A Poem for Britain

(Bards of Fantasia #1)

First the world was nuked, then mythic monsters invaded. What a life, and I, Dormira, am only 16--but going on 30. Good thing my boyfriend Skall is a genius. I'm a co-minstrel, linguist--and his bodyguard too, as we face Magic schools...Stolen youth...and Love-obsessed gods. Now the ancient Fire & Ice giants want the world to end. But they're opposed by elements of water, air, and earth, the shock-troops of friendlier gods and wizards. And bards from our techie future are a new piece on the chessboard. It figures the gods, ghosts & ghouls we're pitted against don't like our meddling. That's their shapeshifting sport. Skall urges we race mythic British landmarks within 48 hours of Halloween, performing key songs as hero-minstrels, solving ancient riddles and tragedies. Things move fast when deaths need avenging and you're time-skipping and running for your own life as well! Can our music save the world from chaos?

My Take:

Dor and Skall are witnesses to a great destruction at the end of time, driven by an ancient red-hooded sorceress intent on the destruction of man. With their electric guitars, songwriting and ninja skills they jump through a portal back in time to attempt to change the past which will change the future which will make the trip to the past unnecessary, er, and I rub my templs and quip with Captain Janeway, that time travel makes the head hurt.

The Norse and British demi-gods vie for mastery and love while Dor and Skall try to stay alive long enough to make friends and influence the movers and shakers of the skies. But will their time-changing machinations and their songwriting skills save them from the master of the underworld and a fate worse than, but including, death?

Content:

Drug Content:

PG-13 - There are several drunken parties while cavorting through the past, but overall not a lot..

Violence:

PG - There are several scenes involving war and a few brawls that take place.

Language:

G - Relatively clean.

Adult Content:

PG - There's a scene where Skall is enthralled by a goddess and heads off to her bedchamber. There's a scene where the Norns discuss mating.

Christian content:

Nada. There's a scene where Christian warriors are battling the pagan forces. For the most part the only gods depicted in this novella are the Norse ones of Fire, Ice, Death, and the Sea. Frost-Hel, Etain, Gyn, Deirdru, Angus, Mannanan, Dovnu, the Norns, and the World-Tree people the past and fight each other for mastery of the all-important World-Tree and its many dimensions.

Final analysis:

Each chapter in this book began with sketches of the action inside, and it reads like a screenplay, which it devolved from. The action is quick and gripping, and the many worlds visited are panoramic in view. The World-building is immersive, and the humor and interplay outstanding. But the characters in the story were a bit wooden to me and could have used better dimension, the gods and supporting cast were almost one-dimensional. The stakes were high, of course, the fate of all the dimensions, but the action was a bit jerky for my taste. Focus went from one gripping scene to a quick flight or rescue, to another crisis without any real transition.

I found the world-building stellar, the plot outstanding, but the character development and pacing unfortunately in need of fleshing out. This could have found a home as a trilogy, with the amount of action it contained, but in its brief form it was a bit like a sped up movie, panoramic and epic and all-too-soon over. Four Stars.

Review: The Essence of Life by Rain Arlender

The Essence of Life

Rain Arlender

“Seeking outdoors-loving colleague. Solitude-requiring, big-footed preferably.” Usually with an ad like this, one would look the other way. But Aurora is in a pinch – she has to take the job. Her employer is a Scottish family who run a distillery. Her workplace is the open field: no animals, no crops and nothing to do. Her work tool – and only companion – a giant pair of Wellington boots. Aurora's task is to walk in the field, and she has no idea why she is getting paid for it...

My Take:

Aurora is a very large girl with incredibly large feet. Her prospects for employment are dwindling when she comes across the ad for a job working in the fields of a small distillery. The Scottish family that runs the distillery is slightly odd but friendly enough, and they affably take her in without much in the way of an interview, other than a good look at her feet.

She is required to walk in the fields during the day, and her only work tool is a pair of Wellington boots. Why they have hired her is unclear, because her task is only to walk the fields, and surrender her shoes and socks each night. Why is she getting paid for this, again?

Content:

Drug Content:

PG-13 - There is a significant amount of drinking in the book, which is not unexpected, as it centers around a distillery, and the quality libations produced there. There are a few characters in this epic tale that drink like a fish, but their activities are usually off-screen.

Violence:

PG - There is some discussion concerning a wife-beater, but there is no violence that occurs onscreen.

Language:

R - The F bomb is dropped 3 times. Sh-t occurs several times, other expletives are absent.

Adult Content:

PG-13 - There is a scene where a young male exposes himself for his kindergarten friends, and wanders off with a young girl he likes. There's discussion about his gender identity. Sex is an offhand expectation of casual dating. There is a scene where sex occurs onscreen, not graphically described, with the girlfriend wearing only the boss's necktie.

Christian content:

Hmmm. So, there's a discussion of who God is, but it's extremely tongue in cheek and slightly irreverent. The Dog is God, Patrick is God. God's house is visited but then there's a discussion of how God isn't coming, and he let them in but left. It's funny, but I'd enter this book with the expectation that God's a good tool for a good joke.

Final analysis:

While The Essence of Life was worth many chuckles, it seemed to drag for me, and I couldn't get invested in the characters, and there were a confusing lot of them. In places the descriptions were panoramic, but the action was confusing and the backstories of the characters seemed a bit unnecessary, if titillating.

I didn't find the irreverence off-putting, but couldn't get invested in the plot or characters, and the pace just moved ponderously on, though the main undercurrent plot of the story is a tremendous joke worth telling. If you like drinking, big feet, or elaborate hilarious pranks, this would be a good book to pick up and delve into, for me, eh, not as much. Three Stars.