Dark Tidings Gothic Jewelry for Women - Elegant & Mysterious

If you like your fantasy to come with a healthy dose of humor, look no further than Ken Magee’s Dark Tidings. Honestly, he has a ready wit, a biting sarcastic voice that will leave you laughing out loud. In some cases it comes out in a quick description, such as by way of example: “. . . the young Tung who desperately lacked someone respectable and ethical to set his moral compass, his father being the only man in his life and he wasn’t even a good example for the devil to follow. Actually, maybe the devil could have learned a bit from him.” Other times it is displayed in the odd and catchy word pictures, such as in “an eternal split second,” or “his dreamlike memory panicked and fled into the ether.” The dialogue is intriguing: “Life’s a beach and the tide’s coming in fast.” And, finally, Magee offers some humorous, yet good, advice: “When you hear hooves coming up behind you, you should think horse, not zebra.” I especially enjoyed Magee’s creative and unique spell forms—the Spell Spell, the Spell of Trouble, the I See No Spell, and so forth. Very clever indeed!I find I am always ready to overlook the unlikely in a fantasy, as the whole idea of such a tale is to pose the impossible, and so I did from time to time with Dark Tidings, but that only added to my enjoyment of this read. Each time I picked it up again, I did so eagerly, waiting for the next bit of engaging banter and to hear more about Magee’s quirky characters. I very much look forward to the next one!Title: Dark TidingsAuthor: Ken MageeCopyright: 2011Publisher: Ragged Cover PublishingISBN: 978-1-908090-2-25In paperback and e-book "Dark Tidings" is a unique look at the haves and the have-nots throughout time. This book is also the first of two, in a trilogy, that the author entitles "Ancient Magic Meets the Internet." Ken's sense of humor puts his medieval characters in some bizarre and hilarious situations. Their bumbling is slapstick at times. However, this story brings light to the ongoing struggle of the average Joe to get a fair shake from the super wealthy that run the world. The author gives us a look at the dark and powerful few behind a millennium of evil. Enter the travel through time where our medieval duo, Tung and Maddrick, are catapulted into the twenty-first century. There they meet our uber-hacker, Michael. The result of this strange friendship and collaboration will leave readers in stitches. This book is a fun read for young adults, their parents, and grandparents. It is good clean fun. I highly recommend this book and give it five stars. Well done, Ken Magee. This review was done from the kindle version. Reviewed by Jackie Anton...author of the Award Winning "Backyard Horse Tales" series.Author Ken MaGee has combined mile-a-minute adventure with wild humor to create a tale not soon to be forgotten.The irresistibly humorous antics of protagonists, Tung and Madrick, is like watching a slow motion train wreck as our heroes try to control the uncontrollable legendary spell (the spell spell) to escape their jail cell and to propel themselves one thousand years into the future. Evil, however, lurks in the future where they connect with a computer hacker set on destroying a massive bank.The author’s use of time travel added an intriguing depth to the story. His observations about how the rich and powerful members of society covertly tilt the playing field in their favor, seems all too close to the truth.MaGee’s keen eye for the ridiculous and his captivating prose, make “Dark Tidings” an insightful and thoroughly entertaining work. Highly recommended.Ken Magee's tongue in cheek humor and fast pace are an absolute winner.From the first page you can tell you have found something different and fun. Our two unlikely medieval heroes, Tung and Madrick are an absolute delight as they battle with the unpredictability of the spell spell. Their goofy ineptness leads them into all sorts of scrapes where they are forced to make the best out of the ridiculous magic that the spell spell scroll throws their way.Magee's clever wit, his ability to play with language and his command over weaving stories within stories will keep you entertained from start to finish. Definitely a book you will want to read more of, which is a good as there are 2 others in the series.From the start Tung and Madrick did the best with what they had. Of course you have to have a little fun along the way. Throw Michael into the mix and I didn't know what to expect.As I read on I enjoyed each new wrinkle. Who knew magic from the past and modern technology would combine and work so well (or not so well in some cases) in a story? This reader certainly didn't.Ken Magee wove together a fantastic piece here and managed to keep me hooked until the end.Great story line, unexpected twists and turns. Would have given five stars if the book had been better proofread. Silly mistakes like "discrete" instead of "discreet" and "populous" instead of "populace" - yes, I know it was sometimes intended - do detract from the enjoyment. But a great read nonetheless.Took a