This week continues the series of posts with summaries of the books, to give you a little detail on the content in them beyond a typical book blurb. Today's post features The Test of Devotion and Facets of Fantasy. Both of these are adventure books that star teenagers but can be enjoyed by adults who like good old-fashioned storytelling.

​The Test of Devotion is a western adventure story that has a strong Hispanic flavor as it is set in Texas just 14 years after the state became independent from Mexico. Spanish is spoken by several characters. A young woman named Arabella has come to this place from back east and she creates a lot of havoc as she’s exceptionally beautiful and strong-willed, but she has no understanding of the culture and can’t adapt when the situation gets more dangerous. Especially when her husband, a politician, wants her out of the way. The young outlaw Viajero is a conflicted character, as he's able to take on the role of hero, but is reluctant to do so because of his father. A lot of shooting, a girl who works at the hotel, and a man who's hired Viajero to find Arabella might end up changing his mind. 
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Historical Fiction. 165 pages. Some mild classic-western violence. A villain gets shot. A comic character who is an alcoholic appears in a few scenes.

Facets of Fantasy is a set of three 20k-word epic fantasy and space opera novellas. They explore arrogant villains who think their beliefs should impose on others; ambitious military cadets who are all about gaining power; and teenage girls frustrated by being caught in problems beyond their control. Halogen Crossing takes a self-absorbed young man who prefers big adventures into a city teeming with diplomats and villainous intrigue. He finds action might not be so far away after all! Jurant’s hero, Don, struggles to rise to the occasion when dealing with his grandfather, who has cracked-up mentally by a desire for power beyond his ability, and with a greedy fellow student who is a little too curious for her own good. And in the final story, Stuart tries to navigate his repressed, unfriendly cousin and an ancient feud that has descended in full force on their family.

Fantasy, Epic; Short Stories and Anthologies. 238 pages. Death of a loved one and bitterness influence some of the characters.

And there will be more updates.

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One of the most memorable moments, I think for anyone who’s read Ryan and Essie, is when Tarvelas dies. She is connected to a mirror and when Ryan pulls it out, she dies by the end of the book. Everyone is very upset by this, especially since both Ryan and Essie have come to admire her. But in a place shrouded in secrecy, to which they have just come as visitors, there must have been a lot leading up to this.

Why her? Why not someone else? What does this relationship with the Mirror really mean?

Tarvelas explains it as essentially a power like God, who speaks to the people of Caricanus through the Mirrors and has chosen her as a voice because the Mirror is in danger. But she doesn’t seem at all surprised when she dies. In fact, at all times she has an odd smile on her face as if she accepts it. Amid all the underlying things buried in Ryan and Essie is the potential idea that Tarvelas isn’t actually good. Maybe she’s not completely bad, but we mostly see her through Ryan’s eyes and he makes no effort to know more about her.

It’s not even sure that she’s as young as she looks. What if she’s actually old and made some mistakes in her past that mean she has to die now? And if so, what mistakes would these have been? Maybe an interaction with one of the other characters? It doesn’t seem threatening to anyone else, but it is a tipoff that while Ryan and Essie is a simple story, its characters are anything but.

And there will be more updates.

This little detail didn’t appear in the book’s manuscript, but the dusty gravel road bending among green trees that the Harrison family lives beside is called “Harrison Lane” after them. It was actually named by the county because they’re almost the only house on that road and when every road had to be named something (to keep things in order) they asked Mr. Harrison “What’s your last name?” He said “Harrison” so they named the little gravel byway after him.

A small point like this can give you an idea of how long the Harrisons have been around, in a fixed way, in one place. A very long time. And they are well-respected within the community—in a way—although people do think they’re kind of odd. People in small towns can be very narrow-minded, you know. There is something quietly lovely about their home and the girls, who’ve always lived this way, don’t know how nice and cozy their lives might look to other people.

Anybody in their right minds would view the Harrisons as people you’d want to know. They have a great home life, a great home, a great religious faith, and a great loyalty to each other. Anyone who tries to bother them (like the polygamists who appeared in an intermediate draft of the book) are sent packing without a second thought and our protagonists return to being the Harrisons of Harrison Lane.

You don't run into people like the Harrisons very often. They truly are unusual, but that’s not always a bad thing.

And there will be more updates.