Dreams (Dreams of Fire and Gods) by James Erich

Title: Dreams (Dreams of Fire and Gods #1)
Author: James Erich
Purchase at Harmony Ink/Dreamspinner
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Genre: fantasy, YA
Length: 79,700 words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

A thousand years ago, two factions of gods, the Stronni and the Taaweh, nearly destroyed the Kingdom of Dasak by warring for the land and the frightened humans who lived there. Then suddenly the Taaweh vanished and the Stronni declared victory.

Now, as tensions escalate between the emperor and his regent, Vek Worlen, the vek's son, apprentice mage Sael dönz Menaük, finds himself allied with a homeless vagabond named Koreh. Together they flee the capital city and make their way across a hostile wilderness to the vek's keep, mere steps ahead of the emperor’s assassins.

But Koreh has dreams—dreams of the ancient Taaweh—and he knows the looming war between the emperor and the vek will be nothing compared to the war that is about to begin. The Taaweh are returning, and the war between the gods may destroy the kingdom once and for all.

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This is a complex world with complex problems, and our two heroes are squack on the opposite sides. While it isn’t obvious at first how they can overcome the barriers even a little, Sael and Koreh do find a way to come together, at least partially, by the end of the story. This is a trilogy, and so nothing is completely resolved. And that’s way more than okay. More story for Cryssy!


I enjoy YA for the sweet dawn of understanding and coming together, and I appreciate the moderation of YA, where every push, poke and grunt isn’t on screen. Sael, the more prudish and restrained of the pair, comes from the high ranks of the realm. His father, the vek, has raised his sons to the equivalent of estate and clergy, not that it keeps Sael from needing to take on skills and responsibilities he never expected to need. His magic expands under the tutelage of Geilin, the mage tasked as his guardian. Geilin’s responsibilities increase exponentially as the quarrel between the vek and the emperor grows. They’d be lost without Koreh, whom they find on the road to Harleh.

This is a big, expansive plot, on the level of the humans and the supernatural, and the way they twine together. Koreh, who’s grown up as a street urchin, has no reason to trust Geilin and Sael, and little understanding of how he feels for the lordling who comes closer and backs away with every danger. Sael both yearns for Koreh’s approval and hesitates to give up his spare clothing when everything Koreh owns is washed away in a river crossing. Of the two, Sael needs more growth.

By the time the two (three, Geilin’s still there) survive the dangers of the road and reach their destination, the two young men know both that the warring factions of the gods separate them as much as their differences in ranks and expectations. Koreh, though, has enjoyed the tutelage of the underdog Taaweh, and has to act on behalf of more than one master.

The story is delightfully complex with its worldbuilding and with relationships: both young men have others pulling their strings, and not always in the same direction. Sael’s readiness to take offense or see motives where none may exist, while failing to note honesty (in his defense, it’s a rare commodity in his world) complicate their course. Being gay isn’t a major strike in this world; it does complicate life for someone of Sael’s rank.

While there is a glossary at the front and much is available from context, the difficult balance between “This is strange and other” and “here’s your story” wobbles a little. The local language becomes a little intrusive and overexplained, as if the author doesn’t entire trust us to “get it” but this flaw should be overlooked as the Taaweh maneuver their human champion through the war that is only partially theirs.

This is a sweeping epic and not yet complete, and I want the rest! 4.5 marbles

The Unwanted by Jeffrey Ricker

Title:   The Unwanted

Author:  Jeffrey Ricker

Purchase at Bold Strokes Books

Purchase at Amazon

Cover Artist: Sheri

Genre:  YA, mythology

Length:  264 pages

Formats:  epub, mobi, pdf, print

Jamie Thomas has enough trouble on his hands trying to get through junior year of high school without being pulverized by Billy Stratton, his bully and tormentor. But the mother he was always told was dead is actually alive—and she's an Amazon! Sixteen years after she left him on his father's doorstep, she's back—and needs Jamie's help. A curse has caused the ancient tribe of warrior women to give birth to nothing but boys, dooming them to extinction—until prophecy reveals that salvation lies with one of the offspring they abandoned. Putting his life on the line, Jamie must find the courage to confront the wrath of an angry god to save a society that rejected him.

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I stayed up way too late into the night to finish this book. I like YA for the need to stay on plot and out of the bedroom, and this story delivered. Jamie is given a hero’s quest with a great ensemble cast to back him up, with the hint of romance.

We meet our first person POV character after he’s just gotten punched in the nose by the guy who’s made his life difficult for years. There’s a reason for that, but it serves as a great introduction to Jamie, Billy, and best friend Sarah. The introduction of a mutual foe and a mutual secret get Billy and Jamie to stop pummeling one another long enough to work on the bigger problem, and to pave the way for a gentler interaction. The transformation takes most of the book, and isn’t rushed or forced.

Finding out a “dead” parent is not only alive, but effectively immortal, with some amazing skills and some spectacular flaws, totally reorganizes Jamie’s world view. He’s been yearning to get out of his home town, and now he’s going farther into stranger realms than he ever imagined.

Greek mythology weaves into modern day: Amazons set their perimeters with video surveillance and defend it with swords and bows. Gods and goddesses leave Olympus to meddle, bringing signs and portents into a shopping mall.  Some of our worst fears about high school principals and spooky school basements are confirmed. The Oracle speaks truth, but it doesn’t always make sense because she’s stoned out of her mind and always has the munchies. The author does us the very great favor of not trying to reconcile the Greek pantheon with the current dominant religion. [Love you for that, Mr. Ricker.]

The parents in this story are unusually strongly written: while they are divided on the goals and how to achieve them, no one is a cardboard cutout, nor are their reactions kneejerk, even when crashing into the kinds of problems on which marriages founder. Everyone has some kind of journey to make, even if it’s in the far background. This was particularly well done and took nothing away from the main story, but added depth.

Another incredible strength of this book is that gender wars are inherent in the idea of Amazons, who leave the men behind, until they need the men to save them. Except—it’s not played out like that, nor in any Us vs Them way. It’s very much “We are stronger together, and one person needs to be the spearhead.”  So much of m/m vilifies women or ignores them, but the handling here empowers everyone. It’s organic, never preachy, and the message slides right by as “the way things ought to be” but so seldom are.

The idea of Billy has been done, but Billy as a character is much stronger than that: he's an integral part of the action, which is front and center, and anything personal between Jamie and Billy they only examine when there's the leisure to do it.

The ending—perfect, and figure on a large handful of tissues. Older readers will probably cry for more reasons than the intended YA readers, but it’s wonderful and cathartic for everyone. Athena warns that the victory will exact a price, but the coin is not so obvious. I’m sniffling all over again right now.

This story deserves a place on the shelf next to all those books about teens fighting a dystopian world. The Unwanted is a lot more hopeful. 5 marbles

Pantomime by Laura Lam

Title: Pantomime
Author: Laura Lam
Buy through Strange Chemistry
Amazon buy link
Cover Artist: Tom Bagshaw
Genre: fantasy, YA
Length: 392 pages (US paper edition), 4400 Kindle locations so I’m estimating about 130k words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

Review:

This book is not at all what the blurb makes it look like. That’s fine, we’ve seen star-crossed lovers before. We haven’t seen the premise of this book before.

There’s really no way to talk about this book without what I consider a small spoiler: Micah is Gene, Iphigenia, run away from her family before they perpetrate a massive act of betrayal upon her. This book earned its place in this review site by the gender-bending aspects of Gene’s makeup and how he chooses to deal with it. All the clues are there from the beginning, both voices are the same and in first person, so if they weren't the same person, it would be weird. The demands of being female in this society sit very uncomfortably upon Gene: being the androgynous Micah in the circus is a more comfortable if less affluent fit.


Micah takes to the circus life well, making friends, learning to be an aerialist, decoding the politics that simmer underneath the greasepaint, and even acquiring a girlfriend. The sexual aspects of their relationship are very low-key, as Micah and Aenaia keep what little they do off page. (Okay, the MM reader in me wanted more details, but this is YA and the reticence is appropriate.) His involvement in the politics of the realm, mostly as a pawn to be played, make him keep his head down and his secrets clutched to his chest, even if another sharp-eyed outcast puts two and two together.

It’s not a romance, but that’s okay, I read epic fantasy with QUILTBAG characters where romance isn’t the plot arc.


The language is lovely, the plot elements of the mysterious, departed Alder who have left remnants of their magic and their artifacts (which kind of look like advanced engineering, but here it’s magic), and the current unrest and how Micah fits into it blend together well, but more questions are raised than ever answered.

The plot crawls.

This book is 392 pages long. And it is the opening act of the story arc.

Everyone who remembers three act structure, raise your hand. The rest of you can peek here.

Some might say that this story ends on a major cliffie, but no, it doesn’t. What it ends on is the inciting incident that directs Act II. Absolutely nothing is resolved, no questions are answered, and a major plot element is resurrected at the end as actually being important rather than a bit of throwaway background. Dozens of plot elements have been introduced, nothing is done with them. Huge chunks of backstory, some only peripherally related to the current action. I read this book and finished all damned 392 pages in a fury, because I have been lied to. This is the opening book of what might be a two book arc, more probably three.

Nowhere on the publisher’s site is this disclosed. A teeny tiny note at the bottom of the listing states that there’s a second book in the series. Bullshit. It’s Act II.

The Amazon listing makes it look like “Strange Chemistry” is the series title. WTF? That’s the name of the publisher. Says so right here.

Regulars here know my feelings on undisclosed serials. Tell me what’s what and let me decide if I want to get involved. Lie to me and I will cut you.

