"Osric's Wand: The Wand Maker's Debate" by Jack D. Albrecht Jr & Ashley Delay

File Size: 475 KB
Published: August 28, 2011/September 21, 2011
Language: English
ASIN: B005JQ9D8A
Paperback: 204 pages
ISBN-10: 1466269472
ISBN-13: 978-1466269477
Purchase: Kindle, Amazon Paperback, Barnes&Noble Paperback
Website: www.OsricsWand.com

Osirc’s Wand is a story about a young man who comes from the Vigile clan. At the beginning of the story, it’s duty as usual until a peace meeting among all the races goes horribly wrong. Osirc and company then goes on a journey filled with adventures and many old conspiracies and a prophecy is uncovered.

The characters were well developed and likeable. The world building was pretty good, but there may need to be may need to be some more emphasis on the backstory about why the rules and laws are the way they are and more about the “gifts of magic”. A few times there was something brought into the story that I didn’t see was essential to the story or there wasn’t any explanation of what that particular thing was or why it was important in its mention. A couple of the key characters that appear later in the story are introduced to us with their own side story, but they sort of come out of the blue and were complete strangers. At first, as a reader, I was wondering how they fit in or whether or not they were important until I followed them along until their side story unfolds and they meet up with Osric and company. The introduction to the dwarf was a bit jarring.

The action was pretty good once the journey had begun, but there was a bit too much description and fine detail in the environment where the action was taking place that seemed to slow down the pacing of the story quite a bit. At the beginning of the story it was hard to get into at first since I had to wade through all the extra details.

Overall though Osirc’s wand is an enjoyable story that will capture your imagination and the characters are endearing.



Reviewed by: A.K. Taylor

A free copy of this book was furnished by the author for review, but providing a copy did not guarantee a review. This information is provided per the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission.

"The King's Bastard: King Rolen's King Trilogy, Book 1" by Rowena Cory Daniells

File Size: 886 KB/849 KB
Print Length: 640 pages
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Limited (July 13, 2010)
Language: English
ASIN: B004SAE54K
ISBN-13: 978-1849971782 (Ebook)
ISBN-13: 978-1907519017 (paperback
Purchase: Kindle, Nook, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback
Website: www.corydaniells.com

This is what fantasy is all about! I was immediately sucked into the world created by Ms. Daniells. I fell in love with the main character, Byren, almost immediately and was rooting for him through the whole book.

I was so sad when the book ended - a cliffhanger that left me literally screaming to know what happened next. I felt the author left off at a bad spot of the plot line - almost in the middle of the climax. I would have preferred, even with things left open, to have it stop at a more quiet part of the story line, rather than the middle of the action. It was simply an abrupt stop.

However, I loved this book. It has a bit of everything in it - politics, magic, love, friendship, treachery, intrigue, adventure - and the list goes on! I couldn't stop turning the pages, wanting to know what happened to the main characters of the story, praying they didn't have one more bad thing happen to them. I highly recommend this book to fantasy readers everywhere -really anyone who loves a great book!




Reviewed by: Anastasia V. Pergakis

A free copy of this book was furnished by the author for review, but providing a copy did not guarantee a review. This information is provided per the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission.

"The Caline Conspiracy" by M.H. Mead

File Size: 429 KB/593 KB
Print Length: 210 pages
Publisher: Ion Productions (March 16, 2012)
Language: English
ASIN: B007LNNHMW
BN ID: 2940014314527
Purchase: Kindle, Nook, E-Reader, Paperback
Website: www.yangandcampion.com

This was an enjoyable read.

Aidra, the lead character, gets a case she doesn’t really want and that seems like it’s pretty straight forward. Still she gives it her best effort and soon discovers this case is more than she bargained for.

Aidra is a likeable character, tough, but with a vulnerable side. She is resourceful and observant and knows when to handle things herself and when to ask for help.

The case she’s working on is interesting and had me invested from the start. The calines are intriguing and give this detective story a slight SciFi feel. The investigation is set up very nicely and gives you just enough information to try and make some guesses while dragging you further into the mystery and intrigue.

I liked how Aidra’s investigation leads to her not only having to find the truth about Frithke‘s death, but also to question herself.

Next to this being a suspenseful detective story this story also makes you think and touches on some rather sensitive subjects. I really liked this deeper layer and it had me thinking even after I finished the book.

The one negative thing I could say about this story is that some of the other characters stay a bit one dimensional, but this being a novella and not a full length novel, it’s only to be expected that not everything can be worked out in full detail, so it’s only a minor flaw in my opinion.

All in all this is a cool read that challenges you to think.



Reviewed by: Carien Ubink

A free copy of this book was furnished by the author for review, but providing a copy did not guarantee a review. This information is provided per the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission.

"The Crooked God Machine" by Autumn Christian

File Size: 552 KB
Language: English
ASIN: B006PNJ2L4
Purchase: Kindle
Website: www.autumnchristian.net

Upon first glance, I thought this book was going to be a religious attack of some sort. And I suppose if one wanted to, they could take it as such. However, given that it is a work of fiction, I don't consider it an attack of any kind - just a well written story.

I was easily swept up in the world, wondering how it got to that point and how the character was going to survive it. Some parts of it did confuse me, or didn't seem to fit well - like one of the characters recovering from brain surgery in the matter of minutes. I brushed it off assuming the advanced technology of the world allowed such a thing, but it would have been nice to have it explained.

The ending was well written, although personally it disappointed me. I read books that have some sort of a happy ending and this one - well this one I can't tell if it was 'happy' or not. More like, the lesser of two evils perhaps? But, this did not reflect in my rating of the story, because as I said, it was well written and fit with what had happened before.

This book might not have been my cup of tea, but I still enjoyed it as it was written well - no jarring skips or bumps in the plot, no typos, etc. I would still recommend this book to someone who loves a horror-type dystopian sci-fi story.



Reviewed by: Anastasia V. Pergakis

A free copy of this book was furnished by the author for review, but providing a copy did not guarantee a review. This information is provided per the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission.