The Fantasy Worlds of Kelley Grant
  • Welcome
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Appearances
  • About
  • Contact me

The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst -  Unabashedly Fantastic!

9/27/2016

0 Comments

 

The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst, Review

 
I am always skeptical when a book is heavily hyped by the publisher before release. Too many times I’ve gotten excited because of the pre-release promo and been disappointed. And the high price tag of newly released e-books makes the disappointment worse. 
 
Happily, The Queen of Blood lives up to the hype. We enter a completely new and novel world where humans live in an uneasy truce with the spirits around them. The spirits are only kept in check by their pact with the Queen of this land. But the Queen’s grip seems to be slipping. Daleina lives in one of the outer forest villages and when the Queen’s control over the spirit seems to slip the entire village is slaughtered.  Only Daleina’s family survives when her talent commanding the spirits manifests long enough for Champion Ven to repel the attacking spirits. Daleina chooses the path of heir training while Champion Ven confronts the queen and is discredited and vanquished by her.
 
The plot moves along briskly and carried me into this rich, multi-layered world. It was a book I didn’t want to put down and it read smoothly. I enjoyed Daleina’s strength and determination and Ven’s vulnerabilities.  My only quibble is that the secondary characters, especially Daleina’s friends, are skimmed over and two-dimensional. I understand that with so much plot to fly through, it would have made a very long book to dwell on those characters. But it made the ending a little less impactful for me.  
 
The hype on this one was accurate  – The Queen of Blood is Unabashedly Fantastic fiction. This is one of those worlds I will reach for to revisit and reread. This book stands alone, though I’ve heard there is at least another book in this series. Looking forward immersing myself in this world again.  

Picture

Buy The Queen of Blood:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

About the Author: Sarah Beth Durst is the author of eleven fantasy novels for adults, teens, and kids. Sarah won the 2013 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and has been a finalist for SFWA's Andre Norton Award three times. She is a graduate of Princeton University, where she spent four years studying English, writing about dragons, and wondering what the campus gargoyles would say if they could talk. Sarah lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her children, and her ill-mannered cat. For more information, visit her at sarahbethdurst.com.
0 Comments

Among Wolves and Grim Tidings  = great epic fantasy

9/24/2016

1 Comment

 

Among Wolves and Grim Tidings by Nancy K. Wallace - Unabashedly Fantastic!

Among Wolves and Grim Tidings are books one and two of epic fantasy series, The Wolves of Llisé by Nancy K. Wallace.
 
I was very impressed last year when I read Among Wolves. It is exactly the type of epic fantasy I love best – great world building, engaging characters and a plot that draws you in.  The much-anticipated sequel, Grim Tidings, was released in August.I was happy to find it the equal to the first book of the series. Sometimes middle books sag on their way to the finale, but this book kept up the tension,
 
The Story: Sheltered collegiate student Devin Roché studies to become a historical archivist in the central city of Llisé. His father is Chancellor Elite and Devin is his youngest son. Devin has decided for his third-year he wants to travel the provinces, learning the Bardic Chronicles. The stories of  the Chronicles in each Province are passed down orally - indeed, it is forbidden for them to written down. Devin wants to learn every Chronicle in one year with the help of his friend Gaspard Forneaux. Gaspard is a noble dilettante, more interested in gambling and drinking then study and work and son to Devin's father's harshest critic on counsel. Devin’s father is against his trip, not wanting Devin’s status as Chancellor’s son to give the stories of the Chronicles an importance the capital city wants to minimize. Devin is permitted to go when he agrees to be his father’s eyes and ears in the provinces, reporting back problems he sees in the outlying territories.
Devin finds himself followed by spies as he connects with the Ombria province master bard Armand Vielle. Gaspard gets entangled with the local noble Jean Chastel, while Devin woos Armand’s daughter and learns the chronicles. Danger follows them and locals are murdered after being mistaken for the Devin and Gaspard. Devin has to decide who he can trust as even Marcus, the bodyguard assigned to him by his father, falls under suspicion.
 
In Grim Tidings the stakes grow higher as entire villages disappear and assassins follow Devin and his crew. I won’t go into details which might spoil the plot of the first, as well as the second, books. I felt that Wallace did an excellent job on not just the main characters, but the secondary characters – giving each a fullness and richness. I felt the first book was lacking in good female characters and was very happy with the addition of two good women in this sequel. The pace and intensity of this book was just a as intense as the first novel. Be warned – Grim Tidings ends on a cliff hanger!  I will be hanging on the edge of my seat until book 3 releases.
 
I would rate this series Unabashedly Fantastic. Excellent worldbuilding, complex political maneuvering, well-rounded characters, combined with fantastical elements make this epic fantasy a satisfying read.

Picture
Picture

Buy Among Wolves:
Amazon

Barnes & Noble

About Nancy K. Wallace:
I am a Harper Voyager, UK author. Among Wolves, the first in an adult fantasy trilogy was released 2015. Grim Tidings follows in 2016. I have 19 traditionally published children's books. Follow me on Twitter as fairysockmother and visit my website: http://www.nancykwallace.com.
1 Comment

Breath of Earth by Beth Cato Review - Unabashedly Fantastic!

9/16/2016

0 Comments

 

Breath of Earth Rocked!

I am not always as fond of Steampunk as a genre.  The authors tend to focus on “cool alternate toys I can imagine” and forget about story. Imaginary technology bores me without an amazing plot and characters I can identify with and cheer for.
 
Breath of Earth has complex characters and plot in abundance. I don’t know which I liked better – the wonderfully diverse and rich characters or the non-stop excitement of the story.
 
The setting is alternate history San Francisco on the eave of the 1906 great earthquake. But this is an America which is ruled by Japanese and Americans and where the magic of geomancers keeps stability in the world. The instability of world affairs, including brutal wars in India and China, sets the stage for the complicated interweaving of the plot.
 
Ingrid Carmichael, our delightful main character, is a strong woman of magic in a patriarchal society that doesn’t believe women can be geomancers. Her mentor and second father Mr. Sakaguchi helps her hide her powers. But her world literally explodes around her when someone targets the of Earth Warden’s Auxiliary. She saves Mr. Sakaguchi, but he is wounded as they are targeted by assassins. With the help of handsome airship pilot Cypress Jennings (romance – yeah!) and his mechanic Fenris, Ingrid must save her mentor, find out who is targeting geomancers and try to prevent the world from literally shaking apart at the seams. The story’s non-stop action turns even more frantic when Ingrid realizes that instead of the solution, she may just be the problem.
 
And that is a very quick and dirty summary which leaves out most of the plot-lines and twists. Between the lively characters, the unabashed use of magic and interwoven plot this was a stay-up-past-your-bedtime read. An instant favorite on my bookshelf, I will happily reread Breath of Earth many times.

Buy Breath of Earth:
AMAZON LINK

BARNES & NOBLE


Picture
Picture
Beth Cato is the author of the Clockwork Dagger series from Harper Voyager. She’s a Hanford, California native transplanted to the Arizona desert, where she lives with her husband, son, and requisite cat. Follow her at BethCato.com and on Twitter at @BethCato.

Breath of Earth Excerpt:

Very excited to say that Beth Cato sent me an excerpt! This excerpt from chapter 1 offers an introduction to geomancy.
 
Whimpers and moans welcomed Ingrid to the junior classroom. Nearest to the door, a dozen boys half sprawled over their desks. A blue mist overlay their skin, and beneath that mist were the sure signs of power sickness—skin flushed by high fever, thick sweat, dull eyes. The rest of the class stared, their expressions ranging from curiosity to horror. Some of them still showed signs of very recent recovery in their bloodshot eyes. None of these boys was older than ten; the youngest was a pudgy-faced eight.
 
"There you are!" The teacher scowled, as if it were Ingrid’s
fault he’d been so inept with his accounting. Biting her lip, she held out the bag. He snatched it from her fingertips.
 
The chalkboard laid out the terminology of the lesson, one
Ingrid had seen taught dozens of times: hyperthermia, hypothermia, and the quick timeline to a geomancer’s death. These young boys experienced the hard lesson of hyperthermia. The last earthquake noticeable by the wardens had taken place
three days before. These students had been directly exposed to the current and hadn’t been allowed access to any kermanite. As a result, they spent the past few days bed-bound in misery as though gripped by influenza.
 
Thank God none of them were as sensitive as Ingrid. Another direct tremor would cause their temperatures to spike even more, and could even lead to death.
 
The teacher adept pressed a piece of kermanite to a boy’s skin. He gasped at the contact. Blue mist eddied over his body, the color evaporating as it was pulled inside the rock.
 
If she could see the kermanite in the adept’s hand, the clear crystal would be filling with a permanent smoky swirl. It took a trained mechanic to rig an electrical current to tap the trapped magic as a battery. When the energy within was exhausted, a crystal turned dull and dark. Once that happened, kermanite became a useless rock.
 
The young boy sat up straighter. "Thank you, sir," he whispered,
voice still ragged. It would take him hours to fully recover.
 
