Clive S. Johnson - Of Weft and Weave

Of Weft and Weave
The Dica Series #2
By Clive S. Johnson

Available for Kindle at  Amazon and Amazon UK

Other Books in this Series: Leiyatel’s Embrace (O.Scarlett! Review)
Available through Amazon

Product Description
A finely wrought and exquisitely detailed Speculative Fiction Mystery set at the end of a castle kingdom's epoch-long history. The failure of a strange army to arrive at the gates marks the end of an era, and sets in motion a fascinating and revealing insight into the realm’s rich but crumbling culture, bringing with it the unravelling of an age long mystery. At its heart is Leiyatel – the Living Green Stone Tree - long the preserver of the realm of Dica. What is to be the fate of her and of all those who depend upon her, even those far beyond her gaze?

A highly original, intricate and exquisitely imagined world, the ancient castle kingdom of Dica has slowly declined to a somnolent shadow of its once illustrious past. Expected salvation is long overdue and so a convoluted and at times darkly humorous tale steadily grows, within a broad canvas, to stunningly epic proportions.

The complex tale follows Lord Nephril, Dica’s Master of Ceremonies, and his oddly assorted companions who take up the challenge of saving the kingdom themselves. What comes to light is a multi-layered fabric of interwoven interests and conflicts that takes them far beyond the comfort and safety of Dica. Their journey marks an absorbing rebirth of ancient myth and legend, as alive and immediate now as in its dim and distant past.

At its heart is Leiyatel – the Living Green Stone Tree – preserver of the realm’s fortune and wondrous creation of the ancient Engers of Bazarral, but there’s more to their world than her own Certain Power, more within Nature’s far wider and wiser domain.

This is a sequel, a continuation of a story that couldn’t be followed, the story of Leiyatel’s Embrace. The two are uniquely linked within Nature’s own unrestrained knowing of a timeless universe. The end will certainly surprise and leave you thinking.

Of Weft and Weave will not only appeal to those who like a rich and involving read, but also to those who enjoy writing that’s innovative, original, tragically humorous and deeply thought-provoking. The tale is widely illustrated with the author’s own drawings and will also appeal to those who like maps for, like Leiyatel’s Embrace, it has two!

About the Author
Clive Johnson was born in Yorkshire in the UK, Bradford in fact, in the mid-1950's but was lured away by the bright lights of Manchester in the seventies to acquire a degree in electronics. Torn between the arts (a natural and easy artist) and the sciences (struggled with maths) teenage rationality favoured science for recompense leaving art for pleasure.

Twenty years implementing technologies for mainframe computer design followed by the mind-numbingly prosaic tedium of being a Group IT Manager for an international print company finally led, after a corporate takeover, to the freedom and simple pleasure of motorway incident support and a return to the arts.

A late seventies manuscript was unearthed during loft improvements and one thing led to another, a naïve and inexpert seed given benefit of mature loam in which to grow, and Leiyatel's Embrace steadily blossomed.
This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

Find Clive S. Johnson on Goodreads.

O.Scarlett! Review by Tenya

As if I could not give Clive S. Johnson’s first book enough accolades, I am in a great quandary yet again to express my vast enjoyment of his second novel. It was a profound pleasure to read this book, and I find I may have enjoyed it even more than the first, Leiyatel’s Embrace. Perhaps that is because I automatically had high expectations, but the author exceeded the height of the bar I had set in my mind.

The two books cover the same period of history within the vast realm called Dica, include many of the same characters, and use the same basic issues undergirding the plot, yet each stands alone as a quest for the discovery of the true mystery of the kingdom’s demise.

The Dican kingdom is in decline as the Certain Power, Leiyatel, the Living Green Stone Tree, continues to weaken. Nephril, the ancient servant of the Dican kings, may be the only one with the knowledge to rejuvenate Leiyatel – if only he could remember… Joined by an eclectic band of would-be-heroes, Nephril must discover the hidden secrets of Dica’s destiny, and his own.

