L.R.W. Lee is one of those authors that I've been following for quite sometime, well since 2013 when she introduced me to her Andy Smithson series. I've been reading and participating in blog tours since then. She independently publishes through CreateSpace and I've enjoyed watching the way she takes her fantasy series and is able to weave in life lessons, while keeping it non preachy with just the right amount of humor. Her newest book is a Prequel Novella, Power of the Heir's Passion and includes the first two chapters of Book 1 Blast of the Dragon's Fury. You can read my thoughts about the other books here: Book 1: Andy Smithson Blast of the Dragons Fury, Book 2: Venom of the Serpent's Cunning and Book 3: Disgrace of the Unicorn's HornGoodreads description: "Before the adventure, before perilous quests…the tale of three royal ghosts.
In a land far away, there lived a prince who loved power. Carried away by his lust, he surrendered to its devices and usurped the throne from his older sister in an act of treachery.
Imogenia unexpectedly finds herself in the Afterlife, having to navigate between Peace Paradise, the Unclaimed Baggage department, the Unfinished Business office, and other governmental agencies.
Against a backdrop of soul music, she encounters all manner of new experiences from black, frothing, arsenic-spiced drinks to guest services personnel and plays host to her parents when they join her. While the spirits are friendly and the experiences memorable, Imogenia has never forgotten the cause of her early arrival in the afterlife, and plots revenge. Her parents initially support a beta test she proposes to the Committee on Afterlife Affairs to punish her brother, but grow weary of the conflict over five-hundred-years and petition to withdraw their support. What will Imogenia do? How will she realize the justice denied her? How will her actions impact others? "
Power of the Heir's Passion is a re-imaging/rewriting if you will of the Prologue from Book 1 in the series, with some new additions or maybe it's tweaks and more humor. I don't have the two in front of me to compare, but I'm just going to mostly relate the things I noticed this time around. First, I really got a better understanding of why Imogenia wanted to get even with her brother, not just because he stabbed her in the back, but how she hoped to make him have consequences for his actions. Somehow before I also totally missed the idea of the Beta test (was that in the prologue?), but I find it hilarious to think about the curse being in beta testing. I think the various committee members were also added, with names like Patty Amnul on the Social committee and Tor Nado with Media Affairs. They seemed to me more prominent in the novella then I remembered from the prologue. Andy's role in breaking the quest also seemed more clear to me in the novella. Okay, so here we have Imogenia in the afterlife terminal needing to make a decision about where she wants to head, Peace Paradise or to the Unfinished Business department. So what's the first thing that comes to my mind while reading this? Michael Keaton sitting in the waiting room in Beetlejuice, who remembers that movie? That's the kind of thing that I mean when I'm talking about why I like these stories. Lee takes the time to go back and add some more backstory to her series, tweaking and adding to peak your interest to learn more. Great book for someone new to the series, with enough here for those that have read it before to enjoy.
You can find more information about the book Here: Goodreads
Thanks again to L.R.W. Lee for the ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank You Brenda!
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