#bookreview: Paths of Alir by Melissa McPhail

Paths of Alir by Melissa McPhail
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To write a good summary of Paths of Alir is almost impossible - so many things happen in this book, with so many separate threads aligning and so many new ones spinning off. When I first opened it on my kindle, I was shocked to see a reading time of 15 hours (which managed to adjust itself downwards to maybe about 9) so I just *had* to go and check out how hefty the tome would be in print. It clocks in at 782 pages as compared to Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives which stand at about 1,000+ pages each. Not bad. I could knock someone out with this in hardcover.

Giving too much detail in this review would constitute spoilers for Cephrael's Hand and The Dagger of Adendigaeth (though if you're reading this review, you should probably have read the first two), so I'll keep it brief and to the bare minimum (also, there are so many key players now that it's impossible to talk about each of them).
Bjorn van Gelderan's plans are slowly taking shape - his Players are stepping onto the field and changing the game. Together with his sister, Isabel, he continues to move the pieces and guide the players in this intricate, high-stakes King's Game. Losing will only mean the destruction of Alorin and T'khendar.
More rude awakenings await the remaining Vestals and Adepts in Alorin, and Tanis, revealed in The Dagger of Adendigaeth to be more than he seemed, finally finds home - which raises a host of new questions in his quest for his past. Phaedor, of course, is being as evasive as ever.
Of the three val Lorian princes, Ean is coming into his own - his skills, and his memories, are returning in spurts, even as he wrestles between rescuing his brother Sebastian or his loyal men. Under the hands of Taliah hal'Jaitar, Trell's position is only getting worse - will he break under Taliah's torture?

Threaded through the dramatic storytelling, Paths of Alir struggles with this important question, aptly asked by Pelas: "Do you choose your path, or does it choose you?"
It's hard to decide. On one hand, Pelas starts to question the immutability of his nature as a Malorin'athgul and struggles against the compulsion his brother has put on him, Trell continues to strive for honour and dignity in the midst of torture, and Ean and Isabel's paths start to intertwine due to the choices they make. On the other hand, Shail and Darshan still work towards destruction despite evidence that they can change, and Taliah has submitted to her brokenness and darkness by walking the twisted path of mor'alir.

The one slightly negative thing I'd add to this otherwise great review is that Paths of Alir turns much darker than the preceding two books, delving much deeper into torture & humiliation scenes, which may overall feel a little BDSM-ish. It's not very explicit, nor is it gratuitous, but I guess it should be mentioned for those who might not like/appreciate reading these kinds of things (i.e., sorry, not for the kids).

* I received this ebook as a review copy from Novel Publicity.

View all my reviews

Review of Dagger of Adendigaeth here!
Review of Cephrael's hand here!

About the Book - About the Author - Prizes!!!

About the prizes: Who doesn't love prizes? You could win one of two $50 Amazon gift cards or an autographed copy of The Dagger of Adendigaeth! Here's what you need to do...

1. Enter the Rafflecopter contest
2. Leave a comment on my blog

That's it! One random commenter during this tour will win the first gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win--the full list of participating bloggers can be found HERE. The other two prizes will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official Dagger of Adendigaeth tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck!

About the book: A Pattern of Shadow & Light Book 2

At long last, the reason for the blessed Adept race’s decline has been discovered: powerful beings known as Malorin’athgul are disrupting the Balance and preventing Alorin’s Adepts from awakening to their gifts. Who are they? Where are they? And how can they be stopped when they wield a power meant to unmake the universe itself?
In T'khendar...Prince Ean val Lorian has forsaken his companions in blood and battle to join the traitorous Fifth Vestal in T’khendar in the hopes of gaining some insight into the tragedies that plagued his Return. Now he must confront the man he's long thought of as his enemy and discover the role he is meant to play in the First Lord’s darkly magnificent game.
The Vestal Raine D’Lacourte has followed his traitorous oath-brother Björn through six kingdoms and into the distant realm of T’khendar seeking explanation and atonement. But the condemned realm harbors shocking secrets, and Raine soon realizes he’s facing his greatest enemy yet—not in Björn, but in the truth.
Elsewhere in Alorin...the young truthreader, Tanis, faces a new villain in the fiery-eyed man he followed from the café in Rethynnea; the soldier Trell struggles to reconcile his growing feelings for the girl he rescued from the river against the guilt of his unknown past; and in Tambarré, another truthreader named Kjieran van Stone treads the incense-filled hallways of the Prophet Bethamin’s temple hoping to uncover a plot of treachery and betrayal before the Prophet demands his soul.
The time has come for each player to claim his role in the First Lord's masterful game. All will be tested, but only time will tell how many can survive the dagger of Adendigaeth.

Get The Dagger of Adendigaeth through Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the author: Melissa McPhail is a classically trained pianist, violinist and composer, a Vinyasa yoga instructor, and an avid Fantasy reader. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their twin daughters and two very large cats.

Connect with Melissa on her website, Facebook, Twitter,or GoodReads.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

#bookreview: The Dagger of Adendigaeth by Melissa McPhail

The Dagger of Adendigaeth by Melissa McPhail
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Following from the events of Cephrael's Hand, Melissa McPhail weaves intricate patterns of intrigue and mystery, hope and despair as time and events in Alorin march inexorably on.

In The Dagger of Adendigaeth ("Dagger"), Prince Ean val Lorian throws in his lot with the traitorous Fifth Vestal, Bjorn van Gelderan, positioning himself as a player in the game of Kings. Trell of the Tides is coming to terms with his past and trying to reconcile it with his future. The Fourth Vestal, Raine D'Lacourte, has his own battles to face as many truths, long shrouded in mystery, begin to surface after he plunges into T'khendar in pursuit of his enemy. Tanis, the young truthreader, is also thrown unexpectedly into an adventure of his own when he impulsively follows a stranger with dark thoughts.

McPhail manages to juggle an amazing breadth of events in this one book, interweaving them so simply and yet so intricately that each new revelation leaves you astounded. It's as if the dangling questions you didn't know you had from Cephrael's Hand has been subtly answered - whilst she leaves enough clues that you think you know what will happen next, oftentimes you realise that there was much more to it than you thought.

I could hardly put down Dagger, sacrificing precious sleeping time to be able to read! Looking forward to reading Paths of Alir once I catch up on some sleep.


View all my reviews

Read my review of Cephrael's Hand here.

About the Book - About the Author - Prizes!!!

About the prizes: Who doesn't love prizes? You could win one of two $50 Amazon gift cards or an autographed copy of The Dagger of Adendigaeth! Here's what you need to do...

1. Enter the Rafflecopter contest
2. Leave a comment on my blog

That's it! One random commenter during this tour will win the first gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win--the full list of participating bloggers can be found HERE. The other two prizes will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official Dagger of Adendigaeth tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck!

About the book: 

A Pattern of Shadow & Light Book 2 

At long last, the reason for the blessed Adept race’s decline has been discovered: powerful beings known as Malorin’athgul are disrupting the Balance and preventing Alorin’s Adepts from awakening to their gifts. Who are they? Where are they? And how can they be stopped when they wield a power meant to unmake the universe itself?
In T'khendar...Prince Ean val Lorian has forsaken his companions in blood and battle to join the traitorous Fifth Vestal in T’khendar in the hopes of gaining some insight into the tragedies that plagued his Return. Now he must confront the man he's long thought of as his enemy and discover the role he is meant to play in the First Lord’s darkly magnificent game.
The Vestal Raine D’Lacourte has followed his traitorous oath-brother Björn through six kingdoms and into the distant realm of T’khendar seeking explanation and atonement. But the condemned realm harbors shocking secrets, and Raine soon realizes he’s facing his greatest enemy yet—not in Björn, but in the truth.
Elsewhere in Alorin...the young truthreader, Tanis, faces a new villain in the fiery-eyed man he followed from the café in Rethynnea; the soldier Trell struggles to reconcile his growing feelings for the girl he rescued from the river against the guilt of his unknown past; and in Tambarré, another truthreader named Kjieran van Stone treads the incense-filled hallways of the Prophet Bethamin’s temple hoping to uncover a plot of treachery and betrayal before the Prophet demands his soul.
The time has come for each player to claim his role in the First Lord's masterful game. All will be tested, but only time will tell how many can survive the dagger of Adendigaeth.

Get The Dagger of Adendigaeth through Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the author: 
Melissa McPhail is a classically trained pianist, violinist and composer, a Vinyasa yoga instructor, and an avid Fantasy reader. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their twin daughters and two very large cats.
Connect with Melissa on her website, Facebook, Twitter,or GoodReads.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Becoming Holy: a continuum.

But you see, holiness is really a continuum.

Yes, we know that we are made righteous through the finished work of Christ, and that His blood has covered  all our sins, making us holy in His eyes. But that's the end game. That's the final judgement. In this life, in this plane of existence, we're not there yet. The Bible says "be holy as He is holy." (I Peter 1: 14 - 16) If we are already holy, that wouldn't be an instruction. It would be a statement: You are holy as He is holy.

It says be. That implies becoming.

It means that we live a continuum between holy and sinful, somewhere between saint and sinner, neither one or the other; both at the same time. Our religious binary says that it cannot be so. It tells us that you can only either be a saint or a sinner, good or bad; you cannot be both.

And yet we are.

Because even as we succeed day by day, we also fail day by day to live up to God's standards and that is the struggle, the battle that we have to live in. At this point of time, in this very second, you could probably say to yourself, "as far as you know, I'm living right. I'm in the perfect will of God." And yet ten years from now, if you're still alive, the likelihood is that you'll probably look back on this very moment and say, "Oh God, how wrong I was! I was such a sinner."

Because we are still becoming. We're on a journey. We are not there yet.

The problem is that we cannot accept this truth. So we turn away people who are struggling more than us, with sins more obvious or "awful" (in our eyes) than ours, saying that they cannot join the club until they've turned away from their sin. Except that the only way they can fully turn away from the sin that plagues them is through the grace of God poured out in their lives and experienced in the body of Christ, where they are given worth.

And there is that excuse, of course: I'm only human. 

Of course you're only human. That's what God made you to be. You'll be susceptible because of the fall. You'll make mistakes. You'll change your mind. You'll fall over and over again. You'll get into messes and blame everyone and everything around you. You'll have raw instincts that move you to aggression and hate and lust. You can always claim, "I was born this way. I don't know any better!"

And yet the truth, oh the beautiful truth of this remains: You are human.

You have a choice. You don't need to give in to your baser instincts, though sometimes you will. You don't need to follow whatever the world tells you you are. Because you are a rational being with free will, and as freely as you can decide to do wrong, or to continue living where you are, you can just as freely decide to live one day better, live one day a little more righteous, live one day with a higher expectation of yourself. And even if you fail on that day, you can decide to live that way again the next day, with the full grace of God covering you, until one day you realise that you've won that battle.

And that is the grace the church needs to extend.

Not a political correctness that says "It's alright to live in sin. We welcome you anyway."
Not a righteousness that says, "We can't accept you because you're gay/you don't live right/we don't like your lifestyle."
Not a permissiveness that says, "Look, come in anyway, and you can do whatever you want in the church."
But a church that looks with love and says, "You know that we hold these standards. We understand that you struggle. Let's struggle together and see if we don't come up on top of it. Because while God is holy, he is also merciful. And the grace and forgiveness He has extended will continue to cover you, even as you come to know Him. And we believe that as you come to know Him more, you will be changed by Him, and your battles will no longer be your demons, but your victory grounds."

Because that is where we all live, regardless of our sin.

In the continuum of sin and holiness.

Happy belated birthday, Francis!

Photo stolen from Yuin's FB

I wanted to write this on Wednesday night and have it scheduled for posting bright and early on Thursday, but what do you know, that didn't happen. Hah. Also, I am too lazy to look for photos. So I stole that off FB.

