If I had to describe myself, it would be in a word that has many meanings with a complexity which falls off the tongue.
A word made up of many elements, is deceptive in appearance, and creates an illusion from the imagination.
My word would be Phantasmagoric. ~Summer Ross

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Book review: The Treasures of Carmelidrium

Hey everyone 
Before I get started I just wanted to mention this:

 I found out from Bru over at Pitch Slapped that there is an anthology looking for submissions called 100 stories for Queensland. All proceeds go to the flood victims. They are looking for uplifting stories 500-1000 words.
 Here is the link to their guidelines: http://100storiesforqueensland.submishmash.com/Submit

 And now for my review of  The Treasures of Carmelidrium By N.R. Williams.


Summary of the book: "When a hooded man steps in front of her car, Missie is thrust through a portal into a medieval world where she encounters monsters and mythical creatures. Here, her flute has magical powers to heal and destroy and to empower "The Treasures of Carmelidrium." She is romanced by a prince and hunted by the villain. Will she find her way home? Does she want to?"

I found Williams book to hold a very special magical value. She has created a new world based off our own, which the reader can connect to, and added in a few humorous similes and metaphors to make the reader smile. I found myself laughing when the leading female character, Michelle, was transported to a magical world. her car crashed into a tree and the author gave a rather fun description of the car from the leading males, Healden, perspective, "Dirt flew up and concealed its paws, the yellow eyes never blinked even when clumps of earth hit them." (Chapter 2)

As I read further into the book I found myself willed to keep reading by Michelle's misadventures, the villains attempts at seduction, and the dialogue that helped portray each character as individuals.


Williams did a wonderful job at creating a book that gives us woman vs herself, woman vs man, man vs man, and added in some wonderful displays of magic that creatively followed the leading characters through out the book.


The author has great follow through in her plot and her characters are well rounded with quirks, some witty dialogue, and romance intertwined. I think my favorite part of this book is that Williams captured a leading female character that I could easily connect to who portrayed bravery, love, and confusion making her well round and jump off the pages.


The author also had multiple points of view, while I am not particularly fond of more then two separate points of view, I do think Williams pulls it off well.


The first few chapters are slow going, but after that the tension builds up and the pages need to be flipped.


Buy the Book

21 comments:

N. R. Williams said...

I am so touched. Your review of my book is just what I hoped the reader would enjoy as they read the story.

One note. Michelle and Missie are the same person. Missie is her nickname. I did this to show how a young woman grows out of her old self, Missie, and becomes the woman, Michelle, she was meant to be.

I am still on my blog book tour. If you leave your email in the comments here today, I will count you in on the contest to win one of 3 ebooks.

Thank you so much Summer.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Summer Ross said...

N.R. Williams- Don't worry I am aware that Missie and Michelle are the same person, but after I got done reading the book, I didn't see the character as Missie anymore, which is why I stayed with Michelle. :)

Carolyn V. said...

Yay! That is so awesome! I can't wait to read Nancy's book. It's so fun to read books of people I know. =)

Tony Benson said...

Summer, thanks for posting the review - I'm looking forward to reading it even more now.

For anyone who hasn't seen Nancy's blog tour, there's links on her blog, and it's worth checking out.
bcd_tony@yahoo.com

N. R. Williams said...

Dear summer, I knew you knew, I just wanted to clarify her name for the other readers. You get my book so much, because she truly does grow up to be Michelle. In future books that is her name.

Thank you Carolyn.

Hi Tony, thanks for the shout out. I'm marking you down for the contest again because you left your email.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Unknown said...

I'm so glad you gave her a good review. I'm sure the book is excellent.

M Pax said...

Thanks for the review. All success to you, NR Williams!

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you Clarissa.

M. thank you too.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

The Words Crafter said...

I really want to read this book!!!

Dani said...

... but after that the tension builds up and the pages need to be flipped.

I love that last sentence. :D

Dani said...

PS What a nice blog, too. First time I've visited, following Nancy's blog book tour.

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you so much Words, that means a lot to me.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

It's certainly a fun book to read :)

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you Lynda.
Nancy

Carol Riggs said...

Hey, very good review! Sounds like an intriguing book and plot. I like the car and tree example, very nice writing sample.

Denise Covey said...

First of all Summer, thanks for the lovely shout out for the 100 Stories for Queensland anthology. I'm having trouble finding a story as most of mine are a bit too dark.

Loved your review of Nancy's book. I'm going to buy it soon. It sounds intriguing. Yeah, Multiple POVs can be disastrous but well done, they can be great.

BTW, I hope you can convince your inner fairy to fly you over to my blog to check out my Publication Party. It's in full swing. This week Clarissa Draper is telling us all her journey to publication. I'd love it if you'd pop in for a glass of champers and a chat.

Denise :)

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you Carol.

Hi L'Aussie. Love your comment. I read the publication post and it was informative as Clarissa always is as well as interesting. Great job!

N. R. Williams said...

Oh ho Dani, I somehow missed your comments. Thanks for stopping in.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Jeff Beesler said...

Excellent review. I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy of this book.

N. R. Williams said...

That is wonderful praise indeed, Jeffrey, thank you. And, thank you Summer for the review. I have a fairy picture I want to send you. I drew it. So I know you don't have it.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Summer Ross said...

Sounds wonderful Nancy

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