So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90.12

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Book Review - Dragonwitch

Dragonwitch by Anne Elizabeth Stengl

(fantasy genre)



Dragonwitch begins with the story of Alistair Calix-son (heir to his uncle the Earl Ferox of Castle Gaheris) and his betrothed Lady Leta, daughter of Earl Aiven.  It's your typical arranged marriage scenario - neither one cares too much about the other but they aren't given a choice in the whole situation.  There is something else going on, though - something darker.  Why is Alistair's mother fighting so hard to assure her son's place as her brother's successor?  And who exactly is the mysterious Chronicler, the dwarf who spends his life working in the Earl's library?

This is the third book I have read in this series.  I still haven't found any of them to equal or surpass Heartless, though.  It remains my favourite so far.  Like Starflower, I enjoyed Dragonwitch moderately.  Once again, all the stories running simultaneously (at least two or three at a time) makes the reading a bit confusing.  I actually read the book twice before beginning this review to make sure I had a good grasp on the story.

As with Starflower, there is quite a lot of implied violence but nothing graphic.  At times it is hard to discern whether a character is good or bad, but in the end, good triumphs over evil.  Having some of the same characters from Starflower return in another story gave this book an interesting and unexpected turn of events.

I would give this book 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.  It is a clean, moralistic fantasy and an enjoyable read.  The negative things about the story are the confusing multiple story-lines and the assumption on the part of the author that the reader has read the previous books.


Please note : I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House (a division of Baker Publishing Group) in exchange for my honest review.

Saturday 13 July 2013

Blackboardesque Card

I love blackboards and they seem to be all the rage right now (not that I really follow the trends!), so I decided to try my hand at a blackboard card.  I used white pigment ink on black cardstock for the blackboard part.  The stamps are from Stampin' Up.  The dotted paper is patterned cardstock from the Recollections line (Michaels).  The card is an ivory card base that I stamped with kind of a zigzaggy background stamp (also from Michaels, one of those $1.50 ones).




It didn't come out as well as I thought it would, but it was fun to try.  Thanks for visiting today!

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Hello!

I haven't abandoned my blog completely.  Life has just been really busy.  However, I have a number of posts in the works, including one on the challenges of clutter and some book reviews.

My blog has a new follower.  Welcome, Danielle!  Thanks to all for continuing to follow my blog even when I'm not very consistent.