fantasy, novel

Carthinal’s Practical Exam

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During the writing of The Wolf Pack, I decided to eliminate a chapter where Carthinal took the practical test to end his apprenticeship and enter the world of full mages. This is part of that chapter.

I’ll post more of it eventually. Probably next week.

Please don’t judge it too harshly. It was my first ever attempt at writing a novel!

PRACTICAL

This was it.

The final and most important part of the test was to begin a little later than the others, at the fourth hour.

There were still six of them as all had learned of their success in the previous afternoon’s test, Carthinal and Ebrassaria gaining distinctions. (The elf had looked rather piqued to find that a mere half-elf seemed to be matching her efforts in the written tests.)

This time, instead of going upstairs to the room where they had done their written tests, they were escorted down many flights of stairs to a room well below ground level.

Their guide left them in a circular room devoid of furniture, but which boasted seven doors in the walls, including the one through which they had entered.

Six mages entered from the other doors and introduced themselves to the candidates. There was to be one mage to watch each candidate.

Carthinal’s examiner was an elven mage who introduced herself as Yssalithissandra. (Yssa for short she told him in a whisper, giving him a wink.) One of the examining mages gave them their instructions.

“You will each enter a different door, and have six hours to find the door to return to this room. There will be a number of problems and dangers for you to overcome. When you return, you’ll be assessed on the efficacy of your use of magic and how well you conserved your strength. We will also assess the way you solved any problems you will meet on the way.” He paused to wipe his glasses. You are allowed to take one scroll and one weapon with you, but no magical items.” He looked around the six candidates. “There is a real danger of death in the test before you. If any of you wish to pull out, now is the time.”

Carthinal looked around. No one moved, although Olipeca looked rather pale, and Grimmaldo looked decidedly green. No. No one was going to pull out.

They selected their weapon and scroll.

Carthinal chose to take his dagger, which he always had strapped to his wrist, and a True Seeing scroll, having decided it was quite possible that much of what was behind the door would be illusion. Even with that knowledge he knew that illusions could be deadly too.

They all moved forward as one.

As they reached the doors, Grimmaldo whispered, “Good Luck” to Carthinal. He did not have his usual cheery grin, and he looked decidedly nervous.

Carthinal wondered if he looked as scared and if they would all return through those doors.

The door closed and he was alone in the pitch darkness. He could see nothing at all with normal vision, so he looked around for any heat sources that may denote a living being. Towards the end of the corridor, he could see a vaguely humanoid-shaped red glow.

“Is this enemy number one? I’d better creep closer and see.”

As he came nearer, he could make out a distinctly hobgoblin smell.

“OK, I can deal with this without my spells.”

He released his dagger from the harness holding it on his forearm, and in the same movement threw it unerringly towards the creature’s throat. He was rewarded with a gurgle and saw the reddish shape slump to the floor, the redness fading as the body cooled in death. Carthinal quickly retrieved his dagger while he could still see it.

Now there was only blackness. No sign of any further enemies, but a few paces away from where the body of the hobgoblin lay, the corridor finished in a blank wall.

“What now?” he muttered aloud. “There must be a secret door somewhere. I’ve got six hours to complete this test, so there’s no rush. At least not yet.” He leaned against the wall to think, and as he moved his feet, he heard a scrunching beneath them and realised there were rushes on the ground.

“Torches! Yes!” Cardinal knelt and gathered a bunch of rushes. They were dry, so he set about making a torch. He knew if he set light to them as they were, they would burn far too quickly, so he plaited the ends where he would grip them, and left the tops free. He made a number of these rush torches, taking the time to do so, since he had no idea if he would find any more farther into the labyrinth, or so he surmised it to be.

After he had what he considered a sufficient number, he lit the first torch using the cantrip he had used to light the fires on his journey with Asphodel and Basalt.

It took a few seconds to light, and he thought it was not going to work, but there was a sudden splutter and the makeshift rush torch burst into flame.

