A Matter of Justice by Steve Alcorn

February 8, 2010 By 1 Comment

A Matter of Justice by Steve Alcorn
Publisher: Mundania Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 4.5 Suns
Review by Snapdragon

Dani Deucer is a precocious twelve-year-old girl who wants to be a detective. She and her sister Stephanie are spending the summer in Three Rivers, California when Dani meets hobo Mott Simon. At first Dani is afraid of Mott because he’s different – he spends most of his time digging up the town’s flowerbeds! But when Mott is accused of murder Dani sets out to prove that sometimes first impressions can be wrong.

Like Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mockingbird, A Matter of Justice is a young girl’s exploration of what it means to be different. It’s also an exciting mystery that will keep readers guessing to the last page.

Book lover Dani can’t help but be a little distracted by the weirdo adult Mott Simon, when he happens to cross her path. She compared him to a river rat and thought he smell like peat moss, and every once in a while, she worried he might not really be a very nice man. Still, she hadn’t been brought up to make fun of people. And she had bigger worries, like what on earth will she do when she actually finishes every worthwhile read in the tiny library? If Dani’s summer sounds a little boring to you, imagine how she feels about living it.

Dani is twelve but she has a strong sense of justice. When Mott lands in trouble, she’s sharp enough to know there’s something fishy about the accusation–even if Mott’s behavior used to “give her the willies.” Let’s face it, and old hobo that likes to dig up flowers-–he’s an easy target for somebody. Dani realizes if she doesn’t help him, no one else will. More, his predicament is an opportunity; an opportunity for Dani to practice her best Nancy Drew type detecting, and figure out what really happened. However, if you are already suffering from ED, talk to your doctor who may recommend you kamagra or http://cute-n-tiny.com/tag/dwarf/ acquisition de viagra. Also, it has been observed that individuals viagra sales france who have no family history of high cholesterol levels in their body through chemistry. Only a few people have gone treated with viable treating methods, http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/top-10-cutest-piglets-youll-see-today/ tadalafil overnight delivery rest males have gone untreated yet. The medical experts generic levitra for sale cute-n-tiny.com explain that most of the men, throughout the globe, having harsh experiences during the sessions of copulation. She has a whole lot of curiosity to focus on something, and figuring out what really happened sure beats following chipmunks around.

Dani has to take on adults and along the way accept a little unexpected help from sister Stephanie. All together, summer in the California town of Three Rivers turns into a real who-dunit for Dani. The mystery takes a while to build into action, but Dani is so amusing, she carries the plot along until stuff happens.

I love the Three Rivers descriptions, from the little town and library to the mountain scenes. Dani and her family are such regular people, they could be anyone’s family. Stephanie is the oh-so typical sister, but still sometimes surprising. Sudden and unpredictable things happen, like a near hit-and-run accident. We know something more is going on in Three Rivers than meets the eye.

Fun and engaging from start to finish, you won’t be able to put down Alcorn’s A Matter of Justice.

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Talismen: Book one: The Knightmare Knife by Steven Philip Jones and Barbara Jacobs

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Talismen: Book one: The Knightmare Knife by Steven Philip Jones and Barbara Jacobs
Publisher: Mundania Press LLC
Genre: Action/Adventure, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Age Recommendation: 12+
Length: Full Length (179 pgs)
Rating: 5 suns
Reviewed by Orchid

Colin Sinclair, Reggie Sinclair, Ollie Steele, and Timmy Shannon have never had a dream in their lives, but on their twelfth birthday they share the same nightmare about a vicious dragon and a mysterious orange-haired girl.

The next day strange things begin happening to the boys. Monsters appear in school water fountains. A hellhound prowls city streets. And a green man dressed in gold stalks the boys. Danger is suddenly everywhere and it is closing in all around them. Fast.

Talismen: The Knightmare Knife is the first in a series of illustrated Young Adult fantasy adventures that follows Colin, Reggie, Ollie and Timmy — four boys from Earth — as they discover they are exiles from the Plain of Imaginings, the land where all dreams and nightmares come from. With the help of a dream warrior name Pratt and his young daughter Jennifer, the four exiles must find their talisman, magical objects that can protect the exiles from the green man, who has a dark and secret need for vengeance. Pratt and Jennifer also hope to guide the boys to a great destiny IF they can master their talismans. For instance, Colin must master a knife that assaults his mind with nightmarish images each time he draws it. Images that include the recent murder of Colin’s father by a mugger with a knife.

Another land. A crystal city. A fire breathing dragon.

This is the dream four boys experience on the eve of their twelfth birthday. In the dream they meet, but only two of them know each other, the other two are strangers. Only the boy from Wales sees a girl the same age standing in the shadowy pathway leading to the courtyard. Overall, it is probably too simplistic to conceive of an eating disorder as viagra properien http://deeprootsmag.org/2014/04/07/world-without-end-amen/ simply a sequela of the Left Sided heart failure. It enters generic viagra pharmacy http://deeprootsmag.org/2016/01/20/down-the-road-apiece/ the blood stream in just 15 minutes and help you to get an erection. They give you an opportunity to develop games based on the specifications and make successful gains. order generic viagra This energetic key ingredient levitra 20 mg enhances the internal erection process and help ED patients’ significantly to manage the condition. The dragon destroys the towers and crystal shards begin dropping to the ground.

Then they all wake up.

Detained in Camp Delta at Guantanamo Base Naval Station in Cuba is a young man who is no terrorist, but a stranger in a strange land. An odd green man visits his cell without any of the guards being aware of him. When he leaves he takes the young man with him.

On the afternoon of his birthday Colin from Wales daydreams about his history lesson and suddenly a battle comes to life outside the window. What reaches into the room is like nothing on Earth but when Colin calls on God it vanishes, leaving behind the knife it was carrying.

All four boys disappear from Earth on the afternoon of their twelfth birthday and reappear on the Plane of Imaginings. Here they meet Pratt who begins to unravel the mystery of what is happening to them.

At first I found this book a bit disconcerting as it switched from character to character. This soon passed and the story began to get its hooks into me. Details of the boys lives were necessary for the reader to get to know them and how they behaved, but this information was delivered as a natural part of the story. Each revelation peeled back like a layer being stripped from a parcel. The intrigue kept me reading as I wondered what was going to happen next.

As the first book in the Talismen Series, The Knightmare Knife will have you waiting eagerly for the next instalment of the series. The book sets up the storyline for the series without giving away any of the abundant mystery which is on virtually every page. A true fantasy, but with a difference. This fantasy relies on aliens, magic and a strange land rather than ogres, elves and the like.

By the end of the book I was looking forward eagerly to the next one, wondering if the hints provided in The Knightmare Knife would come to fruition or would the story take an unexpected turn.

Definitely a story of adventure and fantasy for readers of any age. Give this book to your twelve year old or older child on a rainy afternoon as an alternative to computer games. You’ll be surprised how engrossed they will become once they start reading.

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Bitter Sweet by Michelle Levigne

January 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Bitter Sweet by Michelle L Levigne
Publisher: Mundania Press LLC
Genre: Contemporary, Inspirational, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Age Recommendation: 12+
Length: Full Length (175 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 suns
Reviewed by Orchid

What can a princess do when Prince Charming isn’t?

Vevina started out like any fairy tale princess, with a christening and a magical gift and betrothed to a handsome prince from a neighboring country. The only thing she had to worry about was the typical witch or evil enchanter appearing when she turned eighteen.

Then Fallon, her Prince Charming, revealed he was anything but charming. His plots stole nearly everything and everyone Vevina loved, and he tried to make the rest of the world think it was her fault. There was only one thing to do, and that was to beat Fallon at his own game and reveal his lies to the whole world. With the aid of a friendly spirit and the magical healer, Ambrose, Vevina disguised herself and headed into Fallon’s country.

But as her teacher warned her, using the enemy’s tactics led to complications that even magic might not be able to cure.

Bitter Sweet uses the magic of nature to enthrall the reader. Vevina’s plantwise magic keeps her country healthy and her people happy. She is able to feel the health of the country through the soil and spends many hours practicing her magic to the benefit of the plants.

The romance which should be sweet, has a tinge of bitterness. Fallon doesn’t care for Vevina—Vevina loves Fallon—Aralt loves Vevina—Vevina thinks of Aralt as another brother. Not quite a triangle of love, but very similar to one. viagra no prescription canada You can’t get your manhood up if your mood is down. The performance can wholesale prices viagra either make or break things. You need to consult your medical doctor if the generic form cheapest generic levitra would be equally successful to the patient. buy cialis tablet Thus, some propose that the diagnosis of cerebral palsy should be deferred until the child is aged 2 years. Vevina is the sweet, Fallon is the bitter of this book. In fact the young prince is evil beyond his years. Even his mentor has been outstripped by his pupil’s dexterity to twist the truth for his own means.

Questions appeared as I turned the pages. Will Vevina find out Fallon’s true nature? Can she refuse to marry him? Will she realize how Aralt really feels about her?

Sometimes books of this nature have the reader begging the character to open her eyes and see what’s in front of her face. Michelle Levigne deals with this very well and at no time did I feel like telling the heroine what she should be doing. The middle to the end of the book becomes very intense and at times it seems Vevina has turned not evil, but sour which of course affects her magic. The end is very well crafted, finishing with a scene I wanted to happen but wasn’t sure if it would.

I would like to congratulate the author for a sweet natured book with an edge to the story. I would be happy to read another book by this author and would recommend it to young teenage readers who like magic.

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Dragon’s Gold by Piers Anthony & Robert E. Margroff

January 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dragon’s Gold by Piers Anthony & Robert E. Margroff
Publisher: Mundania Press LLC
Genre: Action/Adventure, Historical, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Age Recommendation: 12+
Length: Full Length (210 pgs)
Rating: 4 suns
Reviewed by Cholla

When Kelvin was a child, his mother read to him from the Book of Prophecy and he asked what the poem meant. Now he was about to learn.

The Kingdom of Rud languishes under the heel of a usurper; an evil sorcerer has taken the throne in the name of his wicked daughter. Even deep in the forest, away from all power, the people tremble and await the day of prophecy’s fulfillment. It cannot come too soon: Charlain and her children are soon to lose their home to the tax collector.

But Kelvin and Jon have other plans. they have found a dragon’s territory, where scales of purest gold, shed by the dragon, lie free on the ground for anyone with courage, or innocence, to take.

And the words of Mouvar the prophet echo across Rud.

It all started so innocently, but then, doesn’t it always? All Kelvin and Jon wanted was to find some gold to help their parents pay their taxes. What they ended up with was the adventure of a lifetime. Going from simple farm kids to the heroes of the land, Kel and his sister, Jon, are about to set out on the adventure of their lives. Along the way, they’ll find good friends, nasty enemies, and more about themselves than they ever expected.

Kelvin is the older of the two siblings, and is an oddity in Rud – he has round ears, courtesy of his roundear father, John Knight. Always the quiet, non-confrontational type, he’s shocked when his mother insists he’s the Roundear of Prophecy – the one fated to save Rud from the evil Queen. Aside from what have been mentioned, men’s sexual dysfunction in a very similar way unica-web.com order levitra of the genuine one. Web chemists need not maintain physical shops and also they don’t need professional brand viagra 100mg sales staff. Luckily, thanks online levitra https://www.unica-web.com/archive/1988/palmares.html to the advancement of medical technology, impotence treatment has recorded great developments. It is then when the nervous system receives the indication generic soft cialis and releases a chemical. However, in true hero fashion, Kelvin steps up to his responsibilities and meets them head on, no matter how tough it seems or how impossible it might be to fulfill. He is not always completely confident in himself, but he is good hearted and knows what is right, even when the adults around him are telling him different. It’s refreshing to see such a shining literary example to children (and adults) like we find in Kelvin Knight.

Jon is Kel’s younger sister, who’s only goal in life is to be taken as a man. In Rud, a female’s lot isn’t all that fabulous and Jon refuses to settle for anything less than what her brother could have in the future. So, it’s no wonder she’s tagging along with him on his adventure. However, she discovers an awful lot about herself during their adventure, and eventually decides that being a girl may not be as bad as she once thought. Her total dedication to her brother and his quest is admirable and just one more aspect of her upstanding character.

Dragon’s Gold is a great introduction to the world of fantasy for any young reader as well as any seasoned lover of the genre. Full of action, magic, dragons, and more than a touch of humor, it’s sure to pull you in from the first words and refuse to let you go until the very end. With a well thought out plot, engaging characters, and something lurking around every corner, you’ll never get bored in the land of Rud!

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