We haven't talked or met up for the longest time ever; maybe we should soon. I've known you for -what - close to 20 years of my life, during which we've played off each other, from everything between Sunday school class mates, boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, uh.. fairy godfather and uncle/niece (well, technically cousin). Which makes for a rather interesting spectrum, when you think about it.

Here's to the future, and all the exciting things it will bring! May the Lord make your paths straight that you may walk in it with favour and confidence. May He guide your steps that your feet may not stumble; may He bless the works of your hands and the fruit of your lips that you may be a beacon wherever He places you.

Haha, yes this picture again.

Happy 30th, Fran!

Where I've been, where I'm going - an update

I suppose I should give an account of where I've disappeared to.
I decided to take a break after the stupid #30to30 challenge I put myself on. That was an exercise in self-flagellation, I think. Hah.

And then I was trying to complete the script for this year's Christmas that I've been thinking/working on intermittently since April. I'm in scene 3 of 4 and I hate it already so I highly doubt this thing is going to end and/or work. Gah. This weekend will be the last ditch effort (I said that about last weekend) but seriously, if it doesn't end this weekend, I'm giving up.

Mainly because on Sunday, I'll be meeting up with 3 other writers and Yasmin from Penang Women's Development Corporation (PWDC) to talk about a new project - Voices: The realities of women - a programme for this year's George Town Literary Festival (GTLF). SO. That's a new project (short term) on the slate so I won't have time for regrets over a script that isn't working.

I only have a dance for the Nov #215live and a drama workshop coming up in November to worry about AND OH THE STUPID NONSENSE... I just realised my drama workshop is on the same dates as GTLF.

*halp*
meh.

On the contrary, my dear...

I would like to suggest that you're not lazy.
You're just dragging your heels because you refuse to do what needs to be done. Partially because it would mean that you have to give up some (most) of the ways you enjoy wasting time and partially because it will open you to a whole new level of rejection, dejection and depression.

Because you know that you will never always be good enough.
Because you know that you will never always know what you're doing.
Because you know that you will never get the kind of validation you need because it doesn't exist.
Because you know that you will start hating yourself more and despising your talent more and criticising your work more the more you create, especially the more you can't create.

And you hate that level of insecurity.
You hate that level of inconsistency.
Most of all you hate that you need to change, because change is scary, and unfamiliarity and fear is what makes you insecure.
And you hate that.

So you drag it out over the years, taking one tiny step at a time, always wondering why you never move.
But you have.
And you can't go back.
Yet you refuse to move forward.

So you rant and have panic attacks in the middle of the night, kicking against the establishment whilst complaining that no one supports you and no one understands, and everyone is not where they need to be in an effort to not have panic attacks in the middle of the night because everything is moving too quickly and you're not prepared to GO.

So you say you're lazy.
Because you don't know how to move.

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month...

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid,consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

Haggai 2: 10-23 

I've written about this before, probably many times over. The latest one is here. 

Every year, I feel that it's this year, it's time. 

And then I feel that I have so far yet to go. 

#30to30: Day 1 - Opening the door to something new

Tomorrow, when I wake up, something will have changed. Actually, I should say tonight, before I go to sleep, something will have changed (since I normally sleep after midnight).

It's probably only going to change in my head, the way I've been thinking about it so much this past few weeks, but it's still a tangible change, in a way.

Tomorrow I leave my twenties behind.

It feels awfully grown up and matured, which I'm not.
It also feels awfully old, which I don't want to be.

And yet it will be the same, because it's just another day that will pass, just as the other 10,957 days have passed by.
Then again, there's significance in numbers, sometimes, so maybe this could be a door to something new.

#30to30: Day 2 - on fitting in

Once, all I wanted was to fit in.
Then, all I wanted was to stand out.
Now, I'm wondering how I can do both.

I want to be recognised for who I am, not who my parents are. (It's annoying how often I still get this) I want to be remembered as an individual, and not as a part of a group. I want to be known as a person, and not just a face.

I want to be valued as me, to find my place and my space where I know that I belong, despite everything. That would be 'fitting in' enough for me.

I don't need the whole world anymore.

#30to30: Day 3 - Death

The day is coming closer. It's beginning to feel like a death sentence.

Here lies the death of my youthful dreams, of the wild fantasies I used to have.
Here lies the death of all the things I wanted to achieve before I turned 30.
Here lies the death of the things I was sure of, but never materialised.
Here lies death.

But here too lies hope.

Because He makes all things new.

#30to30: Day 4 - on being feminine

It's funny how something simple like painting your nails suddenly makes you feel just a little more feminine, even if none of your other habits or the way your dress changes. Okay, maybe the way you dress does change for a little while, while the novelty of the nails are still fresh and you still feel a little more pretty than usual.

I'm not a very feminine person. I don't really care about painting my nails or putting on make up or dressing up. I rather like dressing down, actually - I grew up a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. Which makes people think that I'm a sporty kind of person until I disabuse them of the idea.

Sometimes I feel that my lack of femininity is what makes me unmarriageable, as if my lack of skill in sewing and cooking and housekeeping makes me undesirable. I think to myself that maybe if I dressed up a little more, giggled a little more, pretended to be more soft and nurturing, some guy would actually like me. Maybe if I didn't have a career, or if I acted more like a yes woman, deferred to authority and not act so headstrong and stubborn, someone would have maybe asked me out.

But then I would be a lie.
And that love would be a lie.

I will not stop being me just to be more feminine.

#30to30: Day 5 - and what of your dreams?

I suppose it's only natural that after so many years have passed, you've either forgotten about your dreams or decided that they're going to stay just that - dreams.

And yet there's sometimes also that stirring that says "hold on, it's coming. Don't give up just yet."

So I'm holding out for that promise. 

For the husband who will come, for the book that will be published, for the drama team that will rise up, for the arts scene that will shine for Christ, for the words and the life and the hope, for the songs that swells, for the strength of faith that steps out of the boat and onto the water. 

#30to30: Day 6 - The Liebster award!

Sophie nominated me for the Liebster award months and months ago, but this post was in draft FOREVER - so I decided to bring it back out today.

The current rules for accepting this award are:

1. List 11 random facts about myself.
2. Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated me.
3. Nominate 11 more blogs who have less than 200 followers and let them know they’ve been nominated.
4. Post 11 new questions for those bloggers to answer (if they wish to accept the award—it’s completely optional).

So let's begin:

11 random facts about myself
1. I have a problem identifying simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences. (I don't even know why I'm taking this course on Coursera, but obviously it's telling me that my English sucks. haha)
2. I am so super not a morning person. Mornings are for sleeping in :)
3. I felt super guilty about watching 300: Rise of an empire on the plane because there was this little kid beside me. I think (hope) she was concentrated on her cartoons.
4. I'm editing my fairy tale for the gazillionth time and want to kill either myself, the manuscript or the editor. Mainly myself.
5. I like eating.
6. But I don't like deciding what to eat.
7. At the same time, I'm super picky about what I eat.
8. Thus, mealtimes are a dilemma. Deciding what to eat can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour, sometimes more.
9. Fortunately, I can eat the same thing every day, so that solves a lot of problems.
10. I just spent 5 random facts talking about food.
11. I really don't know what I'm going to blog about for the next 5 days. This whole #30to30 thing... was a bad idea.


Sophie's 11 questions
1. I ask this of everyone - declare yourself - cat or dog person?
Neither. I don't like animals, but if I had to choose, I'd say cat. Because then said cat me would ignore me just as I ignore it.
2. What's your favourite pastime? 
Reading in bed.
3. Describe yourself in one word. 
Lazy
4. If you had to live on a desert island, what two things would you take with you (and to make it easier on you, yes, this desert island can have electricity)? 
Um, my laptop and portable wi-fi. If wi-fi is inherent on the island, then err... air-cond? (I'm also assuming there's food...) 
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you like to visit and why?
At this moment, I would say New York or maybe France. Because I haven't ever been there.
6. Do you have any bad habits? 
Is not getting out of bed until almost noon on Sunday a bad habit? =D
7. If you could take tea with any literary figure, who would it be and why?
MR DARCY. No, actually, I don't know, but I suppose having tea with Galadriel might be interesting, or Colonel Graff, or Mazer Rackham, or OH... Edmund Pevensie or even Aslan!  
8. Who's your favourite villain (can be TV, books, movies, video games, etc)?
Oh gosh, I don't even have a favourite literary figure, how can I have a favourite villain?
9. You're about to jump out of an aeroplane, what's the last thing that goes through your head before the leap? 
Am I going to die...
10. Do you have a favourite fairy tale? 
The first thing that came to mind was Beauty and the Beast. I don't really do this whole "favourite" thing.
11. If you could have one super power, what would it be and what would you do with it? 
The ability to read minds so that I don't have to ask questions and wait for answers and second guess and triple guess... and actually so that I don't have to talk to people.

I'm going to be too lazy to nominate another 11 people - consider yourself tagged if you want to do this.

11 new questions, for whoever wants to do this:

1. What's your favourite food?
2. Are you a dessert person?
3. Would you rather eat or cook?
4. Why do you blog?
5. How do you come up with ideas for your blogposts?
6. Is there one topic that you love talking about more than others, and why?
7. If you had to choose between going blind or going deaf, which would you choose and why?
8. What's your favourite musician/singer/band and who introduced them to you?
9. How many unread emails do you have right now?
10. What's your best trait?
11. What's the last book you finished reading?

OKAY AND I AM DONE. :)

#30to30: Day 7 - #bookreview: The Watchers: Knight of Light

I frequently receive books for review as part of a book tour or a book launch. Sometimes, the books are great, sometimes they're not really what I read. I read and review them anyway, because I like to support other writers, especially those who are self-publishing and trying to get the word out on their books.
Who knows? One day, I'll need them to do the same for me.

I don't quite remember if I signed up to be a reviewer with Eden Literary or if they found me via my blog. Either way, I received an email from their blog tour department, and since the book seemed to be part of my usual fare anyway, I decided to give it a go.

Here's Knight of Light, the first book in The Watchers series by Deirdra Eden. Enjoy!
(P/S There's a giveaway at the bottom too, if you're too lazy to read everything)

---


The Watchers, Knight of Light by Deirdra Eden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

13-year-old orphan girl Auriella flees her village after being accused of being a witch, only to be captured and enslaved by Hazella Lamia, a crazy witch. However, escaping the witch's hut with a pixie and a dwarf is only the start of Auriella's adventure and quest to find out who she really is.

Knight of Light, the first book of Deirdra Eden's The Watchers series, is an interesting, albeit rather short, fairy tale filled with magic and magical creatures. Intertwined with Auriella's quest to discover her heritage is the timeless subtext of good versus evil, pitting the promised Lady of Neviah and the Neviahans against the rebellious Shadow King Erebus and his Shadow Legion.

The story abounds with juvenile humour, passionate declarations and the uncertainty of coming of age. Eden tries to be lighthearted overall, and succeeds in the main part, though older readers might roll their eyes at the lame puns that Auriella and her friends laugh at.

I quite enjoyed reading Knight of Light.

I received a copy of this e-book from Eden Literary in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews

The Watchers Book 1: Knight of Light

 In England, 1270 A.D., Auriella (pronounced yurr-ee-ella) flees her village after being accused of witchcraft. Pursued by nightmarish creatures, she struggles to accept the truth about her humanity. Filled with fairies, dwarves, pixies, dragons, demons, and monsters, Knight of Light is an enthralling tale that will capture the imaginations of readers young and old.

The Watchers Series has been described as Braveheart meets Supernatural. The mythology for the series is based on many theological texts from dozens of sects with correlating themes. Ancient writings include The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Traditional Apocrypha, The Pearl of Great Price, and The Kabbalah.

“The Watchers” are supernatural beings in human form whose duty it is to protect and guard mankind from the armies of darkness. Unfortunately, as the Book of Enoch mentions, some of these Watchers go bad. Although the mythology is based on these texts, Deirdra Eden’s The Watcher’s Series is written in a traditional fairytale style with a young girl’s discovery of incredible, but dangerous powers within herself, a cast of humorous side-kicks, a quest for greater self-discovery and purpose, and villains of epic proportions

Amazon  Facebook  Twitter  Goodreads  Wattpad  Pinterest

About the Author

"My goal in writing is to saturate my books with intrigue, mystery, romance, and plot twists that will keep my readers in suspense. I want to see fingerprints on the front and back covers where readers have gripped the novel with white knuckles! Aside from writing, I enjoy jousting in arenas, planning invasions, horseback riding through open meadows, swimming in the ocean, hiking up mountains, camping in cool shady woods, climbing trees barefoot, and going on adventures."
-Deirdra Eden

Find Deirdra Eden and The Watchers Series online on Amazon, Deirdra's website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Wattpad, and Pinterest.


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#30to30: Day 8 - an ode to #tea

You have been my constant companion through late nights and long days, the one that sees me through the joys of 50,000 words as well as the pain of overtime. You are the one who keeps me awake through the sleepy overcast afternoons and focuses me on tired mornings. You keep me snug, warming up my insides. 

Thank you for your caffeine and sugar fixes. 

#30to30: Day 9 - Tantrums, Sureties and Pride

There are days when I still wonder if this is all a huge temper tantrum, a reaction to feeling out of sorts and slightly slighted. Am I just angry? I don't think I am. Or maybe I'm just frustrated and drained by all the drama. It's not as if I've lost my passion; if anything, I am still too passionate about it to let it go in peace.

Then again I've been thinking about it too long for it to be an overly played out tantrum. It's been in the works for months now, maybe even a year (I haven't exactly been tracking it) and there's just a little bit of surety about it, as if I know that it's right, even when I don't. It's difficult to pinpoint; just as hard to say if it's wrong as to say otherwise, but it also seems like things are slowly falling into place and staying there.

Pride is still sometimes an issue - holding my heart in check, holding my thoughts in check. Always keeping in mind that it's God who's behind it and before it and around it and through it all.

#30to30: Day 10 - on prophecies

At CLE:Y on Tuesday, we talked a little about the prophecies surrounding Jesus' birth, and then we got somehow sidetracked into talking about prophecies in general. Reuben brought up a question - when you're prophesied over, do you just wait for it to happen or do you chase after it?

I don't think you just wait for it to happen - if God's word for your life is that you will touch people through your music, you don't just sit back and wait to automagically become great at music, as if you just click a button and download skills into yourself. Obviously, God's giving you talents and opportunities, but you also need to seek ways to improve your skills and get better at what you do. You need to seek His heart for the people, and ultimately, His timing for it all.
Then again, you don't chase after it to try to make it happen either. Abraham did that, and Ishmael was the result. (Random joke: to solve the Middle East conflict, all you need to do is take the Tardis back in time and eliminate Ishmael before he grows up). I guess it's a balance of both - working at what you can work at, and trusting God for the rest.

And sometimes... things just happen without you doing anything. And you don't even know why, except that it's been spoken over you. Way back in 1999, this random prophet was in town (I don't even remember anything about her) and I wrote down what she said. It's one of those things that I record and forget about, find it again when I clear up stuff, and now it's on my desk. Looking at where I am now, I'm seeing parts of it coming true, especially the last bit.

I don't really know how to minister to people. I want to be a potato and not do anything. Or sometimes I want to be an elephant and sit on them. I don't really know what to say or what to do, except to say random comforting words, send random emoticons and cute photos... and to ask if we could pray, though sometimes I don't even know what to pray about. But I suppose it's part of His plan. And if He's putting me in these places, He's going to give me the right words... or emoticons, anyway.

#30to30: Day 11 - on writing

Yesterday I spent 1.5 hours in Nando's writing a script for the next #215live on Oct 4. It's still a first draft - probably will need to be tweaked, especially the beginning and the ending, but I suppose most of what I think should be in the play is already there.

I didn't really have to crack my head too much about it - I was given the theme of the next #215live a few weeks ago, kept it in the back burner of my mind, read up on Jonah, and when I finally sat down to write (I was supposed to have done this a while ago) it just kind of spilled out through my fingers. This is totally different from when I sit down and try to write a script for Short + Sweet. I cracked my head for ages, wrote and rewrote several pages, and ended up missing the deadline anyway.

Any clue on why this is?

The only thing I can think of is... "it's God."

#30to30: Day 13 & 12 - the art of complaining

I was going to write a post solely on how the disappointing the new Nando's rewards system is, but KK said I was supposed to do a blog series which had something to do with my reflections on turning 30. I didn't exactly say I was going to do that, but it has been moving in that direction, somewhat, so I decided I should write about complaining instead.
Only I had a meeting yesterday night and when I got home, I was too lazy.

The thing about growing older is that you often get more sure of yourself, what you like, what you dislike, what you can put up with and what you can't. I've never really been one to complain and make a fuss when I get bad service or bad goods or stuff like that. I just suck it up and never return. Oh, I do tell people I know, of course, but I don't really complain directly to the shop, or wherever it was that miffed me.
I suppose that's something I'm learning how to do - how to complain nicely and to get appropriate responses from the shop/staff. Sometimes people just make a fuss and end up not really communicating what it was they were upset about because both sides are up in arms and being aggressive. That... doesn't really accomplish anything.

Maybe it's just in the way you phrase it - being firm and yet gracious, willing to listen in return, giving respect where it's due.
It's not easy. But it's necessary.

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So anyway, pros and cons of the new Nando's system:

PROS:
- you get free chicken every 3, 6, 9 'chilis', which is way faster than the old system where you have to collect something like 500 points to start redeeming useful stuff.
- the membership thing is now a free app - so you don't have to worry about losing the card, and you don't have to pay the membership fee (though that was only RM10)

CONS:
- on the other hand, a chili is only counted on a bill of >RM30, excluding tax and service charge, which means I have to eat more at each visit. My usual order of 1/4 chicken set + ice lemon tea only comes up to about RM28 after tax & service charge so I definitely have to order something extra, like a soup or a dessert or something.
- the chili is counted per receipt, so going in big groups doesn't make a difference anymore. I can't sapu like a gazillion points one shot just by going with lotsa people at one time.

I dunno. I can't decide if I like it or not.

#30to30: Day 14 - when the church isn't perfect

I was having dinner with a friend the other day and she mentioned that she's at a time where she's just going to church and disappearing after that. My reaction was: what's the point in that?
It's not as if I haven't been there before. Sometimes you just appear in church for the sake of going to church, because it's what you do as a Christian. Muslims go to the mosque, Hindus and Buddhists (well some variants) go to the temple, so you toddle off to the church like a good religious person.

The point of church isn't just church. If all you want a good singing session or great sermons, you can get those on the internet for free, probably better than any you can find in a local church. The point of church (and here I circle back again) is growing to be more like Jesus as a community. That's why you get involved in ministry. That's why you join a cell (or care or small) group. That's why it's called a body: because you need all the different parts and different types of people to come together to make things work. A body is not going to function if all of its members just show up for two hours once a week. That would be... a zombie. *braiiiinnnsss*

Her defence was that she didn't feel welcomed, that it was hard to fit in. She couldn't really find people with which she could click "so easily, like all the other groups she hangs out with." Been there, done that. Sometimes you suck it up, and self-insert until you feel comfortable with it. *waves at random people in San Jose. Or not*

It would be nice if everyone in the church were nice, accepting, accommodating people who bend over backwards to make you feel happy and comfortable and a part of them. It would be awesome if everyone in the church thought the same way, or had the same culture, or were in agreement so that everyone would be happy and clappy and awesome.

But the church isn't perfect. People aren't perfect. And that's what the church is - people. There will always be people in the church you can't see eye-to-eye with. There will always be things that are done that make you just so hopping mad you want to bash something. There will always be situations where you critically say, 'that's not Christ-like'. That doesn't mean you should up and leave every time it happens.

Because you know what? That's what your next church will be like again.
Imperfect.