Geoff Habiger

Amazing Steampunk Adventure

Revisado: 05-09-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

It is a rare thing to come across a book that grabs your attention so fully that you want to stop everything else so you can finish the story. A Twist in Time, the new novel from Brent A. Harris, is one such book. Enter one Oliver Twist, a young orphan taken in by the friendly, helpful Artful Dodger and taught the ways of the street as a pick pocket. Oh, you think you’ve heard this story before? If you took a high school English class you probably did, but this is not the Oliver Twist we know from Dickens. This is a London that has the gleam of punk added onto the burgeoning age of steam. It is on these altered Victorian streets that the young Oliver ply’s his trade as a pick pocket, but the pocket watch Oliver just stole will change his life. Jump forward ten years and Oliver has become, not quite a gentleman, but lives a comfortable life and has some modicum of fame from Dickens novel. (Yes, some fourth wall busting here, and I love it.) He’s trying to help others like himself, the young orphans of the city, although poverty and indifference make this a daunting task. But orphans in the city have gone missing, and when Oliver makes a visit to the old Foundling Workhouse where he’d grown up, one of the young orphans that Oliver has tried to save is taken. Oliver gives chase and soon finds himself out of his depth, sliding toward a future he has little control over. As Oliver continues to dig and pry, he uncovers a fiendish plot to reshape London. Oliver might be able to stop this plot and save the city if he can embrace his past and who he really is.

There are so many things I love about this book. A steampunk adventure that involves some of literature’s best known characters AND involves time travel – sign me up. But that’s not the main reason I love A Twist in Time (it’s a good reason, but not the only one). Brent Harris has a wonderful way with words, making them dance and sing to bring the story to life. For example: “In the evening, gaslights mourn, there isn’t a dry spot on the walks to be found to sleep on; dampness clings to you like a cloak, ice and snow paralyze the city in place.” Or: “The two made for an interesting sight, two desperate street urchins showing the truth of Victorian life.” This descriptive narrative is intermixed with Victorian slang and a sprinkling of humor in a lively prose.

Harris has also created characters we want to care about. He has taken a character you thought you knew, Oliver Twist, and shown us a young man who’s gliding through life, trying to do the right thing, but unsure of who he really is. Oliver is torn between the many roles and personas he was – poor orphan boy, street urchin – and the person he has become, and who he thinks he needs to be. Oliver is surrounded by people who constantly remind him of these different personas. Edward, a young orphan that Oliver is trying to protect, reminds Oliver of his past life, as does the Artful Dodger, and each reflects the different people Oliver had been. Mr. Brownlow, Oliver’s benefactor and mentor, ties Oliver to the ease and comfort provided by his fame and wealth. As the story progresses, we see Oliver struggle, trying to come to terms of who he is: orphan, urchin, or gentleman. The other characters are just as developed. Nell is a rock for Oliver, keeping him grounded and on track, and serving as mentor and trainer. The Artful Dodger, Jill Dawkins, is a free spirit and a force of chaos, constantly reminding Oliver where he came from and how disappointing his life has become. Each seems to tug and pull Oliver, both adding to his struggle for identity and helping him to resolve who he must become to save the city.

Great characters are only part of a good formula, you also need a good story. And again, Harris has delivered. A Twist in Time’s plot jumps and weaves as gracefully as the Artful Dodger slips away from trouble. The action and pace move at a cinematic clip, and new revelations and changes to the plot are peppered throughout to keep you turning the page. The final twist in the story might be anticipated by a few sharp readers, but it ties the entire story together.

In A Twist in Time Brent Harris has delivered a masterpiece of steampunk action-adventure fused with Victorian science fiction. He’s created an alternative literary history for characters we thought we knew and who will grab our attention just as much as the originals do. This is a story that Charles Dickens himself would enjoy.

Kyle Bullock does a wonderful job bringing the characters and setting to life. His performance was outstanding and immersed me into the world that Brent created. He also gave personality and individuality to each of the characters, making them distinct and clear to understand who was speaking. There were no problems with the production.

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Gritty, realistic epic fantasy

Revisado: 11-03-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

First, a confession. I am not into grimdark fantasy novels. Give me hopeful escapism any day over the bleak, violent, and dark stories featured in most grimdark novels. Don’t get me wrong, I like good action, and gritty realism and violence, but most grimdark novels are too violent and too depressing for my taste. I don’t seek out grimdark novels to read for the above reasons, but I had a chance to meet Aaron Bunce at an author event recently and I was lucky enough to win an audiobook copy of The Winter of Swoards, and while I don’t think this one book will change my mind about a whole genre, I will say that I enjoyed this story.

