Book Review: The King's Scrolls

Summary: Following the harrowing events that brought them to Landale Forest, Jace and Kyrin have settled comfortably into their new lives and the mission of protecting those under the emperor's persecution. The fast approach of winter brings with it the anticipation of a quiet few months ahead. That is until the arrival of four mysterious, dragon-riding cretes who seek aid in a mission of great importance--not only to their own people, but to all followers of Elôm.
   Hidden in the vast mining valley north of Valcré, a faithful crete has spent years sharing his knowledge with the destitute miners and their families and is known to possess what may be Arcacia's last surviving copies of the King's Scrolls--the Word of Elôm. Joining the cretes, those in Landale must find the crete teacher and bring him to safety, but it is a race against time. Should Daican's men find him first, execution and the destruction of the Scrolls is certain.
   When disaster strikes, all seems lost. Could Elôm have a plan even in the enemy's triumph?
(Christian Fantasy/Clean New Adult/No Magic)

Thoughts: I LOVE THESE BOOKS!!!! Ahem. The Illyon Chronicles took us by surprise as romance isn't really our thing, but this series has everything and more that we look for in a book: a Christian aspect, clean adventure, a sweet but not overriding romance, and a child or two, complete with diverse and well made characters! You really can't go wrong here. I'll admit that I have, despite being a girl myself, very few favorite heroines. Nowadays they are too strong and pushy or just lack any depth, sometimes both, but Kyrin is different. Maybe that's because she's got a wonderful twin to contrast with her, a combination I've dreamed of and have as yet to find anywhere else, and then her and Jace are too cute! Every girl, even the most hardcore romantic, ought to appreciate they're sweet 'friendship' which I'm simply waiting to quickly move into more! We also get some new characters in here, Timothy and his brother Aaron along with their guardian were interesting characters though I admit to being slightly bored with most of their story in the beginning, it got better though! Over all, this is a great sequel to Resistance and HIGHLY recmmended for all you fantasy readers!

Content: Violence but otherwise perfectly clean.

Book Review: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Summary: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is the story of a widowed field mouse named Mrs. Frisby, whose youngest son, Timothy, has fallen ill. This is a children's book, but adults will enjoy giving it a read now and then. 

Thoughts: The summary only sums up about half of the book as the other half is devoted to the story of the rats. I've always been a fan of books like this, from Redwall to Watership Down, and this one impressed me because I was expecting a much more childish book. While written for children, the classic feel doesn't deter older readers and the characters are very enjoyable! For those of you who remember the movie, it has its similarities and difference, the biggest one can be found at the end of both and I actually prefer the movie's version due to certain spoilers that I won't mention! 

Content: There was, actually a D**** once or twice but I was expecting that due to the movie. Aside from that this book is clean, though I know some Christian parents might have a problem with the 'millions of years ago' that was briefly mentioned, so just be aware that, while brief, it was mentioned.

777 Writing Challenge

Yes, we actually do read as well as write! In the 777 Writing Challenge you are supposed to go to the 7th page of your work-in-progress, scroll down to the 7th line and select the next 7 lines to post and then tag seven other bloggers. Instead of tagging I'll leave this as an open invitation to whoever is interested!
And here are the 7 lines in our WIP, To Catch A Dragon (title and lines are subject to change since this is all from the first draft!)

Three hours later they came in sight of a large building. It was long, spreading nearly four miles. It was only one story and made of dark grey stone with no windows. It looked harsh and cold despite the heat of the desert it sat in. Timothy mopped sweat from his brow and tried to calm his horse that shied away from the building. Harold's mount too seemed to fear something about the place and even the humans began to sense the deep evil surrounding the building as they drew closer. 

As they approached the entrance two robe clad Wolves eyed them from beneath their cowls but opened the massive doors without hesitation. 

Not a very clear picture but I will say that everyone here is a human, Wolves being the name of a certain organization. That's all. What about you?

Book Review: Icefall

Summary: Critically acclaimed author Matthew J. Kirby deftly weaves a stunning coming-of-age tale with chilling cleverness and subtle suspense that will leave readers racing breathlessly to the end.
  Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig--along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors--anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. Solveig must also embark on a journey to find her own path. Yet, a malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, as a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another.
  Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he manages to destroy a kingdom?

