Review: The Rising Wind by Ken Floro III

The Rising Wind is one of those books where adventure is not so enticing, but satisfying.  This book has some great characters, that you will be craving for more, when you are near to completion of the book.

Original Title: The Rising Wind

Series: Chronicles of the Company of the Rising Wind #1

Author: Ken Floro III

Release Date: October 4th 2011

Source: Review copy via Novel Publicity

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

After graduating into the Imperial knighthood, Marcavius and his cousin book passage aboard a merchant ship, the Rising Wind, to visit their family estate before reporting to the legions. They know no ship dares tread the heart of the Mennaidran Sea, yet along their voyage a strange fog suddenly sets the Rising Wind adrift in those haunted waters. Fortunately another passenger offers his skill as a navigator to save the day, yet he insists that the ship first detour to a nearby island to replenish its supplies. There the ship’s unlucky passengers soon learn that the monsters and magic of legend are no mere myths! Friends, strangers, and even bitter enemies must work together in order to survive and escape. Yet some of the greatest dangers they’ll face are destined to come from one another.

"The same trick didn’t work a third time. When Marc stepped into the ring of firelight and shouted a challenge, his adversaries shrank into the shadows across from him – more cautious now than they had been earlier. Their broad limbs and hulking silhouettes prowled the darkness at the edge of the forest, disguising their numbers. Standing exposed, in the open clearing, Marc felt vulnerable, but he knew he couldn’t run. For an anxious moment, he just stood there, uncertain what to do next. The curse of inexperience was lack of foresight, and Marc hadn’t stopped to calculate an alternative in case his original plan failed. Now he had to think on the spot. Unfortunately the present circumstance was no place for contemplation. So, in that dangerous moment, he acted on instinct."

REVIEW

Marc and Monty (of the Steelvaerans family), after celebrating their graduation of the Imperial Knighthood, board in the ship "The Rising Wind" to reach home for the holidays, along with their guardian goblin, Garvorax.  In the same ship is Marc's fiancee, Adrianna.  As both Marc and Adrianna didn't know each other before, they are just act as strangers.  There is also the legendary warrior, Gray Fox.  And there is Din, who have revenge towrards the Steelvaerans family.  And then there is a navigator, Balthazar, who have different plans than others.  This is to whom the captain of the ship asks help when the ship moves out of direction due to storm.  Balthazar takes them to a remote island, where magic and evil lurks together.

This novel has one of the best characterization.  Most of the main characters in the novel have been explained in detail and the readers are given a lot of time to get to know them better.  Playful Marc, intelligent Monty and wise Gray Fox make a great team.  Except for Adrianna, all are male characters and they occupy the majority of the plot.  Adrianna's character is so little in the novel, that some readers may feel incomplete.

The world building is good as well.  There are so many sub-plots diverted from the main plot, but ultimately everything makes sense.  I don't want to include spoilers here, so I am not telling anything here.  All I am saying is I am impressed.

Seriously, this will make a great series.  And I think an audio book will be great for this novel.

Recommended for adventure lovers!

4 STARS!

My Rockstar: Louise Rozett AND an amazing giveaway!!!

So, here is one of my favorite authors, Louise Rozett, who you are already familiar with.  She is the author of an amazing series called Confessions.  So far, two books have been released (Confessions of an Angry Girl and Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend) and both the books are great.  I really can't wait to hear more of Rose Zarelli in the next installment.

You want to know why Louise is my rockstar?  First is pretty obvious, she is an author, well, an amazing author.  You have to see how she ends her every chapter in the Confessions series.  I am a big fan of those endings.  And then there is the portrayal of high school drama in a way that you want it to.   Well, you will believe me when you read her books..

And she is here, in "Books Are Magic", giving us a great guest post and still greater giveaway.  Enjoy!!!

In My Habitat

- Guest Post by Louise Rozett

Hello! I guess it’s a cliché to write about how much you love your desk and chair, and your dog (or cat, or fish, or turtle, etc.), but there’s a reason why these are the first things writers think about when they think about where they write. If you don’t have the right desk and chair, writing can literally be painful! And writing is SUPER solitary, so it’s nice to have some company and inspiration, which I think is what pets often are for writers.

Anywhooo, now that I’ve told you what a cliché I am...I’m very excited to be telling you about my NEW favorite place to write! 2013 has been a difficult but exciting year for me, and I’ve spent most of it in Los Angeles, staying with friends and subletting lots of different places, but now...finally...I have my own place again. My dog Lester and I live in a very cute, teeny-tiny house (I call it the Hobbit House) that has...wait for it...an office. I have never had my own office before and it is FANTASTIC! Here you can see my “desk,” which is actually an old farmhouse table (or so I was told by the woman who sold it to me), and a vintage 1950s chair. I will confess to you that these are pretty much the only pieces of furniture I have right now, but I love them, and I feel that they make me VERY creative! (Or they distract me, because I spend a lot of time thinking about how much I like them. Not sure which it is.)

(Okay, wait, I do have more furniture than the desk and the chair. The white cabinet is the first piece of furniture I bought, and I got it at a yard sale—what a find! Then underneath that is an awesome piece of “trampware,” which was explained to me as furniture made during the Depression from any kind of scraps people could find. This tiny bookcase was decorated with pieces of a picket fence.)

One of the greatest things about Los Angeles is the canyons—there are all sorts of amazing canyons with fantastic hikes. Because LA is a city where a lot of people have jobs with unusual schedules, there are always people hiking, any time of the day. My favorite time to hike is around 7 pm, because the sunsets are stunning. Usually, I listen to podcasts when I hike—my current obsession is Mark Maron’s WTF podcast (which is mostly about comedy but also about acting and music and writing and being creative in general). Also, I recently started listening to RadioLab, which I love (when I can follow it—those guys go DEEP into physics and astronomy and chemistry sometimes), and of course there’s the brilliant old standby, This American Life. But sometimes, if I really need to think something through, or if I want to feel a little more connected to the world and the natural beauty of the canyon, I’ll go without headphones. (Yes, I feel a little naked without them, which I find disturbing. It shouldn’t be weird to not have things plugging up your ears.) Anyway, if you look at this picture of a bookshelf that is currently serving as a shoe rack because most of my books are still in storage back east, you’ll see my hiking boots at the bottom right! (You will also see that Lester has taken chunks out of my two pairs of clogs. Nice, Lester—thanks.)

And then, of course, there’s my greatest, most favorite distraction—Lester. Lester seems to understand when I need to hole up and write and not be disturbed. And sometimes he respects that, and sometimes, well, he doesn’t feel like respecting that, and he decides to shred one of his toys so I’ll come running into the room. (Other times he just needs to go outside and take care of business. Can’t blame him for that.) Lester is a treat to be around, and he’s also deliciously squeezable. I can waste hours of the day lying on the floor, squishing him—his cute face, his giant paws, his stretch-limo belly—while he’s trying to sleep. I’m sure it’s annoying. Actually, maybe when he gets annoyed with me, he’s telling me to get off my butt and get back to my desk.

And eventually, I do. I go back to my 1950s chair, and I sit at my farmhouse desk with the view of the morning glories out the window, and I try to write, and I feel really lucky that there’s something in the world that I love to do.

GIVEAWAY

Louise is giving away one copy of her latest release "Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend" to one lucky winner from U.S.

Enter the giveaway through Rafflecopter.  Giveaway ends September 7th, 2013!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Surface by Tiffany Daune

If you know about me, you would also know 'mermaids' is one of the words that will make me read a book.  When I picked up this book, I was excited and I am still more excited to read the next novel in the series.
 

Original Title: Surface

Series: Surface #1

Author: Tiffany Daune

Publisher: Noble Young Adult

Release Date: February 2013

Source:Xpresso Book Tours

Genre: Fantasy

Bound to the water bound to land, a Siren’s soul will never be safe on either side of the ocean’s surface. Hidden beneath the rolling waves lies the secret to Theia’s past and as she unveils each haunting truth, she realizes the last seventeen years of her life have been a lie. Now, drawn into a mysterious new world and with nowhere to turn, Theia must place her trust in Luc, a beautiful boy who stops her heart with each dazzling smile, but even his unearthly charm can’t hide the truth—he has secrets— dark secrets binding him to his world—an underwater world where Theia will never belong—a world determined to destroy her soul.

REVIEW

The story kicks off with Theia being kidnapped and dumped in the ocean.  After being bitten and thrown off by 'evil' mermaids, she is saved by a beautiful Artagasian named Luc.  Luc takes her to his underwater home and treats her injuries.  The fact that she shares a history with Luc and the mystery that she can breath under water makes this side of the story more interesting.

Meanwhile, Luc's sister, Celeste and her friend Angelique go to the surface and make friends with humans, even when she knows that she has only a meagre life span of nearly 4 hours above surface.  Not only that, Celeste is falling in love with Reid, a human, which is forbidden by the Artagasian laws. 

Meanwhile, Hugh is trying to kill Theia for her blood.  I know I am not making much sense here, but you will have to read the book to learn more..

The best thing about this novel is the world building.  It was just perfect, to create a history for the Artagasians and bringing in mermaids as evil.  I loved the plot as well and 'some' of the characters. 

We all have characters that we hate and love in all the books.  I hated Celeste the most in this book.  She is so egoistical, that I want to pummel her.  The character that I loved the most are Dumas and Madeleine.  Their sacrifice and affection towards each other make me want to hug them and console them.

And yes, coming to the other not-so-good parts..  I can't understand the insta-love between Theia and Luc.  I just don't get it.  How did that happen?  Please don't give me this soulmate thing.  See I am a romantic, but even I know that the readers can't just accept an insta-love without reason as soulmate thing.  And did I tell you that I hate Celeste?  I just HATE her.

Apart from these two major problems, I loved and enjoyed this book.  It's fast paced and the world and plot just sucked me into it.

I will definitely read the next book..

SERIES ORDER

1. Surface - Buy @ Amazon

2. Landlocked - Expected publication July 30th 2014

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