The Academy by Zachary Rawlins

Stories written around the idea of a bunch of teenagers at a school for the supernaturally gifted have been around a long time. From the original X-Men to the Jedi Academy and onward toward Harry Potter, it has been a repeated theme and that is even discounting the number of times that the idea has been used in anime. Since Harry Potter, we've seen a large number of these come out, some with unique twists on the scenario and others being somewhat formulaic.

This certainly falls into the former category. It is clear that Mr. Rawlins takes a number of queues from anime and manga in his story telling, but the setting itself is a very dark work filled with grim, frightening people (many of the most frightening being the "good guys") and punctuated by occasional relaxing rays of normality.

The first novel takes you through two simultaneously developing and closely related storylines, focusing the majority of the time on the life of one Alex Warner while the subplot storyline occasionally gives peeks at the more brutal world surrounding where he finds himself.

The metaphysics and mythos of the piece are intriguing and seem well thought out. Definitely an engaging read.

http://www.amazon.com/Academy-Central-Book-1-ebook/dp/B005LIBM30

Book Review: Faerie Tales: Revelations Trilogy

Faerie Tales is a fun piece of reading for anybody who finds Urban Fantasy an appealing subject. There are werecreatures, vampires, witches and, of course, the Fae.

Book Review: The Spirit of a Witch

This was a rather enjoyable story.  The chosen sorts of magic and the world setting are comfortingly familiar.  However, the real star of the show here is the main character's development.

Book Review: The Turning

This book is a play on the popular trend in supernatural romances that are out in the market today.  There are some significant differences from the standard formula of the young woman falling in love with the vampire that make this an interesting variation.

Sing the Midnight Stars by CMJ Wallace

This book is mis-advertised as a detective thriller. It certainly has aspects of that, but it is more appropriately categorized as a story of intrigue. The killer mentioned in the blurb falls increasingly into the background as the book moves around. Which is not to say that his or her presence does not continue to be felt. Regardless of this, the book is a very intriguing run, pun unintended, and has kept me interested throughout.

The Forest Bull by Terry Maggert

This book is another strike in the campaign to reclaim certain horror icons from the supernatural romances. From start to finish it keeps you entertained and eager to find out what happens next. The central characters are well developed and entertaining and the villains are gloriously unrepentant.

Shadowed by Ken Hughes

One of my brothers has often stated that enhanced or extra senses are the most dangerous and powerful abilities that a superhero could have.  This story lends credence to that statement.

Tenjin by Simon Gillen

Tenjin has a curious style that mixes elements from disparate sources that make this a spiritual successor to classical Chinese novels and Fistful of Dollars. The main character is very much in the nature of a hero out of a spaghetti western or a film noir. The main character immediately strikes you as a man of imminent practicality and a sort of outwardly grey morality. Tenjin is strong, for a mortal, but where he really shines is his cunning mind which takes heavy advantage of the fact that most people think he is too big and ugly to be a good liar. He exists somewhere between a true anti-hero and those noir heroes who don't view themselves as heroes.

Daughter of Mythos by Melissa Drake

Daughter of Mythos falls into the category of stories where a seemingly normal teenager has a hidden heritage that makes them a powerful force for good in the world. It is a tried and true story mode and this book does it justice. As a young adult book it is an excellent introduction for a young reader to the genre. It is also quite enjoyable for a long time adult reader of the fantasy genre. There are the expected subplots to these sorts of stories. Some of them end as expected, some of them threw me off my predictions, which I consider an applause worthy feat. Anybody who has done any significant amount of reading or (especially) writing can sympathize with me as to the tendency for stories to no longer be surprising.

Djinnx'd by Nicola Rhodes (Dead Link)

The adventure follows along a number of familiar themes in an original and pleasing manner.  I found myself halfway through the book almost before I realized it.  There were a number of things that I expected and a number of things that took me for a pleasant loop.

Legacy by Jon Davis

I had a lot of fun reading this story. It is a superhero story that has blended classic elements of Gold, Silver and Iron Age comic stories quite nicely. A protagonist with a clear moral framework and strength of character and the initial threat of the meteor are both very much Gold Age in nature. Later on we start to get shades of the Silver-Age with its growing moral complexity. Meanwhile, the seriousness of the battles and the collateral damage and death of innocent bystanders is very much something out of the Iron Age. These elements don't develop one into another like some representation of the development of comics in micro form. No, these elements exist side-by-side as a coherent whole. There are other, specific elements that I could mention, but not without spoiling the story.

The Raging One by Lexy Wolf

This story is an imaginative fantasy setting that makes clever use of traditional archetypes from Western fantasies. The setting is well-defined and sprinkled with just the right number of fictional words to give each of the four countries character. We aren't given full sentences in the various languages, but the words we do see seem to have a similar sound indicating a shared history, which makes sense given what we are given of the setting. The creatures and landscapes are intriguing, ranging from forests of giant trees and animals to desolate wastelands and vast oceans with cities thrown in as well. The way she treats the various sorts of powers is intriguing though we only see a few parts of the whole actually explained, there is a definite consistency to the powers.