Saturday, August 3, 2013

Stardust by Neil Gaiman re-issued, Souls Gate by Jame Rubart and The 13: Fall by Chevront and Reed

Stardust
Neil Gaiman
Morrow, $30.00
ISBN: 9780062200396


Tristran Thorn grew up in the in the Wall, a town abut to the wall between Faerie and human realms. He loves beautiful Victoria Forester, but she acts aloof and cold in response. One day, they see a star fall from the sky landing on the other side of the barrier. He tells his beloved Victoria he will retrieve it for her if she agrees to marry him. She accepts his terms as nobody crosses the wall outside of the enchanted flea market held every nine years. The young man also is unaware that he was conceived when his parents attended one of those galas.

Tristran enters Faerie on his heart’s quest. Malevolent others also seek the star for evil purposes. As he talks to mythological flora and fauna, Tristan battles against witches, goblins and trees. However, as Tristan learns from the star what love truly is, the Lord of Stormhold’s children deploy their nefarious plot.

This is a reprint of the engaging coming of age romantic fantasy. Tristan initially seems pathetic as a hero yet perseveres as he begins to understand right from wrong. The motives and respective backgrounds of his star-seeking adversaries are developed so that the audience obtains an enjoyable tale. Harriet Klausner

Soul’s Gate
James L. Rubart
Thomas Nelson,$25.99
ISBN: 9781401686055


Three decades ago, Reece Roth was a warrior for Jesus who could enter the soul of another person and help guide them to the righteous path. However, a tragedy occurred when he remained inside too long and has turned him into a wounded recluse unable to perform the Lord’s work anymore.

In the present, God sends four tyros (Brandon Scott, Marcus Amber, Dana Raine and Tamera Miller) for Reece to train and lead. Reece knows he needs to find his lost faith if he is to mentor the rookies he will take to Well Spring high in the Colorado Rockies. The prophecy says for four to battle the rise of the Wolf. However Dana calls saying he cannot make it as he is too busy with the Titanic. Reece leads his students to the ranch where he instructs them on their mission with the final exam to cleanse their own souls.

Soul’s Gate is a powerful inspirational thriller that grips the reader from the moment God calls on the lost soul Reece and his three acolytes to begin the mission. Fast-paced with a fully developed quarter and a unique vision of souls in a materialistic electronic age, readers will relish James L. Rubart’s fabulous first Well Spring tale. Harriet Klausner

The 13: Fall
Robbie Cheuvront and Erik Reed
Barbour, $12.99
ISBN: 9781616267698


In 2025, The Prophet begins sending warnings to the President of the United States that the Lord’s reckoning of judgment day is coming if the country does not return to the true faith. Concerned about national security as the messages threaten the country with terrorism but also fearing the source may be God, POTUS assigns an elite team to capture The Prophet. CIA agent Jon Keene blames God for his wife’s death, FBI computer hacker Megan Taylor is a devout Christian; and former special ops warrior Bozwell Hamilton has become a pastor.

At the same the trio searches for The Prophet, they struggle to form into a viable group as Keene ridicules the notion of Godly intervention labeling the prophet as a terrorist; while Boz somewhat embraces the concept of heavenly fire and brimstone on a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. At the same time, a high ranking official betrays the country by enabling the Chinese to enter America allegedly to drill for oil.

The first installment of The 13 is an exhilarating fast-paced suspense thriller in which trends since 9/11 are extrapolated one decade into the future. As the lead threesome go through the phases of Tuckman's Model of Group Development especially with their debates re God, the readers will want to know whether the Prophet is the Lord’s messenger or a terrorist. Harriet Klausner

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