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Chaterre Trilogy #2
Thunder Moon
Thunder Cartwright dreams that madrox will invade Chatterre and destroy his world unless the star bridge is closed.
Raine, a Kalamaran Dragon Sheppard, must catch a rogue mooncalf and return it to the herd or face possible death.
Who will will win and who will die?
Raine, a Kalamaran Dragon Sheppard, must catch a rogue mooncalf and return it to the herd or face possible death.
Who will will win and who will die?
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 9, 2015
12 people want to read
About the author
Jeanne Foguth
15 books16 followersJeanne Foguth began her career technical writing, but her love of suspense, whether it be present, future or in an unknown galaxy inspired her to write the novels she wanted to find in bookstores. Jeanne and her husband have lived from the arctic to the tropics, as well as from yacht to off-grid mountain home. She loves using vivid colors and flowing shapes in her oil paintings as well as creating edible landscapes.
You can always find out what she is working on and/or contact either at her webhome: www.jeannefoguth.com
or see what she is thinking about at her blog:
foguth.wordpress.com
Contact her at jeannefoguth{DOT}author [AT]gmail[DOT]com
You can always find out what she is working on and/or contact either at her webhome: www.jeannefoguth.com
or see what she is thinking about at her blog:
foguth.wordpress.com
Contact her at jeannefoguth{DOT}author [AT]gmail[DOT]com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 10, 2016
Moons, madrox and merfolk
"You shouldn't underrate friendship"
Thunder Moon is a science fantasy story which follows on from the events described in Star Bridge. It starts on the planet of Chaterre, but quickly follows the fortunes of Nimri's brother, Thunder as he finds himself on a strange venture into space in an attempt to close the Star Bridge for good.
We meet Raine who is a dragon shepherd, chasing a lost dragon and desperate to get it home for fear of death should she not do so. She comes from a water world called Kalamar which supplies the warriors of Guerreterre with a substance called 'eepyllihg' which gives them the means of inter-stellar flight (kind of like the idea of spice in Dune). Kalamar has a nasty dictator who Raine hates, but works for as she has no choice. We also meet and Tem-Aki who is Larwin's sister searching for her brother because she refuses to believe he is dead. The story twists through multiple edge-of-the-seat crises, culminating in a scenario in which all must team up to somehow try to save two worlds.
At last, the strange dream was over and a new one had begun.
It's greatest strength is that this is a fast paced story with lots of dramatic events and sudden twists, which have the characters fully engaged and the reader wondering what will happen next. The writing is pretty fluent, the characters mostly well explored and are the kind of people it is easy to take an interest in and come to care about.
There is a lot of highly imaginative world-building which gives us a fairly detailed picture of the water world of Kalamar and its people and some more insight into the set up of Guerreterre, the warrior-ruled home of Larwin and Tem-Aki. There is also the same sense of broad sweeping fantasy that is captured so well in Star Bridge, with mystical appearances of the wonderful Kazza like a tiger-faced Aslan.
The story also deserves praise for the genuinely strong female leads. Both Raine and Tem-Aki are women who know their own minds and make their own way in life, capable and competent. There are several minor female characters of like kind as well.
The man was desirable as a dream and silly as a hum-dum fish.
I was really hopeful of a good read in Thunder Moon, because, despite the issues I had with Star Bridge, I enjoyed it as a story. But somehow Thunder Moon never managed to get there. Although I found the writing style slightly better overall than the last book, there were a lot of the same issues as before and some others as well.
The biggest issue for me was that the world-building whilst detailed was not well founded. This is not a problem in a pure fantasy world like Chaterre where it all boils down to magic, but in the sci-fi technology setting of Kalmar it falls down very quickly. Aspects of the world appeared from nowhere, as if floating unsupported rather than having a solid structure of explained or even assumable foundations. We are told, for example, that something is being lifted by 'skyhooks' but not what these skyhooks might be. Even stranger is the fact that an alien visitor to the world clearly recognises a skyhook when she sees one, but has no idea about the nature of the object it is lifting. Where I come from 'skyhook' is a phrase used to describe a concept founded on nothing, an impossibility, and that was often my reaction to the descriptions of the world.
