Devil's Tower
Mark Sumner
Del-Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: America was forever changed when magic woke from its long slumber, unleashed in the middle of the Civil War. The massive upheaval caused as gifted and non-gifted citizens sort out the new order throws the country into chaos, reversing the white man's westward migration. In the remaining Western towns, ungifted people rely on gifted sheriffs to protect them from other magic-users seeking power. Jake Bird, the son of one such sheriff, has yet to display his own talents when he finds himself up against a powerful enemy. Faced with imminent death, his magic emerges strongly and unexpectedly. Now, he must master them and protect the town of Medicine Rock against the evil man who killed his father, a man who made a terrible pact for powers of his own and a place in the new West: General Custer.
REVIEW: This book was refreshingly different, though I did wonder if there was a prequel I hadn't heard of. If there isn't, there sure could be. Both this book and the sequel (see below) hint around about the rise of power, which occurred with seeming suddenness during the height of the Civil War, but never clarify it. Apparently, according to the backs of the books, the magic was triggered by the strong flow of dark emotions over the War between the States. A neat concept, carried out convincingly by interesting characters.
You might also enjoy:
The Inscription (Pam Binder, Fiction - A 20th century woman falls into Loch Ness and wakes in the fifteenth century, among a clan of immortal Highlanders)
Frontier Earth (Bruce Boxleitner, Fiction - A man without a past faces predatory aliens in the Wild West)
Bone Wars (Brett Davis, Fiction - The famed "Fossil Wars" between rival paleontologists Cope and Marsh in the 1870's is complicated by a third party with extraordinarily advanced technology at his disposal)
The Dragon and the George (George R. Dickson, Fiction - A man seeking his missing wife finds himself in a medieval world, only with real wizards and talking dragons)
Cold Magic (Kate Elliot, Fiction - A girl in an alternate Industrial Revolution-era Earth finds herself bound to a powerful cold mage, whose kind opposes scientific and social progress)
The Gunslinger (Stephen King, Fiction - A gun-toting antihero roams a lawless, dying world in search of salvation)
The Piratica books (Tanith Lee, YA Fiction - A headstrong teen sails the seven seas of an alternate Earth as a pirate queen)
The Water Mirror (Kai Meyer, YA Fiction - A girl lives in a beseiged alternate Venice, where Hell is real and magic flows through mirrors)
The Temeraire series (Naomi Novik, Fiction - In an alternate Earth, the Napoleanic wars are fought by land, sea, and air, with sapient dragons acting as airborne warships)
The Airborn books (Kenneth Oppel, YA Fiction - The lighter-than-air element hydrium powers the great airships of an alternate Earth)
Wolf Brother (Michelle Paver, YA Fiction - In the primeval forests of our Neolithic ancestors, a boy fights a demon-possessed bear)
The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman, YA? Fiction - In an alternate Earth, every human has a daemon, an animal-formed spirit companion)
The Leviathan trilogy (Scott Westerfield, YA Fiction - World War 1 in an alternate-history Earth involves great walking "Clanker" machinery and "Darwinist" fabricated animals)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
Devil's Engine
(Sequel to Devil's Tower)
Mark Sumner
Del-Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: The East Coast tycoon Jay Gould plans rob the West of its magic with special, energy-draining railroad tracks. His scout, Buffalo Bill Cody, is one of the many people who saw their lives turned upside down when others began displaying powers and they did not, maybe with the magic gone, things will finally go back to normal. Gould's railroad line runs straight through the small town of Medicine Rock. At first, the townsfolk welcome the promise of prosperity, but soon Sheriff Jake Bird realizes that all is not as it seems. Can he stop Gould before his plan succeeds?
REVIEW: The alternate reality established in the first book holds up very well during its second outing. Sumner proves once more that he can integrate real historical figures into unreal situations. The ending hints strongly at a third book, which I have yet to see any sign of. (I still haven't seen a third book in this series, so I suppose sales just weren't strong enough. It's a shame...)
You might also enjoy:
The Inscription (Pam Binder, Fiction - A 20th century woman falls into Loch Ness and wakes in the fifteenth century, among a clan of immortal Highlanders)
Frontier Earth (Bruce Boxleitner, Fiction - A man without a past faces predatory aliens in the Wild West)
Bone Wars (Brett Davis, Fiction - The famed "Fossil Wars" between rival paleontologists Cope and Marsh in the 1870's is complicated by a third party with extraordinarily advanced technology at his disposal)
The Dragon and the George (George R. Dickson, Fiction - A man seeking his missing wife finds himself in a medieval world, only with real wizards and talking dragons)
Cold Magic (Kate Elliot, Fiction - A girl in an alternate Industrial Revolution-era Earth finds herself bound to a powerful cold mage, whose kind opposes scientific and social progress)
The Gunslinger (Stephen King, Fiction - A gun-toting antihero roams a lawless, dying world in search of salvation)
The Piratica books (Tanith Lee, YA Fiction - A headstrong teen sails the seven seas of an alternate Earth as a pirate queen)
The Water Mirror (Kai Meyer, YA Fiction - A girl lives in a beseiged alternate Venice, where Hell is real and magic flows through mirrors)
The Temeraire series (Naomi Novik, Fiction - In an alternate Earth, the Napoleanic wars are fought by land, sea, and air, with sapient dragons acting as airborne warships)
The Airborn books (Kenneth Oppel, YA Fiction - The lighter-than-air element hydrium powers the great airships of an alternate Earth)
Wolf Brother (Michelle Paver, YA Fiction - In the primeval forests of our Neolithic ancestors, a boy fights a demon-possessed bear)
The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman, YA? Fiction - In an alternate Earth, every human has a daemon, an animal-formed spirit companion)
The Leviathan trilogy (Scott Westerfield, YA Fiction - World War 1 in an alternate-history Earth involves great walking "Clanker" machinery and "Darwinist" fabricated animals)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
Return to Brightdreamer Books Home
Brightdreamer Books is created and maintained by TBW, a.k.a. "Brightdreamer."
E-mail: tbweber AT comcast DOT net. (Remove spaces, replace AT with "@" and DOT with "." - please put "Brightdreamer Books" in the subject line, or your e-mail may be deleted as
spam! Thank you!