Strange juxtapositions
Some amusing signs and other things that are next to each other.
review 0f airwoman by zara quentin
Some time ago I bought a boxed set called Magik. It contains books by several authors.
Although I’ve only recently begun to read the boxed set, I have read
Airwoman by Zara Quentin.
Here’s my review. (The picture is a combination of a couple of pictures from Pixabay and has no real relevance to the book. I just thought it would be nice to have a picture!)
Overview.
This is the story of Jade, a young woman who wants to become a Traveller and visit the many other worlds in the Dragonverse.
I found it gripping and wanted to keep on reading and turning the pages to find out what happens next and how Jade manages to escape the many dangers she faces , and the betrayals that beset her.
Story
Jade is the heir to her father’s company, one of the biggest on Teraqa. Her ambition, however, is far from living on the planet of her birth and running the company. She wants to travel the Dragonverse as a Traveller.
These men and women form an elite force whose job it is to keep all the worlds safe from the monsters that roam between the worlds. Jade’s parents have kept her from doing her duty and serving the mandatory time in the Force. Due to the influence of her father and his brother, they managed to avoid this.
Jade is not happy with this situation, but when her father dies under suspicious circumstances, and her friend, Axel, disappears, suspicion falls on him. This causes Jade some confusion, but also an opportunity to join the force and leave Teraqa on duty.
But it does not work out as happily as she imagined.
The story kept me guessing until the end.
Characters
The characters of this story belong to a race of winged and tailed humanoids. I found this idea novel and enjoyed flying around with them.
Jade is a well-rounded character. She has her flaws and doubts and makes mistakes that cause great problems for herself and others, which makes her seem real. I liked her a lot.
The other characters were all distinct, and with their own voices, including the characters from another world.
Writing
Zara Quentin’s writing is excellent. She kept the pace of the story moving, but there were just enough pauses in the action so as not to leave the reader breathless.
Her descriptions of the surroundings were clear, and I could visualise them as if I had been there myself.
I went through a gamut of emotions with Jade, Such was Ms Quentin’s powers of describing those emotions they seem real.
There were minimal typos and no grammatical errors.
Conclusion
An excellent read for anyone who enjoys both scifi and fantasy. People who enjoy a mystery would enjoy it, too if they can get past the fantasy elements. I am now looking forward to buying and reading the next in this series.
I have no hesitation in giving it FIVE STARS *
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Black History Fun Fact Friday – “Drapetomania”
This is a shocking post from Yecheilyah Ysrayl about how white slave owners used mental illness as an excuseto illtreat their slaves.
In the light of the Black Lives Matter movement, I think it’s important people know these little known facts.
an excerpt from Jovinda and Noli a new release
Have you ever wondered what happened before a story begins? I am releasing a number of novellas that tell the story before the story. The first one is the very beginning and tells how the parents of Carthinal, in The Wolves of Vimar Series met and fell in love.
This novella is now released and can be bought from Amazon. It is available in ebook format and paperback (including pocket book and large print).
Click the book cover to go to Amazon where you are.
Here’s the blurb.
At sixteen years of age, Jovinda is to be presented to the Royal Family. She fantasizes about catching the eye of Prince Gerim and becoming Queen, but her fantasies evaporate when she meets a young elf called Noli.
The pair fall in love, but parental opposition, mainly because of their different lifespans, leads them to meet in secret, despite warnings of severe repercussions from Jovinda’s family.
But can the young lovers overcome the opposition of their parents?
And to whet your appetite, here is an excerpt from the book.
Jovinda is attending her first ever ball and banquet at the royal palace in Aspirilla. She is to be presented to the King and his family, and she is very excited about meeting the Crown Prince, who is almost the same age as her. She has dreams of romance.
Jovinda and her parents stood at the top of the stairs leading down to the reception room in the Palace. Jovinda scanned the room looking for Prince Gerim. The prince was not quite sixteen, but would be at such an important banquet as the heir to the throne. She frowned slightly as she noticed a young elf watching her as she descended the stairs.
Ellire had decided the best style for her dress for the banquet would be, not like the elaborate dresses they saw hanging in Madame Frimb’s workroom, but a simple style.
Jovinda saw the green velvet fabric and fell in love with the colour. Ellire agreed it would look good on her, and then went to discuss a style with Madame Frimb. The dress she now wore had a high neckline with small pearl buttons sewn around it. The buttons continued down the centre of the otherwise plain bodice with sleeves that stopped at her elbow. They also had pearl buttons around the cuffs. The skirt flared from her waist giving room for her feet to move when dancing, and more pearl buttons graced the hem. She wore small pearl drops in her ears and a white orchid in her hair.
