Tuesday 12 January 2016

Sands of Time, by Christine Church - Review

Sands of Time
Fate of the True Vampires
By:  Christine Church
Published:  October 26, 2015, CreateSpace
Genre:  Paranormal, Vampire
Pages:  77 PDF
Source:  Author/Bostick Communications

Mysteries uncovered from tombs. Secrets dug up from the grave. The truth about vampires has been unearthed. These are the journals of an ageless woman; a hybrid half human, half "Pet Mer" (Sky Gods in ancient Egypt), a blood-drinker from the ancients. Their story is scarce told but Kesi's is all too clear... 

She appears a delusive goddess, wanting more than anything a family. Unable to bear children, and after the death of her husband, she travels the world searching for a way to share her bloodline ("creating" children, later known as "Vampyre"). She offers aid to those who need her. But her deep desire to have kin of her own blood is not met until she comes across a Chinese alchemist named Yin - another of her race. Hope for a life with him is banished, however, by his dark desires to destroy all of the world's hybrid offspring, to find a "cure" for the "blood drinking aberrations" created by those of his and Kesi's kind.

Taking what she needs and leaving behind chaos, Kesi runs, always searching. Her everlasting quest takes her through history, from one continent to the next, from her home in Egypt, to China, Rome, Scotland, and finally France. But she is never able to outrun Yin, and eventually she must face her enemy and the darkness within herself in order to have that which she truly desires.

Read her story. Learn the truth behind the "myth" of what humans call the vampire. Read about Kesi’s unique take on her species and those they create, and discover the mayhem and bloodshed caused by a man determined to put an end to vampires forever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sands of Time gives a very unique take on vampire origins from Egyptian times where the author uses ancient myths to create the historical origin of the Pet-Mer (Sky Friends).

Centuries pass through the written journal entries by Kesi, a blood drinker, hybrid Pet-Mer. These bring the reader through many countries and experiences.

Kesi is a very thoughtful and considerate Pet-Mer who doesn’t kill her food source. She is intent on having ‘children’ or reproducing her kind. I found her positive personality comes through clearly in her journal, and she believes in her own kind.

I like this writing device of telling pieces of a story through journal entries though here it’s a kind of story telling journal. The author might have shown in some way why Kesi was writing her sporadic notes. I was curious to know!

This is nicely written though in a tone and style I think somewhat of as “reminiscence” which I no longer enjoy. It has a passive, dreamy quality. I prefer the more immediate, present style of writing of most fiction I’m currently reading.

Overall, if you’re a vampire novel fan, Sands of Time is a unique, perhaps even moralistic take on the dilemma of being a blood drinker and is well worth checking out. This is a novella leading to more books in the series. 4.2 Stars!

Find Christine on the web at these links:

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this review. You have an extremely lovely blog site, and will recommend it to others.

    I merely wish to reiterate one point in your review, where you stated "the author might have shown in some way how/why Kesi was writing a sporadic journal."

    As is mentioned in the beginning "About this book," these are documents, scrolls or papers, found by different archaeologists at various times and in various locations, which makes them sporadic. This book is not your "traditional" style of writing. It's a unique technique. Kesi also mentions in several entries that she had not written anything for long periods (for reasons of grieving, etc). Anyway, I am not being defensive, nor do I criticize the review in any way...It is a great review and I am most appreciative. I merely wish for it not to be missed by others who want to read the book.

    Thank you!
    Christine Church
    Author

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not at all Christine. Thanks for coming to visit and comment on my blog. I appreciate it! I don't think I explained myself correctly. I understood that these were scrolls found by archaeologists. I was thinking, and wondering, why Kesi had written stuff down at all and was looking for a word from her about it. Maybe she likes to ruminate on paper like many of us? But thanks for mentioning your point for other readers! All the best.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome comments!