The story is tense and exciting as Amber tries to fight a supernatural enemy who, quite part from being evil, is targeting her because she’s immune to being possessed. An enemy who has already slaughtered her family. Fortunately she has help from a transvestite D&D mage, and his vampire flatmate – which is a lot less silly than it sounds. It’s not a comedy, though it does have some darkly comic moments – especially when Vicky the Vampire is on-screen. This is a good thing since the story could easily be too grim without moments of humour.

The story has a great sense of time and place. I love the bit where Amber is researching the danger on the internet and uses Gopher, because I remember doing the same thing at that time (though it was never life or death for me). The web has become soentwined with the net in our minds that it would be easy for an author to make the mistake of having her use the web. But that would have beenanachronistic – the paint was barely dry on Mosaic at the time. The fact that Amber uses the net to research at all marks her as slightly nerdy. That’s probably why I like her so much.

Which brings me to the characters. They are well drawn, three-dimensional and immensely enjoyable. The characters drive the plot as much as they are driven by it. Always good. :-)

I do need to mention point of view. Zoe uses a form of omniscient third person where you sometimes see the thoughts of more than one character in a single scene. It’s a stylistic choice which some readers may find off-putting. Omniscient is hard to pull off (this is why writing books say to avoid it, it’s not wrong unless it’s done badly but it’s usually done badly) but she seems to have managed it, since it doesn’t annoy me here, and I’m usually the first person to shriek about "head-hopping". However I mention it here because some readers find omniscient confusing even when done well.

On the whole I found Touched to be an excellent story back in 2007 and the editing has only served to improve it.

On her website the author prefaces the blurb with this uninspiring line:

"This is a fantasy story about a young prodigy and his side-kick (who can kick some serious side). It’s set in your standard fantasy world with all the expected accouterments. Details in the text."

I really think she doesn’t need it. On the one hand it makes the story sound more comic than it is, and on the other it’s dry and uninviting. “Standard fantasy world” is not a description that raises anticipation in me. Instead it brings to mind clichés. It’s the word standard – it’s not an appealing word.

So is this cliché ridden? I’d have to say not really. I think what the author was trying to say is that the story fits in the traditional fantasy sub-genre – which it does.

Swords and Sigils does have one of the common issues of the fantasy genre (more on that later), but it avoids more clichés than it uses so far.

The Good

1. The characters are well drawn and interesting – even when Melkeen and Sarta are arguing (or more accurately when Melkeen is being argumentative and Sarta is being unflappable) it’s easy to root for them. Some people may find Sarta a bit too good to be true, but her skills and calmness are a result of her life and thus believable in the context of the fictional universe the author has created. Melkeen is talented, obnoxious and yet also likable once you consider his origins.

2. The quest Melkeen and Sarta embark on is a little unusual. Rather than a quest to find one magical McGuffin to defeat a dark lord of some kind. Instead they are on a quest to recover lost artifacts and knowledge. So far it’s like a traditional fantasy road trip story – more about the trouble the journey gets them into than the destination.

3. So far there’s no dark lord or world shaking danger to defeat so far. Too much fantasy goes that route. All the antagonists in the story so far have been very human. Even the chief wizards who were very petty and human in their plots. Long may it continue.

4. The world building is wonderful. A lot of thought has obviously gone into the setting.

5. The writing is good and doesn’t impede the reading. :-)

6. I’m interested to see how the plot develops and engaging a reader’s interest is always good.

The Bad

The main problem with Swords and Sigils so far is the infodumping! If you’ve read my previous reviews you’ll know I’m no big fan infodumps and there are several of these in the first few installments. While it was necessary to justify Sarta’s abilities and why the other wizards are out to get Melkeen I can’t help feeling that there had to be a better way to handle it than dedicating whole updates to it. Long passages of exposition impede the flow of the story and encourage readers to skin (I know I did with some of them).

Verdict

Swords and Sigils is a decent traditional fantasy story with two interesting protagonists. It doesn’t fall into many of the tropes that litter the genre, but it does occasionally wallow around in its own back story too much. It’s well worth a look for fans of Traditional Fantasy.

Seriously, this hits all the buttons for me - the occasional blindingly fast change of direction, the struggle to start/keep/develop a relationship in the face of ‘life happening’, conflicted characters that are still strong even when faced with confronting situations, and a rich background world to play in. I love it, unreservedly.

Guardians: Awakening caught my eye when I was browsing around for something new to read.

The premise is interesting. In many ways its a traditional fantasy plot in a futuristic fantasy setting, and I adore that sort of futuristic fantasy when I can find it.

The website is beautiful eye candy, which like a good cover on a book encourages you to have a read. I love the idea of having a little drawing of the POV character at the top of each chapter. It’s unusual and the layout is so well done that the prettiness doesn’t come at the detriment of a clean reading experience.

Unfortunately I have some issues with characterisation and pacing in the story.

