Review: Rogue Oracle by Alayna Williams

Title: Rogue Oracle
Author: Alayna Williams
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: 02/22/11
Summary:

THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE, THE MORE THERE MAY BE TO FEAR.

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around -- and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn’t need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.

Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards -- and Tara’s increasingly ominous dreams -- suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationship with the mysterious order known as Delphi’s Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen...

Plot: 4.5 Stars
I love the mix of science and paranormal that these novels blend together. The first novel dealt with physics, and this novel delved into the history of Chernobyl and the science of nuclear reactors. Add in a bunch of oracles with different skills in divination, and you've got a mix of Urban Fantasy with a touch of Science Fiction. It's not very often I learn a lot (about real, non-paranormal things) from a book, but I learned so much about Chernobyl and the nightmare that followed. I don't want to ruin the big twist of the novel, but the idea revolving around the bad guy was a very unique idea. I had never heard of this specific idea before (although I had seen the word before), and I liked the little bit of science that it was based on. I have a feeling I won't be coming across this specific kind of bad guy all that much in my reading.

Pace: 4 Stars
There were a number of twists and turns in this novel, as well as a number of destinations. As a reader, I love being kept guessing and this novel did just that perfectly. There were a number of changes in points of view throughout the novel, but it was never confusing. It actually worked out very well and flowed together seamlessly. Without the different points of view, there would've been a lot of information either left out or work in awkwardly.

Characters: 4 Stars
Once again, I loved Tara and her Tarot readings. They are so in depth, yet engrossing. And it was interesting to see her bond with a new deck of cards. I wished that the relationship between Tara and Henry could've made more progress, but it made a little. I wasn't expecting certain actions from Henry, and I'm interested to see how that pans out in future novels. I wish Cassie and the animals could've been in the book a bit more, but at least they weren't absent. The side plot of Cassie and the Pythia was definitely not what I expected, but kept me on the edge of my seat. And I can't forget about the Steves. They were two funny yet reliable guys, and I hope they haven't made their only appearance.

Cover: 4 Stars
This cover is such a departure from the last one. Although the first cover wasn't bad, I like the direction the art department went in because I feel this cover model embodied Tara a little more. She looked a little more like how I envisioned Tara, but the expression on her face also fit Tara's character a bit more. I liked the wide variety of colors on the cover. I also liked that they chose to use the same font, that way there was at least a little bit to tie it to the previous cover. And the spine is a bright teal, which actually compliments the bright purple of Dark Oracle's spine. The match quite well when sitting on a bookshelf. My favorite part of the cover is the Tarot cards. On the first cover, the cards had a generic design and could've been anything. But on this cover, specific Tarot cards were used and I felt it brought more depth to the cover. And allowed someone just browsing to know a little bit more about the book without having to read the back cover.

Overall: 4 Stars

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review from the author.

Guest Blog + Giveaway: Alayna Williams

Today I'd like to welcome back Alayna Williams, who is stopping by to promote her new Urban Fantasy release, Rogue Oracle, the second novel in her Delphic Oracle series, which releases on February 22nd. I'm about halfway through this novel, and hope to post my review next week. It's turning out even better than Dark Oracle! Her topic for this guest blog is the Delphic Oracle. I found it very interesting, and hope you do to!

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The Delphic Oracle - Then and Now
by Alayna Williams

The Delphic Oracle is probably the most famous oracle of the ancient world. The priestess of the Temple of Apollo, the Pythia, wielded a great deal of political influence over leaders who sought her advice and the priestesses who served the temple. The Temple of Apollo was sited over a crevasse in the earth emitting noxious vapors, leading to modern-day speculation that the Pythia’s visions were not sendings from Apollo, but toxic hallucinations. The Delphic Oracle operated from roughly the eight century BC until 393 AD, when all pagan oracles were ordered to be dismantled by the Emperor. After that, no one knows what became of the priestesses.

I was intrigued by the idea of an order of women exerting subtle and powerful influence over the ancient world. I wondered what would happen if that order of priestesses went underground and survived to the modern day. What would their role in world events be? In ROGUE ORACLE, the title of Pythia is handed down through generations of women, all oracles with their own unique talent for foreseeing the future. Delphi’s Daughters are a secret organization, nudging world events and gathering information through vast networks of helpers. Their behavior is sometimes sinister, sometimes pure, but always secretive. No one but the Pythia herself knows how the puzzle of world events fits together, and her priestesses are often left in the dark, guessing at her motives.

In the ROGUE ORACLE world, the current Pythia is a pyromancer. She sees the future in dancing flames. The heroine of the story, Tara Sheridan, is a cartomancer who uses Tarot cards to create criminal profiles. Other characters have abilities with scrying, astronomy, and geomancy. Delphi’s Daughters come from all walks of life: they are physicists, soccer moms, artists, farmers, and dancers. They are women just like women you know and walk past on the street. But they are women with a secret.

