The Sun Jewel Contest (A Little Jenny Adventure)

Title: The Sun Jewel Contest

Series: A Little Jenny Adventure (#1; prequel to The Ankulen)

Year: 2014

Author: Kendra E. Ardnek

Summary: A prequel short story to THE ANKULEN.
Approximately 3,700 words.

Before Jen got mad at her imagination and abandoned it, she used to have lots of adventures there with her best friends, the Fair Maiden Letitia and Sir Christofer, the finest knight in the land. When another knight challenges his position, well, the natural thing to do is have a contest. (from Goodreads)

Main Characters:
~ Jenny
~ Tisha
~ Chris

Review: Having read, reviewed, and enjoyed Kendra's The Ankulen, I was naturally very excited when I heard she was working on sort stories to accompany the novel. The Sun Jewel Contest is the first Little Jenny Adventure in which we are treated to a glimpse of Jen's life before she lost her imagination.

Honestly, reading this was like having a mini Hobbit adventure. You've got a majestic and priceless jewel stolen from the dwarves who lost it in the first place due to their own greed. Then along comes an unlikely hero, who stands a lot shorter than everyone else, but in this case it's only because Chris is about eight years old. Pity. He'd have made a great Hobbit.

The adventure starts when Jenny's imagination brings in a not-so-charming knight called Sir Erran who doesn't think Chris deserves the title of finest knight in the land. He's willing to challenge that title, and Jenny suggests a contest to find a jewel no one knows existed. Well, of course, it exists -- Jenny just made it up!

I'd recommend this for anyone who loved The Ankulen, likes a quick adventure, or just enjoys a fun read. Share it with your best friend, your younger siblings, and your grandfather. Your dog might even enjoy hearing it read aloud. *winks*

Advisory: None

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Related Reviews: The Ankulen

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CinderEddy

Title: CinderEddy

Series: None

Year: 2014

Author: Kendra E. Ardnek

Summary: Edward, called CinderEddy by his stepbrothers, has been treated as little more than a servant ever since his mother died after her remarriage. When the Princess Elicia is kidnapped, however, his stepbrothers join the other knights attempting to rescue her, and Edward uses their absence to make his own attempt at her rescue. He doesn't expect to succeed, but somehow, he keeps finding himself on the right path. (from Goodreads)

Main Characters:
~ Edward

Review: Fairytales of all kinds fascinate me, and for some odd reason, gender-swapped tales garner particular interest. In CinderEddy, authoress Kendra E. Ardnek presents us the tale of a young man who, like the famous Cinderella, is kind and clever, yet is thrust maliciously in the place of a servant. 

Edward's father, the late Sir Henry, was the king's favorite, and so it stands to reason that Edward himself would fall into his father's esteemed position, right? Wrong! After Sir Henry's death, Edward finds himself the recipient of a new stepfather, and all too soon -- two stepbrothers. And so begins the Cinderella tale of servanthood and mistreatment. But instead of a ball we get... a kidnapping! Princess Elicia is captured by a band of ruthless thugs and it's up to the noble men of the land to rescue her and, ultimately, win her hand in marriage. Edward's stepbrothers fly off at once to try to find her, and even Edward himself gets excited, not necessarily at the thought of rescuing a future bride, but of finally having an adventure out from under his stepbrothers' malicious thumbs.

Clean, fun, and Cinderella-esque, CinderEddy is a retelling that can trip your mind into thinking it's not a simple retelling at all. Kendra has taken the cherished tale of rags-to-riches and transformed it into a sweet tale of the importance of helping others and stopping to take advice. This short story will definitely be going on my favorite Cinderella retellings list, and I'd recommend it happily to readers of all ages. 

Advisory: Light fantasy action.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company: Helium-3

Title: Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company

Series: Helium-3 (Book #3)

Year: 2014

Author: Homer Hickman

Summary: A kidnapped lunar heiress. A deranged-science syndicate. An imminent asteroid impact. Crater Trueblood has more to rescue than just his ex-girlfriend . . . namely the entire human race.

Maria Medaris is the 21-year-old matriarch of the most powerful family on the moon. She is gorgeous, she is powerful, and she is high maintenance. But when Maria is kidnapped by purple-faced, gene-splicing scientists in league with her father, her only hope is the very man she once spurned: Crater Trueblood.

Much more than Maria is at stake: the planet Earth, majestically rising over the lunar horizon, is in the crosshairs of an asteroid engineered by Maria's abductors. If Crater can't stop it, then Earth faces a dinosaur-style collision. And humanity faces an extinction-level event.

Along with Crescent, his fiercely loyal, bioengineered she-warrior, Crater and the Lunar Rescue Company must come to Maria's rescue--before she joins forces with the brainiac lunatics who have taken her hostage . . . and who want to make her queen.

Can Maria finally look beyond her own selfish love of power? Can Crescent overcome her jealous attachment to Crater? Can Crater rescue his former fiancee and divert the apocalyptic asteroid in a single day?The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance . . . and the clock is ticking. (from Goodreads)

Main Characters:
~ Crater Trueblood
~ Maria Medaris
~ Crescent

Review: Having just picked up an interest in any sci-fi, space-opera stories, I've been on the lookout for good ones I can add to my shelf. And Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company, as far as sci-fi and space-opera go, did not disappoint. It had all the action, flying, science, danger, and adventure a reader could want. Easy to read, intriguing plot... it definitely kept my interest. A few things confused me briefly, but considering this is the third book in a trilogy and the only one I've read, I s'pose everything would have clicked together for me if I read the first two books, so I really shouldn't complain there. *sheepish grin*

Personally, I found some of the characters a little more difficult to like than the plot. Since Crater and Maria broke up (in book 2, I'm assuming), most of what they did in the course of book three was mope about. They keep talking about how they love each other to everyone except each other, and if that doesn't drive you batty after two dozen chapters, nothing will. The different "races" (i.e. humans, Umlaps, crowhoppers, Trainers) were all set apart wonderfully, but I had some trouble trying to differentiate which came from which planet -- Earth or the moon. A bit more information on that would have been nice. It wasn't until the end of the book that I realized Crater himself was a citizen of the moon. *scratches head and shrugs* The best characters, hands down, were the gillies. Small, slime thingys with an unnatural ability to hack any technology, they are illegal, and they know it. Even though they "talked," I found myself likening them to Morph in Disney's Treasure Planet. Fun all around. And they're sarcastic, which is a plus.

There were a few inconsistencies that I noted that annoyed me, and I can't leave this review without pointing them out. Near the middle of the book, Crater and his brother tell a lie to purchase the fuser they badly need for their mission, and Crater says he doesn't like to tell lies. Yet, he easily makes no less than three lies throughout the rest of the book. Also... the character of the Colonel, Maria's grandfather, was confusing. The author made him out to be a hardened business man, semi-dedicated to family, but ruthless in his actions. He'd kill and fire people wherever it pleased him. [Highlight for spoilers] After Maria is rescued, a dangerous asteroid is fired at Earth to destroy the planet, and the Colonel pretty much turns kamikazee and places himself into the asteroid's path to blow it up before it strikes Earth. That action seemed a bit out of character for him, but they did kinda describe him as crazy, so... 

Oh, yeah... and the name bothered me. The first two books in the series are called Crater and Crescent. That's it. And then for book #3, you've got Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company. Mouthful, eh? I may not be an avid critic, but in series, please attempt to keep your titles somewhat similar. *shakes head*

Advisory: Oh, boy. This thing has a longer advisory than most novels I review. For one, there's a single, derogatory word that many characters use, and although I don't recognize it as a swear word, it's used in such a context that borders on that line. There are also a few "adult comments" (i.e. men and women coupling, mating, etc.). I wasn't impressed. No, sir.

Definitely violence. Things get blown up, people die, so don't expect a tame novel. One character has her foot/fingers brutally broken in a torture section, and although it's described lightly, that's just something to take a note of. Personally, I didn't mind the violence, nor did I think it overdone in any fashion.

Another thing that really bothered me was the character, Crescent. She's a crowhopper, destined to self-destruct when she turns 21, but she doesn't want to die. [Highlight for spoilers] Instead, she convinces a doctor to take cells from a human male and then scientifically impregnates herself. Nothing is talked about other than the fact that she's going to have a baby, but I found the whole situation highly uncomfortable. It was for this reason that I struggled with rating this book. The space action boosted my opinion almost to a three or four star review, yet this pushed it down to a 2 star.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

*Please note: I received a free copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.*

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The Princess and the Sage

Title: The Princess and the Sage

Series: None

Year: 2013

Author: Anneliese Blakeney

Summary: The Princess is quite Put Out. The Young Sage, a personage her father has installed as her new tutor, is turning her life upside down. From trumpet lessons to lemonade stands and licking cake batter, life with the Sage is hair-raising to say the least. In a world of nonsense how can a proper princess survive? The Princess and the Sage, Anneliese Blakeney's debut novel, is a whimsical tale full of nonsense parenthetical statements and Capitals. Sensible readers must proceed at their own risk. Those wary of nonsense, remember, you have been warned! (from Goodreads)

Main Characters:
~ The Princess
~ The Young Sage

Review: I read this book cover to cover in one afternoon. Not because it was only 126 pages long, but because I couldn't put it down! This has got to be the best nonsense book since the infamous Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. Describing it doesn't do it justice. You must just read it. 

No, I suppose I need a slightly longer review than that. *adjusts librarian glasses and tries to act stern* For a debut novel, this is remarkable. Of course, you do have the occasional typos and editing errors, but they don't detract from the awesomeness of the story. The characters were superb -- always memorable. The Sage was amazing, the king and queen were hilarious... and the author even wrote herself in! There's a plot bunny, a lemonade stand, some mud, and so much more! 

The Princess wants to be a perfect princess, and of course that means being slightly snotty, girly, and refusing to do anything wild, messy, or obnoxious. When her father employs the Young Sage (yes, it's imperative that you used the capital letters) as her new tutor, she finds she doesn't quite like the Sage's teaching methods. Since when do princesses mingle with trumpets and climbing trees? She can't dismiss the Sage, so she's forced to go along with it all. And that's what starts all of their adventures.

There. Is that long enough? Now you can go read it. And no, that was not just a friendly suggestion. *grins*

Advisory: None, unless there's danger from dying laughing.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Click here to buy The Princess and the Sage on Amazon!

Sew, It's a Quest (The Bookania Quests)

Title: Sew, It's a Quest

Series: The Bookania Quests (Book #1)

Year: 2011

Author: Kendra E. Ardnek

Summary: Robin and Robert are royal twins. They are the only two to have received a Fairy Godmother gift in nearly a century, an amazing honor. Soon it was clear that their gifts had been switched and a search began to find the Fairy Godmother to right the mistake. When she is finally sighted by a knight, the family learns that the pair must find her for themselves and they only have until their 18th birthday ... only 4 months away. Will they be able to find her in time? (from Goodreads)

Main Characters:
~ Robin
~ Robert
~ Rosamund
~ Doranna

Review: Sew, It's a Quest is the first in Kendra E. Ardnek's Bookania Quests, a series you're not going to want to miss. Right off the bat, we're introduced to two very usual royals - twins Robin and Robert Locksley - with unusual gifts. Much to everyone's dismay, their Fairy Godmother mixed up their gifts at their birth, and while Robert has impressed the court for years with his skill with a needle, Robin spends her days practicing expertly with a sword. When the emissary arrives and brings them news of the Fairy Godmother (Fallona), along with the announcement that if Robert and Robin wish to reverse their gifts, they must undertake a quest to find Fallona before their eighteenth birthday.

Kendra writes in a fun, easy-to-read, very fairy-tale-ish style that truly compliments the story, considering it is a sort of fairy tale retelling. But it's more than just one fairy tale... instead it's like two or three (or four) all mixed together in a fantasy land. Doranna's story brings in part of the Mountain Princess, Rosamund is the Sleeping Beauty, and even Robin Hood makes a very decided entrance. I rather liked seeing them altogether like that. Each subplot wove cleverly into the others, and by the end, you're really wanting the next book in the series, Do You Take This Quest?

Robin and Robert and their friends made excellent heroes/heroines. They start off by pretending to be your cliche princes and princesses, yet each one has his or her own quirks to make them unique. Personally, I love Doranna's math talk, and I laughed every time Robin stuck her opponents' swords into ceilings, or trees, or whatever might be on hand. I can't wait to read more of these characters further into the series.

This story is a light one, so don't expect much more than a fairy tale. At times the plot seemed to meander a bit; there were a few conversations or scenes that didn't add to the storyline, but that's just to be expected from such a book. What stuck out to me the most was the fact that Robert and Robin began the quest to seek out their Fairy Godmother, and while they do search for her, their quest seems to flounder a bit when they stay for days/weeks at castles and forest camps. If they were in such a hurry to find Fallona (they had merely four months in which to reverse the gifts), why did they spend the time so leisurely? That just seemed a little odd to me.

Advisory: Some light romance and fantasy action.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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The Word Changers

Title: The Word Changers

Series: None

Year: 2014

Author: Ashlee Willis

Summary: Her parents’ marriage is falling apart. Fifteen-year-old Posy feels her life is falling apart with it. Retreating to an old library down the street, she selects a mysterious book in a secluded corner and is magically drawn into its story...

Posy finds herself in a kingdom ruled by a cruel and manipulative king and queen who have attempted to usurp the role that belongs only to the Author of their story. The princess has fled and the kingdom is teetering toward rebellion. Posy is joined by the Prince Kyran as they fight with the characters of the story against their slavery to the Plot.

Posy and the prince search beyond the borders of the story for the runaway princess. They visit mysterious places, face horrifying monsters, and fight fierce battles. They make both friends and enemies as their journey leads them into many dangers. But some of the worst dangers, Posy soon finds, lie deep within her own heart. Now Posy must find the courage and forgiveness needed to save the story and, most important, heal the heartache she knew in her own world. (from Goodreads)

Main Characters:
~ Posy
~ Prince Kyran

Review: This book is right up there with some of the top fantasy, and it's a must-read for anyone who has ever called himself a fan of Narnia. Posy hates her life, with her parents always bickering, always fighting. One night when her own temper gets the better of her, she flees to a nearby library, intending to get lost in a book to hide from her problems for a while. And boy, does she get lost IN a book.

When she wakes up, she's surrounded by a whole bunch of people she doesn't know -- people who tell her that she is the Princess Evanthe. Even the owl in the corner treats her like the princess. Yet, she knows, just as they know, that she is not Evanthe. No, she is only Evanthe's replacement -- a girl called into a story so that the Plot would not be messed up. And what happened to Evanthe? Why, she ran away! It's going to take Posy's teaming up with the young Prince Kyran (a boy with whom she did not have a satisfactory first meeting) to go out beyond the Borders of the story to find the missing princess and bring her back.

Of course, that's just the beginning of the story. If I were to give you more, I'd be sunk in spoilers. Personally, I really enjoyed this book. I love the idea of characters being alive, doing things, living between the times readers pull their story off a shelf. Have you ever wondered why bits of a story seem different the second time you read a book? That's because the characters might not have acted it out exactly the same way as the first time you read it. And the whole theme of being word changers, someone who had the power to change the words within a story... from within the story. Amazing!

The characters themselves I found very unique for a fantasy. With these types of books, authors tend to stick cliche characters into their works, yet Ashlee Willis didn't. The prince was dashing, yet not perfect. The heroine struggled with emotions that linked her both to the story-world and her own. The owls were not typical of owls anywhere that I've read. Beginning the book, I got a deep sense of deja vu -- someone from our world called into a fantasy where they team up with an individual from that world to find missing royalty at the request of owls. "It's The Silver Chair all over again," I thought, but I was wrong. While this has elements that reminded me of Narnia, there's so much... more, for a lack of a better word. It was just a smashing read. And yes, I was glued to the pages and I finished it all in one day. 

Advisory: Just some of your usual fantasy violence. As certain characters let loose their evil intentions, others stray from the Plot, fights and battles ensue. Centaurs, ipotanes (centaurs with only two legs), mermaids, owls, and men fight and are killed/injured. Nothing is overly graphic, though, so I'd recommend this book for readers twelve and up. 

At one point, Posy looks into a mirror and notices her curves. While remaining clean, I found those paragraphs to be a bit awkward and would have preferred them left out. The author also later describes a mermaid -- again, clean, but just something to take note of.

Also, since it is a big part of the story, I need to mention it here: the romance angle. While I thought on the whole it was a sweet romance, I got a little annoyed with the physical aspect of it. The couple shared (if my count was correct) five kisses, and the description of his muscles or their holding hands (or other physical contact) I didn't like. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

*Please note: I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for my honest review.*

Click here to buy The Word Changers on Amazon!

Life Behind the Wall

Title: Life Behind the Wall

Series: None

Year: 2014

Author: Robert Elmer

Summary: Cut off by the Iron Curtain. This epic tale extends across generations and unfolds against the backdrop of a dangerous Cold War Berlin. This historically accurate, action-packed, three-books-in-one edition features three generations of resourceful teens living in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. Titles include: Candy Bombers: In spring 1948, teenage cousins Erich and Katarina are simply trying to survive in war-ravaged Berlin when the Soviets blockade the east side of the city, isolating its citizens---and starving them---behind the Iron Curtain. Beetle Bunker: In August 1961, Sabine discovers a forgotten underground bunker. Though she first uses it to escape her crowded home, she soon realizes her hideout could possibly take her family under the wall to West Berlin and freedom! Smuggler's Treasure: In spring 1989, life is good in West Germany, and even the Cold War seems to be thawing in the warmer weather. But as Liesl works on a class project about the history of the wall, she stumbles onto a startling secret no one will talk about. (from Goodreads)

Main Characters:
~ Erich Becker
~ Sabine DeWitt
~ Leisl Stumpff

Review: When I first picked up this book, I expected three tales, relatively the same, about life behind the wall -- the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall. And while it was all I expected historically (and more besides, I might add), everything in Life Behind the Wall exceeded my every hope. For one thing, it's not three separate tales. Well, technically it is, but it emcompasses the story of one family, in three parts. Each one is cleverly connected to the others, and I finished the book feeling very satisfied, as if I'd just read a full novel rather than three simple tales. Exciting, dangerous, fun, and rich -- this is one book you're not going to want to miss.

Candy Bombers starts things out with thirteen-year-old Erich Becker who is eager to help his starving family in any way he can. And that includes sneaking onto an American air base and bringing home a chocolate candy bar. One successful mission encourages him to do more, but his second attempt turns around in a manner that he never expected. Erich is a wonderful hero, and I really enjoyed his story. I sympathized with his struggles, and I was really glad to see that he was a more-or-less prominent character in the other two stories.

Beetle Bunker picks up the story with Erich's half sister, Sabine, a young girl with polio. She can get around with crutches well enough, but her whole world changes when the Berlin Wall appears almost overnight... separating their home directly in half. The bunker she finds later on seems at first to be a safe haven, somewhere she could read Black Beauty in peace without having to worry about someone becoming offended for her reading an inappropriate book. She befriends a young boy who shares her dislike of the Wall, but what can two teenagers do against the cold hearts of their government? Sabine knows life on the wrong side of the wall is getting harder, and it's only a matter of time before danger envelopes everyone she loves. 

Smuggler's Treasure tells the last part of the tale, starring Sabine's daughter, Liesl. There is nothing more that Liesl wants in the world than to understand the past. Her mother and her grandmother won't speak of the days gone by, and even her beloved Onkle Erich doesn't really want to tell her what she yearns to know. When a school paper presents her with the opportunity to do a little research, Liesl dives right in. Finding out her family's greatest secret (or perhaps the greatest secret kept from her family) might take Liesl into strange places... even on the wrong side of the Wall where the Communist rule contradicts everything she believes. 

Advisory: Some violence; characters get into fights, get arrested and jailed, etc. but nothing graphic.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

*Please note: I received a copy of this book courtesy of BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.*

Click here to buy Life Behind the Wall on Amazon!