Selkies' Skins

Selkies' Skins
Current book in series Temple and Skinquest. Enjoy Castle and Well from Amazon, B&N and Smashwords while waiting for that and the prequel's audiobook "Pearls of Sea and Stone: Book of Seals".

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Book Review: The Eleventh Hour (The Prime Insurgency #11)

We have come to the end of my personal challenge, the Advance Review Copies, and the series. I greatly enjoyed the chance to read through these books. Having spoken with the author there will be two boxed sets for this series.



  • Books 1-6
  • Books 7-11
Book Review
Title: The Eleventh Hour (The Prime Insurgency #11)
Author: J. D. Stonebridge

First off the end of this made me tear up. Even in winning there was defeat, as should be expected in a storyline such as this, as inevitably someone is going to lose. I don’t think any of the characters in this were truly evil. In this I am reminded a bit of Miyazaki’s works. It is very fast, but at the end, in that last chapter, it gets very somber very quickly.

Even though we have deity-like Primes, the truth of the gods of the various religions, there is no deus ex machina in this. Everything is explainable. Even down to the battle between two “father figures” and a colossal screw up that possibly could have been avoided if not for one thing. Pride. This is what I take from the story anyway.

The story is not ended, not with what the epilogue sets up. Once more Tony goes missing, leaving behind a note begging not to be sought or stopped. Of course Lauren and Lance are going to go looking. I hope to see another series following this storyline.

Once more the writing is good. The characters come alive in this and it is the interplay of character with plot that keeps the pages turning so fast. You get attached to them. You grimace when they get hit, feel bad when they die.

There were a few places that jarred me out of the flow but I was pulled along by the story so fast that by the time I realized I was already too far forward to go back and make note of it properly. This was a very enjoyable book and series, which I would recommend for anyone that likes contemporary sci fi, whether teen or older.

Book Review: Ten Great Beams (The Prime Insurgency #10)

Nearing the end of my personal challenge, the Advance Review Copies, and the series. There's only one more after this! Having spoken with the author there will be two boxed sets for this series.
  • Books 1-6
  • Books 7-11


Book Review
Title: Ten Great Beams (The Prime Insurgency #10)
Author: J. D. Stonebridge

In this book we learn what happens with Tony and get more intimate with Sun Child, or Rathanos. We also discover that this Prime is a huge book worm. I have to compare him with Thoth and with Apollo. We are not brought in his viewpoint to where he met back up with Lance yet, I am assuming that this comes in the next book “Eleventh Hour.” We do however learn more about two plans, Rathanos’ plan, and that of the Zeus/Ivan. I cannot recall off the top of my head the actual name of the storm Prime that was given in one of the previous books. Thus I have to admit falling into the pantheon problem when these beings are more of what is at the root of them all.

So I wonder if this also makes Sun Child/Rathanos the seed for Amaterasu as well, given how some saw that deity is female and others male.


Again the writing is well done. I noticed less strange drop downs in dialogue. This time they really were at logical places such as paragraphs within speech. The characters are still rounded and believable, and growing, living, breathing. It is obvious how much thought each character was given. The story stays intriguing the further one goes. I also very much liked how Tony, the scholar, ends up standing up to Ivan, the host of the Zeus-like Prime, and displaying the bravery that others have commented on.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Book Review: Ninth Wonder (The Prime Insurgency #9)

I am back with another review based on an Advance Review Copy that I was given for feedback.

Book Review
Title: Ninth Wonder (The Prime Insurgency #9)
Author: J. D. Stonebridge
Page count:
Where to get:

This was another quick read. You really want to read the previous books in the series before reading this one in order to fully understand and appreciate what is going on. In this episode Lance and his new Prime body buddy have to learn to work together, which would be a lot easier if Lance was the sort of guy who could share. Lance has to make some more close calls, follow his instincts, and walk a bit in faith in order to meet back up with his battle buddies.

That plan, as one might expect in a war of Primes, does not go exactly as planned, but he does make some new allies and learns a shocking, or perhaps not so shocking, truth. Tony has been lost but now he is found, and Lance is not a happy man.


I was pleased with how the characters continue to grow and develop, and with the way the new characters are introduced into the storyline. It reminds me a bit of folding the batter versus stirring it, to borrow from baking terminology. The books are feeling like they are getting a bit longer than the previous ones in the series. There is more meat in these later episodes. Perhaps it is because the stakes are so high, and there is so much more to take care of now that we are running at speed.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Book Review: The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing

Book Review
The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing

I borrowed a copy of this from the local library as I have been considering getting a copy of my own. Advice that writers often give each other is to always be reading, whether fiction, history, or books about writing.
I found it to be well worth the borrow and it will definitely be moving up in my mental list of books to procure for when I am stuck with a writing problem. I ended up renewing the book after the first two weeks so that I would have more time with it. I found a great deal of information in it that even though it is a review I found useful to be able to isolate and focus on elements concept by concept. Some of the concepts have more than one article about them and by more than one author to give various viewpoints and methods of address.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Book Review: Eightfold Way (The Prime Insurgency #8)

This book is not currently available to the public yet. I get the treat of reading the Advance Review Copy of this book and posting a pre-release review. I will be returning to update this post with the individual link once the book has been released to the public.

Book Review
Title: Eightfold Way (The Prime Insurgency #8)
Author: J. D. Stonebridge
Where to get:

I have to say that I really like how these title names not only work in the number within the series but also trace out a particular spiritual path.

In this book we get treated to memories of the Prime that now inhabits Lance. Two of the Primes that this Prime shares memories of remind me greatly of Zeus and Juno. It almost has me seeking a place to put “Amacaron” within the Greco-Roman pantheons, but I know that if I give in to this urge too much that I could miss a lot. However as I read further I am reminded more and more of Mercury. After Apollo’s appearance, however, I had to look up Amacaron.

The scene in this part of the story regarding the planet itself waging war against the alien invaders has me thinking about the stories of Atlantis and the lesser known Mu and Lemuria.

Overall I would say that a good portion of this episode of the series focuses on the story of how man came to be, what was the event that caused Pangaea to break and begin continental drift, and several other events set into motion in the distant past. It was absolutely fascinating to me.


And then it ended on the usual cliffhanger. Functionally, limiting each book to six chapters seems to be really good at doing that.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Reviews: The Prime Insurgency Books 2-7 (out of 11)

Let us start with the most recent of the books in the series that I have finished reading. This review has not gone to Amazon yet as I have been able to obtain an Advance Review copy of books 6 through 11. I am rather happy for this opportunity to read ahead. I really do not like waiting when it is so easy to get so caught up in other things as to forget a series when I am ready for it. I have written to this author and found out that he intends to do two boxed sets for this series, but as of this morning he did not have a set release date for them.

Book Review
Title: The Seventh Circle (#7 in The Prime Insurgency)
Author: J. D. Stonebridge
Where to get: I will place the link here when I see the book has gone to public.

This book took the series on a huge turn in my opinion. The one person that I did not really expect to become a Prime ended up a Prime, and we get close to seeing the transfer. I was glad to see the dynamic duo end up getting split up. Even though I like them greatly as a team it is about time for them to have some solo time. I look forward to seeing how that fares for them in the next book. I also really like how Lance is forced to make some tough calls.

As usual the writing style is very fast. There were a few places where paragraphs dropped down strangely, but I am unsure if that was intentional or if it was a result of the compilation that I was gifted.


Book Review
Title: Into the Hexagon
Author: J. D. Stonebridge
Page count: 63 pages
Where to get: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ERRNJY0
Author’s page: https://www.amazon.com/J.D.-Stonebridge/e/B00OPZ1YQU

When this series was pointed out to me I did not expect how addicting it was to become. With this particular episode the plot of the series is advanced even further. We uncover a corporation conducting illegal and questionable experiments to go along with the Primes. The boys do not find Lauren, but rather she finds them. We meet three new Primes. The usual destruction occurs. Poor Tony and Lance seem to encounter violent explosions wherever they go. So much for being out of the military and any ideas of a peaceful life that Lance might have had. I quite sympathize with his momentary desire to go back to the desert! It would all be so much to take and I think that by this time the progressive forward movement they have to make simply to stay alive is what is preventing mental breakdowns. If you want action, this is a good place to get it. As usual detail is detailed, but fleeting. You do not have a great opportunity to luxuriate or bask. You get to rest now and then, but those are brief. As usual, this is a good read if you are looking for something light but engaging, and I do not mean light as in not requiring thought.

If you have not been watching the Youtube channel, here are the previous reviews.

Book 2:

Book 3:



Book 4 & 5:



Thursday, April 20, 2017

Ame's Bookshelf:The One In Light (The Prime Insurgency Bk 1) Review