Literary Quote of the Month

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies," said Jojen. "The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

Showing posts with label YA Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YA Fantasy. Show all posts

Friday, September 22, 2023

First Lines Friday... an epic adventure!



The bottom of the lake tasted like mud, salt, and regret. The water was so thick it was agony keeping my eyes open, but thank the great gods I did. Otherwise, I would have missed the dragon.

He was smaller than I’d imagined one to be. About the size of a rowboat, with glittering ruby eyes and scales green as the purest jade. Not at all like the village-sized beasts the legends claimed dragons to be, large enough to swallow entire ships.

He swam nearer until hi round red eyes were so close they reflected my own. 

He was watching me drown…

                                ...Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

Don't you love that cover?!? I keep saying I'm not a fantasy reader and yet the past few weeks I've picked up quite a few of these types of novels. Six Crimson Cranes incorporates elements of folklore and epic adventure. I found Elizabeth Lim reading about special edition books from Waterstones, an amazing bookstore in the UK. Waterstones has some wonderful special edition books that have beautiful alternate covers, beautiful end papers and/or special sprayed edges, either colors or designs. I'm going to make a post about these because some of these editions are amazingly beautiful. In the meantime though, I have Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim on my Kindle! Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers in 2021.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton … A Review

A Seeker seeks the truth. It's an ancient following that takes years of training and one in which you must be born into. For Quin, Shinobu and John their training was almost over and the final test of their skills was upon them. Would they pass and become Seekers?

I really enjoyed Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton. Young love, jealousy, revenge, regret and redemption all play a part in this epic fantasy adventure that has elements of sci-fi and steampunk sprinkled on top.  Quin is 15, the star of this tale, and has endured years of harsh training to become the next Seeker in her family. The Seeker seeks the truth, but the methods can be brutal. A Seeker is basically a highly trained assassin that possesses ancient magic in the form of weapons and mental abilities that give them the choice of life or death. Quin has no idea what is in store for her as a Seeker. There are unimaginable secrets (and horrors) that will change her forever. Her companions are Shinobu, a distant cousin who she's grown up with (and who's had a thing for her), and John, a little older than Quin and Shinobu, who is from another family and is being trained by Quin's father and uncle (who Quin has been in love with).

It's an adventure that starts out in Scotland and travels to Hong Kong thru ancient time portals only accessible by Seekers. The story starts out slow introducing us to the players and turns into a roller coaster ride of an adventure with a soft landing at the very end, leading us into book 2.

What did I think?… It's a great story, the writing is good with a good foundation for developing the story further and the characters are well developed. One of the things that I love about the story is that it's told thru the eyes of more than one character, giving us such a great perspective. I liked Quin, Shinobu and John, although I did think Quin got a bit whiney at times about some things. And I thought the very ending was a bit too quiet, but I definitely want to read the next book to see the choices these characters make and their futures. And this book? I couldn't put it down and read it in 2 days!

This series is being sold as the next "Hunger Games". I don't see Seeker as dystopian, but if you enjoy YA epic fantasy adventures this should be your cup of tea! Definitely write this one down in if you love adventure stories period!

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton is coming out February 10th 2015 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers. I want to thank the publishers for sending along the eGalley to me for review!
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