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Book Review: Faie and Fury – The Faie King’s Mortal Book 1 by Devon Atwood

Elgon Williams, Author

Description:

Anwen is pretty sure she loves her future husband. The problem is, he’s not real.
When Anwen discovers that she has been under an enchantment for months and that her betrothed, Gresham is a mysterious being obsessed with keeping her forever, she escapes to the forbidden Faiewood after a voice on the wind calls her to safety. She finds herself the captive of a green-eyed Faie king who gives cryptic half-truths to Anwen’s questions and refuses to let her leave the Faiewood. With her family’s life at stake, and the safety of all Faie hanging in the balance, Anwen learns that she is his birthright. They are bound by the strings of fate, and she is left with only one choice: trust him, or watch the vales burn.

My Take:

Let’s talk about world-building. It is essential for constructing all fiction, even the genres that appear to be close variants of our world. With fantasy, where the existence of magic redefines the relationships between the living and the physics of their universe, the author’s imagination is fettered only by the nature of magic and the level of magic inherent in nature. For example, do all the inhabitants of the world have access to magic? If not, how is its distribution limited? Do only special beings control the magic? Is there one being or group of beings inherently more powerful? How well the author establishes the rules and consistently follows them allows the reader to suspend disbelief, escape into the story, and become immersed in the conflicts and adventure, same as any other well-told story.

Enter the world of Faie and Fury. Here, Devon Atwood has borrowed some character types and themes from the genre while also paving new ground, redefining myth and legend to suit a well-crafted variation of the eternal conflict of good versus evil. Anwen’s family is under attack without knowing it. When she discovers the truth, she takes flight from the source of the evil, escaping into Faiewood, a mysterious place chock full of dark places and stories of enchantment. Even though the wood borders on her kingdom, she knows next to nothing about it, having never been within it because of the suspected dangers lurking within. And it’s there that her adventures truly begin as she discovers that her fate is directly bound to a Faie who would be king. And in order to save her own family, she must enlist the aid of the creatures of a fantastic world who have at least as much apprehension and misinformation about humans as Anwen does about the Faie.

Faie and Fury is the beginning of The Faie King’s Mortal and for lovers of stories about mythical beings and magical powers. This one does not disappoint. Atwood’s imagination reveals her creation through descriptive prose detailed enough to engage the reader’s senses and it compels us to follow the characters’ travails. We cheer their triumphs and suffer their defeats, eagerly turning pages unto the end. It’s always best to get in on the ground floor of a new fantasy series and having read this one, I’m already waiting for the next installment’s release. As I understand it, the raw tale for Book 1 was composed in about a month. Atwood’s prolific writing schedule bodes well for expectations of Book 2 sometime in the near future. But for now, savor this one as your weekend read. Preorder it now and enjoy the spellbinding tale on Kindle starting April 4, 2022.

About The Author:

Devon Atwood lives in the mountains of Wyoming with her husband, their seven children, and a menagerie of animals. Devon’s favorite thing is writing in silence with a good playlist on in the background, but she will settle for her usual ambiance of bickering children, barking dogs, and Cheerios crumbs under her butt.

​Atwood holds a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University-Idaho, and her currently published works include Lunula, Inito, and K-Love.

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Book Review – Knights of the Shield by Jeff Messick

Elgon Williams, Author

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Cop shows on TV used to fascinate me as a kid. I loved Hawaii Five-O and Kojak. I still have a soft spot for them although these days I tend to watch things like Castle and Bones. And lately I’ve been reading paranormal stuff. So I have been eagerly awaiting Jeff Messick’s Knights of the Shield, due to release 11/11/14 from Pandamoon Publishing.

Jeff’s an IT guy who lived in San Antonio. He also writes and does it well. But it’s his storytelling skills that make his debut novel shine. Not only is it a fascinating story it merges a couple of pretty-much mutually exclusive genres with a touch of the supernatural blended in just for good measure.

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Luke Graham is a fairly standard hardboiled detective. You know the sort, a lone wolf who is forced to take on a brand new partner, Brackett who, though he has cop experience, doesn’t appreciate the finer points of being in the real world of investigating murders. Brackett is also a computer geek. So there is something to be loved there. The pair has a conflict immediately that Brackett exacerbates by following the book counter to Luke’s direction. When Luke is nearly killed, he ignores that Brackett saved his life because he disobeyed an order and allegedly caused the problem in the first place and it was that that almost cost Luke his life.

While recovering from the near fatal stab wound to the chest Luke receives an unexpected visit from a distant relative, a cousin who is a century or so removed – and a chainmail wearing knight at that. And so the journey begins for Luke to learn lessons about honor, respect and duty. In the background, Chuckie, one of Luke’s informants, is the latest victim of the Ribbon Killer, a serial murderer who, after killing eight ex-con in a row turns on other people who at first seem to have no connection to one another or the previous victims.

If you like books about cops, you’ll enjoy this one. If you’re into books that stretch the limits of imagination you’re in for a treat. Oh yes, there is also a touch of romance as Luke reconnects with a high school sweetheart who becomes the damsel in distress as Luke’s investigation proceeds.

Review based on an advance copy supplied by the publisher.

#BookReview #PoliceDrama #JeffMessick #KnightsOfTheShield #NewReleaseBooks

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Review of Skipping Stones by J. B. McGee

Elgon Williams, Author

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Skipping Stones by J.B. McGee explores the full scale of human emotions from despair to elation. For the most part it is Alexandria Hart, (Alex for short) beginning with the summer that she’s fifteen years old. She chooses to spend time with her grandparents in Graniteville, South Carolina instead of accompanying her parents on a European vacation. Tragedy strikes and her world is turned inside out. While grieving, fate delivers diversion, a seventeen-year-old named Drew Foster who promises to teach her everything he knows including how to skip stones across a tranquil pool in the creek near Alex’s grandparents house. Over the course of the ensuing month, Drew becomes the reason she can move past the harshest of times in her life.

Skipping Stones

Skipping Stones is about surviving as much as growing up. It is a well-written story both compelling and evenly paced filled with emotional peaks and valleys. As Alex matures she deal with many kinds of loss in her quest for love and purpose to her life, including a desire to save lives. The endearing characters are memorable creating a page-turner that follows Alex from teenager to young woman as she wrestles with life changing choices.

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Authors Bio (From Amazon profile):

J.B. McGee was born and raised in Aiken, South Carolina. After graduating from South Aiken High School, she toured Europe as a member of the 1999 International Bands of America Tour, playing the clarinet. While attending Converse College, an all girls school in Spartanburg, South Carolina, she visited Charleston often. It quickly became one of her favorite vacation spots. She met her husband, Chad, during Christmas break her freshman year, and they married in 2001. They moved back to her hometown. In 2005, the couple welcomed their first son, Noah. J.B. finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of South Carolina-Aiken in 2006. During her time studying children’s literature, a professor had encouraged her to become a writer.

In 2007, she welcomed their second child, Jonah, and she became a stay at home mom/entrepreneur. In 2009, they found out their two children and J.B. have Mitochondrial Disease. In 2011, a diagnosis also was given to Chad. Please take a moment and learn more about Mitochondrial Disease. Awareness is key to this disease that has no cure or treatments.

J.B. McGee and her family now reside in Buford, Georgia, to be closer to their children’s medical team. After a passion for reading had been re-ignited, J.B. decided to finally give writing a shot. She is an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of her debut series, the ‘This’ Series.

J.B. is represented by Stacey Donaghy with Donaghy Literary Group.

To buy Stepping Stones:

#BookReview #Romance #JBMcGee #SteppingStones