People's of the Arden: The Horde [Jason Henry] on leondumoulin.nl *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Book 1 of the Peoples of the Arden series When the .
Table of contents
- About Sahara Foley
- My 5 * #bookreview of The IX (The IX Series Book 1) by Andrew P. Weston
- Books by Jason Henry (Author of Virginia is for Zombies)
Especially the Epilogue, which brought tears to my eyes. For me, it meshed nicely with all the other cultures that were trying to adapt to an extremely violent environment. I also have a soft spot for the Native American culture, so I very much enjoyed their inclusion. My complaint about the book, were the nature of the transmuted Horde. I give it my 5 feathers. About Sahara Foley Bio: Until my husband died on Christmas , I never thought about becoming a writer. In fact, the act of writing a story terrified me.
The thought of writing dialogue scared the bejeebers out of me. See, Bob was the writer. He wrote stories for years but could never get a traditional publisher interested enough to publish even one. Now I understand why, as they were unpolished outlines. Then, after 30 years together, Bob passed away and my life was turned upside down.
About a month later, I was sitting around my apartment, trying to adjust to the worst event in my life, when a little voice spoke to me. But I knew I would have to fight him for every little change I made to his outlines. Sorry, honey, but they had to be done. So, I pulled out the box of stories, dusted them off, and started on a new adventure: The World of Self-Publishing. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. I finally published several short stories early in , then my horror novella, It Lives in the Basement.
While I was working on them, I was slowly learning the craft of writing, and getting The Secret of Excalibur ready for publication. Excalibur was my favorite story of them all, and in the back of my mind, I knew I wanted a publisher. One day on Twitter, I ran across a tweet from Creativia Publishing, and that was another game changer for me. If you find the right community of Indie Authors, all they want to do is help each other. Why aren't you listening?! This is for your own benefit. One Star Guess you're glutton for punishment if you're still reading this, because really, these characters are Of course, our 'heroine' - although I use the term loosely, I should probably call her our 'wanton woman in sheep's clothing' - is attractive, powerful and every man wants to fall over her.
The god is manipulative, has a dirty mind and stands in for what you might, at your kindest, call comedy. Our heroine's 'guardian' is an elf. And loves our heroine. Oh, and he has anguish. Real anguish mind, not any of that deep stuff, but the sort that only comes from wanting to shack up with your ward. Not because she's funny or anything, or has any stand out qualities from the boundless woman - elf, human and whatever alike - he has met in his centuries of life, but because she is our main character and a "wanton woman". Then we have our prince. Well now, he's special.
Because for about half a thought, he actually hates our heroine. Then he falls helplessly in love with her - again, for reasons unbeknown. And he has anguish too - and it's super-anguish. This one is two fold, and it really, really hurts! He loves her, but she doesn't love him! He lover her, but he is, by law, required to kill her! Whatever shall he do?! And that's pretty much it. Any other character is there to fulfil the token roles of bad guy, king, jealous brother and zombie horde.
So, not only do we have a shitty, smut ridden plot, we now have one dimensional, unbelievable characters to bring it to all it's smut-shining life! Two Stars It went along okay I suppose. In this area at least I could say that it wasn't a total failure. It wasn't badly paced, the dialogue was all right for all the content our star performers could provide! But neither was it good. It was blunt, and hard and uncaring. It was wham-bam-thank-you mam. No subtlety; just in, out, shake it all about. And this was the best part of the whole book!
Two Stars On one hand I want to banish this book to oblivion, tell you to run and never look back. I want to save you the horrors and the pain that this book heaps on in equal, shocking measures. But for all the mire that I have just waded through, not once did I think of putting this book down. Not seriously at least. In my defence, I put this down to some mis-placed desire to see if ms.
McHugh porn-writer would come good on her fantasy plot. And that's all really; cause there was nothing else worth staying on for. But here is my final summation in black and white, and clear as day: If you want fantasy, don't even think of looking this way; it's a mockery of real fantasy.
