Minstrel’s Call: Cover Reveal!

The final song is about to be sung . . .

The last book in Jenelle Leanne Schmidt’s epic fantasy series, beginning with King’s Warrior and continuing with Second Song and Yorien’s Hand, is about to release!

Yes indeed, book 4, Minstrel’s Call, is coming out on February 28, and I could NOT be more excited! 😀

Today, I’m here to share in the revealing of the cover!

But first, a bit about the book and the author…

Minstrel’s Call

War threatens. The game board is set. But the Minstrel is missing…

Advancing his growing power, the Dread Prince breaks free of his prison and brings a faction of dragons under his control, stirring unrest and hatred in the newly united kingdoms of Tellurae Aquaous.

When the dragon wards of Kallayohm are targeted in a ruthless attack, the High King travels there to administer justice. But the trial results in a crippling blow that leaves him reeling.

On the heels of defeat, an unexpected message from the erstwhile Minstrel arrives, pleading with his friends for rescue. Together, the High King and his companions must follow the fragile trail, braving peril and darkness that will test the measure of them all…

Pre-Order for 99 cents on Amazon

About Jenelle

Jenelle Schmidt grew up in the northern-Midwest. She now resides with her husband and their four adorable children in the wilds of Wisconsin. Jenelle fell in love with reading at a young age during family story-times when her father would read out loud to her and her siblings each night before bed. Her imagination was captured by authors such as Madeleine L’Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Lloyd Alexander. It wasn’t long before she began making up her own stories and sharing them with her family. To this day she enjoys creating exciting adventure tales filled with poignant themes and compelling characters in the fantasy and sci-fi genres.

Find her online

Website/Blog • Facebook • Twitter • Amazon Author Page • Goodreads

Aaaand, without further ado, I give you: the cover!

Eeek! It’s so unique and epic and I love it! I’M RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED! ^_^ I especially love the waves, and it’s such a DIFFERENT cover and the ship is cool and I can’t wait! 😀

Have you tried out Jenelle’s books yet? They’re lovely if you haven’t! And for those of you who have, I hope you’ll join me in being excited for the release of the final one in the Minstrel’s Song series! IT’S ALMOST HEEERE!

(You can check out my reviews for the first three books in the series by clicking the images below.)

 

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer / Deborah O’Carroll

King’s Warrior + Second Son by Jenelle Schmidt

Double-review today, for two awesome fantasy novels by Jenelle Schmidt, in the Minstrel’s Song series! 🙂

Title: King’s Warrior
Author: Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

• Date read: January 29, 2017
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Fantasy
• Age: YA
• Year pub: 2011
• Pages: 411 (paperback)
• Series: The Minstrel’s Song, #1
• Fave character: Brant and Kiernan Kane
• Source: Won in a giveaway from author — thanks! (I mean, I also bought an e-copy, but still. XD)
• Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Author’s Website

What an enjoyable fantasy adventure novel! I really, really liked this book. 😀 There’s a lot of the classic quest-and-journey stuff going on, but in new ways too, and I loved the world and characters, and just overall had a great time reading it! 🙂

I confess that I actually read a sequel to this book, Yorien’s Hand, before reading this one (which is book one in the series), so that was interesting. XD That meant it read more like a prequel for me, and I already knew how a lot of it would turn out. But this in no way reduced my enjoyment of the story—not at all! And I was impressed and pleased that there were a couple of things that were still surprise twists! 😀

There may have been a few times (especially nearer the beginning of the book) when the early-days-of-this-author might have shown, or when there were plot holes or typos and what-have-you, or when the classic fantasy things which some might consider cliche or something popped up, but I elected to ignore those points in favor of simply enjoying the book as what it is: an extremely enjoyable fantasy novel, with a great adventure, an intriguing world, and a cast of lovable characters. 🙂 So good! ^_^

Speaking of characters—I loved them! So many great ones. Brant, the warrior, who’s my favorite—he’s just epic. ^_^ Kiernan Kane, the amusing minstrel (but with more to him than he seems), who actually shares top-spot for favorite. 😉 They are both so awesome!! ❤ Then Princess Kamarie is a good heroine, Oraeyn the squire is a FABULOUS hero, and other characters like young Yole, who was great, and various people they meet along the way such as the daughters of the Wizard Scelwhyn. I really liked Dylanna, for instance. 😀 And oodles of great side-characters too, who are sometimes a little hard to keep straight (might be my fault for reading the whole series out of order… *cough*), but still fabulous. And dragons, of course. 😀 It’s a well-populated fantasy world, and I loved the characters. ^_^

I loved this fantasy world, as well! It was just so neat to wander through it with these friends of mine, and I’m very attached to it. 🙂 I liked the dragons and other myth-folk, and the forests and mountains and bay and castle and cliffs, and all the different fascinating characters and happenings.

There’s a tragic scenario in the first few chapters where a man’s young family was killed, so that might be a little dark/rough emotionally, and of course there’s some action/battles throughout, but otherwise it was delightful and family-friendly, and I can imagine it being a fun book to read aloud, or for readers of all ages. 🙂 There’s something for everyone in it. 😀

The book had me laughing hysterically a few times, like when Leila and Kiernan Kane were up to their antics (especially when he came knocking. XD) and when Oraeyn talked with the tree sprite person (I absolutely loved that bit. XD) and surely several times when Kiernan was doing his silly minstrel things. 😀

In a sense, I ended up liking Second Son more than this one, just for its originality and Brant-ness and writing quality, but this one is definitely more fun overall, and I especially loved Brant’s mysterious self in this and the companions on their quest together, and just the classic feel of it, so… I can’t decided which of the three book out so far in the series is my favorite. I just love them all! ^_^ *hugs King’s Warrior and my favorite characters*

Overall, I just loved this book and this series and can’t wait to finish reading it! ^_^ Definitely recommend for fantasy lovers! ❤

~ ~ ~

Title: Second Son
Author: Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

• Date read: April 17, 2017
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Epic Fantasy
• Age: YA
• Year pub: 2013
• Pages: 445 (paperback)
• Series: Book 2 in The Minstrel’s Song (though chronologically a prequel to Book 1: King’s Warrior)
• Fave character: Brant and Kiernan Kane
• Source: Won in a giveaway from author — thank you! (And had also bought an e-copy on Amazon, but paperbacks are the best, so. ;))
• Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Author’s Website

I loved this book! *hugs it*

It’s somehow a very unique fantasy novel! I mean, it’s like a classic fantasy quest type of thing, and there’s dragons and other wonders and so on, but something about it felt… new. And different. And there’s not one particular quest, it’s more following Brant through his life and a series of quests and adventures, which gave it an interesting and unique overall arc to the story. And it’s quite well written, too! I was super impressed with how the author’s writing improved from book one (which I also enjoyed immensely! But the writing in this one is noticeably better, in the best way. :D) and just very easy to read. 🙂

Brant himself is my favorite for the most part—he’s just a great hero! 🙂 I love the interesting things that come of comparing his home country and training with other places, and adding to his mysterious and generally epic air. 😀 He was a wonderful character in King’s Warrior and Yorien’s Hand, and just… I love getting his story! ^_^ I so enjoyed reading about his childhood up to being the King’s Warrior. Fabulous.

Plus, in the second half, Brant and Arnaud being friends when they were younger IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST! ^_^ I also loved getting to see things about the past of some of the other King’s Warrior characters, like how Princess Kamarie’s mother and father met! SO GREAT! 😀 And, of course, the minstrel Kiernan Kane makes a fabulous cameo! Love that minstrel fellow! ^_^

This is kind of like if Aragorn had a prequel about his youth, or if we saw Gwydion (from Prydain) out learning things when he was young. And I absolutely love that! 😀 Getting to see Brant wander across all of the various lands in this delightful fantasy world, learning things and meeting friends old and new, and generally becoming the wise, epic warrior we know from King’s Warrior. He’s one of my favorite characters of all time, and I just loved seeing his backstory! ^_^

Oh, oh! And when Brant talks with the Forest! I loved that part! 😀 One of my faves! ^_^

I find it amusing how I actually read these in reverse chronological order. XD I started with Yorien’s Hand, which takes place after King’s Warrior; then I read King’s Warrior; then I read Second Son, which is chronologically before King’s Warrior. XD …Now I kind of want to read the other two again! :O

A funny thing about prequels… I can never decide if they’re best read before or after the main Book One… because both ways are so enjoyable! I’m definitely glad that I read King’s Warrior before this, since a lot of the sad things in Second Son I wasn’t AS sad about as I would have been if I hadn’t already known how certain things end up in Brant’s life. Somehow, a lot of the sadness in this book is okay, simply because it IS a prequel and I know that a lot of the characters in it aren’t in later ones and therefore are probably dead later so I try not to get TOO attached to them… And so on. And something about it being the sad backstory of a hero, makes it easier to bear because it’s PAST and not currently happening. (Kind of like the older myths of The Silmarillion are easier to bear because they’re not NOW in the time of LOTR and The Hobbit.) If that makes any sense at all to anyone other than me. XD Some of it WAS sad, by its nature, but I didn’t actually mind. (The most heartbreaking thing of all, of course, was Brant and his brother. Which of course I knew about due to King’s Warrior, but… yeah, I’ll just go over here and cry for a bit. Ahem.)

There’s joy and heartbreak, humor and epic quests, and just everything a fantasy novel needs! 🙂 Overall, I just really, really, really enjoyed this book! ^_^ I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves epic fantasy or just a good adventure, because it’s fabulous. 😀

(I love the backs of these covers. So epic and gorgeous. ❤ )

Have you read either of these? You should, because they’re awesome! 😀 Have you read any good epic fantasies lately that you can recommend? I’m always on the lookout for those!

Also, the author is giving away a paperback of King’s Warrior on her blog this week, during fun Silmarillion Awards things going on currently, so be sure to check it out and enter!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

Nightstand Books: April {2017}

Just a quick post today! 🙂

Being the first Wednesday of the month, it’s Nightstand Books day! (A meme to share our currently-reading stack every month, created by Jenelle Schmidt and DJ Edwardson.)

Here’s what’s on my nightstand for this month.

• King’s Blood by Jill Williamson — This one is taking me far longer than I anticipated! (Review books shouldn’t take this long to read. *cough* In my defense, it’s enormous and I’ve been busy? 😛 But I’m steadily working through.) It’s still dark, like the first book, and very long, but I’m enjoying it somewhat for all that.
• Second Son by Jenelle Schmidt — Yep, finally reading this one! I’m really excited. I’m reading a chapter a day on the side of my busyness, so I’m hoping in that way to get it read this month even though I don’t have a lot of time. Really enjoying it so far. 🙂
• Viper by Jamie Foley — This is a prequel to the Sentinel trilogy, and I haven’t started it yet, but as this is a novella, I’m hoping to zip through it in a day here pretty soon. Looks like it’s going to be different than what I usually read, but that can be fun too.
• Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones — I haven’t started this yet, but I know it’s dangerous to do so until I have a good long time available to read it in, so I’m holding off for now. XD But I can’t wait to devour this DWJ book I haven’t read! New DWJ books are always exciting. 🙂

I’m also still working through a couple of beta-reading books and hoping to finish them at long last! I’ve been making steady progress on my backlog of betas this year, so that’s exciting too. 🙂

Also not pictured above (because ebook), like Jenelle mentioned in her post, Beggar’s Magic by H.L. Burke is the Fellowship of Fantasy Bookclub book for April. I haven’t started it yet but I hope to soon. 🙂 (Maybe that chapter-a-day trick I’m using on Second Son will help?)

As usual, I have no idea if I’ll  make it through all of these this April, but they’re what I’ve started or am focusing on at the moment!

What’s on your “nightstand” that you’re reading this month? 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

Nightstand Books {Jan 2016}

Nightstand Books is a monthly meme created by Jenelle Schmidt and D.J. Edwardson, focused on taking a look at your nightstand of books, i.e. what you’re reading or plan to read this month. Join in if you like! It’s usually the first Wednesday of every month… sooo I’m a week late. 😛

Also, I tend to go a little overboard with my posts, because I always plan a bit over-ambitiously what I want to read and it doesn’t always pan out so well… Ahem.

Still, on we go!

Physical Nightstand

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones: I got this for Christmas and read it on New Year’s Day (all 400+ pages of it, and actually stayed up till 3:30 a.m. to do so, so yes, it was good) and really enjoyed it. Maybe I’ll write a review? 5 stars.

I’ve started reading a handful of books with daily readings, for the new year. I usually mean to and don’t usually succeed, but this year I’m trying! Most notably A Year With C. S. Lewis. It reminds me that I really need to read through several of his nonfiction works. I’ll obviously likely be in this all year, so I’ll just mention it this time. 😉

I don’t know about the following, as I would like to read them soon, preferably this month, but I don’t know how soon it will happen.

• The Night Dance by Suzane Weyn: Got this for Christmas and looks like a delightful little read (Arthurian/Twelve Dancing Princesses!).
• Out of Darkness Rising by Gillian Bronte Adams
• Half-Blood by Jaye L. Knight
• Goddess Tithe by Anne Elisabeth Stengl: These three are small novellas which I would love to just sit down and devour but haven’t found a moment for yet.

Virtual Nightstand

The Sunken Realm by Serena Chase: Currently reading and excited for it. Pirates and Captain Cazien. YES. ❤

Yorien’s Hand by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt: I read this and loved it. I reviewed it on my other blog, as I had gotten it for review; but I may also post the review here sometime. 5 stars.

Rising Shadows by Ashley Townsend: This is next on my list to read. Looking forward to reading it, as I already love the characters (one in particular…).

Prince of Demargen by E. Kaiser Writes: If I can finish the books I’m supposed to read for review, I hope to read this one and review it by the 22nd, so we’ll see. It sounds cool!

The Poisoned Cure by Deborah Dunlevy: Can’t. Wait. Dying to read.

Again, not sure how many I’ll get to…

I also have a handful of books I’d love to reread soon (Holmes short stories, The Blood of Kings Trilogy, Ronia the Robber’s Daughter, Rick Brant…), and having just finished Yorien’s Hand I have upped King’s Warrior and Second Son on my read-soon list, and there are countless other books on my shelves waiting patiently for me to read them… But books for review come first, and I would like to read some of my smaller things, plus I’m not made of time, so we’ll see how much happens in the rest of January…

Basically I want to read ALL OF THE THINGS! (RIGHT NOW! *flails*)

What’s on your nightstand? 🙂