Michelle Bryan

This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com
Sigh.

I don’t really know how to review this one. It’s not bad exactly, there’s nothing truly awful about it – it’s readable, pacy, packed with action, has some okay ideas and a reasonable lead. Unfortunately, there’s also nothing that good about it. It’s all just overwhelmingly familiar and shockingly unsurprising. A by the numbers SF/Horror/Action mix that never had enough depth or originality to really engage me. As a result I found myself whizzing through it as quickly as I could so that I could move onto something else. What’s more, it advertises itself as “Mature themes. 17 Rating”, but what that means in reality is that there is a lot of swearing, a fair bit of blood spatter and a couple of pretty dull sex scenes. It ends up reading like a not very good YA novel that’s trying to be edgy and cool.

The setup is simple – an alien parasite is unleashed on Earth (it isn’t explained why, it just happens), lots of people die. The plucky survivors that remain fight the “leeches”, parasitic worms that take over human hosts. There are good survivors (like spunky heroine Bixby) and bad survivors (Ravagers). The good survivors live in a hotel and eat regular food. The bad survivors live in the ruined city and eat people (it’s never really made clear why, just, you know, that’s what some people do after an apocalypse). So basically it’s like a thousand self-published carbon copy zombie novels, only with alien parasites rather than zombies.

The group Bixby belongs to are tough resistance fighter types who go on raiding missions to find stuff. We know they’re tough resistance fighters because when they’re not on missions they play poker and insult each other a lot. One is Bixby’s kind of boyfriend, but she’s still hung up on an old (missing presumed dead) boy, so there’s lots of drama. The rest of them kind of blur into one, and where they don’t it’s because they’re lazy (and sometimes slightly offensive) stereotypes. There’s a sweet old lady, a harsh but fair leader, a hard drinking mom type and a possibly psychic woman with Downs Syndrome.

At times the high level of cheese is kind of fun (lines like “We’ll keep you safe, little Bixby, or my name isn’t Captain John Cooper” made me smile), but it quickly becomes apparent that the cheese isn’t backed up by any substance at all. The plot is incredibly slight – they go on a mission, there is a setback which they overcome, they complete the mission. That might not have been a problem if the characters weren’t paper thin, bland and uninteresting. The author tries to keep things current by throwing in lots of geek references (Marvel, Raider of the Lost Ark), but all these serve to do is highlight the originality and storytelling passion that is lacking in this book.

There are some fun scenes (I quite liked the huge dog character who appears near the end) but these are rare glimmers of light in what is otherwise a pretty grey darkness. If you’ve never read or seen a post-apocalyptic book or movie you might enjoy this, otherwise I’d recommend avoiding it.… (mehr)

I absolutely fell in love with this book, and definitely can't wait for the next in this exciting series. Set in a world and time similar to the Middle Ages, we see two kingdoms at odds with each other. twenty years ago one kingdom somehow stripped the magic of the other. Evil King Calls has been biding his time and waiting to gain control of both kingdoms.... playing the long game, he's had people placed within the other kingdom. some knowingly, and some having no clue at all that they're ticking time bombs to those they love and care for. Trystan is Prince and Toha of his magic free realm.... he and his younger sister Rissa, and their Foster brother Davion (Davi) love their realm fiercely. Growing up without their mother has been tough, but Trystan and Ri have each other. One night while young children, their father came home with Davi. a seer had told him this boy would be very important to Prince Trystan and help end the darkness. he quickly became a part of their family. Rissa knows she has some magically ability herself. she's always felt an affinity with the earth, yet for some reason her family don't believe her. All fun and games come to a halt when their father tell Rissa she will be marrying a neighboring blue blood to strengthen their realm. for a few reasons she's NOT happy with this. she's never had a good feeling a out this guy. far from it! In fact she's always had a creepy, dark feeling around him (and for very good reason we soon learn). It also doesn't help that she's in love with Davi. Not long after her father's decree, the sister of her supposed betrothed risks life and limb to get to them with a message. Her father and brother are in fact traitors, and in league with the evil king. Time is of the essence now.... Trystan and his gang of misfits comprised of Rissa, Davi, Lady Alixa (sister of the traitor) and a few trusted aids set off to find the Tri Gard. The three that held magic and we're the reason magic was stripped from their kingdom.... or so they we're led to believe. There are many things that happened that are not known. People among them that may not be who they appear. Veils will be lifted, hearts revealed, talents emerge.... many mysteries, past events and talents will be revealed along the way. This book touched my heart showing the grit, spirit, moxie and talent of the women in this realm.... not the typical woman who does everything the men say... these women have minds of their own and talents to go with them. The women seem to be the ones to show the way and unveil the treachery. Lots of love, family, adventure, mystery, action, treachery, and hopefully heroism fills the pages of this story. Be warned.... the book will leave you wanting MORE MORE MORE! I cannot wait for the next in this series. There's a HUGE reveal at the end that crushes my heart. I can only hope it doesn't play out how the evil King hopes. Enjoy yourself and dive into the pages of this amazing story filled with adventure.… (mehr)

Wow! Just wow! A couple things I enjoyed... one, I don’t know if it was just me, but in the first 30 pages I found quite a few references to other things, LOTR, HP, and Gilmore Girls. If they were intentional, I don’t know but I loved it! The story line seems great so far and the characters are wide and intriguing.

*spoiler*
So if I’ve got this straight, Calis wanted Rissa & Trystan’s mom, Marissa Kane, who was the daughter of the third tri-gard (Ramsey Kane) who betrayed Dreach-Dhoun, by taking sides with Dreach-S and forcing the rest of the Tri-Gard to remove magic from Dreach-Dhoun. Marissa ran away and married King Marcus before she died in childbirth. That’s why Calis wants to destroy Marcus, he wants revenge on the man who took everything from jinx

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.… (mehr)