The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield by Tegon Maus - #review

Tucker Littlefield is a liar, a thief, a con-man . In an attempt to take advantage of a party thrown by the King, he becomes involved in a kidnapping – the King’s niece, Elizabeth, to be exact. Because of his fear of the dark as well as heights, and a good many other things, he finds himself stabbed and bleeding to death.

To save him, a Shaman for the Jonda – Daneba – turns him into a soul bearer for the Kindred. In an effort to find Lizie, Littlefield finds the Norha instead and their leader Tahki – a cannibalistic tribe the lives under a volcano that will leave no stone unturned to find Lizie. Littlefield is blackmailed into her recovery.

Transformed by a primitive magic beyond a civilized man’s understanding, I was given a horrible gift that no man should possess… It held me, twisted me, turning me at its bidding. I was enslaved by its power, compelled to devour the souls of the dead until I became the monster of my fears. I have seen things I wish never to see again. I have done things of which I wish never to speak. Yet I must if I am to find the answers to fulfill my hope.

I have walked upon blue ribbons of molten stone to peer into the depth of a man’s soul. I watched as a promise made at birth brought my friend Enon to sacrifice everything to become whole again – all in an effort to save the life of his child. I have cried without shame for the loss of all I hold dear and for fear that the future will hold more than I can bear. I am Tucker Littlefield. Know all that I say now is true-spoken.

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MY REVIEW

In an interesting opening, Mr. Maus has Tucker telling his story (which is also the story of Enon) to the crowd in a tavern.  He relates the real story, that of the girl's kidnapping and the ensuing chases and battles, to the people there.

There are several races besides humans in Tucker Littlefield.  There are the Jonda, of which Enon is one.  Enon is trying to free Elizabeth, the King's niece from her captors.  Jonda are not well liked amongst the humans, who tend to view them as a 'lower being'.

Possession of the child seems to change several times "off-stage", as we used to say in the theatre.

Then there are the Norha ... who are more primitive and dangerous.  The Norha seem to enjoy killing others not of their race, just as a matter of course.  Most of us would probably consider them evil.

It is like the book is written in 'sense-surround', where Mr. Maus's writing allows us to see, hear, smell, taste and touch the action.  This makes a book very very exciting for me!  It's like the difference between watching (or weaker still, writing about) the action instead of riding or participating.  We get to participate in the story and it is FUN!

Tucker Littlefield reminds me of Philippe Gaston (Matthew Broderick's) in Ladyhawke.  In each story a young man of questionable ethics gets drawn into a noble crusade.  His character definitely grew, stretched (and nearly died) during the course of pursuing his charge to rescue Elizabeth.  He forms alliances with the Jonda and shows himself to be more brave than he thought possible.

If you liked Ladyhawke, or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or LOTR, or movies of that nature, you will enjoy The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield.

I, for one, cannot wait to get my hands on the next installment of this wonderful series.  I have not been this excited about a YA adventure/fantasy series in a long time!

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MEET THE AUTHOR

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Tegon Maus was raised pretty much the same as everyone else… devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends he could conjure. Not that he wasn’t friendly, he just wasn’t “people orientated”. Maybe he lived in his head way more than he should have, maybe not. He liked machines more than people, at least he did until I met his wife.

The first thing he can remember writing was for her. For the life of him he can’t remember what it was about… something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married him shortly after that. He spent a good number  of years chasing other dreams before he got back to writing.

It wasn’t a deliberate conscious thought, it was more of a stepping stone. His wife and himself had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. “Be as detailed as you can,” we were told.

He was thrilled. If there is one thing he enjoys it’s making people believe him and he likes to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mind you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn’t be sure if it were true or not.  When he writes, he always write with the effort of “it could happen” very much in mind and nothing, he guarantees you, nothing, makes him happier.

He has consistently placed in the top 3 in 189 writing contest in a variety of genres and has been featured in magazines a couple of times to raise money for Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

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IMPORTANT NOTICE!

I have been informed that the Kindle version of this book will be on sale for $.99 (cents) US during the tour (or until June 30th!)

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Click on the banner to go to the tour page where you will find more reviews of this title.  You can also find out how to become a blog host for future book tours!

(Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the author and publishers via Virtual Author Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.  Post contains affiliate links.)