Tagged: the brajj series

Nightmares of the Queen by Jacqueline Patricks

Transformation ins Licht(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Deceived…Betrayed…Trapped…

Dr. Cass Baros discovered the truth of her dreams when she opened the wormhole. Though it cost her more than she imagined, it also gave her the love she’d been searching for with the Brajj, Jeamon. Meanwhile, as Jeamon continues to fight for his people’s survival, he remains unaware of who she has become.

Their love will be tested by betrayal and deceit.

The mysteries of the Brajj revealed, Captain Lewis and his remaining soldiers returned home with heavy hearts only to find more treachery.

Lewis’ strength will be tested.

And Ta‘mat–who wields the greatest power in the multiverse–needs their help.

Cass, Jeamon, Lewis, and Ta’mat are all trapped by circumstances beyond their control, created by their choices. Each want more than they have. Each have their part to play in the game of…

Ultimate Power or True Love?

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

Many books deal with revolutions, the overthrow of evil regimes and such but very few deal with what happens after.  Nightmares of the Queen most certainly does and it shows in excruciating detail that sometimes people are not ready for change, no matter how bad the previous regime was.  And the thing is, when you fight for freedom that includes the freedom to refuse to follow the ideals of the revolution and forge a new path for yourself.  Jacqueline Patricks really doesn’t shy away from tackling heavy topics as we saw in the first book, Dreams of the Queen but I was still astounded with how she decided to tackle the aftermath of Cass ending the soul-draining practice of the Brajj.  It makes sense, of course, but she really does it in a way that’s unflinching, that shows both the ups and downs of a post-revolutionary society.

As you can probably guess, that means Jacqueline Patricks had some pretty incredible world-building going on here.  Of course the world of the Brajj just blew me away in the first book but here in the second book we get an even better look at it and the events surrounding its creation and survival.  And now that Ta’mat has taken over Cass’ body, unbeknownst to poor Jeamon, the man Cass actually loves, we get to see things from the eyes of a founder of the Brajj world and way of life.  Through flashbacks and conversations we slowly learn about the process and how Ta’mat created a world that was supposed to save humanity but ended up destroying it over and over again.  I can’t really go into much detail about the world-building because it would spoil some of the major plot twists but needless to say, Patricks has created a fascinating world that is believable and realistic.

The characters in Jacqueline Patricks’ books are not always the most sympathetic but they certainly are interesting, which is far more important.  Cass herself fights a battle throughout the book, struggling to regain control over the body that Ta’mat stole from her.  Jeamon is being bossed around by Ta’mat thinking she’s Cass and wondering whether he really was in love with her to begin with.  Lewis is having a heck of a time adjusting back in his post-Brajj life on Earth, especially considering that although he spent only a couple of weeks in their world Ta’mat accidentally sent him ten years into the future.  So now the military is on his case in a major way and when Ta’mat decides to come to his version of Earth things get very interesting very quickly.  Even the most unsympathetic characters like Ta’mat have realistic motivations and make you really want to learn what happens to them, even if you think they’re horrible.  Each character has struggles and triumphs all their own and they are what drive the plot.

While the characters certainly drive the plot, Nightmares of the Queen is every bit as action-packed as you would expect.  There are plot twists all over the place once more but this time the stakes are even higher for everyone.  Whether they’re fighting for their existence, the person they love or for their own selfish reasons, the four main characters drive the plot in new and unexpected directions.  Although you may be able to predict some of the plot twists, you definitely won’t see some of the major ones coming and that makes the book all the more exciting.  All of this is helped by the fact Jacqueline Patricks is a master of suspense, starting out slowly in the beginning and just ratcheting everything up to an unbearable level by the end.  Of course the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger but enough of the questions from the beginning of the book were resolved that although you’ll definitely want the next book, you won’t feel like you’ve learned nothing.  The cliffhanger will make you all the more eager for the next book, Destiny of the Queen, which is scheduled to be published sometime this year.

