Princess of Wands

I think one of the reviews on Amazon summarizes this best: June Cleaver as a ninja warrior of God.

Barbara Everette is a Mississippi soccer mom and devoted Christian. She's also trained in multiple disciplines of martial arts and an excellent markswoman. Little does she know that a weekend getaway will land her in a huge mess of a Cajun cult trying to summon a rather nasty demon, and thus introduce her to a new line of work in the government's secretive Special Circumstances division.

John Ringo manages to make some creative twists on the newfangled Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-grows-up theme. Barbara may be a Christian, but she's no Bible thumper, and she doesn't usually preach at people; this causes some conflicts amongst her new peers who show more are mostly pagan and bullied by so-called Christians as they were growing up. Barb constantly has to battle against people's poor expectations of her and her tolerance. Ringo's definite strength is during action scenes. He builds suspense and you can picture the battle scenes, movie-style. His descriptions... not so much. I really got tired of Barbara's well-endowed chest being mentioned and commented on by random folks. Okay, she has big boobs, I get it. The best part of the book is Ringo's dead-on lampooning of a small sci-fi convention, complete with intellectual debates, the socially-inept, and snarking authors obviously based on real authors. The obvious slam on Robert Jordan had me giggling out loud, especially as the plot developed.

This was a fun and fast read, and I'd like to read more in this series. It's nice to see a fantasy book that isn't anti-Christian, but actually explores the dynamics between religions old and new and makes good points about how you can tolerate folks without compromising your morals. show less

A really enjoyable new character by an unexpected author. I know John Ringo from his hard SF military stories, so this was quite a surprise. However, the different milieu does not diminish Ringo's talent (although I'd be interested to see a little more of the protagonist's home life: that's going to become a bigger issue as/if this series moves along).
Barb Everette, a good Christian homemaker, finds herself caught up in some very unpleasant interactions with some very unpleasant horrors. After acquitting herself well in a situation that would cause most people to freeze (and die, or worse), she is recruited by a worldwide organization dedicated to protecting the unwary (pretty much everyone else) from some very hungry and malevolent show more Things From Out There. It's interesting to see how Barb interacts with members of other faiths who are also deeply involved with the struggle and, Wiccan though I am, I find myself liking and respecting her. I hope this is the beginning of a long series of novels about this character. show less

I don't know. It's exciting, certainly. Coincidence - or possibly the hand of God (one or another) plays a major part throughout. I find Barb a little uncomfortable, as a Christian believer - it's not a viewpoint I can understand. Church as community, yes; God as a guiding principle, maybe - but simple belief that God takes a direct interest in her and her actions...awkward. Especially when the story shows she's right. The first story, in the bayou, is so heavy with coincidence (in getting her and the cop there, just at the right time) that it didn't really catch me. The story at the con was better, if only because I could recognize and enjoy a lot of the setting (though I generally avoid most of the backbiting and in-groups at cons, so show more that part was less interesting). And the third one was weird - a lot of belief, but no actual power until Barb showed up. Lazarus and the effect on her daughter...seem a little excessive and setting up for the next adventure. Silly coach. The end is - somewhere between awkward and amusing, as Barb's husband finds out she's no longer completely obedient to him. Whatever. show less

Like Ghost, Princess of Wands is split into three loosely connected stories all featuring our heroine, Barbara Everette. I wonder if they weren't originally vignettes intended, but turned down for publication in a Sword & Soreceress-type series or possibly one of the 'zines. It might just explain the random slush party digression in part two....

Unfortunately, this book reads as if Ringo decided to take Mike Harmon (the Kildar from the Paladin of Shadows series) and cross him with June Cleaver on a bible-thumping mission. It's not even that I necessarily disagree with the principles Ringo has Barbara espousing every few paragraphs. It's the nasty taste teh sum of the badly plotted, poorly strung together whole leaves after reading it. As show more if the cohesion and characterization wasn't bad enough already, we're treated to pages of text devoted to either praising or lampooning other sci-fi & fantasy authors (cleverly disguised with pseudonyms, of course) at a con. Not fun, or funny.

Now I know exactly why all the praise on the back of the book is for Ringo's other titles. This one is absolute drek. And I like Ringo's style. I'm SO glad I borrowed this one from the library and didn't waste any money buying a copy. Bleh. show less

Unbelievably bad. Reads like bad lovecraft/buffy fanfic, only less interesting. The characters have no distinct personality, the action scenes are straight out of a cheap action novel, every girl is well-endowed, the storyline is a ripoff of pretty much any horror flick set in a remote village. At least, that's as far as I got while actually reading each and every page. I soon turned to skipping a few pages, then a few chapters, occasionally reading several pages at a time. It didn't improve, through the scenery did change (to a sf/horror con, and then a high school I think.) I need to use soap on my brain to rub out the sheer, horrible unreadableness of this mess of a book... Maybe it's supposed to be some kind of satire of bad horror show more films? show less

A young, married woman of strong Christian faith finds herself trapped in a small Louisiana town while spending a restful weekend away from home and crosses paths with a serial killer. He's a serial killer with a diabolical goal that involves Barbara Everette and she has to stop him or get run over by him. An interesting dark fantasy that pits a homemaker steeped in Christian faith against the forces of darkness. Three tales of various lengths fill this book which is billed as the first in a series. When more appear, I will snap them up.

Barbara, a faithful Christian woman finds herself embroiled with demons, foul Chtulu-like creatures, and other nastiness. Joining forces with other warriors of the light (if not her own faith) she works to help save the world and get home in time to put dinner on the table.

While a fun read, and a nice twist on the warrior of God idea with the main character, Barbara, I wish Mr. Ringo had done a bit more research on the particular denomination he chose. The Episcopal Church tradition has many of the 'ceremonies' that the foundation's other characters said were lacking in the non-Catholic Christian faiths (Saint's days, etc.). Another, less ceremonial, denomination might have been better.

It's a light read, not in the author's usual style, show more and while not at the top of my reading list, it has an interesting twist on some rather stock urban fantasy characters. show less