Archive for September 18, 2014

Lycanthor the Werewolf: The Dragon Fyre Blade Adventures by Aiden Storm ~ My Review

Posted: September 18, 2014 in Action/Adventure, Children's books, Fantasy, reviews, Series
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About the Book

Title: Lycanthor the Werewolf (The Dragon Fyre Blade, Book 1)

Author: Aiden Storm 

Illustrator: McCartney Leopardi

Publication Date: July 1, 2014 | Publisher: Dreaming Empire

  Pages: 71 | Recommended Ages: 7 to 12

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MY REVIEW

Jack is bored to tears. The thirteen year old has been shuffled off to spend the summer with his great-aunt Alberta.

His dad says he’ll have lots of fun things to do, but all it’s done is rain, and the only entertainment is old reruns on the tube.

His aunt suggests he explore the old house. It was built in 1872 and back then people included hidden rooms. Maybe he’d stumble upon one. So he ends up in the attic.

Nothing but some old junk there, but he does spy a mural that extends all the way around the room.  It reveals a landscape with strange beasts and an active volcano. Climbing up to get a closer look, he’s startled by a bird and puts his hand up to the wall to steady himself, falling into another world.

Thus begins Jack’s amazing adventure. He becomes friends with Jasyra, the king’s daughter, and along with her friend, Evooku, embarks on a quest to recover the six shards of the Dragon Fyre Blade.

When the sword was broken, the Demon Emperor scattered the six shards throughout the kingdom and the quest will be fraught with danger as the group has to confront the spells and creatures that protect the shards.

Jack will have to face Lycanthor, a monstrous werewolf. He is no longer bored.

This book is a fun read aloud to share with your children but I see no problem with them reading it alone. I have no young children but my teen age son and I read it aloud, taking turns as different characters, masking our voices and such. We had a grand time.

The author created a magical world with fun illustrations, lots of action, and a quest that continues into future books. The story will be continued as Jack and his new friends must complete the quest to recover all of the shards and return the Dragon Fyre Blade to its former glory. All to save the kingdom from the evil Demon Emperor.

When I was young I created an imaginary world that I entered through an old tree stump in my yard. It was filled with magical beings and I spent many a summer day sitting on that stump and letting my imagination take me away.

This all came back to me as I read this book and I’m looking forward to more in this action packed adventure.

4 Stars

Summary:

Thirteen year old Jack is spending the summer at his Aunt’s house in the country. Unfortunately, it’s done nothing but rain and he’s stuck in her old mansion without cable or internet. Bored and alone, he sets out to explore the house. When he reaches the attic, he finds an intricate and unusual mural painted on the walls. Life for Jack gets turned upside down when he stumbles and is transported through a portal into a magical world.

For Jasyra, the daughter of the High King, life couldn’t be worse. Her father has been turned to glass, her kingdom has been taken over by the Demon Emperor, and she and her friend, Evooku, have been exiled. The only way to save the land is to reassemble the Dragon Fyre Blade, but the Demon Emperor has hidden all six pieces and each is guarded by great mythical beasts. There is only one person who can help restore peace, but it has been said that he is not of their land.

When Jack awakens in the Great Forest of Karandur, he encounters Jasyra and Evooku. He discovers the only way home is to band together to fight the evil Lycanthor, a giant werewolf that guards a piece of the Dragon Fyre Blade. But first they have to make it through an enchanted land full of danger.

The Queen of Light appears to Jack and delivers a gift, as well as a revelation. He, Jasyra and Evooku form an unlikely friendship along the way and lasting bonds are made when they realize they are Karandur’s only hope. Will the trio be able to defeat Lycanthor and save the kingdom from an eternity of despair?

The Dragon Fyre Blade: Lycanthor the Werewolf is the first book in a series of six and is written for children 7 – 11 years old.

The Buzz About the Book

“I am eight years old and I liked this book because of how the author described everything so well. It is a very exciting, adventurous and magical story about a 13-year-old boy named Jack and his usual companions as they struggle against Lycanthor the werewolf to get the Dragon Fyre Blade pieces to help them defeat the Demon Emperor. My favourite part was when the author described the mural painting that Jack fell into. It was unique and painted vivid pictures in my head. The book was magical and interesting to read which made it so much fun. I think this is a great book for anyone who is looking for a magical adventure, and I can’t wait to read the second book!” ~ 5 Star Review, Carolyn, Amazon

“Couldn’t put this book down. I had me on the edge of my seat for the whole book. I read it so fast I was sad when it was over. I can’t wait for book 2!! ” ~ 5 Star Review, Pedroluis, Amazon

“My nine year old son is a fairly reluctant reader but we came across The Dragon Fyre Blade: Lycanthor the Werewolf at amazon and decided to read it based on the reviews. It reminds me a lot of the Beast Quest series of books and has an action-packed approach that my son enjoyed. You find yourself cheering for Jack, Jasyra and Evooku the heroes of the tale. There are several cliff hanger chapters that had my son wanting to read more… A worthwhile read for boys.” ~ 5 Star Review, nickalous, Amazon

“This is an enchanting and amazing book. I read it to my daughter and we both loved it. It is a mythical tale and it is so gripping. The story line is great and the characters are very well formed.” ~ 5 Star Review, PaigeTurner, Amazon

“Aiden Storm has written a book that will no doubt be a hit with 8 to 12 year old readers. The first book in a new series, Lycanthor the Werewolf sees a modern day boy named Jack set forth to retrieve the ancient Dragon Fyre Blade. It’s a lighter read filled with magic, action and a terrifying werewolf. The heroes have to use all their skills and abilities to battle the beast. Highly recommend this book for anyone with boys. It’s a natural choice for reluctant readers.” ~ 5 Star Review, Nita, Amazon

About the Author: Aiden Storm

Aiden Storm Avatar

Aiden grew up a city boy, but always loved getting out into the country. As a kid, his great uncle always took him to old castles, famous battlegrounds and long hikes in the wilderness. These days, Aiden lives in old cottage next to the forest with his dog Blade. When not writing Aiden spends time exploring the woods, dead certain they’re full of fantastical creatures, long lost relics and ancient magic…

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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MDBR Book Promotion Services

Thanks so much to Mother Daughter & Son Book Reviews and the author for gifting me a copy for my honest review.

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…until Death took a life for pleasure ~ The Fall by Stephen Cost ~ Highlight and Giveaway

Posted: September 18, 2014 in Book Promos, giveaways, New Release, Paranormal or fantasy, YA
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With Halloween right around the corner, I’ve been looking for some thrillers for the season.
I found ya’ll a good one.
This brand new release of The Fall has Reapers!
Come on in and check it out. You might want to add this to your holiday list.
And don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of my post!
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Title: The Fall

Author: Stephen Cost

Publication: September 16th, 2014

For thousands of years, Death walked behind the dark veil of the living, waiting to ferry the dead. That is, until the day that Death took a life for pleasure rather than duty. On that day, the first Reaper fell to Earth. Now, Reapers live among us, craving the taste of death, forcing them to kill to satisfy their immortal hunger.

Giles Reid fell more than 300 years ago starving for the taste of death, only to find himself drowning in a sea of the living and blinded by a hunger that forces him to kill. In the centuries since his fall he has tried to be more human, desperate to live a life that makes up for what he is and the wrong he has done. Driven by his guilt over killing, he has chosen to feed only on evil; humans that have never been a threat to him but who are always a danger to others. That is, until the day he tries to feed on a human as strong, fast and cunning as himself; a human who, it turns out, has been hunting him. Now he is being pursued by the very evil he has fed on for centuries, embroiled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game, where friends and other Reapers connected to him are simply pawns on a chessboard waiting to be sacrificed. Giles is left with a choice, save the life of the women he loves, the daughter of his mentor, or betray her for his own survival.

To save the woman he loves, Giles will have to be the monster he is.

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Purchase:
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Amazon | B&N | Kobo
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Excerpt
 
“By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.” The day that is the basis for The Fourth Commandment. (Genesis 2:2-3) 
The following text was found in 1947 in a synagogue in Cairo, Egypt and rejected by the Church as heresy.
“By the seventh day God had created all life and the Earth, but He knew life could not exist without death and so Death was born to provide passage for his Children of Earth to his Kingdom of Heaven.  This, he completed before the setting of the sun on the seventh day and so He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on this day He celebrated his creation of life and Death, He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.  (Geniza fragments, found Cairo, Egypt, 1947)

 

