Heart of Veridon by Tim Akers

When my daughter was young and starting to read, she told me she didn’t like chapter books because “the words put pictures in my head.” Likewise, Tim Akers put pictures in my head.
Once in a great while, you get a book that visually plays out on the big screen in your head as you’re reading the words on the page.

Veridon is a city on the banks of a large river that feeds into a massive waterfall, in a continent that sounds like unexplored Africa. I’m sure everyone’s picture of Veridon will be just a little bit different because there are no long descriptive passages — just little bits and pieces: “she had a pretty chin and lips, but the smile she dressed them in didn’t make it to her eyes.” Or, “From the outside, the Church looked like a cancer of architecture.” People are described by a single feature or manne... Read More

The Horns of Ruin by Tim Akers

I enjoy steampunk novels. The alternate technology amuses me. When a stream of magic is blended into it as well, a steampunk world is a great place to set a story. The Horns of Ruin by Tim Akers has just such a setting.

Eva Forge is the last Paladin of Morgan, the God of War and the Hunt. He fought many battles, won many wars, and then was killed by his own brother, also a God. The followers of Morgan were once numerous and powerful. Eva is not the last of her kind — there are a few others — but the Cult of Morgan is in decline.

The compelling, action-packed storyline deals with an attack on the Cult. Its adherents are being targeted and murdered, and Eva gets caught up in a serious fight early in the book. Eva is hard-charging, violent, pushy, violent, dedicated, and did I mention violent? Akers never says it, but you get the feeling that she’s pretty a... Read More