I bet you ten to a penny that I could find better in a 5-second google search. So, all in all, do yourself a favour; leave it alone. View all 11 comments. Jul 19, Mark Lawrence added it. I haven't read this book yet , but it is one of the 10 finalists in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. Read about the competition here http: See all the reviews and ratings of the finalists so far here: Aug 21, Bob Milne rated it really liked it Shelves: Given that it's more a romance novel with fantasy elements than a fantasy novel with romantic elements, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed A Soul For Trouble.
This was a very quick read for me, and one that I found to be a lot of fun.
Crista McHugh has a comfortable sense of narrative style, a good grasp on her characters, and a flair for witty dialogue. It's not a laugh-out-loud type of story, but one that I found myself smiling over on a regular basis. Arden Trouble Lesstymine is not just Given that it's more a romance novel with fantasy elements than a fantasy novel with romantic elements, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed A Soul For Trouble. Arden Trouble Lesstymine is not just the only blonde-haired, blue-eyed soil in town, but she's also a witch.
As a result, she's used to getting more than her fair share of attention, but nothing could prepare her for becoming the next vessel of Loku, disembodied god of chaos. On the one hand, she gets to wield his god-like power but, on the other hand, she's slowly losing her mind. Of course, it doesn't help that she has suddenly acquired a Knight of Gravaria as her sworn protector, become the sworn enemy of a dangerous necromancer, and found herself the object of a Prince's obsession.
As much as the love triangle between Trouble, Dev, and Kell drives much of the action, I liked all three characters enough to roll with it, and the insanity angle, with Loku's insanely funny and brutally inappropriate running commentary pulls it altogether. There's a lot of cheesy romance and overt sexism to the tale, but it's all clever and self-aware, not quite satire but clearly deliberate. It's a fast-paced tale, and one that I breezed through in just a few nights. Sure, it could have used a few more action sequences, and I would have like more in the way of mythology or world-building, but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins Feb 25, Elisa rated it really liked it Shelves: There were enough action, dark scenes and light hearted moments to make the whole book quite enjoyable. The only thing that left me wanting more and less at the same time was the romance side of it all. I didn't really like the way the heroine seems lacking of common behaviour-reading skill and knowledge of her own feelings and how said feelings are swayed from Kell to Dev. This makes her look a bit flim 3. This makes her look a bit flimsy to me, especially since most of the time there isn't a real and solid enough reason to provoke such a change of heart.
I got to admit that this trait is sadly, in my opinion one of the very common characteristics among similar books and especially in the YA genre and therefore it must be liked by the target audience so it's not a real downside, I guess. In this way, though, the heroine seemed to me a bit younger than the 21 years old that, if I'm not mistaken, she mention being in the book.
Beside this, another side of the book which I found slightly disappointing, was the character development; it is there, I'm not saying in any way that the characters are flat, but the changes were sometimes expressed a bit too explicitly to be convincing, while a change which is expressed through facts instead of clear sentences and declarations can be at times seen as much more deep and noticeable positively by the reader.
Criticism aside, I liked the story, the characters, the setting, the magic and mostly the book in its whole and I'll be waiting for the next installements, hoping that they'll manage to fulfill and surpass the expectations this first part aroused. This review can also be found on my blog: I have only read one other book by Crista McHugh , Tangled Web , but it was enough for me to know that I wanted to read everything by her. This wasnt quite as good imo, but that is just my personal preference.
A Soul for Trouble was a bit more light-hearted than Tangled Web, and more of the typical epic fantasy, with wizards, princes, adventure, and romance. Tangled Web was This review can also be found on my blog: Tangled Web was an erotic court intrigue. But they are both extremely riveting, fast-paced stories with kick-ass heroines. A Soul for Trouble has everything you could want in a fantasy, but its main focus is still the romance.
There is a love-triangle between Arden, the barmaid who is suddenly the soulbearer for the exiled god of chaos; Dev, her sworn Elf protector; and Kell, the prince who is doing everything in his power to save her life from charges of witchcraft. I really loved Dev from the moment he appeared on the page, and I didnt understand why Arden took so long to warm up to him. She was mean to him and ungrateful for his protection.
And I was like, "Bitch, he's amazing! It took me pretty much the whole book to warm up to him. And in the end I was just agreeing with Dev--begrudgingly admitting that I would probably respect Kell if he wasnt trying to steal Arden. It reminded me a lot of the love-triangle in Throne of Glass. Powerful girl is wooed by prince's charms, while brooding friend who gives her strength is obviously the better choice. All three have their own POVs, as well as occasional chapters from the villain. There is no explicit content in this book, and is fairly clean, although I would still categorize it as adult.
I already bought book 2 and will be starting it immediately. May 01, Jess the Romanceaholic rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a Quickie Review. April 2, Publisher: Gift from the author Part of a Series: Chaste With plenty of action, danger and interesting plot twists, I have to admit that despite the fact I don't normally care for love triangles, I read this book in a s This is a Quickie Review. Chaste With plenty of action, danger and interesting plot twists, I have to admit that despite the fact I don't normally care for love triangles, I read this book in a single sitting.
McHugh has created a fascinating world full of magic, adventure, close calls, betrayals, and a fairly large mystery involving the heroine's own history. Throw in a sexy elf, a seductive prince, a snarky god of chaos, and even zombies, and how could I not like this?
About Sahara Foley
However, even as a reader of more "adult" romantic fantasy, I still thoroughly enjoyed this one, and am definitely looking forward to the rest of the trilogy. Oct 01, Felicitas rated it liked it Recommends it for: If I could, I would give this book 3,5 stars. But that is not possible and for me it was closer to 3 stars than to 4.
But 3 very enjoyable stars. What I liked about the book: How they gradually grow to accept that Trouble is the new soul bearer of Loku, a chaos god, and that they are stuck with each other, because Dev is every soul bearer's sworn protector. I liked how they started out fighting and bickering, tha If I could, I would give this book 3,5 stars.
I liked how they started out fighting and bickering, than moved to liking and trusting each other view spoiler [ and ended falling in love hide spoiler ]. They both follow a well established set of rules from the fantasy and romance genre, but do not come across as cardboard characters. Although still young, Trouble has learnt to look out for herself.
She is innocent but not naive, and tough when she needs to be tough. Her character is mostly believable. Maybe her innocence in matters of the heart is a little too much, and her transformation into a skilled fighter too swift. But she is very likeable and felt real enough.
I loved how she coaxed Dev's fire wolf into submission, turning him into a sort of fierce lap dog, much to Dev's annoyance, of course. Dev is both strong and sensitive, quiet and resolute if he needs be - or if Trouble provokes him. Which she frequently does. If you do not like love triangles: Stay away from the book. Because although it's very clear from the beginning who the happy couple will be, eventually the love triangle does not dominate the plot. It is not the usual love triangle, in which the heroine first cannot decide who to choose, then obsesses about the one she chooses while the rejected one obsesses about her.
For Trouble is determined not to fall in love at all. So she fights against her growing feelings for Dev. And she is clever enough to see through prince Kell's intentions and is not the least bit impressed by his advances. There were some nice quarrels between the three. Nevertheless, prince Kell is one of the reasons I did not give the book more stars. Dev, as in so many true love triangles, cannot give in for his feelings for Trouble. There are some hints as to why he did some bad things in the past and tries to atone for them by protecting the soul bearer — and loving the soul bearer would only get in the way of protecting her , which will probably be detailed in the next book.
But the struggle between his feelings, his duties as the soul protector and his resentment against prince Kell is balanced. The world building is not that detailed but detailed enough. You get all the information you need to follow the plot and it is not shoved into your face, either. Personally, I don't mind when authors do not spell out every aspect of the worlds they create, as long as the picture is coherent. And I also don't mind when they give me the bits and pieces of this world gradually.
Although a little bit more backstory about the other kingdoms this book focuses on Ranella would have been nice. What I did not like: It felt a bit rushed. But after a couple of chapters it either got better or I got used to this style of writing … 2 Prince Kell provides some nice, funny scenes with Trouble and Dev, but he is so very predictable and two-dimensional.
