Jude Goodwin captures life's fleeting moments in 'The Night Before Snow'

Title: The Night Before Snow (and other wintry poems)

Author: Jude Goodwin

Genre: Poetry 

Buy The Night Before Snow

What I have to say:

Faithful followers of this blog may know about my poetry addiction. Suffice it to say, this book fed it. I meant to read a few poems a day, but once I started reading, I went through this whole collection of achingly-beautiful poems in one sitting. Yeah. Poetry.

All joking aside, though, wow. As soon as I read the first poem in the collection, I knew I was looking at something special. "There I Was Again," the poem starts, "writing urgently about the rain / as if it would ever stop / or change somehow / into something ordinary."

That stunning opener sets the tone for the rest of the collection. Goodwin has captured life's fleeting, delicate moments--the ones that are gone so soon we never really grasp them--and gathered them into a collection of beautiful, warm, sparkling jewel-poems that speak to the poignancy and wonder of the human experience. Everyday objects and events like rain, couches, heaters, and annual Christmas programs suddenly transform into rare, transcendent experiences.

The night before the first snowfall of the season, for example--there's something magical in the air, like everyone is holding their breath and wishing. I bet few of us have actually stopped to think about that, much less try to write about it. But Goodwin has, and she's done more than try: she's captured the mood perfectly. "It's quieter than any other time of the year. It is the night before snow."

I tried to pick a favorite poem from the collection for this review. I couldn't.

I loved "In Winter" which describes a boy playing the flute in the snow: a sound that will be heard forever in the speaker's memory. I loved the perfectly crafted "I Read Somewhere," so comic and yet so poignant at the same time and for the same reason.  I love "Ode to the Lights" which is about hanging Christmas lights (but is it really?). I love "The Hallelujahs" in which the speaker wonders if there will ever come a time when she won't love the Christmas season--all its hassle, all its repetition, it all sounds like hallelujah to her.

If I had to choose a favorite it might be "Her Music." The speaker loses herself in the piano music of her daughter. If she closes her eyes and listens, "the room is filled with God's rays." I loved all the poems in this collection, but none of them moved me quite as powerfully as this one.

On the outside, these poems are simple. There's no complicated rhyme scheme or cluttering punctuation. The themes are simple, too: love, light, music, snow. Anyone can read these poems, and anyone can relate to them--because we all know what it's like to wait for the snow, or to hang up Christmas lights, or to get attached to a comfy couch.

But that's not where it ends. Like the objects and experiences she writes about, Goodwin's poems speak of something deeper, something more luminous, something more wonderful than simply a couch or the snow or Christmas lights. It's the experience of being human, of being alive--with all the wonder and beauty and joy and poignancy that entails.

Like the snow itself--soft, delicate, melting away all too soon--we live and love with awe in our hearts because we know none of it will last forever. While it lasts, that's what makes it, like the snow, such a gift.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.

Genetic Modification in the Pages of a Children's Book AKA an Anna Rant

Purple Pup

                                    

Author: Karl Steam

Illustrator: Joshua Lagman

Published: November 27 2016

Publisher: Karl Steam

Goodreads Summary: Lav and his friends are the first of their kind, genetically modified to be wonderful pets. They quickly teach the humans that modifying DNA is easy, compared to controlling the animals that are created. Join the adventures that help them discover where they belong in this world, and what they are meant to do. 

My Thoughts

This book was unlike any other I have ever read, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. I've read plenty of books from the dogs point of view - Call of the Wild by Jack London, Thy Servant a Dog by Rudyard Kipling, and  A Dogs Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann Martin to name a few. None of them even tapped into the world of genetic modification. Maybe that was a good thing.

Let me start out by saying that I have a degree in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation, I've studied genetics, community interactions and species needs. I have strong opinions on quality of life for animals kept in captivity. I may not be as excepting of this story as others without my background.

This story explores the world of genetic modification and GMOs through the eyes of Lav the purple pup. And it's disturbing. I hate animal experimentation. I felt uncomfortable by the pain that the puppies and other creatures went through at the labs. I did not like the idea that making animals smaller removed them from their niche. Niches are one of the fundamental pillars of biological and ecological communities, and you can't just erase that and expect an animal to still function properly. The idea that "scientists" would willingly remove an animal from their part in the circle of life was baffling to me. Yes, zoos remove animals from the wild and place them into (hopefully) spacious contained areas where they can be viewed by humans. However, they still have their basic niche. Lions are still given dead gazelles to eat, or at least large forms of meat. They still have their pride, and still get to raise their cubs. Genetic Valley tried to remove the wild from the animal. After shrinking down a lion, they didn't then give him a habitat to suit his needs, they kept him in a cage, and later gave him away as a pet - to live with a regular cat. Just because an animal is smaller doesn't mean it isn't still wild. A lion that can be attacked and killed by a raccoon has had it's DNA messed with by someone pretending to be God, and I don't agree with that in any way, shape or form.

There are three parts to this story - Escape, The Return, and The Wild. Each part changed my ideas as to who the "villain" was. During Escape, in which Lav manages to escape from Genetic Valley, the scientists are clearly the bad guys. At one point it is hinted that they plan to experiment on children. Not good. Creepy. Gross. 

The Return continues that theme, except it becomes clear that some of the animals are being modified to better help humans. Some dogs have extra sense of smell to help with Search and Rescue as well as drug detecting. In fact two dogs have this extra skill. But, they are slightly different, the one that was super modified is mean and wild. I found this to be a hint that the scientists had gone too far. 

The Wild pits the main characters against, well, the wild. They actually join a pack of wolves. It works for some of them. It is during this section that we find out what Genetic Valley is really trying to do - provide humans with good genetically modified items. Crops that promote good health, Cows that can give twice as much milk, dogs better suited for rescue, but also dogs modified simply for color, and softness, animals made luminescent simply for kicks, and wild creatures shrunk down for human enjoyment. Here I think the reader is supposed to realize that Genetic Valley is actually helping people, science just sometimes has a rocky start. I agree with the crops, and search dogs, it's okay to enhance something's natural abilities - to a point. But to change the role of the creature in nature is abhorrent. To make natural camouflagers "glow-in-the-dark" means that they could never be placed back in their natural role. Animals become the way they are through natural selection, and we shouldn't try to reverse that.

Oh, also there's this part with a baby that has glowing yellow eyes . . . which was fun . . .

In the end everything turns out okay, but I was left in a state of confusion as I tried to gauge who the audience of this story even is. The title seems to scream "It's for kids!" and the story telling itself leans that way, but the content is deep, disturbing and over the heads of most children I know. This seems to be a social commentary for adults hidden in the pages of a "children's" story. 

Rating:

Wading through prejudice in Jeffrey Bardwell's 'The Knight's Secret' (relaunched)

Title: The Knight's Secret

Series: The Mage Conspiracy Series (#1)

Author: Jeffrey Bardwell

Genre: Fantasy 

Pages: 217

Publisher: Twigboat Press

Buy The Knight's Secret

What Goodreads has to say:

Sir Corbin, retired Hero of Jerkum Pass, rides for honor, glory, and his pension with the aid of a magic ring. The knight’s mission takes him to the capital of the Iron Empire. The city is in an uproar. The emperor has been slain by rogue mages. The new empress is livid. Soon all mages are suspect . . . including Corbin’s daughter. 

When Corbin dies on the eve of the mission, his granddaughter Kelsa dons his armor and his wrinkles to save her mother. Hidden behind the magic ring, she infiltrates his old regiment. The army has become a slithering nest of vipers. Imperial mages and cavalrymen move warily around each other. Both sides snare the disguised hero in tight coils of suspicion, politics, and lies. When the vengeful empress launches a vendetta against all mage kind, Kelsa must decide whether to save her family or preserve the empire. 

Unravel The Knight’s Secret, the first fantasy adventure of The Mage Conspiracy series. Discover a world of lurid entanglements and political intrigue where lies cut deeper than any sword.

What I have to say:

First of all, this is The Knight's Secret relaunched: version 2.0. (I reviewed 1.0 here.)

Now twice as gritty, twice as thrilling, and twice as thought-provoking.

Also twice as much sex, but we'll get to that in a minute.

This book gave me a lot to think about. In fact, while I've found all of Jeffrey Bardwell's books to be at least somewhat thought-provoking, this one takes the cake. 

There are two issues at the heart of The Knight's Secret: gender and prejudice. Both are beautifully illustrated in the way the story unfolds, and both feel extremely relevant right now. So I'm going to talk about them.

The gender divide

Our hero is a girl (Kelsa) -- disguised as a man. This isn't just a Shakespeare in Love situation; Kelsa is under a (voluntary) enchantment that makes her look and talk like her recently deceased grandfather, Sir Corbin Destrus. The longer she spends in his body, the more she begins to think and act like him, until it seems Corbin may have taken over entirely. But not quite.

Elsewhere, we have an empress who's just taken over from her deceased father. Wow -- wait. Didn't even think about that parallel until I wrote that sentence just now. Cool.

We've also got Maven: a mage and Corbin's former lover; and Drake: an old warrior and Corbin's best friend. 

Of course, there are plenty of other characters as well, and the gender divide plays out on smaller scales in all of them, notably in Kelsa's mother and father.

OK it's time to talk about sex.

So like, yeah, having sex with the woman who may or may not be your grandmother is super awkward. But like, Kelsa seems to have no problem with it so.... whateves.  

(This is where I point out that this book is PG-13. Like, it wasn't super graphic or anything, but definitely there's some... stuff... going on.)

Here's one of the places we see the gender gap most clearly. It's a different experience for each gender: Corbin and Maven. But since Kelsa has experienced it from both sides, she picks up on that difference. Then she makes love to a woman the way she knows women want to be loved.

But it's not just in the bedroom that gender differences come to light. It's in the story of the Battle of Jerkum Pass, where two women and one man make a fatal mistake -- and no one but the three of them ever know the true story. It's in the plots and intrigues that swirl around the city -- to which men and women give different responses. It's in the way Drake and the empress treat Maven -- calling her a witch and disrespecting her at every turn -- when they treat Corbin with evident respect and deference. 

And Kelsa? She's the bridge. Corbin and Kelsa in one, she brings the two genders together, just as she tries to bring the mages and soldiers together.

The mage prejudice

So I only realized this time through that this book takes place way before the events of The Artifice Mage saga. (I mean, there's literally the year at the beginning of every chapter so IDK how I missed that, just unobservant apparently.) Once I realized that, I was excited to see things like the mage detectors and the Black Guards coming into being, because those are already mainstays of Devin's world in The Artifice Mage saga. But enough plugs.

Just as there's a divide between men and women, there's a growing divide between the soldiers and the mages of the Imperial Army. While they're still on fairly good terms (depending on who you ask though, really), there's definitely tension in the room -- and it's building. 

It doesn't help that the empress seems determined to ramp up that tension for her own purposes. But just as she tries to bridge the gap between men and women, Kelsa tries to hold fast the growing divide in the army. 

So maybe there's only one issue at the heart of this book after all. It's about more than just the gender gap or societal prejudice. (Though those are pretty big issues in themselves.) 

In other words, it's not the difference itself that's the issue. 'Cause there will always be differences, whether they're differences of gender, ability, race, class, you name it. It's not hard to find the differences. It's hard to find the similarities.

And what this is all about is that we hone in on the ways we differ when we should hone in on the things we share.

That's The Knight's Secret.

And now that I'm in real danger of waxing too poetical, I'll wrap up. Thank you Jeffrey Bardwell, as always, for another rousing, darkly fascinating adventure. I look forward to sharing the next part of Kelsa's journey. And I look forward to sharing more literary travels with all you lovely readers, because at the end of the day, that's why we read, isn't it? To know we're not alone.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.

Happy Hobbit Day!

“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

May you keep looking for good books and always find ones that aren't exactly what you were after--because they're far better. 

Erin (center), Anna (right), and their sister in Oxford at a Tolkien exhibit. There was much geeking out.

From The Wood Between the Worlds to your own cozy Hobbit hole, Erin and Anna wish you a very happy Hobbit Day. 

My stress levels rise thanks to R.E. Palmer's 'The Gates of Dawn'

Title: The Gates of Dawn

Series: The Never Dawn (#3)

Author: R.E. Palmer

Genre: YA Sci-Fi / Dystopian

Publisher: FrontRunner Publications

Date: August 17 2017

Pages: 398 pages

Buy The Gates of Dawn

What Goodreads has to say:

Banished to the surface, Noah and his team struggle to survive in the harsh climate and are forced to make a difficult decision. In their quest to see the first dawn, they make a shocking discovery about their past that could help Noah bring Mother's cruel regime to an end.

What I have to say:

You know that feeling when you're nearing the end of a book, and there's maybe ten pages left, and everything is a complete mess and you're like, "how the heck can we salvage this situation? Ain't no way. Everyone's gonna die."

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present R.E. Palmer's The Gates of Dawn. 

This book was so stressful. Not only at the end when I was like, but wait, are they not going to win after all???? No, this book was just stressful all the way through. Like--Is this person going to die? No, they can't die! I really really like them! (Hi Reuben). Shoot, is Noah going to die? Noah can't die, he's the narrator and we still have three-fourths of the book left! But wait, is he dead? Crap, maybe everyone's going to die.

It kept me invested, it kept me guessing, and it kept me holding my breath right up to the very end. The characters' pain was my pain. Their small victories filled me with joy. Their shocking discoveries induced my horror.

Before moving on, can we take just a moment to appreciate this masterful opening paragraph:

"It turns out you can't touch the sky. I guess I really should have known it wasn't possible. But I mustn't be critical of my younger self. In every picture I'd drawn in the nursery, I'd colored the top third in blue and left the page blank until the green line of the fields where I would be playing happily with Mother."

At the beginning of The Gates of Dawn, Noah, Rebekah, and a handful of their friends (I use the term loosely because one of them wants Noah dead) are sent down to New Earth by Mother. That should be cause for celebration, right? Yeah, sure, I mean except for the fact that New Earth seems to be a dark, frozen planet incapable of supporting life.

They decide to trek across the planet in search of fertile ground, but it's by no means a smooth journey. Think avalanches, sea storms, and the occasional murder attempt by that person who's not really Noah's friend. In other words, it's truly an adventure.

But what Noah and his "friends" eventually learn on New Earth sends them back to The Ark, in one final attempt to topple "Mother" from her seat of power and save themselves and everyone else still living in The Ark.

While I loved this book, and in fact, the whole series (well done on your first trilogy, R.E. Palmer), I ultimately had a problem with the ending for some reason. Being my usual super helpful self, I'm not sure exactly what that problem was. Of course, it's hard that, oh wait, hold on a sec-

********************************************************

*WARNING: SPOILERS*

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OK hi. So it's hard that Noah and Rebekah end up separated at the end, and my heart aches for Rebekah who's still stuck under Mother's dominion (though we can hope that Mother is a little nicer now, right?). 

But I don't think that's where my problem with the ending lies. Maybe I wasn't sure exactly what happened at the end--how Noah averted the crisis? Or maybe averting the crisis turned out to be too simple? (Activating the fail-safe by pressing a button.) Maybe I wanted more people to die? IDK.

Or maybe it was the epilogue that fell flat for me. Maybe I needed more trees, or maybe I needed Abraham or Seth to be there. Maybe I needed something more akin to the beautiful moment in this book where Noah looks up at the first sunset he's ever seen and is overcome:

"I blink. A tear runs down my cheek. I can't touch the sky, but it can touch me."

All in all, though, this was a great story and I enjoyed it immensely. Even though I think the final book was ultimately my least favorite of the three, simply because I didn't feel it was quite as masterful as the first two (The Never Dawn and Cloud Cuckoo), it was still a fantastic, gripping dystopian adventure.

Yeah, it was heck of stressful. But that's how I like 'em.

Rating: 

(like... 3 and a half...? Can we get half a tree?)

Until tomorrow.

Twist follows twist in R.E. Palmer's dystopian 'Cloud Cuckoo'

Title: Cloud Cuckoo

Series: The Never Dawn (#2)

Author: R.E. Palmer

Genre: YA Sci-Fi / Dystopian

Pages: 222

Publisher: FrontRunner Publications

Date: August 26 2016

Buy Cloud Cuckoo

What Goodreads has to say:

Following their shock discovery, Noah and Rebekah reluctantly return to the lower levels of The Ark. Isolated and apart once more, Noah struggles to remember what happened at the surface and suspects Mother has altered his memory. 

But Noah's attempts to unite the workers to rebel are halted when Mother begins The Purge. Her cruel, relentless trials bring Noah to breaking point as he fights to survive when faced by his worst fears. Forced to accept Mother's terms after a month in Re-Education, Noah finally learns the truth about his people's past that leave him determined to defeat her once and for all. 

What I have to say:

I have to admit, when I learned the title of this book, my mind immediately jumped to The Lego Movie--that supremely awesome, completely perfect work of art which we will not discuss here--but this Cloud Cuckoo is very different from the fluffy cloud-realm inhabited by rainbows and unicorn kitties. 

Then again, I'd be lying if I said this story had nothing in common with The Lego Movie. There's a totalitarian leader who masks their sinister actions behind a benevolent image. There's a clueless young worker who gradually comes to lead the rebellion. There's a spaceship.

Laying obligatory Lego Movie comments aside, though, let's dig into R.E. Palmer's Cloud Cuckoo, the second book in his dystopian series The Never Dawn.

This book is fast and furious. Book one, The Never Dawn, immersed us in the world of The Ark--an underground (or so we thought) society ruled by an all-powerful figure known as Mother. Our protagonist, Noah, is a worker helping to bring about the New Dawn by assembling weapons day in and day out. But at the end of The Never Dawn, in a brilliant twist of an ending, we realize that nothing on The Ark is as it seems. And at that point the book ended.

In Cloud Cuckoo, we pick up directly where book one left off. Noah and his friend Rebekah have made a life-changing discovery--The Ark is a spaceship. Meanwhile, someone in The Ark is concealing a secret book that could expose Mother's lies, and Mother is determined to find that person. In fact, as you may have guessed, that person is none other than Noah himself. 

In order to catch the thief, Mother invokes a Purge--and boy, it's rough. She opens up the floor and sends everyone down to a dark, low, compact level where they'll sleep in tubes that seal shut and where they'll be served only tiny portions of green mush for every meal.

But it gets worse. Everyone will undergo interrogation at the hands of Mother's prefects.

Dude, this section is so intense. (Yeah, I use the word "dude" when I get really excited. I'm not sure why.) People are dropping like flies. Noah is starting to suspect everyone. Could his fellow team member Barnabas know something? Could he be planning to betray Noah to the prefects? And what will Noah tell the prefects when his turn comes?

It's such a great way to open the second book in the series, because after that revelation at the end of book one, we all know Noah can't just go back to his old life. The stakes are high, and Mother's Purge raises them even higher. It's relentless, it's grueling, and it's a page-turner.

Noah's not perfect. And he's not yet the brave leader he'll become later on in the series. Unable to handle the pain inflicted by the prefects--during The Purge interrogation and later in Re-Education, he buckles. He gives names.

The stakes just get higher and higher, and eventually Noah is forced to admit that he has the book. He's then sent to Re-Education, where, after enduring intense pain and betraying a few more of his friends, he's effectively brainwashed and sent back to his old life--well, not exactly. He's assigned to the kitchens. But that doesn't last.

Throughout the rest of the book, Noah moves from one level of the ship to another, gradually attaining new levels of knowledge as he climbs the social strata. Mother is leading him toward her ultimate goal--she will turn him into a Hero Worker, a role-model for the others to look up to, someone who follows Mother devotedly and inspires everyone to keep working for The New Dawn. 

But Noah's goal is very different. He'll expose Mother's lies and stir the others up to rebellion. They'll defeat Mother and find their way to New Earth, so they can finally be free of this ship and start a new life on the surface.

Unfortunately, Noah learns what many before him have already discovered--revolution is freaking hard.

If The Never Dawn led up to that one gut-wrenching twist at the very end, Cloud Cuckoo delivers a new twist every few chapters, each one more shocking than the last. Again and again, the author fools you into thinking you know what's going on, only to pull the carpet out from under your feet. No way! That was a shock. OK, but now you know what's going on. Ha ha nope! And so on.

I loved every mind-boggling, gasp-inducing twist and turn. I was so invested and I couldn't stop reading. I had to know what was going to happen next.

I think I have a bias toward middle books in a trilogy. Maybe it's because the middle book is the one that really tests the characters and molds them into the heroes they'll be in book three. Maybe it's because the middle book is always so intense and twisty. Maybe it's because I just love watching everything go to pot. 

Whatever the reason, I've now finished The Never Dawn trilogy (review of book three to come), so I can safely tell you that Cloud Cuckoo was my favorite of the three. It's not that the other two weren't also great--it's just that this book is so masterfully done. I love watching the characters develop and I love watching their relationships harden. I love experiencing Noah's pain, shock, and despair alongside him. 

Hmmm, OK, on second thought, that doesn't sound like it should be fun. I guess I'm just a sucker for those failed revolution plot-lines.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.

When the alphabet goes rogue: Review of B.C.R. Fegan's 'The Day that A Ran Away'

Title: The Day that A Ran Away

Author: B.C.R. Fegan

Illustrator: Lenny Wen

Buy on Amazon

After their adorable Henry and the Hidden Treasure, author and illustrator B.C.R. Fegan and Lenny Wen are at it again--serving up an imaginative, quirky little adventure sure to delight both children and parents. It delighted me, and I'm a fully functioning adult (maybe).

On the story's first page, young Jet faces a common dilemma: he hasn't completed his homework assignment. 

Or wait--he has! But no sooner had he finished writing out the alphabet in his school notebook then (gasp) the letter A ran away!

From there we launch into Jet's high-flown (and fully rhyming, naturally) explanation of what happened to all the letters he wrote down in his notebook. One can only imagine his teacher, Mrs. May, listening with increasing incredulity, but Jet, not one to be deterred, gets through the whole alphabet before Mrs. May gives her verdict.

I got about halfway through this delightful picture book before I realized that each page features a number of objects starting with that particular letter. Also, each letter resembles something that starts with it, so to give you an idea: V is a volcano, K is a king, and M is an adorable furry monster. Then, of course, I had to start over from the beginning and find all the Easter eggs on each page. 

As a kid, I loved books like that (and apparently I still do), so I can only imagine how much fun younger readers will have searching for all the hidden objects on each page--and I'm sure they'll laugh at the whimsical appearances of Jet's rogue letters.

I'll let you find out for yourself whether or not Jet's incredible story wins points with Mrs. May, but this simple, quirky story definitely won points with me. If Jet can just manage to keep his letters on the page for once, I think he's got a promising future as a writer.




Until tomorrow.

Revolution, Empire, and Dragons: Review of Jeffrey Bardwell's 'Hidden Revolt'

Title: Hidden Revolt

Series: The Artifice Mage Saga (#3)

Author: Jeffrey Bardwell

Genre: Fantasy / Steampunk / YA 

Pages: 346

Publisher: Twigboat Press

Buy Hidden Revolt

What Goodreads has to say:

Would you lead a revolution for psychotic criminal mages? 

The Iron Empire is ripe for revolt. The guilds are repressive, the price of dragon rum and steaks are soaring. The mage menace spreads unchecked. Resentment builds. One day a young hero struts into the capital . . . and vows to smash the imperial palace with dragon power. 

Devin, more artifice than mage with his mechanical foot, returns to the empire, his nemesis Captain Vice in hot pursuit. The firebrand mage stirs the passions of imperial citizens under the guise of dragon conservation. Are they not all like slabs of dragon flesh: once powerful and mighty, but the empire bleeds them until nothing remains but bones and ruptured organs? The message resonates. A rebellion is born in secrecy and treachery. Beneath their cloaks of lies and shifting alliances, mages, gentry, and commoners alike reach for the mantle of the shattered dragon while Captain Vice's iron fist slowly closes around them. 

Rise up and smash the state in Book Three of The Artifice Mage Saga. Join the fantasy steampunk brawl of metal vs. magic where sorcery is bloody, science is greasy, and nobody's hands are clean.

What I have to say:

In answer to that first question: Honestly I'd lead a revolution for just about anybody, I'm just looking for an excuse to revolt.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's take a look at the most epic Author's Note in the history of books I've read. Here's how it ends:

"So [Hidden Revolt] isn't really Les Mis with dragons. All right, no more dissembling: it's totally Les Mis with dragons (if early nineteenth century Paris was the capital of an evil steampunk empire.) C'est la vie."

If that was a bribe, I'll take it. Your book is now getting at least a four-tree review, Jeffrey Bardwell.

So anyway, I love Les Mis. I love revolution. I love dragons. Hidden Revolt had it all.

That said, I'm not sure it beats Rotten Magic, which remains my favorite in the Artifice Mage Saga. Still, it's pretty fun.

Things get progressively darker, grittier, and more chaotic as the Artifice Mage Saga continues, definitely proving that nobody's hands are clean. (Honestly, NOBODY has clean hands in this series, except for maybe sweet little Styx, but I'm sure that's only temporary.)

Speaking of Styx -- the wooden automaton given life by Devin -- how much more awesome can you get than Frankenstein, Les Mis, steampunk, dragons, and revolution all in the same book?????

Excuse me as I try to (momentarily) stop being such a literary nerd (English majors die hard).

Let's talk about Devin, the artifice mage himself. This book is a turning point for him. K, maybe I could also have said that about the last two books, because every moment seems to be a turning point for Devin, he's just turbulent in general. But this is the book where he really seems to start growing up. He realizes some things. He learns some lessons. He starts to grow humble. (He's not entirely there yet, but we'll give him credit for making progress, at least.)

