Kindle Edition Amazon Amazon.com Category:  Fantasy Publisher: Self Type: Fiction Pages: 336 Copyright: Dec 1, 2012 A muskets and magic fantasy that merges magic with science and engineering. When Eizenfeng's leading wizards combine science with magic, the world changes dramatically. Technological advancements, coupled with racial and economic tensions propel the country toward war with a longtime ally. Jeunelux is oblivious to the building turmoil; scorching days harvesting tomatoes and her annoying older brother are more pressing concerns. Suddenly, strange dreams that haunt her nights become reality. Jeunelux, along with two other untrained and unlicensed wizards embark on a quest to save the girl's father, rescue a giant, and prevent a war. The three friends must quickly hone their magical skills and take on responsibilities beyond their years to save innocent lives. Excerpt “For someone who loathes humans, you sure waste a lot of time trying to understand them.” Kruk didn’t bother to look up from the tiny book. “It’s because I study them that I despise them. Have you ever read their literature? Volumes dedicated to violence, deception, and adultery. They write about emotions that they have no hope of ever understanding. Their history books are full of weak attempts to simultaneously justify self preservation and self destruction. It’s mind boggling. Besides, it’s no different than you and your spiders.” “It’s completely different,” Lren said. “Spiders serve a purpose. They’re worth understanding. Look at a spider web some time. If the natural art doesn’t convince you, the mathematical intricacies must.” Lren paused as a smile crossed his longtime friend’s face. Kruk had once again managed to change the topic. Defeated, Lren muttered, “At least you’ve never seen me crush a spider.”

I'm ready for more
A delightful surprise. I do begin the free download indie books with a bit of apprehension and truly the title of this is a bit 'off-putting'. Don't let that slow you down, the title makes sense after you get into this book. Definitely one of my rare 5-star ratings and I'm afraid, if the quality of subsequent books holds up, it's going to have to go on my 'must buy' list.

Good introduction of the characters and their world, though I think more detailed descriptions of the varied races might have been useful as I found myself at a bit of a loss with some to start with.

Characters are very well developed and the author has managed to make the various races unique rather than the usual run of vampires, giants and fey. The 'villain' of the series seems rather one-sided but the other characters are very well developed. Good plotline, well written action and a reasonable conclusion though obviously more story to come with lots of reasons to want to go on to the next volume without resorting to a cliffhanger.

Giants, wizards and dragon(flies) Oh My!
First of all, do not do what I did. Do not read the sample of this book and then pick it up a couple weeks later to read. Unless you have a better memory than do I. Doing so caused me to take longer than I needed to get into this story. Because I was lost. Because I was lazy.

So. Starting over. This is either a political commentary, an exposition on racism, or another story about teenagers saving the world. Or all 3. I viewed it as the last.

The world created here contains several different species: Giants, a flying species and a vampire like (but definitely NOT vampires) species along with humans. Oh, yes, some of the humans are wizards. And dragonflies that breath fire. A very fascinating group of species. It did take me a while to separate the not-vampires from the flying species. They both start with 'S'. And are unpronounceable by me.

It did take me a few chapters to sort through this and the relationships of all the characters. But, I liked them all well enough to keep at it. And, I am glad I did. The interaction between the species was very interesting and out of the ordinary. The magic system was new to me and seemed to be well thought out.

My biggest irritation with this book is that it is the first in a series. Grrrr. I would have continued reading. And, not because it ends on a cliff hangar - the battle is complete with the novel - but the war is far from over. I have several predictions as to how the story will play out - and I want to know if I am right. Darn it!

As this is self-published - I feel come editing information is required. It seemed to be a very professionally produced book. I noticed no glaring grammar mistakes and only one "thrown" instead of "throne" (that one took me out of the story (very briefly) and made me laugh). I thought it was well done and very tightly written.

Can't wait for the next book!
I'm just going to get right into my pros and cons...

Pros:
1. Hard to put down. I just wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen next.
2. There are characters to love and hate. Some of my personal favorites are Jeunelux, Dramian, Vilmish, and Groenendael. I can't wait to keep reading their story lines.
3. Wizards...I love books (and movies) about wizards. I think most of us have fantasized about being a wizard at one point in our lives.
4. Fast read. As much as I would love to have 24 hours a day to read, I don't, I have about an hour or 2 tops right before bed.
5. Did add new types of character species that I haven't encountered in reading before. Fun for the imagination.

Cons:
1. Character names (at first). It took me a few chapters to get used to the names of the characters. I found myself stumbling over some of them, which would obviously interfere with the flow of reading. After about the 3rd chapter, the names started sinking in and eventually starting rolling off my tongue.
2. Book length. I realize this contradicts my pro of a fast read, but I feel like the book could stood to have been a little longer, continue the story lines a bit before tackling the next book. I don't want to get into details with spoilers. Where do you stop with the stories, I don't know, maybe it's just me wanting to read more!

I recommend giving this book a chance. It's a very entertaining read with lots of action and character interaction. The authors did a great job of jumping from location to location and tying everything and everyone together. Can't wait for the next book!