Author Archives: sadie

Review of Mage of Legend, by Jennifer Amriss

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I received a copy of Jennifer Amriss‘ Mage of Legend for review.

Description from Goodreads:
Dimensional Rifters Were Nothing But Legends.
Until now…

Ages ago, one of the old gods threw Minuvel, the last Ivari, into a dimensional prison. She was too powerful to kill, and too dangerous to let roam free. But her vault was lost.

A Spoiled King and A Skilled Hunter.

After a beautiful stranger saves his life, Xastrian, the new Dragon King, owes Velithor a life-debt. But as the two join forces to battle the crazed Ivari who shares their prison, he discovers he wants so much more. Soul-bonding with the shy, resourceful hunter would be worth anything. Even facing death a second time.

Trapped and Hunted.

Xastrian must rely on Velithor’s knowledge of the forest. Velithor must help Xastrian regain his power. And one of them must tap into the magic of legend to become a dimensional rifter before the Ivari drives Xastrian mad and ruins their chances of ever finding their way home.

Review:
Spoiler warning for the first couple pages of the book

Oh man, I hate giving a book a poor review when it doesn’t have very many others to balance it out, but this book and I had some serious difference. It starts out well. We meet Xastrian, the new king. He shows himself to be a strong-willed guy you can respect. You meet his fiancé of a thousand or so years. There’s an assassination attempt. It’s all very exciting. I was hooked, wanted to see how this all played out.

Cut to the next day, Xastrian decides to go off on his own, as one does just after an assassination attempt. Who needs guards, right? Then the WHOLE rest of the book is Xastrian playing house in the woods with Velithor. THE. WHOLE. BOOK. The reader never gets back to court, never finds out what happened to the fiancé (after an extended courtship I think that deserved a little closure), never finds out who attempted the assassination. Xastrian and Velithor never even tell the rest of court (or Xastrian’s family) the king is still alive once they make it back. In fact, they never bother going back to the palace at all. That whole very important part of the story is just glossed over and ignored COMPLETELY.

Then there is the deus ex machina magic. I won’t add a spoiler, but it pops up out of nowhere and the person can use it instinctively, doing on without thought or knowhow what others have to train hundreds of years to do. Sure, that’s believable and satisfying….no.

And what of Minuvel you ask. Oh well, she pops up being vaguely threatening on occasion, is evil for no reason except that she is crazy and evil and is vanquished with such ease I barely considered her a subplot. Seriously, the pets get more play than she does.

The romance is basically two men being repeatedly awed at each other. It got repetitive early on, so 300+ pages of it was painful. The two men take turns devolving in to children. (We never again see that strong confident king after the first scene.) The dialogue is stilted and there are a few writing quirks that drove me nuts. Like the constant use of ‘he perked an eyebrow.’ It was overused in general, but as far as I know people tend to quirk an eyebrow. Might not actually be wrong, but it sure grated on my nerves.

The book isn’t a total failure. It is sweet, after all, and outside of a few rough editing patches, the dialogue, and some anachronistic language the writing isn’t bad. But that exciting sounding blurb…no, that must be some other book. It just isn’t this one.

Book Review of The Cult of Unicorns (Penny White #2), by Chrys Cymri

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Author, Chrys Cymri sent me an e-copy of her book Penny White and the Cult of Unicorns for review. I read the first in the series, The Temptation of Dragons, last year. Named it one of my five top reads of 2016, actually.

Description from Goodreads:
Raven’s ears flicked. ‘Dragons aren’t known for their patience.’

‘More is the pity, ‘ said the unicorn. ‘Father Penny and I were about to amicably settle our differences. A dragon invading our home vastly complicates matters.’

Five months ago my life was changed forever when I learned about Lloegyr, the sister nation to England on the magical parallel world of Daear. Thrilling rides on Raven, a darkly beautiful search dragon, break up the monotony of my life as the priest of a small village church. Nor are things dull at home, not with a sarcastic gryphon, a snail shark, and my younger brother all sharing my living space. And then there’s Peter, the almost too perfect police inspector who enjoys Doctor Who and single malt whisky as much as I do.

But Lloegyr is facing its own struggles. As various races such as dragons, gryphons, elves, vampires, and harpies flood to the rapidly growing cities, they all trust the unicorns to act as peace makers. But dead humans are turning up in the city of Northampton, with wounds which only a long spiral horn could have made…

Review:
It’s another win for Chrys Cymri. Like the first in the series, I found this to be a fun, whimsical work about a very engaging priest with a Doctor Who obsession and the good luck to be the go-between for the parish and Lloegyr (the land of dragons, unicorns, elves, gryphons and all manner of strange beast and beings). I’ve been repeatedly amazed at how relatable and real Penny is in this series. As someone who does not consider herself a follower of the Good Book(s), this is a true accomplishment. As is having enough religion in the story to show its importance to Penny, but not come across as preachy. I think this book gets a little closer to that line than the first—there is one particular scene in a pub that I cringed at—but it mostly manages.

I especially appreciate the diversity of this book. Characters come from different cultural, racial, sexual and religious backgrounds and they all blend in seamlessly, just like they do in real life. The writing is marvelous, but I do have to admit I don’t think this one is quite as polished and tight as book one. The plot wends about a bit more then it ends on a cliffhanger. I still very much enjoyed it and look forward to book three though.

On a side note, I found my name in it. When you grow up with an odd one it’s always a little exciting to come across it. Thanks for that C. C.

Vicks Vultures

Book Review of Vick’s Vultures, by Scott Warren

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I won a paperback copy of Vick’s Vultures, by Scott Warren, through Goodreads.

Description:
In the far future, alien technology captured by the Union Earth Privateers has fueled Earth’s tenuous expansion from a single planet to a handful of systems across the Orion Spur.

Victoria Marin, captain of the U.E. Condor, and her crew of Vultures have been running dry for months. In danger of losing her command and her credibility if she can’t locate fresh salvage, she locks onto the distress signal of an alien ship in hopes of valuable cargo. What she finds instead is First Prince Tavram, the heir apparent to one of the largest empires in known space. Tavram’s ship has been crippled after narrowly escaping an ambush and his would-be assasin is coming to finish the job.

The Vultures launch a high risk mission to rescue the prince and recover every last scrap of xenotech they can before the hunter catches up to his prey. But there are more dangers than notorious interstellar assassins when it comes to ferrying an alien prince across the stars, and Victoria must contend with dangerous alliances, old grudges, and even her own government if she means to bring her crew home alive. Whether she succeeds or fails, the consequences of her choices will affect the path of all humanity.

Review:
Vick’s Vultures was a complete surprise. I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect when I started it, but I’ll assure you it wasn’t gripping writing, fun characters, an interesting universe (or two) inhabited by a slew of differing alien creatures and cultures, all of it fitting together almost seamlessly. And it darned sure wasn’t a kick-butt female captain that wonderfully walked the line in which she was definitely a woman, but that never eclipsed her being a captain, nor did the author feel the need to butch her up so much she just became a dreaded man with boobs. Thank you Scott Warren for that! Characters really can be female and professional, who knew?

I did think Best Wish’s loss of control toward the end a little too convenient to believe and I occasionally had a little trouble understanding the techno-speak. But all in all, this was a fabulous read.