Rebirth Protocol The Return of Earth's Guardian and The Sword Magus Supreme by Nyxaris; Complex Science Fiction About Time Travel, Parallel Worlds, Genetic Evolution, and Seeking Revenge

 

Rebirth Protocol The Return of Earth's Guardian and The Sword Magus Supreme by Nyxaris; Complex Science Fiction About Time Travel, Parallel Worlds, Genetic Evolution, and Seeking Revenge 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Nyxaris’ Science Fiction novel, Rebirth Protocol: The Return of Earth's Guardian and The Sword Magus Supreme is about as long and complex as its name. 

Nick Valiente caught his girlfriend, Sarah, in bed with his best friend, Matt. After leaving in anger, he is attacked by an unknown assailant. When he wakes up, he realizes that he has traveled two years into the past. More importantly, he finds that he shares memories and consciousness with Arlize Dentragon, a master swordsman and magician. He is full of questions about who Arlize really is, what is happening, and why. In his pursuit of answers, Nick stumbles on a conspiracy that goes far beyond his desire for personal revenge.

The book has an interesting plot trajectory. At first it begins as a simple revenge thriller. Since Nick can see two years in advance, he has plenty of time to gather information on when Matt and Sarah’s affair began. The more time he spends observing Matt and Sarah from a distance, the more he recognizes their phoniness and annoying flaws that he overlooked before.

Besides revenge on his enemies, Nick actually uses this two year foresight to improve himself. He aces courses like Statistics, Physics, and Business, courses that the previous Nick barely passed. He also begins to build a nice portfolio by studying and investing in technology and researches prestigious fellowships so he can get his foot in the door of prominent businesses. Even if he doesn't get revenge, Nick is certainly getting the better of Matt and Sarah by living well.

The book expands to an immense Science Fiction novel with the arrival of Arlize. Nick dreams as Arlize, shares his thoughts and memories, and sees Arlize’s world through his eyes. It's a creepy but trippy experience that gets even stranger when Nick recognizes parallels in his own life like a love triangle and near fatal betrayal. 

Nick asks questions about this experience. Who is Arlize? Is he from a parallel universe? Another planet? A previous reincarnation? A future incarnation? An alternate personality? A bit of wish fulfillment? A fictional character? Why do they share minds, memories, and experiences? 

One thing is certain, in Arlize Nick finds someone that is braver, stronger, and a better leader than he thinks that he is. He is the type of person that Nick wants to be. 

Arlize is considered a guardian in his world and is gifted with a sword and magical skills which helps him out fight and out smart any enemy . But yet, Arlize has many of the same problems that Nick did. Despite feeling intimidated and confused by his presence, Nick feels a kinship with this man as he begins to think and talk like him, even becoming him. 

This shared consciousness emboldens Nick as he manifests abilities such as heightened senses and increased mental capacity which reads like computerized analysis. This contributes to reinventing the next two years of his life and  makes people around him suspicious as Nick becomes a target.

After he travels back two years, Nick begins to suspect that he is being monitored when he encounters people that he never met during the previous timeline. This suspicion mounts when he sees people installing cameras in his dorm hall and a hacker friend finds out about wider surveillance. He also learns that his family might have been watched since before he was born and those watching him aren't afraid to resort to violent, even fatal, means.

What started out as a time travel revenge thriller, Rebirth Protocol covers multiple worlds, space travel, parallel universes, alternate realities, government conspiracies, reincarnation, mental telepathy, surveillance, AI, ripples in space and time, and the evolution of characters into super beings. It succeeds in covering various intricate plots, rich characterization, and deep themes of awareness, perception, heroism, self-actualization, and the struggles to find one's personal identity in an increasingly depersonalized world.

Time Fixers (Miles in Time Book 2) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Time Travel YA Continues with a Timeless Volume

 Time Fixers (Miles in Time Book 2) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Time Travel YA Continues with a Timeless Volume 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Well The Hardy Boys are at it again. No, not those Hardy Boys. Simon and Miles Hardy, the time traveling brothers from Lee Matthew Goldberg’s 2-Part YA Science Fiction Time Travel series. The first volume, Miles in Time, involved the adventurous detective Miles going back in time to prevent his scientific technogeek older brother, Simon from being murdered by unidentified assailants. He saved his brother but made a mortal enemy in Omni, the secret sinister organization that put the initial target on Simon’s back. 

The second volume, Time Fixers is a stronger, more personal, and also more focused adventure that raises the conflicts. This time Simon is able to improve his time travel device to travel beyond the previous week. Instead it can send the traveler back to 1999. For the brothers, that means one important thing. In the present, their mentally ill mother is institutionalized. They can go back to when she was in high school and resolve the family trauma that led to her years of addiction and mental illness. The brothers are not alone. Miles told his girlfriend, Maisie about the previous time traveling adventures. She comes with, hoping to resolve a family conflict of her own with her missing mother. The trio become embroiled in not only their own family histories but the origins of Omni whose members might be all too familiar to them.

In the first book, the focus was on adventure with some family drama thrown in. This one reverses that by devoting more time on the family drama and minimizing the adventure but still making it an important part.

There is deep trauma that is explored particularly with Miles and Simon's mother, Patty. When they left her, she was addicted to pills, spoke in monosyllables and non sequiturs, and committed self-harm. The years of being broken and non-functional took their toll. She is lost to her family in the present so the brothers want to change her past.

Once they see Patty's family, Simon and Miles understand their mother more. Before they pitied and cared for her. Miles in particular often nursed her when his father, Kip could not. However, as much as they missed the loving and involved woman that she briefly was when they were small, she is now a remote cypher to them. They can't break through her precarious vulnerable exterior and have given up trying to communicate with her. She is less a mother to them and more of an object of pity, concern, and frustration.

In the past, they see their mother as a feisty multifaceted emotional girl who is hurt at home and trying different means to detach herself from that hurt. The brothers focus on the causes of what made their mother turn out the way that she did rather than the effects of what it created. Patty is a person who had her life ahead of her and could have lived it openly and creatively with plenty of love, acceptance, and support but was stopped by  abusive and narcissistic parents. The boys have to rescue their mother not only from her toxic home but from herself and the woman that she turns into.

