Santa . . . Santa . . . this Santa change my way of thinking.  Warlocks, Dragons, Zombies, Unicorns of course but wait what about the plague?  Who is the host of the plague?  Who can manipulate him?  I got misdirected from time to time but I knew the magic enveloped this tale and all the transformation and manipulation, did I say manipulate one to many times? Ooh, Unicorn with glowing eyes for real not unless you got infected.  Who or what destroyed Earth, she could control minds now they know who.  Never to touch the vassal the dragon knows, remain pure.  Incapacitated people who fed on them? Let me see, 'Zombies.'  A boy invents a device that can trap the Ho Ho Ho man, Santa, all with the combination of science and magic.  I found this story wildly intriguing and way out there.  My imagination ran a gamut here and rightfully so with colorful characters.  I was truly entertained.  Oh one more thing, the author wrote with such a strong voice that it was transparent when I  turned and read each page. I received a free copy that I had won through BookLikes Giveaway. Thank you!

I received a copy for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl.

The mix of genres in Amaranthine: The Heart of Decompose is unique and creative. There's fantasy with unicorns, dragons, and fairies, horror with zombies, science fiction with space travel and life on other planets, and a touch of romance. It's amazing how Schluntz had these elements all come together to make a unified story. Santa is even in there!

Amaranthine begins with finding out that several different planets, including Earth, have been infected with a plague that turns the inhabitants into zombies. The plague was created during a war between unicorns and dragons, and Dee also known as Decompose, carries the plague. The cure lies in his friend, Jhon, and the two end up getting separated. Dee must find Jhon in order to cure the inhabitants of the different planets ravaged by the disease.

The action and tension kept me on the edge of my seat. Dee and Jhon had an enormous task ahead of them, not only to find each other but also to cure people and stay a step ahead of those who wish to use the infection to control their people. And Dee straddles the line between life and death - he doesn't really belong to one or the other. I grew to like Dee, but it took me time to get used to Jhon. I wasn't sure about him for a while.

There are a couple of other characters who are as important as Dee and Jhon, but I don't want to say who they are or talk about them because I feel it would give too much away. I will say one character I liked quite a bit, and the other I liked but not quite as much.

Amaranthine is a novel I believe will appeal to fans of any or all of the genres it includes. It gives a fresh take on zombies - they aren't all like the zombies you're used to - and I loved the space travel aspect of the novel. I haven't seen a novel mixing these genres together before, and it's a cleverly written mashup of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi. And there are unicorns! Did I mention unicorns?!

Amaranthine. The Heart Of Decompose is an interesting story, set in a wild universe, filled with dragons, zombies, fairies, unicorns, and Santa!

*SPOILER ALERT*
 

Dee, the son of a warlock, is the Plague of Decompose, created by the Wyverns (dragons) to destroy Equus, a race of unicorns. Before him, his mother was the host for the plague. Now that the plague has mutated and infected various planets including Earth, Dee is trying to help find a cure to stop the infestation. His search takes him across various planets and through encounters with different races.

I was a little confused in the first chapter because of the introduction of so many characters. Out of all of these, I was more interested in Jimmy and Santa. No, not the mythical jolly man in the red outfit that you're thinking of. This is an entirely different rendition of Santa who our Christmas myths are based around. He is a Sablaturite who can manipulate time.

However, as the story progressed, I was more interested in Dee and Harmony. Her interaction with Dee seems mystical. If she touches him, she amplifies his already godlike powers, just like his friend Jhon in a way. Being around her makes Dee feel mortal. I felt that their relationship, if introduced earlier in the novel, would have made the plot more interesting.

That's not to say that the plot wasn't interesting in general. The story really picks up in the second chapter but more so near the end after Dee is a captive of dragons. However, during the struggle between Dee and his friends, Santa comes into the picture to save the day. Although I like Santa's character in the novel, I didn't understand why he would come back and help Dee after everything that occurred.

Also, near the ending of the book, things which I found confusing, suddenly started to piece together. The dragons wanted Equus dead (for what reason, I'm not sure) and hired Dee's family to create the plague. Secretly, they also create a cure for the infected Equus. By creating this plague (Dee is part Equus) he dies but the plague brings him back to life; trapped between being dead and being alive. I had no idea what these dragons looked like until the end. I don't remember if they were described earlier in the novel. In exchange for giving Dee the spell, they want Harmony. But Dee gives himself over instead.

I found a few parts in the story that were hard to follow, leaving me with questions. Dee is a man full of magic. He has the ability to put up force fields to protect his friends and himself from zombies, he can transform into a unicorn (he is Equus after all but not purebred like his mother who can transform into other animals,) he can heal his friends wounds, he can manipulate water, he can read minds, he can project images into the minds of others, he can remove tumors...I was curious as to what Dee could NOT do. He seemed almost too godlike to believe.

During Dee's first encounter with Harmony he tells his friend Jhon that the cure is inside him but radiates from her. They're the cause for the zombies in the region acting almost human in nature. The next Chapter reveals that she isn't the host for the cure. Then what exactly is her purpose besides being the relationship part of the plot?

As I mentioned before, there are plenty of characters in the novel and different POVs. It wasn't hard for me to keep up with each POV however, at times, I felt there were too many which hindered the novel's progression. Sometimes I found myself flipping back the pages to determine what exactly was going on and how it played into the storyline. The book also includes a glossary which I recommend scanning over so you don't become lost and confuse during the story. Different worlds, names, species, races, issues, problems etcetera.

Overall, Amaranthine. The Heart of Decompose was an interesting novel. This futuristic and complex world leaves a lot for the imagination.