Book Review: "King" by Jolea M Harrison

King by Jolea M. Harrison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars




Book Info: Genre: Science Fantasy
Reading Level: Older Young Adults (16+)
Recommended for: Those who enjoy darker stories, epic fantasy, stories about the ultimate nature of good vs. evil and the balance of order and chaos
Trigger Warnings: Murder, violence

My Thoughts: This has been a long series. Each book is long and intricately plotted, and threads wind through from the beginning to the end, occasionally popping up to remind us of their existence. I will say again that I recommend reading this series all together, one book right after another, and definitely do not try to start anywhere but the beginning.

That said, this was an extremely and eminently satisfying conclusion to the series. There were times in the series where I had a lot of trouble and struggle over the nature of the villains, but as I've been reading, I've been thinking about it, and I think the problem I had was that the sense of pure evil in this series was so distressingly close to reality. Jolea Harrison has provided me a guest post where she discussed the nature of that (along with a giveaway), so be sure to go and read it. Link is here where formatting allowed.

There is a slight sense of Deus ex machina in the ending of this book, but it's a realistic one for this universe, and it worked out nicely. The ending is not at all rushed—the denouement actually starts more than 200 pages (in my copy*) prior to the end of the book—and an epilogue provides a lovely sense of completion to the overall series. I can honestly say, now that I have finished, that the entire series was most worthwhile and I plan to re-read it again when I have a chance, in order to better understand all the nuances. I also want to point out that an issue I had with the prior book, where in the review I mentioned being confused, was due to a problem with the ARC file I had, and is hopefully not actually in the published edition.

I still recommend this series be confined to older young adult readers, due to the very dark nature of much of the story, and highly recommend that you read the entire series. While you might be tempted to stop at certain points, I guarantee you will completely revise your opinion of the overall series once you have read this finely crafted finishing touch. Wonderful! I highly recommend this book, and the series as a whole.

*Please note: probably due to the nature of transfer into .epub format, my copy of the book shows as having 819 pages, while the “official” count is 400. Therefore, take the page count with a grain of salt. It is more accurate to say the last quarter of the book encompasses the conclusion.

Series Information: King is the 8th book in the Guardians of the Word series.
Book 1: Chosen, released in 2011, reviewed August 2011, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 2: Myth, released 2011, reviewed August 2012, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 3: Telepath, released 2012, reviewed August 2012, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 4: Legend, released 2012, reviewed August 2012, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 5: Union, released 2012, reviewed August 2012, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 6: Seer, released 2012, reviewed March 2013, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 7: Adept, released 2012, reviewed March 2013, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Please note: On March 18, I started a giveaway on my blog for all 8 books, plus a grand-prize winner will also receive a $25 gift certificate. Link is here where formatting allowed.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this e-book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:Evil bides its time, ever waiting to breach the thin veil. Action and reaction join to swing the pendulum toward anarchy and destruction. Chaos reigns. The Demon lurks in the dark recesses.

The possibility exists that it can’t be destroyed. Evil will endure. It can’t be taken, cured, or overcome. Night will cover the world no matter what. Faith may not be enough. Love may not survive.

Amidst deception, temptation and fear, the last choice is made, the ultimate sacrifice taken. Father bequeaths unto son. Natural order must be restored. Those who are chosen to die may live, while those who are chosen to live may not make it through.

The fate of the universe, of a kingdom, of a family... of one man is decided. The final battle is at hand.



View all my reviews

Mythos and Monsters - The Importance of Being Bad: Guest Post by J.G. Faherty

Today I am honored to have J.G. Faherty (click on his picture to go to his Amazon author page) providing a guest post for the blog. I just finished reading his great novel The Burning Time and you can see the review for it here. I have also read Cemetery Club, which review can be seen here. Watch this blog on Monday for a giveaway for e-book copies of The Burning Time. Without further ado, here's J.G. Faherty!

Mythos and Monsters – the Importance of Being Bad

When writing horror, one of the most important parts of any book – possibly the most important, other than the plot – is coming up with a monster or villain who will really capture and hold the reader's attention. In many ways, the monster – the Evil – of the story is more critical than the hero. It has to be bad, it has to be nasty, and it has to be different, yet there needs to be some familiarity as well. That's why vampires and zombies and ghosts remain popular. We want to see new versions of them, but ultimately we also enjoy the familiarity of stereotypes.

