Guardians of the Word giveaway winners

The giveaway for the Guardians of the Word series is now ended.  The Grand Prize winner is Chuck (who forgot to tell me if he wanted Amazon or B&N gift certificate/format for his e-books; an e-mail has been sent to request this information), whose name came up first.  The 2nd prize winner, who will receive the entire series in Kindle format, is Pragya, of the Reviewing Shelf blog, who has been a supporter of my blog almost since the beginning, so I'm very happy for her!  Her name came up second.  (See what I did there?)

Congratulations to the both of you!  I hope you will enjoy this series as much as I did.  Just a reminder, if you missed them, all the reviews are linked in the original giveaway post, which is linked above.

Thanks for visiting Now is Gone, and stay tuned for more great giveaways!

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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.



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Guest Post and Giveaway: Jolea Harrison "The Intransigence of Evil in the Guardians of the Word series"

Today we have a guest post from Jolea M. Harrison, author of the Guardians of the Word series. There is also a giveaway, so be sure to sign up on the rafflecopter form at the bottom of the post. The giveaway is for a file containing all eight of the books in the Guardians of the Word series, and also one Grand Prize winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble or Amazon, their choice. The 2nd prize winner will receive the e-book file, containing the eight books, in .epub or .mobi, again their choice. It's a great giveaway, so don't miss it! I'm currently not quite to the halfway point in reading the 8th book (at the time I'm setting this whole thing up), so I don't have that review up yet; it should be up later today. However, you can see the other reviews by following these links.

King is the 8th book in the Guardians of the Word series.
Book 1: Chosen, released in 2011, reviewed August 2011, review linked here.
Book 2: Myth, released 2011, reviewed August 2012, review linked here.
Book 3: Telepath, released 2012, reviewed August 2012, review linked here.
Book 4: Legend, released 2012, reviewed August 2012, review linked here.
Book 5: Union, released 2012, reviewed August 2012, review linked here.
Book 6: Seer, released 2012, reviewed March 2013, review linked here.
Book 7: Adept, released 2012, reviewed March 2013, review linked here.

Now, without further delay, here is Jolea. Remember to sign up for the giveaway at the bottom!

The intransigence of evil in the Guardians of the Word Epic Fantasy series

Plato: To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils, no one will choose the greater when he might have the less.

Why does evil prevail so thoroughly in this story?

I’ve been asked that question by a few readers who want to know my motivations for making the evil characters in my book ‘over the top’ bad. They almost never lose. How are the heroes ever going to win?

First, I’ll give you a bit of back story. Epic Fantasy is by its mostly agreed upon definition a big, larger than life tale of heroic feats that usually have the fate of the world at stake. That’s true in this series, Guardians of the Word, which is specifically titled due to the stringent and overbearing suppression of knowledge, which also plays into the above question. If the heroes don’t win, everybody dies. Not just friends and family, but everyone. The world is destroyed. But what’s worse, the souls of these poor people are at risk of being held in perpetual subjugation. Those are some pretty big stakes, so that’s one reason that evil is larger and more powerful than anything else out there.

There are cases in real life where this sort of supreme badness existed (and probably still does somewhere on the planet, for like art, evil is in the eye of the beholder.) Current events are full of bad people doing bad things to others, every single day. Our round the clock access to streaming everything doesn’t miss a tick. We are bombarded by images and information of just how evil people can really be.  For an Epic Fantasy to come across as real, the acts of evil require a level of reality and a connection to the real world in order for the story to be believable and for you, the reader, to form an attachment to the struggling heroes. Will they? Can they? How?

An obscure philosopher by the name of Lars Svendsen sets out a few parameters about the nature of evil. There are four types, according to him. He doesn’t agree that all four actually exist, but I use them all in Guardians. I guess that Philosophy class I took in college stuck with me more than I thought.

Kinds of evil: Demonic, instrumental, idealistic and stupid or accidental evil.

• Demonic evil is defined as evil for evil’s sake, that take the form of actions meant to harm others, or for the really sick and twisted purpose of enjoyment. My antagonists, Maralt Adaeryn and his ancestors, Adiem (all Six of them) use this kind of evil throughout the series. Real world infamous examples of this sort of horror come in the form of serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Albert Fish, both known to torture their victims before they murdered them.
• Instrumental evil is an evil that occurs in order to carry out some other purpose. Modern day examples might be gross negligence on the part a large business. Exxon and BP might be considered perpetrators of instrumental evil since both failed to heed the warning signs that led to the two largest oil spills in history. In Guardians a number of warning signs were missed, sometimes by design.
• Idealistic evil is justified by some greater cause or greater good, if you will and I use this form of evil and the temptation of it is probably one of the main themes of the story. All the telepaths are tempted to use their powers in ways they know they are not supposed to. Sometimes they fail and fall. Some fall farther than others and become part of the problem. The other case of idealistic evil comes from an unlikely source, one purported to be on the side of good, although some case might be made that this was stupid evil, acts based on incompetence or lack of awareness.
• Stupid or accidental evil occurs when people make mistakes they don’t intend. In Chosen, the main character innocently picks up an evil talisman, even though he’s told he shouldn’t, since the appearance of the thing is out of the ordinary and some caution should have been taken. Curiosity won out in that case and all the rest followed. The evil talon is then taken by another character who idealistically believes he won’t be affected by the inherent evil nature of the object. Boy, was he wrong. All the heroes of the Guardians Saga are used and abused by various forms of evil and some of them succumb to its lure.

But how, you may wonder, are the good guys going to prevail? The answer lies in how real, every day people prevail against the likes of Dahmer, Fish, Bin Ladin, Hitler, et al. Through sheer will and perseverance. It took police 13 years to finally capture Dahmer. The police didn’t give up. They were charged to find this man and finally they did. WWII from its start to its finish took years and years of massive effort and countless lives lost to finally win the day. On a much lesser and lighter scale, most of us thankfully don’t have to deal with that sort of death and dying extreme. When life knocks us down, we get up! When it knocks you down again, get up again! Yes, it is incredibly difficult to keep getting back on your feet, and the characters in my books certainly get knocked down a lot.

Is that enough? Do they? Is that really all it takes? Well no, nothing is that simple. It takes fortitude and courage to deal with the knocks life hands you, but persevering against all odds and just plain stubbornness are the basis of my philosophy of life and thematically runs throughout all eight books. Does life always work out even when you get back up after the last knockdown? No, not always. Does that mean you aren’t going to keep getting up? That is the purpose of evil in this long tale: a foil against the toil of living, to find out if these people who have faced such extremes of evil finally, at long last prevail. 

Jolea M. Harrison can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, or Goodreads.  Her blog is here.  She is also on Amazon.

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Book review: "Adept" by Jolea M. Harrison

Adept by Jolea M. Harrison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars




Book Info: Genre: Science Fantasy
Reading Level: Older Young Adults (16+)
Recommended for: Those who enjoy darker stories
Trigger Warnings: Murder, fighting, violence

My Thoughts: Those who survived the first six books are now back on Cobalt and cleaning up the mess, as best they can.

This book just exhausted me. I swear I was screaming at it in frustration every 15 minutes or so. The bad guys just kept coming and coming, and nothing ever stopped them. It was... well, as I said, exhausting! However, it was a very engaging book. Marc and Dain, especially, grow a lot as characters in this book, and Marc really comes into his own.

I'm not really sure what to say about the book. This is a series where you have to really read the whole series in order to follow what's going on, and even then this book has a couple of really confusing sections. There is one section with Marc that I read and re-read and still had no idea what was going on. I just kept saying, “What?? What? What is going on here??” There are mentions of events from very early in the series, so some of that I'd forgotten, since it's been a year since I read the early part of the series. I really do recommend that the best way to read this series is as a whole, all together, one after another.

The final book, King, has been released early, and I'll hopefully have time to read that next, but I have to pause in my reviewing here to do another pass on an editing job. If I don't have time this week to read King, I'll make a concerted effort at the end of next week. At any rate, expect that review as soon as I'm able to provide it. Meantime, series info is below, and a giveaway is scheduled for next week.

Series Information: Adept is the 7th 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 8: King, released March 2013, to be reviewed
Please note: On March 18, I'll be holding a giveaway on my blog for all 8 books, plus a grand-prize winner will also receive a $25 gift certificate. So watch for that!

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

Synopsis: It isn’t so easy to kill a telepath. Or contain him. Those that must hold absolute evil shielded from the world, fight to restore tenuous balance against a force they can no longer control.

Reality mingles with chaos that beats at the confines of its prison – eager for freedom. The thin veil that separates the world of death from the world of life starts to dissolve, shearing as though in a wind that no shield can hold. Those once dead live and those living struggle to survive against the perpetual night. Souls are taken and souls returned, but can they ever be the same, coming back from the land of the damned?

A 1000 year-old ghost tires of his duties and the Gods are weakening. 

The Heir Apparent carries the weight of worlds, holding onto the only things that will get him through; faith and love.

If the demon comes, if it breaches the barrier that has kept it from the world, will love be enough? Will anything?



View all my reviews

Release Announcement: "King" by Jolea M. Harrison

Jolea M. Harrison has been working on the Guardians of the Word series for a long time.  Book 1 was released in 2011, and book 7 was released in December.  I'm very excited to announce the release of book 8, which was just made available (a bit early, might I add) on Amazon, King.

I am currently in the process of finishing this series, which I began almost two years ago.  I just posted the review of book 6, Seer, here, and I'm 75 percent finished with book 7, Adept and will have that review posted soon.  Information on the rest of the series is below.

King is currently listed at $3.99, but don't forget... I'm holding a giveaway for the entire series starting on Monday!  Don't miss out on your chance to receive the whole thing in one fell swoop, right here on Now is Gone!

Now, just for your information, here is the book synopsis of King by Jolea M. Harrison.

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.

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, review to come soon
Book 8: King, released March 2013, to be reviewed

Book review: "Seer" by Jolea M. Harrison

Seer by Jolea M. Harrison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars




Book Info: Genre: Science Fantasy
Reading Level: Older Young Adults (16+)
Recommended for: Those who enjoy darker stories
Trigger Warnings: Rape, murder

My Thoughts: It's been a long, hard road, but it feels like things are heading for the finish line in this, book 6 of the Guardians of the Word series. Which would be a mistaken idea, since there are still two books to go before this series ends. The amazing thing to me is how much the author has crammed in, and continues to cram into these books. There is so much going on that it doesn't feel like this much time has gone by!

I continue to be frustrated by the unstoppable evil that permeates this series. This is not made easy for the heroes of the piece, as I've mentioned in other reviews. But I also continue to be impressed by the level of detail that the author works into this series, and how she manages to keep it all straight. We're starting to curve back around to things that started in the early part of the series and were seemingly put on hold for the Maralt cycle; those things were not forgotten, and we're coming back to them by the end of this book. I'm definitely looking forward to what the next two books have to give. If you like darker fantasy/science fiction, then you'll enjoy these books, but definitely start from the beginning; this is not a series where you can start in the middle without ending up hopelessly lost.

Series Information: Seer is the 6th 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 7: Adept, released 2012, to be reviewed
Book 8: King, to be released March 22, 2013, to be reviewed
Please note: On March 18, I'll be holding a giveaway on my blog for all 8 books, plus a grand-prize winner will also receive a $25 gift certificate. So watch for that!

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

Synopsis: Bodies lie strewn on the Throne Room floor. The blood of the dead and the dying pools on black marble. Seeping down through the merest cracks in the floor, one fatal drop touches the Sacred Seal. A hole in the fabric of time opens. The Demon’s Horde waits on the other side.

It is the Seer’s vision and her visions are never wrong. Only Carryn Adaeryn can stop it from coming true. It is her brother, mocking her, telling her she will fail at every turn. And she is terrified Maralt is right. Every tenet she holds close will be tested. Every truth is bent. The souls of the lost and the living can survive only if she doesn’t fail. All the long years of struggle are in peril. No one is safe.

When the rules change, nothing is certain. Action and reaction determine Carryn’s choices and alter the course of time. The massacre is nearly complete. The battle for survival goes on. There’s only one other who can face the terrible truth. Chosen by attrition.

Can he hold the battle lines? Or will he succumb to the overwhelming allure of absolute power. Will he finally defeat his fear or will evil take his soul? There’s no one to guide him, and the path ahead is littered with deceit and deception and death. Somehow, Marc Talryn has to find a way to save them all.

It isn’t so easy to kill a telepath. Or contain him.



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Book Review: "Union" by Jolea M. Harrison

Union review
Author: Jolea M. Harrison
4 out of 5 stars

Book Info: Genre: Science Fantasy Reading Level: Young Adult

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: There are no holes in space. None to hide in. None where it’s safe. Life on-board a space ship pursued through the void is precarious at best, where the difference between living and dying is measured one instant to the next.

On the run, Dynan Telaerin’s responsibilities increase to the breaking point while he’s the only one capable of flying the ship and making one repair after the other to his almost-crippled craft, at the same time as trying to be a husband to his new wife, Loren. Bringing her and Marc Talryn into the terrifying danger that is Dynan’s life hardens his resolve to protect them at all cost.

Making it back to the fold of the Brittallia System doesn’t guarantee safety, as betrayals abound where he least expects it. They come from people he has trusted nearly the whole of his life. That life of peace, held for a brief moment in time, is abruptly shattered. Loren is taken from him in an attempt to forestall a terrible vision of death.

The specter of evil haunts every thought and guides every action in the attempt to find her and keep her safe. The man who would take her and make the vision a reality is stalking him...

...driving him ever onward, leading him to the envisioned slaughter. Maralt Adaeryn sees the cruel end of an ancient prophecy and he holds a dreadful secret. There are some things worse than death. 

Additional information: Union, the 5th book of the Guardians of the Word series, is suitable for mature young adults. Chosen, Myth, Telepath, and Legend are available on Amazon.com, and I reviewed most of them just last week (mid-August, 2012); click the link on the title of each to see it. The last three books of the series – Adept, Seer, and King – will be released on an approximate 3-month schedule.

My Thoughts: This book again manages a good combination of action and character development, with the plot proceeding apace. While it is not as long as the previous book, it is longer than the first three, but it reads quickly and smoothly and kept me engaged throughout.

I’m still bothered by Maralt’s level of power, and the fact that absolutely no one can seem to stand up against it. Why is it no one else can seem to develop that level of power? Is it just the lack of boundaries caused by a lack of any ethical constraints that allows him to so easily overpower everyone that would even think about getting in his way? The whole thing is very unbalanced; one would think that between Dynan, Marc, and Carryn they could find a workable plan. Also, how did Maralt become so adept at swordplay and fighting? No one can get close to them on the few times when he doesn’t just make them drop their swords. It’s extremely annoying to me that he’s always right there whenever they stop, always able to drop everyone within seconds, always able to do anything and everything he wants. If the book were about the villain, or even if the villain were a bit more likeable, I might be able to get behind it, but as it is, it’s just seriously frustrating.

While each of these book is subsequently better edited than the previous, typos still get through; as they do in most every book I’ve read in the past 20 years or so. The most amusing one in this book, to me, was “derbis” for “debris”; I’m not certain why it amused me so, but it really made me laugh. Something I have noted being misused through most of the series is the word “askance”, which is being used not in its normal sense of looking at something obliquely, or with disapproval, but as in “ask-ance” as in to look at a person in such as way as to imply asking a question. This is not a word at all, and it’s something that has made me repeatedly twitch when I have read it.

Despite these issues, I enjoyed the story quite a lot. To see my reviews of the previous books, I have placed links on their titles up in the “Additional Information” section for your convenience. I will definitely be continuing this series to its conclusion, and eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Adept.