Hair Power

Rating:



About the Author:
(Taken from Amazon)

Piers Anthony is one of the world's most popular fantasy authors, and a New York Times bestseller twenty-one times over. His Xanth novels have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world, and he daily receives hundreds of letters from his devoted fans. In addition to the Xanth series, Anthony is the author of many other best-selling works. Piers Anthony lives in Inverness, Florida.





Blurb:

Terminal cancer patient, Quiti, walks into an abandoned building planning on taking her life. Instead, she encounters a telepathic ball of hair that insists it is an alien seeking to facilitate diplomatic communication on Earth. Quiti assumes it is all a hallucination conjured up by her brain tumor. Because of this assumption, when she saves the alien’s life and it insists on doing Quiti a favor in return, she only asks for her hair back. She soon discovers, however, that the creature’s gift extends much further than her new locks that can change color with a thought. As her powers grow and her deadly illness goes into remission, Quiti quickly realizes that there are those that would want to use her for her abilities and is forced to leave behind everything that she knew. Will this blessing curse her to a life on the run, or does the mysterious hairball have more in store for her? Piers Anthony, critically acclaimed author of the New York Times bestselling Xanth series, brings together humor and adventure in this original story of loyalty, friendship, extraordinary powers, and hair. 


Review:

Disclaimers

1. I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2. To be perfectly honest and open, I love Piers Anthony!  His imagination has always allowed mine to soar.


I really, really want to speak on the Xanth series because they were an intricate part of my life growing up, and, therefore, they are an intricate part of who I am today.  But, I will refrain from doing so and only focus on Hair Power.

From the first line, nostalgic memories surged and I felt like that kid tucked into a corner and reading as though that's what sustained me.  I enjoyed the play on words, the humor infused into the plot, and the characters who seemed to enjoy the story as much as I did.

While I enjoyed the quick read and loved the memories such quirky characters brought about, there were a few things that affected the read for me.

The first thing is the dialogue.  It's fun at times, but at others it's very formal, and even if I took into consideration the powers of the hair, all characters spoke in a similar manner, including a prostitute.  My feeling about this would be different were there a bit more variety in word choice and sentence construction based on character.

The other thing is odder than usual plot points.  One major plot point that bothered me to no end had to do with Quiti, the main character, being invited to a dance by 16-year old Speedo.  During the dance, Quiti discovers new things about her powers, but multiple men hit on her and one man spiked her drink while he had vodka... how in the world is this a dance for 16-year olds?

These issues were minor, at best, when compared with the overall story.  I'm very interested in finding out more about the hairballs and seeing how the world adapts to their presence.


To find out more about this novel, please visit Amazon.

Silvana The Greening

Rating:



About the Author:
(Taken from Amazon)

Belinda Mellor is a wanderer, currently living in New Zealand (she arrived on holiday 8 years ago and forgot to leave). Before that the same thing happened to her in Ireland. She was actually born in England. She loves myths and legends and folklore, so all her stories touch on those things because she believes that's where truth is to be found.





Blurb:

Once heard, the song of a Silvana can never be forgotten.

Yet for every man who wins such a wife, there are three destroyed in the attempt.

Fabiom of Deepvale, dreams of winning the love of a Silvana, one of the mysterious and powerful tree spirits who haunt the deepest groves of the wildwood. But when he is suddenly thrown into the political arena and expected to keep the family silk business running, everything changes. Fabiom fears he will have to put aside his dream, for such a quest is perilous and Deepvale cannot afford to lose its young lord.
However, the piece of amber he finds beneath the huge ash tree could change his mind. If one of the Silvanii is upset enough to weep golden tears at the thought of losing him, then presenting himself on the eve of his seventeenth birth-anniversary might not be so dangerous after all.
What Fabiom does not know, is that the fiercely guarded secrets of silk-making have been sold abroad, putting more than the economic stability of his holding at risk; it was the Silvanii who first gifted Morene’s people with those secrets, and they do not take kindly to betrayal.


Review:

I really enjoyed this novel!  The characters and the dialogue were the best parts, and the author has created a fascinating world!

And while I'd enjoyed the novel, there were a couple of aspects that really affected the read for me.  The first issue was the frequent switch of scene with no warning to the reader.  I would be enthralled in a conversation, imagining it vividly, and then another sentence of dialogue would suddenly be shown as taking place at a later time and date.

The best example of this was when the main character and his father had an intense conversation about whether or not the father would leave home to go on a political voyage.  The interaction was fantastic and vivid to me, and then the time switch felt sudden and jarring.

Example:
"Thank you," Fabiom managed, realising the magnitude of his father's praise.  "Well?" Vida demanded, as Fabiom left the library and walked, distracted, towards his own room.


The switch from Fabiom speaking to his father to someone else speaking to Fabiom within the same paragraph and no transition pulled me violently from the text.  And in the thread of fairness, there were as many well transitioned scenes as there were jarring ones.


Another reason for the three stars is that the novel felt more episodic than a single, cohesive narrative.  Fabiom and his lovely wife go through a lot of different issues, from personal to political, from human to Silvanii.  While the switches allowed unique scenes and struggles throughout the novel, interest waned and rose with each new plotline.


And because I believe honest and well-balanced should go together, along with the interesting characters and worlds, I did find the writing smooth and easy to follow.  Beautiful sentences and images throughout the novel also pulled me through the read.

Example:
... he informed them in an accent almost as heavy as his clothing.



Overall, this was a wonderful reading experience, and I recommend this to anyone who enjoys beautiful settings and interesting characters!


To find out more about this novel, please visit Amazon.