Tag Archives: fantasy

The Snow Queen – Book Review

I just finished reading the Snow Queen: The Complete Saga by K.M. Shea. This fairy tale is written in two parts: Heart of Ice and Sacrifice. The Complete Saga also includes a number of short stories at the end.

As with any review, beware of spoilers.

Snow Queen: Heart of Ice book cover from the internet.

The Snow Queen takes place in the same world as the other Timeless Fairy Tales by K.M. Shea only a hundred (or so) years earlier. I am not positive, but I am pretty sure it was written after the author had written several of the other books in the same world. So, it is a bit of a prequel to the great world events, while at the same time acting as a complete story.

Rakel is the Snow Queen, a princess born with Magic. In this time frame magic users are hated and feared. Rakel is despised by her parents and locked first in a cold, isolated tower then exiled to a distant mountain peak in the northern kingdom of Verglas. While Rakel grows to love her magic, she is frightened of people – as they often want to kill her or call her a monster. All that is about to change when the Chosen decide to invade.

While her first instinct is to let the people of the kingdom suffer, that doesn’t last long. And soon Rakel sets off to save a neighbouring village. She wields her magic to protect her people and over time becomes the hero of her kingdom.

For Rakel, her journey is about making friends, learning to trust other people and to live in a world beyond her ice castle. She finds love in a colonel from the invading army, a best friend in an outgoing thief and loyalty in the Captain of her guards and the attendant who has served her for the past 8 years.

Snow Queen: Sacrifice book cover image from the internet.

It is a sweet story that clearly delineates good versus evil. Yet, it does take time to look at motivation and method. The story draws parallels between the power Rakel has and uses as the Snow Queen and that of her enemy, the leader of the Chosen. While Rakel is reluctant to kill, Lord Tenebris, leader of the Chosen is off to enslave everyone without magic. Both these characters have faced discrimination, yet both have come out of that experience with two different objectives. Rakel would rather hide away from the world. Her goal is not to cause pain to others because she knows what it is like. Rather, her strength lays in her ability to forgive (also in her incredible control over ice, snow and temperature). Tenebris wants to punish those that have hurt him. He will be the strongest and will demonstrate his strength by ensuring no one has the power to hurt him again. He also wants revenge. Death and destruction are his goals.

The death count may be low for Rakel, but just to be clear her army does not hold the same views. They are killing the enemy, occasionally there is imprisonment, but there is still a lot of death. So, yes the good guys try to be better, but in war there no real heroes. And that is something this book does not really touch on. Granted this is a nice, straightforward fairy tale of good versus evil. The message the book spells out is that forgiveness and love are stronger and more important. But I think it tries to portray the battle as too clean. In a war like this, both sides would have lost. However, that would have made for a different and more complex tale to tell.

Snow Queen: Snowflakes book cover image from the internet (this is the collection of short stories).

This was a good story. And with the chaos of the real world, sometimes we need these unrealistic heroes to exist so we have something to strive for. Sure no one is going to be as perfect as Rakel, the Snow Queen (not just because magic on that scale doesn’t exist). But we can all try to be a bit more like her: kinder, more empathetic, and far more forgiving.

Final rating for the Snow Queen: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Another good book my K.M. Shea.

Sinister Magic – Book Review

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It is summer reading! Look at how many books I am getting through. So, this latest book was urban fantasy rather than scifi. This is book 1 in Lindsay Buroker’s new series, Death Before Dragons. The title Sinister Magic. Beware of spoilers.

First, to be upfront and honest, I like Buroker’s writing. I don’t love all her series and I haven’t read all her books – though I have read quite a few. This is still good writing. The characters are engaging. There are a range of personalities and viewpoints. There are also a range of races in this particular novel.

Book cover for Sinister Magic: Death Before Dragons, Book 1. Image from the internet. Please notice how bad-ass Val is with her magical tiger and cleverly named sword. (Note that is sarcasm abut the name of her sword.) Yes, there is also a dragon.

For one of the first times I do not love her female protagonist. I certainly want to love Val (Valmeyjar). She has obvious issues: inflammation of the lungs possibly related to stress that is certainly a problem when slaying evil monsters. She has relationship problems, mostly because everyone she knows has their life in danger by proximity – including an ex-husband and daughter. Though, I do like that she has family. A mother she struggles to relate to along with her own ex and daughter. But few other friends, mostly a tiger from another dimension. She is also a half-elf. And who doesn’t remember being a child and wanting to be a half-elf?

I love Val’s let’s get this done attitude. She is confident, snarky and stubborn. All excellent traits in a storybook heroine. I love that she has a moral outlook, a challenge when she is essentially an assassin against magical beings. What I don’t love about Val is her approach to killing everything. She is off to save her friend, but in doing so causes a great deal of damage. While this is pretty standard fare in action films, it does question how morally sound is Val’s decision to kill things for a living. Especially when the Dragon appears and offers a different system. Granted we don’t know the details about the Dragon Courts Justice system, but mass slaughter is not the primary method.

I do like how there is some effort put into questioning Val’s methods for dealing with rogue magical creatures. I am not suggesting they should be ignored, but is killing them without trial or effort at rehabilitation really the best option? The fact that Val appears to be so narrow minded in her dealings with magical creatures (amusing because she is half magical herself) is my biggest problem with the story.

This is not a reflection on the writing. Rather, Buroker’s portrayal of Val left me thinking poorly of the main character. And while I agree you can have great stories with unlikeable protagonists, these are not usually the stories I read. While on one hand I admire Val for her ability to defend herself and friends while taking down large and scary monsters. I find Val’s use of weapons heavy handed when dealing with problems. I prefer characters that solve problems cleverly with words (and occasionally swords), like Amaranth in the Emperor’s Edge series. Though, Sinister Magic is at least aware of all the collateral damage Val causes.

Conclusion: Sinister Magic is a good book, but I don’t particularly like the main character. Still, I am interested to see where the series goes next. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The Night House – Book Review

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Title: The Night House
Author: J.C. McKenzie
Beware of spoilers.

Book cover for The Night House, image from the internet.

The Night House is the first book I have read by author J.C. McKenzie. From the synopsis of other books by this author, I am going to say The Night House is a bit different. First, this is a stand alone book. Which I quite like. Second, I found the Night House felt similar to Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series. Maybe it was the blade wielding white-blond assassin characters found in both stories. Survivors of great tragedy that killed their families, these two strong, snarky women would become a force to be reckoned with as they uncover dark plots in black magic tainted castles. Obviously there are many differences between these two characters. Their stories are not the same, but there was a general presentation of plot and character that was reminiscent of the other.

In The Night House, Taya is camping with her best friends when the apocalypse sweeps through as a blue wave of destruction. It opens a portal to another reality where medieval- esq raiders originate. They have come to our Earth for resources, including slaves. Taya, trained in a variety of martial arts by her father, is a survivor of the first death wave. But surviving on the West Coast of Canada as winter settles in is not easy. Captured, Taya is hauled through the magical portal by Lord Thane and forced to choose how her survival will look going forward. Spoilers, she chooses the path of a warrior in Thane’s personal army. Besides, Thane has offered Taya a chance at revenge, and that is something she is not willing to pass up.

There are lots of things I liked about this story. I liked the pure fantasy of magic and super fighting skills. Though their methods for problem solving are rather primitive – stab with pointy objects. I like the Canadian setting. It is understated, but present. And since most modern fantasies I come across take place in the US, it is a nice change. Though, really, there is not much that is distinctly Canadian other than some place names.

The Arkavian’s are a mix of medieval knights and vikings on steroids. And as each one is described as massive, I can only assume they are actually on steroids. Their world is simplistic and not well developed. But they are fine for moving the plot along.

The first few chapters of the book dealing with Taya’s survival after the portal opens is interesting. I like the way the author discusses some of the challenges faced in this post-apocalyptic world; finding food, shelter and other survivors. Not a lot of time is spent on this, as Taya is then captured and dragged through the magic portal. Not much time is spent developing Arkavia either. A lot of short hands are used so the reader feels they have a good enough idea of how things are going for Taya.

I did like the character dialogue. I think the author was rather good at conveying information through dialogue and building interest with the characters this way. While there were areas of the story I would have liked to see explored a bit more, I do appreciate the pace of the story. It moved, and at points time jumped. This was used in an effective manner, so I didn’t feel like I missed a great deal. Besides, in real life time does have a way of slipping past so we don’t realize that days, weeks or even months have gone by.

Overall I enjoyed this book, which looks different in tone than McKenzie’s other novels; 4.5 stars out of 5.

