Paradox Book 1&2

Next to designing beautiful book covers like the two for the Language in the Blood series, Patti Roberts is also a prolific writer of books. Needless to say that the covers for the series Paradox are stunning. I will be reviewing the first two books just now, but I've already bought book 3. The series is 4 books and I think I will need to read the whole series to get all the answers. (And after reading the first I have many questions, but it will be fun getting to the end) If you're a fan of fantasy you will enjoy this and I gave both books 5 stars.

Paradox - The Angels Are Here (Paradox series Book 1) on Amazon.com

This book is the first in a series, but what a promising start. A war is raging in a parallel universe of Aquila, between two Houses of angels the Grigorians and Bulguardians. The Grigorians have taken the upper hand and the imperial city of Altair has fallen. This is bad news as the Grigorians are fallen angels that feed on the blood and souls of humans. The seven pinnacles, key to the survival of the human race have been taken to earth. The Paradox is that in our universe time passes much quicker. While the war still rumbles on in Aquila, on earth 900 years have passed and we’re now in Darwin Australia 2001, where we meet Grace an eight year old girl. Her life takes a rather tragic turn and later she is haunted by visions and the experiences of a girl named Julliete.

The story of Grace, who loses her father at a young age is very well told and heart breaking. We find out that she is special and angels have been sent to protect her. First one comes in her life as an imaginary friend, but later come into her life as normal people too; a police man or a class mate. I particularly like her neighbour and friend Angela as this angel has some trouble fitting in and is just too serious for her own good. This provides some comedy moments. The Grigorians are excellently portrayed as a depraved family that is cruel and blood thirsty with very few morals. The story is at times complex and I think I’ll need to read on to find out what is going on. But that’s not going to be a chore! There is no gratuitous sex or swearing, but some of the descriptions are gruesome, so not suitable for a very young adult.

Paradox - Progeny Of Innocence (bk2) (Paradox series) on Amazon.com

Paradoxically in book 2, only days have passed in Altair, but on earth, Grace is now a girl of sixteen. She is still non the wiser about her visions, but she takes them seriously and jots her dreams down. We find out that things at Graces school are rather precarious as the Grigorians have taken the cover of a group of goths at her school. Despite needing to stay hidden, their blood lust often gets the better of them.

 Grace also discovers boys and is attracted to Damon, one of the Goths. One day in class she feels utterly compelled to kiss him. Angela has her doubts about him as he is one of the goths/Grigorians, but is he as evil as they are? Then a Pizza delivery boy Riley catches her eye and she has a spooky feeling she has known him before. I think book 3 will have a very interesting love triangle. I’m glad Angela still has a big role next to Grace; her cool head saves the day on a few occasions.

 The story is at times complex as we learn a lot more about the world of Aquila and its inhabitants. There are many magical creatures and we just get just a look into this world. Also on earth we get introduced to a lot of new characters as we follow Grace and her school days. There are still many mysteries to be solved and loose ends to be tied up. The second book ends on a great cliff-hanger, so I ran straight to Amazon to buy part 3. There is no gratuitous sex or swearing, but some of the descriptions are gruesome, so not suitable for a very young adult.

Angel's Blood by Sallyann Phillips

I'm afraid this was another case of great book, shame about the editing. However, when I started reviewing I promised I would not mark down for spelling etc. I've contacted the author and posted a 5 star review on Amazon. In the age of Kindle, you can upload another version of your book in seconds, so if you're considering this book, maybe give it a few weeks and hopefully an improved version will be uploaded. If you like the werewolf genre, or just a good fantasy book, I'd recommend this one:

Angel's Blood by Sallyann Phillips

Who’s afraid of Octavia wolf? The answer is me. Octavia (Tavi) Johns is a female werewolf not to be messed with. She has been on the run since she was born. Losing her mother young to an evil wolf pack and being trained by her dad to cope with any adversary, she is tough and mistrustful. Sallyann has created in Tavi a wonderful heroine. She is flawed, complex and a very strong female character. What I loved best about the book is the dynamics of the wolf pack. There is order and rules, but also the moral code of protecting the weakest and being there for each other. The author has made her characters unapologetically wolf; they have short fuses and strong emotions which often boil up. Conflicts are often settled in violent fights. After that, the loser cedes rank, hands are shook and respect is often earned rather than resentment lingering on. I also love the romantic story line of a wolf finding her mate. The notion of a wolf mating for life and not being able to live without his mate is beautiful. Love, family and belonging are some of the excellent themes in this book. I did have some issues with editing and I have contacted the writer, but top marks for the plot and characters.

 

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.