Chaos-Ted Dekker

This is so far my favorite of the series.  Chaos really keeps the reader plugged in from start to finish and doesn't let you go.  You'll definitely want to read the previous books before diving into this one though.

Renegade-Ted Dekker

One of the chosen has gone renegade.
Turning his back on all that he once believed, Billos does the forbidden and enters into a Book of History. He lands in a reality as foreign to him as water is to oil. A place called Paradise, Colorado. He has strange new powers given to him courtesy of a mysterious figure known as Marsuvees Black.

Infidel-Ted Dekker

To see my review of Chosen, the first book in the Lost Books Series, head over here.

Description:
After being stretched to their limits, the four heroic young Forest Guard recruits-Johnis, Silvie, Billos, and Darsal-are pulled into deeper danger on their mission to secure the seven lost Books of History.

The Grace of God-Andy Stanley

Description:
Grace.  It's what we crave most when our guilt is exposed.  It's the very thing we are hesitant to extend when we are confronted with the guilt of others-especially when their guilt has robbed us of something we consider valuable.
Therein is the struggle, the struggle for grace.  It's this struggle that makes grace more story than doctrine.  It's the struggle that reminds us that grace is bigger than compassion or forgiveness.  That struggle is the context for both.  When we are on the receiving end, grace is refreshing.  When it is required of us, it is often disturbing.  But when correctly applied, it seems to solve just about everything.  This struggle is not new; it has been going on since the beginning.

My Take:
Never before reading this book have I thought of the story that has taken place from the beginning of Genesis to the unwritten ending as a story of Grace.  But in many aspects, that is just what it is.  God has shown grace through every event I can think of.  Unending, loving, compassionate grace.  It's always there.
The story of grace is clean and plainly spoken in this book.  The author does not spare details to better communicate understanding of culture and to get across the ideas of the book.  That being said, it was not an easy read.  This is not a light book.  It is often dry and dull and I found myself forcing my way through it.  However, it was very interesting and engaging a good amount of the time.  The book is an excellent book for newborn and experienced Christians alike.  Highly recommended.

My Rating:  4 Pens

Purchase this book here.

The Twelfth Imam-Joel C Rosenberg

For those that are more conservative with their reading, this book does contain one or two instances of mature suggestions.  Nothing actually happens, but the suggestion and implication is there.

Description:
As the apocalyptic leaders of Iran call for annihilation of Israel and the U.S., CIA operative David Shirazi is sent to Tehran with one objective; use all means necessary to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program, without leaving American fingerprints and without triggering a regional war.  At extreme personal risk, Shirazi executes his plan.  A native Farsi speaker whose family escaped from Iran in 1979, he couldn't be better prepared for the mission.  But none of his training has prepared Shirazi for what will happen next.  An obscure religious cleric is suddenly hailed throughout the region as the Islamic messiah known as the Mahdi or the Twelfth Imam.  News of his miracles, healings, signs, and wonders spread like wildfire, as do rumors of a new and horrific war.
With the prophecy of the Twelfth Imam seemingly fulfilled, Iran's military prepares to strike Israel and bring about the End of days.  Shirazi must take action to save his country and the world, but the clock is ticking.

Plot:
While the description deals mostly with the problems surrounding Iran and Iraq, I find that I was actually most drawn to the more domestic issues, so to speak.  I found the protagonist relationship with a girl that seems to have dropped off the grid more intriguing than when the CIA operative is fighting to prevent the utter destruction of two nations.  I think that's more of my personal draw than the author's fault, if it's even a fault at all.
The plot as a whole is fascinating.  It takes place all over the Middle East to various parts of North America.  It really delves deep into the culture of Iran and Iraq and the differences and the beautiful and also disastrous culture that the Iranian and Iraqi culture harbors.

