Tag Archives: book series

Magiford Supernatural City – Series Review

Between pandemic and work, life has been a bit stressful of late. Then Artifact was cancelled by valve, which was very sad. So, when I went looking for something to read, I knew that I was not feeling adventuresome. I wanted something light, positive and … safe. I am not in a position where emotionally draining is what I am looking for. I have had enough of that in life recently.

Hazel’s story – book 1. Image from the internet. Don’t let the cover art be a turn off, they are good books.

So I turned to an author I am familiar with, K.M. Shea. I have read a number of her books, including various fairy tales and urban fantasy. Her new series are set in the Magiford Supernatural City setting and are urban fantasy. They have all the key supernaturals, wizards, vampires, werewolves and fae. Not necessarily my favourite mix, but the characters are compelling. The stories were fun. And everything was cohesive. While you might describe the books as being young adult, I am so grateful the characters are in their early 20’s – post-college age. They are young enough to be optimistic and occasionally make brash decisions. Old enough I am not dealing with teen-aged angst.

Hazel’s story, book 2. Image from the internet.

Currently there are two series the first follows the wizard Hazel as she strives to regain her magic house and family (think coven). Driven by the betrayal of her cousin, Hazel falls in with the powerful vampire, Killian Drake. I liked the series. I loved the secondary characters, which really help to create a rich, believable world – and ground all the fantasy in the real world.

Hazel’s story, book 3. Image from the internet.

While Hazel is an orphan (and that is sad), she has family in the form of distant relations and friends. I like that family is a driving force within this book and especially in the next series. The magic is a mix bag – with so many supernaturals present, it would hard to be anything else. However, for all their powers, they can be killed easily with modern weapons. This helps to ground everything and help to explain why supernaturals are not ruling the world.

My biggest complaint was that reading the preview for the second series set in the same world, kind of spoiled some of the big reveals in Hazel’s trilogy.

Leila’s story, book 1. Image from the internet. Don’t let the cover art be a turn off, they are good books.

The second trilogy stars Leila. Leila was a super minor and unassuming character in the stories about Hazel. However, her adventure in the same city starts directly after the events in which Hazel fights to reclaim her birthright. Leila is not an orphan, and in fact her family is more modern with a biological father that left when Leila was a toddler and was replaced by a step father later on. Family again, plays a huge part in the motivations and design of the characters, which is so true to life. We love and hate our families. We struggle to understand the actions of our parents and to develop different relationships as we, ourselves, become adults. Because I had fewer indications of how the story would turn out, I would say that Leila’s trilogy was my favourite. But then I really liked Hazel and her friends, so…

Leila’s story, book 2. Image from the internet.

The best part of the books was the message of hope. The idea that by working together, by everyone working together and finding common ground, we can all move forward into a brighter future. That our strengths lay more in the relationships we can build than in the personal power and prestige we can achieve as individuals. (I am trying really hard not to spoil the plot lines – hence the vague wording).

Leila’s story, book 3. Image from the internet.

The short version is that I liked these books, all six of them. I liked the world, which surprised me a little. I loved the small, practical details, like Leila having to deal with the debt of her predecessor and so is very budget focused. Most importantly I liked the characters. Yes, this is a series I would recommended, even though I am going to be stingy and only give it 4.5 stars out of 5 – mostly because I am sad I don’t have any more books to read.

Hazel’s story (Hall of Blood and Mercy): Magic Forged (Book 1), Magic Redeemed (Book 2), and Magic Unleashed (Book 3)

Leila’s story (Court of Midnight and Deception): Crown of Shadows (Book 1), Crown of Moonlight (Book 2), and The Queen’s Crown (Book 3).

Sentinels of the Galaxy – Series Review

Leave a reply

The series is Sentinels of the Galaxy by Maria V. Snyder. There are currently two books: Navigating the Stars & Chasing the Shadows. Beware of spoilers in the following reflection.

Maria V Snyder’s Sentinels of the Galaxy series currently has two books. The third is not out until November, but it is already on my reading list. So, short review – I like this series.

The first book, Navigating the Stars, follows Lyra Daniels as she is forced to move across the Milky Way Galaxy to a new planet because of her parents’ research. Her parents are expert archaeologists studying terracotta warriors found on different planets. Lyra is nearly 18 Actual Years old and she definitely acts like a teenager. She spends time getting into trouble on the advanced data-communications-navigations system, the Q-net. But there are troubles ahead when looters come and attack the dig site. Lyra is drawn into danger. The book ends with Lyra’s death and her subsequent resurrection as Ara Lawrence.

Book cover for Navigating the Stars; book one in the Sentinels of the Galaxy series by Maria V. Snyder. Image from the internet.

The second book, Chasing the Shadows, continues to follow the first person narrative style of Ara Lawrence (aka Lyra Daniels). To hide the fact she isn’t permanently dead (only flatlined for a few seconds), Ara became a security officer for the dig site. Using her rapidly growing worming skills (future based hacking), Ara needs to track down the bad guys who not only looted the dig site, but destroyed many terracotta warriors and released the alien shadow-blobs. These hostile life forms (HoLFs) are deadly and growing in intelligence.

I read the first book a few weeks back (maybe a couple of months) and I don’t remember all the details very well. But I feel like I actually prefer book two to the first book. Which is very unusual. As for why I liked Chasing the Shadows better, I think it had more explanation. There was more science, more aliens and generally more explanation of the plot. The first book was more about Lyra/Ara and setting up the world. But the second book was more about explaining the world, about finding answers. And these were interesting answers. I suppose in many ways the second book was more fantasy than the first book.

The author’s take on space travel was interesting. It is generally not my favourite way of dealing with the space travel, but it ranks high for most thoughtful. In this world, there exists a Crinkle Machine, that connects two distant points in space. For this reason ships (and their passengers) are able to travel great distances in the blink of an eye – but with constraints. They are traveling into the future. So while it may not seem like very long inside the Crinkle Process, the rest of their friends and relatives are aging. And actually, Snyder did a good job selling this feature. It was rather sad when you thought about it. But people continued to travel and to age differently than those left on planets.

It does raise some questions, like why those people from Earth manage to maintain the same sorts of outlooks. But for the people on the outer reaches of explored space, it is an interesting problem.

Book cover for Chasing the Shadows; book two in the Sentinels of the Galaxy series by Maria V. Snyder. Image from the internet.

One of the aspects that I don’t love is the teenager-ness of the main character. While, Lyra/Ara is well written and reasonably believable. I find that I am at a point in my personal life when I really don’t want to read about teenagers. They are a strange mix of child (classified as someone adults readily ignore and who sees adults as one dimensional beings) and adult (classified as someone who can be trained in combat). Teenagers are hormonal, with epicly dramatic relationships. And while Snyder does a pretty good job of balancing out Lyra/Ara with her parents being present, it is still one of my least favourite aspects of the books.

Still, these books are well written. They have an interesting take on space, travel and aliens. The characters are complex, detailed and well crafted. And the story is interesting. Rating of 5 out of 5 stars (or 4.5 if I am feeling stingy). Good stories, definitely recommend. And truthfully I am excited for the next book.

Secrets Bound by Sand – Book Review

Leave a reply

I feel like I have been sharing only the good books I have read of late – mostly because I have only been sharing the good books I have read of late. There have been other books. Some that don’t deserve mention and others that I have nothing interesting to write about because they were not so bad as to be comment worthy (or they are later books in a series I have already talked about).

Book Cover for Secrets Bound by Sand – book 4 in the Dragon Ridden series.

However, today I am going to discuss Secrets Bound by Sand by T. A. White. This is also found in a series. Secrets Bound by Sand is book four in the Dragon-Ridden series by T. A. White. And after thinking about it for a couple of days I would give the book a 2 out of 5 stars. Which is low I know. First, I want to say that I like this series, especially book one – Dragon Ridden. Second, it is possible the author could salvage the series, so even though this book is ranked low, I would still likely try a fifth book if one was written.

The important question becomes, why such a low rating if I like the series? Well, I didn’t like this book is the short answer.

Book Cover of the third book in the Dragon Ridden series.

The book spent too much time with the main character, Tate, internally monologuing. Not only was much of the book internal thoughts, but they were rather boring thoughts of would she or wouldn’t she hook up with Ryu. It was a dumb point to try and create tension around, because T. A. White has spent the previous three books setting up this relationship. It was hardly a surprise. And the multiple monologues about Tate feeling anxiety about trusting Ryu seemed more forced. They have already been through some intense situations. Trust has already been built – or as much as was going to be built before these two hooked up. All this indecision seemed pointless and meandering. But this was not the biggest complaint I have for the book.

Book cover of the second book in the Dragon Ridden series.

My key criticism stems from the big reveal at the end of the story. In a pre-recorded message from a former friend, Tate finally learns … some of her background. Finally, this is what we, the audience, have been waiting. This is what the previous three books have teased. This is also where things start to come apart, because now we are faced with some significant inconsistencies.

So, in book four, we learn that Tate was betrayed into becoming a sleeper. Meaning, through a betrayal of those she held as friends, Tate was forced/coerced into a thousand year (or more) cryogenic sleep. Only, this does not seem to mesh with the flashback in book one, where Tate, enters the room with the put-you-to-sleep tube when she goes to rescue a dragon. A dragon that she holds in her arms and becomes a tattoo by the time she awakens a couple thousand years later. Unless Ilith was also in her own body, this seems highly inconsistent with what we know of the dragon-ridden. Besides, the whole going-to-sleep-thing supposedly happened because the building Tate was in was attacked.

Book cover for the first book in the Dragon Ridden series.

And then we learn that Tate has been genetically manipulated – while she remained in her stasis-sleep in an isolated area of the world. This manipulation supposedly has made her into the ultimate weapon. I am already struggling with the level of magic in a world that is supposed to be explained through advanced science. For me, there are just too many things that don’t seem to add up. And that was extremely disappointing. However, to be fair, there are some ways the author could explain these discrepancies. So, maybe this series can be saved. But I a little worried things are starting to roll sideways and I am not a fan.

So in summary, while I enjoyed the first three books in the series I found Secrets Bound by Sand to be a rambling mess with an unsatisfactory conclusion. The blend of magic and science-tech is leaning too far to the magic and the science-tech is making far less sense than I would like to see.