Lightning Rider by Jen Greyson ~ A Review

Lightning Rider by Jen Greyson

Published: The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House, 30th May 2013

Where Did I Get It? eARC received from NetGalley for review

Summary (from Goodreads):

For Evy Rivera, thunderstorms have always caused her physical pain, but she’s never known why. When a record-setting storm arrives on the same night her father finds ancient ancestral documents, Evy is set aglow with mysterious tiny lightnings she can command.

Even worse, she alerts some people in the universe who’ve been looking for her family for a very long time.

Thrown back into ancient Spain and tasked with killing a Spanish legend, she must train alongside Constantine, a sexy yet obstinate Roman warrior. He teaches her how to wield her lightning as a weapon, through more errors than trials. With a relationship as explosive as their late-night training sessions, Evy and Constantine battle their push-pull relationship while trying to ignore the two-thousand-year difference in their birthdates.

Ilif Rotiart, her quasi-mentor, is appalled at Evy’s skill. He would prefer to train her father and keep Evy on the sidelines—where women belong. Evy has a feeling Ilif is keeping something from them, but she must play nice until she uncovers the truth. And if he’s lying, it will be the worst day of his four-hundred-year life.

Penya Sepadas claims she’s Evy’s rightful trainer, and she has the prophecy to prove it. Penya doesn’t share Ilif’s misogynistic attitude, but she does have her own agenda…and her own secrets.

Evy must sort through the lies and find the truth behind her family’s time-traveling past before the wrong history obliterates the future. She’s spent her whole life fighting for her place. Now, as the first female lightning rider, she’ll dedicate her existence to fighting to save the world.

But will Evy learn to manage her lightning and find the truth before it’s too late?

Opening Line:

A storm is coming.

~

My Review:

A fantastic romp through time with a brilliant main character – I really enjoyed Lightning Rider… once I got into it.

If I had written this review after reading the first 25% of the book, I would have slated it for a multitude of reasons – the main character was irritating, the world seemed a bit flat, I didn’t have the slightest clue what was going on and, quite frankly, I didn’t care. Then all of a sudden it became brilliant. It was like the author suddenly found their feet and the characters, the world, the story all jumped to life and I wanted it all and I wanted it now. I couldn’t put it down in contrast to the start where I had to force myself to keep reading.

Evy is a heroine you could relate to – she doesn’t discover that she has crazy lightning powers and immediately be all cool with it and know how to use it as happens in so many books and films. Instead she reacts how a real person would – she tries to ignore it, she plays with it, she hopes it will go away by itself, she gets angry with it, she gets things wrong. She has to learn about her power and the responsibilities it brings and the danger it can be and in learning her character grows, changes and rounds out without ever losing sense of who she was before. She doesn’t have a personality transplant, she just adapts. Her character development is cleverly handled and smooth and her Spanish temperament shines through with amusing results.

The time travel is well thought out and not confusing in a way that is a detriment to the story – it is mind-bending, obviously, but what time travel isn’t? The deception and intrigue layered through the story is subtle and I didn’t work everything out before the twists were revealed or, in some cases, not revealed – leaving you desperate for the next instalment to find out what happens.

There’s plenty of action and danger, horses, motorbikes, swords and arrows, bloodshed and fear but also a hefty dollop of romance in the form of main love interest Constantine, the Roman warrior. At first I wasn’t convinced by him as a romantic option but as his and Evy’s relationship grew and their characters developed, I was sold. There were plenty of JUST KISS HER ALREADY! moments all building up to the inevtiable racy scenes but it wasn’t forced and added yet another dimension to the book.

Overall I loved it and will be keeping an eye out for book two. It is a little slow to start but worth sticking with for sure.

My Rating: 4/5*

 

The Holders by Julianna Scott ~ A Review

The Holders (Holders #1) by Julianna Scott 

Published: Strange Chemistry, 5th March 2013

Length: 320 pages (eBook edition)

Where Did I Get It? I received my copy for review from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads):

17-year-old Becca has spent her whole life protecting her brother – from their father leaving and from the people who say the voices in his head are unnatural. When two strangers appear with apparent answers to Ryland’s “problem” and details about a school in Ireland where Ryland will not only fit in, but prosper, Becca is up in arms.

She reluctantly agrees to join Ryland on his journey and what they find at St. Brigid’s is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece find out information about their family’s heritage and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they’ve been waiting for–but, they are all, especially Becca, in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.

Opening Line:

The moment I saw Ryland’s sihouette in the window of our old tree house, I knew something was wrong.

~

My Review:

I heard quite a lot of hype about this book before I picked it up and was quite excited to read it. For once I can hold my hand up and join in the praise instead of feeling let down. I loved it.

At first I wasn’t sure about Becca’s narrative voice but after a couple of chapters it was like she found her feet and decided who she was – a no-nonsense, over protective, sensible-but-stubborn teenage older sister with a strong sense of responsibility. She made me laugh and was easy to relate to throughout. A narrator you felt you could trust and were happy to join on an adventure.

The Holders wasn’t revolutionary in terms of YA, I saw some of the plot twists long before they arrived but the characterisation, the description and the lively style of writing meant that I didn’t care.

I loved the relationships between the characters and how they developed. I especially liked that, for once, it was the male in the leading relationship who was prone to awkwardness and blushing rather than the girl but not in a toe-curling cringey way.

It was so easy to read and so compulsive that my Kindle was attached to my hand wherever I went for the duration of the book. I got to the end and wanted more, I was bitterly disappointed when I woke up the morning after I finished reading and remembered that there wasn’t any left to read.  As far as I’m concerned, that’s the best sign of a good book.

I shall impatiently await book two whilst probably re-reading this one in the mean time.

My Rating: A glowing 5/5*

A Conspiracy Of Alchemists by Leisel Schwarz ~ A Review

A Conspiracy Of Alchemists (The Chronicles of Light and Shadow #1) by Leisel Schwarz

Published: Del Ray (UK), 5th March 2013

Length: 352 pages (ebook edition)

Where Did I Get It? I recieved an eBook copy for review from NetGalley.

Summary (From Goodreads):

LEAVE IT TO CHANCE. Eleanor “Elle” Chance, that is—a high-flying dirigible pilot with a taste for adventure and the heroine of this edgy new series that transforms elements of urban fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal romance into pure storytelling gold.

It is 1903, and the world is divided between light and shadow. On the side of light is a wondrous science that has transformed everyday life by harnessing magical energies to ingenious new technologies. But each advance of science has come at the expense of shadow—the traditional realm of the supernatural.

Now two ancient powers are preparing to strike back. Blood-sucking immortal Nightwalkers and their spellcasting Alchemist allies have a plan to cover the whole world in shadow. All they require is the sacrifice of a certain young woman whose past conceals a dangerous secret.

But when they come after Elle, they get more than they bargained for. This enterprising young woman, the daughter of a scientific genius, has reserves of bravery and determination that even she scarcely suspects. Now she is about to meet her match in more ways than one: a handsome yet infuriating Warlock named Hugh Marsh, whose agenda is as suspect as his charms are annoyingly irresistible.

Opening Line:

This was the place where people came to give their souls to the fairies.

~

My Review:

A Conspiracy Of Alchemists was, for me, a very frustrating read. I was actually quite looking forward to it because it seemed to contain everything I love in a book – a strong female lead, a touch of fantasy, a dash of paranormal and supernatural creatures, mystery, magic, a bit of romance, deception, intrigue and fairies.

It should have been my perfect match, I should be raving about its awesomeness and how desperately I want to read book two. But it missed the mark somewhere along the way and left me a bit flat.

One of the reasons for this was the main character, Eleanor ‘Elle’ Chance. At first I loved her because she was feisty and confident and knew what she wanted at the same time as being as naturally emotional as any girl is. She wore trousers in a time when women almost always wore skirts because it was more practical, she flew airships despite it being ‘a man’s job’. She was sassy with just a touch of sensitivity that could leave her vulnerable and break down her defenses – the perfect lead for a Steampunk adventure.

Then someone told her to go get dressed for dinner and she turned into a limp lettuce leaf who followed all the rules with barely a hint of complaint. There was a vague ‘I don’t have many dresses because I don’t like them’ but mostly she converted to compliant Edwardian woman without a blink of an eye.

If she had done as sshe was bid but had resented it, I would have been fine, but it was like someone flicked a switch and she became everything she was previously claiming to hate. As the book progressed I was disappointed to discover that she slid steadily further away from the sassy character she had seemed at the beginning and became more flighty, subserviant girl than anything. She was stubborn to a fault, which is a perfectly acceptable character trait except for the fact that it seemed forced, just to push the story along and drag things out.

Hugh Marsh, the secondary main character, however, was a bit lovely. I enjoyed his charming and mysterious character and he developed through the book in a satisfying way both as you learned more about him and as he adapted to his situation. Marsh was easily my favourite thing about A Conspiracy Of Alchemists and without him I think I would have struggled to keep reading.

I wasn’t sure about the fairy. By the end of the book, her part became clear but at the start her random interludes were just confusing and irritating. I feel that she could have been written into the story in a much nicer way – just as part of everything, rather than having her own random sections at the start of the odd chapter. It felt shoehorned in, as if the author was trying to point out ‘Look! Fairies!’ rather than add to the story. I would have preferred her character to be blended into the main text – not to make her less important but instead to make her feel more like an integral part of the story, rather than an add-on.

The end of the book was susbstantially better than the beginning or the middle – I almost wanted to read book two when I finished because of it. However, had I not felt obliged to read it for this review, I’d probably have given up at about 30% through because I was fed up of Elle and how slowly everything seemed to be going.

That doesn’t mean nothing happened, on the contrary a lot of things happened, but Elle’s fickle character and narrative style made me feel somehow detatched. I didn’t really care when most of the ‘big’ events happened which made it a drag to read.

As I said, it did improve, and overall the story was actually quite good – it was just the exectution of the writing that let it down.

Things weren’t helped by the fact that I was reading an uncorrected proof copy that was very heavy on the ‘uncorrected’ side. It was as if it hadn’t been read through by anyone ever – not even the author. I haven’t yet seen a corrected proof to know if everything was cleared up, but I sincerely hope it has else the piece will be plagued by repetition, continuity issues everywhere and bad punctuation. I am assuming it all got fixed, otherwise it deserves to lose at least one star off its final rating.

My Rating: 3.5/5*

NaNoWriMo – The Halfway Mark and an Extract

Today it is the 15th of November which means it marks the halfway point of National Novel Writing Month. It means that people all over the world are aiming to hit and break the 25,000 word point in their novels.

I’m almost there, it’s only lunch time and I have 587 words left to write to hit the neat diagonal line across my stats graph that shows where I need to be to finish my 50,000 words on 30th November. You never know,I might get a bit ahead and make it easier for myself. We’ll have to see.

How am I finding my NaNoWriMo experience?

I’m tired. The first week was stressful because I hadn’t worked out how to balance writing with washing up and chasing after the kids and remembering to top up the electric meter etc etc and I got wound up and behind on my word count and wanted to quit before I’d even started.

I really wanted to write this story but when I actually sat down to write it I got scared by all the little details that I hadn’t worked out – How were George and Eóghan going to get to where I wanted them? How could I make the bits in between main events interesting? How could I make the characters make vital decisions without it sounding like they’d had personality transplants and gone back on everything they believed in? I almost gave up and walked away.

But Caius has very patiently got me through it, encouraging me, feeding me chocolate and helping when I get stuck. He is a very good teddy bear.

Liberty has helped by checking through bits I’m not sure on and laughing at my silly typos and stopping me from getting too stressed out. (You know, ‘Hello Hounds’ really don’t sound as scary as ‘Hell Hounds’…)

James accidentally fixed all my panicking by encouraging me to join in with a couple of half-hour writing ‘sprints’ whilst we were on-line at the same time. Suddenly I found a way to sit down and fire out 700 or so words in half an hour without getting distracted or frustrated. I landed myself on a way of writing that worked even on days where I had no idea where the story was going.

In fact, the moments where I have big blank bits with vague ideas of ‘my characters are here, they need to go here’ have turned out to be the most fun to write. I sit down a bit worried that I don’t know what’s going on and the next thing I know new characters have wandered in or something happens and I get to the end of the scene and think ‘Wow. That wasn’t what I was expecting.’ My characters have turned into more rounded people and the world has solidified around them. I may be writing this story but I certainly don’t know exactly how it’s going to be when I finish because, sometimes, my characters have minds of their own and lead me a merry dance instead of doing what I had planned for them.

I have missed writing. I knew I was missing it but I hadn’t realised how much. Tackling NaNoWriMo has helped me to break out of the slump I had fallen into since having the Smalls and I like to think that after it is over I will be able to continue because I feel much more like myself for the first time in a long while. I feel less of a fraud saying I’m a writer now.

To celebrate making it to the halfway point without throwing my laptop out of a window or giving up on my story, here’s an extract of what I have written so far. It is still only a first draft so there may well be errors in it – editing is for next month.

