Cliff of the Ruin by Bonnie McKernan is an awesome historical fantasy with complex undercurrents, spiritual depth and many surprises. It takes us from post revolution America, across the ocean to Ireland and into the lair of the Shee (the Sidhe). The story begins like a straight historical novel. Mae lives with her aunt and uncle, and their children, Aaron, a young man, and Charlotte, still a child. All of them are keen to find a husband for twenty six year old Mae, but after a broken engagement, she isn't particularly interested in taking the risk of opening up again. Until she meets the man on the riverbank. Kieran the fisherman was so beautiful, that I suspected some other worldly intervention, but the full truth of what was to become a mystery around this man only became clear at the end. The influence of the Shee grew as the story progressed, and I found myself gradually drawn deeper and deeper into a world where spaces dwelled within spaces and time had a different … [Read more...]
Review: Hellenic Immortal by Gene Doucette
Title: Hellenic Immortal Author: Gene Doucette Publisher: Smith Publicity -- The Writer’s Coffee Shop Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy In Immortal, Gene Doucette’s first novel in this series, we met Adam, an immortal man who is not a vampire, simply a man who doesn’t age. Apart from that, he’s an ordinary kind of guy with a wonderful wit, and it’s a pleasure to meet him again in this fascinating sequel, a clever blend of history, mythology, fantasy, adventure, mystery and romance. Blurb: An oracle has predicted the sojourner's end, which is a problem for Adam insofar as he has never encountered an oracular prediction that didn't come true . . . and he is the sojourner. To survive, he's going to have to figure out what a beautiful ex-government analyst, an eco-terrorist, a rogue FBI agent, and the world's oldest religious cult all want with him, and fast. "Very occasionally, I will pop up in the historical record. Most of the time I'm not at all easy to spot, because most of … [Read more...]
Review: Fearless by Ella Jameson
Title: Fearless Author: Ella Jameson Publisher: Ella Jameson, TKA Distribution Pub Date: December 12, 2011 Category: ADULT: Historical fantasy Fearless is a delightful historical fantasy romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. While fighting to free Ireland from the English, Chieftain Kieran MacAuley, The Fearless One, leads his men into a battle that, though badly wounded, only he survives. He is on the verge of death when a woman called Brynna steps from the shadows. She takes him to her home and heals him but tells him nothing of her past. He is baffled by her mystery but responds to her kind heart and a loving relationship develops. Suddenly he’s at home again with no memory of his time away, but hazy memories surface in his dreams - his name lovingly whispered, then quiet sobbing. He knows that he has known the woman who matches that voice, but he can’t remember her, even so, his instincts tell him that she needs him and he must do anything to find her. He does find her, raped … [Read more...]
Review: The Hermetica of Elysium by Annemarie Banks
Title : The Hermetica of Elysium Author: Annemarie Banks Publisher: Knox Robinson Publishing Category: Historical literature/romance/fantasy When the publisher approached me with this book and asked if I’d review it, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to or not, because historical romance is a genre that doesn’t generally interest me. However, the fantasy element and the theme of the power of words and philosophy drew me in and I discovered a rich and surprising read that far surpasses what this books genre designation would have you expect. We meet the central character, Nadira in 1494 in Barcelona, where she is a servant to a wealthy spice merchant. A man badly beaten by mercenaries looking for the book, The Hermetica of Elysium is brought to the merchant’s stable. When his brother comes looking for him, the man is already dead, but he discovers that Nadira can read Ancient Greek, Latin, Arabic and Hebrew making her one of the few people who can read the book they seek. While the Black … [Read more...]
