Rochelle Weber's Five Rose Review of EXILED: Autumn's Peril

as seen on Rochelle's Review blog.

Last Sunday, I got distracted and never went online.  Hence, I never notified Ms. Skinner that her review was posted.  Therefore, I have decided to leave this review up for two weeks so that Ms. Skinner will have another week in which to promote this review.  Many thanks, readers. 

Exiled and driven by guilt and vengeance, Caleath, adept in virtual reality games, finds himself on a world where magic rules. Assassins hunt him, ghosts haunt his nights, a sorcerer covets his knowledge and a beautiful hostage complicates his escape.

Washed ashore from the wreck of the Albatross, tortured in mind and body, Caleath uses his dreaded nanobots in order to survive and reluctantly befriends the young Gwilt Their search for the survey satellite, which could lead Caleath home, unveils the terrifying world of “a dark soul, black magic and a bloody sword.”

On this perilous journey, an assassin destroys Caleath's healing nanobots, and exiles from his home planet follow his every move. He takes the beautiful Nasith, of the Ferran clan, hostage to keep the assassins at bay, but her presence endangers him more. A sorcerer forces Caleath to aid the Council of Mages when he discovers Caleath carries vital knowledge that could save the Sharyac people from the invading Tarack, a species of giant ants.

I bought this book for my grandson for Christmas.  He does not have an e-reader, so I had to download it to my computer and give it to him on a flash drive.  Which means, it was on my computer when I needed something to read.  When I asked him what he thought of it, he said he had difficulty getting into it, because he felt like it started in the middle.  There is a lot of backstory that is revealed as you read the book.  But I found it engaging and worth the wait.  I guess my grandson just doesn’t have my patience.  No one washes up onshore after a shipwreck without a backstory.  They were on that ship for a reason—getting away from something, going toward something, leaving something or someone behind.  Caleath is no exception.

This book has elements of sci-fi, fantasy, the paranormal—Ms. Skinner does an incredible job of world-building.  As a writer and editor, I know how difficult it is to write three dimensional characters.  My science fiction takes place in the foreseeable future using plausible technology (and no math—I didn’t do well in Math). I couldn’t imagine tackling the kind of world-building Ms. Skinner has done so flawlessly here.  And yes, her characters are well-drawn and three dimensional.  My only complaint is that this is Book 1 of a seven book series.  Seven?  Really?  I need to buy six more books?  Ah, well…  I’m up into the teens in the Honor Harrington and Harry Dresden series.  And I scarped up all seven Harry Potter books.  I guess I can get the other six Caleath books, too.  Fortunately, they’re all out. 

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Editor's note... there are actually eight books in the series. Book Six is in editing process at present, due out soon. :)

ON SATURDAY 27th OCT EXILED: Autumn's Peril will be available FREE on Amazon.