Review: Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale

Linda Ash's children's novel Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale is an innocent but intelligent tale. Written in the classic style of children’s writers such as C.S. Lewis the language is evocative of another age. Rose is a young girl who accidentally falls into another world, where her grandmother used to be queen and where she is quickly heralded as the new royalty. The novel span's Rose's three years in this world, while she awaits her grandmother's return and learns to be a leader, as well as a young woman.

The novel covers a large time span, achieved by skipping over periods in order to focus on important events. Through this, Ash has created a story which is quick paced but still clearly illustrates Rose's development from child to young woman. Even in later parts of the novel, when Rose is older, the tone remains suitable for a parent to read to a younger child or for an older child to read by themselves. Ash uses the difficulties Rose must overcome to present many moral messages, which are easily identified but rarely feel forced or didactic.

Ash's characters are appealing and realistic, even the mythological beings which, along with Rose's happily ever after ending, make this story 'a fairy tale'. Even the minor characters and protagonists are well defined and described, having morals of their own to present. The novel's plot, characters and themes make it one which I think most children would enjoy, but even as an adult I found the story of Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale to be exciting and engaging.

Stats
Title: Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale
Author: Linda Ash
Style: Fantasy/ Young Adult/ Children
Price: $2.99
Date of publication: January 10, 2011
Length: 110,000 +
Can be found at:
Smashwords (Kindle, ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB, Plain Text & Online)
Amazon (Kindle)

Thanks to Linda Ash for sending me this novel for review, I am always happy to accept works from authors for review. These reviews are conducted following the guidelines on the policy page. 

Review: Into the Shadows by Karly Kirkpatrick

Into the Shadows falls within the paranormal/fantasy young adult genre, which by any measure is fairly saturated right now, but brings fresh ideas and positive changes which make this an excellent addition to the field. Karly Kirkpatrick has also added elements of a political thriller to create an engaging and often gripping tale of an intelligent young woman forced to make decisions about her life well before she is ready to. The novel begins with Paivi Anderson dealing with common teenage problems, the desire for a boyfriend, an annoying younger brother, school bullying, and ends with her world changed so far as to be almost unrecognisable.


While the beginning of this novel adequately introduces Paivi through descriptions of her thoughts and feelings about her world, it is the ways she reacts to the troubles she faces that makes her a likeable and involving protagonist. By the last half of this novel I greatly admired her, and began to reflect unflatteringly on some of the other female protagonists of this genre, and by the close of the novel, which clearly sets up for a sequel, I was impressed by her growth and maturity and by Kirkpatrick's skill in creating this character, which is unfortunately not fully utilised in the novel's opening.


In weaving so many elements together, Kirkpatrick has created a thrilling and original novel that should satisfy those who usually read any one of these genres. If her writing improves as much between the first and second novel as it does between the beginning and end of this one, then the follow up to Into the Shadows will be outstanding.


Stats
Title: Into the Shadows
Author: Karly Kirkpatrick
Style: Young Adult/ Paranormal
Price: $2.99
Date of publication: October 19, 2010
Length: 60,000+
Can be found at:
Smashwords (Kindle, ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB, Plain Text & Online)
Amazon (Kindle) (LINK)