Title: The Monster of Selkirk Book 1: The Duality of Nature
Author: C.E. Clayton
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
Monsters come in many forms, and not everyone knows a monster when they see one. After three hundred years of monstrous, feral elves plaguing the island nation of Selkirk, everyone believes they know what a monster is. Humans have learned to live with their savage neighbors, enacting a Clearing every four years to push the elves back from their borders. The system has worked for centuries, until after one such purge, a babe was found in the forest.
As Tallis grows, she discovers she isn’t like everyone else. There is something a little different that makes people leery in her presence, and she only ever makes a handful of friends. But when the elves gather their forces and emerge from the forests literally hissing Tallis’s name like a battle mantra, making friends is the least of her troubles. Tallis and her companions find themselves on an unwilling journey to not only clear her name, but to stop the elves from ravaging her homeland.
Growing up, I loved books like Robin Hobb’s fantasy works, The Magician series by Raymond E. Feist, The Shannara Chronicles by Terry Brooks… But it’s been a while since I’ve read books that reminded me of these classics. That is, until I read The Monster of Selkirk Book 1: The Duality of Nature. This is the first book I’ve read in years that had a similar epic feel.
The characters are phenomenal. They’re unique, entertaining, they have genuine feelings and emotions, background stories and habits. My favorite one is Tallis, the main character, who struggles with how different she is from everyone else. Luckily she makes some friends who accept her for who she is, and who are willing to put everything on the line to save her.
The writing style pulled me in right from the start, the world-building was top notch, allowing the reader to dive into a fantasy world without feeling overwhelmed by the technicalties or politics of this world, and the plot is so fast-paced, so unpredictable, that once you start reading, you just have to read until the end. Even if that means, like in my case, reading until two in the morning.
I recommend this book to all fans of fantasy novels with elves, kick-ass characters and excellent writing. I can’t wait to read the sequel.
(Also, I’m totally in love with the cover, and it fits the story so well!)
Title: Gossamer: The Chronicles of Eledon Book 3
When I was younger, I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. Part of my reason for dropping out of college was because I didn’t know what to major in. I was envious of my sister who knew from an early age, she was going to major in math. Good for her, but math was the last subject on my mind. I joined the Navy and found a track I liked. I became a photographer. I covered local news items, accidents, and even shot portraits. It was fun, but not a career path. When I got out of the Navy, I wanted to finish college but I was lost again. What to major in? I chose accounting because all businesses needed it and I went on to get my Bachelor’s and an MBA. After working in the field for a year, I went back in the Navy and asked for any assignment other than accounting. It worked. After 22 years in the Navy, I retired. My husband and I moved into our motorhome and hit the road. Unfortunately, he passed away and I went back to work at a government job. Then I found writing. I hadn’t written a thing since I was 14 but I was smitten by the bug and have been writing ever since. “Gossamer” is the sixth book I’ve had published and is the third book in a four book series, “The Chronicles of Eledon.” Hope you enjoy it. I had fun writing it.
It has been years since his brother’s accident. Kefier was only just beginning to live a normal life–at least, as normal as it could get for a mercenary from a run-down town. And then an errand goes wrong and he finds himself holding his friend’s bloody corpse. Already once branded a murderer, he is pursued by men he once considered friends and stumbles into the midst of a war between two mages. One bears a name long forgotten in legend; the other is young, arrogant Ylir, who takes special interest in making sure Kefier is not killed by his associates. The apex of their rivalry: a terrible creature with one eye, cast from the womb of a witch, with powers so immense whoever possesses it holds the power to bring the continent to its knees.
Enosh, apprentice to one of the richest merchants in the Kag, is secretly heir to a broken line of mages. Because of The Empire of Dageis’ quest for sources of the agan–the life-source that mages use for power–his people have been reduced to scavengers, his culture diminished to a speck in the wind. For more than ten years, he has helped raise a conjured beast to use as a weapon against the Dageians. But Enosh’s plans are falling apart. A powerful enemy has escaped and Enosh needs to capture him before he reaches Dageis. His quest is further complicated after he finds himself used as a pawn by Gasparian nobles.
The battle at Shi-uin has left scars. The rise of Gorrhen yn Garr to power seems unstoppable. As nations fall, the lines between love and duty become blurred and Kefier, Sume, and Enosh must learn to live with the choices they have made.
