Category: Book Review
The Fire by John Heldt
(Cover picture courtesy of John Heldt.)
When Kevin Johnson, 22, goes to Wallace, Idaho, days after his college graduation, he expects to find rest and relaxation as his family prepares his deceased grandfather’s house for sale. Then he discovers a hidden diary and a time portal that can take him to 1910, the year of Halley’s comet and the largest wildfire in U.S. history. Within hours, Kevin finds himself in the era of horse-drawn wagons, straw hats, and ankle-length dresses. Returning to the same time and place, he decides to travel again and again and make the portal his gateway to summer fun. The adventure takes a more serious turn, however, when the luckless-in-love science major falls for pretty English teacher Sarah Thompson and integrates himself in a community headed for tragedy. Filled with humor, romance, and heartbreak, THE FIRE, the sequel to THE JOURNEY, follows a conflicted soul through a life-changing journey as he makes his mark on a world he was never meant to see.
[Full disclosure: John Heldt gave me an ARC of his latest novel in exchange for an honest review.]
John Heldt is probably the only man that can make me consistently cry. And that’s a good thing!
Kevin Johnston is the son of Shelly Preston, our protagonist from The Journey. As you may recall, an older Michelle had time travelled back to see her younger self and her story did not end well. So you could say time travelling is in the family and that Kevin can’t get away from it, especially when you learn a certain character from The Mine is his university professor.
Once again I thought I had Kevin’s journey pretty well predicted. Yet he surprised me at every turn. He knew it was a bad idea to go back to 1910 and that it was a bad idea to get so involved in people’s lives in Wallace and yet I understand his motives for wanting to go back there. Yet whatever mysteriously causes time travel is not going to forgive Kevin for messing with history and the conclusion of the novel is absolutely heart-breaking and at the same time, joy-inducing. The Fire is such an emotional roller coaster that I’m having a hard time putting my thoughts down to write this review.
I was so connected to the characters, perhaps more so than I have been in John Heldt’s previous three novels. Kevin really did speak to me. He was a good person if a little flawed because of that chip on his shoulder when it came to women. Still, he got over that eventually and at the end of the novel you can really tell he’s a better person. His relationship with Sarah, his confused feelings for Sadie and his friendship with Andy all made him more realistic and much easier to sympathize with. Yet these characters weren’t put there for the sole purpose of providing opportunities to show what a nice guy Kevin is! No, they’re excellent, well-developed characters in their own right.
I liked how the pacing was generally consistent throughout The Fire and that although it definitely sped up at the end, it wasn’t as rushed as the ending of The Show. John Heldt definitely took more time to build up the historical town of Wallace in order to build up the tension for the coming fire that would level most of the town. His descriptions were much more vivid in this installment of the Northwest Passage series and I think The Fire was a better book for it.
John Heldt’s writing just keeps getting better and better with each book. Although the theme of time travel features in all four, he has created very different characters to tell the story of America and each achieves happiness in their own, unique way. Even if you haven’t read the first three books of the series, The Fire can certainly stand on its own, which is why I recommend you pick it up right this instant. Yes, it’s that good.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Short Story: The Princess of Egypt Must Die by Stephanie Dray
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Princess Arsinoe came of age in the glittering court of Ptolemaic Egypt. Abused by her ruthless sister, a pawn in the dynastic ambitions of her father, and dismissed by the king who claimed her for a bride, young Arsinoe finds herself falling in love with a young man forbidden to her. She dreams of a destiny as Egypt’s queen, but first she must survive the nest of vipers otherwise known as her family.
There are so many reasons to love The Princess of Egypt Must Die, but one of the main ones is because of Arsinoe herself. She goes from poor naive princess of Egypt to forgotten bride of an ancient man to the mature, ruthless woman she would be known as later in life. All of this happens in quite a short time span, but at least her story arc is believable.
