Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Cathy Benedetto Tour

Today I have three interesting books for you to look at.  It is the Shala Trilogy by Cathy Benedetto.  
Take a look and see what you think.



Like the Navi on Pandora, the exotic warrior race called Shala dominates the continent of Sandala. Over seven feet tall and as strong as three men, the dark-skinned Shala share a life- long bond with wild felines. The fierce fighters  are  blessed  with  telepathic

powers, and have eyes that radiate a kaleidoscope of colors.

The Shala live apart from the humans of Sandala, dwelling inside the crater of an extinct volcano. But when invaders appear, they must obey the prophecy and rise to defend the land. It will take all the cunning and guile of their young leader, Tahjeen Tier, to contend with assassination and betrayal, and a massive army poised to attack.

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Vigilance reader! There are more battles, more strategies, more Shala and Fels and most of all more mysteries! Many questions about the Shala from The Eyes of Sandala have been answered and many new ones arise. The most pressing question being who are the Dark Shala and what is their place in the war? But the mysteries do not end there, as new characters bring new questions and new prophecies as well. The back and forth battles cause each side to make adjustments in strategy which lead to more suspense and a strong desire to find how the future will unfold.

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In the exciting conclusion to the Shala Trilogy, Latiga is under siege, travel mirrors are lost, lovers have been torn apart by the ravages of war, and the King of the Fels is dying. These are the challenges that Tahjeen Tier, leader of the Shala, contends with as he confronts the King of the Fels to find out why he must sacrifice his own people to save the Sandalese. Is there something special about these particular humans? While Tahjeen demands answers, the Surmese invaders are poised to launch their own final two battles -- one in the heartland's frontier, home of the fels, and the other at Latiga, the capital of Palaton. As humans and Shala gather for the final battle, Tahjeen learns the truth about his unborn son.

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Ms. Benedetto is a writer, artist and avid reader. Her love of science fiction and fantasy inspired her trilogy about the mystical race of warriors known as Shala.  Her favorite authors, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Jordan, and Orson Scott Card, have spun stories that shifted Cathy's imagination into high gear.

The former Vice Principal and education consultant, Cathy was also five time softball All-American, and AAU basketball All-American.  She was a member of the U.S. Women's basketball team that played in the World University Games in Czechoslovakia and the pan American Games in Canada.  While coaching, she was published in the Women in Sports magazine and wrote a column for the Bellevue Journal American.

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Cathy moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 2003.  The former coach enjoys supporting the Kentucky Wildcats Women's Basketball team, woodturning, lapidary arts, and loves fishing on her pontoon boat.  A special joy is playing with David, Charlotte, Kendall, Lily and Liz.
My Review
When I first read the summary for this Trilogy I thought it sounded promising.  Since all three books were out I decided to go ahead and join the tour and read them.  I as you know am not known for my patience in waiting for series's or trilogy's. 

In book one, we meet Ariann and Tahjeen.  For me their relationship didn't really strike a cord.  But some people may find that it works for them.  I also felt that character development was a bit lacking.  I can say I did enjoy the concept of the book.  I will say I did not like the ending, it just sort of ended, which really didn't work for me, there was no closure to anything.  This is a unique type of military fantasy, which doesn't stick to just one genre.

In book two, the story admittedly got better.  The kinks that were in book 1 were worked out, and you started to get a feel for Tahjeen.  This book also had a bit more suspense added to it which made it work better for me.

Book three seemed to lose the plot for me.  I did enjoy the story itself for what it was worth. I enjoyed learning more about Tahjeen and the "truth about his unborn son".  I was still a little unattached to the characters, and that is a sad thing for a trilogy.  By this time I should have had some major attachment to the main characters.  But sadly I just didn't seem to have that for feeling for Tahjeen.  I can say I liked the military/science fiction/fantasy aspect of the Trilogy. I also think that this book needs a bit of an edit since there seemed to be quite a few errors in my particular copy.  I'm not sure if it was just the copy I had or if it is truly an editing issue.

All in all, I give this Trilogy 3.5 stars and suggest that the Author do an edit check because all three books had some strange errors and I'm not sure if it was on purpose or if they were just mistakes.

Details/Disclaimer: I received this trilogy for my honest review. The review copies held no determination on my final review.  

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