Thoughts: Well...I obviously hadn't read up on this book before I picked it up at the library, but I wasn't disappointed. While not the fantasy story I was hoping for, this wonderful piece of historical-fiction is still a great read! The characters and (most likely) the war the story is set in, among other events, are fictitious; but there is a wonderful atmosphere in the Norwegian setting. Filled with fascinating stories of the Norse myths and the power of story telling and all told through young Solveig's voice through a journal like writing. The one funny thing I found about this book is that, rather than use the normal past tense for phrasing, as you might when writing in a journal later, the story is told in present tense as though they were the thoughts of the girl as things happened around her. This was an interesting way to read the story and unpleasant. I'll warn you right now though, this book while have you mentally playing Clue and pointing fingers everywhere, always trying to guess who the culprit might be! And it's not pretty when you find out! On a side note, Sloveig and Harald are precious siblings (their eldest sibling, Asa, sits and mopes through half the book and is a bad big sister!) and I greatly enjoyed Solveig's interactions with Hake and Alric! A great read and a pleasurably light one at that!

Content: Not much. There is some flirting, questioning whether a man has been treating a girl in an honorable way and another man sort of hangs on and starts stroking a girl's cheek just to make her uncomfortable while there is worry about sleeping arrangements. Most would go over kid's heads and none is too pronounced, all of it being resolved without anything actually having happened.

Book Review: The Last Unicorn

Summary: The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea.
  The unicorn discovers that she is the last unicorn in the world, and sets off to find the others. She meets Schmendrick the Magician--whose magic seldom works, and never as he intended--when he rescues her from Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival, where only some of the mythical beasts displayed are illusions. They are joined by Molly Grue, who believes in legends despite her experiences with a Robin Hood wannabe and his unmerry men. Ahead wait King Haggard and his Red Bull, who banished unicorns from the land.

Thoughts: While maybe another classic read here from another one of those childhood films, I was a little disappointed. This story starts out with that wonderfully elegant feel that we love in fairytales, with beautiful descriptiveness and vivid words, but the characters ended up lagging throughout most of the book. Schmendrick was still a favorite and I came to appreciate Molly Grue by the end, but for the majority of the book I couldn't really enjoy them. Besides this we have random magazines and tacos which threw me off and I had to backtrack a bit to make sure I had read that right. It was funny, I'll admit, but didn't really seem to fit with the elegant prose. (Shrugs) Oh well, while I probably won't be rereading this one anytime soon, I'd still recommend it for those who look for a good story over intriguing characters.

Content: WARNING, SPOILERS!!!
  Well, for those of you who have watched the film you already know all there is to know (plus some, actually). For those of you who haven't there are a few uses of D*** and a scene where the Unicorn is transformed into a human girl and is naked. This scene isn't really used in an inappropriate sense but it's not exactly blown over either. Might not be the best book to hand to a kid but an interesting read anyways.

Book Review: The Neverending Story

Summary: The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica. Only a human can save this enchanted place - by giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. But the journey to her tower leads through lands of dragons, giants, monsters, and magic - and once Bastian begins his quest, he may never return. As he is drawn deeper into Fantastica, he must find the mysteries of his own heart.
   Readers, too, can travel to the wondrous, unforgettable world of Fantastica if they will just turn the page...

Thoughts: Another one of those classic movies you remember from your childhood right? And apparently the book is fairly popular though I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy until now. This was a surprisingly heavier read than I had anticipated and I greatly enjoyed that! This isn't another one of those light reads that you can fly through but one you'll want to dwell on and savor. Written in a style resembling Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Earthsea; this fascinating story pulls readers into the pages as they travel with Atreyu and Bastian through the well known (and not so well known) land of Fantastica. Now, I was a dedicated fan as a kid and I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this but The Neverending Story was a series of films (none of them well made after the first). The first and, surprisingly, second movie both pull heavily on the actual book though there are major and minor differences. But I'm not here to discuss the movies. This book is fantastic and I highly suggest it to all those readers of classical fiction who are missing Narnia and Middle Earth as this story plows much deeper than most children's fiction!

Content: Nothing really. There is a scattering of violence but none of it is very graphic, some frightening creatures are met and there is a dark and foreboding atmosphere to the dying land of Fantastica. There is one scene at the end of the book that is highly symbolic and one of the boys is without clothes but it's not an offensive scene. Overall a great read for any age though older readers might get more out of it then younger ones!

Book Review: Searching for Dragons

Summary: Cimorene, the princess who refuses to be proper, meets her match in the not-quite-kingly Mendanbar. With the aid of a broken-down magic carpet and a leaky magical sword, the two tackle a series of dragon-nappings.
*Summary from Amazon

  Thoughts: Again, the summary doesn't add up to the rich humor of this story. I found this sequel to Dealing with Dragons almost more fascinating by the briefly tapped on or mentioned fairy tales that were interwoven in the story. While the first book dealt mainly with the lives of dragons and princesses, Searching for Dragons branches out into other areas of the world, developing the surrounding area a bit, bringing in new characters, and expanding on the way magic does and doesn't work here. And did I mention there were children? An entire chapter with adorable children running around in the back and a sweetly grumpy dwarf as their caretaker. I loved it!

Content: Again, nothing.

Book Giveaway: Out of Darkness Rising

I've been meaning to grab a copy of this book for a long time, doesn't the cover art just grab your attention? And now there's this amazing giveaway going on at Gillian Bronte Adams blog Here!!

Summary: Darkness reigns unchallenged.
  For the villagers on the accursed Island, life has only one meaning – death. Bound to the Island by the curse, the villagers suffer beneath the iron claw of the serpent, daily breathing the poison of his breath and dying to appease his insatiable appetite.
  When Marya’s parents are slain by the serpent for their belief in a legendary king, she becomes an Outcast. Struggling to survive and avoid the vengeance of the Tribunal, Marya is torn between legend and the harsh reality of the Island. Yet when a forgotten promise springs to life, she cannot help wondering if the old stories might in fact be true. And if they are, will the promise prove stronger than the curse?

Intriguing right?  I fully intend to somehow get this book and you'll be hearing back from me in a book review later!

Book Review: Dealing With Dragons

 Summary: Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart. . . .And bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon . . . and finds the family and excitement she's been looking for.
*Summary from Amazon

Thoughts:  The summary hardly does justice to sum up this adorable story. I'll admit, there wasn't overly much to it but if you enjoy Gail Carson Levine or maybe even Louisa May Alcott you ought to enjoy this funny, sensible, not-at-all-proper, book on being a dragon's princess. It was a new look on an old idea and we both laughed and thoroughly enjoyed where the story took us with thoughtful characters and dastardly villains (though I don't suggest getting your hopes up for a heart-stopping climax, expect something sensible). Overall an enjoyable read for all ages!

Content: Nothing, absolutely positively nothing.

Note on the Princess Bride Reunion Scene

I was right. He never even wrote it! I sent in for the scene and I got three letters of apology all at once instead! So if your interested I'll list it here (he puts the first two in the book anyways) and you don't have to waste your time!
  (In all honesty I've begrudgingly come to enjoy Goldman's humor and since you've been warned ahead of time, I hope you will too!)

RE: The Princess Bride reunion scene request...

Dear Reader,

Thank you for sending in and no, this is not the reunion scene, because of a certain roadblock named Kermit Shog.

As soon as bound books were ready, I got a call from my lawyer, Charley--(you may not remember, but Charley's the one I called from California to go down in the blizzard and buy _The Princess Bride_ from the used-book dealer). Anyway, he usually begins with Talmudic humor, wisdom jokes, only this time he just says "Bill, I think you better get down here," and before I'm even allowed to say a 'why?' he adds, "Right away if you can."

Panicked, I zoom down, wondering who could have died, did I flunk my tax audit, what? His secretary lets me into his office and Charley says, "This is Mr. Shog, Bill."

And there he is, sitting in the corner, hands on his briefcase, looking exactly like an oily version of Peter Lorre. I really expected him to say, "Give me the Falcon, you must, or I'll be forced to keeel you."

"Mr. Shog is a lawyer," Charley goes on. And this next was said underlined: _"He represents the Morgenstern estate."_

Who knew? Who could have dreamed such a thing existed, an estate of a man dead at least a million years that no one ever heard of over here anyway? "Perhaps you will give me the Falcon now," Mr. Shog said. That's not true. What he said was, "Perhaps you will like a few words with your client alone now," and Charley nodded and out he went and once he was gone I said, "Charley, my God, I never figured--" and he said, "Did Harcourt?" and I said, "Not that they ever mentioned" and he said, "Ooch," the grunting sound lawyers make when they know they've backed a loser. "What does he want?" I said. "A meeting with Mr. Jovanovich," Charley answered.

Now, William Jovanovich is a pretty busy fella, but it's amazing when you're confronted with a potential multibillion-dollar lawsuit how fast you can wedge in a meeting. We trooped over.

All the Harcourt Brass was there, I'm there, Charley; Mr. Shog, who would sweat in an igloo he's so swarthy, is streaming. Harcourt's lawyer started things: "We're terribly terribly sorry, Mr. Shog. It's an unforgivable oversight, and please accept our sincerest apologies." Mr. Shog said, "That's a beginning, since all you did was defame and ridicule the greatest modern master of Florinese prose who also happened to be for many years a friend of my family."  Then the business head of Harcourt said, "All right, how much do you want?"

Biiiig mistake. _"Money?"_ Mr. Shog cried. "You think this is petty blackmail that brings us together? _Resurrection_ is the issue, sir. Morgenstern must be undefiled. You will publish the original version." And now a look at me. "In the _unabridged_ form."

I said, "I'm done with it, I swear. True, there's just the reunion scene business we printed up, but there's not liable to be a rush on that, so it's all past as far as I'm concerned." But Mr. Shog wasn't done with me: "_You,_ who _dared_ to _defame_ a master's characters are now going to put your words in their mouths? Nossir. No, I say." "It's just a little thing," I tried; "a couple pages only."

Then Mr. Jovanovich started talking softly. "Bill, I think we might skip sending out the reunion scene just now, don't you think?" I made a nod. Then he turned to Mr. Shog. "We'll print the unabridged. You're a man who is interested in immortality for his client, and there aren't as many of you around in publishing as there used to be. You're a gentleman, sir."  "Thank you," from Mr. Shog; "I like to think I am, at least on occasion." For the first time, he smiled. We all smiled. Very buddy-buddy now. Then, an addendum from Mr. Shog: "Oh, yes. Your first printing of the unabridged will be 100,000 copies."

* * * *

So far, there are thirteen lawsuits, only eleven involving me directly. Charley promises nothing will come to court and that eventually Harcourt will publish the unabridged. But legal maneuvering takes time. The copyright on Morgenstern runs out in early '78, and all of you who wrote in are having your names put alphabetically on computer, so whichever happens first, the settlement or the year, you'll get your copy.

The last I was told, Kermit Shog was willing to come down on his first printing provided Harcourt agreed to publish the sequel to _The Princess Bride,_ which hasn't been translated into English yet, much less published here. The title of the sequel is: _Buttercup's Baby: S. Morgenstern's Glorious Examination of Courage Matched Against the Death of the Heart._

I'd never heard of it, naturally, but there's a Ph.D. candidate in Florinese Lit up at Columbia who's going through it now. I'm kind of interested in what he has to say.

--William Goldman

P.S.

I'm really sorry about this, but you know the story that ends, "disregard previous wire, letter follows?" Well, you've got to disregard the business about the Morgenstern copyright running out in '78. That was a definite boo-boo but Mr. Shog, being Florinese, has trouble, naturally, with our numbering system. The copyright runs out in '87, not '78.

Worse, he died. Mr. Shog I mean. (Don't ask how could you tell. It was easy. One morning he just stopped sweating, so there it was.) What makes it worse is that the whole affair is now in the hands of his kid, named--wait for it--Mandrake Shog. Mandrake moves with all the verve and speed of a lizard flaked out on a riverbank.

The only good thing that's happened in this whole mess is I finally got a shot at reading _Buttercup's Baby._ Up at Columbia they feel it's definitely superior to _The Princess Bride_ in satirical content. Personally, I don't have the emotional attachment to it, but it's a helluva story, no question.

Give it a look-see when you have a chance.

--August, 1978

P.P.S.

This is getting humiliating. Have you been reading in the papers about the trade problems America is having with Japan? Well, maddening as this may be, since it reflects on the reunion scene, we're also having trade problems with Florin, which, it turns out, is our leading supplier of Cadminium, which, it also turns out, NASA is panting for.

So all Florinese-American litigation, which includes the thirteen law suits, has officially been put on hold.

What this means is that the reunion scene, for now, is caught between our need for Cadminium and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

But at least the movie got made. Mandrake Shog was shown it, and word reached me he even smiled once or twice. Hope springs eternal.

--May, 1987

* * * *

Use of this excerpt from _The Princess Bride_ by William Goldman may be made only for purposes of promoting the book, with no changes, editing or additions whatsoever and must be accompanied by the following copyright notice: Copyright © 1973, 1998, 2003 by William Goldman. All Rights Reserved.

Book Review: The Princess Bride

Summary: William Goldman's modern fantasy classic is a simple, exceptional story about quests—for riches, revenge, power, and, of course, true love—that's thrilling and timeless.

  Anyone who lived through the 1980s may find it impossible—inconceivable, even—to equate The Princess Bride with anything other than the sweet, celluloid romance of Westley and Buttercup, but the film is only a fraction of the ingenious storytelling you'll find in these pages. Rich in character and satire, the novel is set in 1941 and framed cleverly as an “abridged” retelling of a centuries-old tale set in the fabled country of Florin that's home to “Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions.”
*Summary from Amazon

Thoughts:  Okay, we've all seen the Princess Bride right? Pretend that the scenes with Grandpa reading to boy was actually Goldman's childhood, he told you in the introduction and forwards and author's notes. So you can believe the wonderful, funny, almost heart wrenching stories he tells you of his life and the real author, Morgenstern, and the abridgment right? Wrong! It's all lies! Even the forwards and AUTHOR'S NOTES!  I will never trust an author again! Ok, maybe it wasn't that dramatic but I was duped. I hate abridgements so I spent a good half hour pulling my hair out trying to get a hold of an original and eventually looked it up on Wikipedia and found to my chagrin that the author was just playing around and being a troll. Once I got passed that I fumed at nearly every piece of his fictional life that he interwove into the story and how he blamed the fictional Morgenstern for scenes he didn't want to write* or for making a chapter ridiculously short, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it! I'll admit it was corny and some of the romantic descriptions, especially of Westley's perfection, made me near ill (despite being a girl I would much rather a rousing adventure with dragons or high seas than anything romantic), but it was still fun. It reads like a lighter version of Lemony Snicket's books and while I didn't feel like I got much from the characters themselves I still giggled and had fun in the wild, crazy, nonsensical adventure. If your looking for a different or more serious version of the Princess Bride, I wouldn't suggest this. I also don't suggest this for those easily tricked like me or those who (if you read the special in the end called Buttercup's Baby) don't like the possible suggestion of characters dying and have a hard time dealing with denial (I've denied too many fictional instances to not be somewhere near an expert). But if you want a few more scenes, points or view or a little more laughs with the characters from the film, I highly suggest this book!
(*He did go back and rewrite the reunion scene at least and he claims he'll email to anyone who submits their email Here, I haven't tried it yet so I can't vouch for it, plus I just don't trust him anymore!)

Content: Well, we all know there's language but B* twice (once from Inigo who may have had a right and one purely from the author who didn't really) was the worst, then there was the occasional D* every now and again and a bit of profanity. Then there was Buttercup going on and on about Westley without a shirt somewhere in the first chapter. Over all there wasn't too much unless you read the special, Buttercup's Baby and well...before the baby there's a scene that all but leads up to the baby. It would probably go over a kid's head but adults will get it. I was pretty shocked since I hadn't encountered anything like that in the rest of the book and while I knew where babies came from I hadn't expected Goldman to go there! Aside from that there wasn't really anything else and it made a fairly clean read...more or less!

Book Review: Prince of Alasia

 Summary: Twelve-year-old Prince Jaymin, heir to the throne of Alasia, barely escapes with his life when invaders from neighboring Malorn attack. Accompanied by Erik, his young bodyguard and friend, Jaymin flees to a nearby town to live in hiding. There, coming face to face with the hardships suffered by the poor, he determines to improve his people’s lives someday when he takes the throne, assuming he can reclaim his kingdom.
  In his struggle to retain his identity and yet blend in with children in the local school, Jaymin’s life depends on his ability to protect his secret from both enemy troops and unsuspecting townsfolk. Meanwhile, Erik must resort to his skills in unarmed combat to defend Jaymin against everyone from a gang of schoolyard bullies to the Malornians who regularly patrol the streets looking for trouble – and for the missing prince.
  As the search intensifies and his enemy’s suspicions grow, Jaymin seeks desperately for a way to save his kingdom and himself. Then he stumbles upon a startling discovery that will challenge his assumptions and forever change his view of Malorn and the events that altered his life.

Thoughts: This was a great read though not as action packed as many might hope. After the first chapter the story slows down to a calm though tensed pace as Lima develops her cast, country, and times. This book surprised me with its speculation, politics and strategies and I greatly appreciated the characters who tended to stop and think (a rarity in most forms of media)! I appreciated Jaymin for not being a brat though he did occasionally give into spoiled princely thoughts, he wouldn't have been very believable without them. Not that most of their accomplishments were believable but they were fun and one of my fondly nurtured dreams for a book actually came true! I won't let on what it was exactly but near the end, the army of five hundred, it all made me happy and I can't wait to dive into the next two books!

Content: This book does surround war so there are mentions of death, fighting and oppression. The invading soldiers harass the people and one man even slaps a little girl. Aside from that there's a fight with bullies and an old woman who is usually drunk or drinking. Despite this it's mostly a clean read and I think a good option for young boys (or girls, I enjoyed it!) around 11-14.

Book Review: Resistance

Summary:  “Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”

Could God ever love a half-blood all of society looks upon with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when a tragic loss shatters the only peace he’s ever known, his faith crumbles as the nagging doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the bloodstained past he longs to forget, but can never escape.

Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair lives every day under a dangerous pretense of loyalty. After her unique observation skills and perfect memory place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.

Following the emperor’s declaration to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, many lives are endangered. But there are those willing to risk everything to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and conflicts with society as they become part of the resistance.

Review: Resistance is a Christian fantasy set in an Ancient Romanesque type setting and focuses heavily on the persecution of Christians. Although this is most definitely fantasy; complete with dragons, black wolves and several other fantastical beings, there is no magic. Jace and Kyrin (our main characters) were easy to relate to, Kyrin is not your typical heroine, she is strong but not stereotypically so, she draws her strength from God (even in the midst of the persecution of her faith) and her twin brother (Kaden) who protects her as any good brother should. He has my respect, as does Kyrin. Jace is...troubled, he has problems. Believing he is a monster and that he lacks a soul, he was was usually sitting in a corner brooding and I am not sure it helped that the majority of the people he met shared his belief. Jace believes in God but he is confused as to whether or not God will actually save his soul (if he possesses one) and thus spends most of the story pondering this subject. All in all I really enjoyed the story and loved the characters. The Christian aspect was refreshing and even the villains felt real and occasionally relatable. My one issue with this story is Meredith, I have read one hundred reviews for Resistance and not once has anybody mentioned this little cutie. Meredith, Kyrin's little sister figure whom Kaden comforted and carried upon occasion, Meredith who was not a large part of the story but was the only child in the entire book!!! anyways...I shall leave it at that but if you happen to pick up Resistance, please do not forget this little cherub.

Content: Jace's past is largely violence but not much is seen. There are other instances of violence: beheading, beatings and death but none of it is graphic. A woman flirts heavily with a man but it lasts only a few moments and she gives up quickly. Abortion is mentioned, but not dug into deeply.  

Book Review: Gypsy Rizka

 

Summary: Living alone in her wagon on the outskirts of a small town while waiting for her father's return, Rizka, a Gypsy and a trickster, exposes the ridiculous foibles of some of the townspeople. High comedy as much as a celebration of Rizka's brains and brassiness, her flouting of conventions, and her own brand of magic, this book is infused with Alexander's recognition and respect for the rich and good heart of its main character and the human truth of accepting others' differences.

Thoughts: While not my favorite of Alexander's book, Gypsy Rizka is still filled with his unique fun and amusing characters and this book was a great easy read. Many people might find it boring if they come in expecting an adventure instead of the bumbling small-town life the book depicts. But if you come expecting a calm, cute story you'll be pleased with the ridiculous characters and mad capers they get themselves into. Many aspects are similar to Alexander's The Town Cat and Other Tales.

Content: Nothing more than some flirting that is mostly comedic. A man is tarred and feathered but that is more or less willingly. There are a few lies, honest harassment, a theft here or there and a bunch of mischief not intended to cause too much harm (not too much that is).