"She’d never been to a boarding school before, but it was a school
just the same as all the others. Except that here the students wore
black and blue uniforms—a good reminder as any of the pain they could
inflict if she let them."
Book Blurb:
Since the death of her parents,
Callan Blair has been shunted from one foster family to another, her dangerous
secret forcing the move each time. Her latest foster family quickly ships her
off to an exclusive boarding school in the Cumbrian countryside. While her
foster-brother James makes it his mission to get Callan expelled, a nearby
ancient castle holds the secret doorway to another land...
When Callan is forced through the
doorway, she finds herself in the magical continent of Tardith, where she’s
shocked to learn her schoolmates Gawain and Darrion are respected soldiers in
service to the king of Nordaine, one of Tardith's realms. More than that, the
two are potential heirs to the Black Knight—Nordaine's crown prince.
But when the Black Knight fails to
return from a mysterious trip, the realm teeters on the brink of war. Darrion
and Gawain set out to find him, while Callan discovers there is more to her
family history than she thought. The elves are claiming she is their princess.
Now with Darrion growing ever more
antagonistic and her friendship with Gawain blossoming, Callan must decide
whether to stay in Nordaine—where her secret grows ever more threatening—or go
to the elves and uncover the truth about her family before war sets the realms
afire.
Review:
With her sad, resigned
cynicism and her muted self-consciousness, Callan Blair makes for an
immediately likable protagonist who is easy to root for in this
interesting, mysterious portal-fantasy novel, The Vanished Knight by M. Gerrick (pen name of Misha Gericke, who blogs here).
Gericke (or Gerrick, if you prefer) does an excellent job with characterization. Some characters start off at the beginning of the book acting a bit like archetypes—such as James, Callen's foster brother who is both
attractive and arrogant in his upper-class snobbery, and Phipps, the castle guard who threatens expulsion to all who disobey even the smallest of rules.
But, as it turns out, these archetypes are actually only the outer layers to the characters,
which peel away as the adventure progresses and they reveal more of
their true selves.
Callan's character is very well-developed, as she has both flaws and positive traits, both fears and desires. Her backstory and her life outside the fantasy realm are realistic, making the transition through the portal more accessible and believable.
Descriptions of action are dynamic and engaging, tracing the flowing moves of sword fights. The pacing of this novel is excellent and remains exciting page after page. The mystery behind who Callan's real parents are, where the Black Knight disappeared to, and who will be chosen as the next king keep the suspense going. I am eagerly anticipating the sequel!
Now, how about an interview with the author, Misha Gericke?
Writers
often use the mantra "Write what you know." This usually turns into
characters as manifestations of the author's traits. How much of Callan
is you?
Hahaha oooh this is tricky. I see
her as a person of her own, but in fact, I guess you can say that each
of the characters have an aspect of my personality. Which is
interesting, given how much they clash.
As
for Callan, the most obvious bit to her that comes from my own
experience is living with constant nightmares. I get night terrors, the
intensity and frequency of which vary. But at the time I was rewriting
the book (which is when her dreams started to feature) I was pretty much
getting at least one night terror per night, every night, for months.
It became a rather important part of the story, but when I was
improvising it during the rewrite, I guess I was channeling my own
feelings and fears onto the page. The nature of her dreams differ from
mine, though.
Tell us about the world of Tardith. How did it develop in your mind?
Well...
After the first inspiration came, I started thinking of the world I
wanted to write about. And I wanted to be different, so I made the
"world" a continent, and made the setting into four countries.
In
a sense, I approached these four countries the same way I approach
characterization. So I assumed (in my special special little mind) that
Tardith and its countries existed. I also knew there'd need to be some
sort of conflict between them, coming out of their history. (The same
way I believe character conflicts need to come from their motivation.)
While
I drafted, I started realizing that one country (Icaimerith) was the
aggressor, one (Ladrien) was the scrappy Jack Russel that had been
fighting Icaimerith off for centuries, one (Alfen Cairn) was actually in
Icaimerith's sights and its king knows it, and one (Nordaine) despises,
or at least ridicules the other three. Nordaine could counter-balance
Icaimerith, but... well... due to one long and nasty history, they're
simply not bothered to.
But then, of course, the war's coming, and suddenly Nordaine might just have to step up after all.
What is your writing process like? Do you plan ahead or just write as you go?
Mostly, I just write, discovering as I
go, but making sure that everything I've learned before adds to the
present discovery, or else the story wouldn't make sense. Usually, it's
like a thinking game, where I contemplate what I know, and then see
where I can take that knowledge within the overall story.
What has been the most challenging part of your writing and publishing journey so far? What's been the easiest? :)
Time-wise, drafting the story that would become The Vanished Knight and The Heir's Choice was the hardest. Took me about five years just to get that done.
Emotionally,
querying was the hardest. The book simply wasn't standard fantasy fare.
Still isn't, even if it might seem so. So I received a ton of
rejections without, I feel, the agents even bothering to read anything I
sent in except for the query.
Easiest
was editing it. I spent so long locking up my inner editor that she had
a field day when I unleashed her on my manuscript.
The Vanished Knight is the first in the series. Can you give away any fun teasers as to what's in store? :)
In the The Heir's Choice, Callan's the only person who can save Alfen Cairn (and if you've read The Vanished Knight, you could probably figure out why she wants to). Problem is, she owes Nordaine for saving her life, and they need her to act against Alfen Cairn's interests...