The end of the corridor proved not to have any signs of secret doors. He searched twice to be sure, then slowly made his way back up the corridor towards the door through which he had entered. There was no sign of a door on the right hand side, nor, to his surprise, was there any sign of the door through which he had entered.

“Well that ensures we don’t go back,” he muttered as he searched the other wall of the corridor. “Ah! I knew there must be something somewhere!” He could see the very finest line in the stonework.

It was hardly visible, but his elven heritage had given him excellent vision. He wondered for a moment how non-elves would set about finding this door, but that was not his problem, so he put it aside. Mabryl had taught him to focus on the problem at hand and not worry about things he could do nothing about.

“That way lies death,” Mabryl’s voice whispered in his mind.

He also remembered similar instructions from his life in the gangs, before Mabryl had saved him.

It took only a couple of seconds for him to discover the mechanism that opened the door and then a portion of the wall swung inwards with a grinding sound.

“Kassilla’s tits!” he swore. “If anything’s in there, it would have heard that a mile away.” Ensuring there were no rushes to set on fire on the floor of this new corridor, Carthinal stubbed his torch out. He stood in the dark, searching the corridor for signs of life.

No red glowing figures were visible, nor did he hear any sounds. Wait! Was that a shuffling? No … Yes! There was something out there. He could see no heat sources.

Then he realised with a sinking feeling. One of his biggest dreads! Undead!

Well, they knew he was here, and he must be able to see them if he were to fight them, so he re-lit his torch. Sure enough, shuffling slowly along the corridor was a zombie. Carthinal’s mind worked quickly. He needed something more than his dagger here as it was unlikely that a single throw would stop the zombie. Zombies fought with their bare hands, hitting and clawing at their victims, but could do a tremendous amount of damage, especially to an unarmoured mage. He therefore could not risk getting into close combat with it.

A spell then, that was the answer.

Trying any mind influencing spell was no use as undead were generally immune to such spells, not having a mind to affect, so it was no use trying to put it to sleep. He decided to use small bolts of energy.

He quickly took the mana into himself and wove the pattern to absorb energy from the surroundings and transfer it into darts of pure energy.

Two silvery darts shot from his fingertips to bury themselves unerringly in the zombie’s chest.

It staggered and fell to the ground, twitched a few times and then was still.

“I hope there are no more of them! I hate undead, they give me the creeps.”

Carthinal was unsure why he was talking aloud. “Maybe for reassurance. After all, I could actually die in here.”

He quickly quashed the unpleasant thought, but like everything one tries not to think about, the idea kept returning. To try to stop it, he began to talk to himself again.

“I think I’ve been in here now for about an hour and a half. Time to find the door, time to make the rush lights, and two enemies to dispatch. Still plenty of time, but then, I don’t know, do I? I’ve no idea how far I have to go, or what I must face. I’d better move on.”

The corridor curved to the left, meaning Carthinal could not see very far in front of him. It was worse than a sudden corner, as there he could have stopped and looked carefully round, so he walked slowly and quietly along, his back to the wall, and paused every few yards to listen.

His progress was snail-like, but he was as sure as he could be that he was not running into danger unprepared.

The long curving corridor eventually ended with no further traps or enemies to be overcome, and then forked into two ahead of him.

“Now which way?”

He decided to toss a coin as no other ideas came to him. Heads, left, tails right. It came down heads, so he took the lefthand branch.

There was no sign of an enemy, but he moved with care.

The corridor ended in a blank wall.

And here’s a review.

D. W. Peach

4.0 out of 5 stars Plot-driven high fantasy quest

Reviewed in the United States on 12 March 2024

Verified Purchase

The first book in the Wolves of Vimar series opens with the burial of a king and his magical sword, and the sacrifice of twelve warriors whose spirits will protect his body from harm until the eight “wolves” come. This prophecy results, many years later, in a quest, as eight characters are sent by a duke to bring back the sword.

