Fire Country

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Fire Country is Book 1 in the Country Saga and written by the talent David Estes.  Fire Country is a book based around a girl named Siena who lives in Fire Country, which is essentially a desert type terrain that stays hot for the majority of the year.

This book was truly phenomenal.  David has created a unique world, realistic characters, a new governing body and even a fitting language for the setting.  Fire Country is a breath of fresh air after all of the unfinished products I seem to have read recently.  There was amazing flow, I didn't have to worry about constant interruptions with typos and grammar issues, and it was easy to get lost in this world as I was rooting for Siena and wanting her to rise above her social status and find a way to find true happiness in life. 

Fire Country happens in a somewhat post apocalyptic world where the population is much less than it was and the life expectancy is much lower with the average person dying at age 30.  As someone who turned 30 this year, I found this crazy to think about that this could be my last year.  Due to these circumstances, the fire people have rules enacted that involve girls turning 16 to become bearers for the tribe.  Once a quarter every girl at the age of 16 must attend a "call" ceremony.  This means that she will be paired with a randomly selected man over the age of 18 to become his "bearer" and to bear his children.  Once having a child she will be expected to bear another child ever three years after, until the household is full.  A normal full household has 3 "bearers" and nine children.  Siena is a "scrawny" girl prone to daydreams and has no interest in becoming a bearer, and not having any choice in who her call will be.  Unfortunately for her, her father is in high-level leadership in the tribe.  Through her slight rebellions she comes to discover unimaginable secrets, and just when you think the scandal of the tribe is enough for the book, there is a new and crazy turn of events. 

David has made such a brilliant story with Fire Country and each character comes to life from Siena to her family and friends and even the ancillary characters.  Even when in a depression I couldn't help but chuckle at Siena's dry and witty humor and her sometimes conversations with Perry.  Siena shows the world that even a skinny young girl can stand up against what she feels is wrong and find herself in the process.

I give this book 5/5 stars, and cannot wait to read book two in the saga.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys getting lost in a story.  Within these pages you will find intrigue, hope, rebellion, betrayal, love, independence and growth.  This book is more than fiction, it is entertainment at its finest.  Don't wait to pick this one up.

Dog Aliens

I was given the opportunity to review this book for free in anticipation of the release of the second book.  As a dog lover, I was intrigued by the title and couldn’t pass it up.  

The author Cherise Kelly was very imaginative in allowing the story to be written completely from inside of the dog’s mind.  You are introduced to Clem, the dog whose mind you will be a passenger of for the remainder of the story.  Clem is a reincarnated alien dog from outer space.  He is on his 99^th life and is a 6 month old puppy.  He is from the planet Kax and there is an interesting back story.  

Clem has a bit of a rough start in this life and find himself in possession of some abnormal abilities.  There are distinguishing alien races between the large and small dogs and the inability to effectively communicate with cats.  This was a fun and light read and I could relate to many of the dog/cat interactions.  

The Kaxians (alien dogs from Kax) have come to Earth to spend their lives mining Jax.   Jax is also needed for the Niques (the small dog breeds).  This results in them being at odds with one another.  

The cons for me: What in the heck is Jax?  Having no idea what this was or what it would do for the Kaxians was really annoying.  All you know when reading is that it is very important and their life’s work but by the end of the story you are none the wiser.   There was a bit of jumping around in the story without cohesive flow between ideas.  The wolves for example are telling a story and then it shifts back to Clem and later back to the wolves and to an almost exact same dialogue.  As I was reading on my kindle I had to shift back and forth a couple of times to be sure that I was actually reading a new passage and not getting shifted back to an earlier part within the story.  There were too many loose ends at the end of the story and things to wonder about.  It didn’t feel like anything really got resolved by the end of the story.  It was apparent that another story would follow, but it shouldn’t involve every single issue from the first book (in my humble opinion).  Give your reader a tiny bit of relief or you will lose them.

Pros: Very imaginative.  Quick and easy to read, very good for a light read.  If you are an animal owner (especially dog or cat) you should be able to see something of your own pet within these characters.  There is now a sequel so that hopefully some of the unanswered questions will bear fruition within the second installment.   It is very fun to read from inside the mind of an alien dog.  

All in all I recommend it for a filler book, I give it 3/5 starts.  It doesn’t have a lot of re-readability but the story is intriguing enough to want to continue on with the series.