Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Review "Bred" by Darryl Branning

Title: Bred
Author: Darryl Branning
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "Demel was bred for power, born into slavery, and lives in the city of sorcery. His talent for remaining unnoticed allows him to grow into, and master, his power. But when he frees himself from a powerful control curse, he releases a storm of events which threatens all of Lyn. Demel, and his sometimes reluctant allies, are the only ones who can stop a thousand years of violence and oppression."
Source: I purchased this myself.


Review: This book was really good. My housework got done late today, because of this book.


It wasn't quite perfect. There was some world building and politic details that played big parts in the finale scenes that I thought should have been foreshadowed earlier. And despite the professional editor, there was quite a few edits missed. The beginning wandered a little bit, for my tastes.


Oh, and I am not happy with the author about one of Thamus' actions. (You'll know it when you read it.) *shakes menacing finger*


...and YET. The narrator, the characters, the world, the plot were all engaging and active enough that I didn't care about the "defects" and was glued to my ereader. I really liked all of it. I found some of the characters complex and some straightforward, yet only as I wished. (Characters I wanted to be straightforward were, and characters I didn't mind being twisty were.)


The world was quite fascinating. I really liked what the author did with the Prologue and Epilogue set-up, although I didn't "get it" until the Epilogue.


And I had to laugh, my apologies to the author, at the Glossary. It was useful, though still missed a couple titles I wanted better explanations for, but there was one part that looked like something Branning meant to go back to and fix before publishing and didn't. Namely, the wrong name of a father's character beside the son's name with a ? beside it. The name with ? was the name of one of the gods, but the father was correctly named in his own listing.


Don't worry, I've done it myself. Still, having been there, I did have to giggle.


Anyways. Despite my minor issues with some of it that might have meant a 4 or 4.5 otherwise, any book that holds on to my attention the way this one did once I was about a third of the way in deserves 5 Fireballs. This author has another novel, which is awesomely free, that I totally just grabbed and will read soon.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Review: "Pursuit of Darkness" by Jeff Gillenkirk

Title: Pursuit of Darkness
Author: Jeff Gillenkirk
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "Could vampires take over the US government? They already have. Washington Post reporter Nate Hallberg uncovers the startling reality that American politics has been controlled by vampires for more than 200 years. "Pursuit of Darkness" follows Hallberg's heroic struggle to overcome his own personal demons while exposing the evil at the heart of our political system. They want more than your vote!"
Source: I purchased this myself.


Review: The premise was what drew me. I have NO problem believing that vampires run politics! And I liked the idea of mixing politics and the preternatural -- anyone who reads my Adelheid series knows what. I felt like this would kind of be The West Wing meets Dracula. I liked that idea.


The writing is very competent. Words are put together well, though the author had a slightly disturbing habit of getting fascinated with details I didn't really care about. (Like, mixing in some street names to give a location feel is fine, but there were so many location/driving details and other things that it got a little dense for my tastes.)


I did not finish this book, though, and I doubt I will. It had interest for me, but the author has a disconcerting habit of writing "impact" endings to scenes and chapters -- like with dramatic questions -- and then hopping to the next scene, without having finished the other, and offering no explanation for how the character reacted.


Like... there's a scene where Drees asks Hallberg, "Do the cops know who Moises Rodriguez is?" -- or something like that -- and it's dramatic, it's impact. Then the next chapter opens with Hallberg somewhere else, day or more later, doing something else, and there's only one line somewhere pages ahead referring to the question Drees asked but never to Hallberg's answer, or even his full reaction.


There were a few places like this, and they bothered me. Maybe if I felt like there was some purpose and promise to it, like it would be unfolded later or there was a specific reason it dropped off, but I was a third of the way through and didn't feel like I had any of that. That made it feel like... kind of cheap grabs for attention, and that bothered me.


Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it was explained later, and I'm depriving myself of it by not slugging it out, but I'm worried that I'm right and I'll end up finishing the book, being very frustrated. It wasn't holding my interest enough for that, so unfortunately this gets the default DNF 1 Fireball.


Other readers may not mind the impact/drop-off scenes the way I did and may find this a great book. I wish them well. It just didn't do it for me.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Review: Bunch o' Shorts

I read some short stories today that were too short to feel like I should dedicate a whole review, so I'm writing one review to include all three!


Title: Medusa V. Athena
Author: Alan Leddon
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "Based on the extant mythology, this short book written in the style of a legal brief covers the grievances of Medusa - once the most beautiful woman in all of Greece - against the Goddess Athena, whom Medusa alleges assaulted and mutilated her!"
Source: I purchased it on my own.


Review: This was the shortest of the three I read, only about eight pages on my e-reader, but given the legalese style, that's just fine! It was very quirky for those who know and enjoy mythology, and unique takes on them. I give it 4 Fireballs.


* * *


Title: Faster than Light: The Fallen Goddess
Author: Malcolm Pierce
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "The first in a series of short stories about the I.S.S. Fenghuang, the last faster-than-light starship in the galaxy, and its crew of rebels determined to reunite humanity."
Source: I purchased it on my own.


Review: This one is a little harder to judge. I really liked the idea and concepts. I found that and elements of the story to be fascinating. I also liked the "weave-ins" (the italicized segments) in between chapters. But the story itself I struggled with because I didn't feel the characterization was done very well. I found Seth thoroughly unlikable, Caitlin tolerable, and everyone else to be a bit too flat to be engaged with. Details about the characters released too late in the story to hook onto, and not enough of it for any of them to have the "big" speeches and actions towards the end have the emotional hook they should have, with the exception of Sam. So, I'd like to score it higher for creativity, but it just didn't hook me. I don't know if my curiosity is enough to carry me to other books in the series, but it was intriguing, so I might. So, I give it a 2.5 Fireballs.


* * *


Title: Firebird
Author: Drew Beatty
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "In space, Zombies still hunger for brains."
Source: I purchased it on my own.


Review: This one has the best summary. And I liked it. There was a casualness to the more brutal/gruesome scenes that made it rather horrific, and zombies in space is great. Mop of Death FTW. The beginning moved a little slow for me, took a bit too hook me in, and the perspective shifting was kind of odd... I still would have liked to have met the character we ended with at the beginning in some form. It also didn't feel like it had a climax. It just built, then ended. Still, it was a fun (such as zombie fiction is) short story. Another one that makes me want a 3.75 rating, but since I'm not sure I can say I really liked it, I have to go with a 3.5 Fireballs. But I think I may well be checking out more of Beatty's work.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Review: "Where the Dead Talk" by Ken Davis

Title: Where the Dead Talk
Author: Ken Davis
Available: Kindle
Summary: "Out past the towns and villages of Colonial Massachusetts lies a lake, black and icy and deep.


When night settles on the deep woods, when the wind sings a mournful song through the trees, voices can sometimes be heard, rising from its still surface: voices of the lost, voices of the damned, voices of the dead.


When tragedy unlocks the terrifying secret of the lake, when revolution explodes across the countryside, the doorway to Hell opens a crack and the dead begin to rise."
Source: I purchased this on my own.


Review: This is my second experience with Davis' work. I have also read his Array'd in Flames. I liked it, but I did have some issues with it. I'm happy to say that I did not have the same issues with this one. I felt for the characters and cared what happened to them all. Between both books, Davis has a real gift for creating atmosphere of the setting. He certainly did in this one, too.


Apparently I work in trends, since this is another New England story and you really got the feel for it, as well for the time period.


I liked it, a lot. I don't really have much to say about it, though. Something about it didn't quite stand out in my head to absolutely rave about it, so it's not quite a five but I didn't really have any issues with it. I did get kind of confused trying to keep threads from the back stories straight, who did who wrong at what time and in what way kind of stuff. But aside from that, it was good. I give it 4.5 Fireballs.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Review: "Wood Spirit - A New England Horror Story" by Johanna Frappier

Title: Wood Spirit - A New England Horror Story
Author: Johanna Frappier
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "Sebastian Park, hack ghost hunter, is called to Peachtree, Vermont, to help rid them of a black, aggressive mist that the townspeople believe to be a negative entity. When it comes to paranormal investigations, Sebastian is used to being the ringmaster in a circus full of clowns. But when he has the first nightmare and suffers the entity himself then begins to have urges to gnaw on the girl at the local diner, he regrets his career choice and his cross-country trek to the nightmarish, little New England town."
Source: I purchased this on my own.


Review: On a nitpicking note, this story could have used a better edit-through to pick up a wealth of dropped quotation marks around dialogue, as well as other typos. The EPUB file - I don't know if it did this in other files - also did something really weird for the last fifty pages that made it strange to read.


Aside from that, however... this was a pretty good story. It doesn't quite stand out to me enough to rave about it, but it was engaging and funny, incredible gross in some parts (but it was a horror story). Being a hard core New England resident, I really liked that aspect of it. Park was an interesting character.


I'm not a fan of stories that bounce between Third and First person, so the few Third Person interludes -- which seemed overall kind of needless to me -- didn't do the story any favors, and I thought that the ending was way too abrupt. I wanted more there.


But otherwise, it was a good story and an easy read if you're looking for a horror story. I was able to read it in one day and never found myself doubting my desire to finish it. So, I'm giving it 4 Fireballs.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Review: "Lily Marin - three short steampunk stories" by Paul Kater

Title: Lily Marin - three short steampunk stories
Author: Paul Kater
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "Three short stories about Lily Marin, a singer in the steampunk era, who has a mysterious other life."
Source: I purchased this on my own.


Review: Apparently, I'm on a steampunk kick. Anyways. This story (or stories, more appropriately) is a little weird for me. Because the author writes competently. The idea of the story and of Lily was intriguing. I thought the wealth of gizmos was a little over the top and hokey, but I didn't mind it that much.


This wasn't a bad set of stories, but I'm not really sure I feel like I can say it was good either. It fell flat for me, and I'm not entirely sure why. The setting and the character both didn't get to me, one way or the other, for better or for worse. There was no emotional connection, even to the point of disliking it. I just didn't feel it.


The words were all laced together well in a technical sense, but the emotion that should be driving it wasn't there for me. It just gave me a real disconnect reading these stories, and by the end of the third one, I didn't really care much about Lily or her goals or her world, which leads me to give this set of short stories 2.5 Fireballs.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Review: "Hunted (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #2) by Lindsay Buroker

Title: Hunted (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #2)
Author: Lindsay Buroker
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "Self-taught tinkerer Kali McAlister is determined to build an airship and escape the frigid Yukon forever. Unfortunately, she’s the heir to the secrets of flash gold, an alchemical energy source that tends to make her a popular target for bandits, gangsters, and pirates. Not to mention a mysterious new nemesis with an arsenal of deadly machines superior to Kali's own inventions..."
Source: I purchased this myself.


Review: Well, apparently I'm now a Lindsay Buroker fan. This is the third story of hers I've read and I really liked them all. The hard part for me is that Buroker is one of those authors that is so good, I find myself feeling entirely inferior in my own writing! Not many authors do that to me, but she does. She's that good.


This is the second novella in her Flash Gold steampunk stories. The first one, Flash Gold, was fantastic and there's not much I can say about this one that wasn't said about the other. The story isn't long, but it's a full storied romp with humor, action, and steampunk gadgets that blend seamlessly into her frigid Yukon setting. Too many of the steampunk stories I've read so far feel like they just tack on the steampunk stuff. Buroker makes it integral to both character and plot. Her characters are three-dimensional and real, but their flaws don't drive you away.


Kali is smart and scrappy. Cedar is everything a good Alpha Male should be. Too many romance, and non-romance, stories try to write Alpha Males and they just end up with Alpha Assholes. Not Buroker. I'm in love with Cedar. I want one of my own!


What else can I say? I have the first book in her other series on my ereader, but I'm terrified to read it lest it make me stop writing myself. ;-) Still, go. Buy her books. This story is totally 5 Fireballs.


Monday, March 12, 2012

Review: "A Multitude of Daggers" by Joanne Merriam

Title: A Multitude of Daggers
Author: Joanne Merriam
Available: Kindle
Summary: "The Queen is dead and everybody wants her job! The Barkan High Priestess Gieu, the orphan rebel Mara Rin and the new Angan King struggle for dominance in this fun sword-and-sorcery novella featuring flying oppressors, bloody revolution and an afterworld staffed by therapists."
Source: I purchased this on my own.


Review: I am still trying to figure out what I think about this one.


Merriam writes very well. I liked the style of her prose. The story and its set-up were very interesting. I did expect a different kind of story from the description, but once I adjusted my expectations, I was good.


It was a little too short for the story being told, I think. A little more time to build the world without throwing so much information at the reader would have been nice, because I did find myself getting confused about who was who and doing what to whom and where... but once I got my feet, it flowed nicely.


The ending was kind of abrupt. It felt like a slower unfolding all through the story and then, suddenly, it's over and some elements of character and plot introduced at the end left me wondering why they were there at all if they weren't given more development, and I would have liked more development on points that would feed into the ending.


Still, it was interesting, creative and fairly entertaining. It's a story that makes me think I need a 3.75 rating, because it was better than 3.5 but I can't quite say I really liked it. As such, I'll give it 3.5 Fireballs because I did like it and would recommend it to others looking for a quick, fantastical story.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Review: "Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One" by Arshad Ahsanuddin


Title: Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One
Author: Arshad Ahsanuddin
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "With millennia-old magic, emerging romance, and ever-shifting allegiances, this inventive new series unveils a scintillating, homoerotic world of Nightwalkers, Daywalkers, Sentinels, and Humans, who battle for world dominance in the not-too-distant future.


Los Angeles, 2040. The terrorist Medusa and her followers threaten to destroy the metropolis with a nuclear bomb. One individual, the vampire Nicholas Jameson, comes forward to oppose them. 


For tens of thousands of years, the vampires, called Nightwalkers, had been entrenched in a bitter feud with their enemies, the Sentinels, those born to destroy the Nightwalkers with magic and steel. The battle drew to a close once the Redeemer offered the two sides a new path, allowing the Nightwalkers to step back into the sunlight as Daywalkers, in return for giving up the sword. 