“Death is the beginning of immortality”
—   Maximilien Robespierre, July 26, 1794
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Martins
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People say they love the smell of fresh cut daisies, but I far prefer the scent of what pushes them up, the dead. You see, death has a scent all to itself, slightly tangy and bitter, pleasing and calming on the palate. Sure there are other aromas I love too, not just that of death, which can chase the chill from my heart, or would, if I had a heart; at least one that could beat and warm the night’s cold from my blood.
Every day I crave the smell of death and evil, I have since my birth. But living in a sea of flesh and blood, I have developed an appreciation for other human and earthly scents; Like the ocean, its sea salt assaulting my senses with a clean, pure bouquet, quite unmatched by anything manufactured. Or the first morning smell of fresh-cut, wet grass and, of course, women. Women smell so much sweeter than men. They, over the millenniums, have refined their scents out of necessity as much as pleasure, each expertly adapting their sultry, seductive and secret combinations of body lotions and perfumes. Honing this craft throughout the ages, to tempt and seduce men out of their minds.
But these are not the only olfactory delights to curl my toes and tickle my senses. For nothing—not the tangy stench of death, nor the sweet scent of a woman—compares to the most inspired aroma of all. Coffee. Nothing in my three-hundred-plus years of experience has compared. Sure, coffee itself has evolved, from non-filtered to filtered, from espresso to cappuccinos, and now from mochas to Frappuccinos, but the essence is the same. The intoxicating sweetness, the mild-to-bitter flavors that leave you wanting more—needing more. 
You see, that’s my drug. Some people need cocaine, others heroin, and some crave cigars or alcohol. I, on the other hand, have the most decadent, refined and expensive vice of all. And it’s because of this little addiction—or weakness—that I can be found most nights here, sitting on the dimly-lit, damp, covered balcony of Martin’s Books and Coffee.
I sip my overpriced drug while the not-so-distant smell of the ocean creeps its way through the maze and tangled web of Seattle’s wet streets. The cars filing by below enhance the scent of the ocean sitting not too far from here, as the sound of their tires splashing through wet, potholed roads echoes that of the rush of a wave over a rock and the sound of ocean spray.
On most days, Martin’s tends to be a good place to relax. One of the few independently-owned book stores left in Seattle, the atmosphere here is calming and the lighting muted. Not so dark that you cannot read a book and enjoy your coffee, but just dim enough so that someone of my, let us say fair complexion, can go unnoticed by the everyday person stopping by for a fix and a good book. 
The décor is modern contemporary, although the designer clearly relied far too much on his collection of old IKEA catalogs, with a thousand shades of tans and browns with brushed steel accents scattered throughout, for effect. I do think that they might have gone a little overboard with the alternating redwood and pine floor boards. The effect is still pleasantly calming if not somewhat dull.
So, why so critical, you may ask? It’s an occupational hazard, I’m afraid. We all, Reapers and humans alike, must have a day job and mine happens to be that of a wine critic. The crème de la crème of critics, although, truth-be-told, I’m not a big fan of wine. However, I have been gifted with a palate most French chefs would give their sous chef’s right hand for. Not their own hand, of course. No French chef I have ever met, and I have met more than my fair share, would ever think of giving that much for their craft.
“Mr. Reid, would you like another?”
The sound of her sing-song voice pulls me back to the moment, temporarily suspending my hazy, drug-induced stupor.
The question comes from Sarah, one of my favorite wait-persons here at Martin’s. Yes, I said wait-persons. Living—if you can call what I do living—in a world of political correctness, I’ve learned it is no longer appropriate to refer to someone as a ‘waitress’. That would be such denigration. Sarah is just the typical twenty-something coffee house wait-person who can be seen in any of the hundred or so coffee houses that pepper the Seattle Landscape—not Sarah herself, of course, but the type. Tall, but not too tall, with long blonde hair. A lightly tanned complexion and the body, a perfectly sculpted masterpiece. I’m not sure about the other Sarahs out there, but my Sarah has one defining attribute that I find hard to resist, her smell. The bouquet that wafts around her is subtle and ambiguous, what is that? Lavender with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon, perhaps?
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Trailer
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUAzR9mc-J0]

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About Stephen

 

Stephen Cost was born in Wexford Ireland and raised in a small seaside town not far from Dublin. From a young age he would spin dark tales and write them down for his own amusement.  At the age of 13 he moved from his home in Ireland to America and his love of dark American cinema took root.

He passes his free time, when not writing, by reading horror and fantasy genre novels in addition to watching science fiction and horror movies.

He graduated from University with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Sociology.  A computer engineer by trade, he specializes in integrated system services and uses the knowledge gained from his degree to write emotionally captivating urban fiction.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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$25 Amazon Gift Card
eBook Copy of The Fall
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