Monthly Archives: August 2013

Book Review of Nabila Khashoggi’s Spartan & the Green Egg

Spartan & the Green EggAuthor, Nabila Khashoggi sent me a copy of her children’s book, Spartan & the Green Egg.

Description from Goodreads:
Spartan, his three friends, and his dog, Grimm, as they travel the Universe. The mission of this talented team is to gain and share knowledge of their amazing discoveries. With the power of their minds, they made contact with a race of alien explorers, who communicate with them via an egg-shaped spaceship that is itself an organic alien being. Their expeditions are made even more exciting through the use of new technology and cool gadgets, provided by their new friend, who goes by the name of Egg. In Book 1, A Trip to the Rainforest, the team’s introduction to the rainforest and all its wonders is made even more fun by the company of two native Amazonian Indians. Their extraordinary visit is not without a few close calls. After an eye-opening experience with a mysterious Shaman, their own troubles seem to pale in comparison to what they learn. The rainforest is in danger of vanishing, and all its creatures and plant life are at risk of extinction. With the help of the Green Egg’s out-of-this-world technology, the team is able to put a big dent into the path of destruction and re-new hope for the survival of the rainforest.

Review:
My six year old and I read this together. She was really enamoured with the maps. In fact, it took us three tries to sit down and actually read the book because she just wanted to look at the maps and find all of the fun little treasures in them. Once we finally made it past the decorations to the actual book itself she loved the full-color comic book styling and I have to agree with her. It gave the book a little something different.

The environmental themes are ones we’ve all heard before, but I particularly appreciated the clarity with which replenishment was addressed. The reader is not only reminded that we (humanity) need to replace every tree we cut down, but that we need to replace them with the same or similar trees. Otherwise we’ll just end up with a planet full of scrub pines. It did fail to address the loss of mature forests and the effect this has on those who live in and around the jungle, but I suppose only so much can be presented in a children’s book.

I found the little bit of education about Amazonian culture to be interesting. I was a tad concerned that the pictures appeared to be fairly pan-indian, even if the text wasn’t. But my daughter didn’t notice.

Of course not all readers with be 6, but I found the book a bit long for a six year-old’s attention span. The mental transcendentalism in the beginning also went way over her head. She kind of glazed over during that part of the book, but came back strong once the Amazon appeared and cheered for the children’s accomplishments at the end. As an adult I found it all a little abrupt, but it obviously worked on a child’s level. She’s also spent hours just looking at the pictures to find new details in the forest scenes. Oh, and I want that tree house!!

All-in-all, the book would make a good addition to most children’s libraries.

Two last random thoughts:

  1. This is apparently going to be a ten book series (I think). At least once I think Egg should smoke something for dinner. 🙂
  2. Is it just me or is the very first sentence in the book’s description a fragment?
honey house

Book Review of Laura Harner’s Honey House

Honey HouseI swiped a copy of Honey House, by Laura Harner from the KDP free list. As of the time of posting it was still free.

Description from Amazon:
Former con artist Katherine “KC” Carmichael inherits the Honey House, a Bed and Breakfast located in the tiny town of Juniper Springs, AZ, a hot bed of the paranormal tourism industry. It doesn’t take her long to discover that both the town and the House are keeping secrets. KC realizes something doesn’t add up when the local sheriff throws her in jail for breaking the town’s full moon curfew. She soon discovers werewolves and witches are real, and she wonders what other fairy tales might be waiting to come to life. With multiple murders and men to distract her, KC needs to discover her own hidden magick in order to survive.

Review:
I very much like Ms. Harner’s storytelling style and Honey House is no exception. I enjoyed the ebb and flow of the story. I liked those characters that I got to know well (KC, Owen, Gregory, the house even) and I liked the murder mystery.

Unfortunately I also thought that some other important characters, most notably Quinn, felt very hollow. Part of this is the result of the book being told from the first person perspective of KC. She doesn’t know much about Quinn, so neither does the reader. Fair enough. But he rarely speaks, has little facial expression, and his past (and any present not in the presence of KC, really) is left a mystery. This meant I developed very little feeling for him. Too bad too. He’s the love interest du jure and I really wanted to like him. I might have if I had gotten the chance to get to know him.

I also wondered at the inclusion of the secondary drama. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it felt very much like an excuse to expose KC’s very, very tragic past. A past that I could have done without knowing since it isn’t really explored beyond disclosure.

There are also a number of small questions left unanswered throughout the book. Someone from the Paranormal Romance Guild mentioned in a previous review that this is one of Ms. Harner’s trademarks. I haven’t read enough of her work to know if that’s true (Though I think I might like to), but I find it a little annoying. They aren’t things that effect the overall story arc, more like little side issues. For example, in one scene Owen asks Quinn why he didn’t bring KC to his house. Quinn responds, ‘you know why.’ Owen accepts this as an appropriate answer. The reader, however, doesn’t know why. I could hazard a guess or two, but they would be just guesses. I wouldn’t have any way of knowing if I was right or not. Or, the two rather large identity questions that KC decides to let go with a mental shrug and ‘what’s it matter’ attitude, at the end. The story concludes just fine without these details, but my basic curiosity answered her with, ‘um, quite a lot actually.’ I don’t like loose ends all that much.

Despite these small criticisms I very much enjoyed reading the book. Ms. Harner has a way of making her narratives comfortable. This would be a great book to read while doing something relaxing, like laying in a hammock or basking in the sun. I suppose I’m calling it a great Summer read.

As an aside, I’m a bit bothered that Quinn (that’s who I’m assuming the male on the cover is supposed to be) is blond in the book and has dark hair on the front of the book.

Review of Kim Welsman’s Going Home

Going HomeAuthor, Kim Welsman sent me an ecopy of her sci-fi novel, Going Home (The Alien Encounters, #1).

Description from Goodreads:
Going Home is Book One in the Alien Encounters Series, a new adult supernatural fantasy set in a dystopian future for women of all ages, but recommended for those over 16.

Lyrissa is a woman on a mission with a haunted past. Peggy is a woman in a new world on a quest. The Agency and the Guard both want Peggy. Will Lyrissa help the Queen and the Guard for a healthy sum or will she find the courage to let Peggy leave so they can both go home?

Go on a psychic inner and outer journey with Lyrissa and find out if she goes home!

Review:
This story has a marvelous moral/societal/cultural message. As a fairly devout feminist, I MUST approve. Having said that, I think it lacks a little in its delivery. And I don’t just mean because of the minor editing mistakes (mostly missing words and a questionable lack of commas). I can easily overlook that.

What I’m referring to is the somewhat rushed presentation. The story very quickly leaps from event to event, back and forwards in time. It also tells the reader quite a lot about the social ills of society, most notably gender inequalities, but the reader never sees them. Nor does the reader see much of the characters’ pasts, even when it is haunting them in increasingly detrimental ways. This all left me feeling a little confused as I was jettisoned through the story. I really needed it to slow down and flesh itself out in order for me to really grasp the importance of what was happening and the meaningful message it was trying to impart.

Despite their shallow description, I did like many of the main characters. I just didn’t know them very well. And I did enjoy the story, even as I was piecing it together. It isn’t flawless, but for a quick read, it’s worth picking up.