The Legacy of the Key
Ancient Guardians, Book One
by S.L. Morgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
Reece is your typical college student, dealing with classes and unfortunately, her father's passing. At least that is what she thinks anyway. She is heading to San Diego to finish up things on her father's estate, when she notices two handsome young men at the airport, and then they are on her plane, which ends up having trouble and returning to Philadelphia. She later notices them again while out with friends, and while out on a run they save her from being abducted. Turns out they are her Guardians and she is someone called The Key. Now she must understand that there are other dimensions and worlds other than her own, all while hiding for her own safety. Ancient Guardians is a young adult tale of character and honesty. S. L. Morgan takes fantasy and morals and makes it into a wonderfully captivating romance novel between a young girl called the Key and her Guardian.
Ancient Guardians: The Legacy of the Key is the beginning of a new series, and it is a strong start to the series. It lays a good foundation for more to come. The guardians are shown to be a people that a strong, yet morally upright and have good values; which is why they were originally chosen as the guardians in the first place. Greed and power are the opposite and are shown to get in the way of life and what is really important. This fantasy novel is set in multiple dimensions, which is a fun concept to think about, with Earth being the central focus of the dimensions. Although there is some fighting, the crux of the story is the romance between the Key, Reece and her guardian, Levi. This is a great young adult and teen novel in that the romance is also woven in with a moral message of honesty, trust and doing the right thing. This novel will also appeal to older readers as well, and given that it is very clean, even mature younger readers would do well with the novel.
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The Irish Princess and the Pearls of Eetanam
by Jamie Scheid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
When Mathius takes over the kingdom from his father, who was not the sort of king you wanted to have, his only thoughts are how to make sure people know he is nothing like his father. His first challenge comes in the form of Vikings attacking villages, and once the Vikings are dispatched, King Mathius dies in his sleep. His widow and young daughter are left to change the kingdom, and he leave a heroic legacy. His death effects a fisherman, who is given a magic medallion, and he passes it on to the Queen. The time comes when the queen needs to find out if Cassidy, her daughter is ready to take the throne, and she tells her of the medallion and sets her on a mission. The future of the kingdom is borne on the mission and the leaders emerge. The Irish Princess and the Pearls of Eatanam follows Cassidy and her journey, along with the fate of the kingdom. Jamie Scheid writes a fairy tale of sorts with wisdom and character.
Cassidy is the perfect princess, caring more for people and her kingdom than herself. The Irish Princess and the Pearls of Eatanam follows Cassidy and teaches of her gentleness and kindness. A kingdom ruled by a widow Queen, but covered in the legacy of a heroic king gone before he had time to do anything. The daughter born to take over, and the children of the kingdom that will be her help and guidance forever. Jamie Scheid gives us a story part historical, part fairy tale, and part realistic. So much to learn from the characters and the way they respond to everything that life offers them.
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Kwennsefulass
by Kris Godwin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Imagine waking up and not knowing who you were, not know where you were, not knowing when you where and not knowing what you were. Kwennsefulass is that kind of story. A young man takes the name Kwenn, short for Kwennsefulass which is written on a necklace he wears, but he knows nothing else. He can't even tell you the world he is on or anything about it. As tragedy strikes the town he first stumbles into, and some consider it an omen and his fault. He feels a drive to find the reason for the tragedy and to answer for it, even if it had nothing to do with him. +Kris Godwin gives him a strong moral character even if he knows nothing else about himself. The story follows as he sets out with a few villages to find out what has happened, maybe regain his memory and to save the world.
As +Kris Godwin weaves this tale of fiction and fantasy and legend together, I am reminded of the stories of the Greek and Roman gods and the ways that they played with the fates of mortals. Kwennsefulass gives you a sense of that, yet it is something altogether different at the same time. From the moment Kwenn wakes, I felt for him, I could feel his loneliness and fear and I wanted him to find his memory and to find the answers, yet around each twist in the book I was glad that it hadn't come back yet. That meant there was still more book. Even days after finishing the book, I still find myself thinking about the story and Kwenn and what the author was wanting to say. This is a great story for all, and for some it will stay with you and become a friend.
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The Heir to the Amulet
by S.P. Meijer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
The Heir to the Amulet mixes the ideas of Knights and old world, medieval places and areas or countries with futuristic, high-tech places and areas or countries and blends them into a story of mystery and intrigue, kidnapping and sabotage. Raith was success in her attempt to take over the country of Cymnosa, but the Queen and her children managed to escape. Years later, Queen Sarah has vanished in a plan crash, and the heir, Lora is living under a false identity in another country, while Richie is under the control of an evil Uncle. When Raith makes a bid to get the remaining two nations fighting, Lora undertakes the adventure of a lifetime to save her brother, her best friend and new friend, along with the rest of the world, in +S. P. Meijer's fantasy epic adventure.
Lost heir's are a dime a dozen, but Lora is different, she is 16 but packs a powerfulful determination into that body to right the wrongs of the world. You like her from the beginning. Her best friend Stephen is the son of the King of Magoria, although the King doesn't quite like her.+S.P. Meijer focuses on the kids, they are the heros of the book, they are the ones who get out there and make things happen. It's not the King or The Queen or any adult, although at times they help a bit, but it is mainly a group of 16 to 10 year old kids. That is what makes The Heir to The Amulet so good for kids to read. It gives them a sense of empowerment and encouragement, that they aren't too small and their voice matters.
