Tag: Magic

Books, Fantasy, Magic, Magical Realism, New Releases, novel, Publishing

Review of ROSEWOOD BURNING: Everly Series Book 2 by Meg Bonney

Elgon Williams, Author

Published December 15, 2021 by Pandamoon Publishing #Fantasy #Magic #Adventure

Description:

Madison Rosewood returns to the cloaked magical world of Everly on a mission to find her mother, unite the kingdom against her tyrannical father, and stop the execution of the Magics once and for all. Before her revolution can even begin, however, Madison quickly finds her new life in flames.

As she prepares for the upcoming confrontation with her father, Madison grapples with her masked grief as she struggles to both control her new magical abilities and be the leader that her friends and Everly expect her to be. Vengeful villagers, blood-thirsty mermaids, deadly energy storms, and unexpected romances challenge her at every step. Forced to turn to her enemies for help, Madison faces revelations and betrayal and in their wake must make a decision that will change every relationship she has in Everly, including the one with herself.

My Take:

In the first book of the series, Bonney focused on establishing characters, the conflicts that would play out not only over the course of the first installment of the story but also the entire series. She also did a great deal of world-building so that we could experience the realm of Everly through the main character’s eyes. This is essential in fantasy writing because the physics of the created world might operate differently than the world with which we as readers are familiar. Since magic plays a key role in this story, ground rules were set for how it works and what the limitations are for its use. And the reader needs to know whether magic depends on the peculiarities of certain species or individual characters who may have mastered their abilities to stand out as somehow unique from others even of their own kind.

Bonney introduced us to Madison, who hates her nickname, Mad Dash, which she earned from her amazing speed on the high school track team, something that also gave her hope of a college scholarship. Despite her great ambitions, she suffers from several internal conflicts about her past and not knowing much about her parents, information about which her aunt who has cared for her since she was an infant has not been forthcoming. Her aunt has also been obsessed with preparing her with warrior skills well beyond mere self-defense. The adventure begins when Madison and her best friend Jason are lured into the fantastic world of Everly where magic is real and much less restricted than it is in our world. We are also introduced to the variety of mythical and magical beings that populate Everly.

In Book 2, Meg Bonney’s imagination unleashes greater detail and substance for the reader to explore as Madison and Jason return to Everly on a mission to save the magical beings from persecution and lead a revolution that everyone knows is necessary but hardly anyone seems eager to join or eagerly support. Madison’s heart is still broken over her tragic loss which intensifies her internal conflict. She is as irrational as any other teen can be, and her focus is divided at times, but her motives are pure. She wants to save Everly from her father who she blames for everything wrong with her life and Everly. In a real sense, the fantastic world around her seems to reflect her confusions and frustrations, serving as a metaphor for her life. She seeks revenge against her father and his tyrannical rule but also she fights against her own failing and uncertainty. What results is a solid and necessary next step in advancing the story and setting the stage for the third installment in the series.

Returning are all of the primary and most of the secondary characters from book one with whom we are familiar and whose stories we have invested in. But as the variety of Magics is expanded the reader experiences the diversity of culture and customs lending more of a realistic feel to the story. As was true of the first book, the story continues to have believable dialog despite the magical elements of the story and the fantastic environment of the settings. For example, Madison and Jason live comfortably safe amongst the Trolls who are extremely gifted at preparing meals. We also learn more about Mermaids and Witches as the story progresses and we root for the revolution that suffers as much from its ambitions as its disorganization. And there are some secrets that were hinted in Book 1 that are revealed as well as a surprise ending that foreshadows the major conflict ahead in Book 3.

Will Madison resolve the issues with heritage and spare her friends in Everly from the prohibition on magic? Rosewood Burning provides an exciting escape that I highly recommend as a continuation of the Everly franchise, which by the way, has been optioned for a future film or TV series.

About the Author:

Author Meg Bonney is a paralegal by day, a TV reviewer by night, and a writer every moment in between. Meg enjoys stories with strong emotional relationships that aren’t necessarily romantic. Her TV watching and writing have always been more focused in the sci-fi/fantasy genre where the stakes are high and the consequences are dire and because fairies, mermaids, monsters, and witches make her happy. Meg lives in Wisconsin with her husband, her two young daughters, two cats, three hermit crabs, and one very spoiled fish. Meg enjoys impromptu dance parties with her daughters, strong coffee, baking, and getting way too emotionally invested in fictional characters.

