The Sixth Gate by K.T. Munson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I so wanted to give this book 5 stars because of the undoubted talent of the author to create new and wonderful, fantastical worlds and characters. They are varied and intriguing with events and incidents that constantly challenge the reader and encourage them to turn to the next page. The author has a gift for description and exposition that can put the reader fairly and squarely in the scene. There were times when it seemed as though a video game was being described in words but with the delightful addition of emotions and instinctive feelings experienced by the participants. But there were two problems for me and both had the same heading – “too many”. There were the constant changes of scene and scenario from chapter to chapter often with little apparent connections between them. I found telling the story from so many different character’s point of view confusing, disturbing and even irritating at times. The other problem was the very many editing problems that still existed within the published edition. After I had recorded over a dozen typos, punctuation errors, etc before I had read a third of the book then I was reluctant to finish reading the story to the end. However, I pushed on to the end trying to ignore any more “edits” because the story created by K.T. Munson was still very interesting and had grabbed my attention enough to want to know more. So, I liked the plot and characters very much and think The Sixth Gate has tremendous potential to be a winner with fans of the fantasy genre but it needs a good proof reader and editor before that happens. When I re-read the blurb a couple of times, in order to see whether I had got the plot correctly fixed in my mind, it occurred to me that maybe the blurb could be also be adjusted to correctly reflect more of the tale but without “spoiling” of course.

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Father's Day for Beginner Readers by Ella May Woodman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A simple, straight forward story for children about 4 to 6 years and that has a poetry competition for Maddie and her friends. There is an opportunity for the reader to get involved with completing the missing words to a rhyme on the same theme of Father’s Day. This could be a very interesting if the adult reading it with the child is either of their parents. Cute pictures and cute words throughout that will appeal to the very young, encouraging them to read more. The second half of the book is full of helpful references and tips for parents when helping their child to read – a very good resource for most I would imagine. But as a retired educator of older students I’m not sure about offering all of this information to “laymen/parents”. However, speaking as a grandad I found the earlier section a lot of fun to share with the kids. It will be for teachers of primary children to comment better about the later section. Finally, perhaps there could have been more offered for the child to experiment with using the rhyming theme.

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Themis by Paul Weil
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Themis is a fast-moving thriller that combines the sci-fi/fantasy world of super-heroes with criminal acts of murder, tyranny and world-domination. The super-heroes are not the ones so often portrayed in action movies but a group of siblings invested with amazing powers, such as healing and mind control. There are many scenes of good versus evil involving inevitable battles between experts in the martial arts and with machine gun bullets flying everywhere. The main problem for this reader was that the writing moved so quickly from action scene to action scene, admittedly with a few intriguing twists and turns here and there, that it felt as though I was reading a movie script. I would have liked a few sections in the book to include more exposition. The main character, Sarah, is well drawn and her inner conflicts come through quite well but I’d have like far more description about Lars, Titus and one or two others. Admittedly this would slow things down somewhat but for this reader it adds a lot more context and perspective to the plotline. It is like seeing a movie with too many special effects and very little plot. There appears to be plenty of plot in Themis but kept back for later, maybe in the sequels planned for later? I prefer novels, even in a series, that can be read as stand-alone books with a satisfying beginning, a middle and an end. Moving so quickly through the plot often left me scratching my head asking, “What happened there?” and “Who are they?” and “Where did they come from?” It is generally a very well written book but another look through the “final” draft from an editor is needed as there are a few spellings and grammatical issues that I found distracting. No doubt Themis will appeal to fans of the action packed, shoot 'em up variety of “sci-fi thriller”.
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.


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The Sins of Soldiers by S.J. Hardman Lea
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Sins of Soldiers had an intriguing plot that kept me turning the pages of the book from the beginning. When a journalist from the USA is enlisted in the British army to find out more about soldiers’ attitudes towards the French, the Germans and towards the war they are meant to fight, but keep his reports secret I initially thought I was reading a book about spying. But I soon realised that it was a story about human relationships as well as the madness and horror connected with World War One. Both these aspects are very well done and the abusive power exemplified by two of the officers in the same infantry unit as Anson Scott, the main protagonist, is an ever present threat in lingering in the shadows. Romantic issues are also well done and add a little extra without spoiling the harsh realities of the situation that Scott is in. In fact the ‘matters of the heart’ gradually grow in importance throughout the story until the reader is left wanting to know more at the end, making the writing of a sequel desirable. Although the author does not spend too much time detailing the bloody and grisly events during the Battle of the Somme, his descriptions of the effects upon naive and innocent young men and the sounds, smells and sights of weapons, injuries and death had me gripped. This is a well written and moving story with pace and twists – not always unexpected, but interesting and credible. It is recommended to readers who enjoy tales of personal conflict and triumph that are based upon real historical events.

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