Welcome to the third stop on the Somolon’s Ring blog tour !! My review will follow the publisher’s blurb:
In the second book of the Daughters of Light series, the demon-hunted Seers are in a race against time to return a stolen ring.
Twin sisters Jade and Jasmine are finally together after a five-year separation, but there’s no time to enjoy the reunion. As Seers, the sisters are being hunted by demons spilling through the rift, and the city is on high alert against terrorist threats. The Protectors at Beaconsfield have gathered as many Seers as possible, as the countries that haven’t been destroyed by climate change are starting to close their borders. On top of it all, Jasmine discovers that someone has stolen a ring with the power to control the demons, and the Final Battle between the Daughters of Light and the forces of darkness is approaching more quickly than anyone predicted.
Sometimes when you start a series, you must absolutely start from the beginning to comprehend what is going on, however with Solomon’s ring, I had no problem getting into the story on book 2. Mary Jennifer Payne gave me just enough information to piece together the back story.
Reading this through my 40 something eyes is perhaps a little different than if I would have read this 20 years ago. In any case, my grown up self was drawn to a few key points within Solomon’s Ring.
First, we really can’t talk about this book without mentioning the environment and global warming that are ever present throughout the novel. Payne does an excellent job in conveying the grim picture of a world that is warming up – putting a strain on the water supply, energy and food. It’s felt globally and people are seeking refuge in more hospitable places. Climate refuges are a reality.
The other sweet point for me was the dis-information and propaganda angle that fragranced the story. With what is happening right now in the political arena…I thought this could not be timelier. I think it’s wonderful to put that out there and say… look, watch out for this – don’t believe everything you hear or read, question the motives of people in power.
Now, those two points are cleverly wrapped up in a dystopian/urban fantasy complete with demons from an In-Between wold. The urban fantasy side to this book is what my younger self enjoyed reading very much. Jade and Jasmine were enjoyable enough to read, however I would have appreciated more depth to their characters. In all fairness, this is perhaps due to the fact that I started on book two of the series.
Nevertheless, Solomon’s Ring is a great way to introduce bigger world issues to a young reader who is questioning events around them. It’s like hiding spinach in spaghetti sauce. I really applaud Mary Jennifer Payne for choosing a subject like climate change and making it into such an enjoyable read. It will be interesting to see where all the various pieces fall into place with the final book in the Daughters of Light series.
If you’d like to know more about Mary Jennifer Payne you can connect with her on twitter via @maryjpayne or visit her website.
Please be sure to check out the other stops on this blog tour ! Here are the twitter handles so you’ll be able to find them easily !
Jan 14 – Lost in a Great Book – @lostingreatbook
Jan 15 – Literary Treats – @JaclynMQH
Jan 16 – Lost in the Rain – @LostintherainQc (That’s me !)
Jan 17 – Book Time – @LisaMDayC
Jan 18 – ReadingMaria – @MariaZuppardi
Jan 19 – Fit and Beautiful Heart Reads – @tiu_nadja
Jan 20 – Between the Spine – @betweenthespine
Solomon’s Ring by Mary Jennifer Payne
Published by Dundun Press
352 pages
ISBN 978-1-45973-783-9
Available now for purchase
An advance reading copy of Solomon’s Ring was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.
Thank you so much for this review! I am disconcerted by the events taking place in our world as well, and often find it utterly frightening that so much of what I wrote is coming to fruition. However, I remain hopeful with a great deal of belief in our future leaders.