Category: Fantasy
Goddess Born by Kari Edgren
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Pennsylvania, 1730
Selah Kilbrid keeps a dangerous secret: she has the power to heal.
A direct descendent of the Celtic goddess Brigid, it’s Selah’s sacred duty to help those in need. But as the last of the Goddess Born living in the New World, she learned from an early age to keep her supernatural abilities hidden. The Quaker community of Hopewell has always been welcoming, but there’s no doubt they would see her hanged if her gift was revealed.
When a prominent minister threatens to try her with witchcraft unless she becomes his wife, Selah has only one hope–that her betrothed, a distant cousin from Ireland, arrives as planned. Marrying Samuel would keep her secret safe, preserve her sacred bloodline, and protect her from being charged as a witch.
But when news of Samuel’s death reaches the Colonies, Selah is truly on her own. Terrified, she faces an impossible choice–forfeit her powers and marry the loathsome Nathan? Or find an imposter to pose as her husband and preserve her birthright?
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
From the blurb, I had pretty high expectations about Goddess Born. Not only that, it came highly recommended to me from a friend/colleague! So you could say Kari Edgren’s book had a lot to live up to. As it turns out, Goddess Born would far exceed my high expectations. The characters were excellent, the world-building was fantastic and Kari Edgren brought the early Colonies to life.
First off, the characters were excellent. Selah in reality, had a horrible decision to make when she learned of her cousin’s death. Her father is dead so there’s no man to protect her from the law and Nathan’s wrath. Her only hope is to marry her cousin, who’s dead. But nobody in Hopewell knows that, do they? So she embarks on a long, arduous and sometimes funny journey when she marries Henry, an indentured servant set to play the role of her cousin. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that yes, of course Henry and Selah are going to develop feelings for each other, but I also have to say that those feelings were far from Insta-Love. In fact, it was almost Insta-Hate for a while there.
Both Selah and Henry stand out for me as characters. They both have complicated histories behind the circumstances that found them married and neither one is really keen to divulge their past to the other. At the same time, it’s obvious that both of them feel for the other’s plight. Selah doesn’t like forcing Henry into a marriage just to save her own skin and Henry doesn’t like the fact that he’s the only one standing between Selah and Nathan’s considerable wrath. He feels for Selah and she for him, but of course things are always more complicated than that.
As for the magic of Selah’s line, I think it was pretty well thought out. It comes from the Celtic goddess Brigid and puts a lot of strain on its possessors. They have the power of life and death over medical matters, so you really have to appreciate the fact that Selah is a good person who would never hurt anyone, even her own worst enemy. Power like that can become heady and change people, but Selah is the sweet and level-headed young woman that she always has been. What I really liked about the fact of Selah’s power is that she does run out and she does have to do a complicated ritual to renew it by going to the Otherworld. Maintaining her power is not easy and adds another layer of conflict, rather than like in most stories where the power is never-ending and/or naturally replenishes itself.
I have to say that I also loved both the descriptions of the time as well as the pacing of the plot. Kari Edgren really made me feel like I was in Pennsylvania in 1730, even though obviously I haven’t and I’ve never even studied that period of history. I can’t vouch for authenticity in her descriptions but I do know that her writing really makes you feel like you’re in the period. Sometimes that’s almost better than being accurate and boring. The pacing, however, doesn’t allow for boredom. It starts out a little slow at first, but quickly we have Selah’s life spiraling out of control as Nathan makes his ultimatum, her father dies, she learns her cousin dies and she marries an indentured servant to pose as him. There is no such thing as a boring moment in Goddess Born.
So, at the end of all this, I don’t have anything but praise for this book. It came highly recommended and exceeded my expectations. It was fast-paced, felt historically authentic and the characters were amazing. I can’t recommend it enough and even if you’re not necessarily a big reader of historical fiction, I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Aegis Rising by S. S. Segran
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Over a remote northern forest, a small plane carrying five teenage friends flies into a freak storm. Struck by lightning, the aircraft crashes and the passengers find themselves cast into a life-changing adventure.
In a hidden valley, a mysterious people gaze at the stormy sky as a glowing object with fiery wings disappears behind a mountain ridge. The astonishing sight reignites an ancient prophecy foretelling the arrival of five chosen ones destined to become bearers of light against a dark storm gathering on humanity’s horizon.
