My YA fantasy reviews are rarer than they used to be because some young adult fantasy I find a little too young for my taste or they dwell rather a lot on schools, so I don't read a lot of YA fantasy these days. This book, however, was, as all good YA fiction is, enjoyable by someone old enough to be a grandmother. The Book Knights by J.G McKenney is a YA fantasy with a unique premise, that of a world where words have magical power, reading is banned, books are burned and readers imprisoned and executed. The Book Knights are a secret ancient order whose role it is to protect books. The story revolves around Arti a teenage girl whose parents taught her to read. They have a hidden library and at the beginning of the book it gets found and burned. Her parents are taken into custody but Arti escapes. Subsequently she learns that she is the one who can wield the magic pen with the power to remove the evil witch from the head of the corporation. One aspect of the book that gave it a … [Read more...]
A different kind of fantasy: Review of The Dog of Pel by Mary Holland
The Dog of Pel is a refreshing fantasy with a likeable cast, an unusual world and an unpredictable and gripping story. The inhabitants of the world the author created have a physical bond to their land (demesne) that allows them to live and work there, but if they wish to go outside of their own area, they must wear a special necklace or they will sicken and die. The world building is too complex to explain easily, but it all makes sense within its own framework. The central character, Jamie Pel is the secondary heir of the Magne of Pel, his uncle, and he doesn’t want or expect to ever take on the role of Magne, but when his uncle and cousin (the primary heir) are killed, he’s thrust into not only the job but also a power struggle between magnes of the different demesnes. Jamie doesn’t know what to do or who to trust, but if he doesn’t do something the whole land could be destroyed. The book is well written with the kind of tension on every page that keeps you reading long after … [Read more...]
Excellent YA Fantasy: Paladin by Sally Slater
This is a great book. I read a lot, and few books hold me like this one. The concept of a young woman dressing as a man so that she can follow a path other than marriage is not new, but this is done with a unique angle and such skill and that that doesn’t matter. It’s a classic theme, one that raises issues of equality and equal opportunity that will always be relevant, and Paladin combines this theme with a budding romance and questions of loyalty and betrayal. The story is set in a traditional medieval fantasy world, but there’s no sorcery. There is, however, plenty of sword and plenty of demons. Our heroine is good with her sword and wants to be a warrior, not a wife. The plot is strong and the pace excellent. I never wanted to put the book down. The characters are fully fleshed, likeable, and not always predictable but always believable. On top of this, the book has been expertly written and edited. I could not fault it on technical issues at all. The prose is excellent and … [Read more...]
Free Web Fiction: Ephemeral City – Doors
Every week in Friday Free Web Fiction I post a first draft scene from my work in progress (WIP), or a short story, or an excerpt from one of my books. Today’s offering is from my Prunella Smith WIP, The Lock Smith's Secret. I’m in the ephemeral city again. Celestial bodies sparkle around me, seen clearly through the transparent luminous walls and floors. I’ve arrived at last at the floor where the Locksmith has his room, and I walk down the corridor towards his light. Below me lies countless floors with countless corridors and doorless rooms, and more rise above me, but the man in the end room hunched over his work is the only soul in the entire city—or at least that I can see. I suspect that people inhabit these rooms in some way, but I can’t see them. Or maybe there really only two people in the whole universe—me and the locksmith. My feet make no sound on the floor made of light—surprisingly solid for something that looks so baseless. I stop outside the room. A wall with no … [Read more...]
The Boneyard: a free fantasy story
This short story is about an actual place near Kiama where I live in the Illawarra. The story was a semi finalist in the Aussiecon 4 Make Ready fantasy/scfi competition 2010. It's now part of my short story collection: A Matter of Perception “Hurry up,” Con shouted. His voice sliced through Ellen’s morning fog. She groaned and rolled over, pulling the quilt over her head. Con poked his head into the bedroom. “Are you coming or what?” “I’m coming,” Ellen grumbled. She struggled out of bed and grabbed last night’s clothes off the floor. “I wanna see this place as much as you do, I’d just rather do it later, that’s all.” “I’m not going later.” “I know,” she growled. Why else would she be getting up before sunrise. Half an hour later, they stood in lung-searing cold staring at blocks of jagged rock silhouetted against a predawn sky. Waves crashed, splashing treachery. A briny breeze whined around the basalt forms and Ellen shivered. The rocky monoliths reminded … [Read more...]
Friday Free fiction: Ella and the Beast.
This is the first of my weekly free fiction series. Sometimes it will be a short story and sometimes it'll be an excerpt. This weeks offering is an excerpt from Prunella Smith:Worlds Within Worlds, but like quite a few of the scenes in that book, it's also a short story. Normally, the Friday Fiction will be available for one week only, but I'm going on holiday next week for a couple of weeks, so you'll have longer to read it before I delete it and replace it with something else. My feet pounded the hard earth, jarring my bones, but I couldn’t stop. The monster closed in behind me, his breath coming in hard, loud pants. I tripped and stumbled over a fallen branch, only just saving myself from a fall. An evil chuckle reverberated through the darkening forest. ‘I’m going to get you, bitch.’ The chill in the beast’s voice sent shivers down my spine. I ran faster, my legs burning with the effort, and looked desperately for somewhere to hide, somewhere to escape this monster set on … [Read more...]
‘Rite’s Path’ new release by Kate Policani FREE this weekend
Kate Policani is a good friend these days. I first met her several years ago after reading and being very impressed by her book 'The Disenchanted Pet'. Since then, her writing has grown and she released a revised version of the book recently. It's a great story and well worth a read. This is a short story she's put out on Kindle and it's free this weekend, so I suggest that you click the link and pick it up. Rite’s Path by Kate Policani Genre: Fantasy, Short Story, Choose-your-path Synopsis: Mesha and her brothers attend the Grand Festival of Duman to see the greatest spectacle in the land of Sas against their Father’s wishes. Mesha’s people don’t worship Duman and consider his believers to be reprobates. Her sneaky brothers brought her along rather than give up their fun, and she didn’t object. In the Queen’s Courtyard, everyone expected that the ceremonial dove the queen released would choose a sacrifice. But it should have landed on an object, not a person! The bird lands on … [Read more...]
A great fantasy read: The Shadow of the Revenaunt, book 2, Zihaen by Paul E. Horseman
‘Zihaen’ is the second in ‘The Shadow of the Revenaunt’ series by Paul E. Horsman. In this book the author seems to have found his stride in the same way that his central character Ghyll has, and I hadn’t read very far before I realised that, unlike book one to which I gave four stars, this was a five star book. There is a surety and a confidence in the writing and the world building is excellent. I truly felt as if these characters and this world existed somewhere beyond the author’s imagination. The plot is much less predictable than book one and even has some surprises, and the addition of a mystery character adds another dimension. The balance of characterisation and action is perfect, and the characters are all developing as they should. The only thing that didn’t quite work for me is the speed with which Ghyll finds a wife and falls in love, and the book lost half a star because of it. By having no story around how they get together and no time to develop the relationship … [Read more...]
An Excellent Young Adult Fantasy: A Review of ‘The Stone Lions’ by Gwen Dandridge
The Stone Lions is an excellent young adult novel set in Spain in the early 1400's. Ara is a twelve-year-old Muslim girl and daughter of the Sultan. She lives with her cousin Layla in the Alhambra Palace, a place of great halls and courtyards decorated with beautiful tiles. Protective magic is woven into the symmetry of the mosaics, but the Sultans advisor is using his magic to break key symmetries and weaken the palace so the infidels/ book lovers/. Christians from the north can take over the Kingdom. Ara and Layla discover the treachery and with the help of a Sufi mathmagician take it in hand to fix the broken symmetries and try to find solid evidence of the advisor's treachery to submit to the Sultan. The story is unique in that it is both highly educational and entertaining. In order to fix the magic, the girls must learn about symmetry and that is their first step towards becoming a mathmagician - I love that word and the concept of maths being magical that goes with it. Not only … [Read more...]
Eternal Destiny is out! Are you ready for the mind-blowing finale to the series?
Intrepid traveler Ariel Malony and demon slayer Nick Walker face their deepest fears and their greatest challenge as they search for the Master Demon who holds the key to the future of mankind. Slay him and the world goes free; fail, and it falls irrevocably into violence and chaos. Guided by a wisdom master of a mystical tradition that uses mind power as the basis of powerful magic, the assault party, including Kestril, the Magan Chiefs' son, Layla, the flying Noble One, and Twitchet, the talking cat, must travel from the ancient granite walls of the Hermitage, up the kilometer high Steps of Death, and through a labyrinth of shifting gorges to the Palace of Skulls where flesh-eating demons demand to be fed. Even if Nick wins his struggle with the scars of his past and defeats the green-eyed head of the Cogin clan, they still must cross the scree slope, where the bones of Ariel's father lie, and pass through the territory of vicious elementals to get to the ice caves beneath the … [Read more...]
