Review: Witch Song by Amber Argyle

Book: Witch Song by Amber Argyle
Series:  Witch Song #1
Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult
Buy A Copy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Available Formats: Ebook / Paperback
Publication Date: September 1st, 2011
How Did I Get This Book: From Publisher, For Review.
First Sentence: "Brusenna's straw-colored hair felt as hot as a sun-baked rock."
Description: The world is changing. Once, Witch Song controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons--but not anymore. All the Witches are gone, taken captive by a traitor. All but Brusenna. As the echo of their songs fade, the traitor grows stronger. Now she is coming for Brusenna. Her guardian has sworn to protect her, but even he can't stop the Dark Witch. Somehow, Brusenna has to succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find the traitor. Fight her. Defeat her. Because if Brusenna doesn't, there won't be anything left to save.

Witch Song is part coming-of-age, part fantasy and part adventure. The idea behind it is rather unique to me – these witches don’t chant and they don’t use wands; they sing. 

I had a real hard time liking Brusenna as a character – especially in the beginning. She just was very difficult to connect with and sometimes her actions did not make sense to me. Mainly, I could not understand why she pushed help away. I would think that a young girl who is practically all alone in the world would jump at the chance of having some help and having a friend. Then, the reader is never really given much insight on her. I feel like the only things we really learn about her are that she was picked on by the idiot villagers and she missed her mother sometimes. Brusenna felt like a character, when as readers, we want her to feel like a friend.  As the story progressed, she grew on me a bit, but I still wish I could have liked her more.

I thought Brusenna’s companion Joshen was much more likable. The scenes they shared made me warm up to her a bit. There is one in particular in which they are making sleeping arrangements that I thought was adorable.  

Unfortunately, the action just did not pull me in. in fact, I found the big ending to be rather anti-climatic. I do not want to give anything away, but the way in which they battle just does not do it for me. I kept thinking that the fight would continue and they would somehow switch tactics.  

For me, Witch Song did not have the “it” factor. On paper it sounds like a great idea, but I never was able to get wrapped up in the story. Not once, did I find myself wondering about the characters or wishing I could read more of the story. I certainly did not dislike it, but it did not “wow” me either.  I enjoyed it enough, but you won’t find me eagerly anticipating the follow up.

Favorite Quotes:

"She shivered as the wind's fingers painted her skin silver with moonlight."

"As though pulled by some unnatural force, she rolled over and her gaze met Joshen's. She swam in the sea of his gray-blue eyes."

"They stared at each other a long time. He wanted to pull her into his arms. He wanted to push her overboard. But like a fool, he stood frozen with indecision."

"Reaching down, he clasped her hand in his. Senna studied their intertwined fingers - his flesh melding with hers."

"He loves you. As much or more than any man has ever loved a woman."

Review: Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman

Book: Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman
Series: The Chaos Knight #1
Genre: High Fantasy / Adventure
Buy A Copy: Amazon / Book Depository
Available Formats:Ebook / Paperback
Publication Date: June 4th by PYR
How Did I Get This Book: From Publisher, For Review
First Sentence:  "Though the coastal island of Siane's Eye was lush with whispering palms and tropical flowers too exotic for the names of men, the wind that swept ever outward from it's alabaster monuments came chill as a lifetime of penance."
Description: Three generations ago Captain Vidarian Rulorat's great-grandfather gave up an imperial commission to commit social catastrophe by marrying a fire priestess. For love, he unwittingly doomed his family to generations of a rare genetic disease that follows families who cross elemental boundaries. Now Vidarian, the last surviving member of the Rulorat family, struggles to uphold his family legacy, and finds himself chained to a task as a result of the bride price his great-grandfather paid: the Breakwater Agreement, a seventy-year-old alliance between his family and the High Temple of Kara'zul, domain of the fire priestesses.

The priestess Endera has called upon Vidarian to fulfill his family's obligation by transporting a young fire priestess named Ariadel to a water temple far to the south, through dangerous pirate-controlled territory. A journey perilous in the best of conditions is made more so by their pursuers: rogue telepathic magic-users called the Vkortha who will stop at nothing to recover Ariadel, who has witnessed their forbidden rites.

Together, Vidarian and Ariadel will navigate more than treacherous waters: Imperial intrigue, a world that has been slowly losing its magic for generations, secrets that the priestesshoods have kept for longer, the indifference of their elemental goddesses, gryphons—once thought mythical—now returning to the world, and their own labyrinthine family legacies. Vidarian finds himself at the intersection not only of the world's most volatile elements, but of colliding universes, and the ancient and alien powers that lurk between them.

 

Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman was an incredibly exciting and compelling read. Hoffman covers a lot of ground in this debut and the direction changes quite a few times. Yet somehow she manages to keep the story flowing and the reader engaged. You don’t always know where the story is trying to go, but nonetheless, it is still enjoyable. Considering that Sword of Fire and Sea is a relatively short for a fantasy read, Hoffman manages to cram a lot of plot into the 200+ pages. I felt like the book set a challenge and solved and moved on to something new a number of times. Does that make sense to you? The plotline just kept progressing and progressing; therefore the goals of the characters changed throughout the story as well. 

That being said, I never once felt like things dragged. Although the writing is long-winded and descriptive (Hoffman is definitely a fan of complex sentences), she doesn’t go off on unnecessary tangents. A lot of times in fantasies I get overwhelmed by the writing, but that wasn’t a problem here. Yes, the author uses the eloquent, lush and lavish writing style that fantasy readers are used to, but she always stays focused on the topic. You won’t find a two page description of a tree or a rock here. 

The characters were all intriguing and unique in their own way. There is the main character, Vidarian, who fits well in the role of reluctant hero. Then we have the fire priestess Ariadel, who develops a rather defiant rebellious streak. Let’s not forget the gryphons – I instantly took a liking to them. You never really know what to expect from them and they certainly keep things interesting. 

I will say that the relationship between Ariadel and Vidarian threw me a bit. Maybe I just gotten to used to paranormal romances, but I felt the story was really lacking build up. There are a few passages in which Vidarian expresses interest in the priestesses’ appearance, but nothing major. Then, suddenly they are a couple. I enjoyed the two of them together; I just wish their relationship had shown more progression. Although, the apparent jumpiness of their relationship could be attributed to lack of timeline. Honestly, Hoffman may have instituted a timeline, but I had a hard time keeping track. Like I said before, a lot happens within the book and I just completely lost track of time. I don’t know if the events of the book take place over days, week or months. 

Another small issue I had with the book was that some of the dialogue felt out of place. I don’t want to dive too deeply into it, because I don’t want to spoil plot points, but at times the exchanges between characters felt rather odd. There are a few different cases when Hoffman uses modern expressions and slang and they just did not mesh well with tone and feeling of the book. 

I am very curious to see where Hoffman takes the next book. I was incredibly shocked that she wrapped up the ending the way she did, there was quite a bit of resolution. There was a clear opening for the story line to progress, but the characters met the goal they set out to accomplish. How many times does that happen in the first book of a fantasy series? Honestly, I felt like I was getting away with something to get as much plot resolution as we did.

Long story short, I enjoyed Sword of Fire and Sea. It was full of rich, descriptive, yet focused writing - which is hard to come by. The characters and plotline were intriguing and I had a good time reading it. The plotline was fast paced and the characters accomplished a great deal throughout the story. Although it wasn’t perfect, I still say it was a tremendous effort from Hoffman. 

Favorite Quotes 

"Delicate though she may be, the priestess had a strong, firm grip. She was complete and total trouble." 

"Her embrace was flame rushing into being where there had only been ember and tinder, but her lips were warm and real when they reached his."

"It was too much. It was too gods-be-damned much. Vidarian, who had ridden three hurricanes and safety navigated Dead Man's Hook four times without breaking a sweat, fell over in a dead faint."

"Presumably, they instructed all fire priestesses in the art of smiling to dwarf the breaking dawn."

"... her arms tightened at his back, drawing them closer again, sliding to guide him to parts of her that were soft as summer waters, firm and smooth beneath his weathered hands."

"The night forest behind them was alive with the howls and yelps of a wild place's survival dance, and as sleep took them, Vidarian tried to remind himself that nothing here could be foolish enough to attack a sleeping gryphon."

"Good to see you my friend," Vidarian said, holding out his hand for Kaltak to press his beak to in greeting. The smooth, curved killing instrument felt familiar now, and Vidarian realized how much his life had changed."

"Vidarian was quite for a long moment, consumed by the sound of her breathing - knowing as he had never known any other truth that he was not capable of hearing it cease."

Review: The Tinkerer's Daughter by Jamie Sedgwick

Today is my tour stop for Jamie Sedgwick's The Tinkerer's Daugther! This tour was put together and hosted by Book Lovin Bitches.

Book: The Tinkerer's Daughter by Jamie Sedgwick
Pages: 314
Genre: Fantasy / Steampunk 
Buy A Copy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Available Formats: Ebook / Paperback
Publication Date: January 25th, 2011
First Sentence:  "My only clear memory of my father is from the day he left me."
How Did I Get This Book:  From Book Tour (Book Lovin' Bitches)
Description: Breeze is an outcast, a half-breed orphan born into a world torn apart by one thousand years of war. Breeze never knew her elven mother. When her father -a human soldier- is called back to the war, he leaves Breeze in the safest place he knows: in the care of a reclusive tinker. The Tinkerman's inventions are frightening at first; noisy, smelly, dangerous machines that have little practical use. But elves mature quickly, and Breeze is no exception. When the war comes home, Breeze sees an opportunity. If she succeeds, she will change the world forever. If she fails, Breeze will be considered a traitor to both countries and she'll be hunted to her death.

The Tinkerer’s Daughter is certainly an interesting undertaking. It aims to combine steampunk and high fantasy and yields so-so results. Breeze is a half-breed; half Tal-mar (elvan), half human. Due to her unusual heritage, she has led an extremely sheltered life, but that all changes when she is left in the care of the Tinkerman. 

Breeze is, if anything, an intriguing character. She has inherited features from both her parents; which makes her an entirely unique individual. She possesses magic, but does not suffer from the ill effects that iron usually has on the Tal-mar (Elves/Fae). While her magic presented a sort of exciting unknown quality, I thought that some of Breeze’s other qualities hindered the story – mainly her strange aging. Breeze has an unusually long lifespan and physically matures faster than normal humans. So, her body matures faster than her mind. This means when she looks like a teenager, mentally she is still a child. But then, she is incredibly smart – like genius smart. She begins helping the tinkerer with his projects and is instantly able to grasp extremely difficult concepts and ideas. Long story short, I had a rather difficult time getting a hold on her character – which means I struggled to connect. Unfortunately, I just was never able to really get a read on her.

I also struggled with the plotline of the story. I thought there were elements that were well-done, but there were also things that I wish were done differently.  Let’s start with what I liked about the plot. I was a huge fan of the relationship between the Tinkerer and Breeze – I thought there was something so genuine about it. I love that neither one of them were expecting to find solace in each other – yet they did. I also enjoyed the whole racism twist on things – a lot of hate is thrown Breeze’s way. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t like stories about underdogs overcoming the odds and finding acceptance? 

However, like I said, there were some things I did not like about the plot. My main issue with it was it’s predictability. Honestly, it was incredibly easy to work out. I for one, like stories to surprise me and unfortunately, The Tinkerer’s Daughter didn’t. 

I also wasn’t overly impressed with the writing style. It’s not that I found errors or struggled to understand things, it’s just that the writing didn’t grip me. I am not sure if this can be attributed to the predictability of the plot, but the writing seemed, for lack of a better word, bland - I wasn’t swept up by it.

That being said, I did enjoy The Tinkerer’s Daughter. I am a sucker for steampunk stories and I was really intrigued by Sedgwick’s decision to combine it with a high-fantasy storyline and setting. It took me a while to get through this one, but in the end, I was glad I read it.

Favorite Quotes

"No it wasn't just that he was gone forever. We were gone. That magical spark between two people who love and understand one another explicitly was gone forever from my life, and it left me less than whole."

"Anything's possible, if you try hard enough."

"There are millions of things that could go wrong every day, from the time we get up in the morning to the time we hit the pillow at night. We can't live our lives worrying about what-ifs. We have to focus on doing the best we can, and making the most of what we've got."

"I turned away and left him standing there with his jaw hanging open, stricken speechless by the very audacity of the half-breed girl who wouldn't take "no" for an answer."