Patty isn't the only person that the boys and Maisie try to help. They try to prevent a tragedy in Kip’s young life that left him withdrawn and falling into self-isolation. Maisie also recognizes her parents' struggles and insecurities so she doesn't end up alone. The teens are given insights into their parents as people, kids like them who were uncertain, confused, awkward, idealistic, intelligent, rebellious, immature, curious, surly, argumentative, cynical, and ready to challenge the world that their kids would later inherit. They are going through the same struggles about identity, acceptance, and belonging that their children are going through in the 2020’s.

There are  other aspects of the book that shine. There are  humorous moments when Simon, Miles, and Maisie go to the past and gape at the weird fashions, old fashioned technology, and the music. There are also clever references about the time period that border on nostalgic.

The adventure also goes through some fascinating twists, climaxes, and resolutions. The trio are stalked by enemies that use a variety of means like threats, manipulation, and feigning friendship to find their technology, divide, and destroy them.

It's also interesting to see Omni in its earlier form as a small organization with few employees but nefarious goals before its 2020's incarnation as a widespread conspiracy with various members, outlets, and schemes. We also see how the agents got involved with this organization, why they joined, and why they stayed when conscience should have told them otherwise. Similar to their parents, the kids see their adversaries as people who had reasons for what they did and could have lived different lives. Instead they chose a path that led to financial gain, corruption, violence and self-destruction.

Time Fixers is a brilliant book about how choice and trauma shaped our past and created our present. It also happens to be a great thrilling adventure to spend time with. 

Miles in Time: A YA Time Travel Mystery (Miles in Time Series Book 1) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Time Travel YA Series Has Suspenseful Engaging First Volume

 Miles in Time: A YA Time Travel Mystery (Miles in Time Series Book 1) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Time Travel YA Series Has Suspenseful Engaging First Volume 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Lee Matthew Goldberg has a tendency to give his Readers a wild ride. Slow Down was a drug trip about a Hollywood hopeful who gets involved with an experimental film that gets too experimental and deadly. Orange City is about a copywriter in a futuristic society who samples a drink that is used to drug and ultimately control the people. The Mentor features an editor who is stalked by an author who turns to violence and murder for inspiration. The Desire Card is a five volume series about several people who become involved with a nefarious organization that promises their deepest desires but with strict payments and penalties that are literally real killers. His latest, Miles in Time, is more conventional as it is written for a YA readership, but it still retains much of the suspense, tension, unpredictable chaos, and plot twists of its predecessors. 

Miles Hardy is a teen with a fascination for mysteries so he opens up a private investigation service. Unfortunately, serious mysteries and crimes are hard to come by in small town Frontier, Iowa and he can only search for missing cats for so long. However, he is hit with a very serious crime when his secretive older brother, Simon, dies in what was originally believed to be suicide but evidence points to murder. Devastated but determined, Miles receives coded messages that SImon sent him in advance that leads him to a mysterious lab which holds Simon’s secret project: a time machine. Miles must use the time machine to travel to a week before his brother's death to save his life and find out who wants him dead.

Because Miles in Time crosses genres with Science Fiction and Mystery, it combines tropes from both to create an interesting amalgam of two separate tones and styles. In some ways both genres rely on curiosity. Science Fiction asks “What if?” and involves imagining possibilities and procedures to lead to the answer to that initial question. Mysteries often ask “What happened and who did it” and involve seeking clues and leads to come to a credible conclusion. Mysteries asks that you look around you while Science Fiction asks that you imagine what lies ahead but both are genres which involve discovery. 

That is what is at play here. Both Hardy Brothers go through their own individual quests of discovery to come to their conclusions. Simon spends his time in his lab, testing his theories about time travel, experimenting by sending his guinea pig Stinkers into the past, writing messages in code, and transcribing his notes into book form so Miles can understand and follow it. His goal is to prove that time travel is possible and that the past can be changed. His quest requires thought, intellect, and analysis of data.

Miles however is more physically than mentally active. He spends his time observing his surroundings for any changes in normal patterns, asking open ended questions that lead to potential leads, sneaking into forbidden places, and gathering clues in a way that ties all of the evidence together to draw conclusions. His goal is to find his brother’s murderer and to defeat potential enemies. His quest requires strength, courage and attention to detail. 

There are many suspenseful moments that occur during Miles’s trip to the past. No one is above suspicion. Miles investigates the school bully, Simon’s clique, his detached father, his mentally ill mother, a teacher who appears to have encouraged Simon’s pursuits, and a curious and attentive girl that Miles is attracted to. There is also a mysterious organization that hampers Miles’s investigation, seem to know a great deal about Simon’s experiment, and aren't afraid to get violent if need be even towards kids. It’s a tight plot with plenty of dangerous situations that Miles has to use his wits to escape from. It’s the kind of book that keeps the Reader fascinated with the various questions and Miles’ pursuit in answering them. 

There is also plenty of emotional depth in the book that thankfully doesn’t get in the way of the overall suspenseful and inquisitive tone. There are a lot of soft emotions in Miles’ relationship with his mother for example. She is a haunting presence as someone who lives in a semi-catatonic state in which she is awake and is able to move but is mentally separated from her family. She says very little except the occasional non sequitur rages and moves so seldomly that she has to be fed and given medicine by hand. She is like a dependent frightened child but occasionally she seems to know or understand more than she can admit. The brothers and their father clearly love her but are overwhelmed and anxious about her slipping away from her family. 

Miles and Simon's fraternal relationship is the real soul of the book. The chapter where Miles discovers Simon’s body is heartbreaking as is his anguish and remorse over the distance between the two brothers. During his time travel adventure, Miles stays by his brother’s side pretending that he is interviewing him for a school assignment and is able to see the world through Simon’s perspective. The time travel and the investigation gives Miles and Simon an opportunity to understand, empathize, and bond with one another. 

Ironically, Miles’ time in the past is the longest most pleasant experience that the two brothers shared in years. They are able to repair a relationship that was once close when they created imaginary worlds and secret codes but has become distant when maturity, puberty, and different interests and perspectives got in the way. Miles may have traveled through time to save Simon, but it was clear that the brothers needed to save each other. 

As with many ongoing series, Miles in Time leaves some questions unanswered and some plot points unresolved for the next volume. This first volume is a strong sharp start and hopefully the next volume will continue to be that way. 

