Category: Fantasy
Shadow Dragon by Marc Secchia
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Chameleon Shapeshifters, uncontrollable storm powers, and the rise of Sylakia’s Dragon-elite. The battle against evil scales new heights, but the price of victory grows ever dearer.
Once, a Shadow Dragon ravaged the Island-World. Insatiable. Unstoppable. A Dragon-killer. Now the Shadow Dragon has reappeared, on a collision course with Aranya and King Beran’s campaign to liberate the Islands from the scourge of Sylakian tyranny. He is dark, beautiful and deadly, a predator of untold power.
Meantime, Thoralian weaves his web of guile and betrayal right in the hearts of Aranya’s friends and allies. He will bring them to an encounter only he can win.
Incredible aerial battles. An Ancient Dragon bent on enslaving Aranya. The treacherous secrets of Dragon magic. This is the fight for which destiny has shaped a heroine of rare courage–Aranya, Princess of Immadia. Criminal. Shapeshifter Dragon. A woman who will confront evil at any cost. Spite her at your peril.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
As you may or may not remember if you’re a regular reader of my reviews, I absolutely gushed about Aranya. It had everything: solid and inventive world-building, a cast of characters you couldn’t help but love and a fairly fast-paced plot despite being largely character-driven. I think I was understandably a little worried about Shadow Dragon because how could it live up to my expectations, let alone keep up the high quality of the first book?
In the end, I didn’t need to worry so much. That unpredictable and fast-paced plot remained, the world-building was even better and I really felt for all of the characters. It’s also a good thing I read The Pygmy Dragon first. You don’t have to read the spin-off first but let me just say you’ll appreciate some of the plot elements way more if you do.
What I really enjoyed about Shadow Dragon was that aforementioned unpredictable and fast-paced plot. With Aranya and her father King Beran waging war on Sylakia there are surprises around every corner and there’s nothing Thoralian wouldn’t do to stop their rebellion. Yolathion, who has now joined the Immadian cause, is sort of a wildcard in the whole mix because although he did betray Sylakia for her, he still carries many of the attitudes from that country with him. He doesn’t approve of things like Aranya fighting all of the time, her wearing trousers as a more practical alternative to wearing dresses during fighting, etc. It can be extremely infuriating, just like the actions of some other characters I won’t mention, but Marc Secchia is playing a deep game here, folks…nothing is as it seems!
Where can I start with the characters? Aranya of course is still as awesome as she was before only this time she’s helping Zip cope with her new found powers as well as dealing with the Yolathion issue. And she’s fighting a war, which sort of puts all of the personal drama on the back burner a lot of the time. In the first book, Aranya is a sort of spoiled Immadian princess who matures into a young woman who wants nothing more than to use her Dragon powers against Sylakia. In the second book, we see more of a tempering of her character as she goes through trial after trial and heartbreak after heartbreak. I don’t want to give away too much but by the end of the book, the change in Aranya is startling and very believable given all that happens to her. Will she be able to overcome these new personal demons to defeat Sylakia in the third book? It’s hard to say, honestly.
On a side note, one of the things that I really enjoy in Marc Secchia’s novels is that he writes incredible female characters. Not just Aranya, but Zuziana and Kylara and even Pip from The Pygmy Dragon spin-off. Unlike a surprising number of male writers, he makes sure that they all have believable motivations and unique personalities; they don’t just exist for the gratification of the male characters. Yes, they have romances and relationships but they’re not the sole motivation and/or focus of the characters. And not only that, all of the characters come from such diverse backgrounds and cultures. There’s actual racial and cultural diversity in his novel! Sometimes there are tensions between cultures and yet sometimes there are interracial relationships. It’s actually kind of shocking to see such diversity in fantasy and it’s done in an unforced, believable manner.
