Angus Wells author of "The GodWars" trilogy

Every now and again I will hunt through my library looking for something to read. I will look through the books searching with my mood, what am I into reading?  I decided on an older series that I haven't read for many years and I forgot what the ending was, Angus Wells, Dark Magic, book one.

Angus Wells wrote two trilogies, the Godwars and The Book of Kingdoms.  The GodWars series,  I think is well written but it follows in the vain of the heroes journey where a mismatch group goes through insurmountable odds to obtain their goal in the end.

The main  character is Calandryll Den Karynth,  the second son of the Domm of Secca who we read early on is a disappointment to his father.  Calandryll's older brother, Tobias is the heir apparent so the Domm decides that his younger son will become a priest as not to be a threat to his elder son's succession.  At this point in the book,  Calandryll is more of a scholar who's head is always in the books rather than a warrior like his elder sibling.

There's a treaty being worked out between Secca and a neighboring city state Aldarin through the ambassador of the latter, Lord Varent den Tarl.  This man will become the instigator to the quest who is also a fair wizard and more.  He enlist Calandryll's help to find a book that has the potential of awaken the war god, Tharn. He tells Calandryll that he wants to destroy the book but I had a hunch there was more to Varent's story. Even though I have read this book in it's entirety, I couldn't remember much of the storyline.

In the meantime Calandryll is shocked to find out that the woman he secretly loves is being bethrothed to his brother and that he will be going to the temple to become a priest.  Before Callandryll knows all this, he seeks out a seer who can foretell his future. She sees him on a life changing path and travel as on a quest with two others.

Through rage and fustration after hearing his fate from his father, Calandryll goes out and ends up in a tavern in the seedy part of town. He meets one of the two in a tavern where he almost gets beat up for not having any money for the wine he drank.  Calandryll is saved by Bracht of Kern, a freesword who later is hired by Varent to help Calandryll's journey to the far reaches in search of the Arcanum.  Later in the book, the third member of the party, Katya of Vanu is added to the quest.

A long time ago the original gods of this world had to entomb their two sons who had been at war with each other after seeing how much devastation this was causing the world. The Arcanum is an ancient book that has spells that can release them from their slumber.

The trilogy follows the three who now have become friends through the ends of their knowledge of the world and back with the finding of the book. Throughout the series it is said that they are pre-destined by the gods. And they do get help from the younger gods who earn their existence to the demise of the slumbering ones.  In the end the questers have to figure how to keep Tharn asleep forever.

Female Science fiction and Fantasy Authors

I was cataloguing my bookcase and I was astonished on how many women authors were on my shelves. I mostly read books from my favorite authors or try new books with similar subject matter or recommended ones. So in the beginning of my addiction, I read mostly male authors such as Asimov, Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks, and so on. But what got me was how men skirted the sex between their characters relationships or at least the ones I read, and I got bored so decided to try someone new.  The first female author I read was Anne McCaffrey, Dragon Flight and I was hooked but wasn't exclusively I still read many male authors at this time. Then I randomly picked up a book to read on a flight to Hawaii, Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton.

I had never read such a violent, sexual, and adult fantasy before nor a vampire book so this blew me away.  Hamilton writes in first person which at the time wasn't a style I read much but it works very well in her stories. I have read most of her books and that started me on my journey of reading female authors. They deal more into the sexual aspect of relationship without getting too much into the romance genre.

There are so many female sci-fi/fantasy authors, it's amazing.  The genre has grown so much from when I started reading them.

Here are some of my favorite authors:

Laurell K. Hamilton- writes about Anita Blake, a Necromancer/Vampire Executioner who through her own magic of raising the dead becomes involved with a vampire, Jean-Claude, the master of the city. not all here books are equal but she is consistent in her writing but there isn't random violence or sex in her Anita Blake series or Merry Gentry series.  Merry Gentry is a private detective whose aunt is the queen of the dark faeries.

Lilith Saintcrow- has two series that I have enjoyed reading, the Dante Valentine and the Jill Kismet books. Both are about bad-ass, headstrong, and independent women.

Ann Aguirre- the Sirantha Jax series about a pilot who is a carrier of the J-gene and can navigate through grimspace.

Tara Harper- has two series about two women who have a bond with an animal and can communicate with them. Both books are futuristic and set in distant planets.

Lisanne Norman-The Sholan series about a human girl who is telepathic and her encounters with an alien race that also is telepathic. The story starts out in a planet settled by humans that later is invaded by an alien race and uses the planet for rest and relaxation for their soldiers.

Kristine Smith-Jani Kilian series where the main character is an officer who because of an accident turns into a human/Idomeni hybrid. There is much government intrigue in this series.

Charlaine Harris- Sookie Stackhouse series are fun books to read. Sookie is a telepath who thinks of herself is a freak until she meets her first vampire. I was at first disappointed when it was made into a HBO series since it didn’t follow the books but now I love it and think of it as a separate entity.

Rob Thurman- Not a man but Robyn. She’s the author of the Cal Leandros series, he’s half Auphe, old world creatures that are bloodthirsty and human. He lives with his half-brother, Niko who is a martial arts expert. They become detectives for the supernatural.

Anne McCaffrey-Love her Pern series about human space settlers on the planet who genetically engineer the local animal into flying dragons to counter the threat of an alien organism, Threads.

It's quite apparent that women sci-fi/fantasy authors are just as competent as men in writing in the genre.