Visible by Cidney Swanson
Visible
Cidney Swanson
4 Stars
281 pages
Published: 11 Feb 2014
Publisher : Williams Press
Publisher's Blurb
Gwyn Li survived assault
and abduction in UNFURL, and now she’s more than ready for a little happily
ever after with her seventeenth century crush, Chrétien de Rochefort. As
Chrétien spins tales from his background as Cinderella’s original prince
charming, he casts an even deeper spell on Gwyn. But Fritz Gottlieb, son of
arch-nemesis Helmann, is still hot on the trail of Helmann’s secrets and comes
up with a more deadly way to use Gwyn to get what he wants. And if Fritz
succeeds, Gwyn won’t be doing any midnight dancing with anyone.
Review
Visible is book 4 in Cidney Swanson’s Ripple series and picks up where book 3 Unfurl left off with Gwyn Li stranded in France after being rescued from the clutches of Helmann by Chretien, a refugee from the 17th century, and the rest of the gang.
When Fritz, Helmann’s last remaining son, hatches a nefarious plan to take control of the remaining Sleepers it thrusts Gwyn back into danger. Will she survive? Will Chretien be able to protect the Li family from Fritz’s dastardly plot?
I have to be honest and say that I haven’t read books 1-3 in the series (yet) so I was relying on the author including any relevant back story in this one where required and I wasn’t disappointed.
The plot moves along at a fair pace and the main characters (Gwyn & Chretien) are given a good amount of depth with their characterisation.
I particularly like the way that Chretien’s background is revealed in a series of ‘fairy tales’ he tells to Gwyn as the story unfolds.
This is an action, adventure, Sci-Fi, romance and family drama all rolled into one and even the book cover is cool.
I’d recommend this for Young Adults or
anyone interested in Sci-Fi or Time Travel based fiction
Author
Cidney Swanson has always had a thing for words. At an early age, she knew she’d be a writer. Her dad taught literature, and her mom made sure she and her sister had library books. Her parents took the sisters to see Shakespeare plays as well, and as a seven-year-old, Cidney interrupted the actors performing The Merchant of Venice when one of them lied to another in Elizabethan English. Cidney recalls seeing the actors onstage breaking into choked laughter when she called out, “You liar!” No one mentioned to her that Shakespeare was difficult to understand, so she simply followed along, commenting when she couldn’t stand the fibbery anymore.
By the time she turned nine, Cidney read and wrote stories constantly. She found Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and became convinced the author had modeled her character “Jo March” after her. As a teen, she fell hard for fantasy and science fiction and soon wrote her futuristic tales in Tolkien’s Elven script. (Which also came in handy for hiding journal entries from her sister.)
Cidney traveled with her teacher-parents every summer, driving through Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and a dozen European countries by the time she reached high school age. She was able to travel abroad three out of her four years in college as well, adding Israel and Eastern Europe to her list.
Through her twenties, and into her thirties—which she describes as her “decade of giving birth”—Cidney journaled, wrote poems and essays, and started novels that were never finished in between chasing chickens and changing diapers. She also started two successful businesses and home-schooled her kids with her husband’s help. She describes those as great years for taking in life, an activity she highly recommends for any aspiring writer.
Cidney lives with her husband and assorted animals and kids in Oregon where she writes full-time, planning her next novel and her next international adventure with equal enthusiasm. She no longer, however, interrupts theatrical performances. Even if someone’s lying.
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