The Realms Thereunder book Review

The Realms Thereunder; written by Ross L Lawhead Book One of The Ancient Earth Trilogy

Review by Steven Smith

This book was given to me for the express intent of my personal review only with no monetary gain whatsoever and is only for my review.

Ross Lawhead has taken his first step in fulfilling a fictional based storyline that I will no doubt have to read the next book called The Fearful Gates. He has a great storyline that you can relate to regarding a secret history of England and the sleeping Knights who protect the realms of ancient Earth before, during and after of any evil doing. I found myself immersed in this book for the first few chapters. I found the characters of Freya and Daniel to be compelling and well written. However, after the first 4 to 5 chapters I found myself being confused on the storyline where Freya is once in a chapter with Daniel and 2 other knights, then is all of a sudden pregnant and has a different story line altogether. I found myself disconnected with how it switched from past to present, one realm to a different realm and one story to another very distracting! I found myself being very confused between which part of the story line I was at and had to skip either back or forward to find myself figuring out where I should be.

Better timeframe negotiation and chapter development should be given to better straighten out the story as most readers I feel would be very confused in this book. I feel like Ross who although has a great storyline, needs to define the chapters and stories within stories to better give understanding of where each character is at. I think that while he definitely has a great premise for storytelling, I was let down on many occasions trying to figure out where the characters were going or coming from. Chapter formatting and development needs to be well written and chronological instead of fragmented the way this book is structurally put together haphazardly.

I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars for The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead.

For Ross’s first book however, he as a strong writing ability that will hopefully bring more fluidity and structure to his next series of books to come.

Book Review of "The Ocean and The Hourglass" written By Dan O’Brien

The Ocean and The Hourglass, written By Dan O’Brien

 

I received this book complimentary of the author with the express intent of my written review only with no monetary compensation or gain.

 

The Mariner could be the next great superhero, or could it possibly be the Prodigy? My mind travels to far off lands and oceans where the characters jump to life with every page I turn. I want to reach inside of the book and take care of the main character, Nicholas Miles. He is only a teenager, but one who has been delivered a hard life! With no father to guide him, and a mother who can only find peace through the bottle, Nicholas attaches himself to the only thing he finds real, The Mariner! A comic book about a man who is one with the ocean and has remarkable superpowers. Nicholas finds himself in the only reality he finds comforting, his comic books.

 

As he gets to school, he is confronted by the school Bully. Mark and his gang of high school thugs are always on the hunt for easy prey to pick on and Nicholas is usually the target! With his favorite comic book torn to shreds, and tears running down his face he finds the strength to stand up, gather his thoughts, walk out school to the place he knew he could order another Mariner Comic, the Library! Finding his way to the library in the freezing cold is no ordinary feat! He has challenges along the way and once he gets there, he finds Mr. Thompson the librarian asking questions why he is not in school again. Of course, Mr. Thompson knows better and has been one of the few friends Nicholas has! Nicholas dodging explanations quickly asks if he can order another comic book, but the librarian has a better idea! As he leads Nicholas to private section where special and rare books are held, he tells Nicholas of a book that is so special that it has rules attached. Seeing the hourglass next to the book Nicholas asks what it is for and Mr. Thompson explains the 5 rules of the book. Nicholas promises to follow the rules and starts reading once the librarian has left the room. What adventures await him as he quickly finds himself immersed within it’s pages. 

 

The rest you will have to find out for yourself as I would not want to spoil the adventure! I found this book extremely exciting, exhilarating,  and action packed with adventures at every turn of the page! Dan O’Brien has a great writing style that does not confuse the reader with overly difficult character development, but with a grace that engulfs you into believing every character in the book picturing in your mind what each one looks like. I loved this book and would definitely recommend not only to young adults, but to reading audiences from children, school systems, science fiction, to adult readers as well.

 

I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars! Would definitely recommend to my children and others to read! Thank you Dan for coming up with an original book that I can only somewhat compare to The Never-Ending Story, written by Michael Ende. The Ocean and The Hourglass, a wonderful Book with twists and turns abound within it’s pages for all to read!

Almost Heaven

"I suppose you can sum up a man's life with a few words, but I need to put this story down to fill in the missing pieces. Or perhaps I can convince the people who know me as a hermit that there was some reason for it all. But this is not really for those outside looking in. This is for me.

Some people say Billy Allman has a heart of gold. Others say he's a bit odd. The truth is, they're all right. He's a hillbilly genius - a collector, a radio whiz - and he can make the mandolin sing. Though he dreams of making an impact on the world beyond the hills and hollers of Dogwood, West Virginia, things just always seem to go wrong.

But however insignificant Billy's life seems, it had not gone unnoticed. Malachi is an angel sent to observe and protect Billy. Though it's not his dream assignment, Malachi always follows orders. And as Billy's story unfolds, Malachi slowly begins to see the bigger picture - that each step Billy takes is a note added to a beautiful song that will forever change the lives of those who hear it." - (Excerpt from back cover).

My Review:

I absolutely adored this heartwarming story of the life of a man who lives life to the fullest in helping others the way Jesus would have instructed us all to live ours. Holding on to his childlike faith along the way when life hands him difficulties that most would run from, Billy instead turns to the One who can see further down the road than he can. This book is the story about Billy's life and the lives of those that are woven into his through being a part of his family, living next door or simply loving him. We get an opportunity to witness a different side as well through the eyes of an angel called Malachi whose duty at the moment is to protect Billy. In his views, we get a glimpse into the unseen world and the spiritual battle that takes place each and every day.

I loved this book, Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry, and since it comes during the holidays, it made for the perfect book to review. This really takes you into the choices that each of us face everyday and show us the good and bad sides to them as well. I received this book, compliments of Tyndale House Publishers for my honest review and say I loved it. This one rates a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. For more information on this book, the author and where to purchase a copy click on the title below:

Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry

Prayer Request for my Brother Ken

I just wanted to ask you all to pray for my brother Ken and his family who are going through a rough time right now. Ken was admitted via ambulance to the local hospital near us for a severe case on pneumonia. I was at the hospital with his wife and kids who are strong and trying to get through this. His wife Tina was told that if they did not call the hospital last night he would have passed away in the middle of the night last night. Since being admitted he has had good care and his vital signs have improved. However, his right lung is completely full of fluid or is collapsed according to the x-ray they took last night and his kidneys and heart rate was very low.

They have him on a ventilator and are performing a CAT scan to see if they can insert a chest tube into his right lung to inflate it and see if they can drain some of the fluid. They are also going to do a Bronchiotomy, which is inserting a camera down his airway into his lungs to look for damage and to take a biopsy to see if his right lung is beyond repair.

Please pray for my brother that he may get better and that he may give himself to the Lord before anything happens to him. I have also asked my wife Kat over at Heart2Heart.

Kat has much more followers than I do so she has many more contacts and friends who are out there praying for him right now.

Thank you all and may God bless you and keep you!!

"The Forgotten Man"

Little do we know how much is at stake every time we hand over our country, the greatest country in the world to someone whom is unqualified for the position much less can change our future with the brush of a pen stroke.

This video shot bolts of lightning up my spine when I viewed it for the first time. I watched it several times and each time I did it made me more upset that I have have to live under our current president's rule.

Power to the people! We need to stand up for something or we will fall for anything!




So often we forget what this country was founded on which was religious freedom. Freedom to follow what we know is right and not what is told to us to follow.

Very strong message!