Looking For a Good Book

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SO DARK THE SKY – Cidney Swanson

Posted by Daniel on May 18, 2022
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult. Leave a comment

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Second grade teacher Penny Wanjiru encourages her students to follow their dreams, so when the surprising opportunity for Penny to become a Mars Colony astronaut comes her way, she knows she must follow her dream. It is not a cut and dry decision, however, as Penny’s grandmother (who she’s quite close to) is having health issues.

It isn’t giving anything away to say that Penny will make the decision to go and she’ll have her students in mind the entire time and have regular video chats with them and answer questions and share with them what she experiences.

I’ve read and review a couple of Cidney Swanson books previously and I really like her writing.  She’s one of the few self-published authors whose work is outstanding and I’m not sure why her books haven’t been picked up by a commercial publisher yet.

Most of Swanson’s books are YA books with strong young female protagonists, This book technically isn’t a YA book, but it’s about as close as you can get and not be YA – Penny comes across as a very young teacher and she experiences things with a very open and fresh viewpoint – the way a lot of YA characters might.

In some ways this is almost a precursor to Swanson’s Saving Mars series because this takes place in the near future, with Mars having recently been colonized and now about to have its first ‘tourist.’

One of the really nice things about this (and Swanson’s other books that I’ve read [I’ve read more than I’ve rated and reviewed]) is that it’s ‘clean.’ Swanson shows that we can get solid, character-driven science fiction with plenty of excitement and we don’t need rampant sex or massive fights where thousands of people die. We can get a good story and strong characters through good writing. In the mystery genre, there is something called a ‘cozy’ mystery in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.

This would be the equivalent in science fiction and/or YA. A ‘cozy’ sci-fi.

I enjoyed this and I plan to read more, but this really reminds me that I want to finish Swanson’s Saving Mars series first, then finish the Rippler series and then the Payback Society books before I get any more invested in this series.

Looking for a good book? So Dark the Sky by Cidney Swanson is a delightful sci-fi book (first in a new series) that’s just barely a step above being a YA novel, and is maybe a prequel to her popular Saving Mars series.

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So Dark the Sky

author: Cidney Swanson

series: Shadow of Mars #1

publisher: Independently Published

ISBN: 9798673354797

paperback, 215 pages

THE BLOOD GUARD – Carter Roy

Posted by Daniel on May 16, 2022
Posted in: CHILDREN'S, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: 4 stars, Action/Adventure, Book Reviews, Books, Middle Grade, Reviews, Young Adult. Leave a comment

The Blood Guard by Carter Roy

Ronan Truelove is just an ordinary thirteen year old, with very ordinary parents – or so he believes, until one day when his mother ‘abducts’ him from school and tears off on a high speed car chase. His father, she informs Ronan, has been kidnapped, and those kidnappers are now after Ronan as well. Kidnapped? His boring, nerdy dad?

Ronan’s mother is not the ordinary soccer mom that Ronan thought.  She is actually a member of an ancient, sword-wielding order of knights known as the Blood Guard, bound to protect the Pure – a specific number of individuals on whose shoulders lie the fate of the world.

Suddenly Ronan understands why his mother had him enrolled in after-school classes of gymnastics, martial arts, survival training, etc.  He has been groomed to take on the mantle of a Blood Guard!

His mother sets him off on his own and he joins forces with two unlikely individuals – Greta, a girl from his school who he never really liked very much, and Jack, a teenaged pick-pocket.  His mother’s parting words were ‘trust no one’ – but Ronan will need to rely on his own instincts and trust his companions in order to avoid the decidedly evil organization out to kidnap him.

This book is an exciting adventure tale. Secret organizations and spies, swords and the supernatural – this hits all the right marks to draw in a lot of middle grade/YA readers. Ronan is precisely the kind of protagonist a lot of young readers would fantasize themselves as being (like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson) – someone who thought they were ordinary but are part of something much larger and only just now learning about it. His partners (like Hermione and Ron or Grover and Annabeth – to stay with the previous two examples) are more than just sidekicks, but integral to his ability to achieve his goals.

The action is pretty much non-stop from the very first page and author Carter Roy really does a fine job of building the story amid constant chases and character development.

I enjoyed this a lot and have actively sought out subsequent volumes in the series (sadly, it’s only a trilogy as far as I can tell).

Looking for a good book? The Blood Guard by Carter Roy is a fast-paced, high-action story for middle grade and YA readers that should be recommended for anyone asking what to read after reading Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Blood Guard

author: Carter Roy

series: The Blood Guard #1

publisher: Two Lions

ISBN: 1477847251

hardcover, 320 pages

DON QUIXOTE – Cervantes

Posted by Daniel on May 12, 2022
Posted in: OTHER, Uncategorized. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Classic, Literature, Reviews. Leave a comment

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In a small village in La Mancha, Spain, the noble Alonso Quijano has become completely consumed by the stories he’s read of knights and their valiant chivalry and so he imagines himself one of these knight, renames himself Don Quixote, and with his loyal servant Sancho Panza, sets off on a series of (mis)adventures, battling imaginary foes and treating common women as a knight would treat a duchess, all in the name of chivalry.

I have a literary bucket list of classics I’ve been wanting to read and this has been high on my list.  I have been glad that a number of publishers have been reissuing classics (often with new translations) as most of what I read lately are ARCs.

Not having read this before, and really, not knowing as much about it as I thought I did, I was a little surprised by the episodic nature of the book. I was expecting a longer story with a series of mishaps along the way. And while that could be an interpretation of this book, this came across more as a series of adventures loosely bound up in an over-arcing set-up.

I was also surprised at just important Sancho is to the story. In fact, Don Quixote, due to his narrow focus of being gallant and chivalrous, was almost a little dull while Sancho, who sees behind the veneer of Don Quixote’s imagination, and is maybe a little high strung and often fearful as to how things might turn out, provides the color and energy to Quixote’s story.

In fact, there is a time when Sancho leaves to be the ruler of his own domain and the next chapters with Don Quixote (without Sancho) are almost disappointing, while Sancho gets his own story in a chapter or two, and I absolutely loved these!

This translation by John Ormsby is really brilliant. Sometimes when reading a translated book, I can sense a stiffness in the language. That doesn’t happen here.  One might think that this book was originally written in English, just as it appears here.

I’m really glad to have read this and to now have a better understanding of the occasional Don Quixote references I come across in literature, and that my basic understanding of the book is not just based on the musical, Man of La Mancha.

 This is not an easy read.  It’s about 1,000 pages, small print, and still has a style that was popular hundreds of years ago and is not swift in action. A single paragraph can run for pages and a simple object might take multiple paragraphs to describe.

It is interesting how important a translation of a famous work can be. I’ve started to read this book before but never made it past the first five chapters before being too bored with it.  This time my attention was held (it took me months to finish, but I did stick with it).

Looking for a good book? Anyone who likes to read should have Don Quixote by Cervantes on their ‘to be read’ list, and this particular version, with translation by John Ormsby, is perfect for the modern reading audience.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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Don Quixote

author: Cervantes

translator: John Ormsby

publisher: Restless Books

ISBN: 1632060752

paperback, 960 pages

RALPH COMPTON FLAMES OF SILVER – Ralph Compton & Jackson Lowry

Posted by Daniel on May 10, 2022
Posted in: Uncategorized, WESTERN. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews. Leave a comment

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Morgan Mason has just arrived in Virginia City, Nevada (from San Francisco) to hopefully put his skills to use and find a job. Morgan is an assessor with a geology background and Virginia City has large cadre of millionaires thanks to some silver-rich mines in the area. But the one local assay office doesn’t want to take on anyone new and definitely doesn’t want any competition. Mason is feeling pretty down on his luck with alarm bells sound – there’s a fire in Virginia City!

Thanks to his knowledge of chemistry (important in being an assayer) Mason recognizes the signs of an arsonist-started fire and makes sure the head of the volunteer fire brigade knows.  He is more convinced of it when more fires are lit up in the town over the next few days.

He manages to find a couple of lost kids and gets them to their mother (an attractive single woman [hmm, where could this be leading?]) who  is grateful for his kindness. He rescues a minor from sure death in a fire, helps that minor uncover a large vein of silver, helps the miner fight off some would-be claim-jumpers (despite never having held a gun before), is asked to join one of the two competing volunteer fire-fighting units, and is instrumental in solving not only the mystery of the arsonist, but the single, largest silver heist in history.

