Morgan Howell

Having enjoyed Morgan Howell's Queen of the Orcs trilogy and the first two books in this one, I was eager to complete the trilogy. I was disappointed in the last book because Yim and Honus had to suffer even more and be parted seemingly forever.

Seventeen years have passed and Yim and her son have been living in relative safety in the Gray Fens while mother tries to keep a dark secret from her son. Of course, such an effort has come to naught as the servants of Lord Bahl are determined to show more have their Lord back and usher in another dark era. There's three different main storylines in this - Froan's search for his destiny, Yim's search for her son, and Honus' search for Yim. There's a few other storylines (revolving around Gorm, for example)

Morgan Howell's writing ability alone deserves five - no, ten - stars. He has a skillful pen and can describe things wonderfully and realistically, and I am in awe of his creativity.

However, what made me drop the overall rating to three stars is the way this story ended. Yim has been through so much, god dang it, and then for Gorm to do what he did to her just crushed me. She has been through so much, I wanted her to have a break for once! But nooo... :( Her connection with Karm is revealed, and that also affected the rating of this book - it made no sense to me and was a letdown. If this book had ended differently, I would have given it a higher rating. show less

Tim carves his first pumpkin in this warmhearted and engaging seasonal picture-book, and creates a jack-o-lantern that is "fierce, funny, and just right." Naming this glowing figure Jack, Tim keeps the pumpkin with him for as long as he can, well past Halloween night itself. Finally, when the pumpkin begins to rot, he is forced to take it outside, leaving it in the backyard where it slowly disintegrates. Is this the end, or does Pumpkin Jack have a few more surprises in store...?

Although show more Halloween is certainly the focal point of author/illustrator Will Hubbell's Pumpkin Jack - the story begins and ends with this autumn holiday, covering the events of one year - there is plenty of winter, spring and summer appeal as well. This makes sense, as the narrative developments emphasize the cyclical nature, not just of a pumpkin's life, but of the human calendar. Everything comes full circle here, as the seeds from the original Jack give rise to a new pumpkin plant, and eventually, to new pumpkins, just as Tim himself returns to the Halloween custom of carving a jack-o-lantern. Recommended to anyone looking for stories about pumpkins, Halloween, and the cycle of life. show less

My interest in the book came from two sources: 1) I enjoy Morgan Howell and 2) I was intrigued by the slave part of the story. I was not disappointed. Yim is a complex character, struggling to stay faithful to a goddess who calls Yim to a destiny overrun with hardships, a goddess who seem powerless to allay those hardships or even protect her people in them. Howell does an excellent job of showing the conflict in Yim. Honus is also a well-constructed character, facing his own past, internal show more conflict and waining faith. Together, they journey physically and metaphorically towards the truth.

Howell's plot and dialogue are well-crafted and he has an uncanny ability to create horrific villains, dark and evil and creepy. The romance and love in the book is handled delicately but not weakly, and I enjoy the way it dawns on the reader about the same time it does the characters, despite having been there the whole time. It's a rare talent to build in such subtlety to the story. Word of warming - don't get attached to any secondary characters: they tend to die with little warning. While the books ends as it should, the story doesn't stop, but flows into the next book (which I'm already three chapters into). I'm excited to see how things turn out. show less

I took this book with me on a trip to the UP for something to read at the cabin. Having already read 'A Woman Worth Ten Coppers', I was surprised and pleased when I discovered that this book happened in the same universe as the other book. Like the other book, this one is very gritty when it comes to men abusing women. There are no explicit scenes, but plenty is implied, and it's a bit dispiriting to think of what it would be like to be a woman in that world, this is still a very good novel. show more As soon as I got home from my weekend, I went ahead and bought books 2 and 3 of this trilogy, as I am excited to read the rest of this story. show less