Political drama, romance, danger, mystery and internal personal conflict weave together as a wonderfully wrought tapestry of a tale. The plot achieves a level of intrigue that honestly left my jaw on the floor a couple of times. The author threw me a few curves amongst the twists – how wonderfully delightful – I like surprises! Many scenes are laced with a quirky humor that causes snickering throughout despite the somber tone the circumstances demand.

Johnson’s fleshing-out of his characters reaches a greater depth. The old friends remain true while their alterations surprise both pleasantly and, at times, unpleasantly. The revelation of fresh facets of their personalities fascinate anew while the introduction of a wide variety of completely unique individuals into the story make it all the more charming and complete. Interaction between the characters is subtly fashioned, causing the story to be driven as much by emotion and character interaction as by plot.

This is a literary work of speculative fiction – finely crafted through words and phrasing. Containing the archaic along with elements of science fiction on occasion, this series continually stuns the senses and provokes deep thinking.  Clive Johnson’s style is poetic and daringly descriptive. If you are a reader looking for an action-packed, casual fantasy, you will not find it here. Instead, it is epic! The writing is classically formed fantasy which readers of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien or George McDonald will appreciate. Of Weft and Weave reveals the meticulous engineering mind behind the consistency of the parallelisms within the world created by this author. These books contain the authentic devices of an epic – a true saga of as-yet-unknown mysterious proportions. It views like a role playing video game in the reader’s mind simply for the fact the world Johnson has created is minutely detailed and monstrously vast.

Book three in this series is currently a working manuscript.

Of Special Note:
-- Clive has included a special treat in Of Weft and Weave by inserting several pieces of his own artwork into the manuscript. This adds a pleasant personal touch not to be missed, even on an ereader. The Tolkien-style maps are still included with this volume, a useful reference as one reads.
-- The author has also furthered the original ancient tongue of Dica to a point where the observant reader should pick up a great deal of the language by book’s end.

Genre/Theme:  Speculative Fiction, Quest, Mystery, Fantasy (classic style)

Reading Level: (by appropriateness) - TEEN to ADULT – these books are challenging from a vocabulary and plot standpoint and require an advanced sensibility as a reader
Profanity: (by amount in text) – LOW  – there are several instances of expletives being used in fewer than ten scenes of the book, the sort you might commonly hear on a (US) television program.
Sexuality: (by content) – mostly MILD to slightly OBVIOUS – a couple of times the shape and parts of a woman are alluded to. There is reference to a sense of rising desire in one of the characters, but it is subtle and somewhat symbolic. Although attractions between men and women are described, it is more on the intellectual or soul-ish side of attraction.
Other:  One discussion between two characters at the end of the book broaches the subject of producing offspring, but it is quick and not overly explicit. There are really no scenes of violence, but a couple of dangerous episodes. A very minor character is injured badly during a struggle, and a rather morbid happenstance occurs at one point.

KaSonndra Leigh - When Copper Suns Fall

When Copper Suns Fall
The Lost Immortals Saga #1

By KaSonndra Leigh

Kindle Edition Available





Product Description (from Amazon)
In fifteen-year-old Chela Prizeon’s city, alchemy is forbidden and angels hide among the mortal. With a deadly virus ravaging the globe, Chela’s nightmarish memories compels her to experience a past riddled with gloom, and now her brother is infected. 

"Chela’s only hope is the Caduceans, slayers sworn to protect the last seven Light Keepers and the ancient memories they share. A group led by the sometimes elusive, sometimes infuriating boy who intrigues Chela. But can she trust this boy with the mysterious past, someone who can influence her memories? 

With the Caduceans aid, Chela races to defeat her rivals, to unearth dark family secrets, and to find a cure…only to discover the glutovirus is far more than a simple disease. 

In this haunting debut, KaSonndra Leigh offers an escape into a world filled with celestial creatures, fascinating villainy, high-stake choices, and a secret romance, When Copper Suns Fall, is a fresh and original urban fantasy—with a dystopian twist—that will take readers on an unforgettable adventure.

About the Author (from Amazon)

KaSonndra Leigh was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She now lives in the City of Alchemy and Medicine, North Carolina. She likes to write about teens doing fantastical things in magical worlds. Her two sons have made her promise to write a boy book next.

She holds the MFA in creative writing, and loves to play CLUE, Monopoly (the Indiana Jones version), and Pandora's Box (good writer's block therapy). She lives in an L-shaped house with a garden dedicated to her grandmother. It has a secret library complete with fairies, Venetian plastered walls, and a desk made out of clear blue glass.

http://www.kasonndraleigh.com/

O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Rachel

This book is set in a near future – about 55 years is all.  Although Fantasy/ Post Apocalyptical is usually among my more favorite genre’s, “When Copper Suns Fall” just kind of missed the mark for me.  Not that it wasn’t a good story, because there was a lot of imagination and action, not too much romance, but it just fell short of a great novel.

First, the vocabulary kept you either guessing at words or trying to muddle over them or reaching for a dictionary.  Now I really don’t mind new words in a story, but considering that this is, I think, a book aimed at teens, the language and new words made it boggy, even for an adult looking for a story you can just sit back and enjoy.

Second, the action jumps around and is often rushed.  You lose the sense of where you are and when you are quite often.  I think having a paperback version would have helped a lot, but with a Kindle, you can’t just flip back and see if you missed something a few chapters back.  More than once, I wondered if I should go get a pen and notebook and try to take notes so I could keep when and where and who straight.

Third, there are many characters that pop in and out of the story in unexpected places, and become a huge part of the story line, but they are totally flat characters.  I couldn’t remember where they came from, let alone who they were.  It was very confusing for a minor character to suddenly become so important to the story line.  Most of the characters were left as paperboard thin personalities, and what little you did know, didn’t define their character much, and often contradicted what you thought you knew about the character.

Fourth, the climax ties itself up very poorly.  I was very confused at the end, other than the one point of she lied about what happened to the Beast.  I felt as if most of the questions raised in the earlier parts of the book were still hanging, not really sure if they had been answered for much of it.  Unfortunately, I don’t really feel compelled to try to read it a second time to try to straighten out everything that I didn’t get or understand the first time through.  Mostly because  I’m not much of one for rereading books, even the ones I dearly love.

On the positive side, it was a fairly clean read, not too much on the sex or profanity front, I think there were some rough words from some of the “mean” characters, but mostly it steered clear of the really bad language, and the same with the sexual situations.  I really appreciated that in a book with such a young heroine.

Also, the action moved along at a good clip, keeping you involved in the story in spite of not being overly sure when, or where, or who you were with at the time.  The action was very easy to get into and follow along with as you read the book.  Somewhere about halfway through the nearly 400 pages of book, it began to develop a rhythm and most of the characters were becoming familiar enough to keep the story interesting.

Chela is a great lead character.  She’s got her quirks, but you find yourself routing for her as the underdog that bad things just keep mysteriously happening to her and her beloved twin brother.  As the story moves along, you learn that most of these unusual things are purposely perpetrated against her to provoke a reaction, and she usually reacts.   And she’s got some great friends, although we only really get to know Jalen.  And the two boys who seem to suddenly be vying for her attention.  She’s kind of trapped in a 3 way tug between the 3 boys.

There are basically 4 types of people alive after the Tidal Wars.  The Tidal Wars were caused by the two ruling groups of angels – the Caduceans and the Tainted.  There are two types of humans, gifted and normal.  The gifted get to live in protected special cities.  The normals have to live in the ruined parts of the world.  There is also a strange army – Sons of Created Shade – that appeared to be either zombies or robots transformed from actual people.

The story takes place in just one of the eight protected cities of the new world, it appears to be in a South Eastern area of what use to be America.  I was not sure if the rest of the world was in similar state or only America, although it appeared to be a worldwide problem.

Basic Plot

The book opens with Chela visiting her comatose brother Micah.  There is a mystery surrounding his accident that she feels compelled to solve, and must prevent his becoming a vessel.  Once she has been thrown out of the hospital, she spends some time wandering around and thinking and looking at things ... and you begin to piece together the picture of her life and Micah’s accident as she begins to tell her story – first person narrative.  We learn a few interesting things right away, first, her father is a Historian, she and her brother were Homeschooled, and her real mother was an angel ... Seraphim.

The reminiscing soon gets her into trouble at work, and later at the park, and gets carded.  The whole event is rather strange.  Chela has one hot temper and a quick tongue, it gets her into a lot of trouble.  Usually her Dad can get her out of trouble, because of his position, but not this time.  Meanwhile, she meets up with her friends, go to a big party hang out, and she sees something she shouldn’t see ... only for some reason, she can’t really remember much of it.  But she met a guy ...

The Borough is having costing week – something I never quite figured out.  Maybe I’ve not read enough of this genre?  But she has to fight the champion, and if she wins, her sentence at the Barrows will be reduced.  While waiting for her match, she meets another new guy, and again meets the guy from the party place.

Now she gets told that she’s got to watch the Thoughtmasters while she’s at the Barrows, and be a spy.  She really isn’t sure what she is looking for, unusual behavior.  But now the two boys keep popping up in the strangest places.

She meets the dreaded Beast, and discovers she has wings.  There is so much going on that the plot is difficult to capsulate into a short form.  You find that the two boys are angels – each on opposite sides of the war – and each want HER for who she is and what she can do.  Both sides are giving her tiny bites of information and misinformation.  She doesn’t really know who to trust, nor does she understand her powers or how to trigger them when she needs them.

But she has to decide soon, because everyone she holds near and dear to her heart is being threatened in the great struggle for possession of her gift.  She has to decide before it is too late.

Readers who like Angels and lots of adventure will likely enjoy this book.  It has a definite genius under the surface, and if you can handle the difficult parts of the book, it is a very enjoyable read.  There are many great scenes that will compel many readers to keep reading, and most serious readers should be able to get to the end of the book.  A talented editor may be able to help her work out the rough spots and help turn this into a best seller.  Often, an author gets to know their world so well, that they don’t realize that others can’t see the same picture as they do, and what is plain to the author is choppy and confusing to the rest of us.

There are many unanswered questions as the book ends.  It is a world that is slightly familiar, but had enough strange things that I never quite grasped the nuisances of social or political structure.  More than once, I wondered if the world was loosely based on some TV or movie or other books that I have not watched or read, as it seemed as if the author assumed that we were familiar with some things ... such as costing day.

My daughter and I both fell in love with the authors name, KaSonndra, and Kendra has written it down to use as a character name someday in her own writings.  She is a gorgeous lady, from looking at her picture, and I wish her all the best as a writer.  She has definite talent and an amazing imagination.  I enjoyed the book and felt it was pretty original with a lot of interesting ideas.  It is an interesting world, and could definitely host quite a few more books in the setting provided.

 

Note:   While this book is tame enough for readers as young as 12 or so, many that young will find the reading/ vocabulary to be difficult.  It is not an easy read, but it is intriguing and action filled.  It is fast paced and challenging.   It is a story about destiny and loyalty, and discovering that everything you thought you knew and understood about your world – is pretty much wrong.

Genre/Theme:  Fantasy, Angels, Post Apocalyptical, Teen, Mystery/Adventure
Reading Level:  Mature TEEN - high school to college 
Profanity:  MODERATE - mild words & a few stronger expletives 
Sexuality:  MILD - descriptions of affection/desire 
OBVIOUS - blatant sexuality in text, but not explicit 
Other: Betrayal is a strong theme  in this book, angels  appear to be the creators of earth and are at war for power over the humans.

