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The Bowl of Souls #5
Mother of the Moonrat
The end is near.
The Battle Academy and Mage School forces have joined, but they are outnumbered by Ewzad Vriil’s army of mutated men and Mellinda’s forest of monsters.
There are spies on both sides, assassins on the hunt, secrets to be revealed, and Justan’s magic will be unleashed. But there is one thing they haven’t considered. Even if they can somehow overcome Ewzad Vriil, will they be able to destroy The Mother of the Moonrats?
Mother of the Moonrat is the fifth book in The Bowl of Souls series.
Book One: Eye of the Moonrat
Book 1.5: Hilt's Pride
Book Two: Messenger of the Dark Prophet
Book Three: Hunt of the Bandham
Book Four: The War of Stardeon
Book Five: Mother of the Moonrat
The Battle Academy and Mage School forces have joined, but they are outnumbered by Ewzad Vriil’s army of mutated men and Mellinda’s forest of monsters.
There are spies on both sides, assassins on the hunt, secrets to be revealed, and Justan’s magic will be unleashed. But there is one thing they haven’t considered. Even if they can somehow overcome Ewzad Vriil, will they be able to destroy The Mother of the Moonrats?
Mother of the Moonrat is the fifth book in The Bowl of Souls series.
Book One: Eye of the Moonrat
Book 1.5: Hilt's Pride
Book Two: Messenger of the Dark Prophet
Book Three: Hunt of the Bandham
Book Four: The War of Stardeon
Book Five: Mother of the Moonrat
533 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 24, 2013
62 people are currently reading
173 people want to read
About the author
Trevor H. Cooley
32 books251 followersI was born in South Carolina and have lived all around the United states. Utah, New Mexico, Michigan and Tennessee.
I started reading novels in second grade and my love of Fantasy started with Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series. I couldn't get enough, continued with David Eddings, Tolkein, Robert Jordan. All I wanted was to become a published writer.
The characters and concepts that eventually became the Bowl of Souls series started in my teens. I wrote short stories, kept notebooks full of ideas, and generally dreamed about my world constantly. There were several attempts at starting a novel over the years.
Not long after I was married, my wife told me to stop talking about the story and write it down. Here I am, many years and rewrites and submissions and rejection letters later taking the plunge into self publishing.
The Bowl of Souls Series:
THE MOONRAT SAGA
1. Eye of the Moonrat
2. Messenger of the Dark Prophet
3. Hunt of the Bandham
1.5. Hilt's Pride
4. War of Stardeon
5. Mother of the Moonrat
THE JHARRO GROVE SAGA
1. Tarah Woodblade
2. Protector of the Grove
3. Ogre Apprentice
4. The Troll King
5. Priestess of War
6. Behemoth (2017)
THE DARK PROPHET SAGA
1. Sir Edge (Upcoming)
TALLOW JONES
1. Tallow Jones: Wizard Detective (Fall 2017)
NOOSE JUMPERS
1. Noose Jumpers: A Mythological Western
2. (Upcoming)
I currently live in Idaho with my wife and four children.
I started reading novels in second grade and my love of Fantasy started with Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series. I couldn't get enough, continued with David Eddings, Tolkein, Robert Jordan. All I wanted was to become a published writer.
The characters and concepts that eventually became the Bowl of Souls series started in my teens. I wrote short stories, kept notebooks full of ideas, and generally dreamed about my world constantly. There were several attempts at starting a novel over the years.
Not long after I was married, my wife told me to stop talking about the story and write it down. Here I am, many years and rewrites and submissions and rejection letters later taking the plunge into self publishing.
