Double Dog #4
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Sabre Dance
by Melanie Miller Fletcher
Cover by Mitch Foust
"Melanie Fletcher has taken all the best
elements of The Three Musketeers and The Arabian Nights to a new level,
writing a rousting, rollicking adventure. All
for One and Fun for All!" -- Laura J. Underwood
Sergeant Adrianne Roche
knew that service in the Queen's Own Sabres would take her to strange new lands. She
just never expected to go there in a belly dancing costume.
When the Duchess
Margrethe de Charleroi, third in line to the throne of Lilles, is stolen as a bride for
the Caliph of Magli's son, Adrianne is ordered by the Queen to infiltrate the Caliph's
palace (with the help of a belly dancing troupe) and rescue the kidnapped duchess before
she can be married to Prince Samir.
The mission is soon
complicated by a scheming vizir, a young dancer driven to desperation by her father's
gambling debts, and a troupe mistress who expects Adrianne to, well, perform.
Now, Adrianne must join forces with a magic-using monsignor loyal to the Queen's
political rival in order to stop this royal wedding.
|
The Lunari Mask
by Laura J. Underwood
Cover by John Kevin Hopkins
"Laura J. Underwood knows how to deliver breathtaking fantasy
adventure. If you're in the mood for swashbuckling pirates, evil bloodmages and the
canniest wise woman since Granny Weatherwax, you're going to love The Lunari Mask."
-- Melanie Fletcher
The coast of Mallow is a land of salt marshes and villages on piles and rocky
coves. It is also the home of Peg Willowbawn,
known affectionately as Granny Peg, an elderly mageborn with a sharp wit and a dry sense
of humor when it comes to dealing with the mortalborn fisher folk of Dun Curragh and her
mageborn great granddaughter Moreen. But their
normally calm life is about to be shattered when the Pirate Blackwater invades the Moon
Isles and steals the Lunari Mask. Peg knows
the mask has a history of evil intentions, but what neither she nor the scurrilous pirates
of the Nightmare bargained for was an ancient evil being--a dark one's essence--stirring
from the depths of the stone. Add to this mix
the crippled young guardsman of the Moon Isles, Eric Brenwold, who seeks vengeance on Dall
Blackwater for killing his best friend, and a mageborn first mate named Kenan who is not
really happy being a pirate (and who catches Moreen's eye), but is unsure of how to escape
his reputation, and you have a whole kettle of battle crabs just itching to tear each
other apart, in Peg's opinion.
What's an old lady to do? Start kicking
pirate butt big time and hoping to stop an ancient evil from rising again. |
The Lunari Mask & Sabre Dance
by Laura J. Underwood and Melanie Miller Fletcher
Yard Dog Press, 2007
TPB ISBN http://www.yarddogpress.com/fletcher.htm $14.00
A YDP Double Dog release
Reviewed by Jim Stitzel
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this review to a friend
Pirates. Magic. Romance. Ancient evil. Humor. The Lunari Mask has all these
things in spades.
When an unscrupulous pirate steals a stone mask known for its magic-enhancing
properties, it spells trouble for everyone. Unbeknownst to Dall Blackwater, an ancient
evil lies locked within, one that may once again unleash its horrors upon the world. Now
its up to an unlikely band of allies to put a stop to Blackwater's schemes and somehow put
a stop to this evil before it plunge the world back into darkness.
The Lunari Mask is a fun little jaunt into a world of mixed milieus.
It is all action from the first page to the last, which makes for a fast and enjoyable
read. The story is nicely self-contained, leaving the reader with a pleasant glow of
closure and resolution, while opening a few windows into what is sure to be an interesting
backstory and examination into fictional world-building. Allusions are made several times
to the history of this world, and the development of those details would likely have
served up a richer setting for the events in The Lunari Mask.
The characters, however, feel a little plastic and two-dimensional. The personas and
psyches of each character when you meet them remain the same throughout the story. This
makes each characters' responses in any given situation very bland and predictable.
The Lunari Mask is an enjoyable read and, weighing in at 166 pages, goes by
quickly, leaving the reader with a taste for more.
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Sabre Dance by Melanie Fletcher
The princess has been kidnapped by a neighboring kingdom, and it's up to one member of
The Queen's Sabres to rescue her. However, Adrienne Roche gets more than she bargained for
when she is assigned to this mission. Her job is to pose as a desert dancer and join a
troupe heading to Aljierz. What Adrienne doesn't bargain for are complications presented
by one of her fellow dancers, an operative of religious intelligence group, and a scheming
vizier with plans of his own.
Sabre Dance has a little of an "Arabian Nights" feel to it. It hustles
through the story points in a rapid-fire manner, and the reader rides with Adrienne as she
attempts to pass as a fledgling dancer while also doing her job as a Sabre on a rescue
mission. While some of the character interactions and dialogue are awkwardly executed, the
story is an amusing anecdote of a warrior thrust into a difficult position. With a little
deus ex machina to save the day, Sabre Dance is a fast and fun read, over before
you know it.
