“The Sceptre of Storms” Electrifies with Ageless Appeal

September 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Reviewed by Janet Green, thewordverve inc.400919_10151400159902352_128969584_n

The Sceptre of Storms is Greg James’ followup to The Sword of Sighs (see my review here), and is classified as a young adult fantasy but well, let me tell ya, folks . . . this is a book for all ages for the ages. With a fluid, dark writing style, James’ words make you feel like Gandalf, or maybe Sean Connery, is narrating masterfully to you as you read.

Okay, all that’s good, but it’s not the best part of this story.  The caviar here is the mind-blowing, twisted essence of the evildoers in this tale.  James pulls out all stops in the creativity department with things (for lack of a better term) that do . . . things (for lack of a better term) . . . to those who oppose the Darkness. Wormtooth, mindreazers, fellfolk, necrodragons, and other demons of the shadows. Oh, what they do! My face would distort in horror as I read some of these parts . . . it was awesome.

Lucky for all of us, there are equally powerful do-gooders with their own spectacular bags of tricks, not the least of which is a sweet girl named Sarah Bean, upon which the destinies of many rest.

As an editor and reader of many types of great fiction, I am hopeful that Greg James in particular shoots to the top of his class for so many reasons: the music in his words, the ideas that he so lavishly creates and transfers, the editorial quality of his books, the beauty of his covers.

Apparently the third book in this traveling tale is due out late 2013.  I’ll be a buyer for sure.  Can James possibly keep up this level of BOOM POW WOW?  I think he can.

Click here to purchase The Sceptre of Storms from Amazon.

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Unique Time-Travel Tale Will Blow You Away

August 5, 2013 by 12 Comments

my-two-lives-smallReviewed by Janet Green.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I reviewed this book for Reader’s Favorite, purchased my own copy to support the author via Amazon, and wanted to share my review with our blog readers as well:

Applause applause for this ultra-creative time travel story. In My Two Lives by Jan Hunter, main character Jill Woods is a lovely Brit school teacher in her early thirties, who keeps her life as simple as possible and her heart well-protected—she’s had her fill of bad times, bad luck, and bad relationships. Until one day, while withdrawing a book from the stockroom of the history department at school, she finds herself pulled into a past life, where she works as a governess for a wealthy family. The upheaval of being bounced back and forth from her current life to 150 years ago is almost her undoing as she seeks to understand the reason she has been called to this parallel universe. As she slowly untangles the pieces of her current and former self, the answer becomes remarkably clear, changing her future forever.

This book is about unrequited love and second chances. It’s about laughing at oneself and appreciating one’s gifts. It’s about reconciling one’s past with one’s present. My Two Lives is unique and refreshing, as are the endearing characters who complete the picture. I laughed continuously throughout the story, as the first-person delivery of the tale (all seen through Jill’s eyes) charmed me with self-effacing, good-natured humor. I was pleasantly entertained by this story throughout its entirety. The transitions between main character Jill’s two lives and the message therein is so beautifully done by author Jan Hunter, I honestly wanted to applaud at the conclusion. But then I wanted it to keep going too. I highly recommend this novel, which is quite unlike anything I’ve yet read, and look forward to reading more by Jan Hunter.

Author website is www.janhunterauthor.com.

View all my reviews

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