Tag Archives: fantasy

Book Review of K.M. Shea’s Red Rope of Fate

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Red Rope of FateI grabbed Red Rope of Fate, by K.M. Shea, from the Amazon KDP list. After finishing The Weight of Blood, which was quite heavy, I needed something light and fluffy to make myself feel better. It did the trick.

Description from Goodreads:
In the epic stories falling in love is often described as a beautiful, wonderful experience. Tari finds it to be life threatening, embarrassing, and nothing but heartache.

When Tari, an elf, is selected to be bound to Captain Arion, a human military officer, in a ceremony designed to promote friendship between their countries it is discovered that the two can communicate with each other in spite of the language barrier. Not everyone is supportive of the change Tari and Arion symbolize, so in addition to attending evening teas and royal luncheons Tari and Arion dodge kidnapping attempts and blackmail plots crafted by powerful political figures.

In spite of the court intrigue, Tari is dumbfounded when she realizes she has fallen in love with Arion, who has the emotional capabilities of a rock. As both human and elf society dictate that an elf and a human can never be together, Tari must conceal her feelings. Unfortunately the taciturn Arion is watchful and attentive to Tari’s well being, constantly pushing her to her limits with his loyalty, friendship, and dreadfully informal habit of touching her.

If Tari and Arion survive, their tumultuous relationship will either strengthen their countries’ alliance, or cripple the human courts of nobility. The deciding factor will be Arion, and his indecipherable feelings for Tari.

Review:
Ok, so that was just plain sweet…exactly what I was looking for. Even before any of the romance emerged Tari and Arion’s interactions were a joy to behold. They both had a certain dry wit about them that I appreciated. I did wonder that Tari could remain quite sooooo oblivious for quite soooo long and how exactly she managed to keep her secret from Arion. But it was still fun.

The two kings had a lot of personality for side characters. The Seer, the soldiers, and the family were engaging, and both Tari and Arion came out with some really funny one-liners. There was the occasional cultural mishap, ok the whole latter half of the romance sort of hinged on one, but it still made me smile. Then there was Arion’s additional confession. That was worth reading the book for all on its own.

The mystery, though secondary to the plot really, was interesting. As was the true role of the Evening Stars. Though I could take issue with the inference that women, even highly trained and skilled women don’t have the heart for real battle, I think I’ll let it pass. You do see the end coming from a mile away but that only heightens the anticipation. You know that HEA is on the horizon and you just can’t wait.

It’s also worth mentioning that this is a standalone book. These feel like they’re getting rarer these days, so I’m thrilled to come across one. I have another of Ms. Shea’s books on my TBR, and I’ll be keeping my eye open for more. She’s definitely made it on my radar.

On a side note Ms. Shea has a promotion running on her blog in which anyone who writes a legitimate Amazon review and then emails it to her can get an additional chapter to the book. Apparently, it falls outside of the timeline of the book, so it really is just a bonus.

Book Review of Valerie Zambito’s Island Shifters

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The Island ShiftersSome time ago, I missed out on a chance to win a copy of  Valerie Zambito‘s fantasy novel, Island Shifters – An Oath of the Blood (Island Shifters #1), in Mysti Parker‘s 20K hit Giveaway. Lucky for me, Mrs. Zambito is a generous woman and offered to send me a copy. As I write this post, Island Shifters also happens to be free at Amazon.

Description from Goodreads:
Heroes are born not made. 

The idyllic lives of four young shifters living in the exiled land of Pyraan are shattered when a tour of legion duty gives witness to a brutal enemy invasion. Born with magical prowess none has seen in over three hundred years, the friends become pivotal in a race against time to save a people they hardly know, but are sworn to protect. 

The journey exacts a terrible price from Beck, Kiernan, Rogan and Airron as they battle demons, both real and personal, to save the Island of Massa. But, whatever the chances, the shifters will fight.

The blood oath will have it no other way.