When I started work on The Burning Time, I had a basic idea for my antagonist. He was a stranger who'd come to town, an evil man. That was the familiar part, the building block for the character. But I didn't want him to be something typical, like Satan or a vampire or a sorcerer. And that's when I remembered something from a trip I'd take to Sedona, Arizona. The Native American's have a sort of demi-god, Kokopelli, who, depending on the tribe and the legend, can be a fertility god, a Trickster, or an agent of Chaos.

That last one really sounded good. So I did some research and discovered that many people, from Native Americans to Eskimos to tribes from other countries, had a similar being in their legends. And so my monster was borne, an agent of Chaos who brought nothing but death and sorrow to each town he visited.

The next question was, 'why?' There had to be a reason for his actions. My Trickster was not some kind of mindless beast; he had to have an agenda. One that made sense for a being who'd been around as long as the human race.

And that's when I thought, how cool would it be to mix a couple of different mythologies together? Combine the Native American Trickster with the Elder Gods of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. However, I didn't want the book to be a Lovecraftian tale; I just wanted this to be a part of the story. That's why, when you read it, the word Cthulhu actually only pops up once or twice; there are a few other quick references to some of the Elder Gods and their place of dwelling on the far side of the stars, but for the most part I kept things intentionally vague. Even my monster Asuggath is a combination of several Cthulhulian-type beasts rather than one of Lovecraft's own creatures.

Did my strategy work? I like to think so – early reviews are all saying that the book is a great entry into the Cthulhulian genre. So I guess my evil characters are resonating with people.

And when it comes to horror, that's where it all starts.
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JG Faherty is the author of Cemetery Club, Carnival of Fear, The Cold Spot, He Waits, and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Ghosts of Coronado Bay. His latest novel, The Burning Time, comes out Jan. 18. Visit him at www.jgfaherty.com, www.facebook.com/jgfaherty, www.twitter.com/jgfaherty, or www.aboutme.com/jgfaherty.

Guest Post: H.A. Goodman

Today we welcome H.A. Goodman, author of Logic of Demons and Breaking the Devil's Heart, to Now is Gone. I am about to begin reading the second book (which the author recommends reading first, despite publication order), so my review will be up when I get finished. In the meantime... here he is!

Who would you be in an alternate reality?

A recent NPR article describes physicist Robert Greene’s view of an alternate universe in the following manner:

Our universe might be really, really big — but finite. Or it might be infinitely big.

Both cases, says physicist Brian Greene, are possibilities, but if the latter is true, so is another posit: There are only so many ways matter can arrange itself within that infinite universe. Eventually, matter has to repeat itself and arrange itself in similar ways. So if the universe is infinitely large, it is also home to infinite parallel universes.

Link to full article.

So, on some planet millions of light years away, another you might be doing what you’re doing now. Or, he or she might be using your character traits, personality, emotional and physical attributes, and everything that makes you unique in a different manner.

For example, let’s say your long-lost, quantum-mechanical twin exists in a tumultuous time period. Let’s assume, for instance, that your facsimile lives in his or her world’s equivalent of Nazi Germany.

Now, would that carbon copy of you, a being holding your character traits in all their Earthly grandeur (with minor exceptions here and there), be consumed by the madness of the time period? Would you be a part of that world’s Eizengruppen and mow down a group of orphans with a machine gun?

Or, in that Bizarro World, would you pass the test of time?

Would you be like Sophie Scholl in 1943 and distribute anti-Nazi leaflets? If so, like Sophie, you might also be executed by guillotine.

But, enough about us, let’s move away from ourselves for a moment (what a narcissist I am) and ask the fun questions:

Would a man like Rupert Murdoch risk his life to protect others in this parallel world? What kind of leadership skills would David Cameron or Barack Obama possess in some distant, troubled universe? Who would your father or mother, your religious leader, or your significant other be if they existed in another time and place – a time and place that tested their morals and their personality in some grave manner?

I know it sounds quirky, but this is all very serious business. Who you’d be in an alternate world isn’t only an existential dilemma that makes for a good science fiction or fantasy story. It’s a topic that strips away the bonds of tribalism, ethnic and cultural allegiances, and national pride.

The answer to this question also relieves you of the luxury of living in your comfortable time period. For instance, chances are you might only be a moral soul because you live in 2012 London, or 2012 Los Angeles.

Your long-lost photocopy - the man or woman in a galaxy far, far away - might not have that luxury. He or she might be using your personality, character flaw, and convictions on a daily basis, and not for what you might think.

Last year I received an email from a person I know to be a wonderful, kind-hearted, and moral human being. The email read the following, and was a spoof on comic Jeff Foxworthy’s schtick about rednecks:

1. If you refine heroin for a living,
But you have a moral objection to liquor.
You may be a Muslim

2. If you own a Ł3,000 machine gun and Ł5,000 rocket launcher,
But you can't afford shoes.
You may be a Muslim

3. If you have more wives than teeth.
You may be a Muslim

Now, you might look at the words above and say the email was a vile attempt at humor. I agree. However, I also look at it and wonder what kind of emails would be circulating during Nazi Germany if Nazis had the internet. Would I be the butt of a joke? What role would this failed attempt at comedy have in someone’s fate?

Also, I ask myself who the person who sent this email might have been in an alternate world. Would he also send emails about Jews if the political climate were ripe for that sort of thing? Would he laugh just as hard if the email was aimed at his own ethnic group, assuming that he belonged to a different one in another world?

Finally, here’s some other food for thought: This world’s business tycoon might also be another world’s slave ship captain. This world’s homophobic or Islamophobic preacher might also be another world’s anti-Semitic tyrant. This world’s naive and harmless internet spammer might be the silent neighbor who says nothing while his family friends march off to death camps.

Brian Greene and other physicists have inadvertently helped me understand humanity in a profound manner. If you’ve ever asked yourself why genocides, wars, political unrest, racism, and economic strife continue to exist, just ask who your fellow man and woman (be they elected officials or even a sibling) would be in an alternate world. If they possess the character traits that might allow these sorts of things to take place in another time period, then you have your answer.

So the next time you get that email disparaging another ethnicity, or listen to that politician espouse his love for a country he’s never fought for, or that family member who says “can’t you find a nice ‘so and so’ to get married to,” just think of alternate realities.
You might just find your answer as to why the cycle of violence and bloodshed continues on planet Earth.

You'll also find out one of the themes in my latest novel, Breaking the Devil's Heart.

H. A. Goodman

Book review: "Wicked Embers" by Candace Bowen Early

Wicked Embers review
Author: Candace Bowen Early
4 out of 5 stars

Book Info: Genre: Paranormal Romantic Suspense Reading Level: Adult Book Available: Rhemalda Publishing is releasing this book in both eBook and paperback format on 9/1/2012.

Disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC from Rhemalda Publishing (the author’s publisher) in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: It’s been one year since Bronwyn Chase left the modern world behind, and an ancient evil is stirring in Cornwall ….

Bree Peltier is a skeptic. She doesn’t believe in mystics or witches. Between keeping up with her university studies and falling in love with her archaeology professor, her life is complicated enough. When a vengeful spirit possesses her childhood friend and goes on a killing spree, she is forced to re-examine her beliefs. The spirit is out to destroy the descendants of Bronwyn, and Bree is the only one who can stop it. If she believes.

Bree is a mystic. If she doesn’t embrace her birthright, she could lose everyone she has ever loved. If she does embrace it, she could lose her soul mate

My Thoughts: As those who know me already know, I am generally not a fan of romance. However, I read the previous book featuring this character, Spur of the Moment, and really enjoyed it. (Sites that accept formatting should show a link on the title above so you can go see that review.) Be warned: this review will contain some spoilers; I will try to keep them vague, but they are necessary to tell you what I thought about the story.

Like the first book, this one was very good – engaging, entertaining, and not your everyday romance. I think it is technically considered a time-travel romance, since the first one was, but to me it seemed more along the lines of romantic suspense, so that is how I have classified it. It was a very fast read – I went through it in a bit over five hours. It didn’t completely blow my socks off like the first one, but I really did enjoy it. The scene in the nether with Bronwyn and Euric was especially touching – it literally brought tears to my eyes.

There were a few things that bothered me, including the fact that Bree did not warn her friends when they showed up. While I understood that she didn’t want them to think she was insane, to me it seemed really irresponsible for her to not at least come up with a story so that they knew how much danger they were in. I was also bothered by the situation with Finn toward the end – he should have been much more incapacitated by what happened to him, and not able to get around and help as he was doing. The literal deux ex machina at the ending might bother some, but to me it was a relief; otherwise there wouldn’t have been the HEA that romance readers crave.

That said, romance readers should really enjoy this book, and those who enjoyed Ms. Bowen Early’s earlier book will definitely want to read this. Most fans of paranormal suspense should enjoy this as well. While I didn’t love it as much as the first book (thus the rating), I did enjoy it quite a lot. Check it out.