Completed: Shadow Hunters By Linda McNabb

Before i jump into the review i'm going to mention a few things right off the bat.

1) I didn't realize that this is technically book two in a series... i say technically cause it's really stand alone but she states that it's best read after her other book The Dragons apprentice.

2) Because this was on my kindle I only read it while on transit... essentially creating a 2 month gap where i didn't have time to read or i wasn't on the train or the bus...

3) i don't like to do this.... but i was essentially reading two books at once because i own the blinding knife as a real physical hard cover book and it's just too big to carry around... why don't i like reading two things at once? cause one will almost always be better.... and considering the other one was a brent weeks novel.... you know... one of my fav authors.... yeah this one didn't stand a chance.

But is the book good or bad.... hm... this is going to take some explaining.

The premise of the book is really interesting, The world is full of humans and Elves... but the elves are called shadows cause for some reason they don't cast shadows, The main character turns 13 or so and suddenly notices he doesn't have a shadow... thats odd.... and now he has humans known as hunter after him.... oh this can't end well.
af but thats not enough conflict... see theres also a baby dragon that they find.... it's dying mother gives the main characters the request of takign the dragon home.

well they are heading in that direction anyways so no biggie....
They need to go to the elves village known as Shaldow (probably spellign it wrong... sorry i'm not feeling so great right now and i'm too lazy to check.) so they can get the main character (and potentially his younger sister who may or may not be an elf as well) an elf stone which will give him a shadow so he can hide among humans.

I wont lie... i think thats a really cool idea for elves, haven't seen anything quite like it....
too bad the rest of the book just can't live up to the awesome premise....

The good: 

Again the way the world works (except for in the second half) is really cool and other then the magic being kind of useless it was still an interesting take.
There is one line at the end of a chapter that made me burst out laughing... so i'd consider that oen line really well done.

The not so good and really annoying (at least to me): 

Thanks to roleplaying most of my teen years some things sound different in my head when i read them.
"THIS IS SHOUTING"
"This is talking normally"
'this is whispering'
'this' or /this/ is speaking inside someones head.

I know this isn't true when it comes to reading but that doesn't change the fact that it's how i hear it.
The entire book has dialogue that looks like 'why hello there i'm talking now' so i read ALL the character dialogue as a whisper... not bad persay but irritating.... if only to me...

The bad: 

Wow.... this story is Linear....
first they did this.... then that.... then another thing that just so happens to not take them off their path.
Nothing is refferenced back, things happen at whiplash speed.
(i'll use an example of near the end)
Dragon gets sick >Character get kidnapped>main ones try and rescue them but first go other way>do what they need to do then go back after kidnappers> catch up> get caught > main character gets free again> oh lets go check on the dragon> yay shes better > go rescue attempt 2! > get caught again.... dammit

and that's about.... 2 or 3 chapters of plot? maybe 4? it's just all over the place and convenient as all hell.

the other bad thing.... the ending doesn't have a terribly good climax due to lack of conflict and the ending is WAY too happy... granted i hate happy endings so i'm already biased i just didn't feel they earned the ending they got....

The Unforgivable:

I can't remember the main characters names because i don't know how to pronounce them.... except for Trix... i remember the sisters name but not how to spell it...  I really HATE when authors give their characters names that just are impossible to pronounce or too confusing to remember.... especially consiering i took a 2 month break from this book... at least the names didn't have apostrophes in them.... i refuse to even read books like that.


Is the book badly written? no... i have a feeling this is probably one of their earlier works so i'm sure her new stuff is better.... and yeah her writing is fine i just greatly dislike her style.... but i can see the ideas are there.

The book was just mediocre.... I enjoyed it well enough but i can already feel parts of it fadingfrom my memory....

oh well... i'll hopefully have enough time to finish blinding knife this weekend (though i work 8 hours tomorrow and then have a event thing on sunday so who knows) and now i need to get another kindle book.... i have a few on there that i haven't finished but Monte cristo is for when i have nothing else and the others aren't holding my attention as much as i want.... maybe aaron pogue has released something recently....

