The Tinkerer's Daughter by Jamie Sedgwick

So it's December already and it's nearly a year that Chilli Tween Reads has been reviewing great books for teens and tweens from indie writers. Doesn't time fly when your a reading fun stuff. I can't believe its well over twenty books and authors.

Welcome to the second installment of the year end review of some the best of the best writers I've had on my blog. Todays book is by Young Adult author Jamie Sedgwick. I first reviewed one of Sedgwick's books way back in February. I was instantly impressed by his fantastic and dark story about the darklings. You can revisit the review here or read on for a review of The Tinkerer's Daughter.

Blurb: Breeze is an outcast, a half-breed orphan in a world devastated by 1,000 years of war. She never knew her elven mother. Her father leaves her in the care of a reclusive Tinker, with her true identity safely hidden. Then the war comes and Breeze is exposed. If she has the courage, Breeze has a chance to change the world. If she fails, she'll be hunted to her death as a traitor. 

 Review by Dale:

I cracked this open on my kindle reader this morning and found myself unable to put it down. The story unfolds beautifully with just enough action and drama to quickly draw you into Breeze's world.

A half cast between two race's Breeze lives in an earth like reality. The story is well set in a pre-industrial revolution time period. A time that conjures up the amazing worlds of Jules Verne or H. G. Wells. To spice things up and add a new twist to the nascent steampunk world he adds a touch of elfish type high fantasy.

I think this writers greatest asset is his imagination. Like Lauro Eno from last weeks review the superlative, lavish and full worlds these writers conjure up for us is breathtaking.

Sedgwick has a narrative style that is reminiscent of the old masters like Edgar Rice Burroughs, (he wrote Tarzan). His narration powers ahead like a locomotive on full steam. Smashing through chapter after chapter of suspense and excitement. Covering what would take some writers a trilogy to actualize in about three hundred words.

Sedgwick's knack of ending chapters with suspense compels the reader to swipe the next page. Unable to put this down it can be read in a matter of hours. Yet you easily put the book down feeling replete.

The last story of Sedgwick's I reviewed was so fundamentally different to the story here, the only commonality is the excellent writing. It wont matter if you are a fourteen year old boy or a forty one year old boy (or girl) you will love this! I hope the author is busy writing something new for us to enjoy next year.


Age 10+
Format: eBook
Available from Amazon or Smaswords etc

Link to Download:Smashwords or Amazon
Price: $0.99c (at time of review)
Wordcount: 70,000 (appx)
Author: Jamie Sedgwick

The Darkling Wind by Jamie Sedgwick

Editorial Blurb:
Ben always thought his grandfather's bedtime stories about the darklings were make-believe, but now the darklings have invaded his hometown and only Ben can stop them. When a mysterious package arrives containing his grandfather's old journal and a crystal pendant, Ben knows he's found the way to stop the darklings. Unfortunately, the journal is encrypted and Ben is running out of time.

With the help of his Best friend Sara, Ben must unlock the journal's secrets and find a way to banish the evil darklings before they destroy the town and kill everyone he loves. But does Ben have the strength to face his greatest fears? If he succeeds, Ben will have to sacrifice everything just to survive. If he fails, Ben will not only lose everything he loves, he will also become the thing he fears the most.

Reviewed by Dale

This is a well written and very heart warming story. It's written in the first person and is largely narrative driven. Usually I would not like this style of writing but it pretty much works in this format and for young adult readers it shouldn't be too tiring.

The young hero of the story is Ben Larbinger a fourteen year old nobody who gets picked on by all the school bullies. Ben's amiable sidekick is Sara, or Sarah depending on which page you are on. Actually I only saw that once but it was funny to see a major character's name changing through a story. There were only a couple of typos and the editing was good about 94% perfect.

Back to the story; young Ben meets a sinister man with an evil aura whilst visiting his grandfather. The evil stranger tells Ben and Sara that they will meet again soon. This is a nice little tension building tease that the author uses throughout the book, to successfully build his story. The characters indeed meet the stranger again and have a near fatal run in with their teachers at school. It was very exciting when Ben accidentally fell into a room full of darkling monsters and gouls. I couldn't wait to see how Sedgwick was going to write Ben out of that scene. You will have to read it yourself to find out.

Tragedy strikes early on in the story and the cute litle sidekick, Sara, falls victim to the invading darklings. I was really upset by this as she was a character I had come to like and care about. A hallmark of great writing is in conjuring this kind of emotional attachment in readers.

So the story is novel, refreshing and definitely very interesting, the writing is good. A few overly introspective descriptive passages towards the end but easily forgiven in the rush to turn the page to see how it finishes. I would have liked a more dialogue driven story. I would have liked to have seen more of the other characters in the book developed more fully. This is a challenge with first person stories. The lead actor is well characterized and the bad guys can be left too one dimensional.

I'm still giving this book 5 stars though, and I thoroughly recommend it. It's not long at a bit over 30,000 words or so. So why not download it for a rainy day?


Title: The Darkling Wind
Author: Jamie Sedgwick Author's Blog
Genre: Fantasy
33,000 words
Free download via smashwords: Download link