The Shadow Lamp

The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead is the fourth book in the Bright Empires series. I have previously read The Skin Map, The Bone House, and The Spirit Well. So far my favorite of the series is the Bone House. Just to recap,Kit, Mina, Gianni, Cass, Haven, and Giles all travel through time via Ley lines. They use Shadow Lamps to help them detect Ley lines. There is some kind of unknown cosmic link between the shadow lamps, the skin map and the spirit well. Add to the mix, the Zetetic society discovers something that could unravel everything.

I must confess, I read this book quite a while ago and I'm just now getting around to writing up the review. In general, I've liked nearly everything that Stephen R. Lawhead has written. This series confused me with the time travel and Ley lines. It had great adventure and esprit de corps, but it lacked something cohesive. The shifts in time are a little jarring. One minute you are in the Middle Ages Europe, the next, ancient Egypt and then back in modern time. As I said, I really loved the Bone House. For whatever reason, that story has stuck in my head. Large parts of the Bone House take place in one time and location. The Shadow Lamp did not stay in my memory, and so I guess it was a bit forgettable. I can't really remember what the big reveal was with the Zetetic society - I didn't get it the first time either - nor what the deal was between the shadow lamps, skin map, and spirit well.

This series was hit and miss for me. I liked Stephen R. Lawhead's other books so much better.

Steelheart

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson is a different kind of superhero story. It would be easy to assume that Steelheart is the superhero but instead he is the bad guy.  David Charleston is a teen who want to avenge his father's death. His father was killed by Steelheart, a person with the ability to turn things into steel. Because of his ability, he has risen to power because no one can seem to overcome his super power. He reigns as a king in Chicago. David knows Steelheart's weakness, but will it be enough to avenge his father and free people of his tyranny?

Steelheart is book one of the Reckoner's series and Brandon Sanderson's first young adult story. I have not read any other of Brandon Sanderson's books, but he is a good writer. His take on superheros as villains is enough of a twist for people to pick up the story and read something new. But as a young adult story, you can expect to have the typical young adult story elements including romance.

Book Rating : 4 stars, worth a try

Graceling, Bitterblue

Katsa, the daughter of the king, was born with an extreme skill. She has the ability to kill with her bear hands, called a Grace. Instead of living in luxury, she is forced to kill for the king. She escapes and falls in love with Prince Po, though she does not want to marry. In the first book of the series, Katsa learns the secret of her Grace that could potentially destroy her kingdom and all other kingdoms in the realm.

I read the first two books in the series, Graceling and Bitterblue. This is a girl as superhero story in the same vein as Hunger Games except the setting is quasi-Medieval. It's the setting that frustrated me because it didn't seem to fit with the idea of a powerful girl with modern sensibilities. It is fantasy, so the author can create whatever world she wants. There are plenty of reviewers that seem to love it, not to mention the 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I felt the story fell flat and I became bored. I never could muster the motivation to finish the series with book three.

Book Rating: 3 stars

This series is for younger teen readers, but it does contain violence and some adult situations.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

River of time series

Confession time.  I devoured a young adult romance series in about a week. Well, at least the first three books in the series. The River of Time series is written by Lisa T. Bergren, which includes Waterfall (book 1), Cascade (book 2), and Torrent (book 3). The author has since added Bourne and Tributary (book 4) and DELUGE (book 5). I have not yet read Deluge because I did not know about it till now. It is going on my to-read list now!

So what is it about? In Waterfall, Gabi and Lia are sisters stuck at an archeological dig over the summer with their mother. Gabi decides to explore a part of the dig in a cave and places her hand a top a hand print on the cave wall. Suddenly she finds herself in 14th century Italy complete with warring knights and castles. Lia somehow is transported back in time but is separated from Gabi. Gabi and Lia must find a way home to their own time, but adventure and love are in the past.

In Cascade, Gabi, Lia, and their mother return again to the past only to discover that months have passed since they last left. In that time tensions between the Florentines and Sienese have reached a breaking point and war is on the horizon. Gabi and Lia, both known as "she-wolves", rise to the occasion to help win the battle. Meanwhile Gabi falls more deeply in love with Marcello and must make a decision about whether to stay.