Aranya isn’t the only main character in this novel. We get to meet the mysterious Ardan, a man who wakes up stark naked under burned prekki-fruit tree and falls into the hands of the fearsome female warriors of the Western Isles. He remembers very little from his past so his journey with the warriors is interesting to say the least and at times his banter with them is quite funny. But of course in Shadow Dragon there’s a darker side to everything and as I said before nothing is as it seems in this book. There’s far more to Ardan than meets the eye and once he meets up with our main cast of characters, the Island World will be shaken to its core by the changes he brings.
The world-building is…there are really no accurate adjectives to describe how awesome it is. Of course there are the Dragons we met in the first book when Aranya transformed into one but we don’t know much about their history. Why did they essentially vanish after the Second Dragon War? And why did the Pygmy Dragon seem to do something to alter the memories of Nak and Oyda, who took part in the war? And what is everyone to do now that there’s a Shadow Dragon loose in the Island World? In this second book we do learn so much more about the history of dragons and the extent of their abilities in part because Aranya discovers she isn’t the only dragon outside of Thoralian’s immediate family.
Since Beran and Aranya are waging a running war against Sylakia, we also get to see a lot of the different kingdoms in the Island World, including Jeradia. When we go to these islands you can tell just how much effort Marc Secchia has put into his world-building because all of the cultures we meet have their own history, customs and ways of making war. Some greet Beran’s forces as liberators and others fight almost to the death which makes it far more realistic than having Aranya and her father go from island to island, liberating a jubilant populace every single time. As I noted in my review of the first book, the Shapeshifter Dragons series nearly veers into political thriller territory simply because of how complicated the plot and world-building are.
Here in Shadow Dragon, you have everything you could possibly want in the second book of a series you love: no plot drags (particularly in the middle), believable and three dimensional characters, an expanded fantasy world and so many plot twists you won’t see the end coming. You can’t ask for more and if the blurb or anything I’ve said in my review has intrigued you, I can’t encourage you enough to go try out the first book, Aranya. You’re pretty much guaranteed to love it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Frost by Wendy Delsol
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
After the drama of finding out that she’s a Stork, a member of an ancient and mystical order of women, and that her boyfriend, Jack, is a descendent of the Winter People able to control the weather, Katla Leblanc is delighted when all signs point to a busy and peaceful Christmas. That is, until the snowstorm Jack summons as a gift to Katla turns into the storm of the century, attracting Brigid, a gorgeous scientist who, in turn, attracts Jack. Between the school play, a bedridden, pregnant mother’s to-do lists, and keeping an eye on her aging grandfather, Katla doesn’t have time to question Brigid’s motives or deal with Jack’s increasingly cold behavior. But Katla’s suspicions mount when Jack joins Brigid on a research expedition to Greenland, and when the two of them go missing, it becomes clear that Katla is the only one who can save her beloved Jack from the Snow Queen who holds him prisoner. Adventure, romance, and myth combine in this winter escapade for teens who like a bit of fire with their ice.
It took me a little bit to warm up to Stork because of Katla but by the end I liked the story enough that I was willing to read the second book. I had bought the entire trilogy on a whim anyway so why not? It certainly sounded a little more action-packed than the first book. In a way it was but in a way it was also slightly disappointing.
My whole impression of Katla in Frost was essentially ‘meh’. She’s changed a little bit from the first book in the sense that she’s no longer as stuck up and is taking on the responsibilities of being a Stork willingly but at the same time she’s also still pretty immature. When Brigid shows up, Katla immediately goes into jealous girlfriend mode without seeing how Jack will even react to the woman. Of course her initial suspicions are confirmed when Brigid drags Jack off to Greenland but at the same time I can’t help but feel a little colder toward Katla for her rather obsessive jealousy. I don’t hate her or really dislike her because I can completely understand jealousy but it didn’t make me feel any warmer toward her. When she set off to go find Jack her selflessness really came into the spotlight so in the end I did like her a little more than I did in the first book. Still, I wouldn’t call her a great or even a memorable character; she’s pretty average.
