Soul of the Elephant by Pam Laughlin – Review

Soul of the Elephant by Pam Laughlin – Review

Rating – 4/5

Born in a family of mahouts (elephant trainers), Hemit dreams of getting his elephant in the cattle fair next year. He is a gentle soul and understands animals in a way that no one can. He believes the relationship between a mahout and his elephant should be based on trust, love, and respect. However, his father uses harsh ways to dominate his elephant. Unable to withstand any more ill-treatment towards the elephants in the family stable, he takes a stand against his father.

Hemit’s yearning to understand the elephants better leads him to a mystical fakir, who everyone believes is an evil sorcerer. But Hemit sees otherwise and accepts the fakir’s help to learn how to communicate with his beloved elephant. Will Hemit succeed in convincing his father that love and respect are the only ways to gain an animal’s trust? With his new-found learning, can Hemit win Asha’s (an abused elephant) trust? Read Soul of the Elephant by Pam Laughlin to find out.

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Whispers from the Depths by C. W. Briar – Review

Only a chosen few, called Whisperers, are gifted with the Voice – the ability to tame the wild and dangerous water spirits. However, the once revered Whisperers are now an enslaved lot forced to serve under cruel kings and nobles. Their price of freedom is too high to pay. Betka, a novice Whisperer, can only dream of being free again and being reunited with her family.

A dangerous water spirit has attacked the castle where Betka’s sister is serving. She, somehow, joins the crew that has been assigned to protect that castle in hopes of finding her sister alive. However, upon reaching there, the spectacle of carnage that Betka and the crew witnesses make any chance of finding any survivor slim. But they need to enter the castle, unaware that a savage foe awaits them inside. Can Betka save her sister? Will the other crew members perish too? Read Whispers from the Depths by C. W. Briar to find out.

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson – Review

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson – Review

Rating – 3/5

Set in 1491 during the reign of the last sultanate in the Iberian Peninsula, The Bird King is the story of Fatima, the only remaining Circassian concubine to the sultan, and her dearest friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker. 

Hassan has a secret–he can draw maps of places he’s never seen and bend the shape of reality. When representatives of the newly formed Spanish monarchy arrive to negotiate the sultan’s surrender, Fatima befriends one of the women, not realizing that she will see Hassan’s gift as sorcery and a threat to Christian Spanish rule. With their freedoms at stake, what will Fatima risk to save Hassan and escape the palace walls?

As Fatima and Hassan traverse Spain with the help of a clever jinn to find safety, The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson asks us to consider what love is and the price of freedom at a time when the West and the Muslim world were not yet separate.

The Rookery by Lee Ford Jackson – Review

The Rookery by Lee Ford Jackson – review

Kindle edition, 119 pages, Published July 18th, 2018, by Troubador Publishing

Rating: 4/5

Clickety-clack………. clickety-clack……… clickety-clack………… clickety-clack.

On a moonlit night, John and Rachel, who met each other in the hotel they are staying, ride out to a deserted beach for a date. They are having a lovely time in each other’s company when John feels that someone, or something, is watching them. Within seconds of having this premonition, a hideous, horrible creature—something they had never seen before—attacks them. However, that creature is not alone. John and Rachel have unwittingly come close to The Rookery, and soon throngs of these nameless, horrendous creatures making the god-awful clickety-clack noise surround them. Will they live?

The 19th Bladesman by S.J. Hartland #BookReview

Kindle Edition, 642 pages, Published on November 21st, 2018, by Dark Blade Publishing

Rating: 4/5

Kaell is a swordsman bonded to the ancient gods and can fight for them alone. Bonded warriors are doomed to die young as they are trained to fight the monstrous, blood-sucking ghouls. But Kaell doesn’t fear for his life. All he wants is his Lord’s love. However, Lord Vraymorg is unwilling to acknowledge his feelings towards Kaell for love means pain. But Kaell is also the “19th Bladesman” prophesied to bring down a banished God. When this foul god escapes from his prison, what havoc shall he wreak? Can Kaell thwart him? Because “if Kaell breaks, the kingdom breaks with him”. The 19th Bladesman, the first book in the Shadow Sword series, by S. J. Hartland is a remarkable fantasy novel.