The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon

Have you ever read a book that drew you in immediately, that captured your heart and your imagination so deeply that it brought you to tears? I just finished reading this trilogy for the 3rd, possibly 4th time, and am transported to another world, inspired, and no less entranced than I was the first time I read the book.

Originally written as three novels, Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, and Oath of Gold, Moon's trilogy is the story of a common girl who leaves home to join the army instead of fulfilling the betrothal her father has arranged for her. I feel like saying anything more than that about the novels will spoil the story!

There are so many things I love about the trilogy that it's hard to narrow it down. I love that there are women who are active in the military in a medieval fantasy. I appreciate the casual treatment of a homosexual relationship. I love the sword fighting! There's magic, elves, royalty, the fulfillment of the daydreams of a young girl. I think I most love the epic triumph of good over evil. The good guys and the bad guys are easy to identify, and that's something I wish was true about "real" life. How amazing is that book cover, btw? It's the UK version, and I wish it was available here in the States! I would buy it in a heartbeat.

This is on my list of Top 5 Books I would want on a deserted island. If you've never read it, go pick it up! Right now!

Dead To Me by Anton Strout

Go me, I read another book that wasn't paranormal romance! I'm really glad I did, too. This book was awesome, and I would definitely recommend it. If you like the Harry Dresden books, you'd definitely like this one. It's serious and funny at the same time. There were a couple of lines that actually made me laugh out loud. I wish I'd written them down, because then I would share them.

Set in New York City, Simon Canderous is a psychometrist that works for the Department of Extraordinary Affairs(DEA). Each time he touches an object, he can see the object's past owners and what happened to them. He uses his powers not only for the DEA, but hunts down antiques and returns them to their previous owners...for a small fee, of course.

Simon is meeting with his mentor Connor in the DEA's front cafe when he spills his drink through a woman at another table. It turns out that the woman, Irene, is one of the recently living. Connor's power and thus responsibility, is to guide the recently living to the other side. Irene's spirit is being held on this side for some reason.

Due to underfunding and the number of other ghosts, ghouls, and zombies the DEA has to deal with, Irene ends up staying at Simon's place. The search for her identity and her murder leads to a group of cultists who have been legitimized. Simon ends up with not just a ghost to deal with, but also one of the cultists' employees who isn't as Evil as she should be to work for the forces of darkness.

Strout has a very recently published sequel to this one, and I can't wait to read it. This one's got it all--psychic powers, good vs. evil, humor, and even a teeny bit of romance thrown in there. Pick it up!

The Gathering Dark by Christopher Golden

This was actually the fourth in a series of books called the Shadow Saga. I'd heard of Christopher Golden before, but this was the first book of his that I'd picked up. I decided to read it because of the horror label. I guess I've been trying to scare myself recently!

The story begins in a bar where a magician has made several people disappear. The bartender calls in a guy he knows, Peter Octavian. It turns out that the magician is not a magician, but a demon, and he's swallowed the people who "disappeared." He vanquishes the demon and the people come sliding out of the demon's stomach.

Meanwhile, Keomany is having problems. She owns a sweets shop in Vermont. She comes home from a festival to find the sky a pumpkin orange and demonic creatures have eaten or possessed many of the people in her town. Keomany is an earthwitch with magic of her own to fight back with and manages to escape the village.

Peter and Keomany team up with a priest, Peter's former lover Nikki, the vampire shape-changer Allison, and Kuromaku, a former samurai vampire. A Hellgod has opened a portal from his world into their world and is slowly taking cities from the earth, unleashing his demons upon the unsuspecting citizens of the world. Peter and his team must find a way to defeat the Hellgod and send him and his Whispers back to their own dimension.

While I enjoyed this book, it took more suspension of disbelief than I can muster at times. I can get on board with demons, but evil creatures who eat and destroy are not as believable for me. Also, I wasn't very comfortable with the Earth magic that Keomany had. Overall, it was an interesting book, but not as scary as I would have wished because of my disbelief.

If you believe in earth magic and creatures from another dimension, this book is for you.