The Compostela Cube: Part One - The Book by Paul Cavilla

Description:  When they come into possession of a mysterious prehistoric cube, relic hunter Gabriel Parker, and the alluring artifact historian Natasha Rossi, find themselves inexplicably bound to a dark mythology dating back to the roots of civilization.

The 2012 doomsday prophecies have come and gone, but now, without warning, the feared revelations are coming true. Under the apocalyptic shadow of global war and rampant natural disasters, Gabriel and Natasha race to prevent an unspeakable horror from being unleashed onto the planet.

With nothing but a tattered journal to guide them, they travel from Italy to North Africa, and then set course for the mountains of Spain, where they must locate a lost labyrinth spoken of by the ancients. Within is said to reside the answer to the mystery of mysteries:The Meaning Of Life.

Hunting them is Christian Antov, heir to a secret organization poised to draw the world into a global fascist regime. He will stop at nothing to destroy Gabriel and Natasha, and the one artifact that stands in his way: The Compostela Cube.

Review 3 of 5 Stars

I received a request to review this book and some parts of it were really interesting though it took quite a while to really get into the part that I found interesting. Almost longer than I could take and about midpoint I had almost determined to give up on it for hopping around everywhere, but I persevered. I will also add for the sake of being fair that I most likely wouldn't have chosen this book to read on my own as it's really not my type of book, but there is a market for its like and that group might enjoy it more than I did. The writing wasn't bad, but there were spelling, formatting and grammatical errors throughout. I didn't keep a full list, but where instead of were more than once, random 1's at beginning of a few quotations and other word usage and typo stuff. It could use another read through and some corrections to fix it up.

As for the story, I was completely interested in the Compostela Cube's history and the trail of clues to get to it, use it, etc. I love tunnels and traps and I found that part pretty interesting. In fact it was the highlight of the book for me. Some of the other characters and their activities were a little over the top for me and I couldn't manage to get to the suspension of disbelief that I feel is required to truly enjoy a story for those portions of the book. For me, there were just too many things thrown together between the paranormal, conspiracy theories, weird medical experiments that I won't disclose more of due to it being a spoiler, portions that were pretty preachy and drawn out regarding politics, various religious beliefs and the like.

So given my enjoyment of the worked up archaeology of the cube and its history alongside of my inability to get into some of the more paranormal side as it was put forth, the romance that seemed kind of like high school and out-of-place at points, and finally how it ended with no answers (grumble, grumble) on a cliffhanger like a TV series I'm giving it 3. I found that I liked some of the of the supporting characters more than our hero and heroine, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that they were interesting characters. I won't dissuade you if this is your type of book. There were some interesting parts to it and you may enjoy it, but I don't think I'll be exploring this story further in the next installment that's promised at the end of the book.

Voidhawk by Jason Halstead

Description:  Too young and naïve to care about the tensions between nations, Dexter Silverhawk considered himself the luckiest man alive when he found a derelict voidship hidden amongst a forbidden field of asteroids. Lady luck proves a fickle maiden when he goes from luckiest man alive to dishonorably discharged.

Escaping prison is only the first step in making his own luck. Finding a crew of castoffs and bringing them together to face the dangers and opportunities of the void between worlds tests Dexter beyond anything he's ever imagined.

Review 3 of 5 Stars

If you were watching a kind of cheesy, low to mid-budget mix of Lord of the Rings, Firefly and Pirates of the Caribbean on a Sunday afternoon this might be what fell out of the blender.  It could also use some substantial copy editing for grammar, etc.  The explanation for wooden spaceships that were like pirate ships never did settle with me as well as some other less than plausible things that went on throughout the book.  However, it was basically a fun read and it was free. I picked it up because of some Firefly references in the comments of others because I loved Firefly and was curious.  Firefly it was not, but it was swashbuckling in space alongside wizards, elves and the like.  The lead character Dexter probably makes as many bad decisions as he can along the way and he's kind of bashful at times for a pirate/trader who makes his female friends in the gutter.  Although considering where he finds them they are a pretty good bunch, just a little bit bad.  We aren't talking world-class literature here, but for what it was it had its moments and I chuckled on several occasions.  Fortunately for Dexter and despite his decisions getting him into trouble more often than not his crew members, picked up in various lowly places along the way, seem to demonstrate new and interesting skills just in the nick of time.  This isn't the best book I have ever read, but it also wasn't the worst by far.  I doubt that I'll be delving into more of Dexter's adventures, but it wasn't so bad I couldn't finish it and it had some fun moments.  Some of the dialogue is witty.  Fantasy/Science Fiction literally with more emphasis on the fantasy than the science for sure in a strange sitcom kind of way. 

