Reviews

"This story is stirring. It is a grand tale of unexpected heroes and psychopaths, passionate love and responsible duty, far fetched spiritual hopes and suffocating religious despair. Minnette's writing is clear and exciting, heartfelt, and often evocative. This smart page-turner will bubble your imagination and have you rooting for marvelous characters that will stay in your heart."
Peter Joseph Swanson, Author of Hollywood Sinners & Hidden River

"I have never been attracted to this genre, as I’ve always been grounded in reality and never had time for frivolity. But STARSIGHT is not frivolous… the characters are richly human, and their struggle between good and evil ranks with the most creative in literature. I got used to idea of superpowers real quick and now have a magic wand on my wish list. Minnette’s use of singing to invoke “the power” touched my soul and added a unique component of beautiful sound to the reading. I never thought I’d feel comfortable living on a mystical planet in an indefinite time period, but her descriptions not only took me there, they kept me there… like Homer’s Sirens."
Shirley Howard, Author, Tales Out of School

"Meador has crafted a world as expansive and imaginative as any that have graced the pages of fiction before. Her characters are embodied with real sinew, souls, and motives. They are never flat, and rise to a variety of challenges and the full spectrum of human emotions. Meador is at her best when she shows how the characters of her powerfully prodigious cast play off of one another, and how these connections and collisions help to further both the plot and the intrigue of Starsight. This novel is truly NOT to be missed!" Luke Reynolds, Author A New Man and Inside Out and Outside In

A Fantasy Novel Worth Reading- A Review of Starsight
by A. F. Stewart

I just finished my copy of Starsight by Minnette Meador, and I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it.

Here's my review:

Starsight is a superior, old-fashioned, epic tale of wizardry, evil and empires.

The book tells the tale of Trenara, Joshan and their allies, as they battle the Machiavellian schemes of Sirdar, and it weaves an intriguing, complex journey for the reader.

The world inside the pages comes alive fully, unfolding with a vibrant energy, and wholly realized characters. From the first page to the last word, I was captivated and entertained. The author creates an inventive outlook on the world of wizards, kings, and magic, giving us characters to care about as they slowly deal with the expanding threat, amidst their secrets, flaws and decency.

Starsight is the first volume in a series, and I can't wait until the next book. It is a remarkable fantasy novel.

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Starsight, by Minnette Meador
by Sheila Deeth

Here's a confession. I didn't like fairy tales as a child. I wasn't scared of them - they just annoyed me. Life wasn't meant to be so unpredictable and so unfair, or if was I didn't want to read about it.

I wanted to read my big brother's books - real books the same shape and size as grown-up ones, with lots of words and no pictures. But my brother said I had to prove I was serious first. He told me to read the Snow Queen, but I loathed it so much I volunteered to clean his room instead. That way, I could read chapters from his bookshelf once a week without anyone knowing.

They read Alice in Wonderland to me in grade school. I tried to cover my ears. And in junior high I had to listen to the Hobbit. I couldn't understand the attraction at all, and deduced that fantasy really wasn't my thing.

At college, the young man, who later became my husband, had a novel way of making sure I stayed in touch. He loaned me his copy of Frank Herbert's Dune. It was a thick book that took a long time to read, and when I was finished I had to give it back. My husband likes Dune because he's always loved science fiction (so have I), but it was the first book verging on fantasy that I really enjoyed. Then I bought the Narnia books, Lord of the Rings (and the Hobbit and the Silmarillion of course), the complete works of Lewis Carroll, Earthsea (back when it was only a trilogy)... I was hooked. I even started meeting with friends once a week to play a variant on Dungeons and Dragons.

Then we married and had kids.

It wasn't till I picked up my copy of Minnette Meador's Starsight, mailed freshly minted, signed and personalized by the author (a gather friend), that I realized how long it was since I'd enjoyed a long fantasy (unless Harry Potter counts). I tried George R.R. Martin's books recently, but couldn't get into them - the short reading sessions of a busy life meant the story became too disjointed for me to follow. I was actually nervous as I started Starsight, wanting so much to enjoy it, but beginning to wonder if my reading had come full circle.

I guess Minnette allayed my fears fairly quickly. Eechas instead of hairy horses disturbed me - maybe that's one of my problems, keeping the language of a fantasy world in mind. Guiders. Power (always in italics). I wasn't sure, but I kept reading; persevered into the second chapter. Then suddenly the whole of Minnette's strange world came into focus in my imagination. I was there, transported for a chapter at a time, and the names and images were ready and waiting to return as soon as I came back. With so many names - such strange names - I'm not sure how she did it. But I'd have to say, Minnette has a very deft hand at weaving enough detail into her tale to keep it all flowing smoothly in and out of memory.

Two things attracted me to the book before I read it: Piers Anthony's endorsement on the front cover, and Spider Robinson's on the back. The pictures on the cover made me think I might be in for a Lord of the Rings look-alike, but I was pleased to be wrong. Starsight is set in world of its own, with human characters, flawed and believable, stories and histories interwoven and slowly revealed, and an enjoyable premise of good misused and evil strangely attractive.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I was reading book one of a set. Now I've finished, and the world's still waiting, it's peoples poised for disaster and war, its problems and deceits only partially resolved. Please get the next one published soon Minnette.

Meanwhile, maybe it's time I tried a Song of Ice and Fire again, my fantasy taste-buds now revitalized and hungry for more. Thanks Minnette.

Title: The Centurion and the Queen

Author: Minnette Meador

Genre: Historical

Hearts: Four Hearts - 4/5

Reviewer: Tammie

Date: 4/4/2008

Online: http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=1521

Minnette Meador's Centurion and the Queen will transport you back to 60 AD Britain. It's not a time of comfort for either the Britons or the Romans. The Roman army has been an invader of the isle for quite some time. Through treaties with some of the kings and the strength of their army the Roman's have a lot of control over the Britons. The Romans have imposed laws on the natives and have take land for themselves. This story starts out with a bunch of Britons who are starving. They have gone back to the fields to try to find food for themselves and their families. The Roman's have made it against the law for the villagers to find food in the field. They take the Britons into custody. One of the villagers dies. At the same time a Briton Queen, Delia, is hiding in the forest. She starts tracking the Romans and along the way is captured herself. Delia is an unmarried woman and also a warrior. Soon she meets the terrifying centurion and a leader in the Roman army.

As she fights Marius the centurion she also builds an unbreakable bond of trust, love and devotion with him. Marius is within one month of his retirement from the army. After twenty-five years of service he can leave and take a wife. The life for a Briton and Roman living together will be a hard road, but both Marius and Delia have had hard lives. Will they be able to continue on with a relationship or will social pressures tear them apart?

This book was my first one by Minnette and I'm looking forward to reading more of her works. She brings you into a new time and very quickly has you integrated into the lives and settings of her characters. You feel for them like they are your friends and easily develop emotional bonds with them and their community. I encourage you to try out Minnette's work and see how enmeshed you will become in her wonderful settings. This book pulled me in and I read it in two sittings, just before bed and right when I awoke.

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Author, Tia Fanning

Okay, another great read I just have to recommend to you all! (Here’s where I start gushing...) You all have to read The Centurion and the Queen by Minnette Meador. It’s awesome!!! What a thrilling story!!!

Honestly, this has to be one of the best historicals I’ve read in a long time. The story will leave you gasping, smiling, screaming at/cheering for the characters, and wishing this book would be made into a movie. The interaction between Marius and Delia is amazing and breath taking.

Congrats to Minnette for writing such a wonderful story. I can’t wait to read what this author comes out with next.

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Catherine Chernow, Author

I am absolutely absorbed in the story of THE CENTURION AND THE QUEEN.

Last night, I stayed up to watch the movie Ben-Hur (in honor of Charlton Heston - one of the first of the old-time Hollywood Hunks). In Ben-Hur, you get caught up in the feel of the times - of the splendor - and the brutality - that was ancient Rome. In the CENTURION AND THE QUEEN, I get the same feeling.

But that's just the setting...the story is riveting. And so are your
characters. Marius is a mix of strength, brutality and...compassion.
Delia is absolutely fantastic - a kick-ass heroine, devoted to her
people, yet, there's a vulnerable side to her.

What I'm finding, too, is that I love the sub-plot that's going on
between your secondary characters. Aelius and Glenys are terrific!

Your love scenes are...sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...sensually erotic, laced with Marius' compassionate side, as well as the highly-charged, magnificently sexual Roman side of his personality. I'm caught up in Delia's passion and her enexpected sexual awakening in Marius' capable hands.

Now, I can't wait to see what happens next. Delia's bared all -
including her painful secret - to Marius. And her past is catching up
with her. Will Marius be able to protect her?