Book Excerpts: Ilfayne’s Bane |
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Author: Julia Knight
Title: Ilfayne’s Bane
Niche: Epic fantasy adventure with romantic elements
Price: $6.50
Hilde opened the door and stared at the ceiling, which flickered with colour and half-seen images. The heap moaned. It was a man. He sat up, dislodged the large, stained yet still crimson cloak and patted himself all over as if to check he was all there. Jet black hair fell over his face and shoulders. Apparently satisfied all was in order, he got to his feet. He was flamboyantly dressed, with a red waistcoat over a voluminous white shirt, stained leather breeches, and a belt slung at a rakish angle across his hips. Various ornaments, tassels and bangles quivered and clinked as he moved. Trinkets hung from his waistcoat on coloured threads. They sparkled and glittered in the torchlight, with all manner of gemstones caught in wire mesh and filigree. He picked up a battered hat with a round crown, checked the jaunty red feather on it and put it on. She would not have called him handsome, exactly. He looked nothing like any other man she had seen. Striking in a dishevelled kind of way, with tanned skin and eyes so dark as to be black, now rather unfocussed as he tried to peer around him like a ten-pint drunk. A gash across his forehead dripped blood down one cheek. He spotted Hilde, grinned a wolfish sort of grin and held out his hand. “Hello, I seem a bit lost. Do you know where we are?” A soft voice, with a syrupy accent she had not heard before. “No,” she said. He squinted at her and swayed so hard he nearly fell. Anyone that concussed should be no threat. She lowered the knife. “Er, you’re bleeding quite badly.” He held his hand to his head and raised his eyebrows at the blood on his fingers. “How did that happen?” He fished in a pocket, drew out a grubby cloth and mopped up the blood. “Are you all right? Is any of that blood yours?” She looked down. The bruises on her arms had faded to a deep bluish-yellow and her face still felt swollen. Her dress was ripped and covered in blood, though at least her shoulder was no longer bleeding. “Only about half.” She slid down a wall, her legs unable to hold her. Wherever she was, this man was no threat, at least at the moment. “I don’t know where I came from.” He frowned, and more blood dripped into his eye. He wiped it away absently. “I appeared about ten feet up in the air. The fall seems to have made me a little groggy. Have you any idea where here is?” A good question, one she had been about to ask him. She stood up and held out the pendant at arms length. “You used this, there was a big flash, and then we were here.” The man took the pendant and ran his thumb over it. He steadied it with his left arm, before now hidden under his cloak. The arm was there but the hand was missing. A one-handed wizard. Foul-tempered and given to melting eyeballs. To Purchase this eBook CLICK HERE! |
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Review: Dreams of Beauty |
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Author: Aubrie Dionne
Title: Dreams of Beauty
Niche: Young Adult/Fantasy
Price:$5.98
This elegantly told fairy tale brings us a brave maiden named Emme who starts to have strange dreams. With the strength of her heart, she strikes out to save those in danger from an ambitious witch who seeks only status and power. Emme falls in love with a handsome man, Davian, in her dreams and discovers she is the only one that can rescue him. Dionne weaves a genuinely enchanting story with a style akin to Patricia McKillip. Her characters are realistic and she draws the reader into her world with her vivid descriptions. The reader falls into Emme’s story so effortlessly it makes you wonder if you, too, are dreaming. Review by Christine Rains: http://christinerains.net/ You can purchase the ebook from: http://www.writeronlinebooks.com/book/dreamsofbeauty.htm ISBN: 0-7443-1097-0 |
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Review: Bittersweet |
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Author: Amber Hipple
Title: Bittersweet
Niche: Erotica
ISBN# Digital version: 1-978-1905091-31-7; Print: 1-978-1905091-32-4 The world of erotica is a genre over-saturated with cheap bland smut with no more artistic value than what one would pick up in the back room of their local video store. Bittersweet, a collection of short stories by Amber Hipple, is an exception to this rule. Those expecting poorly written romance, uninspired sex scenes, and fairytale endings should look elsewhere. Bittersweet is just what it promises in the title: a series of stories about passion, love, lust, and angst. There is something malicious flowing forth from every story, a thread of cruelty that flows throughout every page. The words are more than just a narrative tool, Hipple writes with a definitive prose that seems to be spoken in hushed whisper by some unseen narrator. The stories explore both the joys and sorrows of love and lust, the temptation of forbidden fruit, and the beauty and intimacy of pain. More interesting is Hipple’s ability to convey passionate scenes of love with minimal description of the acts being performed. On many occassions the actual act of sex is alluded to rather than spelled out. The love scenes are often written between the lines as opposed to graphically spelled out and this is what really sets each tale apart from average erotica. Bittersweet is a collection of tales filled with sorrow and regret and angst, but each one of them will touch upon your heart. From the playful creulty of “Games” to the violent beauty of “Blood on Snow” to the sorrowful joy of “Fate,” the reader experiences a myriad of conflicting emotions that both saddens and titilates and leaves you begging for more. There are a few stories that seem tonally to be in the wrong collection and a few like “Games” and “Yellow” that are a bit weak in comparrison with the rest but neither of these factors detract from the enjoyment of the book as a whole. Ultimately “Bittersweet” is a very satisfying book that is easy to pick up and only really unsatisfying in that it ends. Reviewed by, Ryan Covey |
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