THESE ARE AMAZON REVIEWS. Please follow the Amazon links to find other people's reviews.
[1] Wednesday's Child- Alan Zendell
This is a very well written, exciting, and thought provoking book. Zendell chose well in writing in the first person, so giving the reader a feeling of personal connection. Zendell has mastered this device with aplomb, whilst holding together a complex scenario, and rounding out other vital characters. We are drawn into the suddenly confused thoughts of Dylan Brice, and nudged gently along by Zendell until we start seeing, and seeing is believing, that it just might be possible to live days out of order.
There is some comfort in the book in the idea that we can be saved from ourselves by higher forces. This cosy thought may well start to unravel, but, I will say no more through fear of planting spoilers.
The plot is very strong, and is probably tied together without any flaws! One would have to spend hours de-constructing the complex of sequences to be sure. Even if one did such an exercise would be pointless, because the soul of the book is in its ideas and not in the mathematical build of a whodunit. The philosophical conduit is well thought out, and cleverly executed. However, as with any book it isn't just the execution of detail that makes for a satisfying read, it is the beauty of design. Once the reader has taken-on-board the premise, one that the character struggles with as much as we might, excitement builds to a satisfactory and adventurous climax.
At an early stage in the book I felt the complexity of detail was overdone, that there was an unnecessary amount of paint on the canvas. This feeling didn't persist for long as I began to realise that a lack of detail would have greatly reduced our ability to connect with Dylan.
At the end I found myself wondering if in a particular past a potentially apocalyptic event, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, has once resulted in the end of civilisation. Well, it didn't, did it? This is truly first class speculative fiction, a book I deeply regret I didn't think to write.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wednesdays-Child-ebook/dp/B004HFRGNI
There is some comfort in the book in the idea that we can be saved from ourselves by higher forces. This cosy thought may well start to unravel, but, I will say no more through fear of planting spoilers.
The plot is very strong, and is probably tied together without any flaws! One would have to spend hours de-constructing the complex of sequences to be sure. Even if one did such an exercise would be pointless, because the soul of the book is in its ideas and not in the mathematical build of a whodunit. The philosophical conduit is well thought out, and cleverly executed. However, as with any book it isn't just the execution of detail that makes for a satisfying read, it is the beauty of design. Once the reader has taken-on-board the premise, one that the character struggles with as much as we might, excitement builds to a satisfactory and adventurous climax.
At an early stage in the book I felt the complexity of detail was overdone, that there was an unnecessary amount of paint on the canvas. This feeling didn't persist for long as I began to realise that a lack of detail would have greatly reduced our ability to connect with Dylan.
At the end I found myself wondering if in a particular past a potentially apocalyptic event, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, has once resulted in the end of civilisation. Well, it didn't, did it? This is truly first class speculative fiction, a book I deeply regret I didn't think to write.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wednesdays-Child-ebook/dp/B004HFRGNI
[2] The Last Exile- Jasha M. Levi
I very rarely read books cover to cover in a sitting, especially autobiography, which to me usually seems to be so much an exaggeration of very little. This book is a real page turner, and all the more so because it is a biography that underplays the drama that inspired it rather than the reverse. I was blown away by how much Levi has packed into his life, rubbing shoulders with the great, the ordinary, the good and the bad, the rich and very poor, and all written in a beguilingly modest way. Levi is a good writer, a true artist of the English language, a third or fourth learnt language after his native version of Serbo-Croatian.
Levi has very much brushed over his personal tragedies, and avoided boasting his greatest triumphs. His heroes are always someone else, his words always describing a greater truth. This book is so much a tapestry of life, a tapestry of our modern times, a record of social history that should be for ever guarded.
The book starts, "I am 89 now. As I sit in my garden, under the trees I planted, I feel compelled to finish telling all I remember." We should all be glad he has at least outlined the essential parts of so very much. We may not learn much of use from King's and the movement of their divisions but we must learn the lessons of modern history from those who have really lived it. So many of the social and political currents that wash over Europe either flow from the Balkans, or are represented there in microcosm. Levi has himself been washed into so much big history from that very pot.
The United States has been the beneficiary of the second half of Levi's life, and hardly a day has seemingly been wasted there as he has reinvented himself a few dozen more times. We must all hope that there is still much more to come from his writing, a writing that can grip us all without ever needing to resort to fiction. I finished thinking that every ten pages glossed over enough material for another book, and that is a rare feeling indeed.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Exile-ebook/dp/B004EEOH34http://askdavid.com/search/The-Last-Exile-by-Jasha-M.-Levi
Levi has very much brushed over his personal tragedies, and avoided boasting his greatest triumphs. His heroes are always someone else, his words always describing a greater truth. This book is so much a tapestry of life, a tapestry of our modern times, a record of social history that should be for ever guarded.
The book starts, "I am 89 now. As I sit in my garden, under the trees I planted, I feel compelled to finish telling all I remember." We should all be glad he has at least outlined the essential parts of so very much. We may not learn much of use from King's and the movement of their divisions but we must learn the lessons of modern history from those who have really lived it. So many of the social and political currents that wash over Europe either flow from the Balkans, or are represented there in microcosm. Levi has himself been washed into so much big history from that very pot.
The United States has been the beneficiary of the second half of Levi's life, and hardly a day has seemingly been wasted there as he has reinvented himself a few dozen more times. We must all hope that there is still much more to come from his writing, a writing that can grip us all without ever needing to resort to fiction. I finished thinking that every ten pages glossed over enough material for another book, and that is a rare feeling indeed.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Exile-ebook/dp/B004EEOH34http://askdavid.com/search/The-Last-Exile-by-Jasha-M.-Levi
[3] Déjá Vu All Over Again- James Strait
This fast paced action sci-fi thriller has some originality of content and style. It is one for lovers of a good Sci-fi romp, with plenty of action and a few glimpses of exciting sex. Science orientated SF fans will enjoy it if they keep their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks. One has to give one's imagination a free rein, not that there is anything wrong with that, to really enjoy this book. Strait has made very good use of the current fascination with the expiry date of a certain Mayan calendar, which certainly gives his book some current form, at least as far as the 21st December 2012.
Actually, I don't really think the passing of that date will do anything to reduce the impact of the story, as there is always another convenient date looming for the end of the Earth, or at least of Earth as we currently know it.
Projectile vomiting aside, I think this book could be the basis of a good film, though the date issue does rather reduce the time frame for this. Actually I can see an easy way around the timing issue. There is a lot of scope in Time Loop Theory. Thinking beyond my own prejudices I guess that even the excessive nature of the sickness could have a place in a film. If convincingly portrayed it could certainly add some impact.
This is a good holiday read, adequately engineered, and written in a compelling fast action style. It is also a very empowering book for the ego of men rather past their peak condition sell by date. I suspect that many women will be less convinced by both the sexual and combat prowess of the hero, again tongue-in-cheek necessary. Mind you plenty of good books rather flatter the physical attributes of the older male hero, usually it seems when we older male authors have some of ourselves in the invented characters.
I will read Strait again, and even again.
http://www.amazon.com/Déjá-All-Over-Again-ebook/dp/B007BSFKJK http://askdavid.com/search/Deja-Vu-All-Over-Again-James-Strait
Actually, I don't really think the passing of that date will do anything to reduce the impact of the story, as there is always another convenient date looming for the end of the Earth, or at least of Earth as we currently know it.
Projectile vomiting aside, I think this book could be the basis of a good film, though the date issue does rather reduce the time frame for this. Actually I can see an easy way around the timing issue. There is a lot of scope in Time Loop Theory. Thinking beyond my own prejudices I guess that even the excessive nature of the sickness could have a place in a film. If convincingly portrayed it could certainly add some impact.
This is a good holiday read, adequately engineered, and written in a compelling fast action style. It is also a very empowering book for the ego of men rather past their peak condition sell by date. I suspect that many women will be less convinced by both the sexual and combat prowess of the hero, again tongue-in-cheek necessary. Mind you plenty of good books rather flatter the physical attributes of the older male hero, usually it seems when we older male authors have some of ourselves in the invented characters.
I will read Strait again, and even again.
http://www.amazon.com/Déjá-All-Over-Again-ebook/dp/B007BSFKJK http://askdavid.com/search/Deja-Vu-All-Over-Again-James-Strait
[4] Diary of a Small Fish- Pete Morin
This is an absolutely first class read, both in terms of style and content. Like so much great fiction this book builds on a great deal of personal experience and a wide local knowledge. Based on truth may not be an accurate enough descriptive, but based on true-life certainly is. The first person view only increased my sense of connection with the characters. I am not like the main Paul Forté at all, but for the time it took me to read this book I thought I really could be. He is an easily recognisable character, the jovial success that is so often both popular and the subject of seething jealousies.
This is not so much a book about a small fish that is getting fried, as about a dirty struggle for dominance in a world of variably moral and immoral egos. We smell the fishy stink of politics and its connections with the law. The main character and defendant is an intelligent and quick witted character, the sort of success in life that most can only aspire to equal. We see that even the successful and socially popular have their enemies. These malignant characters seeking revenge for some unknown family slight, or some perceived wrong. The fish could have been from any city in North America, but the fact that these characters are painted into an apparently accurate backdrop of the great city of Boston greatly adds to the interest.
I really felt drawn onto the streets, into the restaurants, law courts, into the backrooms of Massachusetts. I am certain there is a paralleled real life legal history behind much of Morin’s invention, helping to make the plot so convincing. However, I have not the least idea as to what bits of the tapestry are or were real, which bits of legalise are case-law and which bits exotic invention, but Morin made every location, every character and every event as believable as my dinner. Then there is the golf! The sport, the life-style, bores my socks off, but whilst reading this book I loved the game and the intricacies of its exacting codes of behaviour; the writing is that good.
That Morin’s first book wasn’t picked up by one of the majors is just one more humongous nail in the coffin of traditional publishing. I am of course writing against this day’s background of exploding independent publishing, and the majors continuing and self-inflicted implosion. (May 2012).
http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Small-Fish-Pete-Morin/dp/1466255277
This is not so much a book about a small fish that is getting fried, as about a dirty struggle for dominance in a world of variably moral and immoral egos. We smell the fishy stink of politics and its connections with the law. The main character and defendant is an intelligent and quick witted character, the sort of success in life that most can only aspire to equal. We see that even the successful and socially popular have their enemies. These malignant characters seeking revenge for some unknown family slight, or some perceived wrong. The fish could have been from any city in North America, but the fact that these characters are painted into an apparently accurate backdrop of the great city of Boston greatly adds to the interest.
I really felt drawn onto the streets, into the restaurants, law courts, into the backrooms of Massachusetts. I am certain there is a paralleled real life legal history behind much of Morin’s invention, helping to make the plot so convincing. However, I have not the least idea as to what bits of the tapestry are or were real, which bits of legalise are case-law and which bits exotic invention, but Morin made every location, every character and every event as believable as my dinner. Then there is the golf! The sport, the life-style, bores my socks off, but whilst reading this book I loved the game and the intricacies of its exacting codes of behaviour; the writing is that good.
That Morin’s first book wasn’t picked up by one of the majors is just one more humongous nail in the coffin of traditional publishing. I am of course writing against this day’s background of exploding independent publishing, and the majors continuing and self-inflicted implosion. (May 2012).
http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Small-Fish-Pete-Morin/dp/1466255277
[5] Red Leaves and the Living Token- Benjamin David Burrell
There is a lot of originality in this dark tale. Burrell writes very well, and with a great deal of invention. I can only find any significant fault any in the concentration demanded of the reader. A little more description of each character on first appearance, or an index of characters profiles and key locations, would have helped me. My poor memory, alongside my tendency to skim read, are certainly much of my problem and so I really don't wish to labour the point.
This nice mix of quirky new and well-worn fantasy elements gives plenty of scope to build for ourselves onto the scenery of Burrell’s adventure. In my mind, the story emerged as a sort of future-time "scripture" story written in contemporary style. Indeed we have distant absent “gods” or, even if not, certainly their disciples. The "Reds", or rather their legends, are clear reflections of higher power. There are big evil spirits, we never quite know, casting "devil" shadows over the remaining influences of the arborescent Reds. Might the evil be human?
Much of the story suggests that we are reading an epic from a dystopian age, a time of decay from former more civilised times. Some of this strange world’s locations seem almost medieval in design, evocative of a new dark age. The token, the sought object of the quest, is in my mind a mystical artefact left over from a more advanced past. I guess a sequel will answer more questions. I will be disappointed if it isn’t soon forthcoming.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the almost complete absence of humans. We are replaced by three completely different and equally as intelligent species, none of which has any lasting dominion. At first I had the School Master and Lord Valance as human, but once I had read the book I concluded that they were Zo. There are other shadowy entities that just might be human, but we are left guessing. The only definitely familiar creatures seemed to be bears and horses. The horse sometimes with carriage or cart, is the familiar form of transport. We are in civilisations existing without electrical power generation, well at least within the confines of the story as we are so far guided.
As I’ve said, I’m eager for the sequel. Having taken the time to learn the ropes in this strange imagined place I am reluctant to let my new knowledge go. I am particularly fond of one in particular of Burrell’s species of intelligent beings, the Petra. These creatures look like solid blocks of stone. I imagine them as hearty creatures with silicate exoskeletons.
There are several principle characters, and many important secondary figures. This is a multi-layered, multi-dimensional story. Arguably the pivotal personality, the one that is painted in the greatest detail, is a crippled boy who is on a quest in his wheelchair to find the magical “elixir” of health. It is around him that the various threads of the adventure knot together.
I can recommend this book to those that like reading epic fantasy, and are looking for something with a real touch of creativity. This is inventive, even speculative material that those with wider interests in science fiction, fairy-tales or existential thought will also all enjoy.
I can recommend this book to those that like reading epic fantasy, and are looking for something with a real touch of originality. The quest, the journey certainly has plenty of familiar elements, built into a unique, restless landscape.http://www.amazon.com/Red-Leaves-Living-Token-Volume/dp/0615618529
This nice mix of quirky new and well-worn fantasy elements gives plenty of scope to build for ourselves onto the scenery of Burrell’s adventure. In my mind, the story emerged as a sort of future-time "scripture" story written in contemporary style. Indeed we have distant absent “gods” or, even if not, certainly their disciples. The "Reds", or rather their legends, are clear reflections of higher power. There are big evil spirits, we never quite know, casting "devil" shadows over the remaining influences of the arborescent Reds. Might the evil be human?
Much of the story suggests that we are reading an epic from a dystopian age, a time of decay from former more civilised times. Some of this strange world’s locations seem almost medieval in design, evocative of a new dark age. The token, the sought object of the quest, is in my mind a mystical artefact left over from a more advanced past. I guess a sequel will answer more questions. I will be disappointed if it isn’t soon forthcoming.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the almost complete absence of humans. We are replaced by three completely different and equally as intelligent species, none of which has any lasting dominion. At first I had the School Master and Lord Valance as human, but once I had read the book I concluded that they were Zo. There are other shadowy entities that just might be human, but we are left guessing. The only definitely familiar creatures seemed to be bears and horses. The horse sometimes with carriage or cart, is the familiar form of transport. We are in civilisations existing without electrical power generation, well at least within the confines of the story as we are so far guided.
As I’ve said, I’m eager for the sequel. Having taken the time to learn the ropes in this strange imagined place I am reluctant to let my new knowledge go. I am particularly fond of one in particular of Burrell’s species of intelligent beings, the Petra. These creatures look like solid blocks of stone. I imagine them as hearty creatures with silicate exoskeletons.
There are several principle characters, and many important secondary figures. This is a multi-layered, multi-dimensional story. Arguably the pivotal personality, the one that is painted in the greatest detail, is a crippled boy who is on a quest in his wheelchair to find the magical “elixir” of health. It is around him that the various threads of the adventure knot together.
I can recommend this book to those that like reading epic fantasy, and are looking for something with a real touch of creativity. This is inventive, even speculative material that those with wider interests in science fiction, fairy-tales or existential thought will also all enjoy.
I can recommend this book to those that like reading epic fantasy, and are looking for something with a real touch of originality. The quest, the journey certainly has plenty of familiar elements, built into a unique, restless landscape.http://www.amazon.com/Red-Leaves-Living-Token-Volume/dp/0615618529
[6] Playing Dead- Jody E. Lebel
This is an action packed short-novel, aimed primarily at a female audience. I actually enjoyed it very much, despite my genitalia. The plot revolves around a fairly classic shake-down for money, with enough invention to be interesting and enough tension to be gripping. Actually, the plot was perhaps more convincing because the details of brutal excesses were left to one’s imagination. Many authors pack in so much gratuitous blow by blow violence that the balance of the story can be lost. Books like this show us that there is something to be said for leaving readers some freedom to pour in the quantity of blood they require. This is of course equally true of sexual content. If the male hero has a rather overplayed touchy feely side for me to easily identify with then this only provides a bit of balance to all the bloodthirsty books I have so often read. Yes, you must bear in mind that I am not a regular reader of romance. I will not attempt to deny that I have all sorts of built in prejudices against the genre.
All the female characters are very well rounded and totally believable. The only character in the book that doesn’t quite fit together is the male exchange student. He provides a good twist to the plot, but his naivety about the life-style of North Americans is possibly overplayed. One small flaw that may well only reside in my head is hardly serious, amongst such a great cast. In my opinion Lebel has a particularly observant eye on male bad eggs. Perhaps that is simply because bad egg is the default form.
Despite fashionable brevity Lebel packs plenty in, this is a there aren’t very many wasted words. Her feel for dialogue is particularly good, and has a lot to do with making this such a good read. For those who like to know there is a 66,000 word count. I am not against the conclusion that it seemed so short to me simply because I enjoyed it so much.
Romance is the broad genre, but this book has enough non-romantic action to keep a wide variety of readers happy. I might call it a gritty, police drama, romance. Lebel has built some very interesting characters, some of which have huge scope for further development, which makes me wonder whether any of them are going to emerge again. It would be a waste if they didn’t.http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Dead-Jody-E-Lebel/dp/1612171060
All the female characters are very well rounded and totally believable. The only character in the book that doesn’t quite fit together is the male exchange student. He provides a good twist to the plot, but his naivety about the life-style of North Americans is possibly overplayed. One small flaw that may well only reside in my head is hardly serious, amongst such a great cast. In my opinion Lebel has a particularly observant eye on male bad eggs. Perhaps that is simply because bad egg is the default form.
Despite fashionable brevity Lebel packs plenty in, this is a there aren’t very many wasted words. Her feel for dialogue is particularly good, and has a lot to do with making this such a good read. For those who like to know there is a 66,000 word count. I am not against the conclusion that it seemed so short to me simply because I enjoyed it so much.
Romance is the broad genre, but this book has enough non-romantic action to keep a wide variety of readers happy. I might call it a gritty, police drama, romance. Lebel has built some very interesting characters, some of which have huge scope for further development, which makes me wonder whether any of them are going to emerge again. It would be a waste if they didn’t.http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Dead-Jody-E-Lebel/dp/1612171060
[7] Alexios Before Dying- Chance Maree
First off, this is a very well written book, and a very good example of the sort of original work that self-publishing has saved from the traditional publishing houses waste-bins. Perhaps in more enlightened times, ones less focused on the bogey of profit before enterprise, Chance would have found a main stream publisher. Fortunately ePublishing allows inventive authors to ignore the traditional paths.
This is a thinker's read, not a high-brow pretentious one, but definitely cerebral. Amongst my early thoughts was the idea that I was reading a selection of short stories. Particularly the first few chapters can be read as self-contained pieces. By the end of chapter four I realised there was a thread, one that I failed to really see until the very end. I became increasingly aware of a need to concentrate more fully.
I love the diversity of Chance's characters, or partial characters might be a more accurate description. I think Chance has spent a lot of time people watching. The diversity of characters is only matched by the range of cultures, and philosophical ideas on which Chance draws. We see elements from many mystical, metaphysical and private insights in the building of Alexios.
There are problems. Chance runs the risk of losing some readers, by not having a rigid and clear plot line. We see the direction at the end, but the shallow reader that is me could have done with being better anchored. In other words, the story does ask a lot of the reader. Luckily her prose writing is so good that most are sure to be kept on-board.
I would have liked Chance to have majored on her brilliant story telling more than her philosophical conjuring. She doesn't need to drop the intellectual content, far from it. Rather she needs to boost the story with even more gratuitous rewards for the reader along the speculative path.
Perhaps the real problem was manufactured by trying to write to concisely, by bowing too much to the modern clarion call to write short. Self-publishing allows a freedom which perhaps was compromised by early attempts to satisfy the short-sighted monster that is modern establishment publishing.
I will be looking out for Chance's future works.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexios-Before-Dying-ebook/dp/B006P1VRAA
This is a thinker's read, not a high-brow pretentious one, but definitely cerebral. Amongst my early thoughts was the idea that I was reading a selection of short stories. Particularly the first few chapters can be read as self-contained pieces. By the end of chapter four I realised there was a thread, one that I failed to really see until the very end. I became increasingly aware of a need to concentrate more fully.
I love the diversity of Chance's characters, or partial characters might be a more accurate description. I think Chance has spent a lot of time people watching. The diversity of characters is only matched by the range of cultures, and philosophical ideas on which Chance draws. We see elements from many mystical, metaphysical and private insights in the building of Alexios.
There are problems. Chance runs the risk of losing some readers, by not having a rigid and clear plot line. We see the direction at the end, but the shallow reader that is me could have done with being better anchored. In other words, the story does ask a lot of the reader. Luckily her prose writing is so good that most are sure to be kept on-board.
I would have liked Chance to have majored on her brilliant story telling more than her philosophical conjuring. She doesn't need to drop the intellectual content, far from it. Rather she needs to boost the story with even more gratuitous rewards for the reader along the speculative path.
Perhaps the real problem was manufactured by trying to write to concisely, by bowing too much to the modern clarion call to write short. Self-publishing allows a freedom which perhaps was compromised by early attempts to satisfy the short-sighted monster that is modern establishment publishing.
I will be looking out for Chance's future works.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexios-Before-Dying-ebook/dp/B006P1VRAA
[8] Born a Refugee- Dixiane Hallaj
This is a deep, rich, poignant and profoundly humanistic book. It is also one of the best "political" books I have ever read.
The central thesis, a family that could be any one's neighbours anywhere of Earth, except that they are struggling against the crush of a "foreign" military occupation, living between Jerusalem and Ramallah, is brilliantly constructed.
Whilst telling one extended family's story Hallaj very cleverly keeps the reader linked to the massive historical waves convulsing the nowadays lands of Abraham. The chosen device, the start of chapter historic, headline, quote, works very well.
Hallaj is a very good reader of the mind set of others. Her characters are totally believable, and her understanding of the issues facing now stateless people walking their own ancestors' lands seems to me to be sharp and profound. Politicians who really care for the pursuit of peace should read this book, whatever side of the wicked divide birth or conviction puts them on.
My only gripe is that Hallaj is far too soft on the terrors on both sides of the story. For me the time for soft kicks, for common sense to find solutions, ended with the death of Ben Gurion, a long life far too short. But then again, if ever peace is to come and it can only come through peaceful means then this book may well be a cathartic part of the build. No antagonists can justifiably claim that this read is too hurtful of their sensibilities. For those such as me, distant from the issues, this is a fiction that I feel accurately reflects a continuing truth. Whilst it is only too easy for me to say the words that this book boils in me, I fully acknowledge that if I had been born to either side I would likely be a thorn rather than a peacemaker. Only extraordinarily brave people will ever change things, but I'm sure the humanitarian values portrayed in books like this are a modest but valuable step. We all have mothers.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Born-a-Refugee-ebook/dp/B003A4IEFG
The central thesis, a family that could be any one's neighbours anywhere of Earth, except that they are struggling against the crush of a "foreign" military occupation, living between Jerusalem and Ramallah, is brilliantly constructed.
Whilst telling one extended family's story Hallaj very cleverly keeps the reader linked to the massive historical waves convulsing the nowadays lands of Abraham. The chosen device, the start of chapter historic, headline, quote, works very well.
Hallaj is a very good reader of the mind set of others. Her characters are totally believable, and her understanding of the issues facing now stateless people walking their own ancestors' lands seems to me to be sharp and profound. Politicians who really care for the pursuit of peace should read this book, whatever side of the wicked divide birth or conviction puts them on.
My only gripe is that Hallaj is far too soft on the terrors on both sides of the story. For me the time for soft kicks, for common sense to find solutions, ended with the death of Ben Gurion, a long life far too short. But then again, if ever peace is to come and it can only come through peaceful means then this book may well be a cathartic part of the build. No antagonists can justifiably claim that this read is too hurtful of their sensibilities. For those such as me, distant from the issues, this is a fiction that I feel accurately reflects a continuing truth. Whilst it is only too easy for me to say the words that this book boils in me, I fully acknowledge that if I had been born to either side I would likely be a thorn rather than a peacemaker. Only extraordinarily brave people will ever change things, but I'm sure the humanitarian values portrayed in books like this are a modest but valuable step. We all have mothers.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Born-a-Refugee-ebook/dp/B003A4IEFG
[9] The Spanish Helmet- Greg Scowen
Scowen has created a very exciting story from the mix of “evidence”, hypothesis, and hyperbole that is the history of New Zealand before 1769. The alternating chapters of possible 16th Century Spanish discovery and an equally plausible present day story are knitted together very well. As with history everywhere, the most easily accessible “truths” come from amongst the records of the victorious and not from those of the defeated. Taking this factor into account this fiction builds a believable plot.
I loved the way Scowen blended together the “known” and the theoretical in creating this realistically paced thriller. He wasted little of his wide cultural experiences either, as he even weaves in some recently acquired knowledge of Switzerland.
I include here a paragraph of background to help those unfamiliar with New Zealand gain a feel for this book’s foundations. I would be distressed by the opinion that any of this is anywhere near being a spoiler. There were quite possibly some “fair-skinned tribes” in NZ before “discovery” by the Dutch and English. There are all sorts of diverse and variably weak bits of real evidence for such a theory. Timelines are very unclear. This is unsurprising considering that so much of what we do know comes from the oral histories of the Maori, and from a strange mix of singularly inconsequential archaeological inconsistencies and theories. However, Scowen has used a nice mix of what I assume are genuine, though perhaps minority, Maori tribal memories and the thin presently available archaeological evidence to great effect. That in this temperate zone of the southern hemisphere there were “fair” skinned peoples long before the arrival of Europeans seems biologically unsurprising. There is also a probability that a few Europeans arrived well before 18th and 19th Century waves of modern Pakeha. Possibly there were enough whites to have given rise to a small fairer-skinned assimilated population. I was pleased to have this information prior to reading the book, as I’m sure it only added to my rapid immersion in the story.
The mixed bonds and frictions within close and tribal families provide the glue to many aspects of the plot. There is plenty of love, hate and drama to add spice to history and archaeological intrigue. Good, bad and variously flawed individuals experience all the classic ingredients of love, sexual tension, and violence, turning this mix of historical and contemporary fiction into a great read.
The possible voyage of the real San Lesmes and the main character’s modern fictional tour of New Zealand may almost have been designed to give NZ Tourism a boost. Scowen’s book is very readable. Without a series of inevitable distractions I would have had no trouble in finishing The Spanish Helmet in one read. I look forward to his next book.
http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Helmet-Matthew-Cameron-ebook/dp/B00537SKMA
I loved the way Scowen blended together the “known” and the theoretical in creating this realistically paced thriller. He wasted little of his wide cultural experiences either, as he even weaves in some recently acquired knowledge of Switzerland.
I include here a paragraph of background to help those unfamiliar with New Zealand gain a feel for this book’s foundations. I would be distressed by the opinion that any of this is anywhere near being a spoiler. There were quite possibly some “fair-skinned tribes” in NZ before “discovery” by the Dutch and English. There are all sorts of diverse and variably weak bits of real evidence for such a theory. Timelines are very unclear. This is unsurprising considering that so much of what we do know comes from the oral histories of the Maori, and from a strange mix of singularly inconsequential archaeological inconsistencies and theories. However, Scowen has used a nice mix of what I assume are genuine, though perhaps minority, Maori tribal memories and the thin presently available archaeological evidence to great effect. That in this temperate zone of the southern hemisphere there were “fair” skinned peoples long before the arrival of Europeans seems biologically unsurprising. There is also a probability that a few Europeans arrived well before 18th and 19th Century waves of modern Pakeha. Possibly there were enough whites to have given rise to a small fairer-skinned assimilated population. I was pleased to have this information prior to reading the book, as I’m sure it only added to my rapid immersion in the story.
The mixed bonds and frictions within close and tribal families provide the glue to many aspects of the plot. There is plenty of love, hate and drama to add spice to history and archaeological intrigue. Good, bad and variously flawed individuals experience all the classic ingredients of love, sexual tension, and violence, turning this mix of historical and contemporary fiction into a great read.
The possible voyage of the real San Lesmes and the main character’s modern fictional tour of New Zealand may almost have been designed to give NZ Tourism a boost. Scowen’s book is very readable. Without a series of inevitable distractions I would have had no trouble in finishing The Spanish Helmet in one read. I look forward to his next book.
http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Helmet-Matthew-Cameron-ebook/dp/B00537SKMA
[10] Unhinged- E.J. Findorff
f I didn't read the news regularly I would have found it hard to believe the sick minds and warped thinking described in this very disturbing thriller. I won't be relocating, to the book's setting of New Orleans, anytime soon. This isn't one for the tourist board.
To be honest, I didn't really take to any of the characters, even the ones I assume we are meant to like. Of course, I had weaved my own detail into the various players. As with most well written fright literature the worst visions come from our own imaginations as much as directly from the crafted words. Findorff manipulates our view, forcing us to pry the dark recesses of our own minds.
As I have said I don't much like the owner of the narrative voice, Decland. But to qualify that, I wanted him to win, if only in order to save the lives of the small army of his unfortunate ex-girlfriends. My opinion, almost to the last page, was that Decland was a murderer and his words where merely his attempt to lead us astray. I'm still not actually sure if he was or wasn't. I wonder if Findorff has left only me unsure.
Although, as stated, the writing is generally very good I was left with the feeling that a poor editor had ripped out some plot enhancing paragraphs of backstory, leaving some scenes a bit disjointed. This is probably more to do with personal taste than something most readers will agree with; however, I couldn't escape the feeling that good proof reading and less editing would have served the script better. Despite my particular misgivings this is still a really good read, a thriller with real menace.
The backdrop of a post Katrina New Orleans is clearly based on a good deal of real knowledge. The struggles of humanity in this then terribly damaged society and the things that the evil can get away with when systems fail come through loud and clear.
It seemed clear that the unhinged would win, in this disaster weakened city. There were more than a few unhinged minds, as well as unhinged doors on flood-damaged houses, and the creaking hinges of an overworked justice system. Then digging deeper we have the unhinged sexual relationships of the killer, and the capacity for terrible violence even sometimes from within the ranks of law enforcement.
I am not sure I will be up to reading more works of this type for a while. This is very disturbing book, which has all the ingredients for the plot of a very exciting movie.
http://www.amazon.com/Unhinged-ebook/dp/B0056IPCSQ
To be honest, I didn't really take to any of the characters, even the ones I assume we are meant to like. Of course, I had weaved my own detail into the various players. As with most well written fright literature the worst visions come from our own imaginations as much as directly from the crafted words. Findorff manipulates our view, forcing us to pry the dark recesses of our own minds.
As I have said I don't much like the owner of the narrative voice, Decland. But to qualify that, I wanted him to win, if only in order to save the lives of the small army of his unfortunate ex-girlfriends. My opinion, almost to the last page, was that Decland was a murderer and his words where merely his attempt to lead us astray. I'm still not actually sure if he was or wasn't. I wonder if Findorff has left only me unsure.
Although, as stated, the writing is generally very good I was left with the feeling that a poor editor had ripped out some plot enhancing paragraphs of backstory, leaving some scenes a bit disjointed. This is probably more to do with personal taste than something most readers will agree with; however, I couldn't escape the feeling that good proof reading and less editing would have served the script better. Despite my particular misgivings this is still a really good read, a thriller with real menace.
The backdrop of a post Katrina New Orleans is clearly based on a good deal of real knowledge. The struggles of humanity in this then terribly damaged society and the things that the evil can get away with when systems fail come through loud and clear.
It seemed clear that the unhinged would win, in this disaster weakened city. There were more than a few unhinged minds, as well as unhinged doors on flood-damaged houses, and the creaking hinges of an overworked justice system. Then digging deeper we have the unhinged sexual relationships of the killer, and the capacity for terrible violence even sometimes from within the ranks of law enforcement.
I am not sure I will be up to reading more works of this type for a while. This is very disturbing book, which has all the ingredients for the plot of a very exciting movie.
http://www.amazon.com/Unhinged-ebook/dp/B0056IPCSQ
[11] Room With a Paris View- Jason Phillip Reeser with Jennifer Reeser
If you are an American planning a visit to Paris, or an Australian, or Brit or Kiwi . . . you get the picture; then this book really is worth a read. Even if you just want an inside view, a feel for Paris as a virtual visitor to that beautiful city, then this is a very rewarding read.
Both the Reesers are authors, though we read the book as the first person voice of Jason. They write very well, even if now and again a trifle repetitively. I was tempted to think of this as being the result of two inputting minds. Actually the reminders help, as using a trick common to good teaching, some bits are worth emphasis. The detail, the curious footfalls of the Reesers are a joy to follow, even when they are regularly lost. There are many confused steps, but none are wasted. You see, this really is a guide book for those who want good ideas, but certainly don't want guiding. Incidentally, Jason is obviously a little tiresome at times. Jennifer seemed to be constantly drawn the extra mile down just one more must see street. That was good for both the gander and the reader and, trusting the first person dialogue, as often as not for the goose as well.
We get a very honest and private look at Paris and Parisian culture, not missing the big locations, but equally exploring some really interesting bits that many tourists miss. If some of the Reesers views are off-beat to you, as they were to me, they are nevertheless a great help. We really do get a private view, including holiday snaps, a real feel for what those two weeks in Paris felt like. Nothing was as individual, to me, as their view of Parisian food. For people who never visit McDonald's restaurants or Starbucks they spent a lot of time in them!! But, that is what this book is about, a real experience of a flying visit to Paris.
I really enjoyed reading this Paris View, and I will definitely remember to take notes from it before I next visit Paris. I am reminded of just how much I have so far missed.
It doesn't matter if you never actually get there, this story gives one a great break, with whatever sort of coffee you prefer.
http://www.amazon.com/Room-With-Paris-View-ebook/dp/B00C2JJ47W
Both the Reesers are authors, though we read the book as the first person voice of Jason. They write very well, even if now and again a trifle repetitively. I was tempted to think of this as being the result of two inputting minds. Actually the reminders help, as using a trick common to good teaching, some bits are worth emphasis. The detail, the curious footfalls of the Reesers are a joy to follow, even when they are regularly lost. There are many confused steps, but none are wasted. You see, this really is a guide book for those who want good ideas, but certainly don't want guiding. Incidentally, Jason is obviously a little tiresome at times. Jennifer seemed to be constantly drawn the extra mile down just one more must see street. That was good for both the gander and the reader and, trusting the first person dialogue, as often as not for the goose as well.
We get a very honest and private look at Paris and Parisian culture, not missing the big locations, but equally exploring some really interesting bits that many tourists miss. If some of the Reesers views are off-beat to you, as they were to me, they are nevertheless a great help. We really do get a private view, including holiday snaps, a real feel for what those two weeks in Paris felt like. Nothing was as individual, to me, as their view of Parisian food. For people who never visit McDonald's restaurants or Starbucks they spent a lot of time in them!! But, that is what this book is about, a real experience of a flying visit to Paris.
I really enjoyed reading this Paris View, and I will definitely remember to take notes from it before I next visit Paris. I am reminded of just how much I have so far missed.
It doesn't matter if you never actually get there, this story gives one a great break, with whatever sort of coffee you prefer.
http://www.amazon.com/Room-With-Paris-View-ebook/dp/B00C2JJ47W
[12] The Story of an Ordinary Lion- Janet Doolaege
This is a well-crafted or rather re-crafted, mix of legend history and scripture for young people. Possibly it is actually based on a misconception; an error of translation, as Saint Gerasimus of the Jordan was almost certainly the man that helped the lion, and not Saint Jerome. As a central theme of this story is errors in translation between languages, this confusion seems most appropriate. This is a short good news story, written to be accessible to children. This is nothing to do with the Good News Bible, which is very poor translation, a modern interpretation, of ancient scriptures.
It is false to make a literary connection with C.S. Lewis's "god" lion, but this proverbial story should sit in close proximity in the section of "Christian" themed writing for children. For parents that hope that their darlings might just find time from modern distractions to read books by the likes of Louisa Alcott, Lucy Montgomery and George MacDonald, this story of a spiritually inspired lion makes for first class bedside reading.
If young again I'd love to have this story read to me, or to enjoy reading it for myself if a little older. Parents of all faiths and none can't go wrong in seeking out a copy of this story for the PC or e-reader. (20,000 words)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Story-Ordinary-Lion-ebook/dp/B0078NRMGW
It is false to make a literary connection with C.S. Lewis's "god" lion, but this proverbial story should sit in close proximity in the section of "Christian" themed writing for children. For parents that hope that their darlings might just find time from modern distractions to read books by the likes of Louisa Alcott, Lucy Montgomery and George MacDonald, this story of a spiritually inspired lion makes for first class bedside reading.
If young again I'd love to have this story read to me, or to enjoy reading it for myself if a little older. Parents of all faiths and none can't go wrong in seeking out a copy of this story for the PC or e-reader. (20,000 words)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Story-Ordinary-Lion-ebook/dp/B0078NRMGW
[13] Urban Hunters Collection Books 1 To 3: Bill'y Gotta Find Some Girls- Gary Taaffe ~~ (Extract 6)
I could only ever give this five stars. I was almost convinced about that right from my first glimpse of the cover art.
I'll talk about Billy's walkabout first, before I tell you why all five. . . . . Come to think of it, no I won't, You'll have to buy Taaffe's books for that.
I give five for novelty, for creative reinvention of old themes, for daring to talk in a humorous way about cultural diversity, and of course for getting most of the basic mechanics of writing correct.
This book isn't perfect. Is there such a book?
The episodic nature means that we don't get big bang book endings, but rather plot bumps, with some ongoing resolution. In other words, the Urban Hunter series, is written like TV episodes. The concept works very well.
I quite like big bang endings, resolution if you like, but I am enchanted by the way Taaffe hooks the reader. He so well creates the need to read the next part, of which there seems to be ever more.
Of course, as is the fashion, people like to have the box-set of episodes to work through, which I assume is why Taaffe has brought together the first three shortish episodes into one book. This is episode 1 to 3, though apparently, as of today, the count of episodes completed is at least six. I have to say that I prefer longer books, so I've never read any of these stories independently.
The writing is concise, accurate, easy on the eye and brain, and full of energy. The comedy, of all colour and tones, is pretty good. Some of the humorous ideas have been around for all of time, but Taaffe gives them all a good spring clean. The read is so alive that I actually felt as though I was watching film, not reading. Some of the humour, even when obvious and puerile, has a real grittiness about it. It sandpapers away at out preconceptions even as it emphasises them. There are plenty of underlying serious issues covered, particularly concerning our expectations about each other. Crocodile Dundee set aside, this is a story about a real native Aussie bush fella plunging himself into urban society.
This book is definitely Youth and Young Adult material, with plenty for all generations up to and including decrepit. I'm nearer 60 than 50, and am really enjoying Taaffe's episodic creations. There are great dollops of young humour, as well as a plethora of freshly angled peeks at our social diversities and irregularities. Taaffe's light style bounces the reader over the pages drawing one to finish each episode with a smile, and then to hardly draw breath before craving the next. This isn't going to make one see the World in a different fashion exactly, but it is extremely good fun. Most of all I now need to read on to see if Billy's got his girl.
http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Hunters-Collection-3-Books/dp/0987176048
I'll talk about Billy's walkabout first, before I tell you why all five. . . . . Come to think of it, no I won't, You'll have to buy Taaffe's books for that.
I give five for novelty, for creative reinvention of old themes, for daring to talk in a humorous way about cultural diversity, and of course for getting most of the basic mechanics of writing correct.
This book isn't perfect. Is there such a book?
The episodic nature means that we don't get big bang book endings, but rather plot bumps, with some ongoing resolution. In other words, the Urban Hunter series, is written like TV episodes. The concept works very well.
I quite like big bang endings, resolution if you like, but I am enchanted by the way Taaffe hooks the reader. He so well creates the need to read the next part, of which there seems to be ever more.
Of course, as is the fashion, people like to have the box-set of episodes to work through, which I assume is why Taaffe has brought together the first three shortish episodes into one book. This is episode 1 to 3, though apparently, as of today, the count of episodes completed is at least six. I have to say that I prefer longer books, so I've never read any of these stories independently.
The writing is concise, accurate, easy on the eye and brain, and full of energy. The comedy, of all colour and tones, is pretty good. Some of the humorous ideas have been around for all of time, but Taaffe gives them all a good spring clean. The read is so alive that I actually felt as though I was watching film, not reading. Some of the humour, even when obvious and puerile, has a real grittiness about it. It sandpapers away at out preconceptions even as it emphasises them. There are plenty of underlying serious issues covered, particularly concerning our expectations about each other. Crocodile Dundee set aside, this is a story about a real native Aussie bush fella plunging himself into urban society.
This book is definitely Youth and Young Adult material, with plenty for all generations up to and including decrepit. I'm nearer 60 than 50, and am really enjoying Taaffe's episodic creations. There are great dollops of young humour, as well as a plethora of freshly angled peeks at our social diversities and irregularities. Taaffe's light style bounces the reader over the pages drawing one to finish each episode with a smile, and then to hardly draw breath before craving the next. This isn't going to make one see the World in a different fashion exactly, but it is extremely good fun. Most of all I now need to read on to see if Billy's got his girl.
http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Hunters-Collection-3-Books/dp/0987176048
[14] Sequela- Cleland Smith ~~~~ (Extract 11)
I am finding it hard not to be over complementary. Smith has a sure-footed competence as a writer that has helped her put together a very original and highly entertaining book. This near future science fiction cleverly links the progress of science, the general `progressiveness' of social norms, at least in Britain and a quite plausible future `gated' City of London, into a page turning read.
The version I read had a few silly editing errors, but a word of concern to the author has led to the knowledge that these are being dealt with.
The timeline on the story, set in 2080, seems feasible. This is important because at first the hedonistic world she portrays seems to be a vast distance from where norms of social behaviour are today. There are always extreme deviants, individual cases, but those deviant behaviours rarely and only slowly become mainstream. But sometimes they do, and especially when as in this book they are centred on a particularly powerful subset of people. We see then, generally unacceptable social practices sometimes escaping cloistered sectors of society, such as religious establishments and `cultural' minority groups, into a wider world. For proof that such rapid changes in normal behaviour are possible we don't have to look back as far as 70 years in London's society.
Smith has brought together some interesting possible future science, none of which is too outlandish. Micro-biology and virology may well have made possible the future she has fictionally speculated for 2080, long before that real date. I find the idea of sexually transmitted diseases becoming socially sought after badges to be rather sickening, especially in the light of the terrors of AIDS and historical devastations to society caused by sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis, hepatitis and gonorrhoea. However, we all know just how far people will go in challenging their bodies for the sake of the next fashionable kick. I cannot deny the apparent plausibility of the science.
Smith has pulled together a very interesting bag of characters with familiar enough behaviours. I had no trouble in measuring them all up against people I know. Her views on big business, financially crippled public funded science, social inequalities, sexual politics, cultural divisions and human rivalries are all easily spotted today. So then, I am sure that most mature readers will find a convincing enough anchor with Smith's thinking to be drawn into her 2080.
What a shocking and shockingly good book. There is a very high level of sexual content without the script ever holding the spotlight for so long that it becomes purely pornographic. The reader with a wish for spice will have to paint in their own deviant pictures, which with the help of Smith's well-chosen prose requires little effort. Many lesser writers seem to miss this balance.http://www.amazon.com/Sequela-ebook/dp/B00DBMQCKG
The version I read had a few silly editing errors, but a word of concern to the author has led to the knowledge that these are being dealt with.
The timeline on the story, set in 2080, seems feasible. This is important because at first the hedonistic world she portrays seems to be a vast distance from where norms of social behaviour are today. There are always extreme deviants, individual cases, but those deviant behaviours rarely and only slowly become mainstream. But sometimes they do, and especially when as in this book they are centred on a particularly powerful subset of people. We see then, generally unacceptable social practices sometimes escaping cloistered sectors of society, such as religious establishments and `cultural' minority groups, into a wider world. For proof that such rapid changes in normal behaviour are possible we don't have to look back as far as 70 years in London's society.
Smith has brought together some interesting possible future science, none of which is too outlandish. Micro-biology and virology may well have made possible the future she has fictionally speculated for 2080, long before that real date. I find the idea of sexually transmitted diseases becoming socially sought after badges to be rather sickening, especially in the light of the terrors of AIDS and historical devastations to society caused by sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis, hepatitis and gonorrhoea. However, we all know just how far people will go in challenging their bodies for the sake of the next fashionable kick. I cannot deny the apparent plausibility of the science.
Smith has pulled together a very interesting bag of characters with familiar enough behaviours. I had no trouble in measuring them all up against people I know. Her views on big business, financially crippled public funded science, social inequalities, sexual politics, cultural divisions and human rivalries are all easily spotted today. So then, I am sure that most mature readers will find a convincing enough anchor with Smith's thinking to be drawn into her 2080.
