Location: United Kingdom
Member Since:
April 08, 2010
Drew
Smashwords book reviews by Drew
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Djinnx'd (The Tamar Black Saga #1)
on April 08, 2010
Okay, so I admit it, I wanted to know what this was all about so I followed the link to the print version and copied the blurb from there as I am too lazy to write it myself. This is what the book is about… Djinnx'd ... - or jinxed by a genie, which is what happens to Tamar when she is tricked into taking the genie's place in the bottle. Good - in that she now has phenomenal cosmic power Bad - in that she is now the slave of the bottle for the next several eternities. But eternity is cut short when she meets Denny. At first he seems just the latest in a long line of human masters, but it soon becomes apparent that he is no ordinary master when he declares his intention to set Tamar free from her bondage - no matter what the cost. He has no idea what he's let himself in for. Witches, mermaids, houri's a homicidal Djinn and a mad forest god with a superiority complex and that's not the half of it... What can kill a Djinn? If Denny can't answer this question in time then it will all have been for nothing. This is a lighthearted comic fantasy in which a lot of ridiculous things happen, but the characters always remain real. Or as real as a five thousand year old Djinn can be. A cross between the Halliwell sisters (Charmed) and Lara Croft, Tamar Black has a dark side to her nature that Denny (a slacker since before there was a word for it) has to teach her to rein in before can set her loose on the world. Or who knows what she might do. It's a difficult, sometimes dangerous, quest to find a sorceress who, in the end, may or may not be able to help them find the Djinn who trapped Tamar in the first place and put him back where he belongs. And they have to do it before whatever is coming after Tamar catches up with her. Lot’s of twists and turns before the final surprise at the ending - you won't see it coming. This is what I thought of it… What a great read. I gotta admit I loved this. It’s not your usual mass produced blah, written to a formula. It’s actually inventive, different and interesting. I’m a big fan of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman and this is in the same sort of style. I was sucked in by the above mentioned blurb and I figured it would be the type of stuff I like and it is. In other words it’s witty, funny, sarcastic, satirical and sharp and a little bit silly. It’s paranormal but ridiculously so not pompously. It’s full of magic but not fairies or unicorns or mermaids – well not as we know them anyway. The witches in the book all belong to the WI . (Women’s Institute) – I knew it !!! It’s our world – but it isn’t. The book holds up a mirror to the real world and it’s not always a flattering one. It’s in a similar style to your old favourites, but not the same. Something new to get your teeth into. Unique, as all good books should be. In other words, it’s good stuff. In fact.... I think I’m gonna go now and read it again.