Today’s post is a round up of my first impressions for my fourth batch of books for the SPFBO.  I’ve also made progress on this month’s selection of books which I’ll be posting up shortly.  The books I read this month are listed below.  If you want more info this is my original post outlining each book.  They’re listed below in the order I’m going to check them out – five books a month for the next six months.  I will choose one book out of each of the six batches and then from those 6 potentials choose one to submit for the final stage.

Without further ado here are my books:

The Soul Guide by Kelly Stock

The Soul Guide got off to quite a good start.  A story about a young girl, Sybil, who is about to discover that she has been chosen as the latest Soul Guide.  By the time I read the first 20% I’d made the acquaintance of the two characters who would be helping Sybil on her journey.  Bertram the Caretaker and Alec who will be acting as some sort of protection.  Having reached my cut off point I don’t feel at the moment that I’ve connected enough with this story to take it forward.  It has a YA feel to it at this point and also I suspect something of a romance may develop between Sybil and Alec although that could be a wrong impression.  To be honest, I think this would probably appeal to a slightly younger audience and although I don’t have any particular niggles with the book it just lacked that certain something that makes me care about the characters and I also felt that some of the dialogue was a bit forced.  Again, at a fifth of the way in that is something that could develop as the story progresses.

The Apotheosis Break by Josh Rhodes and Mike Rutledge

I must say that I found myself really enjoying the Apotheosis Break.  It has a coming of age/adventure type feel to the story and I found it a fast and easy read.  The main character Vasili is about to embark on the next stage of his life, he has plans but before his plans can come to fruition everything goes wrong.  Vasilii’s father has something of a reputation, he’s a hero and plenty of tales are told of his deeds.  Vasili makes a hasty decision to leave his village and find his own course in life, he seeks his own adventure but also wants to find out more about his father.

To the point I got up to I was enjoying the read.  I think that if the momentum stays the same there could be some very entertaining adventures to follow as  I don’t imagine that being aboard an airship will be quite as easy as Vasili has imagined and I have very good first impressions of this story.  Unfortunately, this isn’t my final choice for this month’s batch of reads but it is a story that shows a lot of promise.

Darker Things by Rob Cornell

Darker Things is a dark urban fantasy style story where supernatural creatures, such as vampires, live amongst us – without our knowledge.  Craig Lockman used to work as a sort of special agent, dealing with such creatures until he left the job and went into a sort of enforced hiding for protection’s sake.  As the story starts, the daughter he didn’t know he had, turns up on his doorstep bringing with her a whole heap of trouble.

Darker Things didn’t really work out for me.  I think my main issue at the point I reached was the interaction between Craig and his daughter.  For me certain things just didn’t add up but, of course, I’m only 20% into the story so it could be that many of my internal quibbles could be reasonably answered.  It’s also a little more action and less character focused than I usually enjoy so it could be that if you want a fast paced style book where the protagonists seem to go from one spot of danger to the next then this could work out for you.  For me, I didn’t mind the fast paced start, it certainly helps to draw you in, but, I didn’t feel like I was then given any time or reason to care enough about the character’s.

Today is Too Late by Burke Fitzpatrick

Today is Too Late definitely hooked me.  I’m not going to say too much about it at this point because I need to find out more about the world that the author has created here but at this point I certainly feel the desire to read further.  So, more to follow.  Today is Too Late is my choice from this batch.

Cursefell by C V Dreesman

I’m not going to lie – I found Cursefell downright entertaining and in fact I read the entire book.  I had no problems with the writing, I liked the mythology used and the curse that the author has come up with and in spite of chucking in a few well used tropes and a potential romantic interest I just found this easy to read.  It hooked me and almost felt like a guilty pleasure to read – although why ‘guilty’ I don’t know and can’t explain other than it is a YA read.

Why then, you may ask, is this not my story going forward from this batch.  Well, firstly, this is, at just over 100 pages, a fairly short story which is why it was so easy to complete in one sitting. Secondly, I find I have many questions unanswered at the end of the book and I can’t seem to see that there’s a planned sequel which is puzzling – although I could be wrong.  Thirdly, I don’t think the characters had enough time to develop and I think this could easily have been expanded upon.  But, without doubt this held my attention very easily and I can say that had a sequel been available I probably would have picked up a copy and read on.   As it is, it feels unfinished and with just too many loose ends which basically left me feeling not as satisfied as I’d like.