Author Amazon Page: Verna-McKinnon amazon
A Familiar’s Tale
Book 1: Gate of Souls
Blurb: Familiars.
Magical animal companions of sorcerers.
Keepers of spells and secrets.
Most important, devoted friends for life.
When one such familiar, Mellypip, bonds with the young sorceress Runa, he shares in the wonders of magic. Together, Mellypip and Runa train under the tutelage of Runa’s grandfather, Cathal, and his cantankerous mountain owl familiar, Belwyn. But secrets and spells do not make for good sorcery. Old friends begin to vanish even as enemies from Cathal’s past return, threatening to reveal the truth of Runa’s parents; a truth from which Cathal must protect his granddaughter at any cost. When Cathal is kidnapped, Runa and Mellypip rush against time to save their family and friends from dark sorcery that will not only destroy them, but shatter the Gate of Souls and release demonic creatures of The Otherworld unto the mortal realms.
My Original Review: And you thought witches only had familiars. Welcome to Verna McKinnon’s world.
I knew “Gate of Souls” was a favourite by the second chapter. I knew I was keeping Ms. McKinnon’s book for my daughter, too. I knew I wanted more before I was done chapter two.
I have no idea how to write this review without gushing and gushing won’t cut it, will it.
“Gate of Souls” is a family book. Any age fantasy reader will find something to enjoy within its pages. Although, I’ll probably wait till my seven-year-old is closer to nine before letting her at it.
Why? There is death, scares, and a natural violence that comes with any battle between good and evil. However, nothing is over the top or gratuitous.
Ms. McKinnon starts with the past. We are given a look back at a great battle that nearly destroyed everyone in the present tale. This battle took Cathal’s wife, daughter, and granddaughter…all at the hands of his son-in-law, the husband, the father. At least it was believed his granddaughter, Runa, was killed. Belwyn, Cathal’s familiar, couldn’t reach Cathal through the grieving pain.
However, Striker, the red panther familiar of Rualla (Cathal’s daughter) had saved Runa and carried her to the Ilyrran rangers (closest description…think Elves). Now they have brought Runa to her grandfather.
Okay, Ms. McKinnon you had me in tears by page four. Then again when you revisited…oops, can’t give that away.
And, of course, raising a granddaughter can’t be enough challenge for Cathal (or learning to harness her own magic and potion making for Runa). Someone has killed the Archon (highest honour for any sorcerer, Cathal was it once) and Emperor Tarsicius has sent for Cathal. Let alone several of Cathal’s and Runa’s sorcerer friends are missing and Cathal and Runa have just been attacked. And Tarsicius is dying.
Sounds like Runa’s about to have her adventure.
Let’s get back to talking about Familiars. These are animals who have their own magic and not all animals have magic. Cathal’s Belwyn is an owl. A semi-sarcastic ornery owl whose job is to teach Runa’s familiar to read, write, math, and magic…also teaching Runa.
Mellypip. I love Mellypip. I promise, Ms. McKinnon, if anything happens to Melly I’m throwing your book across the room. Mellypip is a wampu. Cathal hoped Melly would become Runa’s familiar and after his and Runa’s mental bonding, he is. Melly loves Runa, loves to eat, and came into his special power a tad early…hey, life and death adventures will do that, you know.
Yes, Belwyn has his claws (?) full with Runa and Mellypip.
I’m stopping here because I could go on and on about all the familiars (A sloth?? A badger? A hedgehog named Rosepetal? You’ll love them, trust me).
“Gate of Souls: A Familiar’s Tale” is a flawless fantasy for any age. There’s adventure, magic, family, battles, talking animals, secrets, all told with living emotions and humour. Ms. McKinnon’s comic timing is spot on.
I’m happy to hear book two is on its way…book three? Four? Five? More?
I dare you to not fall in love with Mellypip and friends.
Book 2: Tree of Bones
Blurb: Two Curses
A curse of Darkness… Deep within the Thill forest, stands a tree made of human bones, crowned in black leaves and red thorns.
A curse of Light… Beneath the Wastelands of Skarros, a crystal imprisons a dark, immortal queen.
The Sorceress, Runa, is tormented by horrific images of this tree of bones in a distant, lifeless forest. Even as the visions debilitate her, Mellypip, her beloved familiar, also experiences these sinister dreams, bound by the same dream seer magic as his mistress. The tree of bones summons Runa, and she must risk madness and death as obsession drives her on. What she finds reveals a devastating truth.
Koll the Sorcerer awaits trial for his crimes. His familiar, Xabral, searches for allies to free him. Driven by his own dreams of dark prophecy, Koll seeks to free Obsydia, the Bloodstone Queen, from her prison. Determined to let nothing stop him, Koll will commit any evil to achieve his goal.
Runa and Mellypip’s newest journey reveals truths behind ancient secrets, as Koll’s obsessive hunt for a fallen queen threatens to doom the world forever. Runa and Koll, bound by opposing magical destinies of Light and Dark, will ultimately face frightening revelations and unimagined consequences.
My Review:
Book 3: Fires of Rapiveshta
Blub: With Obsydia’s chaos growing and more kingdoms falling under her control, Runa, Mellypip and their friends scramble to find a way to stop her from discarding her mortal form and claiming their world in the name of her Eternal Father Ahridum and plunging it into a never-ending age of darkness and evil.
The dragons of Rapiveshta are awakened from their long slumber by Obsydia’s attempt to steal the egg that holds the unborn dragon who will become the next leader of the dragon clans. The egg is given to Runa’s grandfather to protect it. When it hatches, Mellypip finds himself bonded to the baby dragon as her guardian.
As Obsydia reaches the climax of the ritual that will burn away her mortality, Runa, Opaline and Panthara find themselves captured to be used as sacrifices. Will the Gate of Souls claim Runa and Mellypip as the Winged Fey have foreseen? Or will the Fires of Rapiveshta and those chosen to be the Scions of Light be able to save them and their world.
My Review:
The Rogue Bardess
Book 1: Bardess of Rhulon
Blurb: Rose Greenleaf dreams of becoming a bard and making her mark on the world. Her mother, Gerta, sees her daughter as a hopeless spinster at seventeen with abysmal cooking and sewing skills. With devious machinations worthy of the devil himself, her mother betroths Rose to her husband’s new partner.
Just to escape the coming nuptials and prove her own musical worth, Rose’s headlong flight runs her into the hands of slavers, a master spy, a dispossessed prince, a soul-sucking changeling, and into the middle of an insidious plot to take over a kingdom – a much more preferable choice of perils.
My Review:
Book 2: War Poet
Blurb: Rose Greenleaf’s spy training in Rhulon is disrupted when King Krell of Uragon asks Prince Culain Ironheart to investigate the death of his nephew, Prince Caleb. Long believed dead, new evidence hints Caleb may be a prisoner in Juraca, a land torn by religious strife and civil war.
Culain takes on the role as team leader, fleeing his mother’s threats of an arranged marriage. Rose just as quickly volunteers to be part of the mission. Their journey will be dangerous, as demon attacks are on the rise across the continent.
But Rose’s fears about goblins pales to the strange fairy forces hunting Rose for her rhapsodé magic. Rose knows she must summon her rhapsodé powers to fight for the right and to save both her own and the fey worlds – and in the process become War Poet
My Review: