Off the Bookshelf: NIGHT SHIFT DRAGONS, by Rachel Aaron

 

Audiobooks, Audible Original

Detroit Free Zone series

Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

Opal Yong-ae, adopted daughter of the Great Dragon of Korea, is back in her third adventure. And just like the 3rd Indiana Jones movie, she's brought her dad.

More like she and her dragon father are stuck with each other. Everybody is out to kill him, to take over his territory, and just as Opal and her father are starting to make some progress on re-igniting his fire (vital for a dragon to regain his magic and strength), a new enemy rears his ugly, bloody head. An arena god has set his sights on taking over the DFZ, and Opal as a part-time priestess of the city of Detroit has to step up to the plate and do something. Before Nik, the cleaner she loves, becomes another bloody sacrifice.

Everything is on the line this time. Opal and Dad barely escaped with their lives in the last battle and book, and now every step forward seems to result in two steps back, with more dire consequences every time they apparently mis-calculate. But one thing you need to remember: don't mess with dragons. Especially dragons who will risk everything to protect the ones they love. Even when admitting to love is considered a weakness.

Lots of family dynamics and wry humor, frustration, sarcasm, maybe even some theology all woven together into a fascinating tale, in a framework of incredible worldbuilding. Bravo. (More, please?)

Coming release sample: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF

 

Just a few days after that, Maurice rode over to my house to visit, on Cerb. I hadn't seen my guardian hound-angel for a while, and one look at the smaller, cuter hound sitting next to him told me why.

"Cerb, you dog." I couldn't help it.

The hound was a girl, and since she was visibly pregnant, chances were good she was the sweetheart for whom Cerb had taken voluntary exile and guardian service on Earth.

He snorted and his mouth fell open, tongue lolling out extra long, with lots of drool. His gross way of laughing at me. Maybe getting back at me for the teasing.

"Hey, Lanie," Maurice said, and leaped off Cerb's back to hover in front of me. I knew he was uncomfortable with all the sparkle and glitter of his wings, which were part of his punishment when he was exiled to Earth, but watching them go at nearly sonic speed to keep him hovering was … mesmerizing. "We need your help."

"Felicity is as close as you're going to get to an OB-GYN for … well, anthropomorphic interdimensional travelers."

"No, not that." He swallowed and looked a little green for a few seconds. The color hovered longest in the tips of his tiny pointed ears. The guy was only five inches tall, but that was a vibrant shade that just stayed visible. "At least, not yet. Loralee isn't due to pop for another month."

Cerb made a sound somewhere between a cough, a choke, and a grunt.

"At least, we hope. We need a safe place for her to hole up until the demon spawn are born."

So help me, I wished I had a fly swatter. I knew Maurice liked Cerb, so he wouldn't say something like that unless he was either in a viciously snarky mood, or he was joking. Still, I wanted to hit him hard enough to send him all the way to home plate at Progressive Field. Considering how far away we were from Downtown Cleveland and East 9^th street, that would take a lot of muscle power, aided by my telekinetic talent. I was sure I could manage it. How dare he say something like that about babies who hadn't been born yet? 

Unless he wasn't joking?

New release sample: SHRUNK: THE EXILE OF MAURICE

 

He broke the tip off the chocolate kiss and crammed it into his mouth as Holly struggled through one more page. He had been considering Angela's vague directions, so he thought he knew what to do when Holly turned onto her side, clutching the open book, and her eyes slid closed.

He got up and pressed his hands to the image of Holly in the Wishing Ball. A slight buzzing grew in his palms. A sensation of falling forward, into the Wishing Ball, enfolded him. He sank through a thick, gelatinous substance that tingled against his skin, through his clothes -- like diving headfirst into a vat of diet cherry cola. He closed his eyes as lights burst all around him.

He stumbled. He opened his eyes and stood on a forest path, dressed like someone in the Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood. He chuckled and looked around, turning slowly. The forest looked like the stylized period of Hollywood.

Holly raced down the path toward him. She was dressed as one of the Merry Men, still plump, but agile and full of life, with that delightful glow surrounding her. She grabbed his hand as she raced past. "Run for your life!"

Maurice let her drag him along. After all, it was her dream. She would know if they really needed to run, wouldn't she?

Off the Bookshelf: PART-TIME GODS, by Rachel Aaron

 

Audible Original, Audiobook

Emily Woo Zeller, narrator

And we're back to the DFZ, the Detroit Free Zone, where dragons are welcome to live and the anthropomorphic spirit of the city is its deity -- and our heroine, Opal, encounters that spirit as she continues her struggle for freedom from her adopted father, the Dragon of Korea.

When we last left Opal and her partner-in-cleaning, Nick, she learned she had been cursed with bad luck, to keep her from earning enough money to pay her debt to her father -- and when she defaults, he can drag her back to Korea, where she will be part of his collection once more.

Or so she thinks. Like any second book in a series, there are a lot of turning points and "this ain't what you thought it was" moments. Opal is in a bad place, damaging her magic to the point it won't work. She has literally disconnected herself from her soul, and if she isn't careful, she could destroy it altogether. When her plan to work around the bad luck curse just doesn't seem to be working, she finds what she thinks are some loopholes ... and things get really strange.

Think you've got a bad relationship with your father? Try a father who is a literal dragon, who can become a human at will, who insists everything he does is to protect you, but you know better. Toss in a really bad sibling rivalry problem that goes back a millennia with a snotty coward younger sister dragon named White Snake ... just when you think it can't get worse, it gets worse.

I'm about halfway through the third book, which just keeps getting better and better. I'm at the point of chewing my nails down to the first knuckle from the tension! 

Coming release: RETURN OF THE LIVING PROOF

 Return of the Living Proof

 COMING: SEPTEMBER 1

from Ye Olde Dragon Books

What do a pregnant, shape-changing, interdimensional visitor, a questionable summer job at an even more questionable new business, a college life sciences project, and returning nemeses have to do with finally finding out what happened to Charlie and Rainbow Zephyr?

 

That's what Lanie and her growing team of allies are trying to figure out.

Cerb is back, with Loralee, the "girl" of his dreams -- both of them stuck in dog shape while on Earth -- and looking forward to a "blessed event." Instead of suffering cravings, Loralee digs up Lanie's yard, in her sleep, uncovering jewels and bones and trouble.

 

Then there are strange visions that result from unwise exploration of Black Water Pool and Jinx's pond. Both are off-limits spots in the quarries that have been seriously and strangely affected by past magic. And Senior Prank Night escapades.

 

When magically altered water seems to open a doorway to view the past, Lanie and her brothers take  advantage of a chance to figure out what happened to their parents in Bermuda, going on two years ago. The question is if they're preparing to rescue their parents -- or if they are the cause of the mystery after all.

New release sample: SHRUNK: THE EXILE OF MAURICE

 

"You might find it interesting to visit Holly's dreams," Angela said, before Maurice could even land on the table next to the sofa.

"How?" He tried not to whine.

"Put your mind to it." She raised the book a little higher, hiding her face. She shouldn't have seen him stick his tongue out, but he heard a muffled chuckle as he headed downstairs again.

He detoured to the candy jars and helped himself to a dark chocolate kiss. One benefit of his reduced size: a piece of candy that normally would last less than a minute now could last him for an entire evening. Dark chocolate to the Fae was like medicine and energy rations and ambrosia, all mixed together. He would need it if he was going to be stuck watching Holly read for the next hour.

And if things got bad, he might just beg Angela to get him a six-pack of diet cherry cola the next time she went grocery shopping. While normal Humans got nothing but a caffeine buzz, the chemicals and artificial sweeteners combined to affect the Fae in ways that alcohol never could. And no hangover.

Maurice muffled a chuckle at the thought of how sloshed he could get on half a can, in his current size. Normally it would take him two cans to get a happy tingle. He settled down on his couch again with the foil peeled back from the chocolate kiss.

Holly had finished her hot chocolate and was rubbing her eyes, visibly fighting to stay awake. Did she get that tired just from helping kids find books and shushing people? Maybe being a librarian was a rougher job than he thought.

"That's it," he said. "Close those sleepy weepy wittle eyes, before I die of boredom."

At the Movies: JUNGLE CRUISE

 

At first glance, JUNGLE CRUISE is yet another Disney park ride turned into a movie.

But take another look.

Come on, it's got Dwayne Johnson, which is a guarantee of crazy stunts, some silly humor, safe-for-the-family (most of the time), and some giggle or "awe" moments, usually involving a kid or a critter. In this case, it's a jaguar with mostly impeccable timing.

The gang in charge of designing and executing the special effects for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN have got to be involved, because the special effects are just as night-of-the-living-dead grossly great. What is with walking skeletons and bugs and snakes and just general "ick"? Yeah, it works, but ... ewwww!

There are these Conquistadors who hack off the wrong natives in the Amazon jungles. They get cursed. There's a tree with blossoms that are supposed to cure everything that ails you. Including curses, supposedly. The 400-plus-year-old Conquistadors get involved with this jerk German prince who wants the tree to give Germany an advantage in WWI (nope, no Nazis this time -- next war!).

And then there's Frank, the con man riverboat captain with cheesy special effects that don't fool the passengers on his tour route, really lame jokes, and a boat that should have sunk ... maybe decades ago. The guy is a lot older than he looks. Then comes Lily (Emily Blunt) and her dandy, somewhat helpless brother, seeking the tree. She's a liberated woman, daring to be an explorer and and thumbing her nose at stuffy academics who believe she doesn't have a brain just because she's female. She's got enough brains and guts and mad survival skills for both her and her brother. And she gets a little testy when Frank seems to be playing games with them. Until the walking dead catch up with them, after the jerk prince-you-love-to-hate sets them on our heroes' trail. Lots of surprises and revelations and yeah, some awwwwww moments among the ewwwww moments.

Fast-paced slightly icky fun. Highly recommended!