Review: Bestiary Volume #4 (Take 2)

Reviewed by Fehu
Falling, Rising by Annabelle Kitch
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story: 67pgs
3 Pants Off

Blurb:
Jake works for the Order of Divine Human Protection, an organization that works to contain supernatural elements. Being half-demon and psychic makes him very good at his job—until he tries to read a young man suffering from amnesia and is brutally struck by an aura too powerful to be read. Curious as to what could defeat even his abilities, Jake offers the man a place to stay, hoping the time together will give him a chance to unravel the mystery.


Short Review:
So what to write about this story? A demon found an angel and no, this is not the beginning of a joke, just the summary of this story. Jake is a half-demon and is therefore not exactly the most favorite or the most trusted worker in the Order of Divine Human Protection, since they usually fight demons and supernatural elements. He is also the one that found a man with amnesia and an unreadable aura and takes him in. They become friends and this is something we are told and there are some flashbacks, but the story doesn't show a lot about their relationship/friendship. There is a lot of sexual tension between them and of course it's in the least expected place that they find out the identity of Jake’s love interest, which also means he has to let him go. Thankfully there is a happy end, but no I'm not telling you how they manage to be together, you have to read it to find out. ^_~

It's an ok story, cute even, but I didn't really connect to the characters, at all, which diminished my enjoyment of the story. Too many things were told and not shown and I was missing a lot of background information, so I was basically just thrown in as a reader and had to find my way, but there was no hook to reel me in. Nice read but the spark is missing.

3 Pants Off

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Inside the Wizard Tower by Ashley Shaw
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
3.25 Pants Off

Blurb:
Determined to escape the tower where he is poked and prodded and experimented on daily by the wizards who captured him, Rhine makes use of his kelpie magic to steal what he needs to summon a creature that even the wizards cannot control or contain. What he gets, however, is far from what he expected …





Short Review:
Rhine is a kelpie, who is captured for wizards to experiment on him and he is not the only one. All kinds of supernatural creatures and beings are kept in the wizard’s tower, more or less as a magical ingredients source, just that they are living and not dead and that they are ingredients and test subjects in one. The reason why no one is escaping is that they capture the young and inexperienced ones and there is a magic barrier that no one can destroy.

Rhine has a plan though and it involves using the knowledge he was able to gain from the wizards to summon a mystical creature of his own, one that should hopefully help him escape his prison. Of course nothing goes like it supposed to! First of all he summons a sphinx and said hot sphinx guy can mostly do defensive and protective magic, which doesn't help Rhine escape, at all. With the new captives, arrives another problem, they are kids and Rhine doesn't want to escape alone, but to help the kids go home.

The idea is interesting, but the spark is missing. I'm somewhat reminded of a fairytale, which tells us a story, but doesn't really show it. There is not much room to form attachments to the characters, since they try to escape and this is the central point of the story. Also the relationship develops pretty quickly; I would have liked another reaction from the summoned sphinx and at least some hesitation.

Review: Bestiary Volume #4 (Take 1)

Reviewed by Fehu
I is for Imp by India Jackson
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
3.75 Pants Off

Blurb:
Donavan is a lowly thief, scraping by picking pockets with the help of Oriax, an imp he once helped and who now is his companion on the streets. When they learn of a tournament that is to take place a few days away, they cannot resist the opportunity. But their hopes of easy gold are soon shattered by an unexpected and dangerous presence …




Review:
This one is for fans of fantasy with a medieval feeling! It's actually my favourite story in this bundle and it would have been nice if it were a bit longer, with some more background information about the knights.

First of all the story reminded me a bit of a fantasy game, the knight who fights for the king, an evil spirit haunting the castle, who turns out to be in the ruler. Now doesn't that sound a bit like something of Final Fantasy? And so the adventure begins with a thief, Donovan and his imp Oriax, though the thief doesn't exactly know that he has an imp, who perform on stage and while they distract the people with magical tricks, one of them can go and steal the money from their audience.

After they are robbed Donovan and Oriax agree to participate in the Jester tournament of the King, to their surprise they meet one of the holy Paladin Knights, and understandable Oriax is not happy about that meeting. With their tricks Donovan gets the position of the court Jester and it's not an offer he can refuse. What he doesn't know, is that there have been some problems in the castle and that something evil dwells in it, which is also the reason the Paladin was there, who is paying quite a lot of attention to Donovan, but it might not be for the reasons one would assume.