In Torrent, the girls decide to save their father from an untimely demise and bring him into the past. Meanwhile, there is more adventure and romance for Gabi and Marcello. Gabi must make the decision whether to marry Marcello or not. Can she forever give up the future? There are lots of twists and turns in the story and it moves pretty fast. And yes, Lia also finds some romance. This was supposed to be the final book of a trilogy, but the author has added two more books.

Bourne and Tributary are two novellas the author added to help tie up loose ends. Parts of Bourne are told from Lia's point of view and the rest by Gabi. We get to see Lia and Luca come closer together. In Tributary, we get Lia and Luca's point of view. Lia, who is younger than Gabi, also must deal with all the experiences she has had that would traumatize anyone. Both stories have more action and adventure.

If you can ignore the silly time traveling device and the fact that Gabi and Lia seem to be able to understand medieval Italian, the stories are very good. There is just the right mix of adventure, medieval warfare, and romance (nothing too naughty here because it is classified as a teen Christian romance). I would finish one book, close the cover and state, "I need the next book now!" I would call these books a guilty pleasure.

Book Rating: 5 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Bright Empires series

Stephen R. Lawhead is one of my favorite authors.  In 2012 he released a new series called Bright Empires. The story follows Kit as he ventures through time and parallel worlds using ley lines. He inherits this ability from his traveling Grandfather. Soon his ex-girlfriend and newly made friends join in. But there are dark forces who seek to control the ability to detect gateways to other worlds and they are after Kit and his friends.

The first book is The Skin Map, which details the existence of a map showing various gateways. This is followed by The Bone House where Kit is trapped in a paleolithic world. The next book is the Spirit Well, a place of great power and mystery.

The stories are fun time travelling adventures. I found the idea of ley lines and gateways to other worlds rather confusing. If you can set this aside or just accept it as a part of the universe Lawhead has created, then it's really no big deal. Each story builds on the previous so you can't read them out of order. I found I enjoyed the series more the further along I went. There were parts of the Bone House and The Spirit Well that have stayed with me. Book 4 has just been released and I'll have to see if the library will get it.

Book Rating: 4 stars - a fun fantasy adventure series.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Sword of Shannara

 

If ever there was a rubber stamp of the J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, this book would be it. Terry Brooks pens a fantasy novel that is so similar to Tolkien that I had difficulty reading it

In this story a valeman (I can't remember his name) who is half elf and half human is the only remaining elven descendant who can wield a sword that can defeat the evil Druid. The valeman is accompanied on his journey to find the sword by his brother, another valeman, a prince, dwarf, and a mysterious Druid. The journey if full of high adventure and some tragedy that helps the valeman mature into his role.

If you were to create two columns that compares Lord of the Rings with the Sword of Shannara, you would easily see the similarities. In one list the major characters and events in the Sword of Shannara. For each one, there would be an equivalent in the Lord of the Rings.

I was unable to finish the book even though I persevered to about half way. When the main character is lost down a mountain river, I no longer even cared. A sure sign of giving it up. It is true that Terry Brooks has many dedicated, loyal fans for his series. It just wasn't for me.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

The discovery of witches

Vampires and witches. It's a trend, at least the witches part. A Discovery of Witches promised to be a little different from others with the same subject because the author is an accomplished historian. The book is popular among our library patrons, so I picked it up.

Diana is a witch who has lived her life as though she were not. While working on a research project at the Bodleian library she finds (or is discovered by) a book which magically contains the origins of witches, vampires, and other supernatural creatures. That event reawakens Diana's abilities and gives notice to the magical creatures around her.

What follows is a romance and growing war between witches and vampires over who can get to the book first. Diana aligns herself with a vampire and the two fall in love. In order to survive Diana must learn to use her magical abilities, but it's not quit enough.

In order to enjoy the book, you will have to set aside your notions about vampires - though every author of the genre seems to rewrite vampire rules. As a first time novel, the author did fairly well. It could have done with a bit more editing/trimming - the author seems particularly intent on letting the reader know that the main character Diana is well fed and rested.

Book Rating: 3 stars.

Well wished

Young Nuria, an orphan girl, lives in a small town with a wishing well. Each resident can make one wish and sometimes those wishes go wrong. One wish, in particular, caused all the children in the town to disappear except for Nuria. Nuria wishes for a friend. Nuria's grandfather makes a wish to bring the children back, but only one does. Catty is a disabled girl that desires to walk again. Everyone must learn to be careful what you wish for because wishes sometimes don't turn out as expected.

I found Well Wished strange and hard to follow. At one point in the story the two characters Nuria and Catty switch places. I had a hard time keeping them straight. Many of the reviews on Amazon are positive. Personally, I didn't care for the book all that much. It's written with a dream-like, almost magical voice. Also difficult to follow.

Book Rating: 2 stars

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie

I can't tell you what Valiant is about. I only got about 7 pages into it. There is so much trash in those seven pages that I had to put it down. In those few pages I could tell this book is a teen soap with lots adult content. Think Secret Lives or Pretty Little Liars. Moving on.

Book Rating: Trash can.

Peter and the Starcatchers

I admit I had all kinds of doubts about reading this book. The story is co-written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and I really didn't know how they could successfully collaborate. Peter and the Starcatchers is an adaptation of Peter Pan by J. M. Barie. I haven't read the latter, so I can't compare the two. But I did like the Barry-Pearson story.

Barry-Pearson tell the story of Peter Pan's origins and how he came to live in Neverland. In this story there are two groups - Starcatchers versus The Others who both seek the power of star stuff* that falls to earth. Peter and his friends are orphans being sent to a distant island to be used as a slaves. They get caught up in the battle between the Starcatchers and The Others. Wendy and Peter join forces to protect the star stuff from pirates and The Others. Eventually, Peter and Wendy end up in Neverland in the midst of a battle between all the groups interested in gaining control of the star stuff.

The authors successfully capture pirate dialogue and reader expectations. The star stuff did seem a bit silly but it is just as plausible as an explanation for a Peter Pan who can fly as anything. The story was a fresh retelling of the classic and a very fun read.

Book rating: 4 stars

*I have to wonder if the authors were inspired by Babylon 5 when writing this story. This quote immediately popped into my head when I was reading the book.

"Then I will tell you a great secret, Captain. Perhaps the greatest of all time. The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up this station and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We are starstuff, we are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out. As we have both learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of perspective."

Ambassador Delenn, A Distant Star

Servant of a Dark God

I suppose if you meet an author in person and buy their book, there is a certain amount of loyalty to finish reading it. I met John Brown at a library conference and I know he frequented the same Orson Scott Card forums I had. In other words, I sort of knew him before he became a published author. In any event, I did buy Servant of a Dark God and I do read his blog. It was only fitting that I actually read it.

The fantasy genre is not really my thing and I found the first several chapters difficult to read. Fantasy authors have a tendency to introduce a lot of characters and settings very quickly with the added difficulty of weird spellings for all of their proper nouns. In other words, there is a lot to keep track of and figure out. I had the same difficulty with this book. Brown's book didn't have a lot of weird spellings on his characters. Rather he had generic names for a few characters and I had equal trouble there.

All that aside, I stuck with it and I did end up liking it. I don't know that I can do proper justice to a description of the story. Suffice to say there is good vs. evil with a bit of magic thrown in. John Brown did leave you wanting more and he does have a sequel coming out soon. I am undecided if I want to read it. Not because I had trouble reading the first one but because I have so many other things I want to read instead.

Book rating: 3.5 stars

The Lost Years of Merlin by T. A. Barron

The library has most of the Lost Years of Merlin series, so I figured I should give T. A. Barron another chance. I had previously read Barron's first young adult novel Heartlight and didn't like it. But a publisher would not publish an entire series if they didn't have some interest.

This story suffers from the same problems I noticed in Heartlight. The transitions from one part of the story to the next were less awkward but still odd. Both stories start in ordinary life that we can relate too. Merlin's story takes place in the distant past, but there is nothing too unusual. As the story builds Merlin (aka Emrys) determines he must discover his true origins and takes off on his own. Just as in Heartlight, the story begins to build on the fantastical with fantastical creatures and events. Merlin meets an unusual child, a human-tree hybrid, and a talking spider. Crystals also show up again.

The story kept getting stranger and stranger and I just couldn't make myself finish it.

I'm also getting tired of young adult writers relying on the poor, misunderstood orphan child trope. Somehow Rowling managed to extend her story over several books - an orphan trying to understand himself and his past. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It doesn't work for me here. This is a series I would probably not recommend to today's teen. Moving on.

Book rating: 1 star