Air Awakens (Air Awakens #1) by Elise Kova

GoodReads Summery:

A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond...

The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.

Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.

 About The Author

Elise Kova has always had a passion for storytelling. She wrote her first novella, a high-fantasy, in sixth grade. Over the years she's honed her love of literature with everything from fantasy to romance, science fiction to mystery, and whatever else catches her eye.

Elise lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where she's currently working on the next installment in her debut YA fantasy series: Air Awakens. She enjoys video games, anime, table-top role playing games, and many other forms of "geekdom." She loves talking with fans on Twitter (@EliseKova) and Facebook (/AuthorEliseKova). Visit her website, EliseKova.com/, for news and extras about her books!

 My Review

This epic is about the Royal family of the Solaris Empire, the common folks and elemental sorcerers. The emperor, which came from the western part of the empire, already had under his rule the eastern and the southern parts of the continent. Now he try to conquer also the northern part of the continent. Each part of the continent (North, South, East, and West) has a specific style and ethnicity. Place of origins are easily pointed out based on skin tone, hair color, eye color or speech patterns. Each part also, has it's own sorcerers with their unique elemental magic- The western - fire, the south - water, the north has earth and the east had air (but all their sorcerers had been persecuted, and no one left).

The story of the east wasn't look strange when you take in your account the fear, the suspiciousness and the hate of the people that hadn't have the magic in them. It all started of course with the abusing of these powers.But even this days there are always people who born with a magical ability (regardless of their social status) and they are feared by most. The epire has its use for this people and as long as they live in a separate tower, far away from the public it was sufficient. More then this the eldest son of the emperor - Eldric - the crown prince was a very powerful and very feared fire sorcerer himself, as his mother came from the west.

In this tower the people that their magical ability awakened taken to be trained to be much better and in control sorcerers. The tower exist in a physical closeness to the palace in the capital and its has a representative in the congress. The representative always took care to keep a low profile.

In the beginning of the book we meet Vhalla Yarl , a library apprentice that just wanted to do her job, and to do it well. She and her father came from the east after the death of her mother in an epidemic illness. Her father serve as a guard of the palace and since young age put Vahlla to apprenticeship in the Library. Even she was working very hard Vahalla manages to read the many of the books there. As a poor common, the best that Vhalla will ever be able to hope for is perhaps ascending to be the Library Minister.

All her world collapsed when, she learned she is a sorcerer and that has to learn how to control her powers. In a world that distrusted magic so much and especially Air magic that extinct long time ago as they considered too dangerous to exit. The turning point happened when she saves the crown prince only by sheer instinct and under the impression that he is his younger much more a charmer brother, Baldair,(the same golden prince that she had a crash on him since that day day that that he caught her when she fell from a high ladder in the library). So it's no wonder that like any normal person, she chooses denial. The problem is that her life is not her own anymore and everything start to change. Especially if Eldrik has any saying in this matter. Apparently she’s the first person in a century that has possessed the ability to use wind magic or the Last Windwalker.

Generally I struggle a little with her character - she was a whiny, childish, and inconsistent. It was actually hard to believe she supposed to be 18. She thought herself very smart but rarely has a thought that isn't fed to her. She also tend to bursts into tears every couple chapters and didn't like to try at anything new. another thing that bother me was her body language - she speak while she's looking down at the ground, or whisper, or mumble while wringing her hands or pulling at her shirt(an annoying childish ticks).

All that being said, I will note that the last couple of chapters have me hope for a more colorful Vhaala in the next book. And Aldrick's more complex personality is interesting so I will cautiously read book 2 and hope to be surprised.

Crown Prince Aldrik, - he's complex, anti-social, dark, handsome, brooding, snarky and clever, heir to the throne sorcerer. He is not an open book. He claims he is not a good guy.

Prince Baldair, is the golden boy. As the second son by a different mother (After the death of Eldrik mother, his father the emperor took a second wife this time from the south) and secure in his statues as a none magical person and as the prince who isn't indirect line to the crown, Baldair invest most his time as ladies man, and as the charming prince. He take care to lives up to his reputation and leave behind him many broken hearts . It's look like that he is quite the opposite of his brother. But Baldair easy way can be misleading.As he know his advantages,he does not hesitate to use it to manipulates things around him. I think that sometimes his character has more depths and dimensions then his brother and sometimes it is very hard to know what to think about him.

The relationships between the brothers are complicate and they swing between love and hate, But both of them will always stand for each other, one way or another.

Overall, I enjoyed this book it was very engaging fantasy novel and I am looking forward to the rest of the series

Forks by A.E. Davis - My Review

 

About The Author

A.E. Davis lives in Forks, Washington. She reads. She writes. Sometimes she hangs out with descendants from wolves and a few sparkly people.

Twitter: forks_davis

Facebook: Facebook profile

My Review

The story that takes place In Forks, Washington. And yes, it is connected to the Twilight series of books and movies.

The book start with Amber and her mother move to Forks (And her father is totally out of the picture - It isn't clear but he has a new life and a new family). Her mother suffer from some kind of emotional issues - the plot isn't clear about it but the little that shown to us - don't give her the title the parent of the the or the any responsible adult. As a mother myself I really didn't like her charterer - most of the time if the author didn't decide to to kill the parent/s, you can find a very busy parent (usually a working kind), another type that you typically find at YA literature is cold and distance that actually don't know how to deal with his offspring/s, you also meet all kinds of stepparents or foster houses, but this kind of emotionally childish kind that let his child take care of him you don't meet often . The weird thing is that I find that the main character use her poor mother for everything - from taking the car through the grocery list, when to come home and to asking for a permitting to date somebody- all this list isn't weird the weird thing that after all this fuss she actually doing whatever she want to do. So it make me wonder why bother at all - just leave your mother to her reading and her silly dates.

Amber is in high school student and drives herself there in her mother piece of junk of car (another weird thing - most of the story her mother didn't drive it, as she staying most of the the time at home and even let her daughter do all the grocery shopping, but on one hand she don't want to replace this hardly function car and on the other she didn't bother to take care and put some basic maintenance to it even though it's her daughter that drive it) .

Like in twilight - It's often raining and foggy and the sun come out and shines very rarely. When it grey and rainy most of the students can be find outside the classes and when it's sunny it is look almost deserted. There is something off about the kids she sees and meets at school, something sinister and dark that she can't except logically. and what she can't explain, she tend to shakes it off .

Another strange things that happen to her too many times were - first, that some of the students can bother the smell of cinnamon (which is don't make sense - if Vincent use it how come that his brother Viktor and his sister can't abhor it - here is the story suffer from logic failure). Second, students and other people in the community asking her who's side. This doesn't make sense to her.

On the day before the her first day to school she meet her first strange guy - that call himself Van. Latter she will discover that his real name is Vincent, and that he has a strange brother- Viktor (and that they have another sister - Violet - a girl in her class that she share with her a mutual dislike). Both of them are very attractive and she can't decide who she like better as she drawn to both of them.

At one point, she makes friends with another girl, Glinda, who was hostile on her first day. The relation between the two look like some kind of accuse of relationship. It feel like nothing real. Most of the effort is coming from Glinda herself, and actually when she and Glinda are going to some kind of party and Glinda "steal" Vincent from her by dancing with him most of the evening she felt jealous and betray and left both of them at the party. Even though she was drawn to him there was nothing that actually happening between them (and for that she can only take herself for she use all the worst cliche's of accuses not to be with him and spend most of her time with Vicktor)

As, you see the author keep using a lot of elements from twilight story in her book. and one of them is that at one point she goes on a Twilight Tour with Glinda, Vincent and Viktor where she meets an Quileute boy who calls himself Lucky(Jackob?) while on the La Push part of the tour.

Only when Amber attacked at a party by two "normal" boys, and saved by Victoer and Vincent she is willing to acknowledge that the brother are vampires and vampires and werewolf are a real thing. This happen when she enlightened by Lucky during one on one tour with him. (And here is another logic failure - Vincent and Vicktor isn't just different in there looks - there are other differences that set them a part - Body temp. - Victor has very low temp. - he is cold to touch and Vincent has very high temp. - and he is very hot to touch. The cinnamon smell is a repellent to Vicktor and something that Vincent eat all the time).

Ok, the fact is that most of the time the story is a mess. Nothing really makes any sense. While the idea it based on is really great- The story of Twilight is  a real thing, it was drags and drags. Never the less, it look like that it caught me because of its potential.

Sapphique (Incarceron, #2) by Catherine Fisher - My Revew

GoodReads Summery

Finn has escaped Incarceron only to find that he must defend his right to the throne from another challenger. His life and Claudia's hang on Finn convincing the Court that he is the lost prince, even though he has his own doubts about being the true heir.

My Review

Sapphique picks up right where Incarceron left off. Like the first book, the story still switches from Outside to Inside. If in Incarceron, only the prison wing where our heroes started from was explained, and on the Outside, only the castle and the Wardens Manor were described, SAPPHIQUE takes us on a grand magical tour - Here we see more of the vastness of the Prison - more towns traveled through, a multitude of gangs attacking, different lands, places to explore. At the same is true for the Outside.

In this sequel, Finn's been sprung out of one prison and into another, finding himself trapped in the usual politicking . The outside believe that he is the lost prince Giles and the future king of the Realm. But he still can't remember his past life and plagued by his memories from Incarceron (and by the idea that his friends still trapped in Incarceron). When trying to make sense, he got nothing but strange seizures and blackouts. The Queen is also scheming to deny Claudia and Finn any chance of happiness, let alone control of the realm.

To make things worse there is a second Prince Giles that came to challenge his claims. This someone looking just like Finn but is much more adept at playing the political game shows up, nobody knows who the real prince is.

Romance? Book one built up so much anticipation for his reunion with Claudia. Finn and Claudia are betrothed, that doesn’t necessarily mean love, but they intend on ruling the Realm as Queen and King (Attia is desperate to see Finn again, but he barely gives her a thought). Both are busy battling their own monsters in the form of power mongers intent on keeping Protocol and the Realm from change, and Finn off the thrown. It is also, hard to love someone when you have doubts in him and Claudia doubts that Finn is the real Giles. It is also difficult when this person suffer from sullen and moody nature. So she can't help herself but to questions him time and again and she is cold and frustrated. But Finn is desperate for affirmation and even though he remembers very little about his past, when Claudia compare him to the other guy ahe start to believes rhat he is the real missing heir to the throne.

So if Claudia started in this book as obnoxious and self- centered.. as the plot went, her character softened much. As much she seems fearless I can't really see her ever surviving the Prison.

Inside Incarceron- Attia and Keiro try to find a way to escape on their own. They go through more wings of the prison. Each wing is unique and interesting to read about. The Incarceron itself leads them through its vastness as they try to find the way to the prisons heart. While Keiro lost faith in his oath brother and is determined to find a way outside, Attia meets up with magician named Rix who is in possession of Saqqhique's glove, which can connect a person's mind to Incarceron .So in a way the glove might be another way to escape the prison and Attia will do anything to possess the glove herself. So once again, the myth of Sapphique's escape plays an important part, as do the Steel Wolves and their opposition to Protocol/Era. While Claudia and Finn handles the court intrigue, Jared tries to figure out a way to open the Portal, and what to do about the illness that is out to kill him sooner rather than later.

So if you wanted to know if Finn was really Giles, if Kiero would escape Incarceron and if the Glove was the answer to it all....

Incarceron (Incarceron #1) by Catherine Fisher - My Review

GoodReads Summery

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ..

My Review

The concept of Incarceron is fascinating : a very alive prison which Originally was created to "take care" of its inmates by educating, civilizing, and nurturing them, creating an Utopian society. After a time something had change - instead of Utopian society the inmates turn to savage tribes. Incarceron place is so big - it contains not only cells, metal forests, dilapidated cites and vast wilderness. It is a metal world where nothing is created or wasted and where all who live there, lives in a cutthroat world, fighting for food and survival. As a live identity, Incarceron observes everything that goes on inside it's walls, with its red seeing eyes. Omnipresent to the mortals within, it is the world they have ever known. As time pass by this place had been forgotten as no one can enter and no one can leave its place. Very few prisoners believe that there is an outside, however makes escape seems impossible. Our main character Finn believe in it too.

Finn, is a seventeen year old boy who was created by the technology that runs Incarceron. He knows nothing about his past. He only know that two years ago, he woke in a dark squalid cell , mad with fear and lost memories. Finn started to seeks answers. Finn believes that there's another place outside Incarceron and he might have came there. Finn, and his friends - Keiro, Attia and Gildas try to escape the prison like many have. But they have something others didn't- the one person with the visions of the outside believed to be given to him by Sapphique - they believe that Finn is a starseer - this assumption got stronger when Finn discovers a a crystal key with the same strange marking as the tattoo on his wrist. The key allows him to communicate with a mysterious girl name Claudia, who claims that she's from the Outside.....

The outside world, is trapped in time by the royal dynasty's will. There are protocols, that mingle technology with the 17th century customs. The Protocol the banned usage of anything automated. So while their world is run by computers, society is living in the past. So beside the time the protocol is one of the resons that the people outside forgot about the experience that was Incarceron.

Claudia is the daughter of Incarceron's Warden. She lives in a manor house stuck in a 17th century world run by computers. in a world that run buy the protocol -were artists and poets are doomed to endless repetitions of the past. She also, had been arranged to marry the spoiled prince of the realm. The problem - the royal heir Giles at age 15, had been killed in a riding accident and now Claudia is forced into an engagement with his snarky step-brother, Caspar.

This engagement is the result of the plotting of her powerful father the Warden. he had planed this since she was at age of 5 and prepared her to become queen. Claudia is terrified of him. Frustrated with her bleak future and cutthroat political games in which she finds herself ensnared. Claudia feel that things are not what they seem, that things are corrupt. She determined to prove that. she right - the monarchy has too many secrets. One of them is Incarceron, so when she finds a crystal key in her father's study (the Warden knows the secrets of Incarceron, but he has no plans to share them, not even to his only daughter), she finds a link to a world that is nothing like the ideal utopia. with this key. she also found that she can communicate with Finn on the other side.

So now - Finn and Claudia, crossed paths and their all world turned upside down. Finn want to escape, convinced by strange visions, the mysterious crystal key, and the legend of Sapphique, the only man who ever escaped Incarceron, he is determined to escape as well. Claudia is surprised that Finn wants to escape since the outside world has been told Incarceron is somewhat of a paradise. She has her own problems because she is slated to marry this creepy future king. She agrees to help him escape. She want the adventure and its thrill.

The book switches back and forth between Claudia and Finn's. The switches were often very quick - only page or two for each person's story. Some people might find the rapid switches between viewpoints a bit jarring.

Catherine Fisher

Catherine Fisher was born in Newport, Wales. She graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in English and a fascination for myth and history. She has worked in education and archaeology and as a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Glamorgan. She is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.

Catherine is an acclaimed poet and novelist, regularly lecturing and giving readings to groups of all ages. She leads sessions for teachers and librarians and is an experienced broadcaster and adjudicator. She lives in Newport, Gwent.

Catherine has won many awards and much critical acclaim for her work. Her poetry has appeared in leading periodicals and anthologies and her volume Immrama won the WAC Young Writers' Prize. She won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 1990.

Her first novel, The Conjuror's Game, was shortlisted for the Smarties Books prize and The Snow-Walker's Son for the W.H.Smith Award. Equally acclaimed is her quartet The Book of the Crow, a classic of fantasy fiction.

The Oracle, the first volume in the Oracle trilogy, blends Egyptian and Greek elements of magic and adventure and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Books prize. The trilogy was an international bestseller and has appeared in over twenty languages. The Candleman won the Welsh Books Council's Tir Na n'Og Prize and Catherine was also shortlisted for the remarkable Corbenic, a modern re-inventing of the Grail legend.

Her futuristic novel Incarceron was published to widespread praise in 2007, winning the Mythopoeic Society of America's Children's Fiction Award and selected by The Times as its Children's Book of the Year. The sequel, Sapphique, was published in September 2008.

The Snow-Walker Trilogy (The Snow Walker, #1-3) by Catherine Fisher - My Review

Summery from Goodreads:

From the swirling mists and icy depths beyond the edge of the world came the snow-walker Gudrun, to rule the Jarl's people with fear and sorcery. But a small band of outlaws are prepared to risk their lives to defeat Gudrun and restore the land to its rightful leader. This trilogy follows them in their quest, from the first terrifying journey to meet the mysterious snow-walker's son, to the final battle in the lands beyond the rainbow bridge. The Snow-walker's Son follows Jessa and Thorkil who, are sent to Thrasirshall in the empty wastelands to live with the mysterious Kari, Gudrun's son. Led to believe Kari is some kind of monster they are shocked to discover he is a snow-walker, just like Gudrun, except with the desire to do good rather than evil. Together they journey back to the Jarshold to defeat Gudrun. In The Empty Hand Gudrun seeks revenge on those who banished her and sends a terrifying, faceless creature to the Jarlshold, and in The Soul Thieves, Kari and his companions must travel to the land of the snow-walkers to claim back the precious souls Gudrun has stolen. Here, Kari and Gudrun, mother and son and ultimate opponents, must fight their final battle.

My Review 

Another wonderful magical haunting, icy fantasy which derived from Norse legend from the workshop of Catherine Fisher (Catherine Fisher is the author of the Incarceron Trilogy which I love too). as an author, Catherine Fisher, should be far, far better known because she has a rare gift of being able to tell gripping stories in beautiful, shapely prose

The story has all the right elements of a good epic - good rebel-turned-King, mysterious monsters, magic, scheming chancellor, father-figure mentor/warrior, clever bard, spunky heroine, Plenty of quests and fell monsters and creepy woods and etc. It has the spirit of the Norwegian folklore - giants, werewolves, dragon boats and spells....

The setting - Jarlsholm , painted sparsely though strikingly developed. It has all the proper fantasy elements: evil Queen. Gudrun is the right villain- She is threatening, cold, mysterious, and totally ruthless). She can seizes peoples minds and controls them. Gudrun rules the land (and her husband) through fear. Her heart is so cold that it is very easy for her to exiled her own son and to spread malicious rumors about him. Her only weakness: her reflection. It is the reason there are no mirrors in the hold.

Here is 2 of Gudrun brightest sayings which ring so much wisdom-

"'Is the sorrow of power, and its delight.'"

"'They will never love you,' she said, 'never trust you. Power like ours is a terror to them.'"

The story is written in the third person, but is primarily from the vantage point of Jessa. We are never told how old she is, but in the first book, it seems as though she is older than ten, but younger than twenty, maybe about 14 or 15 .She is a feisty heroine. Very independent, But also thoughtful and caring wise and mature for her age. when Jessa and her cousin Thorkil banished to icy Thrasirshall, by Gudrun, he had been afraid to be in the same place with Gudrun's son - Kari, who rumored to be a monster. But then, she finds that Kari is a lonely young boy who has the power to destroy his scheming sorceress mother, and has been sent away because of that.

Kari is awesome! He is shy but super powerful and kind (and so unlike his cold mother) - he has the power to save them all and the the power to match his mother. he stand at the main heart of the plot - the battle between Kari and his mother represent, the battle between love vs. hate, good vs. evil and courage vs. fear, and truth vs. lie.

Even though or spite of him being kept locked in a dungeon for all of his childhood, he still could be kind and watchful and looked in wonder around him. I loves how the ravens follow him everywhere and through their eyes he could watch and learn what happening in the out side world.

Other characters - Kari's caretaker, the kind Brocheal, Skapti, the mysterious poet/skald(troubadour), Hakon, the slave boy, and finally Wulfgar, the new chosen Jarl, after Gudrun disappearance.

Book 1-  The Snow-walker's Son - Jessa and her cousin Thorkil banished by the evil witch Gudrun (the wife of the current Jarl and a sorceress) from an ice kingdom to the North), to Thrasirshall. The reason for this banishment was because their fathers where loyal to the rightful ex-jarl (king) of Jarlshold. Here they will be incarcerated with Gudrun's son Kari; about whom there are the most terrible tales. He is rumored to be half-man, half-beast and is a figure of dread. After an endless journey, Thorkil and Jessa arrive and, at last meet Kari. He is not as they feared but is a slight winsome young man. His only terror is that he, too, has the power. But he is determined to use the magic wisely

Book 2 - The Empty Hand. The evil Snow-Walker Queen is gone and a good king reigns. But a mysterious creature is carving a path of destruction towards the king's castle . The creature summoned and sent by Gudrun to cause destruction in the kingdom of Wulfgar. Kari Ragnarrson tells his friends of old that he knows why the creature is coming: he said that it had been sent by Gudrun as a test for him, a test of the powers which he has inherited from her. Ultimately, Kari must come to terms with the full strength of his powers in order to win his struggle and defeat the curse of Gudrun. It is a battle of the spirit which Kari knows he must win

Book 3 - The Soul Thieves. It is dramatic conclusion to the "Snow-Walker" trilogy - Gudrun places an enchantment of frost and dreams upon the people of the Jarlshold and steals the soul of the Jarl's young bride. To reclaim the girl, Jessa and her friends must now begin a perilous quest to the land of Snow-Walkers, a place not shown on any map. They must journey beyond the edge of the world, beyond the rift into darkness, where the final battle between Gudrun and her son must take place.

Catherine Fisher

Catherine Fisher was born in Newport, Wales. She graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in English and a fascination for myth and history. She has worked in education and archaeology and as a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Glamorgan. She is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.

Catherine is an acclaimed poet and novelist, regularly lecturing and giving readings to groups of all ages. She leads sessions for teachers and librarians and is an experienced broadcaster and adjudicator. She lives in Newport, Gwent.

Catherine has won many awards and much critical acclaim for her work. Her poetry has appeared in leading periodicals and anthologies and her volume Immrama won the WAC Young Writers' Prize. She won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 1990.

Her first novel, The Conjuror's Game, was shortlisted for the Smarties Books prize and The Snow-Walker's Son for the W.H.Smith Award. Equally acclaimed is her quartet The Book of the Crow, a classic of fantasy fiction.

The Oracle, the first volume in the Oracle trilogy, blends Egyptian and Greek elements of magic and adventure and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Books prize. The trilogy was an international bestseller and has appeared in over twenty languages. The Candleman won the Welsh Books Council's Tir Na n'Og Prize and Catherine was also shortlisted for the remarkable Corbenic, a modern re-inventing of the Grail legend.

Her futuristic novel Incarceron was published to widespread praise in 2007, winning the Mythopoeic Society of America's Children's Fiction Award and selected by The Times as its Children's Book of the Year. The sequel, Sapphique, was published in September 2008.

Gifted Thief (Highland Magic, #1) by Helen Harper - My Review

Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)

by Helen Harper

GoodReads Summery:

Orphan. Runaway. Thief.

Since the moment I was ripped from my mother's womb, I've been an outcast amongst my own kind. The Sidhe might possess magical Gifts, unbelievable wealth and unfathomable power but I don't want a thing to do with them. I ran away from their lands in the Highlands of Scotland when I was eleven years old and I've never looked back. I don't need a Clan. I've got my own family of highly skilled thieves who mean more to me than any Sidhe ever could.

Unfortunately for me, the playboy heir to the Moncrieffe Clan has something I desperately need. To get it back, I'm going to have to plunge myself back into that world, no matter what the consequences may be. I suppose it's just as well I have sense of humour. I think I'm going to need it

My Review

 I received this copy from NetGalley.

Nameless, outcast, clanless (In Scotland, there are two kinds of people - Clan and clanless), silver hair, purple eyes sidhe. As a child she lived at the Bull of the Scrymgeour clan castle there they treated her less then a servant. No Body bother to tell her what happened to her parents, only hearing ugly rumors. Only eleven on mere of a whim she deiced to ran away from that life .

On the road she met and Taken by Taylor. When he ask for her name she deiced to name herself Integrity. Since then Taylor thought her the life of a thief, wanting nothing to do with clans and the sidhe. Despite being a thief she managed to live up to her name. She would steal without batting an eye, but she had a moral code: She wont take anything that would have sentimental value. She also, considered her fellow thieves - Taylor, Lexie, Brochan and Speck to be her 'real family and for keeping them safe she will do anything and the same they will do foe her.

One day she got a beautiful written summing to the court. She had no intention of going back. But they pulled her back kicking and screaming into their world of deceit and magical manipulation.
The one who responsible for pulling her back is Byron, prince charming of the clans. If she wont accept all her friends end up in jail, or with a hit on them. The only way to save her true family is to go back to the life she left behind.

Their she discovered that magic is failing, and they must have the heir of Clan Adair to help them. In order to help access the Foinse, where the magic is, she needs her true name. She doesn't have one! She ran away before she received it and therefore doesn't have her Sidhe gifts either. Wonder what they will turn out to be?

She is the last surviving member of her clan, it was all but wiped out, leaving a black mark in everyone’s memory. The deeper Integrity delves into her clan history the more she discovers that the history has been rewritten by someone who wishes determined to kill her in the process (What really happened to Clan Adair? Was Integrity's father really the cruel person he's claimed to be? If so, why do the Clanless keep saying otherwise? Why is Clan Adair being erased from history? Why is Integrity's life being threatened?).

The heroin- Integrity- Witty, unapologetic, determined, independent, and very smart. When forcing into a territory where no one liked her, she was holding her head high and made damn sure no one knew she was a bit intimidated. She also doesn't like violence, so she handle most of the "bad stuff" cunningly wise. One flow - loving pink color ( I understand the reason behind the using of this flow even it really annoying (because I couldn't relate to it), when, women are perceived as "girly girls" or "tomboys", it is kind of mixing both. Other flow - She love to through, in every opportunity, silly jokes that make most people groan or just stare. Her 'jokes' are so silly, they are amusing!

Side characters-

1. Byron Moncrieffe- the equivalent of a fae prince. He could be charming, sweet, and seductive. He also knew how to be manipulative. Integrity and many others perceived him as some pompous, playboy prince, but she was supried to discover otherwise. There is plenty of sizzling chemistry between Byron and Integrity but they both have their own agendas and things are about to get really interesting as these strong compelling characters demand the reader’s attention in this steady to fast paced and smooth flowing plot full of suspense, action and a touch of romance.

2. Integrity's 'real family'- Taylor, Lexie, Brochan and Speck. There is a level of complete trust and camaraderie between them. They are there for each other no matter what.

3. Bob - very small genie who lives in the "letter opener"(scimitar) and who is ready to grant three wishes to Integrity! Integrity doesn't fall for it -she knows how genies and wishes turn out after all!

My problem - I didn't really figure the world building of the story: How the the world and Scotland created ? How the Clan and clanless become to be? How come the Sidhe turn to be the dominant species ? Where exactly the veil is and why there is a place of Fomorians is dangerous? and why the hall you have to go to the highland through north Europe?

Overall - I think that the readers will have adrenaline pumping thrills from the fast pacing plot . The scenes are well written with vivid details that make it easy for the reader to become caught up in the story and the characters and the intriguing events ensure that the readers can’t put the story down. So in sum - I can't wait for book two. I'm very very glad it is coming out soon.

About Helen Harper

After teaching English literature in the UK, Japan and Malaysia, Helen Harper left behind the world of education following the worldwide success of her Blood Destiny series of books. She is a professional member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and writes full time although she still fits in creative writing workshops with schools along with volunteering to teach reading to a group of young Myanmar refugees. That’s not to mention the procession of stray cats which seem to find their way to her door!

Helen has always been a book lover, devouring science fiction and fantasy tales when she was a child growing up in Scotland.

From almost the moment I learnt to read, I fell in love with the escapism provided by those genres. No matter how bad life gets, you can always find a route out, even if only temporarily, in the pages of a good book.

— Helen Harper

The growth of urban fantasy fascinated her - the mix of reality and fantasy along with strong heroic female characters appealed from the very beginning, and inspired her to write her own. No-one is more astonished or thrilled than her that her characters have found an audience and that her books have achieved average reviews of 4 to 5 stars on Amazon and GoodReads.
Helen currently lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with far too many cats – not to mention the dragons, fairies, demons, wizards and vampires that seem to keep appearing from nowhere!

The Seventh Bride by T Kingfisher - My Review

Goodreads Summery: Young Rhea is a miller’s daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don’t turn down lords - no matter how sinister they may seem - Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement.

Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.”

With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.

 About the Author

T. Kingfisher. or Ursula Vernon is a freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She is best known for the webcomic Digger and the children's books Dragonbreath and Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew. Ursula is also a prolific painter and the creator of the Biting Pear of Salamanca, a work which became an internet meme in the form of the "LOL WUT" pear.

Ursula's cover for Best in Show won the 2003 Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration. She was nominated for the 2006 Eisner Awards in the category Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition for her work on Digger. She was also a guest of honor at Midwest FurFest 2004 and 2009, and the Artist Guest of Honor at Further Confusion 2010.

The daughter of an artist, she attempted to rebel and become a scientist, but in the end couldn’t fight her destiny. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she writes, draws, and in her words, “creates weird thingies.”

 My Review

This folk tales is the one of the less well-known folk tales. The story of Bluebeard, is about an aristocrat who has married several wives. who have ominously disappeared, is dusted off and adapted by T. Kingfisher in The Seventh Bride, a middle grade/young adult fantasy. (Note: Kingfisher is a pen name for Ursula Vernon, the Nebula award-winning author of Jackalope Wives) There are other variations of this story, like- The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, The Robber Bridegroom by The Brothers Grimm and Bluebeard by Charles Perrault.

Rhea is a miller's daughter with a hint of something special about her. She is headstrong, feisty and courageous, (taking out evil swans when they eat her lunch). Most of her time spent in her father's mill keeping the gremlins out of the flour. After being spotted by Lord Crevan she becomes engaged to him. It was against her will - as you well know that going against the noble is really really dangerous - people can lost every thing they have, them and the people  which  close to them .

With the wedding approaching Crevan demands that she visit him at his estate. All the way she know that something is very very wrong with this offer and this path only straighten her fear. On the way she is meeting the hedgehog. I, loved this familiar of her who got her out of a tight spot more than once .

She cannot figure out why he would want to marry her. She is young, average looking, and not of his status and she has never met him.  But when she found out that his lordship has a touch of magic to him, she really started to be afraid of it. As we said she don't have much choice as she don't want to mess with the nobility,  so she has to accept his demand ans sets off on a magical white road which go across a forest full of horror.

Staying true to the original story she discovers that she is to be the latest in a line of wives for Lord Crevan and having no desire to end up like the Clock Wife or the Golem Wife Rhea fulfills tasks set for her that seem impossible. Of course, Lord Cravan immediately has to leave  and when he will be back he will give her her first mission and if she fail he will kill her. meanwhile,  she had the freedom to explore the many rooms of his manor The only place she is expressly forbidden to enter are his rooms. On her first day she is shocked to discover that a. she is not the first wife. b. the other wives more or less still living. c. she can't run away.

The other wives were fascinating - a silent woman with a terribly scarred throat, a woman with bandaged eyes, Maria a fat woman who acts as their cook, and others (it is very easy to fell in love with Maria). From each wife the lord has taken something that he he clam that she never notice about and henceforth don't need it.

Great writing and a nice spin on Bluebeard has ensured. It is humorous but it also gets darker as the book goes on.

Spindle (Two Monarchies Sequence, #1) by W.R. Gingell - My review + Giveaway

Woken by a kiss, Poly finds herself in an alien world where three hundred years have passed and everyone she has ever known is dead. Luck, the enchanter who woke her, seems to think she is the princess. Understandable, since he found her asleep on the princess’ bed, in the royal suite, and dressed in the princess’ clothes.  

GoodReads Summery:

She’s not a princess . . . but then, he’s no prince.

Polyhymnia is deep in enchanted sleep. High in a tower, behind an impenetrable barrier of magical thorns, she sleeps, dreams, and falls ever deeper into her curse.
Woken by a kiss, Poly finds herself in an alien world where three hundred years have passed and everyone she has ever known is dead. Luck, the enchanter who woke her, seems to think she is the princess. Understandable, since he found her asleep on the princess’ bed, in the royal suite, and dressed in the princess’ clothes.
Who cursed Poly? Why is someone trying to kill her and Luck? Why can’t she stop falling asleep?
And why does her hair keep growing?

Sometimes breaking the curse is just the beginning of the journey.

About the Author:

W.R. Gingell is a Tasmanian author who lives in a house with a green door. She spends her time reading, drinking an inordinate amount of tea, and slouching in front of the fire to write. Like Peter Pan, she never really grew up, and is still occasionally to be found climbing trees. http://wrgingell.com/


Well. I have a dog. And books. Oh, so many books. One really quite nice husband.

I write mostly YA Fantasy, but branch out occasionally into Sci-Fi and New Adult Fantasy. I’m working on a couple of YA Christian Novels as well, but since those are a lot harder to write, they most likely won’t see the light of day for some time.

My books are available at Createspace, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords, and other online bookstores, in ebook and paperback formats. My short fiction is available on QuarterReads also.

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What If…?

One of the questions I get asked the most is How do you come up with your ideas? With Spindle, as with most of my books, I started with a fairy-tale and a what if? in mind. A what if? can be anything from what if they bumped off Cinderella and shanghaied the fairy godmother into prettying up one of the ugly stepsisters? to what if Cinderella got murdered after she and the prince had their happily ever after? (Why, yes! Most of my Cinderella ideas do end up with her dead. Why do you ask...?)

With Spindle my what if? was what if Sleeping Beauty wasn’t actually the princess? From that first little seedling of what if? I also ended up with what if she slept for more than three hundred years instead of one hundred? I was fascinated with the thought of how much life would have changed for her. Language would have evolved and passed her by, her loved ones and family would almost certainly be dead, and both the political and social aspects of life would have changed completely.

To these what if?s I added a third one: what if Sleeping Beauty couldn’t trust her own memories? What if she couldn’t remember who put her to sleep, and why? This was the what if? I found most challenging. A character who can’t trust her own memory isn’t the most reliable narrator in the world, and at first I wasn’t sure how I could do it without confusing the character, my readers, and myself. Once I had that germ of an idea, though, it was just a matter of following through. 

After that, my what if?s simply grew. What if Sleeping Beauty’s name was Poly? What if it was an enchanter who rescued her? What if he was paid to rescue her? What if Poly, having been woken from a curse, found herself plunged into a scenario just as dangerous and far more bewildering than cursed sleep? What if there were exploding spells and growing hair and poisoned chocolates?

And so Spindle grew, and expanded, and took on a life of its own. I’m here today to present to you a book that is no longer quite Sleeping Beauty, but something a little different– in the hopes that it plants a few of those twisty little what if?s in you, too.

Other Books: 

Wolfskin

‘If you want adventure, you have to march right up to it and kick it in the shins . . .’

At fourteen, barefoot and running wild, Rose is delighted to be apprenticed to Akiva, the witch of the forest. She thinks it will be all enchantment and excitement, and not so much fuss about baths. The reality is much more sober and practical- that is, until she meets a mysterious wolf in the forest and is tricked into stepping off the path . . .

In young, naive Rose, Bastian sees a way of escape. Cursed to remain in the shape of a wolf after running afoul of a powerful enchantress, he has lived many decades under a spell, and now he is both desperate and ruthless. But by breaking part of Bastian’s curse, Rose has caught the attention of Cassandra, the enchantress who cursed him: and Cassandra is by no means ready to forgive and forget.

Meanwhile, wardens have been disappearing from the forest, one by one. Rose is certain that Cassandra is behind the disappearances, but can she and Bastian get to the bottom of the matter before Akiva disappears as well? And are Bastian’s motives entirely to be trusted?

Sometimes the little girl in the red hood doesn’t get eaten, and sometimes the wolf isn’t the most frightening thing in the forest.

Available at: Createspace (Paperback) Amazon(Kindle/Paperback), Itunes, and Kobo

Masque 

(The Two Monarchies Sequence)

Beauty met the Beast and there was . . . Bloody murder?

It’s the Annual Ambassadorial Ball in Glause, and Lady Isabella Farrah, the daughter of New Civet’s Ambassador, is feeling pleasantly scintillated.

In the library is Lord Pecus, a charming gentleman whose double mask hides a beastly face, and who has decided that Isabella is the very person to break the Pecus curse.

In the ball-room is young Lord Topher, who is rapidly falling in love with an older woman.

And in the card-room, lying in a pool of his own blood, is the body of one of Isabella’s oldest friends: Raoul, Civet’s Head Guardsman. The papers sewn into his sash seem to suggest espionage gone wrong, but Isabella is not so certain.

Lord Pecus, as Commander of the Watch, is of the opinion that Isabella should keep out of the investigation and out of danger. Isabella is of the opinion that it is her murder to investigate, and that what a certain Beast-Lord doesn’t know won’t hurt him. . . .

Will Isabella find the murderer before Lord Pecus does, or will she end her investigation as a bloody spatter on the parlour floor?

Available at: Createspace, Amazon(Kindle/Paperback), Itunes, Smashwords, and Kobo.

A Time-Traveller’s Best Friend: Volume One

Meet Marx. Meet Kez. Marx is a small, angry man with a time machine and a chip on his shoulder. Kez is a homicidal little girl with a price on her head and a penchant for kicking people where it hurts the most.

When Marx crash-lands on Second World, he has no idea that he has plunged head-first into the middle of an assassination plot- and nuclear war. Can our hero escape the planet using only his wits, a couple of lemons, and the time-traveller’s best friend- his trusty shifting spanner?

A Time-Traveller’s Best Friend: Volume One is a novella-length volume of Kez and Marx’s adventures in time and space as they try to stay one step ahead of doom, certain death, and the Time Corp.

Available on Createspace, Amazon(Kindle/Paperback).

Ruth and the Ghost

He’s dead. She’s not- but someone is poisoning her.

When Ruth, sick and ailing, moves into her inherited estate in England, she brings with her a stepmother and a stepsister- and a murderer. But that’s nothing compared with what she finds there…

George is dead, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a bit of fun. Unfortunately for Ruth, his idea of fun is making sure that his new friend stays with him. Forever.

Can Ruth survive a poisoning murderer and a murderous ghost, or will her inheritance be the death of her?

Ruth and the Ghost is a Kindle Short.

My Review

First !Thanks to Netgally for the opportunity to read this book.

Well, well, Mrs, Gingell said that it was fun writing this book (not editing of course), on my side it was most fun reading it (as a good writing story should do to a reader - I can't erase the smile of my face while I'm writing this review - I love a book with so much sense of humor. So many people forget how much, humor is important/ It is one of the cornerstone that make life bearable.

So now to the "Spindle" - basically Mrs. Gingell took the old fairy tale of sleeping beauty and create something else, something very refreshing, something that has magic, anti-magic and um-magic.

The characters in the plot are witty, clever and very loveable( most of the good guys). The main heroine is Polly and she isn't a princess, from a mysterious, some one put a curse on her that pot her to sleep for 300 years. But when she is kissed awake from a sleeping curse she's been under broken, by the very outrageous annoying Luck, which done it due to a contract he had to accomplish.

That is also when she, discover that everyone thinks she is a princess.

Luck is no prince either, in fact he's the furthest thing from it, he's an enchenter, a very powerful one, who had been sent to find the sleeping princess and bring her back to the capital to settle a shady government issue. He is very dedicated to his profession to the level of forgetting everything else. He tend to scattered, and chase anything that interest him at the moment. This make him very hard to live with.

Poly find that, he wont do anything that wont ignite his interest, he tend to forget that she have a personal space, and to get some answers from him can give anyone an Headache. As a person who grow in the court she used to people with manners, even though as one who considered as person without magic in a world that most of the people have kind of level of it, she also suffered from abusing. The real princess and her ladies in waiting made her as a target to bulling. As an orphan, there weren't any parents around to protect her from this. But still as a lay in waiting she had the privilege to get an education in history, politics and the in the theory of magic.

When Luck wake her from her sleep she discover that the world had change so much. It's not just the language, and the fashion. She woke up to find two states instead of three. That Civet, she knew turned to New Civet by swallowing Parras. In the New Civet aren't any monarch anymore, but a state that govern by a council. It happened while she was a sleep, when Civet marched to conquer Parss, and their army end in a frozen amber for 300 years. She also learned that the council had more fractions then the old kingdom and some of them, the Royalists are trying to bring the monarchy role back. The royalist think that she is the princess and the key for fulfill their interest.

Anyway Luck claim she has magic and not bother to believe her claim that she don't have any.He also claim that her none-existing ,magic interfere with his and this is why they find themselves in others places them he originally intend or that thing just ended totally different. So this is why he deiced to take her to his village, so he can straight some of the things.He also inform her to hurry so they can catch it in the place that it stay right now. The reason that the village is so shifty is the Forest that it build beside. It has a very raw magical elements, foundations that can influence anything.

He also forget to mention that the people of this village admire ans worship him as god, because his age (150 years)and his strong abilities in magic. He also has a lot of females admirers that each of them tend to look on him dreamily hoping to catch his green eyes in more than fleetly stare.But this was ok only till Poly arrived, every body was shocked to learn that Poly not impress, that she dare to stand on her opinions, and if she have to chastise him she will do it without a second thought.

First time in her life Poly stand in the center of attention, especially male attention and while it was weird (as in the court she had to be invisible - the last abused she had suffer from the princess was cutting her short) in the beginning she started to like it very very much. What I loved in this story that image of Poly wasn't perfect , yes she was pretty but she also was short sighted and had to wear glasses.

In one of the more coherent explanations that he usually gives her she learn that there are 3 kins of magic - the regular one which is common, anti-magic which is less common and un-magic which is very rare. Poly could saw magic in colors. In a very beautiful descriptions the author gave Ploy the ability to see that each person has a different color to his magic ( for exemple Luck has golden magic, Michael has silver, Merissa has red and so on). which create world full of colorful striped of magics. She also learn she can manipulate this stripes of colors.

Poly learned that she has big gaps in her memory. Some things didn't add up. She also discover that the name Mordion ignite bad feelings for some reason and latter it also trigger some of her lost memories. With this, she learned that her powers were stolen, and that her old self hide some of of it with hints how to bring them back. Along this she started to understand why such unimportant lady , in waiting as her was put under a curse in the first place

Girl From Above: Escape (The 1000 Revolution #2) by Pippa DaCosta - My Review

GoodReads' Summery

Book 2

"There’s no quicker way to get yourself killed than trusting someone in the black." ~ Caleb.

Caleb Shepperd knows Fran has her own motives for helping him escape prison, but he’s not about to let a little thing like past betrayal stand in the way of his next paycheck. Until he’s forced to meet with the sexy and psychotic pirate, Adelina Cande. They’ve met before. When he seduced her, cleared out her credit account, and left her for dead in the black.

Caleb figures Adelina holds a grudge when she plants a bomb on his ship and demands he steal a fleet freighter for her, that is, if he ever wants to fly again. Get him drunk enough and he’ll try anything once, but this time, he has to balance his own greed, with the needs of a vengeful pirate and the scheming of his dubious second-in-command, Fran. What could possibly go wrong?

In the heart of Chitec headquarters, the synth known as #1001 enlists an eager young technician to aid in her escape. But it’s not freedom she wants. It’s revenge. The memories of a life that don’t belong to her demand she finishes what she started. She believes she killed Caleb, now she's targeting Chitec CEO Chen Hung, and not even the hopeful technician can dissuade her.

Synthetics don't make mistakes.

She thought she knew the truth.

She was wrong.

***

The fast paced sexy sci-fi series continues in Girl From Above 2: Escape. Reviewers call the 1000 Revolution Series an exciting mix of Firefly, Ex_Machina, and Blade Runner. WARNING: Adult content. 18+ only.

My Review

Things had change..... the plot became less tech and more psychology thing.

And yes you can add to it some mythological staff and you got some magic flavor.

The references of 9 realms of the Norse mythology got stronger and sometimes the usage is more ironic like Pippa's use of Asgard.

Pippa's world creation is dark, devious, ruthless, lawless and paranoid. Where the Fleet’s has a feeble effort to establish control. She purposefully writes her stories in the grey area where things are morally ambiguous; good people do horrible things, and bad people do good things. In her world you must have the back of the powerfuls - Crime families, the Fenrir Nine or the Chitec cartel and others lawless identities.

The second book start with the same scene as the first one - #1001 killing of the head scientist.... and Pick from there. #1001 finds herself at the mercy of Chitec’s technicians on Janus space station. She is convinced that she succeed to kill Caleb and suddenly this revenge isn't so sweet all her in this her program is a big mess. But when a lab technician agrees to help her escape #1001 knows this is her last chance to make her father, Chen Hung, suffer for what he did to her and she will do whatever it takes to get her revenge. But here is waiting for a very big surprise!

Caleb learned his lesson the hard way. After some new discoveries, you only can wonder about his ability for betrayal. He is a truly cynical bastard. For him the message is - trust - In the dark space you have to trust your crew. the problem is - it’s hard to tell who has your back from and who has it long enough just to stab you in it.

He is struggling to survive on an inhospitable prison planet. His second in command, Fran, may have come to his rescue but Caleb knows that she can't be trusted. His freedom came with a price - a very explosive illegal cargo that they have to take to one of the most notorious crime families in the all 9 realms. Nobody want to deal with this particular family... but he don't have many options, his credit almost none exist... and even he have a history with this particular member of this family he must take it. He can only hope that he can charm her enough to cooperate.

And he must charm her... he think that some character strikes of her will allow him the treat. You see - even though he had sex with her and then rob her and left her on nonfunctional ship deep in space, Adelina or Ade has a really scary crazy strikes. So when her family don't allow her to be in space anymore she has some ideas of her own. and yes she still find him very attractive...

All she want from him, in return, is to her help in rescuing him from Asgard, is to abducted a fleet frigate.....and he had to agree.

So now he have on the Star-scream two very dangerous women - Ade and Flu which he now know for sure that is a fleet agent. Both of them can stick the knife in his back every moment. But he have a plan that both of them don't know about... and luckily this plan will solve all his problems include his way back to the 9 Fenrirs. A plan that involve his brother.

The only thing that he wasn't ready for is the appearance of #1001 back into his life. The same we can say for #1001 herself.

And now for some more amusements - you now that this is not the first book of Pippa that I red and reviewed so of course I had to find some ideas that she play with again.

I mean to the "City of Fae" - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and here are the 4 major ones:

1. The character of #1001 is similar to the character of Alina - both of them start from nothing.... the appear in the plot totally mature and without childhood. #1001 - is a synth build by science and tech and the Alina is build with magic. Both of them getting an order to kill which they didn't fulfill, both of them grew into their awareness of while while the plot still running.

2. #1001 or Harley father share similarities to the fairy queen. Both of them create a Golem....and their Golem don't obey there order. both of them order their Golem to kill and it turn that their Golem instead of killing helping the person that they sent to kill. Both of them are using something of their own.... the queen use her essence and Harley's father use his daughter.

They are also share the villain plan to conquer the world and they don't have ant remorse about the means or how to do it....everything is just a tool for them (or as Harley's father said an asset)

3. The fleet and the Fae authority (FA) - suppose to represent the authority that protect the weeks....but both are week and corrupt. In the two stories they were bought by the Archie-vilians.

4. Very intelligent and very Anti heroes - Caleb and Reign share some treats. Both of them where very important soldiers in the army of the Archie-vilian and both of them turn against them. Both of them turn to be such a big problem that had to be eliminated.

Anyway can't wait to the Girl From Above: Trapped (The 1000 Revolution, #3) and City of Fae #2. 

See my review for the first book

About the Author

 Born in Tonbridge, Kent in 1979, Pippa's--- "Wait a second. Let's cut to the chase. I write kick-ass urban fantasy & sci-fi novels with conflicted characters, breathless action, and no-holds-barred dialogue. My books may not leave you feeling all fluffy and warm inside, but they will excite you. There will be plot-twists, angst, probably a few dead bodies, and very likely your favorite character will turn out to be the bad guy. Don't say I didn't warn you..."

www.pippadacosta.com