Category Archives: Challenges

The Seraph Contingency

Book Review of Jennifer Fales’ The Seraph Contingency

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Author, Jennifer Fales, sent me a copy of her novel The Seraph Contingency.

Description from Amazon:
The best adventure is the one you never expected: When Anael, a beautiful angel bored out of her gourd, sneaks through the Pearly Gates and lands in the only dive bar in Purgatory looking for excitement, she gets a bit more than she bargained for. Abducted courtesy of a devious demonic Duchess seeking to expand her wardrobe, she finds herself tortured, driven slightly mad and bereft of her wings. Rescue comes in the guise of Gaap, a reluctant guardian and hero who’s been asked to do a favor. He’s a powerful demon with a libido, a nagging conscience and some very interesting tattoos who gets paid to transport artifacts and beings safely in and out of Hell. What was meant to be a short trip to an inter-dimensional Safe House ends up being hi-jacked by a disaffected teenager turned bungling Satanist, stranding them briefly in Southern California. Then things really start to get weird in this twisted action packed fairytale turned inadvertent love story.

Review:
The Seraph Contingency is absolutely absurd, in the best possible way. The plot, all of the character, the setting, and almost everything that comes out of Anael’s mouth are all designed to send the reader’s mind cartwheeling off the beaten path. Nothing is held sacred in this book. Ms. Fales manages to make a mockery of Christianity’s hierarchy of angels, Satanism, ancient Greek mythology, the honourable tradition of K-pop music (not to mention Styx), public transit, and questionable fashion. But amongst all of the irreverence runs a good natured thread of humour. You can’t help but love Anael (crazy as she is), feel sorry for Gaap’s exasperation, root for the Duchess and bounce on your pins and needles to see what shenanigans the others might throw out next. There are a whole host of interesting side characters to choose from. If you’re looking for a serious read, I wouldn’t recommend this one. But if you have a few hours to spend alone (cause others might think you a little odd for laughing to yourself too often in public) this is one worth picking up.

As an aside I happened to notice on Goodreads that the author is currenlty running a giveaway. It ends Feb. 21st. So, why not go here and try to win a copy for yourself. 

sunset

Book Review of Arshad Ahsanuddin’s Sunset (Pact Arcanum, #1)

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I grabbed Arshad Ahsanuddin’s Sunset (Pact Arcanum, #1) off of the KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:

By Day

Los Angeles, 2040. When the terrorist known as Medusa threatens to kill millions with a stolen nuclear bomb, Nick Jameson makes a fateful decision. He reveals himself on global television as a Daywalker – a vampire with a soul. To save Los Angeles, Nick exposes not only his own gifts but three separate cultures based on millennia-old magic.

By Night

The three metahuman races exist in careful balance, working to maintain a fragile peace. Nick and his fellow Daywalkers successfully master their natural bloodlust. The Sentinels, armed with both magic and steel, repress their warlike instincts. And even some Nightwalkers, normally their natural enemies, have deserted the Court of Shadows to join the triple alliance. Nick Jameson is deeply involved with two such Nightwalkers – handsome Lorcan and powerful Rory. Both men love Nick. But neither can protect the new Ambassador to Humanity from the events he has set in motion.

By the Sword

Jeremy Harkness was lured into Medusa’s service under false pretenses. A loner with no one and nothing to cling to, he was willing to die for his cause. But the night Medusa tried to obliterate Los Angeles, Jeremy met Nick Jameson, triggering the onset of his own psychic gifts. For Jeremy is the third race of metahuman, a Sentinel, born to kill the Nightwalkers with no quarter asked or offered. And neither Medusa nor the Court of Shadows will settle for peace when they can make war

Slightly spoilerish Review:

I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite like Ahsanuddin’s Sunset. It presents an extremely structured and well thought out metahuman society that lives alongside a future humanity. Honestly, I thought it was just a little too magically and scientifically advanced, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of the fantasy. I’m so glad I did, because it was a lot of fun. I adored the characters. There was a lot of witty repartee that made me laugh, the fight scenes were tight and the adventure kept me on the edge of my seat.

What I find so unusual, however, is that I think it reads a lot like a series of interconnected vignettes. It’s not mind you, but with all of the temporal back and forth it feel that way…like watching the frames of a film go by slow enough to see each one. Snick, a new scene…snick, another one…snick, and another one. They all relate and move the story forward, but not in a smooth continuous flow. There are gaps between each one. This isn’t a criticism, just a comment on the stylised framework of the book. It works well, but is different. Once I was used to it I enjoyed it. I do think some of the characters’ depth is lost though. Important events are referred to, but as the story doesn’t cover a continuous stream from time A to time B they aren’t all relayed to the reader. Like the fact that Nick fought 47 duels to protect Jeremy and his honour, for example. It is discussed after the fact, but not shown. As a result I was really taken by surprise by Nick’s passionate desire to protect Jeremy. He had been off doing things that would have made that apparent, but the reader doesn’t know about it.

Similarly there are a number of details that make up the characters but are not particularly explored. A number of them appeared to have been quite famous in the humane world, but we don’t really know anything about that. Nick’s drug dependency could have been a big deal, but is glossed over. Prior to the events of this story Nick was apparently tortured horridly as well as suffered from a rare and extremely painful disorder that prompts him to seek out others of the same affliction. We know almost nothing of these things other than that they happened. Now, it’s a longish series, maybe some of this will be addressed in future books. I don’t know. But I was left wishing they had been been further explained. Of course, that would have made for a very long book.

All in all I really did enjoy it. It is well crafted (especially the world-building), entertaining, and enjoyable. What more could you ask for?

bonded

Book Review of Nicky Charles’ Bonded

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I’ve been working my way through the Law of the Lycan series, by Nicky Charles. You can find reviews of the previous books under the reviews tab above. I grabbed Bonded from Smashwords. Hint: It’s free if you’re interested.

Description from Smashwords:
Reno’s a tough Enforcer for Lycan Link who finds himself drawn to Brandi but duty rules his life. Brandi, just on the edge of starting her career as a Disaster Control officer, falls for Reno at first sight, but are they really meant to be? Is it love or lust and does it really even matter? Enforcers and DCs don’t get along…unless fate forces them to. Bonded precedes The Mating. 

Review:
When reading a lengthy series it isn’t uncommon to have things start to fall apart 3 or 4 books in. Not the case with the Law of the Lycan series. Though this book is numbered 0.05, it is apparently the fourth one published and is every bit as good as the first. [I’ve some how gotten out of order and read it third, but I think I’ll live.]

Reno and Brandi are a heart wrenching couple. If ever there was someone you wanted to kick and then scream, “Come on, figure out their feelings already…and your own too, while your at it” in their face these two are the ones. Both try hard to do right by the other and suffer for their efforts. But I also had to respect that mutual sacrificial attitude. It also just served to make the conclusion more moving, though it did feel just a tad rushed by the time it all finally came together. I liked that Reno was strong and sexy but also inherently flawed, both in his own estimation and as a character. He felt fragile despite his strength. You don’t see that too often. Brandi was ever exasperated, but you could relate to her difficult position. I really liked Damien too and can’t wait for the next one about him.

I’ve noted a clear change in the wolves as the books progress. In book one the human and wolf were as one, with no noticeable difference in persona. By book two the wolves were exerting influence on their human counterparts, and here we find that the wolves are distinctly separate characters. They and their humans discuss problems, fight for control, and argue over decision. I’m undecided if this is an improvement or not. Be that as it may, I’m enjoying the series and intend to continue with it.