Morgan Mason is the luckiest man in history.  So lucky, in fact, that I was convinced that his incredible luck was going to be mentioned by other characters in the book and maybe even play a part in the story.  But no, this was not played up as part of the storyline, which is unfortunate because it would definitely have helped me accept it more. If this was recognized and talked about and maybe even laughed at by the other characters in the book, I could laugh along with them. But simply as story with a too-much-good-fortune-to-be-believed character, I lost my willingness for disbelief.

Aside from the great good fortune at every turn for our main character, there’s simply too many plots and subplots for a fast-paced, action western.

We know Morgan Mason is our hero (oh boy do we know it!) so we’re ready to see we’re ready to see what trouble he gets into and out of as we follow his exploits.  Is this going to be a story of Morgan and silver mining, complete with claim jumpers? Morgan and the arsonist? Morgan and the competing volunteer fire departments? Morgan and the silver heist? Morgan and the disbelieving sheriff? And a little romance tossed in with any one of those stories?

What would you say to ALL those stories in a book with fewer than 300 pages?

I’d say that any one of those themes, with a romance subplot, would be enough for one book.  All of them means we don’t really spend any time anywhere to develop the characters or build interest in the plot. Which is what bothered me the most. It felt like action without plot. Just as I’d like a character or start to get interested in a theme, we’d be moved along to the next storyline.

Reading westerns is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I admit that when I read one I’m not looking to get too deep with story and themes. I want action and great characters.  But what makes a character great isn’t just heroism and a lot of stupid luck – it’s the character’s flaws and how they overcome them to come out on top.  Morgan Mason has no flaws that we can see and he doesn’t overcome obstacles to save the day – they just kind of glide off him when he’s around.

Looking for a good book? It’s hard to find good westerns in today’s market and Ralph Compton Flames of Silver by Jackson Lowry (and Ralph Compton – although he’s been dead for 22 years) is not the best example of western fiction on the shelves today.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Ralph Compton Flames of Silver

author: Jackson Lowry and Ralph Compton

series: The Sundown Riders

publisher: Berkley Books

ISBN: 0593333810

paperback, 288 pages

THE CLACKITY – Lora Senf

Posted by Daniel on May 6, 2022
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Middle Grade, Reviews, Young Adult. Leave a comment

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Evie Von Rathe lives with her aunt Desdemona in the seventh most haunted town in America – Blight Harbor. Desdemona is Blight Harbor’s local paranormal expert. Living with Desdemona (“Des”) has been an interesting experience and pleasant enough, And Des hasn’t had too many rules for Evie, the main one being “Stay away from the abandoned slaughterhouse at the edge of town” (as if Evie had any interest in being in an abandoned slaughterhouse!).  The ghost of John Jeffrey Pope – a serial killer who hunted in the streets of Blight Harbor a hundred years ago – is said to dwell in the space.

But when Des goes into that building and doesn’t return, Evie knows it will be up to her to get her aunt back – if she can even find her!

But John Jeffrey Pope isn’t the only strange creature to exist in the shadows of the slaughterhouse. Evie meets The Clackity – an unusual creature that seems to live in more than one reality – a bridge between worlds. Evie strikes a bargain with The Clackity – it will help Evie get Des back and Evie will deliver the ghost of John Jeffrey Pope to The Clackity.  A fair bargain it would seem to 13 year old Evie.

The journey through unchartered worlds will have Evie encounter witches and ghosts and even a memory-thief, while alternately looking for and avoiding Pope, who wants to add Evie to his collection of souls. Evie will also amass a weird collection of items that may prove key to getting Des back.

This middle grade novel is a delightfully eerie read. Take some of the darkest parts of the Harry Potter books, put them in a Neil Gaiman-style world, add a Bruce Coville-like impish charm, and we get close to describing the adventure of The Clackity.

Like many YA and Middle Grade books, we’re set up with a protagonist of approximately the readers’ age and with a perhaps unusual amount of freedom to do as they please (usually because the parents are out of the picture). The adult ‘in charge’ is quirky but loveable and will either a) need the protagonist’s help , or b) be a follower on the adventure (in this case, ‘a’).

The adventure here is solid and it’s more than just a little spooky – at times quite frightening – which is what the readership is looking for,

The characters of Evie and Des are clear but I would have liked something a little more solid about Pope (pun in tended) and The Clackity. Both are integral to the story but less well defined for me. This means it’s the adventure that drives the story, not the characters.  Perhaps just right for a middle grade audience.