While I would love to have some more background in formation, the story itself is nicely paced. The characters are entertaining and the romance is very light. I enjoyed the fantasy game feeling of this one and if one wants to read a short,  well written fantasy, then this one is just the thing!

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Across Borders by Alex Powell
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
2. 75 Pants Off

Blurb:
In an effort to help mend a long-standing rift between the Shui-long dragon clan and the Ceffyl Dŵr, Xin-jian reluctantly agrees to be the ambassador for the dragons and spend time amongst the Ceffyl Dŵr. The enemy he comes to know is nothing like he expected, however, especially Tiernan. But before he can truly begin to explore peace, he must stop those who will not give up the old hatreds.




Review:
Xin-jian is from a rare breed of dragons and the foster brother to the dragon princess Mai-hua. When the princess is attacked by Ceffyl Dŵr, their old enemy, he meets his match. Surprisingly Xin learns that the princess wanted to have peace talks and it's the presence of her brother, who followed her, that provoked the attack. Even more surprising is that the Ceffyl actually is not against peace between their two races, would even welcome it, at least that's what Xin and Mai-hua find out, when they visit the Ceffyl's lands. It's not after their meeting with the dragon Emperor that they find out why there is a conflict and why he doesn't wish for peace.

The beginning is quite promising, a battle, two enemy races facing each other sadly that doesn't last. I had hoped for enemies to lovers and this might be the case it term that the two races are enemies. Xin's mate fights against him in the beginning but they fall in love pretty quickly, so the enemy part is mostly superficial. The story is fast paced on the one hand, but I felt that it was progressing too fast, while not really allowing for character development. Mostly all falls into place and the evil Emperor is very predictable. Also I didn't really like the characters; they felt a bit flat to me.

Review: Bestiary Volume #1 (Take 2)

Reviewed by Fehu
The Kraken Lord and the Eater of the Sun (Bestiary #1) by E.E Ottoman
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
3.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Egrill spends his day cloistered in his mountain home, unable to leave behind memories of the brutal war he fought and the lover he lost in the fight. But his peaceful solitude is interrupted by a strange creature that claims to be a mythical Kraken, and Egrill can't deny that he is certainly like nothing Egrill has ever encountered …






Short Review:
It took me some time to get into this story and when the pace did pick up, and other characters where introduced, I did end up liking it. HOWEVER, the story is not that long and if it takes one 1/3 of the book to get into it, that's a bit long, for this length. I did get the feeling of loneliness and isolation which Egrill was feeling and it left me feeling sorry for him, because about one third of the story were spend on the description of the mountain and the caves, where Egrill lived and then met the kraken. A lot of time is dedicated to describing everyday chores, like dressing, cooking and so on, which is not all that exiting to read about. I would have liked to know more about the war that was mentioned, about the different races that live in this world, about the gods and more about Egrill's dead lover.

There are bits and pieces that are told about Egrill's past, it's just not much in comparison to things like those former mentioned everyday chores, which took so many pages. I liked Egrill and enjoyed reading about him, especially after he met with the Kraken and finally there was some action and not only descriptions. My bad news for tentacle lovers is that the tentacles didn't really play a big role here, even with Egrill's new lover being a Kraken.

3.5 Pants Off

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The Staff of Kyade by James L. Craig
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
2.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
When royal soldiers attack his village in search of a magical relic, Kenji watches in horror as all that he loves is destroyed. Determined that they will not get what they want, he takes the staff they seek and flees, vowing to avenge all those he lost as soon as he can.



Short Review:
So, did anyone watch Sailor Moon when they were child or teenager? One of the characters is Mamaru and we meet a white horse who strongly reminded me of Pegasus. The story was written like a fairytale and I think the point of view that was chosen, wasn't the best for this story, mostly it felt told and not shown and this is my main issue with this. I didn't connect to the characters at all, they felt
distant and not fully developed.

