Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Fantasy

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
MONEY JANE: The Hunt for a Legendary Magic Thief, Book 2 of How to Set the World on Fire Series by T.K. Riggins – Fantasy, Sword & Stone, Middle-Grade

Money Jane won First Place in the 2018 CIBAs OZMA Awards for Fantasy Novels. Congratulations!

Living in a fantastical world filled with magic and mythical creatures, Kase Garrick is studying at The Academy. His main course of study focuses on becoming a great warrior. As he grows close to his friend Lenia, he’s influenced by what is dear to her. Lenia is working hard at becoming a well-respected and powerful wizard.

But that isn’t the problem. The troubles begin when Lenia’s magical black trident is stolen. It’s a bold and surprising attack by a hooded figure who has the mysterious resemblance and mystical presence of a legendary criminal, a cloaked thief who lived long before their time. Could this be that daring, and feared Money Jane? Welcome to the second book in T. K. Riggins series, How to Set the World on Fire, Money Jane: The Hunt for a Legendary Magic Thief.

Kase’s skills have grown by leaps and bounds as part of this group of fierce combatants in training. Their battle cry resonates as they shout in unison, “Dragoon!” Yet, this adventure will truly test Kase’s fortitude and commitment to what’s right. When Lenia is devastated by the theft of the trident, which is the focus of her wizardry, Kase devotedly fights by her side. He sets out to track down this devious thief and return what was taken from her.

Will Kase be able to match wits with this ancient culprit, and how will he confront him? On his mission, Kase plunges into a magical world that’s full of new people and many surprises – some beautiful and some dangerous. In the midst of all this, Kase and his friends are further challenged in the annual Academy competition. Others at the Academy are plotting to beat Kase’s team at solving the difficult and complex scenarios that require excellent execution of skills from the three interwoven studies: Warrior, Wizard, and Scholar.

In this school of magic world where balance exists between the strength of a warrior, the intellectual prowess of a scholar, and the passionate magic of a wizard, Riggins creates vulnerable, but eager characters who are learning that “we do our best when we work together.” Dragoon!

How to Set the World on Fire, book one of the self-titled series, won Grand Prize in the OZMA Awards for Fantasy in the 2017 Chanticleer International Book Awards Competition.

August 5, 2018
HOW to SET the WORLD on FIRE by OZMA Award-Winning Author, T.K. Riggins – Sword & Sorcery, YA, Coming of Age, Dragons

Are you looking for a magical fix this summer? Pick up the award-winning Young Adult book, How to Set the World on Fire by 2017 Chanticleer Award-Winning author for the OZMA – Fantasy Awards, T.K.Riggins and sink into a worthy example of the “school of magic” sub-genre sparked by the Harry Potter series.

In this fast-paced, good-humored story, Kase Garrick, grandson of legendary warrior Roman Garrick, takes up residence in the Warriors castle at The Academy, reuniting with his older sister Cali, a member of the school’s Scholars branch. From his first day, Kase gains an enemy in Cali’s boyfriend Niveous. Sent to the Disciplinary Room thanks to Niveous’s trickery, Kase makes fast friends with the two girls also in detention: Talen, a sweet but awkward savant, and rebellious Lenia, whose control over fire tends dangerously toward pyromania.

Kase hones his skills in weaponry while he and Lenia flirt themselves into love, while everything is building in anticipation to the Quest Series, the annual Academy competition. The teams are usually made up of four students from a single school, but Cali, Kase, Lenia, and Talen bend the rules to form their own team. They find support from the Grand Master and Professor Bright, the elements instructor, both of whom see the unusual potential in these four students.

When the Quest Series begins, the plot coalesces into an exciting journey, not only into the four corners of the realm, but also into the students’ psyches. Each of the five Events poses mental, physical, and emotional challenges for Cali’s team, The Liberati. Each student’s mental aptitude and fortitude are tested, as well, but not only by their ordeals—some teams join with Niveous’s crew to hamstring the favored four. Their malice, however, turns to alarm when it becomes apparent that The Liberati–Kase, and Lenia in particular—have powers far beyond those developed by The Academy.

