I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Pirates invade a small island home in author Jimmy Jungles’s “Captain Bacawly and the Breakaway Bandits”.
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The Synopsis
Ever since I was a kid, I had only known a fun and simple life in the jungles of the Wazoo. But never did I imagine there was anyone else out there wanting to find our small, peaceful island. As our animal society works to elect its next leader, outside invaders (known as the pirates) raid our home and harm Wildlings! The entire Wild is under threat and worst yet, we don’t even know where or how they are hiding among us!
Join along in this little journal of mine as I uncover the mystery behind who has been helping them, what it is they truly seek, and why so many have come to call this land the wonder of the world.
The Review
This was an engaging and brilliant YA novel. The atmosphere the author created harkened back to the classic adventure tales of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. It showcased a young teenage boy living amidst an animal populace and having to navigate life lessons and an invading pirate force. The balance of tension as the threats mounted and the connectivity of the protagonist with his animal friends allowed the reader to get invested in this story.
The world-building and character development in this novel were incredible. The rich dynamics between the protagonist and the island inhabitants early on spoke to the wonderful sense of community the author developed in this setting, and the theme of responsibility and protecting that community was extensively developed throughout this novel.
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The Verdict
Memorable, entertaining, and thoughtfully written, author Jimmy Jungles’s “Captain Bacawly and the Breakaway Bandits” is a must-read novel. The sense of fun and adventure, mixed with the thrilling nature of the battle between Jimmy and the Pirates and the shocking twists in the story, will keep readers eager for more. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A father and his children find themselves on an adventure through time and space when they are shipwrecked on an island filled with pirates who never age, Jurassic-age creatures, and a group of people known as the Children of Eden in author Forest Fox’s “Pirates of Marauda: Circles in Time”, the first book in the Pirates of Marauda series.
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The Synopsis
Technology from the age of Eden… Out on one of their treasure-hunting diving adventures, brothers Eli and Zoe and their Dad come upon an earthshaking discovery when a powerful tropical storm leaves them shipwrecked on an unknown tropical island. In the jungle, they encounter nineteenth-century buccaneers who never age but can barely fend off the Jurassic creatures who rule this place. As they all try to escape the island, they come upon Shakti, a captivatingly beautiful princess, who leads them to her people, the Children of Eden. They soon learn that these people from another world have been conducting a desperate experiment with their crystal technology, in which the trio themselves have become the unintended victims. Pirates of Marauda: Circles in Time is Book 1 of the Pirates of Marauda trilogy, an adventure through space and time.
The Review
This was a fast-paced and captivating YA read. The author does a wonderful job of capturing the adrenaline and wonders that the characters experience as they come into contact with this shocking new world. The world-building and mythos the author delves into were richly developed, and harken back to some of the myths, legends, and conspiracy theories that have found a resurgence in our modern world today, including the ancient land of Mu and Lemur, among other things.
The character growth and rich imagery really helped bring readers into this narrative naturally. The chemistry between the father and his sons was jumping right off the page, and the way the author was able to incorporate elements of their own lives and bring them into the background of these characters added a depth of naturalness and relatability that the narrative needed. The setting of this narrative was so expertly brought to life, and the descriptive way the world was brought to life elevated the action and adventure elements of the narrative completely.
The Verdict
Memorable, action-packed, and entertaining, author Forest Fox’s “Pirates of Marauda: Circles in Time” is a brilliant YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy novel and a great first entry into the Pirates of Marauda series. The twists and turns in the narrative and the rich mythology the author develops bring such a depth of world-building for the reader to get absolutely lost in, making this a stellar read. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Author FOREST FOX brings his love of adventure to the page in this whirlwind fantasy saga, The Pirates of Marauda trilogy, about what happens when he and his two sons, while on a treasure hunting, diving expedition in the Bermuda Triangle, find a sunken flying saucer that turns out to be the craft that brought Adam and Eve to this planet.
The germinating idea for the story was inspired by a drawing by his son, award-winning artist Eli D’Elia. The author delights in weaving fact with fiction and folklore in this highly original tale, which also serves as a whimsical medium to depict his unconventional philosophy of life.
The author is also a SF Bay Area singer/songwriter and recording and performing artist.
Known in the world of paintball as Magic Carpet Bob, he was 1991 World Paintball Champion with his Team Ironmen, and is resident pro at Paintball Jungle in the Napa Valley.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Three young people find their lives turned upside down when the search for a powerful falcon leads to dangers in bear country in the Canadian Wilderness in author Matt Hughes’s “The Emir’s Falcon”.
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The Synopsis
“She was raised to be free, not some rich man’s pet . . . It’s just not right!”
Bernie Cholach’s dad wants him to take over the family’s rural Alberta feedlot, but Bernie has other ideas: he wants to be a biologist, an interest sparked by his experiences as a volunteer bird handler at a Canadian Wildlife Service facility that breeds and rears peregrine falcons for release into the wild.
Sheik Nasur bin Mukhta, son of a Persian Gulf emir, studying petroleum engineering at the University of Alberta, dutifully accepts his life’s course, laid out for him by his traditionalist culture.
Rosie Leboucan, daughter of a Métis trapper, running her injured dad’s trap line in the Swan Hills, is focused on keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table.
Then the Government of Canada decides to give the emir one of the peregrines as a diplomatic gift. It’s more than Bernie can stand. Impulsively, he takes the bird he has been tending—he’s named it Skyrider—and flees to a remote cabin in the Swan Hills wilderness.
The RCMP mount a search. Nasur, sent by his father to collect the bird, insists on being on the scene—which turns out to be both Rosie’s trapping territory and the territory of a hungry and dangerous mama grizzly bear with cubs.
The paths of the young people and the bear converge—and their coming together will send each in a new direction.
The Review
This was a brilliant and heartfelt narrative. The author did an incredible job of diving head-first into the powerful world of nature and the passion that people have for the creatures of this earth. The atmosphere and setting played heavily into the story, as the breathtaking wilderness of the Canadian woods and the animal life within it spoke to the powerful themes of animal conservation and not caging wildlife in general.
I loved how the character drove this narrative. The multiple POVs of this novel allowed each protagonist to shine brightly and played well into the concept of culture and family and how those impact a person’s future and outlook on life. From Bernie’s family business and expectations put upon him from a young age to Rosie’s, inherent need to protect her father’s business and Nasur’s duties to his father highlight the expectations that father’s often put on their children, and the need to find one’s own identity as time goes on. This also plays into the narrative perfectly, mirroring the desire for Bernie to free the falcon in question.
The Verdict
Gripping, engaging, and thought-provoking, author Matt Hughe’s “The Emir’s Falcon” is a must-read YA-style adventure and survival story. The energy and tone the author infuses into the narrative bring both a sense of relatability and wonder into the story, and readers will feel a deep-seated connection to these characters as their paths converge and the shocking final pages change the course of their lives forever. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
His crime novels are Downshift (Doubleday Canada, 1997, and Five Rivers, 2012) and Old Growth (Five Rivers, 2013), and One More Kill (PS Publishing, 2018).
His short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s, Blue Murder, Storyteller, and a number of bestselling anthologies, including Rogues, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois.
He has won the Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada and has been short-listed for the Derringer Award.
Before turning to fiction, he was a journalist and freelance speechwriter in British Columbia and is the only person ever to have been both an assistant to the Canadian Minister of Justice and a teenage burglar.
