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Chronicles of Rob the Daemon #2
Phoenix Caged
THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF ROB THE DAEMON – A COMPLETE STORY
Sol’s days are long without Rob, as his daemon lover returns again to the earth, bound there from March to November by the Daylight Savings Curse. And he knows it’s not a good idea to get involved again with Phoenix, the daemon who turned him into a raven in the First Chronicle.
But when Sol’s mother hands him a mysterious package left to him by his Uncle Ethan, and Phoenix asks for Sol’s help in defeating a sorcerer who’s draining Phoenix’s powers, Sol’s magickal education can’t wait for Rob’s return. And when Sol finds out that Celia’s met a man, a doctor of medicine, and philosophy named Phil Gabeta, he knows something’s not right. Is “Dr. Phil” too good to be true?
With the aid of his new familiar, Lucy the cat, Sol will do battle with The Great and Terrible Jeff, the Wizard of Wall Street, and Phoenix’s life, and Celia’s, will hang in the balance.
Sol’s days are long without Rob, as his daemon lover returns again to the earth, bound there from March to November by the Daylight Savings Curse. And he knows it’s not a good idea to get involved again with Phoenix, the daemon who turned him into a raven in the First Chronicle.
But when Sol’s mother hands him a mysterious package left to him by his Uncle Ethan, and Phoenix asks for Sol’s help in defeating a sorcerer who’s draining Phoenix’s powers, Sol’s magickal education can’t wait for Rob’s return. And when Sol finds out that Celia’s met a man, a doctor of medicine, and philosophy named Phil Gabeta, he knows something’s not right. Is “Dr. Phil” too good to be true?
With the aid of his new familiar, Lucy the cat, Sol will do battle with The Great and Terrible Jeff, the Wizard of Wall Street, and Phoenix’s life, and Celia’s, will hang in the balance.
127 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 26, 2014
2 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Brad Vance
61 books245 followersBrad Vance is the author of over twenty books. He's hard at work on the sequel to Stabitha. Keep up with Brad at BradVanceAuthor.com, or email him at BradVanceAuthor@gmail.com.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 1, 2015
This second installment felt less frenetic, and the ties between past and present woven together a bit more smoothly. The pets added a new and necessary dynamic, since the BFF and sweetheart who dominated to first story were nearly MIA the entire time. The parental units and a change in Sol's relationship with Phoenix were keys to the added dimensionality and enjoyment. I'm a little surprised to be sticking with this through the next piece, but Vance gets away with a lot when he managed to entertain me.
July 12, 2017
This series is very interesting! I am kept on the tips of my toes the entire time because the book is so short and is trying to fit everything inside. There's a lot of history and lore, excellent world-building and structure.
My only niggle is the lack of character development. I have a good handle on Sol because he is the voice of the book, but Rob falls flat for me; I don't understand the romantic chemistry from his side aside from what he's done in the past. Celia randomly also has powers, mom is a mystery, dad is a mystery, the cat is an enigma.....what even is a familiar? Phoenix was also not well developed. I don't feel like I truly knew who these people were.
But......they managed to gather together and create a cool story, so. Whatevs.
My only niggle is the lack of character development. I have a good handle on Sol because he is the voice of the book, but Rob falls flat for me; I don't understand the romantic chemistry from his side aside from what he's done in the past. Celia randomly also has powers, mom is a mystery, dad is a mystery, the cat is an enigma.....what even is a familiar? Phoenix was also not well developed. I don't feel like I truly knew who these people were.
But......they managed to gather together and create a cool story, so. Whatevs.
March 11, 2014
The quest continues to find an answer to break Rob's curse. He has now been sealed in his rock of prison since October 31st and Sol has been visiting him ever since. Going most days rain or shine with Gary and leaving him something to eat it becomes a pretty lonely existence for him. Needless to say the longer Sol has to manage without any form of physical pleasure the hornier he's getting. Everything seems back to normal, or is it?
Celia meets a handsome blond, blue-eyed hunk at a conference she was attending and the sparks fly. She finds the attraction hard to resist and ends up inviting him home. She soon realises that she has collared her down daemon, desperately wishing to learn magick, decides to be led by him and not wait for Rob to come back. This becomes her undoing as Phil, the to-good-to-be-true, rich, good looking, guy is a daemon Ga'ap one of the oldest and most evil daemons going.
After Sol hasn't heard from Celia for a while which for her is very unusual behaviour, he decides to pay her a visit. Well, she lets on that she now has a fellow, but also rebuffs Sol quite quickly which is unusual for her as a good friend normally wanting all the details. OK, since Rob had turned up on Sol's life, Celia was also left a little ignored, but then that's life. Two single close friends find a partner and it's only normal that they we'll start to spend less time together. However, Sol smells a rat!
When Sol is out with his mum she tells him she knows his secret and it is no surprise as his a Uncle Ethan left him a book. This book appears at first to be nothing special, but it holds me the key to some pretty powerful magic. Whence is out with his mum he meets Phoenix and he is looking decidedly the worse for wear. He calls upon Sol's help as he is being drained of his powers by a powerful sorcerer Jeff who has him in his power. WOW – that was a lot of “powers” in one sentence – lol! But Sol is no way ready to do battle with powerful sorcerers as his training is not yet I finished. Phoenix promises to help him and send Lucy, a cat who is Sol's familiar. I loved Lucy, she is sassy, intelligent and helps Sol to increase his magical powers. I really liked the way that Brad gets the voice and tone of Lucy just right, she's a cat but also even though she can talk to Sol, she has all the typical cat like attributes. This was a real treat.
Lucy takes Sol back to the past and the historical story evolves more where we learn that Barbatos (Rob) took Phoenix in the jar with him and imprisoned himself with Phoenix in order stop him being the daemon leader. An act of pure sacrifice for Sol, who along with Sheba, was fighting to rid the earth of daemons. This element of the story I also really like where we go back in time and learn how the present story is interwoven into a past story that happened many hundreds of years before.
Well, needless to say that the time comes where Sol has to confront Jeff The Sorcerer Wizard of Wall Street and Ga'ap, ready or not, but with Lucy at his side and the more powerful magic he has learnt through his Uncle's book puts him good stead. By this time Celia releases she is being used by evil powers and has been unwillingly led. In a final show down where Sol and Phoenix battle it out with Jeff and Ga'ap, Rob appears at the last minute again coming out of his exile due to daylight saving going back. Jeff and Ga'ap originally planned this so Rib would just see Sol dying when he arrives, but thank goodness for a plan hatched by Phoenix the tables are turned. However, just before the end is nigh with Jeff he tells Sol he holds the key to break the curse on Rob. But Sol has to sacrifice this information for the better good. So the curse still remains with Rob and the search continues to break the curse.
This is the second book in the series and I'm really getting into it big time. The sense of humour is still present and the story takes on all kinds of twists and turns. It kept me interested all the way and now I'm waiting to move on to the third book Cleopatra's Needle, so watch this space as I'm sure there will be a review to come. The writing is great, the story imaginative, the plots are great and the sex / passion between a Sol and Rob is Hot!
Celia meets a handsome blond, blue-eyed hunk at a conference she was attending and the sparks fly. She finds the attraction hard to resist and ends up inviting him home. She soon realises that she has collared her down daemon, desperately wishing to learn magick, decides to be led by him and not wait for Rob to come back. This becomes her undoing as Phil, the to-good-to-be-true, rich, good looking, guy is a daemon Ga'ap one of the oldest and most evil daemons going.
After Sol hasn't heard from Celia for a while which for her is very unusual behaviour, he decides to pay her a visit. Well, she lets on that she now has a fellow, but also rebuffs Sol quite quickly which is unusual for her as a good friend normally wanting all the details. OK, since Rob had turned up on Sol's life, Celia was also left a little ignored, but then that's life. Two single close friends find a partner and it's only normal that they we'll start to spend less time together. However, Sol smells a rat!
When Sol is out with his mum she tells him she knows his secret and it is no surprise as his a Uncle Ethan left him a book. This book appears at first to be nothing special, but it holds me the key to some pretty powerful magic. Whence is out with his mum he meets Phoenix and he is looking decidedly the worse for wear. He calls upon Sol's help as he is being drained of his powers by a powerful sorcerer Jeff who has him in his power. WOW – that was a lot of “powers” in one sentence – lol! But Sol is no way ready to do battle with powerful sorcerers as his training is not yet I finished. Phoenix promises to help him and send Lucy, a cat who is Sol's familiar. I loved Lucy, she is sassy, intelligent and helps Sol to increase his magical powers. I really liked the way that Brad gets the voice and tone of Lucy just right, she's a cat but also even though she can talk to Sol, she has all the typical cat like attributes. This was a real treat.
Lucy takes Sol back to the past and the historical story evolves more where we learn that Barbatos (Rob) took Phoenix in the jar with him and imprisoned himself with Phoenix in order stop him being the daemon leader. An act of pure sacrifice for Sol, who along with Sheba, was fighting to rid the earth of daemons. This element of the story I also really like where we go back in time and learn how the present story is interwoven into a past story that happened many hundreds of years before.
Well, needless to say that the time comes where Sol has to confront Jeff The Sorcerer Wizard of Wall Street and Ga'ap, ready or not, but with Lucy at his side and the more powerful magic he has learnt through his Uncle's book puts him good stead. By this time Celia releases she is being used by evil powers and has been unwillingly led. In a final show down where Sol and Phoenix battle it out with Jeff and Ga'ap, Rob appears at the last minute again coming out of his exile due to daylight saving going back. Jeff and Ga'ap originally planned this so Rib would just see Sol dying when he arrives, but thank goodness for a plan hatched by Phoenix the tables are turned. However, just before the end is nigh with Jeff he tells Sol he holds the key to break the curse on Rob. But Sol has to sacrifice this information for the better good. So the curse still remains with Rob and the search continues to break the curse.
This is the second book in the series and I'm really getting into it big time. The sense of humour is still present and the story takes on all kinds of twists and turns. It kept me interested all the way and now I'm waiting to move on to the third book Cleopatra's Needle, so watch this space as I'm sure there will be a review to come. The writing is great, the story imaginative, the plots are great and the sex / passion between a Sol and Rob is Hot!
October 11, 2014
I didn't hesitate to get this sequel because I immediately loved the first.
I thought I wouldn't like it because I knew the boyfriend and demon we're introduced to in the beginning barely even makes an appearance.
Essentially this worked for me, because .. Sol learns to rely on his own intuition and instinct, and learns how to trust other people, and when not to trust. A lot of important character development would disappear if your uber magical boyfriend was always around to rescue you.
I loved getting to know more about Phoenix (love him), and we are introduced to a few demons I wanted to punch in the throat.
Great book!
I thought I wouldn't like it because I knew the boyfriend and demon we're introduced to in the beginning barely even makes an appearance.
Essentially this worked for me, because .. Sol learns to rely on his own intuition and instinct, and learns how to trust other people, and when not to trust. A lot of important character development would disappear if your uber magical boyfriend was always around to rescue you.
I loved getting to know more about Phoenix (love him), and we are introduced to a few demons I wanted to punch in the throat.
Great book!
August 20, 2015
Due to the curse that was placed upon Rob, Sol is waiting for his return. In the meantime, Sol is practicing his magic skills, hoping to acquire the ability to break Rob's curse. Phoenix appears to Sol, in terrible condition. There is another nouveau magician, who has the ability to suck the life force out of Phoenix, thus enhancing his magical skills. A show down appears to be in Sol's future, if he is to save Phoenix and Rob.
This series is just plain quirky fun. The characters are intelligent and funny. If you are looking for something different this will fit the bill.
This series is just plain quirky fun. The characters are intelligent and funny. If you are looking for something different this will fit the bill.
April 15, 2015
:makes puppy dog eyes at author: Please may I have some more?
January 22, 2015
Loved it !!!
September 30, 2015
Loved this second book in the series just as much as the first one. I hope there is going to be a third book so that Sol can save Rob and bring Phoenix back to life. Loved Lucy!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews