The fire Reaume, beings from New Earth, won the battle. Qeriya, Lahcen and Khalid discovered the truth about themselves and their powers. They found a family. And now they have a plan. This plan will take them through dangerous territory where they will meet more Reaume and encounter more resistance. But as they learn about their history, they also find more questions. Why does Doctor Michael appear to be a target? Who is this mysterious woman with silver eyes? Are all Reaume trustworthy? What is the meaning of a prophesy they find along this journey to save their parents? And which is the greater threat, their battles with the enemy or with each other? "Desert Dwellers Earth and Water" is the second volume in author and novelist Sarah Bergstrom's 'Paintbrush Saga' series and explores the depths of their origins as they fight to survive and maintain their solidarity in the face of forces that seek to divide them. Unreservedly recommended for all young science fiction and fantasy fans........... ~ James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Mid West Book Review

5 Star rating: A great read, you won't be disappointed!! Sarah uses wit, science, fantasy, and good character development to tell about the suspensful and fascinating adventures of Qeriya, Lahcen and Khalid. ~ Robert Rowe, Amazon

Desert Dwellers: Earth and Water Imagine a world that has been created not with countries, states, or towns but with different environmental realms or reaumes. One is filled with fire, another water and one the desert or prison where people have no choices, poor living conditions and their life is not their own. A king rules over all these many different kinds of reaume and humans and his goal is to create wars among those living there and hopefully take over their lives in a negative way. You will meet several children that escaped from the desert or prison to find a specific flower to save and rescue their parents. Finding this is paramount but when they wind up in the earth reaume along with their uncle Michael things get tense, the earth reaume are suspicious at first of their uncle because he might be part of the King’s regime. Allowing them to stay both the earth and the desert children seem to blend and share their different ways of life but lurking in the darkness is someone that is lingering over one of them and she sees this woman in her peripheral vision so why does she disappear? The Fire reaume won the battle and Qeriya, Lahcen and Khalid finally learn some harsh realities about themselves as we meet them at the start of the book. Joining the earth reaume and those living there, they have a plan that will hopefully find their parents, meet more reaume but will they meet danger? This is a story about trust, friendship, hope and working with other reaume in order to present a King from taking many lives, But within this story, there are reaume that are traitors. Air reaume, Water, Ocean, each one with their own special powers that they use for good and others to take aim at whatever they have been enlisted to do by the King. Dr. Michael is taken right in front of them by a woman that has silver spiked hair and is dangerous. Learning more about her the team of youngsters using their powers try to regain him and rescue him but instead they a capture one of their team. Lives are at stake and the reasons behind what is happening are revealed as the read the journal that Dr. Michael passed to the teens and we meet Alexis and Einar who have their own secrets that involve their daughter Clara. The they eat are animals even Eagles that sometimes share their bounty with them. Some animals cause more damage and often it is hard to predict what is going to happen. When they are attacked are the attacker’s humans, Reaume or something else? Within the journal it talks about encased weapons and it says that only chosen warriors can extract them. Who will be able to among them and why? Learning from the journal what Alexis has to say about the King and what he wanted to use if for on his offspring is startling and frightening and we learn that their job was to eradicate anomalies within the palace walls. Alexis has been visiting the reaume established contract send sending the sick here for healing. But the truth lies deeper. Recovery was suspect so Alexis managed to enter the ward and learn the terrifying truth about what was really happening to these innocent victims and that they were not expected to recover but worse. What the doctors did to the victim was short of an experiment to find diseases and causes of death during an autopsy. Transforming another planet by terraforming it. The main staple would be creatures that could withstand the elements and still communicate. Breeding more of the early reaume to time splice their ENA with nanotech robotics, using virus technology, which would give them certain powers. The reaume became part artificial and part cultivated life forms that could reproduce combined human and robotic traits. Trials occurred but lives would be at stake. The experiments continued and how the New Earth was formed is explained on page 127. We meet the Prince, Prince Liam the son of the King who has his own agenda in mind and wants to take down his own father but what about Queen Kanti whose side is she on? Taking Qeriya as his prisoner is his start and he and Qeriya both have human and part reaume. Her mother is an air reaume all reaumes are different but the air reaume are more isolated and they are more wary of them. They are not so different to other groups, but his mother married his father to make peace with humanity and his father wanted a child like her because she had powers. Ever reamue and human attempt to mate did not breed success. It is like they are trying to create the perfect race of reaume to rule the worlds they were all in. claiming he kidnapped her for her protection is hard to believe. But he would make sure she did not escape. Truths and lies come out and the hidden secrets are revealed in the journal as we get to understand more about what Alexis and Einar did and still have to do as the doctors and surgeons for the King. Which side is eviler? There is much more that all of these characters experience as the Ocean seems one way for them to escape attacks, dangerous venomous scorpions and other creatures try to take their lives as author Sarah Bergstrom keeps readers wondering what the fate of Lahchen, Khalid and Qeirya will be when the final battles are fought. The battles are uniquely crafted and the visual effects if this were a movie would keep everyone glued to the screen as your can close you eyes and see the images flying overhead, dropping into the Ocean, dealing with dangerous creatures and hopefully coming out alive. General Rolph is the second in command to the King and he is more deadly than you think. Khalid gets caught in his web and the battles between them and the result is startling. Betrayals, lies, deceptions and deceits come though as you learn that no one can be trusted. No one is safe and the result is the battle that will be waged when the author continues this insightful and exciting trilogy and we find out what happens to each of the reaumes. Although this might be a fictionalized world think about each reaume, think about the human and reaume each fighting for what they believed in and three young teens that just wanted to find their parents and go back to their home in the desert even though it was not as replenished with the comforts of life but they would be a family again. Family loyalties, understanding of differences, honesty and hope are what each reaume wanted in their own way. The battle lines will be drawn who will win? Is there ever a real one when violence is the end result? Fran Lewis: Just reviews ~ Just Reviews, 0

Praise for Sarah Bergstrom: 'I can't wait for the next book in the series! It's a great young adult book, but also will be enjoyed by grown-ups. If you gravitate toward books like Hunger Games and Divergent, this is in that genre. Watch as two groups of kids, human and the non-human Reaume, work together to defeat evil forces. I especially enjoyed the attention to detail with regards to native plants, fruits, and flowers... highly recommend giving this a read. I'm excited for the next two books in the series. ~ Sara Pedersen, Amazon