The final fight against the necromancer was quite an anti-climax. The basic idea is great but the way he was written I found him neither fish nor fowl: Although Dev repeatedly states that Trouble will very likely get mad and die prematurely because she shares her body and mind with Loku, and that Loku is dangerous, he did not come across as evil, threatening or dangerous.
More bawdy and lewd. Then again, the constant sexual innuendos are probably fitting for a chaos god … Despite this, I am really looking forward to book 2 coming soon! A Soul for Trouble is a book I originally thought of as a Young Adult fantasy novel which seemingly touts a love triangle and a unqiue magical angle of a trapped god. I was definitely wrong on one account, this is not a Young Adult novel but instead one that could be classified as New Adult.
Age difference aside A Soul for Trouble is a promising start to a highly interesting and unique fantasy series. Arden, as we first meet her, is a rather tired and irritated barmaid in a small village where no A Soul for Trouble is a book I originally thought of as a Young Adult fantasy novel which seemingly touts a love triangle and a unqiue magical angle of a trapped god. Arden, as we first meet her, is a rather tired and irritated barmaid in a small village where no one seems to respect her.
However that changes when she meets a rather insane man and his protector and she finds herself running away from the fiery ruins of her home with the god of chaos trapped in her mind. Arden had a sharp wit and a strong backbone to begin with but both become even more predominant as the story unfurls.
In fact one of my favorite things about her is her willingness to set aside her fear and do what she feels is right, her own safety be damned. Of course when your nickname is Trouble you can sort of guess how often her safety is on the line. Dev is our elven fierce protector, duty bound to protect those who hold the soul of the god Loku. However his rather detached and stiff nature of the situation changes when he finds himself having to protect the beautiful and highly stubborn if a little frustrating Arden. I love seeing him become flustered when Arden dug in her heels or rushed head first into danger, and even though I wanted to smack him I loved his trouble with finding a balance between duty and personal feelings.
Loku is definitely my favorite though, and it should be no surprise. His silent conversations with Arden were definitely one of my favorite parts of the book as he dispensed both wisdom and lewd suggestions. However I was very interested in the social system of Ranello. They have strict laws against magic users and their customs regarding woman are a bit…stone age.
I liked seeing how Arden and Dev had to navigate both restrictions and just how much strain it put on them. I am looking forward to seeing more of the world in the next book since it seems we might get to see where Dev and Cinder come from. The love triangle was so-so. We have the sturdy and trustworthy Dev against the well-bred and smooth talking Kell…and Arden sways between the both for different reasons. Of course there is also the matter of the necromancer who leaves a bit a of a bad taste in my mouth.
When you're a witch named Trouble, chaos follows. Yes, it comes with the ability to channel the god's limitless power, but at the cost of her sanity -- literally. Now she has a sexy but cynical knight claiming to be her protector, Synopsis: I found this to be quite enjoyable. Not sure if I want to rate it a three or a four, though. The book starts things off right away which I appreciated. There was no long drawn out intro showing how Arden is mistreated, but we get to see enough of it to know that she is treated badly because of her looks and the magic she wields.
In this kingdom, to use magic is to forfeit your life as using magic in Ranella is against the law. Everyone in the little village of Wallus thinks Arden is a witch and have nicknamed the girl Trouble, little do they realize just how well she lives up to that name and just what she is. Too bad for Dev he gets to find out the hard way why the girl is called Trouble and he doesn't hesitate to call her that despite how many times she tells him she hates it.
Unfortunately, they're stuck together and Trouble's life gets complicated from here on out. Turns out that the god of chaos, Loku has decided that Trouble is his new vessel.
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Weirdly, though, he seems rather protective of her even though he teases her like crazy. I liked him, though. He tells the truth and is pretty funny to boot. I like Dev despite his constant need to push Trouble away. Maybe if he explained, she wouldn't be so willing to fall into Prince Kell's arms. Granted, even with the way Dev kept his distance, I still found Trouble to be quite fickle. True, you can care for two people in different ways, but she just kept going from one to the other swinging like a pendulum. It was driving me a bit nuts. It was worse because she knew who she really wanted.
She knew the whole friggin' time. Maybe she was acting that way because her whole world basically got scraped and nothing would ever be the same again and she needed some kind of companionship. It was still annoying because she'd spent her whole life trying not to end up following her mother's path and she went down sooooo easily. At least she didn't give in completely. I'll give her that. Prince Kell seems to be a nice enough guy, too.
I believe he genuinely did fall for Trouble and wanted her for more than what he could get out of her. I just didn't want her with him, so his pursuit of her annoyed me. At least he isn't completely useless, but I could have done without him. I would have liked for Sulaino to have been a bit more of a threat. He was creepy, yeah and he was obviously evil, but after the fight at the end, it felt to me that he wasn't really ever that much of a threat.
I know why Dev was holding Trouble back from taking him on, but if he had just let her deal with it sooner, they may not have ended up stuck in Ranella for so long. At least at the end of the book, Dev seems to have finally gotten it through his thick skull that he can't just push Trouble away and wait until they get to Gravaria to try to pursue something.
He's basically tossing her into Kell's arms with the way he's acting. It seems like he's made his mind up to do something about it. Guess I'll find out what that is when I read book 2. View all 4 comments. Sep 02, Mihir rated it really liked it. We meet Arden who is aptly named Trouble, who serves as a barmaid and help in her uncle's tavern in the land of Ranella. She's a stranger in a strange land as her mother was disgraced by her father as he left her pregnant and she finds herself visibly differe This is the first of my SPFBO round 2 reads and this was a enjoyable one.
She's a stranger in a strange land as her mother was disgraced by her father as he left her pregnant and she finds herself visibly different than the local populace. In the first chapter itself we find her getting into mortal trouble when the immortal soul of the chaos god Loku enters her body and makes her his next soulbearer. Hunting for Loku's soul and his choas magic is a necromancer called Sulanio. Faced with magic that's forbidden in Ranella, a mad god in her head and a knight-protector who confuses her, Arden Trouble does her best to face the struggles of her heart and her mind.
Running away from Sulanio she will have to control Loku and his lascivious thoughts, get a grip on her new found magic and make the right choice between 2 men who torment her heart. This story was a fun one to read and I knew in advance that this was a fantasy romance so certain elements of the story would be blown up.
With that in mind, I didn't mind how the author portrayed Trouble and her hearty problems. There's a love triangle involved and while I'm not sure whom the author intends to have Arden end up with. The overall story enticed me enough to keep reading and grab the sequels too. The main thing I enjoyed about the story were the fantasy elements that were strewn throughout. The author also keeps the story fast-paced through two-thirds of the book and the book loses some steam in last one-third as the plot becomes entangled with certain courtly matters as well as the love triangle in question.
Overall this story was a fun read as Loku kept appearing at odd intervals and making the most inappropriate suggestions and commentary. I would have love to see more of him. This book is built for a certain audience and for those who love some romance in their stories, this story will do it nicely for you. As a fantasy reader primarily I was able to enjoy the story and not mind the romance as it's ensconced within the story neatly. A Soul For Trouble was a fun read for me and I'll be interested to read the sequels to see where to the author takes the story.
Full review to come soon I know people really like this book. But I wasn't going to be able to make it through This felt very much like either the reader was being told her emotional state because it wasn't effectively being shown, we were being rushed through the adjustment, or he had a very poor opinion of women's intellect.
My 5 * #bookreview of The IX (The IX Series Book 1) by Andrew P. Weston
Either way I thought seeing a man refer to surprisingly calm and rational woman as troublesome, irrational and hysterical was extremely condescending and cliche. Isn't that what's always being slung at women? The use of gender inequality as a world-building device is so clumsy it's creating an anti-woman feel. Men are constantly talking about women's place, referring to them as whores or wenches, easily talking about selling them, etc. I get what the author was trying to do, but it failed.
This is exacerbated by the fact that whenever Trouble says anything that he disliked the narrator refers to her as having too much sass or some such. I definitely feel a 'women should be seen and not heard, or at least not voicing dissident opinions' vibe going on. Though I absolutely think it was unintended. Whose emotions move so quickly? It didn't feel natural. There is a lot of sex and it feels largely out of place.
Books by Jason Henry (Author of Virginia is for Zombies)
First because random sex scenes are just shoe horned in, often disquised as dreams so that they don't have to fit the plot. You'll be reading along with nothing romantic going on and then turn a page and bam, sudden graphic sex scene. Second, everything else in the book feels very YA, so the sex feels jarringly out of place. Sep 23, Ari rated it it was ok Shelves: Read the full list of finalists here: The book was also dragged down by sometimes clumsy writing, but on the flip side it's a light, easy read.
Dec 14, Mara marked it as dnf Shelves: Not really the book for me. I'm not a YA reader, and usually get easily bored by it.
Everything was banalized, from a God robbing you of a choice and potentially driving you crazy to being forced to follow a knight protector or battling for a country that despises you. The God itself didn't read much better, again like a teen run away for the first time from a v Not really the book for me. The God itself didn't read much better, again like a teen run away for the first time from a very strict family. I may come back. But it's not the right book for now. Jun 16, Laura rated it did not like it Shelves: After reading the blurb, I thought this would be right up my alley, but I tried and then I tried again and I just can't seem to finish this.
I am so unable to produce any enthusiasm for this book that even the anticipation of writing a ranty review isn't enough to keep me reading. May 24, Sasha rated it it was amazing Shelves: What can I say? This book is addictive! I decided to start reading it before I went to bed. I had to keep reading until I finished it, no matter I couldn't keep my eyes open! So excited for book 2 to come out!! Aug 18, Madison rated it really liked it. Dec 01, Ryan Snyder rated it it was amazing Shelves: Now he is a soul that wanders from person to person. When his human host dies, he has to enter a new host body.
The people he inhabits are referred to as the soulbearers. Devaious, or Dev, is the Knight charged with protecting the last two soulbearers. However, his job Is not an easy one, since the chaotic god is determined to make his life hell. This is a major problem for her. She is also stuck with a handsome knight to protect her as well. In order to teach her to control the newfound powers she possesses, Dev will have to take her away from the home she has always known and train her in how to use her magic.
But someone is after the god of chaos and wants his powers for himself. Plus, it is sort of illegal to use magic in the surrounding realms. So the duo excuse me, trio will have to get to the kingdom that allows magic, but along the way have to fight off a mage and his hoard of the undead cool , villagers determined to burn Trouble at the stake, and the advances of a handsome prince. All while Trouble struggles to remain herself when her mind is being taken over. This 21 year old bar maid, who has never been too far out of her town, is suddenly sucked into a world magic and has a god inhabiting her body.
I would say she handled it as well as any of us would have handled it… with extreme panic, some tears, and a lot of sarcasm. I must tell you now that sarcasm is my favorite form of communication and between her, Loku, and Dev, there was plenty to keep me entertained. It does not take her too long to come to terms with the perverted god residing in her head. I felt like having your sanity threatened and the reaction to that would be difficult for someone to write. I think the author wrote it rather well. I like that her feelings for the 2 love interests are not selfish, like the girls being fought over in other books I have read.
She does not immediately proclaim herself in love with everyone. She thinks her feeling through throughout the book- even discussing them with Loku. Her conflict between the knight and the prince was well- written. She was no fool. I mean, this book just would not be the same without his commentary on everything. I just do not know whether he is a good guy or a bad guy. He does some horrible things, but he seems to treat Trouble different than he has treated any of his previous soulbearers.
I cannot wait to read the rest of the series and find out what he has up his sleeve. He is terrifying and intriguing at the same time. I love how his character is written. I cannot wait for more of him in the second book! Dev, oh Dev, I have to admit, that I fell in love with Dev around seven pages into the book. I mean, jesus, woman, what are you trying to do dangling a fictional character in front of me as sexy as that?