C. Rae D'Arc's Blog, page 3

I was super excited for this book. Not only because Legion’s my favorite character of Mr. Collings’ (granted, I haven’t read ALL of his books–yet), but after the epilogue of Stranger Danger, I knew Legion was in serious trouble.

Series or Stand-Alone?

Do you need to read Strangers (#1), Stranger Still (#2), and Stranger Danger (#3)? (Amazon links)
Technically…no.
The character backgrounds are explained enough that you can jump straight to this one. However, I’d highly recommend reading Stranger Still (#2 – which can stand alone) before jumping into Stranger Sins (#4), since the characters and events of book 2 are heavy players/influences of book 4.
Also, Stranger Still is such a fun horror, I recommend it anyway.
Here are my reviews for Stranger Still (#2) and Stranger Danger (#3).

What’s Happening?

To quickly summarize Legion’s character and what he’s done, here’s one of my favorite quotes:

Legion wears pain and terror like a well-worn coat, easily donned and doffed, useful and familiar, to the point that he has already relegated his wounds to the category of “discomforts to be ignored” in his mind, and will ignore them henceforth. He has battled entire gangs of white supremacists, Russian mafia kingpins, and corrupt cops. He has faced death countless times, and caused it even more often.
And yet never in his adult life does he remember feeling so ill-prepared or uncomfortable as he is in this moment, with this little girl staring at him with eyes full of hope and admiration.

– Stranger Sins, by Michaelbrent Collings

So, there’s Legion who’s chaotic good (like Batman…if Batman hallucinated of his dead twin brothers), and he’s been caught unawares/abducted by Mother, who’s basically the queen of the criminal world with teams of people wrapped around her fingers. Legion makes a quick escape, but is severely injured and finds himself on the outskirts of Las Vegas (AKA: Sin City – hence the title, Stranger Sins).
Looking for a place to bandage himself (and maybe “teach” someone), he runs into a Pokémon-loving 9 year-old girl (currently named Lyra) and her mother (currently named Aubrey). “Aubrey” and “Lyra” have changed their names frequently while running from someone they call “the Wicked Witch” and “her flying monkeys.”
With Legion constantly on the verge of losing consciousness from blood-loss, he needs their help as much as they need his – especially when his insane father joins his crew of hallucinations.

Now that I reflect on it, one reason I enjoy this book and root for “Aubrey” is probably because she reminds me a lot of Pansy Finster (my main character of Don’t Date the Haunted). Like Pansy, “Aubrey” is a survivor who knows how to kick butt and is paranoid for good reasons. She’s also fiercely loyal, but has never been in love.

This book was particularly interesting to read directly after finishing King’s Dark Tidings: Dragons and Demons, by Kel Kade since Legion and Rezkin are comparable characters (chaotic good and raised without family love). In Stranger Sins and Dragons and Demons, these two insane fighters struggle to understand what it means to care about someone.
Legion’s story is less romantic than Rezkin’s, but more focused on familial love as the concept of “true family” is themed.

Vulgarity

This book begins with a warning, saying “it’s not for the faint of heart.” If you’ve read the other Legion books, then you know to expect gory violence/torture and creepy sexual innuendoes.
In Stranger Sins, however, the innuendoes are partnered with straight up grotesque sex scenes. They aren’t as step-by-step graphic as Danielewski’s House of Leaves, but on the level with Michaelbrent’s Malignant (where the book is focused on the horrors of sexual abuse).
If you’re sensitive to on-screen sex scenes, then SKIP the chapters from Betty and Everly-Jensen’s perspectives. You won’t miss much. Everything important discussed by them is later revealed (and intensified) during the perspectives of the other characters.

About the Ending (Spoiler Free!)

Because this book is meant to stand mostly on its own (like the previous books of the series), it wraps up almost all of its conflicts. I say “almost” because (similar to Stranger Danger, #3) the epilogue of Stranger Sins (#4) includes a scene of “Uh oh–what about THIS?”

So, yes, it settles most of its issues, but this isn’t a series finale. We haven’t seen the last of Legion. (Yes!)

Final Rating

I really enjoyed the turn around of Legion being on the run and facing his father while learning the love of a family. Really. Considering every book in this series, Legion’s character seemed to grow the most in this one.

But (and this is a big grotesque BUTT) Everly-Jensen’s and Betty’s perspectives were a bit too much for me. Unlike Malignant (which I loved), I didn’t see the purpose of Betty and Everly-Jensen’s graphic scenes. They didn’t necessarily detract from the story, but I didn’t think they added anything either.
I will happily re-read Stranger Sins over and over for all of the other elements of story and characters worthy of 5-stars, but because of the unnecessary scenes, it comes down to ****4.2 stars****.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This book will be released Nov. 25th.

UPDATE: Yep, I read through it again without Betty’s and Everly-Jensen’s perspectives and enjoyed all of it. Sure, you might be a tiny-bit confused on some small parts, but skipping their scenes brings the vulgarity down to par with the other I Am Legion books (including detailed violence/torture and creepy innuendoes, but within PG-13 range).

Also, for the first time ever, I wrote fan fiction. I like to imagine what happens next in stories, and these characters made it way too fun. Since it occurs after Stranger Sins, I’ll post my fan fic after the book release.

After FOUR long years of waiting for this book to come out…I almost didn’t want to read it. I had a hard time seeing the light ahead after the ending of book 4, and I don’t enjoy stories where there’s no hope.

This series has taken me for a ride. I LOVE Free the Darkness (#1 Amazon link). You can read why in my review here. I love Reign of Madness (#2 Amazon link), but I barely enjoyed Legends of Ahn (#3 Amazon link) for reasons explained in my review for Kingdoms and Chaos (#4 Amazon link) – which I simply enjoyed.
What I’m saying is, just because I love the first book doesn’t mean this book gets an automatic 5 stars. So, let’s break it down.

What about Mage of No Renown (book 4.5)?

I enjoyed Wesson’s prequel/#4.5, Mage of No Renown (here’s my full review), and was sure to finish reading that one before jumping into Dragons and Demons (#5). Having finished them both, I’ll say you don’t need to read Mage of No Renown, but it helps. Several places/characters/events of Wesson’s prequel are brought up in Dragons and Demons, but they’re also explained – just in case you didn’t read it.
Beware: if you read Dragons and Demons before Mage of No Renown, you’ll have lots of spoilers. (As if Mage of No Renown wasn’t already spoiled enough because it’s a prequel to the whole series).

Supposing you’ve read the previous books…

Dragons and Demons finally answers many of the questions presented in books 3, 4, and 4.5. For a refresher, Kingdoms and Chaos (#4) ended with a lot of major problems:

Tam has a hole in his mind that’s slowly driving him crazy, and he’s been captured as a slaveFrisha and Tieran’s betrayal (yes, I’m calling their romance a betrayal because Frisha didn’t break up with Rezkin first)What the flip–there are two Brandts, and which one is real?After everything he’s been through, Rezkin’s unconscious and dying from a poison dart. (Seriously, after everything he’s been through, it would be rather lame for him to die by a dart).

Thankfully, most of those issues are resolved within the first two chapters and the plot of Dragons and Demons truly begins with two problems:

Tam’s predicamentWesson needs to return to Ashai’s Mage Academy to level up and recruit the mages before they’re all taken by crazy King Caydean.Don’t worry, this is all revealed within the first five chapters. I’m keeping this spoiler free.

Because these issues are in different directions, they split the party.
Wesson takes Striker Kai and a couple others to return to Ashai. Of course, Wesson’s “wife,” Celise, stows away to join him.
Rezkin takes Mage Nanessy (who brings Striker Farson), Reaylin (who brings Jimson), Striker Shezar, and Marlis Tomwell to go after Tam.
Actually, it splits again as Rezkin and a friend are abducted via magic to a community of Eihelvanan (yes, they’re elves), where Rezkin finally gets some answers, but is given his most intimidating challenge yet:

Rezkin must learn to have feelings

For the first time in many, many years, Rezkin felt true fear. The prospect of feeling things was more than he could abide.

King’s Dark Tidings: Dragons and Demons, by Kel Kade

I won’t say more for spoiler’s sake, but while reading, my mind frequently reflected on Sergey Zagarovski’s beautifully macabre collection of “When Death Fell in Love with Life.”

Unknown titles, by Sergey Zagarovski (When Death Fell in Love with Life Collection) https://www.instagram.com/sergozagarik/Cleanliness vs. Vulgarity

If you’ve made it this far into the series, I’m guessing you don’t mind a lot of violence with a dash of gore. Dragons and Demons is more of the same. We get a fight scene in almost every chapter, ranging from duel practices to bare-handed killing. We also get some fantasy fights with wild cats, demons, and . . . dragons! I would say this is a spoiler, but it’s in the title and cover.

As for the romance, it’s more involved than Legends of Ahn (book 3) (let’s be real, that’s not hard), but less sexual than Kingdoms and Chaos (book 4). There are two passionate kisses on screen (one with lots of innuendos, but leaves the reader to decide if the characters are clothed). There’s one instance of off-screen love making, but the descriptions of it are vague enough that, for all we know, they simply had a loud hug.

Concerning crude language, it’s limited with ocassional biblical swears (like d*mn*d, h*ll, and g*d), usually referring to the condition, place, and person(s).

Final Score

As I mentioned above, I don’t love every book in this series, but I really enjoyed this one. Yes, Kel Kade made us wait four whole years for this book, but I think he used those years to make this book the best he could. It answered more questions than it presented, had multiple engaging plots, made intriguing developments on characters (particularly Rezkin, Tam, and Wesson), and expanded the world in adventurous ways.
For the satisfying wrap-up, I’m giving it a solid *****5 stars*****

Rating: 5 out of 5.To Be Continued…

Yes, there WILL be a book 6.

Without giving any spoilers, the ending of this book left me strangely satisfied. The ending might frustrate some readers, but I thought it was perfect. Like, I can end the series right here and imagine their happily ever afters.
Of course, the truth of what’s likely to happen should be such an adventure, that I’m very curious to know how it pans out.

For spoilers and my predictions, highlight the box below.

REZKIN HAS A DRAGON?!?
Okay, I knew this would happen as soon as they explained what the stone necklace was, but I am so psyched for this.
As I’ve said before, “Dragons make everything cooler.”

I predict everyone else will scramble about, trying to keep Rezkin’s empire from falling apart while he makes final preparations to kill Caydean, raises his dragon, seeks how to tame his new inner-demon, and use his magic without going insane.
According to the age and size of the baby dragon they saved, I expect this to take a few months, maybe a year.
Yes, Caydean’s still alive, but with Berringish gone, the king seems manageable (even if he managed to kill Rezkin once).

I expect Rezkin to seek Wesson’s help in taming his new inner-demon, but I can also see this interaction happening in secret.
I predict Frisha’s predicament (which sucks and I have a hard time seeing her way out of it) to be the catalyst that brings Rezkin back to his friends.
But, as Legends of Ahn showed us, we can’t really predict anything in this series, so…we’ll see.

Here’s to hoping the next book doesn’t make us wait another four years.

After FOUR long years of waiting for this book to come out…I almost didn’t want to read it. I had a hard time seeing the light ahead after the miserable ending of book 4, and I don’t care to read books where there’s no hope.

This series has taken me for a ride. I LOVE Free the Darkness (book 1). I love Reign of Madness (book 2), but I barely enjoyed Legends of Ahn (book 3) for reasons explained in my review for Kingdoms and Chaos (book 4) – which I simply enjoyed.
What I’m saying is, just because I love the first book doesn’t mean this book gets an automatic 5 stars. So, let’s break it down.

What about Mage of No Renown (book 4.5)?

I enjoyed Wesson’s prequel/#4.5 book, Mage of No Renown, and was sure to finish reading that one before jumping into this one. Having finished them both, I’ll say you don’t need to read Mage of No Renown, but it helps. Several places/characters/events of Wesson’s prequel are brought up in Dragons and Demons, but they’re also explained – just in case you didn’t read it.
Beware: if you read Dragons and Demons before Mage of No Renown, you’ll have lots of spoilers. (As if Mage of No Renown wasn’t already spoiled enough because it’s a prequel).

Supposing you’ve read the previous books…

Dragons and Demons finally answers many of the questions presented in books 3, 4, and 4.5. For a refresher, Kingdoms and Chaos (book 4) ended with a lot of major problems:

Tam has a hole in his mind that’s slowly driving him crazy, and he’s been captured as a slaveFrisha and Tieran’s betrayal (yes, I’m calling their romance a betrayal because Frisha didn’t break up with Rezkin first)What the flip–there are two Brandts, and which one is real?After everything he’s been through, Rezkin’s unconscious and dying from a poison dart

Honestly, after setting book 4 aside four years ago, I’d forgotten about two of those. Thankfully, most of those issues are resolved within the first two chapters and the plot of Dragons and Demons truly begins with two problems:

Tam’s predicamentWesson needs to return to Ashai’s Mage Academy to level up and recruit the mages before they’re all taken by crazy King Caydean.Don’t worry, this is all revealed within the first five chapters. I’m keeping this spoiler free.

Because these issues are in different directions, they split the party.
Wesson takes Striker Kai and a couple others to return to Ashai. Of course, Wesson’s “wife,” Celise, stows away to join him.
Rezkin takes Mage Nanessy (who brings Striker Farson), Reaylin (who brings Jimson), Striker Shezar, and Marlis Tomwell to go after Tam.
Actually, it splits again as Rezkin and a friend are abducted via magic to a community of Eihelvanan (yes, they’re elves), where Rezkin finally gets some answers, but is given his most intimidating challenge yet:

Rezkin must learn to have feelings

For the first time in many, many years, Rezkin felt true fear. The prospect of feeling things was more than he could abide.

Chapter 9, “King’s Dark Tidings: Dragons and Demons”

While reading, my mind frequently reflected on Sergey Zagarovski’s beautifully macabre collection of “When Death Fell in Love with Life.”

Unknown titles, by Sergey Zagarovski (When Death Fell in Love with Life Collection) https://www.instagram.com/sergozagarik/Cleanliness vs. Vulgarity

If you’ve made it this far into the series, I’m guessing you don’t mind a lot of violence with a dash of gore. Dragons and Demons is more of the same. We get a fight scene in almost every chapter, ranging from duel practices to bare-handed killing. We also get some fantasy fights with wild cats, demons, and . . . dragons! I would say this is a spoiler, but it’s in the title and cover.
As for the romance, it’s more involved than Legends of Ahn (book 3) (let’s be real, that’s not hard), but less sexual than Kingdoms and Chaos (book 4). There are two passionate kisses on screen, but they only kiss. There’s one instance of off-screen love making, but the descriptions of it are so vague, that for all we know, they simply had a loud hug.
As for crude language, it’s limited to the biblical swears (like d*mn*d, h*ll, and g*d), usually referring to the condition, place, and person(s).

Final Score

As I mentioned above, I don’t love every book in this series, BUT I really enjoyed this one. Yes, Kel Kade made us wait four whole years for this book, but I think he used those years to make this book the best he could. It answered more questions than it presented (unlike books 3&4), had multiple engaging plots, developed the characters we’ve grown to love (particularly Rezkin, Tam, and Wesson), and expanded the world in adventurous ways.
I’m giving it a solid *****5 stars*****

Rating: 5 out of 5.Predictions for Book 6

Yes, there WILL be a book 6.

Without giving any spoilers, the ending of this book left me . . . strangely satisfied. Like, I can end the series right here and imagine their happily ever afters.
Of course, the truth of what’s likely to happen should be such an adventure, that I’m very curious to know how it pans out.

For spoilers and my predictions, highlight the three boxes below.

REZKIN HAS A DRAGON?!?
Okay, I knew this would happen as soon as they explained what the stone necklace was, but I am so psyched for this.
As I’ve said before, “Dragons make everything cooler.”
However, according to the age and size of the baby dragon they saved, I predict Rezkin to lie low with his newfound freedom for a few months, maybe a year.

I expect everyone to scramble about, trying to keep Rezkin’s empire from falling apart while he makes final preparations to kill Caydean, raises his dragon, and seeks how to tame his new demon and use his magic without going insane.
Yes, Caydean’s still alive, but with Berringish gone, the king seems manageable (even if he managed to kill Rezkin).

I predict Frisha’s predicament (which sucks and I have a hard time seeing her way out of it) to be the catalyst that brings Rezkin back to his friends. Or he’ll seek out Wesson to help tame his new inner-demon.

Here’s to hoping the next book doesn’t make us wait another four years.

This book can stand-alone, but since it’s part of Kel Kade’s King’s Dark Tidings series, I’m going to split this review into two parts:

Part 1: for those who have no idea who Rezkin is and simply want to dip their toes into the fantastical world of Ashai.Part 2: for those who’ve read the rest of the series and are looking at this book more as #4.5 in the series than as a prequel. (There will be spoilers to books 1-4 in this section, so ye be warned).Whether or not you’ve read King’s Dark Tidings…

Mage of No Renown has a lot of labels… It’s a prequel to the King’s Dark Tidings series, but Kel Kade technically sorts this book as #1 in the Tales of Terralor series.