Author Bio:
M. Gerrick (AKA
Misha Gericke) has basically created stories since before she could write. Many
of those stories grew up with her and can be seen in her current projects.
She lives close
to Cape Town, with a view over False Bay and Table Mountain.
If you’d like
to contact her, feel free to mail her at warofsixcrowns(AT)gmail(DOT)com, Circle her on Google Plus, or
follow her on Twitter. If
you'd like to see her writer-side (beware, it's pretty insane), please feel
free to check out her blog. You can also add The Vanished Knight on Goodreads.
The Prodigal by Michael Hurley
Adrian Sharpe is a lawyer—and a very good one—who has charmed his way to the top with his clever and sneaky ways of getting out trouble. He and two of his coworkers take a vacation on the island of Ocracoke, where Adrian encounters a handful of unusual locals who leave him both confused and intrigued. After he returns home, he learns of a medical malpractice case that he had completely forgotten about and which starts that day. This scenario does not seem that realistic, but Hurley pulls it off excellently with his gorgeous writing style, gift for description, and a creation of a distinct tone and atmosphere. The section detailing the trial also is quite long, and though it is a very enjoyable read while reading it, after finishing that section, it seems like the amount of detail did not necessarily serve a purpose. However, upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that most every paragraph does at least something to further develop and reveal Adrian's character. He has both flaws and positive qualities, which make him a someone readers will want both to root for and to hope for personal growth and change.
After the trial and an unfortunate series of events, Adrian is offered the opportunity to return to Ocracoke Island. Each character there has their own personality and background that tie into the story nicely and influence that plot. On the island, Adrian seems to move into the backdrop of the plot as other, more interesting characters come forward—and Adrian also seems to stick out to the reader (but not to the characters) like a sore thumb on the island. The eclectic nature of the population of the island keeps the story engaging, even when it pushes the level of realism. Perhaps it is this edge-of-realistic atmosphere that contributes to the magic of the writing. Hurley has incredible skill in creating a mystical and mysterious tone, especially at the start of the book. The small town community atmosphere is also well-developed, especially in scenes that take place in the bar. A large portion of the book, in the final third, takes place on the boat, The Prodigal, as Adrian and his friends are racing against the main antagonist; once again, here, the descriptions of the setting and of the relationships between the characters are gorgeously wrought, but some of the events aren't entirely realistic. And, once again (again), Hurley pulls it off wonderfully with his romantic-sounding prose.
One thing that bothered me was the level of nudity in the book. I was in no way offended by it (though maybe conservative readers would be) but it did make me roll my eyes sometimes, when it seemed unnecessary. "Really? She's naked again? Why?" Sometimes it made sense, but it seemed that every other page had someone not wearing any clothing for little to no reason.
I would love to read more about the two lovers in the prologue, honestly, and I was disappointed that Hurley didn't fully flesh out their story. Overall, though, The Prodigal is a beautiful read. It is one I would feel compelled to recommend to romance fans and maybe historical fiction fans (even though it takes place in present day, it has a sort of historical fiction feel to it), albeit with a disclaimer about the nudity—but this shouldn't stop anyone from reading.
Books I Read This Month - August 2013
Apparently I went on a science fiction and
historical kick this month, with four books that each take place in the past,
two of them with science fiction elements, and all with some real events. Must
just have been the mood I was in.
Equilateral
by Ken Kalfus
A physicist has a plan to dig a hundreds-of-miles
wide equilateral triangle into the Sahara desert to attract Martians by
lighting it on fire as a signal on the night that Mars is closest to Earth.
Fascinating premise, and I was super excited to read this book. The jargon and
scientific language slowed down the plot a bit, but I am educated in science
enough understand it completely. The characters are so dynamic, well-defined,
and interesting. A great read for those
who enjoy sci-fi rather than historical fiction.
The Movement
of the Stars by Amy Brill
A twenty-something girl who has grown up in a
Quaker community in the 1800s has a dream of discovering a new comet and has no
interest in getting married, as her family wishes her to do. But then she meets
a foreign sailor who she begins teaching navigation skills, and she falls in
love. I didn’t think the sailor character was very believable, and though he was
a very sweet guy, I wasn’t entirely sure what she saw in him—or what he saw in
her. Though the characters and premise were not original or quite deep enough
for my liking, I did enjoy the writing style of this book.
Bright and
Distant Shores by Dominic Smith
Extremely thorough and rich detail—so much the
plot was too slow for my tastes, but also so much that a vivid image of the
setting could be immediately conjured, almost dreamlike—made this book a deep,
fantastic read. The level of detail could sometimes make the story boring, but
I generally found myself caught up in the imagery. It’s a story set partly in
turn-of-the-century Chicago, partly in some Pacific islands, where a museum
item collector sailed to bring back native islanders for a museum exhibition. I
would highly recommend this read for those with the time, intellect, and
attention-span to make it through.
Pastwatch:
The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card
Half of this book is a historical account of
Christopher Columbus’ life, and the other half is the account of a distant
future community where a machine can peek into the past and observe. But one
girl believes she can develop the technology to actually travel back and change
Columbus’ mind about his journey across the ocean in order to divert the
corruption of Christianity—and even more terrifying, she believes that someone
has already done this before. I loved the plot, though the historical story
line wasn’t all that engaging, and, to be honest, the conversation taking place
in the future story line wasn’t all that exciting either. Maybe it was just the
premise that kept me reading, wanting to know how the plot would resolve.
Peace, Aimee
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