"Beasts of the Frozen Sun" by Jill Criswell - Review

“Beasts of the Frozen Sun"

Jill Criswell

When we take the Green Isle, we will show them what a warrior is – a man made of ice and steel.

Man made of ice and steel. That is exactly what Criswell gives readers when she describes the Dragonmen, warriors from the faraway Iseneld, who have come to claim Glasnith for their own wicked agenda. They are fearsome and frightening soldiers lead by the Savage known as Draki, who claims to be half-human, half-god. Draki is out to steal not only the island of Glasnith, but also our heroine Lira of Stone, who is one of the Daughters of Aillira, a girl gifted by the gods. There is only one person who can help Lira defeat Draki, an Iseneld ‘beast’ named Reyker.

Lira and Reyker have a history. Years before our story starts, Lira was captured by the Dragonmen and taken hostage. Reyker, seeing Lira bound for torture at the hand of Draki, puts his own life in jeopardy and cuts her bonds to free her. He marks her with a skolar, a shield scar that will help protect her, and pushes her into the water so she can escape. Years later, he arrives back on Glasnith as the survivor of a shipwreck and Lira is the one to find him and nurse him back to health, even though she knows he is the enemy and doesn’t trust him. They must work together if either of them are going to survive the Dragonmen.

Magic and fantasy weave through Celtic and Norse history to create a beautiful story of the struggle of a people who are trying to protect themselves from invasion and oppression. Criswell builds a wonderful land for the people of her novel, using her words simply but elegantly, with just the right amount of description and none of the extraneous adjectives that readers’ eyes would glaze over.

My only criticism would be that the beginning of the novel took a smidgeon too long to get to the heart of the story. I could have used a little more action in the first 100 pages to get things moving, and there was one too many capture/escape scenes for my buy in. Hopefully because this is the author’s first novel and she’s building a world for a trilogy, these are some kinks that will be worked through in Book 1 so 2 and 3 can thrive. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment, which should be published by Blackstone Publishing in 2020. 4 out of 5 stars from me. #LandRforever.

The Monarch Mission Files: Conspiracy

“The Monarch Mission Files: Conspiracy” by Jenn Nixon

One of the earliest memories of my childhood was the desire to be an astronaut. I always answered as such whenever an adult would ask me the silly question of ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’. There is something to the idea of being able to escape this world, literally and figuratively, to reach the stars and uncharted territory that makes my spirits soar out of this atmosphere. That dream has always burned inside me and to this day I am drawn to the skies and beyond. After reading “The Monarch Mission Files: Conspiracy” by Jenn Nixon I’ve been able to satisfy my craving for the universe for a little while longer.

Conspiracy starts off on an Earth of the future, but we’re almost immediately off to a lunar military base. From there we travel to Mars with Mari Yosoto, Trevor Nash, and a motley crew to find the daughter of a VIP. Low and behold, the original mission leads to the discovery of an epic secret, bringing the past and the present on a collision course where the result is a matter of life and death.

This story seemed right up my alley. Nixon’s words and writing style are unassuming and simplistic, meaning that anyone would be able to pick it up and delve right in. The plot to the story, while showing layers upon layers of potential, could have gone deeper. Having not read this author before I’m hesitant to suggest that this is how all her stories flow but based on the title I’d think that this book is really just one chapter of a longer and more impressive story to come.

The characters are endearing. Mari is damaged but badass; Nash is the protector of all, not just the person he’s falling in love with. Sam is a teenager with a wicked brain for tech and Kuna is the lovable brother that we wish we all had, especially when he’s cooking breakfast. I would like to see stronger character development with Mari and Nash’s relationship, and not just her protesting the sharing of secrets and he being stubbornly patient. They have to have flaws. I’d love to see how Nixon explores their flaws in the future. I’d also like more interaction between Mari and Sam, and maybe more of Sam’s backstory as well. This world has untapped potential and I’d be interested in reading how the rest of the story unfolds.

Checking My "Pulse"

49 human beings.

Gone.

Tragedy is what this is, and oh, how it breaks my heart.

Hearing the news of the heartbreaking story of Orlando, Florida's active shooter situation this past weekend has left me with the feeling of stones in my stomach, and sharp words on my tongue. My heart goes out to the families affected by this one person's choice to take something so precious from so many, the gift of life. I cannot speak for others on how to feel, how to react, and how to process this terrible set of events, but I can tell you how it has forever molded me.

