Gladiator's Pen Reviews: Keldane the Cursed by Jeffery Hollar

Keldane the Cursed authored by Jeffery Hollar, is a fun quirky tale of a boy who is the son of the greatest wizard in the land, but… isn’t so great with magic himself. The book is a bit youthful for me I’m not a YA reader really but I enjoyed a few laugh-out-loud moments at Keldane’s expense as he gets into mess after mess with his companion, a vampire bat named Barnabus.

My son who is 15 also gave Keldane a gander. He said he enjoyed the read and would read more Keldane adventures.

The Gladiators give Keldane the Cursed four shields. 

Book Blurb

Did you ever wish you had the ability to use magic and cast spells to do anything you wanted to? Well, so does Keldane. Unfortunately, just being the son of the most powerful magic user the world has ever known doesn’t come with any guarantees. It’s not without very good cause he’s known to his classmates as Keldane the Cursed.

Excerpt

 The boy rose from the stool he’d been sitting on and bowed his back as he stretched. His spine cracked loudly with the relief of stiffness the stretch provided. He thought, for not the first time ever or even the first time today, ‘My father is going to kill me!’

His gaze returned to the pages of the enormous book on the workbench before him. The runes all seemed to flow together in a jumbled mess. With a sigh of frustration, he

slammed shut the cover of the grimoire. A plume of dust billowed from the ancient book causing him to sneeze violently and repeatedly.

“It’s no use guys. I can’t find what I need in this stupid book! I’ve been through it over and over and it’s just not here!”

He spoke to the two animals sitting on the table in front of him. The large greenish frog, Desmond, looked at him with a mournful gaze and croaked softly. The ginger cat, Lydia, looked at Keldane with a malevolent gaze, her tail swishing angrily from side to side.

“You guys KNOW transmogrification isn’t my best subject. I’d change you back in a second if I could only remember the bloody spell.”

The frog croaked more loudly and the cat hissed menacingly as if to say nothing was Keldane’s “best subject”. Although he was the son of THE most powerful wizard in history, Keldane was, unfortunately, so inept even his wizarding instructors openly referred to him as Keldane the Cursed.

*While it’s unlikely your father would actually kill you, I doubt he’ll be pleased with this latest in a long series of disappointments.*

The boy glanced up to the rafters at the immense vampire bat hanging there.

“Barnabas, you HAVE to help me!” the boy moaned, “You’ve served our family for over 20 years. There has to have been a problem like this happen before.”

*No, I don’t think any of your siblings quite managed an embarrassment of this caliber. Although I’m not especially hungry, I suppose it’d be easiest to just suck them dry and you can toss the remnants into the rubbish bin. No one need be the wiser.*

Neither the frog nor the cat was privy to the exchange between the boy and his bat, but they WERE both a bit on edge. Thusly, neither was as surprised as one might expect when the bat swooped down to feed.

Before Keldane could intervene, his friends took matters into their own hands, so to speak. Barnabas learned firsthand why they called them “catlike reflexes” as Lydia ignominiously slapped him out of the air. Desmond jumped on to the chest of the dazed bat and held him down while Lydia, daintily, tore his head from his leathery shoulders.

Both animals settled back on to the bench with expressions simply daring Keldane to protest.

“Yes indeed. My father IS going to kill me.” The boy mused as he plopped back down on the stool.

Where to find Keldane the Cursed and Jeffrey Hollar

Jeff’s Blog: The Latinum Valult

Amazon

B&N

Kobo

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About She Wulf: Annie is sent through an ancient time portal with only a prophecy to guide her; she struggles with a new destiny as she tries to figure out a way to destroy an un-killable demon and return home.  Get it on Amazon.

Review: 
She Wullf by Sheryl Steines was a joy to read. The characters draw you into a unique world for an adventure filled with magic and time travel. It was difficult not to read the book cover to cover. Gladiator's Pen gives She Wulf  4 Gladiators for exciting adventure with wonderful narrative and characters that could come off the pages.

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Excerpt

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Someone screamed; a terrified, naked shrill cry in the distance. There were sounds of hollering, screeching, grunting, stomping. The ground rumbled under Annie as she threw several layers of animal skins to the ground.

Spencer jumped up; the coven roused themselves.

“The mead hall,” he said as they threw open the door and ran to the village center.

Chaos turned to determination as the coven traveled through the forest toward the mead hall. Annie knew the Vikings were running, screaming, panicked— but all she could hear were footsteps, and her heart pounding in her chest. Spencer had come with her; she didn’t know where he was now. She only knew the steady rhythm surrounding her as the coven followed the trail. Instinctively she went into battle mode. This was what had brought here. Her adrenaline pumped through her, her heart beat quicker, her blood boiled with rage, and she ran faster.

They were through the forest and into the clearing that surrounded the mead hall. Annie’s senses changed, grew clearer and louder. She heard terrified voices; smelled fear hanging in the air. The anxious cries of the Vikings moved through her. She listened to the growling and grunting and the rage and horror the demons brought forth. It crowded her as they broke through the wooded area.

Swords swished in the air; metal sliced through flesh. Anxious, chaotic screams greeted them as they entered the massacre.

Blood covered the earth and stuck to their shoes and clothes. Large dark patches already drenched the ground around the hall and rolled off the dead bodies that littered the ground. Annie was sick. Women and children ran from the mead hall in the direction of the coven village, away from the demons that had overtaken them.

She reached down and pulled a small boy out of the way as a demon lunged for him. She threw her first jinx at the demon, surprised by the strength of her magic. The creature flew through the air and landed on another demon. The demon on top grunted, punched the beast below it and stood up. The one on the ground rose and looked around, confused at first until it focused on a Viking running past. It reached its large hands over and plucked the Viking from mid-run and held him in the air.

Terror filled the night; panic surrounded her as she conjured a small fireball. It hovered above her palm; it grew in size and strength, and she released it toward the demon. Its lightweight clothing caught fire easily. The demon hopped around in one spot, patting down the fire, but the flames grew and inched their way upwards before consuming the demon’s skin. It screamed; pain mixed with terror. The battle stopped around them and the warriors watched, entranced by the only known means to kill the demons.

“Fire!” Annie yelled to them. “Kill them with fire!”

As if the coven awoke from a trance, fireballs lit up the night, flying through the air and consuming the demons. Fire ate away at Annie’s demon’s flesh and crackled its bones. They popped until there was nothing left but ash. The last of the monster’s scream reverberated in Annie’s ear as the wind picked up and scattered its smoking remains in the air. She lit another ball of fire above her palm and threw it in the pile of ash, burning any possible traces of the demon. The blaze flashed and died down to nothing. She ran toward another creature.

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 About The Day of First Sun: A vampire, a rogue wizard and an army of soulless zombies are par for the course for Annie Pearce and Bobby “Cham” Chamsky of the Wizard’s Guard. But when the non-magical princess, Amelie of Amborix, is murdered by magical means, a deeper plot unfolds. Get it on Amazon. About the author: Behind the wheel of her ’66 Mustang Convertible, Sheryl is a constant surprise, using her sense of humor and relatable style make her books something everyone can enjoy. Visit Sheryl on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.


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