Review: The Battle for Arcanon Major The Lost Dacom Files #1 by Alexandra May

I was lucky to get my hands on The Battle for Arcanon Major, The Lost Dacom Files #1, by Alexandra May, which is a sequel of sorts to Elemental.

“As daughter of our ruler I grew up in the crossfire of an ongoing war... All I’d ever wanted to be was a great warrior and ultimately lead my people into victorious battles."

With only a small army at her command Halika Dacome, a skilled warrior and daughter of the Elemental King, is ready to lead one final battle to save her planet. A battle against the savage, bloodthirsty Primords who want to extinguish the diminished race of Elementals once and for all.

But before battle commences her father is given an ultimatum from the enemy leader, Arfron Uhnok. If the king agrees, Halika Dacome must marry Arfron Uhnok to prevent further bloodshed. If the king disagrees they, as a race, will all perish.

Horrified by her fathers decision Halika Dacome leads her army onward regardless of the consequences. Because her heart belongs to another. A love that blossomed many years ago. A love that her father has forbidden.

Halika faces her toughest battle yet and learns that not all battles are those fought with a sword...
The Battle for Arcanon Major is an epic love story set against the backdrop of war and is the first Prequel to Elemental: The First (GoodReads).

Now things are making some more sense....

Originality: 9- This new world we are in is complex, with multiple races, planets, and wars.

Absurdity: 5- some wild plot twists and sabotage happen, but really all things considered  this is not the absurd parts.  Its like GoT meets teenage sci-fi here.

Level of Paranormal Romance: 8- This book is part war part love story, with maybe more of an emphasis on love?  While I love some good romance, I was pretty into what was going to happen in the battle and kept thinking to myself, more war not love!

Harry Potterness: 7- I liked this book actually much more then Elemental, which I found confusing and one giant cliff hanger, thank GOODNESS for explanations and resolutions.  I almost think reading this one first might help understand the plot!

Overall, I am glad that NetGalley let me get my hands on this- now we are waiting on the sequel not only to Elemental, but also to this book!  Two intersecting plots, two storylines, and twice as many books.  Something to look forward to!

Stacking the Shelves: Vacation Style

I am pretty excited for this stacking the shelves... because it means that VACATION is ALMOST HERE.

[insert panic attack/ pre vacation eye twitch/ overwhelming excitment/ long to-do list here]

I am about to go on vacation for two weeks and and "stacking" my nook and bag with reading material.  Obviously I need a paperback from when they tell me to turn off electronics.  Over the next two weeks I will be in two counties via 7 plane rides, 3 ferries,  and 1 overnight bus ride (in Turkey no less)... if nothing else I have enough reading material and Jolly Ranchers packed to make it through.

The Battle for Arcanon Major: The Lost Dacom Files #1 by Alexandra May (via NetGalley)
“As daughter of our ruler I grew up in the crossfire of an ongoing war... All I’d ever wanted to be was a great warrior and ultimately lead my people into victorious battles."

With only a small army at her command Halika Dacome, a skilled warrior and daughter of the Elemental King, is ready to lead one final battle to save her planet. A battle against the savage, bloodthirsty Primords who want to extinguish the diminished race of Elementals once and for all.

But before battle commences her father is given an ultimatum from the enemy leader, Arfron Uhnok. If the king agrees, Halika Dacome must marry Arfron Uhnok to prevent further bloodshed. If the king disagrees they, as a race, will all perish.

Horrified by her fathers decision Halika Dacome leads her army onward regardless of the consequences. Because her heart belongs to another. A love that blossomed many years ago. A love that her father has forbidden.

Halika faces her toughest battle yet and learns that not all battles are those fought with a sword...
The Battle for Arcanon Major is an epic love story set against the backdrop of war and is the first Prequel to Elemental: The First --> I reviewed Elemental with some apprehension, but am still giving this prequel the chance to answer the 100 million questions Elemental left the reader with....

Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder (via NetGalley)

Hunted, Killed—Survived?

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomaniacal King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confidant, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet: an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat. War is coming and Avry is alone.Unless she figures out how to do the impossible…again.

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1) by Kami Garcia (via Mom who left a copy on her last visit)

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Reivew: Elemental by Alexandra May

I was lucky to get my hands on Elemental: The First by Alexandra May through NetGalley.

P.S., the emo image of the guy
in the background
is pretty hilarious to me...

Just who is Halika Dacome? To Rose Frost, moving house every six months is normal. Another new town here, another new school there, her ability to adapt is as easy as breathing. But everything changes when her parents go overseas and Rose moves in with her grandmother. She enjoys meeting new friends and catching up with old ones from her childhood holidays — except now she must hide a precious secret from everyone, a gift from birth that defies modern day science.

Her dreams become riddled with a warrior woman called Halika Dacome, but are they visions or messages from the future? She starts her own investigation but encounters more questions than answers. Living right on the edge of Warminster in Wiltshire, England, doesn’t help with its folklore and myths about strange lights in the sky and ghost stories of the Salisbury Plain and Stonehenge.

Not only that, her troubles really take hold one night when the mysterious Aiden Deverill with his alluring smile, his gorgeous dark looks and hypnotising blue eyes, saves her from a freak fire. Or did he?

For Rose, her new life is beginning but she soon realises that despite assurances people are not always what they seem. What she always believed to be a happy family and a friendly town soon turns on its head when she discovers that her family secret, Aiden Deverill and the truth behind Halika Dacome is at the heart of the whole conspiracy.

I was VERY excited to read this.

• Originality:  8.  The whole Halika Dacome mythic element is brand new territory, with cool Stonehenge lore.   On the other hand, teenage girl who doesn't know how beautiful or powerful she truly is and is  kind to everyone she meets?  About a 2.   (Where are Dru from Strange Angels and Rose from Vampire Academy, with  their sassy abruptness and butt kicking styles?!)
• Absurdity:  6.  I have two clear reasons for this.  1- when mythology morphed into ancient alien legends... say what?  I felt like I slipped into part of Prometheus for a second there.  2- Rose Frost, why the HECK are you so trusting of all these people you have played whit as a child and now have known for 2 weeks.  She keeps spouting things like "Mira and Hannah, who I could trust with anything".... and I just had no clue why.
• Level of Paranormal Romance- 7.  LOVE TRIANGLE.  Ok, hope I didn't spoil anything.  I sorta felt like insta-love flopped back and forth between the two boys, our golden child and our dark haired former bad boy.  And while i could get swept away in hopping onto the backs of boys' mopeds and speeding through the countryside, I really only ever fell for one of the boys.
• Harry Potterness- 6.  I enjoyed this book, but it resolved NOTHING AT ALL. ZERO.  I am all one for series, but there needs to be some level of resolution, and Rose suddenly feeling at peace with her previously reincarnated self and incredibly powerful destiny at the drop of a hat?  Not what I would call a reasonable ending!  

Damn it Book 2 (it is actually Book 1.5....), you hooked us, but in a sneaky unfair way since this book isn't even out in the U.S. yet!  Book two's expected publication is May 28th, 2013, so I have some searching to do....

FTC Full Disclosure: I received a review copy from Puama Publishing. Happy reading followed. (We do not accept or receive compensation for reviews at YAF and WS.)