Being a school of magic sub-genre, of course, one would be right in expecting the same feel and some of the same elements setting the stage as one would find in Harry Potter. For example, in this book, you’ll find former students turned evil, a headmaster, various schools within the larger school, an exciting and dangerous competition, Kase’s singular magic, and spiders. Another similarity fans will rejoice in, like Harry Potter, the author has just disclosed that this is indeed Book One of a series!

More impressively, the story holds up very well on its own, and author Riggins manages to create a world that has one foot in fantasy and the other in up-to-the-minute reality. Sage mirrors, for instance, are only slightly more magical than smartphones and the kids take selfies to prove their accomplishments. Very smart.

What Riggins also gets very right is the way he integrates words of wisdom into the competition. In one instance, the Grand Master exhorts them to: “Know who you are, but don’t be discouraged by who you are not.” And in another: “Sometimes the hardest part about finding something beyond your reach, is finding yourself first.” But avid readers will find The Liberati’s call to arms the best advice of all: “To the library!”

T.K. Riggins won the 2017 OZMA (Fantasy) Grand Prize in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards for How to Set the World on Fire!

June 26, 2018
ETHYR by M.P. Follin – Middle-Grade Fantasy, Gamers, Action/Adventure

Twelve-year-old Skyler Beam cops a squat onto his bean bag chair and logs into his favorite game Ethyr – his only real form of pleasure these days. He powers up his avatar, SkyWyz12, and goes in search of his friends across the lunar surface but strikes out. He is alone for the moment. Soon, a nameless player appears, who possesses impressive skills beyond the game’s design, and takes an interest in Skyler. Within minutes, the silent companion gets a bit too clingy for comfort, but SkyWyz12 can’t shake the irritating avatar and then discovers why. “Skyler Beam, I’ve been looking for you.” Skyler freaks, logs out, and slams his laptop cover closed.

Ethyr is a multi-player game offering different scenarios such as the House of Dragon dojo where players spar (clobber) each other to earn colored belts, or Lunarscape, where, propelled by jetpacks, they can fly around the Moon.

Skyler tells his friend and fellow Ethyr enthusiast, Ellie, of his encounter with the silent avatar and asks her to join him in the game later that day. She agrees, and they meet inside the dojo, along with two friends from his old school, Eddie and Brian. Soon, a mysterious, silent opponent appears, and the game morphs into something real. Skyler’s friends disappear, and he is locked in hand-to-hand combat with his opponent – with actual swords. Skyler gets his butt kicked and ends up with a sword point tickling his throat. His opponent, Neshama, suddenly allows him up and begins to answer a few questions. Once Skyler escapes the game, he grows more determined to learn more about Neshama’s and his secrets.

Now Skyler’s world begins to tilt off its axis. Unexplainable incidents and events occur all around him. He craves answers, but there is only one way to find them: he must re-enter Ethyr. Unfortunately, to do so, may come at the incredible cost of his life or lives of those closest to him.

Follin excels at creating the settings for Skyler’s everyday life both inside and outside of Ethyr. Her smooth prose, realistic dialogue, tension and conflict between the characters, descriptions, surprising twists and turns, and solid pacing make for a delightful read for all ages.

Ethyr – the novel – is a real pleasure to read!

M.P. Follin won 1st Place in the 2016 Gertrude Warner Awards for Ethyr.

June 18, 2018
SCHOOL of DEATHS (The Scythe Wielder’s Secret Book 1) by Christopher Mannino – YA Fantasy, Coming of Age, Magical Worlds

Christopher Mannino’s young adult fantasy novel, School of Deaths, opens with a portrayal of adolescent angst that goes waaaaay beyond “I have nothing to wear!” or “Oh, no! I have a zit!”

Readers will immediately sympathize with the main character, Suzie Sarnio, who’s having the worst first day of eighth grade ever. For starters, she looks like death. Seriously. For mysterious reasons, she’s lost so much weight over the last three months that her bones are about to burst through her skin. Her black hair is stringy, and she peers out at the world through lifeless, gray eyes. There’s no chance of her blending into the crowd.

