Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: Barbara Bamberger Scott

WINDHOLLOW and the AXE BREAKER, Windhollows Book 3 by Trayner Bane – Children’s Books, Action/Adventure, Fantasy

Part Three of the Windhollows series takes off with a bang, as we find an evil female on our hero’s trail and a sneaky scientist up to his old nefarious tricks.

The book opens with a stirring encounter between the glimmering being who was once Billy Molskin’s girlfriend, Skylar, in a contest of wills with Nila Windhammer. Nila previously transformed the schoolgirl into a monster called the Spent of Jealousy, using Dr. Rip Stinker’s toxic Essence of Ripinum.

Into the fray comes Blast, a once-powerful creature who had been given the task of guarding Skylar. His failure makes him more determined than ever to intervene, but Nila forces him out into the Formidable Fields where he is doomed to lose his memory or his freedom. To accomplish his banishment, Nila wields the Malus wand, a gift from her father and her weapon of eternal vengeance against those who killed her parents.

Meanwhile, Stinker and his faithful pet Pootrick are entering the Silent Pass where Stinker plans to enslave its inhabitants, the nomadic Silencians. But after disabling some of them with Ripinum, he is confronted by Nila, who informs him that they have a far more important mission. They must locate Billy, who is on a quest to find a mystical staff that contains powers she wants for herself.

Billy, with help from his friends Teddy and Wendy, is indeed looking for the staff, finding clues from ancient books and soon realizes he also needs to get possession of four magic stones. Could these be connected to a bracelet of three orange cubes found by Stinker when he attacked the Spent of Hatred? Could they be the work of the immortal Stonehammer?

Billy’s determination is temporarily sapped by the lingering illness of his father, who may have a clue to the missing stone collection. When his father passes away, Billy will finally access the inner strength he needs to put the legendary weapon, Axe Breaker, to its proper use and win a momentous victory.

Fans of the Windhollows series will note this story is taking on topics of significant proportions. Themes of the death of a parent, the coming-of-age of the young hero and the hard-fought triumph over evil give this volume greater gravitas, perhaps moving it towards a perception of Billy as a kind of Beanian Hobbit: ready to take up the call to duty, even if it means putting himself in harm’s way.

All in all, this is a perfect read for those seeking adventure!

*Special note: Author Trayner Bane has a delicious recipe for BackFire Cookies on his website! He’s requesting his readers try the recipe and post a photo on the Windhollows Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheWindhollows

This book can be ordered here.

Please follow the links to read the Chanticleer Reviews for Air of Vengeance and Darkness Falls

November 21, 2018
THE BUBBLE: Everything I Learned as a Target of the Political, and Often Corrupt, World of Youth Sports by Maya Castro – NonFiction, Youth Sports, Soccer

Maya Castro, the daughter of a Puerto Rican father and Anglo mother, mixes memoir and personal essay styles in a passionate narrative describing her experiences as a minority soccer player on an elite, mostly white, high-school soccer team.

Castro joined her middle-school soccer team in seventh grade, in order to avoid dodgeball in regular PE. She soon finds playing soccer better than “roller-coaster rides, a sugar-rush, or a present on Christmas day.” From that innocuous beginning, playing the game becomes her passion, and by the end of middle school, she develops advanced skills in the sport.

At the end of eighth grade, Maya opts to transfer to a high school in a different part of town which has a highly-rated soccer program, where she hopes to learn more about the sport and further improve her skills. That decision leads to personal growth as an athlete but also results in a painful, profound loss of innocence relative to the roles and motives of adults associated with this program dominated by school politics, “entitled” students, and hints of racism.

Castro cites detailed descriptions of events and her perceptions. These often engender reader empathy and raise reader awareness of the emotional fragility of early adolescence. They also suggest that a “wink and a nod” are still alive and well in many areas of competitive team sports.

This story works well and carries with it a social statement. The voice is strong and unique, often written in vernacular. It reveals interesting aspects of the author’s personality—passion, humor, and a well-defined sense of right and wrong–someone the reader would like to know, and someone we will want to hear from again.

Maya relates her experiences to those of other athletes whose stories have recently been “front page” news. She provides a strong indictment of individuals who “… overlook misconduct (for their own personal gain) rather than correct it.”

Her concluding words will resonate with many parents, coaches, and fans. “The sooner the ‘grown-ups’ on the sidelines understand that to overlook corruption, in all of its stages of severity is to enable it, the safer and more meaningful the youth athletic environment will be.”

The Bubble: Everything I Learned as a Target of the Political, and Often Corrupt, World of Youth Sports by Maya Castro is a strong statement, reflective of one young woman’s experience in youth sports, a treatise that coaches, parents, and young players will do well to note. Recommended.

November 5, 2018
INFANTS OF THE BRUSH – A Chimney Sweep’s Story by A.M. Watson – Historical Fiction, Chimney Sweep/Child Labor, Georgian Era

A little boy is sold into an apprenticeship as a chimney sweep in eighteenth-century London, and soon learns the horrors of that profession.

Six-year-old Egan lost his father from an accident at sea, and now, may lose his little sister from illness. The only way his penniless mother can save her daughter is to sell Egan into an apprenticeship in order to purchase medicine. As a small boy, he will make an ideal “broomer;” a businessman named Armory gladly takes Egan into the fold. Under Armory’s absolute dictatorship he will sleep with other wretched boys on soot sacks, eat gruel, get bloody beatings for the slightest infraction, and risk his life almost daily.

One small comfort is an older boy named Pitt who empathizes with the new boy’s homesickness and instructs him, strictly but not unkindly, in the tricks of the trade. The lads find ways to cheat Armory when possible, striving to save up money to buy themselves out of his domination. But the dangers are real and terrifying. Broomers work inside chimneys and on rooftops, sometimes naked to make themselves even smaller in order to fit inside flues as confining as nine by nine inches. Many a boy, Egan learns, has been burned to death or horribly disfigured, crippled for life or asphyxiated inhaling poisonous gasses.

The only protection the boys receive is a periodic bath with brushes and brine to “toughen” their skin. When Egan finds a valuable piece of jewelry, he believes he has a way out. But to make it happen he must deal with a larcenous silversmith, and in the end, finds himself dependent on the greedy Armory for assistance.

Debut novelist Watson was drawn to compose this gripping tale when she studied a 1722 legal case – Armory v. Delamirie – on which she has based Infants of the Brush. She felt compelled to examine the conditions endured by chimney sweeps, most of them children, in that era; her fictional hero Egan and his cohort emerged from that research. She depicts the London street scene with an ear for the dialect and an eye for the unsavory aspects that made life for all poor people at the time depressing and disastrous. An occasional visit by the sweeps to a grand home shows the contrast; Watson writes of an instance when a rich boy sees Egan and runs screaming from the room. There are some kind faces, though, such as the church folk Egan encounters one lonely Christmas and a sympathetic sea captain who is able to change his circumstances for the better.

Watson, a teacher and an attorney, has clearly made a serious investigation into the general conditions of London in 1720, regulations regarding chimney cleaning, monetary values and other vital elements needed to construct this vibrant story. The characters of Egan, Pitt, Armory, and others are skillfully drawn, and the harrowing images of young children forced into brutal, life-threatening labor are unforgettable.

Infants of the Brush offers a disturbing but elucidating glimpse into a time and place when, even in a civilized country, poor children’s lives were shockingly undervalued, and their labor exploited. In the author’s skillful hands, though, there is a welcome ray of hope shining through to the conclusion of this haunting saga.

October 18, 2018
DRAGON SPEAKER – Book One of The Shadow War Saga by Elana A. Mugdan – Fantasy, Family Saga, Action/Adventure

Dragon Speaker, Book One of The Shadow War Saga by Elana A. Mugdan won the CIBA 2018 Grand Prize in the OZMA Awards for Fantasy Books! Congratulations!

A young girl is charged with rescuing a dragon and, ultimately, saves her world in this wide-reaching fantasy conception of love, war, danger, and magic. Massive amounts of magic!

Keriya is a simple girl of no great pedigree who lives in Aeria where everyone except her wields some form of magic. At age 14, she knows she will not be selected to prove herself worthy of a greater destiny in the annual Ceremony of Choice. But she has to try. Even though the consequences of failure will be a life of slavery, she yearns for the opportunity. She approaches the selection committee and begs ─no, demands ─ a chance.

Like the others chosen in the Ceremony, she goes alone into the forest to seek her destiny. There she meets the great god Shivnath who assigns her the task of locating and protecting the last of the dragons, Thorion. She must fight against the most pervasive evil; a monstrously powerful force named Necrovar, skulking in the land of Allentria. In giving her the necessary, but unnamed, gifts to accomplish the task, Shivnath gives her shining purple eyes that mark her as unique, perhaps dangerously so.

However, no one believes Keriya’s claim that Shivnath has given her the ability to fight Necrovar without help. But Keriya knows her destiny. She takes the name Soulstar to give herself inner strength, and the adventure begins.

Keriya’s journey is longer and more crooked than she had envisioned, and soon she is joined by her childhood rival, Roxanne who has many magical powers and by Fletcher, whose magic, like his personality, is rather weak. Dangers surround the trio at every turn, and they soon learn that trust must be earned and friendships must be carefully guarded.

Author and award-winning fantasy film-maker Mugdan has been writing this intriguing saga since she was in high school, and perhaps because of that, has retained a remarkable empathy for her teen heroine. Keriya is a multi-faceted character, capable of getting fed up with her shortcomings and ashamed of her failures while maintaining in her spirit the belief that she will have what it takes to act courageously in a crisis. Mugdan movingly depicts Keriya gaining the skills and confidence she will need for cosmic combat. The author also shows this growth in Keriya’s companions Roxanne and Fletcher, who are themselves facing challenges they never dreamt of; and the three are gradually gaining respect for each other.

Mugdan also manages to make the dragon a sensitive, likable player in this fantasy, while at the same time creating some super-unlikeable evil-doers: shadowbeasts, giant slugs, bogspectres, and of course the almost unconquerable Necrovar. Add to this a bit of romance, some supernatural magic, and at least one acrimonious enemy lurking in the background, and you have the recipe for a highly successful first in series fantasy novel.

September 28, 2018
BACK STORY ALASKA by Lance Brewer – Travelogue, Vacation Adventure, Alaska, Memoir

In 1993, Brewer took advantage of an opportunity to go on a fishing expedition in a remote part of Alaska. As the bush pilot guided the plane to their first destination in the great northern wilderness, Brewer was so entranced that he told a fellow passenger that he intended to buy a float plane, learn to pilot it, and “explore Alaska.” He did that and more over the next twenty-some years. Brewer states that he did not set out to write a book. Rather, one day as he reflected on his time in Alaska, he wrote a single poem, and within a month, twenty-two reflective poems followed. Brewer wrote the back stories to each poem, and the Back Story Alaska was born. Each chapter ends with an integrated poem which cleverly summarizes the events of the chapter. Throughout the memoir/travelogue are photographs of wild animals and outstanding Alaskan scenery.

After that first encounter with the Alaskan backcountry, Brewer, a lawyer in southern California, gradually established Camp Brewer, a summer retreat for friends and family. It’s there that he shares the experience of the rustic charms of the forty-ninth state. He gained multiple ratings as a seaplane, ski-plane and helicopter pilot which he uses as a means to explore Alaska. The wildlife available for viewing around his camp include brown bears, moose, eagles, foxes, wolves, and salmon so plentiful that in places, a fisherman may find himself walking on a living carpet of them.

Stories of Brewer’s “Campers” – those he’s introduced to his cherished wilderness – give testimony to the effect that Alaska has on a newcomer, a surreal combination of feelings that, Brewer says, “stir yet calm.”

A practiced raconteur, Brewer writes with intelligence and emotion, sparked by his wry sense of humor. He gives each visitor to the camp a nickname – usually the animal that the person most wanted to see – so there are tales of Mr. Fox, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Eagle, and a little boy named Master Bird. His observations about his Campers, the habits of the game they encounter, the many still largely unspoiled regions of the Alaskan bush with its capricious, unpredictable seasons and rapidly changing tides, will whet the armchair traveler’s urge to get up and go north.

One segment is especially gripping, as Brewer follows the running of the famed Iditarod dogsled race from stop to stop, overseeing the action in an unpredictable ski plane that took two hours to start in the 20-below temperatures.

Brewer’s writing serves as a travelogue, reminding us that Alaska, often depicted on US maps as a small inset, is twice as big as Texas, holding more coastline than all the other states put together. The many color photographs give the book further allure, taken by Nat Geo award-winning photographer Bob Dreeszen, whom the author calls Ugashik Bob after the settlement where they first met.

A wolf nestled in a stand of blue flowers, foxes sparring, an eagle making a landing on the surface of the water – these images and more add piquancy to a book already spiced with poems, family nostalgia, a heaping helping of rough adventure and a frisson of danger.

September 12, 2018
GOD ANSWERS SCIENCE! FROM ORIGIN to END by Pastor Gary W. Driver – Religion, Science, Inspirational

In this highly detailed and illustrated work, Pastor Gary W. Driver demonstrates a genuine zeal and unwavering respect for scientific knowledge, while holding to his conviction that, contrary to the opinion of many scientists, God cannot be left out of the picture when considering how the universe began, how it is sustained and how it might someday end.

Driver quotes Einstein to support his ideas: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” [Albert Einstein, “Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium”, 1941]

Starting with the premise that the biblical account of creation needed science to develop to the point that it could be accurately understood, Driver cites the Big Bang Theory as supporting the story in Genesis that God simply created all that was, from nothing. To make everything from nothing requires a plan and a plan requires a planner. According to Driver, Edwin Hubble revealed the profound vastness of the universe and the inability for humankind to count the stars (both truths, the vastness of the universe and the number of stars, are stressed in the Christian Bible.) Similarly, he notes that the Bible describes space as a fabric. Scientists also use that metaphor to explain three-dimensional space.

Driver suggests that the “days” of creation described in the Bible are symbolic and that any one of those days could have lasted eons. He goes into detail propounding his ideas of the geologic and anthropological happenings of each “day.” He does not shy away from tackling the concept of evolution, seeing earlier humanoid life forms as simpler versions of human beings. He posits that on the seventh day, God’s work was complete, and we continue to live in that day, experiencing the challenges of ecological change and the natural working of the law of entropy. He views God as the sustainer, who will in His own time see to the creation of a new heaven and earth, already part of the divine blueprint.

Driver writes in a conversational yet thoughtful and organized manner, using charts, photos and numerous quotations from the Bible and the annals of science to support his theories. His arguments for God’s hand in creation bear weight because his research and studious attention to many arcane scientific facts go further than many standard treatments of this subject. He has labored diligently to confront and answer most of the arguments that scientists, naturalists or skeptics might produce.

God Answers Science! is an engaging treatise on the role of religion in the cosmos; it has the potential to solidify the beliefs of the author’s religious cohort, while perhaps changing the views of those with a more secular mindset.

August 30, 2018
PURGE ON THE POTOMAC, Volume 3 of the Patriot Series by David Thomas Roberts – Political, Spy, Thriller/Suspense

When the U.S. is threatened from within, help comes from within in David Thomas Roberts’ political thriller featuring the Texas Rangers and their leader Pops Younger in a pitched war against the establishment.

In a generation or so from now, the U.S. has its first female president, Annabelle Bartlett, a politically savvy left-winger who has come to the office after the attempted impeachment of her predecessor, Tyrell Johnson. The impeachment proceedings and the dirty tricks that provoked it, cause a mighty stir in Texas. When several stalwart Texas heroes are murdered, a battle between the feds and the Texas Rangers heats up. The Rangers win. Secession is in the air, and it’s clear that President Bartlett will only make matters worse.

As Texas Ranger Commandant Pops Younger, a grizzled die-hard known for his Stetson hat, Wrangler denims, and handlebar mustache, often repeats, “Texans may forgive, but they don’t forget.” And sometimes, as in this case, if things go too far, they may not forgive either. In league with ex-Navy Seal and former CIA operative Zach Turner, Younger will trace the corruption he is sure he smells in the U.S. body politic all the way to the top.

Suspicious election tactics aside, President Bartlett is an intelligent adversary who chooses political gain over democratic functioning. When a conservative Supreme Court justice mysteriously drowns while on vacation to be replaced by a corrupt Bartlett appointee, straight talkers and straight shooter Younger and Turner have had enough. The ground will shift under Bartlett’s feet, and a significant defector from her ranks will make Younger’s case unshakeable.

Describing himself as a “serial entrepreneur,” Roberts offers a highly complicated plot that begins at the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, D.C. and ends there, amidst the carnage that began in earnest when Bartlett took on the Texans.

Roberts’ twisted tale is filled with motifs that seem almost like the new normal in the current American political life: rumors of rigged elections, Russian involvement, a power-hungry leadership, and the failure of moderates to act for a just cause ─ all for the sake of staying in office.

Purge on the Potomac is the third book in The Patriot series by David Thomas Roberts, focusing on the grit and ethics of men like Younger and highlighting the dogged sense of independence that Texans, in general, seem to exude. A few glimpses of the characters’ private lives and tenderer feelings give emotional tone to this hard-edged and sometimes violent saga.

August 28, 2018
DEEP BLUE ETERNITY by Natasha Boyd – Supense, Romance, Contemporary

When two strangers meet on a small island, they quickly find their destinies intertwined in ways that are painful, and potentially passionate.

Eighteen-year-old Olivia, or Livvy, steals a credit card and some meds from her parents and runs away from home – forever. She is carrying the key to a cottage on Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina, where she intends to retreat.

The cottage is an inheritance from her grandmother to Olivia and her sister Abby. Abby died tragically, and her memory continually haunts Livvy. To add to her problems, the cottage is already occupied. A young man named Tom has been in residence for quite some time. Forced to acknowledge that he has some claim to the place, Livvy accepts the arrangement, and she and Tom begin a strange, strained stand-off of tentative, suspicious acquaintance that very slowly morphs into a kind of trust that neither of them had anticipated.

Interacting with the island folk and gradually piecing together bits of their shared past, Tom and Livvy creep towards romance. It’s no easy road; there are jealousies, misunderstandings and a fair share of subdued rage on both sides. To get to a sense of complete understanding, both must shed their anger, bitterness, and mistrust, and to come to grips with secrets from their shared past that threaten like storm clouds.

Told from the separate, alternating perspectives of Olivia and Tom, Deep Blue Eternity casts light on two tormented souls. Livvy is flippant at times, at other times, almost immobilized by depression, while Tom vacillates between overly guarded and domineering. As they observe one another, the reader learns how burdened each one is, how much they long to exorcise their ghosts and find simple contentment.

Award-winning author Boyd (Eversea) has constructed this psychological romance with admirable patience and skill. The reader sees Olivia and Tom interacting like two people learning to waltz, beginning with teetering missteps and embarrassing stumbles and fumbles, through some moments of shared confidence that quickly fade, until they are finally, gracefully moving as one. Though both are young and wounded, by the end of this engaging story, the reader feels that they have a chance for enduring love. Boyd has a gift for dialog and is comfortable with the setting, convincingly conveying the charms of Daufuskie and its inhabitants.

Readers of intelligent, romantic fiction will be enthralled by this complex exploration of two people forced together by fate, trying to turn what could be a disaster into a lasting bond.

Deep Blue Eternity by Natasha Boyd won 1st Place in the 2015 Chatelaine Awards.

August 27, 2018
FISHING WITH HYENAS by Theresa Mathews – Narrative Non-Fiction, Memoir, Sea-Faring, Romance

Romance, typhoons, and exotic scenery highlight this exceptional sea-faring memoir about love and surviving loss by debut author, Theresa Mathews.

When the author first meets Bart, he strikes her as a “wonderful blend of sophistication and blue collar.” Captain of a fishing boat, he prowls the seas for albacore, the long-fin tuna beloved of sushi fans. To hook up with this romantic figure, Mathews must accept the reality of connection with one of the “Hyenas”—a group of hardy fishermen (and some women) who give each other humorous nicknames and look after one another at sea and “on the beach” (their term for being on dry land). Bart fishes for three-month stretches, so it isn’t long before Mathews decides to drop her professional career and sign on as the cook and a deckhand on his next voyage.

On that voyage, Mathews learns more than she ever imagined about the perils and pleasures of the sea, tuna fishing, and—herself. She hauls in the big fish, cutting and wounding her hands so severely she can barely hold a toothbrush. She cooks and also keeps watch, once needing the assistance of a fellow crewman to avoid a close encounter with another vessel.

It gradually becomes clear, as the Hyenas often say, that “Mother Ocean” changes a person. On land, Bart is talkative and flirtatious; at sea, he is the Captain with no time for chitchat. On their last voyage together, the couple, now married, discovers that the going rate for a tuna haul is half what it had been. They are beyond broke, so Bart keeps fishing while Mathews stays on land and works. Then she receives a call—her beloved husband has died at sea of a heart attack.

Flashing from the shock of that news to the halcyon, sometimes perilous and often amusing days at sea with a cast of colorful characters too fascinating to be fictional, Fishing With Hyenas evokes heartthrob and heartbreak. Mathews’ creative competence is beyond question, as this skillfully constructed narrative attests. Well-chosen photographs bring the episodes alive.

The memoir is partly catharsis and partly a paean to Bart and his many staunch friends. Mathews deftly weaves the lore of the independent fishermen and adventures on the water through every page: the rescue of a kitten, the freeing of a bird, camaraderie among fishing families, and the occasional spectacular sunset.

The aftermath of Bart’s death leaves Mathews grief-stricken, penniless and fighting for his legacy—the boat he had borrowed everything to possess. But we know from her courageous account that Mathews will overcome any hardship—having experienced a weathered life at sea and the loss of a good man.

Fishing With Hyenas won 1st Place in the JOURNEY Awards, the narrative non-fiction category of the Chanticleer International Book Awards in 2017.

August 22, 2018
WHEN STARS GO OUT by Ransom Grey – Y/A Dystopian Thriller, Fantasy, Christian

Welcome to the new America, the one where everyone who reaches age 18 is shipped off to heavily controlled (albeit, dark and oppressive) compounds to work. Don’t worry, your meals and your housing are already taken care of. We’ll pay you, too. Sure, there’s a curfew and some rules… but that’s the price you pay for order.

What’s that? You don’t want to follow the rules? You don’t want to work in our compounds?

Guards!

When Reed turns 18-years-old he’s shipped off to one of several heavily controlled compounds, part of a new national order known as the Great Reorganization Operation, or GRO. Once there, he spends his days as an involuntary worker at “The Hill” where he lives in a dorm and works in a factory. He receives reasonable pay, is fed and housed, and has some hours before curfew each day to mingle with other entrapped young people. There is no choice in the matter. Suddenly, Reed’s life is not his own.

At first, he’s furious. He longs to live without the heavy-handed discipline those who fall out of line endure. His roommates, Riley and Reagan, warn him that the ruling clique known as the Council has brutal methods of treating those who speak out against their governance. Better to keep your head down, they tell him. Better to stay alive.

But then Reed notices Nathan, a guy that never seems to have a bad day. Reed wants to learn his secret. At great risk, he joins with Nathan and other young people who meet covertly. To his surprise, the group’s focus centers around how to oppose the Council, the GRO, and everything those institutions stand for. Elijah, their leader, gives Reed a radically new perspective. But nothing is perfect and soon Reed is forced into a position where he must choose to sacrifice his own safety for another’s well-being. His decision sends him on a path he could’ve never anticipated.

Debut author, Ransom Grey, offers an adventurous mix of speculative and dystopic vision for the Y/A audience. In fact, his futuristic dystopia is unnervingly close to current day America. When Stars Go Out echoes the totalitarian overlord vibe of George Orwell’s 1984 with a cast of characters who are brave and honorable pitted against the machinations of a society gone very wrong. Grey’s prose is solid, with compassionate leads and a few scenes of violence to underscore the hatefulness of the GRO and the Council.

A dark dystopian fantasy, When Stars Go Out posits a credible projection from today’s current reality of a nation led by a dark and dreadful class of elitists, with the young people secretly meeting at the GRO facility as the only ones who have the guts to save it. Mr. Grey’s work is published with Defiance Press.

August 20, 2018