Epic Fantasy from David Scidmore continues

 
Aylun, book 2, Ever-Branching Tree series
$6.99 ebook, $30.99 paper, $39 hardcover
Epic, high fantasy romance
David Scidmore
Meerdon Publishing, Oct, 2023, 1,034 pp
 

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About the book:

Megan was always good at solving puzzles. For years, she used that aptitude in the physics lab, where she worked as an assistant to her best friend, Jon, until an accident thrust them into a terrifying alternate world. Almost at once, she is abducted by the heartless tyrant Aylun, an ex-agent of the enigmatic home of all oracles, the Augury. Forced to confront an impossible prophecy that threatens her and her oldest friend, she undertakes a harrowing journey to a city lost centuries ago.

While she struggles to find answers, Jon and new friends Dellia, Garris, and Kayleen are drawn into a conflict with a dark and ancient menace that could obliterate everything and everyone they care about. As the puzzle deepens, the threats multiply, and their situation grows more desperate, Megan’s best hope to save them all and return her and Jon to their home world lies with the very tyrant who abducted her.

My review:

I have to admit, I was fascinated with the story line when I was approached for a review, and agreed, but became daunted by the hefty story. I got into the book and kept thinking my ebook version was wonky when it kept telling me how far along I wasn’t getting. Anyway, there’s definitely a mystery afoot at Delas Labs. Unfortunately, we don’t get to know more because our heroes, physicists Jon and Megan, who are experimenting with some kind of negative energy which works? or doesn’t work? by sucking them into an alternative world in which they’re either heroes or villains, depending on who finds them first. There’s a dragon, too: I love a good dragon! But it seems we get more dragon story in the first episode of the Ever-Branching Tree series called Dellia.

The adventure was definitely more intriguing from the time Jon and Megan find themselves on top of a pile of shiny treasure dragon hoard. This book, Aylun, tells Megan’s side after running from the cave and being kidnapped by a former Shou, Aylun, a protector of prophecy, who’s bent on sacrificing himself to the dragon after he’s failed a couple of missions. The story is also as much his as Megan’s.

These two young people eventually come to an understanding…and more, as they try to figure out the truth of the prophecy and what it means for their worlds.

Aylun is not as much sequel as it is companion piece, as this story unfolds during the course of Dellia, the first book, which is told from Jon’s and Dellia’s perspectives. It’s a daunting task to twine parallel stories like this, but Scidmore has created an engaging, entertaining, and lengthy romantic fantasy. Readers of stories that draw from other cultures like that of Bradley Beaulieu, would enjoy The Ever-Branching Tree series.

About the author:

Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, David Scidmore has held many jobs over the years, from fast-food worker to musician to electrical engineer. He now lives in Verona, Wisconsin, with his wife, Brenda. In recent times, his lifelong passion for playing keyboards and composing music has turned into a fascination with crafting literary works. His enthusiasm for weaving complex stories that stir the emotions led to his first book, Dellia. With an obsession for expanding his ability as a storyteller, he continues that tale in Aylun, the second book in the Ever-Branching Tree series. Find out more at his website.

YA Fantasy from Madison author R Chris Reeder

The Changeling’s Daughter

R. Chris Reeder

Young Adult Fantasy

Coming of Age/Quest

December 13, 2018

Black Rose Writing

Paperback $20.95

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About the book

Fourteen-year-old Brynn McAwber discovers a terrible truth about herself and her family and must undergo a perilous quest to another world, to save a friend and redeem her soul.

Unusual things have been happening to Brynn McAwber. A strange little man keeps showing up at her door. She's being watched by a mysterious woman with a sword strapped to her back. And her body keeps...disappearing.

When Brynn discovers the terrible truth about herself and her family, she embarks on a perilous quest, which takes her far from Indiana, far from the world she knows, into the Land of Annwfyn, home of brownies and bwbachods, xanas and zephyrs, goblins and gods.

This is the story of a girl who finds out she's supposed to be the villain, but decides to be the hero anyway.

My review

A most unusual and amazing anti-hero questing fantasy not just for young people has arrived.

Up front caution: although I could watch this story unfolding in epic technicolor and would recommend it to teens with an advanced reading level, I caution parents who care that a fair amount of profanity when a couple of shock value uses would have been enough, some gore, and a generous vocabulary boost this story into a tween/early teen caution level. Some parents may want to check it out first.

For the rest of us, Reeder’s maiden fantasy is a delight. I admit I intended to read enough for a good review, but didn’t look up except for touchdowns during the Packers-Bears football game until I was finished. Using an anti-hero, in this case a typically-misunderstood creature of folklore hiding in plain sight, as a champion certainly isn’t new, but the author’s ability to recombine fantasy elements into a true hero’s journey makes for a fresh, entertaining read.

Brynn’s family secret stems not simply from their traditionally accepted roles but also how they are perceived by others. When Brynn’s best friend Makayla suddenly turns against her, Brynn’s loyalty and character are tested in ways that help her understand and grow into the kind of person she’s meant to become. Makayla’s defection is not the only weird thing happening to Brynn these days. When faced with disaster, Brynn’s options are to do the right thing by her friend no matter the odds, or be the expected generic typecast of her kind. Knowing Makayla would never willingly abandon her gives Brynn the strength to fight not just for physical rescue, but for the decision to live a meaningful, positive family lifestyle.

Told through the eyes of Brynn, the fourteen-year-old main character, The Changeling’s Daughter is a lovely adventure for readers who enjoy a good old-fashioned questing tale with surprising heroes unafraid to challenge even themselves.

About the author

R. Chris Reeder grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attended college in Walla Walla, Washington, and has lived and worked across the country and around the world. 

He has had careers as a Shakespearean actor, an international courier, and a singing activist, but is now perfectly content in his current vocation of stay-at-home father. 

He currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, two children, and a cat named Monster Jack.

www.rchrisreeder.com
www.facebook.com/rchrisreederauthor

Rob Flanigan and his challenging new ideas

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Sunrise Over Disney, by Bert (Rob Flanigan)
Hardcover $27.95
Paperback $16.95

About the Book:
A man's trip to Disney World sparks a revolution in his thinking that strangely alters his quest for a true education. Ultimately, he redesigns a popular Disney attraction and predicts the trajectory of human development, while settling the long-standing feud between science and religion.

About the Author:

In this world of credentialed experts, the author, L.N. Smith, is not one of them. In fact, his credentials are so unconvincing that he has chosen to publish under a humorous pen name instead of his real name. "L.N. Smith" is actually the abbreviation for a phrase that sets up a joke. (The clues to the full name are in Sunrise Over Disney.) Only time will tell if the joke is on him or on today's "credentialed experts." Bert is L.N. Smith's fictional character, who writes and publishes books written in the first person. He is a fun-loving jack-of-all-trades who traces his ancestry back to the chimney sweeps of London at the turn of the last century.