This is one of the most amazing fantasy (with a bit of sci-fi thrown in) series I've read in quite a long while. Fantasy authors and publishers tend to write trilogies a la Tolkein, but too often the middle work is stuffed with padding and needless wandering around for my tastes. This is one of those rare exceptions where the author kept the pacing, built the world and the character arcs, and kept the reader on the edge of their seat for the duration of the book. This book splits into several different POVs. Noon, our fell-witch, and Tor are off to find a lost recording that may help their war beasts learn their powers and coordinate with each other better. Bern and Aldasair go to fight a Jure'lia threat to Bern's homeland. Vintage is trying to manage things in Ebora with the help of an Eboran boy Eri but it's not easy with betrayals and political infighting. And Hestillion, Tor's sister, was taken by the Jure'lia queen though she seems a willing prisoner. This was an especially interesting POV as we got to see from the Jure'lia side of things a little. These are such unique characters and their interactions draw the reader in which adds to the tension. The worldbuilding is amazing and unusual but fits so well into the history we discover. There are themes being explored and developed here: connections between groups, origin myths, and exploitation of people. The writing is excellent but also very dark, and I was crying by the end of the book. But it's a fascinating series and I can't wait to dive into The Poison Song.
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Book Review: The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams
This is one of the most amazing fantasy (with a bit of sci-fi thrown in) series I've read in quite a long while. Fantasy authors and publishers tend to write trilogies a la Tolkein, but too often the middle work is stuffed with padding and needless wandering around for my tastes. This is one of those rare exceptions where the author kept the pacing, built the world and the character arcs, and kept the reader on the edge of their seat for the duration of the book. This book splits into several different POVs. Noon, our fell-witch, and Tor are off to find a lost recording that may help their war beasts learn their powers and coordinate with each other better. Bern and Aldasair go to fight a Jure'lia threat to Bern's homeland. Vintage is trying to manage things in Ebora with the help of an Eboran boy Eri but it's not easy with betrayals and political infighting. And Hestillion, Tor's sister, was taken by the Jure'lia queen though she seems a willing prisoner. This was an especially interesting POV as we got to see from the Jure'lia side of things a little. These are such unique characters and their interactions draw the reader in which adds to the tension. The worldbuilding is amazing and unusual but fits so well into the history we discover. There are themes being explored and developed here: connections between groups, origin myths, and exploitation of people. The writing is excellent but also very dark, and I was crying by the end of the book. But it's a fascinating series and I can't wait to dive into The Poison Song.
Monday, July 4, 2022
The Continuing Adventures of Laurel Palmer by Pamela McCord
Paranormal Romance/Fiction
Date Published: October 20, 2022
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Is there love after death? Laurel Palmer is about to find out. Thanks to a little shove by her husband, Laurel wakes up dead. And there’s no sign of that white light people are supposed to go into. Now a ghost stuck on earth, Laurel is determined to find out how she can get into heaven. On her search for the light, Laurel meets Teddy Rule, a hunk of a ghost who coincidentally was also murdered by her husband. Turns out, he didn’t get that light either. As they work together to figure out what's keeping them on this earthly plane, feelings develop. Not knowing if heaven will separate them, they must decide whether or not to cross over.
About the Author
Pam got a late start in writing but has made up for it with several published novels and a few more on the way. A serendipitous conversation with a writer friend launched her literary career, and the fact that she might never have had that particular conversation is enough to make her believe that fate played a hand in sending her down the path to becoming an author. All four of her published books have won the Mom’s Choice Award Gold Seal, and the first book in her Pekin Dewlap Mystery series was the winner of the American Book Fest Children’s Fiction Award. She’s lived in Southern California most of her life and is thankful to have a loving family and supportive friends. Spending time at home during the COVID pandemic advanced both Pam's writing and her relationship with her My Cat From Hell TV star, Allie, who manages to exude just enough affection to make her scary feral ways tolerable.
Contact Links
Facebook: Pamela McCord
Twitter: @Pam805
Instagram: @PamelaMcCordAuthor
Sunday, July 3, 2022
The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams
| No hyperbole - this is one of the best fantasy/science fiction books I've read. I say both genres because this book has a unique blending of the two that works really well here. The book is the well-deserved winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel. There's a fine mix of distinctive characters and races. At the core are the Eborans, a warrior race who have fought in eight previous wars against alien invaders, the Jure'lia. They are also feared by humans because in the last war, the Eighth Rain, their tree-god died. They were sustained by the sap of the tree but turned to human blood. Then they've been stricken with the scarlet flux, a deadly disease that is slowly aging and wiping out the Eboran race. Tormalin the Oathless left Ebora and ended up working for archeologist Vintage De Grazon as she explores the wreckage left by the Jure'lia. She needs a bodyguard as these wrecks are invested with parasite spirits (RAFO). Meanwhile, fell-witches are born to humans, women who manifest winnow fire. These women are imprisoned in the Winnowry and Fell Noon has been there for ten years, taken as a child, and longs to escape. These are the three primary characters but they all have fascinating backgrounds and I loved how they grew as the book goes on. I can't wait to see what happens to them in the next book in the series. The secondary characters are interesting also. There are some very unique and complex people in the book. Tor's sister is definitely morally gray and will bear watching. What we learn about the Jure'lia world is also fascinating. As I said earlier in this review, I can't think of a fantasy book (maybe some of Mark Lawrence's books set in Abeth) that so successfully combines fantasy and science fiction. There are also some horror elements incorporated into the story. It's a melange of genres that work together to create an excellent world and people. I'm diving right into the next book in the series. These are books that should be recommended more, so read them now. https://www.amazon.com/Ninth-Rain-Winnowing-Flame-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B09X5CBYYD/ | ||
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Trad Tuesday: The Lost Words - Spell Songs
In 2007 the Oxford Junion Dictionary caused a stir by dropping words it felt no longer had a connection with children, words like wren, willow, otter, acorn, ivy, and others. Author Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris created a lovely book The Lost Words to restore those missing words. Macfarlane's words are meant to be read aloud, a sort of spell to bring them back to life.
The book is beyond lovely, and every household should have a copy. Today is John Muir Day which gives the meaning of the book a special emphasis.
A group of renowned UK musicians got together to write songs as a companion to the book and a way 'to sing nature back to life.' Spell Songs is the result, and a more beautiful tribute can't be imagined. Julie Fowlis and Kris Drever took the word otter and created the lovely song I picked for this Trad Tuesday: Selkie-Boy.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Book Tour & Giveaway: Rogue's Holiday by Regan Walker
Book Release & Excerpt: Traceless by Meli Raine
It is, however, strictly forbidden to have feelings for each other.
I can't do one without the other at this point.
Which means I am doomed.
When you don’t know who you can trust, reality distorts. It twists and oozes, disintegrating and reformulating to meet whatever needs its masters demand.
Just like me.
Just like Kina.
Except everything is different now that we know who we really are.
But there’s a second reality, you see.
This one can’t
It just is. Solid and true, it takes our mission, our training, our orders, turning them into nothing but secrets and lies.
And this new reality means my old reality is trying to kill everything I love.
Including her.
Read the second book in USA Today bestselling author Meli Raine's new Stateless trilogy.




