Completed: From Embers By Aaron Pogue

before i started reading this short story/prequel to Taming fire I started to have my suspicions that Aaron Pogue has a lot of stories written already... or at least 3/4 of the way written cause he is able put out a lot of stories in a short time and my suspicions were somewhat confirms in his afterword so i'm looking forward to seeing many more titles by him in the future.

So From Embers is a novella (5000 words) set in the world of taming fire but before the main story...
I liked it, it felt about the length of a prologue which at the end you find out that's what it originally was. I can't really tell you what it's about because it is really short... all i'll say is that if you have read and enjoyed the Dragon Prince Trilogy (well whats out so far) then you'll probably like this little story that helps establish the world.

Alright back to painting/sculpting/drawing... then probably more reading... cause i seem to be hopelessly addicted to it.

Aaron Pogue's website: http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/

Completed: Return of the Dragon Riders by Kristian Alva

Book 2 of the Dragon Stone Saga.

I have got to slow down with the books... cause now i have to wait till the end of april for Book 3....
I'm not the biggest fan of waiting.
Oh well, we continue our story with Elias as he travels all over to find safety from everyone who's hunting him and the power he doesn't even know he has.

yes.... that's all the description your getting from me... i really don't want to spoil anything and seeing as how this is the second book in the series that's really hard to do... so if you like fantasy and/or dragons. Give this series a read.

it was longer then the first book but still pretty short... just over 300 pages... at first i felt like it was falling into 'middle book' traps but in the end i felt like it had enough action to hold it's own and i am looking forward to the next installment.

Also once again she knows how to write a really interesting ending that hooks you for the next book. which is both great cause i'm excited to read more in this world but it also sucks cause i have to wait for it... oh well... already purchased two new titles on my kindle (one is a novella so that will probably be up tomorrow... unless i'm a good girl and finish the mountain of homework i have piling up) and i can't wait to get started.... hm... it's only midnight... that's plenty of time to get started...

once again for good measure here is her website http://www.kristianalva.com/index.html
this book cost me $3.58 on the kindle and it was completely worth it. Book one is .99 cents and is pretty much a steal.

Completed: Dragon Stone By Kristian Alva

This is book 1 of the Dragon Stone saga.

First things first.

Dear Kristian Alva,

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Rai


I really enjoyed this book, after only a few chapters the foul mood that the last book i tried to read put me in completely vanished.

I love the characters, they were fleshed out and believable. Yes they give a lot of exposition but it's expertly weaved into the narrative that I completely accept being told so much info in such a short time in the disguise of a grandmother telling stories to her grandson.
I love the world that's been set up, the different races all seem to have purpose to their actions and there's nothing that makes me go "well why are they like that?"
The biggest surprise to me though was the fact that i really liked how the dragons were handled... I don't tend to dislike stories with dragons i just find they can be overpowered but i didn't feel that in this.

The only thing that made me sad about the book was the length... my kindle says it's just under 200 pages and it's just sad when something is so good but so short.

HOWEVER this isn't really an issue cause book 2 is already out (Return of the Dragon Riders) and it is longer.

Finally i have to give Kristian Alva major credit for that last line. I loved it...

hmm guess i haven't talked much about the plot... ok... i'll try not to spoil anything.

Elias is a young boy in a small town living with his grandmother. They both have some magical ability but because the emperor wants all the mages in the land to himself they do their best to keep it hidden. One day when gathering mushrooms Elias comes across an emerald which seems to have the carving of a Dragon in it.  After bringing it to his grandmother she confirms that it's a dragon stone and even though it's technically worth a lot of money it may bring great danger to the house. And from their the adventure begins.... i don't want to say anymore cause that takes the fun out of it.

The book cost a buck on the kindle and it's sequel is 3.58... book three isn't out yet but hopefully will come out soon (according to her blog around April) and she has another series planned for 2013

Her website is http://www.kristianalva.com/

so yeah if you like fantasy I think you will really enjoy this book... I know I did.