First a little update on the title quest. I can officially announce that I have THE TITLE, but I can’t announce it just yet ‘cause I’m still thinking a little about the subtitle. With some luck I’ll have more news by next week when I get my cover suggestions in from my designer, so sit tight a little longer.
I have two reviews of books I’ve read this week both by two very successful indie authors so here goes:
Balanced on the Blade’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker
This was one of first times I’ve read a Steampunk type book and I was pleasantly surprised. Lyndsay is a prolific indie author with a high volume of titles and I’ve been curious to read her work for some time. The premise was excellent and the story moreish and sweet and it even had a heavy romance thread which I didn’t know about but which I enjoyed thoroughly none the less. Though I have enjoyed the odd romance book in my day, it is not a genre I tend to go after. In this case it came to me, and it was good.
Sardelle, a sorceress, wakes up after a 300 year slumber at the base of a mountain and is rescued by some horny miners. She is taken up top and discovers that Iskandia, her one time home, is now a fort and mine of energy crystals. She pretends to go along with the authorities in the guise of a prisoner until she manages to gain enough leverage to extract Jaxi, her soul linked sword, out from another section of the mine. During her time in the fort she meets and falls in love with Colonel Ridge but is afraid to tell him her of her past as all sorcery is punishable by death in this time.
Like I said, the book is pleasant, magical and a little YA but it’s feel-good so it’s worth a read. Lindsday writes well and I particularly enjoyed the comical elements which are woven expertly into the plot. At times it reminded me of Terry Pratchet.
However, I didn’t like the fact that (at least so far) we’re not told why out of all the people in the collapsing mountain she was the only to survive in sleeping mode for 300 years, and also her name which reminded me of Sardines (that’s my personal issue-I cast no aspersions).
The other title I finished this week was Reversion: The Inevitable Horror by J. Thorn. If the Blade’s Edge was warm and fuzzy then this one was at the total opposite end of the spectrum, it was dark, menacing and at times terrifying.
Reversion starts with Samuel who wakes up hanging from a tree and minutes from being devoured by a pack of wolves. He manages to escape the wolves but realizes he’s in this limbo type of universe where if you’re not killed by the wolves or flaking zombies, an all encompassing cloud threatens to eat the entire universe. Samuel, who comes across a group of three more people and a deity in this world, slowly discovers their reasons for being there and that in order to leave he needs to open a portal to another part of this limbo and pass through. I won’t give much more away other than say that the end though cathartic is unclear; there’s more books in this series.
Despite the fact that it was a little heavy at times, probably due to the feeling that traversing the reversion felt like wading through treacle, Thorn makes very good use of the language and draws you into the characters’ despair. Only read if you’re of a cheerful disposition!
Romina Nicolaides Author 