Everyone wants to talk about her appearance. Her parents, her brother, her friends, her teachers, everyone comments on how terrible she looks. Just what every girl wants to hear, right? As if being thirteen wasn’t hard enough! No matter how much Suzie eats, she can’t gain weight. Of course, everyone assumes she’s anorexic.

To top it off, she’s having nightmares in which a grim-reaper-like dude tells her, “I’ve come to take you back. You are a Death.” And then it really happens. The doorbell rings and there he is, the Grim Reaper in all his glory, and he does indeed take Suzie away. Take a deep breath and join Suzie as she travels – not over the rainbow – but to The World of Deaths.

Once over her bafflement of how she got there, Suzie learns about her locale at the School of Deaths. It’s a bit like Hogwarts, but she’s not learning to be a wizard. No, she’s in training to be a “Death,” one of those who reaps and transports souls that have died from the World of the Living to the World of the Dead. She doesn’t study the use of a wand but instead takes classes on how to use the iconic scythe pictured with grim reapers. It’s very difficult but Suzie is determined to wield it like a pro, to reap and transport with the best of them.

If at the end of one year she passes the test given to all first-year Deaths, she can return home to her family, her memory of time spent in this ghostly school erased. The odds are heavily against her; most Deaths fail the test and must remain forever. To make matters super worse, Suzie is the only female in the school! The last one, Lovethar, attended more than a million years ago and the school hasn’t fully recovered from her scandalous dealings with dangerous dragons. So, Suzie has her work cut out for her.

Students and even some faculty are cruel and go out of their way to throw shade her way. She’s no cream puff, however, and refuses to be intimidated, at least in public. Hermione Granger herself would be impressed. After all, she had female classmates and professors while poor Suzie manages all girl-stuff entirely on her own. Fortunately, there are a few kind students who dare to befriend her and stick up for her when she’s bullied by the nastiest of the boys. Billy, Jason, and Frank help Suzie stand her ground in and out of the classroom. She and her squad become thick as thieves and join forces to discover what really happened to Lovethar.

Their investigation will also lead them to unlock the mysteries of the school’s servants, the “Elementals,” usually referred to with the slur, ‘Mentals. The author does a bang-up job describing these fascinating beings that come in various sizes and colors, with multiple attributes of plants and animals. Suzie and the boys are awed by a plant-like woman and winged boys, a seer with black eye sockets and a man whose skin has blue stripes.

They’re even more intrigued by the rivalrous history between the Deaths and the Elementals. It’s not surprising the Elementals revolt on the school’s campus, but it makes the foursome’s contact with them incredibly dangerous. Suzie feels tremendous compassion for them, but she can’t lose sight of her goal to get through the year, pass the test, and finally get home. That’s the plan, right? Hmmm, but if she succeeds, she’ll have to leave her friends and, well, one of them may be more than a friend. Yes, there’s a bit of romance tucked into all the suspense, and it adds a yummy complication.

From start to finish, this book rocks! It’s a story of female empowerment, the gifts of friendship, the curse of slavery, and the mystical mysteries of great beyond. It also makes the grade nailing the ubiquitous sexism and bullying students deal with as teenagers.

The YA audience will devour School of Deaths, as well as adults who love the genre. The prose and the plot sizzle with smarts and confidence. One finishes the book wanting more and thank goodness there is more. School of Deaths is the first volume in a series, The Scythe Wielder’s Secret. You’ll want to travel on with Suzie to volume 2, The Sword of Deaths, and to volume 3, Daughter of Deaths.

Christopher Mannino won 1st Place in the 2016 Chanticleer Int’l Writing Competition, in the Dante Rossetti Awards, for YA Fiction.

June 15, 2018
DRAGON ASCENDANTS (Luminess Legends Book 1) by Paul E. Vaughn – Epic Fantasy, Paranormal & Urban , Young Adult

Dragon Ascendants, Luminess Legends Book 1 WON First Place in the CIBA 2018 OZMA Awards for Fantasy Fiction. Congratulations!

A boy comes of age when he learns his true heritage in a magical, mountainous land of dwarves, elves, men, and dragons, which is threatened by a powerfully malevolent force.

Tallian is the adopted son of Meerkesh, a dwarf whose wife died when his only child, Killmesh, was just five years old. Killmesh and Tallian are the same age – 18 – but have very different personalities. Killmesh tries to please his father, but his responsibilities are almost overwhelming as the apparent heir to the role his father holds as Spokesman for their burrow.

Tallian works with all the others in the gem mines of the Furin Mountains, and because he towers over his co-workers, he works faster and finishes sooner than the others. Tallian spends his spare time walking alone in the woods where he discovers a dragon he names Emerald Wildfire.

When terrifying bats formed of rocks invade the burrows, things go from bad to worse. Killmesh, charged with guarding wagonloads of jewels, is drawn away by a villain who shows him an axe he longs to buy. It’s a set-up. While he is gone, all the gems go missing. Killmesh can’t take the disgrace. He runs away, finds the axe and uses it for violence, which he finds very satisfying. He joins up with the evil elf-dragon monster Fearoc, who is bent on finding Tallian’s birth parents. They slipped from his cruel grasp 18 years before, and he has vowed savage vengeance.

Meerkesh, seeing the desperate situation in the burrows, finally tells Tallian the story of his origins, setting the stage for a colossal battle between Tallian with his dwarf family and the dreaded Fearoc and his minions.

Dragon Ascendants (Luminese Book 1) is a well-constructed soon-to-be-classic YA fantasy by debut author Vaughn, who envisions this as the first part of a series. He has carefully laid the scene: Tallian, aided by his brash but brave friend Briskarr and Briskarr’s gentle sister Briska, faces a barrage of challenges from Fearoc, with more to be revealed in future volumes of the Luminess saga.

Vaughn conveys a steady, credible view of his mystical setting. Tallian is a readily likable hero, someone who has such love for his adopted dwarf clan that he will do everything in his power to save them. Killmesh, by contrast, is disturbed and impulsive, driven by some anger within that causes him to wreak havoc among his kin.

Magic interspecies transformations, sparkling gems, and powerful weapons that make great mischief in the wrong hands all underpin Vaughn’s plot, resulting in a fast-paced page-turner for every age.

June 9, 2018
CAMELOT’S QUEEN: GUINEVERE’S TALE BOOK 2 by Nicole Evelina – Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale

Meet Guinevere: a sage military adviser, a priestess of Avalon, and the mother of a dynasty. In Nicole Evelina’s Camelot’s Queen: Guinevere’s Tale (book two), Guinevere must learn to reconcile her past with her future; what she was with what she must become.

No longer a young lover with dreams of a home with her former betrothed, Guinevere must quickly learn how to be a queen and to navigate the rocky waters of marriage to the high king, Arthur Pendragon. Over time, Guinevere proves a great success until she cannot give Arthur the heir he needs.

Kidnapped by a ruthless man bent on revenge, Guinevere must find the strength to hold tight to her sanity while regaining her rightful place. Upon returning from her horrific ordeal, she finds her position as queen in jeopardy and her once-strong relationship crumbling as she struggles to hold her growing restlessness and loneliness at bay.

Book two of this series, which includes a map for easy reference, explores the nature of Guinevere’s struggle with duty: to self and her country. Once a girl with fanciful dreams of a quiet life, Guinevere must learn to put aside what she wants for what her country needs. After swearing to protect her people as Arthur’s queen, she knows that she must always sacrifice desire for obligation, even when the choice breaks her heart.

As a powerful Avalonian priestess capable of manipulating the elements with a literal flick of her finger, she must subjugate herself to a man who seeks her wisdom. And while Arthur respects her as the stronger of the two, Guinevere still suffers for her gender, legally equal as a ruler but never quite enough to command without her husband.

Hemmed in by the historical perimeters of this mythical queen, the author creates a surprisingly unique character. Fans of the original stories will enjoy this reimagined Guinevere with her priestess markings and battle-tested body. She is no damsel in distress. Familiar characters like Tristan, Gawain, and Bors, come to life, but this time, the Combrogi (aka Knights of the Round Table) take a backseat to the fairer sex who dominate the storyline. Lancelot will have readers swooning. And though the reader knows Guinevere seals her fate from the moment she chooses Lancelot as her champion, they will be cheering her on for taking charge of her happiness.

Camelot’s Queen, the second book in Nicole Evelina’s Guinevere’s Tale series, casts Guinevere as a jealous wife, a grieving mother, a capable priestess, and an exemplary military strategist, all as she juggles the ever-changing world she finds herself in.

Lovers of historical fiction, as well as those who enjoy fantasy, will delight in this gem.

The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy won the 2021 Series Grand Prize Award for Best Fiction Book Series.

May 10, 2018
SOULS UNTETHERED SAGA, Book 1 by K.J. McPike – YA Metaphysical, Contemporary, Action/Adventure
Lali Yavari has her hands full. She’s the oldest of five siblings, a bright, sensitive daughter of a scientist (her father) and a loving mother. Except, her mother up and abandoned the family leaving only a cryptic note behind. And now Lali’s having strange visions of things and people she does not know coupled with the disturbing ability to astral project her consciousness to another place—another dark and beautiful place.

Imagine her surprise when one of the people from her visions shows up as the new kid (#hottie_alert) at school! The surrounding cast includes her boy-crazy best friend, Paisley (and Paisley’s new annoying side-kick), and Nelson, a buddy Lali has grown up with since pre-school. Just to be clear: Nelson is not fond of NewBoy, Kai. In fact, Nelson is downright irritated over all the attention Lali is suddenly giving to the new boy. But Kai’s arrival at school is no accident. He knows more about Lali than she does—why she’s having visions and, perhaps more importantly, what the visions mean. He may even be able to help Lali decipher her mother’s note, thus solving the puzzle of her whereabouts.

But his assistance comes with a price. Kai’s baby sister also disappeared shortly after she was born, and Kai wants Lali to find her. Kai knows something no one else does: Lali is the only person who can astral project to the alternate reality of Alea.

Alea is filled with thick white trees and grass that’s red and yellow. Beautiful or not, Lali soon learns that Alea is a dangerous place whose citizens are watched by a controlling government with a police force known as the “Eyes and Ears.” Could this surveillance operation have something to do with Lali’s mother’s disappearance? If so, what has her mother done to earn their wrath—and how is her mother connected to Alea in the first place? Past and current events collide in a deeply suspenseful narrative that will have readers turning page after page to determine which characters are good and which are evil. Fittingly, Lali’s brothers and sisters get in on the action and the adventure ramps up in nail-biting intensity.

McPike gives us a strong family full of teasing, quarreling and sarcasm, yet indisputable evidence of a deep and abiding trust between brothers and sisters alike. The dialogue is fast-paced, witty, and wholly believable throughout the book. Here we have a splendid contemporary metaphysical young adult novel that deserves a place alongside our beloved Ursala Le Quin.

Souls Untethered is the story of an endearing, resourceful teenager who will stop at nothing to reunite her family.

*Note: Souls Untethered original title, Xodus, won first place in the 2016 Dante Rossetti Awards for Paranormal Y/A Fiction.
- Writing: Excellent
- Sex: None
- Violence: Some physical combat, nothing graphic
- Narration: Prologue is in 3^rd person; the main novel is in 1^st person; Epilogue is in 3^rd
- Tense: Past
- Mood: Suspenseful with comedic moments
April 28, 2018
OVER by Sean P. Curley – Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Environmental

Over is a sci-fi novel of big ideas: the scourge on the future by today’s environmental negligence, the effects of biological warfare, even the development of a faster-than-light warp drive that opens the door to a future among the stars.

In this dystopian future, humankind must grapple with the repercussions from a technological advancement that essentially imparts immortality: immortality to a very few. Less than 30,000 of the world’s inhabitants, the privileged class, Overs, and the resentment of the billions of people who don’t fit into that category, aptly named, Unders.

Not only do the Overs have eternal life as their trump card, they also have a lock on the world’s economy, technology, medicine, and the ultimate say on who gets the benefits of their largesse, and who do not. There is even a global robotic “mind” that helps the Overs control every aspect of the planet—and that “mind” secretly gives birth to a “daughter.”

To say that the Overs rule is a benign dictatorship would be putting it mildly.

But the Overs must kowtow to the ruling familias who base their operations from Sri Lanka. These overlords do not respond kindly to threats against their near absolute rule.

Into this frothy brew comes Jaames (cq), a rebel leader in Denver where most of the action takes place; Demetrius, the Over’s boss of bosses for The Americas; and Anika, Demetrius’ comely daughter who has a mind of her own and a relentless and ultimately fatal attraction to Jaames.

Over is not a typical plot-structured, character-driven novel. Curley sets the planet up as the primary character and everything else falls secondary. While this may be jarring to some in regard to traditional plot, characters who are not fully fleshed out, and linking cause and effect in a character-rich and technologically-advanced society, Over stands strong as a powerful read – especially for its meditations on how our actions endanger our planet and our future, and for the author’s take on the upsides and downsides of a benign Immortal dictatorship. There’s much to think about, and no easy answers.

Curley plans at least two more books based on the plot and characters in Over and we wait with anticipation as to what this master-geo-political-environmentalist author comes up with. In a world where the rich obtain immortality, a forbidden love can either bridge the gap of unimaginable inequity or drive the disparaging classes even farther apart. A science-fiction novel with an earthly conscious.

April 3, 2018
SEAJOURNEY (ARKEN FREETH and the ADVENTURE of the NEANDERTHALS, Book 1) by Alex Paul – Epic Fantasy, High Seas Adventure, Middle Grade

What’s more fun than Neanderthals? How about Neanderthals on the high seas? Now that we have your attention…

Author Alex Paul delivers a highly imaginative, middle-grade epic fantasy adventure-packed story with everything you could ever ask for to have a rip-roaring good time.

SeaJourney (Book One) opens with an ancient archive stating that the Arken Freeth, lived 11,000 years prior, before the great flood. It follows that Arken’s world is inhabited by saber-toothed tigers and other monstrous beasts – and populated by both humans and Neanderthals.

It’s Arken’s fourteenth birthday and he’s looking forward to graduating from school and going on a sea journey with his classmates. All he needs to do is balance a huge rock on a small point. That sounds easy enough, right? Well, he fails.

The only way he can redeem himself is to combat Gart, a very large, bully of a boy who happens to hate him. Arken wins the skirmish – and more of Gart’s wrath in the process. However, both boys will board the Sea Nymph with their classmates to serve their country, Lanth. It turns out that the people of Tolaria (allies of the Lanths) are under attack. Yolanta, King of Tookan, is even now traveling with pirates to hunt down Tolarian Princess Sharmane and steal her magic necklace. The Sea Nymph is readying for war.

Arken meets a girl named Talya, a freckle-faced scout-in-training, who warns Arken that Gart plans to kill him. And when word reaches the Sea Nymph that Princess Sharmane’s vessel has been attacked, Arken, who has proved his worth leads the charge against the enemy ship. Somewhere in the middle of all that is happening aboard the Sea Nymph, there’s a Neanderthal who is gearing up to join in the fun.

With three other Arken Freeth volumes in production, SeaJourney introduces readers to a worthy hero and reveals some of his secrets and hidden powers. The book is well suited for tweens who identify with the underdog who overcomes hardships and ultimately triumphs. Also, our heroine is not based on her looks so much as her energetic attitude.

With fast-escalating action on every page, a likable, capable hero, plenty of mystery and an abrupt ending, readers will be lining up for more. Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals, SeaJourney #1 is sure to please those who crave fantastical adventures with pirates, underdogs, prehistoric beasts, and Neanderthals!

March 11, 2018