Not Magic Enough and Setting Boundaries Boxed Set (The Coming Storm) by Valerie Douglas

Description:
Not Magic Enough.
For Delae - a lonely landholder on the edge of the Kingdoms - a frantic knock at the door on a stormy winter's night brings a cry for help.
After centuries of war, Elves have little contact with the race of Men, but Dorovan can't bring himself to ride past those so obviously in need. One small act - with enormous consequences. Not Magic Enough is a tale of love and honor, duty and determination.

Setting Boundaries
After centuries of war an uneasy peace has finally been negotiated between Elves, Dwarves and Men, thanks to Elon of Aerilann, Elven councilor to the High King of Men. One final task yet remains, one final bone of contention - to set the boundaries between their lands. It's a task that will be easier said than done. Although most of the lesser Kings signed the Alliance, not all wish to see it succeed and some are willing to oppose it.
Violently.
For journeyman wizard Jareth it's the opportunity of a lifetime.
What he doesn't know is that the journey will test him to his limits and forge a friendship that would last for centuries.

Review 3 of 5 Stars

Not Magic Enough and Setting Boundaries are novellas from Valerie Douglas' Coming Storm series.  Despite trying to be Tolkien-like they don't really have much in common except that there are elves and humans in both stories. So I'm going to give some overall comments and then take them one at a time. Ms. Douglas definitely has the talent to turn a phrase. The rhythm is good and they mostly flowed pretty well aside from some repetitiveness; however,  a little more proofreading couldn't hurt. That being said, I was able overlook the mistakes more in the first of the two than the second, but that was because of the quality of the stories being told. Now on to the stories themselves.
Not Magic Enough is a truly beautiful love story and of the two I definitely enjoyed it the most. I'm a sucker for a good elf and lesser races love story where the people are participating in a forbidden relationship. It just adds to the intrigue. It's a fabulous daydream/fantasy and this story was one that could have easily taken place somewhere in an out-of-the-way holding. There is an overall sadness to the story being told and in a lot of ways it's a story about settling for less than what you can't have, but it's also a beautiful story of a truly loving friendship between two people who know they are not for one another in the long run. If I were reviewing these separately this story probably would have received a 4 just for the story itself.

But since they were bound together we move on to Setting Boundaries. Once again some of the writing was truly lovely and some needed to be proofread again (and that's exactly what I was thinking as I read this). However, this story didn't have the depth that I'm looking for in something of its ilk. The elves and a human wizard set off to set boundary stones to mark the lands for the older and younger races and this is a story about their journey. Mostly the journey is pretty uneventful and I was a bit let down after the first one. There are a couple of points where there's some action, but I got the feeling that this would have been a good intermediary chapter between much more exciting chapters to break the tension if there was an actual book involved. It was a story of friendship and fighting against prejudice, but in my opinion not all that gripping or memorable and thus the set of two novellas was brought down to 3 because I would have given this one a 2 if I had read it on its own.

In the end I thought Not Magic Enough was a good standalone love story. Setting Boundaries I could take or leave. Another problem here is that these are novellas and though these two are bundled together for a pretty low price, the two I saw from later in the series are just barely under $5. I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in buying a ton of novellas at $5 each, which really just seem like overly long chapters to try to build a book myself. If the two stories are related aside from being on the same world then there isn't much to relate one to the other that I could tell aside from the elder races and the younger races being at odds. So there you have it. It was a mixed bag for me. Though the romance of the first story was done very well, I wasn't that impressed with the second one and won't be trying to build this book one chapter at a time on my own by purchasing the later novellas. If she truly finds the thread to join it all together it might be a good book somewhere down the line, but I think I'll just wait until then.

John Carter: Barsoom Series (7 Novels) by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Description:  When John Carter goes to sleep in a mysterious cave in the Arizona dessert, he wakes up on the planet Mars. There he meets the fifteen foot tall, four armed, green men of mars, with horse-like dragons, and watch dogs like oversized frogs with ten legs. His adventures continue as he battles great white apes, fights plant men, defies the Goddess of Death, and braves the frozen wastes of Polar Mars. In other adventures, the Prince of Helium encounters a race of telepathic warriors, the Princess of Helium confronts the headless men of Mars, Captain Ulysses Paxton learns the secret of human immortality, and Tan Hadron's idealized notion of love is tested as he fights off gigantic spiders and cannibals.

Note: Due to my own inattentiveness to what I had bought, this review includes the first seven books in the series, which are: A Princess of Mars; Gods of Mars; Warlord of Mars; Thuvia, Maid of Mars; Chessmen of Mars; Master Mind of Mars; and, Fighting Man of Mars.

Review 5 of 5 Stars

Growing up, when I thought of Edgar Rice Burroughs I always thought of Tarzan books. Since these novels first appeared around 100 years ago I just hadn't ever read them, but after seeing the John Carter movie and knowing that the books are generally better than the movies that are made from them I thought it would be fun to see what the original story was. As I expected there were quite a few differences between the film version and the novels which were definitely the better story.  I had to give this group of novels five stars as I didn't pause at all in the reading of all seven of them and greatly enjoyed the adventure as a whole for the 99 cents I spent to buy it (what a bargain).  From reading these I'm also led to believe that Mr. Burroughs didn't know what a defeatist attitude was as even in the most dire of circumstances his characters always seem to push aside the hardships and impossibility of their situations with an upbeat attitude and light heart because as the mantra for Mr. Burroughs' books goes, "I still live."

The first books are about John Carter's experiences.  Later books move on to cover his children and finally others from Mars and another human transplant to the red planet. It was a really fun read and it was interesting to see things that were only science fiction then, but that we use every day now such as 'wireless telephony'. I know I generally try to read and share more recent material by independent authors, but it was a great story and I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure as a whole.

It's a series about striving forward, honor, loyalty and the will to go on which I think is timeless. I admit that I enjoyed some of the novels a little more than others, but as I read it on my e-reader it was really just like one really long, sweeping adventure. So if you have some spare time and want to step back 100 years to some really great early science fiction, I think I can confidently say that any true science fiction buff would enjoy the trip. It's not like there aren't plenty of good reviews about these books over the last century to make you feel confident as you step out on Mr. Burroughs' path to Mars, but if you haven't read them or thought about it you might want to reconsider.

Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms by Mark Whiteway

Book Description: On the planet Kelanni, life is cheap.

With the aid of the fearsome "Keltar" enforcers,
in their flying cloaks, a ruthless invader is forcing the native people to mine
the colloquially named "lodestone" - a substance from another universe with
infinitely destructive power.

The only ones who can stop him are a tiny girl with fiery disposition, a
former Keltar, a failed revolutionary, a musician and the mysterious creature,
Boxx, who seems to speak only in riddles.

Review 4 of 5 Stars

Having just come off reading a favorite series I was a little hesitant to start this book. I had just had a fabulous reading experience and didn't want that to affect my review of the next book I read by an as yet unknown to me author, but I'd been curious about this one and it had been hanging around on my Kindle for a while so off I went to a new world. 

I must say that I was more than pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it.  It was little dark in places, but I still consider it a fun read.  There was action and there were tender moments, but mostly there was a good ensemble cast of characters that carried it off. There were some rough patches so it gets a 4, but that just means that I really liked it instead of loving it because there were moments where things seemed a little too familiar, but heroes do need adventure and obstacles to overcome and there are only so many. I'll happily read the next book in the series and who knows by the second or third book I may love it. The characters were interesting as was the overall story and all in all it was a good adventure.