Secrets Bound by Sand – Book Review

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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.

Game of Thrones – Sex of Substance – TV Review

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Long, long ago I was standing in the book store staring at the science-fiction/fantasy section with uncertainty. I had a gift card, a desire to read something knew and no idea what to get. I kind patron pointed me in the direction of George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. So I bought it, got maybe two chapters in and decided this was not for me. Thus it cannot surprise that when the series came out I did not immediately watch it. That and I don’t have HBO. Anyway, after many strong recommendations, I finally decided to give the series a try. Though I did wait until the Library had a copy.

Cover for the DVD of season one. I like the power of this image. It is dark and brooding and the character is fully clothed. It is also Sean Bean – so guess what happens by the end of the season?

And thus I have come to Game of Thrones, the TV series, after the entire projected has finished. In fact, knowing that they had completed the series was one of the selling features for me. In many ways it is the only selling feature, because I don’t like Game of Thrones.

While I found the caste of millions not as off putting as others, it does make it hard to connect with the series. Entire episodes pass without spending even a minute with some characters. Further, it is confusing to track all the names, lineages, and locations – and this is with me watching the entire first season over the course of a week.

The biggest complaint I have is the gratuitous nature of the visuals. There is a great deal of explicit sex and violence scenes which do little or nothing to forward the plot or character development. In fact, the sex (in particular) seems added for shock value or titillation only. And quite frankly, it is more than I care to see. Besides the graphic presentation of sex, it is also unrealistic to the time they are trying to imitate and also demeaning. Show me one character (over the age of 13) that is not demonstrated to be a whore. And don’t tell me this is reflective of the times. Because so much of this show is most definitely NOT reflective of the times (assuming the times are a pseudo-medieval period).

Welcome to the North, where the Starks reign. It is cold, grey and ominously close to the Wall. Here everyone wears a cape. Sometimes two. Except the prostitutes who continue to run around naked – is this because they were too poor to own clothing?

In terms of violence, wow do those bodies bleed in ways I am sure most modern coroners would find extremely odd and unrealistic. Also, the swordsmanship of these people (who in theory have spent their lives learning the art) is comically bad. I will say this for the violence, those who are dead stay dead – unless they die on the other side of the Wall.

One thing I do like is the way that large battles are dealt with off camera. I thought that was a clever way of dealing with a limited budget and time. Unfortunately important dialogue is also dealt with off screen, which is not good. How do two men go from supporting Ned to betraying Ned in the 6th or 7th episode? Well, that is a question that was never answered and does make me wonder: Did the writers not know why these characters suddenly had a change of heart? OR Did the producers cut this important bit of dialogue so they could show two naked people having sex instead?

So the Dire Wolves were supposed to be a thing, right? I mean each Stark child was given a wolf. And occasionally, the wolf appears on screen. But then is conveniently absent the next time something terrible happens. This is the sort of inconsistency that I find frustrating. Cute puppy though.

What could be an interesting story, even with all its multitude of factions and questionable characters, is destroyed by a focus on something I hope is not in the source material. Too much sex and not nearly enough substance makes for a tedious series. There is too much political plotting going on to be sidetracked constantly by boobs. Also, is there not even one strong female character in this world whose plot does not focus on her reproductive organs?

The Benighted – Book Review

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The Benighted by A. M. Dunnewin is already six years old and the sequel, which is promised in the subtitle “The Benighted Saga – Book 1” has yet to be released. Needless to say, I will only be reviewing the first book in this series.

Book cover for The Benighted, book 1 in the Benighted Saga – image from the internet.

The Benighted is about the Royal Princess of Correnth, Skylar Mandolyn. As we learn in the opening chapter, Skylar has been imprisoned. The story is told through a series of flashbacks covering the events that have lead to her current abuse and torture. Memories of her family, court ladies and of course her personal knight, are interspersed with the dark, cold cell, the beatings and pressure to sign a mysterious document.

I really appreciated the out of order telling of Skylar’s life from her brother’s death, meeting Sir Harlin Brien (her personal guard), through the estrangement with her father, the mecanations of the evil court advisor Cross Lutherus, to Skylar eventually being locked in the prison tower. I think the tension that was woven through this tail of reflection would have been lost if everything had been presented chronologically.

It also keeps some of the surprises, those important dangling threads needed for any sequels, nicely hidden until the end of the book. The reader can than look back over the course of events leading to our protagonist being locked up and start to understand some of the rational used to come to this point.

The other aspect that I liked was the level of technology. The world is not deeply discussed in the book. Really, it sits there as a backdrop, more obscured, as Skylar is focussed on her personal grief than the welfare of the Kingdom. Established early on, Skylar’s brother was heir to the throne before his death. And many of her first revealed memories circle around the sense of loss she feels because of her brother’s absence.

Book cover for The Illusory, book 2 in the Benighted Saga – image from the internet.

While sword wielding knights exist in this world – as is epitomized by Sir Brien’s summoning to court to become Skylar’s personal guard – they also have guns! And steamships. So, the feel of the world is not medieval, though not actually modern either. There is electricity and firearms. There are large metal boats in the harbour and by the end of the novel this is the promise of a threat from a more advanced enemy. However, shortswords are still heavily used in the book. And guns are accepted to be in constant danger of exploding (if not well cared for).

The caste of named characters is also small. Again, we meet Skylar as she is grieving (and locked up). Her thoughts focus on those incidents most relevant to her current imprisoned situation so there is not a lot of names to learn in the story. I suppose in many ways it is more of a character study with its very tight focus on our heroine.

While we learn the actual time of the book spans only a few days, the memories span months. Time is easily distorted in this format.

Overall, I thought it was an interesting read and I would give this book a solid 4 (maybe even a 4.5) out of 5 stars. That said, I have a difficult time imagining how the series can continue forward. Yes, there is a world you could explore. But the real draw of this book was that personal story of a deeply wounded character fighting for sanity in a time when her life was descending into madness. The same format would not work a second time. So the story will have to move in a completely different direction, but to what success? I suppose the only way to know would be to read the sequel – if it ever releases.

The Custard Protocol – Book Review

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Continuing my review of series…

The Custard Protocol by Gail Carriger includes three novels: Prudence, Imprudence, and Competent. These stories continue in the steampunk world that starred Alexia Tarabotti as a preternatural in Victorian London. Only this time we are following Alexia’s daughter, Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama. Rue is taking her best friend Primrose and Prim’s twin brother, Percy along with Quesnel in her dirigible as she causes havoc around the world.

The books are filled with Gail Carriger’s characteristic quirky writing style. There is an abundance of dirigible hijinks, werewolves, vampires and cleverly colourful characters. Carriger has an engaging, highly entertaining writing style. Her cast of characters are well conceived, colourfully described and largely diverse. These are great books, which I thoroughly enjoyed – once I got in them.

My biggest difficulty was the transition at the start of the series. It reads very strongly as a continuation of an earlier story. And this makes it a little difficult to engage, especially if you are new to the world. I struggled as Alexia Tarrabotti was the first of Carriger’s characters I met and knew. Not unreasonably, Rue has a different relationship with her mother and so Alexia is written differently than when I was reading the Parasol Protectorate. It took a while for me to warm to Rue. In fact I think I enjoyed the third book more, though not the cover. Competence featured the twins, Primrose and Percy, instead of Prudence. As such it featured less of the metanatural form-stealing and more the skills of those who were raised by a vampire queen. I didn’t mind the constant comments on the silliness of Ivy’s choice in hats.

That said, I think Carriger handled the diversity of gay, lesbian and transgendered individuals more openly and beautifully in this series than in her earlier work. While her manner of writing might be what first drew me to her work, Carriger’s diverse and honest characters are certainly what keeps one reading.

I might have thought the brightly coloured covers seemed to target a younger audience, I would still place the main audience closer to adult than younger teen.

Overall: these are excellently written books whose author has a fun, distinctive voice. 4.5/5 stars.

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Just realized that there is in fact a fourth book in the series that focuses on Percy in Japan – Reticence. I suppose this means this is not a complete series review. However, it will have to do for now as Reticence doesn’t release until August 6th.

Rules of Redemption – Book Review

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Title: Rules of Redemption

Series: The Firebird Chronicles

Author: TA White

I really liked this book. So much so, that I finished reading it once and two days later started re-reading the entire book again. More importantly, I my second read-through was intentionally slower. I was reading for all the little details I missed I hurried through my first read too caught up in the action and adventure of the story to be bothered with the little things.

As far as I can tell, speed reading is just a means of skimming through pages. I am not terrible at scanning and following stories as so many of them follow very familiar and predictable paths. And generally, I still get enough enjoyment out of my material to not feel the need of changing. But every so often a story resonates with me. Those are the ones that I want to read a second (or third or …) time. And this was one of those stories.

Book cover for Rules of Redemption by TA White. Image from the internet.

Rules of Redemption is a space-fantasy. There are lots of starships, space bases, aliens, laser weapons and intergalactic wars. There are also alien-wizards, who could be more advanced or just magical. As has been stated before: advanced tech is indistinguishable from magic.

Kira is a fantastically strong and perfectly flawed lead character. Once she lead one of humanity’s most effect military groups in fighting the dastardly Tsavitee aileen race bent on universal domination and destruction. Nicknamed Pheonix, Kira was a powerful fighter and leader until she abandoned that life for the quiet solitude of a salvager. But of course fate will not leave such an interesting character alone. Docked at a space station for repairs, Kira will draw unwanted attention for both the human military leaders and visiting Tuann ambassadors. This will lead to some uncomfortable truths about her own origins as Kira is swept away to a home she doesn’t remember and family she doesn’t want. Though the feeling is mutual, as her family is reluctant to welcome her back into the fold.

With plenty of action, future tech and alien creatures it is a fun read. There is also some interesting characters with deep histories and just a hint of romance to keep me properly engaged. So much is learned in this first book of the series, but there are also many unanswered questions. Such that I wish I had a bookclub with whom I could discuss this book.

Note: incase it needs to be stated, spoilers will follow

Some things that drew my attention: Odin, the experimental base, the source of the Tsavitee and Greydon.

Who is Odin? Is he (or she – it doesn’t specify, but for now I will use male pronouns) really the genius out to help Kira or does he have another motive? Could odin be a Tsavitee in hiding? Could Odin be part of the human political network, the consortium? Have we met this character going by another name? Because if that is the cause I could make a guess at who it really is. Does the author even know who Odin is? There are so many questions, mostly stemming from the fact that Odin knows both that Kira is on that space station and she is being followed. Sure he could have hacked the stations cameras, but he could also have been present on the station. My gut feeling though, is that Odin is going to be the cause of betrayal in the next book. Either he will directly betray Kira, or cause Kira to do something that has her betraying her new friends/family.

Despite my second read through, I cannot remember if the location of the evil research facility that held Kira when she was growing up was in human space or not. It is mentioned that the scientists working at the facility were Tsavitee, does this explain how she knows the language? But were humans also present? Because that would only spike the tensions between Tuann and humanity. Did anyone else escape from the centre?

Where do the Tsavitee come from? It is discussed that they look very different, but are genetically similar. Did they create themselves or were they created by someone else? Is there a greater link between the Tsavitee and say the Tuann than anyone realizes? And why would they keep a human hostage for over a decade?

Greydon, the Emperor’s Face, is from the House Roake. Is he also a primus? Because he doesn’t shift, but certainly acts like he would be strong enough to do so. And exactly does Kira fit into that House? Though I am guessing that her father was the previous Overlord, so she is likely going to be tested for that potential. This I think is where the second book will pick up. But will Kira take responsibility for a House when she has a personal mission to infiltrate and free those captured by the Tsavitee?

There are so many exciting and unanswered questions with brings me to the biggest complaint. Why do I have to wait so long for the sequel?

Final Rating: 5/5 stars

Kill the Queen – Book Review

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Title: Kill the Queen

Author: Jennifer Estep

Kill the Queen was an engaging read. Everleigh, Evie, Saffira Winter Blair had a strong voice. And the author, Jennifer Estep, did a pretty good job explaining how Evie went from low status royal family member, seventeenth in line to the throne, to challenging her cousin in a duel for the crown. Sure the training sequence was a little rushed, but waiting years and years for Evie to develop the skills would have been less exciting to read about.

Besides, Bellona is a land of magic mixed with a gladiator tradition. It was interesting setting for the story. I of course liked the strong female presence running through the entire world. Here men and women are treated equally. The rich and the poor are not.

There was political intrigue with the neighbouring courts of Morta, Andvari and Unger. There were fierce fights between skilled gladiators, pageantry with the gladiator shows (feeling more like a circus with their acrobats and food sales) and of course there was a crown up for grabs by the strongest and most cunning of the Blair family line.