In a distant city, a secretive organization led by a shadowy figure initiates a sequence of cataclysmic events designed to wreak havoc across the planet, beginning with a remote mining site in a northern Canada.
As the three worlds collide, unlikely heroes arise. Armed with powers entrusted to them by the ancient prophecy and the resilience of their life-long bond, the five teens take a stand against a malevolent foe.
[Full disclosure: I received a free paperback in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
One word I would use to describe Aegis Rising is ‘solid’. Not ‘great’ or ‘amazing’, but solid. Why? Simply because it was a solid novel: good characters, a decent enough plot and fairly good world-building. However, it never had that wow factor.
As I said, the characters were okay. The five teenagers who crash in the plane are named Aari, Jag, Kody, Mariah and Tegan and they react about as well as you’d expect to suddenly being surrounded by a strange culture in the middle of nowhere. Especially since Kody doesn’t know where his dad (who was flying the plane) is. Still, they at least realize that they can’t do a thing about their situation until they’ve got their strength back up so they hunker down and make the best of things. My only real problem with the teens is that they’re just a little too perfect. They never whine, complain or angst at any point (even when an adult would be) and they’re all described as drop dead gorgeous. I like to have teen characters that don’t constantly angst, don’t get me wrong here, but you have to be just a little more realistic.
The plot was decent enough. It sort of combines elements that both fantasy and science fiction fans will be familiar with. There’s a prophecy set to come about and the teens must train to use their powers in order to save the world. Only, the water supply of the valley is being poisoned and they must stop the Big Bad from doing that. I think you can guess who the Big Bad is, especially if you watched Avatar or Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest. There’s a little bit more depth to it than that, but I really would have liked for some plot twists toward the end instead of having Segran play the tropes straight.
The world-building was actually pretty good, but as I’ve said it never crossed into amazing territory. At first it seems ridiculous that people in the valley have stayed hidden for so long, but the explanations provided by Segran are reasonable enough. They build their huts for camouflage up in the Canadian wilderness, they have the Guardians protecting them (who are enormous bear-spirits) and they truly are self-sufficient. Heck, they even have their resident scientist to think up new innovations to make life in the Dema-ki quite modern. The magical powers portion of Aegis Rising is pretty typical, with no magical powers you probably haven’t seen in fantasy before. However, it was reasonably well done and I wasn’t left asking “What’s going on here?” by the end of the novel.
All of these elements (characters, plot and world-building) are good enough, but they never really crossed into ‘amazing’ territory for me. Segran’s writing was a little too simplistic for that, to be honest. I would have appreciated more in-depth descriptions of the beautiful world around them as well as how they practiced their powers, rather than their banal conversations with each other. Still, I honestly can’t think of anything that went ‘wrong’ with this novel so it is a solid book. Not good, but pretty solid for me. I think that most people out there would call it ‘good’ or ‘enjoyable’ but my problem is that I’ve read too many novels similar to this. If you haven’t, then I can’t recommend Aegis Rising enough.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Fairytale Apocalypse by Jacqueline Patricks
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
A ROMANCE OF APOCALYPTIC PROPORTIONS.
Two worlds bound by magic…
Three people joined by destiny…Lord Kagan Donmall rules the Verge, the border that protects the magical Fae Inlands from the mundane mortal world. Recently, the Verge has been failing and he suspects the source of magic is fading. His prayers to Danu have gone unanswered, until now.
The young mortal, Lauren Montgomery, hears the message of Danu and eagerly agrees to be the Lady of the Verge, for she desires more than a mundane life.
But Lauren’s twin sister, Tessa-ever her sister’s protector, challenges the decision. The Verge falls, and the Fae and mortal worlds suffer a double apocalypse.
Now Kagan, Lauren, and Tessa must survive in this new, hostile world and discover a way to repair that which has been destroyed while navigating the bonds of duty, love, and vengeance.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I have a confession to make about this book. When I requested it on NetGalley I expected it to be a shameless romance involving little or no thought. I was looking for guilty pleasure reading that day. So imagine my surprise when not only does Fairytale Apocalypse turn out to be serious, it turns out to be good!
What really surprised me were the characters. Yes, there’s the typical older protective sister dynamic with Tessa (she is the older twin) but there also is a lot of resentment about her role as the protector. Since Tessa and Lauren are essentially the same age, their totally different personalities come into conflict constantly. Tessa is grounded and very mature for her age whereas Lauren…well she’s definitely a dreamer, but she’s also kind of flaky and naive. Lauren is not necessarily the best match for Kagan, the Lord of the Verge, who is very serious, could never be described as naive and old by mortal standards.
I was also pretty impressed when Jacqueline Patricks decided to modify the tropes she was using, rather than being lazy and playing them straight like so many authors. I can’t really reveal all that much without giving away the storyline, but just imagine a double apocalypse (in the Fae world and mortal world) where powerful people like the Fae can’t use their magic any longer. How would they cope? Could they even survive in a mortal post-apocalyptic world, let alone a Fae one? It’s actually very interesting because it makes the plot far less predictable.
The world-building was excellent, no doubt about that. Yes, the Fae world is sort of a typical fairy world: there’s dangerous lurking around every corner and the pretty things are probably what will kill you. But at the same time, Patricks put her own spin on it and included some fascinating new creatures as well as older creatures that are usually neglected in fantasy. All of the fae have swords that communicate with them, something you would think would end up being ridiculous but really didn’t. It was actually quite a fascinating bond and I wish we had learned more about it. There’s always next book, though.
So here we have a fantasy with themes of love vs. duty and sacrifice for the greater good. We also have amazing characters, a really interesting and unpredictable plot as well as some pretty great world-building. I really can’t ask for anything else, other than for Jacqueline Patricks to hurry up with the next book!
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Blood Diva by V. M. Gautier
(Cover picture courtesy of Mythical Books.)
The 19th century’s most infamous party-girl is undead and on the loose in the Big Apple.
When 23 year-old Parisian courtesan, Marie Duplessis succumbed to consumption in 1847, Charles Dickens showed up for the funeral and reported the city mourned as though Joan of Arc had fallen. Marie was not only a celebrity in in her own right, but her list of lovers included Franz Liszt – the first international music superstar, and Alexandre Dumas fils, son of the creator of The Three Musketeers. Dumas fils wrote the novel The Lady of the Camellias based on their time together. The book became a play, and the play became the opera La Traviata. Later came the film versions, and the legend never died.
But what if when offered the chance for eternal life and youth, Marie grabbed it, even when the price was the regular death of mortals at her lovely hand?
In 2014, Marie wonders if perhaps nearly two centuries of murder, mayhem, and debauchery is enough, especially when she falls hard for a rising star she believes may be the reincarnation of the only man she ever truly loved. But is it too late for her to change? Can a soul be redeemed like a diamond necklace in hock? And even if it can, have men evolved since the 1800′s? Or does a girl’s past still mark her?
Blood Diva is a sometimes humorous, often dark and erotic look at sex, celebrity, love, death, destiny, and the arts of both self-invention and seduction. It’s a story that asks a simple question – Can a one hundred ninety year-old demimondaine find happiness in 21st century Brooklyn without regular infusions of fresh blood?
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
As my regular readers are probably well aware of by now, I love opera. It makes up the bulk of music I’ve listened to in the past two years or so and since there’s nothing on television anymore it also makes up the bulk of movies/performances I watch. I guess you could say I’m an opera fanatic, so when I saw this book on NetGalley I decided I’d go for it. After all, while I’d never heard of the real Marie Duplessis, I sure loved Violetta in La Traviata. I figured it would be nice to see a different take on the woman behind the legend.
What was really clear from the beginning is the Gautier loves opera and she loves the book by Alexandre Dumas fils. She has this excited energy about both of them that you really just can’t fake. However, to me it seemed like her love of opera sometimes exceeded her knowledge of it. When referring to a famous aria from Verdi’s Rigoletto she called it “Dona e mobile”, which is not correct Italian. It should be “La Donna e mobile”. At another point a vampire tells her he calls blood l’elisir d’amore because of the Rossini opera; that’s not really possible because Donizetti wrote the opera in question. Some other errors like saying “vencere, vencere” is the last line of the aria “Nessun Dorma” can be attributed to the lack of knowledge of characters, but the two examples above should have been caught in the editing process.
For all of my nitpicking, I really did enjoy Blood Diva. Marie/Alphonsine is a great character and is very three dimensional. She struggled so much with her transition to being a vampire and now she struggles with being a vampire because she’s falling in love with a human. A human that doesn’t (and can’t) know about her past. Marie also really struggles about what she’s forced to do for work because sometimes the elder vampires (in order to gain funds for the communal fund to help other vampires) sometimes make her revert to her old profession. It’s actually kind of sad that she was gifted an immortal life on her deathbed and yet, for all that she’s seen and learned, she’s back where she started 200 years ago.
This is mostly a character novel, so it helped that both Marie and Dashiell were three dimensional. The one thing I really loved was that their relationship was intense and beautiful, but that it also had its rocky moments. Contrary to how they’re portrayed in many novels, relationships are rarely straightforward and couples in love do argue. Marie and Dashiell certainly argue, but you can always feel that they love each other. Considering their relationship takes up most of the book, I really appreciated that Gautier spent so much effort on it.
The plot was pretty good right up until the end. As I’ve said, this was character driven so of course it’s going to be slower than a plot-driven novel, but Blood Diva never really drags. The characters are far too interesting for that. My only problem is that the ending left me unsatisfied. It fits with the theme throughout the book of Marie’s fictional incarnations, so I don’t mind that the ending was not necessarily the most cheerful ever. I just felt unsatisfied, like “I read all that only for it to end like this?”. It didn’t feel like there was much closure, really.
Still, Gautier’s writing style was beautiful, her pacing was excellent as well as her characters and she had that kind of excitement that you just can’t fake. Despite the ending and the little mistakes I really, really enjoyed Blood Diva and I hope that Gautier, whether under this pseudonym or another, writes more novels in the future.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Atlas by Becca C. Smith
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Kala Hicks is part of a covert elite military team that answers directly to the President of the United States. But during an emergency mission aboard Air Force One, Kala is shocked to discover that the real threat is none other than the President himself. Defying her commanding officer, Jack Norbin, Kala takes the shot, and her life changes forever.
The moment the President is killed, a supernatural force speaks to Kala, telling her that she has to commit one act of atrocity every four days… or the world will end. Thrown into a reality she never could have imagined, Kala faces off with creatures of legend; from demons determined to make her fail and plunge the Earth into chaos, to angels who don’t trust her to do the job and are willing to kill her to claim it for themselves.
Pitted against the forces of good and evil, Kala must choose whether to save the world by doing the unthinkable, or sit back and let it burn. And four days later, she’ll have to do it again.
[Full disclosure: I received a free paperback copy in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
I’ll admit that with this one I was a little skeptical once I actually read the blurb. To be honest, it sounded a little dumb and I thought that I’d accidentally signed up to read a total lemon. Thankfully, that was far from the case. This one is a diamond in the rough, so to speak.
The real strength of Smith’s writing is the fact that she can pace things so well. I felt the tension ratchet up right from the beginning until it was at almost unbearable levels during the climax. There were twists and turns in the plot, with plenty of “didn’t see that coming moments”. I didn’t even see the end coming when Kala did something so unexpected that she shocked angels, demons and those in-betweeners that are desperate to keep up the balance of the world through an Atlas. Some are determined to stop her and others are still more determined that she should succeed, so in the end who will win? You just really don’t know.
Kala is a good character and she is quite memorable. Having grown up largely in foster care until her teen years, she understandably has some trust issues, particularly in her relationships. Her backstory is fascinating but just when you think you know everything about her, we learn something very interesting about her foster parents and who/what they really are. What I really liked was her determination in the beginning to find a way out of becoming the next Atlas. She doesn’t want to commit the atrocity that’s been assigned to her, but she doesn’t want literally billions of people to die. It’s a fascinating inner struggle, believe me.
I really appreciated Becca Smith’s world-building. She clearly knows a lot about Greek mythology (which you would expect) but she goes deeper into Christian theology in order to create some of her other creatures like the Grigori and Malaks. I would have liked a little more time devoted to the creation and working of magic, but then that would have slowed down the plot and thrown the pacing off. We still have good working knowledge of the whole different world Becca Smith created, but it’s more of a personal preference for me that I would have liked a little more.
All in all, this is actually a pretty good book and I’m glad that I went into it with an open mind, rather than judging it entirely on the blurb.
I give this book 5/5 stars.