If you haven’t read the first book I can’t recommend it enough.  It really will just blow you away with its unique world-building, amazing characters and masterful pacing.  If you loved the first book, you’ll definitely love this second book.  Sometimes second books drag on and on and accomplish nothing but Nightmares of the Queen is the furthest possible thing from that stereotype.  Really, just pick up this series.  You won’t regret it.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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Dreams of the Queen by Jacqueline Patricks

Dreams of the Queen by Jacqueline Patricks(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Dr. Cass Baros is haunted by dreams of an alien world…

…and will do anything to find it.

Relentlessly, she works her science team–along with her co-project leader and fiancé, Dr. Julian Saunders–in order to create the first lab-contained wormhole. Their boss, Dr. Janson, has a secret agenda. He adds a military contingent, which expands their six person team to twelve and increases tensions between the members. Egos will clash, agendas will cross, and their worlds will be undone as they travel through the wormhole.

The team, unable to return home and facing numerous dangers–conflicting desires, burning suns, cannibalistic monsters–is plunged into an adventure beyond their control. They struggle to unravel millennia old secrets in an alien world where nothing is what it seems. While Captain Lewis’ leadership strengthens, Cass deals with her destiny as the Brajj queen, and the Brajj, Jeamon, questions his lifelong beliefs and loyalties.

Cass and her team wrestle with her royal status to the Brajj, while being tossed between love and betrayal, genius and madness, and a jealousy frightening enough to cause the destruction of worlds.

*Rated Mature 18+* Science Fiction/Romance/Adventure/Aliens, zombies, romance, some time slipping and a wormhole all wrapped up in a mystery! (Serious sci-fi with a mature romance, violence, language, and some gore–this is not a fluffy bunny)

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

Dreams of the Queen is one of those books that you intend to sit down and read a few chapters but then you realize it’s three in the morning and you’ve just finished it.  It really sucks you in and doesn’t let you go.  I have to say that in my nearly three years of reviewing I have never read a book as unique as this one by Jacqueline Patricks.

Sure, on the surface it seems like Patricks has cooked up a pretty conventional “follow the wormhole to an alien world” story but it’s really anything but that.  The alien world is far from what it initially seems and there’s intrigue lurking around every corner.  No one (and I mean no one!) is as they seem in this story and everyone is hiding something: from Cass hiding her dreams from Julian, from Julian hiding the fact that he has a much darker side and all the way up to the Brajj king and his trusted lieutenant Jeamon.  When you compare it to lots of other stories, the characters aren’t the most sympathetic but in Jacqueline Patricks’ dark imagined world they are.  More importantly than being sympathetic, they are all very interesting characters.  You may not like all of them, but you do want to find out what happens so Dreams of the Queen ends up being a psychological thriller as much as it is an action/adventure novel.

As for the world-building, wow.  I really can’t describe things too much without giving away some of the plot twists, but the alien world Cass and the others land on seems to be a pretty stereotypical medieval-esque fantasy world.  When you get down to the guts of it, that’s far from true however.  The alien world hides it secrets well, even from its supposed queen.  One of the more fascinating features of the world was the zombie-ish creatures that attack the living out in the forest while the Brajj contingent brings Cass and the others back to the city.  They act like zombies, they look and smell like zombies, but they’re not the zombies that we really know from conventional stories.  They really do have a much more fascinating background; they’re not just there for the scare factor.

The characters and the world-building had a pretty high wow factor, so how was the plot?  Well, it was spectacular.  There’s really no other way to describe it.  Just when you think you know something is going to happen, it doesn’t.  You may be able to correctly predict a couple of the twists, but you won’t be able to predict the big, horrifying reveal at the end.  And that’s not really me being dramatic—it is horrific.  Jacqueline Patricks isn’t kidding in her blurb when she says it’s for 18+; trust me on this one.  This is a very dark science fiction/psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.  There’s never horror for horror’s sake, but many of the scenes in the book are nevertheless shocking.  It really fits in with the darker tone the story takes as it winds on, drawing you into it until there’s no hope of getting out until you finish it.

Like I said, I can’t really tell you much about Dreams of the Queen without giving away some of the amazing twists and turns that you’ll want to discover for yourself.  All I really can say is that the plot is not all that it seems, the characters are highly unique and believable and the world-building will wow you.  If you get a chance, go pick up this book.  It’s not for everyone, but if the blurb or my review has intrigued you I highly recommend it.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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