In many ways this was a story about family, a large and dysfunctional family that was massacred by one of its one in the first chapter. So, perhaps it is better to say this was a story about surviving ones dysfunctional and very deadly family.

Escaping the castle and its bloody court, Evie joins a gladiator troop where she puts some of her random skills to work and befriends a number of the prominent people in the group. One of the weak points for me was her keeping the secret of her identity for so long. Mostly because the Queen’s final words before dying words were to find the Black Swan gladiator group and seek help from their illustrious leader. It is not like Evie didn’t have a number of opportunities to come clean about who she really was.

Book cover for the sequel to Kill a Queen. Image from the internet.

That aside, I liked that Evie was an older heroine (~ 28), understandably skilled in a number of random areas like cooking, dancing and small talk. That she was a strong character, who had learned the value of silence. The magic in the world was interesting. The politics were thoughtful. The overall word was detailed.

I lament the way that we equate strength to the physical prowess needed to destroy another person. There are more ways to solving a problem rather than just running a sharp blade through its heart, but that is a general comment on trends in writing and society.

Importantly this was a fun read and I look forward to the next book, which just might address a very important aspect of these power plays. It is one thing to kill the queen, but how do you keep the throne (and stabilize your country). Killing and ruling are not the same skill set, at least not entirely.

Final Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Enthroned: King Arthur and Her Knights Book 1

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Book cover. Image from the internet.

Title: Enthroned

Series: King Arthur and Her Knights

Author: K.M. Shea

Tags: Arthurian Legend, Medieval, Fantasy, Time-travel

Every once in a while I find myself taken with a book or a series. For reasons I cannot even begin to explain, I have fallen for the series King Arthur and Her Knights. It is a sweet, lovely series of seven books, the first of which is titled Enthroned.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

The premise is simple: while on vacation in Britain, American born Britt Arthurs is pulled back in time to the time of Legendary King Arthur. Specifically to the time when Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone. The real Arthur has run off with a shepherdess and Britt is recruited to take his place. Yup, it is a silly idea. And yes, I can certainly find flaws or at least things I don’t like. But mostly I found the series charming.

I like Britt. I like her largely practical view point, especially as she is a little older (in her mid-twenties). I like her open way of speaking, her strength with a sword and various flaws. Yes, time travel is a tricky beast to write about. This one had some good ideas, the spell dealt with the language barrier. Britt’s slightly unusual past explained her skill with the sword and competency when riding. I found it entertaining that her modern slang was not understood by those in medieval england.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

The author neatly dealt with the issue of Britt’s gender. I like that from the very beginning, there was a core group of powerful individuals in on the secret. It certainly made the cover up of her sex more believable.

I was especially pleased that the author dealt with the idea of bringing knowledge of past events to the past. Legends are twisted and reshaped over time. The stories we tell today are not the same stories that were told 200 years ago about King Arthur, so it is not unreasonable to assume that the actual events are also different. Now, you do have to accept magic exists for this world to work. But internally, I found it consistent.

Arthurian legends have often been a miss for me. I am no expert in the history of King Arthur and perhaps that was a boon in this case. Over the years, I was turned off Arthur largely by the betrayals. Like Britt I struggled to like Lancelot with his affair with Guinevere. So, this Lancelot and Guinevere were fun to read. Especially as the main character was largely biased against both parties. Granted, I also struggled with the encroaching domination of Christian beliefs as they squashed out the pagan rituals, a topic not covered in this series.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

I have two complaints that I would level at the story. As much as I loved the ending (spoilers to come), I found the paradox of time-travel set up by the last chapter disheartening. Especially as it was such an easy fix. I know the author is trying to be cute and have everyone connected, but really, I would have been happy, if the Knights and Fairies who came forward had not interacted with Britt during her childhood. Poof – no paradox to deal with.

My second complaint is: the books were too short. I loved the little daily scenes about the castle and interacting with the different knights. I would have loved to see Britt interact with even more of the people of Camelot. Mostly, I would have loved to read more about her adventures. Each of the first six books is about 125 pages, with book seven being a more satisfying 290 pages.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

Yes, there is magic. Yes, there is time travel. But most importantly there is adventure, sword-fighting, a hint of romance and all the chivalry you could want in this series. Also, a strong female character backed up by other strong females! I loved this series and for right now it is my obsession. So, I bequeath five stars on Enthroned, Enchanted, Embittered, Embark, Enlighten, Endeavor, and Endings.