Broken Wings Tour Wrap

In case you haven’t picked up on this, I love the CSFF Blog Tours, but I have to admit, some are more fun than others. The tour we held this week for Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore ranks as one of my all time favorites.

Why so? We had a good turn out–twenty-three participants–though certainly not the greatest number we’ve had. We had a nice number of posts–forty-six, which averages to two apiece. We had some give-and-take–participants answering one another in comments or in posts. A lively exchange always makes a tour more interesting, but we’ve had ones with greater amounts of discourse in the past. So what made this tour so good?

I think it was the quality of the posts. I don’t remember a time in which so many bloggers went to Scripture to research or compare or study. When a novel can push readers to examine God’s authoritative Word to see what is true, well, that’s the ultimate in “thought-provoking,” I think.

Then, too, there was more enthusiasm than many a tour. Bloggers said they found a new favorite or they’d become fans or they were anticipating the third book in the trilogy. More than one who said they weren’t partial to angel books said they were pleasantly surprised by Broken Wings. More than one said they found this second in the trilogy to be a stronger book than the first. More than one said the book crossed over from its target (female) young adult audience to adults of any stripe.

In short, enthusiastic bloggers writing quality posts makes for an outstanding tour. Thanks to all the participants and those who commented. But now . . . (drum roll, please) all that’s left is for us to pick the April Top Tour Blogger–which I don’t think is going to be easy.

Here are the nominees and the links to their articles. You may want to peruse them before you vote.

√ √ √ Julie Bihn
√ √ √ Emma or Audrey Engel
√ √ √ Jason Joyner
√ √ √ Carol Keen
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books
√ √ √ Jojo Sutis
√ √ √ Steve Trower
√ √ √ Shane Werlinger

CSFF Blog Tour – Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore, Day 3

Today is review day, but first I want to mention a couple of my fellow CSFF Blog Tour participants’ posts for Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore. For the first time in tour history we have a video review. As a matter of fact JoJo Sutis posted videos all three days of the tour, but check out her review. It’s pretty cool hearing the enthusiasm in her voice as she gives her recommendation at the end–something that words on a screen can’t quite capture.

Also Karielle @ Books à la Mode has a wonderful interview with Shannon Dittemore, and she arranged for a publisher book giveaway–a great opportunity for anyone interested in reading the Angel Eyes Trilogy but thinking it’s hard to spend money on three books. Well, the winner of the giveaway can buy Angel Eyes now, enjoy Broken Wings as a freebie, and start saving for the final installment Dark Halo coming out in August.

Another participant–one of three new to the tour this month–is also holding a giveaway, so anyone interested in winning a free copy of Broken Wings might consider entering both to double the chances. This second offer is from Emma or Audrey Engel.

And now my review.

The Story. Broken Wings continues the Angel Eyes story where the first book left off. Teenagers Brielle and Jake are looking forward to a future together, but Jake now has a secret. Before long, trouble surfaces in the form of a young woman who shows interest in Brielle’s father and who seems to have a negative influence on him because he has become belligerent toward Jake and has started drinking heavily.

If those real life issues weren’t enough, the forces of evil have targeted Jake and Brielle because of their special gifts–his to heal, hers to see beyond the terrestrial.

Strengths. I posted yesterday about Shannon Dittemore’s quality of writing because I wanted to do it justice. That still didn’t happen, but suffice it to say, I think the strong voice and the poetic language are huge strengths in the story. But so is the theme.

I don’t often rave about the theme (which, by the way, I’m not giving away, because that would be a huge spoiler) of a novel because some readers may immediately conclude that the book was preachy. For me, it’s just the opposite. A theme isn’t really well done if it stands like gaudy decor that can’t be overlooked. Shannon weaves the themes of her story seamlessly in with the other elements of character development and unfolding plot.

Speaking of which, there is lots going on in this book–conflict in the heavenlies, discord at home, mysteries surrounding Brielle’s mother and Jake’s parents, and a key issue of trust. Never a dull moment, you might say.

Weaknesses. There’s one aspect that Broken Wings can’t get away from–it reads like a middle book. That’s because it IS a middle book. Although Shannon does a masterful job in bringing each book to a resolution, there’s no denying that the Angel Eyes Trilogy is one grand story and Broken Wings is the middle piece, the equivalent of The Two Towers to Lord of the Rings. Is that really a weakness? Only in the sense that readers not knowing what they were picking up might be dismayed–either by not having read Angel Eyes, Book 1 or by realizing that much of the mystery won’t be answered until Dark Halo, Book 3.

Earlier this week another issue came up in a post by Shannon McDermott. She said she found she didn’t care as much for the two main characters in this second installment. I realized I had a similar experience but for a different reason. I didn’t find anything the characters did or their unfolding personalities objectionable. In fact, in many ways I learned to know them better, especially Brielle, because of the interactions they had with different people.

Then why did I feel some distance? I believe it’s because I didn’t know early in the story what the characters wanted or needed. There was lots going on, mind you, but it seems the characters were mostly responding to what was happening to them as opposed to making things happen. It’s the latter that gets me cheering for characters, hoping for their success, fearing their failure. Certainly this was what I experienced during the climax which was beautifully engineered. I would have felt closer to the characters if this had been the case throughout the story.

Recommendation. In no way am I any less wildly enthusiastic about the Angel Eyes Trilogy or Shannon Dittemlore as a writer. In fact, I’ve noticed on the tour reviewers who were mildly in favor of Book 1 are now declaring themselves to be fans or moving these books into the category of favorites. More than one has said they believe Broken Wings is a stronger book. It’s an indication, I think, that these books have what Christian readers are looking for–a wonderful story, told well, which reveals deep spiritual truth. I rank the Angel Eyes Trilogy as Must Read for Christian teenage girls, and I highly recommend it for all teens and adults.

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

CSFF Blog Tour Wrap – The Orphan King / Fortress of Mist

The accomplished novelist Sigmund Brouwer reworked an earlier set of novels to create the books in his new Merlin’s Immortals series, of which The Orphan King is book one and Fortress of Mist is book two. The CSFF Blog Tour had the good fortune to feature both books last week.

Twenty-six bloggers took part in the tour, posting a total of forty-five articles. Among my favorites were Rebekah Loper‘s comparison of the series upon which the Immortals is based with this new iteration. I also loved Stever Trower’s Tuesday Tunes with the new slant toward telling the story with his song selections. Very clever and fun! Several of us discussed magic, and many of us compared book one with book two.

But now it is your turn to determine which articles rose to the top. Here are the bloggers eligible for the February CSFF Top Tour Blogger Award:

√ √ √ Julie Bihn
√ √ √ Nikole Hahn
√ √ √ Janeen Ippolito
√ √ √ Rebekah Loper
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books

Thanks in advance for your help selecting the winner (and can we please bring an end to the ties we’ve been having? ).

Voting ends midnight (Pacific time), March 4. That’s a week from today.

CSFF Tour Wrap – Angel Eyes

What an interesting group of posts we had for the Angel Eyes tour. This first in the trilogy by the same name, written by Shannon Dittemore, comprised 39 posts by 21 participants.

We had everything, from one of our members losing (nearly) his man card for admitting that he had read the Twilight books (cough, Jason) to a thoughtful discussion about healing and a scholarly look at the history of halos.

As always, we now have the enjoyable task of choosing a winner of the CSFF Top Tour Blogger–this one the first in 2013. The cool part about this is that it gives us a chance to revisit some of the articles. Here are the eligible candidates and the links to what they wrote:

√ √ √ Julie Bihn
√ √ √ Jason Joyner
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books
√ √ √ Anna Mittower
√ √ √ Steve Trower

The poll will be open until midnight Tuesday, February 5. Thanks for your participation.

CSFF Tour Wrap – Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Call it small and intimate, but I say it packed a punch! I’m referring to the December CSFF Blog Tour for Starflower, fourth in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

The book wasn’t controversial, so it didn’t generate long discussions or posts countering other posts. What it did produce, for the most part, were favorable reviews, and a few that fall into the rave category. Clearly, Starflower has earned its author fans among the CSFF participants. That’s a successful tour, I say.

Sixteen of us participated, generating a total of thirty articles. Of those sixteen, these are eligible for the December Top Tour Blogger Award:

√ √ √ Nikole Hahn
√ √ √ Janeen Ippolito
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books

I waited to post this wrap until after Christmas, hoping that visitors would soon return to normal blog reading habits after the busy-ness of the holiday season, but of course there is still New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day coming . . .

I hope you can squeeze in some time to review these excellent posts and then add your vote for the blogger you think deserves the last CSFF award of 2012. You’ll have until midnight (Pacific time) Monday, January 7 to vote.

