Swept Away by Vortex

            Here’s another book review and it’s about time. I told you I read slowly – this is the only book I’ve read since the last review and I should add that it had nothing to do with the quality of the book. What it means is that I should also spend far more time reading than I currently do.

            Vortex by Lindsey J Parsons entirely swept me away. I could hardly put it down (on the rare occasion I found time to pick it up)! This book follows a pair of characters, switching between their perspectives almost every chapter, as they are dragged along on a wild and mysterious journey. Sam, a university student in our world, is a girl studying law because it was what her father had wanted, but she isn't sure if it’s what she wants. Damian looks like a human except for his horns and wings, which are unique even in his magical world where the castle he lives in is guarded by a dragon. When Damian is somehow dragged into Sam’s world, both their lives are turned upside down.

            Since I've already commented on how much I enjoyed this book, I would like to take a moment to touch on the one thing that bothered me: the prologue. If I were to decide whether or not to read this book based on the prologue, I would have put it down because I found it to be too slow paced and description heavy. Beyond that, it was well written and gave some excellent back-story and foreshadowing while remaining exactly what a prologue should be – an optional chapter that gives extra information, but does not provide anything that is important for reading the story. So, if you’re like me and turned away by slow pacing, don’t let this prologue chase you away (skip it, if you must) because the pace picks up right away from the first chapter – and this book is worth reading.

            The characters Lindsey has created are phenomenal – and I'm not just talking about the main ones. Each side character has unique depth and clearly has a deeper background than we will ever know. More than that, they are believable. It’s rare to come across so many characters in one book whose personalities could have been plucked out of the real world and dropped into print.

            As for the story, it is excellently constructed. Every chapter is packed with information while leaving just enough questions unanswered that you don’t want to stop reading even though it’s midnight. By the end of the book, I was left feeling that all the loose ends had been tied, yet I would still happily pick up the next book to discover what happens next.

            I'm currently writing a book which, like this one, takes place in a mixture of real and fantasy worlds. Because of that, I am able to comment on how much of a challenge it is from a writing perspective – the hardest part is deciding what characters already know or are able to understand when not in their own world. Lindsey did a marvellous job not only in keeping characters from knowing more than they should, but in allowing them to know enough to maintain realism.

            My advice isn't just to read this book, but to spread it around to everyone you know who reads. It deserves to get a lot of notice.

            You can find Vortex here and LindseyJ Parsons’ website here.





 

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

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