Reliquary by Sarah Fine

One thing I look forward to when a new book by a new author comes out is the possibility of a new magic system to explore.  In Reliquary by Sarah Fine, we get introduced to one of the more unique systems of magic.  Some are practitioners and some are merely sensitives

This is a story brought to us through the eyes of our main character, Mattie Carver.  She's a young lady who has her life planned to perfection and we all know what happens to well laid plans.  As her plans start go awry, we get to learn more about Mattie, her fiancé Ben and his brother Asa.  These are the characters we get to learn the most about as the adventure unfolds.  There is a lot of self realization for Mattie as she navigates the underworld of magic and tries to learn its rules.  When it comes to her fiancé and his brother and even some of her family members, Mattie is more adept at finding questions rather than answers.

The story itself has a decent flow.  It does suffer from pacing in some spots.  Part of that comes from the action scenes.  The narrative for many of the action scenes are overly verbose.  In an effort to get the details of the scene, we lose the  tempo of the struggles in depth of the description.  Unfortunately, some of the spots where a bit of detail would be welcome wind up a bit thin.

Reliquary by Sarah Fine is a urban fantasy that reads like an adventure/romance novel.  It explores not only the discovery of magic in a mundane world but, the beginning of the adventure of Mattie's self discovery.  This book has much violence (though not gratuitous) very frank discussions of sex and sexuality as well as some grown up language.  This is a definite R rated.

 



 

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by Tynga at Wednesday, July 06, 2016

 47North, Action amp; Adventure, Magic, Netgalley, Review, Romance, Sarah Fine, sexuality, Urban Fantasy  Leave your mark

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The Void (Witching Savannah Book 3) by J.D. Horn

Answers. That is the most succinct description of this book that I can give. Answers to so many of the questions that are brought up and in the first two books are answered here. Much like real life, many of the solutions may not be what we hoped they would be. This is another piece of the story that gives it that feel of authenticity.

Overall, the series has many of the hallmarks of Urban Fantasy. The characters are multifaceted, vulnerable as well as powerful and most of all, they seem human (even if they really aren’t). Mercy and her family had their share of demons, both literal and metaphorical, and were able to if not banish them at least tame them. Some of them I grew to really love and admire over the series such as Mother Jiloh and Uncle Oliver. I believe the one of the underlying themes to this series was the strength in family ties.

Just like the second book, The Source, this book is full of twists and turns and action. I believe The Source is still the most action filled of the three but, The Void is not very far behind it. Event leads to event with many running concurrently and of course, as with much of this series, resolutions and answers lead to more questions and situations.

I generally try to avoid saying how much I like or dislike a book. I feel sometimes personal tastes can shouldn't get in the  away of appreciating well written book or a well told story. This time, I have to say I loved this whole series. Well written, entertaining and thought provoking this series of books seems to be one of those hidden gems since most of the public has overlooked it. I sincerely hope a few of you reading this post pick it up, enjoy it and recommend it to your friends. It’s still a bit PG13 so, I would suggest it more to the more mature readers.

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by Tynga at Wednesday, December 17, 2014

 47North, Fantasy amp; Magic, J.D. Horn, Purchased, Review, Urban Fantasy, Witching Savannah  Leave your mark

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The Source (Witching Savannah Series Book 2) by J.D. Horn

To catch up: Great Aunt Ginny and Uncle Simon are dead, Uncle Oliver is back in town, Emit is a real man now, Mercy is pregnant and Maisie is…..Well, nobody really knows where Maisie is!  The good news is, Mercy has her own magic, now.  The bad news is, she doesn’t know how to use it.

With all the bad guys and demons beaten before, life should be a walk in the park for Miss Mercy Taylor.  Of course it’s more like a walk through a graveyard for our heroine.  There was one phrase that kept repeating in my head throughout this book: rollercoaster ride.  This book keeps a faster pace and many more twists and turns than The Line, the first of this series.

I won’t talk about writing style this time.  This is time is more about the continuation of the overall story line while managing to maintain and introduce several subplots very well.  We get to see what happens between Mercy and Peter since Mercy found out about his ill-conceived agreement with Mother Jilo.  Then there’s Mercy’s own relationship with Mother Jilo.  What happens now that the balance of magical power has shifted?  What about Emit Clay?  The once Gollum turned real man, he now has to figure out where or if he fits in the life of Mercy Taylor.

This is a very worthy addition to the Savannah Witching series by J.D. Horn.  It’s engaging, entertaining and will keep you on the edge of your seat beginning to end.  Ordinarily, I prefer a bit of respite between major events in a book, The Source manages to keep the tempo going without wearing out the reader.  I really appreciate how he kept the style and rhythm of the first story while bringing us something fresh.  Just like the first book, this is meant for mature readers.  There are some mildly adult themed scenes and conversations that puts this in the PG13 or R zones.

 



 

 

 

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by Tynga at Tuesday, December 09, 2014

 47North, J.D. Horn, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Purchased, Review, witches, Witching Savannah  Leave your mark

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The Line (Witching Savannah Book 1) by J.D. Horn

If I have a weakness, it is books and stories set in the South.  That’s what prompted me to even try this series out.  With everything from Sookie Stackhouse to Jane Yellowrock, you could ask is there room for anymore supernatural southern belles.  Well, like jello, of course there is always room for more.

J.D. Horn does a masterful  job of bringing the reader not only into Savannah, Georgia but into the world where witches and magic exist.  In this, the first book of the series we get an informed outsiders view of the system of magic in the story.  I like this type of easing us into the reality of the world.  For me, it helps me start to feel a part of the world right away rather that acclimatizing myself and losing out on bits of the story.

The people in this story have a real believability in their actions and reactions.  I’ve been in and out of big ‘small towns’ like the one depicted and the feel rings true to me.  Same is true for the way the families interact.  The drama isn’t over done and the characters aren’t caricatures.  Central to all is Mercy , our tour guide through and informed outside in the story and her fraternal sister Maisie.  Mercy's  lack of magical ability in a family of witches gives her a unique opportunity as a character to introduce us to her world.   Maisie's extraordinary gift for magic has made her the darling of the family (especially to Mercy).

The story flows well and has enough ongoing activity to keep the reader engaged.  Some elements may feel familiar but, I believe it’s the delivery that makes this story its own.  Since Mercy is our story teller, there is more going on than we are privy to.  This aids greatly to the mystery of the tale.

The Line is a story of magic, families and learning to recognize one’s self and living with that knowledge.  It has all the twists and turns of a murder mystery with the bonus of magic.  There is at least one mild sex scene so, I wouldn’t suggest this one to the young ones (it’s a very strong PG13 or better).  It’s a very entertaining read and you can look forward to my review of the second installment, The Source.

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by Tynga at Wednesday, December 03, 2014

 47North, J.D. Horn, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Purchased, Review, Urban Fantasy, witches, Witching Savannah  2 People left their mark

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