Sulan is Free!

Hey, everybody! My good friend Camille Picott is an author and has newly published the first book in a YA dystopian series called Sulan. Between now and August 20th, you can download it onto your Kindle for FREE from Amazon! 

Definitely grab a copy of this while you can with absolutely no risk to you. 

I'll be a stop on her upcoming September blog tour, so stay tuned for more from Camille and Sulan!

About Sulan, Episode 1: The League: Sixteen-year-old Sulan Hom can’t remember life before the Default—the day the United States government declared bankruptcy. As a math prodigy, she leads a protected life, kept safe from the hunger and crime plaguing the streets of America. She attends the corporate-sponsored Virtual High School, an academy in Vex (Virtual Experience) for gifted children.

Beyond the security of Sulan’s high-tech world, the Anti-American League wages a guerrilla war against the United States. Their leader, Imugi, is dedicated to undermining the nation’s reconstruction attempts. He attacks anything considered a national resource, including corporations, food storage facilities—and schools. When Sulan witnesses the public execution of a teenage student and the bombing of a college dorm, she panics.

Her mother, a retired mercenary, refuses to teach her how to defend herself. Sulan takes matters into her own hands. With the help of her hacker best friend, Hank, Sulan acquires Touch—an illegal Vex technology that allows her to share the physical experience of her avatar. With Touch, Sulan defies her mother and trains herself to fight.

When Imugi unleashes a new attack on the United States, Sulan finds herself caught in his net. Will her Vex training be enough to help her survive and escape?

Review: "Turned at Dark" by C.C. Hunter

"Turned at Dark" (Shadow Falls, #0.5) 

by C.C. Hunter 

Genre: Paranormal/Vampires

Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)

Publication Date: March 15, 2011

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 15+

| Amazon |

Independent and strong-willed Della Tsang hadn’t believed in ghosts until she saw her dead cousin darting into the shadows of an alley. She hadn’t believed in vampires until in the dark of that same night she is turned into one. Introduced to a strange world of supernaturals, she struggles to accept this new reality. Unfortunately, the boy she loves senses something different about her and can’t accept her. Should she follow her vampire cousin’s lead–walk away from everything she’s knows and loves—and fake her own death? Or should she set her pride aside and ask for help from the camp leader of Shadow Falls—a camp where supernaturals go to learn how to cope with their powers. Either way, her life as she knows it, will never be the same.

My Review

This is a prequel short story to the Shadow Falls novel series, starring Della Tsang, who is the roommate of the title character in the series, Kylie Galen. This is the story of how this friend was changed from a normal half-Chinese-half-Caucasian teenager into a vampire. As far as these prequels go, I thought it was pretty good. It's a decent length, and most of my Kindle file was the actual short story, not the preview for Born at Midnight.

I haven't read Born at Midnight, so reading this free prequel was meant for me to see if I liked it enough to give it a try. The characters were interesting, although I wonder how much they appear in the first novel. Della is probably in it enough, but what about her cousin, Chan? He was the other important character in this story, but I get the feeling he doesn't appear much in the novel. I have no idea what to think of Kylie because she's not even a blip on Della's radar screen at this point.

At any rate, based on this story, I can at least say that I think the first book might be worth borrowing from the library and giving it an good read-through.

My score: 3.5 out of 5 stars. (I liked it.)

Review: "Fallen from Grace" by M.J. Putney

"Fallen from Grace" (Dark Mirror, #0.5)

by M.J. Putney 

Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Historical

Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: March 4, 2011

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 12+

| Amazon | 

  

Allarde, a gorgeous, wealthy noble has hidden his true nature. Discover his diary and witness his sudden fall from grace.

My Review

In this short story prequel to the Dark Mirror novel series, we read the diary of Allarde, an English aristocrat with secret magical abilities. At first, he is attending England's finest boarding school, but he reveals his abilities in order to save a fellow student from harm. Because he is an aristocrat with magic, not just a commoner, he is considered evil and has to be ousted from all good society.

His father sends him to a reform school for aristocrats where he learns how to suppress his magic in order to regain some privileges of his former life. But, he meets some other young people there who don't want to pretend to be something they're not, and finds himself considering their philosophy. Also, he meets the protagonist of the novels, Lady Victoria Mansfield, as she arrives at the reform school toward the end of the short story. It ends with hints at his immediate romantic interest in her.

I haven't read any of these novels, yet, but I doubt it's necessary to do so prior to reading this short story. I was a bit disoriented at first, but I found my feet after a while. Allarde is a really likable character, even if we don't get to know him all that well in such a short reading time, but he's an interesting character to follow further. I purchased Dark Mirror (the first novel) prior to reading this, and I'm so glad I did. I want to learn more about this intriguing world of magic users, and why the wealthiest practitioners are ostracized.

My score: 4 out of 5 stars.

Review: "The Death Clock" by J. Rock

Current Halloween Giveaway!

Win an ebook of A Soul to Steal by Rob Blackwell

[click to enter]

"The Death Clock: a Short Story"
by J. Rock

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Reading Grade: Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: self-published

Publication Date: December 23, 2010

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 15+

| Amazon | 

Andie didn’t know what to make of the numbers.
She started seeing them when she got on the bus that morning. She didn't know what they meant...until she saw them run out... 

My Review

This is a good really, really short story. It's around 4,000 words long, but despite that, it's still highly entertaining. The concept of a “death clock,” or the ability to see a countdown of numbers displayed over someone's head that indicates their remaining lifespan, is nothing new. I recognized this used in Death Note, one of my favorite manga series, to name one of many other stories in which it can be found.

But, that's not what impresses me about the story. It's more about the amazing plot twist that you will never see coming, and it is a doozy! This is a free ebook, so you'll lose nothing but a few minutes of your time to read it and freak out at the end, trying to wrap your brain around the incredibly ironic ending.

What I don't like is the main character for most of the story. Andie is one of the most non-proactive characters you'll ever read about, but she arguably goes through a little character growth by the end. If you find yourself disliking her, don't worry—that really won't be a problem for you. Trust me on that… Just read it for the fun plot twist at the end.

My score: 4 out of 5 stars.

* This goes toward my 2011 Spooktacular October Paranormal Reading Challenge!

Review: "Retro Demonology" by Jana Oliver

"Retro Demonology" (The Demon Trapper's, #0.5)

by Jana Oliver

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: December 13, 2010

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 13+

| Amazon |

Before Riley Blackthorne can take on Grade Five demons, she has to trap her very first. Her debut solo trapping experience should be a breeze, just a harmless Grade One after all. But throw in some dippy hippies (whose peace signs and Patchouli really aren’t driving any demons away), one mischievous demon, and a run-in with the police, and Riley might not be able to pull it off...

My Review

This is another of many ebook-only prequels to a novel series meant to get you to read the first book's preview. Well, I don't mind if that's the only purpose of the story, but I'd like an interesting story that gets me … well, interested in reading further material. I think this very short story (which took up only 33 percent of my Kindle file) is actually funny, but there isn't much conflict.

Riley Blackthorne is a teenage demon trapper in a near-future Atlanta, Georgia that is aware of its demon population. She is sent to the house of a client in need of her demon trapping abilities. The demon is the most innocuous kind and really just looks like a Brownie, in faerie terms. It pees everywhere, curses, and she does something to make it sleepy, then takes off with it. Then, it wakes, gets free of its confines, and nearly causes Riley to crash her car.

The plot is rather mundane, although a couple of characters, the retro-hippie clients, were hilarious. Seriously channeling The Grateful Dead. That alone kind of saves me from giving this a lesser star rating. Still, I'm most likely going to pass on this novel series (The Demon Trappers) because I need something more intriguing to entice me to read it.

My score: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

* This goes toward my 2011 Spooktacular October Paranormal Reading Challenge!

Review: "Remedial Magic" by Jenna Black

"Remedial Magic" (Faeriewalker, #0.5)

by Jenna Black

Genre: Fantasy/Faeries

Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: December 17, 2010

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 14+

Amazon | Barnes &Noble

Having a prodigy for an older brother is not so fun…especially one who is magic wiz-kid. But Kimber has a plan to finally step out of his shadow.

My Review

I immediately took a liking to this short story. It's told from the POV of a fifteen-year-old girl named Kimber, who is a wise-cracking genius college student (already). She is a faerie, but is sorely lacking in the magical abilities department, so this is a source of pain and embarrassment for her. To make matters worse, her older brother of two years, named Ethan, is a phenomenally gifted faerie and attracts plenty of female admires, much to Kimber's chagrin. Well, he steals all her friends away because they are female.

So, Kimber gets this idea to have a faerie tutor come to the house while she thinks no one is home to help her develop her abilities. The tutor is a college freshmen, like herself, but she's eighteen, as most college freshman are. Somehow things go horribly wrong and Ethan shows up only to steal yet another potential friend from Kimber.

The YA voice in this story was spot-on and refreshingly hilarious. I could easily hear Kimber's voice in my head. The drawback is that it is far too short to really convey a complete story. It's more like the beginning of a good story, and maybe some of the middle, but none of the end. So, I can't give it as many stars as I'd like for that. Mostly, the preview to the first Faeriewalker book is there, right afterward, demanding to be read.

I had already purchased Glimmerglass (book 1 of Faeriewalker), before I obtained this title, but I now believe I'll enjoy it, although the protagonist is not the same person. Still, I believe in the author's writing and voice, which are both superb. Recommended for those who simply want a taste of the Faeriewalker series before committing to it.

My score: 4 out of 5 stars.

Free E-Book Friday! #2 (9/23/11)

Hey, people! Free books are exciting, right? Well, here are a handful of fantasy e-books I discovered this past week that are totally and completely FREE! Two are short stories and the rest are novels. They are linked directly to the Kindle store on Amazon.com, but each might be free on other e-book store fronts, as well, if you are so inclined...

Have a great weekend, y'all!

This first e-book is one I reviewed on my blog only yesterday. I gave it a raving 5-star review!

"Drop Dead: A Lawson Vampire Bonus Story"
by Jon F. Merz

 Meet Lawson. A cynical, wise-cracking vampire charged with protecting the Balance between vampires and humans, he is part cop, part spy, and part commando -- a James Bond with fangs. Lawson mixes shrewd cunning with unmatched lethality to get his job done. He tries his best to dismantle conspiracies, dispatch bad guys, and live long enough to get home.
This time, Lawson has been given an easy assignment, a “dead drop.” That is until an old enemy returns…

From Within
by John M. Dow
 
Three strangers find themselves drawn to Wakely, a small village in the Scottish Borders, where a centuries-old conflict between two warring Celtic deities is drawing to its gruesome conclusion. A small boy holds the key to their survival, but first they have to find them. And they're not the only ones looking.

 

The Emerald Talisman (Talisman, #1)
by Brenda Pandos

To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier - an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.

Marysvale

by Jared Southwick 

When accused of witchcraft, John does the only thing he's ever done"Run! That is, until he meets Jane, who lives in the bleak, imprisoned town of Marysvale. As their love grows, the dangers of Marysvale unfold; and for the first time in his life, John discovers there is something worth dying for. Marysvale is an action-packed story filled with monsters and tyrants, heroes and heroines.

Reckless Magic (Star-Crossed, #1)

by Rachel Higginson

16 year old Eden Matthews has been in and out of private schools for the last two years. Kingsley is her last chance to finish high school and she is determined to simply do that. But when she meets Kiran Kendrick and her world opens to something she thought only existed in fairy tales, she's unsure what her future will hold. Suddenly she is captivated by a boy who seems to be the source of all of her problems and struggling to rescue her best friend from a foreign prison. When attempts are made on Kiran's life, Eden alone must save him. Thrust into a world that is more make-believe than reality, Eden has to find her own destiny without losing those she loves most. Reckless is an intricate story of mystery, adventure, magic and love. Eden Matthews is an unlikely heroine set on a path to save the world and her loved ones before its too late.

"The Death Clock, a short story"

by J. Rock

Andie didn’t know what to make of the numbers.
She started seeing them when she got on the bus that morning. She didn't know what they meant...until she saw them run out...

Review: "Drop Dead" by Jon F. Merz

"Drop Dead: A Lawson Vampire Bonus Story"

by Jon F. Merz 

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Vampires

Reading Grade: Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: February 15, 2011

Source: Kindle store freebie (still free)

Age Rating: 17+ (violence & some language)

Amazon |

Meet Lawson. A cynical, wise-cracking vampire charged with protecting the Balance between vampires and humans, he is part cop, part spy, and part commando—a James Bond with fangs. Lawson mixes shrewd cunning with unmatched lethality to get his job done. He tries his best to dismantle conspiracies, dispatch bad guys, and live long enough to get home. 

This time, Lawson has been given an easy assignment, a “dead drop.” That is until an old enemy returns… 

My Review 

Why have I taken so long to get into the Lawson Vampire books? This short story is completely dope-sauce! 

First of all, the writing is superb—exactly what a story like this needs to be written like. This is pure urban fantasy, the kind starring an adult male protagonist, and that requires a certain writing that makes you feel like you're truly inside the head of a guy who marches to the beat of his own drummer. An outlier. But, a really cool guy that is so different from everyone else that you just wanna hang out with him because his life is so dangerous and cool. Merz makes it happen. 

This is exactly the kind of urban fantasy I love to read. For me, it has to star a male character who is an agent of some sort of organization (or a mercenary guy on his own). He has to have so much swagger that he creams you with it from a mile away. Here, the swagger mostly comes from the story itself and the epic writing. From what I can tell, Lawson has swagger, but I couldn't tell so much because most of the story takes place during a flashback to the 1960's when he was younger and less confident. 

That part of the story sets up what happens in the present and it's just cool, for lack of a better word. The action is so in-your-face and extreme, it reads sort of like watching The Bourne Identity movie. And, even the villain is epic and truly thinks deeply like a villain. I love me an epic villain. I'm amazed all these elements are packed into such a short story that literally takes a half hour to read from beginning to end. 

Needless to say, I can't wait to read my copy of the Lawson novel that follows, The Kensei. I've finally found my dream urban fantasy novel series. I hope the TV adaptation hits the airwaves soon... 

My score: 5 out of 5 stars.

 

Free E-Book Friday! #1 (9/16/11)

I've decided to do a post of the free e-books I've been able to find and point them out to my followers, just in case you all might want to download them for yourselves. I might actually be able to do this every Friday, but I can't be sure about that, yet.

These are fantasy/paranormal novels, or short stories, that I might not have read, but they are of interest to me. I probably will only post about the free e-books that I'm interested in reading...

The Soulkeepers (The Soulkeepers, #1)

by G.P. Ching

This is still free over at Smashwords.com! 

When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother's car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can't find his mother's body. Made a ward of his uncle and thousands of miles from home, a beautiful and mysterious neighbor offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. In exchange, she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a warrior charged with protecting human souls.

He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions her motives for helping him. 

Demon Girl (The Rae Wilder Wilder Novels, #1)

by Penelope Fletcher

Amazon.com

Rae Wilder has problems.... Supernatural creatures swarm the earth, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Stalked by a handsome fairy who claims she is like him, demonkind, Rae thinks maybe it was a mistake breaking the rules by going over the Wall into demon territory. Plunged into a world of dark magics, fierce creatures, and ritual sacrifice, she is charged with a guarding a magical amulet. The changes to her mind and body are startling, but rather than accept her purpose she struggles against who she is destined to be. Throw in a big lust for a vampire who can't keep his hands off her, and life starts to get complicated. Rae is forced to make the ultimate choice: to live and die human, or embrace her birth-right and wield magics that could turn her into something wicked, a force of nature nothing can control.

Into the Shadows (Into the Shadows, #1)

by Karly Kirkpatrick 

Amazon.com 

Paivi Anderson has it all: friends, a spot on the varsity basketball team, wonderful parents, and quite possibly, her first boyfriend. It was everything a freshman in high school could ask for. 

Her perfect life begins to crumble when she discovers her name on a list distributed by a power-hungry presidential candidate. How could anyone think of Paivi as an Enemy of the State? Could it be because of her special powers? No one was supposed to know about them, but the mysterious messages in her tater tots say otherwise. 

In Into the Shadows, Paivi quickly learns who her friends are and is forced into a reality she didn't see coming.

Rumpel, a retelling of the Brother's Grimm Rumpelstiltskin
by Eileen Cruz Coleman 

Amazon.com 

RUMPEL is the dark and quirky retelling of the Brothers Grimm Rumpelstiltskin. When foreigners arrive on an island beach in search of a lost spinning wheel which they believe rightfully belongs to them and on which their very existence depends, the island inhabitants—spirits, trolls, mermaids, fallen angels and humans—are thrust into a course of events during which some will become allies and others will turn against their own and seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Miller must defend her unborn child from a vengeful troll, Rumpel, while also struggling to accept that she is the reason why eighteen-year-old Prince Alarick, a fallen angel, chose to give up a chance at redemption.

"Mutiny" (Mystyx, #2.5)
by Artist Arthur 

Amazon.com 

What did I do to end up in this nightmare?

One minute Franklin Bryant is a normal teenager in school with his girlfriend, Krystal. The next, a reaper leaves him in Trance, the place between worlds where his destiny will be decided. Franklin has been summoned by the demon Charon to help destroy the Mystyx, a group of classmates including Krystal, with supernatural powers that can defeat Charon. 

Franklin loves Krystal, but he faces an impossible choice: join Charon and be rewarded with powers beyond his dreams, or refuse and die....

Amazon often has promos available for ebooks.

Review: "Beasts and BFF's" by Shannon Delaney

"Beasts and BFF's" (13 to Life Prequel)

by Shannon Delaney

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: December 17, 2010

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 12+

Amazon.com

Meet Jessie Gillmansen as she realizes that things might not be what they seem in the town of Junction.

My Review

This is a such a super short and plotless story, it is clearly designed only to get the reader to read the preview to the first 13 to Life novel. There's nothing wrong with sticking in a preview to the next installment of a story, but I expect the main story I'm reading to be an actual story. This reads like watching only the opening scene to a teen horror flick.

It goes like this: three teenage girls go for a run out in the woods. The redhead hates the blonde and the brunette is friends with both. Some scary unseen beast growls in the bushes nearby and scares them half-do-death, then takes off. Redhead's boyfriend drives up, is seen talking to the hot captain of the football team, and the girls all pile into the redhead's boyfriend's car to go watch said hot football captain practice. The. End.

What is that? That isn't a story! Thirty percent of what was in my Kindle file was the above “story” and the remaining seventy percent was the beginning preview of the first novel. This prequel did nothing to convince me to read it because it showed me how disinterested the author was in writing it. What's more, I can easily read the preview to the first 13 to Life novel on my Kindle by downloading a free sample. This short “story” gave me a tiny glimpse of some characters that I never got to care about. It was completely pointless.

My score: 2 out of 5 stars.