little bit to get into it - but couldn't put it down once I got going. Gladly bought the second book in the series and am looking forward to reading it.Dark Tidings: Ancient Magic Meets the Internet Book 1Dark Tidings: Ancient Magic Meets the Internet, Book 1 starts with a quote by David Rockefeller. It a hilarious fairy tale for adults about an ancient magical spell, the all powerful spell, the “Spell Spell” (sort of like homo Sapiens Sapiens).The story consists of 63 short chapters and is told from the perspective of a medieval teenage thief by the name of Tung, and Michael, a modern day 21 year old IT techie/hacker. ... Katarina NolteThis fantasy meets urban fantasy novella is great fun, with inspired action and nicely populated by characters from past and future. Suitable for young adult to adult readers.A stolen magic scroll and a wizard who is magically unable to use it, connect with an illiterate petty thief in a dungeon. Having escaped, they are pursued by magic users after the scroll and its potential for power. The pair in desperation travel to the future; our future.Now we know why the alternate chapters have been following an English computer hacker who has worked his way into a bank's offices as a security agent. The two stories collide and we gain the greatest enjoyment from seeing the effects of random spells let loose in London. That global bank collapse - you just knew there was something sinister behind it, didn't you? Something or somebody.Telling you any more would spoil the good-hearted story so I'll just say my favourite scene, among many great, memorable scenes from DARK TIDINGS, is the black stallion in the dungeon chomping on the fruit from the banquet table. I suggest you download this one and have a read. You could do with a laugh.Dark Tidings by Ken MageeThis Urban Fantasy blends the Olde Worlde with the modern cyber age with a dash of dark humour. Tung and Madrick are your stereotypical once-powerful mage and village idiot, lumbered together by ill luck. They have only one thing in common. They are both awaiting death, and it will arrive with the dawn. In desperation, they decide to unite despite their differences, and the outcome is an amusing tale. Added to this, we have Michael, a young man driven by the need for revenge against a faceless heartless regime. Here is a young man determined to stick it to do the right thing, but despite all of his careful planning, will he be successful? Although filled with dry wit and crazy humour, this book also takes a hard look at the modern world, and the ancient one for that matter. It delves deeply into the darker aspects of the human nature and doesn’t pull its punches.An enjoyable read on many levels and I look forward to reading what happens in Book Two: The Black Conspiracy.The first two (small) chapters give you an introduction into the main characters of the story.Chapter three ( which doesn't take you long to get there) is where it really starts to take off, & you become hooked!At first the book switches from serious chapters to hilarious ones, depending on which characters are being read, & it works really well, & it all meets together at mid point.I loved the dry humour & witty comments that you just can't help but chuckle over. I didn't realise I would be reading a book with humour as i normally give them a miss, because authors are often not funny at all, try to hard & fail miserably, but Ken Magee has mastered some great humour here!It's very well written ,well formatted & holds your attention throughout. A great storyline with lots of adventure.I enjoyed it immensely & it is clear that these adventures will continue in another book, although at the time of reviewing there is not a book two!I ummed & aarrd over a four or five star rating, ideally I like to give 4.5, but I think it's nearer a 5 than a 4.Well worth reading!Dark Tidings is an entertaining blend of genres, guaranteed to appeal to readers who enjoy 'mash-up' fiction.For the first half, it flips between what almost feel like two different books: the sword-and-sorcery medieval fantasy that wizard Madrick and thief Tung are having misadventures in, and the modern cyber-thriller where super-hacker Michael plans to bring down the most powerful secret organisation in history.It's when the two worlds combine that the story really kicks off. There's plenty of humour in the surreal scenes of spell-casting in the 21st Century, and also some chillingly believable observations on just how the rich and powerful manipulate everything from behind the scenes.The book covers a lot of ground, but concludes with more than one 'open door' through which events could continue. Ken Magee has created a warm, amusing but also unsettling world, and I'm keen to find out what happens next in Dark Tidings is an extremely amusing and thought provoking book that kept me entertained until the very last page. The characters are endearing and as the plot unfolded I couldn’t help myself, I had to keep on turning the pages in order to continue the journey. Dark Tidings is a highly recommended read that should keep you engrossed throughout.