BUT it can also stand alone.

If this is your first time picking up a Kel Kade book, the only time I’d expect you to be utterly confused is during the first section of the prologue (don’t worry, it’s short).
To quickly introduce the story…

Plots of Character

Wesson Seth starts as a 12 year old boy who thinks his biggest life trial will be sustaining his family’s social status among the lords and ladies of western Ashai. Then, he explodes with magic in a fight. Oops.

He learns about a Mage Academy where he can learn to harness his powers, but before you call this another “supernatural kid goes to supernatural school” story, Wesson’s chased out of his hometown by a mob.

Kel Kade likes to create paradoxical characters (which I love, because I can relate to paradoxes), and Wesson is one of his prime examples.

Wesson quickly learns that his magic likes to blow things up and set things on fire. This destructive magic usually overpowers constructive magics, like wielding the other natural elements or healing. However, scarred by the damage he caused, Wesson becomes determined to suppress his fire and destructive magics and learn how to use constructive magics (even though such a thing is supposed to be impossible).

There’s some fun action as Wesson learns to control his magic over the years while an assassin stalks him, but Mage of No Renown has a major internal story of Validation, or Morality: Testing. This means that instead of the main character changing his own thoughts/behaviors, he sticks to his convictions while those around him test his convictions and make the change to accept/reject him for who he is.

While this book had a lot of fun jokes and inspiring quotes, I related to this one the most:

“It looks like late night reading for me.”
Tica chuckled. “What’s new? You would have had your nose in some book anyway.”
Wesson scowled. “It is different when it is something you want to read.”

End of chapter 19, “Mage of No Renown.”

It might have been 2AM when I read this…

Vulgarity

Mage of No Renown is much cleaner than the King’s Dark Tidings books, but I wouldn’t give it to an 8 year-old. Maybe a mature 10 year-old at the youngest. Fights involve blood and lots of pain, but I’d only call one scene “gory.” There are a few swears and innuendoes to sex and torture, but very few. It would fall very low on the PG-13 scale.

I have a lot more to say about this book, BUT the rest contains spoilers for books 1-4 of King’s Dark Tidings. If you haven’t read that series, I highly recommend them for fans of fantasy assassin characters with a flair of romantic comedy. You can read my review for Free the Darkness (book 1) here.

IF you’ve read “King’s Dark Tidings,” Books 1-4…

I need to put that classifier for the specific books since book 5 is now available and you can read my separate review for that soon.

When to read it (regarding the rest of the series)

Since it can technically stand alone, you can read Mage of No Renown on its own.
Because it’s a prequel about Wesson, those who’ve read at least book 2 of the King’s Dark Tidings series know how this story ends. In fact, you’ve already read the epilogue (the first half of chapter 4 in Reign of Madness).
Just be sure to read it sometime (any time is fine) before Dragons and Demons (book 5), because that’s where the plots and characters become interwoven.

Change of Narration

Unlike the first few books of King’s Dark Tidings, Mage of No Renown is strictly in third-person LIMITED. This means you see only from one character’s perspective at a time. It’s about 90% from Wesson’s view and the rest is separated to various characters (mostly the assassin’s).

References to Rezkin

There are some references (hidden and blatant) to Rezkin in this prequel that’s not about Rezkin. The prologue begins with the discussion between King Bordran and three men (two of which become Rezkin’s masters) about Rez’s birth (without actually revealing who Rezkin is). My favorite reference is probably in chapter two.

“You have Tales of the Shadow Knight !”
. . . . .
What respectable young man could resist the legend of the king’s greatest weapon, his assassin and most brutal warrior, who stalks the halls of the Souelian’s most powerful like a wraith, who elevates allies and destroys enemies without ever hinting to his own existence?
. . . . .
As much as [Wesson] hated to admit it, he could think of absolutely no circumstance under which he would need to know anything about the mysterious and infamous Shadow Knight.

Chapter 2, “Mage of No Renown”

Also, at the end of chapter one, Wesson has a dream that involves a raven. In Free the Darkness (book 1), we know that Rezkin takes on the nickname, “Raven.” The dream is left open for interpretation in this book, but I looked it up. The word “raven” is mentioned a total of six times in Mage of No Renown. Five of those mentions are in reference to the dream. The only other time “raven” is used is in the epilogue when describing “the raven-haired man,” later revealed to be Rezkin. I really hope Mr. Kade did that on purpose, because I think it’s brilliant.

Final Score

In the end, I consider it a fun addition to the King’s Dark Tidings series. Knowing how it ends (because it’s a prequel) kind of killed the thrills for me, and even though I knew this would be a Validation story (of “I refuse to destroy, regardless of what others say”), I somehow wanted it to be a Maturation story (of “I accept my strengths, but I’ll use them my way”). That doesn’t happen until book 4.

****4.25 stars****

Rating: 4 out of 5.

To all my Christian friends who “hate” horror:

I’m going to tell you a horror story. Don’t worry, you’ll like it.

There once lived a man who taught people to love another and to help the needy. He was good to everyone, but one of his friends betrayed him. The good man was punished for the crimes of others, whipped, mocked, suffered excruciating pain, and . . . was crucified.

But, because of his goodness and suffering, he was restored to perfection, and he offers the same hope and love to all of us.

paraphrasing Michaelbrent Collings – international bestseller of horror

Horror can be one of the most Christian genres.
Don’t believe me? Try reading The Bible.

“Pets for Legion,” by Shawn D. Brink, is a great blending of Christianity and horror, exploring some of the horrors of reality while also showing the hope and rescue available through Jesus Christ.

Yes, it has some supernatural elements (like an impossibly strong golem), but let’s be real – the concept of Legion on its own is supernatural.

Scriptural Reference

“Pets for Legion” refers to the New Testament story as Jesus encounters a man who’s possessed with not one demon, but “many.”

…there met [Jesus] out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
. . .
And [Jesus] asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Mark 5:2-5, 9, The Bible (KJV)

Creepy right? I mean, imagine what it would be like to have a malicious spirit wreaking havoc with your body. Now, multiply that by not just a “couple,” or a “few,” or “several,”. . . but “many” malicious spirits. According to Mark, these spirits were so awful that when Jesus cast them out of the man, they occupied a herd of 2,000 pigs (again, two-freakin’-thousand) who then committed suicide by running into the sea.

Sounds supernatural, right? But it’s the bible, even the word of God. I, for one, believe in demons and their ability to possess/influence people open to them. (Sure explains some of the wickedness in the world). I also believe God is greater, if only we are open to Him.

“Pets for Legion” plays a lot with the concept of demons influencing a man to do their bidding – even to collect innocent people for Legion to torture as “pets.” It also demonstrates the higher power of faith in God to overcome evil.

The story is largely non-denominational as one character is a teacher at Lutheran Parochial Elementary and another presides over a non-denominational congregation. As a Latter-day Saint Christian, I didn’t notice major controversial doctrines.

Characters

Typical to the horror genre, we have multiple point of view characters, including the villain. Also, we get relatable, every day, heroes who are accidentally sucked into battle against a seemingly all-powerful evil.

The story centers around Legion and their partnership with a man named Chief, but is focused on Sasha James when she saves a victim from Chief’s murderous plots. She’s instantly likable as she’s a teacher at a Christian elementary school who’s living off the cafeteria food at the school and bologna and mustard at home.

The next main character we meet is Reverend Xavier Hernandez. What’s a Christian horror without a preacher?
We see the point of view from a third every day hero, but I’ll omit his name for spoilers-sake.

Overall Thoughts

“Pets for Legion” is written well enough with believable setting and characters. One of the hardest parts with horror is closing all the loopholes and plot holes, but Mr. Brink gave just enough explanation to keep the cat-and-mouse chase in high tension throughout the story.

This criteria alone makes it a solid 4 star. “Pets for Legion” was written well and perfectly fit expectations . . . but almost too perfectly. It didn’t surprise me or keep me thinking like my favorite horrors.
It did, however, give me a single thought of inspiration.

I’m one of those readers who likes to put myself in the characters’ positions and wonder, “What would I do if I was in their situation?” With Christian horrors, of course, I always like to think that I’d stay strong to my beliefs and face the horrors with faith. But this story got me thinking, “Would I?” I give into temptations more often than I’d like. I’m not facing down a Legion of demons, but one stupid temptation at a time . . . and I can do better.

That’s why I love horror. Because next time I recognize a seemingly simple and stupid temptation, I can picture Legion and pray to God for help.

For that bit of inspiration, I give “Pets for Legion” 4.3 stars.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

PS. Reading a horror about Legion made me extra excited about Michaelbrent Collings’ upcoming book, Book 4 in his Legion Series (where Legion is the nickname of a chaotic good character).

Since writing “Dreaming Beauty,” I’ve realized that most people are unaware of the various versions of the fairytale, Sleeping Beauty. Today, most Americans know about Disney’s 1959 animated version. A few others know about the Brothers Grimm version (1823) which was the base for Disney’s.

It’s a classic right? Sure, I’m not here to bash on Disney. In fact, my Bachelor’s capstone final was titled “In Defense of Disney.” I wrote 25 pages to argue that if anyone wanted to bash on the creators at Disney for “commercializing” the fairytales, they also needed to bash on Shakespeare, Grimms Brothers, Charles Perrault, and Madame Beaumont. Because they did exactly the same thing.

I’m not going to claim to be an expert, but after my ENGL495 class on English, French, and German fairytales at BYU, I’ll claim to know more than the average joe.

First of all, let’s debunk any beliefs that Disney created the original version of Sleeping Beauty. Or the brothers Grimm. Or Charles Perrault. Or any specific writer. Because writers didn’t create the “original” story.
Every fairytale we know was originally created orally by storytellers. Now, if you’ve ever played the game of Telephone, then you know that words change with each person who shares the story. The tales changed and grew until some folklorist writers decided to collect the tales, write them down, then distribute them.

What I’m about to explain to you is a condensed version of information found in “The Classic Fairy Tales,” by Iona and Peter Opie (1974).

Let’s start with a little Norse mythology.

Within the Volsunga Saga, we have a story of Brynhild, who was banished to earth and forced to wed. Her biggest fear was to marry a coward, so Odin put her in a deserted castle surrounded by flames. Then, he touched her with a “thorn of sleep” to preserve her. When a man (Sigurd) removed her armor, he would instantly fall in love with her and she would wake.

Sound familiar?
I’ll admit, I prefer the above version of Sleeping Beauty to this next one, despite its intriguing links between the legends of Alexander the Great and King Arthur.

Deities Venus, Lucina, and Themis were invited to a banquet to honor the birth of the king’s daughter, Zellandine. Themis was offended by a missing knife at her table setting and put an unknown curse on the babe. After growing up a bit, Zellandine fell asleep while spinning flax. Years later, Prince Troylus finds her and . . . well, she wakes up pregnant.

Synopsis of a section in Perceforest, 1531

Yep, how many of you knew that version?
Unfortunately, it’s not alone.

A king assembled wise men to foretell the future of his newborn daughter, Talia. They conferred together that peril would find her from a splinter in some flax. The king ordered no flax or similar material to enter his palace. But Talia (grown up) saw an old woman spinning outside and asked to try. She drew out the thread, got a splinter, then fell dead. The king placed her on a velvet chair, locked the palace, and abandoned her.

Unknown time passed, and a new king came by while hunting. The king went inside the palace, found Talia, did some things without her conscious consent, then left. Talia had twins (boy and girl named Sun and Moon- Jour and Aurore) who were looked after by fairies until one sucked on her finger, sucking the splinter out, and waking Talia. Soon after, the king returned and they bonded for several days.

Except the king was married, and his wife guessed his adultery. By a trick, she obtained the twins and told the cook to make into hash. Instead, the cook killed two kid goats to serve to the king as the queen said, “You are eating what is your own.” The king believed that he ate his children.

Talia was ordered to be burnt alive, but she played for time, suggesting she first undressed because her clothes were beautiful. She was down to her underclothes when the king arrived and saved them.

Synopsis of Day 5, Tale 5 of Basile’s “Pentamerone,” 1636

I hope I wasn’t the only one surprised by the small but obvious similarities to Disney’s animated version. Yep, Princess Aurora is named after Talia’s daughter, and she’s raised by fairies…

I’m going to skip ahead in time to a synopsis of the Grimm’s tale since this is the written version most commonly known.

A barren queen saved a fish by putting it back into the river. In return, the fish foretold the birth of her daughter. At her birth, the king held a feast, inviting 12 of the 13 fairies because they only had 12 gold plates. They each blessed the babe, but after 11 had blessed her, the 13th arrived. She scolded the king for not inviting her then cursed the babe to be killed by a spindle on her 15th year. Then the 12th blessed her to only fall asleep for 100 years.

The king ordered all spindles burnt, but on her 15th birthday, the king and queen were gone, and she found an old woman spinning. The princess wanted to try, but the spindle wounded her and she fell.

The whole court was also put to sleep, then a large hedge of thorns grew around the palace until only rumors remained of Briar Rose sleeping inside.

Many years later, a king’s son heard about the castle with the princess inside. The very day as the 100 years passed, the prince came to the thicket and he saw nothing but beautiful flowers and shrubs. He went through easily, but they shut up behind him. He found Briar Rose, gave her a kiss, then she woke and smiled. They went out to the court where everyone else woke. They were married and lived happily ever after.

Synopsis of Dornroschen (Briar Rose), Brothers Grimm (1823)

Did you notice all the similarities with Disney’s version? Would you believe that this was one of the first times Sleeping Beauty woke with a kiss? The kiss awakening became popular as the story was told in pantomimes in the 1840s, but not much before then.

I’m not saying it’s bad, and I understand why the creators at Disney added humor with the fairies, romance between Aurora and the prince before the spindle, and suspense with a dragon. (I mean, seriously, dragons make all stories cooler, right?)
But this next version is my favorite and the one that I used for inspiring “Dreaming Beauty.”

A detailed summary of Perrault’s La Belle au Bois Dormant, 1697

A daughter was born to an old king and queen. To celebrate, they invited 7 fairies, but an old fairy came without invite (they thought she was dead). They tried to set the table, but left out a gold plate. A good fairy heard the old one mutter threats, so she hid herself to be the last one to bless the babe. They blessed her, but then she was cursed to die from a spindle. The last fairy came to say that after 100 years, a king’s son would wake her.

The king banned all spinning with a distaff and spindle. 15 or 16 years later, the princess was alone in the castle and met a woman with a spindle. The princess tried to spin, but pricked herself and fell. The king lay her in finery without aging.

The good fairy returned to the castle and put everyone in the palace to sleep too. Trees, bushes, and brambles grew so nothing could pass through.

A king’s son was hunting and saw the tops of the castle towers, and believed himself to be the one to wake the legendary sleeping princess. The wood made way for him to pass through, but the trees closed around him, allowing none others to pass through. The prince found her laying on the bed. He approached and fell before her on his knees.

She woke saying, “Is it you my Prince? You have waited a great while.” He confessed his love and loyalty, then they talked for 4 hours, weeping more than speaking.

FIRST HALF of Detailed summary of Perrault’s La Belle au Bois Dormant, 1697

No kiss, but no abuse. Remember, this version is from 1697, and the kiss wasn’t popularized until the 1800s.

Don’t stop now! That’s only the FIRST HALF of the story!

The castle woke, music played, and they were married. The prince returned to his kingdom the next day with the excuse that he got lost and stayed at a cottage. The king believed the lie, but his mother didn’t when the prince went hunting every day with some excuse. She was of the ogres and had ogreish tendencies to fall on children as they passed by.

After two years and two children (Morning and Day), the king died and the prince became king, declaring his marriage publicly, and welcoming the princess with their two children.

The young king left for war, but as soon as he was gone, the ogre mom sent the princess and children to a country house in the woods. After a few days, she asked the kitchen clerk to cook Morning. He knew better than to trick an ogress, so went to kill the 4 year-old girl. She hugged him and asked for candy, and he lost heart, killing a lamb instead, and sending Morning to his wife in his lodging on the other side of the courtyard.

8 days later, the ogress asked to eat Day, and the clerk did the same as with Morning. Then, she wanted to eat the princess (who was 20 years old now), but the clerk wasn’t sure how to fake adult flesh. Going to kill her with a dagger, he couldn’t surprise her, but told her of his orders. Thinking her children were dead, she bore her neck and said, “Do it.” The clerk explained what he’d done and took her to his lodgings too. He fed the ogress a young horse and she planned to tell the young king that wolves had eaten his wife and children.