I am not straight. I am not gay. I am a woman who is in love with another woman, and we have a beautiful family together. I thank the God of my understanding that I am blessed with all that I have, and I am fortune to live in an area where it is more acceptable to not be heterosexual. The people that I surround myself with are beautiful, accepting, loving, wonderful people who actively want to be in my life, and for them all, I am grateful.

However, seeing something like this happen to my LGBTQ brothers and sisters triggers me to immediately respond with criticism and hate for those opposed to our way of life. I have to continue to remind myself that not all people are lucky enough to live in a place where their "difference" is acceptable; their love story is one of fear and loathing in other parts of the world. My heart breaks for those people who are too afraid to hold their loved one's hand out in public, who are reconciled to kiss a cheek rather than lips, and make sure that they are not touching too long, or standing too close for fear that someone might see.

It's shameful that in 2016 this fear still lurks ever present among us. My gut instinct is to shame those that treat us as criminals, as monsters, as less than. But I also pity them. Closed-mindedness is suffocating, it chokes our souls of the beauty of all that we have and all that we were given and replacing it with cold, dark hate. I feel sorry for those who cannot and will not allow themselves to know the beauty of diversity and acceptance.

I will try to honor those 49 beautiful people who lost their lives in Orlando, and all of the victims of abuse and ridicule from the homophobic and intolerant, by continuing to be the person that I am, trying to educate those who do not understand that the LGBTQ community are made up of regular human beings just like they are, and that we are more than our sexuality. We are your family, your friends. We are your teachers, grocers, dentists, doctors, lawyers, neighbors. We like to binge watch Netflix and have bbqs, take our dogs to the dog park, and go to the beach. We are from all regions, all countries, all nationalities.

We can coexist. The value of our lives does not devalue yours.

Velvet Verbosity's 100 Word Challenge - Misbehave

She diverts her eyes, turns and backs away slowly, receding to the outlying safe zone.

The barks of demand fill the space and cloyingly linger in the air.  

“Give me.”  “I want.” “I’ll take.” “Can I get?”

The crowd finally parts, her goal in sight.  

Jumping into the fray, cutting through the sea of creatures laying in wait, she arrives at the end of the line to claim her prize.  

Plastic on plastic creates a *pop* when it enters the milky, sticky, caffeinated liquid inside. She takes a sip, swallows.  Eyes closed, she owns her guilty-pleasure delight.  

Yum.

***
I am participating in Velvet Verbosity's 100 Word Challenge. This is my first writing challenge/prompt that I've done in quite some time, so I apologize for being rusty!  

The theme this week is "Misbehave".

Also, I'm technologically inept, and couldn't figure out the linky tools so if anyone ever reads this, please let me know how I can get it to work! Thanks and enjoy!

Typical 2015 Post

What's up, kids?  How's life been treating you?  You won the lottery?! That's awesome.  You went and traveled abroad, neglecting the hum drum life of the states?  Good for you!!

Me? I plead the fifth.

Forgive me, but I suck at this game.  Please insert the normal this is the new year and the new me and the new, old blog blah blah blah here.

I'm going to jump right in to my topic at hand.

I've been suffering from insomnia lately, which is probably due to the fact that I partake in little to know physical exercise throughout the day, and drink way too much caffeine that does not burn off in anyway.  This has been going on for months now, and every night is more excruciating than the last.

Last night, I actually managed to fall asleep early (mostly in part to a white noise app on my phone where I magically mixed the sounds of a thunderstorm, the ocean, and some rain all together to create an unrealistically soothing sound of some tragic rain forest).

At one thirty seven a.m. I was awoken to the sound of screaming coming from the apartment next to mine.  These are not the drug dealers that I had referenced previously, but another set of crappy people juxtaposed against my wanna-be quiet and unassuming life.  

Last night is not the first time that this has happened, but it was the first time that I'd been woken out of a sound sleep because of it

The reason for this post is really my musings about whether I should alert the police to the possible domestic violence/noise violations that are occurring in my neck of the woods.  Living in the ghetto, I have been pondering the pros and cons of knocking on the door or banging on the wall and telling them to shut the fuck up... 90% of my brain tells me it's not a good idea.

Does anyone have any experience with this situation, and if so, what advice or story can you share with me?  Did you get shot through the wall?  Did it resolve the situation?  Let's gab like heterosexual girlfriends, and tell me everything, spare no detail!

Reading is Fun with a Capital F!

I don't remember if I've broached the subject of Game of Thrones with you readers, but let me tell you that "A Dance With Dragons" has become the bane of my existence.  I've been trying to read it for approximately a year, and have only made it through half of the book.  It's currently acting as a prop for the fan in my room that my girlfriend and I need to use in order to avoid drowning in sweat throughout the night.  (My apartment complex charges an additional $20 a month for a second AC unit... can you believe that? GTFO of here.)  

My second "vacation" of 2014 was extremely instrumental in kick starting what I used to think of as a behavior as necessary as breathing:  reading books!

Not only have I started reading books again, but I've been reading with gusto, reading like it's an Olympic sport!  During Memorial Day Weekend, I read three books, collectively over 1000 pages with varying degrees of difficulty. 

The first book I read was "The Husband List" by Janet Evanovich.  While it was entertaining and kept my attention, it wasn't one of her better stories.  It was cute, an adorable-but-predictable love story about the girl who is destined to marry the Duke but is in love with the bad boy.  Cute, but already done a hundred times over. 

The second book that I read was a beautifully written story called "Perfect Match" by Jodi Piccoult.  Now, Let me be the first person to say that Jodi Piccoult is so much more than just a writer, she's a creator, a painter of life portraits so realistic that you can see the world clear as day on hundreds of black and white pages. Unfortunately, Piccoult has set the bar extensively high, and though "Perfect Match" was amazing, it didn't quite reach "The Pact", "House Rules", or my personal favorite, "Handle With Care".

Third book that I read this weekend was "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green.  

I'm not sure whether I was so desperate to read this because of the whispers through crowds overheard about the pain that would come with the end of the novel, or the hypnotic chemistry of the teenage characters from the movie trailer that haunts my living room, but as soon as Mosski told me that she had a copy, I jumped at the chance (literally jumped out of my seat at work) to borrow it from her. 

My thoughts about this young adult fiction is that, while it's a beautifully tragic love story that portrays an honest depiction of humanity, I was hoping for just a little bit more. 

These are three wonderfully written books by extremely amazing writers.  Why, then, am I finding myself equally let down by such a slight margin?  It's not as if these were horrific let downs, after weeks or years of waiting patiently for new releases.  These were (mostly) books I read out of sheer happenstance.  

I don't know the reason.  I really don't.  I do know, though, that I'm making a commitment to read more this year.  Maybe I'll find out the reason for my doubts, or maybe I will find that one book that is going to completely change my life.  

That Prairie Life -- Iowa

I took a trip recently -- packed my bags, paid for my plane ticket, made it through security and sat through two flights that inevitably took me to the current residence of one of the most wonderful humans that I've ever met, Megan.

I wanted to regale you all with my witty accounts of Prairie life, bringing to fruition all of the nuances of Mid-West living, but it turns out that the information that I did get would bore you to tears.  This is not to say that the great state of Iowa was boring, but the content of said blog would be just too dry to stomach in non-fiction.

That's why I've decided to take the notes I made during my trip and turn it into a fictional story that I will publish here shortly.  I know, the three of you that probably still read this are probably over the moon ecstatic about this news.  We'll see how it comes out.

In the interim, I wanted to post a few pictures that I took that are sure to make your life better (and distract from the fact that I didn't actually post anything of note in this whole post so far).

MC Hammer called and wanted his pants back. o.O

I hate to admit that this happened.  He was part of a group that I'd like to call the JPOP Invasion.  The entire back of my plane was Asians who were too cool for me (except for maybe this guy and his parachute-butt pants).

Charlotte, NC has ROCKING CHAIRS all over their airport.  I was blown away by this.  They take their southern hospitality VERY seriously.

This happened, because I really had no idea where IOWA was on a map.  Sad, right?

Made friends with the neighbors and their kids. :) 

This is the newest love of my life.  Please meet Ellie/Lady-not-Bird.  

This was the most beautiful picture I took of Iowa, and I was so pleased in how it came out.  No filter, no accentuation.  Just beautiful landscape.

Seriously, Iowa was so beautiful.  I wish I was there a few weeks later than I was because I can only imagine what it will look like when the crops grow in, the fields turn green, and the contrast between open sky and open fields shows itself on the Prairie.  

There is a Buffalo Preserve out on the Prairie.  Sadly my animal whisperer skills were not honed in to the Iowan Buffalo.  They didn't come near us, so we took a picture of the statue instead. 

Just in case you needed a little more "cute" before you left. <3