Anne KelleherReseñas

I had a lot of feelings about this book, but I think the ending was what convinced me to give the book 4 stars. This book is set in America, but it is future America. This isn't immediately apparent when you start the book because this America, but what if it was like the Dark Ages in Europe and no one remembered when America was... America? So this book is alt-history, but one of the things that really irked me about the book was the fact that words like "senator" and "mayor" became "senador" and "mayher" respectively. I understand why the choice was made: to indicate that the ideals of America are half-remembered like if someone described how it worked through a telephone with a bad connection, but it makes for a cumbersome reading experience. I had to restart this book three times before I got past it. I really like when authors take the magic is really advanced science approach , which really meshed with the world-building. I really appreciated the plot. People who you think are the good guys turn out to be not so good. People who you think are the bad guys, may have a point. There are twists. So many twists, but I won't spoil them. One last thing, I wish this weren't the cover art. It feels extremely misleading. The cover says high fantasy, but it is really a dystopia with high fantasy overtones. I feel like the cover should be grittier, because this is a gritty story.

SENSUALITY RATING: No PROFANITY; Yes SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS though very mild in nature and in the realms of marriage; No Euphemistic "CODE WORDS

GENRE: Historical Romance; Reincarnation; Time travel; “Somewhat but no completely” a Clean Romance

SETTING: 21st and 13th Century ENGLAND; Time period of the Normans and their enemy the Welsh.

CENTRAL FEMALE CHARACTER: LADY ELEANOR DE LAMBERT-simple; quiet; fearful; submissive but passionate.

CENTRAL MALE CHARACTER: LORD RICHARD DE LAMBERT-warrior; mean streak later to become gentle; intelligent and appears to learn quickly.

SYNOPSIS: de Lambert had no respect for anyone. It was easy for him to take up his sword and kill anyone, any age. All the people feared him including his wife who he preferred in rags. But, things changed when he woke up from being near death.

WHAT I LIKED: His being cautious to show her love. Hugh shed tears for him.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE: Paragraphs that should have been chapters; holes or inconsistencies in the plot.

OVERALL RATING: (3) stars because poorly written. There were paragraphs where there should have been chapters. Inconsistencies in the plot as in how did he learn a language he never knew so fast. Some holes in the plot such as Prince and Hugh in a hostage exchange. More could have been written about his personal relationship with many of his people.

In all honesty, I didn’t expect much from this book. I purchased it from Bookbud for 99 cents. I had no expectations. The only reason I purchased it was because I felt like reading a book where someone from the here and now goes back in time.

All I can say is that I am glad I succumbed to my own wanting, and I am glad it was this book I decided on. Why? Because I thoroughly enjoyed it, that’s why.

From the start I found I liked the main character and was drawn into his story. When he went back in time, there was nothing about the situation that I couldn’t easily accept. And why not just accept the transition, we all know it’s not possible to really travel back in time. This is fantasy and it is a story, it’s not reality, and I for one am happy to accept whatever the author suggests on how it happened. This meant that I could relax and enjoy the journey. And I did.

And once back in the thirteenth century, I felt the author did a great job in showing how the character coped and adapted. I think about how I would react and believe it would be the most difficult thing to accept and blend in to.

Anyway, the book was well written. The characters likable, or not likeable, whichever the case may be. 😀 And, I felt a 21st century reader could get a decent glimpse of life in the 13th century.

I will be looking for other books written by this author. Recommended.

Very good book. I enjoyed reading the book from David's. point of view. This was a quick and easy read that was very enjoyable!

TBR

see http://www.sfsite.com/06b/kni59.htm

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff

Thanks Anne for letting me review this! I was dying to read it since finishing How David Met Sarah. And I was not disappointed.

It has the same fluid writing. Simple, yet fast paced. I think David is a wonderful guy. David's parents took David out for a surprise on a Sunday and it turned out he was the date of one of the young ladies from his socialization class. She keeps getting mad at him and he is thoroughly confused. Every man on the planet has been there, and his pops told him as much.

Sarah has competition in this story. And honestly, I found myself cheering for the new girl. Mariah's not really new, David has known her for years. But she's got a new haircut and a new wardrobe and she did catch David's eye.

I have a ton of respect for him because he doesn't forget Sarah. And I love Mariah because she's willing to wait for him. The reason I'm cheering for Mariah is that she loves to do all the same things David loves to do, like going to the theater and drama classes. Sarah has autism and doesn't like to be around large groups of people (something I totally understand), and while David adores her, they don't share much common ground.

But I suggest you read this book and come to your own conclusions. I'm happy there's another one coming out, Where David Went. The 1st chapter is included at the end of When David Was Surprised. I haven't read it yet, because I know I'll just want to keep going. I would say Anne's writing and David's story are like warm comfort food.

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff

I've been dying to review this one, but Anne and I kept missing each other. So when she posted it was free for the holiday I grabbed it up! I'm really glad I did.

The synopsis says "heartwarming" and it really is. David works in the mailroom of a large company and he loves his job delivering the mail. Everyday before work he stops at a diner and gets an egg sandwich. He has tons of friends. Everything is going great until he meets Sarah. Not that this is a bad thing, on the contrary. David falls in love, and Sarah likes him too. The tricky part is that David is quite social and Sarah has autism and doesn't do well around lots of people.

It's very simply written, and the flow of the story never slows down. Sometimes it came off as too simple, but the descriptions are vivid and the pace doesn't wait around for you to complain. David has a very full life and lots going on. This is a story that will leave you feeling good. Yes, there is conflict within the story but I don't want to give too much away. You'll just have to read it yourself.

Hmm, pretty standard Celtic fantasy fare, really. Some interesting ideas here and there (e.g. the interdependence of the three lands), but neither plotting, nor world-building, nor characterisation ever really cohered into anything special. That said, it was easy to read, and I *do* want to know what happens next.½

Anne Kelleher's Silver's Edge is one of those fantasies where every sentence is twice as long as it should be because the author feels the need to explain absolutely everything. This settled down half way thought the book but she continued to use god-awful unnecessary detail. Including messing up the first person viewpoint by comparing the colour of blood in two different sections.

It does get more annoying. Yes it does. Kelleher uses archaic language selectively. If I ever see another 'twill' or 'twasn't' again… Nobody is going to be able to convince me that book had been proof read; character's names were spelt in two different ways in the same sentence. No exaggeration.

The overall story wasn't bad but as I was getting towards the end of the 532 pages I started to realise that there was no way his book would tie everything up. Of course it doesn't. It doesn't tie anything up. Except for the fact that it is a part work, which isn't indicated on the cover. It is deliberately made confusing and the characters that were believed to be trustworthy in the beginning turned out not to be. Kelleher handled this awfully, as if she was aiming for some philosophical effect without worrying about the actual effect on the reader.

I just didn't get far enough into this one to get it completed. I have so many other books I want to read and I'm just not inspired to put in the work on it.

I really thought I would like this. The premise was good and my kind of 'thing'. But it was really slow going. Reading isn't as easy for me as it used to be and I now tend to work on the concept of an effort/reward ratio. If I have to put in too much effort for too little reward, I'm not always going to stick at it. I think that's what happened in this case. The characters were fine, the setting was fine, the plot had potential, but I just didn't feel I was getting enough back for the effort it was taking. The discovery that it was the first of two was also off-putting as that seemed to double the effort required without necessarily increasing the reward.

I've felt a lot of the Luna books have a lot of potential and good ideas, but after this one, I'm a little leery of buying them. They cost significantly more, and my budget is reduced these days. They're also not found in our library system. I think I'll wait for more reviews and comments on future releases before I take the risk on buying.

I'd really need to read the next book in the series to judge exactly what I think about this one.½

TBR