Ben and Annie Grimley - Andromeda's Moon

Andromeda's Moon

By Ben Grimley and Annie Grimley

Kindle Edition Available 


 Product Description (from Amazon)
While boldly sneaking aboard the final flight of the U.S.S. Explorer with her cat, Pickle, twelve-year-old Andromeda Starwell finds herself on an unexpected journey--to the Moon! Stranded on Apollo Research Base, the young stowaway barely has time to miss home when the lunar colony becomes the scene of a mysterious theft. The prized Lavalight Crystal has been whisked away under the very noses of Base Security without a trace--no clues, no suspect, no hope of solving the crime. Worse, in the wrong hands, the Crystal has the power to wreck the entire colony! With Inspector Ride's official investigation going nowhere, Andromeda teams up with her brilliant but flaky, daydreaming classmate, Pixie, and a double-dealing, four-armed robot, Rad. Together, they must thwart a diabolical plot to melt Apollo Base into a puddle of molten moondust. And, in between moondiving, rocketboarding, meteorite dodging, and low-gravity food fighting, Andromeda still has to figure out a way to get home...

About the Author (from Amazon)
Ben Grimley founded PBS KIDS Mobile at PBS, where his team received honors including a Parents' Choice Gold Award, Teachers' Choice Award and a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers for work in educational media. He continues to work on educational apps for kids of all ages, with a particular passion for math and science games. He also has a penchant for writing poems about the moon and for sneaking midnight snacks. Andromeda's Moon is his first novel.

Annie Grimley is his 12 year old daughter.

O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Kendra

I have a love/hate relationship with the mystery genre. I love watching the logic of who done it, and trying to stay one step ahead of the mystery solvers. However, I hate it when the mystery solvers are sticking their noses where they don’t belong, especially if the mystery solvers are kids, and there is someone else supposed to be solving this mystery. If they make the person who is supposed to be solving the case look petty and incompetent, I like it even less.

This book fell firmly into that category. There were times when I put it down and I almost didn’t return. The only thing that kept me coming back was a desire to know if my suspicion about who the villain was was correct. I had had the guy picked out for the villain the moment they introduced him. I was correct, by the way, but I won’t tell you who it was. You can figure it out for yourself.

This book was advertised as being full of hilarious moments … and I suppose it is … if your idea of hilarious is getting laughs from someone else’s pain. There were moments I did laugh, but most of the time I just cringed or rolled my eyes. Mom says I talked to this book a lot.

I had no love for the main character, Andromeda, and very little sympathy for her plight. The reason for her getting stuck on the space ship was her own fault. She was being disrespectful of authority, especially of her father. She probably could have avoided getting trapped on that space ship by simply not taking her cat with her. That cat did NOTHING for the story, other than getting her trapped on the space ship, and I would frankly like to know how she zip-corded while carrying a cat cage. My mental image just falls short. I did finally figure out why the cat came though. You see, this was a co-write and one of the authors was a twelve year-old girl. Every twelve-year-old girl has her favorite animal, Annie’s just happens to be a cat, and obviously the cat just had to come along as a result,

Andromeda, or Andrie as she was often called, reminded me of a spoiled brat. She was manipulative, conniving, disrespectful and all around left me with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. The only thing that ever induced me to feel sorry for her was when it was revealed that her mother got lost on the far side of the moon. There was only one thing that she did that I at all applauded was when she stood up for a girl who was being teased.

This book is also advertised as being scientifically accurate, as it was reviewed by someone from NASA. I’m sure that, on all of those points it probably was. However, something I always wondered was why technology is so much more advanced on the moon than it is on earth. I can understand why the stuff that involves people not weighing as much would not be on earth, but I would have thought that the classrooms on earth would have much of the same technology as does the ones on earth, especially Andrie’s school, as she just struck me as someone who runs in high technology circles. I mean, her dad designed the rocket she rode on!

Now, this wasn’t a bad book, and I did eventually come back every time I put it down, and I probably would read a sequel if one came out, but there were a lot of things that left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe a twelve-year-old who goes to a public schoool wouldn’t have a problem with it, but I, a homeschooled 17 year old, did.

