The story is set up in a time when royalty ruled over
common men and ‘special powers’ was connected to royal blood only. If a
commoner was found to possess some special power, they were arrested and
promptly executed. In such a situation, the only thing that a commoner with
power could do was to avoid discovery. Anson was such a commoner. When he was
drafted to join the kingdom’s army, his mother is naturally scared for her
son’s life. Once there, Anson’s power is immediately discovered by Lydia. The
defiant princess finds herself drawn towards Anson even she is betrothed to
another. And soon enough there’s love in the air. Since Lydia has no
intention of marrying Prince Tenen, she and Anson plan to make their escape and
leaving the kingdom behind. But the royal family will not let that happen so
easily. So what happens? Do they get their happily ever after? Read the book to
find out!
Phil Stern has done a real good job with this book.
The book is a good mix of fantasy, romance and action. I liked his style of
writing which is really inviting. He has set a rich setting with a lot of
background history so that as a reader, I felt that I knew the characters and
their lives. Another thing that I really liked was the strong characterization
– the author has taken care to ‘develop’ not only the protagonists, but also
the other characters. The protagonists were easy to like.
However, I found the plot to be a little weak as I could
practically predict what was going to happen and thus lacked the surprise
factor for me.
About
the Author
Phil Stern is the author of both Contemporary
and Science Fiction.
His
debut novel, The Bull Years, was published in 2011. A hard-hitting commentary
on both the frustrations and ultimate validation of modern-day life, The Bull
Years follows the lives of four people throughout the late 80′s, 90′s, and into
the 21st century, directly addressing the gradual alienation and disconnection
often experienced during young adulthood.
“I
wanted to write about characters everyone could relate to,” Stern says. “We’ve
all had our ups and downs. I think people sometimes feel everyone else has
experienced more success than they have, or are more firmly grounded in our
world than they could ever be. My hope is that everyone will recognize a little
part of themselves in Steve, Sophia, Dave, and Brooke.”
Born in
1970 in Ossining, New York, Stern grew up with a love of all types of science
fiction, including the works of Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, John Wyndham,
Piers Anthony, and more.
“Speculative
fiction is so different today than it was back then,” Stern says. “I wanted to
write stuff a bit more recognizable to fans of my generation. Science fiction
should be about ideas and alternate worlds, strong characters and good stories.
Going
into talk radio after attending SUNY Albany, Stern hosted regular shows in the
New York City area, Albany, Utica, NY, and Greenville, NC. He later went into
the advertising and sales industries.
Stern
now lives in Florida, and is working on his next novel.
Connect with Phillip
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May 4 - Rogue Powers Reviewed
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May 6 - Witches Reviewed
at The Writing World
May 11 - The Reclaimed
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May 18 - A Time for Ryda
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May 26 - Witches Reviewed
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May 31 - The Reclaimed
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June 8 - Witches Reviewed at Immortality
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June 8 - Rogue Powers
Reviewed at Book'em
Eric
June 12 - Rogue Powers
Reviewed at Words
I Write Crazy
June 12 - Witches Reviewed
at Book'em
Eric
June 16 - The Bull Years Reviewed at My World
July 16 - Rogue Powers
Reviewed at A
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June 19 - A Time for Ryda
Reviewed at Words
I Write Crazy
June 22 - Witches Reviewed
at Book
Spark
June 23 - A Time for Ryda
Reviewed at Book
Spark
June 26 - The Reclaimed
Reviewed at Words
I Write Crazy
July 1 - Rogue Powers
Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 2 - A Time For Ryda
Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 3 - The Reclaimed
Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 3 - Witches Reviewed
at Words
I Write Crazy
July 4 - Witches Reviewed
at Soliloquy
July 5 - The Bull Years
Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 6 - Rogue Powers
Reviewed at B00K
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July 10 - Witches Reviewed
at B00k
R3Vi3wS
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at MK
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July 13 - Rogue Powers
Reviewed at Bren's
Book Reviews
July 29 - The Reclaimed
Reviewed at Self Taught Cook
In your review you said you could predict what was going to happen and just reading your review I can see it would be weak
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