Review: THE QUEEN'S WITCH

The Queen's Witch by Karen Chance
A Kit Marlowe short story.
Format: ebook

About The Queen's Witch:

"The Queen's Witch" is a short story connected to the New York Times bestselling Cassandra Palmer and Dorina Basarab series of urban fantasy novels. It features Kit Marlowe in a supernatural thriller set in Elizabethan England.

It's a companion novel to The Gauntlet.

Source: Info in the About The Queen's Witch was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7894520-the-queen-s-witch on 03/08/2011.

Review:

This book picked up where Gauntlet ended. Gauntlet is another short story and I was glad to continue reading with this one. However, this being a short story as well, it felt like just one chapter out of a big book, specially after reading another short story where it only seem to confirm in my mind that these short stories are actually chapters chopped up from a bigger book. Well, it felt like it anyway. However, even though it read like "just a chapter", the story telling is the same compelling quality so I enjoyed this book. The beautiful world building which was started in Gauntlet was reinforced in this one and made more vivid. My only complaint really is that I want to read the rest of the chapters in this bloody bigger book! Maybe I really ought to stop reading short stories!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Freebie Link:


FTC Disclosure:
I downloaded this free ebook from Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14755 on 20/06/2011. No compensation received for this review.

Review: THE GAUNTLET

The Gauntlet by Karen Chance
A Kit Marlowe short story.

Format: ebook

About The Gauntlet:

The Gauntlet is a Kit Marlowe short from The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2 and a companion piece to The Queen's Witch.

Source: Info in the About The Gauntlet was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9459086-the-gauntlet on 20/06/2011.

Review:

This short story displayed the same compelling story telling quality that I've come to know with this author from reading her previous works. And that is always important to me as a reader. If the author's voice "feels" flat to me then I abandon that book because I got more books in my TBR pile which needed my attention so I won't waste it on a "flat" book. The world building felt like a little short changed, but maybe because this is a short story therefore there really is not a lot of room to play with. Although the story does have a good structure with a central dilemma and a resolution in the ending it reads like a one-scene strip. There is no build-up thrill. No unexpected twists in the plot. Heck, there isn't much room for a plot! So very straightforward. Therefore not as satisfying as reading a full novel. However, I can't give this book a less than 3 because the author's voice is good.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Ending = 3
World building = 4
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


Freebie Link:



FTC Disclosure:
I downloaded this free ebook from Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26142 on 20/06/2011. No compensation received for this review.