L.K. Evans's Blog, page 18

Review of Crown of Stones by C.L. Schneider

4 out of 5 Stars

I caught sight of this book on an advertisement and the cover drew me right in. I wasn’t disappointed. This book had a good amount of action and character development that kept me hooked throughout.

First, I loved how the magic was handled in this book. It was different, developed, yet not fully unearthed by the characters. It grew along with the story, which was quite nice.

I found the interaction of the races very interesting. I won’t spoil it, but there’s some great meanings in there if you pay attention. The world was developed nicely and had a good feel of fullness and history. The writing itself was very enjoyable.

So, fast-paced read, good writing, and nice world. How about those characters?

I will say that Ian and Malaq were my favorites. The other characters were a wide range and had flaws as well as admirable traits. It was a diverse cast and one I immensely enjoyed. Malaq had a fun, suave personality to him. I liked his humor and all around demeanor. I think I was drawn to Ian because 1) he was a magic user and I tend to like mages 2) he had a tortured side to him which is always alluring to me 3) he could be a badass! He was also a vulnerable character, one who was caught up in something bigger than himself and kept messing up because of it. I liked that he didn’t have all the answers, that he made mistakes. I will say, he had a huge weakness for women. Not a bad thing, it just started feeling… I don’t know, too predictable maybe? It wasn’t like it was the same girl that kept duping him, it was several. So it lost something there for me. Not sure how else to explain it. It wasn’t horrible by any means, it was just something I grew to expect. Oh, there’s a girl? You’re in trouble, Ian.

There were a few surprises at the end. I loved that I learned of the world as Ian did. I never rolled my eyes through a boring history lesson. It was worked in nicely to the conversations, musings, and interactions of the characters. For me, this is a huge bonus.

Overall, great read for anyone who likes epic adult fantasy. I’ll definitely be picking up the second book and following any future works by Schneider.

How to find C.L. Schneider:

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Review of The Crown Tower and The Rose and Thorn by Michael J Sullivan

And thus concludes my reading of Royce and Hadrian’s story. It was a sad day when I finished all these books. I haven’t been able to pick up another one yet. I’ve reread my favorite parts a few times. I’m still thinking about them a lot, which is not helping my own writing. I’m way behind schedule. But it’s not often I get so caught up in a series. Brilliant… simply brilliant.

 

 

5 out of 5 Stars

By far my favorite!! Why? Royce and Hadrian were clearly the stars of the book. We spent most of our time with them. The only other POV we got was Gwen, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

There was a nice bit of humor in this book and I absolutely loved the conversations between Royce and Hadrian. This book connected me with Hadrian on a level I didn’t get in Revelations. I really enjoyed his character and reading his internal musings. Adding Royce’s POV later in the book really set a great stage for his internal thoughts. Gwen came alive for me in this book. I liked her in Revelations, but we never got to know her that well. Here, we got to see her courage and fight. It was great.

I will say that there were a tab bit of discrepancies between what we were told in Revelations versus what happened in The Crown Tower. Nothing that would detract from the story in anyway, at least for me.

Overall, brilliant book and I certainly hope there will be more of these that focus on the adventures of Hadrian and Royce.

 

 

5 out of 5 Stars

I liked this book. I will say that it was my least favorite of all of them. I think I went in to it with an expectation that wasn’t met. Not that it was a bad story, it just didn’t center around Royce, Hadrian, and Gwen as much as I had hoped it would. It had a lot of Hilfred in it. So if you’re wondering about him, you’ll love this book. Actually, I was somewhat surprised by his story. Sad.

Anyways, if you read Chronicles before Revelations, you’ll know what’s happening in the first book of Revelations, whereas, if you read it afterwards, Revelations has you guessing a bit. Again, I recommend reading in publication order (Revelations before Chronicles).

I can’t say much else without sounding like a iPod full of the same song on repeat. I love Sullivan’s writing and his characters. I love this series—all the books—and it will be a timeless favorite of mine.

Review of the Heir of Novron by Michael J Sullivan

I can say this, I’m so terribly sad this series is over.

5 out of 5 Stars

I was exhausted after this book. Emotionally and physically. I read nonstop over the weekend to finish the Riyria Revelations, averaging 4 hours of sleep, forgetting to eat. I wasn’t done though. As soon as I finished the Revelations series, I picked up the Chronicles. Reviews for those will have to be next week. Anyways…

What an ending. I called it. My suspicion of who the heir was by the end of Rise of Empire was right. Yay me.

I shamefully admit that I skimmed and even skipped certain sections. If anyone has read my other reviews, they’ll know I’m a 100% devoted to Royce’s character. That means I can’t really be bothered with other story lines. It’s a reading habit that I absolutely despise. Luckily, I can count on one hand the number of characters that have done this to me. As I said before, sure there are characters in books that I love… adore, even. But few ensnare me as Royce did. Kvothe is one. Sorna another. None more than Raistlin. But Royce came in only second to Raistlin, who I don’t think can ever be topped, in my humble opinion. You’ll notice that all these are characters who start from the bottom and try to overcome all the hell they’ve been through. I love those characters. They make me feel strong. They give me hope. They make me take a step back and not be so judgmental of others. They remind me not to focus on the bad stuff I’ve been through, cause I didn’t have anything nearly as horrible as them. Sure, they’re fictional, but isn’t there truth in fiction?

My biggest beef with the beginning of this book is there wasn’t enough Royce and Hadrian time. I needed them to spend more time together. Even if I wasn’t as addicted to Royce, the other parts were extremely slow.

I cried in this book. And I like to cry in a book. I like to be moved. I could cry right now remembering why I cried. That’s powerful stuff.

I’ve already read both of the Chronicle books, and I agree with Sullivan that reading them in the order he published is a good idea (Revelations before the Chronicle). I think it keeps things just a bit more mysterious. I, however (in perhaps a year or so), plan to read them in chronological order. And I plan to not skim this time. I know the ending, so I can slow down. Furthermore, I believe Sullivan added tiny tidbits here and there that would be jewels to find, now I know what to look for. I think it’d be fun.

Oh, and Mr. Sullivan, if you read this, I’d absolutely love a book that follows Royce throughout his childhood up until he meets Hadrian. And I’d love love love more stories of Hadrian and Royce doing some exciting jobs. Their banter and interaction is great.

So to conclude, this series has shot up to my favorite top five and I’m a huge fan of Sullivan.

Review of Rise of Empire by Michael J Sullivan

5 out of 5 Stars

I’m not sure where to begin and what else I can say that I didn’t rave about in the first book. I liked The Emerald Storm much better than the later half of Nyphron Rising. It wasn’t that the first sub-book in Rise of Empire was bad, I just liked the pacing of the second.

I admit, I did start skimming in this book, for no other reason than my disinterest in certain story lines. It’s nothing new in a book where I’ve become so infatuated with a character. If I’m not with that character, I tend to grow bored easily. Shame, really, because I definitely warmed up to Arista in this book as much Hadrium, whom I was already fond of. She was—as are all the female characters—strong and realistic. And while in Modina’s POV there are brave, interesting characters, I just couldn’t get completely involved in the story. I think it goes back to my lack of patience for books that aren’t more quest driven (I need more action). While Rise of Empire does have plenty of adventures, those sections with Modina just really seemed to drag for me. And, honestly, I wanted to get back to Royce’s story. Have I mentioned how much I love Royce? Seriously do. Much to my surprise, I did not latch on to Hadrian any further. I still think he’s great—amazing, really—but nothing changed from book one. That’s not bad or good, just something that I didn’t see coming… or rather, not coming.

I’m starting to piece together a puzzle and have a pretty good idea who the heir might be. I’m not 100% certain. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was wrong. But I’m feeling confident, so we’ll see.

I’m rather upset that I cleared all my plans for the weekend so I could read this. I’ve gotten little sleep because of it and my eyes are killing me. But after finishing Rise of Empire, I must go on. I cannot stop and I have to finish it this weekend. There are things I must know. And I’m absolutely dying to see if I’m right about some of my guesses.

So to conclude my short bit of rambling, I’d like to say goodbye to sleep. I’m sorry I won’t be joining you this weekend.