In thinking about how such an order might survive into the modern world, I imagined the limitations inherent in being an oracle in a secret organization. It would require secrecy, sacrificing a large part of one’s life, and committing to a larger ideal. I decided that, as time passed, fewer and fewer women would be interested in unquestioningly serving Delphi’s Daughters. In ROGUE ORACLE, the order is dying out. Tara Sheridan has left the order after her mother died, refusing to return. After surviving an attacked by a serial killer that left her scarred for life, she is unable to bear children. And there are no young women in Delphi’s Daughters any longer.

In the first book in the series, DARK ORACLE, Delphi's Daughters gained guardianship of a young woman who is the orphaned daughter of a physicist. Under the watchful and sometimes brutal eye of the Pythia, she is growing into her own power, astrology. The ancient science runs counter to her scientific nature, but she finds that the stars are speaking to her...and they are telling her of a disaster of far-reaching proportions on the horizon. In ROGUE ORACLE, Cassie discovers that the stars are moving to positions almost identical to their configuration when the Chernobyl disaster struck the Ukraine. She's convinced that a new devastation is at hand.

Tara sees it, too, in her Tarot cards. Especially in the shadow of the Tower - a hulking structure destroyed by lightning. She must race against time to try and stop a Chernobyl survivor from selling nuclear secrets on the black market. And to do so, she must abandon Cassie to the Pythia's harsh care.

The Pythia must try to continue the line, whatever the cost. She is challenged to convince the rebellious Tara to return, and resolved that she must put Cassie through horrifying tests of will to empower her to move into the future. A new order for a new age. And blood will be spilled in the process.

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Thanks for stopping by Alayna!

THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE, THE MORE THERE MAY BE TO FEAR.

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around—and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn’t need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.

Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards—and Tara’s increasingly ominous dreams—suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationship with the mysterious order known as Delphi’s Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen...

I also have two signed copies of Rogue Oracle to give away, courtesy of Alayna. All you have to do to be entered is answer the question: If you were an oracle, what medium would you use to help you predict future events? The giveaway is international, and will last until midnight Saturday 02/26. I'll announce the winner on either Sunday or Monday.

Author Interview: Alayna Williams

Today I'd like to welcome Alayna Williams, who is stopping by to talk about her new Urban Fantasy release, Dark Oracle, which released on May 25th and is the first novel in her Delphic Oracle series. You can see my review here.

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Sara: How would you describe your novel, Dark Oracle, in three sentences or less, for readers who haven’t heard of it before?
Alayna: In Dark Oracle, Tara Sheridan swore off criminal profiling after narrowly escaping a serial killer who left her scarred for life. By combining Tarot card divination with her own intuition, she must help an intense federal agent find a missing scientist who has unlocked the destructive secrets of dark energy. The agent, Harry Li, draws her out of her self-imposed exile and back into the world.

Sara: How would you describe each of your main characters in one sentence?
Alayna: Tara was inspired by the Tarot card, Queen of Swords – she’s analytical, resolute, and knows about loss. Harry was patterned after the Knight of Pentacles – he’s practical, pragmatic, and action-oriented.

Sara: What sets your novel apart from the rest of the Urban Fantasy genre?
Alayna: Dark Oracle is a mashup of science and magic in equal parts. I balance the magic of Tara’s powers as an oracle with a plot that deals with dark energy and exploding particle accelerators. Dark Oracle should appeal to fans of the X-Files and Fringe.

Sara: Can we look forward to more books in Tara Sheridan’s world?
Alayna: I'm working on the sequel to Dark Oracle. It's called Rogue Oracle, and will be out in March 2011. In Rogue, Tara Sheridan and Harry Li are chasing a Chernobyl survivor who's selling nuclear secrets on the international black market. Tara is coming to terms with her destiny as an oracle and rebelling against an ancient society of oracles of which her mother was a part.

Sara: Your knowledge of the Tarot really comes through while reading Dark Oracle. Do you actively practice or was it purely research?
Alayna: I’ve read Tarot cards since I was a teenager. The deck I learned on was Hanson-Roberts, a very gentle deck. I’ve never been a professional card reader. I mostly just use the cards to do readings for myself and friends... and as story prompts.

Sara: What research did you have to do in order to write about Dr. Magnusson’s research on dark energy and dark matter?
Alayna: That was all new to me. I spent a lot of time at my local metro library, reading introductory physics textbooks and looking up articles about existing particle accelerators. Interestingly enough, there was a scare about particle accelerators generating tiny black holes in our own world. That nugget let me build upon the idea that dark energy might be brought into our world for a short period of time.

Sara: Is there a reason for writing this series under a pen name besides the fact that its release was so close to Embers and the upcoming Sparks?
Alayna: That’s it exactly. My publisher didn’t want things to be confusing for readers, so Alayna Williams was hatched as a pseudonym for the Oracle books. Embers and Sparks were written as Laura Bickle.

Sara: Maggie the dog plays a big role in Dark Oracle for a pet, and Sparky really steals the spotlight at a couple points in Embers. Are animal companions important to you within your novels? In real life?
Alayna: Animals are very important to me –- I’m owned by four ex-feral cats, at the moment! Since animals are so intertwined within my own life, it felt normal for my characters to have pets and other animal companions in theirs.