My other problem was that often things seemed to pop up in an almost fortuitous to the plot kind of way, rather than being embedded in the story at an earlier place. A good example of this is when, almost half-way into the book, we learn about the major threat to Kalamar. But Raine had already been in the vicinity of said threat a lot earlier in the book, had thought about it and the author had described it in some detail, without mentioning that it was a clear and present danger to the planet in any way at all. My suspended disbelief just came crashing down a few too many times in the story as a result.
If you loved Star Bridge you will love Thunder Moon. There is adventure, romance, action and mystical fantasy. It continues the story of the characters and introduces some new ones. If you are new to the series though, I would strongly suggest starting with Star Bridge rather than diving in to this second book first.
"You shouldn't underrate friendship"
Thunder Moon is a science fantasy story which follows on from the events described in Star Bridge. It starts on the planet of Chaterre, but quickly follows the fortunes of Nimri's brother, Thunder as he finds himself on a strange venture into space in an attempt to close the Star Bridge for good.
We meet Raine who is a dragon shepherd, chasing a lost dragon and desperate to get it home for fear of death should she not do so. She comes from a water world called Kalamar which supplies the warriors of Guerreterre with a substance called 'eepyllihg' which gives them the means of inter-stellar flight (kind of like the idea of spice in Dune). Kalamar has a nasty dictator who Raine hates, but works for as she has no choice. We also meet and Tem-Aki who is Larwin's sister searching for her brother because she refuses to believe he is dead. The story twists through multiple edge-of-the-seat crises, culminating in a scenario in which all must team up to somehow try to save two worlds.
At last, the strange dream was over and a new one had begun.
It's greatest strength is that this is a fast paced story with lots of dramatic events and sudden twists, which have the characters fully engaged and the reader wondering what will happen next. The writing is pretty fluent, the characters mostly well explored and are the kind of people it is easy to take an interest in and come to care about.
There is a lot of highly imaginative world-building which gives us a fairly detailed picture of the water world of Kalamar and its people and some more insight into the set up of Guerreterre, the warrior-ruled home of Larwin and Tem-Aki. There is also the same sense of broad sweeping fantasy that is captured so well in Star Bridge, with mystical appearances of the wonderful Kazza like a tiger-faced Aslan.
The story also deserves praise for the genuinely strong female leads. Both Raine and Tem-Aki are women who know their own minds and make their own way in life, capable and competent. There are several minor female characters of like kind as well.
The man was desirable as a dream and silly as a hum-dum fish.
I was really hopeful of a good read in Thunder Moon, because, despite the issues I had with Star Bridge, I enjoyed it as a story. But somehow Thunder Moon never managed to get there. Although I found the writing style slightly better overall than the last book, there were a lot of the same issues as before and some others as well.
The biggest issue for me was that the world-building whilst detailed was not well founded. This is not a problem in a pure fantasy world like Chaterre where it all boils down to magic, but in the sci-fi technology setting of Kalmar it falls down very quickly. Aspects of the world appeared from nowhere, as if floating unsupported rather than having a solid structure of explained or even assumable foundations. We are told, for example, that something is being lifted by 'skyhooks' but not what these skyhooks might be. Even stranger is the fact that an alien visitor to the world clearly recognises a skyhook when she sees one, but has no idea about the nature of the object it is lifting. Where I come from 'skyhook' is a phrase used to describe a concept founded on nothing, an impossibility, and that was often my reaction to the descriptions of the world.
My other problem was that often things seemed to pop up in an almost fortuitous to the plot kind of way, rather than being embedded in the story at an earlier place. A good example of this is when, almost half-way into the book, we learn about the major threat to Kalamar. But Raine had already been in the vicinity of said threat a lot earlier in the book, had thought about it and the author had described it in some detail, without mentioning that it was a clear and present danger to the planet in any way at all. My suspended disbelief just came crashing down a few too many times in the story as a result.
If you loved Star Bridge you will love Thunder Moon. There is adventure, romance, action and mystical fantasy. It continues the story of the characters and introduces some new ones. If you are new to the series though, I would strongly suggest starting with Star Bridge rather than diving in to this second book first.
February 19, 2016
The second volume in Jeanne Foguth's Chatterre Trilogy, "Thunder Moon", picks up where "Star Bridge" ends. As someone who's read all three volumes, but not in order, I highly recommend that they be read in sequence so that the complex plots and character relationships are easier to follow. Each builds upon the other, weaving a fascinating and intricate Sci-fa saga.