The Bowl of Souls Series:
THE MOONRAT SAGA
1. Eye of the Moonrat
2. Messenger of the Dark Prophet
3. Hunt of the Bandham
1.5. Hilt's Pride
4. War of Stardeon
5. Mother of the Moonrat
THE JHARRO GROVE SAGA
1. Tarah Woodblade
2. Protector of the Grove
3. Ogre Apprentice
4. The Troll King
5. Priestess of War
6. Behemoth (2017)
THE DARK PROPHET SAGA
1. Sir Edge (Upcoming)
TALLOW JONES
1. Tallow Jones: Wizard Detective (Fall 2017)
NOOSE JUMPERS
1. Noose Jumpers: A Mythological Western
2. (Upcoming)
I currently live in Idaho with my wife and four children.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 11, 2020
Mother of the Moonrat
(The Bowl of Souls #5)
by Trevor H. Cooley
Lots of intertwining plots, great characters, wonderful world building, terrific fantasy and fantastic creatures. I love this series and how I almost feel like I know these characters as friends by now! Lots of action in the ways of fighting with swords and magic! Great job!!
(The Bowl of Souls #5)
by Trevor H. Cooley
Lots of intertwining plots, great characters, wonderful world building, terrific fantasy and fantastic creatures. I love this series and how I almost feel like I know these characters as friends by now! Lots of action in the ways of fighting with swords and magic! Great job!!
January 8, 2020
Mini-Review:
The characters are great! I enjoyed them until the end of the series. I'll probably read the other books in the Bowl of Souls later this year. Author has a nice way of setting up the characters & events but does not make the world setting all that concrete or resolve plot lines in a way that's really satisfying. I enjoyed the series more when I was learning how the story was being put together. This book was fun but it was very predictable. That took a bit of the shine away for me.
All of the books fit in YA.
The characters are great! I enjoyed them until the end of the series. I'll probably read the other books in the Bowl of Souls later this year. Author has a nice way of setting up the characters & events but does not make the world setting all that concrete or resolve plot lines in a way that's really satisfying. I enjoyed the series more when I was learning how the story was being put together. This book was fun but it was very predictable. That took a bit of the shine away for me.
All of the books fit in YA.
October 18, 2013
Great book - solid "ending" to the series...I loved the battles - finally we got to see Justan use everything he learned full out. Now with it completed I can go back and re-read everything! Love how the Frost rune came into play as well.
Only downside I had was (below contains ending spoilers)...
Either way - all in, great book. Looking forward to what the Author does next.
Only downside I had was (below contains ending spoilers)...
Either way - all in, great book. Looking forward to what the Author does next.
September 26, 2013
This book is awesome. In this book quite of a few of our questions are answered. This is just the end of the first series. I know that this is not the end of the books set in this universe. He has said as much. There are still some questions that are unanswered. So, I can only say this. When is the next book coming out?? I want to know what is going to happens in the future. What will happen to everyone in the future??
Oh well, I highly recommend this book. Please read the first 4.5 books first. Even the story with Hilt's meeting Beth. It comes in to play in this latest book.
Oh well, I highly recommend this book. Please read the first 4.5 books first. Even the story with Hilt's meeting Beth. It comes in to play in this latest book.
January 27, 2017
There are too many 5-star reviews IMO, so I'm gonna be specific.
Told in 3rd person, this is a grisly fantasy series with utterly disgusting villains and too many battles / not enough strategy, but I liked some of the characters enough to stay with it. Deathclaw is a favorite especially, and the rogue horse Gwyrtha (sp?). The ogre Fist is also a winner, but squirrel? Really? Are we children? As to that, there is no sex and no cussing, so the book could appeal to older kids, if they can handle the torture, mutilation, mutation, etc. There is a little romance, too.
Writing quality of entire series:
The writing quality is okay but yet somewhat troublesome. I hear the author's modern language too often (example: "he's a major player"). Cooley writes "pretty much" or "not that much" or "not that bad" etc. Unlike Tolkien's Middle Earth, this language just didn't feel like a medieval world.
Some plot holes. Example: When Ewzad Vriil died all his mutated monsters died. So why didn't Talon and Deathclaw die, too? Why did the modified trolls survive?
Characterization is sometimes inconsistent. Breaches occur. Example: The good Prophet makes the weary and injured protagonists trudge up numerous stairs immediately after an exhausting battle, still bloody, thirsty, and hungry, just so he can tell them a long story -- and right now, bloodstains notwithstanding! This behavior contradicted his wise and kindly portrayal and made me question his character.
Another example: The author sets out to convince the reader that a character is battle-wise and experienced, but then has that same character do something so glaringly stupid (not immediately ensure a beast is dead) just to steer the plot and create tension. Another character is portrayed as tremendously caring, but then he recklessly puts everyone at risk in battle just for his own egotistical reasons. A person doesn't wear armor in battle, for no reason but to allow him to be badly wounded (everyone else wears armor). A person has a magic bow with unerring arrows, but he repeatedly decides not to use it for some trumped up reason (just to create more tension).
The hero Justan is supposedly a brilliant battle planner, but we see little evidence of it. In terms of tactics and strategy, Justan compares unfavorably to Miles in Bujold's Vorkosigan series, Tavi in Butcher's Codex Alera, Hal in Flannagan's Brotherband series, or Will in his Ranger's Apprentice series). Compared to all these strategists, Justan's ideas tend to be fairly basic, and are presented almost as afterthoughts.
But the dwarf Lennui is consistent. He's consistently annoying, inserting "dag-gum, dag-blamed" etc into his dialogue. Nearly every sentence.
Pseudo-secrets are contrived and disguised as real suspense. Too often, the author creates a dialogue where someone asks a valid question and for whatever reason, his friend won't answer. "Not now. It is too soon for you to know about this. I will tell you later." Or "This must remain a mystery. The Creator won't let me tell you." This happened a lot with Coal, for example, but also with the good Prophet, and with his mother, etc.
The author misuses words in this series (infer should be imply, reign should be rein, and subjectify isn't a word). In addition, I encountered a handful of basic spelling and punctuation typos.
The writing flaws bothered me, but the likable characters kept me going. And I did like seeing some characters change in credible ways over the course of the books.
And thus endeth the first five books, with a spin-off continuation series to immediately follow, so the story of the Dark Prophet doesn't really end here. In fact, the spin-off series "Jharro Grove" appears to be largely a reincarnation of these first five books, according to the plot summaries and reviews.
Told in 3rd person, this is a grisly fantasy series with utterly disgusting villains and too many battles / not enough strategy, but I liked some of the characters enough to stay with it. Deathclaw is a favorite especially, and the rogue horse Gwyrtha (sp?). The ogre Fist is also a winner, but squirrel? Really? Are we children? As to that, there is no sex and no cussing, so the book could appeal to older kids, if they can handle the torture, mutilation, mutation, etc. There is a little romance, too.
Writing quality of entire series:
The writing quality is okay but yet somewhat troublesome. I hear the author's modern language too often (example: "he's a major player"). Cooley writes "pretty much" or "not that much" or "not that bad" etc. Unlike Tolkien's Middle Earth, this language just didn't feel like a medieval world.
Some plot holes. Example: When Ewzad Vriil died all his mutated monsters died. So why didn't Talon and Deathclaw die, too? Why did the modified trolls survive?
Characterization is sometimes inconsistent. Breaches occur. Example: The good Prophet makes the weary and injured protagonists trudge up numerous stairs immediately after an exhausting battle, still bloody, thirsty, and hungry, just so he can tell them a long story -- and right now, bloodstains notwithstanding! This behavior contradicted his wise and kindly portrayal and made me question his character.
Another example: The author sets out to convince the reader that a character is battle-wise and experienced, but then has that same character do something so glaringly stupid (not immediately ensure a beast is dead) just to steer the plot and create tension. Another character is portrayed as tremendously caring, but then he recklessly puts everyone at risk in battle just for his own egotistical reasons. A person doesn't wear armor in battle, for no reason but to allow him to be badly wounded (everyone else wears armor). A person has a magic bow with unerring arrows, but he repeatedly decides not to use it for some trumped up reason (just to create more tension).
The hero Justan is supposedly a brilliant battle planner, but we see little evidence of it. In terms of tactics and strategy, Justan compares unfavorably to Miles in Bujold's Vorkosigan series, Tavi in Butcher's Codex Alera, Hal in Flannagan's Brotherband series, or Will in his Ranger's Apprentice series). Compared to all these strategists, Justan's ideas tend to be fairly basic, and are presented almost as afterthoughts.