Sparky was especially important for Anya in Embers. I wanted her to have some unconditional love in her life. When Sparky the fire salamander isn’t busy chewing her cell phone or setting fire to the microwave, he can be found cuddling up at the foot of her bed with his Glo-Worm toy.

Sara: Who are your greatest influences, both in and out of the Urban Fantasy genre?
Alayna: My greatest influence is my editor, Paula Guran at Juno Books. She gave me the chance and has taught me so much about the moving parts of how a story works.

Sara: What are you currently reading?
Alayna: I’ve got a lot of books on my nightstand at the moment... Ann Aguirre’s BLUE DIABLO, Linda Robertson’s HALLOWED CIRCLE, Jeri Smith-Ready’s SHADE, and Jessa Slade’s FORGED OF SHADOWS.

Thank you so much for the interview!

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Feel free to leave comments and questions for Alayna! I'll be stopping by periodically after I get back from Ikea (it's time for another new bookcase).

And here's the more information about Dark Oracle for anyone interested:

TARA SHERIDAN HAS A GIFT... AND IT ALMOST KILLED HER.

As a criminal profiler, Tara used science and her intuitive skill at Tarot card divination to track down the dangerous and depraved, including the serial killer who left her scarred from head to toe. Since that savage attack, Tara has been a recluse. But now an ancient secret society known as Delphi’s Daughters has asked for her help in locating missing scientist Lowell Magnusson. And Tara, armed with her Tarot deck, her .38, and a stack of misgivings, agrees to try.

Tara immediately senses there is far more at stake than one man’s life. At his government lab in the New Mexico desert, Magnusson had developed groundbreaking technology with terrifying potential. Working alongside the brusque but charismatic agent Harry Li, Tara discovers that Magnusson’s daughter, Cassie, has knowledge that makes her a target too. The more Tara sees into the future, the more there is to fear. She knows she has to protect Cassie. But there may be no way to protect herself -- from the enemies circling around her, or from the long-buried powers stirring to life within...

Review: Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams

Title: Dark Oracle
Author: Alayna Willians
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: 05/25/10
Summary:

TARA SHERIDAN HAS A GIFT... AND IT ALMOST KILLED HER.

As a criminal profiler, Tara used science and her intuitive skill at Tarot card divination to track down the dangerous and depraved, including the serial killer who left her scarred from head to toe. Since that savage attack, Tara has been a recluse. But now an ancient secret society known as Delphi’s Daughters has asked for her help in locating missing scientist Lowell Magnusson. And Tara, armed with her Tarot deck, her .38, and a stack of misgivings, agrees to try.

Tara immediately senses there is far more at stake than one man’s life. At his government lab in the New Mexico desert, Magnusson had developed groundbreaking technology with terrifying potential. Working alongside the brusque but charismatic agent Harry Li, Tara discovers that Magnusson’s daughter, Cassie, has knowledge that makes her a target too. The more Tara sees into the future, the more there is to fear. She knows she has to protect Cassie. But there may be no way to protect herself -- from the enemies circling around her, or from the long-buried powers stirring to life within...

Plot: 4.5 Stars
There were a few moments in which this novel felt more like a mystery or science fiction novel, than urban fantasy. But the mystery feel fell away as more characters were introduced and used their talents as oracles, and the science fiction feel fell away as the physics aspect of Magnusson's work was described in more detail. I truly enjoyed the detail in this novel. From the dark matter to the different divination techniques, you could really tell that the author researched very well. The way the author blended the fantasy element of Delphi's Daughters and divination and the realistic element of the criminal investigation was superb.

Pace: 4 Stars
The story pack a lot into a few days span. Tara and Harry travelled over multiple state lines and split up at one point, almost getting caught a couple times. There were a number of enemies coming from different directions. But with all the running and hiding, the novel never felt rushed. It was paced perfectly, and never slowed down. I thought the descriptions of each tarot card would slow the pace down, but it actually helped the plot tremendously because of the author's thorough knowledge.

Characters: 5 Stars
Tara is a fantastic urban fantasy heroine. She is flawed and has her fears, but as the novel progresses, the reader really gets to see her grow and slowly strip away her fears. They're still there, but she realizes that she can continue to live her life with them instead of holing up in the woods. I really enjoyed that she was self-conscious of her scars, but not to the point that it completely got in the way of more intimate situations. Harry was a nice foil to Tara. He tried to understand both her past and her divination, and I think he was really good for her. Cassie, Magnusson's daughter, was very strong considering the situation she found herself in. Maggie, Cassie's dog, offered a chuckle here and there within the action.

Cover: 4.5 Stars
The purple of this cover was bright and inviting without being overwhelming. It's a color you don't see as much of in urban fantasy, and I think it really drawns your attention from the shelf. I don't know if the red title matches, but it stands out on the cover. There were aspects of the cover model that matched my mental image of Tara, and aspects that did not match, but overall the model was a good choice. I enjoyed that the cards on the cover had actual images on them. I am not completely sure the images on the card are from the tarot, but at least they are not blank.

Overall: 4.5 Stars

Disclosure: I bought this book for my own enjoyment.