Review: Heir of Thunder by Karissa Laurel

Genre: Young Adult/Coming of Age/Epic Fantasy/Steampunk/Adventure

Description:

“The Lord of Thunder’s sudden death leaves his daughter, Evelyn Stormbourne, unprepared to rule Inselgrau in his place. Weeks before Evie’s ascension to the throne, revolutionaries attack and destroy her home. She conceals her identity and escapes under the protection of her father’s young horse master, Gideon Faust. Together they flee Inselgrau and set sail for the Continent, but they’re separated when a brutal storm washes Evie overboard.

In her efforts to reunite with her protector and reach allies on the Continent, Evie befriends a band of nomads who roam the world in airships fueled by lightning. She also confronts a cabal of dark Magicians plotting to use her powers to create a new divine being, and she clashes with an ancient family who insists her birthright belongs to them.

If she’s to prevail and defeat her enemies, Evie must claim her heritage, embrace her dominion over the sky, and define what it means to be Heir of Thunder.”

Author:

“Some of Karissa's favorite things are coffee, chocolate, and superheroes, and she can quote Princess Bride verbatim. She loves to read and has a sweet tooth for speculative fiction. Sometimes her family convinces her to put down the books and take the motorcycles out for a spin, or they'll haunt flea markets, searching for rusty scraps to reuse and re-purpose. Karissa lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky named Bonnie. Karissa is also the author of the adult Urban Fantasy series, The Norse Chronicles, where she puts a modern twist on ancient myths.”

Appraisal:

What a wonderful new young adult fantasy series. I have enjoyed Ms. Laurel’s Norse Chronicles, so I was looking forward to the Stormbourne Chronicles. The plot is unique with steampunk elements in an old world setting. The characters are diverse, well-developed, and believable. The bad guys are perfectly evil and spread throughout the story. I really wish a few more could have been eliminated.

The story gets off to a fast start as Evelyn Stormbourne must escape the destruction of her home by revolutionaries out to overthrow her throne. Gideon Faust has sworn to protect Evie and helps in her escape. However, Gideon has secrets of his own. The plot is fast moving and there are more twists and loops than a rollercoaster along the way.

When Evie and Gideon become separated, Evie must find her way in a world she is ill-prepared for dealing with. She finds herself having to make dangerous decisions that could have disastrous consequences. The obligations she feels for friends she makes along the way is admirable, and she shows great potential of being a natural leader someday. Evie is also placed in some impossible to escape from situations that were not of her own making.

Evie is a strong, but naïve, heroine who must find the strength and wherewithal to make her way through a world she was not properly prepared to enter. I have to give kudos for the addition of the steampunk airships. This was a genuinely epic idea that sets this story apart from the mythology of Ms. Laurel’s Norse Chronicles.

Heir of Thunder has set the scene for a fantastic new series and I can’t wait to see where the Stormbourne Chronicles heads in the second book.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Heir of Thunder is book one of Stormbourne Chronicles.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found a small number of proofing misses, however none of them threw me out of the story.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words

The Stepmother: Little Brother, Little Sister/ Katharina Gerlach

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Fairy Tale/Romance/Young Adult/Steampunk

Approximate word count: 20-25,000 words

Availability

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Katharina Gerlach was born in Germany in 1968. She and her three younger brothers grew up in the middle of a forest in the heart of the Luneburgian Heather. After romping through the forest with imagination as her guide, the tomboy learned to read and disappeared into magical adventures, past times or eerie fairytale woods… For a while, reality interfered with her writing but after finishing a degree in forestry and a PhD in Science she returned to her vocation. She likes to write Fantasy, Science Fiction and Historical Novels for all age groups.

At present, she is writing at her next project in a small house near Hildesheim, Germany, where she lives with her husband, three children and a dog.”

Learn more about Katharina Gerlach on her website or follow her onFacebook.

Description:

“Once upon a time in a world where magic and technology collide with unexpected consequences…

Even with her powers as a witch, Isabel cannot find a trace of her stepchildren. Desperate, she crosses the Old Forest, filled with as much malignant as benevolent magic, to reach the distant mountain kingdom she left as a young girl when her magical powers manifested. She soon realizes that a sinister creature holds the unsuspecting kingdom in thrall. It will take all she's able to give to save her children and the kingdom she once loved.

What if the Brothers Grimm painted a wrong portrait of the stepmother in the original tale of ‘Little Brother, Little Sister’? The book includes a bonus story and the original fairy tale.”

Appraisal:

Ms. Gerlach has a wonderful talent of taking these fairy tales and reimagining them without losing certain aspects of the old story. They really are a joy to read.

Isabel was a science-oriented witch, but she wasn’t the evil stepmother in the original story. Magic is slowly leaving the world at large and didn’t exist in some places any longer. Ellie, perhaps fifteen years-old, and Tobi, about eleven years-old, ran away from home under a terrible misunderstanding after their father had passed away. Isabel has been searching for them, for three years, across the countryside. Not being able to locate the children with her powers she decided to pay Bergia a visit. Isabel has grown up in the small mountain kingdom and knew it well. To get there she has to cross the Old Forest, which was still filled with magic, and arduous to cross.

Once there Isabel is able to secure a job in the palace. She feels the tingle of magic around but has trouble locating the source. She keeps her magic hidden deep inside until she can learn more. It’s a fascinating tale full of intrigue and betrayal that threatens the whole kingdom. There is also a love story, and an examination of family relationships. The characters are well developed and the search for the soul-sucking demon is intense. This story also employs a small bit of steampunk type elements that surprised me. Only a science-oriented witch would have been able to see through the disguise. I found this story highly entertaining.

FYI:

The Stepmother: Little Brother, Little Sister is Book 2 in the Treasures Retold series. There is also a bonus story, Star Coins, which continues with the steampunk elements. It is a delightful story with some difficult issues. You may want to read this first before sharing with small children. The book also contains The Original: Little Brother, Little Sister by the Brothers Grimm. I really appreciate these originals being included, it’s a nice bonus.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant issues with the first and last stories. However, the story Star Coins had a few issues with wrong words being used. I don’t know if this problem is in the published edition or if it was only in the review file I was given, which is possible.

Rating: ***** Five stars

The Burning Sky / Joseph Robert Lewis

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Fantasy/Thriller/Steampunk

Approximate word count: 130-135,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Lewis says he began his career writing “about deadly firefights in Afghanistan and Iraq, studying cutting-edge information technologies, and chronicling personal journeys of exploration around the world.” (That sounds like he was a writer in the military to me.) He now writes novels, with eight available in multiple genres plus an omnibus edition of the Halcyon Trilogy. For more, visit Lewis’ website.

Description:

Airship engineer Tazri Ohana survives an attack on the airfield and is drafted to help chase the criminals responsible. This is the first book in the Halcyon trilogy.

Appraisal:

I’d heard of the steampunk genre (usually when someone in a forum referenced it as a sub-genre that is underserved by traditional publishers), but don’t think I’ve read anything that fit the definition until now. For those as clueless as I was as to what fits this genre, here is what Wikipedia says:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain—that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or more recently Philip Pullman and China Mieville.

Unlike many steampunk novels, The Burning Sky isn’t set in Victorian era Britain, but on an alternate version of the Earth, based on the premise that Europe didn’t emerge from the Ice Age and is mostly uninhabitable. Lewis gives a brief author’s note explaining this and setting expectations. Wikipedia calls steampunk novels with this type setting fantasy or fantasy-world steampunk.

My favorite things about The Burning Sky were the plot, which is a thriller, and understanding the alternative world Lewis has created. The premise of Lewis’ world means the history of the world would have changed; how everything, from science to culture, would have developed differently from the Ice Age to the time the story is set. This makes anticipating how people will react and the direction the story might go more unpredictable. The Burning Sky kept me guessing, right up to its dramatic conclusion.

FYI:

A small amount of adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars