Wolgast CastleBook One of the Sidonia The Sorceress Series by Linda Bell Brighton
Forced to attend Princess Maria
regent's celebration at Wolgast Castle, 1560 Germany, Sidonia von Bork, fears
her magical abilities will be discovered and she'll be burned alive as a witch.
When she discovers she is actually a member of an ancient shape-shifting race
and the prophesied Golden One, she must face her destiny: to save the
multiverse from the daemons determined to destroy all humans, and stay alive in
the process.
My Thoughts: I have to say that I found myself liking this book a lot. I do admit that it was confusing in many parts because of the choppy transitions and editing errors (I had an ARC version), but I was able to ignore these and just enjoy the book. Linda Bell Brighton took historical events and people and created a fictional world filled with danger and magic. It was a very fun ride.
It was interesting to read a story that took place in the Burning Times. For those that don't know, hundreds of innocent people (mostly women) were burned alive for witchcraft. In this book, witches actually existed but they were not all bad. Religious people, like Princess Maria, were on the constant lookout for witches. I found myself shaking my head constantly for the silly things that were seen as "evidence" that would tell if a person was a Devil's servant. I also found myself constantly worrying for the main character, Sidonia. I kept wondering if Princess Maria would finally find some evidence against Sidonia and imprison her. The suspense had me at the edge of my seat.
What I found the most fascinating thing about this book was that Sidonia van Bork actually existed. She was a noble woman accused of witchcraft. Though Wolgast Castle is the first in the series, it does make me wonder if our main character would suffer the same fate as the actual woman. I guess I'll have to continue reading the series to find out. :)
Overall, this was a very interesting take of a real event mixed in with fantasy. The story was engaging and the historical facts had me intrigued. I rate it:
Guest Post
Plotting with Tarot: Repeat The Spread by Linda Bell Brighton
Now that you’ve read the character and plotting
tarot posts at From
The Bootheel Cotton Patch, All Fantasy Worlds ,
and Nicki
J Markus, I’m going to ask you to do something that is
usually frowned on by serious tarot people: Repeat a spread. If you repeat a
spread, asking the same question, you get the same meaning, even if there are
different cards. (This is where I really got amazed when I first started with
tarot.) If you do a different spread while asking the same question, you get
the same answer with subtle differences.
Why would I want you to repeat a question using a
different spread? To shape the book to your story.
If you write your book based on the spread you did
after my blog for Nicki, readers and reviewers would say it was “flat.” My
immediate reaction would be, of course, that was how you dealt the cards! An
example of a spread that works is to deal the five sets of cards to form an
upward slant to the spread. The steeper the slant, the more tension the book
will have. “Give me a break!” I hear you saying. “The slant of cards makes my
book a cozy or suspense or a thriller?” Yes and no. It’s your thoughts that
give the intention. It’s your intention that interprets the cards. But yes,
more intense cards appear with a steeper slope.
But what if my book isn’t a cozy, suspense, or
thriller? Then close your eyes and imagine the shape of your book. Maybe if
it’s romantic suspense, you keep the upward slope, but the card crossing is the
Love Interest. Or if they don’t cross that much, maybe put them next to each
other. Or find another spread that fits your book better. Or create your own
spread.
More about that in my next post.
Linda Bell Brighton’s Bio:
Linda Bell Brighton fell in love with myths, magic, and
monsters at an early age. On a thunder-storming day in the Keys, her father—in
his bass reading voice—brought The Hound
of the Baskerville to too-vivid-life. From that day forward, Greek and
Roman myths merged with Wonder Woman and Super girl. After studying medieval
and Renaissance literature in college, she now combines her loves by writing an
alternate history of the Witch Burning Times that she calls magpunk: real
history with myths, magic, monsters—and daemons, too.
Links
Linda Bell Brighton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaBellWriter
Linda Bell Brighton’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lindabell.brighton
Linda Bell Brighton’s video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLM9A8ejuBA
Wolgast Castle, Book One of the Sidonia The Sorceress Series Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WolgastCastle
Wolgast Castle, Book One of the Sidonia The Sorceress Series on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1456jFK
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Linda is giving away prizes, including an e-copy of her book
at each blog stop on her tour AND three Grand Prize Giveaway of one Travel Mug,
one T-Shirt and one Custom Jumbo Tote Bag with your choice of fan art, chosen from here: http://www.zazzle.com/sidonia_the_sorceres shipped to anywhere in the world
1)
To win a book: Leave a comment on this blog post on what is your creativity to be entered to
win a book. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so we can
contact you if you’re the lucky winner. This giveaway ends seven days after the
post goes live.
2) To win the Travel
Mug or the T-Shirt or the Custom Jumbo Tote Bag with Linda’s fan art of your
choice, click the link to go to Linda’s
website here http://www.lindabellbrighton.com/ and enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the page.
The three lucky winners will be selected by October 7, 2013 (or you can enter below this blog).
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