by M. Terry Green
This is absolutely fantastic writing; very original and completely immersive.
I would definitely pay money to read the rest of this; you’ve managed to explain things very well while still leaving a lot of room for mystery and reader interest.
Overall Strength: 5-stars: exciting, well-written, immediate hook, very original. I love the characterization of all the characters so far.
Hook: 5-stars: I wanted to read more from the first two pages, and the rest of the chapter just fed my interest more.
Prose: 5-stars: extremely good pacing; good level of detail (not too little, not too much); vivid descriptions; and absolutely fantastic use of showing rather than telling (the hair, the shirt, the necklace are all described as part of the plot, not as an info-dump).
Originality: 5-stars: I can’t think of any other novel that starts off with a blue-sparking, flute-playing shaman before then segueing into a faith healer job trying to save a comatose woman from her estranged lover – it’s almost like the literary equivalent of a really good-yet-trippy dream. Also, “Nacho” for an orange cat just tickled me so much. Bravo.
Overall: I found this interesting. I would like to know more about Livy—I gather that she is a special sort of Shaman and would like to know what makes her special. It is well written and an intriguing idea.