Ingrid looked away, that familiar anger heavy in her chest.
Wardens and boys in training carried kermanite openly from
watch fobs and cuff links, or most any other accessory where
stones could be easily switched out once they were full.
 
She had to be far more subtle. Her kermanite chunks clinked together in her dress pocket. She had to take care not to touch them today, or the energy she held would be siphoned away.
 
Ingrid loved this slight flush of power, because that’s what it was — power. It sizzled just beneath her skin, intoxicated her
with how it prickled at her nerves. Certainly, if she absorbed
any more energy, she’d use the kermanite. She didn’t want to feel sick, though she could hold much more power than these boys, or even the wardens. Mr. Sakaguchi said she took after
Papa — that she stored power like a bank vault, while most
everyone else had the capacity of a private safe.
 
When it came to her natural skill, Ingrid often regarded herself as a rare fantastic or yokai — not like garden ornamentals like the kappas or naiads sold to the stuffed shirts on Market Street — but like the geomantic Hidden Ones Mr. Sakaguchi so loved to research. She was a creature relegated to idle fancy and obscure mythology, and aggravating shoes.

0 Comments

 Unabashedly Fantastic Reviews - New

9/15/2016

0 Comments

 

Sharing my love of Fantastic books

I read a good deal. By that, I mean anywhere from two to five books a week. Most of those books are in the Fantasy genre. With a habit like that, I read and reread books in my collection as well as buying and discovering new authors. Unfortunately, I find that my tastes are not completely mainstream. Nor are they particularly literary. I can't count on either the New York Times bestseller list or reviews in prominent magazines because I'm usually disappointed by books on either (or both).

What do I love? An amazing story that carries me along. Characters, especially female characters, whose skin I can ride around in for a while. A setting that transports me away from where I am actually sitting. I also like a bit of well-written romance, though it isn't a necessity. As my already-read list grows, so does my need for plots and settings that are written with a twist or in a new and original way. I love books whose writing doesn't get in the way of the story. Where, when I've read for a few moments, I no longer see words. I instead see a moving picture in my mind because of seamless writing, fantastic characters and wondrous settings. I want the book that is so much better than a TV show or film that I don't mind missing my bedtime.

Epic Fantasy is my "carry me away" go-to. But Urban Fantasy is a close second. And of course I'll pick up a bit of alternative history or Steampunk if it's amazing. Science Fiction has to be completely character-driven (and I usually only like SciFi when written by a woman) or I read a chapter and set it down. These days there isn't much difference between Young Adult Fantasy and Adult fantasy so I read it all and probably won't notice who it was directed at.

I've decided to start sharing the books I read that I love. Some will be rereads and have been released years or decades, some will be new. Some I will be rereading because another in the series is coming out and I want the world to be fresh. There is a massive influx of books on the market these days - between self-publishing, vanity publishing, regular publishing and publishing I'm too old to know about the market is flooded. I've learned to my chagrin that much of it is really, really bad. Luckily I read quickly and can tell within a chapter if something is worth my time. This is my way of plucking the gems out of the silt I am sifting and presenting them to you as a reader.  I doubt I'll waste my time on the ones I didn't like. I like focusing on the positive and as a writer know that every book is the author's baby. I don't believe my opinion is the defining well of wisdom.I despise many books that other readers adore and vice versa. So why hurt an author just because I wasn't the audience they were directing the book to?

If you find you like some of the books and authors I'm reading, then this may help you decide future purchases. If you find you hate the books I review then find someone who reads what you love and don't bother me about it. I'm really not interested in hearing that you hated something I loved - this blog is mine not yours and I don't need your narcissism. I will delete negative comments and arrogant jerk posts. Because life is too short to respond to trolls - and way too short to read books you don't love unabashedly.
0 Comments
    Click to view daily statistics

    Archives

    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    Categories

    All
    Author Events
    Editing
    Meditation
    On Writing
    Publishing
    Unabashedly Fantastic

    Author

    I am a writer, with a three book contract with HarperCollins Voyager Impulse for my Desert Rising Fantasy novel series.  I also teach yoga and give yoga workshops and sing kirtan with my husband, Brian.

    Picture

    Links

    Links to other great writers. 
    Bishop O'Connell - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

    A.F.E. Smith -
    Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

    Andy Livingstone - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

    Katherine Harbour - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

    Nancy K Wallace
    - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

    Lexie Dunne
    - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

    Ingrid Seymour
    - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

    Categories

    All
    Author Events
    Editing
    Meditation
    On Writing
    Publishing
    Unabashedly Fantastic

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly