Seer of Souls by Susan Faw

I'm happy to announce that Conversations with Tom is finally finish and has been send to my editor Penny Hunter. I'm sure there are still some things that need to be changed, but we are on the home straight. I hope I'll now have a bit more time to read and review, but also to get some more exercise. Sitting typing does nothing for the waistline or general condition. The weather here is warming up and I look forwards to many fine walks and swims.
This time I'm reviewing an fantasy adventure, fantasy is not my favourite genre, but I do enjoy a good adventure. This one was action packed and a good read. I gave it five stars.

Seer of Souls by Susan Faw

If you’re a fan of fantasy adventure stories set in a magical kingdom, then you’ll like this. I have to admit that I was bored to tears by the Hobbit as it had at times overlong descriptions of the things found in Middle Earth. Seer of souls thankfully doesn’t do this, the pace is fast and there is lots of action. I could have actually done with a bit more explanation as there remain many questions; like who exactly is the evil Queen Alcina, where did she come from, and what made her go to the dark side? There is a second book planed so I think we’ll get to know the kingdom of Cathair more in depth. I liked the character of Cayden as we see him developing from simple farm boy who likes to carve flutes, to reluctant leader of men. I look forwards to reading the next book as I want to discover more about these magic lands, the primordial people and Avery, Cayden’s twin. I hope the follow up in the Spirit Shield saga is equally action packed and exciting. This impressive debut novel is well written and edited and I think we will hear more of Susan Faw in years to come.

The Truth Finder

Motoring on with reviewing books.It is always a good sign when you get through a sizable book quickly. It was nice to read a well edited book, not all self published efforts are!

The Truth Finder by Penny Luker

The Truth Finder is set in the fifth millennium, in a world destroyed by nuclear wars. There remain but three inhabitable cities and the land in between (The kingdom of light). Some of humankind has evolved to possess special powers. Vrail is one such young boy. He is a Truth Finder, one who has the ability to read minds. At the start of the book we find him alone at the age of 17 after the death of his father. We follow his at times perilous journey into manhood. The author describes nicely how Vrail experiences his gift is as much of a curse as a blessing as he finds his own place in this dangerous world. Even though the story is set in the future, the land between the cities has more of a ‘Shires’ feel about it. People go about farming the land and use horses for transport. Some of this book reminded me about the Hobbit. Vrail also enjoys normality next to a cosy fireside and at times wishes he wasn’t special. I think this book will appeal to a young adult that likes to read adventure/fantasy.

My problem with the Truth Finder was that it screams for a follow up and I hope Penny is hard at work on book number two. There was a wealth of information to take in about this new future world, but I feel I’ve hardly scratched the surface of what there is to know about the cities. We got to meet many fascinating characters, but apart from the main character Vrail, we don’t know too much about any of them. Especially Vrails neighbour Grace, a fellow thruth Finder and the woman he is closest to seems very interesting. She is over 300 years old! She must have some interesting stories to tell. I’m looking forward to reading the follow up and I hope Penny goes a bit deeper into the many characters she has introduced me to.