Answering review request: Amanda Moonstone Darkbane sorceress

Dan Wright asked me to review his story "Darkbane sorceress", which is the second book in the Amanda Moonstone series. I reviewed the first one and every other book that Dan has written for this setting. The review for the first one can be found here. I will examine Plot, Character and Polish, and then assign a grade.


PLOT

This is a revenge narrative. Thus, it has a much different look and feel from the previous plot's story of a villain maintaining power. This villain is also far more sympathetic, which makes the conflict tragic.

It has a theme of parenthood, and how devastating it is to lose children or fail them in some way. Indeed, many of the heroes and villains are defined by tragic experiences with their parents and/or children. It changes them personally and influences their behavior.

What I especially like about this story is the way in which it justifies events which would otherwise be narrative weaknesses, and thereby, instead turning them into narrative strengths.

For instance, there are points in this story where Saevita could kill the heroes cleanly, easily, quickly and without any Can't Kill You Still Need You caveats. She SAYS this is because she wants them to suffer as part of her revenge, but there are a number of things influencing her decision. I count three of them. Even when she whirlwind banishes the heroes to a spot within spitting distance of the one person in all of Celtland who could help them stop her, Fridge Brilliance states that this is her subconsciously sabotaging herself.

There is one thing that strike me as...how to say...lack-luster. It is the two principal villains, Saevita and Vladrac. By themselves, they are great (more detail in the next section) but they bear a striking resemblance to villains in Trapped in Draconica. To say is more spoilers for both books (Dan! If you want details, let me know and I'll send you a private message). As a long time reader of Dan's stories, this similarity stuck in my mind. Personally, I prefer Trapped on Draconica so these two paled in comparison.
　
The book has, in my opinion, the best kind of ending. The current conflict is resolved but its aftermath lingers and the conflict of the series continues.
　
Also, Daniar Dragokin cameo! Fun.
　
CHARACTERS
　
Amanda has certainly developed since the last book. Since she was in a bad spot in the previous book, I'm inclined to think this is more true to her natural self. A showwoman, a friend-to-all-children and fiery tempered.

Her issue with magic deserves its own paragraph. She clearly puts a lot of her self image into her knowledge of, and skill with, magic. She sees herself as "Amanda Moonstone the dragon gem sorceress". This goes back to her childhood, where we see her reading books about previous users of magic and desiring to use it herself. Over the course of the story, she has to confront this reliance in more ways than one.


Wilfred is a classic Useless Boyfriend (husband in this case). An amusing early scene is him heaving around one heavy bag while Amanda effortlessly lifts several with wind magic. While he is something of a Butt Monkey, he is also more than that. He is a Cowardly Lion and a pillar of emotional support. If he got some royal guard training, then he could be a fine Sword for his wife's Sorcereress.


Saevieta Darkbane is Amanda's foil. She is what Amanda would be given the wrong decision at the wrong time. It's like that Batman comic "One Bad Day".  She is sympathetic and tragic while also possessing classic Evil Is Hammy and a funny running gag that...in a nutshell...gets dark.

Vladrac is a nasty piece of work. Known as "The Butcher" and the leader of a mercenary group "The Singing Screams", he would be a vicious character even before one factors in certain Reveals. He is responsible for the most heart-wrenching tearjerker Dan has ever written. Seriously, those two scenes were hard to read.


Polish

I counted maybe five or so technical errors in total. This across several hundred pages so it is pretty good over all.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Amanda Moonstone Darkbane Sorceress" a B+

This has been a free review request. The author asked for an honest review so I provided one.

Click here for my next book review (a request): Jack's Wagers: A Jack O' Lantern Tale for Halloween & Samhain

Click here for my previous book review (for fun): The Lives of Confucius


Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

Answering review request: Amana Moonstone book 1 The Missing Prince

Dan Wright asked me to read his fantasy novel, "Amanda Moonstone book 1: The Missing Prince". It is set in the same verse as his Draconica series but focuses in another country with an original cast. I have read three of those novels (You can read my review for the first one here). This one is about a sorceress that becomes entangled with a succession struggle involving the royal family of Celtland. I will examine Plot, Characters, and Polish before assigning a grade.

PLOT

At the highest level, what we have here is a Changeling story mixed with a Road Trip Romance, except the "romance" is foster mother/son rather than between lovers. The two leads are Amanda Moonstone and Daryl Gryphenpyre. Daryl is the son of the previous ruler of Celtland, Queen Sheena, and he's been in hiding since she was killed by her brother (his uncle) who is now the ruler. Amanda is a financially struggling sorceress who hopes that the reward for Daryl will put her life back in order.

It's pretty standard by the trope but this by no means makes it less touching. This is the fourth book I've read by Dan and I continue reading his work because he places a premium on doing a good job rather than being 100% original. I like this because the later goal is impossible and this frees him to raise the quality in other areas. Was I surprised by anything that happens in this story? No (well, maybe a few things...) Did I still laugh at funny parts, "aww!" at heartwarming ones or go "holy shit!" at the awesome parts? Definitely.

Another point in favor of this book is its place within the Draconica verse. I really like Verse stuff. It makes the stories seem fuller, you know? Bigger and more in-depth and that there is more to this fictional reality than what exists on the page. It's Imagination fodder. Anyway, there are references to the Dragokin sisters (Queen Sheena and Queen Daniar were friends, for instance) and Gothon's Campaign, which took place during Trapped on Draconica, informs the underpinnings for Celtland's current royalty in-fighting.

There are two things that bother me about this plot. Call it Fridge Logic.
1. Kimera, the new king who deliberately tries to be as vile and ruthless as possible to as many people as possible, is never assassinated. He once threatened to hang one of his guards for correcting his grammar. He treats everyone like this, from the grunts to the royal guard captain. After a couple years, you'd think one of them would stab him in the back, especially since he's replacing a queen who had a tremendously high public approval rating. If he were like Gothon, this would make sense because Gothon was personally powerful. This guy is just a fat slob. It breaks my Willing Suspension of Disbelief.
2. Luthar turns his back on Kimera after winning their duel. This guy has first hand knowledge of and painful experience with Kimera's treachery so why he would do this without first securing Kimera is strange. It feels like a petty plot twist to allow Luthar to get to his digs in at Kimera while also allowing a bigger climax with Amanda.

There's a great ending. It has perfect closure for this book's conflict while at the same time opening up a series wide conflict with a sequel hook.

CHARACTERS

Amanda Moonstone is a delightful Classic Antihero. She has a good heart but is living in circumstances that lead to less than heroic actions. She's struggling to cope with three interconnected tragedies in her past ranging from the supernatural to the personal. She also has impressive but not game breaking magic.

I'd like to spend a paragraph on that last point. There are a number of restrictions on Amanda's magic that feel arbitrary. It's like Dan is trying to Hold Back the Plotinium. For instance, Invisibility has a long recharge time, she can't use levitation on herself for flight, etc. I took this as a lesson he learned from the Draconica main series, where the dragokin sisters seem to lose power with each book to make their threats more challenging. I see the ground floor restrictions here as a sign that her Power Level will be more consistent.

Luthar is an expy of Taurok from Trapped on Draconica; the noble top enforcer who is coerced into serving the Big Bad via I Have Your Wife. He even took Gothon's only sympathetic trait (love for the late queen), thus making Kimera entirely evil. His past and vocation makes him Amanda's foil so sharing the screen time with her was a good idea on Dan's part.

Kimeria is a pitiful villain. Even with heinous villains, there's still room for admiration based on their talent, but this guy has none of that. This makes his villainous breakdown and downfall all the sweeter. Also, he's not the true villain here. The Author (a character in the story, not Dan Wright) is far more sinister,  imposing, and overall more important to the grand scheme of things.

POLISH

No spelling or grammar issues. The pictures look good and are well placed.

Trickster Eric Novels gives Amana Moonstone 1: The Missing Prince a B+

Click here for the next book review (which was not a review request): Spice and Wolf volume 4 

Click here for the previous book review (which was not a review request either): Sword Art Online Volume 2 Aincrad 2

To read my review for the sequel, Darkbane Sorceress, click here.

This was a free review request. I received nothing in exchange except a free copy of the book.

Beta read review: She Returns-Final Ragnarok

Dan Wright asked me to beta read the third book in his Draconica series. This one is called She Returns and it is part of a sub-series called "Final Ragnarok". If you've been following my blog for a while (basically the beginning-Dan was the first person to use Book Tweeting Service to find me) you'd know that I've also reviewed the first book (Trapped on Draconica) and the second book (Legacy of the Dragokin). Both of them scored highly. I will examine Plot, Character and Polish and then assign a grade.

For full disclosure, I beta-read She Returns so my review will not be fully reflective of the finished product. Instead, it is likely better than what I'm descriping here.

PLOT

What we have here is an Evil Plan by a bunch of evil supernatural people to release their patron evil god. Like in previous Draconica stories, there are few points for originality, but in my grading scale that are few points to be awarded for "originality" anyway. It's what happens within that framework that matters.

The evil people have varying degrees of evilness, which leads to alliances with the heroes against the other evil people. Some of them have different goals, which leads into different plot points from personal vendetta  to country take over and Rage Against the Heavens. Some of these evil people are evil no longer and some of the good people are no longer so good. In fact, two of them have switched places; Cain is calling his brother "Cain" because he is now Abel.

A point I like is the continunity of the books. Each one feels like a true sequel instead of an episodic "the next adventure" sort of thing. For instance, there's Daniar. In the first book she's this young single woman doing the Badass Princess thing. In the second book, she's become a queen, a mother and wife, and having trouble balancing it all. In the third book, she's doing better in all three aspects but the toll on her pysche is implied to be great, thus leading to her actions during the book.

One problem I see with the plot is a lack of focus. Each of the Dragokin sisters has their own plotline, and Benji does as well. This makes them all feel underdeveloped and the narrative to feel cluttered. This is especially the case with Zarracka as she doesn't do much to advance the plot.

A second problem is that the Dragokin don't seem quite as powerful as in the previous two books. One could chalk it up to being out of practice (Zarracka, for instance, has been spent years in a cell), but it feels suspiciously like Strong As They Need to Be.

The ending is a cliffhanger, BUT, She Returns is sold as a two part set so a cliffhanger is expected. Furthermore, it's less of a "incomplete story" thing and more of a " disk 1 complete. Please insert disk 2" sort of thing. There's an epilogue and everything. In other words, it's not a Goading Cliffhanger.

CHARACTERS

As I said earlier, a strong point with the characters in general is this sense continuity. Growing older,  referencing the past, changing in personality as a result of the past; a strong sense of history.

Zarracka, for instance, is 180 degrees different from how she was in "Trapped on Draconica" because in the previous book "Legacy of the Dragokin" she mellowed into Benji's doting aunt, and ultimately calling truce with her sister because of it.

Kalack and Daniar have learned from their experiences in the previous book as well. They're not having marriage issues anymore and being more inclusive with their son Benji. Daniar has finally begun his training as a dragokin. No character arc recycling here.

One problem I have with the characters are the villains. Compared to the previous books they are flatter, more monolithic and more For The Evulz.  What makes this a problem, is that they are the very same villains that were killed last time, and supposedly Killed Off For Real.

POLISH
No spelling or grammar problems. Any that I missed have surely been fixed since the book was published.

The prose has improved over the last two books.  It's tighter; less word cruft.

Trickster Eric Novels gives (beta) She Returns a C

Click here for the next book review (which was not a request): Worlds of Medieval Europe

Click here for the previous review request: Apple Cider Vinegar For Weight Loss: The Secret Of A Successful Natural Remedy For Faster Weight Loss (Apple Cider Vinegar For Beginners)