Wynde Around the Web: Jedi News Review
Jedi News may be known for getting the news to us first, but they are also great supporters of fans everywhere, which might be why I love them so much. Staffer Brian Cameron stepped up and offered to review Wynde. He posted a flattering review of the novel. Some highlights:
I was starting out on a new reading venture, having focused my own reading of late around Star Wars, and A Song of Ice & Fire when immersing myself into new worlds. Beyond that I was more interested in character pieces such as Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series, or the classic Bond and Sherlock Holmes. With Tricia promising a new world to explore, I was trepidacious as to whether I could be engrossed in a new series. Happily Tricia had not only created a fantastic new word experience but also exciting and intriguing new characters.
Wynde is largely a science fiction drama with the correct mix of fantasy thrown in. The science fiction is very subtle and skillfully used. Many will draw comparisons to successful series such as The Hunger Games, set in a science fiction world, but that is not off putting to readers who prefer their reading to be “real world.” However the key difference to The Hunger Games is that we are not dealing with an ugly dystopian world such as Panem. Tricia’s world of Prime is full of creative imagination and fun.
You get a real sense of design and development whist reading this book. Locations, places, and events have a feeling of depth. In developing the plot of the novel you can tell that a great deal of work has gone into the design of the planet, its technology, inhabitants and characters. We may not be told everything in the pages of the novel but this is a well thought out start to a series. It is clear that backstories as well as the paths of the places and characters are well developed which adds to my excitement towards the series to come.
There is a multitude of twists and turns in the life’s of the main characters as you progress through the novel, and by the end of the novel you are crying out in hope that things work out for the central character Vespa and her family. Vespa is clever, witty and full of talent – but she sets her self up for some disastrous consequences due to ill thought out decisions surrounding her family.
The novel opens fast with a horrific terrorist attack that emotionally challenges and changes Vespa. She struggles throughout the novel with the aftermath of the attack, and we are introduced calculatingly to her family and friends as she embarks on a rollercoaster journey. There are many characters to enjoy in the novel, and despite the trauma and emotional scarring throughout the book, there is a clever degree of humor as well, which makes this a passionate read. It truly is the kind of novel that you regret to have to put down. I became particularly fond of Vespa’s best friend Gemini Reed – who had her own stress and trauma to deal with in the novel – and was rooting for her to win through.
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When you are lying in bed at night and you refuse to go to sleep to read just one more chapter, or laugh out loud when you are the only person in the room you are onto a winner. Tricia is onto a winner here; the Wynde is truly in her sails…
It was rewarding for Brian to note the attention to detail in the worldbuilding and backstories for the characters. Most of the characters I am also clear on the stories going forward. Perhaps people will reread Wynde one day and go, “Aha! I see what she did there.” If you want to support Wynde, here is a reminder of the many way you can do so.
Also completed is the short story “Mission Accomplished,” which is part of the all-female science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena’s Daughters, available for preorder. Gemini, who Brian noted as a favorite, is featured in that story.
Thanks again to Brian and the Jedi News team!
Just a reminder: My book Wynde is out now and here are all the things you can do to support it.
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Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.
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