The Knight's Secret

The Mage Conspiracy #1

by Jeffrey Bardwell

A terrible secret. A vengeful empress. An unstable empire.

Sir Corbin, retired Hero of Jerkum Pass, dies on the eve of an urgent mission. His granddaughter Kelsa dons the old man's armor and his wrinkles and sets out to complete his last quest. She ventures to the capital of the Iron Empire. The city is in an uproar. The emperor has been slain by rogue mages. The new empress is livid. Now, every mage is suspect, including Kelsa's mother.

Hidden behind a magic ring, Kelsa infiltrates her grandfather's regiment. The bonds between retired army mages and cavalry have begun to crack. Only Sir Corbin can mend the breach. Caught between the dark suspicions of an old friend in the cavalry and the lustful advances of a mage ex-lover, the disguised hero struggles to live up to her grandfather's shining legacy. Yet the longer she tiptoes in his shadow, the more tarnish she uncovers. Can Kelsa complete her quest before the descending wrath of the empress and Corbin's sordid past expose her?

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

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, High Fantasy, Romance, Ebooks, Amazon, Fiction

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2017

Reviews

[Nada Sobhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Knight's Secret by Jeffrey Bardwell is a bit of a strange fantasy with some creativity in terms of characters and ideas. Having said that, I think the book could use some work because the first two chapters were amazing then the story dragged.

The book opens with Kelsa's grandfather, Sir Corbin, being invited to give a speech before the new Empress. However, shortly after he dies – before making the trip. So, Kelsa and her mage mother cook up a plan to transform Kelsa into Sir Corbin, take on the role, and give the speech.

The Knight's Secret is narrated from Kelsa's perspective, first as a girl, and starting chapter 3 as a woman pretending to be a man. An old one.

There is lots of humor, especially how Kelsa adjusts to being an old. Imagine a 16-year-old girl turning into an 80-year-old man with a lot of health hazards!

"It was an effort to straighten myself, not from any aches – though my body had those aplenty – but from old habits. Kelsa sat in the saddle like a sack of potatoes…but the great Sir Corbin? The Hero of Jerkum Pass always perched in his saddle like he had a spear shoved up his backside."

In terms of characterization, I loved Kelsa and her witty, sarcastic comments. She is the main character after all. And she does all the hard work in the novel.

The language in The Knight's Secret was fine, with little imagery. Narration was a bit difficult to navigate. Even though it's all from Kelsa's perspective, when she becomes her grandfather, she thinks as a man and would occasionally comment that some fleeting thoughts are Kelsa's.

I applaud Bardwell for his idea of transformation but felt it was a bit confusing at times.

Still, the book wasn't as fast-paced I would have liked. Remember the speech from chapter 1? By chapter 10 or later, it's still not written or given.

I came to a point where I was thinking of dropping the novel altogether but decided to give it one more chapter to decide. Luckily, that chapter kept me going till I finished it.

Did characters ever talk so much? In The Knight's Secret they do. A freaking lot! There was a ton of dialogue in the book. And while I favor dialogue over endless descriptions, I felt that The Knight's Secret had too much that just didn't move the action or novel forward. I honestly started skipping lines.

I rarely comment on book covers, unless they're wicked amazing, but in The Knight's Secret, I felt there was a discrepancy since Sir Corbin was over 80 years old. When Kelsa transformed, she looked like her old grandfather. Not the young-looking knight on the cover. I like the cover but I just don't think it's fitting for this book.

There was also some adult content that I had not been expecting. Considering who the characters were, it wasn't particularly interesting. Or I wasn't willing to read this.

A lot of secrets and information the reader has been craving throughout the book are revealed at the end. But let's not talk about the end because I felt the story ended abruptly. I understand that series tend to have open endings, but this was odd. I felt like I was watching TV and the lights went out in the middle of the movie, not that I got semi-satisfying ending.

Overall, I think the book could use some work. Hence, my overall rating is 2.5 stars.

Note: I received a free copy of The Knight's Secret from its author Jeffrey Bardwell in exchange for an honest review.

Note 2: I took a break while reading this book for NaNoWriMo + sometime when I had no time to read.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (5/17/2019)! 🎁

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the guise of an epic fantasy, with unique magical twists, Mr. Bardwell has examined a problem that has plagued humans throughout recorded history: intolerance. The way it is represented is that an army that fought and died together, are in later years pulled apart by the soldiers fearing, distrusting and finally murdering the mages (warriors who used magic). It started with a small problem, and grew rapidly based on rumors and misinterpretations of events. Whether it is religious, ethnic, racial, socio-economic, this same pattern has repeated itself as endlessly in societies all over the earth, even today. “Sir Corbin”, the Hero of this army and of our story, tries to remind the factions of how successfully they had worked together in the past, which did have a good effect initially. But the mending quickly unraveled when a surprising attack on the group occurred under the direction of the cold, biased empress. She exhibited traits of totalitarian/fascist rulers that have initiated great wars throughout history. In this book, the underdog group, the mages, are nearly exterminated from the army. The plan is to extend this to the general population. This book ends at a natural break in the story, “Sir Corbin” escapes the torture chamber and returns to the cell containing the lone surviving mage. We are led to anticipate that they will escape. As this is an epic, readers will anticipate that the next book will continue the journey of “Sir Corbin”.

[Lyn Sweetapple · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young woman must magically disguise herself as her deceased grandfather, Sir Corbin Destrus, to pick up his pension so they can leave their village. The kingdom is becoming terrified of the mages who have always been and integral part of the military. Her mother is a degreed doctor and also a hidden mage. She drinks with her grandfather's regimental comrades and sleeps with his fomer mistress (very graphic description). She becomes involved in a conspiracy to kill the mages of the regiment. My only quibble is that a regiment is a part of a brigade which is part of a division which is part of an army. I wonder who the other troops are and if they are also involved in the plot or is this regiment the only one with mages.
Lessons of Sir Corbin Destrus: live with strong morals and honot; protect the weak; never follow a leader because of lies, fear or paranoia.
Bardwell uses fantasy as a vehicle to explore gender through celebrating the differences and yet acknowledging opportunity should be based on skill.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable book because it has its light and very witty moments but is also dealing with a very serious matter. An Empire which had always relied both on its militia as well as on its mages is suddenly thrown into turmoil because the Emperor dies and the new Empress decides to point fingers at the mages for this death. She incites pogroms to be carried out and even sets up a new set of guards, the black guards, to carry out her dirty work. Corbin Destrus is the hero of Jerkum Pass and is to be honoured in the city for his bravery, however he passes away before he leaves his village and his granddaughter Kelsa goes in his stead after being magically transformed to look exactly like him by her mother who is also a mage. Kelsa knows all about Corbin's past and all his mannerisms and is ready to even give out the speech which he had partly written, she knew she had to go to ward off the hatred being inflamed against the mages especially for her mother's sake. However once she gets to the city she soon realises how far things had gone and which way the wind was blowing and her task becomes more difficult than she ever could imagine but Kelsa is undeterred and is willing to take on the Empress, Cordelia 1 and her black guards for the sake of the empire and all its citizens, mages included. The bigotry had to be stemmed before it was too late for all of them! Brilliant book with a beautiful heroine who I am dying to follow on her further adventures in the city!

[Jeanne Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arrrgggghhh! There's nothing I hate more than a partial story with no warning. You don't fucking end on a cliffhanger, even if it is a series! Bloody hell. Two days wasted because I'm not suckered into paying for the rest. I am not the reader who gushes how I can't wait for the next book. I'm the reader who says fuck this greedy bullshit where you chop a story in half in order to double profits.

[Mike]

It's an original premise, and had some promise as a story, but I couldn't persevere with a book so badly edited that it has "yolk" where the author means "yoke" (and a yoke is actually not something that would be used in the context either), and has the same name spelled two different ways in consecutive sentences.

[E.G. Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given how much I read, it is rare for a book to truly surprise me. This is not bad; I love stories of all sorts, even if I know what form it will take and what will happen. But being truly surprised? There’s something spectacular in that. So when I read Jeffrey Bardwell’s The Knight’s Secret, I was thrilled to be truly surprised.

1. Thoughts on the plot
This book follows Kelsa as she disguises herself as her recently dead grandfather so that she can go to the capital and collect his pension, thereby allowing her family enough funds to escape the persecution of mages. Her mother, a mage, disguises Kelsa with magic so that she takes the body of Sir Corbin, and Kelsa does her best to mimic his personality and bluster. But she finds herself in over her head when she comes across old lovers and finds the politics far more complex than before.
The general structure of this book is a fairly standard epic fantasy beginning/hero’s journey type story. The hero (in this case Kelsa rather than Sir Corbin) has to enter into a difficult situation in order to enact some sort of task (saving her family), but gets drawn into a situation far more complex than originally intended. The events from then on have a large-scale effect on the world. This is all familiar and much-enjoyed, so I had no problems there. The interesting part is how the plot was carried out.
Body switching is also not an uncommon trope, but I have never seen a young girl take the place of an old man, and oh my goodness, was it fascinating. This went beyond mere disguise, and I was enthralled through the entire story.

2. Thoughts on the characters
Kelsa is a great main character. She has enough intelligence and spunk to pull off this particular plot, with enough hero-worship of her grandfather to complete her mimicry well. However, we don’t see a whole lot of Kelsa throughout the story. She appears at the beginning, when we are first introduced to the situation, but after that up until the end, the character that appears is mostly Kelsa-as-Sir-Corbin. It is almost an entirely different character and the true Kelsa shows up only rarely in his thoughts. I would have liked to see a little more of Kelsa as she was before, but I did find the intersection of the two characters very interesting.

3. Favourite part
The mix of Kelsa and Sir Corbin was definitely my favourite. While I know that it was the same character, just pretending to be another, the switch was so complete as to be entirely deceiving. Until the end, that is, but I shan’t spoil it, even though it was a great ending.

4. Critique
My only real critique for this book is what I mentioned above; I would have liked to see more of Kelsa as she was so that I could understand the contrast between her and who she pretended to be just a tad more. However, I don’t think this was a major thing at all and definitely did not diminish from the story.

Overall, The Knight’s Secret was a great first book in a series and I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the premise of the plot. The idea took something that was familiar and made it surprising, which is not something I see very often at all. An excellent book.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The empire is in a growing state of turmoil. All mages are being targeted, blamed and treated as rebels against the empire.

Sir Corbin, retired Hero of Jerkum Pass, will finally get the recognition (and money) he deserves at the most opportune moment. His daughter is an undercover mage and already townsfolk are being suspicious.

Alas, sir Corbin dies on the privy some days before his celebration, it falls to Kelsa (with the help of an enchanted ring) to become her grandfather, get the money and make it back home.

However, affairs in the empire are more dire then they seemed, the emperor was supposedly killed by rebel mages, the new empress is going to extreme lengths to eradicate all mages from the empire and Corbin has to choose a side.
Add to that some very old friends that want to bring him into the empresses fold, an ex-lover and mage who knows what really happened at Jerkum Pass and a whole regiment more flammable then a powder keg.

Kelsa has her work cut out for her. Get through the ceremony intact, get home and leave for a better place or try and save all mages...

My take on the book:

I'm not sure what to think really...

World building was good, the author takes us into an empire on the verge of mass conflict, targeting mages who have given their all for the wellbeing of the empire and its citizens. All scenes were well detailed and clear without getting boring.

Character development was good. We had Kelsa, a young woman, who had to pick up the burden of becoming her grandfather in order to protect her mother.
Little by little she looses her own identity however, letting the Corbin persona take over.

So if that was all good... what didn't I like?
Well.. there was a lot of talking, some more talking and very little action :(

Apart from that the book is well written, there were no (noticeable) errors. Oh and if it's important for you, yes, there is sex in the book (which in hindsight was pretty disturbing, but ah well).

I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book and yeah, this book clearly was setting the stage, placing all the pieces on the board so the reader knows exactly what's going on. For me however, it took too long and there was not enough happening.
That being said... now we have this whole staging behind us, bring the action!

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelsa lives in a small village with her mother (Ma) and father(Fa) and her elderly Granfa. Suspicion is being pointed at her mother’s ‘medical’ healing potions as more and more hate is being felt against Mages. This book, in the Mage Conspiracy, covers the tales a granddaughter hears from her GranFa, Sir Corbin – Hero of Jerkum Pass, or at least how he tells them and her involvement in his supposed celebration meal at the Empires army HQ. He retired from active service and now in his eighties, his stories change every time they are told.