I enjoyed it this and I think a following will develop for Evie and Des in Blight Harbor. Being the seventh-most haunted city in America should mean there’s plenty more adventure possibilities.

(Also… I love middle grade and YA books that contain a few pages of artwork.  The pictures included in my ARC have a great Charles Addams-ness about them.)

Looking for a good book? The Clackity by Lora Senf is a dark, eerie adventure for young readers that will still scare the pants off a few adults.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Clackity

author: Lora Senf

publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 1665902671

hardcover, 288 pages

THE WISDOM OF DEAD MEN – Oisin McGann

Posted by Daniel on May 4, 2022
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult. Leave a comment

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Once again I managed to select a book that is the middle of a series without realizing it.  That’s a problem with ARC’s sometimes – you don’t see a cover boasting “Book Two” or “”Continuing the Saga.”

We are in Victorian era Ireland following the Wildenstern family. Brothers Nate (who has been traveling), and Berto (now the patriarch of the family after the death of their older brother, Marcos) are considering a new path for the family, but not everyone is on board with their thoughts.

They are a powerful family and they regularly work with supernatural (perhaps magical) elements. Witches and necromancy, secret societies and the power to raise from the dead are just part of an ordinary day for the Wildensterns. They also have a slave labor force called ‘enigmals’ -part animal, part machine – at their command.

Life gets a bit dicey when women who may or may not have a connection to the family are found dead by mysterious circumstance. If the Wildensterns don’t act quickly enough, more could see the same fate.

By description, this book (and the series) would seem to have everything I tend to look for in fiction. The concepts, the characters, the cool-things-per-page (I mean … the enigmals, c’mon!) are right up my alley. And yet this book really dragged for me.  I’d read a bit, get bored and stop, then come back to the book, find something interesting, but I’d have to backtrack to see if I missed something, and then the cycle would repeat.  I can’t help but wonder if a large part of this has to do with it being a second book.  Are there relationship nuances that I’m missing that s slowing it down?  Or is it somehow over-explaining details that keeps this from being a thrilling read for me?

There’s definitely enough here that has me wanting to read the first book in the series and then re-read this second, and probably onward. But based solely on this book, I am not comfortable recommending the book (or the series) without a little more series history.

Looking for a good book? The Wisdom of Dead Men by Oisin McGann might be a good read, but as a stand-alone, I can’t give this a recommendation. Think about starting with the first book in the series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Wisdom of Dead Men

author: Oisin McGann

series: Wildenstern Saga #2

publisher: Open Road Media Teen & Tween

ISBN: 1497665892

paperback, 408 pages

BECOMING A WRITER, STAYING A WRITER – J. Michael Straczynski

Posted by Daniel on May 2, 2022
Posted in: NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: 5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, non-fiction, Reviews. Leave a comment

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There is no shortage of ‘how to’ books on writing. Some retailers have a specific section in their stores for these kinds of books. So why do we need another? Author J. Michael Straczynski addresses that right at the start, offering what he feels other ‘how to’ writing books neglect to talk about (I’ll let you read up on that).

Straczynski focuses quite a bit on writing from the Hollywood perspective, though he does touch on his experiences in comics and fiction/non-fiction books, as well as his very early days (college). He offers up some of the traps that young (ie inexperienced – not just age) writers often fall into so that the hopeful can be aware of, and hopefully steer clear of such pitfalls, but with sections of the book that discuss the best (and worst) ways to pitch stories to television producers, I think it’s safe to say that a strength of the book is its appeal to television and screen writers.

Although Straczynski has already written a memoir/autobiography with his book Becoming Superman (a book I’m putting on my “Want to Read” list), Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer is as much biography as it is ‘writing help’ book. His helpful hints and tips for writers are almost always followed up with a personal example, giving insight to the writer himself.  Sometimes these examples tend to be a bit showy and perhaps not the best examples for beginning writers (an example of this would be a project Straczynski describes as being a special request script for Steven Spielberg – something Spielberg has wanted to write but was getting stuck on.  Straczynski was brought in, said he thought he could write the script, but wanted to be left alone, not deliver any outline or explain what he was going to do, but simply hand in his final script when it was done.  And because it was Straczynski, Spielberg agreed.  How many writers or hopeful writers reading this book would have that kind of pull? [If you want to know the outcome … read the book]).

