writing course I could get my hands on.  Taking it one step at a time I brushed up on my grammar and punctuation and learned how to put a scene together as well as
adding in dialogue.  Along the way I had many people tell me I was probably just dreaming about getting published, but what is life if not for dreams?  I also
had people who stood behind me, my husband and daughter, as well as the rest of my family.  The first time I allowed one of them to read the finished novel “Soul of a Warrior” I got hit with the same nervous feeling I had when showing Sunshine at the FEI level.  Would she like it?  Was I finally chasing a dream that would be out of reach?  It is so easy to second guess yourself in times like these.  I’m happy to say my family and friends loved the story, putting my worries to rest.  After a few more years of hard work with editing and placing chapters up on peer-critique sites like Critters and YouWriteOn I was able to find a publisher who liked my story and was willing to take a chance with a new author.  I can’t
thank Crescent Moon Press enough for opening the door for another one of my
dreams to come true.

If one is willing to work hard and listen to those who are trying to help you, dreams can and do come true.  I’m a living, breathing proof of this.

Don’t say you are trying—“Just do it!”