Sunday 27 October 2013

BOOK OF THE DAY: Nolander (Emanations) by Becca Mills






BOOK DESCRIPTION
Of all the beings that have lived on Earth, what if just a few had the power to make new realities, according to their desires? What would they create? The Second Emanation. A shadow world where ancient creatures persist, where humanity's dominance is far less certain, where wonder competes with horror. A world like an autumn forest, its realities as multiple and layered as fallen leaves. The world that gives us our gods.

In Nolander, the Second Emanation crosses paths with amateur photographer Beth Ryder. It'll never be the same again.

Beth sees plenty wrong with her life. At 23, she feels trapped in her small Wisconsin town. The guy she's been seeing lately wants nothing more to do with her, and her sister-in-law is doing her best to push Beth out of the family.

Then one day, Beth takes a picture no one can explain. Her quest for answers leads her far from her small-town roots and opens her eyes to the unseen world around her. Sucked into a dangerous organization responsible for policing visitors from Earth's shadow world, Beth discovers that humanity is far from alone, and that its fellow creatures, many endowed with disturbing abilities, do not wish it well.

As events spin out of her control, Beth must leave her restrictive but safe life behind. Thrown into a frightening new life, she struggles not to surrender more than she can bear to lose, and not to become something she can't bear to be.

At 99,000 words, Nolander is a full-length novel, the first in Mills's Emanations fantasy series.

AUTHOR BIO
Becca Mills is an over-educated, under-exercised lover of good coffee, science, and fast cars. And books. Oh yes. She believes the world can be a rough place and that everyone deserves to leave it behind now and then. That pretty much makes books a human right, no?
Becca is currently writing Book 2 of the Emanations series. She also spends time developing her blog, The Active Voice, which promotes and assists independent authors through book reviews, writing tips, and analysis of the publishing world. In addition, she has a wonderful "day job" as a college professor teaching literature and writing at a liberal arts college in the northeastern U.S.

REVIEW
I was a bit hesitant to download Nolander first, because it is part of a series. I have read way too many books in this genre that are part of a trilogy, and consequently, NOTHING happens or comes to any kind of conclusion in the first book (probably intended to draw readers in and make them buy the second book, but that's not how it works for me, unfortunately). However, this book is different. Nolander is just a very, very good read. I couldn't put it away, and the many twists and turns keep you guessing in a GOOD way and not a frustrated 'oh-my-god-what-the-hell-is-going-ON!!' way. The writing style is fluent, there's lots of humour in this book, the main character is sympathetic, the supporting characters are not black-and-white or two-dimensional, and there's a great plot. Don't pass this one up. Wonderful book! --Five Stars

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