Sir Corbin has a final quest to travel to the capital of the Empire for his celebration event and to collect his pension. But, on reaching the capital, he finds the Emperor has been killed and Mages are suspected. The new Empress is taking a hard line against the Mages and divisions are appearing in Corbin’s old army regiment. Corbin seeks out allies and tries to ask for peace, having fought alongside his army and mage colleagues years ago, with many dying around him.

Sir Corbin is not quite who he seems to be and this underlines the ‘Knight’s Secret’ of the title. He mixes with an old flame, a witch, and is asked to join the newly formed ‘Black Guard’ (which readers familiar with the author’s books will recognise). Lots goes on in the dining halls of this meeting area, lies, politics and spying from all sides. Who can be trusted?

Sir Corbin has to decide which side he wants to be on as a new fight is about to take place. Mage against cavalry, friend against ally. No side is really going to win. The Empress launches a full out attack against all Mages and so the division begins.

A great story to add more to the Iron Empire and Mage Conspiracy series books. An unusual story with twists and turns that are unexpected as well as not what you think. This story takes place over just a few days for each of the characters and concentrates on duty, honour and family.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the author and have thoroughly enjoyed this book, as well as others by the author, and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Gordon Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out with an interesting premise – the main character, Kelsa, magicked into her grandfather’s body – but the possibilities are not explored fully, especially when it comes to her reaction to romantic encounters. There is also the problem of empathy when the person she becomes takes over our attention, and we forget the sympathetic girl (young woman?) we met at the beginning.

Kelsa takes her grandfather’s place, going to court to battle the intrigue and rivalry in his old regiment caused by mistrust and prejudice between magicians and regular cavalrymen. This part of the story is carefully crafted and realistic in nature.

An interesting point; this book is written in tightly subjective first person, giving us very detailed reactions to everything that is going on. However, this style has the opposite effect to what we might expect. Instead of feeling the emotional effects of the events more strongly, we are actually held away from them, filtering everything through the controlling screen of Kelsa’s thoughts. Likewise, just as a person can’t see herself without a mirror, we lose track of Kelsa as she works herself into the role of the Hero of Jerkum Pass.

The part that works the best is the personal question of who her grandfather really was, a quandary that continues at all levels as she twists and turns through the multiple plots.

Once we get to the end, when finally the rebellion and its aftermath occur, the intrigue turns to action for a while but then fades back into the description of the action from Kelsa’s point of view. The finale is a nicely constructed plot twist which leads us naturally into the next book in the series without completely satisfying our desire for completion.

Except for an overly controlled point of view, this is a smoothly written book with a well-constructed plotline. Recommended for Fantasy readers who like court intrigue as a main conflict.

[Mary T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Granfa, aka Sir Corbin, is a great story teller. He regales everyone with stories of him as the Hero of Jerkum Pass. He dies and is put in the outhouse until they can figure out what to do with him. No one is to know he is dead and to top that of he is to give a speech at the reunion of his regiment in the city and secure his pension money for the family.
There is a large problem in as much as mages are being persecute by the empress after the death of her father. Kelsa's mother, Miranda, is a mage. The town elder suspects as much and plans to reveal that fact, imperiling her life and that of her family.
Kelsa and Miranda leave town with Grandfa's body in a stasis box. Once they get away from everyone they stop and a spell is used on Kelsa to make her look, talk and act like Sir Corbin. Kelsa continues on to the city riding Grandfa's horse, Krag, and her mother buries Grandfa.
When she gets to the city she has a big job to do. She must convince everyone that she is Sir Corbin, the Hero of Jerkum Pass. There are many people she must convince those that knew Grandfa very well. The disruptive threat of the regiment made up of calvarymen and mages being destroyed hangs over the gathering. This is not an easy task for a young girl who only knows some of the goings on of her grandfather and what is true and what is tall tales.
The story is well developed and fun to read.

[Ramona Plant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me

The Knight's Secret written by Jeffery Bardwell sadly isn't for me. I find that the book really lacks a major plot and found that it sort of just drifts along. For the most part it's just rambling off Sir Corbin and whoever he is talking to. I am kind of missing the point of this story so far, but since I have no intention of picking up future books, reading this one was pretty much a waste of my time.