The Kelanni are not human which is very obvious from the start of the book, but before long you're involved in the book, its characters and the flow of the story, easily forgetting this mundane detail until one of them swishes their tail or something. The Keltar are a menacing lot, but every adventure needs a bad guy to overcome. And then there's Boxx. I'm curious about Boxx who is a strange little character indeed, but it's obvious that finding out more about this character will come later in the series. I liked the varied uses for the lodestones throughout the story and how the story hinged around them in  its own way, without that detail being the only focus. On the whole it's a tale of friendship, hardship, adventure and the personal journeys we make where we may come out the other end as better people.  The world building for the Kelanni civilization was pretty well done and I readily admit that I enjoyed my journey with these characters as they set out to save the people of their world. I'm hoping the next book in the series is as good if not better. 

Forged in Flame (In Her Name: The First Empress, Book 2) by Michael R. Hicks

Book Description: This is the second book of the First Empress saga, following From Chaos Born.

Keel-Tath, the child who would unite her people as foretold by an ancient prophecy, has grown to be a young warrior in the confines of the Desh-Ka temple, where she has been sheltered by her old friend and mentor Ayan-Dar from the clutches of Syr-Nagath, the Dark Queen. But when Keel-Tath is forced to choose between sanctuary and her honor, she goes into exile, leaving behind a broken-hearted Ayan-Dar.

Captured and bound in chains by those who serve the Dark Queen, she is rescued from an unspeakable fate by a warrior from the shadows. Thus begins Keel-Tath’s perilous journey to the ends of her war-ravaged world, through deadly wastelands and even deadlier seas, unaware that some of those she holds most dear stand ready to betray her…

Review 5 of 5 Stars
This was a fantastic book. I don't know that I can give this book a better recommendation than that after I read it and was not ready for the story to be over, I reread the entire series and then read this book again before even writing the review for it.  It made for a long time between reviews for the blog, but I really enjoyed the time of self-indulgence that I took to bury myself in Mr. Hicks' universe. Long before the Redemption and The Last War trilogies, this story takes us back to the rise of the First Empress before humans are a consideration in the universe or story.  Keel-Tath's struggles in her bid to fulfill the prophecy that may save her people from destruction are fascinating, riveting and very well written.  The characters are flesh and blood and I love the story on many levels. I'm sure this series will remain with those others that I read again from time to time like visiting old friends. Michael R. Hicks has done an amazing job of world building in this series from the very start and I can't wait to read the next book. If you enjoy good fantasy/military science fiction this will be right up your alley.

The Third Side (Battle for the Solar System, #2) by Stephen Sweeney

Book Description: Simon Dodds has had his wings clipped. Shot down over the luxurious holiday planet Mythos and separated from his wingmates, he is quick to discover that the once-popular sun-soaked paradise has been transformed into a nightmarish war zone, swarming with armies of seemingly unstoppable black-suited soldiers. The Pandoran war machine is on the move, preparing to advance The Mission and deal to the rest of the galaxy the same fate it did the Mitikas Empire.

Unaware of what fate may have befallen his friends, the young pilot attempts to make his way through the dangerous streets of the war-torn city of New Malaga, as he waits for the CSN to rush to the rescue.

But from out of the chaos emerges something far more terrible; and if Dodds can somehow survive the next 24 hours, he might finally see beyond the lies he has been fed and hear a side to the story that no one wants him to: what really happened to the Imperium, who the black-suited warriors are, what the ATAFs were built for...

... and what his purpose in all of it is. Whether he likes it or not.

There are three sides to every story.
But sometimes the truth is the hardest side to believe.

Review 3 of 5 Stars

This is one of those books that I'm kind of torn about.  Some of the story is really good, but then other things kind of drag me out of it such as how some of the characters act.  For seasoned military people they seem to have a pretty high disregard for following orders (after a very slight bit of coercion from fellow teammates) and one in particular seems a little squeamish to be a crack fighter pilot. Another thing is that as I read through it, the major machine adversary has my brain screaming about replicators from Stargate in the background. There are times in the story when I'm really drawn in and at other times it seems like the author is just dragging things out for word count and I find myself wandering off.  The good news is that I was able to finish it so it's not horrible and I'm even kind of curious how it all may end in the third book. I just don't know if I can trudge my way through the third book just to satisfy that curiosity.  So I've given it three stars.  There are parts I really enjoyed and parts that completely snapped me out of the story due to the lack or realism.  Military science fiction has to have just the right mix for me and I'm not sure that the characters in this book are up to the task at hand.