But the dwarf Lennui is consistent. He's consistently annoying, inserting "dag-gum, dag-blamed" etc into his dialogue. Nearly every sentence.
Pseudo-secrets are contrived and disguised as real suspense. Too often, the author creates a dialogue where someone asks a valid question and for whatever reason, his friend won't answer. "Not now. It is too soon for you to know about this. I will tell you later." Or "This must remain a mystery. The Creator won't let me tell you." This happened a lot with Coal, for example, but also with the good Prophet, and with his mother, etc.
The author misuses words in this series (infer should be imply, reign should be rein, and subjectify isn't a word). In addition, I encountered a handful of basic spelling and punctuation typos.
The writing flaws bothered me, but the likable characters kept me going. And I did like seeing some characters change in credible ways over the course of the books.
And thus endeth the first five books, with a spin-off continuation series to immediately follow, so the story of the Dark Prophet doesn't really end here. In fact, the spin-off series "Jharro Grove" appears to be largely a reincarnation of these first five books, according to the plot summaries and reviews.
October 2, 2013
This was a absolutely amazing finally to an epic series!!!
I am so happy that the author will be continuing novels in the fabulous world.
The sad part of the end is I will miss these characters in some sad fanboy way....... Hope they pop up in the future stories!
I am so happy that the author will be continuing novels in the fabulous world.
The sad part of the end is I will miss these characters in some sad fanboy way....... Hope they pop up in the future stories!
October 18, 2013
This is a very entertaining series. It manages to draw you in and make you care about the characters. I was left happy knowing some conclusions but knowing more will come. That, to me, is the mark of a great series. I can't wait for more!
September 29, 2013
Good ending to the series. A few loose ends i wanted tied up, but that didn't happen. Looks like another series is on the way. I look forward to that.
November 4, 2013
Do not let this be the last in the series. It was absolutely fantastic, but I need to know how everything turns out from this point.
April 16, 2014
Wow! What a series!
February 21, 2014
I absolutely loved these books! Can't wait for the next series
September 11, 2014
This was a great ending for a great saga! I m looking forward to read Mr. Cooley's next saga! Keep up the good work sir!
January 19, 2017
Another great book in the series!!
Can't wait to start on the next one!
Highly recommended if you like fantasy!! :D
Can't wait to start on the next one!
Highly recommended if you like fantasy!! :D
March 2, 2016
This is the final book in the Moonrat Saga. The Bowl of Souls Series continues on after this.
I was very pleased with this book. The characters were all pretty well-developed, with many changing substantially throughout the series. They were all left with some interesting choices to make about where they would go next. Their growth is evident and it was all so different. I can't imagine trying to keep that many characters straight while writing about them!
I do think the book could use a bit better polish - some grammar errors, characters' names being spelled multiple ways. They don't diminish from the book too much, but it was like having a fly by your face while you're trying to eat.
Fantasy isn't typically a genre I get into, but these books have a lot of fun action and fun characters, so it's hard not to get sucked in. I did have some issues following the action at times. I don't know whether that's the author or if that's me and how I read.
If you're into fantasy with wizards, ogres, orcs, gorcs, warriors, and magic, check these books out.
I was very pleased with this book. The characters were all pretty well-developed, with many changing substantially throughout the series. They were all left with some interesting choices to make about where they would go next. Their growth is evident and it was all so different. I can't imagine trying to keep that many characters straight while writing about them!
I do think the book could use a bit better polish - some grammar errors, characters' names being spelled multiple ways. They don't diminish from the book too much, but it was like having a fly by your face while you're trying to eat.
Fantasy isn't typically a genre I get into, but these books have a lot of fun action and fun characters, so it's hard not to get sucked in. I did have some issues following the action at times. I don't know whether that's the author or if that's me and how I read.
If you're into fantasy with wizards, ogres, orcs, gorcs, warriors, and magic, check these books out.
February 22, 2016
A very interesting series from the start, i managed to go through the whole 5 books and greatly loved this series. though the first two books were mostly coming of age, the story started getting better by book three. and towards the end it was really impressive.