The page of the book is slow and I mean SLOW. There were quite a few times I just glanced over the pages because the part was just dragging out too much.

There was no particular character that was really worth mentioning that I felt somewhat connected to and that included Sir Corbin / Kelsa.

There were no real twists or turns, no secrets that you are looking forward to be revealed, just nothing that I look forward to in a book sadly. There were a few editorial errors but nothing major.

All in all this was just a very bland story that did nothing for me. Maybe the next one is better and is where all the action is but this one was not for me and I got one can not recommend it.

[Saundra Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Knight's Secret is set in an intricately woven steampunk, fantasy world where magic and mechanicals vie for their place in the empire. When Kelsa's grandfa dies shortly before being honored as a hero, with monetary accompaniment, in the capital by the empire which is seeking to outlaw magic, the family has only one recourse. One of them must become him and take his place, a deception that must hold for days and fool his most intimate allies from the war! As with all of Jeffrey Bardwell's work what could be merely a greatly entertaining tale, which this is, with all the adventure, danger and excitement one expects, it is also much more. The Knight's Secret is comprised of a multilayered plot with multilayered motivations on the part of many of it's characters, a deep look into the heart of humanity if you care to peer that deeply, or simply a story that will stay with you forever! Filled with lyric prose and wonderful wit, smiles and drama, a full gamut of emotion! I was gifted with a copy of this novel and am willingly leaving a review.

[S. D. Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

I enjoyed this story more than Rotten Magic and it added in background around the origin of the Blackguards and artificers guild. Having the single, rather than dual POV made it a stronger story and the book worked better for it, despite it being more political than action orientated. I can see the ending splitting reader opinion as a cliffhanger and I didn't actually mind it as it was a natural termination point.

It was an entertaining opening and solid ending but the pacing in the middle could do with a tweak. For a short novel it took a while to get to the actual meal and trigger events into motion. There were a couple of social concepts and Kelsa's behaviour in a few places that I wasn't entirely convinced by that would have benefitted from a greater depth, rather than the slow tension towards the end. I'm curious to see how events develop and unravel to what I found in Rotten Magic, aided by Kelsa being a more solid character and a clever use of illusion. A neat concept, which for me elevated this novel above Rotten Magic.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of The Knight's Secret in exchange for an honest review.

In year 198, the tension between mages and the capitol is at breaking point. Kelsa's family needs to keep their secret, but the one person keeping them safe has passed away. The death of Kelsa's grandfa Sir Corbin could tear their lives apart. Being close to her grandfa is going to come in handy when she is has to become him to save her mothers life. But, no one is who they appear to be.

I really enjoyed this book. Kelsa's ability to portray Sir Corbin is amazing. It was very easy to keep everything apart. There are a couple romantic situations that caught me by surprise, but they were very intriguing. The beginning was a little slow, but once Kelsa starts her adventure, I was hooked. I can't wait for the next book.

[Jennifer Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Low-fantasy, new-adult
Note: Explicit sexual scenes

Kelsa is a 23-year old woman in a small village. She lives with her mother (a doctor and sometimes mage), father (a carpenter), and her grandfather (an honoured war veteran). While mages once held an honoured place in the army, mechanical advances have empowered those without magic. Now there is talk of driving all the dirty mages out of the empire. On the eve of a ceremony honouring Kelsa's grandfather Corbin, he is found dead. Dependent on his pension, her family comes up with a crazy scheme to have him live just a little bit longer...

I admit that it took a little while for this book to really get going. However, I did quite enjoy the interesting dynamics that occur once Corbin gets to the gathering. I am curious what happens in book 2.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!! DO YOU WANT ADVENTURE???
Holy crap! If you want excitement, intrigue, action packed, lies, deceit with enemies all around with no one to trust. Back against a wall, the world as you know crumbling at your feet, congratulations my friend, you found it. Smooth flowing, unpredictable surprises and twists that keep you captivated and frozen to your seat until the end. Jeffrey has a way of bringing his world to us in such a realistic fashion that you can feel the sweat on your brow. Danger follows every step like rats in a snake pit. All you know is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Wow! I have to say this is one grand adventure. Thanks Jeffrey for sharing this remarkable read with us.

