Category: Less Than Three Press

The Nationals are in the Playoffs,Teddy Won the Race and the Week Ahead in Reviews!

It’s Sunday and the weather has turned much cooler, the wind has picked up and the leaves seem to be  just flowing off the trees. Yes, fall is here.  But all is well, the Nationals are in the playoffs and Teddy has finally won a race.  Now some folks think that until the playoffs were over, Teddy should have kept losing so not as to jinx the series.  I have to admit I am kind of on their  side.  Superstition I know but if the Nats lose, you know who everyone will be pointing the finger at.  Oh my.  So I am looking for a 4 leaf clover and some luck to bind it with.  Now where’s that pesky rabbit?

Mother’s birthday is today so I am off to lunch at the farm(bringing it with me actually). So without further ado, next week’s schedule:

Monday                        Animal Magnetism Anthology

Tuesday:                       Fallen Sakura by April Moone

Wednesday:                 Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane

Thursday:                     In Excess by Quinn Anderson

Friday:                           By The River by Katey Hawthorne

Saturday:                       Fair Catch by Del Darcy

Review of the Jewel Bonds Series by Megan Derr

Rating: 4.75 stars

 

For the Jewel Bonds series, Megan Derr creates a rich world of wizardry and combatants.  In this fantasy world, we have the Territories full of wild creatures and dragons, a lawless land that is constantly infringing on the civilized cities and towns.  To deliver the full measure of protection to the civilized zones, it takes a bonded team comprised of a mage and a warrior.  One to go forward in strength and combat, the other to watch his back and keep safe all around them by magical means.

Children with an affinity for magic or sword work and able to pay tuition go to live at the University of Magic and Combat where they are taught lessons in warfare and magic.  The children are all ages. The different schools seem to correspond to our system here. Some arrive in their teens for studies at the university level. Neither gender or social status matters, both can be warriors or mages, as long as the tuition is paid or scholarships hold, they can attend.  When a mage is finishing their third year in the University, clear jewels are implanted in their wrists and foreheads, showing they are ready to become full mages able to use their magic to the fullest of their abilities. Mages tend to have a talent for one area of alchemy like fire or wind and when they find a warrior to bond with, their jewels take on the eye color of their partner. But for some mages, whatever the reason, a warrior is never found to bond with, leaving them to become a field mage or research mage on their own.

Within this realm of harsh realities, of learning acquired through pain and physical deprivation, Megan Derr gives us three short stories of mages and warriors at different stages in life. Two are still in school at The Royal University of Magic and Combat in the capitol city, the middle pair have left their schooling behind them, one to glory and the other to ignominy and despair, and the third pair sees a mage in his forties, in straightened circumstances, facing a life without a position, possessions or a bond who in his most desperate hour meets a young warrior in need of a temporary mage.  Derr gives us a glimpse into their lives, the hardships they endure to become warriors and mages, and the strange journeys made to find fulfillment and love.

An Admirer (Jewel Bonds #1) introduces us to Kaeck, a poor student working three jobs to help subsidize his scholarship in order for his to stay in school.  By inclination (he feels unloved by family and peers) and circumstances (he works from predawn hours to midnight), he has isolated himself from most of the student body.  Kaeck’s daily routine and expectations rarely changes until the day he opens his student post box and finds a letter from a secret admirer, One letter is followed by others and then gifts.  And Kaeck finds his outlook changing, someone admires him, thinks him beautiful! Kaeck wants to meet his admirer and give him a gift back. But while his admirer is anonymous, Kaeck has met a fellow student, Bellamy, with whom he shares common interests and insecurities and soon Kaeck wonders if their friendship could turn out to be more. But Bellamy is enamored of another student and Kaeck is left wondering if his secret admirer will ever come forward.