The plot was pretty slow-paced even though this book is only a little under 400 pages long. It’s very much character-driven (which I usually don’t mind) but at the same time I had a hard time with the first 200 pages or so because not much happens. Sure it’s nice to see how Katla is settling into her duties as a Stork and how it’s changed her life at school but at the same time I couldn’t help but get bored. It’s nice to see Jack and Katla’s relationship develop before Brigid bursts onto the scene but I think Wendy Delsol spent a little too much time on her introduction. I wanted a lot more action and I simply wasn’t getting it. Because of the slow pace of the first part of the book it also felt like the last part where Katla had to go rescue Jack was way too rushed and more than a little bit confusing. I would have liked the plot to start out a little bit faster and then gradually build toward the more action-packed sections rather than the abrupt transitions in Frost.
As for the world-building, it was thoroughly enjoyable even if it lacked that ‘wow’ factor. The plot of Frost is loosely based upon the Snow Queen story which I’m more familiar with than the first book’s story so in that regard it was a little more enjoyable for me. I liked how we finally got to see how the hierarchy of Storks works and whether or not there are other Storks around the world that carry out the same or similar duties. It made things a little more realistic and it added more depth to the story.
Wendy Delsol has a good writing style that describes things well and clearly while not beating around the bush, which would have made the book excellent if not for the lack in pacing and the admittedly lackluster characters. She’s an author with a lot of potential and despite my overall ‘meh’ impression of Frost I’ll be reading the last book, if only to finish the series. Basically, this book was just not made for me and if the blurb at least sounds intriguing to you I’d recommend giving the series a try. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like it better than I did.
I give this book 3/5 stars.
The Traveler in Black and White by Jemima Pett
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
In the fourth book in the Princelings of the East series, Lord Mariusz of Hattan narrates, in his own Chandler-esque style, how he came to explore the world on the end of the time tunnel, and why he adopted the pseudonym Hugo in the first place.
In the Princelings world of 2001 we meet old friends as their much younger selves. You think Victor is cute? You should see him eight years younger – “a bundle of flying legs and hair”! Prince Lupin is much as he ever is, but Baden has yet to escape the succession wars at Castle Powell. Saku is, of course, well established as Lord Mariusz’s ingenious professor at Castle Hattan, but we find he knows more about the workings of time than we imagined. The Honourable Smallweed is only getting started on the trail of deceit and meanness that will characterise all his future dealings. And we journey to new places, Sowerby, Powell, and a strange city full of females, hidden in a forest. We also discover that stories of ghouls, ghosts, vampires and werewolves are not just tales to frighten children after all.
The Traveler in Black and White is suitable for tweens and teens up to the age of one hundred or so.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
I think I was understandably a little skeptical when I first accepted this book as part of my submissions. A book about talking guinea pigs? It didn’t sound like something aimed at tweens and teens as well as people of all ages, but I resolved to keep an open mind and give it a go. Of course by the end I was so glad that I went into it with an open mind.
The Traveler in Black and White is the fourth book in the Princelings of the East series but it can be read as a sort of prequel, which is how I read it seeing as I never read the first three books. And when the blurb says it’s written in a Chandler-esque style, it’s not kidding. Hugo, our narrator’s travelling pseudonym, really does speak like he’s a private eye in a noire novel. In the hands of some authors this would be annoying but Jemima Pett does it quite well, making the dark undertones a part of the story so that narrating it this way makes complete sense. It also adds a little humour to the situation at times, something that’s always needed in fiction.
Hugo is a pretty awesome character. He’s quick-thinking and smooth-talking but unlike characters with similar traits, he’s not immune to failure. His business venture down the tunnel doesn’t always go as planned and he experiences more than his fair share of setbacks. At the same time, he never gives up and so continues trying to muscle in on the Honourable Smallweed’s traditional territory. As someone coming into the series midway I know I didn’t fully appreciate all of the characters’ backstories but even if you’re like me and haven’t read the other books you really do get attached to the characters fairly quickly. Especially Hugo, even if he is a philandering sort of character who can be a little ruthless in his business practices—not violently so but more so in shady business practices. He’s sort of an anti-hero but you just can’t help it; you’ll love him by the end of the book. He’s a true three dimensional character, something I didn’t expect from a novel about talking guinea pigs.
