Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer > Recent Status Updates

Gavin was a bit of a lucky break. A good religious person in a world up to now which showed them to be power hungry people who just want to control others. I didn’t really love the whole religion is evil schtick. I just don’t buy it. But I do know religion did smother many of the old ways. That’s history. The pacing is a touch slow. We wait a bit too much. But Peist getting his Fire was magnificent!

Timmin attacks and tortures Caymin so the egg starts to hatch! It’s time for them to leave. The elk and his mate help her then transports her and the massively heavy egg to the forest edge. She like Gai won’t be able to reenter the forest. Beanna goes with them and acts as a scout! Peist seems to know where they are going.

Diarmit is the one. TBH I never suspected Gai. Too obvious and he made no bones about being disliked. He was always sleeping which I found to be a great excuse to not be in full view. Beanna the crow who helps them is a hero!

Timmin the oldest mage turns out to be a villain who wants the dragon cub. He threatens Caymin and eventually they must bring her badger family to the forest to keep them safe from him. She befriends Gai a boy who was jealous and prickly of her at first when he’s accused. And turns out there is a traitor among them also wanting the dragon cub.

Wow! I do enjoy this book. The little forest enclave was really lovely and a great way for Ash to learn how to be a two-legged. She learns her true name through a spirit walk and gets to see her parents and learns her mother was alive to be dragged off. She helps drive off Viking invaders sand meets Péist who warns them!

This is so adorable! She was raised by badgers who saved her when her village was raided and killed. She called to them with her mind as a babe! An old woman felt her healing the male badger when he was hurt. She’s about 10. I’m really looking forward to the dragon part!

I really liked this even though there was a lot of torture at the end. And some stupid mistakes (like Darius using his power on Victor and getting them caught AGAIN!) Eskander or Alexander was a fascinating way to have another army to appose the current king. I loved their bond and the idea of daevas.

The Midnight Sea is not at all an alternate history, although it is set in a specific time period: the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, around 330 B.C. Alexander the Great defeated the Persian King, Darius III, in two decisive battles and went on to take the capitals of Persepolis and Susa. I couldn't resist weaving a (very twisted) version of those events into my story.

Ilyas catches them... he wants Victor. Victor is captured and cuffed again. Ilyas insists on having the cuff. Tijah comes up beh8nd him and kills him through the heart. Naz gets the cuff off Ilyas before he dies and uses the nexus to kill the man who would take it from her. Only the prophet could do such a thing according to Victor.

Thank goodness for Delilah! Without her Naz would be more than handless! Darius is tortured by Ilyas using her cuff but his 2 cousins, Immortals in the king’s army die to let them escape. And Victor saves them later. He tells her the truth of their enslavement. That the prophet thought it would be a partnership and the king refused to allow the cuff to be removed. Then they used D to convince him.

Wow... her impassioned speech at their trial was magnificent and clearly from a place of truth and love. It’s clear the king’s daeva is Darius’ mother?! The fact the king ruled to still kill them was stupid to me. Just put him with a new loyal water dog. Duh! Why kill your resources with two wars on your doorstep?! I understand Ilyas motivation is revenge for his dead daeva but I don’t get the king’s...

Victor comes looking for the fire. He and Darius fight... when he reveals he’s D’s dad Darius releases him into the storm. Darius tells her he feels evil, that he wishes he was like her, that he doesn’t want to be free. Illyas finally wakes up and says they’ll head for the king. The traitor says the holy prophet wants his children free... meaning the daeva.

Ilyas her captain elects not to tell their daevas and says if she tells hers he’ll have his kill Darius. He had Tommas with the other daevas create a sandstorm to slow the escaping group. They must catch them... they seem bent on freeing all of the enslaved daeva.

This is so good! Wow! So much has happened in this 40% too! A small group of daeva escaped from where the original daeva are kept and bred. They track them from there to the barbican where the holy fire that makes the daeva cuffs is kept. 2 acolytes stole an urn of Fire for this escaped group. It will break their cuff and free them from their infirmity!

A slow start. I liked that he was irritated having to deal with humans explaining why they were fighting. I also appreciate that he wants to get proof for Dr Mensah about GrayCris. It does make sense they were looking for alien artifacts under the guise of terraforming.

Wow she’s bonded already! I love how fast this developed and yet I didn’t feel like it was rushed or hurried.

WOAH! Talk about a dynamite first chapter. That poor girl... the DRUJ!

Pretty good. I like Ember... her honesty and fear of other children was cute. The fire dragons and the doorknob was neat. Her aunt seems overly ridiculous. I like Nisha and Moss too. Of course I think he’s an ice dragon taken to human shape like Ember wanted!

Awww this is so cute! Poor Ember but Lionel is a good guy and it’s clear she loves her father!

The discourse on Swordsmanship was super cool! And the author’s note was neat! I love how much she learned writing this!

He sighs. “According to the monks, it takes five hundred years of karmic cultivation for two people to share a journey, a thousand to share a pillow. If that’s correct, we must already have at least fifteen hundred years of karmic ties between us.”

Haha loved this unnecessary though it is! The final battle was epic, well worth the wait.

The plan to take the wall to the pass worked! I loved how they had to use Yuxi pass to cut through the red tape. And how he admitted he had seen her as a woman first who transformed into a man! And that line about killing everyone to the commander was super funny!

I love how Kai is fearful (anxious) and Mulan talked it out with him. How they faked out the R spies and followed their tracks! It’s just a really subtle war spies story. The cultural references are still subtly being dropped into the story as are her training details. It’s such a lovely story... but not the overblown version of Mulan you might expect.

This isn’t what you expect... war torn battles with our little trained Milan kicking ass against knights twice her size and quadruple her weight. This is a small group of spies learning about the hidden truth of a war about to get real. It reminds me of Kim by Rudyard Kipling except it’s a prince and a cross dressing woman who reveals the plot.

The battle against the gang was fun! I saw it all coming a mile away but that’s alright! A kid will find it delightful. I always wanted more books about animals growing up!

He escapes the little girl’s room with the help of a falcon. And is dropped off in Central Park. More traveling!

“Just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” Bernard said. He was getting tired of arguing and explaining and convincing other creatures.

They meet a rat who has an organization of mice who learned of the pork pie gang’s plan to stop time. He faces down members from the gang terrorizing flower shopkeepers. They unite as a group and fight them off! Then he sees the girl and gets into her pocket. She wants to keep him and puts him in a cage.

“What is the point of life if you don’t believe in anything?” she asked instead.

Gosh she’s naive! This part was rather boring... because of course I know he’s not the one... and so does everyone because the premise told us! I didn’t even find her amusing 😅

I hate when people in power are stupid. It really makes me roll my eyes... why would she kill the person keeping her there at the library? Why did she kill the book she released? It doesn’t make a lick of sense give it at least a cursory think you bigoted arse!

Hahaha her adventures trying to have a bath in privacy are pretty radical! Someone sees her? or a real intruder enter and she is nearly caught undressed! She slips out successfully but they light up the tower she was in!?