MMGM: Blud and Magick by Preston Norton

Date Published: January 8, 2013
ISBN: 1462110886
Genre: Fiction, fantasy, paranormal
Themes: Good and evil, magic, friends

Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing 

About The Book: Born from the ashes of the most fierce and powerful entity in all of Trivaesia, Darla was sent to grow up in the outside world with no knowledge of where she came from. When she finds herself wielding new power, she must decide which part of her will rule her heart—the evil from which she was born or the good by which she was raised. —Goodreads

First Line: Amid the flurry of wind-driven snow, the foreboding silhouette of Hazirrez Tower loomed past the foothills.

One Great Line: “As long as we know what’s in our hearts, it doesn’t matter what the world thinks of us.” (249)

What Others Are Saying: “This book will for sure be a new and magical read for any paranormal lover. It kept me enthralled all the way till the end and I can't wait to read more. The more you read this book the more you learn about the paranormal world you find yourself in. I didn't want to put it down and had to know what happened next.”—Paranormal Reads

“Towards the end I felt like I was missing something. The writing seemed to jump from scene to scene without detail and I found myself trying to reread that last page wondering how the heck I got here. It was only a few places, but I felt like the ending, while exciting and COMPLETELY unpredictable (which is wonderful) felt somewhat rushed.” —My Life With Books

Other Bloggers Weigh In:

The Write Path

Books And Their Worldly Realm

Bookworm Lisa

What I Thought: The premise is definitely what attracted me to the book, good rising out of evil, pretty compelling stuff. I wanted to see how Norton was going to flesh this out. He did an awesome job creating characters and a believable world. That said, I felt the narrative suffered from a common problem when world building. How much backstory does the reader need for the plot to move forward? There were a few times I felt bogged down in extemporaneous details, ones that are imperative for the writer but not the reader. While Norton uses dialogue to present these details, it often felt like an information dump. Even so, I found the read full of surprising twists and turns. I'm looking forward to reading more from this writer. 

My Analysis:

1.POV: Third person limited omniscience: Darla
2. 264 pages
3. The Hook: Baby girl is born from the ashes of the most powerful evil warlord.

4. Inciting event: Attack of the shadow risers.
5. Plot and Pace: Pace sometimes gets bogged down in description, a common challenge when world building.
6. Voice: Norton's voice was engaging and appropriate for the story he is telling.

About The Author: Preston Norton

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Who: He was born in California, raised in Texas, and is currently a student at Brigham Young University – Idaho, seeking a degree in English Education. He enjoys sushi, rock concerts, and scary movies.

Writing Advice: “Being a writer seems like a never-ending cycle of writing, editing, and submitting manuscripts for the inevitable rejection letter. My advice is to never stop doing one of those three things. Never. Life as a writer is almost like standing on the down escalator. If you aren’t constantly moving up it, you will inevitably move down.”  — Cedar Fort Publishing

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Next Week: 
No Ordinary Excuse by Michelle Adams