Since she was a little girl, the only thing Nihal has wanted to be is a warrior. When a young sorcerer tricks her and wins her sword, Nihal begins to study magic for defense and healing purposes. Her instructor introduces her to a warrior who in turn begins to train Nihal and helps her gain entrance into the elite academy of warriors known as Dragon Riders.
Along the way Nihal discovers that she is the last of a once-great race of half-elves. The voices of her people and their cries for vengeance haunt her dreams. Nihal uses this fury and her iron will to bulldoze her way through training and into battle. When a mentor challenges her to leave her hate behind before entering the battlefield again, Nihal begins a new and unexpected journey, seeking life apart from her warrior identity. She must discover how to allow peace to transform her before she can return to war.
At first glance this story might seem like an echo of Christopher Paolini’s popular novel Eragon, but in fact it’s not. Though her dragon is a significant character, he appears for only a short part of the story, and it is not the instant bond one might expect it to be. Instead the relationship teaches Nihal about patience and compassion and that her strength of will alone won’t get her everything she wants.
Nihal is young and often focused on one goal to the exclusion of all else. Her friend Sennar sees her more clearly than she sees herself. Though their lives take them in very different directions, their closeness remains and even hints at possible romance (Troisi leaves readers in eager anticipation for a second book to explore this more fully.) Though there are some battle sequences, details are few and the story focuses more on Nihal’s journey to become a warrior, not only in training, but in heart as well. Readers who enjoy fantasy with emphasis on character development and relationships will enjoy this story.
Language Content
Mild profanity, infrequent usage.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Brief references to the lore and deities of the fantasy realm in which the story takes place.
Violence Nihal goes into battle several times. No gory descriptions of battle wounds or death.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Rooglewood Press is delighted to introduce their second fairy tale novella contest—
Five Enchanted Roses
a collection of “Beauty and the Beast” stories
The challenge is to write a retelling of the beloved fairy tale in any genre or setting you like. Make certain your story is recognizably “Beauty and the Beast,” but have fun with it as well. Make it yours!
Rooglewood Press will be selecting five winners to be published in the Five Enchanted Roses collection, which will be packaged up with the gorgeous cover you see displayed here. Perhaps your name will be one of the five displayed on this cover?
The contest has ended, but you can buy a copy of Five Enchanted Roses here.
Rooglewood Press’s first collection, Five Glass Slippers, is available for pre-order now and will be released on June 14. Do grab yourself a copy and see what these talented writers have done with the timeless “Cinderella” tale!
Cover Illustration Credit:
This cover illustration was rendered by Julia Popova, “ForestGirl.” You can find out more about this gifted artist on her website: www.forestgirl.ru
An Anniversary Celebration and a Chance to Support a Valuable Mission
In March, to celebrate the anniversary of The Story Sanctuary, I held an auction to raise money for Christian World Mission in Chile to provide funds for school children. Four book boxes went up for auction on ebay. Through a combination of that ebay auction and word-of-mouth, all four boxes were sold, raising a total of $150 for Christian World Mission. Yay!
The Giving Continues…
Two of the boxes were donated back to The Story Sanctuary for use as giveaway prizes.
These boxes are packed with tasty snacks and other fun goodies as well as at least three clean YA novels. Sign up quick because this giveaway ends Sunday!
When terrorists seize control of a cruise ship, a Good Samaritan tosses Leah overboard and helps her escape on a lifeboat with several other survivors. Leah and three men reach a small deserted island after several days at sea. One man volleys lewd comments at Leah. Another moves to dazzle her with his intellect. The last, a young, reserved Arabic man named Musir only seeks to protect Leah from the others. As the four prepare to make the island their home, Leah tries her best to navigate between the four men, avoiding conflict whenever possible and learning more about the mysterious Musir. Her mind drifts back to her parents, who may still be trapped on board the cruise ship and who may fear that she’s dead. She never imagines that she is trapped on the island with one of the men behind the terrorist plot.
In her protagonist Leah, Haddad has created a brave and wise heroine. She responds calmly to frightening situations, always able to talk herself down from hysteria. For a girl of little experience with them, she is a shrewd judge of men, slicing through their exterior chitchat to expose the motives beneath their words. Yet she remains polite and kind to all as the story swerves from one misfortune to another.
While the basic plot contains some suspenseful elements, the story maintains a more moderate pace, allowing readers plenty of time to react to each new twist and revelation. The ending leaves much to the reader’s imagination, giving it a true-to-life feel.
Language Content
None.
Sexual Content Everyone seems interested in Leah’s virtue, or rather in her losing it. One man assumes she’s been intimate with the others in their party. One asks about her prior experience. She spends time kissing one man and sleeps curled up with him. She plans to have sex with him but is interrupted. No graphic details given.
Spiritual Content Leah discusses literature and poetry with Blue, one of the other survivors. They briefly discuss poems about God and spirituality from a Christian, Catholic and Islamic perspective.
Violence A man attacks Leah in an attempt to sexually assault her. Another man stops him.
Drug Content
References to alcohol, but none consumed in the story.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
A few months ago, Clinton Festa contacted me with an opportunity to help promote an unusual ministry he’s begun. Sentences is a ministry through which books are donated to prisons and detention centers around the United States. Clinton joins me today to give us more information about what he’s doing and why it’s important. Thanks, Clinton!
What led you to form this sort of ministry/charity? How long has Sentences been in operation?
In October 2013 I started learning more about prison life from some documentaries. I was surprised to learn that some inmates in Indiana are given the privilege of having pet cats and video games. Most of the times though, in most prisons, reading is the main form of recreation on a short list of options. I started looking into donating books to prison libraries, and was surprised how difficult it was to find that information. Some third party sites have the info online, but too often it’s just a prison address. You can’t donate that way; your donation may be rejected if not submitted properly. Often it needs a donation form, so you have to do your research. After a lot of effort, I finally found the info to donate to one prison. I asked what they needed, went to Goodwill, then the post office. If you ask for the media rate from the USPS, the whole thing can cost around $20. And it was fun. Picking up books from a thrift store, packaging them, and sending them off. But it still costs $20, and I can’t do that for every prison in the country. I thought I could start a more efficient way of getting it done. So, in January I started a Facebook site and a Goodreads group with the concept that I would research, then post the specific needs and donation instructions for various prisons. I’ve got a handful posted right now, but really I need to start getting more followers for the site to work. The idea is that if someone ‘likes’ the Facebook page or joins the Goodreads group, they’ll be notified when I make a new posting. Or they can always browse recent postings. Then, with enough followers, someone’s bound to recognize that they have some used books in a category that a prison really needs. They would then mail them off directly to the prison with the instructions I provide. If I get enough followers for the concept to work, it could really be an effective and efficient way of getting books off your shelf into the hands of people who would greatly appreciate it. You can even donate old comic books to a juvenile detention center I’ve got posted. The prison librarians have all been extremely appreciative as well. It’s difficult to hear year after year, in some cases, that they don’t have any money in the budget for new books… again.
How many books have been donated to prison libraries due to the efforts of this group?
I think of that in terms of pounds, not number of books, just because I’m more likely to feel it when I pick up a box than I am to count the books inside. So far, several hundred pounds. I’ve got one picture on the Facebook page of about six big boxes all from one donor. That was great. If you count the local book drive I’m doing through my church for the local JD Center, it’s been a lot. However, I wouldn’t know exactly how many books have been donated by followers of the site unless they report back to me, which isn’t necessary. But through the site, other than the one person with six boxes, the answer is ‘not many.’ I’ll stick with my local book drive through the church, which has been hugely successful, but gaining some ‘likes’ on FB and members on GR is really the key.
Why is there such a great need to send books to prison inmates?