There’s a lot of info-dumping early on. The pov characters spend a heck of a lot of time explaining things. This is a common bane of the Fantasy genre, of course, because authors naturally want to bring the setting to the table. Unfortunately when whole paragraphs are dedicated to set up you lose tension and readers start skimming instead of reading properly. Setting should be revealed by events not narration and backstory is best revealed in dribs and drabs.

Ironically what makes this worse is that in all the infodumping they miss something crucial which actually does need addressing earlier than it is (see below).

And all the attention spent on introducing the setting and setting things up means the pacing off and it takes several chapters to even get to the mention of disappearing temples etc (more on this below). By the time it did I was almost ready to give up as the story didn’t seem to be living up to its hype.

And then there’s the characterisation. Victorian teenagers did not behave like 21st century teenagers. Teenagers in one country will have a different culture than those in another. So why do the students at a military academy on another planet (and one which teaches the manipulation of a magic like energy called eisra at that) behave live 21st Century American teenagers? The society they come from is nothing like 21st Century America. If you did this in a traditional fantasy setting it would be called anacronistic – I’m not sure that’s the right word when dealing with a futuristic setting, but it’ll do until I find a better one.

And then there’s the fact that in a world with one religion which is centred on a goddess who has actively intevened in the past the characters don’t mention the fact that temples (and those who serve in them) are vanishing until several chapters in when it’s on the news. If this had been the first time the characters hear of it that would have been fine, but from their responses it’s clear it isn’t, and this stretched my suspension of disbelief a little too far.

I’m sorry – if churches, temples, mosques or other religious centres on Earth started disappearing into thin air taking hundreds of people with them everyone would be talking about it reguardless of religious affliliation. On a world like Elidi seems to be from the infodumps it would be a major distraction for students at a military academy who know they are likely to be called in to help with the situation. But none of this is mentioned at all until its mentioned on the news (at which point an infodump is triggered). It could have been handled a lot more naturally.

The anacronistic characterisation of the main characters, and the inserting of infodumps upset the pacing so much that I couldn’t really get into the story.  Add to this the fact that the prose was rather dry and difficult to get absorbed by (though this is a matter of taste – I don’t like Philip Pullman or Anne Rice either but millions of people do, and I won’t say they’re wrong)  and I found that as much as I like the premise I just could not get past the first saga.

Who would like this? I think American Teens (who are probably the target demographic) would probably be less bothered by the problems than I am might well enjoy this.

On the balance of things. – after weighing a good premise and beautiful design against a not entirely successful story – I’m giving the 2.5 stars. It’s possibly worth a look for young adults, but I suspect most other people would find the problems offputting.

Having said that it’s free, so you’ve got nothing except a few minutes to lose if you go and have a look to see if you agree with me.

I’m sure you’ve read the "cover blurb", so it’s probably no surprise that this one comes with an adult content and a NSFW warning. More on this in the review.

I like this story a lot and I’ve meant to review it for a while, but for some reason I’m finding it hard, so here goes nothing…

Addergoole is set in a rather unusual finishing school. The main characters are three of the current year’s intake (aka the 5th cohort) and are apparently just pre-college in age (which is good given the erotic parts).

From the moment it becomes clear the school is literally underground you know it’s only going to get weirder. It soon turns out that all the students are Ellehemaei – inter-dimensional alien faeries – even though most – if not all – of the fifth cohort know that yet. And by human standards Ellehemaei society is very twisted.

The Ellehemaei have great power, but with this great power comes an almighty bitch slap from the Universe in the form of The Law. These people have to watch what they say because even casual promises or statements made without knowing the consequences will be supernaturally enforced by the universe.

For goodness sake don’t say you belong to someone.

Which brings us to the erotica. The adult material in Addergoole is all well-marked and can, so far at least, easily be skipped. Which is good, if like me you don’t like that sort of thing. And skimming and skipping it does not impede understanding the story.

The storyline is fairly light so far even though this is undeniably dark fantasy. Mostly it’s been twisted romance with a little bit of other stuff thrown in – twisted because Ellehemaei romance is not remotely normal by human standards. That’s part of what makes it fun. Anyway this seems set to change soon – an external threat is in place to rear its head and I think that can only make a good story better.

There layout isn’t my favourite, but it’s clear to read and easy to navigate so I have no complaints either. There is the occasional error or typo, but Lyn is quick to correct them when they’re pointed out to her. Indeed one of things I like is the way Lyn interacts with her readers. It makes a fun story even more fun.

The first chapter isn’t very good at all but the writing improves rapidly after that, so please don’t let it put you off.

Another plus is that it updates regularly – though there is a short two-week hiatus between ‘books’ coming up. On the upside this means it’s an excellent time to start reading because new readers will have time to get through the backlog before the next section starts. And there will still be bonus material posted in this time.

Summary: Addergoole is an entertaining fantasy which I enjoy a great deal. I think it will not be to everyone’s tastes, but it’s certainly to mine. It’s worth a look.

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Before I start this review I feel a warning is in order. “Haunting Sins” by Zoe Whitten contains mature material including references to sexual activity and pornography, which while central to the plot and not done for titillation (quite the opposite in fact) may be too much for some people. Reader discretion is advised. I’d also have to state that you shouldn’t read it at work.

Synopsis: David has been unemployed for some time and is living on the bread line, so when he’s offered a job as webmaster for an online porn site he takes it even though it’s definitely not his dream job. Then he starts seeing a teenage girl in his office. A girl who apparently isn’t there. Is she a ghost or is there a more mundane explanation?

Review: I liked this novella a lot. It’s wonderfully creepy and atmospheric with a subtle increase in terror and not too much gore. This is just how I like my horror. It gave me a J-horror kind of vibe and I’m a real fan of J-horror so that’s good.

I do feel the resolution could have done with a touch more foreshadowing. It’s only nine chapters, and the big clue comes in chapter Eight. That said any extra foreshadowing would have to be done carefully, or risk ruining the plot. This is also the reason I can’t explain this criticism any more clearly. I’d have to spoil a crucial plot point. But as I said it’s not entirely out of the blue and it doesn’t ruin the story.

Verdict: All in all I found this to be a strong Horror Novella well worth a read (though do bear my warning in mind). I think it would make a good horror movie too.

My review: Haunting Sins is the type of horror tale that sneaks up on you. It starts off mild, like a pinprick of fear. I can handle this, you think. Then it gets a little worse. Still doing fine, still reading. Then a little worse, and then worse, and all of a sudden you realize that – actually – the story is pretty damn creepy, and you’re too far in to turn back.

With only 9 parts total, this novella is a quick read, and one I gulped in one sitting. It’s eerie, starting off mundane and sinking slowly into the bizarre and twisted, with just enough intrigue throughout to keep the reader’s interest.

I’m not very widely read when it comes to horror, but the plot seemed to me quite original. The supernatural elements didn’t rely on tired stereotypes and thus were unpredictable, adding to the overall mystery. And “mystery” is a good word to describe this story: this is horror, with a kind of murder-mystery undertone.

That said, my main gripe with the story was about this very murder mystery. The reveal and story resolution came too close together; we’d barely figured out what had really been going on before the story was over. I felt that the reveal lacked foreshadowing; things didn’t enjoyably click into place at the end, rather, we were taken down a corridor that wasn’t really visible beforehand.

I cannot deny, however, that the story was an entertaining read. After a slightly slow beginning, the story picks up and introduces distinctive, likeable characters. David is sometimes adorably bumbling, when he’s not freaked out of his wits, and secretary Nina made me smile several times.

The writing is solid, atmospheric, evenly balanced between dialogue and description, so no complaints there.

The website itself is easy to navigate, although I prefer hard returns between paragraphs on-screen; I found the blockiness of the text a little wearying on the eye.

In sum, creepy, quick, quality horror. What are you waiting for?

Seth has the creativity to go far in this world.

I raced through the story, read it all in one sitting. It’s short and engaging, and written in a conversational first-person that draws the reader right in. And—let’s be honest—any story that opens with the words “sucker punched” has me at “suck”.

The premise intrigued me. Ember is a re-telling of the classic Cinderella story, but with some major differences, the most important one being that the characters are actually well-rounded.

Picture this: Prince Charming is a cursed man who is adored and respected by everyone he meets, never having to work to gain said adoration. Enter the Witch, a woman who is determined to resist Prince Charming’s curse. Does it come as any surprise that the Prince will end up wanting exactly what he can’t have?

Yes, the romance element is strong. And this is definitely not a kid’s book: there are bloody bits, and sexy bits, and gross bits. But that is what gives the story its character, makes it shine. It’s human, it’s real.

As a matter of fact, what really made the story for me was how human Ember—the main character—was. She is flawed, she is wicked, she can be headstrong and ruthless. This is no demure lady waiting to be rescued; Ember knows what she wants, and is not afraid to fight to get it. That said, there were a couple moments when I wanted to slap Ember for being so silly.

The other strength of this tale was the subtle integration of fairy tale mythology into it all, the ironic references, the little twists on familiar folklore. The universe is really well-developed, and I would love to see more of it.

The writing has the simple beauty of a fairy tale, unadorned but with the occasionally surprising turn of phrase that caught me by surprise.

Perhaps my only complaint is that the plot was a little predictable. The main plot twist—the one that pushes the story onwards—is revealed to the reader far before Ember figures it out, meaning that the narrative lost a lot of its potential suspense and intrigue.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed reading the story, and even had a tear or two in my eye at one point. But the tale would have been far more gripping if I hadn’t known all along how things would end.

In sum: Recommended for fairy-tale lovers and sceptics alike, this is a dark, entertaining story, ideal for a evening at home when you’re looking for a little escape.

The characters have depth and personality. The story is detailed and the plot moves forward at a steady pace. And the side stories are a real treat. I look forward to reading Dead Boyfriend each week. I hope others will find Dead Boyfriend and enjoy it as much as I do. Seth is a genius. Really.