Spam on A Stick

Goblin Hero
by Jim C. Hines.
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: DAW (May 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0756404428
ISBN-13: 978-0756404420

No sane goblin wants to be a hero. They usually wind up dead.

          Then again, since when has sanity ever stopped a goblin?
          Jig Dragonslayer, for instance. He's not insane. Then again, he's a runt. He also admits, freely, that he's no hero. Still, he's the voice on Earth for the god Tymalous Shadowstar, and he can heal goblins, hobgoblins, and even ogres.
          Speaking of ogres...
          The events in Goblin Hero take place one year after the events in Goblin Quest. An ogre comes to Jig for help. It seems that his family's been enslaved by something. Ogres are the biggest, baddest, and smartest (at least, compared to most goblins) creatures in the mountain. Jig's a runt. Still, with TS on his side...
          What do you do when your people's leader wants you dead (though not overtly), because she fears you as a political rival? Or when an ogre comes seeking your help, because he's under the erroneous impression that you actually killed a dragon?
          Jig never wanted to be a hero.
          For that matter, no sane goblin wanted to be a hero.
          Goblin heroes tend not to live for a very long time, you see. They charge into battle without thinking, always getting themselves killed.
          Regardless, Jig has survived being a goblin hero for one, whole, year, since the events in Goblin Quest. Jig doesn't think of himself as a hero. For one thing, he's still alive, which proves it to him.
          The scrawny, bespectacled goblin was not even that much of a warrior, really, so why did everyone seek him out under the mistaken impression that he was?
          Of course, this time, Jig has competition, in the form of a fledgling goblin wizard and hero wanna-be named Veka.
          Veka is an unusually large goblin who some call "Vast Veka" behind her back, and sometimes even to her face. When Jig doesn't want to take her on as his apprentice in magic and heroism ("binding spell", indeed!) Veka sets off on her own, though on a parallel course to Jig. She recruits a "heroes' sidekick" she calls Slash, for the scar on his face. Not that Slash is all that interested in side-kickery. Veka tricked him into coming along, you see. Oh yes, Slash is a hobgoblin, and not on friendly terms with goblins.
          Enemies make for strange bedfellows, but Jig's the one who, er, has to "get Jiggy" with it, and unite both goblin and hobgoblin, if he wants to defeat the enemy. Remember the Necromancer from the past book? Well, there was only one of him...
          Oh, and keep an eye on Smudge, too. For one, he actually doesn't die in this book. For another, he gets to... Nah, I don't want to give too much of the story away, do I?

Ivory Sword
The Lore of DAYone *
Genre: Fantasy
By: A. A. Wolfner ** (548 pages, PublishAmerica, $34.95)
Available at Amazon.com, B&N.com, Booksense.com, and Books & Etc. Book Store
ISBN #: 1-4137-9572-2<
Come, and be transported into a world of alien intrigue, mystery, and politics.

The Ivory Sword of the title was a gift, given to both Prince Morais. and to his twin brother, Ils, by a Fishmonger who prophesied that the two Elves would share the sword. Ils (decreed the elder of the twins by their father, King Solay, Emperor of the Liosdoackfar (Mountain Elves) Empire) has possession of the sword.

As the story opens, Morais, wanting recognition from his father, arranges with thugs to kidnap his brother, so that he could go to the rescue, and thereby earn respect from King Solay.

Unfortunately, this plan goes awry as a battle with Fay and Swan Knights, led by King Ceagare, King of the River and Sea Elves and King Solay's vassal (and son-in-law), leaves Morais's father and brothers dead, and his twin, Ils, a prisoner. Ceagare wants the throne, and this ill-conceived plot was the impetus for his try at the throne. Morais rides off after his brother's kidnappers.

This stirring scene, resplendent with the guilty conscience of Morais, begins his journey  to both rescue Ils, and to prove his worth as the new Champion to the Throne. He does not, has never wanted, to be king. He never wanted this to get out of hand.

Events spiral beyond his control and the Elf Prince, Morais, gathers companions along the journey to rescue his brother, each with his or her own reasons for allying themselves with him and his cause.

Morais sort of ends up with the sword. It's shrouded in mystery, and it seems to disappear, only to reappear at odd intervals. He has it for an initial defense, but it vanishes like an enigma, only to turn up again at the strangest times.

Will Morais solve the mystery of the Ivory Sword? Will he succeed in his quest, to save his brother and, perhaps, avenge his father's death? Will Morais's adopted emblem, the White Rose triumph over the equally enigmatic emblem of the Black Rose, the symbol for the Spectral Dragoons who stole his brother away, and killed his father and brothers on the battlefield, along with Ceagare?

This world is a rich tapestry of many races--Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, Syrons, and others--a few of whom join the Prince in his quest, all with a single cause: to rescue, or revenge, their loved ones. This is the first book in the series and, as I came to its end, I found myself looking forward to the second book in the series.

The prologue, and the epilogue, are separate from the main story; yet, they are important to the story, overall, and not to be skipped.




* The Lore of the DayONE comes from a game called DayONE or Day One. They created the game and the people in the acknowledgment play tested. The game generated some of the characters in the book. The teenage daughter of one of the authors created the Syrons.

** A. A. Wolfner is a pen name for Alan Vekich and Art Kessner.

Bear Daughter
Genre: Fantasy
By: Judith Berman (432 pages, Paperback; Ace Trade; September 6, 2005, $16.00)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0441013228
ISBN-13: 978-0441013227

On a broader level, the book is fantasy. It opens on Cloud, who is her mother's daughter, who has spent the first twelve years of her life as the happy daughter of a human woman called Thrush, and a bear father, called Lord Stink one of the First People. The only thing is, it opens when her stepfather, Rumble, has killed, and eaten the heart of, her father, and taken her mother, Thrush, for his woman.

The thing is, a lot of people are surprised that Cloud became human. No one expected it. Bear's lost her memories, too. The only things she remembers are glimpsed in dreams and images. There's an empty place in her, one that no food will fill. Her mother's forced to reject her, and Rumble wants to kill her. I mean, what's a girl to do, but run away from home when her stepfather tries to kill her?

Thus begins Cloud's journey, a travel among and between the mortal and immortal worlds, in a search to find the bones of her father and brothers, and take them to the Edge of the World so that they can be born anew, even though she doesn't quite feel up to the task laid before her. It is a journey where she will learn to accept herself, her origins, and embrace both her past, and her future, while trying to learn how to live as a human girl.

With Native American mythology as its base, Cloud's story engages you from the beginning, as you follow her quest, which is as much coming to terms with who and what she is, as to save the spirits of her father and brothers.

On a more focused level, this is a story about one young woman's struggle to come to terms with herself, a voyage of discovery to find out who she is, what is her purpose in life, to stretch and surpass her limits. It is a story of acceptance, and self-acceptance.

And, quite frankly, it's a good read.

Bear Daughter is available on AMAZON.COM, and can also be found at, or requested by,your local bookseller.


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Regards,
Elizabeth Anne Ensley
http://nanonatter.blogspot.com