UNICORN BAIT by S.A.Hunter

In Unicorn Bait by S. A. Hunter, Naomi’s day begins badly with her examining an artifact of her late grandfather’s – a purported ‘unicorn horn’. She accidentally pricks her finger and drops the horn, breaking it – and then the world she knows disappears and she is transported to a burning hut in a village that is under attack. An old woman named Agatha saves her from being raped and murdered, and gives her a dress to wear so she won’t stand out so much.  Unfortunately, the leader of the pillagers, Lord Tavik thinks her to be the wife of the late lord of the realm, Lady Naomi. As the conqueror, and he insists she marry him or die.

Lord Tavik wears an evil-looking mask at all times, never taking it off for one moment.  He’s murderous, given to conquering and blood-shed. He hates Agatha, and is completely paranoid. Naomi agrees to marry him as long as there is no sex and he agrees, giving her a cook, Yula, as her maid/jailor.  Oddly enough, he honors his side of the bargain.

After arriving at Tavik’s home castle, Naomi finds a mouse who not only talks, he claims to be a wizard, Mister Squibbles.  Apparently a spell has gone awry and he ended up as a mouse.  He agrees to tell her about Unicorns if she will provide him with wine and cheese. It turns out Tavik and Agatha are at odds over the evil God he worships.  It also turns out Mister Squibbles knows Agatha better than he would admit as he is her familiar.

This book is a hoot.  Naomi is desperate to find a unicorn, so she can get back home and she needs a virgin to act as bait to attract one. Oh my!  Guess what worshipper of an evil God is a virgin!  The adventures she has as a result of her inadvertent breaking of her grandfather’s Unicorn Horn are wildly creative and the characters are fun and extremely likeable.  I found myself thinking about this tale all day when I was doing other things and couldn’t wait to get back to reading it.

Hunter manages to tell a tale that's a hilarious take on the classic ‘Beauty and the Beast’ tale with just a hint of 'Sleeping Beauty' rolled into it , making it both modern and clever. Naomi and Tavik have great chemistry and all of the characters make you want to know them. Unicorn Bait is a great romp and I loved it - it's a great read and for the price of .99 at amazon.com how can you lose?

'First Chosen', M. Todd Gallowglas; and 'Whatever Became of the The Squishies' by Claire Chilton

First Chosen by M. Todd Gallowglas

An indie author, M. Todd Gallowglas has written a compelling tale in ‘'First Chosen (Tears of Rage)’.  The world in which he sets the tale is a vivid, complex world; one in which theology and politics are so intertwined that it is hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. The intense theology insures that there is an element of horror in this very dark tale.

Unbeknownst to the main protagonist, Julianna, she has been chosen from birth to free Grandfather Shadow.  He is one of the Eldar Gods who were on the losing side in war of the Gods and are reputed to be the Gods of Evil. The God known as All-Father Sun is now the supreme power in the pantheon, with all of his challengers long-ago imprisoned and unable to interact with the world directly.  The All-Father’s adherent’s are in political power, thus those who follow the old gods must do so in secret.  From the outset, Gallowglas makes it clear that nothing is that black and white.  Both sides in this war of the Gods commit atrocities in the name of their faith. Both sides have strong, compelling characters and each side is comprised of fervent believers who will do anything to advance their cause.

Julianna’s willful desire to celebrate her 21^st birthday her own way has serious and unintended consequences.  The party becomes the scene of a violent battle, and she is kidnapped along with her friends.  Many terrible things occur during the ensuing battles, and at the end of it, Julianna frees the God, and by his hand she is made his High Priest, the Lord Morigahn.  This ordeal is only the beginning of her epic struggle.  By becoming the high priest of Grandfather Shadow, she has been given knowledge and abilities to help her win the war on his behalf.  She is also given a guard, Faelin who is the direct manifestation of the God, but knows it not. Faelin must both guard and instruct her in her tasks as the divine representative of Grandfather Shadow.

Gallowglas' characters are fully drawn and fleshed out; even to the minor characters. I found myself feeling shock and disbelief when several minor characters are killed early on.  The battles are believable, and the consequences of each decision made by all the protagonists are well plotted.  The reader becomes swept up in the emotions of each moment.  There are numerous characters, and while it is sometimes difficult to keep them straight, all the characters are fully drawn; even to the minor characters.  Readers who stick with it will be rewarded.

This is definitely an adult tale, for readers who enjoy a dark complex tale with a good back-story. 

‘Whatever Became of the Squishies’ By Claire Chilton

UK indie author Claire Chilton has a hilarious take on racism and high school in her book, ‘Whatever Became of the Squishies’.  Carla Mainston is the only purple girl in the colony of Derobmi, where the main skin color is lime-green everything is sparkling clean.

Originally the world of Dumfolab was settled by a mysterious, mythical people whom the modern cultures refer to as ‘The Squishies’.  These soft-skinned people had lived in a world that was an environmental disaster and had worn special protective suits, each one colored to indicate their main area of work.  As time went on their soft, pliable (and most likely squishy) bodies had changed, and the hard, colored suits had become an integral part of them.  Now the denizens of Dumfolab are born  with hard skin which is the color of their ancestors’ suits.

Unfortunately, the main source of employment and, indeed all occupations in the colony of Derobmi are centered around Cleaning.  Cleaning, soap products, the making of and the using of said products, all of Derobmi society revolves around these things. Every aspect of cleaning is taken seriously, and careers are made or broken by the perceived cleanliness of the average Derobmi home.  Carla is a rebellious girl, and is suffering from the double curse of being both a teenager and a purple teenager at that!  She has been labeled a trouble maker all her life, and is living up to the label in spades.

If it wasn’t for bad luck, Carla would have no luck at all. If any simple endeavor can go badly and get her in trouble, it definitely will. Carla has even been to reform school, which was where she managed to bring the school to its knees.  He mother loves her, but harbors a secret which will soon come out, and Carla will become the focus of a power struggle between warring colonies.  She is suspected of having super-abilities because of her heritage, and the wonderfully evil Lord Foamy wants them.  Unfortunately the only talent she has for sure is that of chaos, and she has an abundance of that.

Chilton manages to take racism and teenage-angst and lay it out with all its unfairness and ugliness and create a story that keeps you laughing.  The villains are evil, the good guys are not so completely good that they aren’t fun, and the plot moves along quite quickly.  There many unexpected plot twists in this tale.

All in all, I found this to be a well plotted, humorous young adult novel, suitable for any reader.

Alison DeLuca, The Night Watchman Express; Mercedes Lackey, Arrows of the Queen

My sincere thanks to Johanna Garth for awarding me the Blog on Fire award! You can read her entertaining columns here, at Losing Sanity


(BTW, Johanna is also the author of the book Losing Beauty, an updated version of the Persephone myth, and I must say that is an amazing urban fantasy in and of itself. I will definitely be featuring that book at a later date! )



'THE NIGHT WATCHMAN EXPRESS'


Alison DeLuca hits the ground running in the opening chapters of 'The Night Watchman Express', and the story never stops moving until the last page. Miriam, an unhappy young girl is orphaned when her wealthy industrialist father dies. With no other family, her father’s business partners, the Marchpanes, become her guardians. The Marchpanes immediately move into Miriam’s house, and take over her father’s rooms. (Mrs. Marchpane is deliciously evil.) They make their attempt to gain full control of Miriam's money and her father's company.


Gradually, Miriam begins to find common ground with the Marchpane’s son and their other young ‘guest’ when a nanny who is both wise and skilled in certain magics is hired. Mana is a woman who is of a race of people, who are considered to be second-class citizens, and contrary to the Marchpane’s hopes, she turns out to be exactly what both Miriam and the two boys needed.


There is a reluctant camaraderie that develops between Miriam and the the two boys. The three of them do a certain amount of exploring the grounds of the estate, and discover a strange machine that her father has constructed. Another interesting thread is also Miriam's strange emotional attachment to her father's typewriter-like machine, which she has claimed for her own since his death, and keeps hidden in her room.


The Marchpanes are not pleased by Mana’s good influence on Miriam, and they fear her. They fire Mana and get rid of Miriam.


Nightly Miriam has heard the mournful Night Watchman Express, a mysterious train that passes close to her home, on its way to a sinister place called Devil's Kitchen where children are enslaved, and become subjects of evil experiments. Though she has never known where it actually went, the sound of it has terrified her.

At last, in an effort to be rid of her and gain full control of her fortune the Marchpane’s have her kidnapped and placed on The Night Watchman Express.

In the course of her adventures, Miriam becomes a strong young woman, and her resourcefulness and courage make for a great adventure. Mana is much more than she appears to be on the surface, and the two boys have parts to play in the story. All of the characters are clearly drawn, and the threads of the story are woven seamlessly through each of the protagonist’s stories to make a wonderful fantasy adventure.


The story is told almost as if it were a fairy tale, but it has a gritty steampunk quality that makes it a perfect rainy weekend read. There is danger, there is darkness, and suspense; there is a serious good vs. evil plot. I found that I was thinking about the characters at the end, and wondering what was going to happen next. This story captured my interest from page one, and kept me reading all the way through it to the end. I enjoyed it immensely, and I am looking forward to reading more of DeLuca’s work.

'ARROWS OF THE QUEEN'

‘Arrows of TheQueen’ By Mercedes Lackey  begins with the Companion Rolan choosing a new rider, Talia. Rolan is a special being that is visually like a horse, but is more like an angel in that they are messengers of the Goddess.    Together, they journey to Haven, capital of Valdemar. She lives with a clan of Holderkin, a socially and religiously strict group which believes in female submission and polygynous marriage. On her 13th birthday, she boldly rejects an offer of marriage, declaring her desire to be a Herald and she is punished severely. Because she does not really know anything about the Heralds, or how they are even chosen, Rolan places a temporary block on her memory until he can get her to people who can explain everything.

When she arrives in Haven, Talia is informed that because she has been chosen by Rolan, she is to be Queen’s Own, a special Herald who advises the Queen.  Since she is so young, and still must be trained, she is given the task of caring for the Heir, Elspeth.  Elspeth is a spoiled brat, and has been manipulated by an evil nursemaid.  Talia is also an Empath, and her training in that area of talent is very important. 

There are many twists and turns to this tale, and as Talia grows, the story matures too.  Talia’s story, and the world of Valdemar is compelling and drawn in such a way that one is captivated and I, for one, could not put the book down once I picked it up.  As I frequently say, I only review books that I love, and this book hooked me to the point that I have purchased every single Mercedes Lackey book ever written, and I have enjoyed every one of them!  ‘Arrows of the Queen’ is the first book in a trilogy. None of them are excessively long, and I highly recommend this series of books!

Stephen King, "The Eyes of The Dragon'

The Eyes of the Dragon  by Stephen King takes place in the realm of Delain (which, I have since found out, is located within In-World from The Dark Tower series). This beautiful and poetic tale is told from the perspective of a narrator who speaks as if he were an old friend, frequently adding his own commentary on characters' motivations and the like; just as an uncle would.

King Roland is a middle-aged king who marries late in life and finds a wife who is both young and intellegent.  The Royal Wizard Flagg, Roland's advisor, attempts to assassinate Queen Sasha because he dislikes her good influence. He finally succeeds in forcing the Queen's maid to kill the queen while she was giving birth to Thomas, her second child. As time passes, Peter, the older brother, grows older and he begins to show a great deal of his mother's common sense and intelligence. Flagg realizes that the Crown Prince is a far greater threat to his position as royal wizard than was Sasha. Therefore Flagg has King Roland poisoned and Peter framed for the murder.

Twelve-year-old Thomas witnesses the murder through the glass eyes of the mounted head of King Roland's greatest trophy, the dragon which he once killed in an act of incredible bravery. After a brief trial, Peter is judged to be guilty, and he is locked up in the enormous tower called the Needle in the center of the city. His younger, weaker brother Thomas is then crowned King, although he is only twelve years old. Due to his youth, inexperience, and fear of both his own precarious position and Flagg, Thomas allows Flagg to become the defacto ruler, earning the hatred of the people in the process.

This story is told in a lyrical, old-fashioned way that is reminiscent of the way the great fairy-tales were told in my childhood.  King's prose is poetic and beautiful; it draws you in to his world and paints a vivid picture of the events that unfold before you.  If you have never read a Stephen King novel because you 'don't read horror' then this is the novel for you.  In my opinion it is his finest work, and it was the first novel I ever read of his.  I highly recommend this book!