Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Martial Arts

  • A STORY Of WHOA by Chris Corbett – Children’s Determination Books, Picture Books, Children’s Emotion & Feelings Books

     

    In A Story of Whoa, Chris Corbett shows one way that parents can explain the often loud and frightening problems of the world to children, and how anyone can make a difference.

    Whoa watches the news every night with his father, where tragedy, injustice, and cruelty so often take center stage. Seeing these terrible things happening on TV, Whoa decides the time has come to step up. With his father’s support, he learns every martial art he can, ready to do battle with the toughest challenges in the world!

    With patience and encouragement for Whoa’s many KERPOWS!!!, his father helps him discover that fighting injustice often goes beyond physical strength.

    The story’s simple narrative voice carries reader through with ease and comfort. Corbett does an excellent job understanding the difficulty of talking to kids today about what they might see on the news, and then brings it home by showing the kids that they can help make the world a better place.

    Illustrations from Richardo Galvao delight and pair perfectly with the story, helping put each page in context. Personified depictions of Tragedy, Injustice, and Cruelty add a charming sense of personality and fun to a serious topic.

    A Story of Whoa offers an empowering story to help children deal with major problems. Maybe, like Whoa, we can all make the world a better place.

     

    5 Stars! Best Book Chanticleer Book Reviews

  • LEGENDS of the VALE: A Martial Arts Story, Book 1 by Rey Clark – Middle Grade Fantasy, Coming of Age, Adventure

    The magical creatures of the Vale are being destroyed, in Rey Clark’s fantasy adventure novel, Legends of the Vale.

    The Cursed Queen, an elf bent on controlling all magic, is wreaking havoc on the inhabitants of this formerly peaceful, beautiful world co-existing parallel to normal life on Earth. As a woodland fairy, Robyn Greywink isn’t able to do much because of his small size; however, because of his father’s dying command, Robyn finds himself responsible for the last dragon, the final defense against the queen’s power. In a last ditch effort to protect the unhatched egg, Robyn sends it through a portal into a forest on Earth.

    Before Robyn can retrieve and move the egg, it is found by Allison Doyle, a fifth grader who has no knowledge of the secret world around her. After the egg hatches to reveal a tiny purple and green dragon, she is Awakened to magic and quickly becomes Izzy’s protector. She and Robyn are determined to return the hatchling to the Vale.

    After enlisting the help of her friend Vanessa, the three embark on a journey into a magical realm, but at every turn, they are pursued by the Hunter, the Cursed Queen’s chief assassin. When Allison discovers she has a much bigger role in the fate of the Vale, she must find the courage to face an enemy with the power to destroy anyone – or anything – standing in her way.

    Determination and perseverance to duty are two major themes shining through the adventure within this novel.

    Robyn, a creature so tiny he has no real power beyond the magical dust he carries, is given what seems to be an unattainable and insurmountable challenge. His father gave his life to secure the dragon egg after watching the Cursed Queen and her elven army kill the only adult dragons left in the Vale by sealing their power within the jewel of her sword, Death Striker.

    Knowing he has no hope of defeating such a foe himself, he sends the egg to Earth then follows it, entering a foreign land with only the limited dust he is carrying. He refuses to give up on the dragon baby nor give up the mission given to him by his dying father. Robin knows he cannot dishonor his father’s memory by taking the cowardly way out and abandoning the egg. There’s no time to mourn or even think of the danger he now finds himself in because he cannot let the egg hatch in a place without magic. He must Awaken Allison and convince her to help him return the dragon to the Vale.

    Allison is just a girl starting a new school year.

    She thinks she has no unusual abilities or talents, but as a student of Kuk Sool, a Korean martial art, she is a warrior within her soul. Allison and Vanessa defend the tiny dragon against trolls and goblins before even entering the Vale. She goes from facing school bullies to a deadly Hunter overnight, and she takes all of this in stride, never allowing her uncertainty or fear keep her from a duty she acknowledges as her own from the first moment Izzy looks at her.

    The dragon chooses Allison as his protector because he sees her inner strength. Upon arrival in the Vale, she soon learns she has been chosen not just to protect Izzy but to save the entire world. It is her job to overthrow and defeat the queen who has terrorized all of the creatures in the Vale. She cannot let her doubts stop her from helping everyone under the tyranny of the Cursed Queen, her Hunter, or her army.

    The world of the Vale is so well-crafted that the reader will immediately feel immersed in a cursed land.

    From trolls who turn to stone in sunlight to enchanted buildings that defend those inside, the fantasy-building is thorough and wonderful. Readers will find themselves seamlessly immersed in a world totally different from their own, and while the worlds built in high fantasy can often be difficult to understand, the rules of the Vale are accessible and understandable for young readers, who will find themselves facing all manner of creatures. They will feel just as Awoken as Allison and will revel in their discoveries.

    In true Lord of the Rings fashion, this fantasy adventure will send readers spinning through a world of adventure and magic.

    Legends of the Vale by Rey Clark won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Fiction.

     

     

  • MYTHBORN: RISE of the ADEPTS by V. Lakshman

    MYTHBORN: RISE of the ADEPTS by V. Lakshman

    A classically high-fantasy styled novel that is a satisfying layered read full of battles and skirmishes, mages and wizards, dwarves and elves, dragons and royalty, and its own complex lore and magical systems, V. Lakshman’s Mythborn: Rise of the Adepts will leave dark fantasy enthusiasts clamoring for more.

    After a powerful mage allowed a demon named Lilyth to enter the world of EDYN, causing a devastating war, King Galadine declares that all those with magical talent be put to death. For over two hundred years, mages have been hunted down and killed, except for a select few that escape and train to be adepts under the tutelage of the mage council.

    Forced to keep themselves hidden, even the most powerful mages have lost the deepest knowledge of their craft, and their abilities are only a shadow of what the generations before were capable of. When it seems as though the demon Lilyth has begun to stir again, the council is ruthlessly determined to act.

    Arek Winterthorn is an apprentice with a power that even he himself doesn’t understand. Unable to produce even the simplest of spells, he can disrupt the magic of others with a single touch. When his master, Silbane Petracles reluctantly agrees that Arek’s abilities might be the only way to save the world, the two embark on a journey full of twists, violence, intrigue, and even a dragon.

    They seek the kingdom of Bara’cor, where the current King Galadine is under siege by a barbarian horde. Inside the castle walls, we are introduced to his court and advisers, including his teenage son and young niece, next in line to the throne of the neighboring kingdom. All of these diverse threads weave together as the characters clash, attempting to discover the true nature of the demonkind and the heart of the conflict two centuries ago.

    Lakshman’s epic is told in several diverse voices from every side of the conflict, creating a complex web of loyalties and motivations. This leads to some initial confusion, as the reader is introduced to several different point of view characters in rapid succession. Flashbacks, integrated into the narrative under the heading “Histories,” are at first difficult to distinguish from the novel’s present day events. But after the narration settles into a pattern, fans of fantasy will be engrossed in his world and the envelopment of its familiar tropes. As the multi-faceted characters and their motivations are revealed, readers will come to care about what happens to them as they come to understand what motivates them.

    Lakshman’s experience in the game industry and his martial arts background are evident in the novel’s many detailed battle scenes in this fast-action and complex fantasy. The Rise of the Adepts’ cliffhanger ending will leave readers clamoring for the next volume in this fast-paced and suspenseful Mythborn series, the sequel to which is now available.

    First Place Dark Fantasy, 2014 CYGNUS Awards for SciFi and Fantasy Fiction, a division of Chanticleer International Writing Competitions.

  • JANUS UNFOLDING: EMERGENCE by C.A. Knutsen

    JANUS UNFOLDING: EMERGENCE by C.A. Knutsen

    In the remote town of Frazier, Washington, a house fire burns so inexplicably white-hot that the firemen are forced to retreat. There are no known materials used in home construction or interior decoration that can explain the heat and ferocity of the blaze. Upon closer examination of the charred remains of the structure, the firemen discover a body burned so completely that only bones survived. And in the surrounding property, they find the comatose bodies of three professional assassins, clearly laid out for the authorities.

    From that intriguing beginning, author C. A. Knutsen draws the reader into alternating stories in Janus Unfolding: Emergence—one placed slightly into the future, and one placed roughly in present day. Chapters flip back and forth from a crime scene investigation that initially stumps the authorities to a description of the childhood of a gifted boy named Jimmy, who exhibits unusual intellectual and physical prowess. The reader soon learns that the Jimmy, who became the adult Jim Post, a reclusive rich man about whom little is known, was killed in the house fire.

    Determined to find answers, Jim Post’s business partner, Jeff Pierce, along with the help of the Frazier and Seattle police detectives as well as an Artificial Intelligence program named Martha, work to discover why anyone would murder a man who had no enemies and who had dedicated his life to making the world a better place in which to live. The mystery of exactly what happened in those woods will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.

    This novel is, however, far more than a typical whodunit and crime scene investigation; it is a novel about the evolution of mankind. It is also a novel about the reactions of mankind once it learns of that evolution. Readers are drawn into the lives of each of the characters in the book, and are curiously compelled to find out what will happen to them, and whether as a species, Homo sapiens can accept the changes happening within our own societies.

    The extensive chapters of the main character’s childhood would make for slow reading if they weren’t essential to eventually understanding the theme of Janus Unfolding: Emergence. However, Knutsen’s accurate portrayal of martial arts scenes will appeal to those who have an interest in the subject. Similarly, readers who enjoy a dash of science fiction in their whodunits will find the descriptions of DNA sequencing and evolution of our species fascinating.

    This intriguing novel is not one that fits squarely into the mystery genre, or that follows the standard formula and plot for either a mystery or a SciFi novel. However, readers of both genres will find it a compelling and thought-provoking novel that crosses new boundaries. Highly recommended.

  • WORST OF ALL EVILS by Janet McClintock

    WORST OF ALL EVILS by Janet McClintock

    After an economic collapse, the US Constitution is set aside; civil rights are a thing of the past. A driver can get pulled over just for being out late. Even unpaid parking tickets can warrant harassment and a stint in a holding cell.

    This is not the America that Joan Bowman fought for in Iraq; she swore an oath to uphold the constitution. An underground group, The Constitutional Defense Legion (CDL) has formed to do just that, through any means possible. They have adopted John Stark’s motto, “Live Free or Die” which always elicits “death is not the worst of all evils” as a response.

    Joan meets a CDL recruiter at the gym, and decides that by joining their forces, she can help overthrow the current tyrannical government. Her reasoning followed the quote from Edmond Burke: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’

    Joan’s life gets turned upside-down when the CDL decides to make her home into a ‘base of operations’ and moves two other CDL members into it. She learns that asking questions isn’t the best way to get answers; everything is on a ‘need to know’ basis.

    Joan is a martial arts enthusiast, putting her fighting skills to good use when some of the CDL’s missions go sideways. Disobeying orders, she uses her own decision-making skills to rescue her colleagues.

    She can charm the keys off an unsuspecting suitor while gathering intelligence undercover, with no one questioning her motives. But as Joan starts to rise through the ranks, she starts to question the legion’s direction and becomes wary of the stone-cold, heartless personalities in the inner circle, witnessing unnecessary use of force.

    Duncan, who is grooming Joan for his own position, “is” the Legion, and lives for the Legion. He suffers from PTSD from a jungle ambush where he was the sole survivor. His best friend, Kearney, resents Joan and makes no effort to hide it, making her life as miserable as he can. Duncan works closely with Joan but is respectful and distant. Joan is told to be watchful of Duncan, and is unsure, for a while, why everyone is so afraid of him.

    Duncan realizes Joan might be the key to unlocking his personal demons, but their budding romance keeps getting interrupted. It was refreshing to see a relationship develop without the cliché “he noticed her curves” or similar sentiment that finds its way into so many stories where a man and woman are forced to work together and then form a connection. Instead, Joan starts to notice Duncan’s physique after a very long time, but knows she can’t trust him as much as she’d like to.  After all, he admitted he would have killed her if she hadn’t turned over her house to the CDL.

    “Just because a person is paranoid it doesn’t mean there isn’t someone actually following him.” Over time, Joan becomes paranoid from being undercover for so long. Joan knows that no one can get out of the CDL alive and she has few options left.  The CDL’s motto, that “there are evils worse than death” begins to haunt her.

     Worst of All Evils is a harrowing look into how a terrorist organization might function, how individuals can get trapped in a situation that spirals out of their control, beyond their ability to leave. McClintock doesn’t spare us torture, violence, or even the after-effects of drinking too much. However, the fight sequences and chase scenes are entertaining and fun to visualize.

    This thriller will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. I can easily see Worst of All Evils as a TV series because of the Joan character, a “relatively unnoticeable brunette,”  who surprises us at every turn with her skills of observation, quick thinking, as well as with her flaws and mistakes. If you enjoy raw dialogue, fast action, and risk taking (powered by PTSD), you’ll love Worst of All Evils by Janet McClintock.