Book Review: Twe12ve by Ceri Bladen

Twelve keys, one secret. 

Synopsis: Odin and his twelve sons guard the secret to prolonging human life. The secret, kept deep in a vault in Ragnorok, can only be revealed when humans stop intentionally killing one another. 

Twelve humans hold the keys to open the vault, but during centuries of complacency, Odin has lost track of the keyholders. Two keyholders now remain, and Odin awakens to their existence. 

Can Odin and his sons protect the last two keyholders, or will Floki, Odin's greatest rival, destroy everything Odin holds dear and seize control of Ragnorok?

Review: In short: Ceri Bladen hits the bullseye again.

Whilst the cover and blurb are intriguing, the fact is that the author is one who grows in stature with each book she pens. I have not read all of hers (but most of them) and each has brought something new that I enjoyed. Twe12ve is no exception, but it may be Miss Bladen's best work to date.

I try to pin down what it is I love about her writing. I suppose it is the fact that one never really knows what will jump out on the pages. This story, though complex as an idea, actually reads extremely well as a story. I am not sure how many writers could have accomplished this as well as the author has, and for that, I give her much credit.

Sci-fi isn't a must read genre for me. I much prefer to see it on the big screen, but the sci-fi elements of this story were some of the best parts of the whole book. 

The thriller featuring many detectives (and yes, admittedly a lot of characters are thrown at you for a relatively short book) have witty banter that made the dialogue and the switch to narrative an easy to read story. I'm a huge fan of coffee too, so if you want to know the in-jokes in this story, you will simply have to read it.

As a tale, it is rather exceptional.

Having read the story, it is extremely packed for its length. I just wonder what a special edition volume would look like. I felt it could have been longer. But in essence, the 'keeper' of the keys to a long term existence, master Odin, and his bid to reunite with some of the other keyholders faces a seemingly simple task, until it is complicated by uber-baddie Floki, and it's here where most of the fun and action in the book takes place.

In some ways, two stories run parallel here...the detectives who are keeping busy but largely ignorant of the bigger picture, and the drama elements with Odin and Floki. Usually novels pick up a pace towards the end, and Twe12ve is no exception.

As a tale, it is rather exceptional. Maybe I am just a fan of this author's works. I believe anyone who can work so many elements into one story and have it come out as well as it does here, can only go from strength to strength.

A special mention must be given to this Kindle version as viewed on my iPad. It looks terrific, is well presented and easy to navigate.

For fans of sci-fi, fantasy, criminal investigation and...coffee.

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Book Review: The Bones of the Earth (The Bones of the Earth, #1) by Scott Hale

Synopsis: Is it wrong to kill a human … when you’re not human yourself? It’s been two hundred years since the Trauma, a catastrophic event of a now forgotten origin, wreaked havoc upon the Earth, reducing the human population from billions to thousands, and leaving the survivors as prey to humanoid hunters. 

Vrana of the Raven is one of these hunters. Her tribe has made killing humans, now known as the Corrupted, its purpose—to “keep the balance”—to ensure that the Corrupted do not rise to power and lay the Earth to ruin once more. But, one night, in the great northern city-state of Geharra, over ten thousand Corrupted disappear. And if so many can disappear so quickly, what’s to stop it from happening again elsewhere, or to Vrana’s own? Geharra, however, is not the only place to suffer from strange happenings. 

In Caldera, Vrana sleeps fitfully, dreaming of a Void and the Witch trapped within. When she is called upon to travel with Serra, Lucan, and Deimos to the abandoned city, she accepts, but only to get away from Caldera, because the Witch that haunts her nightmares has begun to haunt her days. 

Review: The Bones of the Earth is an extremely intriguing work of horror sci-fi fantasy. Whilst that might seem like a jumble of genres and hard to get working into a single book, author Scott Hale has pulled this off admirably. These days, authors need more than a good story to stand out, so the presentation is important. The book's cover is quite a work of art. It is unusual, makes you want to know more. Is the main character a force for good, or for bad?

