Heidi C. VlachCritiques

The book cover design is beautifully toned in purplish darkness and leads to total mystery about what the story will be about as much as simple phoenix on the cover, which is cool.

The book has debut idea on fantasy level. It starts with the picture where it leads the reader in drastic survival of main characters at the very beginning , where one of the main characters takes a decision which consequences takes her into multiple next actions and decisions.

Although the main character is rough she also makes the reader think - a comparison to nowadays life where a person wants to reach that one point, which after he or she won't have to worry more about survival/ existence matters or any matter that corrupts a person.

The author has beautifully given the description and drawn a picture of Nepalese caste system within the story line, which limits the characters and makes them wish and do go for that extra mile to reach it, weighting the decisions they make.

Thanking the author for giving me the opportunity to read and review Tinder Stricken.

It all starts at the Janjuman’s farm where she and Gita try to make ends meet and come up with a plan to make a little extra money. That’s when things go wrong. Not only does Gita [spoiler removed]. Soon after, Esha also finds herself in a sorry plight and a phoenix takes off with Kanakasipt khukuri, a priceless heirloom knife, she kept for her retirement. She’s desperate and forges a deal with a diplomat, Atarangi - who’s an animist and thus able to speak with animals. The women set off on an adventure, trying to find the bird… and Esha’s khukuri.

Not only did I like the way Vlach’s way of writing & the plot with its twists. The characters are well developed and you notice there’s been thought about. A lot. The way they communicate with the animals is simply brilliant! I have to admit, talking with animals sounded a bit cheesy at first, perhaps even childish. But lungta!? Who could possibly come up with that idea!? It surely made me change my mind! The only thing I’m not sure about, is the water snakes’ language. Ok, it certainly brought variation, but at times I felt it kinda interrupted the smooth flow I experienced throughout the rest of the story.

A beautiful Nepal-inspired tale which will make you philosophise and reflect a thing or two on your own life!

looks like a great read cant wait

I’ve always been fascinated by dragons and how they are portrayed in different myths and cultures, so I couldn’t pass the opportunity to read this collection of short stories that is entirely dedicated to them. I must say that each story was a pleasant surprise, especially because some of them depicted dragons as I’ve never found them before in other novels or stories.

My favorite was “Cardiology”, and the only thing that disappointed me a bit was that it was too short. Reading the last sentences, I had to admit that the author ended it exactly where it should have ended, but I still wanted more. I would have liked to see how Theodore survived in the post-apocalyptic world roamed by infected humans, but, more than anything, I wanted to make sure the little dragons didn’t get hurt during their adventure outside the laboratory. This story pulled me in from the first few paragraphs, and that was not only because it is so original and unexpected, but also because the author managed to build her character, Theodore, so well, and to make me fall in love with the dragons he created. That’s, actually, quite impressive if you think that not many writers can deliver so much in the limited number of pages a short story offers: a good premise, interesting characters, well-paced action, and emotional attachment.

Another personal favorite was “Clearsight”. I loved the idea of two dragons creating life on Earth and trying to find the perfect formula that would result in a creature that would be capable of thought and reason. It was also interesting how the author tied the extinction of dinosaurs to her story.

“The Korvi’s Limbs” is another short story that I thought was truly interesting and original. It reads like a mythic story of how a race was created, and I loved the message behind it. The Korvi received each new limb from their god only after they had earned it. It shows how evolution is all about wanting more than you have and actively doing something to get it. When the first Korvi got what he wanted, the next one came with an even higher goal, and this is how they evolved as a species.

I have only mentioned the short stories that I liked most, but “Serpents of Sky” deserves to be read for all of them. Heidi C. Vlach is a very creative and skilled writer, having the gift of making you care about the characters and what may happen to them from page one.

I received a copy of this book for free through LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this one. It was a slow read for me, but I don't mean that in a bad way- rather I took it a chapter here and a chapter there, and the slice-of-life style made it like checking in with friends to see how they were doing.

Aligare is inhabited by three sentient, humanoid species: the winged, dragonlike korvi; the numerous insectoid aemet, who live in close-knit groups; and the diminutive, weasel-like ferrin.

Rue is an aemet who lives in a new settlement, Aloftway, that is plagued by problems from the start. She must find a place for herself and step up to save the community when it becomes obvious that others are not going to take action, being either afraid or overwhelmed with their own duties.