Genre/Theme: Sci-fi, children’s, mystery
Reading Level:  CHILD - children's literature 
Profanity:  LOW - few mildly offensive words, all from one guy who only appears in the beginning and towards the end.
Sexuality:  NONE – except for when Andrie knees one guy where it counts, and some other s joke that if she prevented him from ever having kids, she had done the world a favor. Honestly, I think that should have been left out considering the intended audience.
Other: 
There were a lot of “Accidents” by one character, Harry. There was one kid who was the brunt of many practical jokes, which could have been left out. Andrie and her friends face quite a few near-death encounters. Andrie disobeys a LOT.

Alan Skinner - Blue Fire and Ice

Blue Fire and Ice
(The Land's Tale #1)


By Alan Skinner

Kindle Edition Available





Product Description (from Amazon) 

Product Description
Fanatsy and adventure for readers 12 to adult
Blue Fire and Ice is the first book in The Land's Tale.
A totally original book with characters unlike any you've met before in a magical but believable world that delighted teens and adults alike. Lose yourself as the rather serious Beadles seek help from their neighbours - the unpredictable Muddles and the clever but grim Myrmidots.

Plot synopsis: The Land is in peril... Fires are ravaging Beadledom. In the face of terrifying, unquenchable blue flames the Beadles turn to their unpredictable neighbours, the Muddles, for help. But aid from the Muddles brings its own risks... Drawn together to save The Land, seven unlikely heroes set out to find the secret of the blue fire and the identity of the mysterious arsonist who will stop at nothing to destroy them all. Full of the most unusual characters and packed with intrigue, humour and adventure, Blue Fire and Ice is the first in an exciting new series of books about The Land.



About the Author (from Amazon)


I've been many things in my life but they were all just slices of time layered on the one foundation - a writer. Sometimes you forget what you are and some times you just think I'll get around to that when all these rainy days are over. You have to be careful about that; there's more rainy days than you think there will be when you're young.

Now all I do is write - and spend more time than I ever thought I would letting people know about the books I write. These days, it seems to come with the job but I find I do really like it when people get in touch with me and ask me things or say thank you. It's great.

Some people ask if I use all the things I've been in my writing. I don't think I've written enough yet to have used even a small part of what's happened in my life. I've been fortunate to live in wonderful places: Boston, Melbourne, London, Zurich. Great things have happened in all those places.

But you don't really want to know about me. The best part of me is what I write. So I'll stop here and let you get back to reading my books. If you do want to ask more, just get in touch.


O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Rachel!


I picked this book up for Free on the Kindle, featured by Pixel of Ink Young Edition.

Back when I was really young, maybe 7, my parents took us to an outdoor theatre where a group of young thespians put on a play based on “the Hobbit”.  I was mesmerized and thrilled.  It would be years before I finally laid hands on the book, for I didn’t know the title, and was able to read the story for myself.   Through the years, very few books have left me with the same level of thrill for the land and the people – so many are just rewrites of the same thing and the same people – and while the stories are grand and wonderful, there is not a sense of wonder and amazement and innocence as the book unfolds.

This book isn’t “The Hobbit”.  But the Land is just as magical and simple and refreshing as the Shire.  I loved the Beadles and the Myrmidots, and especially the Muddles.  It’s the sort of tale where you snuggle your older child in for the night and they happily listen for hours while you both forget the time because the story is enchanting.   On the other hand, I really could see people not loving it as much as I did – simply because the action is lower key and the people so innocent.  If you want blood and gore and steamy sex ... this is not the book for you – because there isn’t any.   No, ....  I’ll take that back, there is some blood – the adventure is not without peril, but it’s not gory, but there are several pretty scary parts.  Parents really should read it ahead of handing it to a child younger than 9, especially if you have a more sensitive child.


As I started the book, I wasn’t very hopeful, but settled in to rock my baby to sleep, and kept reading to not disturb her, and by the third or fourth chapter, I was pretty much hooked, and by the time I reached the 50% marked, I was enchanted.  It is a simple and sweet story, with mystery and adventure, somewhat the flavor of the Wind in the Willows.

There are three groups of people that live in the Land.  Brian is a Beadle, and the first character that you meet.    Life has always been calm and ordered for the Beadles.  They don’t like surprises or change or adventure much.  And then the fires started – BLUE fires.  When they fire department tried to put out the fires, the water made the fire even larger and more violent.  They needed help, so Brian was sent to ask the Muddles for help.

Muddles are everything that the Beadle’s are not ... and they have the strange knack of “Mixing” whenever a bird shaped cloud flies overhead.  You won’t believe the trouble that causes in the book!   And the Myrmidots live on the other side of the Muddles – they are stern and ordered and they invent things.

Brian doesn’t like changes to his routine.  Brian doesn’t like surprises.  Brian doesn’t like falling into rivers or being sent flying through the air by a Muddle goat.  Brian really doesn’t like Muddles.

But ... if the fires are not stopped – the Beadles will find it difficult to survive.  So to the Muddles, Brian returns.   They promise to send their own fire truck after much debate ... and they almost catch a lady ... a stranger that nobody knows ... and then she escapes.

When some young Muddles spot a woman that nobody knows going across a massive ancient bridge and into the mountains – a place nobody goes and from where no one has ever returned  ... they bring news to the town and suddenly Brian finds himself in charge of far more adventure than he has ever wanted or bargained for.

This is not a short book at 336 pages, and it spans at least a month or two of time.  There are so many funny and wonderful people to meet.  The Muddles especially were full of unique and completely surprising individuals.  The three people groups have always lived as isolated as possible from each other, but to solve the mystery of the fires and the strange woman, they will have to work together and venture farther than anyone of them in history has ever ventured before .... or are they?    Leave it to the Muddles to come up with some wonderful surprises and amazing solutions.  Maybe the Muddles aren’t so bad after all?

Alan Skinner has done a remarkable job at creating a fun and fascinating world of likable characters with realistic personalities and problems.   I laughed, I cried, I stayed up late to read the next chapter ... and the next one ... and the next until I cringed and then laughed at the end.   And you will be so shocked when they all discover the truth, not only about the fires and the strange woman, but also about themselves and the Land that they live in.

I find this book rather difficult to do a basic plot ... so I will keep it very short.

Beadles buildings are being destroyed by Blue Fire that explodes when sprayed with water.

Beadles ask the Muddles for help, and they agree.  Together, they begin to unravel part of the mystery of the Blue Fire.

Beadles and the Muddles go to the Myrmidots for help to travel into the mountains.  A team of individuals from each group is selected to travel together.

What they find in the mountains .... changes everything they thought they knew about themselves and their home.

This book is not so much about the plot, as it is about the people, their land, and learning to set aside prejudice to work together to save them all.



The Second book is available – The Furnaces of Forge.   

Also a short story called Buckle and the Pirate.

The author has one other book, but it doesn’t appear to be about The Land.


Note:   Best enjoyed by those who love long rambling epic adventure stories full of innocence and imagination.   The book doesn’t have deep language or powerful forces like the Hobbit, so those expecting an epic adventure of that level will be disappointed – it is a much simpler style such as the telling of Wind in the Willows.   Some children as young as 4 or 5 may enjoy listening to the story as well.

Genre/Theme:  Children, Fantasy, Mystery/Adventure


Reading Level:    due to vocabulary and book length – best suited for children at a 4th grade reading level or higher.
CHILD - children's literature
TEEN - upper elementary to middle school

Profanity: NONE - no offensive language to
LOW - few mildly offensive words   (the generic variety – dumb, hate,  stupid, darn)

Sexuality: NONE -  (the worst you will see is two characters looking at each other and blushing.)

Other: This story is as simple and as mild as possible --- but there are elements that will make some parents cringe if they read the book to a younger child, and possibly cause a parent to not give the book to even an 8 – 10 year old.  There is a magic that causes the Muddles to Mix – exchanging their arms and legs with each other, as well as many spots of slightly crude humor, and people get hurt a lot, especially after they cross into the mountains.  There is a near drowning, explosions (bomb like), and basically a suicide (as the witch/woman steps into a hot light on purpose).  Concepts such as greed, slave/servants, and prejudice caused violence are broached.