The book is divided into thirds. Part I takes its time introducing the characters who represent a variety of races including humans, elves, dwarves, and their half-elf leader, Carthinal. The group includes the duke’s entitled daughter Randa, a married horselord couple, and a young thief with a thick accent. The backstory for most of the characters comes through multiple points of view with some omnipresent narration.

Part II of the story begins the journey. The author’s attention to world-building is evident as the “wolf pack” wends their way across the land. Part III covers the journey home. The pace is moderate throughout with tangents for fun, humor, and a bit of romance. Much of the book’s journeying reminded me of a Dungeons and Dragons quest, with a variety of creatures offering challenges along the way including Yetis, dragons, bandits, hobgoblins, and other fantasy monsters.

The characters are distinct but for me, the book was more of a plot-driven read than an emotionally-deep character-driven one. Most of the characters don’t have significant arcs apart from Randa, the entitled duke’s daughter, and for that reason, I found her the most interesting. Though the first book in the series, it also stands alone well. Recommended to YA readers of high-fantasy quests who enjoy a leisurely pace, plot-driven stories, and encounters with otherworldly creatures and monsters.

If you would like to read The Wolf Pack, you can get it by clicking here, or on the book cover in the sidebar.

This link will take you to a page where you can buy the book from your favourite online store.

It is available in ebook, paper back, hardback and audio.

Did you enjoy this excerpt? Please leave your comment in the comments box.

This was supposed to be scheduled for Tuesday, but WP didn’t give me the usual option, but posted it right away! I cant find a way to unpublish it, either. So this is my Tuesday’s post early!

fantasy, maps, novel

Exploring the World of Vimar in The Wolves of Vimar Series

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Last week I sent the manuscript of Book 4 of The Wolves of Vimar series. It’s called Immortal’s Death.

I thought you might like to know a bit more about the world of Vimar, so here’s a post about it.

Map created using Inkarnate

Vimar circles its sun in almost exactly 360 days. This leads the people to have divided their year into 12 months of 30 days. Since it is not exactly 360 days, but in fact 360 days and 4 hours, this means that every 6 years an extra day is added to the year. This is added at the end of the year and is called the Day of the Gods. It is a holiday for everyone and as it comes just before Grillon’s Day, also a holiday, when the New Year is celebrated. Everyone looks forward to this time. 

Because all the important astronomical timings are 6 or multiples of 6, the people of Vimar have come to believe that six is a holy number. Thus when they came to devise the timings of the day, they decided to divide it into 24 hours, much as we do on Earth, However, they begin to count their day from the time of sunrise on the 2 equinoxes, unlike Earth, where timing is taken from the mid-point of darkness at this time, more or less. 

Once every place began their day at dawn, regardless of time of year or place on the planet, but as trade increased this became somewhat confusing, and so the standardised time began. Thus what on Earth would be 6am, on Vimar it is 0 hour, and Earth’s 12pm is Vimar’s 6th hour.

Vimar has 2 moons, Lyndor and Ullin. Lyndor is slightly nearer to Vimar than Ullin and appears to be a gold colour. Ullin appears more silvery. It is considered propitious when the moons are both full together, and if both moons are dark, that is considered to be the least lucky time for any ventures. The best times for starting any venture is when both moons are waxing, and conversely, if they are both waning, that is a bad time, although endings can be good at this time.

The world has 2 large continents, The one featured in the Wolf Pack is the continent of Khalram. Grosmer is the largest country on this landmass and has a climate ranging from Mediterranean in the south to cool temperate in the north. To the west, beyond the Western Mountains is a vast plain on which live the nomadic people known as the Horselords for their mastery of the beautiful horses they rear. It is said that a huge ocean lies beyond this plain, but no one knows for sure. 

Beyond the Mountains of Doom, a volcanic range in the east, are the lands of Pelimar, a loose coalition of city states, Erian, ruled by an elected Master and the elven land of Rindisillaron. 

The north of Grosmer is bounded by a huge range of mountains known as the ‘Roof of the World.’ What lies beyond that is unknown. No one who ventured over the mountains has ever returned.