For years, the advice from writers to hopeful or would-be writers was, “Write. Every day.”  Straczynski’s advice, boiled down, is just a little bit different and more in line with what I see in other artist endeavors as well.  His advice: Write. And finish what you write.

I can’t say that this book is the most comprehensive ‘how-to’ book that I’ve ever seen, but I do think it is quite entertaining.  The biographical portions actually make this quite fascinating (particularly if you are familiar with the authors work [and if you aren’t you probably wouldn’t pick this up in the first place]) – such as: why is one episode of Babylon 5 from a very different perspective?

I’d recommend this to would-be writers, as well as fans of Stryczynski’s work (and they are many, given his work in both comics and television).

Looking for a good book? Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer by J. Michael Straczynski is part biography, part writing ‘how-to’, and 100% entertaining.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling

author: J. Michael Straczynski

publisher: BenBella Books

ISBN: 1950665887

paperback, 288 pages

SWASHBUCKLERS – Dan Hanks

Posted by Daniel on April 29, 2022
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, pulp fiction, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

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The literary equivalent to the Hollywood ‘B’ movie would probably be the pulps, or ‘pulp fiction.’ We don’t see a lot of pulp fiction today, but I’d say that author Dan Hanks is still writing in the pulp fiction style.

In Swashbucklers, our hero is Cisco Collins.  And ‘hero’ is the correct term.  As a child, Cisco was one of a few people who saved the world by defeating a pirate known as Deadman’s Grin. Grin had been able to animate inanimate objects and turn them into killing machines.

Now a down-on-his-luck adult (his wife has left him for her fitness instructor), Cisco returns to his hometown (with his son George). He’s first stunned that no one seems to remember the world-saving battle – not even his old friends with whom he fought! Cisco  works to help his friends remember what they once went through.

The other thing that Cisco notes is that there are some inanimate objects are coming to life and attacking the town.  Is it possible that Deadman’s Grin was not truly defeated? It becomes urgent for Cisco to get his friends to remember how they defeated Deadman’s Grin the first time so that they have a frame of reference for their inevitable next battle.

Hanks delivers a classic pulp adventure story in the vein of Green Lama and Domino Lady and Captain Hazard.  If these aren’t familiar pulp hero names to you, that’s kind of my point. While the pulps may have brought us Conan and Tarzan and Doc Savage and the Green Hornet (characters many readers are familiar with), they also saw a lot of characters who’ve been forgotten over time. … Because the stories and characters generally aren’t worth remembering except by those ardent pulp  fans who reminisce about the glory days of pulps in online chat rooms (um…yes, I do lurk in some of those).

Such is Swashbucklers.

Hanks infuses the story with a big sense of history (an attitude of: ‘we did all this other stuff … remember when we did this…remember?!’). It’s quite strong and at times I felt maybe I should put the book down and go read that first book in the series.  Except, oh wait, there is no other book in the series.  But … I’m a little more interested in that story because in this one, our hero spends a good deal of time complaining about getting old and how much harder it is to fight a villain now and frankly I found it not funny (as I assume it was meant to be) and more than just a little bit whiny.

This is my second Dan Hanks novel and it seems pretty clear that he likes that low-budget, pulpy, B-movie feel which is pretty specific, and it’s the sort of story I actually seek out in used books stores while bemoaning – “why doesn’t anyone write campy stuff like this any more?” So I should really like this, but it just never engages.

Looking for a good book? If cheap pulp adventure is your reading interest, you might enjoy Dan Hanks’ Swashbucklers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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Swashbucklers

author: Dan Hanks

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857669389

paperback, 310 pages

SLEWFOOT: A TALE OF BEWITCHERY – Brom

Posted by Daniel on April 27, 2022
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized. Tagged: 5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

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Oof, this was good.

Have you ever wondered why, during the Salem witchcraft trials era, if the women accused of being witches really were witches, they didn’t perform some sort of magic to survive? I’m thinking author Brom may have wondered this.

Abigail is an innocent and energetic young English girl, sold by her father to a Puritan in the Colonies. She arrives, nervous, but staying positive and looks to make the best of the situation. Fortunately, her husband, Edward, is a good man who is willing to work hard to make a good life for he and his bride.

