Book Review Friday: Osric's Wand

I recently had the opportunity to chat with the authors of Osric's Wand. Click here to read the full interview. Today I review this strong debut into realm of fantasy fiction.

The Goodreads blurb for Osric's Wand:

While the world leaders of Archana gather for an unprecedented peace treaty signing, tragedy strikes, and rumors spread of war. Osric; a young, untested leader, is thrust into the chaos and must journey far with his unlikely companions to stop the inevitable world war. Circumstance brought them together, but prophecy has entwined their fates.

Now, the young Vigile Contege, the world’s greatest Wand-Maker, and a beautiful Maiden of the Unicorn must put aside their differences and work together, or watch as their homes are destroyed. Their understanding of magic will be challenged as they discover new methods and uses for their powers, and each day will only uncover more unanswerable questions to torment Osric’s mind.

Why was the signing attacked? What do the unicorns want with him? How do you read a book with no words? What is so special about his wand?

My Review:


Authors Albrecht and Delay created a world full of all of our favorite fantasy creatures and devices. Unicorns? Check. Dragons? They're in there. Swordplay? Got it. Talking animals? Done. Oh, and let us not forget magic.


The story revolves around this wand you see. A very special wand wielded by Osric, the main character. In Osric's Wand, magic is available to everyone, which makes for a somewhat interesting spin on magical stories. Usually magic is for the prized few. What happens when everyone has magic?


From the beginning, I was reminded of the Chronicles of Narnia, but without any religious undertones. The animals talk but they're not always cute. Gus, the wand-making genius, is a diminutive but acerbic prairie dog. And what are those silent unicorns really up to?


I think this story would be a particularly good read for a late elementary school to middle-grade person. While the main character is in his 20's, the book does not contain sex or graphic violence or themes that would be inappropriate. There is a dearth of books for boys that age so I highly recommend this one for boys looking for a fun read.


That's not to say adults won't enjoy it though. If you enjoy fantasy and magic, you will like find this book a worthy read.


Recommended?


Yes. If you enjoy magical stories with lots of fantasy creatures and talking animals, then check out Osric's Wand. If you love Narnia, then this book is right up your alley. And if you are a tween or teen boy looking for a fun read (or are the parent to one), then I highly recommend this book to you.


The authors are putting together the next installment of Osric's tale and I look forward to seeing how the adventure continues.

Fierce Reading Blog Tour!!!

Come join the fun on my first ever blog tour! The tour runs from 2/16-2/29. Check out these amazing book blogs for reviews of Emily's House, interviews with moi, guest posts and GIVEAWAYS! Lots of Giveaways. Just click on the link & go have fun :-D


February 29 - Last stop on the tour, head over to Jaclyn's Musings for a review and Giveaway! 

February 28- Stop by Celtic Lady's Reviews and read the latest review of Emily's House and check out her very cool site.

February 27 - Hop on over to This is From My Heart Book Lovers Paradise for the latest stop on my blog tour. Janeira has a fun interview with moi and other fun stuff. Check it out!

February 24 - Read the latest 5 Star Review of Emily's House and enter a Giveaway at Books Complete Me. And hang around and check out her very wonderful book blog!!

February 23 - Check out my Guest Post at Literary Exploration to hear the true story of what inspired me to write Emily's House! A story that may be stranger than the fiction ;-)

February 22 - Head over to Heather Robbins' awesome blog, SupaGurl Books to read my guest post there and find out my favorite books and more.

February 21 - THREE great blogs to check out. Head on over to Amanda's Writings to enter her awesome domestic and International Giveaway.

Then check out my latest 5 Star Review of Emily's House on Chocolate Coffee Books (what more could we want?!). Thank you Neriah for your read & review.

And then head over to Indie Author How-To and check out Lakisha's blog.

February 20, join me on Lisa Ann Richard's blog, Lisa Loves Books, where you can read her review of Emily's House AND enter her giveaway! So hop on over and join the fun!

February 17, join me on Marlene Frierson's blog, Read with Love where you can read her interview with moi and explore her site to enter giveaways and check out her reviews.

First stop on February 16 is Krystal Larson's cool site Live to Read. Click on the link to read her review of Emily's House and leave a comment on her blog to be entered in a giveaway! And if you leave a comment here to, you'll be entered in two giveaways - how easy is that?

