The Madion War Trilogy #2

Publisher: Sun's Golden Ray Publishing

Publication Date: July 12th, 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: eARC from Author

Pages: 296

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Summary (from Goodreads):

They survived The Island, but can they cross The Chasm?

Four months after Prince Galian was discovered alive on a remote island, he's adjusting slowly to life at the hospital under the Kylaen media's glare. His promises to Theo remain unfulfilled as fear of his father keeps him from taking concrete action. And the more he learns about the machinations in Kylae, the less sure he is that it's possible to make a difference.
 
Across the great Madion Sea, Major Theo Kallistrate struggles to navigate the tricky political waters of Rave's presidential staff. To make positive change for her people, she must remain relevant and interesting to the Raven media and to the president. When he asks her to deliver a speech on her supposed two-month imprisonment at Mael, she's not sure she can stomach the lies.
 
The Chasm is S. Usher Evans' breathtaking, fast-paced follow-up to The Island, which readers say is "not to be missed."

Four months after being rescued from the Island they were stranded on, Theo and Galian find themselves dealing with the politics of their respective countries. Both of them wanting to do more for each other and for their countries than they think they are able to do.

You get to see a different side to Theo in this book. In The Island, Theo is really hard, kind of angry, and blindly patriotic to Rave. In The Chasm, you get to see a more vulnerable side to her. She's seeing the uglier sides of Rave and realizing that things aren't necessarily what she thought they were when she was a conscripted pilot. She wants to be doing something to help the Raven people and to end the war, but as Rave's new media darling, she pretty much just stands behind President Bayard during his speeches, being the face of the horrors of Mael.

Galian is in the same boat as Theo. In the four months since he and Theo parted ways, he hasn't made any headway on any of the promises he made to her. He isn't any closer to shutting down Mael and he isn't certain what he can do about it. After getting a burst of inspiration, you get to see his bravery in regards to that. Besides seeing his bravery shine through, he is the same sweet, kind, and caring princeling as he was in the first book.

The beginning of this book is really slow with both of them dealing with politics and life. But then Theo goes to a summit with the nations of Herin and Jervan and Galian finds a way to smuggle himself there against the king's orders that no Kylaen will attend the summit as long as Rave is invited. Things really pick up from there, becoming a lot more action packed and what not. And I didn't want to put it down after that!

Obviously with Theo and Galian being separated in the beginning of this book, the romance takes a little bit to pick up. But when it does... Hoo boy. It does not disappoint. I love their relationship so much. I love how trusting they are. How Theo can see all the stuff in the papers and on the news about him maybe hanging out with girls and just be so understanding and still trust that he loves her. Like, I don't know if I could be like that! They work so good together and I want moar.

Like The Island, this book is told in both Galian's and Theo's points of view. I still found it easy to distinguish who was talking when, which I greatly appreciated.

I liked that we got to see more of the Madion nations. You get to see a lot more of Rave and some of Jervan and learn a bit about Herin. Jervan sounds like it would probably be the nicest place to be in this book.

Generally, when I'm reading a sequel book, I find myself really disliking the newly introduced characters or characters that become more important than in the previous book. Just because I find myself not caring about them and just wanting to know things about my favorite original characters. But that was not the case in this book! I loved learning about the secondary characters in this book. Rhys, the Queen, Kader, Martin. I loved them all and knowing what they were up to and what they cared bout.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit! It gave me goosebumps and made me a bit teary at a couple points! It's just as good as The Island despite the slower start. I am READY for The Union! I'm excited to see how the events in this end of this book will affect the war and I'm also needing Theo and Galian to have a very happy happily ever after.

Cover Reveal: The Chasm by S. Usher Evans

They survived The Island, but can they cross The Chasm?

Four months after Prince Galian was discovered alive on a remote island, he's adjusting slowly to life at the hospital under the Kylaen media's glare. His promises to Theo remain unfulfilled as fear of his father keeps him from taking concrete action. And the more he learns about the machinations in Kylae, the less sure he is that it's possible to make a difference. Across the great Madion Sea, Major Theo Kallistrate struggles to navigate the tricky political waters of Rave's presidential staff. To make positive change for her people, she must remain relevant and interesting to the Raven media and to the president. When he asks her to deliver a speech on her supposed two-month imprisonment at Mael, she's not sure she can stomach the lies. The Chasm is S. Usher Evans' breathtaking, fast-paced follow-up to The Island, which readers say is "not to be missed." Buy the first book in the Madion War Trilogy today for Kindle, paperback, and hardcover, and see below for a special preorder promotion for The Chasm, coming July 12th. 

 Buy The Island for Kindle (free for KU Subscribers), Paperback, and Hardcover.

• SGR-Pub Paperback / Hardcover
• Amazon Paperback / Hardcover / Kindle
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Special SGR-Pub Preorder Promotion

 

 Preorder The Chasm paperback or hardcover through Sun's Golden Ray Publishing and get a signed Madion Trilogy bookmark, a signed map postcard of the Madion world, and a Very Special Surprise for The Union, the final book in the trilogy. Preorder the paperback / hardcover Preordering an eBook? Submit your receipt to SGR-Pub and get a signed bookmark!

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Sneak Peek

"Fellow Ravens, my countrymen, my 'neechais and 'nichais. The fifty years since we reclaimed our independence from the Kylaens has been a struggle to keep our great nation alive. Great sacrifices have been asked of every Raven man, woman, and child, and we, as a nation, continue to rise to the occasion."

"Sacrifices, of course, being the conscription of twelve-year-old children," the Kylaen announcer said, cutting off the rest of the speech. "It's just sickening how Tedwin Bayard continues to be heralded as a savior when he's responsible for tens of thousands of deaths a year—"

I tuned out the rest of the conversation, too tired to get my blood pressure up at either Bayard or the announcer. As far as I was concerned, both were liars. Like most of Kylae, I couldn't give a rat's ass about the so-called president of our disputed colony and would've completely ignored the minute-long segment…

…if not for the beautiful Raven woman sitting just behind Bayard.

Her eyes were locked on some unseen point beyond the cameras. When I was marooned with her on an island in the northern Madion Sea, she'd been fiery, full of life and passion. But there wasn't even a spark in her now. Compared to Bayard, who swayed and gestured on the podium in front of her, she looked like a wax doll.

I ran a hand over my face. The Kylaen news had moved on to another story—the trade agreement with Jervan—and I was left with my guilt and a half-eaten sandwich. It was midday, and I'd finally been able to spare a few minutes out of my busy shift at the hospital to eat lunch. Seeing Theo had stolen my appetite.

I couldn't blame it all on the news report as I'd already been in a foul mood. After working the late shift two nights ago, I was now on an early shift. The back-and-forth shift-switching had been going on since since I'd returned to my residency, and I could barely tell if it was morning or afternoon anymore.

To make matters worse, my mother had been hounding me to attend some stupid function at the castle for some person who'd done some thing for Kylae—I couldn't care less. Aside from the fact that state functions were my least favorite part of being the third prince of Kylae, I hadn't set foot in the castle in over four months. I'd stormed out of a family dinner and told the king of Kylae to kiss my ass. It was a miracle I wasn't in Mael, our prison to the north.

I glanced at the television again and wished they'd replay the Bayard segment. Days like today, when I was tired and miserable, all I wanted was to talk to her. In the short months we'd spent together, I'd become addicted to her counsel. Hers was the only opinion I cared for anymore, though I was pretty sure I knew how she'd feel about my progress so far.

Theo was home and she was safe, but the larger issues—the war and the Kylaen death camp at Mael—remained nagging issues in the back of my mind. I was no closer to finding a solution to either of them than when I'd started. To make matters worse, the days were passing too quickly for me, and the more time that slipped through my fingers…

"Helmuth, break's over," came a disgruntled voice from behind me.

Dr. Hebendon was my new attending physician. Dr. Maitland had either been asked or forced to take a six-month sabbatical to a hospital in the country of Herin. In his place, they'd sent Hebendon. Like most Herinese, he was tall and pale with jet-black hair that hung in a curtain around his face. I was pretty sure that despite not being Kylaen, he'd been given a royal decree to make my life miserable whenever I set foot in the hospital. Thus my skewed schedule and, of course, the special privilege of having the best cases.

"Janna needs you in room fifteen for another impaction," he said, a twisted grin curling around his thin face.

I forced a tight smile onto my face so he wouldn't know how completely sick I was of pulling shit out of asses.

Hebendon left, and I pushed myself to stand, tossing my sad sandwich in the trash. When I'd been on the island, I would've done anything to eat so much food.

Now I would've done anything to get those half-starved, beautiful days back.

About the Author

S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she left the sleepy town behind for the fast-paced world of Washington, D.C.. There, she somehow landed jobs with BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Television before finally settling into a “real job” as an IT consultant. After a quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided consulting was for the birds and rekindled a childhood passion for writing novels. She sold everything she owned and moved back to Pensacola, where she currently resides with her two dogs, Zoe and Mr. Biscuit. Evans is the author of the Razia series, Madion War Trilogy, and Empath, published by Sun’s Golden Ray Publishing. Check her out on the below social medias:

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Sunday Street Team Review: The Island by S. Usher Evans

Madion War Series #1

Publisher: Sun's Golden Ray Publishing

Publication Date: April 26th, 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: ARC from the Author

Pages: 260

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Prince Galian is third in line to the throne, but prefers his place as a resident at the Royal Kylaen Hospital. When his father urges him to join the military to help reclaim their colony, Galian is forced to put aside his oath to Do No Harm and fight a war he does not believe in.

Across the great Madion Sea, Captain Theo Kallistrate dreams of a day when she is no longer bound by conscription to fight for her country's independence. But when the Kylaens threaten, honor and duty call her to the front lines to fight off the oppressors.

When an air skirmish goes wrong, both Theo and Galian crash on a remote island hundreds of miles from either nation. Grievously injured, Theo must rely on Galian's medical expertise, and Galian must rely on Theo's survival skills, to live another day in a harsh and unforgiving terrain.

Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive? Or will the war that brought them to the island tear them apart?

The Island is the first in a new romance trilogy by S. Usher Evans, author of the Razia series and Empath.

Review:

Kylae and Rave have been at war for 50 years, ever since Rave declared their independence because they were pretty much sick of taking crap from Kylae. It sucks to be from either side what with one side sending their children to their untimely deaths in battle and the other living in fear beneath a horrible king. The only thing these two countries probably have in common is a deep seeded hate for the other.

So when Captian Theo Kallistrate takes her chance at fame and glory by trying to shoot the Prince out of the air and they both end up stuck on an island, things are going to get interesting. Theo is the one with all the survival knowledge and Galian is the one who was lucky enough to land in one piece. So as much as neither of them like it, they have to work together to survive.

Theo is incredibly tough, conscripted by the Raven government at the age of 12, she has survived seven years and many battles as a pilot. She has been promoted to Captain and tries her hardest not to know anyone in her squadron. Her life has been rough for all of her nineteen years. She hasn't had to rely on anyone or anything.

So it's a bit of a surprise to her when she wakes up on this island, totally alive and having to be dependent on this prince who doesn't know a thing about living outside his palace. As hard as it is for her, she has to learn to play nice and to trust and rely on this person that she had been so ready to kill not that long before. 

Galian Helmuth is the third (newly second) in line for the throne of Kylae. Since his middle brother died admirably in the never ending war, his father has forced him to join the military. He is taught to satisfactorily take off and land a plane and is thrown into an air raid with not much other training. He makes a bit of an oopsie and is found to be among the raid planes. He high tails it out of there, but not before being spotted by Theo and shot out of the air.

Galian is Theo's polar opposite. He is kind while she is kind of mean. He is a lot softer while she is rather hard. He's got a sense of humor while she has never found any reason to have one in her life. He's optimistic, he's caring, he's preeeetty swoony. His first actions on this island are to free Theo from the wreckage of her plane and tend to her nasty wounds. He's just generally a good guy, which Theo finds perplexing because she has never thought of any Kylaen as anything other than a mass murdering monster.

I really enjoyed reading this book! The beginning had action with the air raid and crash landings. The middle was a bit slow, you know, not much to do on an uninhabited island. They spend a lot of time getting to know each other and their new surroundings and adjust to this new life they're stuck in and learn to love it.

The romance in this book is one I was so rooting for! It's not a very long book, but it seems to take FOREVER before things start to heat up and throughout the whole book I was like, "KIIIIIIIIIIIIISS ALREADY!" Their relationship definitely takes some work, but it's soooo nice! And there's no obnoxious insta-love, no love triangle, nothing like that! Things work against them, but they do the best they can.

I really can't find anything to complain about in this book. The book is told in both Theo and Galian's points of view and I never found it hard to tell who's point of view I was reading from. On a couple of occasions, I found myself being confused on who was actually doing the speaking if there wasn't anything after the dialogue specifying who was talking, but nothing major. I can't complain.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book! I couldn't help but love Theo even if she was rough around the edges, Galian is so kind and willing to learn, you couldn't do anything but love him if you tried! Even with the understandably slow chunk of the book, there was always enough going on to keep my attention! If you like fantasy worlds and unlikely romances you should pick this one up on the 26th!

And LOOK! My name is in it (for donating to the author's Kickstarter)! :)

About the Author:

S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she left the sleepy town behind for the fast-paced world of Washington, D.C.. There, she somehow landed jobs with BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Television before finally settling into a “real job” as an IT consultant. After a quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided consulting was for the birds and rekindled a childhood passion for writing novels. She sold everything she owned and moved back to Pensacola, where she currently resides with her two dogs, Zoe and Mr. Biscuit.

Evans is the author of the Razia series and Empath, both published by Sun’s Golden Ray Publishing

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