 In Vrana, we have a plucky and strong heroine who is thrown into action almost from page one. Her motivations are not too clear to me at first, but as I read more of the book, Vrana's story became more easy to understand, compelling me to read the rest of the book. Scott Hale describes the world he has created beautifully. He does so with great command of English, and the writing is poetic in many aspects, for me, this was the star of the book.

 I read a book in late 2013 that had a similar MC, but this one was male, and seemed a little one dimensional to me. That said I enjoyed how the character killed so many and with ease. Vrana, thankfully, is a more complex character. Her kills always mean something, always having consequences, and I wondered would the hunter become the hunted?

There is a dreamlike quality to the writing that I can only imagine will improve as the author grows in stature. I would recommend this to people who enjoy different genres - there's a great mix of horror, fantasy, sci-fi, adventure in this book, and it works. 

 I love the description of Vrana herself, and the cover art reinforces my view on that. The tribal aspect of the book is interesting too, and will have readers hooked. I would just suggest that readers go beyond the 10% or so that Amazon allow on their preview - this book needs the reader's attention. Once you get into it, you won't leave it down.

Buy on Amazon

Book Review: On the Run - The Moriya Chronicles Book One by I-Lanaa Twine

Synopis (from the author)

Isn’t it amazing how in a mere split second, the very essence of who you are can change forever? That in just an instant your entire life can be ripped to shreds? 

One night, three years ago, my mother was torn from us. Gone, without a trace. And just like that, nothing was ever the same.

Thrust into a world of darkness and danger, my father and I were forced to flee a past that haunted us and the beasts that hunted us.

As the black walls of despair closed all around me, I felt eternally lost... 

Until I found him. And he helped me find myself. 

Derrick Harris was a beacon of the purest light, guiding me straight into the warmth of his heart.

But sometimes the past has a way of finding you. Lies have a way of catching up to you. And secrets never seem to stay secret for very long.

Now all that I hold dear is at stake, and I must fight to survive, or my entire world will crumble before my eyes. 

I am on the run…

I love any book that starts with an extended prologue. It tells us, without showing us too much - where the story might go. On The Run completely changed my view of prologues - truly it revealed itself to be far deeper than I thought. I ended up re-reading the prologue several times!

When the story begins in earnest we are introduced to Delilah Simpson (super-cool name alert!) and she is being left to school by her father. Clearly there's a lot of growing pains to go through and the author expertly takes us through them from Delilah's point of view.

Even in these early stages, there are hints of the author's wonderful use of words:-

"And while most girls my age were discovering how to embrace who they truly were, I was learning how to mask it."

Each chapter could have been subtitled Secret 1....Secret 2 and so on, because each chapter almost runs like a story on its own reveal bits of the story majestically.

The father-daughter relationship is realistically portrayed and I liked the interplay between the two. The author doesn't shy away from hard hitting scenes between them, and this is to be welcomed. It gives the story extra spice, because if these two cannot work together, what hope for anyone else Delilah runs into?

The subplot of will they / won't they find her mother drives the story, whilst other riveting plot-lines develop.

On the Run is a tremendous achievement, because over its considerable length, I kept on reading. Our story centres around Jade, who is left uncertain of her future when her mother disappears from her life. Her father Keith is a great character. Through his wisecracks and hard father-daughter talk, it's clear he has a heart of gold and will stop at nothing to find Jade's mother.

As someone who knows what it is like to write a long, multi-layered story, and join all the dots together, I felt a special empathy for the author's work. The point-of-view changes are something that readers should enjoy experiencing. Why make it super easy as a read? Surely you want a book that challenges you so you, as the reader, will become actively involved in the story.

The story gets trickier in its complexity when Jade is introduced, so you really do need to pay attention to the plot as it develops. You cannot skip a single page for fear of losing teh thread of the narration, which, whilst easy to read, has a level of complexity all of its own. Readers should welcome this - there's nothing to fear about this style of storytelling, and actually, it is very refreshing to me! On the Run has a stylish swagger about it that I loved. As the story developed, it just got better and better, and during the second half in particular, I thought 'we have a winner here, ladies and gentlemen'.

Like any great fantasy, it has a bit of everything in it - mystery, paranormal, romance, action and much more.

The romantic angle is well done without being angsty. The Interplay between our heroine and Devon / Damion / Derrick...or as he is so called in one first and memorable exchange 'Whatever' I did chuckle.

However, I wanted to see where the story was ultimately going to take me and it is the second half of the book that is truly a treasure and a pleasure to read. By now we are introduced to vampires - which made my ears prick up and my fangs develop. I love vampires - stories well done that is and even when this is kicking off, Miss Twine drops in great lines, such as:-

"Desdemona....was also in a high position of power in the undead aristocracy. Kinda like vampire royalty. The Princess Diana of the underworld."

In summary, this is one of the best fantasies I have read in while, perhaps as good as Lisa Tawgren's Rivers of Time series.

But I think there's more to it. Connect all the dreamlike sequences together and you will enjoy the book just as much as I did.

Final note - look at the cover. The story backs it up too, so get this today.

Buy on Amazon

Book Review: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

There's plenty of reviews for this book already, so I won't labour on that. I had been lent it by another SK fan, and at 1200 pages, it's quite a tome. I have read it reasonably quickly, and as usual, I'm hardest on my favourite authors.

First, the good news. Reading Stephen King is like coming home. You are pleased to have gone on your travels, but now you're back - you're home, and it's a good feeling.

The writing is well done as ever, it's interesting and has a very good hook at its core - that of time travel, which made me think that this book could fall flat on its face, or turn out to be brilliant. As I closed the book, I am a little inbetween on this, though leaning more towards four stars than two, hence the three star rating.

The initial characters are interesting and hold the reader's attention. The idea of travelling back in time to prevent one of the most infamous episodes in American history is one thing, but it opens up a real Pandora's Box where you find yourself asking...why stop there? Why not go back and stop Hitler assuming control of the Nazi party? How about going back further to biblical times? How about going back to 1997 in the UK and stopping Labour taking power, or Thatcher in '79?

Now that last comment may wind up some UK voters, but maybe it is intended to. King doesn't hold back on his political views in this book, and some reviews appear to snipe at him because of this.
I am okay with it - after all, I am not a US citizen so I am less affected by this, and I don't believe SK is as preachy as is being made out.

Other nitpicks....so many characters, many of whom were falling into the Needful Things shop of horrors - I would forget who was who at times, and why they were there. The 'love scenes', if you could call them that, are a little clumsy in their execution. But SK has done similar in his other books...so no real disappointment there.

However, all this aside, I was eager to see how he would take us back to the 1950s. It's fair to say that I imagined a Back to the Future type world where Mr Sandman plays in the background, but King, unsurprisingly, goes further, not only dragging us there, but placing us there. This, once again, is masterful writing and I suppose I should not be surprised that King...surprises me!

11/22/63 is not a horror, though it has its moments, and just like his recent Revival, it's creepy and well scary! It's hard to classify - it is a romance to some extent, a historical piece, a sci-fi drama. Talk about putting all your favourite eggs in one very full basket.

Most of all, it is readable, despite being of a length that would have IT and The Stand looking over their well-thumbed shoulders. (maybe we cannot thumb a shoulder...oh well!)

I'm okay with the ending, without being overwhelmed. SK usually delivers cracking endings....this one, not so much.

King completionists will not feel cheated by the book, and whilst it could never be accused of having filler, King does go off on a tangent some times that makes me think he forgets he has readers outside of the USA that won't 'get' all his popcorn messages.

It's probably worth a second read, but this is one author who fires out books with alarming regularity. I'm waiting with baited breath for Finders Keepers, which is out later in 2015. Go and wow us again, Mr King....but hey...you've done alright here.