2.5 Pants Off

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Fireborn by Talya Andor
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
3 Pants Off

Blurb:
Thaniel has been chosen for the sacrifice that will renew the lands and bring sorely needed rain, and it is a duty he has always accepted. On his last day he ventures out to enjoy those things he loves and finds final resolve in all that he enjoys. But that resolve is tested in the moment when he must say goodbye to his dearest friend …







Short Review:
The story is good, but lacks details, same with the world building. The reason behind the sacrifices are not sufficiently clear to me, for one. Also how does the phoenix appear in this kingdom? What about other places, does every nation have to do this sacrifice ritual? Thaniel and Blaise are both not really fleshed out as characters, but I liked Thaniel non the less, he had potential but at the end he goes with Blaise and I felt like I only witnessed the end of a story and was missing the biggest chunk of it.

On the plus side, I wanted to read that part, I wanted to see how both young men fell in love or at least come to care so deeply for each other. It's also well written and the characters have potential. I think I'm going to try something longer by this author, to see if they make good on some of the promising aspects in this story.

3 Pants Off

Review: Bestiary Volume #1 (Take 1)

Reviewed by Fehu
Cleanly Wrong (Bestiary #1) by Mell Eight
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
4.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Rung is a half-breed orphan brownie who can't do anything right, much to the worry of his cleanliness teachers. When he runs away, Rung decides that he can resist the need to clean. Only, there is that one office that so desperately needs help...






Review:
My favourite story in the bundle.

Rung is very sweet and is bullied by his peers and teachers. After a particular bad day, one of the other students tells him, that since he is such an embarrassment as a brownie, the Orphanage and the Council, will probably kill him and helps Rung flee the Orphanage. At the same time Rung heard of the human Prince decree, that no brownie is to enter the palace, the prince thanked all that tried to clean up his rooms and this way dismissed them. (Thanking a brownie, if done by his employer is equal to dismissal.)  Therefore Rung decides to live in the palace, where no one of his kind will find him, since they are not allowed there. Of course a brownie cannot go against his nature and so he starts doing small things in the place where he lives, but not in the usual brownie way, he sorts things not alphabetically but in an order that is most suited for the needs of the user. A big draw for him is the messy room, with stacks of papers, clothes, jewellery lying about, which turns to be the prince's rooms. Rung helps uncover a plot and actually proves that conforming to the old ways isn't always the best.

Engaging story about Rung finding a place for himself and defying the brownies tradition in doing things. In doing so he also manages to catch the eye of the prince. The story is well written, with lovable characters, an interesting story, which flows nicely. It's sweet, but the romance is very light and takes place towards the very end, the fantasy story in itself is interesting enough.

4.5 Pants Off

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The Hunt of the Cold Moon (Bestiary #1) by Beth Wirth
Less Than 3 Press
Short Story
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Home for winter break, Terry is reluctantly caught up in an old tradition, a hunt for a forest spirit that he has never understood. When he unexpectedly wins the hunt and finds himself bound to the spirit, he has no idea what to do with it. The advice he is given, however, is dubious at best and if he does not act soon his father will take matters into his own hands …







Review:
Terry is a student but on a visit home, to his parents farm, he is offered to take the first shot in a hunt, for something very special - a forest spirit. While not believing that he has an actual shot at catching the spirit, Terry manages to do exactly that, to his shock and to the crowning delight of his father, who always wanted to have the spirit, after his own brother caught one.

Isi, the spirit turns out to be more than Terry ever expected and he learns some things about his father and his family, that have him trying to save Isi, even at the expense of his own well being. From the start there was an air of threat and expectations and it all culminated in Terry finding out the truth, that the spirit can grant a wish and that his father intends to use Terry to get this wish.

Another well written story but this was darker, than the previous one. The father looming in the iron stall over Isi, was very creepy, learning what the other hunters did with their catch, was not exactly encouraging, as to Isis fate, since most of the hunters treated the spirits like animals. Alex, Terry's younger brother was an interesting character, but since the story was short, he and his story wasn't explained, like the circumstances, he got injured. Also Terry's friends came out of nowhere, at least that's how it felt for me. At the beginning there was some mentioning of him needing a new place to stay but his life in the city sounded rather lonely, also a reason he reached out to his brother. Then at the end it turns out his friends are his family? That surprised me, since he considered staying at his fathers farm and thought that there was nothing holding him back in the city. If he had such close friends, why didn't he take them into consideration?

4 Pants Off