Characters:
The author of this book could not have done much better with the characters.  The main character is clearly defined, yet I also felt my passion in some of the side-characters who are fighting as hard as the protagonist, just for different things.
The transformation of several characters was utterly beautiful and I loved watching them grow.
All this said however, I felt my heart was more with one character that does not even appear for most of the book then any other character, save possibly the protagonist.  Perhaps this was because of the protagonist's deep feelings for her, or maybe it was just me.  You be the judge.

Writing Quality:
Nope.  Nothing to say here.  Writing was excellent and polished except for minor incidences with my copy which was an ARC but that is to be expected.

Conclusion:
I learned more in this book then any other fictional book I've ever read.  Yet, it didn't feel like I was reading some boring attempt to intertwine fact and fiction.  It felt smooth and natural.  It flowed-and I loved the outcome.  While this book was fantastic, I cannot give it a full five stars(pens).  I think it was great, but I just don't think it will be one that resonates with me for the rest of my life.  But don't take that as a negative for this book-go and get the book, you won't regret it.

My Rating:  4.5 Pens

Purchase here.

The Skin Map-Stephen Lawhead

Description:

Kit Livingstone's great-grandfather appears to him in a deserted alley during a tumultuous storm.  He reveals an unbelievable story: that the ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legend or the weekend hobby of deluded cranks, but pathways to other worlds.  To those who know how to see them, they grant the ability to travel the multi-layered universe of which we ordinarily inhabit only a tiny part.

One explorer knew more than most.  Braving every danger, he toured both time and space on voyages of heroic discovery.  Ever on his guard, and fearful of becoming lost in the cosmos, he developed an intricate code-a roadmap of symbols-that he tattooed onto his own body.  This Skin Map has since been lost in time.  Now the race is on to recover all the pieces and discover its secrets.

But the Skin Map itself is not the ultimate goal.  It is merely the beginning of a vast and marvelous quest for a prize beyond imagining.

Plot: 

The plot, in essence, was interesting.  Who doesn’t enjoy a strange twist of suspense, mystery, science fiction and fantasy?  I certainly do.  It wasn’t the plot that bugged me as much as it was how it was carried out.  The plot got quite confusing at points and to put it bluntly, dry.  I think the synopsis and hype of the book made it out to be more then it was.  The plot didn’t really start up, or actually get somewhere until page 150, and even then, not much.  A good fifth of the book must have been spent on the development of a coffee-shop, granted, in Old Prague.  But still, a coffee-shop.  At other points it felt as if the author was confused himself.  He sets us up for a third of the book saying it’s all about the Skin Map but then twists it saying the old “It’s much bigger then you know” but then turned it back to the Skin Map again.  Quite annoying if you ask me.

Characters:  The characters were believable and relatable.  One part of the book where I thought the author did quite well at.  He gave a perfect amount of time before switching point of views, giving me enough pages to connect to Kit in a personal way.  Cosimo and other characters came with time, but all fictional characters do.  One I liked especially was Etzel Englebert a little German fellow from Old Prague.  A baker, no less.  His light-hearted nature and good spirits are contagious.

Writing Quality:  This is where the book falls apart.  Stephen Lawhead has all the mechanics of writing down-but he’s missing the key part of novels, at least in this instance.  And that key is keeping things interesting.  The plot was grabbing but the writing felt long and tedious.  It took more then a little effort to read some parts.

Conclusion:  The book’s plot was great.  Characters?  Awesome.  But because of that one key element that was missing, the book just was lost on me.  I don’t think I’ll be picking it up to read it again.  It also didn’t contain any good Christian elements.  It wasn't a terrible secular book, though.  It was clean of anything bad (except for possibly a few cuss words in England) but it was also clean of anything about Christ and such.  From what I’ve read about the novel I don’t think it will get much better in this aspect, either.  But I do have hopes in many areas.  I will continue reading it when the next novel comes out.

My Rating: 3 Pens

Genre: Fantasy

Intended Age Group: Adult

First in five part series

Where to buy: Amazon, Christianbook, Borders

Page number: 203.