Arsinoe starts out as the political pawn for her father’s ambitions. She is married off to Lysimachus, the King of Thrace who was one of Alexander the Great’s bodyguards. It takes a little more time than I would like to know this because it actually establishes the timeline here. Throughout the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, there were many Arsinoes so having this information introduced a little sooner would have been nice, but it’s not a major issue by any means. Once you realize the world that Arsinoe is living in is harsh and cruel and only going to get worse, it makes you want to read on. Of course her much older husband virtually ignores her and Arsinoe can’t help but fall in love with Cassander, who is as tragic a love interest as they get. His decision at the end of the short story is absolutely heartbreaking, as is Arsinoe’s.
Despite the short length of this novel I really did grow attached to the characters. Both Arsinoe and Cassander felt very real to me and I could believe in their ready attraction. Of course the plot being relatively fast-paced helps the story move along but there’s still plenty of attention devoted to character development. This is my first sample of Stephanie Dray’s writing and I have to say I was pretty impressed with her style. She knows how to describe just enough of her surroundings to be informative, but also knows not to drag on and on with such descriptions. Her writing is addictive and I guarantee I’ll be reading more of her in the future.
I give this short story 4/5 stars.
Dark Genesis by A. D. Koboah
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Life for a female slave is one of hardship and unspeakable sorrow, something Luna knows only too well. But not even she could have foreseen the terror that would befall her one sultry Mississippi evening in the summer of 1807.
On her way back from a visit to see the African woman, a witch who has the herbs Luna needs to rid her of her abusive master’s child, she attracts the attention of a deadly being that lusts for blood. Forcibly removed from everything she knows by this tormented otherworldly creature, she is sure she will be dead by sunrise.
Dark Genesis is a love story set against the savage world of slavery in which a young woman who has been dehumanised by its horrors finds the courage to love, and in doing so, reclaims her humanity.
I’ve been putting off doing a review for Dark Genesis for two weeks now. It’s not because I’ve forgotten the plot lines and character names and have had to re-read it or because it’s so horrible I don’t have the energy to write a review. No, it’s because of how amazing it was.
Words really don’t do this book justice. It evokes so many different emotions in the reader from happiness to despair and everything in between. I’m not the sort of person that cries over books frequently, but believe me when I say the waterworks were on for this one, especially at the end. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, the author sends a huge plot twist your way that you’re desperate for the next book.
Dark Genesis is a book with a strange sort of beauty. A. D. Koboah’s descriptions and vivid imagery are absolutely unmatched; you’re instantly transported to Luna’s world. Yet the topic that features in her book, slavery, is anything but beautiful. Koboah didn’t flinch away from all of the horrors slaves like Luna had to face and one of her greatest strengths was how she portrayed the effects of such treatment even years afterward.
On the topic of Luna, she is an incredible character. She’s now one of my favourite heroines ever not only because she was such a strong woman but because she had to go on a long journey of self-reflection to become that woman. The time she spent with Avery really did change her, even if the scars from her years of enslavement were still beneath the surface. Avery too was a very flawed character and you don’t really realize the depth of his sorrow until the end of the novel. He’s not your typical vampire the same way Luna isn’t your typical heroine. I won’t go into much more detail than that because I don’t want to spoil all of the good parts for you.
The plot remained relatively fast-paced despite being a mainly character-driven novel. That in itself would have been quite impressive if not for the fact that there were so many plot twists. Believe me, you may be able to predict some of the twists but most will blindside you in a good way. I read Dark Genesis two weeks ago and I’m still reeling from that final twist at the end of the novel! It’s hard to believe that this was A. D. Koboah’s first novel. I don’t expect this level of awesome from many established authors, yet here I am writing this review.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t like vampire novels. If you like any sort of character-driven novel or even just plain historical fiction, go and download Dark Genesis this instant. It’s free on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as an ebook so it’s not like you’re losing anything by taking a chance on this wonderful novel.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
You Are Mine by Janeal Falor
(Cover picture courtesy of Crash Boom Bang.)
Serena knows a few simple things. She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts.
Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.
[Full disclosure: You Are Mine caught my eye on a blog a while back so I requested a review copy from Janeal Falor in exchange for an honest review.]
I thought this was going to be a wishy-washy romance with some good fantastic elements when I requested You Are Mine. I was willing to ignore the romance in exchange for a well-developed world, but Janeal Falor completely blew away my expectations. Trust me, the romantic elements don’t pan out like you expect them to.
Serena is one of those characters that you’re not sure how you feel about her in the beginning, but you learn to love her after the first few chapters or so. What I like is that she rebels against a male-dominated society in her own ways and yet doesn’t go into stereotypical girl power mode that would be completely unbelievable considering her upbringing. When you’ve been tortured by your own father for minor infractions like she has, you’re not exactly going to be ecstatic about marrying some wretched barbarian who killed your admittedly horrible intended. Understandably, she’s more than a little terrified of Zade especially when he doesn’t punish/torture her like her father does even though he technically owns her and that kind of behaviour is expected of him as a warlock.
The plot of You Are Mine is not fast-paced, but that’s really not the point of the whole story. I’d say this is more character-driven and that makes it a much better book than it would have been if it were plot-driven. We get to intimately know the world of Chardonia through Serena’s eyes and get a little outsider perspective from Zade, the ‘barbarian’ foreigner. I love how Zade really isn’t all that he appears to be and that his real character is revealed by the end of the novel. It’s plot twists like that rather than crazy pacing that made me like You Are Mine.
Where do I start with the world-building? The warlocks completely dominating women by making them less than human, the tarnished outcasts, the magic? In short, Janeal Falor has created a patriarchal society that is both believable because of the power warlocks have and is terrifying because of how women are treated like property. And of course warlocks are allowed to destroy their property any time they see fit, which leads to women being tarnished (aka hexed into being bald, tattooed and barren). It’s a horrible society and you can definitely see why Serena acts the way she does around Zade even when it’s obvious to the reader that Zade isn’t like Serena’s sadistic father.
I thought that the plot dragged a little too much in some places (even if it was primarily character-driven), but that’s my only real complaint. Other than that, Janeal Falor has written an amazing debut novel and I can’t wait to see more of her work in the future. Especially with that huge cliffhanger ending!
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
(Cover picture courtesy of The Streetlight Reader.)
To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…
The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.
A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg’s gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.
Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.
I believe I said this before, but it bears repeating: Jorg is like Genghis Khan if he’d gotten started on the whole conquering business in his teen years. Trust me, King of Thorns and the whole of The Broken Empire trilogy is brutal in terms of blood, guts and gore. It’s not for the faint of heart.
With that said, I still love Jorg as a character. Mark Lawrence has managed to create a character that is far from sympathetic, but is more empathetic. Readers get an in-depth understanding of who Jorg is and why he is the way he is, but it’s hard to feel sorry for him very often. Rather, he’s an interesting character so you can’t help but keep on reading to find out what happens to him. Although the narrative was a little more disjointed, you can certainly tell how Jorg has changed from the first book now that he’s eighteen years old. Is he any less ruthless? No. But he does feel at least a little sympathy for some human beings by this point.
My only complaint about King of Thorns is the disjointed narrative. We get treated to excerpts from Katherine’s diary, Jorg’s point of view four years ago immediately after the events of Prince of Thorns and the current wedding day/battle. During each of these points in the narrative there are flashbacks within the flashbacks, so I admit it did get a little confusing. Could Mark Lawrence have written this in a better way? Probably. Does it still work out? Yes. The plot is tied up nicely by the final battle and even though Jorg has changed, his last main action at the end of the novel is so completely in character you can’t help but laugh. Then again, maybe you won’t because I personally have a morbid sense of humour.
What I really liked about this second book in the trilogy is that Jorg is an even better character than before, but also that we got to see more of his world. This post-apocalyptic quasi-Medieval world is absolutely fascinating! You can tell Mark Lawrence really put effort into world-building because we get all kinds of subtle hints at the events that brought along the apocalypse as well as how it changed the world. I don’t want to give things away, but from the sounds of the Builders and the political strife that occurred after their fall it’s no wonder Jorg is the way he is. It’s a brutal, cruel world and seemingly good men like the Prince of Arrow are swallowed up by it.
Overall, I absolutely loved King of Thorns. It was fast-paced if a little disjointed at times, the characters acquired more depth and the world-building was expanded upon. If you like dark fantasy/post-apocalyptic fiction you’ll love The Broken Empire trilogy.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.