Tag: Book Review

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Signs – Anna Martin

Seeing as June is suppose to be in support of the LGBT community, and allows me to have several books available at a discount or even free in celebration of this, I have decided to give a small review for a recent book I have read that hits on the genre.

Signs adds more than just the difficultly strong, young teenagers have at discovering who they are, and finding out who their real friends in life are. As the title alludes to, the main character is deaf. I have a strong support for the deaf community, as I grew up in a city that has a large population for the deaf, along with schools, and college. Though I no longer live in the city, I still commute there for work. Because of this, I have picked up on a little sign-language and was drawn into the book due to my curiosity.

I do love how Anna Martin shows the struggles the two characters have in communicating feelings, and how awkward it is when they first meet in person. I say in person, because with modern technology the two main characters met in the now typical fashion of social media via online.

Luc is a “goth” kid that doesn’t really see himself immersed with all the “goth” kids, and Caleb feels shunned from the outside world as well as the deaf community because he finds it difficult to express himself properly. Anna Martin tends to focus mainly on both character’s struggles with their social circles, and the disability of communication, and less on the acceptance and struggle of being gay. Part of me appreciates that the author dismissed, or at least didn’t emphasis, the lash-back teens face, or potentially face, in today’s world from being open on their sexuality. And part of me was disappointed. Of course, the book already had so much hardship and struggle with dealing with Caleb’s hearing loss, I can understand the author, and perhaps reader, being overwhelmed with any addition drama.

Books like “Signs” I appreciate because it consecrates on the characters more than the fantasy or sex many LGBT books seem to focus on. There’s a plethora of raunchy romance books that hit on the same genre, but few that really come with a deeper meaning.

However, I do enjoy my fantasy, as can be seen from own fantasy writing. And though I do not write, currently, for the LGBT community, I would like to pass on another book of interest. For the even of June, and the LGBT awareness for this month, many authors have written books free to read and download. One I am looking forward to, which is a Vampire novel, is Alex’s Surprise. Currently it is 99cents, due to Amazon not having it be free until it’s official release date. So feel free to join me on checking it out, and use this month as an excuse to get out of your comfort zone if you haven’t read this style before.

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The Dark Earth Series

Delaying a blog post is something I highly regret but at the same time it has given me the opportunity of finishing a fantastic book which I recently discovered. For the most part I am a person with a high interest in light fantasy; magic which is dominantly the stereotypical Lord of the Rings style and not that of Twilight. This book is one of them.

The first book in the Dark Earth series gives you a free introduction of five chapters, and those sample pieces sucked me in. I ended up even signing up for the $9.98 a month membership to unlock the rest of the book as well as the other which follows it. Yes, it was that good. And that is considering I am one that looks down on books not printed due to the high pleasure of the physical copy in hand.

Over the past two days I have forgone sleep, depriving myself and surviving on just 3 hours due to this new adventure that has entered my life. Sadly, this work has also left me putting my own on hold while devouring it.

The main character is a youth of the age of 17 that finds himself in the backwoods of a small town that his family newly moved to. Aiden, the main hero of the story, with his flaming red hair and cream colored skin is automatically seen as someone non-human by the locals who have put it upon themselves to eradicate the Sidhe; magical, elven humanoids that also live nearby.

Asher and Severe are two of the Sidhe that find themselves drawn to aiding Aiden and claiming him. Together they save him multiple times from the dangers the town posses, teach him of his birthright and introduce him to the forbidden art of magic, which he possesses a natural talent of.

A warning though about this wonderful art of fiction, and that is it is filled with every sort of love that one can comprehend. There is heterosexual, homosexual, platonic, and incest.

For those interested in discovering the world of the Under Dark, the realm within our world that holds magic and all its creatures, I suggest looking into the first five chapters which are free. The following is the author’s descriptions of a few of her characters. Also, I wanted to mention that there is no editing and so there sometimes are areas with poor grammar or names reversed. For those that like graphic novels, they have created one following the story exactly, however I personally did not enjoy the art style, and I felt there was more understanding of the character’s thoughts and feelings in the actual books, but they can be found on amazon.

Adian Walsh

thedarkearth1Aidan’s adoptive mother, Anna, discovered him as a baby alone in the woods in Devil’s Ridge.  He knows nothing of his birth family and doesn’t care to, because they abandoned him. But circumstances force them to move in with Anna’s father, Grandfather Patrick, on the Ridge.  There Aidan meets Asher Vane, a leader among a mysterious people known as the Sidhe.  Asher claims Aidan is a Sidhe and is determined to take Aidan back to his people.  Will he go?

Asher Vane

thedarkearth2Asher is a Dark Prince of the Sidhe, an elven race that makes the Dark Earth their home.  He recognizes Aidan as one of his people and is intent on bringing the youngling home.  Though he tries to resist, Asher finds himself in love with Aidan and doing things that he should not to please the boy.  One of those things in interfering in human activities to save Aidan’s adoptive family from the depredations of the cult known only as the Clan.  These actions could lead to a terrible war.

Grandfather Patrick

thedarkearth3Grandfather Patrick is Anna’s father and the leader of the cult known only as the Clan who worships a dread goddess known as Cybella.  He hates the Sidhe with an unquenchable passion.  He recognizes Aidan as one of them and, despite his unnatural attraction to the boy, is determined to use Aidan to start a war between the Sidhe and the Clan.  But then Asher Vane comes onto his land, intent on taking Aidan and the war he wants may be within reach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dragon’s Tongue – Laura J. Underwood

Dragon’s Tongue is the typical magic wielding, overly powerful and charismatic book that I enjoy when it comes to fantasy. I am someone that likes my main character to be “special.” This is usually almost always the case, as one of the reasons most authors have their main character the focus of their story is due to them having that special quality. But more than just being special, I like my main characters to be secretly powerful, and their weakness being them not realizing it. This is the case in Dragon’s Tongue.

Laura J. Underwood centers her book on a young minstrel, or bard, that has joined an academy where he can learn magic, but of course, his knowledge of is very limited and he starts as being a somewhat weak caster. Alaric, the protagonist, is better known for his music and playing. He is considered one of the best bards of his time, and this draws the attention of those around him. Through his music and storytelling, Alaric gains an ally from a very magically powerful and political influential schoolmate who offers to be Alaric’s friend, and uses those musical talents to add to his own personal charm. Along with gaining the attention of Fenelon, his new-found friend, he managed to catch the interest of a demon, Vagner.

Dragon’s Tongue takes you on the forbidden adventure of a bond between a young bard, and a high-level demon. Together thye learn the secrets hidden deep behind the vile of magic in Alaric, and how to stop Vagner’s master in obtaining it. The story contains betrayal, secrets, dark magic, music, humor, and of course, a lot of adventure. Though Laura created a powerful main character, she left him ignorant of most of it, which I like, and created Fenelon as the main wielder.

This book is a treasure you wont find in the bookstore. Though the writing is topnotch, the details unique on their own (as using summoning magic is more of a rarity), this is published from a very small company. I personally have contacted Laura J. Underwood when it became difficult to obtain her second book, Wandering Lark, and she was quick with a reply and very nice. I do dislike “ebooks” and am lucky enough to have the actual physical copies of all of the works Laura has produced for this series. I enjoy authors that take the time for their fans and appreciate all her work. Hopefully she will produce more.

Along with the 2 main books for this story, Laura J. Underwood created another 2 short stories, which she gave an autograph copy of one to me when I ordered the second book in the series. I do feel that these two thick volumes aren’t enough though, and believe more should be in store for Alaric. Of course, I tend to have that feeling with most books I read where I develop a deep fondness for the character.