But one day, she heard Day crying. The ogress demanded a large tub of toads, vipers, snakes and serpents for the princess and children, clerk and his wife. They were about to be thrown into the tub when the king arrived. Unwilling to confess, the ogress dived into the tub and was devoured.

Detailed summary of Perrault’s La Belle au Bois Dormant, 1697

Yes! Gimme some more of that! Seriously, Disney creators, why did you cut all of that out?

Whatever, I get it. Dragons are cooler than ogres.

If you want more of Perrault’s version, you can find my retelling of it in “Dreaming Beauty.”

PS. If the varieties of Sleeping Beauty blew your mind, just wait until book 2 when I retell a version of The Frog Prince.
Just. You. Wait.

I rarely review books that deserve fewer than four stars because (as an author) I know low star ratings can hurt and are often misunderstood.
However, I need to talk about this book.

I came across this book at work as a new release from a debut author. My work (a Christian bookstore) sells a lot of historical and contemporary romances with very few fantasy adventures (at least, in the adult section). So, when this book came out, I got excited.

Premise

A certain family is duty-bound to protect the royal family from a fallen god. They have the help of a magical sword, but…only the daughter survives the attack. Her advantage: the god thinks that he killed her. So, she dresses as a boy to hide her identity and get close to the prince as his protector. Her disadvantage: she starts to fall for the prince.

Imagine Mulan with a Shardblade (transforming blade, helps disguise her, and even lets her know when the prince is in trouble). Cool, right?
Except…

Great Story, Terrible Writing

My biggest issue with “Sword of Kallairion” is the writing, and my biggest issue with the writing is that there are no contractions.
Okay, I get it, the setting is medieval and one of the main characters is a prince…but the rest are soldiers.

Also, there are right ways to write without using contractions, and there are wrong ways. One wrong way is to write completely normally, then go through and expand every “I am,” “they have,” “she would,” “did not”…etc. Can you see how this becomes very clunky and annoying to read? It sounds like a story told by Data.

I should probably include this next section in its own post, but…here it is anyway.

How to Write Without Using Contractions

The simple answer is to write like a writer. Expand your vocabulary and play with syntax. Usually, writers avoid contractions to portray older, historical, and/or formal characters. Guess what? Writing without contractions the right way does this too, but feels more natural.

I had to learn how to write without contractions when writing Theo’s dialogue and perspective in my Haunted Romance trilogy. Especially since half of book 2 is from his perspective, and he (like his sister, father, Oswald, and Abadda) speaks without contractions. How do I know that I did a decent job? Because my readers hardly noticed.

The last thing a writer wants to do is distract the reader from the story. When contractions are removed carelessly, the words themselves become a distraction.

Let me give you an example:
Instead of saying “She did not like the prince,” say “She disliked the prince.”
Ta-da. See how hard that was? See how much cleaner it is?
How about, “I do not know”? A Medieval prince might instead say, “I know not,” or “Who knows?” Or you can get creative with “That knowledge evades me.”

Another good example is Kel Kade’s “King’s Dark Tidings.” Rezkin uses no contractions (except when he acts as a peasant), but Mr. Kade does it well enough that I had to be introduced to a character that did use contractions before I noticed. For less attentive readers, Mr. Kade actually points it out (much later).

P.S. How long did it take you to notice that this review has no contractions?

Back to the Sword of Kallairion

When I eventually learned to skim past the clunky phrases, the story was enjoyable. The awkward cross-dressing and falling in love with a companion has all the vibes of “Twelfth Night” (one of my favorite Shakespearean plays), and if my penname has anything to say, (D’Arc–like Joan of Arc) I love woman warriors.

The book has just enough fantasy elements to be called a fantasy, but the learning curve is low, making it easily accessible to those who usually shy away from fantasy.

Aaand the writing…

I really wish that the improper removal of contractions was the only issue with this book’s writing. Unfortunately, the perspective switched inconsistently between 3rd person limited and omniscient.
Also, the plot could have used some work. The sword influencing her thoughts made for multiple moments where she “just happened” to be in the right place at the right time. It was too convenient, and forced the plot forward unnaturally.

Spoiler alert…except not really, because anyone can figure it out…

The “surprise” twist of the friend-turned-foe was obvious. Really. If you tell me that the fallen god can become anyone, then everyone becomes suspicious, making it all the more obvious when someone acts abnormally.

Cleanliness

Yes, this book was published by a publisher who largely works with religious authors and clean romances, but this book is not a “sweet” romance. It belongs in the adult section with its heavy romance. Would a twelve year-old understand the intimacy of some of the positions they get in? Maybe not, since they remain clothed (actually, the man looses his shirt, which is improper for Medieval standards). Regardless, even as an adult, I felt uncomfortable as the main character said “Let go of me,” “Stop,” and “Get off me,” multiple times, but the love interest kissed her anyway. Huge turn off, for me.

Sure, the “Me Too” movement is a modern concept and Medieval princes probably cared less, but then someone falsely accuses the main character (dressed as a boy) of similar harassment. Really? Whatever social norms you put on your fictional society, be consistent.
Also, this book is supposed to be for modern readers (and stocked in a Christian bookstore with sweet romances). If you want me to root for a guy, he needs to show some respect.

An Unfortunate Rating

I give “Sword of Kallairion” ***3 Stars*** for its great story, but terrible writing. Alysia Knight, I say this with every ounce of encouragement I can (because the last thing I want to do is discourage an imaginative storyteller), please, try again.

Rating: 3 out of 5.For a Real Spoiler

The pacing at the end really threw me off.
Thirty pages to the end, things start to get going. With an unexplained pull by the sword, the main character goes off on her own, figures out where the big bad dude has been hiding, gets injured, loses her sword…rising tension, rising tension, the main character is alone, injured, and without resources–sounds like time to fight the big bad, right? Time to scramble and make it all work anyway? No?
Instead, a completely new group of characters heal her and let her rest for a few days… What?
Twenty pages to the end is not the time to introduce a bunch of new characters, then talk and cry about her feelings! There was plenty of time for that earlier! Instead, the big climactic fight has a slow (and rather dull) build up with way too many emotions. The fight takes maybe five pages, but they call it “a long story.”
[palm to face]

Can I volunteer to Beta read Mrs. Knight’s next book to help catch these issues before she hits publish?

P.P.S. I used one contraction after pointing out that the above review used no contractions. Can you find it?

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As the finale of the trilogy, “Don’t Dance with Death” had some of the least and greatest changes. While the plot largely stayed the same (unlike “Don’t Marry the Cursed”), details were added or removed based on my edits of the first two books. Two of the biggest changes were suggestions from Beta readers (meaning they came LATE in the editing process) and completely changed the epilogue.

Before we get into this, I must warn you: SPOILERS AHEAD. This is the alternate ENDING of the THIRD book of the “Haunted Romance” trilogy. If you haven’t read “Don’t Dance with Death” (or–heaven help you–“Don’t Date the Haunted” and “Don’t Marry the Cursed”), then reading this blog post makes you one of the worst kinds of skippers, and I frown at you. Also, expect to be confused.

Alright, supposing you’ve FINISHED the WHOLE trilogy, let’s get into it.

Pansy’s Fate

The final battle has Pansy fighting the fastest Hauntings, including skeletons, vampires, and…werewolves. She’s scraped up and permanently scarred from it all, but at least she’s not bitten…
That wasn’t always the case.

Drafts 1-3 read like this:

The werewolf dug its claws into my shoulders, breaking skin, drawing blood, causing screams.  It was like ten knives twisting themselves deeper and deeper.
The werewolf held me still with this death grip.  I couldn’t move as her gaping mouth reached for me.
What was the point of an ability for speed if I was immobile?  Being five times faster than time itself only drew out the pain.
I could still think faster.  Come on!  Think my way out of this!  I’d escaped worse situations!
I doubted that as the werewolf’s teeth pricked the skin of my collarbone.
Was it too late?  Was I already cursed?  Was I condemned to live a half life or die here from the injury?
Or did I still have a chance?
With a desperate surge of adrenaline, I pulled my arm free as the poisonous teeth sank deeper.
I screamed into her sensitive ears beside me.  Then I growled to match the ferocity of every Haunting I faced.  “You forgot a rule of survival.”
With my last burst of energy, I shoved my silver stake into her heart.  She jerked, and I snarled, “Never get between a she-wolf and her cub.”
The werewolf stilled and fell limp with her claws and teeth still deep in my skin.  Now, I had two dead Hauntings on top of me.  Grunting, I pushed myself out inch by inch.  The final werewolf clung to me, but eventually I managed to wiggle from underneath the first werewolf.  It hurt to move.
I knew the pain would become fresh when I removed the teeth and claws, but I couldn’t save my family with a werewolf attached to me.  Gritting my teeth, I pushed its head up and out of my neck.  Cold air bit into my skin to replace the hot and wet mouth of death.  I screamed.
Condemnation, it stung!  I couldn’t even grit my teeth from the pain as it tensed my bleeding neck muscles.
I could barely think as I collapsed from the pain.  I allowed myself a whole three seconds with my enhanced speed before steeling my mind to action.
No time for pain.  Aeron needed me.
Pushing through my agony, I yanked its claws from my shoulder.  The pressure was as bad as the initial stabbing.  My entire arm twitched from the pain that surged through my nerves.
My vision darkened at the edges.  I willed myself to focus.  It was all I could do to keep my head up.  Focus.  There would be time for pain later.
Limbs shaking, legs burning with protest, I stood.  I had a werewolf bite.  What more could they do to me?
My eyes found Theo and Aeron.  Theo’s wand arm hung limply as invisible Hauntings pushed him to his knees.  Aeron was trapped on the Altar of Moloch with an ominous shadow suffocating him.  Rage and terror filled my veins.  If they killed any of my family, that would likewise destroy me.  As much as I wanted to run to Theo, I knew he’d agree with my instincts.  I stumbled toward Aeron.
On my second step, I fell with a shout.
My blood churned within me.  Despite all I’d been through, I kept control of my speed.  Until that moment.  The pain forced me to tap out of my ability and I screamed.
Supernaturals, it boiled like lava!  It stung like ice!  Excruciation raged through my veins and spread through my body.  It incapacitated me.  My fingers gripped into the dirt, seeking the cool darkness of the underground.  It was worse than the claws.  Than the bite itself.  Than if I had been stabbed in every limb.  Every nerve in my body shrieked from my toes to the vessels in my brain.  My very bones creaked in agony.
What was happening to me?  Was this the werewolf transformation?  Kill me if it was!
No!  I needed to hold on!  I needed to save Aeron!
I managed to open my eyes.  Aeron no longer struggled within the shadow.  Was he dead?
While my motherly instinct wanted to deny even the possibility, my Horror instinct told me it was too late.  I didn’t even have the strength to cry out for him.  After all we did to save him…we failed.
My body continued to twitch beyond my control.  I lost consciousness as a single tear fell from my eyes.

Then the epilogue continued her perspective this way:

The full moon sank behind the horizon and the pain of transforming ebbed away.  I shivered off a coat of fur that was long and black like my hair.  Theo caught me in his arms to keep me conscious.  Or had I been unconscious and was now waking up?  What happened?  I remembered falling asleep in my infirmary of a drawing room.  How did I end up in our bedroom?
My consciousness cleared and I slowly recognized the warmth of my husband’s arms around me.  “Welcome back, my flower,” he whispered.  “How was your first night as the most majestic wolf I have ever seen?”
Wolf.  I was a werewolf.  Bits of memories from the night under the full moon flashed back to me:  running on all fours with other wolves, howling, hunting, killing, tearing through muscles and blood…
I buckled into Theo’s arms and cried.
“Hey,” he said, stroking my hair, “it will be alright.”
“I’m a monster,” I sobbed.
“Not in Fantasy,” he said.  “Did you meet the pack and hunt cervidae?”
“Yeah, I think we got a moose.”  I remembered a fully grown moose with antlers as wide as my own armspan and the strength of a bull.  It was no match for the pack of Eimad shapeshifters.
After returning from Horror, I needed three days to recover from my injuries.  Recovering from my werewolf bite was another issue.  My hair and nails grew longer and thicker, and my sense of smell was stronger—especially around blood and raw meat.  I could have pretended to be pregnant if I didn’t also crave redder meat than before.  I resisted the urges to transform…until the full moon rose.
I cried into Theo’s shoulder, ashamed for losing control.
“Come now.”  Theo pulled back to caress my chin and raised my eyes to his.  “You hunted a moose, not a sentient creature.  You are civilized.  If you think about it, it only lasts twelve hours once every four weeks.”  He grinned with a tease.  “It technically has less of an effect on you than your menstrual cycle, though the change in your emotions may be the same.”
I leaned away from his embrace to give him a friendly punch.  “You mock my pain.”
“Ow.”  His eyes widened as he looked at the shoulder I hit.  Right, I needed to pull my punches more than before.  Stupid werewolf curse.
“Sorry.  It’s still hard to believe.  It’s just…this will take some getting used to.”
My husband encouraged me with gentle eyes and one of his perfect smiles.  “I believe you said something similar after receiving your speed ability.  Did the pack receive you well?”
“I…honestly don’t remember much.  I remember meeting with them in the woods.  Most of them used nicknames, like we’re some anonymous counseling group.  I think I told them my name was Blackard.  Isn’t that a last name?” I muttered.  Like a dream, some things made sense in the moment that sounded ridiculous after waking.  “I guess I was thinking of the black accord, which is a type of pansy flower.  I’m not ready to announce their marchioness is a werewolf, even to other werewolves.”
Theo nodded thoughtfully. “Of course, we can take this one step at a time.  Did you feel comfortable with the pack?”
I shrugged.  “As far as I recall.  It’s like trying to remember a dream.  I remember feeling curious and embarrassed, then more comfortable, and almost satisfied near the end.  I remember seeing you at the gate, and not quite recognizing you, but knowing you’re special to me.”
Theo pulled me closer. “Is that how you feel about me?”
I smiled back. “We’re connected, remember?  Not even lucid werewolf brain can change my love for you.”

Yep, I made Pansy a werewolf. I even wrote a 20,000 word novelette (50-ish pages) about her experiences as a werewolf nine years later. Aeron was 14 years-old and graduating from Margen’s version of high school (little smarty pants), and I introduced Pansy and Theo’s second child, Samantha (goes by Sam). She never talks, because her ability is to speak directly to people’s minds.

My Beta readers didn’t love Pansy becoming the same creature that killed Oz, so I removed it, meaning that novelette will never be published. It’s okay. I wasn’t a huge fan of Pansy’s second life as a werewolf messing with her relationship with Theo anyway.

Aeron’s Influence

One of my alpha readers actually suggested that Aeron should remain dead. I really, really, didn’t like this suggestion, but I still considered it. It meant removing my fun reference to The Princess Bride‘s Miracle Max, changing the epilogue tone to a lot more mourning, and completely re-writing 4 novels and 4 short stories (including Pansy’s werewolf novelette). I’ll say more about this in my Future Stories section below.

I created this post when considering killing Aeron permanently.

Aeron also played a much bigger part in dispelling the Hauntings at the Valley of Death. He didn’t simply use his temporary powers of God to save Berwyna and kill Abadda.
Instead of switching view points between each character at the end, this was what happened:

One of me hovered before each of the remaining wraiths that surrounded my father.  Some of them fled without a command.  Others required a little coaxing.
I punched my little arm out, fully confident that my power was beyond my regular strength.  The wraiths each dissipated into smoke and wails.
I was fast!  I was strong!  I was fantastic!
At the same time, one of my separations went to each of the liches around the Missus.  I gave them each a good punch.  They screamed and crumpled to the ground.
I thought about hitting the Missus too.  She did kidnap me.  Except, I felt her sadness and guilt.
No.  A touch of greater understanding said that she was already in enough pain.  She would be a better person after this.
I went to Mister.  He had no remorse, but lots of sorrow.  He was also confused.  I touched his forehead with understanding.
A light grew in his eyes.  His fury lessened.  He turned to Missus and I felt his desire for her to be with him.  His grip on the whip loosed and Uncle Dunstan moaned in relief.
My uncle’s moan distracted Mister.  He turned back to my uncle and his anger returned.  He rejected my gift of understanding.  He rejected truth for his own wants.  His heart spoke of wicked desires.
He was going to kill Uncle Dunstan!
I reached forward to punch him too, but something stopped me.  It was a glimpse of the future.  I saw what was about to happen, and that greater understanding told me to let it be.
Mister yanked on his whip, and Dunstan shouted.
Missus also screamed.  Without the liches to hold her back, she ran for Mister.  I felt the conflict within her.  Watching Mister and Uncle Dunstan fight agonized her.  She knew what had to be done even if she hated it.
“Stop, Urien!” she screamed as she ran into him with full force.  His whip jerked and Dunstan yelled.
Mister snarled, “You’ll have to kill me to stop me!”
Missus cried and pleaded, “Please…don’t make me do that.”
Mister spared her a glance and laughed.  “As if you could!  We are destined to be together!  You thought you could change destiny and love a terrorist?  You’re a fool, Berwyna!  You’re fortunate I still care about you!”
“Unfortunately for you,” she sniffled, “I care about you too.”
He paused to give her a hopeful sneer.
“I care so much,” she continued, “to kill you when you’ve become corrupted.”
“What?”
She drew up her arm and plunged her large needle into his chest.  With both hands on his whip, he had no way to block.  She pierced his heart, and he jerked back.  Dunstan’s cries stuttered.
Mister made no sound.  His mouth broke open, but nothing could vocalize his pain.  His grasp on the whip slackened then let go.  His hands trembled as he reached up to the needle stuck into him.
Missus stepped back, crying more than ever.
Mister’s body tumbled to the ground, and his spirit rose with a terrible scream.  He saw my spirit before him and flinched.  He recognized my power and fled blindly to the shadows.
That part of my separation returned to my main spirit above the altar, where my frail body lay dead.
Abadda sneered at me from across the stone circle.
“You have many giftsss,” she hissed.
“No,” I said.  “I have every gift.”
I thrust my fist forward to punch her.  She dodged!  She was fast!
I barely ducked before her claws reached for my face.  It quickly became clear that one of my fancy punches would not be enough to dispel her.  I floated back to create some distance between us, but she followed.  I recalled my self-defense lessons from Master Bahr.  I was still a beginner, first mastering the stances and building my physical capacity with correct forms.  That was all for naught when we were dead.  Flight and unlimited energy had a way of twisting combat.  I made a mental note to ask Ruezdad’s fairy captain to teach me how to fight in flight.  Until then, I had to change tactics.
One lesson held true as Master Bahr taught me to find my advantages and use them.  One advantage:  my small size.  Second advantage:  my gifts.  With so many gifts, my advantages multiplied as easily as myself.
I separated again into a dozen different Aerons.  I traveled at the speed of thought.  Some of them disguised themselves as my parents or other spirits I knew.  Others transformed into animals.  I could handle objects from the living realm, but recognized my best weapons were my hands and my capacity to use these gifts.
I looked into Abadda’s past and concentrated on her feelings.  Before she could even swing a kick at me, I understood everything about her.  I knew her childhood; growing up in Urban, Fantasy, of her lust for recognition and power, of her trickery to marry my grandfather, of her plots to curse my family to put herself on the throne.  I knew of her hatred for my family: of Queen Alóvera, of Grandfather Konrad, of my mom and father.  I saw her past as she waited and plotted to be rescued from the depths of the ocean.  I knew her plots as her cursed mirror prophesied of my birth and ability, then as she overheard the prophecy of her destruction by a royal bridge between life and death.  I felt her fear of me.
I understood her so well that I knew her actions before she made them.  I dodged her kick and blocked her punch.  I surprised her with a punch of my own.
I spoke to her mind the words from the God of Everything.  He condemned her.  She did not belong here.  She could not stay. 
She shrunk under the authority of the all-powerful God.  She could not fight Him, and at that moment I was His mouthpiece.  I was His hands.
A flame ignited within me, pushing me to act.  It was time.

Then I switched to Theo’s perspective to show Aeron dispelling the wraiths and Dunstan freeing Berwyna from the liches. The new ending was entirely suggested to me by author Jim Doran. His original suggestion actually let Pansy save Aeron before he was fully sacrificed on the altar, so I didn’t take the full suggestion. Just the part that made it less Dues Ex Machina and more “God helps us so we can help each other.”

Dunstan and Berwyna’s Fate

This change wasn’t influenced by Beta readers’ suggestions, but it was approved by them (particularly Robyn, who fangirls over Dunstan). Again, this change wasn’t made until draft 3.
In the epilogue, Pansy and Theo ate breakfast with Aeron, but instead of their plans being interrupted, their first appointment of the day was to meet with Dunstan like this…

We finished our meal with idle chit chat, talking, teasing, teaching, and simply enjoying each other’s company.  Theo finished long before Aeron and I did.  He could have left to accomplish something during the ten minutes before our first appointment.  Instead, he sat with us until I was done, and Aeron played with his food more than he digested.
“Alright,” I stood, “let’s not keep Uncle Dunstan waiting.”
My husband and son stood with me.  Theo offered me his arm of escort and Aeron reached for me to hold his hand. 
Dunstan hadn’t returned to the Eimad Abbey.  He forsook his priest calling, but his loyalty to us in Horror earned his place in Ruezdad again.  Theo even humored the idea of returning his lordship status.  We needed to talk it over with the Duke.  Maybe we’d grant him a position in Divinity.  I imagined Dunstan would like the dark caves and tunnels of the city within the mountain.
Together, we walked to the front entry of Ruezdad.  Dunstan waited for us there, rubbing his hands nervously.  A fuzz of hair poked through his scalp as he hadn’t shaved since Horror.  He almost rubbed his hands against his tunic, but decided against soiling his new outfit.  He wore a Fromm blue cloak without the emblems.
“It’s been over ten years,” he said as we approached, “since I’ve worn Father’s colors.”
Theo smiled.  “They suit you, as they should.  You were born into them.”
“I can’t thank you enough:” he gulped, “for forgiving me, for welcoming me back, for setting up this meeting…”
It was my turn to smile.  “You fought with us in Horror.  Sure, you messed up a few times, but it’s possible Berwyna was only willing to turn on the duchess because of your relationship with her.”
“I’d like to think I had some impact for good,” Dunstan mumbled.
Aeron tugged on my hand.  “Why did we stop?  Can I go play in the stables?”
“Not yet,” I said.  “We’re waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
As if on cue, the air coalesced with the sound of an overhead jet.  It grew louder and louder until I thought to cover my ears.  Then it was over, and a young woman appeared before us.  Berwyna stumbled to regain her balance.
“Whoa!” she said. “I’ve never traveled by teleportation before!  That was fantastic!”
“Yes, well,” Theo walked up to offer his hand of welcome, “the teleportation spell is particular to Fantasy, so it is literally Fantastic.  Good to see that the messenger raven reached you even in Horror.”
Berwyna scoped around, taking in the sights of Fantasy, of the castle and Eimad.  Her home.  Her eyes met my husband’s, then mine.  When they reached Aeron—who had stepped behind my leg at Berwyna’s appearance—her lips quivered.  She stumbled to her knees and her hair fanned out as she bowed her head to the ground.
“I’m so sorry!  I accept the punishment for my deeds!  I am indebted to you for sending the raven with the spell to bring me back.”
Theo shared an uncomfortable glance with me.  A small satisfaction inside me enjoyed the sight of this woman groveling before our feet.  This was the woman who helped restore The Wicked Duchess.  This was the woman who kidnapped our son.  This was also the woman who ran from Abadda and told us where to find Aeron.
I shrugged. “I expect her week in Horror was enough of a prison sentence, don’t you?  The Supernaturals execute their own form of justice.  If she was truly wicked, Horror would have found a way to snuff her out.  Especially during Halloween night and a full moon.”
Theo smiled, relieved and agreed.  “Rise,” he told her.  “We all know the real reason for your penitence.”
She lifted her face from the ground to give Theo a surprised and quizzical look.  He simply gestured to Dunstan.  Berwyna blushed and stood, wiping her Horror-stained dress from cobblestone remnants.
Theo stepped back to join my side and I took his hand.  Aeron looked off to the stables, distracted.  I whispered that he could go play and he ran off with a big grin.  I hated letting him out of my sight, but he proved himself capable even in Horror.  I took comfort as Master Bahr followed Aeron into the stables, and turned back to witness Dunstan and Berwyna’s reunion.
Dunstan shuffled to Berwyna.  “I know we’ve said and done things that can’t be undone or forgotten, but…”  He reached a hand forward.  “Hello.  My name is Dunstan Fromm, the Night Shade, former Lord of Margen, and former priest of Eimad.  I’ve spread fear across Novel as the Night Terror and have attempted to live a reformed life for the past six years.  I’ve only experienced True Love’s Kiss with one person; a woman I met in a convenience store in Horror.”
The woman blushed and eventually reached to meet his hand.  “Hello, my name is Miss Berwyna Acker.  I’m a seamstress and daughter of Lord Acker in northern Eimad.  I mended the body of Duchess Abbada, The Wicked, and helped kidnap the Earl of Margen.  I’ve felt guilty ever since and hope to somehow make it up to the one man I’ve ever truly loved.”
“Well.” Dunstan smiled.  “It’s a start.”
I leaned over to whisper to my husband, “They’ll work it out.”
“You think so?”
“Oh, it won’t be easy, but…they’re in love.  If love could turn me into a lady and you into a combat fighter, then I’d say it can accomplish basically anything.”
“Let us hope it teaches our son something too.”  He smiled back in a way that melted my heart.  He chuckled and mused to himself, “Aeron Fromm, the Haunted.”

I changed it because I didn’t want to explain the details of Dunstan sending a messenger bird to Berwyna in Horror with the teleportation spell, which was why it took a week for her to return, and why they couldn’t do this with Aeron.
I also needed to explain what happened with Berwyna’s illness, but it didn’t fit naturally in this version.

The main thing I wanted to keep in the epilogue was the last word: Haunted. Not only does it refer to the trilogy’s title, “Haunted Romance,” but this is Aeron’s book, so I wanted to end with him.

Future Stories?

I understand the new ending opens up more possible stories about Dunstan rescuing Berwyna in Horror, then their experience in Urban, Fantasy, as they fight the Haunting that followed them. My friend Robyn (who fangirls over Dunstan) offered to do a mash-up with her stories, which are Sword and Sorcery style. We’ve briefly discussed it, but nothing’s official.

Concerning Aeron, I have a short story (about 25 pages long) about the first time he falls in love as a 16 year-old, plus 4 books outlined (3 of which are about 1/3rd written) about his new adult years (ages 20-25) and gradual courtship with his heart-throb. I’ve completed two short stories that take place within his series. My current idea is to set his novels in Mystery, Thriller, then Western/Sci-Fi with an ultimate ending in Margen with Pansy and Theo included. This sequel series currently has a working title of “Haunted Detective.” They aren’t finished, so I don’t know if I’ll ever publish them, but I enjoy the characters too much to let them go.

Other Novel stories that I hope to publish include “Oz’s Haunting Survival Book,” (a pocket book with all of his quotes and Pansy’s footnotes), and a collection of short stories that show the deaths of Pansy’s parents (from Oz’s perspective), Pansy’s Hauntings and Romance with Sean (the prequel), and Heather’s haunted summer romance (set between books 1 and 2).
These short stories are all fully drafted, so hopefully you can expect to see them coming soon!

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I’ll admit, I’m a fan of Michaelbrent Collings and all of his styles of horror. He says,

Horror is the genre of hope.

– Michaelbrent Collings

I LOVE this perspective, and I think it’s this perspective that makes his stories so great. All of his stories have twists that I didn’t see coming, and if they aren’t rolling-on-the-floor hilarious (like “Stranger Still“) they’re deeply thought-provoking (like “Malignant“).

If you’re debating whether to get into Collings’ books, “Future Tense” is a great place to start with snippets and samples into his styles.

This collection of short stories showcases Collings’ wide skillset and talents to be serious, thoughtful, and hilarious while also highlighting problems of society and mentality. Usually, only anthologies with multiple authors can get this range of variety, but he manages it all by himself! Truly, a work of a master storyteller.

While these stories have technically already been “posted” separately, only huge fans of Michaelbrent Collings, have read these. Collings first released the short stories to his Patreon subscribers. The novella at the end, however, was one of his first published works (an early version of one of his popular books, “Strangers”) which he pulled from availability about ten years ago.

So, even if you’ve read all of the stories, this collection the only place you’ll find them all together in ebook/paperback format.

They’re short stories, so it’s hard to review them without giving spoilers, but here are the various themes I picked out (in chronological order):

Jingle All the Way: suicide
I Am An Ocean: free will and caring for others
Floor is Lava: youth and growing old. These characters were my favorite with lots of humor. I’d like to see this one fleshed out as a full-length novel.
Lucid Dreams: isolation and the risks that people take for mental cures.
The Shortest Con: I couldn’t pin a theme on this one, but I read “The Longest Con” just to better appreciate this hilarious short story that hints at an upcoming sequel!
End of Shift: “gifts” for the innocent. At first, I imagined this as a twisted version of Legion (from “Stranger Still”) in retirement. Old man punishes wicked people in ways that they intended to hurt others. Then, there was the twist, and I REALLY wanted a fully explored story of Kristoff’s work.
That’ll Sell: “Stranger Than Fiction” meets “Game of Thrones.”
I Can Do This All Night: sexism.
The Button Man: bombs and who’s to blame. This one takes a while to get into, but hold on because the end is worth it. Like, “The Lottery” level of twisted that makes you think long after the story’s over.
The Stranger Inside: secrets turn family members into strangers. One F-bomb. It’s still a great story, but I consider “Strangers” to be an upgrade (which makes sense, since it’s a later revision).

Growing up on “Horror Stories to Tell in the Dark,” and “Short and Shivery,” I have a special love for short horror. It developed more when I studied short stories in high school – all of which were a bit morbid and ended with a sucker punch to hammer in the moral theme. “Future Tense” by Michaelbrent Collings is a masterful collection that uses forms from the classics to tell stories that apply to today’s society and mentality. *****4.75 stars*****

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This book will be released March 23rd, 2022.

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One of my most commonly asked questions is

What inspired you to write “Don’t Date the Haunted?”

Sometimes they’re asking about the story or characters, but usually people wonder how I came up with the idea for the world of Novel–a world where every genre is its own land.

I don’t have a story about hitting my head and everything clicking into place. I don’t even remember the exact thought process. What I do know, is that I’d been working at a Christian bookstore for at least four months, and I was irritated by how many historical/regency/proper romances we had on our shelves, and how few sci-fi/fantasy/horror books we had.

In short, I wrote the book that I wanted to read.

My first recorded notes on “Don’t Date the Haunted” began on March 1st, 2016. My book reviews go back far enough to show that I was reading books like “Dirty Jobs,” by Christopher Moore, and “Mr. Mercedes,” by Stephen King. Although I liked the humor of “Dirty Jobs,” both books were far too dirty and vulgar for my preference.
I also read “Heaven’s Shadow,” which was far too preachy and cheesy for a sci-fi.
“Six Wings,” by Kylie Malchus was much more my style. It had a poltergeist, romance, and touches of humor, but I wanted more.

Exactly one month later (April 1st, 2016), I started to write Pansy’s story in earnest–labeled simply as “Haunted.”
My exact notes say,

April 1: +1,310 [words written] (-638 to likely be deleted though)

I’m fairly certain that was Pansy and Theo’s balcony conversation as Theo revealed his “useless” ability. 638 words would “likely be deleted” because that first draft explored the possibility of Theo’s ability as the inability to lie.

This means that by that time, I already knew Pansy was from the land of Horror, traveled to the land of Romance, and talking to Theo, from the land of Fantasy.

So where did Novel come from?

On my notes dated March 1st, I wrote a quick synopsis of my idea for a story. Unfortunately, I altered it when I explored an idea, so it’s not the exact words that first came to my mind. But it’s the closest I have:

A character living in the country of horrors, escapes a horror with her fiancé dead.  She lands into some money (from her fiancé or some they found in the haunting) and she’s been getting so many condolences for his death, she’s afraid he’s going to haunt her, so she decides to move across the world.  She goes to the border of Regency Romance (bordering contemporary romance…).  She said she wanted to go somewhere quiet.

First (altered) plot synopsis of “Don’t Date the Haunted”

I didn’t have the map in my head, but basically, a character living in the land of Horror was how it all began.

After finishing the story, I described the story to others and realized that there were other connections that may have subconsciously influenced the origins of Novel.
First, have you ever seen “The Pagemaster,” from 1994 with Macaulay Kulkin and Christopher Lloyd?

Wow, watching that took me back to places I didn’t care to go. Point is, I watched that film a few times as a kid. It’s about a boy from our world who goes to the lands of books, taking part in the stories of “Treasure Island” from the land of Fantasy, fights a dragon from Fairy Tale, and meets “Jr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in Horror.

Then (because this is me we’re talking about) there was The Sims. In every Sims game, there’s an expansion with magic and a specific “world” where everything’s magical. These were always my favorite expansions. These separate realms may have also fed my thoughts of separate genres as lands.

More forefront in my mind (as an adult), I’d read and watched the movie of “Austenland,” by Shannon Hale. I loved the mixture and contrast of contemporary romance vs. regency romance. I couldn’t have just the land of Romance, but divisions of regencies to explore the subgenres.

To summarize, I can’t really say what exactly spurred the whole idea. I’m a discovery writer and–if you read my Behind the Scene chapter blogs–you can see that the story developed and grew in many ways before I hit “publish.”

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