Review:
I initially had this marked as YA, probably based on the cover and the description of the heroes and heroine as ‘young.’ As a result, I drug my feet about reading it. I just didn’t know if I could take another angsty teenage drama. I’m beginning to think I might have to admit that I’ve finally outgrown them.

To my delight, it isn’t YA at all. In fact, it includes some fairly explicit sexual innuendo. Luckily, the story doesn’t fall victim to the painfully common sexy, simpering slave-girl trope. What Mrs. Zambito does is far more varied and insidious and, therefore, realistic. I’m not complaining. I like it. I don’t mean that I got any sort of sadist joy out of it, but it is unrealistic to think that truly evil people would just happen to be evil in every realm except for the interpersonal. It also allows for an interesting foray into different types of power. I’m probably making more of it than I need to. It is a very small part of the book, after all. But it was so unexpected that I can’t help but mention it.

The book’s strengths are definitely in the world-building and love the main characters both carry for each other and garner from those around them. Despite the heavy task before them, the book has a definite ‘feel-good’ quality to it. It feels downright sappy at times, in a good way. I did have a little trouble with the lack of contractions. Now, I’ll grant you there isn’t really any reason that people from another world would talk just like us, but it gave everything a formal feel that didn’t seem natural to me. Despite that, Island Shifters is an enjoyable example of the indomitable power of the human (or elven or dwarfian) spirit to persevere and of good triumphing over evil. I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to read it.

Book Review of Sam Enthoven’s The Black Tattoo

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I bought a copy of Sam Enthoven‘s The Black Tattoo because one of the very first reviews of my own book compared the two. Honestly, after reading it, the only similarity I see between the two books is that we both used the Japanese terminology for the swords our characters heave about.

Description from Goodreads:

Jack’s best mate, Charlie, has always been effortlessly cool. When Charlie wakes up one day and finds a mysterious, moving black tattoo on his back, it’s a clear sign that he’s even cooler than Jack thought. To top it off, Charlie has got super powers also.

Or does he?

Jack soon learns the terrifying truth: Charlie’s incredible powers come from an age-old demon called the Scourge, who is using Charlie to bring about its evil master plan. 

When the Scourge vanishes with Charlie, Jack and Esme, a girl with super powers of her own, follow their friend from the streets of London into Hell itself, where they face horrors that may well cost them their lives.

Slightly spoilerish Review:

This book isn’t at all what I expected. I thought it was going to be all dark and serious. Instead it falls somewhere closer to the writing of Terry Brookes or Douglas Adams (minus the sci-fi). It is funny. Yes, yes, the universe is in danger of being snuffed out in one abortive act of finality and everyone is in danger, but the characters (Jack especially) are still able to recognise the absurdity of the situation and let an exasperated explicative slip. Jack’s insistence that most things in his life are just ‘typical,’ even when everything around him is most assuredly not is an effective running gag that made me laugh more than once. 

Granted, he’s a pretty useless hero. I’ll admit that for much of the book I lent toward agreeing with other reviewers who disliked him because of this. Even after hints that he might have finally been given a few extra abilities of his own nothing materialises. He remains totally and utterly normal. But toward the the end I started to suspect this was the point. He is the most powerless individual in all of Hell. He is simply below notice of the movers and shakers of the underworld. But in the end he is also unquestionably the hero. As defenceless as he is (and knows he is) he twice marches into the bowels of Hell to rescues his friends…”and apparently the universe.” He willingly offers his life in place of his best friend in order to correct the actions of another and save the world. Such courage is almost superhuman by itself, more so since there is nothing but unassuming backbone to support it. 

Esme is just plain awesome. I always love a well-honed warrior and just go gaga over a female one. I suppose I should at least mention Charlie. He’s a git. He just is. 

I got fairly tired of all of the ridiculous descriptions of the different demons. A whole section of the middle seemed dedicated to this. The story seemed to lag a little, bogged down by one description after another. Similarly there seemed to be a lot of ‘great black wings wrapping around them’ going on. It seems that one description apparently covers a lot of different sounds. All-in-all, I enjoyed it.