souLkeepers

 By Steve Dean

 Review by Natalie Cain

Steve Dean was born, lives and has raised his 3 children in Nottingham, UK.   After being known for criticising the work of others, he decided to give writing a try first hand.   His writing credits include works of science fiction, fantasy and short stories.  SouLkeepers is a one of two books he has written, with his other being The Servicing And Maintenance of Wayland Snowball, a science fiction comedy for adults only.  His third novel Mage Reborn is due out for release by Hadegate Publications in April 2007.

Soulkeepers will quickly engulf you into a world of Warlocks.  This is a world where everyone is kept in control by having their souls, their life essence, ripped from their bodies, however, there are a few who have managed to shield themselves from the Warlocks powers and remain truly human.  SouLkeepers is the story of how three individuals fight for their survival and attempt to release others from the Warlocks control.  This group includes a tree-dwelling teff, a creature somewhat reminiscent of an orang-utan, and two human companions.  I found the teff to be a likeable and humorous creature. 

I found souLkeepers to be a fast-paced fantasy novel that had me gripped in the prologue and left me in suspense at the end of each and every page.  Although the book was somewhat short, I found it was a book I couldn’t easily put down and wanted the journey of the three main characters to continue into a sequel.  In all, it's a nice little fantasy book. 

Publisher:  York Publishing

ISBN:  0-9550314-2-7 (Paperback - 97 pages)