Firestone: A Tale of the Eternal Stones Book One by Ryan Carriere

 

A Tale of the Eternal Stones: Firestone is the first in a fantasy series aimed at absolutely any age group that enjoys a good fantasy story.

 

Two stories run parallel to each other and are sure to meet up sometime within the series. On one side you have Sephonei, who has been forced into becoming a Crystal Hunter (with the barest of training), and who has set off with Ku-aya and Abil to find an eternal stone from a cavern just outside Atlantea.

 

On the other side, you have Roeg, who lives with the Great Spirit Clan but is an outsider as he was brought in as a child and looks different to everyone else. While battling to find his place within the clan, Roeg is given a quest by his adopted father and the shaman of the clan to go to the King of Gnomes, who will help him find the Land of Darkness. Along with his clanmates Tsisa and Ookum, Roeg will embark on a perilous journey to battle a fire demon and find the meaning of the firestone he carries.

 

However, the Crystal Hunters are after the same stone and their paths are on the verge of colliding…

 

First, I must apologise to the author for taking this long to write a review of the book. I only recently found it again after hardware crashed and burned and a promise is a promise! 

 

I enjoyed the book tremendously. I suspect the author has ties to South Africa as the terms “eish” and “kuk (kak)” were all too familiar! And I suspect the gnome bread had its roots in a rusk?

 

I liked how Sephonei was coming into her own, and no longer the scared child she started off as. Her quick thinking and abilities to understand her aura reading made her an excellent empath. Ku-aya was needed to ground the trio and Abil was just a nasty piece of work. However, I battled to understand their use of language sometimes with dialect words like fistler, and when I saw “yaa” my mind automatically said it was spelt incorrectly.

 

Roeg’s side spoke more to me as I felt transported along with his “growth” story and how he felt he didn’t belong anywhere, to showing his courage and being an integral part of saving the day. He showed that trying and trying again was what was needed and his empathy I think will somehow integrate with Sephonei’s. Tsisa’s bravery was fun but foolish, and I enjoyed Ookum’s perseverance in trying to find his place in the world.

 

I was intrigued by the mythical creatures, and Sephonei’s recordings of them in her journal, including the sketches. There were, however, a few grammar and punctuation errors that stopped me a couple of times within the script. Overall, a fantastic read and since the story ends in a place open for the next chapter, I look forward to reading the next one!

 

Thanks to the author for the opportunity to review the book (albeit eventually!).

Crazy on You by Christen Bensten

Crazy on You is a psychological thriller and a sad take on what jealousy and the “If only I hads” will push a person to.

 

Olivia has had a bit of a rough start. Having cared for an abusive father until he died, and still looking after a mentally ill mother has skewed her outlook on life somewhat. She knows the perfect life is out there for her. She just needs a few things to make it right.

 

She and her husband live in one of the smaller houses in Huntwood Valley. With wealth and possessions she can only aspire to. When Olivia becomes a mother, she is sure this will be exactly what she needs to make her life perfect. But being a new mother is not easy, and Olivia is battling to cope. All she has is her husband and he is often out at work. Desperate to stop feeling invisible and needing support, Olivia reaches out to three mothers in the same situation and forms a group. Charlotte has a husband in the political arena who seems very absent from their relationship, Claire and her wife are lawyers and Claire is wrestling with her own demons about keeping safe, and Beth has everything that Olivia could wish for. All three are wealthier, coping with their newborns better, and seem to have it together compare to Olivia.

 

So Olivia begins the “If only I hads” game in her quest for the perfect life. Little by little she becomes more and more interfering in Beth’s life, trying to make her the invaluable friend while doing everything she can to isolate Beth. Her persistent and uninvited visits, calls, texts, and emails become obsessive, and the three mothers are trying to pull away.

 

But Olivia knows what she wants to make her life perfect, and no one will stand in her way…

 

The book starts with the end, so the author skilfully draws you in from the first chapter and makes you aware that something epic will finish the story. I was fascinated/horrified by Olivia’s deeds and thought processes. The problems she went through as a new mom were intense and certainly give the reader pause to try to empathise with her, but her selfish actions were dreadful.

 

I enjoyed the friends’ stories as they showed the real issues behind the facades you see and how everyone faces hardships of varying degrees. It is scary that there are people like Olivia who only see the perfect façade and think that in order to have it, they need to take it and not make their own way in life.

 

I do agree that the events leading up to the finale were a bit suspect as I’m sure they wouldn’t have been allowed to slide like that, but just the depths to which Olivia was prepared to go (and believed was right) was crazy.

 

The book was written with an easy flow and definitely had you saying: “just one more chapter”. No major editorial mistakes interrupted the reading and the author had a fabulous way of describing scenes in such a rich manner that you felt as though you were in the room or even experiencing the emotions the character felt. I look forward to more by this author!  

Soulstealer Book Two by Shane Bouleware

The once mighty Ordo Solis – the Order of the Sun – has lost its following. Created to fight a demon who inhabited people and ate the souls of its victims, it no longer wields the power it had. People don’t believe the demon exists anymore. So, the American chapter of the Order now only consists of two members. Yes, two members in the form of Steven and Jeff, who still keep up traditions and faithfully watch the Raptor Gatekeeper each night for one hour in the hopes of clues to catch the demon.

 

But Jeff is struggling with keeping his commitment to his day job, his Order work, and spending time with his wife and daughter. And Steven feels he needs a holiday. Maybe permanently. They decide to watch one last viewing together, when they notice a person approaching the Gatekeeper. It’s almost like he knows the secret signal, but not quite.

 

With the Raptors, Unas, and Sanhe cults still out there and waiting for the Soulstealer’s return, there is a huge task awaiting Ordo Solis as the cults have no mercy and will stop at nothing to defend him. Unfortunately, Steven is about to find out the depths they will go to. After teaming up with Adeline from the European chapter, they land up going to different countries and working with different Orders. Orders who have had so little to do over the years that they have forgotten traditions. Most don’t believe the Bane is back and others just don’t know what to do. Steven takes matters into his own hands and, with evidence he has cleverly hidden, he plans to use someone with influence who will present the evidence as valid and back it. Will the government agree with this ruse, or will he and his evidence disappear without a trace?

 

The Soulstealer is able to siphon millions of souls at a time. But working out where and when he will attack leaves a whole planet to keep an eye on. This ancient evil will take a lot to beat… 

 

This is a very clever “side-story” in that it is written in the same time frame as the first book but from a different character’s perspective so we get to see how the other side felt about what happened and how they dealt with it. The books fit together so well and a side-by-side comparison will remind you of many small details you may have forgotten.

 

Steven is not your average hero, and the author allows you to feel his frustration and cheer when he defies orders in order to put plans in motion. In book one, you feel empathy for the Soulstealer as you understand the reasons why he is forced to do what he does, yet in book two you can feel the pain that his actions caused. Characters that were only briefly mentioned in book one now have their time to shine as you understand their role in the big picture.

 

The author has a lovely fluid style of writing and while there were a few small punctuation mistakes, they were not enough to play a major distraction. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, both in the manner of construction and the content, and am keen to see the direction the story will go.

 

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery and the author for an advance copy…