Four Reviews, All in a Row: Magical Mayhem Series

The Magical Mayhem series, by Emily Martha Sorensen. (Four books so far, with a fifth announced.)

Four stars for this series so far. (The individual reviews will appear at Amazon and at Goodreads, perhaps with minor changes.)

To Prevent World Peace - Four Stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent…
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

Obviously, then, To Prevent World Peace opens the story of Save-the-World magical girl Kendra, her magical girl team buddies, and Chronos, a hands-off mage who doesn’t want to be a villain, but would rather stay home than… than do anything, really. The conflict between good and I-don’t-care shows tantalizing hints, set in the framework of Kendra’s uncompromising belief in her ability to do good.

Until she declares she will be a magical girl no more. “I’ve decided,” Kendra said quietly, “to become… a villain instead.”

Kendra’s next step rocks into the rest of the series.

Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter.

While the book sort of completes an arc, for me it really felt too short. I took a star back for that. YMMV, of course.

I read the book on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. Also, I opened it on my Kindle Voyage and had no issues. I’d expect no problems using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or other bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device, and the contrast allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent World Peace to any reader looking for the beginning of an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, which you are reading here. I also purchased a copy, though it was free. This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

To Prevent Chic Costumes - Four Stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent…
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

To Prevent Chic Costumes develops Kendra’s relationship with Chronos. Unwilling might be a good description. The unstoppable force and the immovable object paradox comes to mind; Ms Sorensen develops this aspect of the conflict well.

The costumes of the title allow the introduction of Chronos’ older sister, Rhea, one of the villains Chronos does not wish to be, because Rhea’s a fashion-maker in Paris, and any magical girl-turned-villain needs first and foremost, a suitable costume. The suitable costume must be accompanied by a new lair for the new villain. Chronos makes that sacrifice to be free of Kendra.

As I’ve said previously, Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter.

My only, and continuing, complaint is that the story, while it does close an arc, is too short. I’ll not mention it again.

I read this book on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. Also, I opened it on my Kindle Voyage and had no issues. I’d expect no problems using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device, and the contrast in the cover art allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent Chic Costumes to any reader looking for an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems, but I strongly suggest you begin with To Prevent World Peace, the first book in the series.

This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

To Prevent Clear Paths - Four Stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent…
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

To Prevent Clear Paths. The new lair, a lovely abode fortunately sans corpses, does include a blonde terror⁠—or mechanical marvel⁠—named Tiffany to add to both Chronos’ and Kendra’s woes. More seriously, the story brings Kendra’s return to her former team, and her first failure as a magical girl turned villain. Since it mirrors an earlier event, we can’t be too surprised; how Kendra’s stoic response plays out is yet to be addressed.

As I’ve said previously, Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter. By this, the third book, the development of the plot is proceeding. I can’t see yet how Kendra and Chronos… and the magnificent secondary characters, resolve the overall problem. This is good.

I read To Prevent Clear Paths on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. I opened and read it on my Kindle Voyage with no issues. I’d expect no problems using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or other bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device. Still the contrast in the cover art allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent Clear Paths to any reader looking for an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems, especially in this installment, but I strongly suggest beginning with the first book in the series.

This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

To Prevent Smart Choices - Four stars
The Magical Mayhem series is (so far) four books all titled To Prevent…
The first is To Prevent World Peace, the second … Chic Costumes, the third … Clear Paths, and the fourth, … Smart Choices. The announced fifth book, I suspect not the last, is To Prevent Warm Welcomes.

Ms Sorensen, a USA Best Selling author, is known for clean stories for middle grade and young adult audiences. This series hits YA targets throughout, in my opinion.

The books are all quick reads, four chapters long, and to be honest, might work better as one whole volume. I read them all in one sitting, and I do tend to binge read series, so your experience might be different. That said, I believe they should be read in order; too much is lost if the reader isn’t aware of previous events in the universe.

To Prevent Smart Choices brings Kendra’s attempt to restore order at Rouen Académie des Saintes (France’s premier magical girl school) and her second failure… as she perceives it. Chronos, in her role as Seer, believes differently.  On a darker note, Rhea uses her knowledge of the Past to determine that Kendra is doing villainous things to Rhea’s villains. Rhea makes her plans. Don’t you love cliff-hangers?

As I’ve said previously, Ms Sorensen’s writing is crisp and eminently suitable for a YA reader. Or an adult one, for that matter.  The plot is proceeding into darker territory; I’m anxious to see just how it will resolve.

I read To Prevent Smart Choices on my Macbook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app; it worked perfectly. Also, I read portions on my Kindle Voyage without problem. I’d expect no issues using another platform to read. I noticed no typos or other bothersome mechanical problems, just as I expect for Ms Sorensen’s work. The cover calls for a color display, but that’s the only loss moving to a monochrome device. Still, the contrast in the cover art allows the Voyage to render it nicely.

I recommend To Prevent Smart Choices to any reader looking for an enjoyable, clean fantasy that doesn’t shy away from real-world problems. However, I strongly suggest beginning with the first book in the series.

This review will appear at Goodreads in slightly different form, and the portion dealing with the series will appear in reviews of the other three books.

Wrap-up After NaNo

Congratulations to everyone who entered NaNo! I hope you met your expectations, and that, like me, you’ve donated what you can afford to help keep them going.

For me: Not bad. 62K words at the time RL stepped in, which is the best I’ve done to date. I was (kinda-sorta) fortunate in that I threw my back out, so for more than a week, I could only sit. That corresponded with our Verizon FIOS interface box dying, and being without TV (no loss for me), Internet (got rid of that time-sink at the expense of current news) and ‘landline’ phone (none of those ‘city-state’ calls that mean so much to us).

Therefore, I sat and mostly wrote when I didn’t gobble the OTC meds the Urgent Care recommended. Those had the usual effect⁠—none⁠—but since noticing the opioid epidemic, I guess they’re loathe to prescribe anything that might work, for fear all us mindless dolts become addicted. Oh, well.

Most of the NaNo words went to Dragons Run My Life, which I may make the series title, rather than the book. The Muddy Redhead might work for the book. I’ll see. As for the story, it’s nearly done, at about 82K words. More than I thought it would need. I played with some fonts for the paperback, and printed a copy to review in a week or so.

The balance of my NaNo words, some five or six thousand, went to Low Places, leaving me where I had to do some research to continue writing. I’m doing that now.

In addition, I wrote and posted a review for Emily Martha Sorensen’s Dragon’s Hope (see next earlier post). I still recommend it! Bene nota: her dragons and mine aren't the same!

Also, I edited and formatted Shackled for JE Medrick that I hope will be available soon. I’ll post when I get that word.

Review of Dragon's Hope

Four Stars (of five) for Dragon’s Hope (Dragon Eggs Book 2), by Emily Martha Sorensen, with cover art by Eva Urbaníková.

Book Two of this series is almost as much fun as the first one, Dragon’s Egg. As usual with books two, the story line has been telegraphed to one extent or another; wild-eyed excitement at unsuspected things is mostly absent.

No spoilers here, because for all that I said the story line’s been telegraphed, that’s only partially true, and the twists (for which I’m appreciating Ms Sorensen more and more) are delightful. These twists include fun new characters, promising continued adventures for our heroes as the series continues.

We travel another several weeks with our three characters, Rose, Henry and Virgil, and their trial and tribulations won’t come as a surprise to any parent. The perseverance Rose and Henry demonstrate is both touching and necessary, given the responsibility they’ve accepted.

While I was offered an ARC in exchange for an honest review, I chose to purchase it from Amazon instead. My review, substantially the unchanged, will also appear at Amazon and Goodreads.

I read Dragon’s Hope on my MacBook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app. I noticed no typos or other errors of that sort. Based on my experience, I believe there should be no problem using a Kindle. Ms Urbaníková’s cover does deserve a color display.

I recommend Dragon’s Hope to anyone looking for a clean, fun—especially fun!—continuation of a series with three characters whose adventures in life are just beginning.

Review of Dragon's Egg

Don’t forget, my series of books, beginning with Sandfall, go free for three days each, beginning Monday the eighth. In the meantime, here’s a review of a really fun kid’s story.

Dragon’s Egg, by Emily Martha Sorensen, cover art by Eva Urbaníková.

Dragon’s Egg is an enchanting, clean short story that I suspect is targeted for a middle grade and somewhat older audience, even though the protagonists are older than that age group.

Rose is a college student, living at home with an oppressive, though loving, father, an enduring mother, and two younger sisters. She is determined to become a paleontologist over the wishes of Dad, who believes a women’s place is teaching if not in the home.

Henry, also a college student, has far fewer restrictions hanging over his head.

But Virgil James is the interesting one of the three, since his existence should be an impossibility. He may be impossible, but he also has atypical abilities and a definite sense of what he wants and needs. Others' wants or needs? Not so much.

The title should give you the biggest clue about the story you need. I’m not going to spoil it except to say that I dropped my rating to three stars because for me, Ms Sorensen ended the story too soon and then I gave one star back because I liked what she’s done with it. It’s fun, and twisty and begins to develop some complex family problems and solutions, and I liked the heck out of it.

Clearly, I must add more of these books to my budget. And I’m happy to do so.

Disclosure: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, which you are reading here. In similar form, it will appear at Amazon and Goodreads.

I read Dragon’s Egg on my MacBook Pro using the Kindle for Mac app and (for the epub), iBooks. I noticed no typos or other errors of that sort. Based on my experience, I believe there should be no problem using a Kindle. As you can see, the bright and cheerful cover deserves a color display.

I recommend Dragon’s Egg to anyone looking for a clean, fun—especially fun!—beginning to what I hope is a long-lived series with three characters you’ll want to take home.

Four Stars for This Short Kid’s Fantasy

I just got the 'final' proof of Discoveries to check over, so here's another review to distract you.

Bianca is the heroine of Fairy Pox, by Emily Martha Sorensen. Not to worry, the story is much more appealing than the title might imply. Still, I’m not sure most kids would be any happier than Bianca at learning about fairy itch and its cause. But Bianca is willing to try anything to keep her friends.

The Fairy Senses series Ms Sorensen has created, of which Fairy Pox is the fifth installment, deals with, so far, the problems of early to mid-teen girls. Problems with self-image, problems with parents and siblings and critically, problems with friends. While I question the too sympathetic characterization of Bianca and Cassie’s parents (on reflection, maybe not Bianca's parents so much), I thought the attitudes and interactions of Bianca and Alfonse (her older brother) and the crew of girls who are Bianca and Cassie’s current or recently past friends were spot on.

I found the characters entertaining, and Ms Sorensen has a gift for turning a humorous phrase. Needless to say, I enjoyed the story. It’s not a genre I frequently read, but I am tempted to pick up a few more in the series, just to see how the girls and the fairies work things out in the end. And to see if any boys begin to show up around the edges, to throw different monkey wrenches into the mix.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of Fairy Pox in exchange for an honest review, which you are reading here. Slightly different versions appear at Goodreads, and at Amazon.

I read Fairy Pox using the Kindle for Mac app on my MacBook Pro, and thumbed through the epub using iBooks. I found only one typo and the formatting looked nice.

I recommend Fairy Pox and the other Fairy Senses books to anyone looking for a clean fantasy set among real world problems and solutions. Preorders are active now, and it should be live tomorrow, July 15th at Amazon.