Donna Varnes - The Cove

The Cove
by Donna Varnes

Paperback through Amazon





Product Description (from Amazon)
The Cove is a story within a story. Destiny Dawn, a fantasy writer, is duped into buying beach-front property contaminated by a toxic spill. The reader enters into her fantasy world full of mermaids, sand fairies and water babies, and their dilemmas, as she writes her novel. Meanwhile, Destiny's own life is becoming more and more bizarre and confusing. Why does the handsome marine biologist show up looking like one of the characters she invented? Why do the Iranians want her balding cat? And why does a black Mercedes keep following her? Does she just have an over-active imagination, or are the chemicals causing hallucinations and paranoia?

About the Author (from Amazon)
Born in Billings Montana, Donna Varnes and her husband, Ed have traveled through every state and ten countries, and consider all of the USA as "home." She and her husband of 41 years, have six children and 17 grandchildren. Donna considers their remote forty-acre homestead near Denali National Park, as her "nest." There they experienced the real Alaska by living in a small cabin, home-schooling their children, and using sled dogs in their everyday living. It was also the inspiration for several of her short-stories published in the Anchorage Daily News and Mushing Magazine. Donna earned an Associates Degree in Christian Ministries from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, as well as an AAS in Developmental Disabilities from Prince William Sound Community College in Valdez, Alaska, where she started writing The Cove. She also completed a BA in Elementary Education from the University of Alaska, Anchorage.



O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Kendra

      When handed this book by my Grandfather a year or so back, I was intrigued first by the cover, and secondly by the description of it being a story within a story. I was curious as to what that meant. I soon found out. Destiny Dawn is a Fantasy author, and you get to read portions of her book, which is set in the contaminated cove in front of which Destiny has just been duped into buying a house. The story she writes obviously draws heavily on her real life – but then she starts seeing the characters from her books! Whether these are hallucinations due to the toxic water she lives next to, or whether her book characters are actually coming to life … you’re never quite sure, as the evidence goes both ways.
      As an author myself, I found myself really relating to Destiny. She suffered writer’s block – often – and was really disturbed by her characters coming to life. While it is every author’s dream (well, for many authors), how would we react if they actually did come to life? I also loved her refusal to use her real name (it’s not really Destiny Dawns!) and the fact that, on a whim, she bought a fairy costume and would wear it to write in.
      Of course, there was some romance – in Destiny’s real life. The problem is, she’s scared of him as he looks just like a sketch she did of one of her characters and the first time she sees him, he’s in a special suit to protect him from the toxic chemicals. Even after she gets over being scared of him (which takes a while) she still gets mad at him almost every day. There was practically none (romance, that is) in the book she’s writing (a fact she notes herself).
      And then, there’s the cat she finds and names My Tom, who is going bald (she knits a sweater for him as a result, another thing I liked about her) and she is convinced that the terrorists that she’s seen are after him.
      It’s not quite clear if Destiny is a Christian or not, but I assume that she is, as one of the main human characters in her story returns to Christianity after running from it so long. My problem with that, however, is with putting it with the “made-up” part of the book, it might make the readers think that that, too, was made up.
     All in all, I liked it, especially Destiny’s antics.

Note: There were some issues with the formatting of the book. Some sentences and paragraphs were bold for seemingly no reason and quotation marks were often pointing the wrong direction (and attached to the wrong word) or missing altogether, and I would have preferred the book to have been single-spaced rather than double spaced.

Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Fantasy, Christian
Reading Level: TEEN - upper elementary to middle school
Profanity: NONE - no offensive language
Sexuality: NONE – unless you count the fact that the mermaids are hinted to not wear clothing.
Other: Jake does stick Destiny with a sedative needle and takes her to the hospital against her will.