Review: The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum

The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was torn between a 2 and 3 star rating, but because of how I feel after reading it, I'm afraid it just gets a 2. This book was parts entertaining and frustrating. There were concepts introduced in the Hourglass Door –– time travel, the river of time, the hourglass door/time machine –– that I hoped would get more explanation in the Golden Spiral. (It's possible I've forgotten some things from the first book, so forgive me if there are some things I've missed.) There were some character interactions I enjoyed, though, which I think is what saved this book for me.

Review: Price of Creation by Lance Conrad

Source: Dawnstar Press

Price of Creation, by Lance Conrad (Historian Tales #1)
My Rating: 1/5

(Note: This review is for an audio-book version)

I first heard about Price of Creation through one of my brothers, and I'm always open to a new fantasy novel. Price of Creation was so terrible, and it's one of the few novels that left me feeling angry by the end; that hasn't happened since Angela Hunt's Esther.

First I'll talk about the pros. I liked the idea of people being born with stones, and the division between the land and the misunderstanding going on between the creators and the destroyers. I thought Sadivir's growth and training through his adolescence was well thought-out and -written.

That may be about all that this story really had going for it. The story had several cons, and they mostly circled around one thing.

The Historian.

Review: Courageous by Dina L. Sleiman

Source:
 http://valiantheartsseries.blogspot.com/

Courageous, by Dina L. Sleiman (Valiant Hearts Book 3)

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

In an earlier review on Chivalrous I addressed my issue with the sub-plot about Rosalind aborting her unborn child, and how it didn't seem to go anywhere.  Later on I learned about this upcoming book, Courageous, and how it follows Rosalind.  I'm grateful that Ms. Sleiman wrote this one, as one of the central plots of this story is Rosalind reconciling that choice in Chivalrous.

I actually didn't have too many issues with this story.  Historical fiction/romance isn't my favorite genre, but I enjoyed reading about the adventure Rosalind and other characters go through on a Christian crusade in the Middle East.

There were a lot of characters to keep track of, which weakened the story a bit for me, but fortunately the author stuck most of the development to Rosalind and Randel Penigree.  Rosalind goes through a gradual but believable self-healing process, learning more to depend on God.  Randel has some PTSD after accidentally killing one of his own allies, which he deals with with Rosalind's help.  One of the other characters tries to frame Randel for killing their brother, but fails miserably, showing that hate doesn't let you progress anywhere.

One of my few issues with the writing was using incomplete sentences to describe an experience or reaction.  For example:

"Five fighters remained, but they were fierce.  Swinging and slashing with the desperation of men who knew they were outnumbered."- Pg. 219

A good reader expects a sentence to be complete and properly punctuated, no matter how long or short.  I actually had to read the bolded part of this sentence a few times to understand that she was progressing the action into a new but incomplete sentence.  This made reading jarring and unpleasant.  Fortunately there were only a few instances of this bad editing.

I really enjoyed the adventure aspect of this story.  Our characters sail to Tripoli, and then travel south to find prisoners to free.  The several different personalities present in the large group made for a dynamic read.  The inspiration for their adventure is a visionary young woman named Sapphira, and she develops from being just one of the children to a source of leadership for her older sister and even a group of Templars.

Rosalind and Randel developed a romance throughout this story, even though they keep trying to convince themselves that they're destined for paths of celibacy.  However, through their romance they come to understand that they need to follow the plans God has for them.  Of course, this means that the two get together in the end.

Rosalind's redemption from her sins and self-deprecation was my favorite aspect of this story; I'm a sucker for redemption stories in general, and I appreciated the approach Ms. Sleiman took to Courageous.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Love Unexpected

Love Unexpected
by Jody Hedlund

My rating: 3/5 Stars

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  I think it's a win-win situation for reader, publisher, and author.  Free marketing is awesome.

Anywho, this is my first dive into historical romance.  I'm not very familiar with the genre, and so this review is going to be a little hard for me.  I'm so used to reviewing mostly fantasy stories, which I have discovered have a very different sort of feel than this sort of story.

Review: Esther: Royal Beauty

Esther (A Dangerous Beauty Novel Book #1): Royal Beauty by Angela Elwell Hunt

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

 This novel shouldn't be called “Esther.” It should be called “Eunuch, Royal Eunuchs: a Dangerous Castration Novel.”

 I got this book through the Blogger Review Program with Bethany House, and I chose it because I thought it might be a good retelling of the story of Esther. I love the Bible's account of Esther. I love her story of internal struggle, trying to live up to the expectations of her people. It is a story of fear and triumph.

 This novel slaughtered the original story. But I'm willing to give it some benefit of a doubt. I tend to read like a writer, which can be a double-edged sword for me and the stories I read. However, the cons outweighed the pros so much that this novel got hung on the gallows of bad storytelling.

 Readers, prepare yourselves for my brutal honesty as a reader and author.

Review: Dragonwitch

Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

 I had picked up this book a while back and tried to read it, but life happened and I had to put it down. I wish I had finished it sooner, because then I would have remembered more from Starflower, but oh well.

 I have one word for this book: haphazard. I wish I didn't have to say that about this book, seeing as the previous four in the series were well-done in terms of writing, story, and characters. However, I really struggled with Dragonwitch, and it didn't live up to the expectations I had gained from the four first entries of Goldstone Wood. As I normally do with my lengthier reviews, I'll break my review down into characters, plot, setting, and writing.

Book Review: Taken

Taken by Dee Henderson

My Rating: 1/5 Stars

I had selected Taken from Bethany House Publishing for the blogger reviewer program hoping to get away from the Christian Romance books they seem to feature a lot their lists. Unfortunately this book, which at first appeared to be a mystery thriller, did not do that for me. If Bethany House does nothing but publish romances, someone please let me know, because that would make a lot more sense. (However, I don't think this is the case, as I've read most of the Tales of Goldstone Wood books they publish, and not all of those are focused on romance.)

 There was nothing thrilling about this book, and the mystery aspect was pathetic.
 In a traditional story, you have several parts: introduction, build-up, climax, aftermath, and conclusion. This entire book was aftermath with a weak conclusion. All the exciting stuff the story mentions (abductions, survival, action, maybe even adventure) already happened before this story happened.

 This book is about a lady who approaches a detective after escaping her captors, hoping he'll help her regain a normal life. During this, there is an awkward romance between the two I simply could not relate to, but I'll discuss that more in my Story part of the review.

Book Review: Chivalrous

Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Chivalrous was an odd mixture of adventure, relationships, and faith. They weren't balanced together very well, but there were a few elements of the story I really liked I don't have a favorite character in Chivalrous, but I do like how most of the characters interacted with one another.

 The main male character, Allen, thought almost constantly about God and his faith, and while that got overbearing at times, I like how it affected his decision-making. I liked Gwendolyn more in the parts where she wasn't being a sissy and more of a tomboy, but I can understand her backing down at times because of her abusive father. 

Also, her relationship with Allen was the most interesting aspect of this book. It was an insta-love story, which I don't normally like, but I honestly didn't know if these two were going to have a happily ever after with all the twists and turns in their romantic plot. The romance between these two saved the story, I believe.

 The other main character is Rosalind, Gwendolyn's lady in waiting. I enjoyed her character through most of the book; she's a loyal friend that sometimes shows some snark. However, towards the last half of the book,the author added a pointless sub-plot about abortion with this character that was never resolved, and I don't understand why it was included in the story. The character Merry from the first Valiant Hearts book made a cameo appearance. I guess she's a Robin Hood character, but she was a damsel in distress in this book, and her part in the story seemed kind of pointless except to show how bad the bad guy was. Why make her the victim, and she never makes another appearance in the book.

 The whole ordeal with Merry was meh. I probably would have liked this book better if I had read the first book in the series, but this book does okay as a standalone. 3/5 stars. View all my reviews

Book Review: The Shock of Night

The Shock of Night by Patrick W. Carr My rating: 2 of 5 stars

 “Despite their conviction of my guilt, they weren't stupid, and the village idiot could piece the reason for the attack together.” Willet Dura stated this over 200 pages into the book. After 300 pages, I still couldn't “piece the reason” together for why anything was happening in this story. Maybe it was because I would read this before bed, so I was tired, but I've read engaging books while being exhausted and understood them. I didn't finish this book, but I may finish it at a later time.

 This book had some interesting concepts going on. Religious orders and magical gifts that enhance people's abilities were some of the biggest ones. The concepts and setting took a background to the story probably too much. World-building should contribute to the plot, but there was such a lack of world-buildling that it weakened the plot. Points in the plot were presented briefly before jumping to another plot point, and then to another, and another. Then we would return to one of those plot points, and then jump back to another one or a new one. Characters were mentioned that I had never heard of without explanation, or hadn't read about for a while, as if I as the reader should know everything about the characters already. The story became rather convoluted and jerky, and I easily became lost in the overall plot.

 Part of my problem with the story was the whole ordeal about Willet's “vault.” I guess cracking it can make a guy a vegetable, but I don't understand why it was so important that they do it except to figure out how he stumbled out alive from the Darkwater. When I put this book down I had finally gotten somewhere interesting.

Book Review: King's Folly

King's Folly (The Kinsman Chronicles, #1) by Jill Williamson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was an interesting book. It's hard to describe how I feel about it, which is one reason why this book floats between 3-4 stars for me (marked as 4/5 on Goodreads because I rounded up :p).

I like big tomes I can really dig into, and this story did it for me. The story flowed pretty well throughout, and I think that's what really kept me going. <em>King's Folly</em> was super long; over 500 pages in about a 6x9 format, and the font size is probably 10 pt. at least. Just think Wheel of Time: the Great Hunt long, and you'll get an idea of how long this is. I think this is supposed to be a YA novel, as I think Bethany House Publishers intends to publish YA (correct me if I'm wrong), but due to the length and more mature themes, this definitely came off as adult level to me.

For some background, this is a story about a land that's falling apart due to the greediness and general immorality of its people. The story focuses on royal families, most of which are involved in sleeping around with concubines and mistresses. Normally a book with this sort of content, even though it's not explicit, would have made me set it down pretty early on. However, I have a habit of looking at the end of the story/book soon after I start reading it, where I found the Author's Note. Basically, she explains this is a story about a people slowly turning to the true God of this fantasy world, so that helped me see all the immorality and corruption, and the eventual turning to truth and godliness, in the right light.

The Blood of a God Review

The Blood of a God: The Nephilim Chronicles, Book One by Lance Burton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"The year is 2047 and the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance. Commander Tarakia Sol, a warrior-princess with the blood of a celestial coursing through her, leads a special team called Talon Squad in a fight to save humanity from a coming invasion by a race of beings in the Orion Constellation . . . beings who are the descendants of a former Angel and will stop at nothing to enslave all of humanity. Will all her power, training, and faith be enough to stop them? What does the revelation of their existence mean in relation to our place in the universe? The answers are within . . ."

I like to give other self-published authors a chance because I'm in the same boat as them: putting together a manuscript, doing your own editing and illustrating, and trying to market the book. I know it means a lot to an author for others to read their work, and so I gave this book a fair chance, and my review below is my honest opinion about it.

While Blood of a God definitely needs a lot of work, I appreciated the author's viewpoint on things and some of the creative concepts he came up with.

Pros: I liked the idea of an alien race that originated from earth but got their genes mixed up with fallen angels. I also liked that this was a pretty clean book in terms of violence and language, and it had absolutely no sex. Very unusual for a science-fiction novel nowadays.

Cons: The cons of this book outweighed the pros quite a bit, and that's why I've given it such a low rating. My biggest beef is that the author tends to explain the history of just about anything he mentions in this book, such as military tactics and martial arts, to name a few, that are irrelevant to the scene. For example, in one of the chapters, the characters General Ka-Tel and Tarakia are in a sparring session with other soldiers, and after she mentions that Ka-Tel specializes in mixed martial-arts, the author goes on to explain for 3-4 paragraphs, I think, about the history of MMA. Like I said, it's irrelevant to the scene and disrupts the action.

This happens throughout the book, and I skimmed over these paragraphs to get back into the action of the scene. There are appropriate times in a manuscript to explain the history or back-story to something, but not in the middle of a fight or otherwise intense action scene. The author also spent a lot of time telling what was happening rather than showing it. It would have helped to show unfamiliar things in context, rather than explain them in rambling paragraphs. I'm glad I didn't read all the exposition chunks; I would have been seriously annoyed and probably wouldn't have finished the book. I got the feeling that the author was showing off his knowledge of certain things, and I as a reader simply didn't care about what he knew; I only cared about what the characters were going through.

Speaking of characters, I could not relate to any of them. The main protagonist, Tarakia, acts as a mouth-piece for the author when it comes to religious and political views, and has many characteristics of a Mary-Sue: super-awesome powers, praised by other characters for how awesome she is, and Dues ex Machina right near the end of the book, right when it was getting really interesting and I hoped the Talon Squad would be able to get themselves out of a sticky situation.

The other characters have next to no personalities; any opportunity for development is lost between the action and the info-dumping. I think the only real personalities we got in the book were from Aura and Mark, but they were stereotypical funny friend and serious friend, respectively, and didn't have anything else substantial to round them out.

Most of the villains were evil simply for the sake of being evil. Kane seemed to have the most realistic motivation –– restoring his honor –– but it was still a shallow excuse in carrying out all the evil schemes of his master, Kadan.

The author likes to explain abbreviated terms and even some terms that I was already familiar with. A latter example would be that he mentions the starboard side of a spaceship, and puts in parentheses the “right side.” I already knew what starboard was. I'm not sure if he really knew who his audience was when he wrote this book: incompetent readers or young children?

Perhaps one of the most fatal flaws of this book was the fact that the author inserted himself as Tarakia's father, Lance Burton, and that Tarakia is actually named Jade Burton, which is the author's actual daughter's name. That's a surefire Mary/Gary Sue alert, and it just made the story feel silly.

One more strange thing about the writing is that all the punctuation for dialogue is outside the quotations, i.e.:

'Yeah, Dad, I see them...stars'!
'Yes, Dad...when can we go'?

It's like this through the entire manuscript. I got used to it after awhile, but this definitely needs to be fixed.

I think this book has potential due to some interesting concepts, but it needs serious revision and editing. On a few more random notes, I think the book title "Angel Blood" would be more appropriate for this book, as Tarakia doesn't really have "god blood," and she's not a princess as the synopsis would have you believe.

2/5 Stars.

View all my reviews