BLURB:
Another day. Another disaster.
After surviving a kidnapping and battling with spriggans, Matilda Whipplethorn finds her life in a suburban human house pretty boring. She’s been excluded from school because of her fire-making abilities and her former friends are afraid of her. Salvation comes in the form of a life-threatening illness. Her tutor, Miss Penrose, needs a medication and there’s only one place to get it, the spriggans. Matilda heads back to the antique mall to save Miss Penrose even though it just might cost her everything.
The author will award an ebook copy of either A Fairy's Guide to Disaster or It Started with a Whisper to a commenter at each tour stop, and a grand prize of $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter.
Excerpt
Fire was a friend of mine. I loved how it formed in my palms, pooled, and overflowed, oozing through my fingers to drop down in tiny orange spirals into the basin my father had fashioned out of a metal button. I lay on my stomach, propped up on my elbows, watching my fire, an endlessly fascinating endeavor and a good thing, too. My father was hammering on a needle, trying to make it into hooks for my mother’s pots and pans. It wasn’t going well and I expected to be there for a long time, providing Dad with fire for his forge.
Dad tapped me on the head, and I looked up. “What?”
“I need more,” he said, frowning at me from behind the safety mask he’d fashioned out of an acorn shell and some stuff the humans called Plexiglas.
I formed a fireball the size of my head and dropped it in the basin. Sparks flew out in curlicues and menaced Dad. He jumped back and slipped on his pile of metal shavings.
“Matilda, you did that on purpose,” he said, narrowing his brown eyes at me.
“It was an accident.”
“When it comes to fire, you don’t have accidents.”
A human face came down beside my dad and grinned at me. Judd was one of the few humans that could see us. It was very unusual for a human to see fairies, but Judd had turned out to be remarkable in many ways. As was his sister, Tess, who’d been the first to see me. The two of them surprised me on a daily basis.
REVIEW for Fierce Creatures
FIVE STARS *****
Fierce Creatures by A. W. Hartoin is book two in Away From Whipplethorn Series. The series deals with young Matilda. Our heroine is a traditional fairy, which means she isn’t tall, blond and looks good atop a horse. No, she’s tiny, overlooked by most people, although a few can see her if they try. As a fairy, Matilda has magical powers. Hers happens to be fire.
What sounds like a good thing gets her in trouble. Imagine a middle school student who could create fire at will. I think you can see the problem. Yep, not much different for fairies, either. Due to her aptitude for starting fires with a mere thought, she’s forced to finish up the school year at home, which in itself wouldn’t be all that bad, except for the Spriggans.
Those of you unfamiliar with Fairy Folk, the Spriggans are the worse kind. They’re listed as the most malevolent in the fairy book, which Matilda will bear witness. Still, all the same, she finds herself willing to go back into danger to find a cure for her beloved ailing tutor.
Matilda is a courageous character, but for some reason I found myself thinking of Pippi Longstocking while reading this. Keep in mind, they both are magical, unusual and kind-hearted. Although, Pippi is much bigger than Matilda.
Fierce Creatures is a fun fantasy adventure that should please and entertain a wide range of ages. Matilda shows strength while maintaining a mischievous streak that I’d expect all fairies to have. I like the idea of a very tiny world right under our noses. Hartoin uses intricate details to make this miniature world come alive.
Fierce Creatures is a well thought out fantasy tale that deserves reading. I would highly recommend it to anyone including those who think they know everything there is to know about fairies. A.W. Hartoin possibly knows more.
Another day. Another disaster.
After surviving a kidnapping and battling with spriggans, Matilda Whipplethorn finds her life in a suburban human house pretty boring. She’s been excluded from school because of her fire-making abilities and her former friends are afraid of her. Salvation comes in the form of a life-threatening illness. Her tutor, Miss Penrose, needs a medication and there’s only one place to get it, the spriggans. Matilda heads back to the antique mall to save Miss Penrose even though it just might cost her everything.
The author will award an ebook copy of either A Fairy's Guide to Disaster or It Started with a Whisper to a commenter at each tour stop, and a grand prize of $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter.
Excerpt
Fire was a friend of mine. I loved how it formed in my palms, pooled, and overflowed, oozing through my fingers to drop down in tiny orange spirals into the basin my father had fashioned out of a metal button. I lay on my stomach, propped up on my elbows, watching my fire, an endlessly fascinating endeavor and a good thing, too. My father was hammering on a needle, trying to make it into hooks for my mother’s pots and pans. It wasn’t going well and I expected to be there for a long time, providing Dad with fire for his forge.
Dad tapped me on the head, and I looked up. “What?”
“I need more,” he said, frowning at me from behind the safety mask he’d fashioned out of an acorn shell and some stuff the humans called Plexiglas.
I formed a fireball the size of my head and dropped it in the basin. Sparks flew out in curlicues and menaced Dad. He jumped back and slipped on his pile of metal shavings.
“Matilda, you did that on purpose,” he said, narrowing his brown eyes at me.
“It was an accident.”
“When it comes to fire, you don’t have accidents.”
A human face came down beside my dad and grinned at me. Judd was one of the few humans that could see us. It was very unusual for a human to see fairies, but Judd had turned out to be remarkable in many ways. As was his sister, Tess, who’d been the first to see me. The two of them surprised me on a daily basis.
REVIEW for Fierce Creatures
FIVE STARS *****
Fierce Creatures by A. W. Hartoin is book two in Away From Whipplethorn Series. The series deals with young Matilda. Our heroine is a traditional fairy, which means she isn’t tall, blond and looks good atop a horse. No, she’s tiny, overlooked by most people, although a few can see her if they try. As a fairy, Matilda has magical powers. Hers happens to be fire.
What sounds like a good thing gets her in trouble. Imagine a middle school student who could create fire at will. I think you can see the problem. Yep, not much different for fairies, either. Due to her aptitude for starting fires with a mere thought, she’s forced to finish up the school year at home, which in itself wouldn’t be all that bad, except for the Spriggans.
Those of you unfamiliar with Fairy Folk, the Spriggans are the worse kind. They’re listed as the most malevolent in the fairy book, which Matilda will bear witness. Still, all the same, she finds herself willing to go back into danger to find a cure for her beloved ailing tutor.
Matilda is a courageous character, but for some reason I found myself thinking of Pippi Longstocking while reading this. Keep in mind, they both are magical, unusual and kind-hearted. Although, Pippi is much bigger than Matilda.
Fierce Creatures is a fun fantasy adventure that should please and entertain a wide range of ages. Matilda shows strength while maintaining a mischievous streak that I’d expect all fairies to have. I like the idea of a very tiny world right under our noses. Hartoin uses intricate details to make this miniature world come alive.
Fierce Creatures is a well thought out fantasy tale that deserves reading. I would highly recommend it to anyone including those who think they know everything there is to know about fairies. A.W. Hartoin possibly knows more.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
A.W. Hartoin is the author of the Mercy Watts mystery series and the Away From Whipplethorn fantasy series. She lives in Colorado with her husband, two children, and six bad chickens.
https://www.facebook.com/anne.hartoin
RSS Feed