Charming Tomorrow by Conor Jest; Brilliant But At Times Confusing Sequel Adds Time Travel and Modern Times

 

Charming Tomorrow by Conor Jest; Brilliant But At Times Confusing Sequel Adds Time Travel and Modern Times

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery 

Spoilers: Charming Tomorrow, the sequel to Where The Witches Dwell in The Everlan Trilogy, takes its characters and Readers to where few Epic Fantasies dare to tread. It takes us into the mysterious, magical, wild, and weird world of…. California 1999.

Okay not exactly the most unique or original setting, but still it's interesting to add time travel to a subgenre which is all too often tightly bound to its various tropes. It adds a splash of cleverness, humor, and sharper stakes as ancient practically immortal characters duke it out in the past and present. 

When last we left, our hero and villain, Roulic and Mayhem respectively they fought in a place called The Edge and because there were no guardrails or safety signs (and personal safety is not first in your list when you are battling each other with the known world at stake), the tumbled over The Edge into darkness. When they came to, they found themselves far away from the land of Doth in 1699 to as I mentioned before California 1999. Cast adrift but needing magic users to help him return to the past, Mayem solicits a local fortune teller by using mental manipulation and verbal threats to obtain her assistance. Meanwhile, Roulic reunites with some familiar faces: The Witches of Doth, seven sisters and one brother, all gifted with magical abilities and the siblings of Ravenna, Roulic’s intended lover who is stranded in the 1600’s. (They are all long lived. It's not as weird and unlikely as it sounds). The Witches have a proposition for Roulic, go back in time to the 1640’s and fight Mayem before he becomes too powerful then rescue Ravenna before she is cursed by merging with a bridge before Roulic met her in the first volume. 

The book starts out in a satiric, even light hearted vein with some funny moments as Roulic and Mayhem navigate themselves through modern society. One of the cleverest moments occurs as Roulic and Mayhem are walking through Laguna Beach. They are naturally confused and out of their element when metal machines roll by on paved roads, people, particularly women, dress casually and wear revealing clothing, and come up to them to say “hey” and act approachable. 

Funnier still are the people of 1999 who have little to no reaction at all. Aside from some admiring their period style clothing and weaponry (one even asks Roulic who made his authentic boots), but no mass confusion or suspicion. They take the weirdness in stride. Guy wearing a full Medieval-style tunic and leggings? Boring. Carrying ready made polished and clearly been used? See it every Tuesday. Babbling about Destiny, dragons, magical keys, witches, and the end of the world? Look, I got things to do but we can meet later for coffee, kay? 

Fortune tellers and psychics are widely available so all they have to do is find or control the right ones. Not only that but of course someone knows a family of witches, seven sisters and one brother! Who doesn't? They can lead Roulic right to them!

The other thing that Jest excels at in this volume is giving more diverse dimensions and personalities to the Witches. In the previous book, most of the distinction was given largely to Aurora because she guided Roulic on his journey and Ravenna because she was the enchanted love interest. In this volume all of the siblings stand out as individuals and family.  From the maternal leader Aurora, to the serene High Priestess Marlee, the sardonic serious Raine, the quiet dreamy Alison, the bookish intellectual Jillian, the mischievous tricksters Maddy and Agnes, and the affectionate enthusiastic, Jax, they are an interesting family unit that works together even if they don't always agree.

 Much of their individuality has a lot to do with the move to modern day. Many of the siblings adjusted, some more than others. Jax in particular thrives in this new environment  bring trendy, dressing in modern clothing, talking in modern slang and being indistinguishable from any Xer or Millennial growing up in the late ‘90’s. Of course, it is not surprising that he and his sisters would adjust so well. Unlike Roulic who just got there, they lived for centuries in this environment so they had plenty of time to adapt to modern styles, professions, societies, and structures. They fit right in inconspicuous though clearly some are in the know.

The modern setting is so fun and interesting. It even fits well into Roulic and Mayem’s larger journey that reveals what their legacy is and how their actions create ripple effects that change their worlds for centuries. Sometimes those actions have long term consequences that even they can't always see in their lifetime. The modern setting is so odd and yet unique that it's a shame that it doesn't last and Roulic and Mayem reenter the 1640’s Doth and the magical Medieval-like Fantasy world that they left behind in volume one.

The transition isn't bad. There are some suspenseful twists particularly as Roulic has to avoid running into his young self and rescue Ravenna but make sure that they actually get together romantically anyway. Otherwise, Ravenna and her family won't be able to ally with Roulic against Mayem. But they already did and aided him. He wouldn't have been thrown over The Edge with Mayem and visit the present and return to the past-Time Travel is so confusing!

Confusion is one of the bigger issues concerning the rest of Charming Tomorrow. The time travel aspects while well written take out much of the suspense within. Of course, Roulic and Mayem will act the way that they do because they already did. Much of Roulic's tasks are somewhat arbitrary and difficult to keep track of particularly when he encounters the dragons that he once protected and the Pearlytook, the magical key that he once possessed in the previous book.

Also there is an uncertainty within the book which involves retconning many of the events from the previous book. It's less like an adventure that takes the characters into a new setting, presents challenges that raise the stakes, and transforms them in various ways. It seems more like there were things that Jest didn't like in the previous book so used the second to fix them so they would no longer exist in this universe. 

Despite these concerns, the Time Travel angle is an interesting layer that contrasts greatly with the usual plot points in Epic Fantasy. Roulic thrives well in both times and travels back and forth between them. Mayem also thrives and his conversations with his new allies are both charismatic and chilling. He wins them over but he also makes them aware that failure is not an option.

The Witches also are actively involved in Roulic and Mayem’s travel between time periods. They observe their movements from 1999 and are able to provide magical assistance like creating storms and sending telepathic messages. One of the funniest running bits is that, many of the siblings, Maddy and Agnes particularly, watch and discuss these adventures, what Roulic should do or shouldn't have done, and offer predictions about what will happen next like they are binge watching a favorite series on Netflix. So the 1640’s and 1990’s settings aren't bad, they just need work to catch up to each other and be more original.

Since the 1999 portion contains most of the book’s highlights, perhaps Jest could have set most of the book here then returned to Doth in the next book. This would give more story than just reiterating  what happened in the first book and look more like an actual well thought storyline instead of a desperate retcon. But still Charming Tomorrow is a good book and The Witches, the best characters, are definitely worth remembering and rooting for.

The Towpath: A Time Travel Suspense Thriller by Jonathan David Walter; The Intricate Fragility of Time Travel

 

The Towpath: A Time Travel Suspense Thriller by Jonathan David Walter; The Intricate Fragility of Time Travel

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Time travel can be a precarious subject with the possibilities and paradoxes. Like going back in time to kill Adolf Hitler or prevent John F. Kennedy’s assassination could lead to history changing for the better or worse. Perhaps the Soviet Union becomes the victor in the Cold War or another dictator is created from the ashes of World War I or II. Imagine going back in time and accidentally killing or falling in love with your ancestor. You wouldn’t be there to travel back but then who killed or fell in love with them? What about seeing the future knowing what is to come but being unable to prevent it? Time travel can be very excruciating and produces many migraines to figure out the rules and fiction has explored the concept in different ways. Jonathan David Walter’s The Towpath is an example of a novel that explores the complex intricacies and fragile strands that the concept of time stands on.

A mysterious character called The Redeemer is in mourning for her daughter, Hannah, who committed suicide. She is searching for a powerful medallion which will allow the wearer to go back in time so she can prevent the girl’s death. Unfortunately, the medallion is accidentally found by Aaron Porter, a teen boy. Once he learns what the medallion can do, Aaron wants to use it to find his missing brother, Owen. The discovery puts Aaron and his friends, Simon and Libby in immediate danger as The Redeemer pursues them with the assistance of a group of Iroquois warriors that she gathered from the 17th century. 

The Towpath has plenty of depth, particularly with its main protagonist and antagonist. The Redeemer alternates between troubled and terrifying. While searching for Aaron, she gives one of his classmates a particularly painful and grisly death. She is willing to kill for the medallion or send the Iroquois to do it and has no conscience when it comes to inflicting pain on the teen. In her desire to save her child from death, she has no qualms about inflicting it on other children.

However, The Redeemer is not completely soulless. Her intense grief over her daughter’s suicide is very real. Her telepathic conversations with Hannah’s younger self pours out the unhinged rage and despair over the girl’s death and the extreme lengths that she goes through to save her. This is a woman whose traumatized grief has driven her insane.

There is a possibility that time travel itself has played a hand in The Redeemer’s cracking mental state. She has completely disfigured herself and has become desensitized to the historical violence in which she encountered. She has some bouts of kindness such as helping the Iroquois in their fights against white settlers but they’re almost always with the specific goal in mind to save Hannah. As she travels back and forth, The Redeemer loses parts of herself more and more until in one heartbreaking moment she is rejected by Hannah who is frightened of and angry at her. She has become the person that she didn’t want to be because of her grief that has eaten away inside her. 

Aaron is someone who if they were on the same side, would understand what the Redeemer is going through. He too has felt tremendous loss. He has no memories of his birth father. His stepfather, a kindly veteran, died. His mother lives in a drugged and depressed stupor so he is cared for by Owen.The loss that he feels after Owen disappears is just as harrowing as The Redeemer’s mourning. He is not just mourning his brother, but someone who had become another father figure to him shortly after losing his last one. 

The twin stories of grief and obsession are fascinating parallels because it serves as a warning. The Redeemer stands as someone that Aaron is in danger of becoming if his sadness and anger overpower him. He could become just as driven, just as heartless, and just as insane as the woman who is chasing him. 

The intricacies of time travel are brilliantly explored particularly after Aaron and The Redeemer both travel backwards in time and encounter Hannah. She is bruised, morose, and detached. Aaron has to help the troubled girl and repair the rift between her and her mother, without running into his past self. However, he desperately wants to warn and protect Owen from his own fate. 

There are plenty of existentialist questions that are asked. If they rescue them from these specific incidents, are they really saving them or postponing the inevitable? Hannah is clearly troubled and her mother’s presence unnerves her. In her drive to save Hannah, is The Redeemer airbrushing the past and not acknowledging her own culpability in creating the tormented soul that Hannah became? Would Aaron’s knowledge of Owen’s future drive him closer to his brother or further away? If they are saved by their loved one’s trips to the past, then what happens to them in the future? They wouldn’t have this drive to travel back in time or maybe not the ability, so they wouldn’t be able to go back to save them. Would running into their past selves lead to a paradox by their mere presence and would they have any memories of this meeting or the circumstances that led to it? 

These questions are addressed and explored in ways that weigh these potential consequences and change things for better and sometimes for worse. 

Journey of Souls by Rebecca Warner; Composite of Medieval Historical Fiction and Dark Fantasy

 

Journey of Souls by Rebecca Warner; Complex and Compelling Composite of Medieval Historical Fiction and Dark Fantasy

Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery 

Spoilers: Rebecca Warner’s Journey of Souls is a composite of Medieval History and Fantasy that works-for the most part.

It captures a widening schism between religions, politics, class, race, spouses, and parents and children. Within these divisions in the political, religious, and social spheres, there comes division in the supernatural sphere. This is where corrupt people use magic to meet their needs and in reaction, that magic itself becomes corrupt. Both the summoner and the spirits that are summoned fall into envy, rage, revenge, and insanity.

After her son and daughter die, the Countess of Mirefoix (only known as the Lady)  in the Pyrenees Mountains decides to use a spell that restores a person’s soul and mind into another's body. She uses some unfortunate “volunteers” (young people that are recruited to serve or kidnapped and taken to Mirefoix) for their body needs. While she thinks at first that she is unsuccessful, spirits do actually enter the bodies of the donors. 

One of them is Christine, a modern woman from the 21st century who ends up inside the body of the Lady's niece. While Christine adjusts to Medieval life, she becomes involved in a triangle with Garsenda, the Lady’s daughter, and Bon, a loyal soldier with a secret connection to the Mirefoix Family. Meanwhile, the Lady  is becoming unhinged, paranoid , and more obsessed with practicing magic to achieve her ends. 

Journey of Souls draws fantasy and reality in equal measures creating a novel that works for Readers who like Dark Fantasies and for those who like more realistic Historical Fiction. The book is awash in historic detail. The Count of Mirefoix is coming home from the Third Crusades to a wife who doesn't love him and vice versa. He is a verbally, physically, and sexually abusive monster who cares more about the estate that he inherited by marriage (Mirefoix is actually the Lady’s by blood) than he does about his wife. 

The Count does little to care for the people that reside on the lands the way the Lady and her daughters do. He cares about his family lineage. After his legitimate son, Jehan, dies he decides to name his possible illegitimate son, Bon, to inherit rather than his daughters who have already been named as heiresses after Jehan. He is so intertwined with the idea of primogeniture, that his heir must be a son, that he ignores that he has two able bodied, intelligent, strong willed daughters that can inherit the land. He also ignores that Bon is romantically involved with Garsenda, then Christine and is so loyal that he would give up his claim in a heartbeat if they asked him to.

One of the most realistic moments is when the Lady grieves for her lost children. She holds out vague hope when a messenger reports that “Jehan” survived, but that hope is dashed when she sees a blacksmith with the same name and realizes that her son has died. When she and the Count fight, he collapses and succumbs to his pain. While she doesn’t miss her unloving husband, it is a reminder of how much the Lady can lose in such a brief time. 

As she is reeling from those losses, the Lady nurses her sickly daughter, Alienor with the fervent determination of one who has already lost one child and a husband. When she too dies,  she realizes that she is left alone with Garsenda, a daughter who doesn’t get along with her mother and believes that she murdered her father, the parent that she preferred. It is a lot to take and the Lady’s anguish is understandable. It also reminds us of how life in the Medieval era was very short and often ended in violent unpleasant death either from illness or in battle. 

Religion is intrinsic in the Medieval way of life and the Readers are beginning to experience what happens when religions and religious sects collide and challenge each other. The Count returns from the Crusades, bragging about how he and the soldiers fought against the Muslims whom they saw as “barbaric  i!%$#ls.” Then he brags that they took jewels, ancient books, and other valuables  of the people that they conquered (making one wonder who the real barbarians actually were). He uses the magic that Muslim caliphs practice to transfer his soul into a young body. Then after he dies, the Lady is willing to use it herself on her own children. For a seemingly religious Catholic family, they don’t mind co opting others’ abilities for their own benefit, even if they claim to be morally against it. Religious hypocrisy: not just a modern thing!

There are also divisions within the Christian religion itself. This comes about because of the war between the Catholics and the Cathars. Catharism was a sect with Gnostic philosophies such as the existence of two deities: God of Heaven and God of the Earth, a personal relationship with the Spirit, and that one can achieve spiritual and knowledge enlightenment, or  become a “Cathar Perfect,” through mystical means, most notably reincarnation. This schism would later be echoed in European history in the struggle between the Catholic and Protestant churches.

In Journey of Souls, the Cathars are at first seen as a religious sect that is outside the fringes of society and is gaining popularity. They are at first seen as weird, bizarre, and potentially a threat to the Catholic status quo. The outlook changes when the Lady, after a series of misfortunes including death, insanity, and despair converts to Catharism in a final attempt to save her soul. The fact that one of the main characters, inarguably the central character, becomes a Cathar shows how vast this religion has spread and becomes centralized. It foreshadows the eventual destruction of Catharism by the Catholic Church, and the subsequent trials against heresy such as the Inquisition and the Witch Trials. With powerful people converting to religions that challenged the Catholic authority, the church leaders recognized a threat to their leadership.

There are plenty of  other details about Medieval life that spill into the book. One of the most intriguing is that the Count and the Lady are never addressed by their first names. Even the narrative never refers to them by name, just by title. This suggests the remoteness of nobility that even their closest friends and family refer to them by title rather than name. 

Another interesting detail is how many misconceptions about the Medieval era are challenged. As if in anticipation of Readers’ complaining about “wokeness,” Warner wrote a detailed essay with citations and references in the last few pages of the book that challenges those ideas suggesting that European history was more diverse and multifaceted than many believed. Among them are the presence of people who aren’t White and Christian in Medieval France. There are dark skinned characters who emigrated from African and Middle Eastern countries. Some retained their Muslim beliefs and previous customs while others assimilated into the European culture around them. Bon himself is half-Chinese and was trained by a mentor who taught him about Buddhism, Eastern philosophies, and fighting techniques.

The power of women in the novel counters the common belief that women were usually thought of as subservient to their husbands. As mentioned earlier, the Lady holds more authority over Mirefoix rather than the Count and is able to make political and military decisions over her people. Her daughter, Garsenda also has a strong sense of leadership in particular when she is forced into hiding, taking the lead within her small group to ensure their survival. Christine quickly adjusts to her new 12-13th century life and commandeers various situations by coming up with various plans and making some tough decisions. In fact, the presence of women in authority is so prevalent that the Count is made to look like a fool for insisting on primogeniture rather than it being seen as the standard of the day.

Besides History, the other aspect of the book that captivates is the Fantasy. As the Lady becomes involved in casting spells, she encounters the jinni, Arabian spirits of great power and mischievous nature but can be subservient to the humans who control them. They are also known as genies. The jinn originally serve her needs but they also display some dangerous undertones. The Lady falls into madness and avarice (particularly when she learns that the jinni and the souls bleed rubies). It is possible that the creatures are driving her insane but it is just as possible that her madness was already within herself and she is bringing out the darker aspects of these beings rather than the other way around. 

The spell calls forth various souls like Blodeweth, a priestess whose entrapment in another woman's body makes her bloodthirsty and vengeance seeking and Corvinus, a conniving slave turned nobleman who finds himself inhabiting the body of a raven and is forced to serve as the Lady’s spy. The more that they work for the Lady, the more unhinged that they become until their rage and paranoia results in them turning on each other. 

Then there’s Christine. It’s kind of strange for a spirit from the future to inhabit a body in the past. But a few things allow that concept to squeak by in this context. Among them is that it plays into the Catharist view of reincarnation. A spirit who lived in a future time and place alludes to the belief that the soul lives on throughout time in the past and the future. 

The other meaning behind Christine’s presence in the past could also play into a Medieval concept of disorder being passed from one sphere to another. From the moment that the Lady casts the soul transference spell, what was seen as a world of human dissension throws the supernatural into the struggles. It is similar to a concept that actually was believed in the Medieval Era and was often echoed in later literary works such as Shakespeare and Marlowe’s plays. Trouble in the natural physical world, in politics, society, status, spills into the supernatural world. For example the murder of Hamlet’s father leads to the presence of the ghost and the uncertainty of Hamlet’s sanity. So the disorder among the realms could also factor into the disorder of time and space that even those spheres are affected by the Lady’s actions. Christine’s presence could be another symptom of the disruption rather than a random occurrence caused by a spell being used in the wrong way and accidentally punching a hole into the future. 

While it is easy to say that the presence of the supernatural, the jinn, the resurrected souls, Christine’s time travel, are caused by dark demonic forces, the truth is there was a dark undercurrent before the Lady cast her first spell. Before the Count even picked up the spells and found a caliph who would assist him. It is there in the first few pages in a Count who bragged about destroying a whole culture while playing lip service to his own religion. It is there when a Lady whose hatred for her husband, grief at her children’s death, and desire to hold on and control everything she has overpower her reason, love for her remaining family, her role as a Countess, and her own health and sanity. It is there in a feudal system that has fallen to corruption, self-righteousness, and bigotry with the desire to destroy or deride anything that does not fit the status quo. 

This is the imbalance that causes the subsequent disintegration between the natural and supernatural world, human and jinni, living and dead, past and future, fantasy and reality.

Weekly Reader: Cryptic Spaces Book One: Foresight by Deen Ferrell; Captivating Science Fiction and Fantasy Combines Mathematics, Magic, and Time Travel to Make An Incredible Journey

 Weekly Reader: Cryptic Spaces Book One: Foresight by Deen Ferrell; Captivating Science Fiction and Fantasy Combines Mathematics, Magic, and Time Travel to Make An Incredible Journey 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: One could describe Deen Ferrell’s Foresight, the first book in the  Cryptic Spaces series, as the Thinking Person’s Fantasy Adventure. It is the kind of book that shows characters with supernatural gifts, but instead of citing them as magic or psychic abilities, they are more symptoms of an intellectual deep thinking mind. It is a captivating journey of the mind and spirit.

Willoughby Von Brahmer is an eccentric teen prodigy with some very unique gifts. He can see numbers and patterns all around him and because of that, he can recognize mathematical equations and solutions. He is obsessed with looking at what he calls “the spaces between,” those areas of emptiness between solid objects like alleys between buildings, the cracks on a cement or painted surface, or the space between leaves on a tree branch. These spaces seem to tell him something and make him feel like he is being observed. He is also responsible for solving the Riemann Hypothesis, a mathematical equation once thought unsolvable. 

Unfortunately, Willoughby is something of a social misfit. He has very few friends, does not always get along with his seemingly normal family, has questions about his missing father, and gets tongue tied around girls. Even a picture of renowned violinist Sydney Senoya makes him flush with embarrassment and nervousness. In fact, his only friend is Antonio, a talkative friendly barber who dispenses some brotherly advice to the kid genius. Willoughby is definitely someone who lives inside his own head more than anywhere else.

Willoughby soon comes to learn that inside his own head is not the safest place to be either because he is starting to see people appearing and disappearing through those in between spaces. Some are even watching him and want to harm him. He also sees certain numbers shine more than others like they are pointing him towards a code or a specific pattern.

He follows the number patterns and between spaces to the headquarters of Cryptic Spaces, a secret society that travels through time, and studies and solves mysteries and puzzles that have eluded experts for centuries. Willoughby is invited to join this group by its enigmatic leader, H.S.  The offer is tempting and before he knows it, Willoughby finds himself onboard a windjammer, The Absconditus, heading for the high seas with the other Cryptics. They include Antonio who is not just a barber but an architectural genius, Sydney, who has a hypnotic mesmerizing way of playing her violin and a gift for languages, Dr. James Arthur “Dr. J” Washington, the kindly physically fit medical doctor, Dr. Hugh O’Grady, a nervous expert on string theory, and T.K., the cabin girl assigned to watch this band of genius misfits. The Cryptics' latest assignment is to travel back to the 16th century and encounter the famed seer, Nostradamus but unfortunately they are not alone. They are being followed by another more sinister group that has been very interested in their doings since Willoughby joined them and are hot on the trail of the young math genius.

Cryptic Spaces is a book that activates the mind and imagination by fusing science and magic, reason and romance to make a perfect blend of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Adventure. While mathematical concepts are explained in detail, they are done in a way that is not only understandable but poetic. There is something genuinely beautiful about the concept of someone seeing mathematical patterns that form in the air and realize how connected everything is by a specific design and structure. It's a visually appealing thought that makes Cryptic Spaces not only a good book to read but a beautiful work to imagine. When the characters discuss for example the Golden Mean, they reveal that they are able to capture the golden strings that it emits and travel along the streams through time.

Even if you aren't a Math person, you will still find this book to be a work of art and imagination.

There are plenty of awe inspiring moments spread throughout the book. How does H.S. convince Willoughby that he is on the level and the Cryptics really do time travel? Why show him a Jurassic era sea complete with plesiosaur of course. There are some interesting possibilities about the alleged prophecies of Nostradamus and how exactly he knew so much about the future, possibilities that had better be followed up on.

The way that characters travel through those in between spaces is an interesting concept. It's like that person that you barely see out of the corner of your eye and they quickly disappear. These abilities are impressive but could make one doubt their sanity. Of course it doesn't help that you're not paranoid. Those characters that pop in and out of your line of sight really are trying to recruit or kill you!

Foresight is the typical first book in the series where the core characters meet, get to know each other, show their special gifts, and ongoing conflicts are introduced that trail throughout the series. Romances bloom and friendships are made. The Cryptics are a fascinating bunch with diverse talents and peculiarities. Sometimes they make others suspicious. H.S.’s motives are particularly questionable and characters wonder more than once what his real goals and intentions are. There is also an attack and betrayal comes from a familiar face. Most of this is routine for a first book. But with a concept like this and a fascinating ensemble like the Cryptics, the formula works well.

Cryptic Spaces combines the reason of mathematics, the imagination of fantasy, the wonder of science fiction, and the thrill of adventure to make one of the best books of 2023.

New Book Alert: Mazarine Dreamer by Francessca Bella; Novel Length Poem Is Long on Fantasy and Reincarnated Romance

New Book Alert: Mazarine Dreamer by Francessca Bella; Novel Length Poem Is Long on Fantasy and Reincarnated Romance 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Did I mention that reincarnated lovers and time travel romances were one of the top themes this year? After Canvas of Time by Amelie Pimont, Rosemary for Remembrance by Nikki Broadwell, Trapped in Time by Denise Daye, Eternally Artemisia by Melissa Muldoon, The Reincanationist Papers by D. Eric Maikrantz, Demons of Time: Race to the 7th Sunset by Varun Sayal, One Night in Paris by Juliette Sobanet, The Amber Crane by Malve Van Hassel, and The Love of the Tayamni Series by T.A. McLaughlin. Why not end the year right with another one?

