A Girl, A Garden and A Secret

The Girl in the Garden
Kamala Nair
Grand Central Publishing (2011),
Paperback ARC, 320 pages
Rated 5 Stars of 5 Possible

The Girl in the Garden is a tale of, well, a girl and a garden... and a secret. Of course that brings to mind The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published in its entirety in 1911. But this girl and this garden are different; as is the story. This is definitely not a re-telling of the classic tale, but a new story by a debut author brave enough to handle family issues such as abuse and divorce.

Ms Nair uses the story-within-a-story method of telling this tale. The bulk of the story is a remembrance of one summer spent in India when the narrator was about ten years old. That portion of the story is also a manuscript that the protagonist leaves for her betrothed. The author has an engaging style all her own that keeps the reader deeply engrossed in the story and turning page after page, eager to devour this compelling tale. I quite often say of horror tales that I favor the ones that keep me up all night... well, The Girl in the Garden is no horror tale, but it did keep me up all night... and it was a night well-spent, too.

I received an advance review copy of The Girl in the Garden from another reviewer. This review is uncompensated and also unexpected by the author and publisher, neither of whom had any knowledge that this book would pass through my possession. I found this book just too good to keep to myself, so I'm passing it on to someone else... This review is being posted on Dragon Views, Amazon.com, LibraryThing and YABooks Central.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Remote Control
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Imajin Books (2010),
Kindle Edition
Rated 5 Stars of 5 Possible

What if you pushed the button on your TV remote control, and it transported you right into the scene you were watching on TV?  Might the results be something out of your finest dreams or your worst nightmare? Remote Control is the dark, suspenseful, and somewhat comic look at a TV addict's dream come true, or his nightmare realized. Read this little novella and find out what happens...

Only two characters are fully developed, but that's all this story needs to hook you into turning the pages and reading on into the night. Cheryl Kay Tardif has done an excellent job on this well-written and quirky, yet addicting little story. Once I got started, I couldn't lay it aside; I just had to know what happens next, and I'm sure you will, too.

Recommended to readers who love a story that hooks you on the first sentence and keeps you hooked all the way to the end. This unsolicited and uncompensated review has been posted on Dragon Views, Amazon.com and LibraryThing as well as other sites deemed appropriate by the reviewer.

Historical Page-Turner; Grabs You On Page 1

Pursuit of Happiness
By Sheldon Greene
BookSurge Publishing (2010)
Paperback, 474 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible

Pursuit of Happiness By Sheldon Greene is a well-told revolutionary war tale, and, as the title might lead one to believe, there's romance involved too.  But the most prominent parts of the tale involve the machinations of none other than General George Washington to convince blockade runners to retrieve a desperately needed shipment of French arms from a secret location somewhere in the Caribbean islands, and the completion of that task, at a considerable risk to the particpants.

This tale is well researched as the historical bits fit nicely into place, and the fictional bits seem authentic enough that they could have happened. The author grabs the reader from page one, never letting go until the end. A nicely placed historical note reveals that a few, slight liberties were taken with certain historical events and some of the area's geography. A list of sources are provided afterwards which the historically-interested reader may wish to consult.

Recommended to readers of historical fiction and those who just love to read a book full of action, adventure and thrills... Oh yeah... the romance. For those who don't like much romance in their literature, there's not a lot here, but it does add a bit of interest to the tale at parts that might sag otherwise.

A review copy of Pursuit of Happiness By Sheldon Greene was provided to me free by the author in exchange for this review.  This review has been posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and wherever else I may deep appropriate.

Action and Adventure on an International Scale

The Wreckage: A Thriller
Michael Robotham
Mulholland Books (2011)
Paperback review copy, 320 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 Possible

The Wreckage involves high-tech bank robbery on an international scale, a vanishing executive and mistaken identity tied together by a suspenseful plotline, which is acted out by a long cast of characters.  Michael Robotham's fans will recognize Joe Loughlin, a psychologist/professor, and retired police detective Vincent Ruiz, both of whom appear here and each of whom have appeared in previous novels.

Multple and seemingly unrelated stories constitute the beginning of this novel, which slowly reveals that what is - at first - thought to be unrelated incidents are actually different aspects of one larger case for Detective Ruiz and the police to solve. With so many plot lines that eventually converge, the story is difficult to follow at the beginning, yet this author skillfully handles the isolated components in a way that makes sense to the reader and turns the novel into one, very difficult to lay aside book designed to keep you turning pages until the end.

Recommended: If you love mystery/thriller type novels, and if you can handle the constant jumping from London to Baghdad, then back again and to other international destinations then this novel just might be for you.  If you're a fan of Michael Robotham's work, this is a don't miss tale.

An advance review copy of The Wreckage by Michael Robotham was provided to me free by the publisher in exchange for this review.  This review has been posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and wherever else I may deem appropriate.

Domestic Violence and Murder

The Murderer's Daughters
Randy Susan Meyers
St. Martin's Griffin (2011),
Paperback, 320 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

Domestic violence rears it's ugly head in this emotional tale that follows the two daughters of the estranged and drunken husband who kills his wife and attempts to kill one of the girls too. With their mother dead and father in prison, the two girls are essentially orphaned. Unwanted by their aunts and uncles, the girls soon find themselves placed in an orphanage, and eventually, adopted... yet they still need to deal with the events of their youth.

While this story follows the girls into their adult life, it seems to me that the author had as much difficulty dealing with the transformation of the youngsters from children to adult women as the characters had in dealing with the problems of their broken and dysfunctional family. I found the characters to be fairly well developed and quite flawed, so I had no trouble believing them to be human.  At times, I even wanted to slap both girls for their irrational behavior, yet I also found that the younger girl's ability to forgive and forget was something to be admired. Many of us can't do that; I know that if I had been the victim as she was, that I would not be able to forgive or forget.

I belive there may be a lesson for some readers in this tale and can recommend it to those who can handle the domestic violence and its aftermath. The Murderer's daughters was provided to me free from publisher in exchange for this review.  This review is being published on Dragon Views, Amazon.com and LibraryThing.

An Epic Conclusion

Oracle's Legacy: Dawn of Illumination
R. B. Holbrook
Lulu.com (2010),
Paperback, 458 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible


Oracle's Legacy: Dawn of Illumination is the thrilling conclusion to the author's debut series, which began with Oracle's Legacy: Children of Sun. Since the Oracle's Legacy series is one massive story broken up into three books, the best way to read the series is to begin with Oracle's Legacy: Children of Sun and read the books in order. In this way, the reader does not miss character background or important story issues by starting in the middle or at the end.

As with Shadows of Fate, this third volume builds on the story thus far, beginning where the previous volume ended. Whether you borrow or buy these books, try to get them all at once, so you can rapidly move from one to the next without much delay. When you do this, you will get the most seamless transition from one book to the next, and the story will have a greater impact. 

Taken as one long epic, Oracle's Legacy is a fascinating story... however, if you like short stories or even average-length novels, you probably won't like this, because the three books are one large story, of which the three parts should be read in sequence, and for best effect should be read together, as opposed to reading one book and then something else before continuing with the saga.

Recommended to adults who love epic fantasy and science fiction. Oracle's Legacy: Dawn of Illumination was provided to me free by the author in exchange for this review. This review will be posted on LibraryThing, Dragon Views, Amazon.com and wherever else deemed appropriate by this reviewer.

Oracle's Legacy:
Book 1: Children of Sun
Book 2: Shadows of Fate

Sneaks Up from Behind and Grabs You

Dark Tomorrows
By J. L. Bryan
With Bonus Stories
By Amanda Hocking
Smashwords (2010)
Ebook Mobi format
Print Length 120 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

Dark Tomorrows is a collection of eight short stories, which are unconnected to each other. Author J. L. Bryan wrote six of them. The other two were written by Amanda Hocking. 

J. L. Bryan has a way with words, of making the reader keep turning pages to find out what happens next. He successfully does this with short works as well as novels. The strongest of J. L. Bryan's stories in this collection is the first offering; "The Fortune Teller’s Lament" but that doesn't mean the others are not worth reading... just that the later stories sneak up behind you before they grab you.  All of them are well suited to reading at night - alone - with all the lights on.

Amanda Hocking's two stories of roughly equal quality didn't seem quite as dark to me as Mr. Bryan's works in this volume. Still, they were entertaining and answer a couple of what ifs that might occur to some readers... Perhaps the darkness in Ms. Hocking's stories is more subtle and sneaky than the darkness in J. L. Bryan's stories.  At any rate, this is a collection that I can heartily recommend to those who love dark stories.

This ebook was received as a premium for participating in the blog tour for The Haunted Ebook by J. L. Bryan.  While a review was not requested as a condition of my receiving this ebook, I'm sure the authors won't mind. This review will appear on Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and on other sites this reviewer deems appropriate.

A Front for Terrorist Operations?

Electricland
By Ginger Mayerson
The Wapshott Press (2010)
Paperback, 222 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

The novel, Electricland, is a mystery tale. The story features satirical content, a terrorist organization run by three middle-aged women, an online game called Electricland, and gay romance.  But is Electricland just a game, or is it a front for terrorist operations?

The author's attention to detail and sense of fun becomes very apparent in this slim novel.  The three female terrorists were often interesting and sometimes even humorous. The Electricland game proved to be interesting too, but I was disappointed to see that very little of this game figured into the actual story. I would have liked to have seen more of the game. While I have to say that gay romance is definitely not my thing, I found that I could easily skim/skip those portions of the story and not lose much in the bargain. Over all, Electricland proved to be a novel that I am glad I have read.

Electricland was provided to me free by the author/publisher in exchange for this review, for which I have not received any financial compensation. This review will appear on Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and other sites deemed appropriate by this reviewer.

Confusing but still worthy

A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Diana Gabaldon
Dell Publishing Company (2008)
Mass Market Paperback, 1456 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon is book six of the Outlander series. Like the earlier volumes in the series, A Breath of Snow and Ashes takes up the story of Jamie and Claire where the previous novel ended. Also like most novels, this one has it's high points and some not so high points. While clearly not the best of the series, this book is still much better than book 5, and a worthy segment of the epic. The characters are very realistic and interestingly flawed, yet some of the situations were downright confusing.

Potential spoiler follows for those who have not read this novel, however the spoiler is necessary to explain the confusion.

At one point, Brianna is at the home of Jamie's aunt, and then, suddenly she is a captive on board a ship belonging to one of one of the villains of the epic. This part of the tale makes little sense, as does her rescue which comes later. While a captive, Brianna bribes a prostitute to carry a message to Jamie, which is eventually delivered as promised... but, before that message is delivered, Jamie clearly knows what has happened already. How does he know? This, too, is unexplained...

Recommended for the author's fans, as well as to readers who like their historical fiction with a little romance, a little science fiction, and and lots of details... However, to get the most from this book, you really should read those that were published prior to this volume.

Book 1: Outlander
Book 2: Dragonfly in Amber
Book 3: Voyager
Book 4: Drums of Autumn
Book 5: The Fiery Cross

This review is being simultaneously posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and any other site on which the revewer decides is appropriate.  Note also that no compensation, financial or otherwise, was received for posting this review.

Ominous Sensations

Handle with Care
Jodi Picoult
Atria (2009)
Hardcover, 496 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

Jodi Picoult is good at choosing hot topics - aka controversial issues to write about. Handle With Care is no exception. This novel serves to raise awareness of a rare and often fatal disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), in which the child is born with bones so brittle they will break, even when circumstances are otherwise normal.  In reading through this novel, one finds there are several different types of this disease, two of which can be detected before the child is born. One of those two types is fatal; the other is described in this story.

The characterization is good. However, I really wanted to slap some sense into the parents, who seemed so involved with the younger daughter's illness that they were not paying enough attention to the needs of the older daughter.  The mother, especially, seemed self-centered and a bit aloof, especially when she started thinking about compensation for the young daugher's illness.

Most of the chapters were written in second person, past tense and the point of view rotated among the characters other than the girl with OI. The second person vantage point gave the story an ominous feel that made the ending appropriate and not completely unexpected. Nevertheless, that ending is not the sort of ending I would have preferred.

Scattered throughout the book, the reader finds recipes for pastries and desserts.  These recipes relate to the story in two ways; First and foremost, the mother is former pastry chef, who gave up her job to take care of the younger daughter. Secondarily, some of the culinary terms highlighted in the recipes bear a symbolic relationship to the chapters in which the recipes are found. This relationship is often subtle and the reader may not immediately recognize it.

Recommended reading for those who like this author's work.

Eye-opening Fiction

Disposable People
David W. Huffstetler
CreateSpace (October 1, 2008)
PDF ebook: 246 pages
Rated 5 Stars of 5 Possible

A Hispanic-American newspaper reporter from Texas investigates the plight of illegal immigrant workers in South Carolina by becoming one of them. When her cover is blown, she discovers just how dangerous and unpredictable the situation really is.

Written as fiction, Disposable People reads as non-fiction and seems even more fact-filled than most newspaper stories. While I was able to spot a few minor errors in the text, the story itself is well-told and nearly flawless, as well as being a riveting page-turner that grabs the reader on page one and just does not let go. The story is evenly paced and easily read. I finished reading this slim novel in about three days while devoting the majority of my time to other pursuits. Still, there are many points of discussion raised in the text; Disposable People is not a fluffy tale.  Nearly three weeks later, as I write these comments, the story still haunts my waking hours.

Disposable People is recommended reading for those who like fact-based fiction and for those wanting to better understand the trials and tribulations of illegal immigrant workers. While there is a slight amount of romance, that element merely adds interest. Romance is not the main element to the story. The PDF of this novel was given to me free in exchange for this review. This review has been simultaneously posted at Dragonviews, LibraryThing and Amazon.com

Handling Life's Issues

Brava, Valentine
Adriana Trigiani
Harper, (2010)
Hardcover, 332 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

Brava, Valentine is the sequel to Adriana Trigiani's Very Valentine, which is the story of the Roncali and Angelini families. Both novels begin with a wedding and end with someone becoming engaged, and cover a complete story as stand-alones, not to mention being part of a larger story as they connect together... Brava Valentine begins three months after the end of Very Valentine, tying the stories together nicely.

The issues that Valentine Roncali must handle make the book sound a bit mundane, but it's how she handles these issues which actually makes the book worth reading. Unlike the first book in this series, the wedding at the beginning of Brava Valentine doesn't seem to be disconnected from the main story, but this one sags a bit in the middle as Valentine gets caught up in her business issues and almost forgets something really important... because of this "sagging" in the middle, I am rating this novel 4 stars. Just as Very Valentine recovered from it's slow start, Brava, Valentine recovers from the middle sag and comes to a beautiful and appropriate conclusion.

Recommended to romance readers, fans of Adriana Trigiani, and to those looking for something a bit better than the "average" romantic tale. This review has simultaneously been published at Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and other appropriate locations on the internet.

Continuing Character; Loosely Connected

Long Lost
Harlan Coben
Dutton Adult (2009)
Hardcover, 384 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible

Myron Bolitar is a continuing character created by Harlan Coben. While many books written before Long Lost have starred Detective Bolitar, they do not seem to be more than loosely connected so that, this book, for instance, can be a stand-alone as well as part of the series depicting this long-suffering detective.

Long Lost is at once a family tragedy and a murder mystery that leads to a previously unsuspected terrorist plot with global implications. Author Harlan Coben skillfully tells the intricate tale in an addicting, page turning manner that will hook you from page one and not let you go until you have regretfully finished this stunning tale.

While this is the first novel of Coben's that I have read, it will not be the last. The suspense that builds from the beginning throughout this novel and the  professionally edited writing bring the reader to appreciate the intensity of the carefully dramatized story. The flawed and very human characters bring the story to life right in front of the reader.  That's the mark of an excellent writer, and Mr. Coben fits the bill nicely.

Recommended for readers of mysteries from 17 to 117...

This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views and LibraryThing.

Flawed, Yet Still Interesting

The Kitchen House
By Kathleen Grissom
Touchstone (2010)
Hardcover, 384 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

The Kitchen House is about a young Irish girl, Lavinia, whose parents die on board the ship bringing the family to America. Lavinia finds herself an indentured servant... one step up from slavery, but one step below freedom. I found the premise of the story intriguing and couldn't wait to read this novel, but when I'd gotten fairly started, I discovered a lot of problems with the story... beginning with the prologue. The dramatic prologue of The Kitchen House serves to draw the reader into the story rather quickly, so it's not all bad. however, I must say that I've never been a fan of this method of storytelling. By reading this prologue, the reader is peeking ahead to a scene much later in the book, which, to me, feels like cheating. I also felt the prologue was better written than the ending of the story, or rather, that part of the ending which used the same information.

From the prologue on through the first half of the novel, I kept having a sense of deja-vu, otherwise known as "where have I read this before?"  I have yet to figure out why this novel seems so familiar.

And then we have the story being told from two viewpoints; an adult black slave - Belle - who also happens to be the master's daughter; and the young white indentured servant girl from Ireland - Lavinia. Stories told from multiple viewpoints must be delicately handled to be related smoothly; and sorry to say, the author didn't do so well with this. The transitions between Belle's chapters and Lavinia's chapters were sometimes confusing and often as rough as the storm-tossed sea. Mostly this seemed to be the case with Belle's part of the story.

The other main problems I have with this novel is that the characters, aside from Belle and Lavinia are rather under-developed, so that the reader has a hard time caring about those characters. I would liked to have seen the characters of Marshall and his parents better developed at the very least.

Additionally, everyone in this story seems to have his or her own secret that must be closely guarded; never shared. Beginning with the master, and including everyone down to the lowliest slave. As the reader will see, these secrets lend an air of tragedy to the story, and still it seems that too many secrets tend to make the story a bit unbelievable.  The plot develops too slowly, not enough detail about some of the incidents. The ending feels abrupt and unresolved to me; which, in most cases, I do not consider an asset, hence taking off the full star.

The novel's strong points (as I see them) are the evenly paced storyline, spreading out the suspense and the happy parts of the story without cramming all the good parts together and leaving part of the story boring. The novel was - to me - consistently, if not highly interesting. Character motivations play a large part in the plot of this novel and should be studied.

Handled correctly, this great premise could have been a 5 star novel; yet sadly, there are too many flaws for that high rating. Despite the many flaws, I enjoyed reading this 4 star novel. Recommended to readers who do not demand flawless storytelling, and who like a bit of study with their reading pleasure. Those looking for a "light and fluffy" novel should pass this by.  This review has been simultaneously posted on Amazon.com, Dragonviews and LibraryThing.

Death and Corruption

A Little Death In Dixie
By Lisa Turner
Bell Bridge Books (2010),
Paperback (Bound Galley), 222 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 Possible

A Little Death In Dixie provides a fascinating insight into the world of law enforcement, and the corruption sometimes found there. The novel opens with a murder scene in Memphis, Tennessee. As the reader immediately gets involved in the drama, we discover that this crime isn't what's important to the story the author is telling us, but the reactions of the officers investigating the crime do become integral to the story, as we will soon see. Shortly after the introductory scenes, a woman is reported missing. Debut author, Lisa Turner has taken you by the hand to lead you through a non-stop, page turning, not-to-be missed thriller.  In addition to the well-written and tightly plotted novel, this book also includes a full dozen reader discussion questions that encourage the reader to do some thinking about the story.

Every now and then, I am surprised by the intensity of the way a new novel will grab me. In fact, several times this year, the intense novels have been written by authors making their debut in the publishing world. A Little Death in Dixie is one of those. Recommended for readers age 17 and up who love mysteries with one caviat. If you are offended by coarse language, there is a little of it in this novel... but not nearly as much as you find in other new books and the offensive language - used here as an element of character development - does not detract from the reader's enjoyment of the story.

This book was provided to me free by the publisher in exchange for this review.  This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com

 

Engrossing Tale

Watermark: A Novel of the Middle Ages
By Vanitha Sankaran
Avon A (2010), Paperback, 368 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible.

Watermark is the story of a young woman, Auda, who is different than others because she is albino and mute, and her struggle to survive in the middle ages. Ignorance and superstition are common place in Auda's time; she must combat these enemies, along with the Inquisition and society's senseless fear of anything that's different. I found the map of France, included in the front of the book, to be quite helpful.

I love the way this story unfolds, starting with the drama attendant upon Auda's birth and then, what seemingly passes for a normal life, until Auda has become a young adult. The true details of history and paper making included in the story as well as the carefully developed characters and their actions make this novel a page turner. There are both kinds of characters in this story; those you love and those you love to hate... still, I wasn't entirely prepared for the shocking ending... and, no, I'm not gonna tell... well, okay I'll just say this: it wasn't completely unexpected, but I did wish someone else had turned out to be Auda's betrayer.

In some books, the supporting addenda are almost as interesting as the main story.  This is especially true of Watermark. In addition to the great story, and the aforementioned map, my copy of Watermark contains:

• An author's note that I recommend to readers finishing the book,
• A glossary of words originating in five other languages which were used in the book and which may be unfamiliar to many readers,
• A chronology of important events in the middle ages, and
• A selected bibliography for readers who may wish to read more about the historical events and influences behind the novel...

and that's not all, but I'll leave the rest for you to discover on your own.

I highly recommend this intriguing novel to lovers of historical fiction, and to those looking for something different to read.  This review has been simultaneously published on Amazon.com, Dragon Views and LibraryThing.

Not Entirely Unique

Run for Your Life
By James Patterson and
Michael Ledwidge
Little, Brown and Company (2009)
Hardcover, 384 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

A serial killer, who calls himself "The Teacher" is on the loose in NYC, targeting the powerful and the arrogant. The killer's targets seem random at first, but Detective Michael Bennett is on the trail. Raising his 10 adopted children has prepared Detective Bennett for a job that would overwhelm anyone else with the pressure of solving the high-profile case. Can Michael Bennett stop the Teacher's lessons?

While the basic plot of this novel isn't entirely unique, the authors handle this story in a fresh manner, enticing the reader to continue with this page-turner to see what happens next. There's a lot of "family stuff" in the book that didn't seem to add much to the story but serves to indoctrinate the reader, who may not have read the previous novel about Detective Bennett.

While I enjoyed this novel as an aside from reading my usual generes, I probably won't actively seek out the previous Michael Bennet novel, nor the future ones, as I have too many authors and series to follow at this time.  However, if other novels about this character find their way into my hands, I am likely to read them.

This review has been simultaneously published on LibraryThing and Dragon Views.

A Picture of Nineteenth Century Life

Original Sins: A Novel of Slavery and Freedom
Peg Kingman
W. W. Norton & Company (2010)
Hardcover, 432 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

Original Sins is a novel of slavery and freedom, friendship and trust. Anibaddh is a runaway slave who has built a fortune in the East Indies as a silk merchant... but she feels that something is missing from her life. The maternal bond is enough to compel Anibaddh to risk her freedom, and that of her two sons by returning to Virginia to discover the fate of the child she left behind eighteen years previously.

A picture of nineteenth century life in America is beautifully evoked, giving the reader a sense of the prejudice and injustice and the basic unfairness and discrimination women of that time faced. For example, when a woman got married, all that was hers became the property of her husband, unless these possessions and monies were set aside in her name before marriage (the equivalent of today's pre-nuptual agreement.) Anibaddh's friend, Grace discovers this when she tries to emancipate an old slave that her uncle "purchased" with money set aside by Grace's mother in trust for Grace while she was a child.

The novel is steadily paced and consistently kept my interest from beginning to end. Much information about the Daguerroype process has been incorportated into the story, adding to the interest of the tale in a believable way. A few characters in the book are based on real-life individuals and the actions of these characters is fairly consistent with what is known about them. The story makes progress from beginning to end in a stately way, not too fast, but perhaps a little on the slow side, yet because the tale is so compelling, I didn't mind. The slower pace is sometimes better than a page-turning, breathless frenzy, because it gives the reader a chance to relax and enjoy the show.

Recommended for readers of historical fiction, and for those who are looking for a change of pace.  I rate this novel a high 4 stars, but it's just a little short of me being able to give it the full five-star rating.

This advance reading copy was sent to me free by the publisher in exchange for this review. This review has simultaneously been posted on Dragon Views, and LibraryThing.

Tightly Woven, Complex Story

The Wizard's Son
By Kathryn L. Ramage
The Wapshott Press (2009)
Paperback, 296 pages
Rated 4 Stars of 5 Possible

Following the posting of my review of Storylandia 1, which the editor of Wapshott press called "fair minded and honest", I received a request to give Wapshott Press another chance. I always intended to do that, but had no idea the opportunity would come so soon. I chose The Wizard's Son because I've long been a fantasy fan, and because it looks so good.

The first attraction of this novel is the lovely cover, with a view of the wizard's castle on the front, done in shades of red and black; absolutely perfect for this novel - but it doesn't stop there. The story synopsis available on the publisher's website set the hook before I ever got my hands on the book. The Wizard's Son is not simple fantasy with a single story arc. Instead it is a complex story that examines several issues in depth through multiple plot lines in the non-linear story. These issues include but are not limited to good versus evil, human nature and self restraint.

This novel does not disappoint, yet there is room for improvement too. While the characters introduced in the early part of the story are nicely developed, those who come along later are a bit flat. For instance, Orlan Lightesblood's wife and daughter are important to him, yet we are not allowed to know them well... Still, we have a tightly woven, well-told story with interesting and believable characters which is well worth the time it takes to read.

Recommended to fantasy fans ages 14 and up. This review has been simultaneously posted on Amazon.com, Dragon Views, Library Thing and YA Books Central.com. The Wizard's Son was provided to me by the publisher free in exchange for this review.

Investigation of Human Nature

The Pearl
By John Steinbeck
Penguin Books (2002)
Trade Paperback, 96 pages
Rated 5 Stars of 5 possible

The Pearl is John Steinbeck's re-telling of an old Mexican folk tale about greed and hope, suspicion and dreams... but mostly hope. It is a simple, tragic tale that illustrates the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth can erase all their problems.

This tightly packed little tale is illuminated by the fine craftsmanship Steinbeck brings to all his writing. Despite its brevity, The Pearl is not a tale to read lightly. There is a lot of food for thought buried in these pages. The Pearl picks up the thread of investigation where the allegorical tale, Of Mice and Men left off... for this book as well as the other, is a study of human nature.

For those interested in deeper study or discussion of The Pearl, a combined discussion guide has been written by The Great Books Foundation. Steinbeck's other two novels covered by the same discussion guide are Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.

Recommended for readers age 16 and up who are interested in reading material that gives your brain something to work on.