Great question, thank you! Prisoners on death row in Texas, according to one documentary I’ve read, are in their cell, alone, for 22 hours a day. They need mental relief and escape. For those who are eventually getting out of prison, it goes beyond recreation. They typically ask for books on starting your own business, which makes sense, because it can be difficult to get through a job interview if you’ve been incarcerated. They also often ask for study books to help in getting your GED, and similar study books. When they ask for books like those, they’re trying to make the most of their time in prison. What if they don’t have those books? And, from a religious perspective… well, I think it’s obvious, the benefits to the donor and the receiver. I once sent a book with calculus study problems in a box to a prison in Arizona, not thinking anything of it. The prison librarian, an employee, responded to say thank you. He told me that a clerk, an inmate, had been praying a lot recently for a calculus book. When the box came in the mail, to him, that one book was an answer to his prayers.
What types of books do you recommend donating?
It varies from prison to prison, based on funding, size of the facility, and location. My FB and GR links have the specifics. But common needs are: any popular stuff that we’d read out of prison, books on starting your own business, study guide books that help toward GED, Westerns (which aren’t that popular outside prison anymore, so they can often be found in the discount bin), and, near the US/Mexico border, Spanish language reading and Spanish language Bibles. Those can be surprisingly hard to find.
What sorts of books should we avoid donating?
That varies a lot from prison to prison. Specifics are with each posting I do. Some prisons won’t take hardbacks. Some won’t take any books with images, because they get ripped out and used as cell-art. But, some are more lenient about that stuff. There are definitely some books that no prison will accept, though you probably don’t have many books in this category. That includes racially charged material, violent or sexually graphic literature, books on how to escape from prison (obvious), books on how to make poison and weapons out of common items (darn it), and, somewhat surprisingly, books on travel that include road maps and Atlases. Though that last one makes sense when you think about it. I have yet to come across a prison that would contact you and ask any questions if you accidentally donated a book in those categories, though. Every one I’ve posted and every one I anticipate would just reject the book, meaning it gets recycled or trashed (don’t expect to get it back). Also, it doesn’t do much good to send them a book on gardening, or making pottery, when they don’t have any way of fulfilling that.
What are your goals for this group? Where would you like to see this organization go in the next five years?
I’d love to have enough people following the group, whether that’s 100 dedicated donors, 1,000 occasional donors, or however the numbers have to work out, to be able to make a call to a prison librarian, get all the donation instructions, then make a posting, and have that result in a few batches of books from around the country be sent to that prison. I’d make 1-3 postings a month, giving each prison some time at the top. And people could always review past postings. But again, the key is getting people to ‘like’ the Facebook page or join the ‘Goodreads’ group, so please do! If all else fails, the local book drive has been great. But it’s finite, and only goes to one facility. The online concept could get books moving across the country.
The day Cantor has been dreaming of has finally arrived: his mentors have released him to make the journey through a portal to a new realm and begin his training as a Realm Walker. A shape-shifting dragon and a wild-haired girl quickly join Cantor as they begin their first mission to free prisoners forced into military service. Though Cantor believes Realm Walkers should be just and good, he discovers many simply are not so. When he’s confronted with the depths of the depravity of those leading the Realm Walkers Guild, he cannot simply sit by while the corruption runs rampant, even if stopping them should cost his life.
While Cantor and Bixby are both fascinating and unique characters, the author’s prowess really shows in her creation of the dragon characters, Bridger and his sister Totobee-Rodolow, who put the fun and pizzazz in this tale. Though at first glance this may seem a heavy story for younger readers, Paul handles the battles and conflicts deftly, shielding the reader from unnecessarily gory details and focusing on character and story. Recommended for readers ages eight to fourteen.
Language Content
None.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Cantor and his friends serve the god Primen in a monotheistic religion similar to Christianity.
Violence Brief references to physical violence. Cantor and his friends work to thwart a terrorist attack against council leaders. Details are vague and the attackers aren’t featured much.
Drug Content
Cantor and Bixby team up with a healer who uses various potions to patch their wounds.