Show the love on these great book blogs by following them and posting comments. These lovely ladies read, review and host giveaways just for the love of books and none of them are paid for hosting their blogs or paid for reviews. So show the love for book bloggers!

And remember, for the entire month of February, post a comment here on any blog post OR post a comment on my Facebook page and you are automatically entered into the February Book Giveaway Contest. Check out this post for complete contest details. Post early. Post often!

Friday Book Review: The Night Circus

This week's Friday review - The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern.

The Night Circus is a wholly original novel, unlike anything I've read before. While I enjoyed it very much (so much in fact that I initially borrowed it from the library but decided to buy the hardcover because I know I'll read it again), this book is not for everyone. I'll tell you what I liked about it and what wasn't so hot too. I'll also share with you some thoughts from friends of mine who have read it who didn't love it as much as me so you have some perspective on it before you buy it or commit the time to read it.

First, What I Loved About The Night Circus: 

An original, imaginiative place - the night circus. This book is like Harry Potter for adults. J.K. Rowling gave kids Hogwarts. Erin Morgenstern has given adults the night circus. For people who love magic and mystery, Morgenstern created an adult world where magic is real and the  mysterious is displayed for the visitor to the night circus. Morgenstern created a world that feels so complete - down to the smells of the foods served - that the reader begins to believe that she could actually go visit it. I want to go to the night circus! If you enjoy becoming immersed in a magical realm, then The Night Circus may be for you.

A beautiful love story that does not feel like a romance novel. I enjoy a romance novel from time to time, but I prefer my romance to come organically out of a story rather than be formulaic. If you like a great lovestory but don't enjoy romance novels per se, then the Night Circus may be for you. There are scenes between Marco and Celia that are so beautiful and so descriptive, you feel like you are right there with them. The whole scene that takes place between them in the house and with the pillow room - outstanding.

There are other things to commend The Night Circus, but for me these were the two highlights. Above all, it is a story that immerses you into a very fun, magical, intriguing and wholly original world. Not since I read the first Harry Potter book have I read a book more imaginative than this one.

Now, for what could have been improved and/or what's not so hot:

Lack of plot. Okay, there is a plot. Sort of. But the plot is the weak spot of the book. I had the opportunity to hear Erin Morgenstern do an interview on NPR about this book and I know that for a long time during the process, she just had pages and pages of description about the circus but no real plot. Efforts were made to create a plot, including the lovestory between Celia and Marco, but the plot still feels like an add-on. In a group discussion on this book, we all agreed that the best parts were the parts where the author described the circus, written in 2nd person. So if you are someone who can't stand to read a book that's not strong on plot, then this may not work for you.

Another complaint that I heard raised about the book was that it lacked depth of meaning or theme. For at least one reader I discussed this book with, she felt that it was just a lovely description of a circus and a bit of a lovestory with not much else. I think that's a valid point to raise. Frankly when I read it I was just enjoying being a voyeur of the circus so much, the lack of strong plot and/or lack of well developed theme didn't bother me at all.

So bottom line, I loved it and consider it one of my top reads of 2011. If you want to read a book that takes you on a fun ride to another world, then check out The Night Circus.

5 Hawks for The Night Circus

NEXT WEEK - Steampunk Week here on Natalie Wright's YA

Don't Miss It - Total Awesomeness!!!

Monday - A Steampunk Primer

Wednesday - Interview with Jason G. Anderson, author of the steampunk novel Gears of Wonderland

Friday - Review of Gears of  Wonderland

Book Review Friday: PROPHECY by Joanna Penn

Joanna Penn has done it again, and then some, with PROPHECY. Her character Morgan Sierra is back in page-turning (or on an e-reader, perhaps it's called button-clicking) read. If you have not yet read Joanna Penn's first book, Pentecost. An ARKANE Thriller., then buy that now and read it first. While you could read PROPHECY without having read Pentacost and still enjoy it, reading Pentacost first will enhance your enjoyment of Prophecy.

Morgan Sierra is still kicking butt and taking names as she and her partner Jake travel the world and unravel mysteries in order to stop a super-hot megalomaniac from starting Armageddon. If you're a fan of Dan Brown, then Joanna Penn is the author for you. Like Brown, Penn weaves information about religious art, icons and history with modern-day fears. The result is a face paced read, one that kept me up past my bedtime because I wanted to know what happens next.

Here are three things I really love about this book:

1. RECITATION OF FACTS TO A MINIMUM. Books like this one, where there is a significant amount of relevant facts for the reader to know, can so easily become a non-fiction textbook rather than a fiction story. As a reader, I don't want to become aware of the author and feel like in the middle of a story, the author has butted his/her head in and is giving me a recitation of facts (one of the reasons I don't read much historical fiction). In Penn's first book, while I enjoyed it quite a bit (I gave it 4 stars), there were times that the author spent a few too many paragraphs (in my opinion) reciting the wonderful facts she had learned from her research.
In PROPHECY, this doesn't happen. The reading is smooth, recitation kept to a minimum. There are plenty of wonderful facts thrown in but it is handled deftly. AND I LOVE learning about the various places this book takes me. I enjoy whizzing around the world with Morgan Sierra and learning about religious artifacts and iconography and the meanings behind them. Joanna Penn knows her stuff and in PROPHECY, author Penn allows her character to do the talking.

2. KICK-BUTT FEMALE PROTAGONIST. I don't think I'm alone when I say that I could go the rest of my life without reading another book with a wimpy female main character who is like the proverbial princess locked in the tower waiting to be rescued. Joanna Penn has created a wonderful character in Morgan Sierra, a character that can easily maintain a whole series of books. I really enjoyed learning more about Morgan in this second book of the Arkane series and I love that the author didn't tell us everything about her in Book 1. She's doling the information out book by book. And Ms. Penn created a character with plausible explanation for why she can go head to head with thugs and bad guys (where if I were to try to land a flat palmed thrust to a bad guy's face I'd end up with a broken wrist). Morgan Sierra's history continues to unfold for the reader and her background makes her abilities and actions believable. Morgan is sexy, smart and kicks butt. It's fun going for the ride with her.

3. COMMERCIAL FICTION THAT CAN ALSO PROVOKE THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION. I enjoy a book that's just a fun ride as much as the next person. But I also like a book that may inspire me to use my noodle, think about an issue, perhaps even enter into a lively debate with others based on the issues raised. Joanna Penn tackles the issue of religious extremism in this book and she does it very well. Why does someone strap a bomb to themselves and blow themselves and many others up in the name of God? The author is never preachy and again, the tendency of some authors is to start to lecture the reader when they address these kind of themes. Author Penn avoided this tendency and allowed the themes to unfold naturally and without instilling herself into the story as a lecturer. I enjoyed very much Penn's treatment of this complex and troubling topic -one so completely relevant to our current world situation.

Kudos to Joanna Penn. Looking forward to the next installment.


5 Hawks to PROPHECY by Joanna Penn!



I use the Hawk as a symbol because I like hawks and because there is a hawk named Boadicea in my novel Emily's House.

WINNERS of December Book Giveaway for Emily's House!!!

A great big THANK YOU to all who took the time to post comments and enter my first ever Book Giveaway on both the blog and my YouTube channel. I've decided to give away THREE books. Why three? Because that's how many books I have left from the first print run : )

So, without further ado, here are the WINNERS:

From the blog, JOSHUA GLENN.

And from the YouTube channel, BOOKMOVIEGUY and BOOKTRIXIE

How to claim your prize:

Simple, e-mail me your mailing address and I'll ship the book off to you, U.S.P.S. Priority Mail. My e-mail address is: NatWritesYA@gmail.com.

YOU MUST E-MAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS BY MONDAY, 1/9/12 or you forfeit your prize and I'll announce an alternate winner.

To all of you who have read Emily's House - and those who will get the book in the mail - I really appreciate reviews on Goodreads and Amazon and tagging the book on Amazon with appropriate tags is awesome too.

The last week of December was exciting with Emily's House hitting the top 25 in YA Science Fiction/Fantasy & Magic category!! Thank you to all who have purchased or borrowed the book.

In other news, I've decided to start posting reviews of reads I've enjoyed and I'll be doing that every Friday. My reviews will be a mix of adult and young adult reading as well as Indie books and traditionally published books. So check back on Fridays to catch my reviews and suggestions for good reads.

Thanks everyone and I hope you had a great holiday season and wishing you all a fantastic New Year filled with things you love!