The plot blew my mind. I don’t say that very often but it is very true in this case. Jemima Pett has constructed such a fascinating and intricate plot that I know I’ll have to read the book at least three more times to get all of its subtleties. Unfortunately I can’t really tell you much about the plot because it reveals some pretty big spoilers but needless to say, the tunnel isn’t all that it appears and neither are the people who live within it. Even Hugo is hiding some pretty big secrets of his own. I’ll say this about the plot, however: whenever you think you have things figured out, a wrench is thrown into the works just to keep you guessing. Vampires, ghosts, palace intrigue, love, betrayal…The Traveler in Black and White does have some pretty heavy themes but Jemima Pett manages to pull things off without making the story too terribly dark.
As I said, this is a book I’ll have to read at least three times to get all of its subtleties and part of that is because of the plot but the other part is because of the world-building. It’s quite well done and what surprised me the most is how much it’s like a human world and yet not like a human world. What I mean by that is that of course where you have palaces you have intrigue and royal assassinations yet at the same time there are some things you would expect in a guinea pig society like huge families. This quirky blend really works well for the novel and makes you feel all the more invested in the plot as well as the characters. I suspect that to fully appreciate the world-building here I’ll have to read the first three novels, but that’s hardly a chore.
Overall, you could say that The Traveler in Black and White was a huge surprise for me. I didn’t honestly expect it to be a Chandler-esque novel with complex characters, a mind-blowing plot and a fascinating society. But it was! Hugo is and will likely always remain one of my favourite non-human characters of all time. I’d say that pretty much sums up how much I enjoyed this book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Spelled by Kate St. Clair
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Magic runs thicker than blood.
Misfortune seems to follow the Sayers family. Georgia has tried endlessly to reestablish normality since her mother died, and she’s no closer from escaping her strange past when a mysterious fire destroys the only other high school in her tiny Texas town. Georgia is thrown into the company of Luke, a cryptic senior who brings her face to face with the truth about her heritage. Her loving, perfect mother created her family for the singular purpose of birthing five of the most powerful witches in the world, capable of terrifying magic. Now that she knows the truth, can Georgia keep her siblings safe?
Who is behind the dark cult that’s after her family? And does Luke know more about her powers than even she does?
[Full disclosure: I received a free print book through Masquerade Tours’ Reader Round-Up program in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things that initially attracted me to Spelled was not the cover, but the blurb. It’s pretty common to have a girl that doesn’t fit in living in a small town as a main character but a seemingly evil (but now dead) mother? Four siblings all possessing unusually strong magical powers due to selective breeding? That sounded a lot more unique than your typical YA novel so I decided to give it a try.
I was far from disappointed in the characters. Georgia isn’t the most unique character ever but she stands out from a crowd and Kate St. Clair has made her a three dimensional, believable character. She loves her family to death and will do anything to protect her siblings, especially from the legacy of their mother, who was nearly burned alive as a witch in the modern day. We don’t know much about her mother in the beginning but as the story goes on and the tension and sense of foreboding ratchet up we learn far more about the Sayers family’s sordid past. What’s interesting about Spelled is that St. Clair decided to show us a lot of the developments that caused Georgia to change but we don’t really see that gradual change (that happens more off-screen). Instead, we’re shown how she is later and while it makes sense considering how short the book is, it was a little disappointing for someone like me who likes to see a little more on-screen character development.
The plot was okay in general but it was pretty typical. A girl in a small town meets a hot guy who seems to already know her/like her and they get to know one another and he eventually reveals to her that she’s special, i.e. she has powers of some sort. I don’t mind that plot if there’s some variation but Kate St. Clair really didn’t have all that much variation within that typical plot arc. That was the sort of disappointing element of the story for me. I expected something a little more unique, a little more imaginative. Still, it was fast-paced and although I sort of predicted the ending, I didn’t predict everything that happened in the end.
