The Reliance: a review of M.L. Tyndall's latest novel

SHE'S GONE AND DONE IT AGAIN:

Frank Creed's review of
The Reliance, sequel to The Redemption, by M.L. Tyndall

Christian piracy sails on. Tyndall's second installment to her LEGACY OF THE KING'S PIRATES trilogy, The Reliance, is another swashbuckling page turner. Chapter one of this "historical romance" opens with our hero and heroine lounging on a beach in Porto Bello, Panama—where we'd all love to lounge. Three paragraphs later, still on page one, musket and cannon fire shatter all romance. Our sunbathing lovers are interrupted by pirates sacking the town. That's how fast Tyndall moves. Not fast enough?

Captain Morgan sacks San Lorenzo. Merrick and Charlisse fight their way out of town on Don Deigo's stallion, pistol and musket fire snap close behind. On the road out of town, they find a church full of abandoned orphans. How to save them from advancing pirates? Merrick leaves Charlisse to hide the children in the church, and goes in search of a wagon. As Merrick rides away from the church, the building, where he's just left his wife, explodes. As does his soul. That's page twenty-three, the end of chapter two. Not fast enough?

By page twenty-six we discover that Charlisse is alive, but kidnapped by Captain Kent Carlton, leftover bad-guy from book one, The Redemption. Merrick searches the rubble, then sinks into despair's depths.

If you're wanting a romance novel about dating and what to wear, this ain't it. Well, Charlisse does cross-dress a couple of times, in order to visit a pirate port, and captain her husband's vessel. Yes, chick-lit readers, Charlisse captains the Redemption. She even gives the order to fire a broadside at her rum-swilling soon-to-be-ex-husband's new flagship, the Satisfaction.

In the course of middle chapter soul-wringing, we're tortured by main characters' ships that pass in the night, their honest motivations and terrible pain.

The Reliance has many plot subtleties, but peel these onion layers for yourself, and enjoy. This Tyndall woman can write. If you're able, start with The Redemption, in order to meet living characters in living color.

CSFF Blog Tour: Trackers by K. Mackel

Trackers: The Birthright Project, Book Two
My Frank Review

Biblical science-fiction? Many consider the term to be a contradiction in terms. As a fan of the nearly nonexistent sub-genre, I delighted at discovering Kathryn Mackel's Trackers. Like Christians of every age, modern believers think that the second coming is likely to occur any minute now, but Mackel has vision. The Birthright Project is set far enough in the future that genetic-manipulation resembles magic, and toxic zones dot the landscape. An "ark" that had been positioned under the polar ice-cap, served as a time-capsule, so that some Christians might survive the Endless Wars. In Outriders: The Birthright Project, Book One, some of these survivors left the ark on an Eden minded mission of gathering endangered species. In Trackers, these survivors must avoid warlord's city-states, and warlord's armies.

For fan's of Charles deLint's magic realism novels, Mackel's patient and descriptive style will delight. Her setting is mind-bendingly imaginative. The Wall of Traxx, for example, is a genetically engineered ecosystem, designed as a defensive barrier that surrounds the city-state of Traxx. This ecosystem is comprised of both flora and fauna that makes Australia's poisonous and desolate Outback look like a nun's terrarium. Through genetic engineering, antagonist "wizards" have mastered transmogrification, or shapeshifting, to defile any living thing according to their own will. This seems to be the birthrighter's mission—securing honest DNA.


And that's part of my problem with Trackers. This is not a book that can be appreciated without reading Outriders, its prequel. I struggled through Trackers’ first eighty pages, uninterested by characters who acted like I'd already met them. I appreciated Kathryn Mackel's intelligent slang and terminology, but I was left to figure out what-had-to-do-with-what in her very original, and therefore unfamiliar setting. I began reading impatiently, searching for data.

My personal rule is 100 pages. If I'm not drawn into characters by then, it tops the used-bookstore stack . . . and Trackers slid into third base, capturing me around page eighty with a scene where a right-off-the-ark-Birthright-survivor on her first mission meets a slave boy with an honest heart. Ever met an unbeliever who lives more Biblically than most Christians you know? That's this Gabe kid. And the Birthright-rookie-noob working to free Gabe is so doing-her-best but failing; she's so compassionate, that you can't help but wonder what happens next between these two.

Don't read Trackers: The Birthright Project, Book Two, on its own. Do read Outriders: The Birthright Project, Book One, and then follow with Trackers. This Biblical sci-fi is subtle enough for ANY sci-fi fan on your gift list to enjoy, and who knows what beliefs might sprout?
If you don't trust my recommendation, you got it goin’ on, cause I’m the kind of guy who'd tie your laces together while taping a sign on your back.

You'll find other Trackers reviews at the following addys, by members of the Lost Genre Guild. Artists of Biblical science fiction, horror and fantasy will one day be out of the closet, but for now, you've found our hiding spots:
Chris Deanne Todd Michael Greene Sherrie Hibbs Lost Genre Guild Terri Main Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika Schultz Speculative Faith Daniel I. Weaver

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: WestBow Press (October 31, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 1595540407

http://www.kathrynmackel.com/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1595540407

His will be done,
Frank Creed

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Home: www.frankcreed.com
Book Review Blog: A Frank Review
Lost Genre Guild Site: www.lostgenreguild.com
Lost Genre Guild Blog: lostgenre.blogspot.com

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Frank Creed's Biblical fiction is available through The Writers’ Café Press. Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian: An Anthology of High Fantasy, July 2006; Light at the Edge of Darkness, a speculative fiction anthology, March 2007; Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground, cyberpunk novel, April 2007.

Frank Creed is also the founder of the Lost Genre Guild, a literary home for artists, editors, agents, and promoters of Biblical speculative fiction.

Never Ceese

Never Ceese: A vampire . . . a werewolf . . . Can Two Who Were Wronged Make It Right?

Introducing Never Ceese by author Sue Dent. Never Ceese is a Christian fantasy novel set in an English manor owned by Richard, a vampire.

Ceese is a young werewolf maiden who is summoned to the manor by a dear friend and although she and Richard would love to tear each other apart, they are drawn together by their love of a mutual friend.

Never Ceese is the tale of two beings who were wronged, face a common threat (an evil stem cell researcher) but learn to work together. Will they be able to find the inner strength to resist their selfish natures and act selflessly toward each other?

Never Ceese
$17.99
Author: Sue Dent
Young Adult
300 pages; hardcover
Publisher: Journey Stone Creations
February 1, 2006
ISBN: 1599580179

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1599580179

Also available at: Journey Stone Creations website