Seven Trees of Stone: Thirteen Days of Midnight Trilogy Book 3

by Leo Hunt
reviewed from e-reader

Please keep in mind that this review is written from an Advance Reading Copy and is not the final product.

A fantasy and an incredible adventure for teens and young adults (as well as this grandmother!)

A couple of young college students are about to witness an extremely unusual event. Will they survive it? First there were the White Swans, hundreds, thousands or more, where did they all come from and what are they trying to do? Not only that but later, where did they go? Very peculiar, at some point they all just disappeared again flying backwards. I love this story already.

This adventurous race against time in the dead of winter is not only hazardous, it is probably even deadly. Who or what is Mr. Berkeley? What debt does Luke owe him and just how dangerous is he or it?

This New Years Eve promises to be the strangest ever, and perhaps the most dangerous. Luke and his friend Elza notice something very weird, fog that is creeping and moving; what is it made of and what is creating its movement? An odd thing in the sky appears to be green flashes, sometimes blue (is that lightning?) Luke and Elza who attend a different college in a new town are desperately trying to get to Dunbarrow to Elza's house where she has bound it with a hazel safety barrier.

It is New Years Eve and everyone is celebrating in the town centre of Dunbarrow. But not all of the celebrating seems right. In fact, they seem to be overtaken by such riotous cheer as to appear to be suffering a plague of insanity! Will New Years Day last forever? Is this the end of Dunbarrow? Not everyone seems affected though, Luke and Elza have just met up with old college friends who don't seem so much crazed, but more nervous and scared, and decide to go with them to Elza's house.

This book is the final novel in the trilogy. The trilogy itself is Thirteen Days of Midnight (Thirteen Days of Midnight#1) began when Luke was just starting college. The second is Eight Rivers of Shadow (Thirteen Days of Midnight #2) and from what I've seen in the final book is a fantastic adventure of twists and turns. This review is based on the final book, almost done, just waiting for the final polishing before publication. If you enjoyed this review, be prepared for the release Seven Trees of Stone in August 2017. From my perspective it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, the first two books are already released, and ready to join the reader for the beginning of the adventure.

I really enjoyed this book, wish I had read the first two in the trilogy, but unfortunately didn't see either one. It would have made this one fantastically exciting.

The Dexter Quigly Codices by Nicholas Benedict

reviewed from e-book

A delightful fantasy, completely unexpected
This book took me by surprise, and I loved it. Great adventure for young teens and preteens (and sometimes for grandmothers like me, too). Thirteen is a difficult time for many shy and internalized youngsters. For Dexter Quigley who is thirteen, is lonely, a bit awkward, and feels he doesn't fit in anywhere; he has no close friends and now to make things worse, he and his parents are moving to a completely unknown future far from his old home.

But this is a story of empowerment, too. The fantasy has already begun though he doesn't know it. He makes a friend on his first day in the new location. Bailey is also thirteen but very outgoing and since they are both on summer vacation, they have lots of time to get acquainted. But there are some very strange things happening in the woods and pastures of Miniscule, Wisconsin,...And what's with all these birds and animals surrounding him so often? Who is Iggus, the strange Raven who comes to his windowsill at night, the first forest creature to approach him, and how does he know Dexter? The animals in the Miniscule area seem to have amazing knowledge. Nicholas Benedict has created a wondrous world.

I read this book in a day, not that I rushed but I was so fascinated. There are bits of history, lots of mystery and mystical happenings. Dexter is about to become a Very Special Person. I highly recommend this book for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the fantasy presented featuring what first appear as normal animals, although some, such as the phoenix, are actually known for their fantasmic reincarnations. Dexter is poised for a great learning experience as he witnesses small miracles in himself.

Weird Steffi by Rita Traut Kabeto

Published by IUniverse

This young-adult book is geared to the ages of approximately 13 to 16, a coming of age while attending school in a convent. The story takes place in 1950s Occupied Germany. Stefanie Saurling has three sisters and four brothers in a home that is two full and with a mother who is too busy. It is completely possible to feel lonely in a crowd, and this is how Stefani feels most of the time at home. She looks forward to going to school at the convent as a way of getting away from home and work. She soon learns that she will be working hard though not at home. Some of the girls are rather snobbish, and make fun of her, and of the girl in the next bed, also named Stephanie. This girl goes by the name of Steffi and Stephanie becomes Stef. Steffi is unusual, she is small for her age, is very quiet and timid, and worse yet as far as the teasing goes, has a menagerie of stuffed animals in her bed.

Stef and Steffi, as the odd-ones-out, soon become friends, and have mini-adventures whenever they leave the convent. Steffi has a secret. She sees things, wondrous things like fairies, gnomes, trolls, auras and other magical things, but she also sees the future. Unfortunately, her parents don't believe and think she is delusional. This is her last chance to avoid asylum living. She is also empathic, and feels death among the woodpile in front of the neighbouring house. What can she do? If she says anything, she will be sent to the asylum! She is sure there are two bodies buried there.

The two girls work out several plans and soon have another friend who assists them, a youth from the town. Their frantic search for help, their reliance on Willi, the tight rein of the nuns all culminate into a serious dilemma for the girls. What is the right thing to do? When they learn the word "clairvoyant" and the meaning, their lives turn around and they feel vindicated. This is an interesting and well-written story for young teens. It gives a new take on learning about your peers and what problems they may have in life and that everyone is different in their own way. I found the story enjoyable and it touched memories of feeling an outsider in my life of that age, too.

Lexi Spiderwoman by Kensington Roth

Published by The Harriman Group (2011)

A bizarre and fascinating fantasy, it kept me wondering what would be the next surprise. Kensington Roth has a writing style all his own. A slow start that had me wondering what the point was, soon became clear it was setting the stage. Kensington's writing in this stage reads much like a screenplay in the way it describes thoughts, his character's perceptions and the perceptions her colleagues have of Alexandra Fine. For instance, you can quickly tell that Alex has been at the receiving end of bullying in the past, and a form of it in the present. Though smart and beautiful, she has low self-esteem. The importance of this as to her character becomes a pivotal point when the story really gets rolling. Scene settings are also written in the same descriptive yet abrupt sentences. Once set, the flow changes into story-telling mode.

Keeping a black widow spider as a pet may seem ludicrous to some people, but then some people keep poisonous snakes for pets. No one can doubt that Lexi has found a pastime that she enjoys, feeding her pet with insects and watching in fascination how the spider reacts, even to the point of the spider learning tricks such as pushing one insect aside for Lexi to give to her personally at which time the spider gives her a little "love nip". This little game is quite important to the story as it goes along.

Lexi works as executive secretary for the president at an oil trading company, an influential and coveted job that includes assisting at house parties and even hobnobbing with the rich and famous occasionally. She is also the single mother of a teenage daughter, Lindsey, who is absorbed with chat rooms on the internet, much to the consternation and worry of her mother. When she falls prey to one of the cyber-predators and disappears, Lexi understandably becomes distraught, and perhaps this trauma also acts as a trigger to the changes in her character. Whatever she has connected to with Ophelia, the black widow spider with her beautiful red hourglass marking, comes even more to the fore. The black widow spider is notably sexy and draws every male widow to her. So, when Lexi suddenly shows her sexiness, we begin go notice why the details of the spider are important. She also begins to be amazingly strong and develops into a superwoman. The changes in the character are exciting and fun and progress throughout the book.

I have no intentions of ruining the plot for prospective readers, so I will leave these hints and suggest reading the book. What has happened to Lindsey? Is she still alive? Will they find her in time? Who could have taken her? There are several twists and turns, and surprising suspects. The antics of Ophelia and the tragicomic storyline make this a stand-out plot, especially with the timely subject of cyber-crime, a terrible crime against young people that needs to be brought out such as the author has done with this entertaining book. I am happy to give it a good review because the potential for a future featuring this comic but human superhero is fantastic.