The well written characters were that of Fist and DeathClaw; Justan was more annoying in the first two books, making mistakes which i believe were necessary for the books to move forward and strangely naive... but grew to be a good lead character. The most interesting story line was that of William and Theodore... would have loved to read a lot more about them and their exploits...
Loved the series , watch out for this Author he knows how to dish out a great story.
The well written characters were that of Fist and DeathClaw; Justan was more annoying in the first two books, making mistakes which i believe were necessary for the books to move forward and strangely naive... but grew to be a good lead character. The most interesting story line was that of William and Theodore... would have loved to read a lot more about them and their exploits...
Loved the series , watch out for this Author he knows how to dish out a great story.
October 10, 2014
And there goes that! The end of another superbly written series and I guess not all of them can end on a high. Trevor ticks all the boxes in terms of tying up the knots but does not deliver the high that ought to have been in the end. I still feel he could have used this book to focus on the "bonded" and deliver a satisfying climax for the the characters we have been following over the 5 books. Deathclaw deserved a better ending but atleast Talon got a good one. All in all an excellent series and a nice addition to this genre.
January 26, 2015
I like that we got to meet the prophet in this one. And learning about the past of all the main characters. Obviously everyone that we've met is a 'major player'. The reason that I don't write much in these reviews is because there's nothing very very original in these novels, the story is ripped off from various others and only thinly veiled.
The ending with the prophet and Talon was a bit too Star Wars for my taste probably has stopped me from getting the next books in the series. Definitely worth reading while I was studying around the clock.
The ending with the prophet and Talon was a bit too Star Wars for my taste probably has stopped me from getting the next books in the series. Definitely worth reading while I was studying around the clock.
December 18, 2014
Mother of the Moonrat
A grand climax to the five book "Bowl of Souls". But more books are to come in a new series with two books already available. Only thing I tried of was the inclusion of minor swear words, come on Cooley these cloud be read by children otherwise!
A grand climax to the five book "Bowl of Souls". But more books are to come in a new series with two books already available. Only thing I tried of was the inclusion of minor swear words, come on Cooley these cloud be read by children otherwise!
February 23, 2015
These are actually even better the second time around.
January 31, 2016
Another great book!
Action packed and meaty with plot, this book is a great conclusion to the series while leaving the story open for further development.
Action packed and meaty with plot, this book is a great conclusion to the series while leaving the story open for further development.
May 6, 2017
Great finish to the series. Things set up in book one paid off in a satisfying way in the fifth and final book. The author got better every book, in plot, character depth and in word choice.
July 6, 2020
[Review relates to books 2 to 5 of this series.]
My Thoughts:
And of course, I have my favourite character, the ogre. No, his name is not Shrek, it's Fist.
At this point this series is beginning to look like Robert Jordan 's The Wheel Of Time series, as in, there is no end in sight. Having said that, the Messenger Of The Dark Prophet seems to have the best ending in all of the books in this series thus far. At least it ended on a positive note, well, until Book 5, that is. Mother Of The Moonrats ended the first 5 books' story arc. My advise would be not to start reading this series until you have all 5 books because you would want to dive into the next book as soon as you hit the cliffhanger ending.
I was looking for an epic fantasy read, I was glad that I stumbled onto this one.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 4
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
http://www.cherrymischievous.com/2017...
My Thoughts:
And of course, I have my favourite character, the ogre. No, his name is not Shrek, it's Fist.
At this point this series is beginning to look like Robert Jordan 's The Wheel Of Time series, as in, there is no end in sight. Having said that, the Messenger Of The Dark Prophet seems to have the best ending in all of the books in this series thus far. At least it ended on a positive note, well, until Book 5, that is. Mother Of The Moonrats ended the first 5 books' story arc. My advise would be not to start reading this series until you have all 5 books because you would want to dive into the next book as soon as you hit the cliffhanger ending.
I was looking for an epic fantasy read, I was glad that I stumbled onto this one.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 4
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries
http://www.cherrymischievous.com/2017...
April 8, 2019
Overall, this series has been hugely enjoyable so far and this book (as kind of a milestone) didn't disappoint.
However I do have one gripe, and that is that again Justan has taken a step back from the spotlight. As much as I like the side cast, I'm here for Justan's story. While he is in the majority of the chapters in this book, he is rarely the one driving the plot and momentum which is a shame.
Despite that I really enjoyed this book. An easy 4 stars.
However I do have one gripe, and that is that again Justan has taken a step back from the spotlight. As much as I like the side cast, I'm here for Justan's story. While he is in the majority of the chapters in this book, he is rarely the one driving the plot and momentum which is a shame.
Despite that I really enjoyed this book. An easy 4 stars.
December 16, 2017
Mindblowing.
I have rarely found a series that I mean I LITERALLY COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I have read fantasy for over 25 years or so and I have read until late in the night & up early to start again. Awesome, awesome awesome. Bring it on. Headed for the next series. I hope you all enjoy as much as I have.
I have rarely found a series that I mean I LITERALLY COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I have read fantasy for over 25 years or so and I have read until late in the night & up early to start again. Awesome, awesome awesome. Bring it on. Headed for the next series. I hope you all enjoy as much as I have.
May 17, 2020
This review applies to the entire five-book series. The author has a psychedelic imagination, which he applies liberally to this story. I'll bet he was glad to get it off his chest. There are an overwhelming number of major characters, most of whom survive through the series. Many of the characters are developed well beyond the limit of my interest, but that's probably just me. The story has a good balance of action and plot development. I'll admit I did skim the longer battle scenes, because I do get bored quickly by details of that kind. There are several reasonably good romances.
The magic system was split into elemental vs spirit magic, but there was no explanation of what magic really is. I don't like that, but it's a trait shared by most fantasies, so we just have to grin and bear it.
Generally well written, the books still could have used an editing pass by someone with sharper eyes than whoever did the editing. Most of the problems were incorrect word usage. One persistent example was using "populous" when he means "populace." There are many other words used incorrectly, but not quite enough to jar me out of the flow of reading.
The magic system was split into elemental vs spirit magic, but there was no explanation of what magic really is. I don't like that, but it's a trait shared by most fantasies, so we just have to grin and bear it.
Generally well written, the books still could have used an editing pass by someone with sharper eyes than whoever did the editing. Most of the problems were incorrect word usage. One persistent example was using "populous" when he means "populace." There are many other words used incorrectly, but not quite enough to jar me out of the flow of reading.
June 3, 2016
I just wanted to know how the story ends.
Back to my thoughts on a book... It was pretty horrible. I received 2 stars just because it wasn't horrible enough for me to stop listening, otherwise, it would be joining the lonely 1 star shelf.
The story was ruined for me it the forth book of the series, aa I barely finished it. It's not that I loved the previous ones, but they have been better, or I just wasn't tired of all these cleches, and stupid phrases that the author uses. Sometimes there was a feeling that I'm watching a C class children's movie.
I think that the fault is mine, as this sereis probably orienred to middle grade audience, and I need not have to start it.
Back to my thoughts on a book... It was pretty horrible. I received 2 stars just because it wasn't horrible enough for me to stop listening, otherwise, it would be joining the lonely 1 star shelf.
The story was ruined for me it the forth book of the series, aa I barely finished it. It's not that I loved the previous ones, but they have been better, or I just wasn't tired of all these cleches, and stupid phrases that the author uses. Sometimes there was a feeling that I'm watching a C class children's movie.
I think that the fault is mine, as this sereis probably orienred to middle grade audience, and I need not have to start it.
April 12, 2016
Best one of the series. The ending felt rushed. Some parts of the story are the characters speaking, and other parts are the narrator whizzing through the plot, and now we have a third aspect with a character telling the others a story - which is basically like the narrator whizzing through a backstory.
April 14, 2015
You know- I really like the characters. But I felt like the ending was SUPER rushed. I don't know if I'll read the next series or not.
February 7, 2016
Looking forward to seeing the whole story resolved, but will miss the characters.
February 18, 2016
Bit too obviously settling in for a bunch more books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews