The Watchtower by Lee Carroll

After having read Black Swan Rising I just had to get hold of a copy of this book and read it to find out what happened next with Garet and Will. You should note right here that you really do need to read these books in order, reading this one before the first will spoil elements in that one for you but they are so well written that I know you will love both and like me be eagerly anticipating the third one in the series (The Shapestealer due for release June 2012) to find out how this love affair that has endured through the generations will end and if they can ever get over their differences successfully.

The last in a long line of women sworn to guard our world against evil, jeweller Garet James is struggling to come to terms with who – or what – she really is.

Will Hughes, the alluring four-hundred-year-old vampire who tasted her blood and saved her life, could help, but he’s disappeared. Garet believes he’s in France, searching for the Summer Country, the legendary land of the Fey where he might be freed from his vampire curse.

Desperate to understand her legacy, Garet follows Will. In Paris, she encounters strange, mythic beings – an ancient botanist metamorphosed into the city’s oldest tree, a gnome who lives beneath the Labyrinth at the Jardin des Plantes, a dryad in the Luxembourg Gardens – meetings that convince her she is on the right path.

But Garet is not the only one trying to find the way in to the Summer Country – and the closer she gets, the more dangerous it becomes...

As with the first book this is exceptionally well written, it's very easy to read and find yourself lost in the plot as it twists and turns. I found the switching by chapter between Garet's and Will's stories a little distracting at first but after a couple of chapters I found myself in the rhythm of how it was going and never really noticed it again.

In this book we learn a lot more about who Will was before he became a Vampire and the reasons why he made that choice, we also as the description above indicates, follow along with Garet's attempts to gain entry to the Summer Country so that she can find Will. At this point I'm not quite sure if she wants to find will to get her box back, because she believes she loves him or a bit of both but whichever it makes for interesting reading and for a thrilling ride. Again in this book, like the first, we delve into mythology we meet characters of legend and fairytale and see how they aide or hinder Garet and Will in their searches for happiness.

I am really trying to be careful with this book to not give too much away of the storyline as I really don't like that myself when I read reviews and find that I've read half the book's secrets within the review but it's so difficult with this one to not say much as it is an amazing book and I really want to encourage everyone to go get yourself copies of both of them, they are fantastic and you'll enjoy every minute you spend engrossed in their pages!

Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll

I was sent this book as I'm part of the Transworld book group (see here for details)

So lets start up by showing you the blurb that made me pick this book out as my first choice to read and therefore the one I was most interested in

New York jeweller Garet James has her fair share of problems: money, an elderly father, a struggling business. One day she comes across an antiques shop she’d never noticed before. The owner possesses an old silver box that’s been sealed shut. Would she help an old man and open it, perhaps? She does...and that night strange things begin to happen. It’s as if her world – our world – has shifted slightly, revealing another, parallel place that co-exists without our knowledge: the world of the Fey…

Garet learns that one of her ancestors was 'the Watchtower': an immortal chosen to stand guard over the human and the fey worlds – a role that she has, it seems, inherited from her mother. But the equilibrium between these two existences is under threat. The 16th-century magician and necromancer Dr John Dee has returned, the box has been opened and the demons of Despair and Discord released. In a race against time and impending apocalypse, it is Garet who must find Dee...and close the box.

It sounded fascinating to me having read that and I'm so pleased to say that it hasn't disappointed me at all. In fact it has been a far better read than I could have hoped for. The description that I've copied in above does give a little of the basis to the storyline but there is so much more to it. I've found it to be a wonderful fantasy adventure set in the real world but also in a world where there are many more possibilities than most people suspect.

How would you cope if you suddenly found out that the world around you wasn't  what you always believed it to be? What about if you discovered that your Mother had kept the biggest of secrets from you? And that in that revelation the past, and even the very distant past, show just how much of an influence they have had over your life, to the extent that events that had happened were not only what they seemed to be at the time but also a portent of what was to come.


All these secrets Garet seems to take in her stride, she accepts so many new ideas in such a short time that it's so easy to get caught up with all her new experiences as well as discoveries about the past and the people around her, both new and old. The writing is very expressive and descriptive, allowing you to follow the story easily, eagerly awaiting the next development in the tale and enjoying the depth of storytelling that kept me riveted until the last page was turned. I have to say I did enjoy that the climax happened and then we got to see what happened to most of the characters for a while afterwards as well, so many books end with a climax and leave you wondering what happened next, was everyone really OK. Black Swan Rising is not one of those books, you're left at the end knowing a little of what happened after all the drama while the storyline is set up magnificently for book 2 (which I really cant wait for I just need to order my copy now!)


It is worth noting finally that "Lee Carroll" is actually a pseudonym. This wonderful book was actually written by award-winning novelist Carol Goodman and her poet husband Lee Slonimsky. After reading this, I'm eagerly anticipating getting my hands on the second book and I've also added a few Carol Goodman books to my wish-list in the hope that I find them as absorbing as I have this one.