I took Kaeck to heart immediately.  Who hasn’t had someone like him in their lives, doing everything he can to keep afloat and make his dreams come true. Kaeck’s family is harsh and lacking love growing up has contributed to his sense of worthlessness.  I just wanted to grab him up, give him a huge hug and feed him a massive dinner.  Kaeck is so fully realized that his pain became mine as well.  It was just as easy to become invested in Bellamy.  A “country mouse” late to class his first day of advanced swordplay and in his ignorance he treated the Lord like a regular professor. Bellamy gave his all in a swordfight, earning his Lordship’s respect and earning a coveted apprenticeship as well as the continued resentment of his peers. Neither young man is comfortable around others, one silent, the other babbles when nervous.  But together, they find a ease with each other they have found no where else.  Derr brings the stress and angst that comes from  school cliques, trying to find your way,  and awkwardness in school and transfers it believably to a fantasy world.   I loved this story and want so much more of these two. At 36 pages, it felt just too short as I was totally invested in these young men and their world. You will feel the same.

Kiss the Rain (Jewel Bonds #2) is a neat time shift as the two heads of Magic and Combat, Lord Jenohn and Master Selsor, almost 60 years old in An Admirer, here  are only 18 when the story begins.  We meet Selsor as he is being brutally attacked by bullies in the school yard at the University.  Told from Selsor’s POV, this is a difficult paragraph to read as you feel every blow to the ribs, every kick to his head as curses rain down upon him.  In his fear, he strikes out with his magic, which up to now has never worked.  A lightning bolt comes out of the sky, killing another student in the courtyard by accident.  Selsor is hauled before the University council who refuse to believe him about the attack and the accident. They tell him the student is dead because of him.  Selsor is banished, forbidden to use magic upon threat of death, and his jewels turned black by the University mages.  Three years have past, and we meet up with Selsor, age 20, scrubbing the floors of a lowly inn, living in the straw above the animals in the stable, reduced to almost starvation levels as no one will hire a disgraced mage.  So depressed he has tried to kill himself, he is beaten regularly by the sadistic innkeeper. Into the inn comes Jenohn, a warrior and a group of soldiers on a mission from the Prince.  The town they are in is being inundated by rain to the point of extermination and the Prince wants to know if black magic is the cause. Jenohn needs the help of an uncorrupted mage and picks Selsor for the job, to his amazement and distrust.

In Kiss The Rain, Megan Derr takes the hard life and isolation of Kaeck’s student life and then deepens it into abuse and horror for Selsor.  Selsor only wanted to become a mage and bond with a warrior, just like his parents had.  But his pretty features and slight build made him an easy target at school where the bullies endless physical and emotional abuse was a daily occurance.  Not only was Selsor afraid for his life but his magic doesn’t want to work even though he knows he has it, adding frustration to his fear.  Selsor commands both our empathy and understanding as he tries to deal with horrific living conditions and the loss of his dreams.  Especially horrifying are his circumstances when we meet up with Selsor years later only to find him being kicked and abused again, only this time with no magic at hand.  So when this golden warrior, Jenohn appears, offering him enough silver to live on and escape the life he is living, we are just as wary as Selsor.  He knows from experience that life is never fair nor kind.  But just as Jenohn grows on Selsor, so does he grow on the reader.  Arrogant but able to back it up, kind in a sort of “need to smack him” sort of way, Jenohn just gets under your skin, Selsor’s too.  Selsor finds it hard to keep his grump on when faced with such irrespressible good nature, and all of it directed at him.  Great characters, both of them.  I loved seeing their backstory after getting a glimpse of them in old age.  This  story has it all, tears, angst, rage and laughter all in 47 pages.  Amazing.

An Exception (Jewel Bonds #3) takes us into the life of Riot, a lonely mage. Mage Riot never thought he would be jobless and practically homeless at the age of 40.  After 20 years of service to the lord of the territories, making sure the land is safe from dragons and that the kingdom prospers, his lord dies.  The new lord is an arrogant, smarmy young man who bullies all around him and expects Riot to submit to his sexual demands.  An honorable man, Riot refuses the pipsqueaks’s ultimatum, and leaves with nothing as all his belongings are confiscated by the new lord.  Even worse, once Riot is cast out, rumors are spread, casting aspersions on Riot’s honor and magic abilities.  Almost penniless, Riot is trying hard to hold on in a land that no longer seems to put a value on his experience, and accumulated wisdom. What is a mage to do when all the rules he has lived by are deemed old fashioned?

I loved Riot immediately.  He is such a unique character.  He is older, forty to be exact.  His hair is graying and he is well aware that any chance he had of being regarded as handsome is long past.  His former lord was a good man and Riot was happy in his service, even though he had never met a warrior who wish to be bonded to him during that time, to his everlasting sorrow.  Now his crystals in his forehead and wrists have turned gray from lack of use and he despairs of ever finding another job, especially at his age, let alone a warrior who would want an older man.  How that rings true no matter the setting, our world or that of fantasy.  Riot is so relatable in every way.

Derr excels at characterization and her people, like Riot, have emotions, thoughts and feelings that match ours.  How can we not relate to them, trying to get through life without compromising who they are and dealing with the stress of everyday life? Even if that life means keeping the kingdom safe from dragons? All that to deal with and at middle age too. Depressing, even heartbreaking.  I felt I knew Riot intimately. Rior meets his match in Coroe, a warrior in need of a mage.  Coroe is in charge of seeing his Lady safely to the lands of her new husband in a neighboring kingdom and all the mages he has hired have been disastrous, either drunk or incompetent or both. Coroe’s gorgeous looks belie his warrior status just as Riot’s rough warrior like exterior is atypical of mages.Both men have had problems stemming from peoples assumptions about their appearance and both are equally wary about the other.  Each also feels their age difference matters to the other in how they are perceived.  Again, how realistic. Coroe’s character has the same level of complexity that Riot has, but it comes out in difference ways.  I loved him too.  Both men circle around their mutual attraction, held back by Riot’s insistence on a firm separation of business from pleasure.  I liked this plot twist that keeps the men from acting on their romantic impluses because with the physical sexual act removed from the action, Derr is able to concentrate on building her characters, their backstory and amble, instead of run, to the start of a romance.  Here too, Derr gives us a complex duo in 10,000 words.  Do I want to see more of them?  Why yes, I do!

I hope Megan Derr will continue to give us wonderful stories in the Jewel Bonds universe,  Perhaps more of Selsor and Jenohn as we are missing 40  years of their lives.  Or perhaps Kaeck and Bellamy after graduation.  The plot possibilities are endless and so are my hopes for the series.  Don’t pass these up.

Covers by Megan Derr.  Hard to argue when it is the author themselves creating the covers for her stories.  Love them.

It’s Football Season and I’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, the Week Ahead in Reviews and A Cocktail

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the States, a time to hunker down and celebrate the end of summer.  For some families this means a last dash to the beach or the start of school. It is also the start of football season.  It’s the start of tailgating parties, stadium crowds and team colors.  Mine used to be red and yellow, the colors of the  Washington Redskins, my family’s team.  It all started with my Dad.  He loves the Redskins.  We have been fans through thick and thin as they say.  I can even remember Dad taking me to a Redskin home game when they were coached by Vince Lombardi. That was 1969.  My dad and his friend Tom Cox had a group of season tickets and when one of “the gang” couldn’t go, Dad brought me.  What a thrill.  Redskin fans are beyond fanatical, they are legendary.  And every game, RFK shook from the ground to the rafters with their fervor.  I will never forget it as long as I live. Screaming until I was hoarse, the people towering around me as all stood to watch a play on the field and then the ride home, Dad’s either thrilled because we won or furious with a loss. Later on, the ride home included Dad listening to Sonny and Sam (that’s Sonny Jurgenson and Sam Huff) dissect the day’s game.  We had Redskin blankets, hats, and scarves.  We went through the George Allen and Jack Pardee years before we arrived at the Golden Age.  That would be owner Jack Kent Cooke, affectionately known as The Squire, Bobby Beathard the GM, and Joe Gibbs, the Winningest Coach of them all.  From 1981 to 1992, we basked in the glory that was the Redskins and quite frankly made up for all the years it took to get there.

But 10 years ago, the Squire died and Dan Snyder bought the team.  I hung in there as long as I could but the soul went out of them that day.  Dan Snyder single handedly has ruined the Redskins for me (and many others).  How can you back a team when the owner sues it’s fans? When die hard season ticket holders could no longer afford their season tickets because of the economy (some losing everything), the Redskins sued their fans to recover the costs of the passes, even a grandmother living on retirement! No other team did that. Made the headlines, they recanted, a bit.  Still did it though.  Then a small free newspaper takes Dan Snyder to task over his actions.  He sues the newspaper!  I guess free speech is not to be tolerated in Snyder territory.  On and on it goes, one man’s arrogance and bad karma wiping out half a century of fans adoration and goodwill.

And now I give up.  I won’t root for them any longer.  Some will say the very name “Redskins” is cursed.  Perhaps they are right. It’s long past the time to retire a name offensive to so many.  Maybe I will look around for another team to root for.  The Ravens don’t do it for me.  I like the Packers and the Saints.  So who knows?  In the meantime, I have the Capitals and Ted Leonsis to cheer for.  And The Washington Nationals have risen above their “Natinals” days to become an inspiration and a team worthy of cheering for and not just because they are winning, but winning in the right way!  Go, Nats!   Without football, perhaps I will have more time to knit, certainly to read.  And reflect on the past.

This coming week’s reviews are:

Monday:                      Solid As A Stone by Amylea Lyn

Tuesday:                      Gambling Men, The Novel by Amy Lane

Wednesday:                Jewel Bonds series by Megan Derr

Thursday:                    One Day At A Time by Dawn Douglas

Friday:                          Summer Sizzle by Berengaria Brown

Saturday:                      Vocabulary Gone Bad Looks at Sexy(Not) Dirty Talk or Spank Me Harder, Bunny Poo!

Our last summer cocktail to finish out the summer this Labor Day weekend for those of you in the States is the Sidecar!

The Sidecar. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons superfine sugar
1 lemon wedge
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) Cognac
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Cointreau or other Triple Sec orange liqueur
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) fresh lemon juice
1 cup ice

Directions:

Spread superfine sugar on small plate. Rub lemon wedge halfway around rim of chilled martini or coupe glass. Dip moistened side of glass in sugar to lightly coat outside rim of glass. Set aside.
In cocktail shaker, combine Cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice. Add ice and shake vigorously until well chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into prepared martini or coupe glass and serve.

Review of Wick by Megan Derr

Rating: 4.75 stars

Wick tells the tale of four wielders of magic or wicks.  Swordwick concerns a royal swordwick who must lie about his abilities as he accompanies his sister to an arranged marriage.  Oddwick presents us with a tatterdemalion of a wick,  a brilliant eccentric who has locked himself away with his research and books until a gorgeous Captain comes knocking.  Songwick introduces us to Lyrawick, a rare wick still carrying the physical and emotion scars of his childhood, locked in bitterness until a child in need forces him to face his past.  And finally, Flamewick, the story of a powerful flamewick with a secret agenda until he is attacked and those precious to him, kidnapped.  To save them, he will need the help of all the wicks to defeat his enemy and ensure the safety of all around him.

Once again Megan Derr conjures up a fantastical world and populates it with people and creatures of unimaginable beauty, anguished pasts, and magical traits galore and makes it all seem so very real.  In Wick, the title is never fully explained and it is up to the reader to define it for themselves. People who are wicks come into their magical abilities at various stages in their life.  The earlier their talent is discovered, the more powerful wick they will become.  I took the name to be a derivative of magic or wiccan but I could be wrong and perhaps it is explained in a Derr book I haven’t read.  As a person or child is discovered to be a wick, then that appellation is added to their name, so Prince Hollis became Holliwick, Toki becamse Tokiwick and so on.  A wick usually has just one area of magic to work with but occasionally a wick shows up with the talent for more than just one type of magic, say wind and frost.  The swordwicks are looked down upon, they are both warrior and wick.  Somewhere in the past, a royal battle raged with one side deploying an army of swordwicks.  That battle turned swordwicks from honorable warriors into mercenaries who travel hiring out their talents to those who would pay them.  For some families to have children with swordwick abilities is an embarrassment and shame upon their name.  The wicks are trained at a central Grand Academy of Rothwick from childhood on and must conjure up a familiar as to cement their magical status.  These are the basics for all four stories, each linked to each other by characters related by lineage or linked by events to each other.

Swordwick starts off the saga with the story of Hollowick and Prince Fenwick and their unicorn familiars, Pence and Diamond.  Right off, let me say the familiars, paired up with their wicks, are as much central characters as everyone else in the stories.  They have as much individuality as the wicks themselves.  Pence and Diamond happen to be unicorn familiars and definitely have little to do with innocence and purity as a more humorously perverse pair cannot be found, to my utter enjoyment.  Hollowick’s family is ashamed that he is a swordwick and forbade him to tell anyone of his abilities.  Unfortunately, he is accompanying his sister, Willa, to her arranged marriage to the King of Draius, someone she has never met. That King just so happens to have a wick as a brother.  And Prince Fenwick?  His familiar is a unicorn just like Hollowick’s.  And all their voices can be heard by Hollowick in his head.  So not only is he lying but eavesdropping as well.  The story is told from Hollowick’s POV so you feel his shame and pain over the role he has been forced into by his family.  And once the men become friends mutually attracted to one another, his deception is compounded by his fear of discovery and the anticipated reactions of all around him.

Oddly enough, Swordwick is the story with characters, while endearing, have the least complexity to them.  Both men seems straightforward in their approach to honor and are equal in social status.  I enjoyed the story and felt that it did a great job in laying down the foundation for all the rest of the stories that follow without having its own well of pain and angst to draw from.  Hollowick has a lesser status in his family, that’s true and his parents are cold emotionally.  But the angst he feels here is caused by his own lies, even if ordered to do so and Prince Fenwick’s reaction to its discovery.  In terms of painting, it is a lovely watercolor, lacking the depth and richness of the stories that follow.

Oddwick starts our journey into stories with deeper emotional layers.  Master Tokiwick, who makes a brief appearance in Swordwick, comes full center here along with his familiar, a tiny dragon called Harlequin whose quixotic nature and flashing kaleidoscope eyes put him on equal level with Tokiwick in this reader’s affections.  Tokiwick, a charmwick, has retreated to a house deep in the woods where he lives surrounded by books, occupied by research into wick abilities and the nature of familiars.  He is this world’s idea of nerd, socially inept, living in clutter with an appearance to match.  When his friend, Hollowick, needs a magical tome translated, he sends for Tokiwick and provides for an escort in the person of Captain Roswick.  This is the story of their relationship which is gentle and hesitant in its unfolding as two uncommunicative men struggle to come together.  Thank goodness for their familiars, Harle with his inquisitive need to touch everything and Waltz, the black wolf with a wicked sense of humor who is Roswick’s companion. I loved both familiars with their patience, quiet urging, and good advice that finally brings their men together. More of the history of the Academy comes to light as well as Tokiwick’s relationship with his brother, Creawick, the Flamewick of the last story.  Here we learn of a new Academy that the Princes wish to establish and the darkness of the past histories of the wicks starts to unfold.  I loved this story in every way.  It’s lighthearted but the complex overtones are coming into play as a layer of oil paint is applied across the canvas of Wick, adding textures to the whole.

Songwick  brings the darkness that has only been hinted at into the forefront of the tale of Lyrawick and Wenwick. Wenwick, introduced in Oddwick, is a Master Professor now residing and teaching at Draius’ new Academy. He was Lyrawick’s mentor at one time. Lyrawick is a rare songwick taken from his family at the age of 5 and turned over to the  Grand Academy of Lothwick to be secretly tortured and abused until he reached his full ability and came of age.  The story opens as a bitter, somewhat hollow hearted Lyrawick has decided to take a year’s sabbatical from his teaching position at the Grand Academy  where he has lived almost his entire life.  But that plan is abandoned as his only friend, Creawick, has sabotaged the Academy’s plan to take another rare songwick away from her parents.  He fears the girl will suffer the same fate as Lyrawick and others so the wicks intervene and  Lyrawick flees with the girl to Drais and the new Academy now established there.  Prior acquaintances bring old hurts out to be examined for several of the characters we have already met and our perceptions of all involved change and evolve.

With the last two stories, all lightness vanishes as the torture of innocents and the abuse of power become the driving themes behind Lyrawick and Flamewick.  Two men, thought to be villains in previous stories, are shown from a  different perspective. Flamewick is the final, most densely layered tale of the bunch and my favorite.  Creawick is a man who most dislike, a man of passion and flashing emotions as befits a flamewick with a griffon called Brightheart as his only companion. He is central figure in many of the convoluted relationships between the wicks. While hated by most, his tortured past is slowly revealed by two wicks.  One is his friend, Lyrawick from the penultimate story.  The second person is Elawick, the healer who had to attend to him in Songwick. From their standpoint, Creawick is totally different from the man we had seen up until now.  It is through an attack on Creawick and those he cares for that brings about the final confrontation between the evil from their pasts and the group of wicks that has now banded together. From plot to characterizations, everything is on point. Now we have an oil painting of a story comprised of rich colors, dramatic brush marks, balanced in composition, a feast for the eyes in every way.  Just an outstanding story full of characters I won’t soon forget just as an oil has a much longer life than the watercolor, how ever fair it may be.

We see how true heroic natures can be hidden behind walls of pain and a twist of reference turn a memory on its head.  Songwick and Flamewick are my clear favorites here.  Brooding, dark, full of angst, revenge and redemption.  But it is Swordwick and Oddwick which lured us in and kept us occupied until the other two could take over.  Here we have Dawn before Nightfall to my amazement and joy.  Yours too if you pick up this book.

Cover:  Lainey Durand designed the simple elegant cover that works so well here.

Review of Poison (Lost Gods #4) by Megan Derr

Rating: 4.75 stars

“Nine gods ruled the world until the ultimate betrayal resulted in their destruction. Now, the world is dying and only by restoring the Lost Gods can it be saved.”

It has been two years since Ailill, the White Panther of Verde returned home from Pozhar with the jewels needed for the ceremony of The Tragedy of the Oak.  He had been poisoned on his mission there and it had taken all the skill of Gael, the mortal avatar of the Unicorn, to heal him.  Verde has been ruled by the mortal avatars of their Lost Gods, the Unicorn, the Pegasus, and The Fairy Queen killed 900 years ago at the base of the Sacred Oak.  Every 100 years, the moment comes to right the wrong but is lost and the Tragedy repeats itself. Now all of Verde waits as the time for The Tragedy of Oak grows near once more. All of Verde hope that finally, after 900 years, the ceremony will finally be completed and their human incarnations of The Unicorn, The Pegasus, and The Fairy Queen become gods again.  But someone doesn’t want that to happen and the White Beasts of Verde are being poisoned, the people of Verde are becoming crazed as their White Beasts fall, and even their three God incarnations themselves are threatened.

Gael asks Ailill to investigate the poisonings and stop the person responsible before it is too late and the Tragedy starts all over again. As the people start viciously fighting each other, Vanya arrives from Pozhar.  Once a mercenary, now a noble, he has never forgotten Ailill and has come to see if their feelings for each other are the same after a two year absence.  Ailill too has been missing his mercenary and hates the lifestyle that comes with being a White Beast of Verde.   Ailill and Vanya’s  investigation leads to old secrets kept from the White Beasts by the reincarnations themselves.  Old lies and treachery must be revealed if they are to stop The Tragedy of the Oaks from happening again.

Poison is the fourth and penultimate book in the Lost Gods series that began with Treasure.  As this incredible journey through all manner of Kingdoms and their Gods draws to a close, more of Megan Derr’s complex saga comes together as another large piece of the final puzzle is put in place.  Like one of those fabulous wooden puzzle boxes, each book puts more elements in place to solve the complete puzzle using elements and characters from each of the previous stories.

In Poison, one of my favorite characters, Ailill the White Beast of Verde becomes a central piece of the puzzle to the Tragedy of the Oak and the key necessary to open the door on the mystery of the deaths of Verde’s Gods. Previously a deliciously slutty being when we first meet him in Treasure, Ailill has evolved through all the stories, his character deepening, his gravitas, the seriousness of his mission, becoming evident even through the frivolous manner he exhibits. In Burning Bright, Iilill meets Vanya, the wolf of Pohzar, who along with his gang of mercenaries, helps Ailill recover Verde’s royal jewels.  In a short amount of time, both men strike up an affair of lust that quickly becomes something more than either ever expected to have, an affair of the heart.   Towards the end of the story, Ailill is struck down by a sorcerer of Schatten, poisoned by dark magic.  Helpless to heal him, Vanya must watch as Ailill sails for Verde and the hope for a cure from The Unicorn, Pegasus, and The Fairy Queen. Now events bring the two men back together again as the Lost Gods are returning.  This time it is the Kingdom of Verde’s Lost Gods time to be reborn and again a war is fought between Order and Chaos.  Vanya, a character I came to care about as much as Iilill, too has grown and developed since we last saw him.  All the skills he has acquired as the head of a band of mercenaries are now being employed as a Duke of the Kingdom of Pozhar to his and ours amusement.  I had hoped to see these two reunited and Derr does not disappoint here with the reclamation of their romance, their feelings for each other burning as brightly as before.  Whether Derr meant to or not, these two become the heart of the story for me and their love affair more important to me than the Gods restoration. I suspect that is part of the quibble I had with this book.

Many more characters become front and center here.  One is Noir, the Royal Voice of the Gods.  A young black panther whose deep love for Gael, the Unicorn is doomed to failure if Gael continues to keep their love secret, hidden from all at Court even from the other avatars.  Noir is endearing in his innocence and youth, a perfect foil for Gael, the mortal reincarnation of The Unicorn. Gael and his sisters, The Fairy Queen and Pegasus, rule Verde from an incestuous relationship that is taking its tole on its members.  We also meet all the other White Beasts that comprise the Court of Verde and are quickly swamped with character sketches and lightly layered beings.  After a while it was hard to keep track of cast.  Gael is perhaps the most fully realized of all of them which is not surprising as his relationship with Noir is on the same level of importance as Ailill and Vanya’s. As Noir watches the interaction and  outright displays of affection between Ailill and Vanya, the inequality of his own relationship with Gael is emphasized and Noir’s insecurities deepen.  Megan Derr does a great job with making all these relationships and their flaws seem realistic to the reader as the characters juggle their expectations with the reality of their situations as the City falls into flames as the White Beasts are poisoned.

I always keep in mind as I read each related story of the Lost Gods saga that even the smallest detail is of significance in the construction of the whole picture.  So I was dismayed that I realized who was behind the poisonings almost from the start.  It was the only person who made sense, as Vanya discovers later on in their investigation.  I also came to the right conclusion as to the methods used to conceal their identity from all the others.  That was unlike any of the other puzzles presented in the other books so I was a little stymied that I figured it out so soon.  The only thing I can come up with is that timing is everything and that it all had to happen exactly during the ceremony of The Tragedy of the Oak and Derr had planned on that character reveal early on to ramp up the anxiety and anticipation of the race to the end.  And perhaps the final piece will fall into place during Chaos, the last in the series.  It is not like her to give away plot points so easily unless she means to do it.  So color me a little confused here.  That’s my main quibble.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still an incredible book. The richness of her descriptions, the vivid portraits of the inner sanctum and gardens, the sheer grand scale of mythology building that is the Lost Gods is astounding. Was I happy and totally satisfied at the end?  Absolutely, just with some quibbles this time.  Again, the themes of sacrifice, reincarnation and forgiveness are played out but not exactly as they were before. Not all are forgiven, not all are sacrificed as the Gods return to Verde.  I suspect Derr is completing her stage upon which all the characters from all the books, along with new ones will converge in the final battle between Order and Chaos.   I cannot wait for it to start and the saga come to its convoluted end.  The Lost Gods saga is a real Treasure as I suspected from the start! Bring on the Chaos!

Cover:  Another perfect cover from London Burdon to go along with the rest of the Lost Gods saga.

Thoughts On Writing Reviews and an Author’s First Book

When I start a book and find out that it is a “first novel” for an author several things come to mind immediately.  Is this the first published book for this author? Or is this the first book for the author in every way, first book written and first book published? If the answer to either question is yes, then the headaches and twinges sets in as both my anticipation and anxiety ramp up.  In many ways I dislike writing reviews on “Firsts”.  While it is true some first books jump right out of the gate like Bear, Otter, and the Kid by TJ Klune and never look back in their race to success and great storytelling, most don’t fit into this category.  Like bike riding, jump-roping, and other activities, you take your beginner falls and make your beginner mistakes and hope you are not surrounded by onlookers.

The beginning novelist doesn’t have that opportunity.  They put their baby out there and wait for the reviews to come in. And when the reviews are less than stellar, it must feel crushing.  Amy Lane, an author I love, recently showed us a blog cartoon her daughter is launching about life with an author mother. It shows Amy upset over a 3 star rating in one section. The cartoon was funny as well as truthful.  The author pours their heart and soul into a book and then has to wait to see if they are going to get a smack down or a boatload of golden stars. This painful anticipation goes beyond categories like established or beginner but at least an established author has been there before. For a first time author, it is alien territory. Yes, there be dragons lurking there.  I can always hope that the first time novelist has a wonderful editor, a great group of concrit partners and a support system to see them through the pangs of their first publication.  Doesn’t always happen either. Sigh.

That’s the author’s side.  Now let’s flip this over. While I don’t wish to contribute to an author’s pain, I still have an obligation to the readers who will buy the books to tell the truth as I see it.  Yes, review ratings are based on the judgement and opinion of the reviewers but if the person writing the reviews taste match your own then you come to count on their reviews when purchasing or thinking about purchasing a book. If you are too kind to an author about the story you have read and don’t express your real feelings or observations about the book, then you are betraying the trust of people who count on your judgement. Say you stretch that rating out from a 3 to a 4 star rating, does it matter?  Yes, you have just said that a book that was only average is now a book you loved and would recommend. Someone spends their money thinking they have bought a book they will love only to find it lacking.  Now you have a frustrated and perhaps angry reader.  They are unhappy with the reviewer as well as the author.  Goodwill demolished on every front.

So how to balance the two? It is a constant juggling act.  Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don’t.  I try to be helpful but that is not always possible. I can hope that I can take away enough from the story to say something positive.  It is easy to be mean, harder to be a “force for good”. So I look to find some redeeming characteristics to write about.  Again not always possible.  Usually I go through several drafts of a review.  All the scathing things I really want to say get written first.  You know the easy caustic points you can make, sometimes it is like shooting fish in a barrel.  Just not very sporting.  Have I done it?  Yes.  I am human.  But I find that with each draft, some of those sentences get edited away. Mostly.

Sometimes upon completing a disappointing “first” from an author, I often wonder why someone didn’t help them more.  How on earth did that plot, that dialog, that choice of words in descriptions, and that very lack of characterization makes its way into publication?  Why did not someone pull that writer aside and say “that is a lovely first attempt, now let’s box it up, slide it under the bed and start on your second novel.”  Is that not done any more in the rush to publish something?  I really don’t know.  I would love to hear your opinions on this, either as a writer, publisher, or an author.

So that’s where I stand, in the middle of a teetertotter trying to find my balance.  Sometimes I teeter on the edge, sometimes I tip and totter over, and sometimes the balance is just right.  Feel like Goldilocks on those days. Good days and bad, good stories and  bad attempts.  Karma.  How do you feel about reviews?  What makes a good review for you?  And what first books have been memorable ones?  Let’s talk, shall we?  Book reviews to follow!