Embracing James & the Dragon

Remember when I mentioned finding an author through a retweet of a retweet?

Well, I checked out the author that put out the first retweet soon after I placed How the Dragons Got Their Colors into my reading queue. And you know what?

I was very glad I did!

James & the Dragon is the first installment of the Farloft Chronicles, a fantasy chapter book by Theresa Snyder. 

So what's it about?

Farloft is a dragon - one of the last of the great creatures that once flew freely through the skies, aiding humans in need, and offering their guidance to those with the wisdom to listen... but things have changed. Farloft now hides himself from humans. Their fear and ignorance has caused them to hunt and kill dragons, believing them to be cruel and hateful beasts.

James is your average ten-year-old boy. That is, he would be, if it wasn't for a plague that swept through the land that killed about two thirds of his village... including his family. The villagers are desperate, not even having enough to feed their own families, due to the losses the plague has wrought, and no one is willing to take James into their home.

One day, Farloft discovers James after an accident comes close to taking the boy's life. Farloft knows a terrible blizzard is about to arrive in the region, and sees no choice but to take the boy into his cave in order to keep him safe until the storm passes.

Attention grabbing, right?

You can see why I downloaded this one. Well, you see part of the reason, that is. 

The other part is that Snyder has written quite a few ebooks of both the fantasy and sci fi persuasion, and a pretty hefty amount of them are not written for children. In truth, I was excited about all of them. They all seemed to be great examples of fluid storytelling. 

I chose this one because her twitter feed made it obvious that she had a great love of dragons, which meant her love for them would shine through in this ebook.

And I was right.

Farloft was not only believable, but also a character that could be identified with. Everyone has felt betrayed, forgotten, or just flat-out lonely at some point. We've also all felt the hope that this wouldn't last, that somebody would accept us for who we are.

James brought out similar feelings. He felt lost, alone, and unwanted, yet he also had a warm heart. 

Interestingly, it wasn't my intention to review James & the Dragon today. It had been in my queue for about a month, but I had a few more to read before starting this one.

But I was falling behind.

Last night, I realized that I wasn't going to finish my current ebook in time. Because of this, I moved Snyder's ebook up the line and resigned myself to staying up long past my normal bedtime. It was short, after all, and since it was a children's fantasy, I figured I could have it completed in an around two hours.

I finished it in less than one.

This isn't because it was an easy read. I mean, it was, but that's not why I was able to get through it so quickly. Rather, this ebook was filled with drama, action, and detail that allowed my eyes to race across each page while still reading each word. The world of Farloft came alive, and the characters' emotions rang true.

After a while, I began to realize that Snyder wrote an ebook that appealed to a wide age range, even though it was clearly written for children in the fifth grade (roughly). While the word choices were simple, they were also insightful and necessary.

It never felt like she was speaking down to her audience, nor did it feel like she was speaking above them. 

Rather, She masterfully weaved her words together in a manner that would attract more than just the age group she focused on. I loved it, feeling as though I was standing within the world of the Farloft Chronicles, and I believe my five year old daughter would be able to love it just as much.

That's a 30+ year age range, for those of you that are wondering. Wow!

There's just one more piece of awesomeness that I wanted to share with you:

Theresa Snyder participates in the Authorgraph program, which means that if you want to have an autographed copy of James & the Dragon, she'll be happy to oblige! Simply go to the Farloft's Rhetoric  page and find the Authorgraph box on her sidebar. Choose your book, and voila!

How awesome is that?!

James & the Dragon can be found on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, as well as Scribd.

My Daughter's New Favorite Book!

We're going into the field of children's books today. 

Don't worry - I kept to the fantasy theme.

While surfing through Twitter a while back, I found a tweet by an author that had retweeted a retweet of another author's tweet.

Is it just me, or is this feeling like a story about my cousin's aunt's mother's sister's husband?

How the Dragons Got Their Colors is a children's picture book written by Cheryl Matthynssens.

So what's it about?

One day, a little gray dragon sat on a hilltop and took notice of all the brilliant colors around him. Sad that his scales were so drab compared to the rest of the world, he went to the Fairy Queen for help, and she provided him with the magic to change things for all of dragonkind.

I used a different review approach with this one: My daughter.

She loves magically themed stories, fits the target age group, and gives an honest opinion... sometimes too honest. And unlike with me, no amount of reasoning will get her to change how she feels about a book. The result is an ultra-honest account from an extraordinarily unbiased little girl. She couldn't care less about my opinion in this matter! It's all about her.

As it should be.

My daughter was drawn to the rainbow on the cover, then zeroed in on the contrast between it and the dragons. She wanted to know more, and when I told her she was looking at a book cover, she insisted on hearing the story.

Fine. I thought. I'll read her the sample. I had no intention of reviewing a children's book. Children's chapter books are fine, but I wasn't looking for something at a lower reading level than that. When I finished, though, she wanted more.

"But then what happened???"

I explained that it was only a sample, and I was really looking for something else. 

"But MooOOOooom! I want to read the whole thing!"

Now, how do you say no to that? Sure, I was looking for something entirely different, but when a child really wants you to read something to her, can you really just say, "I don't feel like it," and go back to what you were doing?

I can't.

So I got the ebook. Not only did we get through the entire thing with her sitting at rapt attention, but she wanted more.

"Another!"

I told her that I'd consider it, and the next day, she had me open my Kindle app so that she could read the ebook again.

And again.

She also wanted me to download Not an Egg, which is another of Matthyssens's books. I said no, telling her that she had to have patience. "Maybe later."

"How many stars would you give it?" I asked.

"Ten!" She replied. Then, "No... maybe twelve."

"You can only rate from one to five stars, sweetie."

"Ok, then five."

So... five it is. Judging by her overwhelming good response to it - she made me read it quite a few times - I've elected to give this one Treasured Tome status. It may not have been what I was looking for, but I can't argue with the fact that a child in the target age group is in love with it.

I also have to admit that I enjoyed reading this one, finding the story to be a great teacher on the virtue of kindness. Being kind to others can be quite rewarding, as the little dragon shows us.

This book is definitely a Treasured Tome.

...just as it should be.

You can find How the Dragons Got Their Colors on Kindle, and at Barnes and Noble (sadly, no Nook format).

Fascinated with Fierce Winds and Fiery Dragons!

Holy everlasting buckets of gumdrops, Batman!

Ok... maybe Robin never actually said that. It was totally me... but it sure tells you just how overwhelmed I was with the sheer awesomeness of this most recent ebook, don't you think?

Have you ever protected a dragon from a bunch of fuzzy, beaked creatures looking for lunch?

I Have.

Have you ever transported into a strange new world when you should have been sleeping in bed?

I did.

How about rescuing a princess from a tower?

I did that, too.

And I did it all while reading Fierce Winds and Fiery Dragons, the first installment of the Dusky Hollows series, written by Nan Sweet.

I elected to read Fierce Winds and Fiery Dragons because I wanted an ebook that was reasonably short, but not too short. This was an obvious choice, since it was just over 40,000 words.

The author has billed it as a children's chapter book, ages 9-12, and that's a great fit for it, I think. In all honesty, however, I think this is enjoyable for anyone that enjoys a good, high-paced, urban fantasy (modern world, infused with magic).

Short and sweet. Just what I was looking for.

Oh, and... did I mention?

It achieved Treasured Tome Status!

Yep. It's that good. I couldn't put it down, read past my bedtime, and woke up late because of it.

So what's it about?

Ivy and Carrie love their fifth grade class, even if their teacher, Mrs. Huffity, does tend to say and do some pretty strange things. One day, Mrs. Huffity asks the class for volunteers to care for an egg. Taking care of the egg for one night means being able to ignore a single class assignment free of penalty, which is every student's fondest dream. Ivy, though, has had nightmares about this egg, and so she refuses to have anything to do with this easy way out of an assignment. At one point, though, Ivy takes the egg home with her, knowing that the egg will be in danger if she doesn't. After this choice is made, however, Ivy discovers that keeping the egg safe means placing herself - and Carrie - in danger.

Have I caught your interest, yet?

Then let me put it to you this way:

The last time I was this excited over an indie author's work, I ended up buying every last ebook that the author had on the market. I still follow her closely today, even though I'm paying much more for each new book that comes out now that she's made it to print. 

That author is Amanda Hocking. 

Nan Sweet's writing is very different, of course, and Fierce Winds and Fiery Dragons isn't quite as well polished. She should probably find a good proofreader to catch the accidental homophones that occasionally find their way into an otherwise exceptional work (hear instead of here, for example).

Strangely, those mistaken word entries didn't bother me as much as they normally would. Perhaps this is because her command of storytelling is so engrossing that I'm able to simply pass them off as "oopsies" that occurred because her brain was thinking so far ahead that her fingers couldn't catch up.

Regardless, that's the only flaw that I found in this ebook.

Fierce Winds and Fiery Dragons was so well written and so mesmerizing that I was upset when the author was cruel enough to let the book end. I wanted 

More, More, More!!!

Not only that, but I wanted to race to my neighbor's house, wake her up by banging on her door, and beg her to download this for her daughter... who will have the reading skill necessary to enjoy it sometime before this calendar year is over.

Thankfully, I was able to refrain... barely.

But I do plan on bringing it to the neighbor's attention later, because...

Wow.

Download it. Give it to a fantasy loving child. Read it yourself before you do. Then read the sample for the next one in the series, as well... and go ahead and buy that installment, too. I did.

Fierce Winds and Fiery Dragons can be found on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.