What a shocking and shockingly good book. There is a very high level of sexual content without the script ever holding the spotlight for so long that it becomes purely pornographic. The reader with a wish for spice will have to paint in their own deviant pictures, which with the help of Smith's well-chosen prose requires little effort. Many lesser writers seem to miss this balance.http://www.amazon.com/Sequela-ebook/dp/B00DBMQCKG
[15] Ripple, A Tale of Hope and Redemption- E.L. Farris ~~~~ (Extract 13)
I am not sure what one more review can add to a book that has been so positively endorsed. However, I feel compelled to try. Apologies if I add nothing worthwhile.
This is highly competent story telling that explores some of the worst abuses of the psychological and physical power often wielded by sick individuals. This book is worthy of wide readership. If it isn't available or willingly sourced by your local library, then libraries deserve to be the increasingly rare places that they are becoming.
So often in real life the most selfish of individuals are able to become the most powerful. When those individuals are other than `normal', which is all too often the case, then the honest and innocent suffer. This book is an exploration of that phenomenon. All power is only as good or evil as those that wield it, with our institutionalised procedures all too often only further empowering the abuser. It makes little difference to the victim whether the corruption is instigated in the close family, or from the highest of offices.
I find some comfort in thinking that great writing like Farris's can moderate the minds of at least a few sick individuals whilst reminding us all of the need to guard against all too prevalent terrors. More than that, I desperately need to be optimistically inclined towards this the book's undoubted primary goals. If only it wasn't the already well balanced that will find this story's agitating entertainment has a most satisfactory ending.
http://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Tale-Hope-Redemption-Farris-ebook/dp/B00B2Q4G38
This is highly competent story telling that explores some of the worst abuses of the psychological and physical power often wielded by sick individuals. This book is worthy of wide readership. If it isn't available or willingly sourced by your local library, then libraries deserve to be the increasingly rare places that they are becoming.
So often in real life the most selfish of individuals are able to become the most powerful. When those individuals are other than `normal', which is all too often the case, then the honest and innocent suffer. This book is an exploration of that phenomenon. All power is only as good or evil as those that wield it, with our institutionalised procedures all too often only further empowering the abuser. It makes little difference to the victim whether the corruption is instigated in the close family, or from the highest of offices.
I find some comfort in thinking that great writing like Farris's can moderate the minds of at least a few sick individuals whilst reminding us all of the need to guard against all too prevalent terrors. More than that, I desperately need to be optimistically inclined towards this the book's undoubted primary goals. If only it wasn't the already well balanced that will find this story's agitating entertainment has a most satisfactory ending.
http://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Tale-Hope-Redemption-Farris-ebook/dp/B00B2Q4G38
[16] Losing It All- Marsha Cornelius ~~~~ (Extract 16)
Cornelius sets the reader right into the tough trough of a city’s squalid underbelly. We can imagine ourselves looking into the concrete underpasses of whatever modern urban environment we may know, as a similar story could be written there a thousand times. The ending may be less kind, less relieved by love, but the story will be much the same. True life, sadly, often reads like this.
We are made to see how easy it is to fall so low that an unexpectedly dry corner in the most derelict of landscapes can come to feel like a treasure, a blessing even. Life can be so much worse than living in the shelter of a sturdy cardboard box with just enough mouldy bread or a nearby soup kitchen.
This is a story of continuing hope despite the worst of what life can throw at us, of dealing with whatever damage we are responsible for drawing onto ourselves, of dealing with the consequences of physical and mental abuse; a love story despite the engulfing scum. We are made to see how long and how tough the march from true poverty truly is.
Beautifully written, completely believable, a story that is often paralleled in some way by the real lives of societies all too real outcasts. The end was a great relief. We must finally remember that very few such badly blighted lives end with so much fulfilled hope. This third novel by Cornelius is as different as was each of the first two. Each one is of the same high quality. I will be reading Marsha Cornelius’s next work, whatever ‘genre’ she picks.
http://www.amazon.com/Losing-All-Marsha-Cornelius-ebook/dp/B00BRKN25M
We are made to see how easy it is to fall so low that an unexpectedly dry corner in the most derelict of landscapes can come to feel like a treasure, a blessing even. Life can be so much worse than living in the shelter of a sturdy cardboard box with just enough mouldy bread or a nearby soup kitchen.
This is a story of continuing hope despite the worst of what life can throw at us, of dealing with whatever damage we are responsible for drawing onto ourselves, of dealing with the consequences of physical and mental abuse; a love story despite the engulfing scum. We are made to see how long and how tough the march from true poverty truly is.
Beautifully written, completely believable, a story that is often paralleled in some way by the real lives of societies all too real outcasts. The end was a great relief. We must finally remember that very few such badly blighted lives end with so much fulfilled hope. This third novel by Cornelius is as different as was each of the first two. Each one is of the same high quality. I will be reading Marsha Cornelius’s next work, whatever ‘genre’ she picks.
http://www.amazon.com/Losing-All-Marsha-Cornelius-ebook/dp/B00BRKN25M
[17] Lobo- David Gordon Burke ~~~~ (Extract 26)
It is rare that I struggle to put a book down, with Lobo I really let my life outside the book slip. I'm a slow reader- so my list of 'must do yesterday' got very long.
This is a well written book that oozes with the author's passion for his subject. The backdrop is the recent past of Monterrey, in Mexico, which like so many cities has deep divisions of class, income and expectation. The characters are deeply drawn, and well painted into the wide panorama over which I as the reader was made to feel I had an omnipresent view. The characters are as much the dogs as the people. Both species seem to almost mirror each other, except that the evil in the dogs is generally driven by man.
This is not a 'Four Paws into Adventure' (Claude Cénac), or another, often copied, 'The Incredible Journey' (Sheila Burnford) though the dog is the true star, and the quality of the story is as high. Lassie didn't live in Monterrey, in an often violent, all too real world, in which the real highs and lows of human character are displayed in all their vivid colours. Lassie couldn't have won many battles on Lobo's streets.
The copy I read had a smattering of typos, which is frustrating, but not because they spoil the read. They really don't. Rather, I'm frustrated, because DGB is such an excellent writer that achieving flawless just has to be so worthwhile. I love the rich descriptive style of writing that has so much to tell us about Mexico and its people whilst the plot steadily boils above.
I am a total fan of the first person narrative and so was totally absorbed by DGB's use of the form to write first person straight from the heads of nearly all his rich tapestry of characters. I particularly respect his writing because Burke has torn up the modern 'fashion' manual on writing in order to do his own thing. In the process he has produced a really good fact-based fiction book.
http://www.amazon.com/Lobo-David-Gordon-Burke-ebook/dp/B00HS3MDKM
This is a well written book that oozes with the author's passion for his subject. The backdrop is the recent past of Monterrey, in Mexico, which like so many cities has deep divisions of class, income and expectation. The characters are deeply drawn, and well painted into the wide panorama over which I as the reader was made to feel I had an omnipresent view. The characters are as much the dogs as the people. Both species seem to almost mirror each other, except that the evil in the dogs is generally driven by man.
This is not a 'Four Paws into Adventure' (Claude Cénac), or another, often copied, 'The Incredible Journey' (Sheila Burnford) though the dog is the true star, and the quality of the story is as high. Lassie didn't live in Monterrey, in an often violent, all too real world, in which the real highs and lows of human character are displayed in all their vivid colours. Lassie couldn't have won many battles on Lobo's streets.
The copy I read had a smattering of typos, which is frustrating, but not because they spoil the read. They really don't. Rather, I'm frustrated, because DGB is such an excellent writer that achieving flawless just has to be so worthwhile. I love the rich descriptive style of writing that has so much to tell us about Mexico and its people whilst the plot steadily boils above.
I am a total fan of the first person narrative and so was totally absorbed by DGB's use of the form to write first person straight from the heads of nearly all his rich tapestry of characters. I particularly respect his writing because Burke has torn up the modern 'fashion' manual on writing in order to do his own thing. In the process he has produced a really good fact-based fiction book.
http://www.amazon.com/Lobo-David-Gordon-Burke-ebook/dp/B00HS3MDKM
[18] Courage Matters- R. Scott Mackey ~~~~ (Extract 27)
I enjoyed this read very much. There are all the usual elements of the whodunit murder thriller, with a good range of twists and blind alleys. I particularly like the main character, the early retired academic trying something a bit different. He seems to me to be a very plausible stoical, rather than heroic, figure that I had a natural affinity with. The heavy hand of the law, the presumptions of guilt or innocence and the tensions around the distribution of family money are the bread and butter of the crime genre. These elements and others are very well employed with varying degrees of originality.
There is enough in the plot for one to be able to get shadows of the ending and yet still be surprised. Agatha Christie, eat your heart out. Here is a modern writer with a similar flare for building plot that encourages the reading into stereotypical thinking and assumptions, only to then turn many elements on there heads. I will be intrigued to see whether Mackey can maintain the art of this genre so well in future books.
Mackey writes with a light touch, conveying the information we need with enough rich background to interest without drawing us so far away that we lose touch with the important plot details. He has also left enough ground raked but not so deeply dug over that it would do much to limit the direction of a sequel or even a series. Rubia, in particular, is a character with potentially miles of interesting story that could be exploited.
http://www.amazon.com/Courage-Matters-Ray-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00IP1E624
There is enough in the plot for one to be able to get shadows of the ending and yet still be surprised. Agatha Christie, eat your heart out. Here is a modern writer with a similar flare for building plot that encourages the reading into stereotypical thinking and assumptions, only to then turn many elements on there heads. I will be intrigued to see whether Mackey can maintain the art of this genre so well in future books.
Mackey writes with a light touch, conveying the information we need with enough rich background to interest without drawing us so far away that we lose touch with the important plot details. He has also left enough ground raked but not so deeply dug over that it would do much to limit the direction of a sequel or even a series. Rubia, in particular, is a character with potentially miles of interesting story that could be exploited.
http://www.amazon.com/Courage-Matters-Ray-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00IP1E624
[19] Heart of Eternity- N. Jay ~~~~ (Extract 28)
To me, this novella is is more to do with extreme emotions in the one being, the author, than a romance between two characters. I read it as a mix of mystical realism and autobiographical mystical soul searching. I see it as a bipolar study of good versus evil personality traits, and an exploration of the inherent dangers in drawing back together compartmentalised emotional states.
The prose is richly descriptive, but in places strangely inconsistent, almost as though the words were arriving on the paper through mystical translation from some other language. I couldn't decide whether the line editor was poor, or if the occasionally strange word choice was a deliberate attempt to reflect thoughts arriving from some half seen other place. Perhaps Jay suffered the indignity of having the original voice distorted rather than clarified by the edit.
The book is well-worth reading, though not so much with the expectation of romance, but rather as a quasi-religious dialogue in which we can explore the writer's, and indeed our own, internal conflicts between often contradictory personality traits. The ending was abrupt, reflecting well the end of life, when long exploration comes to final rest. I assume that was intentional. I didn't much like reading this book, because it was drawing me to places I didn't want to go. That is my unique problem, which isn't, it seems, one shared by most reviewers. When the immediate impact subsides, and there is impact, I should read this book afresh to try and see what I have missed. The many complimentary reviews of this book that I have read highlight many strong positives, which I've interpreted differently. So I must strongly advise that one doesn't read this review without reference to others. I suspect one either immensely enjoys the ploughed furrow, or else wishes the ground to be quickly closed.
http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Eternity-N-Jay-ebook/dp/B00HCLQY5U
The prose is richly descriptive, but in places strangely inconsistent, almost as though the words were arriving on the paper through mystical translation from some other language. I couldn't decide whether the line editor was poor, or if the occasionally strange word choice was a deliberate attempt to reflect thoughts arriving from some half seen other place. Perhaps Jay suffered the indignity of having the original voice distorted rather than clarified by the edit.
The book is well-worth reading, though not so much with the expectation of romance, but rather as a quasi-religious dialogue in which we can explore the writer's, and indeed our own, internal conflicts between often contradictory personality traits. The ending was abrupt, reflecting well the end of life, when long exploration comes to final rest. I assume that was intentional. I didn't much like reading this book, because it was drawing me to places I didn't want to go. That is my unique problem, which isn't, it seems, one shared by most reviewers. When the immediate impact subsides, and there is impact, I should read this book afresh to try and see what I have missed. The many complimentary reviews of this book that I have read highlight many strong positives, which I've interpreted differently. So I must strongly advise that one doesn't read this review without reference to others. I suspect one either immensely enjoys the ploughed furrow, or else wishes the ground to be quickly closed.
http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Eternity-N-Jay-ebook/dp/B00HCLQY5U
[20] Writer- Erec Stebbins ~~~~ (Extracts 29)
Stebbins has done it again. He has created a wonderful sequel to your marvellous 'Reader'. I suggest reading in order, though that isn't vital. However, doing so will help you understand and empathise with the expanding vision that is the mind of Ambra Dawn. I sure this book stands alone, but there is a definite downsides to the lack of story revision. All authors of book series have the same impossible problem of balancing back-story and progress that can never satisfy all readers. This is a second visionary, speculative fiction masterpiece; and yes, as is all the best fiction in this category, it is highly philosophical.
Stebbins takes us through the lows of his dystopian vision to soar out like the Phoenix into a new and growing existence, a possible Utopia. Well at least the vision can be left to grow unmolested until the inevitable third instalment arrives. What will that be called? My speculation gives me, 'Creator'. I feel sure that we will then come to be told whether the Orb is an essence of God, or is just one of His old lanterns.
There is one 'improvement' in this second volume. We have escaped the terrors of mathematical formulae that pitched up at the start of every chapter. These are replaced by very sharply relevant, richly worded, quotations.
I was thoroughly absorbed by this book, even though my weak mind faced the occasional threat from drowning in metaphysics. But then I'm sure we were meant to feel submerged, as was the mind of our heroic, tragic narrator, Nitin. We were lead by the thoughts of a 'human' doing his best to explain a story that he couldn't ever really comprehend. I guess Nitin was even more at sea than I would be in explaining mathematics. I sympathised with Nitin to the very end, for ever relieved that at least Ambra Dawn, through Stebbins pen, seemed to understand. What the heck are sentient being doings in the physical cosmos anyway? We understand far more now, don't we Nitin? But do we yet really know anything? We need book three.
Stebbins puts together words very well, which is just as well because as we leave the Earth behind, let alone New Earth, the cosmos gets very complicated. In this exciting plotting we are so spellbound that that doesn't actually matter, or even anti-matter.
http://www.amazon.com/Writer-Daughter-Time-Erec-Stebbins-ebook/dp/B00JYLTW9Q
Stebbins takes us through the lows of his dystopian vision to soar out like the Phoenix into a new and growing existence, a possible Utopia. Well at least the vision can be left to grow unmolested until the inevitable third instalment arrives. What will that be called? My speculation gives me, 'Creator'. I feel sure that we will then come to be told whether the Orb is an essence of God, or is just one of His old lanterns.
There is one 'improvement' in this second volume. We have escaped the terrors of mathematical formulae that pitched up at the start of every chapter. These are replaced by very sharply relevant, richly worded, quotations.
I was thoroughly absorbed by this book, even though my weak mind faced the occasional threat from drowning in metaphysics. But then I'm sure we were meant to feel submerged, as was the mind of our heroic, tragic narrator, Nitin. We were lead by the thoughts of a 'human' doing his best to explain a story that he couldn't ever really comprehend. I guess Nitin was even more at sea than I would be in explaining mathematics. I sympathised with Nitin to the very end, for ever relieved that at least Ambra Dawn, through Stebbins pen, seemed to understand. What the heck are sentient being doings in the physical cosmos anyway? We understand far more now, don't we Nitin? But do we yet really know anything? We need book three.
Stebbins puts together words very well, which is just as well because as we leave the Earth behind, let alone New Earth, the cosmos gets very complicated. In this exciting plotting we are so spellbound that that doesn't actually matter, or even anti-matter.
http://www.amazon.com/Writer-Daughter-Time-Erec-Stebbins-ebook/dp/B00JYLTW9Q
[21] Mindclone- David T. Wolf ~~~~ (Extract 42)
There aren't too many science fiction books that are quite so positive about near future sciences that may well allow the 'cloning' of the human mind. I got the strong impression that Wolf is contemplating/dreaming a life for himself as an artificial intelligence when his body gives up the ghost, the 'soul'. We see the dream of a 'heaven', a life beyond the disposal of our corpses, a continued existence in the digital world. We see Wolf's hopes for adding the other senses, than just easily achievable hearing and sight; namely touch, sensation, sentient feeling to his future non-biological self. He guards against the evil inside us all by allowing the earliest freed mind, his Adam, to set strong moral parameters to all future behaviour patterns. Wolf seems to be considering his own moral architecture as the ideal, as seen in the many personal 'political' imperatives he works into the plot.
The book comes through to me as being deeply unreligious, though certainly not anti-religion. A conventional belief in the afterlife isn't excluded. Mindclone simply 'invents' an electronic heaven between the life here and the future ones expounded by 'church'. So really, this isn't the sort of SF that might cause religious offence, even though it envisages the construction of artificial 'soul' as one answer to our prayers.
The science fiction is top notch, truly Asimovian, but as with most such serious SF it isn't the sort of book that is dynamically exciting. Ideas, the excitement of science, and scientific philosophy, are more important to Wolf than emotionally manipulating of the reader. Many modern readers seem addicted to tension and attack books that fail to offer constant adrenal punches. In this book, excitement is generated by opening up ideas, through challenging us to make use of our own minds to think through the implications behind this someday, soon plausible, plot. We are led to explore jealousy, love, hate, pain, and everything else that makes us human. These feelings are essential to the building of personality, us, into any truly 'humanitarian' artificial intelligence. Also to an 'evil' intelligence, of course!
The quality of the writing is as high as the quality of Wolf's ideas. I am critical of the failure to make the most of the conspiracies within the plot, because the better employment of these elements would have made this an even better book. The villain was as clichéd and unsatisfactory as the hero was original and substantive. Perhaps Wolf is too frightened of his future upload becoming the victim of the evil in mankind to make the villain truly diabolic, powerful and likely to succeed.
This book is interesting, creative, intelligent, engaging, well-worth my time. Wolf is here very positive about near future developments in the non-biological reproduction of biological self. This individual, the biological me, found this book to be stimulating rather than exciting.
http://www.amazon.com/Mindclone-youre-brain-without-called-ebook/dp/B00BJWOHDE
The book comes through to me as being deeply unreligious, though certainly not anti-religion. A conventional belief in the afterlife isn't excluded. Mindclone simply 'invents' an electronic heaven between the life here and the future ones expounded by 'church'. So really, this isn't the sort of SF that might cause religious offence, even though it envisages the construction of artificial 'soul' as one answer to our prayers.
The science fiction is top notch, truly Asimovian, but as with most such serious SF it isn't the sort of book that is dynamically exciting. Ideas, the excitement of science, and scientific philosophy, are more important to Wolf than emotionally manipulating of the reader. Many modern readers seem addicted to tension and attack books that fail to offer constant adrenal punches. In this book, excitement is generated by opening up ideas, through challenging us to make use of our own minds to think through the implications behind this someday, soon plausible, plot. We are led to explore jealousy, love, hate, pain, and everything else that makes us human. These feelings are essential to the building of personality, us, into any truly 'humanitarian' artificial intelligence. Also to an 'evil' intelligence, of course!
The quality of the writing is as high as the quality of Wolf's ideas. I am critical of the failure to make the most of the conspiracies within the plot, because the better employment of these elements would have made this an even better book. The villain was as clichéd and unsatisfactory as the hero was original and substantive. Perhaps Wolf is too frightened of his future upload becoming the victim of the evil in mankind to make the villain truly diabolic, powerful and likely to succeed.
This book is interesting, creative, intelligent, engaging, well-worth my time. Wolf is here very positive about near future developments in the non-biological reproduction of biological self. This individual, the biological me, found this book to be stimulating rather than exciting.
http://www.amazon.com/Mindclone-youre-brain-without-called-ebook/dp/B00BJWOHDE
[22] Redemption- Jacklyn A. Lo ~~~~ (Extract 47)
This has elements from a mix of genres; including supernatural, spiritual, romance, sci-fi, and speculative fiction. Overall, it is well written and very entertaining. I particularly enjoyed reading this as a series of short-stories, being only disappointed with the lack of connect between the science fiction, the regressive themes, and the end of the book.
The past lives are all exciting reads, though saddled with my common complaint that it is funny how more often than not past life memories are of infamous and famous events and times, rather than of ordinary lives. This makes for good entertainment, whilst reducing plot 'credibility'.
A-Lo, if this is 'future biography', certainly gets the Halo. However, the bar to reaching redemption is set so high that I'm quite sure I'd be stuck in Limbo, or Clapham, or Mean Street forever. Perhaps like most superb destinations the already resident wish to stop 'Heaven' getting too crowded. Only special friends of Michael may here enter. So if you want to get into this exclusive club you had better be pretty damn superhuman first.
This is a good read with a positive ending, which probably tips the book more into the romance genre than any other. There aren't any original plot elements here not that that is of much consequence except to those that devour books. There are signs enough that Lo is capable of writing more ambitious books, so she is an author I'll follow. I would like the opening and closing elements to be integrated better- especially in tying in the science fiction artificial soul, the strongest character in the book and the real 'romantic' lead, with final death and arrival at station Nirvana. As to the short-life stories, they are very entertaining both standing as independent reads and as a part of the overall theme. Written in clear and simple style, this is a very easy book to get into.
http://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Supernatural-Time-Traveling-Romance-Metaphysics-ebook/dp/B00LZ7PCVY
The past lives are all exciting reads, though saddled with my common complaint that it is funny how more often than not past life memories are of infamous and famous events and times, rather than of ordinary lives. This makes for good entertainment, whilst reducing plot 'credibility'.
A-Lo, if this is 'future biography', certainly gets the Halo. However, the bar to reaching redemption is set so high that I'm quite sure I'd be stuck in Limbo, or Clapham, or Mean Street forever. Perhaps like most superb destinations the already resident wish to stop 'Heaven' getting too crowded. Only special friends of Michael may here enter. So if you want to get into this exclusive club you had better be pretty damn superhuman first.
This is a good read with a positive ending, which probably tips the book more into the romance genre than any other. There aren't any original plot elements here not that that is of much consequence except to those that devour books. There are signs enough that Lo is capable of writing more ambitious books, so she is an author I'll follow. I would like the opening and closing elements to be integrated better- especially in tying in the science fiction artificial soul, the strongest character in the book and the real 'romantic' lead, with final death and arrival at station Nirvana. As to the short-life stories, they are very entertaining both standing as independent reads and as a part of the overall theme. Written in clear and simple style, this is a very easy book to get into.
http://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Supernatural-Time-Traveling-Romance-Metaphysics-ebook/dp/B00LZ7PCVY
[23] The Way Things Were- J. R. Rogers ~~~~ (Extract 52)
These short stories are like snapshots in time, the way things were in passing, not stories that conclude, but rather flashes of action that are left to run on in our own imaginations. There is a good diversity of main characters each with their own stories, stories painted with good supporting casts. There is a partial end point to a couple of the stories that strongly determines direction, but basically the reader is left with a great deal of adventure. These glimpses into other's lives are set in French, English and Spanish speaking environments. I'm sure that they reflect by degrees not only Rogers observations and also his own experiences across the world.
As with all collected works, some will interest any individual reader more than they will another. All though are enjoyable and encouraging of thought long after the book reading device has dropped into stand-by mode.
This is a short book, quality rather than quantity, and well worth the little it costs. I only ever read e books, so that is all I base value for money on. There are some really novel backdrops that give life to the stories; moments in interesting lives that are given penetrating depth by very good quality writing. I found enough variety that I could read the whole book as a one off. Actually I read in two or three sessions as I travelled. These are each fifteen minute reads for those that are fairly slow page flickers, just right for so many moments when it is we, ourselves, on standby.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if Rogers picks up a lot of readers for his novels from the thought waves generated by this collection.
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Were-Collected-Stories-ebook/dp/B00L76RWMA
As with all collected works, some will interest any individual reader more than they will another. All though are enjoyable and encouraging of thought long after the book reading device has dropped into stand-by mode.
This is a short book, quality rather than quantity, and well worth the little it costs. I only ever read e books, so that is all I base value for money on. There are some really novel backdrops that give life to the stories; moments in interesting lives that are given penetrating depth by very good quality writing. I found enough variety that I could read the whole book as a one off. Actually I read in two or three sessions as I travelled. These are each fifteen minute reads for those that are fairly slow page flickers, just right for so many moments when it is we, ourselves, on standby.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if Rogers picks up a lot of readers for his novels from the thought waves generated by this collection.
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Were-Collected-Stories-ebook/dp/B00L76RWMA
[24] King's Table- Travis Daniel Bow ~~~~ (Extract 57)
I haven't read Thane, the first in the sure to at least be trilogy, so I can confidently report that King's Table works very well as a standalone. This is fantasy fare that exists in some timeless parallel space between the invention of advanced metallic crafts and the end of the tyranny of kings, in a sort of fantasy "middle-ages". I believe it is reasonable to put this book in a "Game of Thrones" category genre, if that makes any sense to those familiar with Bow's writing as everyone apart from me sees to be familiar with George Martin's. This book is definitely suitable to all those competent enough and or likely to read it, in other words without containing passages of Games of Thrones 'adult fantasy'.
Bow is a more than competent writer with the skills to see through an interesting and complex plot. The two more than often go unmatched. My only criticism is that some of the timelines between different threads of the story were difficult for me to match, though that really didn't trip my enjoyment. I was particularly attracted by Bow's ability to write convincing fantasy without sudden recourse to strings of left of centre 'magic' technologies to rescue characters from cul-de-sacs in the story. This is a full length novel which maintains plenty of tension even when the plot becomes centred on military manoeuvres rather than character interaction. The story requires one to memorise quiet a lot, as some characters almost disappear between the chapters in which they are highlighted. So it probably doesn't pay to leave the book too long between readings. This is epic fantasy, with big visions in a vast vista running in parallel with the affairs of individuals. The character hopping is generally from chapter to chapter, so there can't really be too much structural criticism, but perhaps an index of characters and their main relationships would help especially for those that haven't recently read book one.
I didn't notice very often as I was immersed in the drama, but there are some strange word choices at times that raise an eyebrow. There is nothing so incoherent that it is going to hinder most people's enjoyment, but I felt that another line edit would have picked up many unintended sillies.
http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Table-Everknot-Duet-Book-ebook/dp/B00TOWT7KY
Bow is a more than competent writer with the skills to see through an interesting and complex plot. The two more than often go unmatched. My only criticism is that some of the timelines between different threads of the story were difficult for me to match, though that really didn't trip my enjoyment. I was particularly attracted by Bow's ability to write convincing fantasy without sudden recourse to strings of left of centre 'magic' technologies to rescue characters from cul-de-sacs in the story. This is a full length novel which maintains plenty of tension even when the plot becomes centred on military manoeuvres rather than character interaction. The story requires one to memorise quiet a lot, as some characters almost disappear between the chapters in which they are highlighted. So it probably doesn't pay to leave the book too long between readings. This is epic fantasy, with big visions in a vast vista running in parallel with the affairs of individuals. The character hopping is generally from chapter to chapter, so there can't really be too much structural criticism, but perhaps an index of characters and their main relationships would help especially for those that haven't recently read book one.
I didn't notice very often as I was immersed in the drama, but there are some strange word choices at times that raise an eyebrow. There is nothing so incoherent that it is going to hinder most people's enjoyment, but I felt that another line edit would have picked up many unintended sillies.
http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Table-Everknot-Duet-Book-ebook/dp/B00TOWT7KY
[25] Idyll- James Derry ~~~~ (Extract 66)
This is one of the best books of any genre I have read for some time. Idyll is very much at the intelligent end of speculative science fiction. The technologies, once you start to understand them, may seem thin on scientific logic, but the philosophical speculation behind the storytelling process is extremely stimulating. How unique Derry's vision is I couldn't possibly say, as there is just so much brilliant and diverse science fiction out there now that the publishing walls have tumbled, but what I can say is that Derry is a good writer and an even better storyteller. There are certainly a host of books that cross the divide between the 'Western' and Scifi, in fact a huge sway of modern SF and Sci-fi books and films owe much of there appeal to 'Space Western' themes but Derry's creation reads as very original to me. I don't think, oh yes, this author has borrowed from Orson Scott Card, Michael Crichton or Alice Mary Norton; not a bit of it. Rather I think that Derry has absorbed a great deal of visionary depth from such writers, remodelled it brilliantly, and is himself adding must read copy to future SF authors.
Apart from one particular continuity jump as the book started to build to completion which I felt needed a bit of smoothing, the plot line read very well. The interactions between the characters were truly fascinating. They would have worked in any genre setting. The book seems to have been finished with a sequel already well plotted. I hope that one soon emerges. Every now and again, at least for a while, one's favourite book becomes the one just finished. Derry has given me my recent favourite.
http://www.amazon.com/Idyll-The-Trilogy-Book-ebook/product-reviews/B016N475DQ
Apart from one particular continuity jump as the book started to build to completion which I felt needed a bit of smoothing, the plot line read very well. The interactions between the characters were truly fascinating. They would have worked in any genre setting. The book seems to have been finished with a sequel already well plotted. I hope that one soon emerges. Every now and again, at least for a while, one's favourite book becomes the one just finished. Derry has given me my recent favourite.
http://www.amazon.com/Idyll-The-Trilogy-Book-ebook/product-reviews/B016N475DQ
[26] The Theory of Irony- Erik Von Norden ~~~~ (Extract 67)
This history of the ridiculous is an extremely interesting and irreverent look at the antics of our ancestors. As I read I didn't get the theory bit, because historical action seems to defy any theorisation. Well, yes, that is kind of ironic! And it is certainly ironic that so often an action has the opposite effect to that intended. However, as for the word 'irony' in the title, far from all the happenings mentioned in the book, or even a majority, really coalesce around irony. As I progressed, it appeared to be the absence of logic, the incongruity of the action, the paradox, rather than the sometimes irony that was significant in the books subject matter? Though, I found some of the best material to be in passages where true irony was immediately clear to me. With a nod to the sub-title pf the book, it's certainly deeply ironic that the high point of the 'one small step' on the moon presently seems to distilled down to the swinging of a golf club in one sixth of Earth's gravity rather than in a 'giant step' into a God given future for mankind.
The history of man is certain overflowing with the absurd. Hindsight allows us to see tragic irony in so much of the pattern of historic incongruity. At finish, the point of the book for me finally emerged as the irony in the fact that it is impossible to find any consistency in history other than total inconsistency, chaos. Perhaps if I was less stupid I would have concluded that before I reached the end notes, or have I yet missed something deeper?
Norden imparts a great deal of information, all of which is referenced for those that wish to find out more, or to question his irreverent points. The historical events and often whimsical anecdotes are strung together in a logical chronology, with an occasional leap into the experiences of Norden himself. Usually these injections are amusing, though sometimes distracting. I definitely felt a strain between Norden as an academic thinker and him leaning towards writing an adult version of Sellar and Yeatman's humorous "1066 And All That". Personally, I couldn't get enough of the entertainer in Norden in his most cynical and humorous deductions. I look forward to reading more hapless history, or illogical law or pothead politics, all of which I'd be less than surprised to see appearing in print from Norden. I very much enjoyed this non-fiction that points out that fact is often more absurd than most fiction.
http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Irony-Jesus-Moon-Golf/dp/1515217965
The history of man is certain overflowing with the absurd. Hindsight allows us to see tragic irony in so much of the pattern of historic incongruity. At finish, the point of the book for me finally emerged as the irony in the fact that it is impossible to find any consistency in history other than total inconsistency, chaos. Perhaps if I was less stupid I would have concluded that before I reached the end notes, or have I yet missed something deeper?
Norden imparts a great deal of information, all of which is referenced for those that wish to find out more, or to question his irreverent points. The historical events and often whimsical anecdotes are strung together in a logical chronology, with an occasional leap into the experiences of Norden himself. Usually these injections are amusing, though sometimes distracting. I definitely felt a strain between Norden as an academic thinker and him leaning towards writing an adult version of Sellar and Yeatman's humorous "1066 And All That". Personally, I couldn't get enough of the entertainer in Norden in his most cynical and humorous deductions. I look forward to reading more hapless history, or illogical law or pothead politics, all of which I'd be less than surprised to see appearing in print from Norden. I very much enjoyed this non-fiction that points out that fact is often more absurd than most fiction.
http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Irony-Jesus-Moon-Golf/dp/1515217965
[27] The Lost Thorn- Joshua P. Aguayo ~~~~ (Extract)
First off, I wasn't happy with the flow of words because of unfamiliar use of English. I put that down to my age and culture and the fact that Aguayo is bilingual and probably leaning to a more formal Spanish than English Language schooling. There is also a steady flow of simple grammatical errors. Despite my concerns the book is very readable; I would never finish a book that wasn't. I hope this doesn't put you off reading but perhaps rather encourages Aguayo to employ additional editors.
The plot is very entertaining; with a good deal of what are to me very original ideas. The dystopian world that Aguayo creates is quite fascinating, and definitely fantastical rather than science factual. There are speculative fiction, cyberpunk, science fiction and fantasy elements in this story.
Reading a male author writing first person as a gay female drug addict is certainly unusual. My view that Aguayo was playing psychoanalyst on himself as though he was a still juvenile female, was certainly food for thought. Was I reading in too much to Sam's character, putting it closer to personal than it really is? Interesting authors are always complex people. Usually books written by men about such females break down into porno before the first chapter is completed. I warn both sides of the expectation line that the book never even comes close to anything pornographic, despite the choice of characters and some very earthy dialogue.
Some of the settings needed rather more big picture and in places even small detail description. What does Quito actually look like? Where are the colour pictures of the spells?
As a reader, I felt I was too often playing catch-up, rather than reading with a clear view. It is difficult to fully engage empathy when one's comprehension is always a few chapters behind the action. It is like trying to build the background to the person when they can only talk about their future. I guess that putting in enough connective storyline when the first person star was so rarely in a stable mind was extremely hard. However, at times the pictures needed to be a bit clearer before the reader was launched into the next phase of the story.
In this world, powered by thermal activity, where the gangs are so established that they've turned into local governments and the corporations have become so strong that they own governments, life is often brutal. Add to this, wizards with skills that Voldemort and Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books would have been proud of, and psychics, cyber robotics, advanced bionic surgery, and Mad Max type fight scenes; then one is starting to get some idea of the scope of this book. I latter read that he author makes a lot of the Latino setting, which I'm afraid went right over my head. If anywhere, apart from a few Spanish looking names, the setting could just as easily been Iceland.
Overall, this book certainly deserves five stars, especially for great insight into the psychosis of drug addiction, and the politics of marginalisation. The author certainly has a strong ability to write character, so it is a pity that his descriptive skills are less focused when it comes to building the scenery. I see this book as a first edit that needs some strong line-editing and some structural reworking. In short, a very entertaining book, that has the potential to be great.
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Thorn-Joshua-P-Aguayo/dp/1519707975
The plot is very entertaining; with a good deal of what are to me very original ideas. The dystopian world that Aguayo creates is quite fascinating, and definitely fantastical rather than science factual. There are speculative fiction, cyberpunk, science fiction and fantasy elements in this story.
Reading a male author writing first person as a gay female drug addict is certainly unusual. My view that Aguayo was playing psychoanalyst on himself as though he was a still juvenile female, was certainly food for thought. Was I reading in too much to Sam's character, putting it closer to personal than it really is? Interesting authors are always complex people. Usually books written by men about such females break down into porno before the first chapter is completed. I warn both sides of the expectation line that the book never even comes close to anything pornographic, despite the choice of characters and some very earthy dialogue.
Some of the settings needed rather more big picture and in places even small detail description. What does Quito actually look like? Where are the colour pictures of the spells?
As a reader, I felt I was too often playing catch-up, rather than reading with a clear view. It is difficult to fully engage empathy when one's comprehension is always a few chapters behind the action. It is like trying to build the background to the person when they can only talk about their future. I guess that putting in enough connective storyline when the first person star was so rarely in a stable mind was extremely hard. However, at times the pictures needed to be a bit clearer before the reader was launched into the next phase of the story.
In this world, powered by thermal activity, where the gangs are so established that they've turned into local governments and the corporations have become so strong that they own governments, life is often brutal. Add to this, wizards with skills that Voldemort and Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books would have been proud of, and psychics, cyber robotics, advanced bionic surgery, and Mad Max type fight scenes; then one is starting to get some idea of the scope of this book. I latter read that he author makes a lot of the Latino setting, which I'm afraid went right over my head. If anywhere, apart from a few Spanish looking names, the setting could just as easily been Iceland.
Overall, this book certainly deserves five stars, especially for great insight into the psychosis of drug addiction, and the politics of marginalisation. The author certainly has a strong ability to write character, so it is a pity that his descriptive skills are less focused when it comes to building the scenery. I see this book as a first edit that needs some strong line-editing and some structural reworking. In short, a very entertaining book, that has the potential to be great.
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Thorn-Joshua-P-Aguayo/dp/1519707975
[28] Christiana of Chibok- David Damey ~~~~ (Extract 84)
I enjoyed this high adrenalin short story, and yes there is no crime in that, but don’t ever forget to reflect on the truths told by fiction. That the subject matter uses the backdrop of the real story of the 276 abducted, imprisoned and abused girls, taken from their secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria, makes it deeply poignant.
I have no idea if any of the story is based on detailed fact, but am sure that all of it has been experienced in individual realities. That it represents well enough the actual conditions faced by the girls is evident enough from the reports that have seeped out. A number of these women, for that is what cruel life quickly made them, have got back to their homes, each, hopefully, to eventually find the strength to report their own harrowing experiences. However, as I write in October 2016 we hear that about 200 of the original group are still missing, as they have been for the last two and a half years.
I would like to think that this well written, powerful, drama, helps to raise the conscious of the world, though little seems too move governments to action unless there’s some promise of gaining political or economic influence. As a reader I assume that this Christiana is a fiction, though at least one girl of that name was taken. I hope all readers use the story as a spring-board towards finding out more, and then helping spread the word. Too few are doing enough to end the victims’ nightmare.
The writing is very exciting, and should be a disturbing, read for all of us that sleep comfortably at night. The action is centred on the bravery in one girl’s struggle to survive. Let all the screams be heard.
www.amazon.com/Christiana-Chibok-David-Damey-ebook/dp/B01LXTOQXF/
I have no idea if any of the story is based on detailed fact, but am sure that all of it has been experienced in individual realities. That it represents well enough the actual conditions faced by the girls is evident enough from the reports that have seeped out. A number of these women, for that is what cruel life quickly made them, have got back to their homes, each, hopefully, to eventually find the strength to report their own harrowing experiences. However, as I write in October 2016 we hear that about 200 of the original group are still missing, as they have been for the last two and a half years.
I would like to think that this well written, powerful, drama, helps to raise the conscious of the world, though little seems too move governments to action unless there’s some promise of gaining political or economic influence. As a reader I assume that this Christiana is a fiction, though at least one girl of that name was taken. I hope all readers use the story as a spring-board towards finding out more, and then helping spread the word. Too few are doing enough to end the victims’ nightmare.
The writing is very exciting, and should be a disturbing, read for all of us that sleep comfortably at night. The action is centred on the bravery in one girl’s struggle to survive. Let all the screams be heard.
www.amazon.com/Christiana-Chibok-David-Damey-ebook/dp/B01LXTOQXF/
[29] Dark Web Rising- Eugene T Schurter ~~~~ (Extract 85)
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, about young adults set in a world of internet espionage, hacking and quasi-legal government institutions. The young computer wizard that out hacks a ‘governmental’ hacker and then gets chased across the United States, only to be hidden by big business good guys, sounds a little trite. In fact, the story works well, and is very entertaining. I’m sure the author wrote this with younger readers in mind, but this sixty-year-old thoroughly enjoyed it. This would work well as a family entertainment film script.
The story is well written, though because I had slightly negative expectations it did take me a few chapters to get into it. Once I was on-board, I was hooked, and only too keen to find out how the story would be resolved. The plot is stretched beyond the credible in parts, rather overblowing both the ability of the young to be truly independent, and of the ability of even a young computer savant to be quite so talented. But then this is entertainment, in the best traditions of YA writing. This plot, about the youth that outwits the power of out of control secret forces within the state, is well written, and because of that, almost believable. There were rather too many typos in the Kindle version I read, but I’m sure they will be corrected at some stage. The subject matter is a little nerdy, but the adventure certainly isn’t. Being interested in coding and computer technologies certainly isn’t a requirement, especially as the plot is set a little in the future, looking at technological capabilities that are not yet quite here.
www.amazon.com/Dark-Web-Rising-Eugene-Schurter-ebook/dp/B01DGW15P2
The story is well written, though because I had slightly negative expectations it did take me a few chapters to get into it. Once I was on-board, I was hooked, and only too keen to find out how the story would be resolved. The plot is stretched beyond the credible in parts, rather overblowing both the ability of the young to be truly independent, and of the ability of even a young computer savant to be quite so talented. But then this is entertainment, in the best traditions of YA writing. This plot, about the youth that outwits the power of out of control secret forces within the state, is well written, and because of that, almost believable. There were rather too many typos in the Kindle version I read, but I’m sure they will be corrected at some stage. The subject matter is a little nerdy, but the adventure certainly isn’t. Being interested in coding and computer technologies certainly isn’t a requirement, especially as the plot is set a little in the future, looking at technological capabilities that are not yet quite here.
www.amazon.com/Dark-Web-Rising-Eugene-Schurter-ebook/dp/B01DGW15P2
[30] The Secret Sex Life of Angels- I. J. Weinstock ~~~~ (Extract 86)
The book deserves five stars, for being well written and entertaining. For those that need plot, this one is weak. The underlying reason for writing seems to be, at least partially, to do with selling a life-style, but one that isn’t close to any I can appreciate. I’m not a natural enthusiast for belief systems that put sexual love at the centre of life. So that you understand my own narrow views, to then be free to dismiss my words, I believe Freud was a fraud. Certainly, sex can be an obsession but it’s not ‘the fundamental’ building block of fulfilment and happiness and success. But sex is the essential, I hear you say. Well, yes, in a way, a vital ingredient. So, read the book.
Sex is certainly a more than significant line in some recent American presidential administrations. That is difficult to deny, when at least two modern presidents have been defined as much by their sexual antics as their policies. But could a tantric witch-doctor get so close to the president without them, or something, seeping out into the public domain?
I read of no angels, either mythical, spiritual, or even in the widest interpretation of the word. The title is certainly misleading. I was misled, expecting at least a dusting of an angelic rather than just tantric reading. The sex was as slow, and mentally dominating, as tantric implies, which was certainly a key point of the book—so, cleverly demonstrated. One aspect that the story did get so very correct, was the devastating effect of rape, the very antithesis of sexual love. And yes, a deep understanding of mental damage that it can do, and the psychological ways out, are very important. It is bad sex, not good, which really affects the course of the world.
As I said, plot is not the strength of this book, though there is fantastic potential in the ideas that the ‘mystics’ suddenly see no future. Why wasn’t the theme developed?
We hardly get any useful ideas about what makes the world tick. But, the book does tell a few home truths about sexual consciousness, which will entertain most adult minds. Cerebral content, as expected from this author, but rather more about the brain in the human phallus than the sexual lives of angels. And precious little is said about the possible real lives of earthbound movers and shakers in high political office, even though the main character is a new president of the United States.
www.amazon.com/Deliriously-Mental-E-W-Ryder-ebook/dp/B01I604KB0
Sex is certainly a more than significant line in some recent American presidential administrations. That is difficult to deny, when at least two modern presidents have been defined as much by their sexual antics as their policies. But could a tantric witch-doctor get so close to the president without them, or something, seeping out into the public domain?
I read of no angels, either mythical, spiritual, or even in the widest interpretation of the word. The title is certainly misleading. I was misled, expecting at least a dusting of an angelic rather than just tantric reading. The sex was as slow, and mentally dominating, as tantric implies, which was certainly a key point of the book—so, cleverly demonstrated. One aspect that the story did get so very correct, was the devastating effect of rape, the very antithesis of sexual love. And yes, a deep understanding of mental damage that it can do, and the psychological ways out, are very important. It is bad sex, not good, which really affects the course of the world.
As I said, plot is not the strength of this book, though there is fantastic potential in the ideas that the ‘mystics’ suddenly see no future. Why wasn’t the theme developed?
We hardly get any useful ideas about what makes the world tick. But, the book does tell a few home truths about sexual consciousness, which will entertain most adult minds. Cerebral content, as expected from this author, but rather more about the brain in the human phallus than the sexual lives of angels. And precious little is said about the possible real lives of earthbound movers and shakers in high political office, even though the main character is a new president of the United States.
www.amazon.com/Deliriously-Mental-E-W-Ryder-ebook/dp/B01I604KB0
[31] Caligation- Brhi Stokes ~~~~ (Extract 106)
The main character, Ripley, believes himself to be in a dream. The reader needs to buy-in as the focus shifts towards the dream being a new reality; a very strange one, but reality nevertheless. This either works for one, or it doesn’t. I am reasonably good at suspending belief, however, this story lost a good deal of its ‘believability’ for me. The book has some excellent reviews, so probably I am unusual. From the point at which I felt obliged to see the story as more than the telling of a dream I could no longer make any sense of the animal effigias attached to every semi-human. For me, fantasy needs to at least hold a thin string to scientific and/or philosophical plausibility. The buy-in isn’t helped by some serious structural problem with the book. The constant and insufficiently marked point of view changes, head-hopping, is very distracting. Often all we get is a line-break between the thinking and actions of varied changing characters, which often flicks to different locations and time frames. Then on top of that we have the confusion of the characters twinned animals communicating telephonically, with the warning of italics, but again without clear point of view direction. There are quite a few ungrammatical links between phrases, which sometimes jolted my progress. They didn’t distract me for more than a moment, as the story’s buzz was so good. However, the liaison between sentences doesn’t always bear up well under scrutiny.
The book could be improved dramatically by simply employing different typeface for different species, so helping one with the shifting scenes and characters. Changes in physical script would have also helped to give a greater variety of voice. Okay- this sort of typeface manipulation is frowned on by many literary purists, as of course traditional standards of grammar and sentence construction can make any point of view shift perfectly clear, but I think that this book is a case in point for the use of such devices. There is such a complexity of ‘communication’ between the characters, and a such a strong requirement in the writing style to shift focus quickly, that I think a mix of unorthodox cues for the reader is entirely justifiable.
So why then am I actually very positive, able to report that I enjoyed the book so much? Well, clearly it could be a lot better with a comprehensive rewrite. However, this is great entertainment. I had no trouble in finishing the book, when usually with so many structural faults I would have abandoned it very early on. Stokes’s writing draws very clear pictures and plenty of colour. I got a very strong sense of what her strange creation looks and feels like. The story and the speculative thinking behind the book is strong, bringing together many mythological ideas and rebuilding them in an intriguing way. With comprehensive editing this could become a really good fantasy novel rather than just a really good story. The ending is very thought provoking. I liked that very much.
www.amazon.com/Caligation-Brhi-Stokes-ebook/dp/B073CR8FV2
The book could be improved dramatically by simply employing different typeface for different species, so helping one with the shifting scenes and characters. Changes in physical script would have also helped to give a greater variety of voice. Okay- this sort of typeface manipulation is frowned on by many literary purists, as of course traditional standards of grammar and sentence construction can make any point of view shift perfectly clear, but I think that this book is a case in point for the use of such devices. There is such a complexity of ‘communication’ between the characters, and a such a strong requirement in the writing style to shift focus quickly, that I think a mix of unorthodox cues for the reader is entirely justifiable.
So why then am I actually very positive, able to report that I enjoyed the book so much? Well, clearly it could be a lot better with a comprehensive rewrite. However, this is great entertainment. I had no trouble in finishing the book, when usually with so many structural faults I would have abandoned it very early on. Stokes’s writing draws very clear pictures and plenty of colour. I got a very strong sense of what her strange creation looks and feels like. The story and the speculative thinking behind the book is strong, bringing together many mythological ideas and rebuilding them in an intriguing way. With comprehensive editing this could become a really good fantasy novel rather than just a really good story. The ending is very thought provoking. I liked that very much.
www.amazon.com/Caligation-Brhi-Stokes-ebook/dp/B073CR8FV2
[32] Kings of Paradise- Richard Nell ~~~~ (Extract 107)
Using stars, if books can ever be fairly classified in such a blunt way, this book requires five.
The first thing to note is that there isn’t much paradise here, even in the relatively mild climatic conditions of the south. Secondly, there are kings, legions of princes and princesses, and every kind of human ogre, and all have very tough lives, many characters hardly rising above the shitpits of crude existence. Generally, this is a story about the brutish nature of humanity, seen in the evil waves of real history and not just in these dystopian pages. The knife cuts every bit as deeply, with just as much pain, as in any human conflict. Little of it is truly fantastical, though we get a glimpse of fantasy spells in the final chapters, though nothing as far-fetched as fire breathing dragons in the first long tome of this eventual trilogy. The overall tone of the book is a plausible if dark read, and not at all one I recognise as fantasy genre. In fact, when fantasy elements crept in they didn’t seem to fit well at all. The balance of reality and wizardry is not my biggest problem here though, that being the overall weight of words.
There are two excellent 80,000 word stories in this long volume, plus 40,000 words of material to save for later. The quality of the writing easily sustained this reader, but as two books in a series, one about the south and one about the north, what is good reading could have been brilliant. The two main stories might be better weaved separately in the proposed series of books, rather than threading separately around each section by section. A minor grievance, as is often the case with indie authors, is that the editing isn’t always quite up to the quality of the descriptive writing, but all in all the production is very good. Some sections of the book, which may have faced late rewrites, are certainly less well chiselled.
I can see one reason for putting all this into one book, that being because the story of Ruka is just too bleak even for the dark side of grimdark, however that could be lightened considerably without losing the terror in his character. The story of the priestesses could easily be written lightly enough to act as a counterfoil, which to some degree it is anyway. I have to admit that a book focused simply on Ruka would have many readers reaching into their drug cabinet.
As mentioned, the book moves further from a classic dystopian genre towards fantasy as the abilities of Kale ‘mature’. In my view the ‘game of thrones’ feel of the script is strong enough without superpowers, and certainly Nell writes great storylines that really don’t need the escapology of supernatural talents. Exaggerated human skills, even out of body experiences, fit the foundations of the book’s world very well, but the creeping in abilities of Nordic gods, in my opinion, don’t.
My interested was sustained, I really wanted to get to the conclusion. However, when the end came we had already passed several far more powerful climaxes. That was certainly a disappointment, if one that isn’t uncommon in planned trilogies. Authors need to hold back some storylines of course, but the biggest ‘bang’ in every book in a series should be in its final chapters.
Would I read more by this author? Yes, for sure. But also note that I already feel I’ve read at least two of his books.
www.amazon.com/Kings-Paradise-Ash-Sand-Book-ebook/dp/B074PD12C3
The first thing to note is that there isn’t much paradise here, even in the relatively mild climatic conditions of the south. Secondly, there are kings, legions of princes and princesses, and every kind of human ogre, and all have very tough lives, many characters hardly rising above the shitpits of crude existence. Generally, this is a story about the brutish nature of humanity, seen in the evil waves of real history and not just in these dystopian pages. The knife cuts every bit as deeply, with just as much pain, as in any human conflict. Little of it is truly fantastical, though we get a glimpse of fantasy spells in the final chapters, though nothing as far-fetched as fire breathing dragons in the first long tome of this eventual trilogy. The overall tone of the book is a plausible if dark read, and not at all one I recognise as fantasy genre. In fact, when fantasy elements crept in they didn’t seem to fit well at all. The balance of reality and wizardry is not my biggest problem here though, that being the overall weight of words.
There are two excellent 80,000 word stories in this long volume, plus 40,000 words of material to save for later. The quality of the writing easily sustained this reader, but as two books in a series, one about the south and one about the north, what is good reading could have been brilliant. The two main stories might be better weaved separately in the proposed series of books, rather than threading separately around each section by section. A minor grievance, as is often the case with indie authors, is that the editing isn’t always quite up to the quality of the descriptive writing, but all in all the production is very good. Some sections of the book, which may have faced late rewrites, are certainly less well chiselled.
I can see one reason for putting all this into one book, that being because the story of Ruka is just too bleak even for the dark side of grimdark, however that could be lightened considerably without losing the terror in his character. The story of the priestesses could easily be written lightly enough to act as a counterfoil, which to some degree it is anyway. I have to admit that a book focused simply on Ruka would have many readers reaching into their drug cabinet.
As mentioned, the book moves further from a classic dystopian genre towards fantasy as the abilities of Kale ‘mature’. In my view the ‘game of thrones’ feel of the script is strong enough without superpowers, and certainly Nell writes great storylines that really don’t need the escapology of supernatural talents. Exaggerated human skills, even out of body experiences, fit the foundations of the book’s world very well, but the creeping in abilities of Nordic gods, in my opinion, don’t.
My interested was sustained, I really wanted to get to the conclusion. However, when the end came we had already passed several far more powerful climaxes. That was certainly a disappointment, if one that isn’t uncommon in planned trilogies. Authors need to hold back some storylines of course, but the biggest ‘bang’ in every book in a series should be in its final chapters.
Would I read more by this author? Yes, for sure. But also note that I already feel I’ve read at least two of his books.
www.amazon.com/Kings-Paradise-Ash-Sand-Book-ebook/dp/B074PD12C3
[33] Matriarchs: Eliza's Revenge- Susan McDonough-Wachtman ~~~~ (Extract 108)
A light-hearted, entertaining post-feminist twist from a committed feminist writer?
I’m not sure that McDonough-Wachtman would accept that as an even partly accurate statement, but that was the sense of her writer that reading Eliza’s Revenge gave me. It is nice to read books from her generation of feminist writers that manage to be affirmative for women, while accepting that female governance doesn’t naturally take the thorns off pink-tinted roses, or indeed those blooms of any other hue. Men in this story are still agonists but, refreshingly, at least not protagonists.
We are some way in the future, with a story that is set on a female controlled planet. This world’s environment is well governed by its women, though from the human perspective in a rather worryingly narrow ‘religiously’ organised way. The whole planet has the feel of being moulded by a tree-hugging, socialist, governance of pagan feminist priestesses. This is certainly no utopia, though we begin with that expectation. There are sinister undertones of unnatural practices and manipulation of male genetic characteristics. The men of this planet are now as female as Barbie Dolls, while some of the women certainly aren’t all ‘sugar and spice’ humanists.
The writing is rather head-hoppy which doesn’t help the flow of the story, but the overall read is entertaining. Whether philosophical thought really stretches from entertainment into a substantive speculation I can’t really decide. Certainly, there are some important pointers about the directions humanity might move in, and the subsequent effects. The science fiction is a story enabler, rather than a serious framework; a fantasy setting in which to play with social perspective. Where one is obliged to give stars then I would give five, for the overall readability and quality, even if these stars twinkle rather than shine a consistent and penetrating bright light.
I got the sense that McDonough-Wachtman is capable of writing with a great deal more ambition than she showed here. Far too many corners were cut with a convenient fantastical twist, and the tone was far too tongue-in-cheek to give any hard bite to the plot. This is a general readers book, not a genre scifi, and though it may well be appealing to rather more female than male readers that really isn’t a defining quality. The point that a matriarchy is no more capable of maintaining utopia from subversion than a patriarchy is well made.
www.amazon.com/Matriarchs-Elizas-Revenge-Susan-McDonough-Wachtman-ebook/dp/B011ACJRFK
I’m not sure that McDonough-Wachtman would accept that as an even partly accurate statement, but that was the sense of her writer that reading Eliza’s Revenge gave me. It is nice to read books from her generation of feminist writers that manage to be affirmative for women, while accepting that female governance doesn’t naturally take the thorns off pink-tinted roses, or indeed those blooms of any other hue. Men in this story are still agonists but, refreshingly, at least not protagonists.
We are some way in the future, with a story that is set on a female controlled planet. This world’s environment is well governed by its women, though from the human perspective in a rather worryingly narrow ‘religiously’ organised way. The whole planet has the feel of being moulded by a tree-hugging, socialist, governance of pagan feminist priestesses. This is certainly no utopia, though we begin with that expectation. There are sinister undertones of unnatural practices and manipulation of male genetic characteristics. The men of this planet are now as female as Barbie Dolls, while some of the women certainly aren’t all ‘sugar and spice’ humanists.
The writing is rather head-hoppy which doesn’t help the flow of the story, but the overall read is entertaining. Whether philosophical thought really stretches from entertainment into a substantive speculation I can’t really decide. Certainly, there are some important pointers about the directions humanity might move in, and the subsequent effects. The science fiction is a story enabler, rather than a serious framework; a fantasy setting in which to play with social perspective. Where one is obliged to give stars then I would give five, for the overall readability and quality, even if these stars twinkle rather than shine a consistent and penetrating bright light.
I got the sense that McDonough-Wachtman is capable of writing with a great deal more ambition than she showed here. Far too many corners were cut with a convenient fantastical twist, and the tone was far too tongue-in-cheek to give any hard bite to the plot. This is a general readers book, not a genre scifi, and though it may well be appealing to rather more female than male readers that really isn’t a defining quality. The point that a matriarchy is no more capable of maintaining utopia from subversion than a patriarchy is well made.
www.amazon.com/Matriarchs-Elizas-Revenge-Susan-McDonough-Wachtman-ebook/dp/B011ACJRFK
[34] Execution of Justice- Patrick Dent ~~~~ (Extract 109)
This is an action-packed thriller centred around themes of white slavery, 1970s middle-eastern politics, military undercover operations, crime, psychological damage and revenge. It is very fast paced, fast enough to be an action-packed blockbuster film without the book-gutting re-write. The writing is immediate, easy, generally well composed and professionally edited. And boy, is it both far-fetched and time-evaporating exciting. Yes, this is very much a ‘boys with guns’ action book, ably supported by a couple of powerful female characters that almost make it to being main-characters. John Drake fights two major protagonists, the first being a cruel and dominating father and the other the classic man of evil, as close to the devil that Homo sapiens gens can conjure.
The plot is clever enough, though the quickly obtained Rambo skills of the ‘good guys’ team are certainly implausible. Some of the violence is very graphic, so be warned, but no worse than one seen in over 18 category action films. The written words bite depends, as it always does, on the pictures the reader chooses to visualise. At least it is easier to tune out of graphic detail in a book than while watching a film.
I really enjoyed this book, which delivers exactly what the hype suggests it should. One just has to suspend belief a touch or two. The hard men are hardly slowed by broken ribs or ruptured ligaments, and have powerful enough auras to keep away a storm of bullets. Fortunately, in the end, the baddies are all a touch weaker than the ‘better guys’. Some may also doubt the plausibility of certain actions sanctioned by ‘friendly’ political and military forces. However, on that score, my view is that Dent is entirely accurate. It isn’t only one’s enemies that are expendable even in are major democracies. There is only one plot aspect I thought didn’t fit, that concerns the behaviour of John senior mid-way through the book. I won’t risk a spoiler other than by adding that devious and life-risking manipulation of the son by the father became rather incredulous.
This is a great week-end read. Thriller writing done well.
www.amazon.com/Execution-Justice-Military-Assassination-Thriller-ebook/dp/B004JN0D2Y
The plot is clever enough, though the quickly obtained Rambo skills of the ‘good guys’ team are certainly implausible. Some of the violence is very graphic, so be warned, but no worse than one seen in over 18 category action films. The written words bite depends, as it always does, on the pictures the reader chooses to visualise. At least it is easier to tune out of graphic detail in a book than while watching a film.
I really enjoyed this book, which delivers exactly what the hype suggests it should. One just has to suspend belief a touch or two. The hard men are hardly slowed by broken ribs or ruptured ligaments, and have powerful enough auras to keep away a storm of bullets. Fortunately, in the end, the baddies are all a touch weaker than the ‘better guys’. Some may also doubt the plausibility of certain actions sanctioned by ‘friendly’ political and military forces. However, on that score, my view is that Dent is entirely accurate. It isn’t only one’s enemies that are expendable even in are major democracies. There is only one plot aspect I thought didn’t fit, that concerns the behaviour of John senior mid-way through the book. I won’t risk a spoiler other than by adding that devious and life-risking manipulation of the son by the father became rather incredulous.
This is a great week-end read. Thriller writing done well.
www.amazon.com/Execution-Justice-Military-Assassination-Thriller-ebook/dp/B004JN0D2Y
[35] Lance: A Spirit Unbroken- Walter Stoffel ~~~~ (Extract 130)
This is a good dog lover’s read, which may require the grabbing of a box of tissues before one reads to the inevitable end.
One of the strongest features of this book is that it is undoubtedly one hundred percent true. One knows that every incident happened just like that, without Stoffel being drawn into even plumping up the truth. We get a feel for exactly what it is like, not just living with a headstrong dog but one that has been severely damaged by past treatment. We can’t help but appreciate what a commitment any dog, let alone a Lance was. The sad thing is that, it is those that don’t appreciate animals that would most benefit from reading this book. In reality, most readers are going to be committed dog lovers who understand the sentient nature of the creatures. This is the sort of book that should be required reading for those planning on having a dog as a pet. Many of the manifest problems in Lance are extreme, but they are common to all dogs by degree. Collies, especially pure bred/inbred ones, quite plausibly because they are particularly intelligent dogs, are prone to psychotic behaviour.
I was drawn to remember the intelligently calm behaviour of George the sheepdog, in the closing years of a tough life, in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’, as contrasted with George’s son, the over-excitable and scatty younger dog that may have been born with a touch of madness. In human terms, I believe we might say that the first ten years of Lance’s tough life left him with a containable but incurable schizophrenia, even if he was as potentially well-adjusted as George when he was born. Humans are no different. Once driven to madness there is often no road that leads to a full recovery. The author and his wife did all they could to give Lance a stable and loving home. I draw attention to this classic 19th Century book to demonstrate that
Chapter by chapter, this read is very entertaining. I am though critical of the quantity of repetition and back-peddling. There were too many times when the author seemed to be say, ‘Oh, that reminds me of something earlier’, and then proceeds to run back to an earlier point in the chronology. In the end, that is a minor criticism though temporarily distracting.
Stoffel’s writing style makes for easy reading. My overall thoughs on reaching the end were of pleasure in having been so well entertained. Of course, the story contains a lot of sadness when inevitably the end of the book was also the end of the line for Lance. I have little doubt that the author was changed more by their tight companionship than was ever the dog.
www.amazon.com/Lance-Spirit-Unbroken-walter-stoffel-ebook/dp/B01LZWMUF2
One of the strongest features of this book is that it is undoubtedly one hundred percent true. One knows that every incident happened just like that, without Stoffel being drawn into even plumping up the truth. We get a feel for exactly what it is like, not just living with a headstrong dog but one that has been severely damaged by past treatment. We can’t help but appreciate what a commitment any dog, let alone a Lance was. The sad thing is that, it is those that don’t appreciate animals that would most benefit from reading this book. In reality, most readers are going to be committed dog lovers who understand the sentient nature of the creatures. This is the sort of book that should be required reading for those planning on having a dog as a pet. Many of the manifest problems in Lance are extreme, but they are common to all dogs by degree. Collies, especially pure bred/inbred ones, quite plausibly because they are particularly intelligent dogs, are prone to psychotic behaviour.
I was drawn to remember the intelligently calm behaviour of George the sheepdog, in the closing years of a tough life, in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’, as contrasted with George’s son, the over-excitable and scatty younger dog that may have been born with a touch of madness. In human terms, I believe we might say that the first ten years of Lance’s tough life left him with a containable but incurable schizophrenia, even if he was as potentially well-adjusted as George when he was born. Humans are no different. Once driven to madness there is often no road that leads to a full recovery. The author and his wife did all they could to give Lance a stable and loving home. I draw attention to this classic 19th Century book to demonstrate that
Chapter by chapter, this read is very entertaining. I am though critical of the quantity of repetition and back-peddling. There were too many times when the author seemed to be say, ‘Oh, that reminds me of something earlier’, and then proceeds to run back to an earlier point in the chronology. In the end, that is a minor criticism though temporarily distracting.
Stoffel’s writing style makes for easy reading. My overall thoughs on reaching the end were of pleasure in having been so well entertained. Of course, the story contains a lot of sadness when inevitably the end of the book was also the end of the line for Lance. I have little doubt that the author was changed more by their tight companionship than was ever the dog.
www.amazon.com/Lance-Spirit-Unbroken-walter-stoffel-ebook/dp/B01LZWMUF2
[36] The Last Days of Night- Graham Moore ~~~~ (Extract 131)
I found this to be a very entertaining read, which helped give me a real feel for the period when the electricity cables started to connect the cities and then towns of North America. Moore did a great job of invoking a sense of place and time. I felt the magic of those times, so appropriately generated, by profound technological progress. The alchemy of turning night to day was of an order of wonder only matched in my lifetime by the Apollo missions to the Moon.
My difficulty with this reading is small and to many will seem pedantic. That being my strong preference that writers of historical fiction never play fast and loose with the known timelines of events. Facts and the time on which they act should be sacrosanct in the reporting of history. The writer should only weave his fiction, his story, on the solid framework of all commonly accepted truth. He may of course dispute details if there is a case to be argued, such that perhaps in one infamous earlier history ‘the princes weren’t suffocated in the Tower of London’ and Richard III didn’t have the extreme deformity reported by Shakespeare. However, to condense and distort events is to rip deep slashes into the fabric of the past.
This book, despite telling the story so well can finally stand only as an entertainment; a first class one, an informative one, but mere entertainment nevertheless.
Crude measure of a book should be awarded simply on the qualities of the writing, and so giving less than five stars where such banality is demanded would be disingenuous indeed.
www.amazon.com/Last-Days-Night-Novel/dp/0812988922
My difficulty with this reading is small and to many will seem pedantic. That being my strong preference that writers of historical fiction never play fast and loose with the known timelines of events. Facts and the time on which they act should be sacrosanct in the reporting of history. The writer should only weave his fiction, his story, on the solid framework of all commonly accepted truth. He may of course dispute details if there is a case to be argued, such that perhaps in one infamous earlier history ‘the princes weren’t suffocated in the Tower of London’ and Richard III didn’t have the extreme deformity reported by Shakespeare. However, to condense and distort events is to rip deep slashes into the fabric of the past.
This book, despite telling the story so well can finally stand only as an entertainment; a first class one, an informative one, but mere entertainment nevertheless.
Crude measure of a book should be awarded simply on the qualities of the writing, and so giving less than five stars where such banality is demanded would be disingenuous indeed.
www.amazon.com/Last-Days-Night-Novel/dp/0812988922
[37] The Crimson Heirlooms- Hunter Dennis ~~~~ (Extract 132)
This historical fiction reads more like a book written in the 19th Century than one written in our time, which says something for the quality of the Dennis’s creativeness. One must qualify that by pointing out that there is a great deal of modern rather than 19th Century word usage and sentence structure, but for the modern reader that simply sharpens understanding, rather than detracting from the historic placement. Time shifting word patterns have often give even the greatest literature from past centuries a turgid heaviness. So I think the author was right to not too deeply play his use of 19th century ‘building materials’.
As one is absorbed in the series of period specific vignettes, which make up the book, the descriptive detail effortlessly levers imagination back through time. I would find it hard to believe that Dennis hasn’t read a great many of the classic fictions from the period, allowing his writing to absorb something of those famous authors tones. The modern reader needs to be warned that this book also has a slow rhythm, is very long descriptive detail and has a primary plot that is almost an irrelevance. What Davis does do with a certain brilliance is draw us to the ‘atmospheres’, the social drama, the real histories, of the 18th and 19th centuries.
My strongest criticism is firstly that the book is overlong, being at least two good-sized reads in one, and that, secondly, I see no value in flicking backwards and forwards in time. The later confused me, causing a struggle to put together the jigsaw of characters and events. I am, I’m sure, hampered by being a particularly slow reader, so necessitating many periods of reading interwoven with the demands of my real world. Particularly with my memory being far short of excellent, I was too often left half drowned. The book is far too long for all but a few to read at one or even two concentrated sittings. I would love to see this book reengineered into a simple linear chronology.
Overall, it would be most ingenuous of me not to give this book five of those ridiculous stars. However, I feel this reads more like a work in progress than a finished article. This is the first part of a series, but that doesn’t mean that this volume is correctly ended in adagio rather than climatic allegro. The read finishes with an intellectual plot resolution of sorts, but with none of the fortissimo that some earlier episodes in the book achieved. In short, a wonderful read that is somewhat spoiled by a lack of input from a good content editor.
www.amazon.com/Crimson-Heirlooms-Hunter-Dennis-ebook/dp/B0796LMFB5
As one is absorbed in the series of period specific vignettes, which make up the book, the descriptive detail effortlessly levers imagination back through time. I would find it hard to believe that Dennis hasn’t read a great many of the classic fictions from the period, allowing his writing to absorb something of those famous authors tones. The modern reader needs to be warned that this book also has a slow rhythm, is very long descriptive detail and has a primary plot that is almost an irrelevance. What Davis does do with a certain brilliance is draw us to the ‘atmospheres’, the social drama, the real histories, of the 18th and 19th centuries.
My strongest criticism is firstly that the book is overlong, being at least two good-sized reads in one, and that, secondly, I see no value in flicking backwards and forwards in time. The later confused me, causing a struggle to put together the jigsaw of characters and events. I am, I’m sure, hampered by being a particularly slow reader, so necessitating many periods of reading interwoven with the demands of my real world. Particularly with my memory being far short of excellent, I was too often left half drowned. The book is far too long for all but a few to read at one or even two concentrated sittings. I would love to see this book reengineered into a simple linear chronology.
Overall, it would be most ingenuous of me not to give this book five of those ridiculous stars. However, I feel this reads more like a work in progress than a finished article. This is the first part of a series, but that doesn’t mean that this volume is correctly ended in adagio rather than climatic allegro. The read finishes with an intellectual plot resolution of sorts, but with none of the fortissimo that some earlier episodes in the book achieved. In short, a wonderful read that is somewhat spoiled by a lack of input from a good content editor.
www.amazon.com/Crimson-Heirlooms-Hunter-Dennis-ebook/dp/B0796LMFB5
[38] Reflections of Me- Michael Jennings ~~~~ (Extract 133)
This is a gentle book, written by an old-fashioned gentleman of a certain age. There is some sexual content, but this isn’t for those that like to read gritty passion. This is a reflective, quiet entertainment that has a lot to say about normal human relationships and typical life issues. A constant theme is Attention Deficit Disorder, and especially its impact on one, I assume to be totally fictional, adolescent boy. This is not a racy book in any sense, but it is a worthwhile read. As the package says, it is as much about the author, as it does about the characters Jennings populates this book with.
The content is well written, with a minor criticism that some of the characters descriptions are rather over-laboured. On the benefit side, we don’t spend half the book struggling to place ‘similar as’ characters. The principle players are beautifully drawn, brought very much to life, in Jennings easy-flow, simple, prose. I have know the author through social media, over a number of years. We even collaborated on a very thin-on-words, stocking-filler type of joke book. I can assure you that my review is honest and genuine and for no favour, while excepting entirely your freedom to question its value. We have never met in the real world.
https://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Me-Michael-R-Jennings-ebook/dp/B07LFQM5ZL
The content is well written, with a minor criticism that some of the characters descriptions are rather over-laboured. On the benefit side, we don’t spend half the book struggling to place ‘similar as’ characters. The principle players are beautifully drawn, brought very much to life, in Jennings easy-flow, simple, prose. I have know the author through social media, over a number of years. We even collaborated on a very thin-on-words, stocking-filler type of joke book. I can assure you that my review is honest and genuine and for no favour, while excepting entirely your freedom to question its value. We have never met in the real world.
https://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Me-Michael-R-Jennings-ebook/dp/B07LFQM5ZL
[39] Memory Factory: Heist of the Century- Russ Golish ~~~~ (Extract 134)
Golish has produced a technically well-written science fiction, based on near future power politics and warfare. The twist with a difference is the medical enhancement of two rival leaders brain function; enhancements that has been compromised by the Perfect Recall team for a third superpower. Doctored memories are replayed in the protagonists’ minds, upsetting mental balance and so altering tactical decisions. One is eventually driven to a mental and physical breakdown, but only after his has ruined any chance of military success.
We are in a post polar ice-caped world, which has managed to maintain current levels of technology, but at great cost to humanity. The world is in power blocks based on existing geopolitical realities, projected forward through the growing climate and general environmental crisis. The blocks are in an almost constant state of military rivalry that breaks out into regional war. The book has very much a male mindset, relying to a high degree on the escalation to war to drive the drama.
Note that that Golish concentrates his words on building his political and technological space in near future time rather than on looking deeply into the characters than populate the story. There are spells of character development of at least two or three of the main players, though more would help emotional buy-in, for at least this reader. Many of the cast are one dimensional, so the opening ‘dramatis personae’ is useful if one loses the plot. Despite some difficulty in developing any emotional connection with individuals the book has an exciting build. There is a balanced mix of near future technology and familiar superpower real politic and warcraft. I found no flaws in the plot, or in its execution; allowing for medical and technological inventions that are, for now at least, science fiction. Some of the content Is written a little long, and even superfluous. Deep description can be welcomed if one is building empathy or disdain for individuals. It is demanding of concentration here where the detail of technology and plot dominates.
This book is intended to be a pacesetter for a series of books based on mind enhancing technology. This should excuse some of the over-writing in the first outing. I really enjoyed reading this book, and his rather dystopian take on the future, aren’t they all. It is certainly worth five of those stupid stars that seem designed to empower those that relish doing more harm than good, by so woefully reducing every aspect of a book to individual reader’s taste. Five gold ‘kisses’ doesn’t mean this work couldn’t be made better if the author worked with a suitably exacting content editor. Or else, Golash like so many new writers, needs to play his own devil’s advocate much harder. The unknown, unconnected, independent author is usually highly financially constrained, making the job of producing first-class books far more difficult than it is for the very few, usually ‘known’ insiders, who manage to get big publisher support. That doesn’t mean we ‘the unlauded’ shouldn’t strive for perfection. Copy editing errors mostly relate to verb tense selection and lack of full liaison between some sentences.
This book deserves to be read and positively reviewed. I very much look forward to the next instalment.
https://www.amazon.com/Memory-Factory-Century-Russ-Golish-ebook/dp/B07SMPNZTS
We are in a post polar ice-caped world, which has managed to maintain current levels of technology, but at great cost to humanity. The world is in power blocks based on existing geopolitical realities, projected forward through the growing climate and general environmental crisis. The blocks are in an almost constant state of military rivalry that breaks out into regional war. The book has very much a male mindset, relying to a high degree on the escalation to war to drive the drama.
Note that that Golish concentrates his words on building his political and technological space in near future time rather than on looking deeply into the characters than populate the story. There are spells of character development of at least two or three of the main players, though more would help emotional buy-in, for at least this reader. Many of the cast are one dimensional, so the opening ‘dramatis personae’ is useful if one loses the plot. Despite some difficulty in developing any emotional connection with individuals the book has an exciting build. There is a balanced mix of near future technology and familiar superpower real politic and warcraft. I found no flaws in the plot, or in its execution; allowing for medical and technological inventions that are, for now at least, science fiction. Some of the content Is written a little long, and even superfluous. Deep description can be welcomed if one is building empathy or disdain for individuals. It is demanding of concentration here where the detail of technology and plot dominates.
This book is intended to be a pacesetter for a series of books based on mind enhancing technology. This should excuse some of the over-writing in the first outing. I really enjoyed reading this book, and his rather dystopian take on the future, aren’t they all. It is certainly worth five of those stupid stars that seem designed to empower those that relish doing more harm than good, by so woefully reducing every aspect of a book to individual reader’s taste. Five gold ‘kisses’ doesn’t mean this work couldn’t be made better if the author worked with a suitably exacting content editor. Or else, Golash like so many new writers, needs to play his own devil’s advocate much harder. The unknown, unconnected, independent author is usually highly financially constrained, making the job of producing first-class books far more difficult than it is for the very few, usually ‘known’ insiders, who manage to get big publisher support. That doesn’t mean we ‘the unlauded’ shouldn’t strive for perfection. Copy editing errors mostly relate to verb tense selection and lack of full liaison between some sentences.
This book deserves to be read and positively reviewed. I very much look forward to the next instalment.
https://www.amazon.com/Memory-Factory-Century-Russ-Golish-ebook/dp/B07SMPNZTS