Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman, Michael Tinker Pearce and Linda Pearce

This week we are reviewing "Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman", co-authored by Michael Tinker Pearce and Linda Pearce. This book is a real departure from the usual run-of-the-mill epic-fantasy dwarves-and-elves style books. Think about Tolkien's dwarves, give them modern weaponry and sit back and watch the fun.

The Blurb:

Engvyr’s father gave up on the miner’s life to move the family back to their ancestral home in the far north. But the journey is fraught with perils the young dwarf has never imagined, and when tragedy casts him in the role of hero, well, what’s a dwarf to do? The events of that fateful journey have shaped and ruled his life, but now Engvyr wants nothing more than to make a place for himself, perhaps settle down and raise a family. But when a new enemy rises in the North he finds himself at the center of the conflict, with not merely the freedom of his people but the fate of all of humanity hanging in the balance… and the habit of heroism is a hard one to break. In Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman magic, science and technology work hand-in-hand to create a new kind of fantasy world, where the character, life and relationships of an ordinary dwarf can steer the course of history and save a world.

My Review:

Truthfully, I have no idea why I picked this little jewel of a tale up, but it was a good choice. The tale is comprised of many vignettes of Engvyr Gunnarson's life.  Forced by circumstances to leave their home and return to the dwarven homeland, Engvyr's family embarks on an long and perilous trek. The events and losses on that journey shape the adult that the young dwarf becomes, molding him into a reluctant hero.

Engvyr never gives in to the casual brutality that characterizes his society, nor does he allow racism to interfere with his understanding of human nature and the basic underlying fact of the races - that ALL the races evolved from a common root - that of humans, and all share a common humanity. Early on he is taught that despite the radical differences in appearance and widely divergent societal differences, all the races of people want the same basic things: enough food for their children, and a safe place to raise them. 

Engvyr understands that when a society removes the humanity from an enemy ethnic group, it becomes easy to commit the most extreme atrocities against them, all in the name of  whatever cause one is fighting for. Because he understands the underlying truth of this, Engvyr brings compassion to his battles, and a desire to do good.

There is a great deal of Norse mythology woven into this tale, as well as Nordic mores and values. These characters are strong people with great capacities for both love and cruelty. 

For those of you who are weapons purists, you will be happy to note that the weapons Engvyr carries are original and scrupulously designed to be both real and fantastic at the same time. It is apparent that the authors have a true knowledge of guns and knives, and weaponry in general. Indeed, +Michael Tinker Pearce is known as the 'Swordgeek' and regularly blogs and gives podcasts on the subject of swords. 

You can get 'Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman' for the kindle at amazon.com by clicking on this link: 

Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman

All in all, this is an excellent, well written and well thought out book. 

Northman, by J.D. Hughes

Northman is an excellent novel by an indie author.  J.D. Hughes twists time and history into a paranormal page-turner that is one of a kind. 

Academically brilliant, but haunted by the memories of her dead lover, Kate Elliot struggles to find the joy in her chosen career. An archaeologist, she is assisting Dr. Weatherall at a dig near Repton, England.  An unexploded bomb left over from WWII has exploded and opened up the barrow of a Viking warrior, Thorkild, exposing his bones and that of an infant. 

The night she finds the infant’s skull, strange things begin to happen to Kate, and somehow she finds herself running though the archaeological dig, pursued by the malevolent spirit of the Viking who is determined to possess her. Rescued by Michael McLaren, a B-Movie director, Kate is troubled by several terrible events which all have a common thread – the Northman, Thorkild. Soon others are trapped in the same web of terror and together they are thrust back 1200 years into 9th century England to face the Northman.

Life and death, death and rebirth combined with an amulet that won’t stay put and a Norse god with an agenda make this book a thriller that is completely addicting from page one.  Visual, and violent, sexually explicit and definitely not for the faint of heart, Hughes’s characters draw you in, even Thorkild is fascinating, albeit in the same way a live grenade is fascinating. You can’t look away, and you have no idea where the next plot twist will take you.  I absolutely love the originality and the way Hughes combines Norse Mythology and archaeology to weave one of the best books of the year.

I gladly give this book five stars!

The Last Guardian, Joan Hazel

The Last Guardian by Joan Hazel

I admit that I rarely read Paranormal Fantasy, what with my personal addiction to elves and dragons, but I enjoyed THE HECK out of reading this book!  The heroes are sexy, funny and full of mischief. The plot is not the usual good vs evil plot that I am used to, but is more subtle. Yes, good does battle evil, but some of evil's companions have redeeming qualities that are not fully explored in this book. This does set it up nicely for a sequel.

The guardians were created by the Norse Goddess Freya to care for her children, who (in this tale) are shapeshifters. Norse Mythology figures quite strongly in this tale, as does the lore of the Lakota People, a unique melding of the two.

Starting off immediately in a state of suspense and action, the "pack" is introduced with all the bravado of a special op. attack force. Hazel quickly plunges her reader into the personalities and relationships of the four pack members: Fergus, Saint, Mika, and Ghost. In the opening sequence a member of the pack is injured and the rest rush to save him.  His injuries are so serious that his abilities are compromised.  As the story progresses, the complicated relationships between the pack members drive the storyline, and the action keeps you on the edge of your seat.

These strong male characters are complemented by the protagonist CJ Carson. Charlie Jean, or CJ, is about to be thrown into a world she does not understand, and yet holds the answers to questions that have nagged at her all her life. Unbeknownst to her, she was born into a family whose sole occupation for generations has been to be the Guardians who keep the secrets of the shapeshifters and protect them. 

Unfortunately there are traitors within the shapeshifting community and they plot to free themselves of the guardians. They murder the man who was actually CJ’s father, and when they discover her existence, her life is then in danger.

The pack must bring CJ safely into their community, but the antagonists will stop at nothing to prevent that.  The final battle in this book is heart-stopping adventure and is one of the best parts in a book that is filled with great moments.

The pack is comprised of sexy, ooh-la-la men, and they are witty as well as easy on the eyes.  CJ and her friends are well drawn and compelling characters.

The plot is well paced and keeps the reader interested.  This is quite a romantic book even though it never drops into 'romance-novel' territory. The chemistry between Mika and CJ is good. I whiled away a rainy Sunday reading this book, and highly recommend it!

The Gateway, Glen G. Thater

The Gateway by Glenn G. Thater

This was one of those weeks in which I only had time to read one book and what a book! Thater starts out running and the action doesn't stop.

In ‘The Gateway’, indie author Glenn G. Thater has created a mythology and a world that feels as real as that of Tolkien’s Middle Earth.  It begins with a Foreword that uses the intriguing plot device of purporting to be the culmination of years of research into the existence and mythology of a ‘legendary’ figure, Lord Angle Theta.  That foreword hooked me immediately, history and mythology geek that I am.

At the outset, Brother Clarendon Eotrus attempts to discover what happened to his father, Lord Aradon, who has mysteriously vanished along with his rangers into a strange fog. They had gone to investigate in the daylight hours why horrible and mysterious noises emanate from the Vermion Forest at night, driving the residents mad. Those who live in Dor Eotrus must stop up their ears with wax in order to sleep. 

Joining Clarendon are Gabriel Garn, the wizard of Dor Eotrus and several other amazingly fleshed out characters; including a wonderfully cranky Gnome named Ob, who is one of my favorite characters in this tale.   Lord Angle Theta and his servant, Dolan Silk also join the quest. Theta is mysterious and enigmatic; appearing out of nowhere for the sole purpose of joining the quest, having been'led' there. It turns out that he is a reknowned knight and is old friends with Gabriel Garn. He is a man with arcane knowlege, who knows that the barriers are breaking down between the Worlds of Chaos and the human world of Midgaard.  He has come to stop it.

The plot moves along at a good pace, with the back-story presented in such a way that it does not interfere with the action; and there is a great deal of action.  The battles are bloody and messy; and one thing leads to another with vengeance. The quest to find the missing Lord of Dor becomes the desperate need to stem an otherworldly invasion which will plunge the world into darkness should evil prevail.

There are characters whose passing in battle made me shed a tear.  Thater had made them so real to me that I felt real sadness at their fate.

The line between good and evil is at times blurred, as motives among the questers are revealed.  It is a gritty and often violent tale, one that will not appeal to the squeamish.  The descriptions of both action and place are detailed and graphic, and if at times the dialog is somewhat confused as to whether it is old English or modern English, it is nonetheless a gripping tale.

This is a short tale by most standards, and speed-reader that I am, I read it in one evening. It will appeal to all of those who love adventure and mythology, especially Norse Mythology.  All in all I found this to be a good story, and well worth reading. I love a good epic quest tale and I loved ‘The Gateway’ by Glenn G. Thater. I will definitely be buying the next installment in the series.

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