Weekend Reads: King Arthur and Her Knights by K.M. Shea (Kimberly)

Launch your November curled up with a fantastically fun reimagining of the King Arthur legends!

King Arthur and Her Knights: The Complete Series by K.M. Shea

My Rating - 4.5 Stars

I have to admit that I was not expecting to love this series when I first picked it up at the beginning of this year. Genderswapped King Arthur? Or, more accurately, a modern day young woman magically transported back to the days of King Arthur and she's going to be the new king? Despite my love for K.M. Shea's other series, I was skeptical that I would enjoy this one on the same scale. I was very wrong. And I'm so glad I finally read it!

This is such a fun series! Britt Arthurs is transported from modern day England to the days of King Arthur (right before Arthur is supposed to pull the sword from the stone). The reason? Merlin is absolutely determined to see the warring little kingdoms of Britain united under one king. And he won't let minor details such as the real Arthur running away or that his magic has brought a woman from centuries in the future instead of a man stand in the way of his schemes to see Britain united. And he's not an old man either. This Merlin has more in common with the BBC tv series than the aged wizard of legend as far as looks and age are concerned. 

I love Britt and her journey. She started out knowing little of the King Arthur legends aside from what was in her guidebook (which made the journey back in time with her) and a deep loathing for Lancelot (and Guinevere by default). Her starting the Lancelot Hate Club was a hilarious response to the usual fawning over the man. Especially when you find out who else is part of the club. But Britt is just as determined as Merlin about certain things, such as teaching her knights to be the chivalrous men of legend and acquiring the Round Table if it's the last thing she does. Britt has such a great growth arc in this series and even her knowledge from the guidebook serves as part of her foibles.

Britt and Merlin have a fantastic and funny relationship filled with all the feels, especially as the series moves on. But I also adore her knights and their relationships with her as well as the different ways they change throughout the series. Sir Kay is an awesome big brother to her, even if he can be a smidge overprotective. ;)

Whether you're familiar with the King Arthur legends or only know bits and pieces, I highly recommend this series! With the trademark K.M. Shea humor, adventure, and sweet romance, this collection of six novellas and one novel is nearly a thousand pages long, which makes it a fantastic way to spend the weekend! And as a bonus, the collection is currently on sale for a limited time!

Happy Reading!

Kimberly A. Rogers

Weekend Reads: Convergence by Clare Revell (Katie)

Weekend Reads (Katie)

Review of Convergence by Clare Revell

Clare Revell excels at the creepy and fun psychological thriller. Convergence was a quick, intriguing read filled with time travel, mystery, and a battle in the mind between good and evil.

Etta is our main character, and she’s in love with the man of—or rather, from—her dreams. Trouble is, he doesn’t really exist. Does he?

Here are a few things I loved about Convergence:

• The sharp wit of the main character 

• The creepy factor of the villain (the dark man)

• The mysteries of the real versus the imagined

If you like mysteries of the mind (I do!!!), time travel, and lots of sharp wit than you will definitely want to give this one a try. The book releases in just a few days (yay!), and you can find it online here.

I mentioned Clare excells at these types of books, so I thought I’d give a little extra proof of that (because if you like this one you’re going to want more!). Last year, I read Clare’s Down In Yon Forrest (check it out on Goodreads!). It had a similar tone, and I absolutely loved it so keep that in mind for the future.

 Happy reading!

Top 3 Methods of Fantasy Transportation (Laurie)

In case you missed it, Jill did a fun post last Saturday on her Top Three Fantasy Modes of Transportation. So fun, in fact, that I decided to piggy-back on her topic and share my own favorite methods of fantasy transportation :)

Fantasy transportation is so fascinating to think about because there are so many options when you're no longer limited by reality. And let's face it, while there have been huge advances in transportation over the years, there's still a lot of room for improvement. Plus fantasy modes of transportation are just so much more creative!

So with that, allow me to present my top three methods of fantasy transportation:


3) Riding a dragon

This choice is very much influenced by the fact that I'm in the middle of reading H.L. Burke's The Dragon and the Scholar Saga right now, in which a girl befriends a dragon and travels around with him. But doesn't it sound cool? Of course I'd only want to do it under those particular circumstances, where the dragon is my friend and I don't have to be terrified :) It would certainly have its inconveniences, but I imagine the views would be spectacular, and riding on a dragon's back like that would probably be the closest you could get to the sensation of actually being capable of flying yourself.





2) Flying car

I didn't realize until writing this post that I had such a thing for flying :) But the flying car in the Harry Potter series always seemed like such an awesome way to travel! Ron and Harry's car trip didn't end so well, but a car with that same functionality that actually worked right? Brilliant. And if I'm the only one with a flying car then the invisibility capability would be a definite plus, but I realize I'd have to give that up if others had flying cars too, or it could become problematic very quickly :)





1) TARDIS

Any fellow Doctor Who fans out there? My husband and I got hooked on the show recently - we started with Season 5 and are now partway into Season 6. And the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) would be such an incredible way to travel! On the outside, a police box, on the inside, an expansive set of rooms and halls that can travel to any time and place. Not the most practical for every day use, I'll admit, but for far-reaching time-travel adventures it would definitely be the best way to go!




What about you? Do any of these sound appealing, or do you have other favorite modes of fantasy transportation?


Thanks for reading!
Laurie


Attributions:

Flying Car: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/d/dd/Ford-park.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090426125128
TARDIS: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tardis/images/2/28/DW_5x01_The_Eleventh_Hour_619.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120919152258

Top 3 Time Travel Stories (Lizzie)

Hi, everybody! I’m Lizzie (or, if you want to be proper, Elizabeth Jane Kitchens). I’m excited to be part of Lands Uncharted and look forward to getting to know you through the comments section. A little about me: I live in Alabama with Phoebe, my large, fluffy, white Great Pyrenees, and I write YA fantasy fiction.

Now that we’ve settled the important matter of introductions, on to today’s post: Time Travel Stories. To the future, to the past. To here, to there.

 1. Dreamhouse Kings by Robert Liparulo

This YA fantasy adventure series begins with House of Dark Shadows and continues for another five action-packed books. I loved this series—the characters, the action, the history—and read it in record time.

Teens Xander, David, and Toria King move with their parents from L.A. to a creepy Victorian fixer-upper in the middle of the woods. Strange things soon begin happening, like odd sounds with nothing to make them and giant footprints in dust. Then there’s the episode where David hides in the linen closet and ends up in locker 119 at school.

If that was the worst, then the old house would be just creepy enough to be cool, but the siblings soon find a hidden hallway with portals to different times and places in history—but only to the wars, to the invasions, to the doomed cities. And it’s to those places their mom gets kidnapped, stuck in a time travel loop. Can they choose the right portal at the right time to save their mom—if they can survive the war zones they much search? 

2. Shadow Hand (Tales of Goldstone Wood) by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

“Oh, Shadow Hand of Here and There
The Stone of ancients kills
To free his fiery, fickle Fair
From death beneath the Hills!”

I love the Tales of Goldstone Wood. I read the first six books, and then re-read them. Anne Elisabeth Stengl has a beautiful, old fashioned voice that’s perfect for the fairy tale adventures she writes. The characters, the legends, the story world, are all marvelous.

Shadow Hand is book 6 in the series, so I wouldn’t recommend starting there (Heartless in the first book). However, I couldn’t resist mentioning it.

Every human knows that to enter the Goldstone Wood is to perish. There are the sylphs (who can, if you survive their dance, spit you back out of the Woods at any time or in any world), the Black Dogs (who might drag you down to Death), an enchanted river, and who knows what else. Yet to the Woods Princess Daylily flees on her wedding day, and to there the jilted groom—none other than the dandy Prince Foxbrush—must go to save her. Or to try to save her—Foxbrush is no hero.

Marrying Daylily was one part of Foxbrush’s plan to save his struggling kingdom, but when he’s sent from the Woods by a strange and beautiful creature straight from his childhood nursery rhymes (and who claims he’s the nursery rhyme hero King Shadow Hand of Here and There), he emerges at the right place but the wrong time. Foxbrush soon he realizes that his kingdom needs saving as much in the past (where he’s stuck wearing animal hide and sleeping in a hut) as in the future. Can he become the hero his kingdom and his reluctant bride need him to be?


3. A Kid in King Arthur’s Court

I loved this Disney movie growing up. Teenager Calvin Fuller (who cringes every time he’s forced to go up to bat in a baseball game) is pulled into Camelot by Merlin. 

Calvin must help save King Arthur’s city and restore the aged king’s confidence. He also has to train as a knight, defeat a villainous lord, and save King Arthur’s lovely daughter. 

When he’s not learning to be a hero, he’s introducing Princess Katey to the Big Mac (and explaining that the Poisonous Love Apple is, despite its name, fabulous on a hamburger) and teaching people how to roller blade. 

Of course, I can't discuss time travel without at least mentioning the beloved standards: H. G. Well’s The Time Machine, the Dr. Who series (I grew up watching the old series with doctors one–eight, but haven’t watched the new), and, of course, the Back to the Future movies. 

What are your favorite time travel stories? Have you seen or read any mentioned here? Have any to recommend?

Black and Red (The Circle Series) by Ted Dekker (Elizabeth)

Black is an exploration of the Fall, God’s nature, and the Great Romance–“to love at any cost.”

Red is about sacrifice, love, and the role Jesus played in saving us.

In Black by Ted Dekker, Thomas is part of two worlds. One where he’s running from a gang he’s indebted to while trying to save the world from the next World War III–modern earth–and one where he lives in an Edenic paradise, so long as he doesn’t cross the bridge to the black forest, where red-eyed, flesh-eating bats live, the Shataiki.
Both worlds are fascinating, each with its own unique plot that’s connected to the other. In the Edenic paradise world, supposedly the far future, he learns about a disease that’s going to wipe out most of modern earth’s population. Because he knows things he has no business knowing on modern earth, he’s hunted down by an assassin.
The world building is fascinating, and I love the sensory description. It makes you wonder how Eden actually looked and how complete union with God actually felt. It makes you realize how much humanity is missing because of the Fall.
This book had plenty of action, with martial arts, chases down alleys, kidnappings, and of course, the creepy bats, and it was interspersed with a few humorous scenes that made me laugh.
The beginning was intriguing, but the best part of the book is when you’re deep into the plot, so if you do happen to pick up this book, make sure to stick with it.

In Red by Ted Dekker,  what really hooked me about this book was the new life it breathed on the Bible and its message. The plots in both worlds were intriguing and suspenseful, but the new perspective this book has given me is so much more memorable.

I'd give you more of a review, but I wouldn't want to spoil anything from the first book ;)

We've finally reached a new year, so what have you learned about God’s nature in 2016? How has your understanding of Him changed in the past year?

Any suggestions for fantasy books or book you'd like to see reviewed? Feel free to tell me about them in the comments!

-Elizabeth Newsom