Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Kalieri Tales: Choices/ Susan Stuckey



Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Fantasy/Short Story

Approximate word count: 5-6,000 words

Availability 

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Susan Stuckey “graduated from college multiple times with different degrees and enough credit hours for even more degrees. In the midst of the college courses she met and married her husband, and is still happily married many years later. Always an avid reader … She resumed her affair with writing when the ‘nest’ emptied and has continued writing (off and on–usually off) until the present day.”
Find out more about her at her website or connect with her on facebook.

Description:

“Ranger Thaenad, aided by a group of Black Wolves, rescues a group of women and children from certain death at the hands of the butchering worshippers of the Dark God. As he guides them toward safety, a traitor within their group exposes his every move to pursuing enemy forces. Are Thaenad’s skills and magic capable of neutralizing the traitor and overcoming the enemy?” 

Appraisal:

This is a short story that has a lot of wallop for seventeen pages. It is about Thaenad, the Ranger from Kaserie’s Choice, and it is not clear whether this story is a prequel or not, but that is irrelevant. Kalieri Tales has the potential to become an epic and it seems that choices are going to be a recurring theme because he has to make a tough one, but he is also not the only one with choices to make.

When our hero hears a call for help in the ether from his cousin Gwenneth, he is quick to respond. She and a small group of refugees, mostly younglings, are held up in a small broken down hovel being hunted by a group of Halurdow and they are closing in on their location.

The plot moves quickly as our small band flees for the safety of Stryker Pass that is several days away. During their travels we discover more about our hero's past and his special abilities. One of my favorite elements of the Kalieri Tales so far is the role Ms. Stuckey has given the Black Wolves. They are protectors with the ability to communicate with Liheirens (A group of the Kalieri to whom Azrael, one of the Twin Gods, gave more direct/immediate access to the magic He endowed to the world of Aldura). Thaenad proves to be a hero, in every sense of the word, in this tale and the wolves prove their loyalty to him as well.

I feel like some of the characters that are introduced in this story will have greater roles in the future. Personally, I would like to see Elise, one of the younglings, join with Kaserie and Thaenad. I am looking forward to the next installment.

Format/Typo Issues:
I noticed no editing issues at all. 

Rating: ***** Five stars

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