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WAKING MAYA

A thought-provoking metaphysical adventure.

Awards & Accolades

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In Goldie’s novel, a young woman embarks on a mysterious journey that may have world-changing consequences.

While burying her beloved cat, Maya Burke unearths a journal containing mysterious messages from her long-missing father, Ben Ambrose. His writings warn her of “a global change…of such magnitude that every human system—nations, governments, cultures—will be transformed. Societies will be rocked…But this is not what you may think, Maya. The change will be internal. It will come from the inside of man, not from without.” She sets out to find her father and the answers to the questions his warning raised. Along the way, she meets various people who knew (or knew of) Ben and slowly introduce her to a new way of thinking. Maya learns to identify “energy vortex[es]” that help her channel her strange visions; meets a man who explains the metaphysics behind cultural change; and speaks with a woman who used the collective unconscious to help transform the medical field through mind-body healing. Meanwhile, a mysterious group known as the Mandala has its own agenda for the upcoming global changes—and Maya just may be the missing piece of the puzzle. Goldie crafts a compelling, trippy story that could stand on its own as a “young woman finding herself” narrative—it just so happens to also tackle heady topics like the nature of space, time, and the unconscious energy that flows through all of humanity. The author mostly avoids proselytizing to his audience, instead doling out bits and pieces of his theories in the course of a genuinely good mystery. While some moments come across as a bit trite (such as when a young boy suddenly “glimpses new worlds within his reach”), the prose remains clear and accessible. The book ultimately provides a plethora of intriguing ideas through which readers can parse, even if they don’t completely buy into Goldie’s philosophies.

A thought-provoking metaphysical adventure.

Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2014

ISBN: 9781493625239

Page Count: 308

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2024

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IRON FLAME

From the Empyrean series , Vol. 2

Unrelenting, and not in a good way.

A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.

Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.

Unrelenting, and not in a good way.

Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023

ISBN: 9781649374172

Page Count: 640

Publisher: Red Tower

Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024

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FOURTH WING

From the Empyrean series , Vol. 1

Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.

On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.

Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.

Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

ISBN: 9781649374042

Page Count: 528

Publisher: Red Tower

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024

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