Gifts With Hard Swordsby Scott Telek

In the early days of King Arthur’s Reign, there was much strife, many difficulties, and people either trying to influence or curry favor with the young king. And with many not believing him to be capable of being High King, or simply not willing to accept him as such, war was inevitable. As a young man who has not been a king for long, in this book Arthur is still struggling to find his way and wishing he were free to control his own destiny rather than following the path laid out for him by Merlin. Yes, he knows that Merlin’s desire is for the good of everyone, not just the rich and powerful, but when you are a young man, it is hard to suddenly find yourself the one suddenly held responsible for everything. Mistakes will happen. The question seems to be whether or not Arthur can handle it when those mistakes may be life changing—for both himself and for his people.

I read a review copy of this book, and I loved it. Mr. Telek’s story is based on historically found tales of Arthur and his knights. It is not simply a retelling of the stories that many of us have heard many times throughout our lives, though for the most part we can anticipate much of what will happen. But this series is unique in that while it is very based off of the most historical versions of Arthur’s story, the gaps that were left by the original authors have been filled in with Mr. Telek’s own contributions to the tale. And those contributions are not insignificant; they meld in perfectly with the existing information that was his source material for this story.

As such, I should warn you that there is a part of this story that some may find disturbing. The event shows Arthur’s fears for his future, and it ultimately contributes to his eventual downfall. But given that it was part of the original tale, it was not something that could, or should, be ignored by Mr. Telek. It was an important part of the story and does show us a great deal of Arthur as a young man who is unsure of himself as king. It also gives us a glimpse into the fact that there are some events that even the great Merlin could not have prevented. It may be a bit disturbing, but it was necessary to this story. And honestly, there are many historical tales of kings and other leaders who have done much worse.

Mr. Telek has woven a wonderful and very enjoyable tale for us to enjoy. One where we get to see not only Arthur’s strengths and successes, but also his failures and weaknesses. We get to see that while King Arthur may someday become a legendary figure, at this point in time he was simply a young man who felt the weight of the kingdom that rested on his shoulders. One who has been repeatedly told that only he could bring about the golden age that was to come, though how he was supposed to do that, he didn't know. It makes for a wonderful tale, and I very much look forward to seeing what happens in the next book in this series. 

If you enjoy tales of King Arthur, his Knights, Merlin, and the others, this is a series you will want to read. I do recommend starting at the beginning of the series if you have not previously read the books before this one. There are some surprises early on in the series that you won’t want to miss. Mr. Telek’s version of the King Arthur story is very unique and worth taking the time to read. Highly recommended.

Amazon requires me to state that I have an Amazon Associates account that I use to generate the links to the books on their website. Purchasing something after following those links will earn a few pennies for me off the sale, though as of yet I have not earned anything from my Amazon Associate links.

5 Editors Tackle The 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing by C.S. Lakin with Linda S. Clare, Christy Distler, Robin Patchen, and Rachel Starr Thompson

This book was recommended for a class that I am taking and having read it, I can very easily understand why. I have since recommended it to someone I know who is working on writing their first novel as I believe this book will be extremely helpful for them during the writing process. It very clearly describes the main problems that many authors face when writing a novel, and it offers potential solutions for each of these issues.

This book covers quite a bit of information, so it may take some time to read and fully absorb all of the knowledge and wisdom that it is attempting to share. But I can honestly say that those who take the time to read it and attempt to eliminate any of the “fatal flaws” that may run through their writing will not be disappointed with the results and improvement in the responses to their own tales.

While I have not written a book myself, given that I have reviewed a number of books, I was already familiar with a number of these fatal flaws and have seen them in some of the books that I have read and reviewed over the years. I may not have always been able to put into exact words why something may have bothered me about a story, but when reading the descriptions of those same issues and the potential ways to solve or avoid them, those reasons become much clearer.

This book is an excellent source of information for anyone who is writing a novel or even a short story. It will definitely help with avoiding quite a few pitfalls whether you are planning on trying to get your book published through a publisher or are planning on publishing independently. It can also be helpful for anyone just wanting to improve their storytelling skills in general. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is writing a story to share with others. It is a fantastic resource book for both new writers as well as for anyone hoping to improve on existing skills.

If you are a writer, this is one book that I highly recommend adding to your collection. This is also one that I feel could be very helpful to editors, specifically developmental editors, as it helps the reader to recognize at least some of the potential problems that authors might inadvertently incorporate into their writing. (I know that I have been guilty of some of them myself, and I've never written or tried to publish a book.)

Prudencewritten by Gail CarrigerNarrated by Moira Quirk

Prudence, now a young woman with a preternatural for a mother and a werewolf father is herself a metanatural; the only one born in centuries. She is capable of "borrowing" the form and abilities of any supernatural being she touches while they revert to being mortal for as long as she retains their supernatural abilities. Prudence is also the adopted daughter of a vampire—an arrangement that was made before her birth as the only way to prevent the local vampire hive from trying to kill her mother before Prudence was born.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story, which focused on the next generation of characters from the Parasol Protectorate series rather than their parents and enjoyed it.  Though I do wish that they had used the same narrator as they did in the first series; mainly because the changes in the way the characters from the original series were voiced seemed vastly different in style from how they sounded when spoken by the previous narrator. But it was only those particular characters’ voices that bothered me, and likely only because I was so used to the previous narrator's style.

The voices of the characters that were not in the original series, however, felt much more welcome and did not bother me in any way. This narrator also did an excellent job of keeping each character's voice distinct from all others.

One thing that I found amusing in this story involves a stolen snuffbox that is hiding tea inside. And, if you have been reading my reviews for at least the last year or so, you know that I have been enjoying the teas purchased from Punk Teas. Whenever I ordered tea from them, a free sample of another tea had been included with my purchase, and their sample sized tins look suspiciously like small snuffboxes. At one point, I asked a representative from their company if this had been intentional as I know that Ms. Carriger has worked with Tea Punk Teas to create at least one tea inspired by another of her books, but it seems that it was merely a coincidence. (The size of the small tin merely being very convenient for tea samples.) But it was fun to discover it as part of the story I was currently listening to.

I think that anyone who enjoyed the Parasol Protectorate Series and anyone who enjoys Steampunk tales should enjoy this one. (Especially while enjoying drinking a nice, refreshing cup of tea, something which is a very important part of this book.) I know that I enjoyed both this book and my tea while I listened to this story. And whether you listen to the audiobook, as I did, or you read the pages of the story yourself, I think that you will find it a fun tale.

Amazon requires me to state that I have an Amazon Associates account that I use to generate the links to the books on their website. Purchasing something after following those links will earn a few pennies for me off the sale, though as of yet I have not earned anything from my Amazon Associate links.

Mortal Coils: The Necromancer's Apprenticeby Chris Durston

Mara is an apprentice necromancer, not by choice, but because a master necromancer decided to make her his apprentice, and if she refused, her family would pay the price for her refusal. Over time, she has gotten used to the evil nature of her existence and grown in power. They are at the last task she must complete to no longer be considered his apprentice, but will be a full necromancer in her own right, making her family finally be safe from this monster's harm. However, once the task is completed, he kills her, sending her to the realm of the dead until he can master the spell that will bind her soul to him as an undead servant; one with all her awareness and power intact. Not wanting this to be her fate, Mara is in a hurry to find a way to cross over to where her former master cannot call her back from the Sunless Crossing. But she can’t manage this on her own, and soon finds herself as part of an adventuring party for the first time.

I received and read a review copy of this book. It is a tie-in novel to the Black Ballad roleplaying campaign, and like the other Sunless Crossing novels, it is one I enjoyed reading. I enjoyed watching Mara learn to see that friends are not always a weakness. Sometimes, they are what makes life (or in this case, death) worthwhile. It’s not easy to learn to trust when for most of your life, you have had to hide your true thoughts and feelings from those closest to you.

Watching Mara grow as a person after her death made for an interesting story. It’s not often that one learns those lessons after they have died, but before then, she had no one who could show her the value of trust and friendship. And ultimately, the value of putting others’ needs and desires ahead of your own. I truly enjoyed this aspect of the story. The idea that it is never too late to learn to care about others is a very strong and important lesson.

Anyone who enjoys RPG tie-in novels, fantasy adventure stories, or character driven stories about discovering who you truly are and what you want out of life should enjoy this book. It’s a interesting story that I think many will enjoy. I did.

Amazon requires me to state that I have an Amazon Associates account that I use to generate the links to the books on their website. Purchasing something after following those links will earn a few pennies for me off the sale, though as of yet I have not earned anything from my Amazon Associate links.