CSFF Blog Tour – Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, Day 3

Grimm or Tangled? Once Upon A Time or Snow White? Since fairytales aren’t what they used to be, readers may not be sure what they’re getting when they pick up a book touted as a fairytale fantasy.

Starflower, book four of the Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl is somewhat of a mix of the two extremes. While the covers of each of the books in the series might lead a reader to think along the lines of the happy-ever-after stories, there’s a great deal of the dark side of fairytales in the pages behind those placid pictures.

A Review

The Story Eanrin, a faery who can take the shape of a cat, is the poet of Rudiobus Mountain. He, like the others in this faery kingdom, is light-hearted, self-assured, perhaps a little bored. His world turns around when he sees the Golden Hound–something that would not have happened if he hadn’t stopped to help a mortal girl caught in a curse because she went too close to the river.

The girl turns out to be cursed in more ways than one because she cannot speak. Against his better judgment, Eanrin saves her more than once and determines he must see her safely out of the faery realm.

The problem is, he’s on a mission. The professed love of his life has been taken captive by a dragon woman. In order to win his love’s hand, he must rescue her before Glomar, the captain of the guard, does. The race is on! But the cursed mortal makes Eanrin’s life … confusing.

Starflower is cursed, but not in the way Eanrin thinks. After he saves her from certain death, yet again, she determines she will help him rescue his professed love. To do so, she makes a bargain with the dragon that unleashes more than the captive faery.

Strengths. There are many things to love in this story. The writing is beautiful; the characters memorable, unique, creative, realistic; the plot, unpredictable; the theme, woven subtly into the fabric of the story.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the story is the portrayal of the title character. The mortal girl Starflower is a heroine to love. She is not weak and helpless, suffering as a victim, awaiting someone to rescue her. Nor is she a macho woman, out to conquer or to shed blood trying.

Rather, she is a character who withstands. She chooses to do what is right when it goes against her culture, to love when she is shamed for it, to sacrifice rather than give in. She is truly noble.

I also loved the way the theme is subtly woven into the story. There is no long exposition detailing how and why and who at the appearance of the Golden Hound. He simply is who he is.

Another wonderful strength of this book is the creativity of the world. From the river to the enchanted and vacant city of Etalpalli to the lands of the Crescent Tribes, the world is rich, detailed, unexpected, sometimes magical in the best sense of the word and sometimes in the worst.

An interesting aspect of the story is the humor–the light-hearted behavior of the faeries who don’t take too much in life seriously, who have little worry and less fear. Eanrin in particular reminds me most of Shakespeare’s fairy Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He’s not such a great prankster, but he has the same “faery-ness.”

Weakness. I am a huge fan of Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s, as you can probably tell by what I’ve already said. Nevertheless, I’d prefer a story that had a stronger start. Because the book is entitled Starflower, I’d prefer to see the title character front and center. I realize that withholding her backstory is designed to create intrigue, but since her past is such a huge part of the story and comes out as a fairly lengthy flashback, I think I’d have connected sooner and cared more deeply if the story had started with Starflower and her plight. As it was, I thought the story unfolded too slowly.

That’s my only complaint, but it’s a big one because I can see readers mistakenly setting the book down and not coming back to it, thinking the pace isn’t going to pick up.

I’d like to shout loudly, keep going!

Recommendation. Fairytale fantasy is an interesting genre. Not everyone will enjoy the Alice in Wonderland feel that seeps into Starflower at times. That’s too bad because they’ll miss out on some of the most inventive fiction in the Christian speculative genre.

I personally think “young adult” isn’t quite the right market group. I’d say this one will best be enjoyed by the twenties and thirties crowd. Anyone who is a fan of the fairytale genre, especially the new iteration made popular by the TV shows mentioned earlier, must read Starflower and the entire Tales of Goldstone Wood series.

CSFF Tour Wrap – The Spirit Well

This week thirty-five members of the CSFF Blog Tour spent time discussing The Spirit Well, book three of the Bright Empires series by Stephen Lawhead. We had a creative interview of one of the antagonists by Robert Treskillard, a discussion about why some people refer to speculative literature as “weird” by Shannon McDermott, a look at how The Spirit Well stacks up and fits in with the other books in the series by Janeen Ippolito, and much more.

In all, we were treated to fifty-eight articles, with two yet pending. What’s more, there was near universal acclaim for this book. Though some participants found the pace slower than is common today, most agreed that this book moved the story forward and was a great addition to the series.

The only way, of course, to know if what we said is true would be to read the books for yourselves.

Here are the participants, having posted all three days of the tour, who are eligible for this month’s Top Tour Blogger Award. The check marks provide direct links to each article.

√ √ √ Jim Armstrong
√ √ √ Julie Bihn
√ √ √ Thomas Clayton Booher
√ √ √ Timothy Hicks
√ √ √ Jason Joyner
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books
√ √ √ Robert Treskillard
√ √ √ Steve Trower

You’ll have until midnight (Pacific time) Monday, November 5 to scan the articles and vote for the blogger you think was creative, thought-provoking, interesting, or made you laugh the most. You get to decide what criteria to use and who meets them.

You might also wish to vote in a poll about genre choice.

CSFF Tour Wrap – The Telling

Some tours generate controversy, others wide acclaim. I wouldn’t say The Telling by Mike Duran achieved the latter, but it hardly stirred up controversy either. I suspect that CSFF members who would have questioned the Biblical accuracy of some of the speculative elements simply chose to sit this one out. Hence, the numbers are somewhat down for this tour, but the praise is quite widespread. Not unanimous, certainly, but by far more participants praised the book than found fault with it.

In the end twenty-five bloggers posted thirty-nine articles over three days, with three yet to post (scheduling issues).

So here are the *participants eligible for the September CSFF Top Tour Blogger Award:

√ √ √ Keanan Brand
√ √ √ Bruce Hennigan
√ √ √ Jason Joyner
√ √ √ Carol Keen
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books
√ √ √ Lyn Perry
√ √ √ Jessica Thomas

I invite you to review the posts of our eligible participants, then vote for the one you think is most deserving of the award. You’ll have just one week. The poll closes midnight (Pacific time), October 8.

*Lest anyone should think I inadvertently left off Steve Trower, I’ll mention that I decided not to include him since his Monday post was primarily a review of the Ross Lawhead book we toured while Steve was becoming a new father. I appreciate his due diligence a great deal and encourage any who haven’t stopped by his site to do so. You might especially like his regular Tuesday tour feature–Tuesday Tunes.

Tour Wrap – Eye Of The Sword

It’s been a long time since the CSFF Blog Tour has had a controversial tour such as we had last week for Karyn Henley’s Eye of the Sword, book two of the Angeleon Circle. While the majority of bloggers participating in the tour agreed that the book was well-written, the story engaging, the characters well-drawn, a good number had trouble with the way angels appeared in the book. It’s certainly a question I felt needed to be addressed, and the side of the issue a person falls probably determines how they reacted to Eye of the Sword.

In all we had 32 bloggers post a total of 48 articles featuring author Karyn Henley and/or the book.

Most enthusiastic award goes to Theresa Dunlap for her fine review. We have a good group of participants who posted all three days of the tour, making them eligible for the Top Tour Blogger Award:

√ √ √ Keanan Brand
√ √ √ Julie Bihn
√ √ √ Janeen Ippolito
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books
√ √ √ Shane Werlinger

All that’s left, then, is the voting. The check marks beside each post link to a tour article. Take some time this week to pursue the articles that interest you–reviews, an author interview, discussions on the use of angels, personal growth, and more. Then vote in the poll below for the blogger you think deserves the recognition of Top Tour Blogger for August. The poll will remain open until midnight, Sunday, September 2.

Thanks in advance for taking part.

CSFF Blog Tour Wrap – Beckon by Tom Pawlik

With school ending and summer creeping in, CSFF squeezed in a blog tour for Beckon by award-winning author Tom Pawlik. The modest tour for this adult speculative thriller included thirty-seven posts from twenty-five bloggers.

Those who posted all three days of the tour are eligible for the CSFF Top Tour Blogger Award for May. Below are the links to the articles of each participant up for the award.

√ √ √ Julie Bihn
√ √ √ Bruce Hennigan
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Fred Warren

So now the power shifts into the hands of the readers, and it is time to vote (just a little Survivor lingo there, for your entertainment. ) You have until midnight (Pacific time), Sunday June 10 to review the posts and make your decision.

And while you’re voting, why not click over to “Change and the Books You Read” and vote in that opinion poll as well. You’re participation in both these is greatly appreciated.