Book Available at Amazon.

Watch The C & E Show’s Interview with Meg Bonney 

Books, Fantasy, New Releases, novel

Review of Priest Hunter by Jeff Messick

Elgon Williams, Author
Priesthunter Front Cover

The Magehunters are no more, pulled down by the efforts of Jace and his Disciples of Arn. However, there is little time to get used to the new order of things, as Jace learns his father has been forcibly taken by the Church of Arn to serve out the remainder of his life as a warrior priest.

As a young mage, Jace needed to learn to control his magical might. Now he will learn power comes in many forms. To free his father, Jace must learn priest magic, the pitfalls of faith, and the downside of leadership. He must learn, then master these ideas, to even stand a chance against the leader of the church.

Morvane doesn’t want Jace’s father, he wants Jace’s power. Jace is all that stands between Morvane and a world that worships only those that hold power over others. Worse yet, when Jace uses his vaunted magical might against Morvane, his magic has no effect.

My Take:

Where Magehunter, the first book of the series, is an extended coming of age story overlaid upon the makings of a good epic fantasy tale set in a world where those who wield magic are more common than not, Priesthunter rapidly evolves from a quest to find Jace’s father into a classic battle of magic between good and evil. Our hero, Jace Kendrick, returns with full command of his gifts, which have often seemed more of a curse to him, along with Amicus, his companion and former enemy. They set out for Elorien, the seat of the Church of Arn where they believe Angus, Jace’s father, has been pressed to return into the service of a Warrior Priest. The stakes quickly escalate as Jace discovers that Morvane, the head of the Church, has imprisoned Angus to serve as bait to lure Jace into a battle in expectation of stipping the young Mage’s powers.

Messick expands his magical world with layers of complexity added to the characters’ conflicts, both internals and external. It is a story of rival and seemingly mutually exclusive forms of magic derived from the gifts of a pantheon of gods that the characters are only beginning to realize exists. Previously they have believed that all magic was sourced in Arn. But as we learn from a witch who Jace and Amicus encounter, things are not quite as they may appear.

The romance between Jace and Lianna that blossomed in Magehunter strengthens as their relationship is tested under the threat of a powerful antagonist bent on destroying everything Jace holds dear. The compelling fantasy tale that results offers much for lovers or the genre and we’re told there’s more to come in the series with Roguehunter, book three of the series, already drafted and books four and five envisioned for the near future.

About the Author:

Author, Jeff Messick

Jeff Messick is father, husband and author who lives in south Texas. Although he writes across almost every genre, excluding romance, he enjoys a splash of paranormal in his stories as evidenced by his first novel, Knights of the Shield, a mash-up of a police procedural detective murder mystery and a ghost story.

Most recently, he has penned the first two installments in the Magehunter Series, beginning with the series namesake, followed by Priesthunter. Yet to come are Roguehunter, Kinghunter, and Godhunter. He is also working on Lifeblood, a paranormal drama, and Aftermath, a sci-fi thriller.

Authors Life, Blog, Books, Fantasy, Mystery, New Releases, novel, Publishing

Review: CRESCENT CITY SIN by Nola Nash

Elgon Williams, Author

Description:

Front Cover

In the Crescent City, darkness blurs the lines between sinners and saints.

Having been brought back through the veil after her death, Zéolie wakes to find she’s being cared for by the mother superior. Secrets are slowly revealed as Mother Micheaux explains her connection to the past Zéolie’s father kept hidden all her life. Once her strength has returned, Zéolie tries to ease back into her home and life without Louis, but soon finds herself helping a young man who mistakenly shows up at her house looking for his long-lost mother. Feeling compassion for the young man who is far from his home in France, she and the Marchon girls attempt to help him locate his mother while making him feel welcome.

Julien, the young man, finds himself strangely drawn to Zéolie and slowly loses his heart to her, but his feelings aren’t returned when Zéolie makes a new discovery that changes her life once more. Jilted, Julien unleashes his grief in the form of magical power he didn’t know he had and finds comfort in the friendship of a local madame. Out of control and angry, he succumbs to the darkness inside of him and the taunting voice of a raging spirit hungry for revenge.

Can Zéolie and her magical menagerie pull Julien back from the edge of hell, or will the past take them all down? Walk down the gritty dark streets of 1830s New Orleans where the line between sinner and saint is as blurred as the line between life and death.

My Take:

As a follow up to the wild ride of CRESCENT CITY MOON, Nola Nash outdoes herself with the sequel, CRESCENT CITY SIN. I’m compelled to write spoiler alert here, but I will refrain from revealing any secrets. Having said that, if you haven’t yet started your journey into the freaky, surreal, spookiness that permeates The Crescent City Series, you need to punch your ticket now. Trust me, you need to start with CCM. However, you could easily read these two books out of sequence as each is solidly written and entertaining in its own right, though the second book would spoil some of the surprises of the first.

CCS begins shortly after the conclusion of CCM with a well-conceived, succinct first chapter that eerily links the two books, while reinforcing the underlying theme of the series, that the city of New Orleans is a world unto itself where natural laws are often subjectively applied. After all, voodoo is not only practiced but generally accepted as part of the subculture. So, it should be no surprise that witchcraft is practiced with often life-threatening consequences and the line between devout faith and magic is at best blurred or ignored altogether. The barrier of death can be transcended if you possess the method and means for the right reasons. Nash reminds us nothing in New Orleans stays buried for long.

Nash’s rare gift is weaving her descriptive settings and well-developed characters into the plot. Truly, the city she loves is a character in this story. It serves as a bridge between old and new, and an effective backdrop for the creepiest elements of this tale. The story ranks among the best I’ve ever read, both engaging and memorable. It becomes a fast read because of its pacing, which builds gradually to an adrenalin-pumping, gut-punching crescendo. And we’re left with a hint of yet another story to tell because, after all, nothing ever truly ends in the Crescent City.

CRESCENT CITY SIN releases worldwide on 10.28.20 from Pandamoon Publishing.

Author Bio:

Nola Nash

Originally from south Louisiana, Nola Nash now makes her home in Brentwood , Tennessee, with her three children. Growing up in Baton Rouge, she spent long hours onstage or backstage in the local community theaters, or writing stories that refused to leave her head any other way than to be put on paper. Her biggest inspiration was the city of New Orleans that gave her at an early age a love of the magic, mystery, and history. There are few better places for her to dream up stories than walking through the French Quarter or Garden District imagining what those places could tell.

When she isn’t writing, Nola is teaching middle school English, which means she gets to play with words all day while dodging hormones and drama. Except for the school plays and musicals, that is. Then, she’s the one creating the drama. If the weather is warm enough, she’s out on her balcony tending her garden and suburban wildlife that hang out there. If the weather isn’t great, she’s geeking out over BBC America. When she can, Nola sneaks a few minutes to meditate (only a few minutes because meditating can lead to naps and those make her discombobulated.) She also considers tacos and coffee major food groups.

Get CRESCENT CITY SIN and CRESCENT CITY MOON

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Review: Nola Nash’s Debut – Crescent City Moon

Elgon Williams, Author

Crescent City Moon by debut novelist Nola Nash has a creepy vibe throughout that establishes it as a great Halloween read…or a perfect book for anyone who loves supernatural mystery, suspense, thrillers. It is set in 1820’s New Orleans and captures the essence of the French Quarter, tapping into what residents know is the special nature of their beloved city – that things happening there are taken in stride that might not be accepted anywhere else.

Like many young people in the city, Zoelie Cheval has a curiosity about the occult. She plays with Tarot cards, dabbling in fortune-telling without completely understanding all the implications, or knowing the extent and peculiar nuances of her gifts. On her 21st birthday, when her father mysteriously dies her world is shattered. Then, while the police are investigating with officers everywhere throughout her house, a priest who was called upon to give last rights is also killed, and the stage is set for the kind of mystery you know is going to hold your attention for as long as it takes to reach the conclusion.

Nash seasons her realistic dialogue with well-placed French expressions and colorful descriptions of the settings. Always there is ample attention given to the arcane aspects of the plot, which straddle a line between real and surreal. Magic, though doubted at first, becomes increasingly real, and its limitations play a part in the resolution of the story, as well as its underpinnings in the balance of natural forces.

There is also a compelling love story developing in the background as Zoelie is attracted to the handsome and gallant Louis who labors to resolve the growing series of murders while protecting the young lady who is constantly in peril. I wholeheartedly recommend this book and look forward to the next in the series.

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Thoughts About The Christmas Season

Elgon Williams, Author

Merry-Christmas-background-Desktop-Wallpaper

The other day someone said there’s magic in the air at this time of year, as if this were the only time of the year that magic exists. I don’t know about that. Largely we make our own magic. Maybe it’s Christmas that allows us to see the magic that is always in the world but we usually ignore it because we don’t have time to stop and pay attention. But that’s the subject for a future blog.

The statement prompted me to take a look at how oddly people change  for this season – for both the good and bad. And I also considered how the season has changed since I was kid. There is good magic and bad magic, isn’t there? We certainly see evidence of both on Black Friday – and now the day before it that used to be Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday when everything imaginable was closed. It was like you had to stay home and spend time with your family because there was nothing else to do and nowhere else to do it.

Going back to my earliest memories of the Christmas season I recall catching the excitement over watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on a Black and White Philco TV set. CBS covered the event with Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit that year. I’m not sure whether Mr. Green Jeans was there too, but he probably was. Since I was around four or five years old and a devoted daily viewer of the good Captain there didn’t seem to be anything odd at all about all my TV friends being at a parade. In fact that’s that made the event more special for me. You see, from a kid’s perspective it’s easier to see the magic because no one has yet convinced him or her that it doesn’t exist. In fact, for a brief time the adults tend to encourage kids to believe everything is possible. And a lot of that has to do with Santa Claus. AT the end of the parade Santa made his annual appearance riding a float with his sleigh. What could be more magical than that?

Santa 005

A few years ago when I worked for a major retailer and weighed about sixty pounds more than I do now I also sported a full beard. The combination of my weight and my almost white hair and beard made me a dead ringer for the man of the season. On a whim I tried on the store’s Santa suit, sans the pillow stuffing and false beard. It fit me well. What happened next gave me reason to believe there was magic in that suit – or at least seeing the suit reminds people, even adults, about the magic of Christmas. Maybe seeing Santa allows people to connect with their inner child, suspend the disbelief for a while and remember when they truly believed in things at face value.

Parents play Santa for their children. I think it’s in the job description somewhere between staying up all night with a sick child who has a fever and teaching a little boy or girl how to ride a bicycle – a kid’s first taste of true independence. We naturally know how to do it, I think, even without putting on the red and white suit. But if you’ve never actually worn the suit you don’t really know the powerful sensation of putting on the mythical persona. People react differently to you, as if you have become larger than life. Suddenly all the miseries of the world around you fade into the background.

Santa2 002

Not only do the little kids respond with smiles of immediate recognition and hopeful expectation, so do adults. A lot of people want to take a picture with Santa, of course. But really just walking around in a retail store wearing the suit causes everyone to pause and for a moment believe. In the process each person regardless of age remembers something nice about Christmas. For the little ones seeing Santa for the first time is an event that reinforces the myth.

Back when I was a kid the build up for the season was reinforced everywhere I looked. Decorations went up around Thanksgiving then and the narrow window for seeing the red, green, sliver and gold long with the blinking lights made it all the more special and urgent. Santa was coming soon! I think it’s all dragged out far too long now.

In my grade school back int he 60’s we started rehearsing for an annual choral pageant learning traditional songs. I’m not sure kids are allowed to do that now, at least they can’t sing anything overtly religious. When my kids were young they couldn’t. Another instance of a break in tradition between my generation and theirs.

Back in the day we helped decorate the classroom with crafts we made in art class – little Christmas trees and Santas, ropes made of interconnected loops of alternating red and green strips of construction paper to wrap around the tree int he classroom. We drew names out of a bowl and that was the person in the class for whom we were to buy a relatively inexpensive gift. If a kid couldn’t afford it they let the teacher know discreetly. Or their parents did. Usually the teacher kicked int he buck or two because every kid should get something at Christmas. It was a huge deal.

I think a lot of that excitement was lost as I grew older. The gifts became more about utility – socks and underwear as oppose to the latest and greatest toy. After I married and had kids I discovered that I got to relive the magic vicariously through my kids and their excitement at opening their gifts.

Some of the magic of Christmas was lost because I worked in retail for so many years. Nothing strips away all the tinsel for a holiday like knowing you have to work longer hours and sometimes even have to work not he actual holiday. One Christmas Eve there was an emergency in the store and my obligation to the store superseded being home to assemble the gifts for my kids. That sucked.

In retail you tend to see the calendar in terms of whichever season you need to set and the next season to transition into. Also nothing gets you out of the mood like listening to Christmas music playing over the intercom ad nauseam – 16 hours a day for the better part of two months. Some of the companies I have worked for began setting Christmas in September! The warped logic behind that was that the store needed to establish through maximum repetition in the customer’s mind that the store has everything they need for decorating their home. In truth we wasted valuable real estate on the sale floor to present merchandise that didn’t start to sell at all until around Thanksgiving – when, oddly enough, the company began to advertise discounts off the inflated retail prices assigned to it.

Personally, I think putting up anything to do with Christmas before Thanksgiving is jumping the gun. Not only does it diminish the value of the season but also it spreads thin the magic inherent in the season. A longer span allows anything new or unusual to gain more of a routine feel. What’s lost in merchandising too early is the sense of urgency in getting gifts and decorations before it is too late. It caters to people who want to get their shopping done early and have it over with, I suppose. But I have never understood that either. Some people shop for stuff as early as July! I don’t know, it’s like the season is a chore to be accomplished, something to be checked off a work list. That is not what Christmas is supposed to be about. In fact, gift giving has been made the primary emphasis when in fact it was not the original message of the season at all. It is supposed to be about hope for the future and peace on Earth.

Black Friday has now encroached on Thanksgiving Day as more and more greed and one-upping the competition has distorted what used to be a great American tradition for sharing time and a meal with family and close friends. Yes, I understand that Thanksgiving was made into a Federal Holiday not all that long ago in a historical sense. But it is based on a tradition dating back to just about as far as history for English settlers goes in America. Since the holiday was established based on that tradition I think it should be sacrosanct. No one should be forced to work on a family holiday. In fact I propose that if a retail store wants to be open on a Federally recognized family holiday they should pay those who volunteer to work on that day double time, regardless of whether the employee is part time or full time. Also salaried employees should be compensated with bonus pay for that day. In this way a retail company would have to sharpen the pencil and figure out if it is really worth the sacrifice of their employee’s family time for the potential sales and profits to be made from being open one extra day.

It is disingenuous for a shopper to be in a retail store on Thanksgiving telling a retail clerk how awful it is that his or her company required him or her to work on a holiday. You see, if customers didn’t come out on a holiday to get those super early special buys there would be no reason for a store to be open. Somewhere along the way, someone who had nothing better to do reviewed their security tape footage and noticed how many cars drove into the parking lot while the store was closed. So, all those people who had no life and went out to see if any stores were open ended a perfectly good holiday for everyone else. It’s a matter of supply and demand, folks. If no one showed up for a sale, next year there wouldn’t be a sale.

As for those great deals, many are not so great. Take a look at how many are limited supply loss leaders, close outs or limited special edition items made to a different standard. Some off brand items or factory refurbished products also made the scene. In other words, a lot of the great deals on for Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day are really not worth the time and effort of getting up early or standing in line. But some of the deals are good and that entices shoppers to come out en masse risking life and limb.

Rush, rush, rush to save a few bucks on stuff a large percentage of which will be returned after Christmas. Walking across a store’s parking lot in the midst of the chaos of such a mass coming and going is like playing real life Frogger.

After working for nearly 30 years in retail I can tell you this, if I didn’t gave to work on Black Friday I would never go near a store. But I guess some people like the experience and perhaps that’s part of what’s necessary for them to capture some of the magic and get into the Christmas spirit. It’s like Black Friday jump starts the shopper’s metabolism. kicking it into a higher buying mode. But that’s not really the Christmas spirit, is it? It is something we have created in lieu of the true meaning of giving.

#BlackFriday #Thanksgiving #Christmas #Shopping #ChistmasSpirit #SantaClaus #Magic