Review of A Conspiracy of Alchemists – Book 1 of The Chronicles of Light and Shadow by Liesel Schwarz

This book is something of a genre mashup – it certainly has strong steampunk elements in it, and the early descriptions of the airship are especially enjoyable. But it is also part romance and part Fantasy, with a strong and well-designed world in which the failing warlocks are desperately trying to rally their fading forces against the powerful, well organised alchemists.

When dirigible pilot Elle Chance accepts an unusual cargo in Paris, she finds herself in the middle of a deadly war between the Alchemists and Warlocks. The Alchemists will stop at nothing to acquire the coveted carmot stone and its key, and Elle must do everything in her power to thwart their diabolical plans.

I felt Schwarz managed to achieve a strong sense of the Edwardian era in her writing, without unduly holding up the action. The period details and customs were well depicted and, particularly the scenes in Constantinople which were full of colour and a number of interesting characters. Schwarz’s lively and pacey writing style is well suited to keeping the tension going in a variety of settings, without losing a sense of place.

Elle is also an engaging heroine – a suitably plucky gel, with plenty of the intrepid drive that finally won women the vote. Her determination to break away from the boring, narrow life of a married woman of the time was both appealing and convincing. However, I was less persuaded by the romantic thread running through the story. Mr Marsh is an interesting character in his own right – and his views on women and their role in society certainly is of the time. The trouble was, this part of the story suddenly seemed to fall into a clichéd dance that didn’t happen in the rest of the narrative. So I found I was slightly skimming the scenes between the two protagonists in order to get to the more interesting plotlines. Fortunately, there is plenty going on that is great fun, so that this was a minor disappointment rather than a big deal.

As the story romped to the climax, I stayed up reading until the small hours to find out what happens – and Schwarz manages to bring this slice of the story to a satisfying conclusion, while leaving some interesting plotlines dangling for the next instalment. Patrice, in particular, is an intriguing villain who kept popping up throughout the book and promises to figure prominently in the next slice of this adventure. Which I shall definitely be looking forward to with interest and anticipation. Steampunk can only benefit with a series like this to add to the genre.
8/10

Review of Born of Shadows – Book 4 of The League series by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Although I’d heard of this series, I hadn’t read any of Kenyon’s books, so when the opportunity came to whip a copy of this off the shelves, I took it. However, it meant that I was reading the book completely out of sequence. So, did that significantly affect my reading pleasure – and did I enjoy the Kenyon experience?

For Caillen Dagan, a defiant soldier of fortune, survival isn’t a right: it’s a brutal daily battle. Moving through the Ichidaian universe like a wraith, his brushes with the law and death are legendary. But when an act of rare heroism reveals his hidden birthright, he’s forced into a world much more dangerous and cold-blooded than the bloody streets where he was raised – one of obscene wealth and lethal politics.

Ferocious and determined, Desideria serves as an official bodyguard for her queen. Born of questionable genetics, she will do anything to prove herself worthy of the weapons she carries and the position she’s won by combat. But when she uncovers a ruthless plot to assassinate the queen and overthrow her country’s government, Desideria is caught in the crossfire.

And that’s the starting point for both of our protagonists. Of course, it’s a no-brainer that they are going to get together. This, after all, is romantic fantasy. Kenyon wraps up the age-old boy meets girl scenario in a cool world which I found well detailed and convincing. In fact, it was Kenyon’s ability to spin a cracking good tale that held me through the story, rather than the unfolding romance – or the characters. To be honest, I found Caillen’s initial tantrums about having to dress in court clothes and adopt the customs and manners of court life more than a tad tedious. And at odds with the depiction of this experienced, pragmatic smuggler who could blend into any situation – he came over more as a whiny teenage brat than an intelligent survivor of a hundred tricky situations…

Desideria was far more convincing as the mixed-blood outsider whose affection for her foreign father had set her up as a target with her half-sisters and haughty, uncaring mother. As for their unfolding romance – some of the repartee worked well, but I could have done with less of the smart replies between the pair of them. However, once the action really got going and Caillen’s team joined the fray, the pace picked up and Kenyon’s supporting characters were all effective, as were her action scenes. She writes tension-filled danger very well.