The family walked down the stairs as a butler announced them. Jovinda stared around. The stairs descended from the balcony where they had entered, and flared out towards the bottom. A red carpet ran down the centre. Large floor to ceiling windows to her right opened onto the Palace gardens, and doors carved with vines and fruits stood open on the opposite side. Torches in sconces lit the room, and glinted on the gold-leaf that covered the cornice. More gold covered a few chairs scattered around for those unable to stand for long, and at the opposite end of the room was a dais with two thrones, again, covered in gold leaf.
A waiter brought a tray of drinks. Jovinda took a glass of Perimo, a sparkling wine from the islands, as she chatted with many of her parents’ friends and acquaintances, feeling very grown up.
Suddenly, a horn sounded. Everyone stopped talking and looked towards the stairs. The Royal Family entered and made their way through the crowd to the dais. As they passed, people bowed their heads or curtseyed. Once the King and Queen settled onto their thrones, the butler announced the first of the young people to be presented.
As it was her first social occasion, Jovinda was one of those young people.
When the butler called her name, she looked at her father who mouthed “Go on, Jo”.
Her mother gave her a little push to start her on her way.
She took a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart, and ascended the dais where she curtseyed to the King and Queen.
The King smiled and his eyes twinkled. “We are delighted to meet you, Jovinda. Enjoy the occasion. There’s nothing quite like your first ball.”
Then she moved on. Prince Gerim smiled at her and shook her hand.
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Jovinda.”
Jovinda curtseyed. He’s quite good-looking. I wonder if I can attract his attention? He may even ask me to dance. I wonder what kind of girls he likes?
The call came for everyone to go into the banqueting hall and be seated. Jovinda was surprised to be seated well away from her parents. She found herself sitting between a young man she knew, whose father was the head of the leatherworkers’ guild, and a handsome young elf—the very same elf she had seen watching her as she descended the stairs. She drew her eyebrows together.
The elf turned to her and asked her name.
“Jovinda. What’s yours?”
He laughed. “I doubt you’d be able to pronounce it.” His smile lit up his deep blue eyes.
“Try me.”
“Well, it’s Nolimissalloran, but you can call me Noli. All my friends do.”
Jovinda looked at the elf. He’s very handsome.
His extraordinary eyes fascinated her. They were slanting, like those of all elves, but it was their colour that attracted her attention. They were a deep blue. Much deeper than any eyes she had ever seen before. She no longer felt an interest in capturing the attention of Prince Gerim.
After the banquet, the king announced that the ball would commence in thirty minutes in the ballroom. Everyone left the tables and stood around in groups talking.
As they passed through the double doors, Jovinda’s mouth fell open. She would have stopped in her tracks if Noli had not been urging her forward.
When the music began, people started to move toward it. Noli held out his arm to Jovinda, beating the young man who had sat on her other side at the banquet. She took it, blushing, and the pair strolled into the ballroom.
The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling cast dancing lights around the room as the candles flickered in the currents of air. Everywhere she looked she saw gold leaf. On the carving on the dais, on the thrones for the king and queen, on the urns in niches on the walls.
A delicate blue paint covered the walls,on which were painted scenes of dancing couples, The ceiling was painted a deeper blue with stars covering it.
The quartet on the raised dais was playing a jolly tune and people were beginning to drift onto the dance floor.
“May I have this first dance?” Noli bowed to Jovinda. She nodded her assent.
He swept her into his arms and whirled her around the floor. Noli was an excellent dancer and she found herself dancing better than she had ever done before. He was so easy to follow.
After the dance Noli escorted her to a seat at a small table occupied by her parents. They were sitting with Salor and her parents. He bowed and drifted off towards a group of elves.
Jovinda watched him go. He bowed to one of the young female elves and escorted her onto the dance floor.
“Jo.” It was her mother speaking. “Jo, Krombo is asking you to dance. What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh! Sorry, Krombo.” She rose and they joined the dancing couples.
A constant stream of young men came to dance with Jovinda. Some danced well, but some were clumsy. None danced as well as Noli. She kept looking around to see with whom the young elf was dancing.
Does he like her better than he likes me?
This thought ran through her head over and over again whenever Noli danced with another young woman. All thoughts of the Prince fled as she watched the handsome elf.
He asked her to dance again before leaving her once more to dance with others. But he danced with her more than anyone else, and danced the last dance with her.
All too soon the evening ended and Jovinda and her parents took a carriage back to The Swan in Flight. They were leaving the next morning for the ferry back to Bluehaven. Jovinda found herself hoping she would see Noli again. After all, if he stayed with the delegation, then he would be based in Bluehaven. She smiled.
“What are you grinning at?” her father asked her.
“Oh, nothing. Only that I had a really good time this evening.”
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I would be interested to know what you think of this extract. Please enter you comments in the comments box.
And if you feel like reblogging, please feel free to do so.
If you read this book, please consider leaving a review. Reviews are important to authors. There are many millions of books published and reviews are the main way the books get visibility. It needn’t be a long review. Just simply whether you liked it or not, and why.
A New Audio Book Release – kongo.com
These stories, by Don Massenzio, sound exciting.
3 more weather haiku
SUN
The warmth of the sun,
The gentle buzzing of bees,
Tells us it’s summer.
Scorching the desert.
Nothing can live in this heat
From the burning sun.
The sun smiles in the sky.
People smile on Earth below
To see him shining.
I hope you enjoyed these three more haiku. I’m trying to give different images of the kinds of weather, both positive and negative.
Do you write Haiku? If you do, let us know in the comments box. Perhaps you can post one for us all to see.
Three memes for Pet Lovers…
Haha. These are great fun. I especially like the first one. It’s so-o true.
The promises of dragons a short story
I wrote this story in response to a picture prompt, but I’ve lost the picture, and can’t remember who posted it.
The picture showed a wizard standing on a rock in the mountains, and a dragon breathing fire towards him. this is the story I wrote.
I have considered the possibility of expanding it into a novel or novella. I like the title, and think it’s too good to waste! What do you think of the idea? Let me know in the comments box, please.
The Promises of Dragons
It suddenly appeared one day and took a cow from the field.
A week later, dark wings blotted out the summer sun. The farmer looked up and saw an enormous shape gliding overhead. A dragon! He watched, cowering behind a large tree.
The dragon swooped down and carried off another cow.
As soon as the creature disappeared towards the distant mountains he ran as fast as he could to his home.
“What? You say a dragon is stealing our cows?” His wife was incredulous. “They‘re supposed to be extinct, aren’t they?”
“It was a dragon. A huge beast with horns on its head, leathery wings and reddish-brown scales. It was a dragon for sure.”
“Then you must go and tell the village council. They must do something about it. We can’t have dragons taking all our cows,” his wife exclaimed.
“I’m not sure they’ll believe me. Anyway, what can they do?”
“Nevertheless you must go. Leave straight after we’ve eaten. I can see to things here until you get back.”
The farmer strode resolutely into the village that afternoon and made for the home of the leader of the council. When he heard the farmer’s tale, he called an emergency council meeting.
Once all the council members were assembled he turned to the farmer.
“Now tell the council what you told me.”
The farmer bowed to the council. “A dragon has been stealing my cows. I’ve lost three over the last three weeks. At first, I thought is was rustlers, although I did wonder why they were taking them one at a time.”
“It could have been a wolf pack, or some other predator.” The leader of the council looked around his colleagues and grinned.
“No. I thought that at first.” The farmer shook his head “But in that case there should have been blood and bones at the very least. The cows just vanished without a trace.”
“Did you search for remains?” one councillor asked.
The farmer nodded. “ I looked everywhere. There was nothing. Then I decided to wait near the field where I keep the cows. It was then I saw the dragon.”
“You are certain you saw a dragon? Most experts say they’re extinct,” the leader of the council said.
“It was a dragon. I can’t be mistaken about that!”
Another councillor asked, “It was in the sky, against the sun. Could it have been a cloud?”
“And clouds swoop down and steal cattle?”
The members of the council asked more questions but eventually they were convinced–at least enough of them to agree to send a troop of volunteer guardsmen to investigate, and to kill the beast, if it turned out it were truly a dragon.
Two days later the volunteers set off to track down the mythical beast.
They crossed the plain towards the mountains in the direction the farmer told the council the dragon had gone. It took a full day to get to the base of the mountains and they made camp when they arrived. The men were in good spirits. Searching for an extinct creature was a bit of a lark. They were mostly young men who volunteered and not one of them believed the story the farmer had told.
“An old man, going senile and seeing things,” one said.
“Or perhaps his eyes are going. It must have been a cloud. I’ve seen clouds in the shape of all sorts of things,” another said.
“What about the cows that vanished?” asked a third.
“Rustlers, as the old man suggested himself,” the first volunteer told him.
They all laughed at the foolishness of old men.
The next few days they spent climbing the mountains. They trudged ever higher, but the path stretched before them in a never-ending ribbon. The peaks soared high above them, wreathed in snow and clouds. Each footfall seemed to make little difference to their progress. Still the mountains grew above them. and as they got higher and higher some of them began to wonder why they were here on this futile search.
“Where are we supposed to look?” said a young red-headed man, little more than a boy, really.
The others shook their heads, then one of them, older than the others, said, “I’ve heard dragons live in caves”.
“Hey, I used to play in these mountains when I was a kid,“ another said. “We lived high up and we played in some caves. Perhaps we should look there.”
He led the troop in the direction of the caves he remembered.
After another day of weary climbing, their breath coming fast, and hearts beating ever more quickly, they saw dark openings in a cliff ahead. They stopped and had a brief discussion.
None of them believed in the dragon, but the oldest man said, “We ought to be careful, ‘just in case’. There might be bears in the caves.”
Later that afternoon, just as they were about to set off up the mountainside to the caves they heard a strange noise as though a large flock of bats were flying overhead, or a tanner was shaking out a piece of leather. A flapping sound like wings, but not feathery wings like a bird. More like what they thought of as …dragon wings. The sunlight disappeared momentarily and as they looked up, they saw what could only be a dragon, flying towards the largest of the cave openings.
“By all that’s holy,” breathed the leader of the group. “The old man was right. It is a dragon. Where has it come from? It can’t possibly exist. They were extinct hundreds of years ago, yet here it is.”
“Evidently the scientists were wrong. They’re not extinct. Some must have survived in the depths of the mountains where no one goes,” the oldest man said, standing beside the leader and shielding his eyes as he watched the beast enter the cave.
“We need to wait until it leaves.” The leader frowned as he peered toward the cave where the dragon had gone.
A full day passed before the creature left again. They took their opportunity.
“Aren’t dragons supposed to have hoards of gold and other stuff?” one man asked, rubbing his hands together. “If we find its treasure, we’ll all be rich men. We’ll be able to court any girl we want, and buy farms, but have someone else to work them. We’ll never need to toil in the fields or factories again.”
They all nodded and laughed at the idea of all those riches, but when the dragon left the next morning, the reality hit them. They would need to go into the cave to get the treasure. The little group of young men crept towards the cave mouth, keeping an eye on the sky above, and ears open for the sound of leathery wings.
The stench of dragon hit them as they neared the cave. It was a sickly, sweet smell with hints of sourness in it. They held their noses. Around the mouth of the cave lay bones from large animals. Many were obviously deer, but there were sheep and cow bones there too.
As they neared the lair the leader asked for a volunteer to go into the cave to look. These otherwise brave young men looked at each other, eyes wide and hearts pounding. What happened if the dragon returned while they were in the cave?
Then one man stepped forward. He entered slowly and with some trepidation and lit his torch, for it was dark inside. The smell was even worse here and at first he thought he might be sick, but he wrapped a rag around his nose and mouth. That made it a bit more bearable. A little way into the cave he stumbled over a smooth, rounded object. He lifted his torch and saw—an egg! Not just one egg, but ten. He sprinted out of the cave and reported what he had seen.
They went in and smashed the eggs. Even though they searched right to the back of the cave, no treasure could be found. The leader said they should take some of the egg shards to prove there was a real dragon in the mountains.
After smashing the eggs and destroying the threat of ten more dragons rampaging through the land they began the decent to the plain.
~~ When Gulineran returned to her cave and found her smashed eggs the roar of her anguish made the mountains themselves tremble. She determined to take revenge. First she looked for the culprits. She saw them like ants, trekking down the mountainside. Flying over them, she burned every last one to a crisp with her flaming breath. Her anger and sorrow still not appeased, she swept down and breathed flame onto the hapless village. The cottages burned like tinder. Many lost their lives. Those who survived crowded into the stone-built village hall. ~~
The leader of the council stood before the surviving villagers. His eyes raked the gathered people, and burned with tears. So many dead. And all those young men who did not return. The dragon must have incinerated them, too. He held his hand up for silence.
“We must destroy this pest,” he told them, over the sobbing of the people.
“Who is going to tackle a creature who can do such things?” a voice called from the back.
“And most of our brave young men are dead. There’s no one here who can fight, even if we weren’t facing a dragon,” someone else called.
A heated debate ensued, but in the end they decided to send for help to the nearby wizards, thinking perhaps magic would be able to destroy this dragon.
The message took a week to get to the wizards’ college, but eventually a message came back. The leader of the council called all the surviving villagers into the council chambers where he read the reply.
“We are very sorry, and we sympathise with your problem, but we cannot spare anyone at the moment. We are far too busy.”