In this episode, Nimri's brother, Thunder Cartwright, is worried the madrox will invade his world unless the star bridge is closed. He borrows his brother-in-law, Larwin's, environmental suit, and sets out to do so with the assistance of GEA-4, Larwin's androtic assistant. Meanwhile, Larwin's sister, Tem-Aki, is looking for her brother, who's been missing from his world long enough that she's concerned that he's dead. (Background on Larwin's arrival on Chatterre can be found in volume I, "Star Bridge".)
As you'd expect from any misbehaving and unstable Star Bridge/wormhole, Thunder winds up on yet another world, Kalamar, which is covered with what he fears most--water. Furthermore, he's severely injured, but fortunately, rescued by Raine, a dragon shepherd, who's on patrol in her ship, Nambaba, trying to recover a rogue dragon calf.
And thus the fun begins.
As always, the science fiction/fantasy elements of these stories are masterfully integrated as simple matters of planetary diversity. Dragons, a.k.a. madrox, are Chatterre's mortal enemy, threatening to reduce it to ashes. However, on Raine's planet, Kalamar, they're carefully managed, a seeming paradox that further drives the story's plot and suspense.
Mistaken identities, culture clashes, alien creatures, and a variety of interpersonal conflicts, including sibling rivalry and political intrigue, ultimately explode in this fast-moving, complex tale. The world building is exceptional, particularly with regard to how a human culture would operate on a world comprised mostly of water. Not only are the mundane details addressed, but other intelligent species introduced as well as a convincing and convoluted political structure.
If you like an intricate plot, lots of action and continual suspense with all sorts of surprises you can get your teeth into, then this trilogy is for you. But don't forget to read "Star Bridge" first and then this one before move on to the satisfying conclusion in "Fire Island." (All three are "clean reads" and suitable for teen and young adults.)
In this episode, Nimri's brother, Thunder Cartwright, is worried the madrox will invade his world unless the star bridge is closed. He borrows his brother-in-law, Larwin's, environmental suit, and sets out to do so with the assistance of GEA-4, Larwin's androtic assistant. Meanwhile, Larwin's sister, Tem-Aki, is looking for her brother, who's been missing from his world long enough that she's concerned that he's dead. (Background on Larwin's arrival on Chatterre can be found in volume I, "Star Bridge".)
As you'd expect from any misbehaving and unstable Star Bridge/wormhole, Thunder winds up on yet another world, Kalamar, which is covered with what he fears most--water. Furthermore, he's severely injured, but fortunately, rescued by Raine, a dragon shepherd, who's on patrol in her ship, Nambaba, trying to recover a rogue dragon calf.
And thus the fun begins.
As always, the science fiction/fantasy elements of these stories are masterfully integrated as simple matters of planetary diversity. Dragons, a.k.a. madrox, are Chatterre's mortal enemy, threatening to reduce it to ashes. However, on Raine's planet, Kalamar, they're carefully managed, a seeming paradox that further drives the story's plot and suspense.
Mistaken identities, culture clashes, alien creatures, and a variety of interpersonal conflicts, including sibling rivalry and political intrigue, ultimately explode in this fast-moving, complex tale. The world building is exceptional, particularly with regard to how a human culture would operate on a world comprised mostly of water. Not only are the mundane details addressed, but other intelligent species introduced as well as a convincing and convoluted political structure.
If you like an intricate plot, lots of action and continual suspense with all sorts of surprises you can get your teeth into, then this trilogy is for you. But don't forget to read "Star Bridge" first and then this one before move on to the satisfying conclusion in "Fire Island." (All three are "clean reads" and suitable for teen and young adults.)
November 19, 2016
This was a book that really didn't click with me, and I don't know why.
I really couldn't get into this book. Even though there was a lot of stuff I should like. It was very imaginative, Space Ships vs Dragons isn't something you run into a lot. Distinct Characters, well formed and described worlds.
Some of my problems with the book was the execution. There was multiple world building scenes and I would start to grasp one, then be flung into another. One character would be in peril and I'd switch to another character in peril and I'd have to remember who they were. There were a lot of things that I don't like, some authors have gotten me over that, but this one didn't.
Part of this stems from the fact it is the middle book in a trilogy, and I didn't read the first one. So I assume a lot of the times I felt that I was missing something, it was from the earlier book. Sometimes a character would be there, and I couldn't remember if they had been introduced or not. The author really should have had someone who didn't read the earlier one look it over. For a lot of the time I wondered if I was just plain missing something.
As a stand alone, this book had a problem between concept and execution. There seemed to be great and imaginative concepts in here, but the execution of those concepts simply left me with a feeling that I was missing something.
As a result I cannot recommend this book as a stand alone. I assume the first book of the trilogy has the good parts, without the confusion. It would be better to start with that one.
I really couldn't get into this book. Even though there was a lot of stuff I should like. It was very imaginative, Space Ships vs Dragons isn't something you run into a lot. Distinct Characters, well formed and described worlds.
Some of my problems with the book was the execution. There was multiple world building scenes and I would start to grasp one, then be flung into another. One character would be in peril and I'd switch to another character in peril and I'd have to remember who they were. There were a lot of things that I don't like, some authors have gotten me over that, but this one didn't.
Part of this stems from the fact it is the middle book in a trilogy, and I didn't read the first one. So I assume a lot of the times I felt that I was missing something, it was from the earlier book. Sometimes a character would be there, and I couldn't remember if they had been introduced or not. The author really should have had someone who didn't read the earlier one look it over. For a lot of the time I wondered if I was just plain missing something.
As a stand alone, this book had a problem between concept and execution. There seemed to be great and imaginative concepts in here, but the execution of those concepts simply left me with a feeling that I was missing something.
As a result I cannot recommend this book as a stand alone. I assume the first book of the trilogy has the good parts, without the confusion. It would be better to start with that one.
January 22, 2022
I really liked it.
October 16, 2016
I am voluntarily reviewing this free book. I'm giving Thunder Moon a 4 star for an interesting story premise and a 1 star for abysmal execution. That brings it to 2 stars.
This is book two in a series and is not at all a stand alone book. I have not read the first book, so it took me a while to get into this one as there was a lot that might have been made clearer if I had not started here.
Thunder is a young man with powers over something called myst. He lives on Chatterre where a dragon that feeds on psychic energy had attacked in the past and nearly killed everyone. He has dreams of a time in his youth when he almost drowned and decides the dreams mean he must go to the Star Bridge and shut it down to keep any dragons from coming into his world again. He gets advice from his sister and her husband, who is apparently an off worlder. With the help of an android, he goes to shut down this access by blowing up the tunnel that leads to the bridge. Once at the tunnel, he decides to go through/across the bridge to the ancient home world that was destroyed a thousand years earlier and see what it is like. The story shifts to the other side when he and the android are accidentally damaged by a woman herding a mooncalf, one of the dreaded dragons. The rest of the story deals with her world and his need to get back to save his world.
Now with that said, I think the story idea is interesting. It fits in Space Fantasy and could be a great read. There are some good world building elements with at least one different humanoid species. What little of the back story on Kalamar there was seemed to show a rich history full of treachery and deceit on the part of the ruling family. Other tantalizing tidbits were mentioned concerning the other two worlds in the story, but those were not developed further. The author seemed to forget that the readers do not know all this background and there should have been more follow up on many of the things mentioned. (These discrepancies might be explained further in the first book.)
The execution of the story could benefit from a good editor. It is rife with misspellings, missing words, incorrectly used words, and frustrating issues with continuity. Why is one character's hair unfashionable on one page then fashionable a few pages later? How do people who are unconscious suddenly start attacking someone else before the end of the scene? Where did Fraizer, Shay, and Brock come from? They just suddenly appeared in the story with no explanation. Shay and Brock were at least mentioned before, but Fraizer just suddenly was there. A simple search for names of places before the final edit would have revealed that Ishdoo should not be Ishdo. The main female lead is either completely naive, so driven by lust that she has no common sense, or is a total idiot. There are many more examples, but they would be spoilers.