So how does one make a frequently done theme work? One way is to do what Francessca Bella did, turn your reincarnated fantasy romance into pure poetry, literally.

What makes Bella's The Mazarine Dreamer stand out is its execution. Bella wrote the book in poetic format creating a novel length poem. It's a difficult endeavor. (Indeed, I tried to write this review in poetry form as a reaction but it didn't work very well so I used prose.) But Bella not only deserves props for trying, she deserves it for succeeding.

The plot involves Flavia Mavaret, a psychologist. Flavia interviews a monk who is either suffering from hallucinations or is possessed. She does some studying and learns that Pastello Abbey, the current monastery, has a curse on it.  There have been at least three accounts of mysterious deaths and disappearances affecting Pastello since the Renaissance (at least three that are reported.)

While investigating the abbey and its surroundings, Flavia follows a carrier pigeon to the wooden caravan home of Madame Idona, a mediatress and past life expert. Idona reveals that Flavia is the reincarnation of a woman who was caught in a love triangle in the Renaissance that ended very badly.

Idona gives Flavia the chance to go back in time to set things right. She is to wear a bracelet on her wrist and when a pigeon appears before her, she must recite the Latin words on the scroll that it carries.

Once Flavia travels back in time, she encounters Nevian Evegane, a Renaissance scientist who is trying to breed a clowder of battle cats called the calor. The Renaissance version of Flavia is engaged to Nevian but things aren't going well, mostly because of Nevian's obsession with calor breeding and his  arrogant bordering on abusive behavior. During a tense argument, Flavia goes to the nearby Briarfield estate and encounters Seron Briarfield, a charming artist and magician and the other third of the triangle.

If things weren't complicated enough in the Renaissance, Flavia can travel between past and present. In modern day, Flavia is investigating the curse on Pastello and a sinister creature called Mortis Nuntius. She also catches the attention of her colleague, Netius Eveseen, an intelligent and driven physicist with an interest in zoology and Netius' friend, Lero Monteith, an illustrator with an interest in magic. What a coincidence, Netius and Lero bear strong resemblances to Nevian and Soren respectively and before too long, it appears that the triangle echoes once again and history is cursed to repeat itself.

Bella shows tremendous aptitude for the mechanics of poetry such as rhyme and meter. She begins her work with "So now, my heart a lacked complexity/I work to decode for salvation  its perplexity." 

Since the book is written in rhyming couplet, there are times when Bella really stretches for a near rhyme like "pounders and blunders."(She also solves the riddle that if you find an unrhymable word like orange just have the characters make up a word like "apporange." It worked when Lewis Carroll did it.) Of course if you are writing a novel in poetic form, not every line is going to be great and it doesn't take away the tremendous achievement and talent in writing the book this way in the first place.

Bella was clearly inspired by the Romantic poetry narratives of the past. There is a strong sense of respect for the natural and supernatural world that is spread throughout the work. Flavia is fascinated with pure white albino animals. She herself has albinism and is often recognized for her uncommon appearance. So she relates to these physically unique creatures. Many times pale animals like foxes, birds, cats, and rabbits appear before sharing a psychic connection or to guide her.

Besides the natural world, there are strong ties to the supernatural world.

The book has plenty of magic and an awareness of motifs and themes found in fairy tales and Romantic poetry.

Idona is similar to the wise guide/Mentor figure who gives the protagonist the task and advises them on what path they need to take. 

There are curses and demons. Flavia is haunted by a demonic figure that delights in mentally torturing her and those it encounters.

 The animals are not just a natural connection to Flavia but also a magical one as they lead her to various steps on her quest. There are various motifs that can be found in such works like the Rule of Three (three magic words that Flavia has to recite to travel through time; three encounters at Pastello before Flavia investigated it). 

Color and imagery are also used to capture Romantic Fantasy. Bella's writing helps the Reader visualize the book in front of them.

One of my favorite stanzas shows the transition between past and present as her bracelet transports her.

Flavia says:

"A moving Mazarine fog and I synchronized

the sole two things in existence organized

We shared definition and became premium

to make the presiding magic medium

a true traveling point between my mod life

as Flavia Mavaret and one with past ride

set five hundred years back in the Renaissance

It promised to return me to ancient haunts

Encapsulated into that blue abyss, I experienced

feelings again. They dramatically influenced me as I infused with the color mazarine and became a softer dreamer in its scene

Life I gained inside it, so my understanding 

of it changed thickly into one for demanding

a mazarine transcendence. A blue beyond 

warded off death. In its abyss, I did abscond

Fading slowly away was that blue and mist-swirled 

Surrealism to give way to an alt-world."

Mazarine ends up functioning as a color that represents spirituality and time. It is a conduit between the worlds of past and present and allows Flavia to travel between them. The Mazarine Dreamer is like a study of Romantic fantasy and the tropes that are found inside them.

Flavia herself goes through the various steps of the Hero's Journey such as the Call to Adventure, Refusing the Call, Challenges, Transformation, Atonement, and Return.

Like many heroes before her, Flavia is not the same person that she was before. She begins as a modern woman certain about her career and her place in the world as a psychologist. Though she is curious and open minded enough to accept ideas as magic, she isn't experienced in them personally. This experience of traveling through time opens her mind to become a more understanding and accepting character, especially towards other people who remember their former lives or are  maybe carrying issues and fears that resonated into their current live. She becomes a guide to them the way Idona was for her.

There is a theme of physical vs. metaphysical throughout the Mazarine Dreamer and much of it is carried over by the two (technically four) men in Flavia's life.

In the past, Nevian and Soren firmly stand on opposite sides of the Renaissance ideal. Nevian is all about Reason and science. He is cold and methodical. When he receives the commission to create calors, that becomes his central obsession. He is arrogant in his pursuits and he is condescending and verbally abusive towards Flavia.

On the other hand, Soren stands on the opposite spectrum. He believes in magic not science and has a spiritual connection to the world around him. He is more emotional and Romantic and soothes the loneliness that Flavia feels.

Unfortunately, Soren and Nevian being pitched at opposite extremes works thematically but not plot wise. Thematically, they represent two ideals that are often at odds with which Flavia balances both extremes out, being scientific but open minded,rational in analyzing patient's concerns but emotional enough to be concerned for their welfare. 

Unfortunately, for the plot of an important love triangle which ends in tragedy, it doesn't quite work when one third of the triangle is portrayed as so much better or worse than the other. Nevian is written for the most part as irredeemable and reprehensible. His interest in science is fascinating but the shameful way that he treats Flavia makes any option of him ending up with her troublesome at best. Seron is clearly the better prospect but that takes out the conflicted possibilities that could have resulted in better characters.

Actually Bella does present a more nuanced triangle in the present between Flavia, Netius, and Lero. Like their predecessors, Netius and Lero also stand on opposite sides of the Romance vs. Reason debate but their positions are more fluid. They often overlap with their views.

While Netius is a physicist and can at times be arrogant, he has an almost poetic affection for zoology and biology, almost recognizing deeper connections in the world around him. He also has enough of an open mind that he understands Flavia's experience and doesn't condescend to her when she tells him what is going on.

Lero is an illustrator with a much more emotional and spiritual side. However, he has a medical awareness as he sketches the human heart. Interestingly enough while Soren is the better prospect for Flavia in the past, Lero somewhat falters in the present. There are times when he behaves very immaturely and crosses boundaries especially after Flavia and Netius become involved.

While Nevian and Soren have the more Renaissance view of characters reflecting one thing or another, Netius and Lero are from a more postmodern view. People in literature are more complex than they were. They are not one thing or another. Sometimes their views and personalities adapt or overlap and that's what Bella displays in the modern era and how she portrays the separate triangles both past and present.

The Mazarine Dreamer is a beautiful poetic experiment that works very well. It takes the themes of reincarnation and love existing through time and finds a new interesting way to tell it. It's not an easy read, but it is well worth it.

New Book Alert: The Amber Crane by Malve Von Hassell; Historical Fiction Merges The Thirty Year War and WWII Through Time Travel

 New Book Alert: The Amber Crane by Malve Von Hassell; Historical Fiction Merges The Thirty Year War and WWII Through Time Travel

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Malve Von Hassell's The Amber Crane takes a hard unflinching look at two wars that shaped European History: The Thirty Years War which lasted from 1618-1648 and World War II. The plot involves a young man experiencing both wars through time travel. (Yes it's yet another time travel book that I am reviewing this year with another one coming soon.) The time travel aspects are intriguing but what is most memorable is the reality of showing the suffering that young people go through during a long extended time facing war.

In 1644, Peter Glienke, a 15 year old apprentice amber maker, lives near Stolpmunde, the Province of Pomerania with his widowed father and mute sister, Effie. His older brother, Lorenz, was killed in the war and his mother essentially died of grief. He feels constrained by the demands of his apprenticeship which gives him orders on what to make and when to leave his village (which with the latter the answer is never.) Peter is cynical and hardened by the war around him. 

Peter's only release seems to be creating works of art with the amber. He finds a few pieces of amber on the beach and keeps them for himself and in the process commits several infractions and breaks a few laws.

 However the amber that Peter collects has unusual abilities. When he holds them and falls asleep, he is transported 300 years into the future into 1944. There he meets Lioba, a young woman who is separated from her parents and is fleeing to safety with a gun in her hand ready to take on soldiers. 

 Peter transports between his present and future with the travel constantly draining him as he is caught between two worlds. He finds his family in the 17th century and his new friends in the 20th century and only he can help.

The Amber Crane is detailed in describing the life of someone in the 17th century, particularly guild members. The guild gives Peter training to use and make amber into various things. He makes several small figures like an amber heart and crane. His Master Nowak oversees his work and gives him assignments. As an apprentice, Peter is constrained by restrictions that are given by his Master Nowak and by the Mayor which also contribute to the ramifications to him finding and keeping amber. He is forbidden to travel or leave the village.The mayor orders civilians to stay away from the beach and the guild regulations require all amber turned in. By keeping the amber, Peter risks potential imprisonment, permanent banning from the guild, or banishment.

Nowak finally recommends Peter to ascend to the journeyman level which allows for more freedom to travel and work.  Peter is clearly glad for the extended freedom though guilt stricken about breaking regulations and worried about what it could mean for his family.

The other thing that The Amber Crane explores is the ramifications of how a long time war affects the people living during it. Peter has lived his entire life aware of this war. Even older generations have lived with it.

Neither Peter nor anyone else care who is in charge. Whether it's the Swedish or the Imperialists, the answer is always the same: more fighting. It's a common occurrence for supplies to be cut off and the people in Stolpmunde to go hungry. Random acts of violence are also frequent as when Effie is raped by a mysterious assailant.

In the 1940's, Peter recognizes the same issue with Lioba. She too sees no distinction between the Russian or German soldiers and will fight either if need be. War has desensitized both Peter and Lioba and they don't see an end to them. Some of the most heartbreaking moments concern the wars. Effie's rape has left her traumatized because she has already been unable to communicate with others except Lorenz. She completely shuts down and is unable to defend herself when she is accused of witchcraft.

In one chapter, Peter and Lioba enter the empty home of her uncle which is decorated the same as when he and his family left around Christmas. They enter a house with trees still up and decorations waiting for a joyous celebration which can never again be enjoyed by the people that once lived there.

In another uncanny resemblance between real life and art, it is heartbreaking to read about this fictional account of the Thirty Years War and World War II  and the real life happenings in Afghanistan. In the book and in life,  we have accounts of war that has lasted longer than most of the young population has been alive.  There are parallels between what Peter, Lioba, and the other characters in the book are going through and what many Afghan citizens and refugees are going through. It makes one wonder if, like Peter and Lioba, that they have experienced so much violence and death that it doesn't matter whether the soldiers are American, Afghan, or Taliban. They are soldiers who only bring death and destruction. 

The time travel aspects are slight. I was hoping for a stronger link between the two but perhaps the link is more thematic than plot worthy. Peter and Lioba are united by their cynicism and hatred for war. Their youth is over if it ever existed and now they despair about facing nothing but violence.

The Amber Crane could be a fantasy, but it's the reality of the lives in children during war that are most effective and memorable.