There is a large, mysterious continent to the far east that occasionally comes to the attention of the people of Khalram because of the Raiders who come for plunder and slaves.

Millennia ago, three huge volcanoes stood at around the mid-point of the continent. Over a hundred years, all three exploded violently, plunging the land into a terrible darkness that lasted many years. Eventually, the eastern ocean broke through and created the Three Seas that now sit to the south of Grosmer and Erian.

To the south of the Three Seas is the Great Desert. That, together with the three seas, acts as a barrier. Little is known of the lands beyond.

It was from here that Fero came to live in Grosmer.

Building a believable world can be a daunting task. I did research into geography and geology in order to make it believable. The deserts, for example, are in the same places as they are on Earth.

North of the three seas, the climate is Mediterranean, and as one progresses northwards, it becomes more like the UK, especially around Frind, just south of the Roof of the World.

announcement

I’m back after my month long break.

20 Comments

Hi, Everybody.

I’m back from my July break, now and am once more starting my weekly blog.

Here’s a poem for today from my poetry book July to December, One Poem a Day. It’s today’s poem in the book.

Image by DiDeeChen from Pixabay

Decisions.

I went out for a coffee
To my local coffee house
The girl who was serving me
Smiled and brushed her blouse.
“What would you like?” she said quite clear
And then listed all the options near.

“Americano, or flat white
Espresso, Latte, that’s quite nice.
You can have mocha, if you must
Or cappuccino with chocolate dust.
We serve iced coffee when it’s hot
And Irish coffee when it’s not.”

There was far too much choice.
What were these things she offered me?
I was confused. I lost my voice.
Once upon a time, you see,
This was all you’d hear her say
“Black or white for you today?”

So what have I been up to during this time?

Well, the first thing I’d like to tell you is that I’ve just sent the manuscript of Book 4 of The Wolves of Vimar series to Next Chapter, my publisher. It’s called Immortal’s Death. I hope the title is intriguing. What do you think of it?

Now begins the waiting game to see if they accept it!

Image by u_wuwiwxkylg from Pixabay

I finished the first draft what seems like ages ago. Yes! It was ages ago. Then began the editing and re-writes.

I ran it through Grammarly to help with the grammar and spelling, then it went onto Scribophile for the critique process. That took ages because there is a limit to the number of words you can submit. Usually a chapter is OK to fit into their limitations, but occasionally one has to be divided into 2 parts.

This story is more complicated than the other books. The group of friends, called Wolf, split up and do different things, thus causing the POV to change. I labelled each chapter with the POV character’s name to make this clear.

Image by Jim Cooper from Pixabay

Muldee, a little dragonet with telepathic powers, insisted he had a larger role in this book. His ability to read minds is important on several occasions, and so I gave him his way.

Basalt, a dwarf, still hates water and horses, and incidents in the book re-enforce this.

Randa’s horse, Storm, a feisty black stallion, has a bigger role than previously, too.

King Perdillon II and Duke Rollo have important parts. The king especially. He is finding it difficult to make decisions as he has to decide between his duty to his country and his family.

And War comes to Grosmer.

I’ll keep you updated as to what is happening with the book, but it will be a while before I hear anything more.

What have you been up to during July? If you have any comments, please add them to the comments box. I love hearing from you.

announcement, fruit, Poetry

I’m taking a break.

11 Comments

It”s the first of July, and here in the UK, and in Europe as a whole, we’re having some scorching days.

I’ve decided to take a little break from blogging for this month. I will, however, still read and comment on your posts.

So, to give you something to go on with, here’s today’s poem from my poetry book, From July to December. There is one poem to read each day of these six months. Book 1 is also available. It’s called From January to June.

It’s deep into peach season, so I wrote this in honour of that delicious fruit.

Image by 현수 김 from Pixabay

Peaches

A peach with skin so soft.
Breathe in the sweet scent
As to my nose it wafts
Made just to tempt.

Bite into the flesh.
That scent did not lie.
The flavour so fresh
That I cannot deny.

Juice runs down my chin.
The peach is so sweet.
It must be a sin
To enjoy such a treat.

If you would like to purchase a copy of either, or both books, simply click on the cover in the side bare. It will take you to where you can choose your favourite online store.

The books are available as ebooks, or real books.

Have a good summer. See you in August.

book reviews, novel

Who Killed the Storyteller? A Mystery Unfolds. Book Review.

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Overview.

This is book 9 in the Camilla Randall series, although it can be read as a standalone. The story keeps you guessing until the final reveal.

It would make a great beach read.

Blurb

When Camilla Randall allows a neighboring business to hold a “Moth Hour” storytelling event in the courtyard of her beachy California bookstore, she finds an inconvenient corpse left in the audience after the event. The deceased, a storyteller famous for his appearances on NPR, turns out to have a shady past – and a lot of enemies. Unfortunately, Camilla’s boyfriend Ronzo is one of them. When it turns out the famous storyteller has been murdered, Ronzo becomes a “person of interest,” and goes into hiding.

It’s up to Camilla – and her cat Buckingham – to find out which of the quirky storytellers who attended the Moth event is the real killer. Each of their stories contains a clue to the mystery. It seems one of the storytellers is in possession of some stolen diamonds, and another, who first appears to be a helpful friend, is anything but.

Meanwhile Ronzo goes incommunicado, the bodies pile up, and a series of mysterious catastrophes makes Camilla fear she’s losing her mind. Then, with the help of her drag queen friend Marva, Camilla has to save her best friends from the murderer before it’s too late.

Story.

There was going to be a story-telling at the cafe close to Camilla’s bookstore, but unfortunately, they had a problem and Camilla allowed it to be held in the courtyard of her bookshop.

A celebrity, Boyd Ferrell, arrives for the story-telling, and afterwards is found dead.

It appears that the man had a shady background with some unpleasant events. Several people at the event have cause to hate him, but who actually did the deed?

Unfortunately, Camilla;’s boyfriend, Ronzo, a musician is one of them, and the police show an interest in him.

Then two more bodies appear. But Ronzo isn’t there. He went away on business with an old buddy, but goes incommunicado. Why? What is the reason for not communicating with Camilla?

Which of the suspects actually is the killer? And how did they manage to effect the murder in a crowded space?

Then there are a series of bizarre incidents that make Camilla question her own sanity.

Characters.

There are many characters in this book, and I can’t detail them all. They are an interesting bunch.

Camilla, of course, is the main one. She is interesting, and has anxieties about how this could have happened as a result of her kindness in allowing the event to happen at her place. This is compounded by the fact that she’s alone, with Ronzo gone. A killer is on the loose.

Alice is a somewhat bonkers woman who uses Camilla’s storeroom to do tarot readings. She does some unasked for ones for Camilla, that all seem to turn out to be bad. 

There is a New Age woman who wants Camilla to stock crystals, who seems nearly as bonkers as Alice. 

Dan, the Library Friend, as designated on his tee-shirt, seems a likeable person, and helpful. He knows a lot. Too much?

Felicity comes to help Camilla in the shop as, without Ronzo’s help, she’s finding it all a bit much. But Felicity isn’t a lot of help as she keeps putting books on the wrong shelves.

I enjoyed all the different characters. They were a varied lot, and any one of them could have been the murderer.

Writing

Ms Allen has written an intriguing book. It kept me guessing until the end. First I thought it was one person, then I thought it couldn’t be them, it must be another. There were several people with a motive. It kept me reading as I wanted to know as much as possible and to see if I could guess the murderer. She builds up the tension expertly.

There were no typos or grammatical errors I can remember.

I give it 4*

 My ranking of books. In order to get a particular number of stars, it is not necessary to meet all the criteria. This is a guide only.

5* Exceptional. Wonderful story. Setting well drawn, and characters believable–not perfect, but with flaws. Will keep you up all night. No typos or grammatical errors.

4* A thoroughly enjoyable read. Great and original story. Believable setting and characters. Very few grammatical errors or typos.

3* I enjoyed it. Good story. Characters need some development. Some typos or grammatical errors.

2* Not for me. Story not very strong. Unbelievable and flat characters. Setting not clearly defined. Many typos or grammatical errors.

1* I hated it. Story almost non-existent. Setting poor. Possibly couldn’t finish it.

Have you read any of Anne R. Allen’s books? Who is your favourite mystery author? Let us know in the comments.

funnies

Enjoy a Laugh: Hilarious Jokes from Bluebird of Bitterness

3 Comments

Sorry not to have posted for a couple of weeks. I don’t know where the time has gone. Anyway, here are a few laughs.

These are courtesy of Bluebird of Bitterness. I hope you enjoy them.

Click the button to go to Bluebird’s post.

Take me to Bluebird’s post.

I hope you find these as funny as I did.

Uncategorized

A Powerful Comment and Plea to the American People.

15 Comments

I’m not an American, but I am concerned about what is happening there. It will, and already is, affect the whole world.

After reading this, I felt I must reblog it. Many of my followers, and others who read my blog occasionally, are from the US and are worried about the way things are going.

Mike isn’t the only one affected in this way. Millions of others are, too.

So please read and, if you feel able, reblog.

I have comments open, even though Mike has closed his, so you can respond here.

An Explanation…and a Request
announcement, book reviews, fantasy, Guest Post, novel, Poetry, romance, stories

2 visits to other blogs.

6 Comments

I was recently asked if I would post on Roberta Eaton’s poetry blog, Writing to Be Read. I was greatly honoured, as I admire Robbie’s poetry. She has interviewed me, and reviewed my poetry book, January to June. One Poem a Day, Book 1.

The interview includes one of my favourite poems as well as a couple of mine.

Here is the latest Amazon ranking for this book.

If you want to find out more, click the button below.

Take me to Robbie’s blog.

If you enjoy poetry, you can buy this book and the next one, July to December, by clicking the two buttons.

Buy January to June
Buy July to December

But suppose you aren’t into poetry? Many people aren’t.

I have a post on Beetley Pete’s blog, too. This one has an extract from my latest book, Horselords, a novella.

Click the button to take you to Pete’s blog to read the post. And while you’re there, check out some of his other posts. He frequently features a serial that’s always worth a read.

Go to Beetley Pete’s blog.

Horselords is a book in the new genre of Romantasy–a blend of Romance and Fantasy, and, being a novella, is a quick read.

Here’s what Amazon said about it.

For all her life, Kimi has been taught that the Wanderers, as the nomadic tribes are known, are violent thieves.

But they are not a threat, and she hopes to have the life of a Settled Horselord, raising horses like her parents. When her family’s horses are stolen, everything changes. Kidnapped by violent tribesmen and threatened with a forced marriage to the chief’s son, she is terrified of what the future will bring.

Fearing for the lives of her father and brothers, will Kimi be able to escape and return home?

As it’s new, it doesn’t have any reviews as yet. (I’m hopeful for some good ones soon, though.)

If you are interested, here’s a link to take you to your favourite online store.

Buy Horselords

I would like to thank both Robbie and Pete for giving me time on their blogs to get to know a few more people.

My books can be bought by clicking the image in the side bar. This will take you to where you can select your favourite on-line store.

The ebook of the first in all series is free.

book reviews, novel

Rylie’s Werewolf Transformation: A Review of Six Moon Summer by SM Reine

6 Comments

OVERVIEW.

I bought this 4 book bundle a while ago, and decided I should really get around to reading it. This review is about Book 1, Six Moon Summer.

Although werewolf and vampire stories aren’t usually my thing, I decided I’d give these a go.

BLURB

Rylie’s been bitten.
She’s changing.
And now she has three months to find a cure before becoming a werewolf…forever.

Rylie Gresham has been attacked by a wild animal at summer camp. She survived with something far worse than normal injuries. Animals fear her, she’s craving raw flesh, and her anger is uncontrollable.

Mysterious Seth Wilder knows a lot about werewolves. He thinks he might be able to fix Rylie. His secrets might be far more dangerous than the change Rylie’s facing, but she has no choice but to trust him. After all, if she doesn’t figure out a way to stop the transformation, then at the end of summer, she’ll be a monster.

STORY

Rylie has been sent to summer camp. Her parents are divorcing and want her out of the way while it goes on.

She doesn’t want to go, and is difficult for the councellors in the camp as she is reluctant to take part in the activities.

Added to that, the girls in her cabin take an instant dislike to her and bully her, including reading her private journal.

One night, after teasing by her cabin mates, Rylie runs into the forest to escape their taunts. She hears a sound, and is attacked by a huge wolf.

She isn’t killed, much to her surprise, but has claw marks down her chest.

During her ordeal, she drops her journal, but to her surprise, it is returned to her bed with a note ‘You are in danger.’

She discovers that a boy has found and returned her diary. Eventually she meets him and he tells her she’s been attacked by a werewolf and will begin to change at the next full moon. But there is hope she can avert this eventuality.

The boy, Seth, promises to help her and they embark on trying to discover as much as they can about werewolves. Seth has a lot of information he says comes from the library in the boys’ camp across the lake.

Can Rylie and Seth manage to find a cure in time?

It wasn’t difficult to work out who the werewolf who bit Rylie is, though, but I was surprised when Seth reveals who he is.There is one other werewolf that appeared. It was one of the campers. But we were never told how she managed after camp when the campers returned home.

CHARACTERS 

The main character, Rylie, is troubled by her parents’ divorce. She is also a city girl and hates the forest and she gets on with boys better than girls.

SM Reine does a good job of showing us the anxiety that Rylie suffers from. We feel with her.

Seth is a boy I think I would like to have known when I was Rylie’s age (around 14). He is kind and sympathetic, and is obviously a caring human being. But he is brave, too, stealing a canoe to cross the lake to visit Rylie and help her, as well as breaking into the boys’ councellors’ private library to find out more about werewolves.

Louise, one of the councellors, is understanding and tries to do as much as she can to help Rylie, but sadly, she fails and eventually gives up. She is one of the more realistic characters in the book.

Amber is a thoroughly nasty person. She takes great delight in tormenting Rylie. She’s the leader of a group of 2 other girls, who follow exactly what she says. She is a typical type often shown in American coming of age stories. In this, I felt she was something of a trope, but not in a good way.

WRITING

The book is well written. We get the atmosphere of the camp well, and Rylie’s fear of becoming something evil.

I could imagine the setting clearly. The action scenes were good.

There were few grammatical errors, or typos, except for the incorrect use of lay when it should be lie.

One final thing. Often (and Ms Reine does the same) when describing the change to a wolf, the writer has the knees of the human reverse. If they took the trouble to investigate the anatomy of the animal, they would realise that the paw is actually the equivalent of our toes. What they take for a knee is, in fact, the equivalent of our ankle, and there is a joint (our knee) in the part of the animal below the hip. So no reversal of joints is necessary. This is something that irritates me whenever I read a story where a human changes into an animal.

I give it 3*

 My ranking of books. In order to get a particular number of stars, it is not necessary to meet all the criteria. This is a guide only.

5* Exceptional. Wonderful story. Setting well drawn, and characters believable–not perfect, but with flaws. Will keep you up all night. No typos or grammatical errors.

4* A thoroughly enjoyable read. Great and original story. Believable setting and characters. Very few grammatical errors or typos.

3* I enjoyed it. Good story. Characters need some development. Some typos or grammatical errors.

2* Not for me. Story not very strong. Unbelievable and flat characters. Setting not clearly defined. Many typos or grammatical errors.

1* I hated it. Story almost non-existent. Setting poor. Possibly couldn’t finish it.

book reviews, novel

The Band by David Kummer. A Review .

4 Comments

OVERVIEW

An exciting tale of violence and mystery.