This was sold to me as a complete, standalone story. It isn’t, and when I went to grab the blurb and publisher link off Goodreads, the truth is there to be seen, probably put there by another disgruntled reader. Book 1, book 2. Coming soon. I haven’t decided if I’m too angry to read it. I slogged through 392 pages of buildup, not complete story. And it was a slog, don't think it wasn't because each and every scene added buildup but no conclusion, no satisfaction.  It’s likely to take another 900 pages to work up acts II and III to a satisfying denouement. The payoff would have to be greater than getting that Ring through Mordor to Mount Doom.

What I’ve seen so far is okay but not nearly enough to make me anxious to spend another six or eight or ten hours plus a six month or year wait between volumes getting to whatever final resolution Laura Lam might get around to providing. I have no problem with one Really Big Book getting divided into manageable pieces. Just be open that’s what’s happening.

Life’s short. This fragment of a book is long.2.75 marbles

Title: Monster Town
Author: Dakota Chase
Cover Artist: BS Clay
Publisher: PRIZM/Torquere
Buy Link:[amazon_link id="B00BTK4L9G" target="_blank" ]Monster Town[/amazon_link]
Publisher Buy Link Monster Town
Genre: YA paranormal
Length: 67 pages/18500


James Dire has a problem. He doesn't breathe fire, suck blood, or sprout fur and a tail during full moons. He doesn't eat babies, or trample cities, or carry screaming women off to his underwater lair. In short, he's about as dangerous and exotic as a boxful of sand.

While this may not be an issue elsewhere, it is in Eden, James' hometown. Here, everyone, from his parents and siblings, to his classmates, to the mayor, are fire-breathing, bloodsucking, fur-sprouting monsters, and James doesn't fit in anywhere.

James always feels excluded and knows he's always suspect because of his difference. He's very shy, has few friends, and his only sense of purpose comes from his job as reporter for the school paper.
When a girl is kidnapped, James's secret crush, gorgeous werewolf, Theo, pulls him into a hunt for clues to find her before it's too late. What they discover is a plot that's much more involved than a simple kidnapping, and may get them both killed.

In Monster Town, there's nothing more dangerous than being ordinary.

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Young adult is tricky territory: the age range intended is 12 to 18, and the styles cover the gamut from simplistic to quite literary. Monster Town feels like it should appeal to the younger edge of the range. The sex is nonexistent aside from an embarrassing erection and an almost but didn’t happen kiss. It’s skewed to a high amount of heart-goes-pitty-pat-he-likes-me! And it’s cute. While the story probably doesn’t have enough complexity to interest the older teens, I wouldn’t hesitate to put this story in the hands of 11-14 year olds, for style, the handling of the love interest, and the level of plot. Adults might find it a refreshing quick read.


James feels terribly, terribly ordinary, being a plain vanilla human in a town of idiosyncratic beings. His neighbors range from Bob the big blue blob to zombies and ghosts. A vampire-run grocery store is business as usual, and even his family sports some unusual skills. He doesn’t fit, life is dull, and nothing ever happens. And he can’t say a thing to handsome werewolf Theo, because he’s so danged boring and Theo is so cool. In this, he is a very normal teen.

We get the story from James' first person POV. He's sweet, and rather rollicking in his observations of those around him. He does harp a little too much on his own dullness, which could have been presented a little more enticingly than multiple statements of "I'm so ordinary."

One beauty of this story is that angst over being gay isn’t there. While James feels like an outcast, it’s not for his sexuality, which is just a given. He doesn’t have fur or scales, can’t transform or evaporate or anything interesting like that, though he is considered weird and potentially dangerous because he’s so much like the Outsiders, aka everyone outside their small, vigorously-defended enclave.

Theo and James come together over the mystery of a class-mate’s disappearance, and have to solve it without the adults, who don’t consider young people worth listening to. Adults as buffoons, villains, but not allies, is a thriving trope here. As they work through the clues and the aftermath, James and Theo lean on each others’ strengths and find friendship. There’s a small promise of more, and they’re happy.

There are some inconsistencies with James’ characterization of himself juxtaposed with his small enclave. If regular humans are so vigorously avoided, how does he or anyone know he’s like them? Besides, what’s so ordinary about a guy who can go into the sunlight and not fry, or who has five fingers to a hand and they don’t fall off? Two of them are opposable thumbs, and he’s solid enough to open a door and small enough to go through it, unlike so many of his neighbors. Those are actually not negligible advantages, and if one doesn’t question this, the story works better. The intended audience may not pick up on the oddity of this presentation.

Neither are they likely to have sufficient concept of how a mystery works. Most of the clues are there to be seen, but there are a couple of gaps, making the central conflict somewhat less than fair. The gaps are filled with infodumps later. This might be forgiven as a teenager’s imperfect knowledge of adult business.

The story works on the level it’s meant to resonate on, which is the normality of being gay, peer acceptance, finding strengths, and the young triumphing over their blinkered elders. Perhaps some of the other issues will be addressed in future volumes, because the ending is structured to encourage sequels. I’d read them. 3.75 marbles