[Anya Josephs]

This one really wasn't for me, unfortunately. I didn't find Kelsa to be a very believable character, and she disappeared immediately into her grandfather, which was strange. I had trouble believing how she could know so much about his life, including intimate details, that let her pretend to be him so effectively. I also found the sex scenes to be unpleasant, and the depiction of gender differences rather shallow and stereotyped.

There were some great things about the book, however! Some of the writing is quite snappy and funny, and it's an innovative, original premise. The execution didn't work for me, but I'd definitely return to Bardwell's work. He's very creative, and the book had a lot of potential.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It made me laugh, cry and think. These are the signs of great books to me. I look forward to the rest of the series. I found the story takes hold of you and gives you a wild ride. The characters were developed and you could relate to them. There is some sex and some violence but they both make the story progress instead of the story holds the sex and violence together.
On the surface the book is about empires, armies and mages .But it is much more than just that.
It has a lot of comparisons of the real world and reminds us that even one person can make a difference.
All in all it is a very enjoyable read.

[Katie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely Fantastic Fantasy

So what exactly would happen if an old heroic knight died, and his daughter was a mage in an empire that fears magic, and his stubborn granddaughter had to masquerade as her old as dirt crotchety grandad, while using magic, in the heart of the empire that fears magic? Well, for starters, an old as dirt knight does a cannonball into a tub, and a granddaughter gets real cozy with her late grandad's old fling.

Humor and politics go hand in hand here. and it is fabulous.

[Stavri Marathefti · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a short list of stories I like

A strong opening effort (which, unfortunately, is hard to follow as many books on the shelves attest to). The characters are multi-faceted so the story ìs reminiscent of a biography but with the tension of a grandfather's tale designed to teach as well as entertaining his miniature human audience.
Nervous about book two, hoping Mr. Bardwell will manage to maintain the excellence while expanding his world's horizons .
Thank you for this work.

[Katrina Tinker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really caught up in this book: in the intrigue, conspiracies and entanglements it presented. A well-written book, with funny as well as intense moments. I had to read out loud to my husband some of the funny parts because I thought they were so good. The plot twists (several of those!) all caught me by surprise and made the book even more enjoyable. The cliff-hanger at the end made me super-anxious to read the next book in the series. I hope it comes out soon!

[Sharon Hughson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been a great story but the editing was negligent and so many misused words peppered the pages. I'm usually NOT one to criticize this, but there were often two such misuses in a SENTENCE.
Also, this story was very much a set-up story to the rest of the series. You know I'm not a fan of that. It was difficult to connect with the characters since the narrator was NOT "herself" for most of the book.

[Liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm kinda confused about my opinion.

I enjoyed the main story - granddaughter Kelsa has a spelled ring that transforms her into her own grandfather who is a retired soldier wanting to protect the mages (of his army life) from the new/evil Empress.

The secondary story of his/her relationship with his ex-lover "creeped" me out and kept infringing on the main story.

I debated 3 and 4 stars (while writing my review) but finished at 3.

[mark earls · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has the makings of a truly epic fantasy adventure. Set in a sort of steampunk world, the Author weaves an intricate story with a complexity not usually seen in this genre. I find myself eagerly awaiting book 2. I definitely recommend this series and based on this book, I have gone in search of his other titles as well - I think we may have a great new voice in the fantasy realm.

[Cleocutie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interested story with a complex, multilayered storyline that has you guessing about what small interaction might turn out to be very important to the story later on all the way through the book. The characters are complex and often have multiple motives for their actions and the world they live in is an interesting blend of magic and technology.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest, it wasn't a bad book. The story started out alright, but it felt as if there was a book before this one. Some bits of backstory/history came out later in the book, but not really enough to be fully invested in the main characters. Also, while I'm not a prude, there was too much detail in the sex scenes - I just felt that it wasn't necessary to the story.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard to follow which character's POV was meant to be dominant--the granddaughter or the grandfather, which could have been the writer's artistic choice but didn't work for me. I skipped 60% in the middle and read the last chapter,which didn't inspire me to go back and fill in any of the middle. Definitely setting up a series.

[Paul Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather strange book where a granddaughter takes her grandfathers body after he dies for reasons that only become clear as you near the end of the book. It includes a different viewpoint for the girl in a male body with all the male attributes experiencing sex. It is the first in a series and on the basis of this first book I probably won't be reading any more.