Starlighter-Bryan Davis

Starlighter is the first book in Bryan Davis' newest Young Adult series, Dragons of Starlight.

Description:
Dragons are enslaving humankind and a black egg signals the end of the world. Jason Masters must journey to another realm and join forces with a slave girl named Koren to rescue the captives and save two worlds from destruction. What if the Legends Are True? Jason Masters doubted the myths: people taken through a portal to another realm and enslaved by dragons. But when his brother is taken, he must uncover the truth and find the portal before it's too late. Once he's through the portal, he meets Koren, a slave in the dragons’ realm, who struggles to destroy a black egg prophesied to doom all mankind. Jason and Koren must work together to save their two worlds before the dragons learn that their secrets have been discovered. In Starlighter, bestselling author Bryan Davis masterfully weaves fantasy and inspiration into a captivating novel for young adults

Plot:

The plot was not the usual Bryan Davis plot.  His pacing was much different then his past books which threw me for a loop.  Because there are two full plots, they both felt short.  It was as if you cut a book in half and then duplicated the first half, simply changing it up a little bit.  One moment I’m reading the beginning pages of the book, and the next I’m two pages until the end.  Not to say that this wasn’t just because of the pace.  I’m certain it was also because of the author’s ability to weave a fascinating tale-because that’s what it was, a fascinating tale.

Other then the change of pace, I loved the story.  It was an excellent mix of fantasy and science fiction.

Characters:

Jason and Koren are the main characters in two plots.  Jason is a swordsman on the ‘human’ planet trying to find the portal to the dragon planet while Koren is the human on the dragon planet trying to free herself and her fellow slaves from the dragons’ tyrannical rule.

I didn’t connect to either character very well.  I’m not going to try to dumb that down.  It’s a big deal.  If I can’t connect to a character then I don’t feel passionately for the characters.  Some books are plot-driven while others are character-driven.  I don’t mind a book that’s plot-driven, in fact, as far as I can tell, I’m a plot-driven writer.  But I still need to feel attached to a character on a deep level.  Sadly, I just didn’t connect with Koren or Jason.

Writing Quality:

When it comes to writing mechanics, the book was practically flawless.  No contrived dialogue.  No messed up dialogue tags or faulty descriptions.  It was great.  The problems are what I have stated before-besides those, the book was great.

Conclusion:

I can deal with the plot and the character problems.  Even what I’m about to say, I can deal with.  What I was really upset about was the rather small amount of God in the novel.  Sure, there were Christian themes and references to the Creator, but it wasn’t as spiritually uplifting as his previous works such as Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire.  I’m hoping this changes in the next books.

My Rating:

4 Pens

Genre: Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Intended age group:  12-15 (but can easily extend in either direction)
First installment in series
Where to buy:  Amazon, ChristianBook, or authors website (signed if requested).
You can get in contact with the author by going to his website where you can go to the very active forum, check out fan art or go to his blog.

The Bones of Makaidos-Bryan Davis

If you haven’t read the Dragons in our Midst series then you can still read the Oracles of Fire series.  They draw off of each other.  However, if I had a choice, I would read Dragons in our Midst before reading this.  Either way I think you’ll deeply enjoy the series as in drawing off each other they delve into the world of the unknown.

Description:

As The Bones of Makaidos begins, a wall of fire protects the inexperienced villagers of Second Eden from a planned invasion of dragons and Nephilim, but how long will the flames last/  Billy, Walter, Ashley, Elam, and the faithful dragons help the people prepare, but they are woefully outnumbered and will have to go back to Earth and recruit the humans who have the ability to revert to their former dragon states.  In search of aid, Billy escorts Acacia, an Oracle of Fire, through a dangerous volcano portal.

