Amanda Greenslade

Talon is a young man just coming into his abilities. He happens upon an icetiger and confirms he is a Rada--one who shares a telepathic bond with an animal companion. And that means he also has a shapeshifting ability. But he also soon learns he may have more abilities than he imagined. When his homeland comes under attack by the Zeikas, a militant people who worship the fire-god, Zeidarb, Talon must rise against them. His abilities make him the best defense his people have. But the leader of the Zeikas is aware of Talon and his abilities, and he seems set on capturing Talon for his own devices.

It's a lot of pressure to put on a young man like Talon. And he's no family left to rely on. So he needs to figure out who he can trust and who he can't. And he soon learns there are plenty of people on both sides of that line.

I always enjoy writers who can create a world with a high level of complexity and present it in an easy-to-follow manner. And that's exactly what Amanda Greenslade has accomplished here. There are places and people and abilities and tribes and gods...so many names and words to keep track of. Yet I never felt like I had any real trouble doing so. And there's a good mix of action and history, allowing readers to understand the context without needing to read a whole chapter of the history of the world to understand it.

I'm intrigued by this book, to be honest. I sort of stumbled upon it without really hearing much about it. But I'm glad I did. It's an interesting start to what I'm hoping will be a great fantasy series.

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]… (més)

This is a great idea for a children's series. When Myra and her pet kingfisher, Diver find a magic motorcycle in the shed of their new house, their adventures begin. Not knowing what the buttons on the dash will do, Myra starts pushing them and ends up flying. When she pushes another, she travels through the centre of the earth to Bermuda. While she is there the motorcycle, having a mind of its own, takes her on an adventure where she ends up helping a family. The end of the book encourages the reader to learn more about Bermuda, the inside of the earth as well as the social issues of the rich and poor. There is also a website where teacher's can get resources if they read the book to their class. A fun way to teach.… (més)

The Anger Volcano is a book for younger kids that using rhyming language to teach about the dangers of losing your temper and 'exploding’, how to recognise when anger begins boiling, and how to cool it down again by engaging the 'thinking brain’ with tasks like counting backward, spelling a complicated word, and taking several deep slow breaths. The volcano analogy is perfect. I like that the end suggests practising the techniques when calm, to get the feel, and gain familiarity. The only downside is that it's in black & white rather than colour illustrations. My cubs loved it though!

A great asset to helping younger kids learn to deal with anger.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Tigerace Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.… (més)

The good: I really did like this book, and liked it well enough to dive right into the sequel. I love human/animal bonding stories, and this book absolutely revels in the concept of mental bonding to animals, spirits, and other things. Shapeshifting is also a winner. The worldbuilding is very complex, details are rich, and the characters are well-fleshed out. Magic, psychic abilities, wolf gods, and more.

The not-so-good: Info-dumping occurs with industrial-sized construction equipment. I don't actually mind a little info-dumping, but there's nothing little about it, here. Overexplaining is also present. The cultural explaining gets tedious in places, breaking immersion. Many of the commonly-used words are unpronounceable at a glance. (How the heck do you deal with that double 'i')? The MC may be a bit of a Marty Stu. His only flaw seems to be a justifiable wrath, which everyone is trying to help him overcome, so we know he'll do it.

The not-good, not-bad, but notable: This books is way more Christian than Narnia, and boy the religious overtones are driven home using a sledgehammer. The names and details of the mythos may be different, but the Christian metaphysics, beliefs, and mindsets are relentless. The division is presented as very black and white - the bad guys are all bad, the good guys are all good. This book is almost entirely ABOUT religion, which given the current issues in the world, is more than a little hard to take in a fantasy - especially since it definitely takes sides. But if that's your thing, you'll love it.… (més)