The proof comes toward the end of Hidden Revolt, when Devin faces a dragon and has a sudden moment of self-awareness: "All those other scaly beasts in the sky and yet here you are, alone. You hunt alone. You live alone. I used to be like you." In the next moment, Devin calls to his boss band of revolutionary mage ninjas (like seriously, that's kind of what they are), and together they fight the dragon. Devin's realized it doesn't pay to fight alone. Perhaps he's not quite the dragon-boy after all -- or at least, not anymore.

If I have any gripe with Hidden Revolt, it's the same one I had about the last book in the series (Broken Wizards), and it's a weakness I'm very sensitive to because it's something I struggle with as a writer of fiction. These characters talk too much. In some moments, that's fine, because part of the point is that they can't get their revolution off the ground because they just go around in circles talking. But when the characters are trying to escape from the emperor's prison, or facing a humongous fire-breathing dragon, having a leisurely conversation doesn't feel natural.

Luckily, with a little unintended help from the emperor, Devin and his friends do manage to get their revolution off the ground, and I assume the next book in the Artifice Mage series will address this thought-provoking question which Devin ponders mid-way through Hidden Revolt:

"Can people who just spent all their energy tearing something down suddenly turn around and start building?"

We'll see if Devin's dragon revolution can succeed where so many others have failed. We'll also see whether or not Armand Delacourt Vice is still alive and if so, whether or not he's eventually going to commit suicide by... I don't know... jumping off a bridge.

Meanwhile, can someone please write a straight-up version of Les Mis with dragons? It's now the story I never knew I always wanted.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.

Tomorrow never comes in R.E. Palmer's 'The Never Dawn'

Title: The Never Dawn

Series: The Never Dawn (#1)

Author: R.E. Palmer

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Publisher: FrontRunner Publications

Pages: 352 pages

Buy The Never Dawn

What Goodreads has to say:

All his young life, Noah has longed to see the sky he's only heard about in stories. For over one hundred years, Noah's people have toiled deep beneath the Earth preparing for The New Dawn – the historic day when they will emerge to reclaim the land stolen by a ruthless enemy. 

But when Rebekah, the girl of his forbidden desire, discovers a secret their leader has been so desperate to keep, Noah suspects something is wrong. Together, they escape and begin the long climb to the surface. But nothing could prepare them for what awaits outside.

What I have to say:

In a nutshell? I loved it.

OK, I'll say a little more.

This is a YA dystopian novel, with a similar feel to The Giver. There's also a definite Biblical element, conjured up by the Biblical names (Noah, Rebekah, Abraham, etc.) and the building of the "Ark." I thought that element was put to very good use, serving as a sort of touchstone that strengthened the narrative and lent it more power. I found this story engaging, gritty, and thought-provoking.

Noah, the protagonist, is a great character: sympathetic, relatable, and developing over the course of the story. As a reader, I found it very easy to get behind him, think what he was thinking, and feel what he was feeling. I liked that he was vulnerable, and very much a young adult, with all of the emotional confusion that entails. All the characters seemed very real and true to life, which helped me immerse myself in the story and really care about the characters. 

While we're talking author appreciation, here's something I am very grateful for: R.E. Palmer excels at dealing with PG-13 scenes in a way that doesn't make me want to close the book and go vomit. His technique is to leave most to your imagination, which, as good storytellers know, often proves more effective. There were a few moments in this story where I started to get a little nervous, thinking it was about to get really inappropriate, but the author didn't go there. The scene either turned out differently than the way I'd anticipated, or cut off before things got really messy. As a result, the story felt dark and gritty, but it never actually made me uncomfortable in that kind of way. I very much appreciate that.

Another thing I appreciate? That gut-twister of an ending! Whew. OK. Anyway.

This book isn't just black and white, and it's not the dystopian story you think you know. Let me clarify: you may think it's the dystopian story you know for the first 95% of the book, but then the author just rips the bottom out from under you. It's fantastic.

I was hooked on The Never Dawn from the beginning to the final page. If you're a fan of gripping, well-told YA dystopian fiction with a twist, I definitely recommend it.

Rating:

Until tomorrow (if tomorrow ever comes).

Second books and second chances: Guest post from Ant Richards, author of 'Damned If I Don't'

Well hello there. Long time no see. 

(Unless you were just on here yesterday, IDK, I promise I'm not a stalker.)

This week, we've got a guest post from author Ant Richards. Learn about the process behind his new collection of short stories, Damned If I Don't, and decide if you're secure enough in yourself to crack it open....

They left the building hand in hand and walked towards Matt’s car; Mel blushing and Matt feeling like a million dollars.

‘This is my beauty,’ Matt announced, proud as they reached to where he had parked his car.

Mel was impressed at the sight, mainly for the wrong reasons. The car, a ’82 Ford Fiesta, had certainly seen better days. With a few small dents here and there, a few minor scratches and signs of rust around the wheels, it resembled its owner; juvenile, rough on the edges, with a European flair to it, defiant, rebellious, yet cute and loveable.

Matt opened the passenger door for Mel and invited her in.

‘So Mel, what do you think, the pinnacle of class and sophistication, eh?’

‘Reminds me of you,’ she replied all giggly.

‘It’s all I can afford at the moment,’ he had replied embarrassed.

Immediately, Mel pushed up the lock under the window and made as if she was about to open the door and get out of the car.

‘What are you doing?’ Matt feared his battered, little, un-American car had scared her off.

‘You see, I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to ride in the car or help you push it.’

"The Full Circle"

Running naked, splashing the warm foam of the recently crashed wave on the sand on a sunny summer morning is priceless. Accidentally stepping on a hole, you could have sworn wasn’t there and falling face first on the sand is, well, stupid. But that’s the way it ends. All the time.

Jimmy Kerr’s eyelids feel heavy, dry, and grainy. Nevertheless, he still makes the effort. As his eyes adjust to the dimly lit room, he sadly realises nothing has changed. Same dream. Same ending. 

Repeatedly and ruthlessly cruel.

Has another day passed?

Just an hour?

He couldn’t care less. There is no way of knowing, so why bother?

"The Sentence"

While wrecking my brains trying to complete what would become my debut novel In Your Dreams, finding the time, the inspiration, and basically, the will to continue writing, I came across loose ideas to add to the storyline.

As sometimes happens, they didn’t necessarily fit in with the original story I was working on, but after discarding a few ideas, I decided to keep some of them as they came along in my head. At the time, I had joined Wattpad, and then it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to turn these loose ideas into short stories. That way, besides being a good writing exercise, and a way to churn out more ideas to add to In Your Dreams, it could be a good way to showcase my writing to other Wattpad members, and start growing an audience in preparation for my first book’s release.

In Your Dreams was released in July 2014, and in between trying to market that title and life getting in the way, I continued developing these short stories. I must have had three or four by that time.

I then decided that this collection of tales could be my second release.

Working on these short stories I believe really helped develop my writing style, and taught me that there was no need for clever, complicated words to convey an entertaining and easy-to-understand message. It was a great learning curve that taught me that simple is usually more effective.

I explore various different genres with these stories, always however, keeping a few common aspects. In each story, irrespective of its genre, there is an element of dark humour, regret, false hope at times, but ultimately, a moment of lost opportunity. Oh, and the South East London element of some of my characters or locations. Damned If I Don’t, therefore, became a fitting title for these tales.

Life is a journey of opportunities, decisions, and tests. The means and tools are scattered throughout our life and it’s up to us to decide which we use or which we ditch. More often than not, we will decide on the outcome depending on what choices we make and what risks we take.

So, if you love short tales packed with romance, suspense, dramas, South East London gangsters, speakeasies in Spanish beach towns, bad decisions, even worse behaviour, a ruthless enforcer and a missing cell phone then you shouldn’t miss reading Damned If I Don’t. After all, what can possibly go wrong?

It’s available on Amazon in e-book and paperback format.

But hurry, you won’t always get a second chance.

Ant Richards

Confusion, Catastrophes and Carnivores (no really I feel like a lot of people almost get eaten)

TwoSpells

Author: Mark Marrison

Published: February 21, 2018 by Mark Morrison

Goodreads summary: Sarah and her twin brother Jon are heirs to an ancient magical realm and its most valuable treasure, an enchanted library. The library endows readers with the supernatural means of crossing into the uncharted inner-sanctum of the second dimension, inhabited with peculiar and sometimes perilous creatures. 

The children are emboldened with a wondrous mystical gift that no other being has ever possessed. But fate intervenes and triggers a disastrous inter-dimensional war that disrupts the fabric of time and space spanning multiple universes, tearing destiny a new and savage pathway. 

The two must rescue their world from a phantom hybrid alien race controlled by a demented dark-wizard, Jeremy Sermack. They will either assimilate or be exterminated. 

Will they be the saviors the prophets spoke of, or will they retreat to the perceived safety of their distant homeland?

My Thoughts:

This is a really good idea for a story. The plot is complex and the characters are likable. Mysteries abound throughout the book. The idea of a magical library where you can enter the books is fantastic, and I loved the descriptions of TwoSpells and the magic creatures that dwell within or roundabouts.

I liked that Tornado Abaddon was easily bought off with pickles, and that Sarah and Jon acted like 13 year olds.

I liked that the woodworm Boose was also sweet, this was a theme throughout the story that animals are often just misunderstood, not inherently evil, and can learn to be kind and tame.

However, I got lost lots of times and had no idea what was going on. Characters seemingly appeared out of no where, and others were lost just as easily. Characters also adapted to magical creatures with an ease that was uncanny. For instance, take the drive to the grandparents home. Percy (the Mom's boyfriend) is driving and while in the car the family experiences multiple phenomenon that seem as if they will be explained later, but aren't. Was that a werewolf? Did Percy get bit? Why in the world were they suddenly back in time, and why did an arrow penetrate the side of their car???

Things at the house are also strange, the missing mirrors is never explained, and neither is Clyde's betrayal (at least not thoroughly). Once the family gets to TwoSpells things go into overdrive. Catastrophe after catastrophe occur back-to-back-to-back with no time for breathing room or plot explanation. 

See the beginning of the book goes at a good speed, and then suddenly everything begins to happen and characters that weren't mentioned before are suddenly running amuck and there's this strange virus that I still don't understand and suddenly the bad-guy has a sidekick, and the bad-guy is also the twins dad and their mom is a monster AND I GOT SO LOST!!!! (PLEASE SEND HELP).

I mean like, things got weird. I felt like it was three stories mashed into one. Each catastrophe could've had about three more chapters and even then it might not be explainable. 

Basically I read the whole book and still don't really know why or how things happened, and did Jon really get sucked into a wormhole? Because it was kind of unclear, and I don't know about you but if any of my siblings got sucked into a blackhole, I would be a wreck for days, and not be as cool and rational as Sarah was. 