Faerie Or No: An Extract

They broke out of the trees into the tiny clearing around the yew tree into a blaze of sunshine, shimmering lightly on the mist around its trunk.

“That’s it!” George ran forward and stood on the edge of the mist. “This is the place we came through. Come on, Pest, let’s go home before Father kills us for being late home.”

He tapped his leg and Tempest trotted over reluctantly. His confident happy demeanour replaced by what struck George as disappointment.

“Sorry, Boy, but this isn’t where we’re meant to be. Maybe we can come back and visit again sometime.” He looked up at Eóghan who was still standing at the edge of the trees.

Eóghan shrugged. “If you like. I might be around, might have moved on.”

George thought he looked guilty as he spoke, as if there was something he was keeping back, but brushed the thought aside. It didn’t really matter anyway because he was going home.

“Thanks for helping us get back.” George offered a genuine smile to Eóghan. “Might see you again then.”

“Sure. And, er, thanks for saving me.” Eóghan’s smile was less wide than George’s but no less genuine. “Nice to meet a fellow human.”

“Likewise,” said George, before turning around and walking into the tree. “Ow.”

The trunk of the yew tree was very much solid beneath the mist. George ran his hands over it, pressing and stroking, looking for a door or a button or a soft patch to push through.

Nothing. It was just a big old yew tree dressed in mist. There was no gateway or door to Earth in it that George could find.

In a sudden wave of anger and disappointment he kicked out at the trunk and then sat down because his foot hurt. He was sat in the mist and when he breathed he could taste it – ancient and thick like the sweet-dust smell of old books mixed with some sort of spice.

He leaned back against the tree and Tempest sat by his side, ever constant.

“I don’t understand. This is definitely the right tree.”

He wasn’t talking to anyone in particular and the mist was so dense he couldn’t even see if Eóghan was still there. He didn’t really care.

Tempest licked his face before gently taking George’s sleeve in his mouth and trying to tug him away from the tree, whining softly.

“No, Tempest, we need to go home. We should just wait here for it to open again. Maybe when the bats come through – it’ll be getting dark in a couple of hours, that’s not long.”

Tempest got more insistent, his whines turning to soft growls.

“Tempest! Get off.”

Tempest let go and sat back down in front of him, still growling gently. Then he stood up and ran back out of the mist, barked once and ran back and growled. He repeated this over and over until, grumbling, George stood up.

“Fine. Whatever. Rusalka said you were destined to be my guide or whatever so why not? It’s not like stuff could get any weirder is it? I’ll just listen to the crazy Ocean Nymph and follow my dog wherever he goes. At least I’ll have small furry animals to eat.” He stomped out of the mist to find Eóghan still standing where he’d left him.

“You met an Ocean Nymph?” His tone was impressed.

“Yes. She gave me Tempest, hypnotised my mother and practically slept with my father in front of me. It was scary.”

“Wow. Did you…?”

George wrinkled his nose. “No. She tried but when she got close she smelled like dead fish and looked really creepy and evil. I ran off.”

“Awesome. I’ve never met any of the Ocean Fey – never been out of the forest. Well, never really been anywhere but the town I lived in if I’m honest. Quercetum City is where the ocean meets the trees, I always wanted to go but Ma said I needed to wait ‘til I was older. She said…” He faltered and stopped speaking. “Never mind.”

George was puzzled but could tell the other boy didn’t want to speak about whatever was on his mind. Instead he decided that whilst he was stuck he should learn everything he could about where he was. In fact, as soon as that thought entered his mind it briefly eclipsed everything else. All he wanted was knowledge. He want to know. He needed to learn. The names of the trees, what that horse creature was called, where he was, what all the Faerie cities were called, were there other cities than the one Eóghan mentioned?

“George. George! Are you okay?”

George opened his eyes to discover he was lying on his back with Eóghan and Tempest staring down at him. He had to blink a few times to make them come into focus and stop the ringing in his ears.

“I think so. What happened?”

“You just sort of went all stiff and your eyes glazed over and then you fell over and started twitching.” Eóghan slid his daggers back into their sheaths and George was momentarily disturbed that his instinct had been to arm himself. “I thought you were dying or something.”

“No, I was just… overwhelmed by everything. Or something.” He sat up and waited for the world to stop spinning before standing again. “Falling into another world doesn’t appear to do you much good.”

Eóghan laughed, clearly relieved that George was both capable of standing and being sarcastic.

“What now?” asked George. “I feel like I need a plan.”

Eóghan glanced at the sky. “We should probably find somewhere to camp for the night – it’ll be sunset soon.”

George looked up and wondered how Eóghan had been able to work that out from the tiny patch of blue above them. “How do you know?”

Eóghan explained about how he’d used the shadows and the way the trees leaves were turned to work out the position of the sun and how, from that, he knew how long it was ‘til sunset. George absorbed every word and felt better to be learning. The part of his mind that had taken over a few minutes before was sated and he was able to think more clearly as they wandered, looking for a suitable camp site amongst the undergrowth.

Writing Workshop – Escape

This week for Josie’s Writing Workshop I decided to skip forward a bit in my current WIP and write a scene I’ve been planning for a while but just hadn’t reached yet. It’s from about chapter five of the ‘book’ but I don’t think much background is needed as the scene is fairly self-explanatory. The WIP doesn’t have a title yet either so I can’t even tell you that – I hope you enjoy it regardless!

****

“Eòghan will you please sit down for a minute, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Eòghan tried to rush past his mother but she reached out and steered him onto a chair.

“Eòghan, please! It’s important.”

He slumped in his seat, glaring at his mother. “What, Ma? It’s almost time to go. We can’t miss the start – you only get one Evolution in your life after all. You had your turn, now it’s mine.”

“Hush. Listen to me.”

“Wait, are you even dressed yet? Ma! I’m your only son, are you not even going to make an effort for my Evolution?” Eòghan squirmed in his seat trying to get up but she stood close before him, blocking his escape.

“Eòghan will you sit still and listen to what I have to say. It’s about your Evolution.”

Sensing something in his mother’s voice, Eòghan stilled and looked up into her startling green eyes. “What?”

“You can’t go.” She closed her eyes, unable to look at her son as she spoke. “Baby, you can’t go to Evolution because you aren’t going to Evolve.”

“What? Everyone Evolves.”

“Humans don’t.” Aubrey stepped back, freeing her son. She couldn’t stop the tears burning tracks down her cheeks as she forced out the sentence she had been dreading for years. “You’re a…I swapped you with… Changeling, I…I stole you from your cradle. You aren’t a faerie, Eòghan, you’re a human. I left my own baby in your place then brought you home.”

There was a moment of silence. A stillness. Aubrey gazed hopelessly at the child she had raised as her own for the last 13 years and waited for the world to collapse.

“You’re lying.” Eòghan’s voice was almost as still as the room, his blue eyes were cold. “Tell me you’re lying.”

Aubrey shook her head, unable to speak.

“No-one brings the human baby back to Otherworld. They leave them somewhere where they’ll be found and let nature make its choices, they change them and they leave them. That’s how it works. That’s how it always works.” Anger began to creep into his voice as he spoke, his voice going as hard as his eyes.

“Eòghan. Baby. I had to bring you back, I needed you. I loved you.” Eòghan suddenly found his mother kneeling at his feet and talking desperately to his knees. “You have to understand…”

He jumped up, pushing her aside. “I understand just fine. You had a baby that was chosen to be a Changeling. An honour beyond all others and you…you dirtied it by breaking all manner of rules and bringing me back here. And then you lied to me for my whole entire life and thought that it would all be okay?”

Aubrey didn’t move from the floor, she simply sat staring up at her son. “I love you. Please, Eòghan, I couldn’t just leave you somewhere and not know what happened to you. I needed…”

“You needed me to fulfil your selfish need for a child. Well you know what? I wish you’d left me on a hillside. I’d rather be dead than your son. At least then everything I know wouldn’t be one big fat lie!” Eòghan kicked out and sent his chair skittering across the floor. “I hate you, Aubrey Valeris. You’re no mother of mine.”

With that he stormed out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

*

For a minute he just stood and stared at the wall breathing heavily and clenching his fists, then, with a burst of energy he flew across the room and slammed open his wardrobe. Hauling out a bag he stuffed in a change of clothes, the pouch of money he had saved up from his birthdays, his secret stash of biscuits from under his bed and the length of rope that he had got when he had wanted to build a tree house the previous Summer.

Hands shaking slightly he buckled on his belt, sheathing his twin daggers at his side. They were his pride and joy, a thirteenth birthday present from his mother, he had spent hours training with them in the woods and he could no longer imagine going outside without them.

With one final glance around the room Eòghan shouldered his bag and flung open his window. With a grace that implied he had done it many times before, he leaped from the sill, swung down the tree beside the house, landed softly on the grass and set off for the forest without looking back. The forest would be his home now, it couldn’t lie to him or deceive him, he didn’t need anyone else and the forest wouldn’t care whether or not he was Fey. He could pretend as much as he liked in the sanctuary of the trees.

November 2011 Challenge – Only A Bit Late!

You know back in November I said I was going to write a Short Story for TiddlyOmPomPom’s Personal Challenge? Well, it took longer than a month and ended up a bit longer than I expected – but here it is in all its first-draft glory.

Enjoy

Becoming Human

The man slumped in the corner of the room blinked twice before squeezing his eyes shut again. It was bright and his head hurt. A lot.

“Mngrff.” He groaned as he sat up, swiftly followed by a miserable, “Ow.”

“Oh quit moaning, you’ve only been here ten minutes. Wait ‘til it’s been fifteen hours – then it’s time to complain. Trust me, I should know.”

The other voice clearly belonged to a girl. She was somewhere to his right and he got the distinct impression that she wasn’t in the best of moods. He tried opening his eyes again, squinting at his surroundings whilst he struggled into a sitting position.

“Um. Is this Limbo then? Or have I just been transferred again? The last place was darker. And hot.” He stretched out as best he could – his body felt like it had been beaten with a stick before being thrown into the corner like a sack of potatoes.

“Course it’s Limbo. And where was hot? Who are you anyway?” The girl had stood up and was now standing over him, scowling accusingly.

Still trying to focus properly he looked at his new roommate, starting at her delicate bare feet and moving up to take in her long legs, perfectly toned figure, dark hair and honey-coloured eyes. Her skin was pale and almost shimmered in the light, like a doll in a china shop.

“Oh,” he said. “Oh, damn.”

The girl cocked an eyebrow and waited.

“You’re an angel aren’t you?” he asked.

“Ten points to the idiot. Yes, I’m an angel – what’s the issue?”

“Er, well, I’m…” He paused and rubbed a hand across his jaw nervously. “Actually, I’m a demon.” He shuffled to his feet and held out his hand politely. “My name is Sadralsidon the Lesser. I am the son of Sadralsidon the Greater, fourth-cousin-three-times-removed of Lord Lucifer himself. But you can call me Sid if you’d prefer.”

The girl looked at his hand disdainfully before turning her back on him and stalking to the other side of the room and leaning against the wall.

“Sid? The first demon I ever meet and it’s called ‘Sid’. Typical.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at the ceiling.

Sid sat back, deciding the angel wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat. In fact, the more he thought about it, the angel wasn’t in the least bit how he had imagined an angel would be. The traditional white robes of the angels had been carefully customised and tweaked into a tiny dress that left very little to the imagination and he found himself blushing slightly as he realised just how short her skirt was. She hadn’t exactly been gracious or angelic towards him either, even before she knew he was a demon from Lucifer’s line.

After about ten minutes Sid shifted awkwardly, he didn’t sit well with silence and there wasn’t anything to do in the small, square room other than sit and stare at the grey walls and ceiling.

“I didn’t catch your name,” he said finally – unable to hold his tongue any longer.

“I didn’t give it.” The angel turned her amber gaze back to him from the ceiling. “But if you must know, I am Chastity, daughter of Michael, Archangel and Prince of the Heavenly Host.”

Sid coughed. “Michael?”

Chastity did the eyebrow thing again and Sid felt the urge to cross his legs.

“The Michael who fought the dragon and cast him out, Michael? Or was there more than one?” Sid’s voice got hopeful towards the end.

“That’s the one. High and mighty Michael who isn’t above casting out his own daughter if she doesn’t conform to clothing regulations and fails her speech classes.” Chastity slid down the wall and neatly folded her legs beneath her, causing her skirt to ride a little further up her thighs. She didn’t seem to notice Sid swallowing and staring hard at the wall beside her head. “It’s not like I’ve ever really done anything wrong as such. Just not lived up to his stupid ideas of perfect – I’m an angel not a saint.”

Sid wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that. Especially as he was fighting with the part of his mind that was willing Chastity’s skirt to ride a tiny bit higher and wasn’t sure he was capable of constructing a sentence that didn’t involve the word ‘legs’. Luckily he was saved the awkwardness by the room plunging into complete darkness which rather ruined the moment.

A disembodied voice echoed around them, shaking the floor with its richness. “Chastity, Daughter of Michael, rise and stand before me.”

One of the walls seemed to be glowing faintly and Sid was just able to make out Chastity getting to her feet and turning to face it.

“Sadralsidon the Lesser, Spawn of Hellfire, rise also.”

He did as he was bid. Moving to stand at Chastity’s side and squinting at the shimmering wall, trying to make out a figure of some sort in the light.

“You are both charged with failing your basic duties. Chastity, your behaviour falls beneath that which is expected of an angel. Sadralsidon, your behaviour is not that which is expected of a demon. You both must face and complete the challenges that will be laid out for you in this room in order to redeem yourselves and return home. Failure to make up for your previous actions will result in your being cast out to live upon the Earth – mortal and entirely human.”

The glow began to fade from the wall, returning them to darkness. Chastity shifted at his side – he felt her move forward towards the wall.

“Hey.” She sounded narked. “Hey! Is that it? The first thing anyone has said to me in days and that’s it? What do I do? Am I stuck with this idiot until it’s done or do we get separate challenges? ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!”

The light returned to the room to reveal two beds at either side which had not been there previously. Chastity was still muttering at the wall, kicking it occasionally and running her hands over it looking for some kind of door and hadn’t noticed the new furniture.

Sid wandered to the nearest bed; it was easily a king-size with a luxuriously soft bedspread emblazoned with a blood-red ‘S’ neatly covering it. He tentatively pressed his weight against the mattress and was pleased to discover it had just the right amount of give to ensure the perfect night’s sleep. It was a very long time since he had had a perfect night’s sleep.

“Gah! This is just the stupid sort of thing my father would dream up.” Chastity punched the wall one last time before turning away in disgust. She cradled her knuckles tenderly in her hand; they were already beginning to bruise. “Ow.”

Sid felt a bit sorry for her, and, in an attempt to cheer her up decided to direct her attention to the beds. “I don’t know what these challenges are going to be but at least they’re making sure we get a decent bit of rest before-hand. These beds are great.”

Chastity looked at the bed at Sid’s side, noticed the ‘S’ motif and looked around for her own. She snorted. “Ha. Clearly my sin is far worse than yours, Sid my lovely. You get a bed fit for a king and I get this.”

Sid finally looked at the second bed – it was a rough-looking object, carved from wood but not with much care or attention. The corners and edges were jagged and not sanded down and there was no mattress, just a threadbare sheet thrown loosely over the top of the solid base. A pale blue blanket, frayed and water-stained lay folded at the foot of the bed, clearly showing a large white ‘C’ embroidered in the centre.

“Oh,” he said. “Right.”

“Whatever, I’m tired and annoyed. A bed’s a bed.” Chastity picked up the thin blanket and spread it out.

Sid crossed the room and put an arm out to stop her getting in the bed, quickly retracting it and blushing furiously when he realised it was across her chest.

“Er, you can have my bed. I’ll take yours.”

She stepped back and looked at him, taking in his flushed cheeks, mussed mousey-looking hair and watery blue goat-slitted eyes. “What?”

“My bed. The big one. You have it.” Sid scuffed the floor with his shoe and studied Chastity’s slender feet. “I’m used to sleeping on hot coals and the like. This bed will be a relief, trust me.”

Chastity scowled. “That’s not fair.” She looked at Sid’s extravagant bed and thought for a moment. “We could share. There’s plenty of room in your bed – then no-one needs to be in the crap bed.”

Sid gaped at her, not sure whether he was more shocked by an angel saying ‘crap’ or suggesting that they share a bed.

“What? You afraid of having a cuddle?”

Sid swallowed.

“For pities sake! It’s massive – we could both get in and be nowhere near each other. You could fit ten of us in there no problems. Least we’d be warm and not stuck sleeping on that log.” She cocked her eyebrow again and waited for Sid’s response.

It took two attempts to make his mouth work. His brain was still processing the idea of sharing a bed with 9 scantily clad angels and didn’t seem to be able to manage speech as well. “It’s fine,” he said shakily. “I like a firm mattress. You take the other bed. I insist.” He quickly kicked off his shoes and climbed into the single bed before she could argue further. “Go on.”

He shut his eyes and crossed his legs as he listened to Chastity slipping beneath the silky sheets at the other side of the room. This place was worse than Hell, at least he knew what he was supposed to be doing in Hell – even if he wasn’t very good at doing it.

*

The first thing Sid saw when he woke up in the morning was the writing on the wall:

CHALLENGE RESULTS:

SADRALSIDON – PASS 0, FAIL 1 (1/3 COMPLETED)

CHASTITY – PASS 0, FAIL 1 (1/3 COMPLETED)

The second thing he saw was Chastity, fast asleep and peaceful. Pale and beautiful. Angelic.

It wasn’t all a dream then. And how had he failed? Failed what? He shut his eyes again and tried to go back to sleep. He couldn’t possibly fail anything if he was asleep.

Then the bed vanished and he head butted the floor violently.

“Ow.”

Chastity clearly had a softer landing – she was curled on the floor, tousled and confused looking. “What the…where?” She rubbed her eyes. “Oh yeah. Crap.”

“Again with the crap.” Sid dropped his head onto his arms. “I’m the demon. I’m supposed to do the cursing.”

“So why don’t you curse instead of sitting there looking all dejected and pathetic then?” Chastity stood, straightened her dress and began to comb her hair with her fingers. “I wonder what we did wrong last night then. Maybe we were meant to share after all.”

“I suspect that would have made me pass and you fail anyway.” He sighed and rolled his shoulders, wincing as they crunched loudly. “Now what do we do?”

“Wait for Challenge Number Two I guess. I don’t suppose you know how to plait hair, do you? It’s driving me mad being loose all the time.”

Sid shook his head, “Sorry.”

She shrugged. “Not to worry, I’ll teach you.”

And with that she settled herself on the floor in front of Sid, turning her back on him and scooting close enough for him to reach her hair.

Sid did his best, meticulously following her instructions and concentrating hard on making her hair lie flat and look neat. Desperately ignoring how close she was, how warm her skin was as his fingers brushed her neck, how his breath ruffled the fine hairs that had escaped his plait, how hard his heart was pounding in his chest. If this wasn’t one of the tests then he didn’t know what was. It was a torture far worse than anything he had ever been instructed to inflict in the rooms of Hell. Lust, it appeared, was a challenging thing to resist.

And Chastity seemed utterly oblivious to everything. Aside from bursting into giggles once when his fingers tickled her neck too much she simply sat there and guided him through the plait. Her innocence just made it worse.

As soon as he was done, Sid backed away, brushed down his jacket and avoided looking at Chastity at all.

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

Sid jumped at Chastity’s sudden outburst. “What isn’t?”

“You’ve had more challenges than me. You’re rubbish though – failed them both so far.” She pointed at the wall.

Sid looked and realised his line now read:

PASS 0, FAIL 2 (2/3 COMPLETED)

“Wonderful,” he growled.

“Oooh! Finally the demon gets grumpy.” Chastity grinned and ruffled his hair. “I was beginning to think you were making it up.”

Sid jerked away angrily and waved an arm at the wall. “What’s the point of all this challenge stuff anyway? Why not just punish us however is appropriate for our crimes and have done with it? It’s stupid. I’m a demon that refuses to torture people and you’re an angel that…that…doesn’t live up to her name. Or rather you do whilst implying that you don’t. Which is worse, by the way. Maybe they should just swap our places and give me wings and you a tail and have done with it. Maybe…WILL YOU GET OFF MY HAIR?!”

Chastity took a shocked step back. “I was just looking for your horns. I thought demons had horns.”

“We do, I’m just choosing not to show them.”

Chastity looked puzzled.

“If we looked all scary demon-y all the time it’d be less effective when we really wanted to scare people, wouldn’t it. Can’t do anything about our eyes but we can hide everything else.” Sid flattened his hair self-consciously. “I hide everything all the time. Never felt comfortable bearing all in front of people.”

Chastity leaned against the score board on the wall. “Show me.”

“No.”

“I want to see.”

“No!”

“Please, Sid?” She played with her plait, twisting the end of it around her finger as she begged him with her shimmering golden eyes. “I might never meet another demon – I just want to see what you look like underneath.”

“Nope. I won’t show people I’m meant to be torturing, why would I show you?”

“Because my Father told me I was never to set eyes upon a demon for I would be ‘consumed with lust’ and that I’d ‘fall from grace in such a way that could never be redeemed.’ So if you show me you’ll be getting one up on him which has got to score you some demon brownie points.” She grinned broadly. “I’d get one up on him too which would feel fantastic.”

Sid shook his head. “You are not what I expected of an angel.”

Chastity suddenly looked furious. “Oh don’t you start that as well. I can’t help it if I think saying ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ instead of ‘you’ and ‘your’ is stupid. I can’t help it if full length robes make me look fat and frumpy. I can’t help it if I’m curious and want to know things. It’s just who I am. Now show me your bloody horns!”

Sid narrowed his eyes. “Fine.”

For the first time in millennia, Sid dropped his guard. Relaxed completely. He sighed as he felt his cover-up fade away to reveal his burnt looking skin, pointed horns and skinny, arrow-tipped tail. The only thing that remained were his pale blue eyes, slitted like a goat’s and slightly nervous-looking.

Chastity stared. Then she started glowing and spread her wings out behind her, stretching them wide before folding them back up and letting them fade once more.

“You guys totally got the better deal. I want a tail.”

Sid slid back into his persona. Then adjusted himself so that his tail was still showing. “I didn’t think angels got jealous?”

“This one does.”

“Yeah,” said Sid, twitching his tail.

“Quit that,” she snapped. “Put it away.”

Sid grinned and faded his tail back into his persona, he found himself rather enjoying goading Chastity. It was the most demonic he had felt in a while. He pointed at the wall behind her. “You failed by the way.”

CHASTITY – PASS 0, FAIL 2 (2/3 COMPLETED)

“Ah, crap.”

*

“Wake, Sadralsidon. Stand beside the angel and hear me.”

Sid leapt to his feet almost before his eyes were open. He had been dozing in the corner and the booming voice had pulled him so swiftly from his slumber he was barely able to keep his balance. Chastity grabbed his arm and held him steady, muttering something sarcastic as she did so.

“You have been tested, both together and individually, and as of yet neither of you has passed a challenge. Demon, step forward.”

Sid stumbled toward the wall, not helped by Chastity digging him sharply in the side. “Um, yes?”

“You were provided with the opportunity to spend the night in luxury whilst the angel suffered an uncomfortable evening. Any demon worth his salt would have taken this chance and relished it, taunting and teasing. You, instead, chose to give up everything and take a more noble course. You resisted the quality of Greed and therefore you failed. Also, you were given a second chance to prove your demonic nature. You were presented with more than one opportunity to lure the angel with the quality of Lust. You could have had your way and left her defiled and graceless as demons are wont to do and yet you resisted. You resisted and therefore you failed. You are to be given one final chance, Sadralsidon, and then your judgement will be passed.”

Sid got the impression he was dismissed and mumbled an apology as he stepped backwards again.

“Angel. Come forth.”

Chastity stalked up to the glowing wall and stood, one hand on her hip and the other playing with the end of her plait. “What?”

“Chastity, when faced with an unexpected situation you responded not with meekness and humility, as you should have, but with anger and violence. You submitted to the sin of Wrath and bear the marks to prove it upon your skin.”

Chastity lowered her hand from her hair and inspected the bruising across her knuckles. “It’s coming up nicely, don’t you think?” She offered her hand to the wall. “Lovely shade of purple.”

“You have submitted to Wrath and therefore you failed. Also, you were placed in the face of temptation and gave in. Worse, you succumbed to the sin of Envy and revelled in the feelings of jealousy and bitterness instead of turning aside. Therefore you failed your second challenge.”

Chastity rolled her eyes. “It’s not my fault I happen to want a tail.”

“Hush, Chastity, Daughter of Michael. You will be given one final chance to redeem yourself before judgement will be passed.”

“Whatever.” Chastity turned and stormed away to the other side of the room.

“Both of you, take this final chance or else you will be cast out from your homes, never to return.”

*

Two identical squishy armchairs appeared in the room some time later, accompanied by a coffee table laden with enough cakes, sandwiches and hot drinks to feed a small army.

Hungry and uncomfortable, Sid took a sandwich and settled into the nearest chair, throwing the plump cushions aside in disgust. “You know they use those in Hell, right?” He took a mouthful of salmon and cucumber sandwich and continued, “There’s a room full of sofas with massive fluffy cushions on. Men get sent in there and forced to sit on the sofas without removing the cushions. It’s horrible to watch – I hated being Cushion Demon. I only lasted a week before I started moving cushions for people and got re-allocated.”

Chastity gave him a look as she piled her plate high and carefully folded herself into the second armchair, pulling a cushion onto her lap to use as a table.

