mythical creatures | Rosie Amber

4 stars

It Takes An Oni is a superhero fantasy story. Solomon is a priest to a god of the underworld; he believes that he is a hideous monster, hiding his face behind numerous masks. He is a master of disguise, assuming a different persona on a daily basis.

The story opens with an elaborate heist at a vault held in the Smithsonian religious arts centre, which is jeopardised when high witch Delilah brings along her daughter. Morgan immediately recognises Solomon in his latest disguise, but she’s taken hostage when the robbery goes wrong and he must save her instead of the artifact.

Solomon has always been protective of Delilah and her daughters after she made a bargain with his god to save her first child. A few years later, while springing Morgan from her school with an expensive birthday gift and a trip to see a mixed martial arts fight, Solomon is caught by the witches. His penance involves wearing an ankle cuff which burns when he refuses to answer direct questions.

After the foiled vault heist Solomon has a new enemy; in his quest to retrieve the lost artefact he befriends a young man who is a wind spirit and with the aid of a network of informers and assistants Solomon plans his final task.

The opening chapters of this book were very intriguing and I enjoyed entering Solomon’s world. It is filled with a large cast of characters from a range of mythology and paranormal tales. Solomon is a deeply layered character who fills much of his life with good deeds to compensate for being the monster that he believes that he is.

The story continues at a swift pace, at times a little too fast as I sometimes struggled to keep up with the storyline; however, this was only a minor complaint. Also, Rhine uses a method of describing many of the characters as similar to a well-known person, often a celebrity, but some of these went over my head when I didn’t know that person, so I couldn’t then form a good image of the character in my head.

I liked this story for the mythological and paranormal themes, the pace and detail kept me interested and I would be happy to recommend this to fans of the fantasy genre.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

An interesting monster…
For a hundred years, he’s stolen art and gems from around the world, and he can look like anyone. Now Solomon Oni has taken a commission to rob something of devastating power from the Smithsonian’s religious artifact vault. His only friend, other than a magical tattoo artist and the odd djinn, is a young misfit witch named Morgan. When supernatural thugs threaten her, he demonstrates just how much a former servant of the underworld can do to punish the wicked. Sometimes it takes a monster to catch a monster. Fans of Ocean’s Eleven and anime will enjoy this fantasy adventure.

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Today our guest is Kelly Michaels author of yesterday’s book Archer of the Lake. Here is a link to the post if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5gm

Let’s find out more about Kelly.

1) Where is your home town?

It’s a small, rural town in southern Tennessee called Fayetteville, and I’ve lived here my entire life.

2) How long have you been writing?

I’ve always created stories as a result of childhood insomnia, but I recall actually writing them down when I was about twelve years old. I was very ambitious then, trying to compose a six book epic. That particular endeavour faded away, but all throughout high school and college I’ve been very persistent about writing constantly. I have pile of old notebooks completely filled as well as abandoned Word files saved on flash drives. It’s hard to actually put a quantifying number on how much I’ve written.

3) Is Fantasy your preferred genre?

Yes, you could definitely say that, but my interests also expand to science fiction, historical fiction, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and other genres as well. But fantasy is my favourite. There’s a quote by J. R. R. Tolkien–“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory…” And I think that nicely sums up my fascination with fantasy.

4) What idea sparked the writing of Archer of the Lake?

I hate to sound cliche, but it came from a dream. In early 2012, I awoke from a very vivid dream, and it wasn’t exactly a dream in the sense of something happened. The last thing I remember before waking up that morning was a specific tableau. The scene was a certain congregation of elves, all sitting about in a room. There was one elf who sat alone, an obvious outcast to the others. Another elf was not secluded from the main group but she was distinctly reaching out to the outcast, as a gesture of friendship and goodwill. The image was so inspiring to me that I developed a story around these two elves, who eventually turned into today’s Feraan and Caelfel.

5) Can you tell the readers briefly about the seer’s first prediction

The Seer sees a dead city in flames. She sees that the culprit behind this appalling act has the power and ability to use this method of mass destruction to wreak havoc and death across the world. However, the one thing she cannot see is who is behind it. The Seer charges Feraan with the task of eradicating this evil and bringing the one responsible to justice.

6) Why is Feraan a wanted elf?

Before the incident, Feraan had been widely known as an elf with a penchant for mischief. Quite simply, he did not fit in with the typical serenity of elves. After the incident, when Feraan completed his task of eradicating the evil in their forest, the Councilors are left with no explanation of how this evil came to be. Thus they seize the opportunity to frame Feraan for the crime, and his previous reputation easily casts him as the scapegoat in the eyes of his community.

7) What is it that the Princeling wants from Feraan?

The Princeling simply wants revenge from Feraan. Feraan, with his notoriety as the Wandering Elf, often meddles in affairs when he believes powers are left uncheck. A few years before the main events of the book took place, Feraan defeated a human sorcerer who was very dear to the Princeling, and the Princeling never forgave him.

8) What is the importance of Caelfel being called The Archer of the Lake?

When Caelfel is called into battle, she is an archer. In fact, her primary combat skill is archery. I mentioned in the book how her parents named her after a lake, Rumfel Lake, to be precise. Specifically, it is where she was conceived, so the lake is her namesake. It is a part of her. Feraan has a dream about the Archer of the Lake, who is symbolically a guardian of the forest, as evinced in the battle hymn Olwen sings to himself.

So Caelfel essentially becomes the Archer of the Lake, fulfilling a role in the threads of fate, even so that her bow becomes significant, receiving the name the Lake Bow from the Seer. The Blind Seer knows Caelfel has an important role to play, and Caelfel’s journey has not ended as Archer of the Lake.

I also took careful measures in choosing Caelfel’s name from a linguistic perspective. “Ceallach” is a Gaelic words which can have many meanings, but a primary usage would be “warrior”. And what is a warrior if not a defender of homestead? The importance of the Archer of the Lake is a protector, and Caelfel fills that role many times.

9) Are you writing a second book in the series?

I am! I tentatively plan to title it “Prince of the West,” and as I mentioned before, Caelfel’s journey is not over. I am about a third of the way completed with the first draft, and I can safely inform you that Caelfel has to confront another mythical creature on her ventures!

10) Where can readers find out more about you?

Readers can visit my website at www.kellyrmichaels.com