When Nick takes on the terrorists, he exposes his powers and advanced technology that had been previously unknown to humanity. In the wake of the confrontation, the fragile peace between the races hangs perilously in the balance. Will coexistence be possible, or will the final war destroy them all?"
Source: I purchased this on my own.


Review: I'm not ever sure where to begin.


This book was pretty crazy, but pretty amazing. It starts off with a hell of a bang and doesn't really let go, though it quiets here and there to let a reader catch their breath. I'm not generally a fan of "action" (any book with a thriller/suspense style plot) books that span as much time as this one did, but it made sense here and I don't imagine it could have been done realistically any other way. The only complaint I have about that was that it left some dramatic events to be told in retrospect, when I would rather have seen them written out.


My only other issue was Nicholas. He kind of became a character that falls into what I call the Pasquinel Syndrome (a cookie to anyone who recognizes the name), which is a character that commands an unimaginable amount of love, respect and devotion from almost everyone without my seeing the reasons for it. Not to say that I didn't like him, or find him a character I could ultimately side with, but I didn't feel like I saw enough to gain him quite as much of those things as he got from the other characters; his sins forgiven too easily, so to speak, but by the end, I didn't mind it so much. He showed enough in those last events to make me okay with it, unlike other stories where I couldn't do the same for similar characters.


I don't want to divulge too much, but the stuff with Icarus at the end... I don't think a book has produced this level of emotional response in me in a long time and that's incredible.


It's funny. The first... hundred pages or so are very densely packed with world-building, it was slow for me to get through. I felt like I needed a manual to keep up with it and a flow chart for all the emotional attachments, but once I got a grip on it, it moved very well. At one early point, I worried if I could finish it but am so, so glad that I did. It was worth it. The world-building and history (both world and character), if dense up front, was amazingly complex and fascinating.


I had originally been planning to give this a 4 or 4.5 because of the issues I mentioned above and other little things here and there, but the complexity of the world-building and the last several chapters just blew me away. It's gotta be a 5 Fireballs, and I don't imagine it will be long before I'm checking out more of this series!


As a footnote, it was also one of the best packaged indie books I've seen, in terms of formatting (it gets one formatting detail right that a lot of indie books don't), editing and cover art.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Review: "Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy" by Jeffrey Poole

Title: Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy
Author: Jeffrey Poole
Available: Smashwords
Summary: "Griffins, Dragons, and BNPs (Bugs of Nightmarish Proportions). Who knew? It seemed harmless enough. See a mysterious door and step through to see what happens, right? Now stranded in a magical kingdom, husband and wife search for a way home. However, enlisting the aid of the king and queen has given them their biggest shock yet: Royal Babysitters. Some days it didn't pay to get out of bed."
Source: I purchased this on my own.


Review: Okay, a strange thing happened to me while I was reading this book. I thought it was supposed to be... heavier. Darker. And it wasn't, and it threw me. In retrospect and in rereading the description, I have no conceivable idea why I thought it would be. My only excuse is that I just finished reading an anthology of dark, gritty fantasy and was still stuck in the wrong world.


Anyway, about halfway through, I was unable to tell if I liked this story or not but then it started reminding me of a Xanth novel. I smacked myself upside the head and realized this was a... lighter fantasy than I had expected it to be. (I've been a Xanth lover since I was eleven, so this is a good comparison.)


Once I got that through my head, this book got a lot more fun. The fact that Steve and Sarah read more like teenagers to me than their purported ages wasn't a problem any more. The casualness of the writing became quirky, like characters that actually say "omigod!" in dialog, or "cool!" being in the exposition. I'm usually a dictator about Point of View and not a fan of Omiscent unless it's Austen or Dickens, but it kind of worked for me here.


My only two... complaints about this book were that I would have liked a slightly heavier (more realistic) treatment of serious matters, like when Steve fends off some bad guys and drives them to their deaths. That didn't seem to affect him at all. Even though they were bad guys, and he didn't technically kill them, the way it rolled off him to no effect did bother me. Similar "deeper events" were treated as lightly and I did struggle with that.


Secondly, my inner consistency meter didn't understand sending Steve and Sarah off for the key instead of staying with Mikal. Being who they were, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. I would have liked to have had more of a reason for them to make the journey themselves before they left, rather than seeing it later on when they got there. (If there was a reason and I missed it, then my bad but I don't recall one.) There were other little similar things, but in the breezy spirit of the story, I got over it easy.


Otherwise... the fire stuff was cool, I liked Rhenyon (I think I spelled that right), and the key 'surprise' at the end was funny. It was a fun, breezy kind of fantastical read. I give 4 Fireballs and will, once I catch up with the rest of my reading list, get to Bakkian II and future Bakkian tales!