Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Book Review - Destruction from Twins and Four Hundred Days

Lor Mandela

"Lor Mandela - Destruction from Twins" Book #1 in the Lor Mandela Series


Through the selfish acts of a twin enchantress, the world of Lor Mandela is sentenced to its untimely death. Only one can save it--the appointed Child of Balance, Audril Borloc. All hope seems lost, however, when shortly after her fourth birthday, Audril disappears without a trace. Audril Borloc must be found! When a group of Lor Mandelan spies travel to Earth in search of the little girl with black hair and bright blue eyes--traits that on Lor Mandela are exclusive to the ruling Borloc family--they instead find sixteen-year-old Maggie Baker. While the age difference between the girls is obvious, Maggie has the Borloc traits--evidence enough for the desperate spies. Suddenly, Maggie's mundane existence is transformed into a thrill ride of twists and turns as she begins bouncing back and forth between her hometown of Glenhill, Iowa and the strange and diverse lands of Lor Mandela. Amid battling a ferocious two-headed beast, being abducted by a lawless clan of Shadow Dwellers and falling head over heels for the son of an evil warlord, Maggie soon discovers that her blase reality could be the REAL fantasy, and that the fate of Lor Mandela may depend entirely on her.

My review - Destruction from Twins is a powerful, riveting read. Author L. Carroll sweeps you away into a fully real fantasy world and does not let you go until you reach the end.  The world building is top notch. Destruction from Twins has everything - characters you can't help but cheer for, diabolical monsters, magic, plenty of action and adventure, and romance too. So many twists and turns, you can't help but turn the pages. And the ending - what an end! I couldn't turn to the sequel fast enough!

Book # 2, "Lor Mandela - Four Hundred Days", Coming July 15!

When Audril, the heiress to the Lor Mandelan throne, sneaks away to Earth to save one of her dearest friends, she finds that a power hungry tyrant from her own world has begun systematically obliterating towns and cities to get her to turn herself over to him. On Earth, she meets a wildly eccentric old lady named Teedee Venilworth whose imaginary butler/fiancé supposedly holds the key to her success. But how can someone help if he doesn't exist? Could it be that creatures who dwell in shadow are not exclusive to Lor Mandela? Book number two in the Lor Mandela Series, Lor Mandela – Four Hundred Days, is an action-packed whirlwind of intrigue and fantasy. Join the extraordinary characters from the first book, (both the good and the evil), as they traverse the haunted corridors of Alcatraz Penitentiary, travel via portal to an ancient castle on the cliff shores of Ireland, and meet a foreboding race of mystic warriors known as the Solom. Soar on the back of a large horse-like creature to the Northern High Forests and discover that on the picturesque world of Lor Mandela, your friends can become foes, your enemies your allies, and just because someone dies, it doesn’t always mean that they’re dead.

My review of an ARC - The ending of Destruction from Twins left me dying to read Four Hundred Days, and author L. Carroll did not disappoint in the slightest. Again, I was swept up into the story. What I loved most about L. Carroll's writing is how real the characters are. Each one is different and unique and you can't help but fall in love with them. I loved that Tabbit and Lortu had a major role to play in this book. Good or bad, they are all multi-dimensional. One of the things I love about fantasy is that anything can happen and this book follows that to a T. Again with the twists and the turns, with plenty of backstabbing and not knowing who to trust, this book is even more action-packed then the first one, and I hadn't thought that could be possible. And once again the ending just leaves you dying to read more. L. Carroll, you have a fan in me.

I received this as a review copy from the author. This did not in any way affect my review. 

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Great reviews, Nicole! I'm definitely going to give them a read soon.

I've got an interview with L.C. coming up on my blog, so I wanted to read what others are saying about her books. :-)

EJW

Hiba said...

Love your review!! I haven't started book two yet. But I am dying to start reading it :D

Thank you Nicole!!

Hiba <3

Golden Eagle said...

They sound like great books!

Thanks for the review. :)

Theresa Milstein said...

Wow, it sounds intriguing. I like stories about twins. And what a cover!

They Call Me L. Carroll said...

Wow, Nicole! Thank you!!! What wonderful reviews! I'm so thrilled that you liked the books!

And thanks to the rest of you for your kind comments! Bookish people are SOOOO the best!!!

Beth said...

Great reviews Nicole. These sound like fun books!
bethfred.com

Anonymous said...

Terrific reviews Nicole. I can't wait to read both books, they sound fantastic :D