Official Synopsis:
Bridget Lederele is Keeper of the Light on Sand Island, shunned by the mainland following the birth and death of her bastard child and rumours of her psychic visions. Now she keeps the lighthouse blazing, warning sailors away from the rocky dangers of the lake. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she rescues the tattooed stranger Kalami from the wreckage of his boat and tells her she is needed in another world to defeat the sorceress step-daughter of the Empress Dowager Medeoan. Seeing the chance for a new start, Bridget accepts Kalami's offer but the world she finds waiting for her is unlike anything she has been promised.
In Other Words:
A wonderful tale of alternate worlds full of magic and mystery. This was a magnificent fantasy novel whereby none of the characters were truly multi faceted individuals, it kept you guessing the whole way through and left you gasping with the double crossing and treachery that plays out as each vies for survival.
Verdict
10/10
Thursday, 19 February 2009
"Nature Girl" by Carl Hiassen
Offical Synopsis:
Hiaasen's latest heroine is mad as hell, at least when she's off her meds, and she's not going to take it anymore.When a telemarketer who's interrupted dinner with her son Fry to peddle waterlogged Florida real estate responds to her gentle reproof with obscenities, Honey Santana, deciding he needs to be taught a lesson, sets out to entice Boyd Shreave to the Everglades to give him a taste of his own medicine. She lures both Boyd and his colleague and mistress Eugenie Fonda to Dismal Key, where she proposes to give them a comprehensive immersion in unspoiled Florida. For better or worse, though, she's picked a week when Dismal Key is overrun with other loonies. Sammy Tigertail has come at the behest of the late Jeter Wilson, whose spirit has been nagging him ("This was the worst vacation I ever had") ever since Sammy dumped his body into an obliging swamp. Theodore Dealey is a private eye hoping to get photos of Boyd and Eugenie in flagrante for Boyd's wife, whose interest in the affair has gone way beyond divorce. Louis Piejack, the rancid ex-boss who groped Honey and lived to regret the sequel, is positive she has the hots for him. Perry Skinner, vice mayor of Everglades City, takes a proprietary interest in both Honey, since he used to be her husband, and Fry, since he used to be his father. Members of the First Resurrectionist Maritime Assembly for God are waiting for the Messiah to make landfall. FSU undergraduate Gillian St. Croix, who just wants to have fun, is about the only cast member to get her wish.For once, the characters are funnier than their exhaustingly unpredictable interactions. The result is less satire than usual from Hiaasen (Skinny Dip, 2004, etc.), and more Rube Goldberg farce. (Kirkus Reviews)
In Other words:
Another absolutely fantastic mad-cap adventure from the master of mad-cap Carl Hiassen. Our Heroine this time is a bi-polar trailer park resident who always takes things just a tad too far. I loved the back drop of the Florida everglades and the laugh out loud minor player characters. This book was easy to read and wonderfully light hearted.
Verdict:
9/10
Hiaasen's latest heroine is mad as hell, at least when she's off her meds, and she's not going to take it anymore.When a telemarketer who's interrupted dinner with her son Fry to peddle waterlogged Florida real estate responds to her gentle reproof with obscenities, Honey Santana, deciding he needs to be taught a lesson, sets out to entice Boyd Shreave to the Everglades to give him a taste of his own medicine. She lures both Boyd and his colleague and mistress Eugenie Fonda to Dismal Key, where she proposes to give them a comprehensive immersion in unspoiled Florida. For better or worse, though, she's picked a week when Dismal Key is overrun with other loonies. Sammy Tigertail has come at the behest of the late Jeter Wilson, whose spirit has been nagging him ("This was the worst vacation I ever had") ever since Sammy dumped his body into an obliging swamp. Theodore Dealey is a private eye hoping to get photos of Boyd and Eugenie in flagrante for Boyd's wife, whose interest in the affair has gone way beyond divorce. Louis Piejack, the rancid ex-boss who groped Honey and lived to regret the sequel, is positive she has the hots for him. Perry Skinner, vice mayor of Everglades City, takes a proprietary interest in both Honey, since he used to be her husband, and Fry, since he used to be his father. Members of the First Resurrectionist Maritime Assembly for God are waiting for the Messiah to make landfall. FSU undergraduate Gillian St. Croix, who just wants to have fun, is about the only cast member to get her wish.For once, the characters are funnier than their exhaustingly unpredictable interactions. The result is less satire than usual from Hiaasen (Skinny Dip, 2004, etc.), and more Rube Goldberg farce. (Kirkus Reviews)
In Other words:
Another absolutely fantastic mad-cap adventure from the master of mad-cap Carl Hiassen. Our Heroine this time is a bi-polar trailer park resident who always takes things just a tad too far. I loved the back drop of the Florida everglades and the laugh out loud minor player characters. This book was easy to read and wonderfully light hearted.
Verdict:
9/10
"Daggerspell" by Katherine Kerr
Read February 2009
Official Synopsis:
"In a world outside reality, a young girl's spirit hovers between incarnations, knowing neither her past nor her future. In the temporal world lives Nevyn, who long ago vanquished the maiden's hand in marriage and forged a terrible bond between three souls. Now he must atone the wrong of his youth. "
In other words:
Book 1 of a series of 4 books known as the Deverry series. It follows the fortunes of Nevyn, a former Prince who is doomed to roam the world until he puts right what once went wrong. While Nevyn grows older those who he wronged are reincarnated and each time come a step closer to fullfilling their true destiny.
Verdict:
A very good fantasy novel, a little confusing to start with as there is a sea of characters which are hard to discern from one another but it was worth sticking with to the end and I look forward to getting the next installment from the local library. I wasn't overly fond of the many battle scenes as they lost my concentration but the "wildfolk" are a humerous distraction and the main story has some fabulous twists.
Score:
8/10
Official Synopsis:
"In a world outside reality, a young girl's spirit hovers between incarnations, knowing neither her past nor her future. In the temporal world lives Nevyn, who long ago vanquished the maiden's hand in marriage and forged a terrible bond between three souls. Now he must atone the wrong of his youth. "
In other words:
Book 1 of a series of 4 books known as the Deverry series. It follows the fortunes of Nevyn, a former Prince who is doomed to roam the world until he puts right what once went wrong. While Nevyn grows older those who he wronged are reincarnated and each time come a step closer to fullfilling their true destiny.
Verdict:
A very good fantasy novel, a little confusing to start with as there is a sea of characters which are hard to discern from one another but it was worth sticking with to the end and I look forward to getting the next installment from the local library. I wasn't overly fond of the many battle scenes as they lost my concentration but the "wildfolk" are a humerous distraction and the main story has some fabulous twists.
Score:
8/10
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