The book has so many plot holes and gaps it frequently made me feel like I had accidentally skipped whole sections, but when I went back to check those sections simply were not there. The emotional reactions of the characters were inconsistent. One struggles and fights through the whole book to save a loved one and stay with him, but when the time comes to leave him behind to follow the hunky guy she's lusting after, she doesn't give that loved one a second thought. Another goes from being a completely self-centered, self-serving, social climber to being a secret freedom fighter. That is an interesting development, but unfortunately just as his story becomes interesting he goes back to being a self-serving asshat and that is the end of that. As for the science part of science fiction, it is unrealistically presented and implausible. Nothing in the book has even a slight relation to any science. Traveling through space does not make a science fiction, if the science behind the technology is not plausible. (You don't travel 127 light years on almost no fuel and little oxygen then turn around and take the same ship back with no refueling or oxygen replenishment.) It is pure fantasy.
The author skipped over several opportunities to get some things cleared up and the whole thing ended with a fizzle. The trailing story line that was left to entice the reader to the next book, was not compelling enough for me to want to continue with the series.
This is book two in a series and is not at all a stand alone book. I have not read the first book, so it took me a while to get into this one as there was a lot that might have been made clearer if I had not started here.
Thunder is a young man with powers over something called myst. He lives on Chatterre where a dragon that feeds on psychic energy had attacked in the past and nearly killed everyone. He has dreams of a time in his youth when he almost drowned and decides the dreams mean he must go to the Star Bridge and shut it down to keep any dragons from coming into his world again. He gets advice from his sister and her husband, who is apparently an off worlder. With the help of an android, he goes to shut down this access by blowing up the tunnel that leads to the bridge. Once at the tunnel, he decides to go through/across the bridge to the ancient home world that was destroyed a thousand years earlier and see what it is like. The story shifts to the other side when he and the android are accidentally damaged by a woman herding a mooncalf, one of the dreaded dragons. The rest of the story deals with her world and his need to get back to save his world.
Now with that said, I think the story idea is interesting. It fits in Space Fantasy and could be a great read. There are some good world building elements with at least one different humanoid species. What little of the back story on Kalamar there was seemed to show a rich history full of treachery and deceit on the part of the ruling family. Other tantalizing tidbits were mentioned concerning the other two worlds in the story, but those were not developed further. The author seemed to forget that the readers do not know all this background and there should have been more follow up on many of the things mentioned. (These discrepancies might be explained further in the first book.)
The execution of the story could benefit from a good editor. It is rife with misspellings, missing words, incorrectly used words, and frustrating issues with continuity. Why is one character's hair unfashionable on one page then fashionable a few pages later? How do people who are unconscious suddenly start attacking someone else before the end of the scene? Where did Fraizer, Shay, and Brock come from? They just suddenly appeared in the story with no explanation. Shay and Brock were at least mentioned before, but Fraizer just suddenly was there. A simple search for names of places before the final edit would have revealed that Ishdoo should not be Ishdo. The main female lead is either completely naive, so driven by lust that she has no common sense, or is a total idiot. There are many more examples, but they would be spoilers.
The book has so many plot holes and gaps it frequently made me feel like I had accidentally skipped whole sections, but when I went back to check those sections simply were not there. The emotional reactions of the characters were inconsistent. One struggles and fights through the whole book to save a loved one and stay with him, but when the time comes to leave him behind to follow the hunky guy she's lusting after, she doesn't give that loved one a second thought. Another goes from being a completely self-centered, self-serving, social climber to being a secret freedom fighter. That is an interesting development, but unfortunately just as his story becomes interesting he goes back to being a self-serving asshat and that is the end of that. As for the science part of science fiction, it is unrealistically presented and implausible. Nothing in the book has even a slight relation to any science. Traveling through space does not make a science fiction, if the science behind the technology is not plausible. (You don't travel 127 light years on almost no fuel and little oxygen then turn around and take the same ship back with no refueling or oxygen replenishment.) It is pure fantasy.
The author skipped over several opportunities to get some things cleared up and the whole thing ended with a fizzle. The trailing story line that was left to entice the reader to the next book, was not compelling enough for me to want to continue with the series.
December 11, 2015
This series has magical giant cats, dragons, family bonds, star crossed lovers, people full of hate and adventure. It truly is magical. Not one time was I able to guess what would happen next or how the author would lead them out of a situation which had me on my toes. Warning do not open them unless you have time to get caught in a world far far away.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews