The Qwillery

Semiosis
Author:  Sue Burke
Publisher:  Tor Books, February 6, 2018
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 336 pages
List Price:  US$25.99 (print); US$13.99 (eBook)
ISBN:  9780765391353 (print); 9780765391377 (eBook)

Human survival hinges on an bizarre alliance in Semiosis, a character driven science fiction novel of first contact by debut author Sue Burke.

Chicago Review of Books—Best New Books of February
SyFy Wire—9 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels to Read in February
The Verge—18 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in February
Unbound Worlds—Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of February 2018
Kirkus—The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in February

Colonists from Earth wanted the perfect home, but they’ll have to survive on the one they found. They don’t realize another life form watches...and waits...

Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet's sentient species and prove that humans are more than tools.

Melanie's Thoughts:

Its hard to decide whether the first colonists from Earth on a planet far far away were brave or foolish. Only the rich can survive on earth and a group of adventurers decide to take their chances to establish a colony on another planet. Crash landing on a different planet they find landscape that's lush and where the sentient plants produce delicious fruits...until one day they don't. One day they turned and started to poison the colonists. Only a few survive and Burke tells their story. The story of the original colonists and the following generations trying to survive among planets that are beautiful and deadly in equal measure. Things change when the colonists discover they share the planet with another alien species. The fragile balance of the ecosystem is in jeopardy and it's the plants who are really calling the shots.

The story of the colonists on Pax is told through POV chapters which span five generations. Each new generation struggles to survive alongside the sentient plants that hold their very existence amongst their green leaves, twisted roots and razor sharp thorns. The story really starts to take a turn when two things happen. First, the colonists discover they share the planet with another alien species who may or may not be friendly. The second big twist occurs when one of the plants - a colourful bamboo - starts to communicate with them, warning them of dangers and enlisting other plants to help them survive. The bamboo even has its own POV chapters and this is where the story gives us a mini botany lesson. Through these chapters it is clear that the colonists are not the dominate species on the planet.

I think that the concept of Burke's story is very interesting. Sentient plants who treat humans as slaves is new and fresh. However, I found that the story dragged, particularly in the middle. I didn't find the human characters that engaging and therefore, it was a bit difficult to be that invested in their fate. In fact, it was Svetland (the bamboo) who I thought that was most well developed and interesting. As a debut this demonstrates that Burke has an amazing imagination but a little more attention developing engaging characters would have moved this book from the 'ok' category to the 'awesome' category for me.

Sometimes I Lie
Author:  Alice Feeney
Publisher:  Flatiron Books, March 13, 2018
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 272 pages
List Price:  US$26.99 (print); US$12.99 (eBook)
ISBN:  9781250144843 (print); 9781250144836 (eBook)

"Boldly plotted, tightly knotted—a provocative true-or-false thriller that deepens and darkens to its ink-black finale. Marvelous.” —AJ Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

Deb's Review

Sometimes I Lie is the aptly titled psychological thriller debut by Alice Feeney. Told from a first person point of view, protagonist Amber Reynolds admits from the first page that she’s an unreliable narrator:

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 
1. I’m in a coma. 
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 
3. Sometimes I lie.

This story is a dark-house ride where every blind turn sends the reader in dizzying circles where the tableaux are often breathtakingly unexpected and confusing. This review will be short because this is a tale best consumed in the dark.

We get to know Amber through her gauzy consciousness while in a coma after an unremembered accident; through tense flashbacks with her husband, sister, and co-workers prior to the accident; and through stories told in decades old journals from the perspective of a ten year old girl living in perpetual distress. Each new piece of Amber’s puzzle comes together to form an unsettling portrait of a woman in deepening crisis.

Feeney does a fantastic job of manipulating emotions, clues, and alternate meanings. Books built on plot twists can often leave a reader feeling abused by writers who jerk around facts to manufacture surprises, but Feeney relies on skilled misdirection, not cheap trickery, to stun and amaze.

As a protagonist, Amber is both fascinating and infuriating. In fact, it’s difficult to build up a lot of empathy for anyone in this cast of characters. This might be a death knell for some books, but in Sometimes I Lie, it’s just part of the delicious inability to know if anyone is being portrayed honestly through the filter of Amber’s coma and wracked memories.

I would definitely recommend Sometimes I Lie to folks who enjoy psychological thrillers and unreliable narrator stories. There isn’t a lot of gore, but it’s intense storytelling and you should certainly expect some unpleasantness.

There are three things you should know about this review:

1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
2. I was upended by the plot twists.
3. I can’t stand liars . . . unless they’re fictional characters with a very cool story to tell.

We Care For You
Author:  Paul Kitcatt
Publisher:  Unbound Digital, November 14, 2017
Format:  Trade Paperback and eBook, 240 pages
Price:  US$20.47 (print); US$2.99 (Kindle eBook)
ISBN:  9781911586296 (print); ASIN:  B077H4LGHK (eBook)

Margaret Woodruff is slowly dying in a care home. When her son is presented with the chance of exceptional care in her final months, he finds the offer hard to resist.

Winifred is assigned to Margaret’s care. She’s a Helper: a new kind of carer that’s capable, committed and completely tireless – because she’s a synthetic human being.

Under Winifred’s care Margaret’s health improves beyond everyone’s expectations, and Winifred begins to learn from Margaret what it means to be alive. After all, she has a lifetime of experience to pass on – and in a world where youth is the ultimate prize, perhaps it takes a robot to recognise the value of old age.

But how will Winifred use what she learns from Margaret – and what does she truly want from her?

Melanie's Thoughts

I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting when I requested We Care for You by Paul Kitcatt from NetGalley. I was immediately drawn to the cover which didn't really do the contents justice. Inside is a reflection on life, love and the quest for knowledge.

The first few chapters were very poignant for me. The elderly Margaret, who is slowly fading away in a nursing home, who can't feed herself and who doesn't recognise her son John reminded me of my own Mom. There were so many similarities between this character and my own Mom that I found it a challenging read at the start. However, when Winnifred the Helper comes into the story all similarities faded away

The owners of Evergreen Care Home, the nursing home in which Margaret lives, believe they have solved the problems of an aging population. They introduce synthetic humans to take over roles normally carried out by humans with the aim of improving the quality of life of their charges. Winnifred and her fellow Helpers look and act completely human - they look like humans, they sound like humans and they almost act like humans. The perfect workforce for manual tasks as they don't need to sleep, take breaks or get paid. Evergreen Care Home has turned into a veritable old aged utopia with the introduction of the Helpers. Every resident now has a dedicated Helper to take care of them and ensure they have the best life possible. Life takes a big change when nanobots are introduced into the elderly residents, curing their illness and handicaps, returning them to healthy active lives.

At first, Margaret feels that she has woken from a hazy dream as she comes out of the fugue of dementia. Winnifred has brought so much to her life. She now recognises her son John and can laugh and play with her grandchildren but it almost seems too good to be true. Winnifred looks human and acts human but isn't really....she isn't really alive. She wants to be though and Margaret and the other patients in the care home may provide the one thing that they need the most.

It's not until the very final chapters when this tale turns a bit more sinister and the ending was chilling indeed. Kitcatt combined a very personal story and layered on a bit of Bladerunner combined with Star Trek's The Borg. This is Kitcatt's first novel and I really enjoyed it even though it made me quite sad in parts. I will look forward to reading more from this author.

Burn Bright
Author:  Patricia Briggs
Series:  Alpha and Omega 5
Publisher:  Ace, March 6, 2018
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages
List Price:  US$27.00 (print); US$
ISBN:  9780425281314 (print); US$

In her bestselling Alpha and Omega series, Patricia Briggs “spins tales of werewolves, coyote shifters, and magic and, my, does she do it well” (USATODAY.com). Now mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other–one that lurks too close to home…

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok’s pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.

With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf–but can’t stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills–his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker–to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn…

Doreen’s Thoughts

While Bran, the Marrok and packleader of the Aspen Creek werewolves, is absent, son Charles and his mate Anna are in charge, including responsibility for those werewolves who are too broken to live safely among others, even of their own kind. When one of the wildings is killed, it becomes apparent that there is a conspiracy to track down some type of information from one or more of the wildings, and that there must be a traitor among the pack.

As Charles, Anna, and a few other select pack members begin tracking down and contacting the wildlings, they continue to run into evidence of witch magic, one of the few forms of magic that can possibly affect werewolves negatively. It also become more obvious that the reason Bran has excluded himself at this time is because the traitor is someone at the very highest level of the pack – and someone the Marrok cannot bring himself to kill.

This is Briggs’ fifth novel starring Charles and Anna, the pack’s enforcer and its Omega. While Briggs has brought up witch magic tangentially in her other novels, this is the first one where it stands front and center. Although the traitor is found and handled, the primary group that attacked the pack has not yet been addressed, and so I expect to see that in her next novel or I will be greatly disappointed.

Otherwise, Briggs writes a tight novel, with small conversations and actions occurring in the beginning of the book becoming critically important later in the story. Her characters, Charles and Anna, are more fully formed now, after five novels, and the readers understand why Anna is so sensitive to being touched or grabbed unexpectedly and how Charles and his Brother Wolf become distracted by Anna’s comments or a slight touch. Other characters such as Asil and especially Leah are more fully fleshed out, with the reader becoming more understanding of the odd relationship between Bran and his mate, Leah.

Overall, this was a quick read, well-written and fast-paced. Again, I look forward to seeing how the protagonists deal with the entity behind the attacks that occurred in this story.

Where Loyalties Lie
Author:  Rob J. Hayes
Series:  Best Laid Plans 1
Published:  May 2017
Format:  Trade Paperback and eBook, 372 pages
List Price:  US$12.99 (print); US$3.99 (Kindle eBook)
ISBN:  9781545581926 (print); ASIN:  B071D6KB7D

Everybody knows Drake Morrass is only out for himself.

As the fires of a dying city burn on a distant shore, Drake sees an opportunity to unite the other pirate Captains under his flag and claim a crown for himself. If he is to succeed he will need allies and the Oracle named Keelin Stillwater, the best swordsman in the isles, as Drake's right hand.

With enemy ships sailing his waters and setting fire to his cities, and the sinister Tanner Black threatening to steal the throne before Drake has even sat in it, Drake must somehow convince the other Captains that his best interests are also theirs.

Doreen's Thoughts

Captain Drake has decided he wants to become king of the pirates, despite Tanner Black holding the de facto title. However, Drake’s brother, the Oracle, predicted Drake would live a long life as the Pirate King, and Drake has been planning for years on how to make that happen. With the Five Kingdoms having decided to end the pirate scourge forever simply by killing everyone in the Pirate Isles, Drake has a chance to unite Captains, crews, and islanders all under his command.
Unfortunately, everyone knows that he is always out for himself, so when he attempts recruiting other Captains, there is a great deal of resistance. In addition, the Oracle stated that Drake needed to recruit Keelin Stillwater as his second-in-command to be successful, and Keelin cannot stand Drake. All of this creates a great deal of tension in the novel which Hayes handles well.

Hayes has written a rollicking pirate’s tale with interesting characters facing complex morale situations. Although Captain Drake is far from altruistic, he recognizes that he needs to begin to give priority to others, and during the second major attack, he is the first to start boarding the townspeople on his ship to rescue them and commands Keelin to do the same. Keelin has secret priorities of his own that allow him to align his fate with Drake, despite despising the man; however, as he watches Drake begin to take command and rebuild a pirate homeland, he cannot help but become truly supportive. Keelin’s childhood sweetheart and daughter of Tanner, Elaina Black is torn between loyalty to her father and loyalty to Keelin, whom she loves; but when Keelin appears to be in love with another, there is a question about how far she will go to punish him. Nearly every major character has serious questions about where their loyalties ought to lie.

All in all, Where Loyalties Lie was strongly written, with several different arcs in the story-telling, enough world-building to capture a reader, and only enough unanswered questions to warrant a second novel without creating frustration in the reader.

I give Where Loyalties Lie a 9/10.

Black Star Renegades
Author:  Michael Moreci
Publisher:  St Martin's Press, January 2, 2018
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 384 pages
List Price:  US$27.99 (print); US$14.99 (eBook)
ISBN: 9781250117847 (print); ISBN 9781250117830 (eBook)

In the tradition of Star Wars, a galaxy-hopping space adventure about a galactic kingdom bent on control and the young misfit who must find the power within before it’s too late.

Cade Sura holds the future of the galaxy in his hands: the ultimate weapon that will bring total peace. He didn’t ask for it, he doesn’t want it, and there’s no worse choice to wield it in all of space, but if he doesn’t, everyone’s totally screwed. The evil Praxis kingdom is on the cusp of having every star system under its control, and if that happens, there’ll be no contesting their cruel reign. Especially if its fanatical overlord, Ga Halle, manages to capture Cade and snag the all-powerful weapon for herself.

Cade can’t hide from Praxis, and he can’t run from the destiny that’s been shoved into his hands. So he only has one option:

He has to fight.

Cade’s not going to let destiny send him on a suicide run, though. With some help from his friends—rebels and scoundrels alike—Cade’s going to use this weapon to chart a new destiny for the galaxy, and for himself.

He just has to do so before everyone around him discovers that he’s a complete and total fraud.

Blending the space operatics of Star Wars and the swagger of Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Star Renegades is a galaxy-hopping adventure that blasts its way from seedy spacer bars to sacred temples guarded by deadly creatures—all with a cast of misfit characters who have nowhere to go and nothing to lose.

Melanie's Review:

Within a few life changing minutes Cade goes from being a young man with everything to live for to being on the run as the alleged saviour of the galaxy. A single weapon - the Rokura - has the power to bring peace to the empire if wielded by the Paragon. The problem is Cade has it and even he knows he isn't the true Paragon. Someone has to try to defeat the evil Praxis who have taken control of the galaxy by destroying planets and ruthlessly killing civilians. It's up to Cade and his friends to try. Good vs evil, powerful super weapons, and the heroes that wield them - Black Star Renegades has it all.

Michael Moreci's solo debut novel really packs a punch. Set in a vast galaxy where the evil Praxis empire is going for broke to stamp out the few remaining rebels gives the perfect backdrop for the story. Moreci created a great environment for Cade and his motley crew of renegades and machines. Cade himself is a likable character although I feel that Moreci could have spent just a little more time rounding him out. He was a tiny bit one dimensional as his reaction to certain life changing events in the first few chapters should have affected him more than they did. At least Moreci resisted the temptation to dilute the plot with too much romance with Cade and his sidekick Kira.

I like this book and think it was a solid debut. The thing that I think was slightly off putting is the comparisons to Star Wars. The reason I say this is that as I was reading I kept second guessing whether the plot and/or the characters were too similar to Star Wars. Although after a few chapters I forgot about that and just enjoyed Cade's story. This is an action packed read from page one all the way to the end. Well done Michael Moreci!

Jack Bloodfist: Fixer
Author:  James Jakins
Series:  Jack Bloodfist 1
eBook:  Kindle eBook, October 17, 2015
Publisher:  Robber's Dog Pub, February 17, 2017
Format:  Trade Paperback, 240 pages
List Price:  US$10.00 (print); US$2.99 (Kindle eBook)
ISBN:  9780997900118 (print); ASIN:  B015P90ZR8

Jack Bloodfist fixes things. That's what his card says, anyway.

When the orcs and goblins of Summervale, Virginia need something done they call Jack.

He's the one who convinces the local PD to ignore any tribal violence. The guy who makes sure the goblins aren't evicted whenever they do something decidedly goblin.

He also does the little things that no one else is willing to do. Like handing keys over whenever a prodigal son returns, or identifying the body of said prodigal.

Then there's the occasional murderous paladin and his vengeful god to deal with.

All in a day's work.

Doreen's Thoughts

Jack Bloodfist is an orc; well, really a half-orc, half-goblin with a large tribe/family for whom he is responsible. He acts as a fixer – negotiating and coordinating deals and problems among his tribe/family and between them and the humans. His people had been led to this world by the wizard Jackson Smith, either as a reward or as a refuge after having assisted Jackson in some adventure, and they have lived quietly among the humans without much fanfare and with few humans even knowing about their existence.

Unfortunately, history has come back to haunt them in the form of Arthur Shield, another wizard and a paladin for the god, Saban. Arthur is prepared to destroy Jack’s family for a grievous offense against Saban. He begins a murderous spree, and Jack is drawn into the search for him. Like the reader, Jack learns about the backstory of his family and the reason for the offense during this hunt.

Jakins has done a good job of establishing a distinct voice in his main character, Jack. As a first-person speaker, his voice is characteristic of a relatively mellow individual who starts out in-over-his-head and then rises to the occasion. Most of his secondary characters are well-rounded as well, using action and the story itself to flesh out those such as the detective, Denelle Halldorson, and the love interest, Mogayne.

My only criticism involves the framing of the story. The first three chapters switch from first person to third person and finally back to first person. Jakins uses third person again whenever he discusses Arthur or Jackson. This would not normally be a problem, but the third person chapters read so very differently from the first-person ones. The chapters involving Arthur seem necessary to explain how the character gets from point A to point B. But the chapters involving Jackson almost read like a separate story altogether, and there is very little that ties them to the main story other than the character and the fact that he is a wizard. The story would have been stronger and tighter, had Jakins found a way to include those characters more naturally into the novel. I give Jack Bloodfist: Fixer a 7/10.

Chaos Trims My Beard: A Fantasy Noir
Author:  Brett Herman
Publisher:  Self Published, March 2017
Format:  Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 460 Pages
List Price:  $14.99 (print);  $3.99 (Kindle)
ISBN:  9781517008307 (print): ASIN: B06XTD7C9N

Edwayn Sattler is a half-dwarf with a beard and a dead end job. One night when serving drinks to the city's rich and famous, a fiery playboy loses control of his magic and goes on a burning rampage. After some ill-advised heroics aided by the magic that lives in Edwayn's beard, he finds himself unemployed and socially exiled. With no other job or friends to fall back to, he signs on with an inscrutable ratman sporting a badge and a fetching hat, and together they dive beard and whiskers first into a magical murder conspiracy that threatens to consume the city.

Armed with sub-par wits, a dry sense of humor, and a handful of magical tricks, Edwayn encounters conflagrating cops, smooth-talking trolls, shadowy corporate enforcers, and an air-headed vixen with a fatalistic streak. When his easy-going life spirals into a thrilling, darkly hilarious tale of intrigue and deception, Edwayn will find out just how close this newfound chaos will trim his beard.

Melanie's Thoughts

For Edwayn it's just another night in his crappy low paid job. As a half breed - half dwarf, half human - his career options are limited. Edwayn lives in a society where half breeds are the bottom of the social pile while the Fae and mages are the elite. Edwayn can hardly wait for his shift to finish. Collecting glasses at a wealthy fae's party is just a way to pay the bills but when one of the guests turns into a living torch Edwayn steps in to try to save the day. What he doesn't realise is that this act heroism means that he is on someone's hit list but he doesn't know whose....all he knows is that he has to lay low. It's not too long before he gets approached by dapper ratman, a rat with a badge no less, who offers him the opportunity to discover what is going on. With the help of his luxurious beard Edwayn, the ratman and a not so friendly ghost set themselves up against the establishment to try to uncover what is going on and to stop anyone else from dying. There is only one thing between Edwayn and the chaos around him....his big luxurious beard....will it be enough? Read it and find out for yourself.

I read Chaos Trims My Beard as one of the finalists for the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 2017 but had I come across it myself I would have wanted to read it. The description reminded me a tiny bit of Tee Morris' Billibub Baddings series which I loved, although the story itself was very different. Edwayn was an approachable character and, bad hygiene aside, he was almost likeable. Herman creates a world for Edwayn that seemed almost as much science fiction as it was fantasy. Poor Edwayn really gets put through the wringer and this is a story with a lot of action. I have to say almost too much action. Oddly, despite all of the action, the story still drags in the middle for several chapters. I was quite engrossed at the start, liked Edwayn, and liked the start of the mystery and who wouldn't like a rat wearing a fedora with a jaunty feather? However, I got the impression that Herman wanted to make the story longer than it should have been so added in more chases, fight scenes and near misses than were needed to fulfill the plot. I have to admit I was skimming a bit in the middle but by the final few chapters Herman had created an excellent and exciting ending to the story.

While I found the pace to be a bit off Herman's ability to make interesting characters is spot on. Edwayn was well developed, as were his relationships with a few of the secondary characters. The thing that I found the most interesting about this book was Edwayn's beard. Herman describes the beard in such a way that it could almost be considered a character in its own right. I thought this was quite unique.

Overall, I liked Chaos Trimmed My Beard but didn't love it. I feel that it could have been a bit more polished had it been beta reviewed or proof read a few more times before it was published. I give Herman's Chaos Trimmed My Beard a solid 7/10. Best of luck to Herman in the finals.




Note: We've been informed that Chaos Trims My Beard has been edited so those of you purchasing now will receive a more polished copy than what was provided for the SPFBO.

Book Expo America, or BEA is the largest annual publishing trade fair held in the U.S. It is one of The Qwillery's favorite events, as we get the chance to meet some very cool authors and talk to publishers who educate us on what new books to look forward to in the coming year. Qwill and I were fortunate to meet with a representative of Fox Chapel Publishing during BEA 2017 who kindly provided The Qwillery with samples of their fantasy-themed adult coloring books by illustrators Eric Messenger, Krisa Bousquet and Thaneeya McArdle. I find a great way to relax is to break open a box of colored pencils, markers, or even crayons and get busy coloring, so I absconded with the books.

For the purpose of this review, I'll be breaking down the books by author. I am also including some samples of my finished pages as a reference. Each book has 80 pages, with about 32 of these for coloring. (The backs of the pictures have quotes and little pictures to embellish as well as several lines for notes.) All of the books start with a tutorial which includes a color wheel, coloring tips, and some samples of finished pieces. I found this extremely useful and thought the samples provided inspiration and ideas that sparked my imagination. I think the samples will provide expert guidance to even the most novice artist. Another great feature is that finished masterpieces are neatly and easily torn from the book for display purposes because of their handy perforations.



Fairies, Fantasy Garden and Flower Girls by Krisa Bousquet are whimsical, beautiful, and brim with positivity. Since unicorns are among my favorite fantasy creatures, I chose to start with a picture entitled "Homecoming" in the Fantasy Garden Coloring Book. I used assorted color pencils, water color pencils and markers for highlighting. I really enjoyed working on this picture and tried to use some of the same color schemes that were shown in the example. I was pretty happy with my results shown below. Next, I moved on to a larger picture entitled "A Wave of Magic" in the Fairies Coloring Book. I chose this picture because it had a colored sample on the preceding page and I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast. I think this was my favorite as I really enjoyed experimenting with color on all the intricate designs.

"Homecoming" color by T. Maknis with assorted colored pencils and markers

"A Wave of Magic: color by Krisa Bousquet (right) and colored by T. Maknis (left) - Markers (Staedler) Watercolor Pencils (Prismacolor) and Metallic Markers (Sharpie)

Both the Dominion of Giants: Behemoths of the Fantasy World and Fantasy Adventure: Dragons, Dwarves, Elves, and other Extraordinary Creatures coloring books appealed to my sense of adventure. Each book features fantasy creatures created by Eric Messenger that are sure to inspire and entertain colorists from about 10 years old and up. Before choosing a page to color, I took my time admiring the vast array of choices. I really enjoyed the diversity of the subjects as well as the awesome weaponry and epic quotes. In my opinion, some of the pictures in Messenger's books are better suited for seasoned colorists. Although pictures like Desert Elf, shown below, would be great for beginners on up.

Partially completed "War Orc" color by T. Maknis - Markers (Staedler)

"Desert Elf" color by T. Maknis - Markers (Staedler)

Sugar Skulls by Thaneeya McArdle is a cool coloring experience. Sugar Skulls have always intrigued me so I did a little research and found out that Sugar Skulls are one of the most popular symbols associated with the Day of the Dead celebration. They are traditionally decorated in vibrant colors which reflect the Day of the Dead as an opportunity to fondly remember the dearly departed. I really enjoyed the different selections and for my first attempt I chose a design with multiple skulls so I could try out a few color combinations. I enjoyed using the example as a guideline and am very pleased with the results. This book is suitable for all coloring levels.

Sugar Skull Wheel color by T. Maknis - Markers (Staedler)

To recap, I really enjoyed my coloring experiences and look forward to more coloring! There is something immensely satisfying about finishing these fantasy creatures. One note of caution: All the books state on their back covers that the high quality paper resists bleed-through, but I did end up with quite a bit of bleeding on a few of my pieces. The bleed-through did not affect the picture on the next page and I would just use caution when blending markers. I also experienced some "pilling" when I used my markers and although none of the pages tore, I was worried about it once or twice. Some of the samples mention the use of Copic markers, but since these are a little pricey, I don't own any and therefore did not have the opportunity to try them. I was most pleased with the results when I used color pencils, but like anything in the world of art, it comes down to personal preference. I would suggest starting with your favorite medium and experimenting from there. I really enjoyed this line of fantasy coloring books and I wholeheartedly recommend them.

KC Doodle Art Fantasy Garden Book
Design Originals, November 8, 2016
Trade Paperback, 80 pages

This bewitching adult coloring book will whisk you away to a land of fairy tale make-believe. From mushroom houses to the carriage that turned into a pumpkin, each magical drawing is ready for easy or advanced coloring depending on your mood.

Visit an enchanted garden where gnomes guard secret treasures, animals can talk, and mysterious flowers bloom! This bewitching coloring book will whisk you away to a land of fairy tale make-believe. From mushroom homes and hidden cottages to the carriage that turned into a pumpkin, each magical drawing is ready for easy or advanced coloring depending on your mood. Social media trendsetter Krisa Bousquet offers dozens of her intricately detailed illustrations, ready to color with markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or gel pens. Krisa gets you started with handy coloring guides that include suggested color palettes and fully colored examples. Printed on one side only of archival-grade, acid-free, 200-year paper, each perforated page detaches easily for gifting or display.

KC Doodle Art Fairies Coloring Book
Design Originals, November 8, 2016
Trade Paperback, 80 pages

This spritely adult coloring book will whisk you to a mystical world of enchanting fairies, ready for easy or advanced coloring depending on your mood. Dozens of whimsical, fun-loving fairies are ready to color with markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or gel pens.

Magical creatures have a way of appearing when you least expect them—hiding in the greenery, dancing in the vines, or peeping through the flowers! This spritely coloring book will whisk you to a mystical world of enchanting fairies, ready for easy or advanced coloring depending on your mood. Social media trendsetter Krisa Bousquet presents dozens of whimsical, fun-loving fairies, ready to color with markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or gel pens. Krisa gets you started with handy coloring guides that include suggested color palettes and fully colored examples. Printed on one side only of archival-grade, acid-free, 200-year paper, each perforated page detaches easily for gifting or display.

KC Doodle Art Flower Girls Coloring Book
Design Originals, November 8, 2016
Trade Paperback, 80 pages

This adult coloring book presents dozens of captivating images of pretty girls surrounded by flowers, ready for you to color with markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or gel pens. Each garden-fresh enchantress is ready for easy or advanced coloring depending on your mood.

From dazzling and delicate to ravishing and radiant, the strong women in this empowering coloring book are deeply in tune with the bursting, blooming earth. Social media trendsetter Krisa Bousquet presents dozens of captivating images of pretty girls surrounded by flowers, ready for you to color with markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or gel pens. Filled and inspired by nature’s bounty, each garden-fresh enchantress is ready for easy or advanced coloring depending on your mood. Krisa gets you started with handy coloring guides that include suggested color palettes and fully colored examples. Printed on one side only of archival-grade, acid-free, 200-year paper, each perforated page detaches easily for gifting or display.

Dominion of Giants Coloring Book: Behemoths of the Fantasy World
Design Originals, March 7, 2017
Trade Paperback, 80 pages

Discover a fabled dominion where Giants are a part of everyday life. In this imaginative coloring book, fantasy illustrator Eric Messinger takes you inside an alternate fantasy world of Kingdom Giants, Hill Giants, Mountain Giants, War Giants, and more.

Ranging in mood from ferocious to gentle, these gargantuan humanoids are ready to color with markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or gel pens. Dominion of Giants Coloring Book includes handy guides to coloring techniques like patterning, combinations, and shading. Guided Coloring Pages make coloring easy for beginners, with beautifully colored examples and ready-to-use color palettes. Each design is printed on one side only of archival-grade, acid-free, 200-year paper, and perforated pages detach easily for gifting or display. This book has earned the DO Magazine Artist Fair Trade Seal of Approval.

Fantasy Adventure Coloring Book: 
        Dragons, Dwarves, Elves, and Other Extraordinary Creatures
Design Originals, March 7, 2017
Trade Paperback, 80 pages

Enter an enchanted land of awesome ogres, legendary dwarves, and supernatural beasts. This imaginative coloring book will cast a spell on colorists of all ages, with fantastic visions of mythical creatures.

Fantasy illustrator Eric Messinger presents dozens of detailed illustrations, ready to color with markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or gel pens. Fantasy Adventure Coloring Book includes handy guides to coloring techniques like patterning, combinations, and shading. Guided Coloring Pages make coloring easy for beginners, with beautifully colored examples and ready-to-use color palettes. Each design is printed on one side only of archival-grade, acid-free, 200-year paper, and perforated pages detach easily for gifting or display. This book has earned the DO Magazine Artist Fair Trade Seal of Approval.

Sugar Skulls Coloring Book
Design Originals, October 4, 2016
Trade Paperback, 80 pages

Inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), this quirky folk art coloring book offers dozens of fun and playful “Sugar Skull” art activities that will take you on a playful journey of patterning, shading, and coloring.

Enter an exotic world of creative self-expression with this quirky folk art coloring book! Inspired by the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos, it offers dozens of fun and playful “Sugar Skull” art activities that will take you on a playful journey of patterning, shading, and coloring. These vibrantly detailed images offer an easy way to de-stress and unleash your inner artist. Thaneeya McArdle’s transcendental art explores a visual language of shape, form, line, and color. Beautifully colored finished examples are provided, along with a handy guide to basic art techniques, from patterning and combinations to shading and color theory. This therapeutic coloring book is perfect for decorating with markers, colored pencils, gel pens, or watercolors. Each design is printed on one side only of archival-grade, acid-free, 200-year paper. Each perforated page detaches easily for gifting or display.

Sinless
Author:  Sarah Tarkoff
Series:  Eye of the Beholder 1
Publisher:  Harper Voyager, January 9, 2018
Format:  Trade Paperback and eBook, 304 pages
List Price:  US$15.99 (print); US$9.99 (eBook)
ISBN:  9780062456380 (print); 9780062456397 (ebook)

With shades of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies and Ally Condie’s Matched, this cinematic dystopian novel—the first in the thrilling Eye of the Beholder series—is set in a near future society in which "right" and "wrong" are manifested by beauty and ugliness.

In Grace Luther’s world, morality is physically enforced. Those who are "good" are blessed with beauty, while those who are not suffer horrifying consequences—disfigurement or even death. The daughter of a cleric, Grace has always had faith in the higher power that governs her world. But when she stumbles onto information that leaves her questioning whether there are more complicated—and dangerous—forces manipulating the people around her, she finds herself at the center of an epic battle, where good and evil are not easily distinguished. Despite all her efforts to live a normal teenage life, Grace is faced with a series of decisions that will risk the lives of everyone she loves—and, ultimately, her own.

With each page in this electrifying debut novel, Sarah Tarkoff masterfully plunges us into a nightmarish vision of the future. Full of high drama and pulsating tension, Sinless explores the essential questions teenagers wrestle with every day—What is beauty? What is faith? Do we take our surroundings at face value and accept all that we have been taught, or do we question the mores of the society into which we are born?—and places them in the context of a dark, dystopian world where appearances are most definitely deceiving.

Qwill's Thoughts

Sinless by Sarah Tarkoff is the first novel in the Eye of the Beholder trilogy. This is a YA novel with very strong adult crossover appeal. The story is told from the point of view of Grace Luther, the teenage daughter of a cleric. The setting is the near future America after the Revelation when the Great Spirit revealed itself to humanity. Belief in the Great Spirit has become universal. All other faiths have faded in the overwhelming onslaught of this new god. People are Punished if they do something wrong - their looks are affected. The ultimate punishment is death. But in between the religious and the pure of heart/thought and death via Punishment for a moral failing are the Outcasts. These are people who are disfigured by their sins. The Great Spirit makes it easy to see who is good and who is evil. Stay on the straight and narrow, avoid sins, believe in and follow the rules of the Great Spirit and you are beautiful. Stray and you are disfigured or dead.

Grace is the daughter of a leading cleric in the new religion. She was young when the Great Spirit appeared. Now she is a very well-behaved and pure teenager who believes in the Great Spirit thoroughly. Sinless deals with the gradual (and not so gradual) unraveling of her beliefs. This is Grace's story. I did not initially like Grace. She changes her thoughts and feelings so much that the reader could at times get whiplash. In other words, I found her to be a very credible teenager. I think my problems with Grace stem form Tarkoff spending too little time making the initial changes in Grace's thinking believable. I found that process too abrupt which for me made almost everything she did from that point suspect. Grace is being pulled in so many directions. What and who should she believe? Who is telling the truth? I found her internal monologue at times illuminating but did not really enjoy being in her brain so much. I came to like her though. She struggled with everything and like most people made good and bad decisions. In Sinless she is looking back on the events of those teenage years. It is made very clear in the beginning that Grace is telling her story from a federal prison. How she ended up in prison is not revealed in Sinless.

Tarkoff's writing flows beautifully and the world building is exceptional. The advent of the Great Spirit and the resulting world is very well done. There are some terrific and surprising reveals about the Great Spirit. A world where everyone behaves well because of immediate fear of disfigurement or death sounds peaceful and wonderful but it is not. As Grace learns more about a world she was so certain of so do we. The cracks in the surface of this peaceful world are there. Tarkoff has created a true dystopia.

The supporting cast was interesting. We don't get much background on many of them but then Sinless is not really about them. What is important about them, at least in Sinless, is their interactions and influences on Grace. From her father to the Prophet Joshua, we see them through Grace's eyes.

There is a lot more to learn about this new world of the Great Spirit and many questions that need to be answered. Fortunately there are 2 more novels upcoming in the series. Tarkoff gives the reader a lot to think about - faith, beauty, guilt, and what are you willing to give up to live in an apparently perfect world? Sinless is an engaging and entertaining debut.

The Giveaway

What:  2 copies of Sinless (Trade Paperback) by Sarah Tarkoff. 2 books - 2 winners - 1 book each US ONLY

How:

• Send an email to theqwillery . contests @ gmail.com [remove the spaces]
• In the subject line, enter “Sinless“ with or without the quote marks.
• In the body of the email, please provide your name and full mailing address. The winning address is used only to mail the novel(s) and is provided The Qwillery only for that purpose. All other address information will be deleted by The Qwillery once the giveaway ends.

Who:  The giveaway is open to all humans on the planet earth with a United States mailing address.

When:  The giveaway ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on January 18, 2018. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.