“That’s stupid.”

There was silence a while as Chastity munched her way through her mountain of food. Sid was pouring himself a coffee when she got up to get some more.

“You’re hungry,” he commented, rescuing a cupcake before Chastity took the whole plate.

“It’d be rude to waste it.” She balanced 3 plates on her cushion and one-handedly tried to pour a cup of tea. “And there’s no-one here to tell me to stop.”

Sid took the teapot off her and waved for her to sit down whilst he poured.

Chastity took advantage of her now free hand to grab another plate of sandwiches before settling back into her chair and accepting her drink.

“Anyway,” she said round a mouthful of cheese and tomato, “Cushion Demon?! Please tell me you made that up.”

Sid was a little insulted by her tone. “No. There are lots of demon titles – it’s all down to which particular bit of Hell you are in and what job you’re doing. You get moved around a bit until you find your perfect job. I’m the best Loquacious Demon Hell has ever seen.”

Sid smugly waited for the question he knew would follow, sitting a bit straighter in his chair and allowing his tail and horns to show through his façade a little.

“Location Demon? What’s that when it’s at home – a demon holiday expert?” Chastity swallowed her mouthful. “Didn’t think you lot had holidays.”

“Loquacious, not Location. It means I got to sit and chat to people.” Sid puffed his chest out proudly. “For hour upon endless hour I talked at people about whatever I wanted and they had no choice but to listen and answer when I asked them questions. You know how it is at parties and events when you get stuck with the person who won’t shut up or go away and all you want is for the floor to swallow you up? I am that person and the floor is incredibly solid. I was the very best at making people squirm and feel awkward and they had no escape. It was bliss.”

Chastity cocked her eyebrow, a much less attractive expression when her mouth was full of cake. “You were in charge of talking people to death?”

“Yes. Well, no, technically they were already dead. I was in charge of making them wish they had no ears and that they had been a little better behaved in life. That sort of thing.” Sid couldn’t take his eyes off Chastity’s meal. “Are you going to eat all of that?”

“Probably not. Getting a bit bored of chocolate cupcakes now.” She carefully lowered the plate of cakes to the floor and neatly stacked her other, now empty, plates beside it. “Is there any more tea, oh Loquacious One?”

Sid refilled her teacup. “Do they not feed you in Heaven?”

“Only nectar and other such pure stuff. And you have to eat it graciously and gratefully – I’d rather have sandwiches and cake to be honest.” She paused to hiccup before looking quizzically at Sid. “If you were so brilliant at being the Loquacious Demon, what are you doing here?”

Sid slumped, “I, er, got lonely just doing all the talking myself and tried to set up a discussion group.”

“A discussion group? Really? Sid, that’s ridiculous. You didn’t actually think that would work, surely? No matter how fantastic you thought you were at your job, you couldn’t have thought a discussion group would take off in Hell.”

Sid sank further into his chair looking sheepish. “ I just thought I could, you know, run debates and stuff like that – get a bit of interaction going between everyone.”

Chastity looked unconvinced.

“People started enjoying themselves and that’s a bit looked down on. Being Hell and all.” Sid sounded as miserable as he felt at Chastity’s battering. The discussion group had been his pride and joy. “They said I was encouraging friendliness and cheerfulness. Didn’t think they’d actually kick me out for it though!”

Chasitity laughed mirthlessly. “I don’t see why not – my Dad kicked me out for showing too much leg and saying things like ‘shut up’ and ‘crap’. That’s just as lame a reason.”

The room plunged into blackness.

“Oh crap.”

“Quite.”

*

Sid and Chastity stood beside one another looking at the faintly glowing wall, now emblazoned with the following, foot high lettering:

CHALLENGE RESULTS:

SADRALSIDON – PASS 0, FAIL 3 (3/3 COMPLETED)

CHASTITY – PASS 0, FAIL 3 (3/3 COMPLETED)

“I don’t think we did very well there,” said Sid softly, trying to break the silence.

“No sh…”

“CHASTITY!” The now-familiar voice boomed out. “You gave in to Gluttony. Sadralsidon, you failed to be strong in your Pride. You were both given ample opportunity to prove yourselves and you have both failed. You will now receive your punishment. There will be no appeal.”

*

The darkness lifted and Sid found himself still standing beside Chastity but no longer in their Limbo prison. There was grass beneath their feet and they both jumped when a bus thundered past on the road nearby. They watched a woman hurry by on the pavement, casting them a strange glance as she went.

Chastity turned to him and held out her hand. “You coming?”

He paused then took her hand in his and stepped forward beside her.

They walked. Neither of them looked back. Both of them smiled.

Copyright Carole Holland 2012

30 Day Book Challenge: Day Thirteen

A Book Whose Main Character Is Most Like You

Um. For this one I am going to go with the only character anyone has ever said I’m like and that is Cara from Terry Goodkind’s Sword Of Truth Saga.

I will admit that I’m not entirely sure what the similarities between us are meant to have been but the guy was insistent. Cara is clearly just the kick-ass, cool version of me.  (Part of the reason I’m not arguing is because she’s one of my favourite characters ever.)

And yes, before you ask, I have read (and own) all 11 books. Yes, they are all breeze block sized.  (Oh, and I have the mini prequel book too.) And yes, I have had a lot of ear-bashing for liking them so much. Personally I think they are a good example of epic fantasy. I was sad when the last one came out because I knew there would be no more.

Writing Workshop: I Was, I Am, I Will Be

It’s time for Josie’s Writing Workshop over at Sleep Is For The Weak again. I really love doing this because it makes me think and I love reading everyone else’s interpretations too because there’s always so many different ways of looking at the same prompt.

This week’s prompt jumped me forward a bit in Lyall and Tahni’s story to a key point in their relationship where Tahni has to face the truth of everything and accept who she is. (If you are new to Lyall and Tahni have a quick peek at the summary here to get the background, it’ll make everything below make more sense! And should you want to read the other short stories about Lyall and Tahni they are all linked under the Fiction and Poetry button at the top of the page.)

I Was, I Am, I Will Be

Revelations -A Tale Of Lyall and Tahni

I shivered and looked up at Lyall who was crouching over me with his head on one side and his eyes on mine.

“Lyall.” My voice was nothing but a broken whisper. “I still don’t understand.”

He whined and touched his nose to my cheek. It was wet but warm and somehow reassuring.

I shivered again and felt cold ripple through me like a wave on a beach, leaving behind it an itch that almost burned, touching every single inch of my body. I wanted to scratch but my arms were aching so fiercely I could barely move them.

I forced myself to move, rolling onto my belly and drawing my knees up under myself. My eyes were squeezed shut in pain and I dropped my head onto my arms breathing heavily to try and ease the hurt.

Then I froze. My arms were warm. In the same way a cat is warm when you rest your face against its fur.

Fur.

I squinted. Swallowed. Closed my eyes again.

I felt Lyall shifting beside me. I could smell something odd, tangy like oranges mixed with something much less sweet. It made me uneasy. It felt like fear.

I could hear a strange whining noise and it was only when I realised it stopped whenever I feverishly gasped in a breath that it was coming from me. I sounded like a dog left out in the rain.

There was a sudden series of crunching and grinding noises and I was aware of Lyall moving away briefly before returning to my side.

“Tahni. It’s going to be okay, just keep breathing deeply.” His voice was rough, as though he really needed a drink or had been crying. “The itching will stop soon. You…your fur is almost through now. Then the ache will fade.”

I wailed involuntarily. He stroked the back of my head.

“It’s okay. Shhh. The first time is always the worst. Next time will be quicker and not so scary. Just try and relax.”

I panicked then. This was not happening. I’m a girl. A normal, fifteen year old girl. Human. All the way through. If you cut me in half it would be written through me like a stick of rock: Homo Sapiens.

I’m not a mythical creature. Mythical creatures are just that. Mythical. Not real.

I forced myself up onto my hands and knees and glared at Lyall. I desperately wanted to shout at him, blame him, ask him why he seemed to know everything. I couldn’t manage anything other than a wonky sort of growling which hurt my throat.

I tried to launch myself at him. Hurt him like I was hurting. I just fell on him instead and he held me. Firmly but gently against his chest, which was naked but still warm despite the cold air. His hands stroked my head slowly and rhythmically and I found myself breathing along with the pattern, letting myself focus on that and nothing else.

“I’m sorry, Tahni. I thought you knew. I didn’t know you never knew your parents and they never told you. I should have told you who you are before…” He paused and stopped stroking. I whimpered until he started again. “At least you aren’t alone.”

I think I blacked out after that. Everything hurt so much the world went white and all I could hear was crackling like fireworks exploding right next to my head.

Then I was quivering on the floor and my entire body felt full of electricity, shivering through me every which way and back again. I opened my eyes and my heart skipped. The world had gone mad. Everything was tinted blue or yellow, as if I were looking through a stained glass window. I whined.

“Weird isn’t it? You’ll get used to it after a while. I think it’s a canine thing, different colour spectrum.” Lyall sounded a bit amused.

I stood, realising as I unfolded myself that it felt strangely normal to have four feet. Concentrating I turned to face Lyall who was sitting cross-legged on the grass totally naked but for his jumper laid across his lap.

“You’re a very beautiful wolf, Tahni. Deep reddish brown, like your hair when you’re human.” He caught my eyes with his and held me with a look so intense I didn’t dare blink. “You’re going to be okay you know? I’ll help you. The pack will let you in. They have to.”

He paused and looked at the floor.

“It’ll all be okay.”

I just stared at him and thought about what he’d said.

I am a wolf.

I will be fine.

I had to believe him. I had no choice.

Teaser Tuesday: City Of Hope And Despair

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser is from City of Hope and Despair – The City Of A Hundred Rows Vol.II by Ian Whates:

With realisation came a new perspective – this whole situation took on a darker and sharper significance. It had just become personal.

- Page 128 (Teaser and page number from an ARC – may differ slightly in published copy)

Many thanks to Angry Robot Books for letting me read and review this ARC.

Reviews: The King of the Crags by Stephen Deas and Coldbrook (Sampler) by T.J. Lebbon

Coldbrook, T.J. Lebbon

I will start with my review for T.J. Lebbon’s Coldbrook which isn’t actually released until 28.04.2011 (Edit: New release date has been announced of March 2012). What I have read is the 59 page sampler book that I received at Alt. Fiction 2010 and I enjoyed it so much I couldn’t resist talking about it, even just a little bit.

I’m a bit of a zombie newbie and this has certainly piqued my interest by combining zombies with ‘what’s really out there?’ big universe questions and humanity’s idiot curiosity (I am of the general opinion that, in time, curiosity is going to kill much more than the cat).

Fast paced and with good strong characters, even just these 59 pages has got me begging for more and the final book’s release date feels all too far away.

(To read the sampler for yourself – so long as you don’t mind a bit of ‘e-reading – simply follow this link to the Coldbrook website and click on ‘Read the exclusive sampler’.)

The King Of The Crags, Stephen Deas

Published: 2010, Gollancz

Summary (as non-spoilerish for The Adamantine Palace as I can manage): The King of The Crags continues from exactly where The Adamantine Palace left off with no let up in pace or intensity. Jehal is still up to his old tricks but with the added inconvenience of falling for the wife he married for power, creating a jealous rift between himself and his lover. There are rumours of a revolution, led by the legendary Red Riders, and Queen Shezira’s precious white dragon, Snow, is still missing.

The Realms are crashing steadily towards a war and the missing dragon, far from the care of any alchemist or Scales, could be a much bigger danger than most would even dare to imagine.

What I Liked: The pace of the story is carefully measured, never too slow, often fast and always keeping you reading all the way through.

The characters, though not all likeable, are all thorough and believable and you find yourself endlessly curious about what each of them is plotting or planning against the others. Stephen Deas never gives too much away about any of them yet at the same time never makes them so closed that you don’t care for them either. I have a passionate dislike for a few characters and fondness for others – despite not really knowing, ultimately, who is good and who is bad.

I also love the fact that, for once, dragons are as dragons should be. They are not docile, friendly ‘pets’ or the slightly Disneyfied versions of dragons that we have been endlessly fed that don’t mind being used as glorified horses or have a random fondness for these small annoying human things that shout, wave pointy metal sticks and kill each other. No, in these books they think they are food. Which is a nice change. I like proper dragons.

What I Didn’t Like: Despite having read the two books very close together I still ended up being a bit confused at times by who was married to who and who had feuds with which family and why. The family trees at the beginning of the book were useful to combat this but it was a bit frustrating to have to stop mid-action to flick back and find out just who Prince So-and-So was and why he was arguing with King Blah. This wasn’t a major flaw and it certainly didn’t stop my utter love for the books, indeed, it may well just have been down to my terrible memory for names.

I also sincerely dislike the fact that I now have to wait for the next instalment to find out what happens next. *Pokes Stephen with a pointy metal stick* Write faster!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Summer Break Reading Challenge:

2/16