The fact that it was the fourth book in the series didn’t impact on my enjoyment in any way. Kenyon has been smart enough to ensure that though there is obviously a cast of characters who are steadily developing throughout the series, the storyline isn’t strongly tied to the previous book. While I got the impression that I would have known a bit more about Caillen’s mates, my ignorance of their backstory didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the adventuring that went on in Born of Shadows. All in all – apart from some exasperation with Caillen – this was a fun read and a slickly written fantasy romance with plenty of excitement and adventure thrown in with the mushier stuff. No wonder Kenyon has such a strong fan base.
7/10

Review of Felicity Fights Back by Stella Sykes

While reading yet another romance about a sweet young thing, have you ever wished that the heroine was a bit more wrinkled and a lot less perfect? If so, then look no further than Stella Sykes’ entertaining debut novel about the trials of a feisty fifty-something.

Finding herself divorced after thirty years marriage, Felicity moves to London intent on rebuilding her life. While she struggles to adjust to being single once more, her friends pitch in to help. Jane is determined to fix her up with an elderly version of Mr Right; Venetia masterminds Felicity’s physical transformation; while Rose provides her with a country haven where she can lick her wounds. And as for Felicity? Having spent most of her life as a wife and mother, she hasn’t a clue about what she wants to do – or with whom. But when her friends encounter their own crises, Felicity’s capability shines through, proving to herself – and those around her – that she still has a lot to offer.

When Stella Sykes stepped in at the last minute to talk to West Sussex Writers’ Club about how her book came to be written and published, her amusing personality guaranteed an entertaining evening. She told us that she was writing ‘boiler lit’, rather than ‘chic lit’ and enlivened her talk with a variety of funny anecdotes about her eventful life.

Sykes’ warm-hearted attitude informs her writing, reminding me – in places – of Maeve Binchey in her astute, but ultimately generous reading of human nature. However, I do feel there is a conflict within the book. It starts by being very funny, with a couple of set-piece scenes which had me chuckling aloud in the tradition of ‘chic lit with wrinkles’. But, as the story progressed, I became increasingly aware of the tension between the narrative and the humour, which became broader throughout the book in order to get around this problem. I get the impression that someone had been constantly nagging the author to be ‘funnier’. Which is a shame, because I think that insistence has sold this book short.

The plotline of the novel has sufficient narrative drive, enjoyable settings and memorable characters, without having to deliver laugh-aloud lines every few pages. And if you’re looking for a cosy, feel-good romance about an older woman, then I can thoroughly recommend it. I’ll certainly be looking out for her next book. As those of us who won’t see fifty again can testify, love still looms large on our horizons – even if the overwhelming majority of romantic fiction refuses to recognise it!
8/10

Review of Goddess of the Sea by P.C. Cast

In the slew of paranormal romances out there, this one had a particularly intriguing premise – P.C. Cast mixes ancient myths and legends with the contemporary world, giving them a new, modern twist. As Goddess of the Sea is the first in the series, I decided to give it a go.

Home alone on the night of her twenty-fifty birthday, US Air Force sergeant Christine Canady yearns for something to cure her loneliness. After drinking too much champagne, she recites a divine invocation to revive her humdrum life. But how is she to know the spell actually works?

The blurb goes on for another long paragraph, but contains waaay too many spoilers in my opinion. I didn’t read the back of the book before starting it – and if I had, I would have probably complained that the first 100 pages dragged, like so many other reviewers, because I would have already known what was coming up. Instead, I was rather surprised at the plot twist which had Christine splashing about in the waves and intrigued to see where Cast would take the book, next. I think plotting is one of Cast’s main strengths as a writer – whatever I was half expecting just didn’t happen. Christine – or CC as she is called – definitely ends up in a completely different place to the military base where she has been working…

Of course for the book to really work, CC has to be an appealing, believable figure as the story is written in limited third person viewpoint. As it was a paranormal romance, I was expecting the typically strong, yet conflicted female, capable of significant violence when circumstances required. Cast ticked some of those boxes, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that when CC was put into a difficult situation, there was a genuine sense of danger. The fantasy didn’t revolve around her invulnerability, due to some hitherto unknown lethal ability to kill people in a messy manner. Which meant that the villains posed a real threat. And there were several to choose from – ranging from the over-the-top pantomime-type, to the creepy Abbot whose attitude towards women in general and CC in particular, was… nasty. While CC is mostly an appealing and generally likeable heroine, she seemed to cope with being yanked out of her timeline with a great deal of composure. I would have liked to have seen her more miserable at the lack of modern comforts – nothing to read, no TV or radio, no iPod… And though scrubbing chapels and meeting up with a merman may mop up a lot of time, just once I would have liked an internal rant at the general grime, discomfort and sheer inconvenience of living in an age with no running water, flushing toilets or electricity…

As for the supernatural aspect to the story – did it work? Hm… for me this was the major weakness. There was never any real explanation as to why CC’s drunken yearning for change appealed to the Goddess – and her resultant interventions in CC’s life were very much in the ‘…and then she waved her fairy wand’ school of Fantasy. While paranormal romance often concentrates on the romance rather than the paranormal aspect, I was a tad disappointed at the manner in which the Goddess seemed to pop up arbitrarily and sweep all before her – particularly when taking into account Cast’s evident ability to write an engrossing and believable world with plenty of tension. I felt that the magical side of the story could have been more strongly depicted and maybe have pervaded the episode in the monastery with a greater sense of menace and ‘otherness’.

Despite the above grumbles, the book held me to the end – which I didn’t see coming – and I found it an enjoyable read.
7/10

Review of Thief With No Shadow by Emily Gee

Enjoy a dollop of romance with your fantasy? If so, then this interesting fantasy debut by Emily Gee might be just what you are looking for, especially if you are all vampired-out right now. Not that Gee’s world doesn’t have some really unpleasant creatures inhabiting it, alongside the humans – they just don’t happen to fly at night and flash their fangs. However, they are every bit as deadly if crossed…

Aided by the magic which courses through her veins, Melke is able to walk unseen by mortal eyes. When a necklace she has stolen holds the key to both saving her brother’s life and breaking a terrible curse, she must steal it back from a den of fire-breathing salamanders. Things are about to get very tough for Melke, especially when she comes to realise she may have to trust the very people who were out to kill her.

I really enjoyed the world depicted here. It is different enough to intrigue and Gee’s writing managed to create a taut, claustrophobic atmosphere on the cursed farm that makes Bastian’s simmering fury entirely justifiable. The dusty, devastated landscape is a very effective backdrop to the action. Her characters develop throughout the story, which starts with a bang and whisks the reader straight into the plot. Despite the fact that this is Gee’s first fantasy book, she has written a number of Regency romance novels and her deft handling of the plot and pacing indicate her experience.

Niggles? Hm. I do have a couple. I found the romance part of the story a bit too predictable – but that might be rather unfair of me, as I came to the book as a fantasy fan. I also had a bit of a problem with the speed that the rape victim apparently recovered from his experience, but then maybe Gee is planning a sequel where the long term consequences of Hantje’s attack may be addressed. I would have also liked a lot more about the salamanders and psaaron, the other beings who live alongside humans. They seemed interestingly different and gloriously contemptuous of humankind.

All in all, though, Thief With No Shadow is an enjoyable read, set in a world with some interesting touches that could be effectively developed into an engrossing series, should Gee wish to do so. I find myself hoping that she does…

7/10