I rather enjoyed A. Ka’s first instalment, The Winter. It was an intriguing little novella that merged 16th century history with fantasy, and was successful too. I was really interested to see where the author would take us with this follow on, and to see if the great personality and Voice the author has built up would continue with a new character.
The Spring, still told by Isaac’s narrative, follows the ordeal of Eostre, a nun who has suffered too much already in her young life. Her father was a drunkard, and thanks to him falling into a lake and getting himself killed, Eostre is forced to life the cloistered life in poverty. She finds the spiritual life a little too dull for her, but as talk of a nasty plague known as the ‘Delirium’ ravages her convent, Eostre begins to struggle with what is reality and what is the effects of the plague.
A. Ka’s The Spring is a great little novella. Although the second in the series, you can read it without knowing too much of the first book, however, I fully recommend reading The Winter first as all the little nods to Beltran (the farmer from The Winter) is a nice touch. It reads as a sort of prequel story, but with a timeline paradox. It all sounds complicated, but is masterly told.
I found Eostre an interesting central character, one who is a little ahead of the times. For many in the 16th century, religion would have been a major part in everyone’s life. Eostre on the other hand, questions the role of God and what impact the religion has on the world. I couldn’t help but feel that this was part of the author’s own voice coming through. Skepticism, however, is integral to the plot, as Eostre soon finds the reality too confusing to live in. “People keep dying one moment, then pretending to be alive and well the next’ is from the blurb of this book, and it couldn’t ring more true.
Eostre is so different from Beltran though. You don’t sympathise with her as much. I feel though that the constant flipping of realities are a fascinating feature that will have you guessing as to what really is going on. It’s a little puzzle for the reader to work out on their own. The final third of The Spring really grabs hold of you, especially as Eostre is forced to undergo such brutal experiences. I really wouldn’t have liked to have been in her situation.
The first book was told in a humble way. The Spring is different. It tells the story of how the Delirium manages to disrupt an entire community. It is less about the community’s people though, and more about the fantasy side to the story. I particularly enjoyed the reference to the Hippocrene – a lake of Greek myth, which really adds flavour here. And A. Ka really starts to weave her own mythology creation into her story, and it is a delicious treat let me tell you.
A. Ka has an uncanny gift with being able to tell a story that makes you feel 
the wonders inside. Her voice is authentic, not forced, and her writing has such an exact crispness to it, it reads and flows so well. I felt that the flipping and changing of realities much more easy to follow here. Unlike Eostre, if you have read The Winter, you can start to pick up on little details, little threads that hold the two books together. and for such short novellas, they are incredibly clever.
I’m still not sure how Isaac fits into everything. He is featured in the both books’ first chapter – always recalling events that have passed. His name links the books together – Isaac the Fortunate series, and yet he hardly features. I find it mysterious as to how he fits into the grand scheme of the series – a series that will be told across 6 novellas. I’m already looking forward to the next instalment, The Summer.
The Spring is an addictive little novel, one with hooks in abundance. Eostre is a spunky character, which makes this novel her definitive story, and yet you know she has a bigger part to play in the series as a whole. A. Ka’s impressive imagination really shines with the fantastical moments here, and her enthralling weaving of the storyline back and forth is just superb. I may miss Beltran, but this isn’t about him. The only constant is the Delirium and the part it plays in destroying whole communities. The sarcasm that shines through Eostre in regards to religion is amusing too, although I may have imagined that.
The Spring by A. Ka is available in paperback from:
The Spring by A. Ka is available in eBook from:
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In my opinion, the UK highstreet is failing, and failing with such force. Before we know it, our leading bookshops will have disintegrated to mere ash. I’m not sure where they have gone wrong. Sure, it has a lot to do with the economy and Amazon plays a huge part too, but with many shops now offering eBook downloads as part of their set up, surely they should be on the up?
library tour. I was travelling from library to library, promoting my newly released adult novel The Caseworker’s Memoirs. After much practice and discovering what worked and what didn’t, I attended Caistor Library. During which, a lady said to me that although she wasn’t technically savvy with a computer, every month, on her pay day, or shortly after, she takes her two grandchildren into Waterstones and tells them they can have one book each.
I’ve had this book since Christmas and I couldn’t wait to get stuck into the final instalment of The Sky Song trilogy. I was almost savouring it as it was the final Sharon Sant novel I’d had left to read, but having loved her previous novels, I knew I couldn’t leave it alone for too long. Especially with its wonderful, attractive cover, which in my opinion, is the best cover out of the entire trilogy.
the lacking Astraen world and the details surrounding the fantasy element of this urban-fantasy stroke SciFi series. Not of our Sky fulfills my every question, and I relished the parts where we follow Trego, a junior council member upon Astrae who is desperately trying to solve the riddle of the prophecy. This adds a further layer of depth to the book, one I didn’t see coming, and was better off for it.
As a writer, I also feel like it is my responsibility to show both sides of the argument, or at least give a vivid picture of what could happen if people disagree. In my adult novel The Caseworker’s Memoirs, there is a story inside of where the seemingly perfect man, ends up by the end of the story being the baddie. Homophobia is sometimes ingrained within people, often through their upbringing, and I use this as a base for Chapter 9: Mark’s Last Christmas. Now I know this sounds like a rather cheeky plug for one of my books, but if this is a subject that interests you, then please check out my book. This particular chapter shows the extreme consequences of a person who isn’t open to the idea of same-sex relationships. Mark isn’t the person everyone believes him to be and I had to dig deep to get into the mindset of Mark and show why he reacts and does what he does.
with this line of thinking. And recently, in my opinion, one such brave author is Zachary Bonelli. 
I had a completely different blog post planned for today, but after seeing this this morning, I felt it was definitely worth a mention.
Young-adult fantasy novels are a difficult market to enter. It’s an area inundated with thousands of news books published each year. Despite this, American author Candace Knoebel’s final instalment in her Born in Flames trilogy was one book high up on my 2014 wishlist. I couldn’t wait to see where the author’s creative imagination would take us as she leads her army into the battle foretold in her debut.
completely. It can appeal to both sexes, but undeniably its romantic ambiance and loved-up dialogue especially is there to hook its female readership. The love triangle between Aurora, Fenn and Zane comes to head here and it’s dramatic and addictive. Everyone’s mind should be on the demise of their world, but as we all know, love is never far away in people’s minds. Aurora really has a lot on her plate. Themes of honesty, truth and lust are just some that are pulled and exposed to their very limits.
author of “November Snow.” At twenty-one, she was featured in “Poems: a collection of works by twelve young Kansas poets.” On May 1st, her paranormal romance, “Minutes Before Sunset” was released by AEC Stellar Publishing. In July, it was awarded Goodreads Book of the Month. It’s the first novel in The Timely Death Trilogy. Her first short story, “Sean’s Bullet,” released in an anthology in October, 2013, and her upcoming novel, “Seconds Before Sunrise,” is expected to release March 27, 2014.
Eric’s and Jessica’s point of view. I’m intrigued to read how you structure your work. Do you write all of Eric’s story first, or swap between the two? Do you have a personal favourite? And, is it difficult for you to get inside the head of a male character, being female I mean?