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Divided against Yourselves
by Bill Hiatt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Divided Against Yourselves is the second book in the Spell Weavers series, but unlike a number of series this book can be read on it's own without having read the first book and without feeling lost. Tal is a teenager dealing with reincarnation, in fact he is the reincarnation of the original Taliesin, a bard in King Arthur's court. Tal has successfully to this point merged his past lives together with his present life quite well. His best friend Stan is also a reincarnation, but his is not going so well. He past life as King David wants to take control too often. Even after defeating the witch Ceridwen last Halloween, Tal and the guys think they can relax and go back to normal life, only for Tal to be surprised by the appearance of Morgan Le Fay, who help Ceridwen at Halloween. Tal and his warriors work to figure out what Morgan wants and how to protect everyone at the same time. Bill Haitt does a wonderful job of weaving a magic tale into a modern day high school and making it work.
This is the first book I can remember reading that took on the reincarnation topic as a theme to the magic. It was novel of Bill Haitt to think of that plotline for a story, and it made this story compelling and interesting. It also opened a number of question that have me asking what is the next book after Divided Against Yourselves. I found the teenagers in the book to be real and remind me of my own teenagers at home, some of the bantering between the boys is stuff I hear coming from the boys in my sons room all the time. I felt the story was well developed and the action scenes would entertain and keep a good range of boys interested in reading. There is a puppy love vs. true love kind of thing, you know the kind that happens when you're sixteen through that along with the magic would keep girls reading. There are so many different side stories and themes in the book that are weaved together so well into a complete story that it will appeal to a great variety of readers.
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Entwined Courage
by Tracy Lane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
For centuries two worlds have existed in peace and harmony, the world of magic, a crystal city that floats high above the planet. Down below, on the planet, the common folk, who have no idea that the crystal city really exists believing it to be a myth. In the crystal city there are two forms of magic, the light and the dark, and they have stuck an easy balance and rule together for the good of both worlds. +Tracy Lane brings us into this world and introduces us to a young squire who is duty-bound to obey his master no matter what he asks of him. The problem is that his master is a greedy power hungry dark mage who wants all the power for himself and cares for no one else. He orders his squire, Kayne to steal a powerful artifact which he must do, but he cannot fully comply with his master and breaks his duty by hiding the artifact instead of giving it to the master. Entwined Courage is the ensuing story of Kayne's struggle to right the wrong he did by obeying his master and protect a young girl, Aurora who he involved in this plot without thinking.
+Tracy Lane does a wonderful job of describing the characters so vividly that you can imagine the evil in the eyes of Kronos and the compassion in the eyes of Iragos, As Entwined Courage continues the friendship between Kayne and Aurora grows, and much to Aurora's dismay she finds that she has magic in her. When she and Kayne work together to get away from Kronos, even with Aurora never having any training, they can do some amazing magic. Along with the story of righting his masters wrong, there is another story. This one is the one that involves Aurora's misguided belief in what the mages really do. She is sure they only protect the resources of the planet. She never thinks to consider that the common folk are the biggest resource they protect. As they work to right the wrong, Aurora must also grow up and figure out what she really believes about the mages and where her place in the two worlds really is.
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The Art of Forgetting - Rider
by Joanne Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed by Michelle Randall for Reader's Favorite.
Take the stories of knights on horseback, armies defending the Queen, and those crusader type stories from the 11th and 13th centuries, now place them in another world and you have The Art of Forgetting. Rhodri is a young boy, found in the woods, who no one quite knows what to think of. He has a perfect memory, but the people are scared of him, so life in his village is rough. Enter the Kings Third army troop and Rhodri's life is about to change forever. You follow him as he joins the army, trains and becomes a good solider. Watch as he makes new friends, grows and creates a relationship with someone much older than himself. Joanne Hall does a wonderful job of writing so that you forget this takes place on another world for the most part, it could be the story of anyone of the 11th to 13th centuries.
Joann Hall is a wonderful writer and has done a beautiful job in crafting a fantasy story that almost feels like a historical novel. The Art of Forgetting is set on another world, with two moons; yet for most of the book you almost forget that focusing solely on the army life of this young boy and his friends. If you like the adventures of the crusaders, the bravery of the knights and romance of the early centuries, then you will enjoy this novel. It brings all those elements together, places them on another world and adds some modern romantic situations to make for a compelling new novel.
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The Silver Arrow
by Larry Itejere
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed by Michelle Randall for +Reader's Favorite.
Part knights of the round table, part knights of the templar, part historical, part fantasy, part paranormal powers and a classic good vs. evil storyline is what defines Drops from the Kingdom. Most of the book tells the story of Isesac, and how he came to be the guardian and guiding figure that he is today. There is some history of the world this story is being set in, which is a mix of old world, nordic and fantasy. There is also the story of Samuel, and his gifts. How he finds out about them, Iseasc's search for him and later his search for Iseasc. +Larry Itejere has set this up along the lines of a grand adventure like the knights of the round table, or King Arthur. Even better still, it is only the beginning of the story. The epilogue entices you to wait to continue the journey with Jayden.
+Larry Itejere has written a well-balanced story that has adventure and intrigue, mystery and suspense and just enough paranormal powers to draw in just about every pre-teen and teen boy. Drops from the Kingdom reminds me of a better version of the Knights of the Round Table, only set in a different location, a different time period, and with a different story. The paranormal powers and the idea of patrons and guardians will interest all those kids that are looking for a slightly magical twist in their stories. There is adventure and warfare, enough to keep the boys reading, but not so much has to drive the girls away. This is a great book for that pre-teen set, as the characters range from 12 to 17 for the most part during the story.
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