The Book Brownie

The School of Fear, by Gitty Daneshvari

2012-01-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

Some people are afraid of bugs. And some people equip themselves with full-body protective suits, a mosquito-netting veil and enough repellent to down a hippo, and they refuse to enter a vehicle or room that hasn’t been completely fumigated.

Madeline was one such person. And her parents—decent, undeserving people—had pretty much had it up to their eyebrows, since that’s how deep the insect-repellent fog stood in their house. Having tried every other option—and I do mean every other option— Madeline’s parents are given one last straw to grasp, a name whispered in their ears by a secretive teacher in an inner office with a rug stuffed under the door:

The School of Fear.

Pretty soon, Madeline is on her way to this mysterious School, along with a boy who obsesses about protecting people from death, a girl whose fear of small spaces resulted in a full-scale riot at a museum, and a boy so terrified of water that his own sweat can send him reeling. Hopes are high that the foursome’s fears will be forever eradicated by this mystifying school and its baffling headmistress, but the children soon begin to wonder if they’ve been duped. Can a former beauty queen and a collection of eccentric rooms and devices, a gnome-like caretaker with the eyesight of a mole, and a dog named Macaroni (brother to the dearly departed Cheese) save these children from their own fears? And what about the Terrible and Dreaded Lawyer who lives in the basement?

As you may have already guessed, The School of Fear is a pretty fun ride, from the first few chapters introducing each of the characters to the surprise ending (which, I have to admit, I saw coming from a mile off, but that’s only because I’ve read too many books and it’s addled my brain. My sister didn’t catch on until about the fourth-to-last chapter which, I’m informed, is much more normal).

The book has an interesting flavor—it’s one of those "away-at-school" sort of stories that seem to come in waves of popularity, sparked in the last decade or so by the success of the Harry Potter regime and its many imitators. It has a kind of old-world British flair, shades á la Rudyard Kipling and James Barrie, but done with a modern panache—what it most reminded me of was a combination of Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society and the erstwhile-popular Series of Unfortunate Events.

Apparently to be the first in a series, The School of Fear tantalizingly tidies up 99.9% of its loose ends by the time you reach the endpapers, leaving just enough strings dangling to remind you to watch for more. Personally, I probably will—though I’m not going to go out of my way to get a hold of them, as I do other books. While a fun and entertaining read, it’s one that’s a reader can easily consume and move past. If one is looking for a fun and worth-while read for themselves, a sibling, or child, this is definitely a great place to start, but I would recommend getting it from a library or a used bookstore before paying the full price for it from the store.

The Brownie gives The School of Fear a satisfied four quills.

Christian Encounters: J.R.R. Tolkien, by Mark Horne

2012-01-28T09:00:00.001-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I adore J.R.R. Tolkien and his works—possibly a bit too much. Once you can recite large portions of The Lay of Luthien and explain—in detail—the difference between goblins, orks, and Urak-Hai, one begins to suspect that there is a small amount of obsession involved.

But I’m getting treatment, so it’s ok. J

Actually, I am, in a way. This semester, I’m taking a class at my college entitled 20^th Century British Literature, fondly known as “The Tolkien and Lewis Class.” It’s a class taught by my favorite professor over the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, including Lewis’ Space Trilogy and Till We have Faces, and Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. We’ve also touched a bit on pieces like On Fairy Stories and G.K. Chesterton’s Ethics of Elfland, but that’s another story.

So when I spotted this little biography of Tolkien on the “available for review” list at Thomas Nelson Publishers, I snatched it up right away, figuring that it would be a great thing to have, and might provide some interesting extra material for the class.

Only about seven-by-five inches or so, and only about 130 pages long, this little volume manages to be a pretty complete biography of Tolkien. It starts with his birth and childhood in South Africa in the late 1800s, and finishes with a short examination of his impact on the world of fantasy writing in modern times. While admittedly very brief, this book gives a very readable and interesting account of the great author’s life.

I did have one…not complaint, per say, but perhaps a smidgen of dissatisfaction in the fact that the discussion of his writings is limited almost exclusively to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Yes, yes—I realize that I just said I’m somewhat obsessed with Middle Earth, and now I’m criticizing that they spent most of their time there? But when you remember that Tolkien also had a lot to say on mythology and language and on the Christian views of both, well… Most people only remember Tolkien as the author of The Lord of the Rings, but he was an eminent scholar in his own right—translating Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight into English, besides his work on the Oxford dictionary, etc, etc, etc.—and I would have been interested to see more of that side of him. Especially about how he came to write On Fairy Stories. I may have missed it, but I don’t believe there was any mention of this portion of Tolkien’s work, which has been foundational in forming the Christian fantasy mindset, along with the works of C.S. Lewis and so on.

However, there isn’t really a shortage of books on Tolkien, so what this author chose to leave out can certainly be found in other places.

In short, this small biography of J.R.R. Tolkien is an excellent introduction to the life of this man who had such an impact on Western—and Christian—imagination. I’d especially recommend it for anyone who has a child interested in Tolkien and his works. The text is not written for children, but as I said above: it’s a very readable text, and a child or teenager could probably read it with no problems whatsoever. If it’s a kid who’s managed to get through The Lord of the Rings, then there’s no doubt in my mind that they could handle this.

The Brownie gives Christian Encounters: J.R.R. Tolkien a pleased four quills.

Disclaimer: The Brownie got this book for free from the publisher in return for the review you read above. Now ignore this annoying postscript and go on about your lives, citizens.

The Dopple Ganger Chronicles, by G.P. Taylor

2012-01-14T18:23:00.000-08:00

This is actually going to be a three-in-one review, since I’ve been meaning to write it ever since the first book in the series came out. Whoops. Well, I’m making up for it now.
In the last few years, there’s been a bit of a craze for differently-formatted books. From the uber-popular Invention of Hugo Cabaret by Brian Selznick (recently made into a movie that I hope to see soon), which is told as much by lavish, two-page-spread illustrations as it is through text—a cross, almost, between comic book, silent film, and novel—to the inrush of graphic novels adaptations for every book under the sun, people have been hooked on new and more visual formats for books. The Dopple-Ganger Chronicles, by acclaimed writer G.P. Taylor, are another fascinating example.

Half ordinary novel, half comic book—along with a few things that are neither and both—these books feature the intrepid and identical Dopple twins, Sadie and Saskia, and their friend, Eric Ganger. The threesome is always into trouble (what heroes of a tweens series wouldn’t be?) and always saving the day—though not without plenty of BANGS and SHH!s and WATCH OUT!s along the way, as per comic book standards. From villainous magicians to a classic case of evil twin-itis, the Dopple and Ganger crew is never at a loss for excitement.

The books have been hailed as a lifesaver for kids who don’t like to read, because of the dynamic format and the exciting stories. The characters are fun, and there are some genuinely laugh-out-loud funny parts to the books, as well as plenty of nail-biting cliff-hanger moments when you’re pretty sure that everyone will get out alright, but you read a little faster…just in case.
On the other hand, for a series that is very bold in admitting its Christian origins, the Dopple-Ganger Chronicles are…just a little weird, to say the least. A female "ghost" later turns out to be an angel, who assures Sadie, Saskia and Eric that "The Companion" is always near and listening (though, at one point in the newest book, much to my dismay, one of the characters is in danger and sends up a whispered plea to the angel to ask the Companion for help, which seems odd and rather non-scriptural, if you ask me) and tells them to be on the lookout for "The Man of Good-Bye-Friday"—a reference to Christ. The spiritual overtones of the book echo others of Taylor’s, found in his well-known Shadowmancer books and Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box. They seem less based on Scripture and more based on a sort of faith that looks like Christianity if you poke it hard enough, but wears a cloak of something that feels like dark spiritualism bordering on the occult. It’s very odd. Nothing that I can really ever put my finger on, but just…well, like I said "weird" sums it up fairly well.

That being said, The Dopple-Ganger Chronicles are a fun and fascinating read, with a dynamic design that one can hardly help but find compelling. The characters are fun and nicely-fleshed out (even if I will never be able to tell the difference between Sadie and Saskia—most of the time, I don’t even try…) and the stories are exciting and engaging. I would heartily suggest the Dopple-Gangers to anyone with a reluctant reader, or anyone just looking for a fun read in a fascinating new form. The one word of caution I would give is to read with a pinch of salt, and make sure any children who read the books aren’t confused by the curious brand of faith found therein.

The Brownie gives the Dopple Ganger Chronicles a hearty four quills, and will be sure to pick up each installment of this series as they come out.

The Girl in the Steel Corset, by Kady Cross

2012-01-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

I’ve been on the lookout lately for good steampunk fiction (reason for my interest here) but have had a hard time finding anything that was worth my attention, other than a few kids’ books that may or may not have actually fit the bill for “steampunk” (Such as Larklight, by Philip Reeve or Patricia Wrede’s Thirteenth Child, which is admittedly far more “frontier fantasy” than it is steampunk, but I digress). Unfortunately for those of us wanting good, clean adventures without unnecessary grub, too much of the steampunk genre seems to focus entirely on either the “steam” aspect—unfortunately, not steam engines, but steamy “romance”—or on the “punk” and nonconformist side of the genre, creating stories about people in a Victorian-esque world who don’t fit in and want to disrupt the status quo. All well and good until you realize that most of these are coming from a secular worldview that wants to do away with “Puritanical” standards of right and wrong in favor of a “modern” society where an individual’s desires trump social and moral values.

So it was fairly refreshing to spot this book, The Girl in the Steel Corset, at my library over Christmas break. I was hesitant at first, just looking at the cover (plus, I first assumed that this was yet another installment in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo craze, which, since it apparently has nothing to do with actual dragons, I have not managed to work up any interest in) which looked far more “steamy” than “steampunk.” However, I was intrigued by the blurb inside the front cover, and found it hard to resist something that actually touted itself as The Steampunk Chronicles.

Described by the author as a cross between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and a sort of teen-age X-Men, The Girl in the Steel Corset is the tale of Finley Jayne, a young lady with unfortunate abilities and an equally unfortunate face—that is, one that attracts far too much attention from her employer’s rake of a son. Forced to flee from her place of employ, Finley finds herself taken under the sheltering wing of Griffon King, the young Duke of Greythorn and head of a misfit band of young people. Young people with mysterious abilities like Finley’s own. Emily, who is a wiz with machines and can actually communicate with them. Sam, whose immense strength is as much a liability as an asset, especially as he struggles to recuperate from a terrible accident that left him nearly dead. Jac, an American cowboy with astonishing reflexes and a shadowy past. And of course, Griffin, who has the ability to access “the Aether”—a foggy realm of energy for him to use. When the originator of the attack on Sam—a mysterious figure known only as The Mechanist—threatens the safety of Queen and country, the ragged fivesome must put aside their differences and work together. If they fail, there’s no predicting the political and mechanical chaos that could ensue.

Overall, the story is good. The characters are well fleshed-out and believable on the whole, though the character of Griffin is a bit cliché and a dodgy-but-intriguing criminal kingpin provides his oh-so-darkly-handsome-and-dangerous-and-cliché counterpart in a pairing that can only be referred to as an Edward-Jacob-entity. Necessary for the story this may have been, but annoying? That it definitely was.

I very much enjoyed the almost suspense-novel pacing to the novel. As the characters collect clues from what they already know and try to zero in on The Mechanists’ identity, the reader learns more about their inner conflicts and the tensions and ties that bind them together in a web that they don’t even completely see until near the end of the novel. Finley’s connections with Griffon’s parents and their research was particularly fascinating—I won’t ruin it for you, but suffice it to say that her abilities remind one of a very well-known literary duo, and for good reason.

My biggest problem with this book was Griffin’s ability—his access to this thing called the Aether. Basically, this is some kind of a spirit realm, where dead folks hang out and vast amounts of unused energy wait for someone like Griffin to tap in. This is undoubtedly based on the Victorian fascination with spiritualism—even folks one would assume to be rational about such things were taken in. For example, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, was obsessed with the occult and firmly believed to the end of his days in the existence of ghosts, ghouls, and fairies. I understand the historical fad that has been turned into fictional fact here, but that doesn’t mean I have to appreciate it. That being said, it plays a relatively shallow role in the overall story, limited to one conversation with Griffin’s departed parents and multiple bursts of Aetheric energy from the teen. Oh yes, and a fairly ingenious device that Griffin uses to surf the Aether like the Internet and gather news articles, clippings, photos, and documents related to The Mechanist.

What pleased—and surprised me most—was the lack of sexuality or foul language. Based on the cover art, I was expecting to have to skip a few chapters, but other than the usual teenage angst one comes to expect in YA books, The Girl in the Steel Corset was remarkably clean. As for language, a few creative substitutions for coarse language, as well as one or two “slips” near the end of the book would earn probably only a PG rating if this were a movie.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book—though I can’t say that I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat in eager anticipation of the sequel. It was interesting, and one could easily see the elements of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and X-Men that the author was drawing from, and if some of the characters could have used a bit more depth, well—it’s only a first book. Cut the author some slack. She ought to be given the credit due her for delving the as-yet unplumbed depths of the steampunk genre and giving those of us looking for something in that realm a decent option.

The Brownie gives The Girl in the Steel Corset a mild four quills.

Awakening, by Stovall Weems

2011-11-25T12:48:00.001-08:00

So...my first reaction on receiving this books was "Why did they send me two?" :) Guess there

was a glitch in the program.

My second reaction was: "Ok...this looks either really good or really...gimmiky." And I was
right--it was.

Both.

First the really good part:

The idea behind Awakening is that it is a guide to going through a 21-day fasting-and-prayer time, in order to deepen your relationship with God. Great idea--the 21-day time length was inspired by Daniel and his friends fasting for 21 days in the Babylonian king's court. So far, so good. What Weems has to say is all well and good--make time for God in your life, and your walk with Him will improve. True enough. Set aside the comforts of your life in order to devote time to seeking His will, and you will grow in your faith. Also very true.

Here's where we get into the gimmiky bit of it:

While Weems never directly comes out and says so, the impression is given that if you follow this 21-day program, you will suddenly bloom into a fully-fledged Mega Christian and your whole life will work out for you in a way that you can clearly see glorifies God. The problem is that it doesn't always work like that. I mean, it CAN, and God is certainly capable of that, but just because your faith is strong and your walk with the Lord is steady, that doesn't mean that your life is just going to be all peachy-keen.

Look at guys like Paul or Martin Luther or David or George Muller or even Daniel. You can look at their lives and see that they were close to God, that they were walking with Him and that they had a kingdom perspective on things. But does that mean that their lives were always fine and dandy? Not really.

I'm not dissing the book. It was a good read, and I think anyone who goes through Weems' 21-day devotional and fast will come out of it with a closer relationship with God--I mean, devoting 21 days to seeking God's will is going to have an effect, no matter what literature you're using in the process. I would simply offer a word of caution to anyone reading it to read with a dose of salt and to compare all claims--no matter how innocuous-seeming--with the Word of God.

The Brownie gives Awakening a three-quill rating.

Dragons of Chiril, Donita K. Paul

2011-07-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

OK, I’ll admit that when I first got this book, I was extremely disappointed. And it had nothing to do with the book itself. I love the book. That was the problem. I already owned the book, under its previous title: The Vanishing Sculptor.

I’m really not sure why they rereleased this book with a new title, except perhaps that it fits better with the second book in the series, The Dragons of the Valley. Since the author, the fantastic Donita K. Paul, had the similar-name thing going with her first series (DragonSpell, DragonQuest, DragonKnight, DragonFire, and DragonLight) perhaps they wanted to do something similar here.

Anyway, enough about that.

The actual book itself is delightful. For those of you who have read the Dragon Keeper Chronicles, you’ll love this series because Fenworth is back!! He’s easily my favorite character in the original series, so to see him return in these books is wonderful.

Set in a time before the adventures of Kale Allerion (as documented in the Dragon Keeper Chronicles,) and on a continent far removed from Amara, The Dragons of Chiril follows Tipper, a young emerlindian whose father has disappeared.

When he suddenly returns, bringing with him inexplicable—and extremely hilarious, in my opinion—guests from the other side of the world, and a knowledge of someone—make that Someone—called Wulder, Tipper is thrust into an adventure she never could have foreseen. The fabric of their world is unraveling, and the fate of their reality rests on Tipper and her friends as they seek three statues carved from the vital foundation stone of the world.

Ok…so, it sounds a little crazy. And it is a bit hard to follow. The best way to describe it would be to say, “Young girl sets off with rag-tag troupe of loyal, humorous friends on an epic adventure to save the world.” There. Nice and neat in less than twenty words. But that only barely scratches the surface of this story.

This book is a wonderful addition to Donita K. Paul’s lexicon. She’s such a clever and funny writer (remember my review of Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball? Still one of my favorite books) that anything she puts out is a delight to read. As I said, it’s sometimes a bit hard to follow—and I’ll admit that this one took me a bit longer to get into than the Dragon Keeper books did. Maybe because Kale was a more relatable character or something…I’m not really sure if I could pin it down.

But by the time Fenworth and Librettowit show up, I was hooked. The dialog that goes back and forth between these two and the character of Beccaroon (a talking parrot) is just to die for—for example (and this is from pages 49-50):

(Fenworth accuses Librettowit of helping to “disrupt the universe”)

“Don’t you go accusing me! I’m not the sculptor. I’m a librarian, not a wizard either. Seems you should have surmised the danger.”

Fenworth glowered. “Wizards do not predict the future.”

Librettowit scowled. “But it was a wizard who chose the anchor for the gateway. If I had anything to do with it, it was only that I did as you told me. ‘Hold this tight!’ ‘Stick this through that loop.’ ‘Twist this together with that.’ Do I even sound like I know what’s going on? No! And I don’t. Theory, I understand. Application is all up to you, Fenworth.” He shuddered. “Don’t give me any of this ‘we’ disturbed the universe.”

“Excuse me,” said Beccaroon. “Could we start at the beginning?”

“Good idea!” The wizard shuffled toward the vanity bench. “Mind if I sit while you explain?”

…“Not at all. I have no intention of beginning.” [Beccaroon said.]

“Then why am I sitting? Why am I drinking?” [Fenworth] held up a finger. “Don’t tell me. I know. I am sitting because I am old and tired. I am drinking because I am thirsty.” He let his hand drop to his knee. “Enough about me.”

Ok, so it’s an example that needs some context to understand…maybe you don’t think it’s funny. But I think is genius. I love the friendship—cantankerous but sincere and loyal—between Wizard Fenworth and his librarian Librettowit. Honestly, I loved these characters, and the other secondary ones (like the artist tumanhoffer Bealomondore or the minor dragons, which never fail to please and delight) even more than I loved the main character of Tipper.

This is a wonderful book, as I said. Not quite as phenomenal as Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball or as amazingly-brand-new-and-fantastic as the Dragon Keeper books, but it’s a great romp in halfway familiar territory and a thrilling return of some of my favorite characters in addition to some wonderfully delicious new ones. There, does that convey my enchantment well enough? LOL

The Brownie gives The Dragons of Chiril a nice, comfortable five quills. Thanks, Mrs. Paul, for another great adventure.

~Brownie

Disclaimer: The Brownie got this book for free from the publisher in return for the review you read above. Now ignore this annoying postscript and go on about your lives, citizens.

The Quotable Rogue

2011-07-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

I don’t know what to think about Sarah Palin, to be perfectly honest with you. I like her personally, agree with her politically, and look on in wide-eyed confusion mostly. J I mean, I like her. But she’s one of those people that’s just so much to take in.

Which is one of the reasons that I got this book—The Quotable Rogue, The Ideals of Sarah Palin in Her Own Words, by Matt Lewis. I thought, “What better way to get to understand someone than reading their own words?”

The book is nicely divided up into chapters by subject: what Palin has to say “On Being Sarah”, “On Family”, “On Health Care”, “On the Media”, “On the Environment", etc, etc. A nice and easy way to say, “Ok, what does she say about such-and-so?” It’s like a guidebook to the Sarah Palin Worldview. It makes it nice to flip through—but make no mistake. This is a flip-through book. Not a sit-down-and-read book, but a useful book nonetheless. Some good one-liners, but far more good, in-depth quotes fully outlining what she believes.

For example: “On America”, Palin says, “What makes America exceptional isn’t her politicians, it’s her people.” Or “On Being Sarah”, she quotes her dad as always saying, “Don’t retreat, just reload.” Good enough for a poster, right?

Or, on the other end of things, “On the GOP,” Palin said, “I believe that Republicans in Washington have got to understand that the people of America are not fully satisfied with all the dealings within the party. Same applies though for the other party, also. Americans are just getting sick and tired of politics as usual, that embracing the status quo, going with the flow and just assuming that the people of America are not noticing that we have opportunities for a good change.”

There’s a nice, in depth quote that gives you a good idea of where she stands on the issue.

So the book has a nice balance of both.

I don’t really know how to review this book overall, to be truthful. I mean, it’s not exactly as though I can say, “Oh, the plotting was tight and the characters well-formed” or “I agree with his theories here but wonder what he’s getting at here”…

All I can really tell you is that, for the Sarah Palin fan in your life, or for someone looking for a book of good, snappy quotes and thoughtful musings from one of the most politically visible women of our time, this is a great book. I don’t recommend it as any kind of “comfy-read” or anything, but it’s a nice book, well-put-together, and a great source for the subject it covers. I’ll admit, I don’t really see much use for it…I mean, other than maybe as a source for a paper or a speech at some point, or for someone who really, really likes Sarah Palin and wants a record of her words like some kind of Bible…LOL. Other than that, I would just classify it as a nice end-table type book that you flip through every once in a while to get a laugh or to get thinking. Or to start a really good “discussion” with your more liberal-minded friends…hm. Now there’s an idea! LOL.

The Brownie gives The Quotable Rogue a nice three-out-of-five quills, possibly more
from personal preference than from actual lack of quality.

Disclaimer: The Brownie got this book for free from the publisher in return for the review you read above. Now ignore this annoying postscript and go on about your lives, citizens.

No Place Like Holmes

2011-06-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

As an avid lover of all things Sherlockian, I was excited to see No Place Like Holmes as one of the choices up for grabs on BookSneeze a few days ago. My excitement was tempered (in fact, you might say that my temper was aroused) by the fact that No Place Like Holmes is only available as an e-book, a great annoyance to someone who doesn’t own an electric reader. I can understand for company costs and things, and for all the people who do have e-readers, why it makes sense to offer books as electronic files, but it would be much more pleasing to us old fuddy-duddies if there was an option.

But that’s just me.

Even if I did have to read it on my computer screen rather than in my hands as a paperback, No Place Like Holmes proved to be every bit the scrumptious read that I had hoped. It’s geared toward a younger audience—say, eight to thirteen or so—but anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes will appreciate young Griffin and his sleuthing abilities, as he cracks the Curious Case of the Kidnapped Clockmaker (to give it a true, Sherlockian name.)

Griffin Sharpe is a young American boy come to spend the summer with his uncle—known only as “Snoops”—in London. On the train, he reads an article about the famed detective Sherlock Holmes and realizes with a shock that the address he’s been given for his uncle is 221 Baker Street! What luck! Griffin is a most observant young fellow and can tell you how many hairs you missed while shaving this morning, or what you had for breakfast, or what sort of dog you have, merely by glancing at your face and coat jacket. So to learn that he is the nephew of such an esteemed sleuth—why, this is luck beyond belief!

Unfortunately, when Griffin arrives, he discovers that things are not as he’d hoped. Rather than 221B, Griffin’s uncle lives at 221A. Rather than the amazing Sherlock Holmes, “Snoops” is better known as Rupert Snodgrass—a detective, yes. But amazing?

Not so much.

He was almost the one to solve the Baskerville case. He almost beat Sherlock to it. But detective work is neither horseshoes nor hand grenades, and Snodgrass has not the time or inclination to bother with a sniveling nephew.

Until the Loch Ness monster—or an impersonator—gobbles up a London watchmaker.

Unwilling at first, but soon seeing the merits of the situation, Snodgrass teams up with his nephew Griffin to solve the case—before Sherlock Holmes.

I really, really liked this book. It features Sherlock without idolizing or transforming him. It focuses on Griffin and his strong faith throughout, as much as it does on solving the mystery—and, it introduces a new villain that will leave all true Sherlock fans biting their nails: Nigel Moriarty, nephew to the great Professor himself.

I highly recommend this book to all budding Sherlockians, as well as old ones just looking for a fun, fresh read. The strong, central message of faith and forgiveness makes this one of the best kids’ books I’ve read in a long time. Thanks, Mr. Lethcoe, for chronicling the life of this Griffin Sharpe—the World’s Most Secret Detective. I’ll be looking for more installments soon!

The Brownie gives No Place Like Holmes a solid five quills.

~The Brownie

The Chasm--Abysmal Failure?

2011-05-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to have received a copy of The Chasm by Randy Alcorn for review, but something went wrong in shipping. Though I contacted the publisher (Waterbrook) I never got my copy. I want to read one of the other books they have up right now, so I'll post this--and if I ever get the book, I'll write a real review.

If anyone from Waterbrook reads this...contact me. I'd still really like to read it.

~Brownie

God’s Promises For the American Patriot, by Dr. Richard G. Lee and Jack Countryman

2011-05-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

In Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, he describes patriotism as “Love of one’s country; the passion which aims to serve one’s country, either in defending it from invasion, or protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions in vigor and purity. Patriotism is the characteristic of a good citizen, the noblest passion that animates a man in the character of a citizen.”

Contrast that to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition of 2004. “Patriotism,” it says. “Noun. Love for or devotion to one’s country.”

Quite a difference, no? I would personally go much more with that first definition—but I wouldn’t have even known about the difference if not for God’s Promises for the American Patriot, which I recently received from Thomas Nelson as part of their book blogging program.

God’s Promises for the American Patriot claims to be a “special secret map” that will guide you to hidden treasure about America’s rich Christian history, and it doesn’t fall very short of the mark. Each small article on subjects ranging from “The Goal of Government,” “A Godly Legacy,” “The Key to Survival” and various historical events and people is followed by a page of 3-4 passages of Scripture. The passages are ones of hope and promise to the nation that follows the Lord and admonitions to pray for our leaders and serve our fellowman.

I actually really enjoyed this little book—it’s more of a flip-through read than a sit-down-and-devour read, but there were some interesting bits of history that I hadn’t heard before (for example, did you know that according to legend, John Hancock signed his name big and bold and clear on the Declaration of Independence so that King George could read it without his spectacles?) as well as some of the old stories that I’ve long loved.

My only issue with this book is that occasionally the “promises” are taken out of context, and/or verses that really only apply to Israel as God’s chosen nation are applied to America. But I was actually surprised at how few times this happened—I was expecting far more.

This is a really neat little book, perfect as a gift for that veteran in your family or your active-duty friend or neighbor, or even just the history geek inside yourself. J

The Brownie gives God’s Promises for the American Patriot a nice four-and-a-half stars.

Starfire, by Stuart Vaughn Stockton

2011-05-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

About, oh, I don’t know—six months ago, maybe? I received a copy of Starfire (published by Marcher Lord Press) for review. Well…school life intervened, and it was a digital copy, which I found hard to read because I don’t like staring at the computer screen for long, and then I forgot about it for a bit and had to start over…what with one thing and the next, it’s taken me this long to finish a simple 500-ish page book.

So, at long last, here is my review! (Celebration shall now commence.)

(Ok. That’s enough. Back to me now.)

Starfire was, overall, a very good read. The basic premise of the story could be summed up in five words: “science fiction story about dinosaurs.” Sounds weird, I know, but it was actually surprisingly good—and surprisingly easy to accept as a world. It wasn’t ever hard to sympathize with the characters because they’re reptilian, and—though the world was a bit hard to grasp at times—the story was compelling and exciting.

Rathe is a five-five saurn—which means that he’s the fifth hatched from his sire’s fifth clutch. Which means that he’s about as low on his society’s totem pole as he can get.

When he makes the lucky discovery of a kidnapped hatchling, and manages to kill the already-wounded kidnapper, Rathe is suddenly given the life he’s always wanted—a career in the Karn Imperial Army. Heading off on his first tour of duty, Rathe soon encounters forces and creatures outside his ken, and is thrust into circumstances that challenge everything he’s held to be true. Faced with seemingly impossible decisions and situations far bigger than he ever imagined he’d be tangled up in, Rathe must choose his path—and the choices he makes will either “reap a time of blessings and joy,” or “call down the fire of the stars and sow war and sorrow.”

Starfire was a really good book—and that’s high praise from me. I’m always a bit hesitant about someone’s first attempt at Christian sci-fi or fantasy, and I’ve been disappointed too many times to have extremely high hopes. I think I’m going to have to reconsider that stance, though, when it comes to Marcher Lord Press, because everything I’ve read from them has been extremely high-quality—Starfire being no exception.

The characters, though reptilian, were never hard to connect with or understand, as I said before. Though I eventually gave up on trying to remember which saurn looked like what and was how big, it was never hard to remember that they were “dinos”, but nor was it hard to understand their motives or emotions. It was foreign, yes, but not too foreign.

My one complaint is really not entirely a complaint. This world that Stockton has developed is amazing—and so extremely detailed that there’s almost a whole new language that you have to learn in order to understand the story. You have to know what a sokae is, and be able to picture a blite. If you don’t understand what is meant when they talk about a tebin or a dask or where Kreetch Natchkee is, you’ll get lost. And pretty quickly at that—one might say, “with the speed of shirka transport.”

Now, there is a glossary—an an extensive one at that—in the back of the book. With a print version, I imagine that this would help clarify matters greatly, but I didn’t like having to scan all the way through, find what I was looking for, and try to find my place again. I think I probably missed out on some things, comprehension-wise, but I put this mostly on my end—it really speaks for the richness of this world that has been developed, rather than being a flaw. I just found it somewhat confusing at times—which I wouldn’t have if I’d read the glossary. So read the glossary and you’ll be good.

The other really good part was the Christian message—it wasn’t preachy (though that’s not always a bad thing) and nor was it shallow or trite. It was solid and not at all compromised by being explained from a “Saurian” perspective. Here’s a short excerpt to demonstrate. To clarify, Rathe is the main character, a skeptic; Struth is a fellow soldier who is trying to explain his faith, and Goshren is a merchant along for the ride. Goshren and Struth are both “Wayfarers”. Struth is speaking at the beginning.

“No, we Saurians killed His Son. We rejected Him and condemned Him to death. But He returned to life and went to be with His Father until the journey ends. Then He will return to reclaim those who have followed His way.”

“So, basically what you believe is that this VorTolKo of yours sent his son to us, and the ancient Saurians were so grateful they killed him. But after being killed, this son came back to life, went back to live with the father that had sent him to die, and will someday come back to ‘reclaim’ the very people who had killed him—as long as they follow some mystical path?” Rathe flicked his tail. The whole idea sounded even more absurd when he said it.

“There’s a bit more to it than that,” Struth snapped.

“That’s all right, Struth.” Goshren placed a hand on the smaller saurn’s back. “I think he’s got the basics, even if he doesn’t understand the meaning yet.” He walked over to a nearby shelf and pulled a small crystal out of a box. “Here’s a copy of the PorlKo. You can load it into your gauntlet when you get back to your barracks.”

“What makes you think I’d want it?”

“I think you’ll find it a very interesting read. Besides, what harm can come from it? I doubt you’re the type to be easily swayed by mere words.” Goshren held out the crystal.

Rathe glanced at Struth, who glared back at him. The last thing Rathe wanted was an enemy within his own Spur. He took the crystal from Goshren. “Thanks. I guess it can’t hurt to look at it.” Rathe tucked the crystal into his hip pouch, relieved to see Struth’s expression soften.

See what I mean? Nicely done. That’s about as blatant as it gets, so if you’re offended by that…well, I’m not sure why you bother reading my blog. J It’s a sincerely Christian story—not that it’s made to deliberately show truths about faith (say, like Pilgrim’s Progress or The Screwtape Letters,) but it’s simply so a part of the author that he can’t separate his faith from his art. Which is a very, very good thing.

Overall, I was extremely satisfied with Starfire. The plot was tight, the characters were believable both despite and because of their species, and the story was compelling. On top of everything else, this book was also rich from a Christian perspective.

The Brownie gives Starfire a hearty five quills, along with a thank-you-note and a request for a sequel sometime soon.

~The Brownie

The Girl in the Gatehouse, by Julie Klassen

2011-04-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

(From the back cover)

Banished from the only home she’s ever known, Mariah Aubrey hides herself away in an abandoned gatehouse on a distant relative’s estate. There, she supports herself…by writing novels in secret.

Captain Matthew Bryant…is intrigued by the beautiful girl in the gatehouse. But there are many things he doesn’t know about this beguiling outcast. Will he risk his plans—and his heart—for a woman shadowed by scandal?

As you’ve probably guessed by now, this is a romance. And I suppose I should give up on the notion that people will believe me when I say that romance isn’t really my thing. But you don’t understand the draw of a free book, even if it is romance…And after all, what respecting female author can resist the idea of a book about a girl who lives in hiding and supports herself by writing books?

Overall, I have to admit that I really enjoyed this book. It’s probably the fastest I’ve read one of my books-for-blogs reads since I came to school, though that may partly be because it came on Thursday and I had what amounted to a three-day weekend to read it in. I’ll admit that it really was the bit about her making her living by writing that made me pick this book up to begin with. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been interested. But I’m glad I did.

The Girl in the Gatehouse is like a mash-up of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, with a healthy dose of Lori Wick and just a smidgen of—believe it or not—(insert well-known mystery novelist here). Set in the early-to-mid eighteen hundreds, The Girl in the Gatehouse tastes very similar to Pride and Prejudice or Lori Wick’s The Princess. It’s very obviously a romance and does nothing to try to conceal the fact, but it reads something like a mystery novel in its pacing. There are many miniature mysteries throughout the story—what is the scandal in Mariah Aubrey’s past? Who is this woman that Captain Bryant is wanting to impress? (Hint, it’s not Mariah. At first.) Why is there a man pacing up and down on the roof of the poorhouse next door? Is the manservant of the estate a good guy or a scoundrel? What does the locked chest Mariah’s aunt bequeathed to her contain? It made for a very interesting read, as all the threads gradually came together to form a coherent and colorful picture.

However, it may have been just a bit much—now, that’s just my personal opinion and I’m not even entirely sure I agree with it myself. I really honestly enjoyed this book. But sometimes there were just too many “convenient” connections. I won’t spoil anything, but there were at least four “plot twists” that I spotted a mile off. That said, there were also at least three that took me completely by surprise.

I loved the characters—the minor characters especially. Mariah and Captain Bryant, while likable and sympathetic characters, were somewhat cookie-cutter characters used in many Christian romances, with a few tweaks to make them “original”. But the secondary characters! From the one-armed Martin to the swashbuckling Captain Prince; the loathsome Hugh Prin-Hallsey to the adorable little singer Maggie, and the elderly twin sisters Agnes and Amy, the cast of secondary characters was absolutely delicious. Captain Bryant’s friend William Hart deserves a novel of his own, and the conniving and slimy Hugh made me cringe whenever he made an appearance.

My only other complaint for this novel would be one purely of what you might call a personal pet peeve. There were far too many “M” names. I tend to read (it’s a bad habit, but it helps me read so fast) by registering the size and shape of words rather than by individual letters. So if I’m not paying attention, “Matthew”, “Martin,” “Maggie,” and “Mariah” can all look very much alike. This led to confusion on at least one occasion where I read a whole chapter thinking that the person interacting with Mariah was Martin, when it was actually Matthew. Made so much more sense once I realized what was going on!

I think my favorite part of this book was the fact that Mariah is a secret authoress. In a time when women were not considered smart enough to write, and those who did were thought to be somewhat base, Mariah publishes her novels under the name “Lady A,” (presumably for Aubrey, but having recently read The Scarlet Letter and considering that Mariah has a shadowed past, it seemed fortuitous) and ends up getting some people complaining that her book is too good to have been written by a women. It must, they say, have been written by a man. Considering that Jane Austen herself was never accredited with her writing during her lifetime, it was a fascinating piece of history to discover.

The Brownie gives The Girl in the Gatehouse a mild five quills. Anyone who enjoys the works of Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, or Lori Wick will probably love this novel—and any girl who has ever dreamed of living in a sweet little cottage, spending all her time writing, and then being wooed by a handsome, honorable man will enjoy it as well. I know I did!

~Brownie

Code Triage, by Candace Calvert

2011-04-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I’m finally back for a bit! Been meaning to write this up for some time now, but I only just got it read this afternoon—anyway. Time for a review!

This time, it’s Code Triage, by Candace Calvert. The third in a series, but easily understood as a stand-alone (I know from experience, I didn’t realize until halfway through the book that it wasn’t a loner), Code Triage is a fast-paced novel for the lover of all things medically-dramatic.

Set in San Francisco, Code Triage is the story of Leigh and Nick Stathos, an ER doc and a police officer, respectively, whose marriage has fallen on the rocks. When Nick’s best friend Tony dies in a car accident, Nick foolishly turns to Tony’s sister Sam for comfort. Their short-lived affair is the final straw to an already crumbling marriage, and Leigh files for divorce.

Now there are only seven days left. Combine this deadline with a tragedy at the hospital where Leigh works, a nightmare-come-true when Leigh finally meets “the other woman”—Sam—and a myriad of other, smaller crisis, and you come up with a novel that reads like a combination of ER, a Terri Blackstock novel and One of Those Days (you know—the ones that seem to get better only to get worse in the end, only to get better later?)

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the novel. It was well-written, the characters were enjoyable, and—though it is definitely a Christian novel, no doubt about it—the elements of faith didn’t seem disconnected from the story, like they so often do in Christian literature. This wasn’t the author’s attempt to make a soapbox out of her book. She merely has characters whose faith is so imbued in them that it simply must come out in the plot.

The pacing was a bit repetitive sometimes, I’ll admit. Generally, Western-minded readers like to have a “conflict, resolve, bigger conflict, bigger resolve, ultimate conflict, ultimate resolve” kind of structure in our readings. Code Triage was more like a dizzying roller-coaster of “BAD!! Oops, ok, good…WHOA! BAD STUFF!!!! WORSE STUFF!!!! LOOK OUT!! Ok, now we can calm down for a chapter and a half—THERE IT GOES AGAIN!!!” which made me a bit glad to get it over with. What with the multiple crisis in the world of Nick’s police beat, the ER where Leigh works, the stables where she boards her horse, their personal relationship, Sam’s emotional merry-go-round, and a cast of minor character all with their own little (or big) issues, the phrase “fast-paced” is putting it mildly.

However, that said, I think that the pace of the novel serves to emphasize the setting of the crazy-fast world of the police and the doctors.

Other than that, my only issue was that there were two or three scenes where Leigh goes to do something, gets there, and thinks Wow, I really don’t know what I’m doing here or why I came, and you see that the only reason she’s there is so that the author can show a bit of the crime scene she had forgotten to describe earlier or set up yet another encounter with Sam.

On the bright side, though, there were all these cool little elements that played through the book over and over again—the lemon tree that Leigh and Nick bought on their honeymoon. The parrot next door that introduces the recurring phrase “Forever and ever!” Things like that. It was really neat to see how they all wove in together.

Like I said, overall, I enjoyed this book. Enough so that, had I the time or the money, I would be eager to go out and find other books from this author. If you enjoy the works of Terri Blackstock, Kathy Herman, Dee Henderson, or Karen Kingsbury, you would probably enjoy this fun and engaging novel.

The Brownie gives Code Triage a four-out-of-five quills.

Disclaimer: The Brownie got this book for free from the publisher in return for the review you read above. Now ignore this annoying postscript and go on about your lives, citizens.

The Truth of the Matter, by Andrew Klavan

2011-01-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

I wrote a while back about a new series I had found by Andrew Klavan, called the Homelander’s Series. The Last Thing I Remember opened the saga, with young Charlie West strapped to a chair in some sort of bunker. He escapes, only to realize that 1) he’s missing almost an entire year of his memory and 2) he’s wanted for a murder he’s pretty darn certain he didn’t commit.

With both the good guys—the police—and the bad guys—the Islamo-fascist terrorists—both on his tail, Charlie is on the run, dodging capture and harm at every turn with a somewhat low success level. The ending is a cliffhanger that begs for a sequal—and now.

Book two, The Long Road Home answers a lot of questions, but introduces even more. Who is this mysterious Waterman? Whose side is Charlie really on? Who actually killed Alex Hauser, Charlie’s one-time best friend?

Here, again, we have the conventional explosions, captures, escapes and daring on-the-run accounts, and again we end with a cliffhanger of an ending.

And now we have book three: The Truth of the Matter. I was so thrilled to see this book on the shelves of my local bookstore—enough so that my friends had to literally take me by the arm and pull me away before I finished the third chapter there in the store. They don’t understand these things.

So when I opened my gifts on Christmas morning and discovered The Truth of the Matter, I was ecstatic. I read the entire thing before we ate Christmas dinner, and was both extremely satisfied and extremely frustrated.

Because so many questions are answered! We know now, who Waterman is, who killed Alex, and whose side Charlie’s on—not to mention who’s on his side. We learn why he lost his memory, why Alex was killed to begin with, what the terrorists want and how they’re trying to get it, and who the good guys are.

But then it ends! I’ll admit that halfway through, things were progressing so quickly that I thought: “This is it! This is the last book of the series, and I’m going to know everything by the end!”

No such luck. Book three ends with just as much of a cliffhanger as the previous two books; leaving me with an irresistible itching in my fingers to get a hold of book four—which, to my very vocal dismay, won’t be released until August of next year. Until The Final Hour hits store shelves, I’m going to be stuck with Charlie in yet another impossible situation—though there’s finally a bit of light, I think.

Anyway, all of that is to simply say that you need to go read these books. For anyone who loves a good mystery/suspense novel, or a spy story, or a martial arts tale, or a just-plain-old-exciting adventure story, this is the book series for you. Fans of James Bond, the Hardy Boys, Chuck Norris, the Alex Rider books, or the Bourne Identity movies will love this series—especially with its uncompromising point that there is a right and wrong, and there is such a thing as freedom and patriotism, and that it is a good thing to be in support of such values. Charlie is a raging patriot—which may offend some people for odd and ridiculous reasons, but then, anti-American idiots deserve to be offended—but he makes the point of saying that America is not perfect. She has her issues, but she’s still the best country on earth.

Anyway, I heartily recommend this book series—please read it! Talk about it! And, I think there’s a rumor going around about a movie sometime in the future, which really has me excited. J

The Brownie gives The Homelanders Series a vigorous five stars.

~Brownie

The Legend of the King, by Gerald Morris

2011-01-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

Some of you may recall that I did a post a few months back about the Squire’s Tales series by Gerald Morris—not to be confused with Gilbert Morris—which is a collection of retellings of the Arthurian legends told in Morris’ droll, highly-entertaining style. They’re one of my absolute favorite book series of all time, and every time Morris has come out with a new one, I’m absolutely thrilled. I’ve never been disappointed, and every one of his books is just as stellar and amazing as the next.

Unfortunately, I’m sad to say, there will no longer be a “next”. At least, not in the Squire’s Tales series.

The Legend of the King is Morris’ chronicle of the end of King Arthur’s reign. And, though infused with his trademark humor, it is admittedly a rather dark and even depressing book. The kingdom falls—as Morris himself says in a note at the end of the book, the original legends “only allow a certain amount of hope amid all their oppressive tragic inevitability.”

I’ll admit that I left this book with mixed feelings. Foremost was, I think, a sadness. It’s not like the end of The Last Battle, where everyone is reunited and all is well. It’s more like the end of The Return of the King, where most of our beloved friends have gone on, and there are only a few left to pick up the broken and slowly-healing pieces. You get a much different feeling when Sam leaves the Gray Havens than when Mr. Tumnes comes down the hill to greet Lucy and the rest.

But there’s also a certain satisfaction, in knowing that—yes, the stories end this way, but Mr. Morris has done his best and noblest at giving us true telling. Not necessarily an “accurate” one—for example, if you’re any fan of the Arthurian legends, you may recall the scene right before Arthur’s final battle, when a frightened soldier draws his sword to kill a viper that had been about to bite him, and breaks the stalemate, sending the two armies into a fatal battle. That scene doesn’t appear in Morris’ version, though to no loss to his story or to its “trueness”.

Many old and beloved characters reappear—from Dinadan the minstrel knight and his Moorish friend Palomides, to Terence and his former master Gawain, to the despicable Morwen and her oh-so-hatable son Mordred. It’s a good book, despite its gloomy tale, and it is, I suppose, a fitting end to the Squire’s Tales series.

I would recommend that anyone interested in reading this series read every other book in the series before attempting this one—there are so many characters that reappear that honestly, even I, a devoted fan, had forgotten about. A few of them, I had to sit back and really think—who in the world is this person? I remember the name, but what was the story…oh yeah. OK, I can keep reading now. So knowing the backstory is pretty critical here.

The Brownie gives The Legend of the King an affectionate five quills as we bid farewell to this epic series—now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a sudden desire to go reread some of the earlier Tales. Maybe I’ll remember exactly who Ywain was and why he married Laudine to begin with…

~Brownie

Love's First Bloom, by Delia Parr

2011-01-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

Why, oh why, please tell me why I chose so many romance novels to review? Maybe I was in a sappy mood when I ordered them or something.

Well, anyway—as silly as I feel reviewing so many syrup-soup books—I have another one: Love’s First Bloom, by Delia Parker. When I got this one and spotted the little tag on the top that proudly proclaims that this book is a Romantic Times TOP PICK! (emphasis their own), I gave a little groan to myself.

Fortunately, this was not a hard book to get through. While, yes, it is a romance and an unabashed one at that, the driving plot is not how-the-two-depressingly-attractive-characters-will-get-together. With a murder in the background, an pair of assumed identities that could blow apart at any moment, and a cast of well-rounded and likable characters (or completely despicable ones in the case of the tale’s two villains); Love’s First Bloom is a satisfying read.

The story centers around young Ruth Livingstone, the daughter of a New York reverend who ministers to the “fallen angels” of the city—those whom society would hold are irredeemable at worst and not worth the effort at best. When one of his flock is murdered and Rev. Livingstone falls under suspicion as the killer, he sends Ruth away with the illegitimate child of the murdered prostitute, for both their protection. She takes the name Ruth Malloy, and the identity of a fallen angel herself, with little Lilly as her own daughter.

Meanwhile, Jake Spenser, the estranged brother of a newspaper owner, is trying to regain his brother’s trust after a scandal from a few years before. His brother sends him to track down the whereabouts of the missing Ruth Livingstone, with the intent of bringing back proof of Rev. Livingstone’s guilt.

They meet, and almost at once, Jake knows who Ruth really is—but he needs more information before he reveals his own identity to her.

It’s really an intriguing story, and has enough double-crossing-double-crossers and hidden identities and nearly-caught-out deceptions to keep one interested for the entire length. The characters are very three-dimensional, realistic people that you come to care about through the course of the story. I was very satisfied.

On another note, Love’s First Bloom was also uncompromisingly Christian, with a hearty and pointed message about hope and trusting God. And—while this isn’t directly addressed within the story—it also gave me pause to think about those “fallen angels” of our own day, and wonder who’s serving them in real life? Unfortunately, there is no real Reverend Livingstone, but are there others who are carrying God’s love to those most in need? We should remember to pray for them, that they may have the strength and resources to shine God’s light into the darkest places of our country and world.

The Brownie gives Love’s First Bloom a nice, solid four quills and heartily recommends it to any lover of historical fiction, romance, or mysterious turkeys.

~Brownie

Disclaimer: The Brownie got this book for free from the publisher in return for the review you read above. Now ignore this annoying postscript and go on about your lives, citizens.

Hatteras Girl, by Alice J Wisler

2011-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

(Fake Russian accent) Again, with the romancing!

But I chose the books to review and I will find the good. I will find the good. (Pounding head on cubical wall) Will. Find. Good.

LOL

Actually, to be quite honest, Hatteras Girl was a pretty good read. Sure, it was a bit long on the schmaltz, but the characters were engaging and the story was entertaining. I loved all the small-town-type characters that popped up along the way (Such as dear old Aunt Sheerly, who, as her name might suggest, runs a hair salon and enjoys the gossip that comes her way), and the oh-so-sweet love interest that I won’t name.

That’s one of the other things I liked—you had to actually figure out along with the main character who the love interest was. Was it the rich-but-sweet owner of the bed and breakfast that ____ has been saving for years to buy, and who seems convinced that she is the one to run it? Or is it the local artist who was her baby brother’s best friend growing up and who now earns his living at the Grille? Or, perhaps, is it the latest blind date her relatives have set up for her, who seems like the first genuinely nice (if a bit nervous) guy she’s met in a good long while?

Throw in a bit of mystery to add spice to the mix—not a lot, mind you, but just enough to keep the pages turning quickly—and a shot of delicious poetic justice at the end, and a collection of minor characters that will win your heart, and Hatteras Girl is a fun read—maybe a bit better suited to the hotel room in midsummer after a day at the beach than curled up on the couch while it snows outside, but that’s a minor matter of taste.

The Brownie gives Hatteras Girl a pleasantly surprised four stars.

Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball, by Donita K. Paul

2010-12-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

I recently got the book Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul from Waterbrook Press (I was thrilled to find out that they just started a blogging-for-books program! Link here.). And I’m supposed to say specifically that I got this book for free in exchange for a review. Blah-blah-blah. Yeah. So. Let’s move on to the review, shall we?
Simply put: I loved this book. This is Mrs. Paul’s first foray into non-dragon territory, though mentions of fairies and magic do pepper through the narrative. I personally think she’s done a wonderful job, and—while I adore her Dragon Keeper Chronicles and the new Dragons of Chiril series—it was nice to see that she’s not a one-hit-wonder.
The story of Two Tickets centers around Cora Crowder and her boss, Simon Derrick. Having worked together for five years, they’ve never actually “met” until one cold night when they both happen to be shopping in the same obscure bookshop on the mysteriously hard to find Sage Street. Through a series of “coincidences”, the two end up both going to the Wizards’ Christmas Ball; an old-fashioned dress-up ball that seems to have a very exclusive advertising campaign.
I won’t tell you any more, because it’s a delightful read to discover for yourself. This book had me laughing, reading bits of dialog out loud to my family and friends (they got a bit annoyed—“Would you just finish it already so I can read it for myself?” my sister demanded) and when I closed the last page, I heaved a great sigh of satisfaction.
And I suppose I have some clarifying to do. Because, yes—this is a romance story. And I just wrote in my last review how much I am turned off by romance stories. But I guess the difference between In Every Heartbeat and Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball is that, while both were romances, Two Tickets had a much more light-hearted approach to things. It’s funny. It’s realistic (except, unfortunately, for the Christmas Ball part. In real life, you don’t get mysterious tickets to a mysterious ball and buy your costume from to mysteriously sweet old ladies, and get to go with a tall, dark and handsome man that you really, really like. Usually, anyway.) And it doesn’t take itself quite as seriously as Heartbeat did.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a last minute (and I mean really last minute, seeing as Christmas is tomorrow!) gift for someone, this romantic comedy with a light sprinkle of magic is a great present. I loved this book and can’t recommend it highly enough.
Five shining Christmas quills from the Brownie, and thanks to Mrs. Paul for a delightful holiday read.
~Brownie

In Every Heartbeat, by Kim Vogel Sawyer

2010-12-23T20:59:00.000-08:00

(From the back cover)

Three best friends, three cherished dreams, three searching hearts…
As three friends who grew up in the same orphanage head off to college together, they each harbor a special plan for the future. Libby Conley hopes to become a famous journalist. Pete Leidig believes God has called him to study to become a minister. And Bennett Martin plans to pledge a fraternity, find a place to belong, and have as much fun as possible. But as tensions rise around the world on the brink of World War I, the friends’ differing aspirations and opinions begin to divide them, as well.
When Libby makes a shocking discovery about Pete’s family, will it drive a final wedge between the friends, or bond them in ways they never anticipated?

OK, so first off, as you may have been able to tell by the cover of this novel, this is a romance. A Christian romance to be sure, but it’s not really my forte. In fact, I believe my words upon finishing were, “Ug. Like trying to drink maple syrup.”
Nothing against the author or really even against the genre, but I don’t do pure romance very well. I’m ok if there’s another plot that sort of justifies the romance, but just to take the stuff straight is a bit much for me. When I picked up In Every Heartbeat, I was hoping for a overall plot with enough meat to make the syrup swallowable. And…well, it really wasn’t there.
The idea is that Libby (whom I couldn’t help but sympathize with, as a fellow aspiring writer) accidentally comes across the news that her best friend’s younger brother has committed a crime and is going to be executed. Great idea!
And, before I get into the cons of the story, let me list the pros, because they are there.
The characters are likable. I already said that I could sympathize with Libby; but Bennett makes a rogue that you can’t help but smile at, and Pete (who lost one leg in a childhood accident) is a genuinely sweet hero willing to sacrifice anything to help his family.
The plot idea, as I said, is great.
The message in the story is wonderful—forgiveness, finding ones place in God’s will, putting a godly romance before storybook-type dreams…Very good.
OK, now let’s move on to why it didn’t work for me.
While the characters are decidedly delightful, they aren’t given much to do. All the action—like Libby’s plot-stirring interview with Pete’s condemned brother, or the final showdown with the bad guy—happen offstage. You don’t see it at all—you see the aftermath, but not with your own eyes. Why, I’m not sure—maybe Mrs. Sawyer was more interested in the romantic aspects of the story than the action ones. But it made for a bit of a frustrating read, like you’re getting all your information second-hand.
Also, with the characters, there are some major changes that take place within each character, but—while this time, we do at least see the moment of change—we don’t see the stuff leading up to it very much. It’s like, “Hi, I’m Libby. I’m a nice person who wants to be just like this woman who took care of me when I was little, but I do it at the cost of my relationships with other people. Oh—wow. Here’s God, who I’ve apparently been looking for all my life, though thus far in the story, it looks like I haven’t really cared. Now my life is changed and I have made a complete and sort of unbelievable turnaround in everything I am and do and say.”
Not that God can’t or doesn’t do that, but…it’s just too much, to sudden. The same goes with Pete. Except for him, it’s more like “Hi, I’m Pete and I have this everlasting grudge against my horrible parents, even though I know God wouldn’t like that. Oh, here I meet my mother again and some sudden change of heart that you can’t understand because you’re not even in my POV right now causes me to forgive her and take her and my siblings under my wing.” Again—a great plot twist, and it made me love Pete even more, but we’re not in his head at the time and we have no idea what exactly it is that made him have this sudden turn around.
Oh sheesh. I didn’t mean to make this a bash-the-book review. As I said, romance isn’t really my thing, and I suppose that makes me a bit more apt to be critical. To Mrs. Sawyer, if she reads this: I apologize if I sound rude or mocking. I honestly didn’t like the book very much, but I guess you can’t please everyone, and I’m sure that for every review like mine there’s one from someone who loves this sort of thing praising the book to the skies.
Let me sum up my thoughts in one final sentence: If I liked romance, I would probably love this book—though the I’m-not-going-to-let-you-see-this bits would still irritate me.
The brownie gives a personal two quills, but for someone who likes romance she would bump it up to a four.
~Brownie

Oh, PS: I'm supposed to tell you that I got this book for free in exchange for the blog review. There--the law is happy, and so are we. The end.

A Sheepish Promise

2010-12-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

So, I apologize to anyone who keeps checking back to see if I've posted anything new recently. As you can see...I haven't. Though it's not for lack of material. I have about 12 items that I need to post reviews for! The reason that I haven't is because, frankly, I haven't had much time to read books that I wasn't just enthralled by. School is taking up most of my time right now.
However, I am going on Christmas break as of tomorrow. Well, technically, school-wise, after noon today; though I have to work on campus tonight. Anyway, what that all means is that I will try my hardest to get a few of those waiting books read over break and have the reviews ready to post at the beginning of the new year. Sound good to you all?
Great!
Merry Christmas,
~Brownie

Captured by Grace, by Dr. David Jeremiah

2010-08-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

I got the subject of this particular review from Thomas Nelson again. I’m partly telling you that because I don’t want to be sued, and partly because I can actually recommend the publisher this time--a novelty for Thomas Nelson! If you’ve followed my past posts at all, you’ll know that most of the books I’ve read from TN have been somewhat disappointing in their spiritual quality. Either they’ve been weak and watery, or questionable in their theological stands…Something has usually been off.

Not so with this newest book. Captured by Grace, by well-known author and teacher Dr. David Jeremiah, has been an absolute delight and treat to read. Challenging, fascinating, comforting and wise, this book does an exceptional job of detailing the concept of Grace and exactly all that entails.

He starts with two famous figures: a zealot-turned-apostle and a slave trader-turned-preacher and hymn-writer--two men who lived centuries apart and yet experienced very similar events in their lives. Paul and John Newton both had much to say on grace, and their words and concepts form the background of Captured by Grace.

I highly recommend Captured by Grace to anyone--whether you’re just looking for a good read, or a devotional; a Sunday-school text or a personal “miracle-grow” for your life of faith. The Brownie gives Captured by Grace a glowing five quills!

~Brownie

Hand of Fate, by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

2010-07-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

Rush Limbaugh.

Cryin’ Brian Dern.

Jim Fate.

What do they all have in common? They’re all big-shot talk radio show hosts. One is real, two are fictional, and one is very, very dead.

And thus is the premis of Hand of Fate, the newest Triple Threat mystery by Lis Wiehl (writing with April Henry). Jim Fate: opinionated, brash, and not all of afraid of the general public (whom he regularly offends). He’s the “golden boy” for radio station KNWS, and his polarizing show, “The Hand of Fate”, is often the talk of the town. Fate even has a daily award for those who send him hate mail and death threats—the Nut of the Day award. He’s quick-witted, he’s big-mouthed, he’s rich, he’s got a platform…and he’s got enemies.

One fateful day (pun intended, please appreciate), Jim opens his mail to find an unpleasant surprise. Poison gas sprays from a cleverly-rigged canister and within minutes, Jim Fate is dead.

Murdered.

Enter the Triple Threat Club: FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges, crime reporter Cassidy Shaw, and Allison Pierce. These three women are best friends united by a love of justice, truth and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

As the three begin piecing together the events and people surrounding Jim Fate’s final days, the situation seems to go from puzzling to insane. The question they must answer is not, “Who could have killed Jim Fate,” but rather, “Who didn’t want him dead?”

Suspects pile up, clues and red-herrings collide with increasing ferocity, and personal issues in the lives of all three women threaten to intrude on the case. Who done it? Well, you’ll just have to read Hand of Fate yourself to find out.

Hand of Fate is the second book in the Triple Threat series by Wiehl—a popular legal analyst and commentator for Fox News. Written with New York Times-bestselling authoress April Henry, Hand of Fate is a pretty good supper read: entertaining, no too taxing, and easy to put down and pick back up again on a moment’s notice.

As a novel in and of itself, I vastly enjoyed Hand of Fate. The characters are intriguing, fascinating, and relatively original, and the plot is interesting. My favorite part had to be the character development of Jim Fate himself—arguably the book’s main character, though he’s only alive for one chapter and a flashback or two—you don’t often see such a well developed character as the victim of a murder that happens in the first chapter. Watching him grow and change as the three investigators plumb the depths of his private life is absolutely fascinating.

That said, as a mystery, I wasn’t particularly impressed with Hand of Fate. There were far too many suspects, not nearly enough solid clues, and the end-villain lacked much in the convincingness category.

Suspense and mystery stories are usually supposed to end with a big twist—an “ah-ha!” moment where the villain is revealed and you stagger back in shock, saying, “It all makes sense now! How did I not see that coming?!?”

In Hand of Fate, the ending is a shocker indeed—but there’s no feeling of, “Duh! I should have spotted that…” Instead, I was left thinking, “Huh? That’s the villain? Hm. Well, okay…” You don’t see it coming, because there’s no foundation for it. And, in the “endgame”, the villain’s reasoning and purposes behind the murder are a bit…weak, to put it nicely. Unconvincing.

I enjoyed the book greatly up until chapter 41. Then, when the villain was revealed, my first reaction was to literally exclaim out loud, “What? It was—“ (And here I’ll cut myself off, to avoid spoiling the end for you…)

After that, it was as if I had to forget the rest of the book and whatever ending it had been building to, and read this ending that felt like it had been copy-pasted from another book entirely.

So… Hand of Fate left a disappointed taste in my mouth. It was building and building, and the characters were getting more and more colorful—

And then the climax fell flat, and the characters (heroes and villains alike) were reduced to the black-and-white cardboard cut outs of old Saturday Morning cartoons.

This is a book that I would still venture to recommend—with a word of caution—to someone looking for a summer read. To writers, I would recommend it solely for the examination of Jim Fate as a character in development. (And also of a way not to end a story.) But I don’t think it’s a book I’ll be rereading anytime in the near future. I give it a three out of five Quills.

The Brownie, over and out!

PS: oh yeah—new FTC rules require me to tell you that this is one of the books I get for free through Thomas Nelson’s Book Blogger program. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—my fellow bloggers, you ought to get in on this. That said, be careful that you TELL EVERYONE that you’re getting the books for free. So there—I told you I got it for free. Doesn’t change my opinion at all, but now you know. J

~BB

Never Let You Go -- Erin Healy

2010-06-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

OK, first off--sorry for not having blogged in a while. I've had this review to do, but just hadn't gotten around to doing it. So sorry, and I'll try to do better in the future.

So.

As some of you may already know, I'm a fairly big fan of Ted Dekker--some books more than others, but he's pretty good. I especially loved the two books he's done with author Erin Healy (Kiss and Burn) So when I got to the end of Burn, and found out that Healy was about to publish a book of her own, I was thrilled. And when I discovered that I could get it through the book blogger program at Thomas Nelson (info here) I was even more excited. So I put in my order and checked the mailbox daily in eager expectation of my literary delivery.

Nor was I disappointed when it arrived.

Never Let You Go is a book that I can't easily define as one genre or another. It's part mystery/suspense in the vein of Terri Blackstock and Dee Hendserson. It's part supernatural thriller in the vein of Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. And it's a very large part attitude and freshness that is unique to Erin Healy.

Never Let You Go is the story of Lexi Soloman, a woman abandoned by her husband to raise their daughter alone, who works more than one dead end job and--like any good heroine--has secrets in her past. Some of these secrets threaten to come to light when her estranged husband suddenly appears again, professing repentence and wanting to meet his daughter, Molly.

But--good intentions on his part or not, and Lexi doubts that they are good--there are other things creeping out of the woodword. "It's been seven years since disaster struck her family, and she's helt it together since then--just barely.

But now Lexi is losing it. Her sister's shameless murderer is up for parole. An unsavory old friend is demanding payment for debts that Lexi knows nothing about and can't begin to meet.

And something else is going on--something Lexi feels but can't explain. A dangerous shift is taking place between this reality and the next. Forces beyond her imagination are vying for control." (that bit was taken from the book synopsis on TN's website)

I thoroughly enjoyed Never Let You Go. Honestly, it was a little out of my usual field of reading--the spiritual thrillers are not usually my thing. But the entire feel of this book is just so unique and fresh...Healy's not out to be another Peretti or Dekker. She's not out to copy someone else's style because that's what sells. She happens to be in the same genre as they are, but her style is completely and utterly her own.

I did find the book a bit difficult to follow sometimes--places where the action seems to move ahead without any explanation for the reader, or places where I lost track of who was who and what they were doing where and why. :)

Mostly, though, the plot was believable and interesting--scratch that, try fascinating--and I was completely satisfied when I finished the last chapter. Except for wanting more, that is!

I highly reccomend Never Let You Go to anyone who likes a good mystery or spiritual warfare read, and I sincerely hope that Ms. Healy has more treasures like this one in store.

Four and a half quills from the Brownie!

~Book Brownie

If you've read Never Let You Go and enjoyed it, try some of these. (Or, if you like any of these, you might enjoy Never Let You Go!)

Kiss, Dekker and Healy

Burn, Dekker and Healy

The O'Malley Series, Dee Henderson

The Witness, Dee Henderson

Intervention, Terri Blackstock

The Newport 911 series, Terri Blackstock

The Patricia Amble Mysteries, Nicole Young

The Last Thing I Remember

2010-04-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

I recently read a book—the first in a series, if it’s as good as I’m hoping, I’ll post updates as I read the rest—called The Last Thing I Remember, by Andrew Klavan.

From the back cover:

Charlie West just woke up in someone else’s nightmare.

He’s strapped to a chair. He’s covered in blood and bruises. He hurts all over. And a strange voice outside just ordered his death.

The last thing he can remember, he was a normal high-school kid doing normal things—working on his homework, practicing karate, daydreaming of becoming an air force pilot, writing a pretty girl’s number on his hand. How long ago was that? Where is he now? Who is he really?

And more to the point…how is he going to get out of this room alive?

There you have it. The basic plot of the novel (book one in the Homelanders series) in a few short paragraphs. But as simplistic as it may seem, this book had me glued to the pages—twice now, because book two just came out and I wanted a refresher course. It’s written in first person point of view (I did this, I did that, I looked there, I sat down…etc), from the viewpoint of a character who has no clue what’s going on. You, as the reader, know exactly what Charlie knows, and no more. No less, but no more.

This could have been irritating—like going in blind and constantly dodging literary missiles. Instead, you feel Charlie’s emotions very intensely and vividly, because you’re so deep into his skin. Yes, you feel frustrated at not knowing anything—but it’s because Charlie is frustrated at not knowing anything. You see his confusion: who are the bad guys? Why are the good guys out to get me too? Who am I really? And what in the world have I gotten myself into?

I loved this book, for a lot of reasons. It’s good writing—good, clean writing—with fantastic characters and a fascinating plotline. I’m looking forward to reading book two in the next few days, and if things turn out as well as I’m hoping that they will, I’ll be sure to give an update in a while.

Meanwhile, go out and read for yourself. The Last Thing I Remember is well worth your time, especially if you’re a fan of the suspense/mystery genre and are looking for something new and entertaining on the Christian market. Oh, and don’t be fooled if you only find this book in the young adult section of your local Christian bookstore—while The Last Thing I Remember is about a teenager, adult fans of the genre will almost certainly enjoy it as well as a teen.

The Last Thing I Remember gets a full five quills from the Brownie.

~Trav

If you liked The Last Thing I Remember, you might also like these books (or, if you enjoyed any of these, you might want to pick up The Last Thing I Remember.)

Blink, Ted Dekker

Head Game, Tim Downs

Danger in the Shadows, Dee Henderson

The White Fox Chronicles, Gary Paulson

Kiss, Ted Dekker

Always Watching, Brandilyn and Amberly Collins

Will the World End in 2010?

2010-04-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

My most recent book from Thomas Nelson Publishers (I’ve explained before that through their Book Review Blogger program, I get free books in exchange for blog reviews) was called Will the World End in 2010? by Raymond C. Hundley, Ph. D.

Basically, this is an explanatory book—specifically for Christians, but parts are also directed at non Christians—on the 2012 phenomena. Because of the Mayan calendar that ends in 2012, many people have become convinced that the world will end then, in one way or another. Hundley attempts to give a reasonable explanation for all of the different “reasons” why this may or may not happen—reasons ranging from, of course, the Mayan calendar to Nostradamus, and from Internet trends to a potential collision with “Planet X”.

It’s all very fascinating to be sure—though there is an uncanny resemblance in all of this 2012 hype to the Y2K brouhaha of a mere 10 years ago.

That said, I’m honestly not quite sure what to think of this book. On the one hand, it debunks some of the blatantly wacko theories; while on the other, it seems to give credence to some others. The idea that massive solar flares are scheduled to hit Earth somewhere around 2011 and 2012 is apparently a generally accepted premise—scary, to be sure—in the scientific community. The book reads like part doomsday tract, part Idiot’s Guide to Strange Prophecies, and part textbook. It’s disturbing to read about a possible massive disaster coming as soon as 2012 (if solar flares were to really strike the Earth at that time, it could cause massive damage to communications and electronics, as well as perhaps set off ticklish volcanoes worldwide). One can’t help but get a bit perturbed reading this book.

Hundley doesn’t seem to think that the world will end in 2012—though he never outright says one way or the other. His point is merely to present the information in a rational and clear-cut way so that people can enter the discussion informed. He does challenge Christians to “live like there’s no tomorrow”, because we don’t know the day or the hour of Christ’s return. The Bible tells us that no one can know when Jesus is coming back—and hence, when the end of the world will come.

Will the World End in 2012 ends with some short-and-to-the-point evaluations of all the different theories, and an equally concise guide on how to prepare for the end of your own personal world (otherwise known as death) even if the end of Earth doesn’t come in your lifetime. I was pleased to read this part, as it makes a point of showing that your world will end someday, and you need to be prepared for it, even if it comes without asteroids and volcanoes or black holes and other various explosions.

I found the book interesting to read, though I doubt I’ll reread it straight through. As a reference guide for this particular subject, it is doubtless an easy to read and easy to understand source—so long as you’re willing to take the information and make your own conclusions.

I’d give Will the World End in 2012 a three-out-of-five quills.

~Trav

DreamHouse Kings

2010-04-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

You all may recall a long while back that I did a review of a new book called House of Dark Shadows, by Robert Liparulo. Well, since I did that review, four more books have been printed for this series: Watcher in the Woods, Gatekeepers, Timescape, and Whirlwind.

I’ve been reading these books as they come out—not because I’m that thrilled by them, but because each one ends with something of a cliffhanger and I want to know what happens next. The basic plotline so far has been:

Family moves into old house. Scary things happen. Mom is kidnapped by scary people. Family discovers scary rooms that lead to scary places. More scary things happen when the kids start popping in and out of the rooms (and times) to search for Mom. Scary people start following them around and watching them outside the house and sneaking around the house at night. A particular scary man tries to a) get them out of the house or b) kill them all. Why? Because they’re messing with scary stuff and he wants full control over it. So the kids outsmart him time and again, get wounded in various ways, crash cars, experience more near-death chases than a combination James Bond and Indiana Jones movie (plus some StarWars on the side), all while trying to find Mom. Oh yeah—and find out what is going on with these scary rooms and scary times and how they work.

Do you get the idea that this series is supposed to be scary? And adrenaline-inducing? Not to mention, scary?

R.L. Stine, author of the Goosebumps series says, “If you like creepy and mysterious, this is the house for you.” A good recommendation, I’m sure—but why Stine? This is the problem with the whole series, in my opinion:

It’s a Christian author trying to disguise a Christian series for a secular audience. The really bad part is that he succeeds so well that I’m not sure why Thomas Nelson even publishes it. These books might as well be published by Disney Hyperion, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, or Random House.

Now, all that isn’t to say that these are bad books. On the contrary—if you’re a Peretti fan, or have a kid who reads a lot of Goosebumps and you wish he would read something better, these are certainly good to pick up. I said that I’m not that thrilled by them—but I still read them with a measure of enjoyment. I enjoy the fact that they are so “scary”, but really only to the characters in the story. You never get inside any character well enough to be scared by the same things that frighten them—you never feel dread when the villain walks in, or find your stomach sinking because you just know somebody’s going to die. Part of this is that the two main characters—Xander and his younger brother Daniel—are so much alike that it’s hard to distinguish between the two.

To be short, sweet and to the point, I’ll say this: the DreamHouse Kings series is a fun way to pass a few hours—long on fluff and cliffhangers, short on anything memorable. The last two books have had some bits that I frankly found rather gruesome. The pacing is slightly slow (so as to get more books out of a single story, I’m assuming…) and the characters are slightly shallow. Pick these books up if you’re looking for a) something to keep you occupied at the doctor’s office or b) something for your ten year old who doesn’t need to be reading pulp-horror like Goosebumps.

I realize this isn’t exactly a glowing recommendation—and if Mr. Liparulo should read this, I hope he understands that I honestly did find DreamHouse Kings an entertaining pastime. That being said, I’m sure there are better things to read out there.

The Brownie gives the DreamHouse Kings series a four-out-of-five quills.

~Trav

If you liked the DreamHouse Kings books you may also like these; or if you liked these, you may enjoy the DreamHouse Kings series:

The 39 Clues series, by various authors

The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin

The First Escape or The Secret of Indigo Moon, by G.P. Taylor

The Cooper Kid Adventures, by Frank Peretti

Hangman’s Curse and Nightmare Academy, by Frank Peretti

The Martello Tower, by Jennifer Lanthier

Broken Angel, by Sigmund Brouwer

The Time Trilogy

2010-03-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hey, all. Sorry it’s been so long since my last review. What with college prep stuff and getting ready for a big music contest, I really haven’t thought about writing a review. Now, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading…And reading some pretty interesting stuff too. It was difficult to choose which books to write about, because I’ve found some really good stuff lately. The Thirteenth Reality series, which I’ll do a review on sometime in the future; The Sixty-Eight Rooms; The Splitting Storm; Burn…look these up if you’re looking for something to read.

But today my review is going to be of a new-ish young adult trilogy by Linda Buckley-Archer. I’ve said before that I read a lot of older-children’s fiction—even more than I read teen or adult fiction. I picked up the first book in this trilogy a little more than a year ago, and when I saw that the two sequels had been released, I recently re-read the entire series. (Time Travelers, Time Thief and Time Quake.)

The Time Trilogy, by Linda Buckley-Archer, was supposedly inspired by the criminal underworld of the eighteenth century. The series, however, is more a historical/sci-fi thriller—a strange combination, yes, but very good. The trilogy follows the adventures of Peter Shocke and Kate Dyer, two 21^st century kids who—in a mishap involving an antigravity machine, a missed phone call and an excited golden retriever—are thrown back in time to 1763, where they meet up with Gideon Seymour and his archenemies the Tar Man, aka Blueskin. The trilogy charts the kids’ progress as they try to get home, as well as the developing drama of Gideon and Blueskin.

I really enjoyed this series, though I’ll admit that it took me a while to get through the second book—it’s the middle of the story, where everything gets gloomy. But the characters of Peter and Kate—and even more so, Gideon, the Tar Man, and his apprentice Tom—are so endearing and fascinating that at the end of each chapter, you’re just dying to know what happens next. The books are rather thick, for kid’s fiction especially, but not especially drawn out or slow-moving.

My one biggest problem with the trilogy was really more of a personal peeve than anything else. I’m not really a big fan of stories with alternate dimensions that are mirror-images of our own; or of time-travel stories where every decision someone makes in the past results in a new alternate world. It makes my brain hurt. This is why, though I love the idea of a Christian fantasy series about homeschoolers, I’m not extremely crazy about Brian Davis’ novels; as well as why I usually stay away from the time-travel mini-genre.

The Time Trilogy has all this and more—in spades. I’ll admit that I might have skimmed through some of the more…complicated parts of the story, where they start explaining alternate realities and time quakes and all that…But if you like that sort of thing, this series works everything out nicely and sensibly. Or, at least, as sensibly as you can when you’ve got a couple million alternate realities all crumbling apart around your time traveling ears. LOL

The Time Trilogy is a fun and fascinating story, all things considered. As a writer, I was extremely envious of Buckley-Archer’s ability to create the character of the Tar Man, the villain. He’s such an engaging character: one minute, you hate his guts and want him to hurtle through time and never come back, and the next you’re learning about his back-story and silently egging him on. For writers, the characters of the Tar Man and Gideon (the two are complete opposites of each other, and yet alike: like two sides of the same coin) are alone enough incentive to read the series. For readers, the absorbing adventures of Peter and Kate are well worth picking up.

The Brownie gives The Time Trilogy a good four quills. Definitely one to reread sometime, but I’ll check them out from the library instead of buying for myself.

Toodles!

~The Brownie

Another Consolidated Review

2010-01-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

So, here is my second installment in the Consolidated Reviews series. I think I’ve got something for almost everyone in here this time: mystery/suspense, fantasy, adventure, history-mystery, and even a picture book! I’ve already explained that I’m doing this to save on time and get as many things reviewed as I can, so without further ado, here are another five (short) reviews:

1. The Bug Man series, by Tim Downs

One of the first reviews I did on this blog was of Downs’ book Shoofly Pie, which I loved. Well, the Bug Man returns in Chop Shop, Less than Dead, First the Dead and Ends of the Earth (which just came out this year). Nick Polchak, the forensic entomologist main character, is a wonderful combination of Sherlock Holmes, Patrick Jane from CBS’s The Mentalist, and Monk—for various reasons. He’s a genius who has no social skills and loves his necrophilous insects better than most people love their dogs or furry little kittens. By the way, necrophilous means “dead-loving”. These are bugs that eat decomposing flesh—just in case you were wondering.

Anyway, as I said in my review of Shoofly Pie,

“I’ll admit that when I first picked this book up, I was a little hesitant. It looked like one of those really gross CSI-type shows, full of gory details and nasty word pictures. And while the descriptions of a moldering corpse are certainly not pleasant, they also weren’t overly graphic or disgusting.” The stories of Dr. Polchak and his mysteries are suspenseful and fun—and educational too, if you read through all the lectures on entomology—which I actually do.

Five Quills for the Bug Man, and here’s to more books soon.

2. Faery Rebels by R.J. Anderson

Knife is a young faery with an insatiable curiosity—which gets her into trouble as she starts asking too many of the wrong questions. Like, how did her tribe of faerys lose their magic? Why are they never allowed to leave the Oak—their home? And what is really so terrible about Humans?

When Knife meets a depressed, paraplegic boy named Paul, she starts making some discoveries that could change her world beyond her wildest imaginings. In the process, she brings new hope into Paul’s life, and re-inspires his artistic talents, while at the same time sparking some of her own.

This was a delightful book in the same vein as Ella Enchanted, Dragon Slippers, Fortune’s Folly…with a plucky heroine and a great story—almost bordering on a mystery as Knife struggles to make heads or tails of the confusing history of her people. I highly recommend this book—partly because I was impressed that the author (though published by the secular Harper Collins publishing house) wrote a very plain and bold thank you to God—the Author and the Word, the Beginning and the End, her Savior and her God—in the Acknowledgments.

Definitely a four-Quill book; perhaps a five.

3. The Vesper Holly Adventures, by Lloyd Alexander.

If you don’t know who Lloyd Alexander is, you probably have at least heard of his most popular books—the Prydain Chronicles, including the well-known fantasy The Black Cauldron (this one, incidentally, was made into a Disney animated movie; one of the few times Disney created an absolute box-office flop). However, besides his fantasy writings, Alexander also wrote a few books about a young Philadelphian lass named Vesper Holly: an orphan and heir to her parent’s decent-sized estate, as well as an incorrigible and intelligent adventuress. This series is unique in that the stories are not told from the POV of the main character, Vesper, but rather from that of her guardian, Brinny; which is kind of odd, but works out nicely—something like Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes.

The stories take Vesper all over the world in her adventures, and in each one she faces down the despicable villain Dr. Helvitius She travels to the jungles of South America in The Illyrian Adventure, the desert of Africa in The Jedera Adventure, a small European country in The Drakenburg Adventure…and more. The one word that best describes Vesper in all of her exploits is “plucky”—the “dear girl” is resourceful and clever, and always manages to outwit the villainous Helvitius.

A delightful series—four and a half quills.

4. The Cat Royal Adventures, by Julia Golding

Catherine Royal is a young orphan living in London during the late 1700s, who was brought up in the Royal Theater, from which she takes her name. She’s a wonderfully brave and captivating character, whose loyalty to her friends (as well as red-headed temper) can get her into a bit of trouble. Each Cat Royal Adventure is a period mystery, involving everything from stolen diamonds and political cartoonists to slave hunters, London street posses, and press-ganged aristocrats. I love these books, and recommend them to anyone who likes: a) historical fiction, b) mysteries, or c) just plain, good reading. lol

One word of caution—Cat’s surroundings, in 16^th century London, France, and America, are a bit…rough by today’s standards, as are her manners and the humor of a few of her acquaintances. I don’t honestly recall if there’s any language (if there is, it’s “mild”) but let it simply be said that fleas and disgusting ruffians are commonplace in Cat’s world.

5. A Day with Wilbur Robinson, by William Joyce

Right now, one of my favorite movies is Meet the Robinsons—the Disney-Pixar film of a few years ago. While exploring some of the “bonus features” on the DVD recently, I discovered that the movie was based on this book: A Day with Wilbur Robinson. Curious, I checked the book out from the library, and was delighted. If you’ve seen the movie, especially, you’ll enjoy this sweet little picture book about an unnamed boy (given the name Louis in the film), his friend Wilbur Robinson, and their adventure through the Robinson household. Many of the characters from the book made it into the movie: the twins, Dmitri and Spike, Aunt Billie with her toy train, Carl the robot, the singing frogs—and, of course, Grandfather Robinson and his false teeth! I was particularly impressed by the way that Disney-Pixar kept the art from the book when they made the movie—most of the characters are completely recognizable, and even the house itself looks just about the same.

A Day with Wilbur Robinson is an “alarmingly optimistic” picture book by a gifted author/artist (who, incidentally, families with young children might know as the creator of “Rolie Polie Olie”). Given the plus that it was turned into a very cool movie, I give this book a rock-solid four quills. Keep Moving Forward!

Well, my friends: there you have it. Another five reviews carefully condensed into one (admittedly long) blog entry. Just add water! LOL—I hope you enjoyed, and that you’ll check out a few of the books I’ve mentioned.

See you soon,

~The Brownie

Called to Worship

2010-01-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

Called to Worship, by Vernon M. Whaley

Yeah, a nonfiction review for once!

Actually, I should confess that I’ve been meaning to write this review for a long time. Some of you who have been reading my Musings blog for a while may recall that I was doing the Book Blogger thing through Thomas Nelson Publishers—where they send me a book for free, and I review it on my blog. Well, the last time I got a book, it was a big, honking-thick nonfiction book…and it’s taken me a while to get through it.

But: here is my review.

Overall, I thought that Called to Worship, by Vernon M Whaley, was a pretty decent book—I’ll even go so far as to say that I agreed with 99.9% of what he said. Every once in a while, he’d make some comment, or give some quote, and I’d think “Eh…maybe not…” On the whole, though, I think it was ok.