It's an interesting book in that the emotional core is the relationship between an individual and society, community spirit, rather than romance (which this book does not have), family relationships, or friendship, though the latter two do play significant parts as well.

There was another interesting complication as well in that Rue is something of an outsider and a loner, lacking close friends and caring for her family yet spending much of her time apart from them- a temperament that is respected by others. It was refreshing to see this rather than the outsider being portrayed as dangerous and evil or as bullied and ostracised. Other characters- a solitary korvi and a group of "wild" ferrin- provide interesting foils to Rue as well in this way.

One place I sometimes felt a little lost with the terminology or confused by the descriptions of the characters' physiology. For example, Rue's mother spends most of her time at the "Middling circle," some sort of communal gathering place, but the significance of the name never came clear for me. The aemet are insectlike, and Rue is described as having a shell, but also feeling things "in her bones," indicating to me that the aemet have internal skeletons of some kind as well. The exact dynamics between the different peoples seemed vague at times as well, but I think Rue's outsider perspective would have made that hard to work into the story naturally.

There was also one subplot that seemed to get dropped a little late in the book, where Rue obtains a new means of self-defense through an improbable coincidence but then discovers it could be actively harmful, whereupon it was set aside and not really referred to again.

Overall, though, Aligare was an interesting place to visit, and I foresee re-reading this story in the future to revisit earlier events in the context of revelations later in the story. I'll definitely be checking out the other two Aligare stories, Remedy and Ravel.

Heidi C. Vlach’s Render (A Story of Aligare) is OK. However, it started off in a slow, dragging pace. The words somehow depicted a heavy, somber tone. It made me feel a little lost as I try to decipher the images and relevance of the characters, its motives, its meaning. There were some dialogues that the story can do away with to make the plot tighter, more effective. (I received a free copy of this book from the author as a LibraryThing giveaway that I won. I have written my honest opinion about the book.)

--- Note: This review's taken from my blog post: "Book Reviews: 8 Books, Various Genres (Part 2)" at http://sittiecateslovestories.blogspot.com/2014/01/book-reviews-8-books-various-...

I found that I had a hard time and struggled to read this book. I would have liked a better understanding of the creatures. I believe that Peregrine is a dragon like creature, but at other times I am not sure. If there was a little more editing and concise writing I would enjoy this book quite a bit more.

This book was beautifully written, but lacked in a few areas. Firstly it would have been nice to have a better sense of what the creatures looked like, there is hardly an description at all and as they are fantasy creatures it is even harder to imagine. Without giving anyway an spoilers I felt as though the story had no real point when I got to the end and was left disappointed, which was a shame as I had been enjoying the book.

I received this ebook to review from Library Thing Giveway and while I appreciated the opportunity to review this fantasy story. I had a difficult time trying to keep the story straight as I went. This story has a lot of potential if it was reworked and rewritten to clarify the plot and characters.

Remedy is a medical fantasy set in a non-human world. The story was complex and well developed, and a multitude of characters make appearances. The main critique I have is that I would have liked either a separate introduction where she described the different species, or for there to have been stronger descriptions within the work. I was kind of confused on what made each of the three species different.

That being said I still enjoyed the e-book. The two main characters, Peregrine (who has dragon-like qualities and can fly) and Tillian (a small furry creature with a high pitched voice), learn how to survive when separated from each other for the first time. Peregrine is a miner who has all but lost his hearing, Tillian has spent her life being Peregrine's ears and assisting him. When an epidemic breaks out Tillian helps the healer and Peregrine becomes a messenger between settlements. I enjoyed the book, and only had a couple of minor issues with it. I look forward to reading more by the author.

For a shorter fantasy that didn't have human character at all, this was a really good story. It felt short but that's probably because the middle grade fantasy book I just read was 446 pages and this adult fantasy novel was only 268 pages. But the page count doesn't matter because it's still a full story. And it was a nice break from the onslaught of first person I face on a regular basis. And while I've never seen someone underline words/sentences so much in a novel, it really made sense once I got used to the reasoning behind it. Overall, it's a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to try this different type of fantasy novel. It's too bad the cover doesn't always show and that this is only an e-book because I really wish I had a paperback version for the cover alone.

Remedy is a fantasy medical novel set in the world of Aligare.

For an introduction to the world and a description of the different races the author’s website is very useful www.heidicvlach.com .

Peregrine is a long lived dragon like creature who has spent many years working as a miner. This has lead to damage to his hearing. To assist him as an aid he has adopted a family of short lived weasel like creatures called ferrin whose high pitched voice he can still hear. Tillian his adopted daughter has spent her young life as his constant companion. Pergerine decides to change his life and return to being a messenger flying between the different villages, he worries that Tillian is wasting her short life caring for him. When starting in this new trade a plague returns to the world affecting another race of beetle like creatures called Aemet. To help a young Aemet mage Rose who has been left to care for her sick villagers Peregrine and Tillian split with Tillian left to help the medic with her healing and Peregrine to transport messages and healing crystals across the land.

During this separation they come to realise that each can grow in new ways with Tillian learning healing skills and Peregrine learning that he can cope without an interpreter. Rose develops into her gift as a healer. There are several other colourful characters with their own stories intertwined.

Overall this was a charming story and I look forward to reading further works from this author.

it was ok had problems keeping track of names,what they were kept getting mixed up. interesting characters and species. If I was clearer in my mind would have made more sense earlier. Peregrine was deaf miner that he chose for a long time. he tucked his wings in so he could mined but now decieds to quit and be somthing else and has to relearn and strengthen his wings to fly again. tillian is his hear for him she is the forth generation and he feels quilty for wasting thier lives to help him and he wants to change for her. thier is a third group who are sick and dying that they risk to help save. the story and world are complex and if you enjoy fantasy this would be a good book to read. though i wish ebooks would have back of a book discription with them it would have helped me to make sense earlier.

Remedy is a fantasy novel set in another world. The author tries to set up her novel, but fails to explain things (ie, what the charaters look like) enough early on to keep her readers from being confused. She seems to have fallen into the "I understand what they look like, why they live like this, so the readers will to" group of authors. The way she has the novel and the characters set up was so confusing, I couldn't follow the plot; I was trying to figure out which was was up. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

Remedy, a fantasy novel by Heidi C. Vlach tells the story of Peregrine, an avian turned miner of precious jewels and stones, and Tillian, a small grey/silver colored four legged animal. Peregrine is a korvi who's people traditionally fill a merchant/messenger role in the world of Aligare, because they are larger enough to carry goods while flying and can move faster and live longer than the other species. Peregrine is well over 100 years old, and has spent the majority of the time mining - with the result of having lost the majority of his hearing. Tillian is a ferrin who's family has been taken care of for generations by Peregrine, and her family has always had one of their kind translate for Peregrine because he can hear their higher-pitched voices. The third species that make an appearance in this novel are the aemets, beetle-like creatures who have a susceptibility to a disease called gripthia, more commonly known as the demon.

The story begins with Peregrine deciding to become a messenger instead of a miner in order to ensure that he doesn't lose his ability to fly. When Peregrine and Tillian are on a messenger trip, they hear news that Fenwater, a mostly aemet filled town, is struck down with the demon. Rose, Fenwater's only mage, is a young aemet who struggles throughout the entire novel to draw on her half-finished training to help cure the folk that are left in the town, even though she gets sick herself. Peregrine and Tillian split up, with Peregrine moving from town to town in order to get supplies and messages where they need to go, while Tillian helps the people of Fenwater. The book is also filled with side characters that add to the overall story line.

The first obvious conclusion that I drew about this book is the sheer complexity in the plot and characters. This has a good aspect to it, and a negative one. The good is that it makes the story more interesting and it keeps the reader interested, but the negative is that it is very confusing attempting to keep everyone and their species straight. After reading more of the book it was easier to understand it all, but it was difficult to figure out the three different species, as they were never clearly defined. The plot line itself was rather slow, each day was told from many different ways (creating sub-plots), often adding insight to what was going on in other places and how the people reacted to the disease spreading. At other times, it detracted from the overall story.

Some of the sub-plots were in themselves interesting, particularly in the case of Syril of Reyardine, a korvi merchant who starts out being only concerned about his money and contacts but ending up caring for a young aemet who's family has died. Others, such as in the case of Giala, Peregrine's wife for all intensive purposes, did not do much in the story as for the majority of the time was completely unawares of what was going on. But overall, it was a good use of merging together different plots to create a cohesive story.

Overall, I was impressed with this book, but it is most likely something that those interested in fantasy will be able to enjoy.