Rating: 
Summary: Magic isn't as easy as the fairy tales
Review: Molly McColl is kidnapped by strange creatures and dragged off to the world of Oria to save them. She doesn't just meekly go along - but soon discovers that in this new world her healing talent, that has always caused her great pain on Earth, is now effortless. Isn't helping people who greatly need her help, with a talent that is working better than it ever has, the right thing to do?Lauren Dane discovers that a large mirror in the family house she's just reclaimed is a gateway to another world, and she's haunted by the voice of her deceased husband. Suddenly she has recovered bits of memories from her childhood, that had been hidden with her own permission. She realizes that the home town she's returned to is a stranger place than anyone would guess, and soon learns that her parents had been murdered years ago. Surely she should figure out what her parents had been planning and be prepared to deal with whoever murdered them. Sheriff Eric MacAvory is wondering whether Molly's disappearance is part of his mundane job or has anything to do with the terrible calamity that the Sentinels see coming up for the Earth. If they can't fix the magical backlash, the level 5 rebound breakthrough is predicted to kill three billion people worldwide; the news already shows people dying of a mysterious 'flu'. But soon treachery is going to force the Sheriff/Sentinel to think about doing things outside the rules of either of his jobs. What are the ties between Molly and Lauren? Can the sheriff and Molly work together, with each suspicious of the other? Who is the traitor among the magical guardians of Earth, and what is the actual cause of the magical feedback that is killing thousands? With such a mix of conflicting 'right things', not to mention the creatures just out for what they can get, will there ever be a long-term balance, or will the Earth end up as lifeless as the next world? This last question will have to be answered in a future book in this series. I look forward to it!
Rating:
Summary: Simply brilliant -- more epic than most "epic" fantasy
Review: Readers familiar with Lisle's earlier work will not be surprised to find generous helpings of the exceptional storytelling and solid plotting skill that have marked her work from the start. What may surprise even Lisle's staunchest fans, however, is the scope of her vision and the strength of the premise on which she rests her newest project. A common thread in all of Lisle's fantasy has been the idea that magic, like any other physical resource, has limitations, rules, and most importantly, consequences. In this gripping stand-alone opener to her new World Gates sequence, she explores the world-shattering consequences of individual acts with a brilliance and elegant simplicity that is nothing short of stunning. More than any of her other books, _Memory of Fire_ demonstrates why Lisle's work is the thinking man's fantasy, the type of book that readers who normally "only read hard science fiction" pick up, enjoy, and recommend to their friends. Applying everything from Newton's Third Law to Einstein's Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy, Lisle's creates a magic system of awesome power and austere beauty, internally consistent and logical enough that it seems not only plausible, but almost inevitable. When the seemingly insignificant, thoughtless action that sets in motion the disaster the Sentinels are trying to avert comes to light, there is a moment of revelation that will literally hold you spellbound, in the grip of something so small and yet so powerful that the reader is nearly overwhelmed. That is not to say that the novel's only strengths lie in its ideas. Filled with engaging characters, Lisle's latest novel sparkles with the familiar cadence of small-town voices, flawlessly rendered. And while this is clearly Lauren and Molly's book, in places it felt like Pete, or any of several strong secondary characters might, if left to their own devices, steal the show. If there is a flaw in the book, it is in the writing itself. While Lisle's prose is occasionally inspired, it is just as often a bit awkward. Mostly, it is on the high end of competent, sometimes venturing just over the line into exceptional before crossing back into safer terriroty. But throughout her career, Lisle has eschewed literary pyrotechnics, treating words like any other implement in the writer's toolbox, useful only to the extent that they make it easier for her to lead the reader into her worlds and enmesh them in her stories. Simple and straightforward, it is the writing of a craftsman, stripped bare of pretensions to "art." In _Memory of Fire_ that world is both like and unlike our own, and the story is easily Lisle's best. Both old fans of her work and new fans reading her for the first time will find this novel's spell impossible to resist; more than that, they will be too enthralled to even try to escape.
Rating:
Summary: Magical Fantasy
Review: This book is about a woman named Lauren Dane who discovered a large mirror in the family house in Cat Creek, North Carolina. She claimed that it was a portal to another world. Another women named Molly McColl was dragged into another world, which frightens her and strange happenings. The "another world" has existence of magic and monsters. Lauren and McColl are complete strangers to each other. What will happen when they meet? Perhaps there be good and evil involved in this new world. At first in the very beginning I was kind of getting bored reading it. I came across this scene, At the point where her fingers touched Ewilla's skin, green-white fire glowed in a tiny point that quickly spread." This scene is about Molly inside a cart and has no idea what Yaner was talking about calling her Vodi. Molly had a magical cure power. Molly touches Ewilla's skin and she was healed from her sickeness that was close to death. This scene captures my way of thoguhts because it had to do with magic. It gave a good description as if I'm reading a role-playing game. I was so pulled in the book when it has to do with magic!
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable and quick read
Review: This book is obviously the first in a series with some faults that most such books suffer from. They did not, however, spoil my enjoyment of this story. I wish Molly Mcoll had been used more, she was in the story quite a bit, but seemed to lack something. The author seems to have preferred her sister, Lauren, over her. We see much deeper into Lauren's life than we ever do Molly's. I found myself disliking the sentinels--too sanctimonious for my liking. Also, the bad guys were glossed over severely. The three rogue sentinels seem to have zero character and zero motivations (except maybe simple greed) for their actions. I just didn't believe in them. Ah... but the world of the Vodi and Veyar. That worked brilliantly for me. I loved the setting and is one of the big reasons I give this book four stars and not three. The veyar as a people were interesting, the idea of a Copper House to shield the occupants from magic was good. The Vodi's necklace... excellent again. The only thing really wrong with this book was the weak bad guys. They seemed like generic opportunists and were only in the book to give the good guys something to do. Overall, this was an enjoyable and quick read but it came across as a simple introduction to book two. I am writing this review after finishing The Wreck of Heaven (book2) by the way, so I have the benefit of hindsight, which is 20/20 :¬) Mark E. Cooper
Warrior Within (ISBN: 0-9545122-0-0)
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