     Sapphira, Acacia's Oracle sister, stays in the underworld with Bonnie and Shiloh, waiting for the signal to emerge and join the battle.  With Hades and Earth locked in a catastrophic merging of their two realms, Arramos, evil incarnate, plans to use Bonnie to add Second Eden to the convergence, thereby drawing his forces to Heaven's Gate, where he hopes to gain access to divine authority.

     Arramos has two secret weapons: Sir Devin, the greatest of all dragon slayers, lies in wait  to destroy all dragons and their offspring, including Billy and Bonnie; and Mardon, a brilliant scientist, knows the secret to the Oracles' indestructibility, and he has devised a way to steal it from Acacia, thereby draining her strength.  Meanwhile, Semiramis, Mardon's mother, comes to Second Eden and provides BIlly with a wealt of information about Arramos's plans, and with every subsequent challenge, her words are proven true.  but can she be trusted?

     With mysteries abounding and an ultimate battle looming, every decision could mean the difference between survival and catastrophe, and only a prophesied sacrificed can stop the onslaught of evil.  But who will be the sacrificial lamb?

Plot:
The climax of the eight book series and sequel series.  I don't know what to say about the plot actually.  It was fast-paced as usual.  Exciting and original.  But those are just adjectives.  It certainly was a great way to end the series, though.  After reading it I simply can't put my reactions to word.
there is only one thing I remember having trouble with in this book.  At the half-way point in the book you really have to force yourself through.  It is just really dry.  The first two chapters in the second book are like this.  I would explain more of why it's dry and describe it in more depth, but that would spoil some of the plot, and wouldn't want that now would we?

Characters:
I learned more about the characters and understood them on a deeper level than in any of Mr. Davis's past novels.  When I heard one character went missing in battle my heart pounded.  When I found out one character was mortally wounded I put the book down and literally blanked out for a moment or two.  I had no choice but to care.
Go ahead and hate me for it, but strangely enough, with my fascination of swords and war and fantasy in general, I'm a sap for romance novels mind you, but novels with romance.  When proportioned right and well done I think they make a great addition to a novel.  This book has great balance.  Just the right amount for me.  I love the finale in this book, but I will keep my mouth shut about it.

Writing:
As I said in the Plot section, there was a period that was lacking the usual engaging writing.  I had trouble getting through those two chapters, but afterward the story takes a jumpstart that is even more exciting than before.
Other then this I had no problems with the book writing wise.  Not anything that stuck out at me, anyways.

Conclusion:
To say I am reluctant to give a book five stars (or Pens) would be an understatement.  So when deciding what to give this book it was clear to me.  This book was one of the most emotionally and spiritually gripping and powerful books I've read.
My rating: 5 Pens

Genre: Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Intended age group:  12-15 (but can easily extend in either direction)
Third in four part series
Where to buy:  Amazon, ChristianBook, or authors website (signed if requested).
You can get in contact with the author by going to his website where you can go to the very active forum, check out fan art or go to his blog.

Last of the Nephilim-Bryan Davis

If you haven’t read the Dragons in our Midst series then you can still read the Oracles of Fire series.  They draw off of each other.  However, if I had a choice, I would read Dragons in our Midst before reading this.  Either way I think you’ll deeply enjoy the series as in drawing off each other they delve into the world of the unknown.

Description:
Last of the Nephilim, the third installment in the acclaimed Oracles of Fire series, picks up the exciting Dragons in Our Midst story where Eye of the Oracle and Enoch's Ghost ends.  A single lie is spoken, allowing the Nephilim, a race of giants from ancient times, to invade Second Eden, a peaceful civilization in an alternate dimension.  While Earth and Hades are locked in a catastrophic merging of their two realms, the prophet Enoch works to gather an army of humans and dragons from each world to go to war against the Nephilim.  Included in that force are a small girl with prophetic power; Billy Bannister, the heir of Arthur and hero of the Dragons in Our Midst series; and Bonnie SIlver, his fellow warrior.

The two Oracles of Fire, Sapphira and Acacia, are called upon to protect the forces of good, including Bonnie, who is being purued once again by the most powerful of all dragon slayers, Sir Devin, the dragons' bane.

With giants battling dragons, and a rogue dragon taking the side of the forces of evil, a catclysmic battle erupts, endangering every life in the land of Second Eden.  Another of Nephilim, the most powerful of all, rises from the dead to join the battle.  But whose side will he be on?

Abraham, the leader of Second Eden, has a choice, either execute a grieving widow, the woman responsible for the entry of the evil giants, or face the greatest of sacrifices by which he can only delay the inevitable, the ultimate war that could lead the evil forces to the gates of Heaven itself.

Plot:
As usual with Bryan Davis' novels, the plot was fast-paced.
It keeps you on your toes even though you may be sitting down.  If anything, Mr. Davis knows how to write an intense plot.
On the flip side, for some it may not be the best.  With all the books I've yet read in The Oracles of Fire there have been at least two sub plots.  Sometimes more.  I'm still deciding whether I like how it's done or not.  The thing is, it is sometimes hard to discern the actual plotline.  To focus on tis book's plot instead of the series, it isn't until the end that we get a solid plot.  The only reason I say a 'solid plot' is because at the end, most of the characters come together.  And that, to an extent, is short-lived.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the plot very much, but I think it could have been improved if one plotline just stood out a little more then the rest.

Characters:
While I've always loved Bryan Davis' plots and almost everything else about his books, there are a few books where his characters are lacking.  This was, sadly, one of those books.
I couldn't attach myself to one character was the biggest issue.  Like I said in the plot section, there isn't one plotline that stands out above the rest.  Likewise, there isn't one character that stands out above the rest.  I might say Walter was the main character but even that is debatable.  Without one main character to connect with I subconsciously chose another character to be my personal protagonist.
Since there wasn't any more focus on that character then any other I didn't feel deeply for that character like I might in another book where I am attached to a protagonist.
Other then that issue, the characters were well created and developed.  The characters were very numerous.  Some twenty characters that took an ongoing part in the book.  For twenty characters though, I would say the author handled them very well.  Characters from both Dragons in Our Midst and characters introduced in the past two novels come together to form a great cast.

Writing:
Mr. Davis has the writing nailed.  He's a great example for anyone learning to write.  Other then problems already stated, there was no major writing flaws.  Nothing that stood out enough for me to write down or take a mental note.

Conclusion:
Bryan Davis writes a fascinating tale of love, war, and fighting for survival while keeping the focus on God.  This is a book to keep you up at night checking the page count left, not that you want it to end, but so that you can get to the end.
My rating: 4 Pens

Genre: Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Intended age group:  12-15 (but can easily extend in either direction)
Third in four part series
Where to buy:  Amazon, ChristianBook, or authors website (signed if requested).
You can get in contact with the author by going to his website where you can go to the very active forum, check out fan art or go to his blog.

Enoch's Ghost-Bryan Davis

If you haven’t read the Dragons in our Midst series then you can still read the Oracles of Fire series.  They draw off of each other.  However, if I had a choice, I would read Dragons in our Midst before reading this.  Either way I think you’ll deeply enjoy the series as in drawing off each other they delve into the world of the unknown.

Description:

Enoch’s Ghost, the second book in the Oracles of Fire series, picks up the exciting Dragons in our Midst story where Tears of a Dragon and Eye of the Oracle series ended.

Walter, Ashley, and Karen ride the dragon Thigocia in search of her son, Gabriel, and her long-lost mate, Makaidos. When Walter and Ashley find an army of giants hibernating in the depths of the earth, they meet a mysterious girl named Sapphira Adi who claims to be thousands of years old. Sapphira reveals a sinister plot, conceived centuries ago by Morgan Le Faye and the devil himself.

The giants awaken and ascend to the Earth, ready to carry out a scheme that threatens the entire cosmos, and only dragons can defeat them. Since two dragons remain on the earth, and one of them is reluctant to fight, doom seems certain. Still, there is hope. In another world, a former dragon awakens to a new existence and learns that a prophesied deliverance requires the death of a willing lamb, and a handicapped little girl who wants to die to end everyone’s suffering, including her own, steps forward as the only candidate for the sacrifice.

The greatest of dangers, building to a climax in three different worlds, meets the power of love and sacrifice in Enoch’s Ghost.

Plot:

The plot was more engaging and intense than any other book I’ve yet read by Mr. Davis.  So much that I had to take a break midway through.  My mind was spinning, and I had to rest before jumping in again.  That was just me.  I still don’t think there is such a thing as too much suspense or intensity in a novel.  The author simply does not let up-and there is nothing wrong with that.

For the sake of not giving out spoilers I’ll simply say that the plot was interesting.

Characters:

Enoch’s Ghost has a vast cast of characters.  A cast that consists of characters ranging from Dragons in our Midst, Eye of the Oracle and new characters that we’ve never met.

It’s a very difficult task to make a reader love and feel attached to that many characters (more then fifteen to be precise).  If I knew beforehand that there were this many characters I would have doubts.  I was happily surprised the author pulled it off.

Writing:

As usual, Bryan Davis’ craft is great.  If there is anything wrong with the writing in this book it would be that it is too fast-paced.  As I said before, the author does not let up.  For some this can be a little much.  Some people need a novel to be balanced with fast and slow scenes.  Other then this little ‘glitch’ the novel was very well written.

Conclusion:

My diagnosis?  Great book.  One of the few books I’ve read in a matter of a few days.  A day and a half to be precise.  I’m not a fast reader so to have a book read in less then two days says something about a book.

I definitely recommend reading this book.

My rating: 4 Pens

Genre: Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Intended age group:  12-15 (but can easily extend in either direction)
First in four part series (More reviews forthcoming)
Where to buy:  Amazon, ChristianBook, or authors website (signed if requested).
You can get in contact with the author by going to his website where you can go to the very active forum, check out fan art or go to his blog.

Eye of the Oracle-Bryan Davis

If you haven’t read the Dragons in our Midst series then you can still read the Oracles of Fire series.  They draw off of each other.  However, if I had a choice, I would read Dragons in our Midst before reading this.  Either way I think you’ll deeply enjoy the series as in drawing off each other they delve into the world of the unknown.

A Word of Caution:

The author of this book writes fiction mixed with Biblical events.  While I cannot find anything that would compromise a young believer’s faith, I would still suggest being careful.  In another sense, it encourages the reader to read their Bible to verify certain things.

Description:

What ancient mysteries lurk behind the amazing stories in the Dragons in our Midst series?  Eye of the Oracle takes the reader back in time to the days when dragons abounded.  From the era just before Noah’s ark, through the battles between dragons and mankind in the times of King Arthur, and to the haunting presence of dragons in our day, this stunning prequel reveals the mysteries that led to the bestselling fantasy adventure that began with Raising Dragons.

How did dragons survive the flood?  Who helped preserve an ancient evil force that led to the dragons’ demise in the days of King Arthur?  What heroic sacrifices kept that evil from exterminating the dragon race forever?  If you enjoyed the heart-stopping action and spiritual depth of the first four books in this series, you won’t want to miss the astonishing story that began it all.  Eye of the Oracle will captivate young and old alike, and it will challenge every reader to search deep within for answers to the mysteries in their own hearts.
(Taken from back cover).

Plot:

Bryan Davis handles the plot exceptionally well in this novel.  It’s a little more history then the average plot.  This is, of course hard to not do when the timeline spans some five thousand years.

Even with the ‘history’ factor of the novel, the author still manages to draw you in and keep you there until the end.  While Mr. Davis may have done very well at keeping the reader, he also established many sub-plots.  The main plot itself was almost the collection of sub-plots and I think it depends on the reader whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.  I somewhat enjoyed it.

The amount of detail put into this book is superb.  It revealed many of the mysteries of Dragons in our Midst while creating some of its own.

Characters:

With some fifteen to twenty main characters in the books cast, I had no trouble distinguishing any.  Even two characters who were supposed to be completely identical, I could recognize because of their slightly differing characteristics and behavior.

I can only imagine how tedious the task must have been creating so many characters over the book’s timeline.  It being four/five thousand years long many characters were born and many died.  Yet with all the characters, they all have unique personalities.  I fell in love with each and every character even though it becomes clear who the protagonist is in the story.

Writing (Quality):

Mr. Davis knows his craft.  I can honestly say I saw no writing issues in this novel.  To hook a reader for, in a sense, four thousand years you have to have a lot of things-loveable and realistic characters, exciting plotline-but you really have to be able to bring it all together with good writing.  And Bryan Davis does just that.

Conclusion:

Whether you’re a long-time Dragons in Our Midst fan or you’ve never read anything by the author before, you will love this book.  Eye of the Oracle is a great book with Christian values and is a welcome addition to my shelf.
My Rating: 4.5 Pens

Genre: Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Intended age group:  12-15 (but can easily extend in either direction)
First in four part series (More reviews forthcoming)
Where to buy:  Amazon, ChristianBook, or authors website (signed if requested).
You can get in contact with the author by going to his website where you can go to the very active forum, check out fan art or go to his blog.

Venom and Song-Christopher Hopper & Wayne Thomas Batson

VENOM AND SONG

Wayne Thomas Batson-Christopher Hopper  

  

(For my full review of Venom and Song you can go here.)

I would suggest to anyone planning to read Venom and Song to first read Curse of the Spider King.

Venom and Song expands on the glimpses we saw of Allyra in the first book in the series. 

Now in the strange realm of Allyra, the Seven young lords confront a traitor in their midst, a creature-infested forest, teenage fears and doubts, inexplicable mysteries and the Spider King himself.

I noticed the writing flawed at the beginning.  There were a few viewpoint shifts within scenes and the dialogue tags were off from the beginning to the end of the book.  That doesn’t matter much to me, even though I do notice it.  The book’s plot was amazing.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the world of Allyra and its history.  There were a few typos that I found amusing, but didn’t bother me at all.  Such as a time when one of the characters ‘ased’ a question.  Of course, it was mean to be ‘asked’.

The plot kept me on my toes and kept me turning the page and the ending was very satisfying, though it made me quite sad.

All-in-all I rate the book a eight out of ten.

 Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Stay tuned for a THREE book giveaway of Venom and Song.  

Review-Swords of the Six

Swords of the Six is the first book in the series The Sword of the Dragon by Scott Appleton.  It is currently published by Flaming Pen Press, whose owner is actually the author of the book.  It is to be republished by AMG Publishers in Fall of this year.

Swords of the Six was a very interesting book.  The plot was fantastic, the characters were awesome, and the world building was quite mysterious.
Warning:  If you have not read this book and you dislike spoilers, then it
may be unwise to go further.
The beginning is what every author should strive to do, and every reader needs to have to continue reading.  A captivating scene.  I want an epic battle scene-but that's just me.  Swords of the Six starts out with a terrible battle between an army of men and a devious, black dragon.  When the armies of men fail, one man, the only loyal of the six, fights the dragon-Xavion.
From there the story jumps ahead, and I'm still not sure how many years pass between the prelude and the first chapter, but I don't think the author intended for me to know.
The great white dragon, Albino, brings life to six daughters who were humans in appearance.  After seventeen years he sends them on a mission to redeem one of the fallen six who preceded them.  The man-Letrias-refuses to be redeemed and kills himself, leaving one wish: That the girls bring his son to their father.
After giving the son to their father Albino, he sends them on another journey, one which they are not sure what they're doing.  He sends them to a forest far away and gives them a stone cave as their home.  Years pass and Dantress, the youngest daughter and the protagonist of the book, meets a young man named Ilfedo who she falls in love with and soon after marries.
Being dragon in everything but appearance, she is not allowed to mix blood with a human, and if she does so, must give her life to bring another to the world.  And so she does.  The baby's name is Oganna and Dantress dies after giving birth to her.  Once Ilfedo and his new sisters-in-law bury Dantress, Albino comes and gives the girls a mission as well as give Ilfedo a gift-the Sword of Living Fire.
So ends book one of The Sword of the Dragon series.
End of spoilers.
As you can see the book's plot was extraordinary.  I loved it.  Who would of thought of a dragon having six human appearing daughters?  It was pretty amazing plot-wise.
I did notice a few writing errors however.  There was a little to many emphasized words for my taste.  The thing about emphasis is that its not needed-at all.  You shouldn't need a special type of word to get a point across.  Italics come in handy at some points though, and I'm not saying you shouldn't use them.  I use them in my writing-they're just not something you want to use too much, else you diminish the value.
I also saw some printing errors that happened repeatedly.  I think the main things were the quotation marks.  They seemed to be on the wrong side a lot of the time.  When starting a quote the mark would be facing the side that the end quote should be facing and vice-versa.
The author did an exceptional job at describing.  I could see everything in my mind very vividly.  However, this was also one of the downfalls.  I caught myself not being able to focus on the actual story because of the great description.  I personally prefer story over description.
The world building was also phenomenal.  Even though I myself didn't know anything other then what the girls explored.  What made it great was when the characters talked about other places, but only hinted of their existence.  It left me wanting to know what else there was in this world.  I can't wait to explore the rest of the world in the books to come.
All in all, Swords of the Six was a great book.  For being a self published book it has made quite a bit of sales and is a great addition to the bookshelf.  I am eagerly awaiting Offspring, the second book in the series, as well as the republishing of this book.

Also you can see the artwork for book two here-click image to make bigger.  To discuss the books, writing, or pretty much anything you can go to the forum here.  However, to prevent spamming and to keep the forum safe, you'll need to email Scott Appleton before registering.

A Century Turns-New Hopes, New Fears by William J. Bennett

I recently had the chance to experience the great feeling that continually happens with books.  The one where you read the entire book, and slowly close the book, thinking about the great and bad parts of the book you finished.  The books name was A Century Turns-New Hopes, New Fears written by William J. Bennett.  Before I go any further I'll give you a forewarning, this is not an easy read.  This is something that deals with real-world situations and has some mature themes.  It was not a Christian book particularly, though it wasn't against Christians by any means.  There were around three curse words in the book, mostly in quotes; so if that's something that will upset you then I suggest you do not read the book.  Without further ado here's my take on the book:

What's happened to our country?  It seemed such little time ago that there wasn't such terrible corruption in the capitol; before the war on terror began; before scandals broke out across the nation with all kind of huge figures.  What happened?  William Bennett discusses in great detail the last twenty years as a country.  

I’m not going to lie; the book was pretty boring in some places.  This is simply my opinion however.  I know people who would read this kind of book in four-hour plane ride.  Political non-fiction  simply fails to captivate me-not to say I don't enjoy it however.  Besides that, the book was great.  Bennett summarizes and explains what’s happened with precision.  He never misses a chance to give the reader something interesting to think about.

He covers all the presidential, as well as some congressional, elections with extreme detail.  Telling me everything that happened with unmatched detail since he had known many of the candidates and had talked to them before writing this book during the elections.  He also covered the war on terrorism, talking about attacks during Bush, Clinton, and again Bush’s administration.  He also discusses a few of the current issues going around with the current administration and congress. 

Overall, it was a great book.  A great addition on the bookshelf.  I would definitely recommend it.

To visit the amazon page, please click here, to view the publishers page, please click here.