State of the Blog Address

I know I sorta disappeared all of a sudden but it was not really by choice. I am, however, still alive and kicking.

The sad truth is that I am paying the price for good, clean (and cheap) country living. Back here off the beaten track I do not have high speed internet as even an remote option. A few miles east or north I would have cable but once you cross the county line, it is like all signs of civilization just stop.

Well this wasn't much of a problem for awhile. My dialup, while slow, wasn't that bad. Until one day, after a thunderstorm, I started connecting at 9.6 kbps.

Now for those who have only read about dialup, here is a fact for you. The phone company is in no way responsible for the speed of your connection. As long as you have an active connection with no audible noise, their job is done.

So, I switched lines. This gave me a slower speed then I had previously (around 48 instead of 53) but still usable.

This lasted for awhile then those speeds went to (pardon my french) hell too. Now I connect at 28.8 which is barely enough to load one webpage, much less the 5-6 I need to do proper linkage and research on a review. And you do not want to know how long it takes me to load up something like Facebook or a graphic intense author's webpage.

I had hoped for a miracle restoration of my previous speeds (stranger things have happened!) but obviously I forgot to factor in my usual amount of luck, or lack thereof.

So what should take me a hour, maybe 2, to post, now takes hours and hours of frustrating page load times and honestly, when I caught myself yelling at the dog for no reason other then the fact that I couldn't get a vital page to load, I decided to give it a rest.

I won't claim to be gone completely. You never know, they might get cable in here one day or maybe the right trees will fall over so I can get a satellite dish but until then I am just SoL.

I do miss you guys though....

The Third Sign: The Chronicles of Klune by Gregory A. Wilson (Review)

A Fantasy Book Review

By Gregory A. Wilson

Genre: Epic Fantasy
ISBN: 1594147655
Publisher: Five Star (ME) (June 17, 2009)
Hardcover: 352 pages
Read an Excerpt (PDF)

Publisher's Blurb:

Calen Gollnet lives in a tumultuous world. Surrounded by hostile forces bent on its destruction, his country Klune has been free for ten years, having thrown off the yoke of oppression thanks to a small group of heroes known as the Covenant; but the cost of this freedom was great, and the nation's liberty is becoming tenuous. The Covenant is broken, and Klune is now kept safe only because of a treaty struck between the human king and a race of honorable but xenophobic mercenaries known as arlics who have patrolled Klune's borders for the past decade. But the treaty is due to expire, and both the arlics and humans are restless, each claiming that they have been weakened by their dependence on the other.

As negotiations between the two sides break down and dark armies gather while politics bogs down the governors of city and country, Calen flees from the army attacking his home city, unaware that there is more to fear than mortal warriors; the appearance of the horrifying Soul Wall and other omens point to the fulfillment of the Prophecy of Return, in which it is said that three signs will signal the return of a great evil. The first two signs have come to pass, but the prophecy is obscure on its final prediction: the tide of the conflict may be changed by the third sign, but no one knows what that sign is, or whom it will favor.

The Third Sign is pretty typical epic fare. You have a band of diverse characters off to save the world from destruction or die trying. You have a prophecy driving events, an obvious evil force bent on world domination with an obscure greater evil force waiting in the wings. In other words, this is exactly the type of book that I enjoy.

This is the perfect book for those days where you are not in the mood for gritty or deeply emotional but just want a good story. The pace is even, and the world building is interesting without being overly complicated. The characters engineer just enough sympathy to make you care what happens to them, without becoming emotionally involved. Even the line between "good" and "evil" is fairly clear and although there are times when you question which side who is on. This is the type of book that while you might find that you can easily put it down and go to bed, you really do not want to.

There are things that give this book an unique flavor. The Arlics are an interesting race with alot of possibility. There is plenty of internal conflict to balance out the external conflict. I personally like internal conflict; it gives the characters more depth. Actually, balance is the watchword for this story. All of the elements that drive this tale are so well balanced it is amazing. You have just the right dose of everything to keep the story moving right along, without any aspect overwhelming another. I honestly cannot bring to mind another book that accomplishes this so well. Reading this book for me was like spending time with a good friend, comfortable but interesting. In addition, once you are done, you consider the time well spent.

Good, traditional epic adventure, something that you do not find much of these days with authors trying to push outside of the genre box. Not that unusual and different is a bad thing but sometimes I just want to read good old-fashioned epic fantasy and this book fits that bill beautifully. Engaging, easy to get into and simply a good read. I look forward to the remainder of the series.

Ratings, Reviews, Similar Reads, Buy Books

Shelfari Rating - None Yet Librarything Rating (None Yet) Amazon Rating (None Yet) What Should I Read Next?

Kindle: No Ebook: No Buy Book: B&N - Powells - Abe Books Amazon: US - Canada - UK

Other Reviews: SFF World Author's Web Presence Website, Twitter, Blog, Redroom

Spotlight - Santa Olivia by Jaqueline Carey

Fantasy Showcase

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Santa Olivia
Paperback: 352 pages - ISBN: 044619817X
Grand Central Publishing; (May 29, 2009)

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By Jacqueline Carey

Lushly written with rich and vivid characters, SANTA OLIVIA is Jacqueline Carey's take on comic book superheroes and the classic werewolf myth.

Loup Garron was born and raised in Santa Olivia, an isolated, disenfranchised town next to a US military base inside a DMZ buffer zone between Texas and Mexico. A fugitive "Wolf-Man" who had a love affair with a local woman, Loup's father was one of a group of men genetically-manipulated and used by the US government as a weapon. The "Wolf-Men" were engineered to have superhuman strength, speed, sensory capability, stamina, and a total lack of fear, and Loup, named for and sharing her father's wolf-like qualities, is marked as an outsider.

After her mother dies, Loup goes to live among the misfit orphans at the parish church, where they seethe from the injustices visited upon the locals by the soldiers. Eventually, the orphans find an outlet for their frustrations: They form a vigilante group to support Loup Garron who, costumed as their patron saint, Santa Olivia, uses her special abilities to avenge the town.

Aware that she could lose her freedom, and possibly her life, Loup is determined to fight to redress the wrongs her community has suffered. And like the reincarnation of their patron saint, she will bring hope to all of Santa Olivia.

Read an Excerpt

Buy: US - Canada - UK - Kindle - Audio CD - Ebook, BooksonBoard

Reviews: Fantasy Cafe - The Book Smugglers

Interview: SciFi Guy

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Author Info: Website - Facebook - MySpace - Yahoo Group

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My Notes:

I received this book from the wonderful folks at Wonderlands (thanks!) and I tried to get into it but it just was not my thing. This is no reflection on the book, it is a direct result of my own personal tastes. So instead of a review I am doing a release day showcase for those of you who love Urban Fantasy.