DDBook Reviews

Cicero James by Hal Emerson is a cracker-filled urban fantasy and so much fun to read. Cicero James is a Worker – someone who through some horrible tragic event in his life awakened the ability to fight creatures from the space between spaces. He has a Mentor, an older doctor who took Cicero in after his mother passed. Cicero does the mundane thing, the daily grind at his uneventful job, but in his free time, he does Works, meaning he takes contracts from the Worker higher-ups and then sends the beasties back to where they belong. Unfortunately, his last beastie killed him. At least that was what should have happened. When Cicero wakes up in the morgue with no deadly wound to his chest, let’s just say things get complicated. Cicero has to escape an unknown threat and prove to Marlowe’s associates that he is to be trusted while coming to terms with his apparent Immortality. Hal Emerson has written an exciting and action-packed urban fantasy and Cicero James reminds me of Harry Dresden...

  In the land where the seven Kingdoms struggle to live peacefully, heir after heir is born in the hope that they would be the ones to run the race for the Last Kingdom, a Kingdom that would unite them all under one rule. Each kingdom has paid its price as the parents of the newborn heir die so the new heir can live. Seven monarchs grow up as orphans made who they are by those who raise them in their parent’s stead. Emberly from Snowark and Leon from Seavale both had a hard upbringing and when the portals to the race for the Last Kingdom open for them to compete, they both have conflicting emotions regarding their suitability to compete in the race. As they face the seven stages Ember and Leon face heartbreaking tragedy and physical challenges that test them almost to death. When the two Monarchs and their teams meet up and decide to work together, Ember and Leo could not have guessed that they would end up as friends and maybe more. But, who will rule if both of them finish the ra...

Kryn Darien stands at the cusp of reaching his goal, which he has pursued for over seven centuries. Once a humble and devout Soul Warden, Kryn promised his brother his soul would be in paradise after he died in the Oceanic Conflict. But when he confronts a wizard who had been killing travelers through a curse, he is confronted with a magical mirror that shows him a vision of his brother in anguish. He is granted a boon for his service to the church and is granted a visit to the Gardens of Eternity to search for his brother's soul. But Kryn has a latent magical aptitude, and the magic mirror has blessed him with visions. When he realizes, thanks to these visions, that the likeness of his brother in the Gardens of Eternity is not real, he sets out to discover the truth about the Seraphs and magic. In his quest, he learns about the true nature of the Seraphs, and the lies the church has been propagating. Alone and hiding, he learns magic and becomes a powerful wizard with one goal. Sa...

 An Elf, a warrior, a dwarf, and a weedy man enter a pub in Slagbottom, and soon all four are dead. As the local crime-solving busybody, Miss Marble is in the hospital, Constable Big-Girl’s-Blouse asks the Met to help with the investigation. DS Dogsbreath is sent to start the investigation that will be done by the Corner of the Yard (aka DI Aloysius Corner of Scotland Yard). As the investigation develops, DS Dogsbreath finds it challenging to navigate the suspects, all of whom swear that they did not see who committed the crimes, if there were even crimes. The four strangers did not either commit suicide or die by some freakish accidents. After all, who knew the cistern could fall on a dwarf’s head and kill him or that a man could be killed by billiard balls or a lone dart to the head. When Dogsbreath insists that the four deaths were murders and he comes close to discovering the secret kept by all the villagers, Miss Marble solves the crimes from her hospitable bed, declaring all ...

  Zee Morani, author of a syndicated opinion column, wants to become a "serious" journalist. To do this, she has secured an interview with disgraced scientist Dr. Ian McNeary, but when she arrives at his office, she is met with a horrific sight. Dr. McNeary has been murdered! After she identifies a possible culprit and he subsequently implores her to solve the murder because he is innocent, Zee starts to investigate, gathering evidence, making dumb decisions, and landing herself in dangerous situations. She is supported by her best friend. Fontina is a holistic mystic who teaches yoga and believes in herbs, meditation, and intuition. The problem is that Zee's intuition lands her in trouble and the emergency room. Seeing herself as an investigative journalist, Zee does what she thinks is necessary, visiting the victim's father, his old friends, and colleagues and searching through old garbage dumpsters in search of the murder weapon. Through her tenacity, she solves th...

  What do you do when your dragon just wants to play and not take a bath? When he starts to stink but sees through all your plans to get him wet and clean? Well, you devise a brilliant plan that he does not see coming. After trying to lure his dragon to the bath, the little boy tried catching and bribing him with his favorite toy. The boy tried playing with the hose in the garden, but the dragon stayed dry, and the boy got wet. Next, he tried to lure the dragon into the pool, but the sly dragon remained outside and just stank up the yard. Then, when the stink became so bad, and it seemed the dragon would stay stinky forever, suddenly the weather changed, and the dragon ran out. What brilliant plan did the boy make to trick his dragon into washing up? How to Wash My Dragon, Children's Guide to Washing Their Dragon, by Terry E Gunn, is a colorful children's book written for a fun reading time and an excellent introduction to fantasy and imagination. Terry E Gunn wrote the fun s...

  Kings and Queens have been murdered, and both kingdoms blame the other. At the same time, a third party takes advantage of the chaos to finally exact revenge on humans and dragons alike After the battle of Nevergrace, where the newly knighted Cyran Orendain survived an epic battle with the famed Dragon Queen, monsters from the Evenmeres target villages on the edges of the forest. Cyran and his archers travel on Eidelmere, an ancient forest dragon, and are sent to investigate the truth about the village attacks. When they travel into Murgare, they are captured and taken to Northsheeren, where the Dragon Queen offers Cyran an opportunity to study under her and learn about dragons and the Nebl í r. Rescue comes from a most surprising ally, and Cyran flees back to Belvenguard. At King Igare’s stronghold, Galvenstone, he finds his sister together with the Lady of the Never, where Jaslin is sleuthing around to find the traitor responsible for the death of her queen. Meanwhile, Pavol ...