There was pandemonium in the hall, but then, the door opened and a wizard entered. The crowd immediately became silent.
The wizard stood before them and began to speak. “I do not agree with my colleagues, I cannot stand by and watch a dragon decimate your village. Believe me, it won’t be the last visit you have from her.” His eyes blazed as he spoke. “I’ve made a study of dragons. You could say they’re my speciality. I have special knowledge not many others have. I am prepared to help you with your problem.”
He was a young man by the name of Oni. Oni talked to the council, and promised to do something about the dragon. The council accepted his offer and promised him great rewards if he could manage to get rid of the great beast that was terrorising them.
Oni walked out of the village and into the mountains. He followed the path the young men had taken until he stood near the cave, Then he called. Within seconds the dragon rushed out ready for battle. She breathed flame. The flames washed over Oni. Gulineran expected to see a dead wizard when her fire died away, but Oni was left standing and very much alive. She looked into his eyes.
“Ah.” Oni sighed. “I’ve not seen such beauty in two hundred years.”
“How can a human talk of hundreds of years?” Gulineran asked. “Your lives aren’t that long.”
“No, but dragons live centuries. You’re the first female dragon I’ve seen in more than three.”
His skin began to change, turning a rich, deep red and he grew and rippled, smooth skin turned into scales and horns sprouted from his head. His shoulder blades burst from his skin and he folded a pair of wings along his back. A handsome male red dragon stood before her. “Will you accept me as your mate?” Oni asked.
When Gulineran accepted Oni’s offer he changed back to human form and returned to the village. There he told the villagers of his encounter with the dragon.
“I used magic to charm her and I have managed to get her to agree not to attack the village nor take any cattle. She will live on the wild creatures of the mountains.”
The council offered him gold, but he refused saying, “I have everything I need now. Indeed, everything I ever wanted.”
When he returned to Gulineranm he told her of his promise to the villagers.
“Oh, Oni.” Gulineran answered, smiling. “Don’t they know not to trust the promises of dragons?”
my favourite #reading place
We planted a vine in our garden when we moved into the house. It has now become a lovely shady spot for sitting and reading. The leaves shade your eyes so that it’s possible to read without squinting.
For visually impaired readers, the picture shows a garden bench against a fence with some patches of ivy growing up it, and the trunk of a vine. On the bench is a pair of spectacles and a book. the book cover shows a young man with shoulder-length auburn hair. The background is a pale blue with the shadow of a wolf behind the young man.
The book on the bench is The Wolf Pack, which was my first ever book to be published. It is the first of a series that I’ve entitled The Wolves of Vimar (Vimar being the world where the action takes place).
The story is based on a Dungeons and Dragons scenario I wrote, but in the writing, it changed somewhat. Some places where certain things happened in the scenario I moved to somewhere else in the book.
I was excited to hear from Next Chapter that it has been translated into French and Spanish, too.
The Wolf Pack tells of a group of people, unknown to each other in the beginning, who are commissioned to go and find a magical sword that used to belong to the legendary king, Sauvern. Its whereabouts has been lost for many centuries.
There are surprises and dangers to be encountered in the tale. Death is never far away, and help comes in unexpected ways. Every character has to confront their fears, and they are all changed by their experiences.
Due to the very different characters, there are arguments and confrontations on the way as well.
The book has been generally well received and is currently number 47 in Teen and Young Adult Fantasy Interactive Fiction. (Although I didn’t write it as a teen book, and it’s not interactive! Still, who knows the workings of the Great Zon!)
Here is one of the reviews it received in the USA:
John Thornton 5.0 out of 5 stars
A solidly done, and crafted fantasy novel
“The Wolf Pack” is an original and well crafted fantasy novel. If you like novels like the “Earthsea Saga” by Ursula Le Guin or “When the Heavens Fall” by Marc Turner then I suggest that you may well enjoy “The Wolf Pack.” British style and spellings throughout. Not really a negative, just a difference to be noted.
I found the characters well developed, and complex (in a good way).
The plot is unique and unusual. It is not easy to explain, but does unfold nicely as one reads through the book. I am trying to avoid spoilers, so I do not want to give too much away.
Dialogue is well written and each character has his or her own voice.
If you are interested in purchasing this book, it is available in ebook and paperback format. You can buy it by clicking on the cover in the sidebar or here. This will take you to Amazon where you are.
If you read the book, please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of authors as they are the best way to let people know about books, good or bad, so people will have an idea if they will enjoy it.
I welcome any comments you wish to make. Please add them to the comments box.
