A basic summary of the book is as follows: On October 1, an ordinary day by any standards, a young aspiring graphic novel artist (he does not own a cell phone, imagine that) is witness to the first signs of madness. A signal called ‘The Pulse’ is sent to all cell phones, resulting in random and brutal acts of savage murders and destruction. Those unfortunate enough to be using the device at the time become known as the ‘phone-crazies’ and with the number of people who use cell phones in the country/around the world, one can imagine that at least 70% of the population fits this category. Those without cell phones, who survived ‘The Pulse’ are called the ‘Normies’. This book chronicles their desperate attempts to stay alive in this new world, where every turn can lead them to danger.

This book is good for Stephen King fans that need a quick fix, or for new readers of his stories who want to get a general feel of what Stephen King is all about. I especially liked the sudden thrust into the world of chaos. The no holds barred, in your face brutality and horror that Stephen King is known for. I did not like the rather rushed feel of this story. There were several places where I felt it could be more developed or detailed. The last section of the book also left me baffled. It’s something I’ll have to read again to completely understand.

When I finished the book, I wanted to throw away my cell phone! Actually, it did make me think about the possibility of such a terror attack ever taking place. In a technologically advanced world, such a thing is NOT impossible.

As always, King takes us for a wild ride, hardly wasting time in thrusting the reader into the chaos that ensues. I’ve always loved his ability to paint a scene in such brutal reality – a scene that’s seemingly impossible (say a woman suddenly attacking another by chewing her ear off) makes perfect sense. The scenes are fast paced, action-packed and draw the reader into the lives of these ‘Normies’. Each character has a personality that we can identify with, and King manages to incorporate all the changes of modern society within the novel. We have the single gay man stereotype, the teenage girl who is quite mature for her age, an ailing professor of a prestigious university, and a young boy who is a computer whiz kid in his own right. The eternal fight for good vs. evil prevails here, and at the end of the day, despite all the problems caused by cell phones, it turns out that only one remaining device, can be the key to salvation after all. Hmm, kind of contradicts itself there, doesn’t it? However, I felt this was too short and held tones of some other works of his, namely ‘The Stand’ and ‘The Dark Tower’ series. If I were going to be a harsh critic, I would consider ‘Cell’ a watered down version of ‘The Stand’.

KiyaSama is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

Author: Kiya Sama
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The main hero character is a strong and gifted woman who is stricken with a form of memory loss. Little flashes of memory come to her, but she is frustrated with not knowing who she is and what her origins are. All she can remember is her name, Ramira.

Baffled in a tumultuous world of elves, dwarves and desert nomads, whose inability to co-exist peacefully could spell doom for all. They are forced to work together to battle the evil Mahn and his minions, a variety of demons from the low demons called Kreetch to the terrifying Vox, who are capable of possessing a body and torturing its soul for centuries.

The Elf Kings, Alyxandyr and Gard, and their royal peers -the Dwarf King, Seven, and the rulers of the Herkahs, Zada and Allad – converge together at the gates of grand city of Bystyn. Together their people find solace in numbers while they prepare to battle the sourcerous evil. Ramira discovers her power and learns that she is not meant to be alone. There is also a powerful seer and the hidden elf magic to aid her – but they all must grow in strength if there is to be any hope at all.

Patricia does not explain things in this novel. Instead, the book expertly unfolds little tantalizing bits to the reader at just the right pace. Quest for the Source of Darkness is a larger-sized book that will take the reader on fantasy adventure for many days.

ISBN#: 141377427X
Author: Patricia Perry
Publisher: Publish America

~ Lillian Brummet: co-author of the books Trash Talk and Purple Snowflake Marketing, author of Towards Understanding; host of the Conscious Discussions radio show (http://www.brummet.ca)

Author: Lillian Brummet
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Computer: There is a lot of debate on whether a student should get a computer or not and even more as to what sort of computer they should get.  There are a few things that must be taken into consideration here.  The first consideration is whether or not there is internet access in the dorm room.  If the answer is no, the only sane way to go is a laptop.  If the dorm room has internet access either through hardline or WiFi you can either go with a desktop or a laptop depending on personal choice and budget.

A desktop will always be cheaper than a comparable laptop, and is much easier to upgrade at a later date.   The downside of desktops is the case has to go somewhere which may or may not be in the way and the monitor will take up some of usually very limited desktop space.  The plus side of a desktop is they rarely fail because they get knocked around or dropped unlike laptops.  if something happens to your desktop or monitor there is almost always someone around who at 11:30 pm can quickly fix it or at least retrieve the paper you were writing and is due the next morning, not so with a laptop.

The big benefit to a laptop is portability, this something that conquers many barriers for people.  The biggest downside to laptops are the relatively small screen size the small keyboard, finicky touchpad mouse, and fragility.  You can conquer all of those issues save for fragility very easily by buying an keyboard, mouse and monitor to use at your desk.  Even more than death by dropping the biggest issue with laptops is how often keys break off even with careful users.  This is something that can’t be fixed without taking it to a repair place and losing the use of it for upwards of a several days to several weeks.  It will still function and all but the broken key will work just fine, but it is a huge pain in the ass when the broken key is the enter key or spacebar, they only thing you can do is carry around an extra keyboard or get it fixed.

The Qar, which are a wonderfully varied group of strange beings ranging from human-like to grotesque monsters, occupy the northern portions of Eion above what is called the Shadow Line that marks the division between the normal world and the foggy and disorienting world of the Qar. Centuries earlier the Qar occupied the whole of Eion but were slowly driven north by expanding human populations. Southmarch occupies the land adjacent to the Shadow Line, and the mighty coastal stronghold also known as Southmarch stands upon a site once controlled by the Qar and still sacred to them.

Most of the fantasy novel centers on the ruling family of Southmarch, the Eddons. King Olin Eddon is held hostage by the kingdom of Hierosol, and his twin children, the brother and sister Barrick and Briony, rule as co-regents in his absence. Because Barrick is plagued by nightmares and melancholy, his sister Briony must shoulder the burdens of ruling as the gathering threat of a Qar invasion becomes more apparent.

Another major character is Qinnitan, who lives in the land mass south of Eion known as Xand. Here a vast empire is ruled by the God-like Autarch, who has inexplicably selected Qinnitan to be his wife. The Autarch has many wives who mostly live in a section of his sprawling palace and temple complex called the Seclusion. Xand is a land with Asian and Middle Eastern flavors as opposed to the European Medieval tone of Eion. Qinnitan is an interesting and sympathetic character who must navigate the intrigues and jealousies of life in the Seclusion. She is also being prepared for the Autarch by being repeatedly forced to drink a potion that seems to be connecting her to a God-like consciousness.

While the Eddons in Southmarch prepare to face the Qar invasion, they also hear hints of threats from the Autarch, whose God-like reach naturally wants to grasp Eion.

As Williams crafts his characters, he reveals their evolving emotions with skill. For example, as Briony is consumed by her role as co-regent, her paranoia increases as she learns to question the motivations of the nobles and courtiers around her. Her temper is also made increasingly fragile by the ceaseless demands on her attention. She never is able to deal with everything, but it is not her fault. Mounting threats pile up as Briony tries to cope among uncertain allies.

Her brother Barrick is of little help to her because his depression hinders his ability and willingness to function. He does distinguish himself however by riding forth with the forces of Southmarch to defend the kingdom.

The Qar make a difficult enemy to engage. A thick mist swirls around them, hiding their numbers, and some of their fighters are giants and strange beasts that can crush men and horses. They are led in battle by a stunning female warrior, Yasammez, also known as Lady Porcupine for the sharp spikes on her armor. Because the Qar are fighting to regain land that they had previously lost to the humans over centuries of brutal fighting, Yasammez possesses righteous vindictiveness. Despite her eagerness to be cruel to the humans, she is cunning in her strategy and patient. Personally, I would have preferred if the novel had given more space to Lady Porcupine. She is a fine villain and her presence could have replaced any of the countless scenes with Briony talking to people in Southmarch castle.

The majority of the novel takes place within Southmarch, which made it lacking in action. Politicking and plotting can be important aspects of fantasy epics, but Shadowmarch overdid it. I felt Briony’s boredom and frustration with court life more than was necessary. The endless holding of court at Southmarch is thankfully broken up by the characters of Ferras Vansen and Chert Blue Quartz. Vansen is a capable Guard Captain. His practical field experience often serves to counter the arrogance of the nobles that he serves. Vansen also harbors a crush on Princess Briony, but don’t expect any romance from this book. Maybe something will happen in this department in the next novel, but you’ll get no passionate kisses before battle in Shadowmarch.

Chert Blue Quartz is a Funderling, which is Williams’ take on the dwarf. They are skilled stone carvers and more comfortable in mines than rooftops. Williams excels at developing races. The Funderlings are likable and possess a detailed culture and mythology of their own. The Chert subplot concerns his adventures with a boy who mysteriously emerged from the Shadow Line. Unfortunately, the Chert story, although important, drags.

Williams’ talent as a writer is apparent in every line of his fantasy novel. Sparkling metaphors paint provoking word pictures and he thoughtfully tells vivid and illuminating back stories for his characters. Despite his masterful skill, I found Shadowmarch about 300 pages longer than it needed to be. Long strings of tedious scenes that added little to the story padded a novel that ached for more action. A decent fantasy plot was set up and begging to be set free, but everything seemed to be stalling for the next novel. Readers who require little in the way of actual adventure would be satisfied by Shadowmarch, but my taste tends to crave an equal measure of walk with talk. My rating for Shadowmarch is two swords and a walking stick out of a possible five swords.

This fantasy book review was written by Tracy Falbe, author of The Rys Chronicles. She invites readers to discover the thrills of fantasy fiction by downloading the free fantasy ebook Union of Renegades. http://www.braveluck.com

Author: Tracy Falbe
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The author’s unusual use of sounds, sense of touch and texture for descriptive scenes is a skill that has helped her stand out among her peers.
Nancy Farmer went to great lengths to ensure that the language, places and even some characters, poetry and so forth were as fitting and authentic as possible for her novel. Certain battles in The Sea of Trolls really did happen, some of the religions, tribes, warriors and even the Bards and Wise Women really did exist during the era that the book is set in.

The setting for this epic fantasy is around 793 A.D. and involves the areas that we know today as England, Iceland, Sweden and a few other regions on that side of the globe. The lead character is an eleven-year-old Anglo Saxon boy, Jack, who is destined for greater things than farming. Berserkers attack the village in a violent raid and steal this young Bard-apprentice and his small sister, Lucy. Soon, his ability as a Bard reveals itself and saves Jack from a servant’s fate. An action-packed high-sea adventure leads Jack to the kingdom of the Vikings where he is sent on a quest to the land of Trolls.

The appendix section for this book includes wonderful little history lessons that are certain to renew the reader’s interest time and time again. The Sea of Trolls will be a favorite on my family’s bookshelf alongside Star Tide Rising, Hawkwood’s Voyage, The Road of Silk and On Stranger Tides.

I give this book the highest rating possible and recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning while reading and being entertained with fantasy adventure stories that involve magic, battles and sea travel.

Author: Nancy Farmer
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0-689-86746-8

~ Lillian Brummet: co-author of the books Trash Talk and Purple Snowflake Marketing, author of Towards Understanding; host of the Conscious Discussions radio show (http://www.brummet.ca)

Author: Lillian Brummet
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