Fantasy

What a pleasant surprise to discover that this book in my to be read pile was by a local Austin author!  Those who know me well realize that I read just about everything but I must admit that my Fantasy repertoire is lacking.  Most of the time I find them too “unbelievable” (I know – that’s the point), the names and places are too hard to pronounce and it’s hard for me to get much more than a basic popcorn enjoyment.

Popcorn enjoyment is good while you’re eating but then an hour later you are just thirsty from the salt or craving sugar or something.  This book, however, did not leave me with the popcorn feeling.  I really got into it – could not put it down for almost 3 days.  If it wasn’t for meetings and driving I could have finished in one day.  The book did something that most Fantasy does not for me and that is – I cared!  I cared about the characters, the place, the plot and subplots – all of it.  It pulled me in and I enjoyed the stay!

This book is the second in the series and I did not read the first one – my mistake which I will take care of soon.  However, I did not feel like anything was lacking by not knowing what went on before this part of the story.  The author did a great job filling in the blanks.  The characters are really well developed and the descriptions are perfectly phrased to put you in that world.

I know I have gone on a bit but I have been reading some really below average Indie books lately and thank goodness this one restored my faith in the incredible authors that are out there waiting to be discovered – apparently in my home town.

Click her to get Under the Shadow: Book Two on Amazon

Another World’s Song Book One by Sionnach Wintergreen

So I really did go back and read the first one. I even purchased it as I got the second one for free but since I enjoyed that one so much I wanted the author to at least benefit slightly from my joy in reading her work. This is the first book in the Astralasphere Spiral. I read them in reverse which is the order I would suggest – because the second book is an incredible story with plenty of action and intrigue where the first one does a wonderful job of setting up the characters and the plots that will arise in the second book. I enjoyed learning exactly what made the characters I were already engaged with, tick. It’s plain and simple – It’s a really good fantasy adventure. This author has also been putting out some great short stories on her blog – HERE

Click here to buy Another World’s Song: Book 1 of the Astralasphere Spiral on Amazon