Aaron does a great job in two areas: characters and setting. The setting is real and gritty, a low-magic world (there are divine healers, but not any powerful wizards and the like) where the great kingdoms of man and dwarves have vanished and the remnants of the human kingdom struggle for survival. Things have been peaceful, but as the novel starts you realize that the monsters that hide in the shadows are starting to stir.

The Winter of Swords is an epic fantasy, so we follow multiple character arcs in the story. What I like is that each of the characters are common, ordinary people thrown into unexpected situations. These are not mighty warriors, kings, and queens, but normal people struggling to get by in an unforgiving world. As the story progresses, we learn more about these characters, their own secrets, and the fates that await them.

I do have a few quibbles about the story. Aaron is very detailed and descriptive in his settings, characters, and the action. Good to a point, sometimes I felt that there was too much description that slowed the pace and action, especially in scenes that should have been fast-moving. The descriptions were good, and fit the character and scene, but it sometimes felt I was slogging through mud to get through the end of the scene because of them. The other quibble I have was the plethora of what seemed like ancillary characters to me. There were some characters who popped in midway through the book for a couple of chapters, then the disappeared again. They did not contribute to the story of the main characters we’d been following, and even if their story was important to a larger story arc, it was distracting and again, broke up the pacing of the story. (Also, I felt that the stories presented in these brief flashes were left unresolved, and that in itself was distracting and left me feeling unfulfilled.)

If you enjoy grim fantasy filled with violence and despair, in true grimdark style, and if you like a grand epic fantasy with complex characters and a storyline that weaves between them, then you will enjoy The Winter of Swords. I may not pick up other grimdark novels, but Aaron has done a wonderful job of weaving this story together that I will be interested to see what happens in the next novel.

The audiobook was narrated by C.J. Grey who did a fantastic job of bringing the characters and setting to life. He is a master storyteller who makes each character distinct, and his inflections and tone helped to heighten the tension in all the right places. There were no problems with the performance by Grey, or in the audio quality.

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Fun Vampire Story

Revisado: 09-11-19

Ashley Hawn's life is far from glamorous, even if she has written a couple of novels about hunky and romantic vampires. But when her date with Issac ends with him biting Ashley, and she wakes up in a strange place, she is about to learn that everything she thought she knew about vampires was just plain wrong. An ancient vampire named Nick is assigned the task of keeping an eye on Ashley as she adjusts to life among the undead, but when every supernatural being begins gunning for Ashley, she must do everything she can to survive. Can Ashley adjust to her death in time to save her afterlife from sucking even more than it has already?

Charissa has a very good character in Ashley, and we get to experience all of her fears, desires, and WTF moments as Ashley comes to terms with being a vampire. I like that Charissa takes the time to show how Ashley struggles with the need to feed, and the guilt that she feels when her need to feed causes death to regular humans. Ashley is struggling to retain her humanity, and coming to grips with her new reality is quite a shock. Since the story is told from Ashley's perspective, we only get glimpses of the other characters and their perspective on the events taking place. I think that is one area that the story is weakest as getting into the heads of people like Nick and Josh - the two vampires protecting Ashley - would have added a nice balance to the story, especially to see Ashley from their perspective. I also thought there were a couple of contrived scenes, where a plot point or a future story arc was being flagged, but the way it was done seemed out of character for Ashley - or at least something so rude (barging into another vampire's apartment uninvited) that even normal human common decency would scream that it was wrong, but Ashley does it anyway. That whole scene felt forced to me. Otherwise, I enjoyed the book and Ashley's struggle to adjust to her new...death.

If you like urban fantasy with a twist, and stories about vampires that certainly don't sparkle (boy, did Ashley get that wrong in her own books - lol) then I recommend picking up Sucked In.

I did have some problems with the production of the story as the narrator often gave long pauses where there really shouldn't have been any pauses. I don't think there were extra commas lying around, but I got the impression that as the narrator got to the end of a line she'd take a pause instead of reading through the end of the sentence naturally. It was a bit distracting. Otherwise there was no problem with the audio production.

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Great characters.

Revisado: 08-14-19

Torn, The Dothan Chronicles Book 1, by Charissa Dufour takes you on an epic fantasy journey. Bethany Kavadh is a princess, youngest daughter to King Kavadh, and is returning from visiting her aged uncle when her caravan is attacked. Fleeing the fight, Bethany is captured by slavers and sold to Prince Federic Eberhand, heir apparent to King Wolfric Eberhand, and the mortal enemy of Bethany’s father. Bethany – taking on the name of Ann to hide her lineage – struggles to adjust to being a slave, and secretly vows to cause as much harm as she can to King Eberhand, risking punishment and death doing so. But Bethany’s attempts to cause mischief are checked by the knight, Sir Erin Caldry, a large, uncaring man who is loyal only to the King.