The premise of Called to Worship is simple: the God of the universe, who created you and all you see, deserves and desires your worship. And not just the Sunday Morning Only Worship either—genuine, heartfelt, worship. Voddie Baucham defines worship as setting your “mind’s attention and heart’s attention” on someone or something, and Whaley more or less says the same thing.

Called to Worship impressed and pleased me in that it gives its message in the framework of the history of worship: from the unadulterated worship Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden, through the Patriarchs, the Psalms and the Prophets, and up into the New Testament; then the last part of the book speaks about how we will be worshiping throughout eternity. This was very interesting, to see how modes of worship have changed over the generations though the actual principles have not. I was impressed that Whaley does not give instructions on how to make worship “a better experience” so that nonbelievers will be comfortable in church, or encourage those fighting the “Worship Wars”—actually (interrupting self here):

He made some interesting points about the so-called “worship wars”, pointing out that they’ve been going on for a very long time. The way Whaley puts it, Lucifer’s fall was in essence, the result of a worship war. Lucifer wanted the worship belonging to God for himself—and he took down a third of heaven’s host when he bit the dust. Then there were the “wars” that Adam and Eve lost in the Garden, when they chose to worship their own desires over God, and Cain’s lost war when he murdered his brother over a worship dispute…basically, it all boils down to what Baucham says: heart’s affection and mind’s attention. But I’m getting sidetracked. J Back to the review.

I did find it odd that he quotes from an enormously varied group of speakers—from A.W. Tozer to Joyce Meyer, two absolutely contradictory people. This disappointed me, and made me read the rest of the book somewhat dubiously. However, all things considered, I thought that it was a good book for many reasons. Christians need to read more about the history and Focus of our worship. I would recommend this book—but I would say to read objectively and to be sure and check everything you read against what Scripture says. After all, God’s Word will trump every time, right? Then again, that advice goes for anything—even what you hear in Sunday morning church.

The Brownie gives Called to Worship a three-quill rating.

~Brownie

Gerald Morris

2009-12-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

I have to admit—I’m not quite sure what this series is supposed to be called. I think it’s something like The Squire’s Tales, but since not all of the books are about squires, and since the title of the first book he wrote was The Squire’s Tale, I find that name confusing. So for the sake of this review, I’m simply going to call it the Series. Yes, with a capitol “s”. Just bear with me. J

There have been many retellings of the Arthurian legends over the years—probably more than any other collection of stories on the planet. Everyone from Steven Lawhead to Walt Disney (by way of T.S. Elliot) has had a go at it, with varying degrees of success. But one of the best authors I have ever read also happens to be one of the best at retelling the legends, in my humble opinion.

Gerald Morris, of Oklahoma, (NOT to be confused with Gilbert Morris, of North Carolina) first wrote The Squire’s Tale in 1998, retelling several of the stories of Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew and arguably his most noble knight. Morris takes bits of his story from a bunch of different sources, especially from Le Morte d’Arthur—though he disliked Sir Thomas Malory’s treatment of Gawain as a “rather coarse and selfish knight of only moderate skill”, and has tried to “restore the reputation of this most honored of all the knights on earth”.

He does so masterfully, telling the tale of Gawain’s first adventures as seen through the eyes of his squire, Terence. With subtle (and absolutely delightful) humor, along with skilled story-spinning and faithfulness to the old stories, Morris gives us a highly enjoyable first novel.

And the ones that follow are just as good, if not better. My personal favorites include The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, The Ballad of Sir Dinadan, and The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady, which retells the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

For an example of Morris’ humor, and wonderful story telling abilities, here is a short selection from The Squire’s Tale, where Terence tells King Arthur of Gawain’s bravery in defeating a “recreant knight”:

“And who are you, son?” the king asked him. [Terence]

Terence gulped and said, “Terence sir—Gawain’s squire.”

“I see,” Arthur said. “Tell me about Sir Hautubris.”

…“Well,” Terence stammered, “he was the knight who wanted to take our dinner—I mean me and milord and Trevisant—that’s the Hermit of the Gentle Wood. I lived with him until milord came. And Sir Hautubris was angry because there wasn’t any left. It was stew, sir,” he explained.

“Go on,” the king said, his eyes twinkling.

“So milord went out and told him we had just finished, but he was rude, so milord knocked him off his horse. So he got mad and tried to kill milord, and almost did, because milord didn’t have any armor on—“

“You say that Gawain was wearing no armor?” the king interrupted.

“No sir, on account of being at dinner, I think,” Terence said.

“Very proper,” Arthur said, his lips twitching…

“So he tried to kill milord, like I said, but he couldn’t because milord kept hitting him with the stewpot.”

“With the what?” Sir Kai interrupted, a grin of delight spreading over his face.

"The stewpot, sir. Milord didn’t have his sword, you see, so he hit Sir Hautubris in the head with the pot.”

“Continue, please,” said Arthur, suppressing a smile.

“That’s almost everything. Milord took Sir Hautubris’s sword away from him and said he wasn’t to be trusted with it—“ Terence heard Sir Kai snort, but he pressed on. “But then Sir Hautubris got another sword and tried to kill him from behind, so milord killed Sir Hautubris.” Terence stopped, but no one spoke. “That’s all,” he added.

Isn’t that just great? I crack up every time I read it. So…maybe my sense of humor is a bit odd—but I prefer to believe that Morris is simply a genius writer.

So anyway, now that you’ve had a tiny taste, head over to the bookstore or library to find the rest of Morris’ great books. Oh—and a small word of…not warning, exactly, but…explanation. In the last year or so, Morris has released a couple of books of a similar type as this Series, but written for even younger kids—they’re still good, but not nearly up to par with the previous ones. It should be easy to tell which ones are which, but just FYI.

Enjoy! I give Gerald Morris a shining five-quill rating.

~The Brownie

The Mysterious Benedict Society Series -- By Trenton Lee Stewart

2009-12-30T10:54:00.000-08:00

I love reading children’s books—not little kid’s books, understand, but the ones that are written for the 12-15 age range. Most of my favorite books come out of the children’s section at the library. I’m not quite sure why this is—maybe because the “teen” books are too angst-y and the adult books are…well, let’s face it. You can only read so many imitations of “Love Comes Softly” or “The Shunning”. Sure, there are a few good adult fiction writers out there—Tim Downs comes to mind—but they’re few and far between, and they don’t write fast enough. LOL.
So when we go to the library, I almost always head to the children’s “New Books” section first. One of my new-er favorites has just come out with a third book, which possibly ends the series, but it’s slightly open-ended, so…one can hope. J

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart: it’s a delicious new series reminiscent of authors like E. B. White (actually, the first book won the E. B. White Read Aloud Award) and Roald Dahl, or perhaps a cross between Beverly Cleary and Frances Burnett.

The first book features four children: Reynie Muldoon, Kate Wetherall, Sticky Washington, and Constance Contraire. Each one of them is special in some way—Reynie is a genius for puzzles and problem-solving, Sticky has a photographic memory plus an I.Q. far above that of most kids his age…you get the idea.

They meet when they all answer an ad in the newspaper for “special opportunities” for gifted children. After passing through a bewildering series of tests (one of my favorite parts of the book, actually) they meet Mr. Benedict, the creator of the tests. Mr. Benedict has a problem: a villainous genius named Mr. Curtain has invented a terrible machine called the Whisperer, which he uses to influence people’s minds in an attempt to take over the world. And Mr. Benedict is out to stop him.

This is where the kids come in: Mr. Curtain also runs a school called, simply, the Institute, as a cover-up for his nefarious deeds. So in the guise of students, Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance are sent to Mr. Curtain’s island fortress to spy on him and (hopefully) help Mr. Benedict defeat the evil madman.

But when the kids get there, they find things even more confusing than they had thought. Who is Mr. Curtain really? For that matter, who is Mr. Benedict? Can they hope to ever break through the layers of clues, puzzles and codes that surround the mystery of the Whisperer?

I highly recommend this book, even to those of you who would normally spend your time reading more “grown-up” books. I enjoy this series immensely—and I hope Mr. Stewart doesn’t stop writing, even if this series really has come to an end.

A good five quills to The Mysterious Benedict Society.

~The Brownie

A Consolidated Review

2009-12-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

OK, so it’s been a while since I did anything new, and since I read The Last Heir, I’ve read twenty-four other books. LOL—plenty to write about, wouldn’t you say? So here are my top-five picks out of that list, along with a tiny review of each. (I’ll post another five soon. Who knows—I may make a habit of this.)

1. The Rover, by Mel Odom.

If you liked The Hobbit, this book is for you. Actually, one suspects that Odom specifically tailored this tale—about Edgewick Lamplighter, fondly known as Wick; a mild-mannered “dweller” librarian who gets kidnapped by pirates and forced into adventure after adventure in the “big world”, complete with evil wizards, goblins, thieves and a ferocious dragon—for the enjoyment of Tolkien fans. Some people might say that the author is simply copying Tolkien’s style and stealing his ideas, but personally I loved it because, 1) it’s almost like reading a continuation of The Hobbit, which has always been my favorite Tolkien book, and 2) it is original in many ways.
This is a “serious” fantasy book, unlike most of the things I’ll be reviewing around here, but I heartily recommend it as a delicious read.

A good five Quills, to be certain.

2. The Ranger’s Apprentice Series, by John Flanagan.

This is more the type of book I usually read—the children’s/young adult adventure books. The Ranger’s Apprentice series features Will, a smallish boy of no known ancestry, dumped on the doorstep of a local baron and taken in to be raised with the other village orphans. When the time comes for the castle wards to be apprenticed to various tradesmen, Will is horrified to find out that he’s too small to qualify for Battleschool, the one place he really wants to be. Instead, he is apprenticed to Halt, the local Ranger—kind of like a cross between Robin Hood, the Lone Ranger, and Sherlock Holmes.

This whole series is good, in my opinion, and as far as I know, it’s still growing beyond the six books already published. Check them out—if you ever loved the stories of Robin Hood, or enjoy books about an underdog character coming out and becoming a heroic figure, this series is for you.

Five Quills from the Brownie.

3. Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover, by Ally Carter

Gallagher Academy looks like a pricy boarding school for spoiled prima dona rich girls, but that’s only on the outside—or on the inside if there’s a Code Red, but that’s beside the point. Really, though, it’s an advanced school for girl spies: the Gallagher Girls. Featuring meals where one is only allowed to speak in Swahili or classes on Basic Code-breaking that solves ciphers the FBI can’t figure out, Gallagher Academy is the perfect place for a girl like Cammie, who is especially talented at blending in to crowds: a pavement artist. Unfortunately, she’s also the headmistress’ daughter, so she doesn’t get cut any slack. Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover is the third book in this series, preceded by I’d Tell You I Love You, but then I’d Have to Kill You, and Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy.
Look them up—though, a warning: the teenaged romance/angst stuff can be pretty thick. Nothing bad, just…sappy.

Four Quills.

4. It Doesn’t Always Have to Rhyme, by Eve Merriam (couldn't find a pic for this one)

Not often will I do a review of this sort, but I recently picked up this little book of poetry and was simply delighted. The poems are just plain good; like the title pick: Inside a Poem, which says in part:

It doesn’t always have to rhyme,

But there’s a repeat of a beat

Somewhere
An inner chime that makes you want to

Tap your feet or swerve in a curve;

A lilt, a leap, a lightning-split:—
Thunderstruck the consonants jut

While the vowels open wide as waves in

The noon-blue sea

LOL—isn’t that great? I don’t know…maybe I have odd tastes in poetry, but I sincerely suggest It Doesn’t Always Have to Rhyme—it’s just so fun to read.

A solid five Quills.

5. The Curse of the Spider King, by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper

A new adventure from two already well-known authors—Batson for his Door Within trilogy and the Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire duology; and Hopper for the White Lion chronicles—this young adult, Christian fantasy promises to be the start of a really good series. It was a bit confusing at times, because there are no less than seven main characters, the long-lost children of Elven lords, kidnapped and sent to our world by the Spider King’s cronies. However, once you get the names straight and figure out which elf is who when, this is a wonderful read. It combines Batson’s interesting stories with Hopper’s more skilled style, while managing to avoid Hopper’s tendency to be over-literary and Batson’s to be cliché. I can’t wait for the next book.

Four…and a half Quills, says the Brownie.

So there you have it, friends! Five new books to find and enjoy. Please, if you read this—or if you already have read them—leave a comment. Tell me what you liked, what you disliked. If you hated the book that I said rocked, feel free to rant. I’d like to hear some feedback.

Until next time, I remain—

~The Brownie

The Last Heir, by Shannon McDermott

2009-10-26T13:17:00.001-07:00

So this last week, when I went to the library, I stopped by the New Christian Fiction shelf. There I saw—amidst about ten Western, historical, and/or Amish romances—a book with planets on the spine. Ooh! I thought New Christian sci-fi!
Excited, I picked it up, and was even more interested to see that it was written by a fellow homeschooler, a Shannon McDermott. The cover art was a bit doubtful, but I remembered the old adage to “not judge a book by its cover”, and took it to the check out anyway.

And boy, am I glad I did.

The Last Heir is something of a new genre, I think. It’s sci-fi, yes—but not extremely. Almost even more than sci-fi, it’s a political thriller of sorts.
Now, for those of you for whom that doesn’t exactly thrill your heart; don’t give up just yet. I, personally, do not like political fiction. I get bored very quickly with both political and legal dramas—but The Last Heir kept me interested until the last page. It did get a bit confusing for a while, before you knew who all the characters were and where they stood, but everything became clear long before the end.

The overall story is this: the emperor dies. His heir is only seven years old—way too young to rule—so they set up a regent. Well, the regent decides that he likes ruling an empire, and refuses to give up the throne when the boy emperor comes of age. So they fight a several-year-long war, with the good guys outwitting the bad guys time and again, sometimes through planning and sometimes through sheer Providence. Eventually, as we all know they will, the good guys win and depose the false emperor in a very satisfying conclusion.

Now to the review.

First off: the character names. Not that they were bad—on the contrary, I liked most of the names chosen. Empress Mareah, Regent Elymas Vonran, Adon Kereth…and especially Emperor Alexander. (I love that name…) However, some of the names were so similar that it was difficult to keep track of who was who. For example: all the way through the book, I kept confusing the character named Chief Kinlol and the soldier Kereth. I would have to read conversations between the two of them several times before I completely figured out who said what. (However, as Kereth was my favorite character, I didn’t mind this too much. LOL)

Second—the pace. I didn’t mind the subtle, arched sweep of the story; but some people might, so…anyway. The book is approximately 382 pages long (oh, and that was a con, because the pages are numbered with Roman numerals—as in CCCLXXXII instead of 382. Not convenient…) but it covers something like thirteen years. It’s divided up into Book One—year 688; Book Two—year 698; and Book Three—year 701. This works well within the context of the book, which smoothly lays out the gradual changes that take place in a realistic empire, rather then jumping right in at the action, but some might find it a bit long.

Third—and this was really the only thing that honestly bothered me—we never get to actually see the action. They sabotage a fleet of “superships”, but we see only the scene right before (where they do the actual sabotaging) and the scene after (when someone sees the drifting wreckage). Or the heroes sneak into the palace under the cover of night and enter through a secret tunnel—but we only get to see them leaving the tunnel, and they are described as being “a little worse for wear from the journey”. But we aren’t told why.

Oh yes, and lastly: the cover art. I know, I know: book by its cover and all that. But the fact is that people, including myself, do judge books by how they look. And—no offense to the person(s) who created the cover, because I can tell that they did the best they could with what they had—The Last Heir merited a professionally done cover. This is a wonderful book, but the cover art is less than marvelous.
So, for a final, to-the-point opinion: The Last Heir is a book well worth your time; a book with a decidedly Christian undercurrent that skillfully manages not to be “preachy”. The Brownie gives it a solid rating of four-out-of-five quills.

If you liked The Last Heir, you might also like these books (or, if you liked any of these, you might like The Last Heir):
The Firebird trilogy, by Kathy Tyers
The Personifid Project, by R.E. Bartlett
Saga of the Six Worlds, by Cherith Baldry
The Lamb among the Stars series, by Chris Walley
Dream Voyager, by T. Davis Bunn (or pseudonym Thomas Locke)

Slathbog's Gold, by M.L. Forman

2009-10-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

The sign is small, tucked into the corner of Mr. Clutter’s bookshop window: “Adventurers Wanted, Apply Within.” No one but fifteen-year-old Alex Taylor even seems to notice it is there. And for Alex, who has wished for a change in his life, it is an irresistible invitation.
Alex enters the shop, and is swept up in a whirlwind adventure that makes him the eighth man in an adventuring crew; as they set off on a quest to defeat a dragon and reclaim his golden horde.

I won’t be stingy on the praise here—I loved this book. I’ve read it twice in the last several months, and I usually never read a book more than once. The only exceptions are books that either a) are the beginning of a series, and once the next book comes out I’ve forgotten what happened and have to reread; or b) I really, really like. Fortunately for me, Slathbog’s Gold falls into both categories—it’s a marvelous book, and the beginning of a new series, with book two (The Horn of Moran) set to come out in ’10.

Slathbog’s Gold reads like the archetypical fantasy. Boy falls into magical world, meets up with a party of dwarves, elves and men, discovers that there’s something special about himself, and heroically saves the day. There’s a meeting with a three-legged troll; a visit in both an elven city and a dwarven city; and—of course—a perfectly villainous dragon to defeat at the end, whereupon our hero returns home a better person, to people who may or may not be able to understand what has happened to him.

Sound familiar? I thought so. Yes, Slathbog’s Gold could be construed by more critical people as being cliché. However, I strongly dislike cliché-y writing, and I really don’t think that Slathbog’s Gold falls into that group. It’s more…more like a story you already knew, but had forgotten about. Or something you actually lived yourself, and had just picked up your old journal. It’s comfortable.

Now, that being said, there are some distinctly new (or at least creatively redeveloped) ideas. For example, my personal favorite: the magic bags.

If you’ve ever read many fairy tales, or much fantasy fiction, you may have come across this concept of a magical bag that either has a never-ending supply of money, or else can fit inside anything you call on it to contain.
Forman’s magic bags are similar, and yet wonderfully new. A magic bag can be fitted with as many rooms as the owner pleases, including (but not limited to): bedrooms, ice rooms, bathrooms, libraries, and expanding treasure rooms that never overfill.

Each bag has passwords, which are known only to the owner as his/her chosen heir, who will claim the bag and its contents in the event of an adventurer’s death. These passwords allow one to get in and out of the bag, as well as to put things inside. The bag cannot be stolen from its rightful owner, or moved from any place where the owner left it; and—best yet—no matter how full you fill it, it never gets very heavy.

So you see what I mean? Slathbog’s Gold takes some well-worn story elements—such as an enchanted/ancient sword or a marauding dragon—and builds a beautifully worked world out of it. Some people may find it cliché and boring. I find it delicious and comfortable, the kind of story that invites you in to chat for a while.
I cannot wait for The Horn of Moran to come out, and I strongly recommend Slathbog’s Gold to any fan of fairy tales or fantasy.
The Brownie gives Slathbog’s Gold a solid five quills.

If you liked Slathbog’s Gold, you might also like these books (or, if you liked any of these, you might like Slathbog’s Gold):
The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien
Once Upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris
The Rover, by Mel Odom
The Farwalker’s Quest, by Joni Sensel
The Ranger’s Apprentice series, by John Flanagan

Fortune's Folly--Deva Fagan

2009-09-25T14:13:00.000-07:00

Fortune’s Folly—Deva Fagan

Ever since her mother died and her father lost his shoemaking skills, Fortunata has survived by telling fake fortunes. But when she’s tricked into telling a grand fortune for a prince, she is faced with the impossible task of fulfilling her wild prophecy—or her father will be put to death.
Now Fortunata has to help Prince Leonato secure a magic sword, vanquish a wicked witch, discover a long-lost golden shoe, and rescue a princess who fits it. If only she herself hadn’t fallen in love with the prince…

This was a really sweet, simple book that manages to pull off the somewhat clichéd storyline without being two-dimensional or juvenile. Actually, the clichéd-ness is part of its charm, a fairy tale with heart. The tongue-in-cheek references to other classic tales (i.e. Cinderella, Repunzel, the Shoemaker and the Elves, etc,) are great fun to spot, and even though they contribute elements to the story, none of them are plagiarized at all.

One warning, and one assurance—Fortunata’s “prophecies” are portrayed as being exactly what they really are: fakeries and frauds. She learns to examine people for clues as to what they want to hear, rather like Sherlock Holmes as a charlatan fortuneteller. The warning: Throughout the book, there are numerous references to the “Saints”, with a capital “S”. Obviously based on the many saints of the Catholic Church; these beings are seen pretty much as gods and goddesses without the slightly-redeeming quality of being subject to the One True God. It was a bit off-putting, but didn’t play a vital role in the story, so I shrugged it off.

The Brownie gives “Fortune’s Folly” four out of five stars.

If you liked Fortune’s Folly, you might also like these books (or, if you liked any of these, you might like Fortune’s Folly):

Ella Enchanted or Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine
Beauty, by Robin McKinley
The Wingfeather Saga, by Andrew Peterson
DragonSlippers, by Jessica Day George
Once Upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris
(And there are quite a few others in the “Fairy Tale Retelling” category—they may not be strict fairy tales, but you get the idea. If you want my complete list, leave a comment.)

~Brownie

The Rivers Run Dry - Sibella Giorello

2009-09-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

Special Agent Raleigh Harmon is good at her job; forensic geology investigation for the FBI. In The Rivers Run Dry, the second installation in a budding series about Raleigh’s adventures, (written by author Sibella Giorello,) she has just been transferred to Seattle from Richmond as the result of some serious politicking at the end of book one: The Stones Cry Out.
As one of the few females on her new team, Raleigh finds herself struggling: the new workplace and living-space, the strains of caring for an ailing mother, and the half-bullying of a confusing colleague all add up to a tough transition.
Then a young college girl goes missing while hiking in the woods, and a ransom note is sent to her worried – and worryingly rich – parents. Raleigh vows to find the girl, relying on her background in geology and her training as an FBI agent to uncover the truth. By the way, just as a slight “spoiler”, the end truth is so unexpected that I’d be willing to bet my signed Rebecca St. James CD that you won’t guess “whodunit” until at least chapter twenty eight. Hint: just ignore that annoying character named Claire. She’s right, but you’ll never “get it” listening to her random rambling.
OK, so enough of the spoiling the book for you. You came here for a review, not a Cliff’s Notes version.
At any rate, The Rivers Run Dry balances on a very thin edge between good reading and bad. Not that it is potentially bad – it’s a great story – but it’s…different somehow. Slow, but not really. Shallow characters at times, but for some reason you still care about them and cheer them on wholeheartedly. A good mystery, but hard to follow at times.
Part of this, I think, is that you don’t “hear” Raleigh’s thoughts all the time. Sometimes you do, but when it comes to the important stuff – like why this clue pertains to this one – it’s like the window slams shut.
Overall, though, the religious ambiguity in Raleigh’s life is the only thing that really bothered me. She’s a Christian, but church and a personal life with God seem to play a pretty small part. Even that I could handle, but Raleigh’s mother – who seems to suffer from some kind of manic depression or mild dementia – dabbles in all sorts of “spiritual” cloudiness. From ultra-conservative communes to charismatic churches to New Age garbage, the woman looks to be seeking, and though Raleigh seems to know the answers, she acts content to let her mother wander willy-nilly over the religious landscape. I would hope that Mrs. Giorello sheds some brighter light on this subject in the future.
Personally, I enjoyed The Rivers Run Dry. Before reading it, I picked up a copy of The Stones Cry Out, so I’d know what was going on. And let me say, The Rivers Run Dry is twice as compelling and fascinating as its predecessor. The Stones Cry Out was good, but I definitely liked The Rivers Run Dry better.
This is a book to check out, and I’ll be waiting eagerly for Raleigh Book three, (The Clouds Roll Away) set to hit the shelves March of 2010.
If you liked The Rivers Run Dry, you might also like these books (or, if you liked any of these, you might like The Rivers Run Dry):

The Patricia Amble mysteries, by Nicole Young

The O’Rielly series, by Dee Henderson
The Newpoint 911 series, by Terri Blackstock

Shoofly Pie - Tim Downs

2009-09-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

The flies on the wall can talk…
And forensic entomologist Nick Polchak is listening.

Within minutes of a murder, the first fly arrives at the scene.
Soon there are hundreds, then thousands, and each one knows the victims story.
Each one can tell a tale of hatred and vengeance and intrigue.

In a remote county of North Carolina, thirty-year-old Kathryn Guilford receives the news that her long-time friend and one-time suitor is dead.
The authorities declare the death a suicide, but Kathryn is unconvinced. In desperation she turns to Dr. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, to help her learn the truth—and she is introduced to a mysterious world of blood-seeking flies and flesh-eating beetles.
But there’s a problem…Kathryn Guilford has a pathological fear of insects. Now she must confront her darkest fears to unearth a decade-log conspiracy that threatens to turn her entire world upside down.

Such is the premise of Shoofly Pie, the first installment in Tim Downs’ series about Nick Polchak, the Bug Man. (2003, Howard Fiction)
I’ll admit that when I first picked this book up, I was a little hesitant. It looked like one of those really gross CSI-type shows, full of gory details and nasty word pictures. And while the descriptions of a moldering corpse are certainly not pleasant, they also weren’t overly graphic or disgusting; and the story of Dr. Polchak and Kathryn was exciting, engaging and surprising.
Actually, Nick Polchak reminds me very much of the popular character Patrick Jane from CBS's The Mentalist—which is funny, because Polchak was created long before Jane. However, anyone who enjoys the show will probably like this book—maybe even more, since it leaves out The Mentalist’s foul language.
Nick Polchak is a teacher, as well as a forensic entomologist, who likes teaching well enough—when he isn’t bothered by the actual responsibility of teaching students. In fact, after years of observing the very worst in human nature, he has disassociated himself with the human race at all, constantly making comments to other characters about “your species”—humans—as opposed to his own—insects.
However, he’s willing enough to help out Kathryn (and the offer of $20,000 doesn’t bother him much either) find the truth behind her friend’s death. Suicide? Or murder? The flies can tell—and guess who knows what they say?
As a suspense story, this one is pretty good—enough enigmatic characters to keep you guessing “whodunit”, while the main characters are personable and believable. If a little maddening at times. :)
I did figure out “whodunit” long before the good Doctor and Ms. Guilford did, which can be a downer for some people. And I guess I should rephrase that—I was pretty sure whodunit by about chapter twelve. But the reasons behind the villain’s deed, and the events leading up to the final revealing were plenty good enough to keep me turning the pages way after my bedtime.
Overall, Shoofly Pie was an excellent read, and well worth your time. I’m looking forward to getting the next book(s) to read soon, and I’ll probably share my thoughts on them just as soon as I get them read.

If you liked Shoofly Pie, you might also like these books (or, if you liked any of these, you might like Shoofly Pie):
Blood Bayou, by Karen Young
The Kanner Lake series, by Brandilyn Collins
Boneman’s Daughter, by Ted Dekker
The Mr. Monk series, by Lee Goldberg

Welcome

2009-08-25T12:05:00.002-07:00

This is my new blog, solely for book reviews. I got tired of doing them all the time on my other blog, and it would be nice to have a place just to do reviews, and nothing else.
So here's how this will work.
I'll read the book, post the blog, and add a list of similar books at the bottom. If and when I ever review one of those other books, I'll link it, so you can go straight there. Sound good?
First posts should be up soon.
Toodles!
~The Brownie (aka, Trav)