ARC March

Here we are for the March book review, thankyou to everyone who played in February, we had 40 linked up. 

You may remember the wall hanging that Elizabeth made last month, well she sent it to me, how lovely is that.. In the summer I will have to find a nice chunky twig to hang it from.  Thankyou so much Elizabeth and not forgetting Bleubeard. 

March for me was an easy month, because I absolutely loved this book, though in some ways that made it harder to do the journal page, because there were just so many things that I wanted to include... anyway here is my review..

The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller

This is part one of the KingMaker,KingBreaker pair of books. Though since their release there are also now prequels.. The Australian author also writes under the name K.E Mills, I have 2 of her Rogue Agent books which I thought were good, so I was expecting to like The Mage pairing.

I found The Mage books in a second hand book store, and figuring I would like them, I bought both at once.

The first chapter is slow, there is no denying it, had I read that in the shop I may not have bought it. The main character has a very broad country accent, which is written out literally. I immediately found this really annoying, however I soon got used to it and it became less noticeable.

Our hero is a young land from a small fishing community who moves to the big city looking to make his fortune. Unbeknown to him there is magic working in the background which steers him towards a meeting with the Prince. They become friends and this forms the basis for the rest of the book as we learn more about them, their families and the work they do together.

Three quarters of the book moves along quite steadily, with only hints of darker things to come. It is only at the end of the book that things take a dramatic turn and we are left, quite literally on a cliff hanger!

I really enjoyed this book, and would liken it to the Riftwar Series by R.E.Feist. I am so glad that I bought both Mage books at once, the suspense would have been too much otherwise. The characters are likeable, the undercurrent is just enough to keep you reading to find out what happens. I just hope book 2 delivers all that is promises.

If you like mild fantasy and strong characters, a bit of magic and good friendships then I can recommend this book.

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whenever I am painting or inking, I have spare paper or a journal next to me, I wipe off excess paint or ink onto the paper or into the journal. The paper often gets cut up into tags, and whatever has been wiped in the journal forms a background for a page...

So when I came to do this page, I found I already had colour in the journal..The dots and flowers were leftover paint from a different project. To start building my page for this review I used Indigo Blu Flitter glue and Mega flakes to make a stencilled wall ( the wall is a very important part of the book)

I then glazed the page with blue acrylic mixed with glazing medium. i wanted to darken the page but not totally obscure the first layer. I also added another wall made from book pages, and I made a hinged flap. The front of the flap becomes the bottom of a tower, but when open it has my printed review tucked inside. 

Here you can see just how shiny those mega flakes are.. and also note the textured path i created at the bottom of the wall. This was done with modelling paste mixed with acylic paint and daubed on thickly. 

I then used a circle stencil to create fireworks.. and added the top part of the tower. The top half of this section is glued down, the bottom is loose and it just holds the flap closed. 

here you can see how the bottom of the tower opens..when closed it just tucks under the top section. (note the raindrops, they are important in the book too)

I then made some flying fish, drawing and colouring them in an arc shape, with a tab at each end which I used to glue them into the book. 

The arc of fish is folded in the middle, so it bends and closes with the book.. pop up fishies..

then my friend Jay drew a fabulous horse for me which I coloured with watercolour pencils.   you can see how the fishies bend down and fold flat in this photo. 

Here's the final page.. I am really happy with how it turned out. 

Products used.. click the links..

 Artiste paint

Mega Flakes and Flitter glue

pearl pigments powders

The link for this month will stay active until FRIDAY 26TH APRIL

Here is where you link up, add your name and a link to the specific post where we can find your review.. 

See you next month..