Torn is an amazing low-fantasy epic set in a world of knights and warring kingdoms. Bethany is the quintessential fish out of water, the pampered princess who is forced into a world of harsh realities as a slave. How she reacts and deals with these challenges, which include repeated beatings, solitary confinement, and attempted rapes, while also trying to further her own secret war against King Eberhand keeps the reader wanting to turn the next page (or listen for just one more minute). The counterpoint to Bethany is Sir Caldry, who on the surface is a cruel, loyal follower of the King, but has his own depths and many layers. The dynamics and interactions between Bethany and Caldry drive the story and makes Torn stand out among similar titles. My one quibble is a small side-storyline around Pelor – a former knight turned mercenary and guard. Pelor is the only other POV character in the book, though he only pops up occasionally and his story only seems to tangentially touch on the main story of Bethany and Caldry. Maybe later books in the series will show the interaction and important of Pelor with the other main characters, but in this first book I found his storyline not relevant to the drama playing out between Bethany, Caldry, and the Eberhand royal family. Beyond the character development, which was superb, Charissa also does a wonderful job of world-building. Castle life is vividly detailed from both the slave and royal perspectives, and the everyday aspects of castle life add wonderful details. I especially liked the inclusion of the herbs and herbal remedies to the storyline, and I could tell that Charissa had done her homework to make sure these details were accurate.

The audio version was narrated by Jim Harbourne, and he does an excellent job of bringing the world that Charissa has crafted to life. His inflections are subtle enough that each character is distinct and given their own personality, including internal thoughts being slightly different from spoken words – showing how the characters truly think and act versus the face they show to those around them. There were no problems with the production and Jim makes Torn an enjoyable book to listen to.

Overall, I recommend Torn for anybody who loves epic, low-fantasy. Bethany and Sir Caldry are wonderfully developed characters with many depths and layers, and how they change and react as the story evolves makes Torn stand out for me. Charissa Dufour does a wonderful job of making characters that are real and that the reader cares about.

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A great series continues

Revisado: 06-01-19

Sam never wanted to use her gift – the ability to take the magical powers from other mystics – to hurt anybody, but that hasn’t kept others from attacking her. Balanced Chaos, the third book in the Void Series sees Sam recovering from the injuries she suffered at the end of Book 2 as she tried to prevent a massacre of the vampires. Sam paid a heavy price in that fight and is even more determined now to not use her gift. But things on the mystic reservation have been changing while Sam recovers, and there are still members of the fae community that want Sam dead. The National Guard has been brought in to restore order and Sam soon finds herself working for the new commanding officer and with a bodyguard to help keep her safe. As Sam struggles to adjust to the new realities of the reservation, a new mystery crops up and Sam must investigate poisonings happening among the fae. But nothing is ever easy for Sam, and as the attacks on her continue, and the assassins seem to lurk around every corner, she must reluctantly tap into her gift if she wants to survive.

Balanced Chaos adds an interesting new element to Sam’s world. Sam continues to be a character you care about, and you definitely feel for her as the slings and arrows never seem to cease. Sam shows some growth in this installment of the series, though not as much as I would have liked to have seen. But for me, what really makes this book shine is the inclusion of a whole new set of characters in the form of the National Guardsmen brought in to take over from the mystic bureau. Characters like Lt. Col Gallagher add a new element to the story, especially the inclusion of Corporal Werner. Werner is assigned as Sam’s personal protective detail, and being able to see Sam and the reservation from Werner’s human perspective adds a new and refreshing twist on the tale. Couple that with a complex relationship between Sam and Werner, and you have a wonderful chance for character interaction that Charissa makes full use of by putting Sam and Werner in some very interesting and complicated situations. (No details, because SPOILERS!)

Overall, I really enjoyed Balanced Chaos. This third book in the series keeps up the pace from the previous books and Charissa has done a great job of weaving in additional plot items and foreshadowing for future events that I am sure Sam will have to deal with if she can get out of the current chaos in her life alive. I recommend this book for anybody interested in a twist on the typical urban fantasy story. Charissa continues to craft a fantastic world of magic penned into a tiny space, and like a pot sitting on a fire, the environment naturally creates conflict that threatens to boil over at any moment. Couple this setting with a strong-willed but reluctant heroine, and you have the makings of great urban fantasy.

I listened to the audio production of the book. Janelle Tedesco continues to do a wonderful job of narrating Sam’s story and bringing Sam to life. There were no problems with the production and it was a wonderful book to listen to and easy to enjoy.