So overall, this story has A LOT of potential, good characters and a great setting, but everything needs to be expanded. Things need explaining (like where in the freak did Jeremy come from) and emotions need to be better expressed (looking at you Sarah), this book could really be great if given more attention and care.

Rating:

In which Erin questions her own sanity after reading Jeffrey Bardwell's 'Rotten Magic' rewrite

Title: Rotten Magic

Series: The Artifice Mage Saga (#1)

Author: Jeffrey Bardwell

Genre: Fantasy / Steampunk / YA 

Publisher: Twigboat Press

Buy Rotten Magic

"It's their hidden fire we fear, that horrible force waiting to burst out. But they're not monsters. They're human beings lost in their own power." - Rotten Magic

Blurb:

Would you sacrifice your future to practice magic?

Artificers are the gilded princes of the Iron Empire. Mages are violent criminal outcasts. Devin competes to become the best artificer in the empire . . . but he's secretly a mage.

All the apprentices in the Artificer's Guild compete by building crude prototypes of powered armor for mock battles. When Devin transforms himself into a mechanical dragon to slaughter the competition, his rival Benson steps into the role of dragon slayer. But Devin's secret grows heavier as he claws his way to the top. He's started hearing eerie voices in his head: the stout words of the being he calls 'the artificer' and the oily voice of 'the mage.' How long can Devin be satisfied with fake dragon armor when the promise of true arcane power whispers in his ear?

Embark on Devin's dark epic journey in Book One of The Artifice Mage Saga. Join the fantasy steampunk brawl of metal vs. magic where sorcery is bloody, science is greasy, and nobody's hands are clean.

Me: 

If you're thinking, "Hey, wait, didn't she already review this book?" The answer is "yes and no." 

Previously on this blog, I reviewed Rotten Magic 1.0. 

This is Rotten Magic 2.0. 

I thought the first one was pretty perfect when I read it, so when the author (Jeffrey Bardwell) asked me if I'd like to review a "new and improved" version, I was all on board. But I was a little dubious. How could anyone improve on the fast-paced, delightfully dark story of metal and mages that was Rotten Magic 1.0? 

Regardless, I gave it a read.

I. Loved. It.

Guys, Rotten Magic 2.0 is even better than the first version!

The main story is still intact, as are the characters. There's just more of it, and of them. 

The biggest change from version 1 to 2 occurs in the character of Drusilla: Devin's best friend and fellow apprentice artificer. In version 1, she's more of a minor character. In 2, she's one of the story's two narrators (the other is Devin). 

In my opinion, Drusilla's vamped up role and voice add a lot to the story. It's cool to compare her background, personality, and attitude with Devin's, and it's nice to get a female narrator along with the male one - it brings dimension and depth. Drusilla also comes from a sympathetic background: her family is poor and her father is abusive. 

That said, I'm a little perplexed over Drusilla's actions at the end of the story. Encouraging Devin to free himself by exposing his mage powers to the Black Guards seems like a very roundabout way of helping out your best friend. That said, it's such an insane chain of reasoning that I kind of dig it. (Petition for Drusilla to return in a future book where we realize she's completely nuts.)

Even if she's not bonkers, it's conceivable that the pressures of being an artificer apprentice, together with the stressful time of year (it's evals), her troubled home life, and her frustrations over Devin's actions would drive her to think in illogical ways. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't see any sane person doing what Drusilla did to Devin; but I can buy it if Drusilla herself is a little off.

Now that I think of it, she's not the only one. Devin is constantly struggling to remain in control of himself and his powers (this is another element of the book that I love and could probably write a whole nother blog post on); and the fact that he goes along with Drusilla at the end indicates that maybe the two of them are unhinged in the same way. Drusilla's father is a bit wacko; and so is Devin's nemesis, the bully Benson. Even some of the established artificers show signs of being a little off-kilter. Shoot, is anyone in this story completely sane? 

This is partly why I love Jeffrey Bardwell's books so much: his characters are flawed. When it comes to fictional characters, I'm all about the Lokis, the Lady Macbeths, the Victor Frankensteins.

Why? These characters are just so interesting to read about. It's fascinating to get inside their heads and explore their twisted logic, or to guess at what they'll do next when every move they make is so unpredictable. Devin is a Victor Frankenstein if ever there was one. So while I compared him to Ender in my previous review (albeit a warped Ender), I'm sticking with Frankenstein here. 

Here's where I mention that this book is steampunk and fantasy, and what a delightful thing it is to get a book that's cross-genre in my two favorite categories. Thank you, Jeffrey Bardwell.

Another thing I love about this book - in both its incarnations, but especially in the second one - is its pacing. While I usually avoid reading other reviews of a book until after I've written mine, I accidentally read one on Goodreads that compared reading Rotten Magic to watching a train crash in slow motion, and boy is that accurate! I know it's all going to end in tears, but I can't tear myself away!

"We are in control of this situation. The phrase echoed through Devin's mind. For so long, I've wrestled to stay in control. And for what? ...Everything still burst into flames in the end."

Why do I find a train wreck so fascinating? Is it possible I, too, am a little sadistic? A little bit... off?

This is a book review, not a psychoanalysis session, so I'll leave it at that.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.