WHAT AMAZON SAYS

Because of Johnny, I went with the band. Because of Kate, I stayed. They played anywhere, all through Appalachia. They were the best show for miles around. But even I didn’t expect Oakville to be the end.Oakville, WV. It was supposed to be a quiet place: to catch our breaths, to fall in love. It was a chance to know each other completely. As long as Johnny didn’t find out.It would also be the last show they ever played.In a foggy Appalachian town, one of us wouldn’t make it home. And everyone else would never be the same.

STORY

This is a tale told in the first person. The protagonist is a young man, Aiden, who is the sound engineer with a band that is trying to break into the big time.

The Band have left their homes in Tennessee to travel around getting gigs wherever they can.They all have problems and reasons for wanting to spend the summer away from their families.

Tensions abound between the band members, but when they reach the small town of Oakville, things come to a head.

They play an impromptu gig outside the Courthouse one hot afternoon, which leads to a Saturday night gig in one of two bars in the town.

They find a week’s lodging in a run-down basement flat belonging to a mysterious old lady.

Then some gruesome murders take place. Rumour has it the old lady had killed three husbands and buried them in her garden.

Who has been killing the teenagers? Was it the old lady? Sam, a young man who appears to be following the band around? One of a biker gang, with whom the Band had an argument?

Nothing more shall be said by me as I don’t want to write a spoiler.

CHARACTERS

Aiden is the sound man for the Band. He has joined them because of problems at home. Like others in the Band, he’s running away from a dysfunctional family.

He has a thing for the only female in the band, but is lacking in confidence, so says nothing.

Johnny is the leader of the band. He is a very mixed up kid. With his family background making him crave attention, he is easily pushed into jealous outbursts if someone appears to be getting more than what he considers their correct amount.

He’s a bit of a loner, and often goes off on his own.

Kate, otherwise known as Echo, when in the Band, is a young woman who is an amazing singer. It’s she who ensures the Saturday night gig in Oakville. Whenever she sings, the place comes alive with her energy.

She enjoys nature and walking and often persuaded Aiden to go with her on her rambles. Sometimes she seems to reciprocate Aiden’s feelings, and at others she appears to think of him as just a friend.

River is a very good looking young man. The girls all fall over themselves for his attention, and he enjoys this aspect of being in the Band.

He is the most talented guitarist of them all, and also has a superb voice. He has his share of solos.

Finally, Bobby. He is known as Pistol in the Band, and is the drummer. He always wears a cowboy hat, and Aiden thinks he sounds ‘country’ when singing. He has ambitions to play guitar, but Johnny tells him he’s not good enough, so he sticks to the drums.

He seems to be about the most ‘normal’ of the Band.

The characters are all well-drawn and fully rounded, having both positive and negative traits. I’m not going to go into the others or this will never finish.

WRITING

David Kummer does an excellent job of building up the tension in this book. There are several places where I couldn’t have put it down if asked.

He uses the setting well to add to the tension. Hot sultry weather, sudden rain, rickety bridges etc.

There are a few typos, and some grammatical errors, but not enough to make me stop reading.

I did, however, get a bit irritated when he used ‘lay’ every time when it should be ‘lie.’ But as this is a very common error, I don’t suppose it would annoy most people.

I give it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4*

My ranking of books.

In order to get a particular number of stars, it is not necessary to meet all the criteria. This is a guide only.

5* Exceptional. Wonderful story. Setting well drawn, and characters believable–not perfect, but with flaws. Will keep you up all night. No typos or grammatical errors.

4* A thoroughly enjoyable read. Great and original story. Believable setting and characters. Very few grammatical errors or typos.

3* I enjoyed it. Good story. Characters need some development. Some typos or grammatical errors.

2* Not for me. Story not very strong. Unbelievable and flat characters. Setting not clearly defined. Many typos or grammatical errors.

1* I hated it. Story almost non-existent. Setting poor. Possibly couldn’t finish it.

There are dragons and magic in the world if only you look for them… V.M. Sang