The world-building was actually fairly decent. In Spelled at first you think the Sayers family has pretty typical witch powers but that’s not necessarily true. They were created to be powerful and they are powerful but they’re not completely the same as the average witch you’ll encounter in YA. Because the book is so short and they don’t know they’re witches from the start we don’t get to learn as much about them as I’d like but I saw enough that I can say I understood the essentials of how their powers worked and why they didn’t show up earlier. Again, considering the fact that Spelled is quite a short novel (and the author does call it a novella), Kate St. Clair did a pretty good job with her world-building.
Essentially, Spelled is an okay book. It’s not the greatest I’ve ever read but it’s certainly not the worst. It’s pretty much in the middle of the two extremes and if you like YA stories featuring witches, I would recommend it for you.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Novella: Hero, Cursed by Diantha Jones
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Before he knew the Oracle.
Before he knew the Quad.
Before the Great Unknown threatened his world.
He was a hero, cursed forever.Shunned by a family that doesn’t understand him, demigod Lenka Tahile aka “Swindle” is a complete loner and he likes it that way. Then he meets the hero, Ace Remedy, the brother of an infamous demigod Prince, and his life goes from bad to worse. Ace is loud, rude, and disruptive to his peaceful existence in every way. He’s also hilarious and daring, and Swindle ends up finding a friend just when he thought he’d never have another.
But little does he know, becoming friends with Ace was all part of the Fates’ plan. Now his past is slowly coming back to haunt him and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. Nothing but try not to bring to light the lost love, the failed hopes, and the cursed existence that he would kill to keep in the dark.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
Just as a side note, this is book #3.5 in the Oracle of Delphi series so you do have to read Prophecy of Solstice’s End first unless you want to be disappointed by massive spoilers.
One of the characters that has always intrigued me the most in the Oracle of Delphi series (other than Chloe and Strafford) has been Swindle. He’s the son of Hermes but was cursed because of Hermes’ decisions. Lots of awful things that have happened to him are not his fault, but in Hero, Cursed we learn some about some awful things that were his fault and see how he carries the guilt around.
I loved not only getting to see how Swindle got involved in the Quad prior to the main series, but also some of his other lives, including as a member of the Argonauts with legends like Jason, Caster, Pollux and Atalanta. His adventures with them were fascinating and when you compare how he was then to how he is in the modern era, you can definitely see that he is not the same every time he’s reincarnated. He’s a totally different person but he retains some of his memories from his past lives, just enough to torture him. I particularly liked seeing how he initially reacted to the curse; he took things far better than I would, that’s for sure.
Not only did we get to see Swindle fleshed out way more than he is in the main series, we get to learn a lot more about Apollo’s nefarious plans and how Swindle actually got involved in Chloe’s bodyguard. I don’t want to give too terribly much away but needless to say that he’s not necessarily the most willing participant in Apollo’s schemes. It will be interesting taking that knowledge into the fourth book Prophecy of the Betrayed Heir if only to see whether or not Swindle will defy Apollo and ignore his threats or keep his secrets and potentially harm his friends.
The plot was fast-paced and although the time frames jumped because of Swindle’s different lives, it was a very logical and clear flow. We didn’t suddenly jump from Jason and the Argonauts to Swindle’s fateful dream as Inis. No, the different time frames were clearly marked and the order they were put in was logical. (I know I keep emphasizing that but logical flow is something that seems to be lacking from a lot of POV-swapping books.) The plot advanced quickly but we were given information in little chunks throughout the novella so as not to slow it down. There was no sudden info-dump anywhere, thankfully, and the cliffhanger at the ending was very intriguing.
Basically, Hero, Cursed is a great addition to the main Oracle of Delphi series and it has whetted my appetite for book four. I can’t wait!
I give this novella 5/5 stars.