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Great character growth

Revisado: 02-18-19

Misguided Allies, the second book in the Void series, picks up a few months after the events of Cornered Magic. Sam is continuing to fulfill the role of enforcer and gopher for Heywood, head of one of the vampire clans on the Illinois Mystical Reservation. But as Sam deals with Heywood's growing demands, and threats against her friends an family, prominent fey begin to be murdered. Is this the work of rogue vampires, or maybe the newly captured and imprisoned wizard is involved? As more fey are killed, and there is evidence that vampires may be behind the deaths, Sam convinces Heywood that it is in his best interest to let her investigate. But as Sam digs deeper into the murders, she learns that the fey community still mistrusts her and her void abilities, especially now that she seems to be employed by the vampires. It will take all of Sam's wits and skill to figure out what is going on and stop the murderer.

In Misguided Allies, Charissa continues to explore Sam's confined world within the mystical reservation. This book is almost twice the length as the first one, and Charissa makes wonderful use of this additional space to give us more depth and background to the characters. Not only for Sam, but for her friends and family. Sam continues to be put into some tight places because of her powers and unwanted association with the vampires, and Charissa does a great job of showing us how these struggles affect Sam. Sam does a lot of growth in this book, not only in how she deals and reacts to people she has known all of her life, as well as the new people she's met, but in understanding her powers. Her gift is essentially wild, everything that she knows how to do with it Sam has learned on her own. In a way this makes her more powerful (and dangerous), and in the climax of the story you really get to see Sam shine using her gift.

I still would like to know more about the world that Charissa has created. We are given a few more glances into the everyday life on the mystical reservation, but the events leading up to the climax of Misguided Allies still make me wonder how the fey, vampires, werewolves, and wizards let themselves be put into this reservation in the first place. It is the one thing I really want to know more about. There are some hints, but it is an unresolved issue that I hope Charissa will answer in a future book.

I read the audiobook version of Misguided Allies, narrated again by Janelle Tedesco. Janelle does a good job of making each character seem unique and different, and she really makes Sam's character come to life. There was a minor problem at the very beginning of the book - a sentence seemed to be repeated, but overall the quality of the production was very good.

I recommend Misguided Allies for anybody who enjoys urban fantasy. Charissa has created a very interesting and unique world that is fun to explore.

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Unique urban fantasy world

Revisado: 12-30-18

What if there really were fae, vampires, werewolves, and wizards in the world? And what if these people were all placed in reservations to keep them away from regular humans? That's the basic setting for Cornered Magic, by Charissa Dufour. Sam is a half-fae who's family avoids her, her father detests her, and the rest of the fae and other supernatural denizens of the Reservation fear her. Why? Because Sam is a Void - a fae who's power is to steal the powers of other fae. Sam wporks hard to control her power and to keep under the radar, to avoid everybody else as much as she can. But when the enforcer of the vampires seeks her out for a job, Sam wonders what is up. But as she searches for a missing friend and deals with an enigmatic wizard from outside the Reservation Sam is soon drawn into an intricate web of politics and power that will alter her life.

I really enjoyed this book. Charissa has created a unique and interesting world where the fae, supernatural, and magical people are real and know to the world, but are feared and so are placed in highly secure reservations. This is unique world-building, improving on the tired and stale take on the supernatural usually seen in many other urban fantasies. And Sam's magical ability is also a fresh take on magical powers and reminded me very much of the character of Sylar from the TV show Heroes. Sam fears her power because it has ostracized her from her people, and I found this to be a great trait for Sam. It shows that she is a good person at heart, afraid to use her power, because with such an ability Sam could easily be the most dangerous and feared fae in the Reservation. I enjoyed seeing Sam struggle to deal with the demands put upon her and how she must meet these demands while keeping true to herself.

I do have a couple of quibbles with the story. One is that the story is told as a first person POV with Sam being the main character. Charissa does a good job of writing in the first person, and my quibble is just that I would have liked to have known more about the other people in Sam's world, and to know their motivations, fears, and desires. That would have been easier to get across in third person. My second quibble is over the setting of the Reservation. While I love the concept and the idea of a modern reservation for magical people, and Charissa's description and world is unique and fresh, I am left wondering how it came about. How did people so powerful - vampires, werewolves, and wizards specifically - allow themselves to be caged up like animals? I'm sure Charissa knows why, however the reasons and causes are not made clear in the story. I would have liked to have known the why and how this came about.

Cornered Magic is a fun and entertaining story with a strong female lead. I recommend this book for anybody who enjoys urban fantasy, and the unique world that Charissa has created sets this series apart from other, more typical urban fantasies.

I listened the the audio book narrated by Janelle Tedesco. Janelle does a great job of bringing the characters to life and really makes Sam stand out. This is a quick listen, being less than 3 hours in length, and makes for a great diversion.

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