Review of Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan

5 out of 5 Stars

Well, I absolutely loved this book. Loved it loved it loved it loved it. Actually, I should say that I loved Royce. It’s been a while since I’ve 100% latched on to a character. Matter of fact, I haven’t felt that way in 3 months. I’ve loved and really liked quite a few books since that one the kept me up at night, I’ve enjoyed stories and great adventures, I’ve felt close to a few characters, but none of the characters have consumed my mind in the past 3 months. This is both good and bad, which I’ll explain later (I feel a little silly about it…).

Now, since I’ve latched on to a character, the story could take any turn and I won’t care, as long as I have my character. In Theft of Swords, if I didn’t have Royce, I still would have enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t have gone all character crazy like I am. It was a good story, with some wild fun. That said, I’m not one for political intrigue. I mean, I don’t mind it, I won’t avoid a story with it, but it’s got to have other stuff going on to keep me interested. This book did just that. The political sections of plotting and scheming and some POV’s had me reading faster, almost near skimming so I could return to Hadrian and Royce. Still, it ended just before I got into my, “I need to this to move faster” train of thought. So, all in all, the story was great.

On to characters; my biggest weakness in a book. I’m going to admit something that I hope others can relate to, cause I feel a bit crazy when I do this. If I’ve latched on to a character, I mean, really latched on, I can’t stop thinking about the book and I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. Which means I’m useless until I finish the series. It eats away at me. I can’t sleep, cause I keep thinking about what I read. It’s entirely frustrating. I feel like a crazy person. There’s one series that I haven’t picked up the second book yet because the third and final installment isn’t done. Sadly, I’m afraid I’d go insane if I became much more invested in the character and didn’t have the final book in my hands. I’m not in jeopardy of that with these books, cause they’re all out. Yay me. Embarrassed, I admit that it seriously takes me like a week of horrible nights and absent minded days to move past a book if I’m hooked on a character. Heaven forbid anything happens to them. I go into mourning and I’m quite irritable.

All that said, this book put me in that crazy, psycho mode. All the other books I had planned to read just got shelved. I. Must. Read. More. Royce. Soooo, I’m insanely obsessed now and have bought the next two books which I can hopefully read this weekend. Sigh… I had so many other plans. Oh well.

Hadrian was also a great character, I have a feeling I’m going to start having the same problem with him in the next book. We’ll see. But right now, I can’t get enough Royce. The other characters were great as well, and I liked and hated some. Nice range. But I love myself a brooding, dark past character.

Theft of Swords left me screaming in agony last night. It’s got a bit of a cliffhanger and drove me to lose countless hours of sleep. And I can’t read today, which I’m upset about, to put it very mildly. Hopefully, I can get far enough into the next book so I can get some sleep Friday night. I really hate this reading side to me. I get weird looks from my family whenever I try to explain it, but I can’t be the only one with this problem. Ugh!!

So in conclusion, yeah, I guess you could say I liked this book.

How to find Michael J Sullivan:

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Review of The Forgotten King by Brian Beam

3 out of 5 Stars

This book frustrated me. I’m still a fan of Beam and I’ll buy the next book in this series. Furthermore, I’ll pick up his next series as well (if there is one, which I do hope so). But when looking at this book compared to others I’ve rated 4 stars, it just doesn’t quite stack up. Close, but not there. And please, keep in mind that, for me, 3 stars isn’t a bad thing. Hell, a lot of my Dean Koontz books are 3 stars and he’s an author I thoroughly enjoy.

So why was I frustrated? There was so much recapping from book one that it dragged this book down. In addition, there was so much repetitive internal processing that I ended up skipping those sections about 30% into it. Furthermore, I think the writing felt a little rushed—not the story, the writing.

In this book, I liked the ending way better than the beginning (opposite from book 1). The last 20% of this book was a solid 4 stars for me. But I can’t ignore the numerous sections recounting book one. I really wish 1) I’d taken a month between reading the first and second book, and 2) I wish the second book was shorter. If some of the recapping and repetitive internal dialog were cut down, I’d have enjoyed this way more than I did, and it would have been a very solid 4 stars.

Now that the negative is out of the way, on to the positive.

There’s still a nice dose of action. While the story might not have advanced as quickly as preferred, there was always danger, fleeing, and fighting. For me, that’s a plus. There was one section that involved Korin, a green crystal, and ellifill that was done brilliantly, was harrowing for the character, and really added some depth to him. Little moments like those kept me going, and I wasn’t disappointed.

The ending was a rush of action and explanation. It awarded me a few confirmations to some theories, but more so, it gifted me a handful of: “Well I didn’t see that coming.” I thoroughly enjoyed the ending and sped through it with the burning need to know what was happening. Like I said, I really enjoyed the ending. If I would have rated this the moment I finished it, with the ending fresh, I probably would have given it four stars. But I slept on it and realized that 80% of the book needed to drop some stuff for me to feel that way about the entire book. If I could, I’d give it 3.5 stars. I liked it. And there were parts I really liked. And then there were a handful that I absolutely loved. It’s those moments and my investment in Korin that will have me buying the third book.

So in conclusion, if you liked book one, I highly recommend picking up book two a month or so from finishing book one. I think I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d done that, and possibly would have been fine with the recaps.

Excerpt from Chapter One of Keepers of Arden

Today I thought I’d share what would make up the first page in the printed book of Keepers of Arden: The Brothers Volume 1. I might have snuck in a sentence or two that ran into the next page in order to cap off the paragraph. Hope you enjoy!

Indie Challenge 10 — The Dragon Gem (Korin’s Journal #1) by Brian Beam

4 out of 5 Stars

Where to start…

I can tell you this book doesn’t lack in action. There always seemed to be something happening. Either the characters were fleeing for their lives or they were fighting. It made it fast paced and kept me interested. For the most part, the fight scenes were play by play. Sometimes I followed, sometimes I didn’t, but it never detracted from my enjoyment. I also liked how Beam kept us close to Korin (the narrator and main protagonist) by letting us in on what pains he was experiencing during all this action. I think it’s odd how in some books when a character fights there’s no connection to pain. Here, Beam connected us with it.

The world was built fairly well and I was satisfied by the information I received. There’s like a billion gods in this world and it was handled with a huge dose of humor. Some might find it annoying (because of how they’re all referenced) but I found it thoroughly entertaining. And I think—or at least hope—that it’ll tie in to some of the dangling story questions, a few of which I’ve developed a couple of theories to solve. This should tell you that the plot is interesting enough to keep you guessing with hints dropped here and there to allow your imagination to work on puzzling it all out. That said, I think Beam relied heavily on the old trope “I can’t tell you yet because it could put you in danger.” Meaning, one character has all the answers, but doesn’t reveal. I’ve never really been bothered by this unless the story and characters are dull. This story was not, so I was fine.

On to Korin, our narrator and main protagonist. I’ll tell you, I liked him more in the beginning. His humor had me smiling often and I liked that he wasn’t always winning. He needed help, or he got the crap beat out of him. That was good. Me likey. However, the further I read, his realism turned into dependency. He was incapable of protecting himself. He never once handled a situation on his own and never once got himself out of it. Sure, he had ideas and thought through some stuff, but in regards to fighting he was a little reliant. I would have liked to see him escape a few situations on his own (without the help of others), just to show he’s as good as he says/thinks he is.

There’s a lot of humor in this book. At the beginning, I was into it. By the end, I was kinda ready for a little more realistic reactions to horrific scenes. I like a book heavy with emotion. I think too often a character doesn’t react appropriately to a terribly sad event. Korin reacted to sad events with emotion, which I enjoyed. However, he switched too quickly between horrible sorrow to his wise-crackish self. Again, it didn’t bother me so much in the beginning, but by the end (as events got darker) I would have liked to keep things serious just a little longer. Furthermore, the later humor of the book felt a little forced, while at the beginning it felt more natural. Here’s a few lines that had me smiling in the beginning:

“So now the stolen gem that I’d stolen had been stolen. Fancy that.”

For this next one, keep in mind that he has a talking cat wizard:

“Not many things can hurt your pride more than being berated by a tabby.”

There was a lovely dose of sarcasm and dry humor that I enjoyed. I liked Korin’s narration. It was entertaining and witty.

So to conclude my ramblings, this was a fast paced, very light, very enjoyable read. I’ve already bought the second book, and Beam has a new fan.

Where to find Brian Beam and his books:

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We’re on our way!

Yep, that’s a printed test proof of Keepers of Arden. I might be a tad excited. I screamed when I opened it, so… yeah, I’m excited. I’m in the process of reading it again, going through each page to make sure there’s nothing wrong in the formatting, but so far, so good. Hopefully, by the end of this month, it’ll be available. Stay tuned to my website because once it is available I plan on doing something fun with the ebook.

In other news, I’m reading The Dragon Gem by Brian Beam and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s rather lighthearted with a humorous narrator. I should have my review up on Monday.

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, I wanted to let you know I’ve been having some technical difficulties. I’ve put in a request for some help, but Facebook doesn’t seem to have a crazy good support group. There’s some people I really want to follow, however, the only option I’m given is to “report” them. Really annoying and has taxed my patience. To top it off, my posts have been disappearing into some blackhole. I’ve never considered myself inept when it comes to figuring out programs. I did rather well in my last job. But Facebook is an entirely different beast. Last night I finally learned how to work around one of my other issues, so I guess that’s a small win. I could go on and write a short story about all my frustrations, but I’ll spare you.

Last but not least, I’m looking into doing a book signing sometime later this year, perhaps the fall. Summer in Arizona isn’t the best time to ask people to leave their air-conditioned homes and venture into the 120 degree weather. Even if it is just a short drive. By the time your car cools down, you’re at your destination and you have to brave walking from your car to the store. Never fun.

I think that’s about it for now. To conclude this rambling post, here’s a picture of my two dogs with my book. The brown/white one is Juneau, and the black/white one is Comet. They were excited, too.

Review of Journey to Altmortis by Thaddeus White

Journey to Altmortis by Thaddeus White

5 out of 5 Stars

I hang my head in shame. I bumped this book up on my to-read list. I’ve had just the most amazing streak of incredible books lately that I wasn’t ready to test the waters this weekend. I wanted an author I trusted; one I felt confident could take me someplace full of adventure with a group of characters I could enjoy. Of course, White did not disappoint. I’ve said it in every review I’ve done for one of his books: I love his writing. It’s easy to follow, but not dumbed down, and there’s guaranteed to be at least one character to entertain me. In this book it was Thaddeus and Lynette. Now, to keep confusion down, I will refer to the author as White since there is a character in the book named Thaddeus, which happens to be my favorite.

Unlike Bane of Souls, this book takes us on a journey (ha… fits the title nicely) to the lost city of Altmortis. The group of characters we go on our adventure with are entertaining and diverse. I have quite a few I liked in this book, but Thaddeus was by far my favorite, for me anyways. He has a likable quality without being overly “good.” An odd thing to say, I know, but it’s the truth. I’ve never been so fond of a thief before, and he has no intention of cleaning up his act. Again, a realistic character that is likable and one you could imagine yourself sitting at a bar with while drinking and laughing away the hours. I also enjoyed the character of Fritigern quite a bit. Pretty Pierre was another great one. And Anja. Oh hell, I enjoyed them all!

The story itself was just fine in the beginning and I found myself entertained rather quickly. That said, I wasn’t thoroughly engrossed until I hit about 50%. Then I was lost. I cared not the hour nor who was around nor did I bother to answer my phone. It was a wild ride and I just couldn’t tear myself away. I. LOVED. IT. The ending was a rush of exciting fights and creatures. I never realized how subtly White was building the tension until I had bitten off a fingernail (a nasty habit I’ve broken for over 3 months… that is, until this book. Shame on you, Mr. White). Even more so, the little tastes of humor were my favorite. First few lines that got a smile from me? Well that would be:

“Did you have to headbutt her?” Athanaric complained, pointing at the woman. “She was such a pretty thing.”

“Kicking her in the groin would have been ungallant.” [Fritigern]



That was in the first chapter. Love it.

The places we traveled to were described wonderfully and immersed me in the scene with all my senses firing away. It was different from Bane of Souls but, for me, in a good way. This moved along with much less history and kept my attention throughout.

To conclude my ramblings, I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy. You don’t have to read Bane of Souls first, though I do recommend it. And if you haven’t done so, pick up Sir Edric’s Temple. It’s still my favorite of White’s work, though this gave it a run for its money. I’m anxiously awaiting his next book, regardless of the world it is set in.

How to find Thaddeus White:

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