Review: Pavarti K. Tyler has a style that will transport - and is well worth the read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 15, 2012
Let me start with a confession. When the review opportunity for this series appeared, I knew I wanted to read it.  When I find an author that I like (and my review of The Shadow on the Wall will attest) I tend to gather all of their work, like a collector of Hummel Figurines.  I know they are there - and I will have them to look at later.  So, as a reviewer I was provided with eBook copies in return for an honest review. And I am not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own responsibility.  Back to the confession - I had forgotten to search for Pavarti K. Tyler's other books, so yesterday I did just that.  And saw, that I had purchased them: long before reading The Shadow on the Wall for review.So - what initially drew me to the books? And I say books, as this story proceeds in a serialized form (the new buzz word for the Amazon Kindle reader) and each is self-contained in a volume of about 25K words.  It really wasn't the serialization - it was the covers.  Take a look at the cover art for these books - it is spectacular and intriguing. And, if you are an impulsive book buyer like me; near on irresistible.  And then you open the book and start on the story.A world with two moons, and a 16 year old heroine who is half human and half underwater creature, with the ability to utilize osmosis to obtain oxygen from the water.  A girl with questions about who she is, where she is, and how she will find her place in the world, Serafay  has only ever experienced contact with one person, her mother, since her birth.  And yet, she is able to read and speak both the language of her mother's people, and of the human-like people she was taught to fear and despise that are her other half. As teens are wont to do, Sera wanders away from the inlet where she and her mother live, and she encounters a dark, tall and dreadlocked man-boy, who first runs from her, then attempts to communicate with her in monosyllabic efforts punctuated with "Huh".Torkek is the man-child that unlike Sera, has no idea where he is from. Only that he is capable of communing with a mountain hound named Elgon, and can create and handle balls of fire.  He has been alone and survived for 5 or 6 years, and is rather `wild' in his reactions to new people and sights.  But, Tor accepts Sera, and her patience and willingness to just listen allow him to open up and put words to emotions and items. Part action, part romance and utterly engaging, to share more would open up large spoilers.This is a series, and as such you really do need to read them in order.  That is no hardship, believe me. The writing is tight and beautifully descriptive, the characters are very relatable and easy to fix in your imagination for a visual. There is a budding romance between Tor and Sera; the instantaneous trust they have for each other is partly fated and partly due to the fact that it very much is the "us versus" them situation.  Each volume comprises approximately 48 hours in the storyline, and each is packed with discoveries for both, discoveries about themselves, their interactions and how they relate to the world in a larger form.  The overriding feeling and impression that arrives after reading these stories is that prejudice without fact and encountering, the ones you discriminate against is based in fear. Fear of the different or strange to your own experience. Each "species group" or country's people encountered in this series all have their own fears, prejudices and misunderstandings about the others: it is the forms in which this prejudice is expressed that create the conflicts and tension in the story.Again, the author has created a story series that is so much more than just what is contained in the narrative. Books should not only serve to enchant and excite, encouraging you to look forward to more installments with the same characters but they should leave an impression.  This series is a winner on all fronts, and I can't wait for the next installment.  Most certainly a series that will stay on my bookshelf and recommended to everyone who wants a read that is both entertaining and available to all readers.