But Edward dies under suspicious circumstances, and his brother, Wallace, claims Edward’s property (including his wife, Abigail) which, due to Edward’s work, is in much better condition than his own. But Abigail knows enough about the local law to stake her claim on the land as long as she meets the agreed upon terms and can pay for the land when the payment (to Wallace) comes due.

Abigail has a deep connection with the land and continues to farm it well, which annoys Wallace no end, and he is determined to see Abigail fail – even if he has to help her out in that regard a little bit.

Enter the dark stranger who recognizes something special in Abigail and who helps her build on her connection to the natural world around which in turn keeps her farm healthy and prosperous.  Which in turn, drives Wallace absolutely mad. The better Abigail does, the hard Wallace works to cut her down in order to get the land.

And the harder Wallace works to bring Abigail down, the more she must turn to her dark friend to get her out of trouble.  But by doing so, Abigail is giving Wallace the best ammunition to use against her.  He recognizes what she has become even before she does, and being accused of being a witch in Puritan New England is a death sentence even she can’t escape.

Or can she?

There is so much power in this revenge story, and make no mistake, this is a revenge story, for both Wallace and Abigail. But it’s also a tightly woven character study of Abigail, who never loses her faith even after she’s changed, but even she reaches a breaking point.

As readers, we watch her growth and her slow conversion to the bewitchery indicated in the title, and we’re absolutely held spellbound. We want her to maintain her sweetness and her kindness and her innocence, but Wallace and his cronies are set up so well, so evilly, that we also want Abigail to triumph over them.  I mean, we REALLY want to see them suffer for what they do.

The first three quarters of the book is set-up.  Setting up the characters, the relationships, the obstacles.  There isn’t a lot of horror, darkness, or gore in this set-up, but once it starts, it’s full on graphic horror that might just turn your stomach.  But what’s most fascinating, even here, is that this graphic horror starts with the human, Puritanical world. What Abigail and another suffer, as enticement to admit to their crimes of witchcraft and consorting with the devil, is every bit as gory and horrific as what will later befall them as part of the supernatural aspects of the book.

Yeah, this is smart, well built horror. And I love that author Brom isn’t just picking on the so-called religious Puritans.  There is a reverend here who really is the ‘good’ in the book, holding true to his beliefs and representing what can be, or should be, about religion.

I’ve never read anything by Brom before, but now I want to read everything.  This is so incredibly well structured, with fantastic characters, and I was pulled into the story and felt as though I was an active viewer, a member of the crowd so to speak, rather than just a guy holding a book.

Look at the glorious cover.  Really look at it.  If this makes you think. “Oh, wow” then read the book.

Looking for a good book? You found it.  Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom is a fantastic tale of the descent, or ascent?, to darkness with a fetching young girl as our protagonist.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery

author: Brom

publisher: Tor Nightfire

ISBN: 125062200X

hardcover, 307 pages

TALUS AND THE FROZEN KING – Graham Edwards

Posted by Daniel on April 25, 2022
Posted in: MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult. Leave a comment

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Talus, a bard, and his companion Bran, make a journey to the island realm of Creyak. A king has been murdered and there are no shortages of suspects, including the king’s six sons, the local shaman, the servant girl, or even a neighboring warlord. Talus, who is clever and insightful, will study the clues and investigate, which could prove quite dangerous, to find justice for the dead king.

It is only a mildly clever premise to write what is essentially a detective mystery using a fantasy setting. Think ‘Ice Age Sherlock Holmes (Talus) and Watson (Bran).’ But where, then, should the author put his priorities? The mystery? The fantasy setting?  The characters?  Well, the answer of course, is all of it but the end result here is that none of it is particularly strong.

Our mystery is a bit pedantic. As a modern reader, we’re a little bit stuck, having a great source of history to put clues together.  If Talus becomes too insightful or too intelligent for the era he lives in, he loses credibility for the reader.  But too primitive, and the mystery doesn’t stand up.

In regards to the fantasy setting, this story is cut from a generic cloth. There’s a little bit of Conan here, a little bit of King Arthur – name some fiction of medieval or pre-medieval locations, and you’ll see it here. There are no roots to this world – it’s all surface façade.

The same can be said of the characters.  I struggled all the way to the end of the book to understand why Talus was a bard and a detective.  Sure … ‘detective’ didn’t exist in these times, but that only added to my confusion.  Why was he investigating? What allowed others to trust a bard to make these choices?  I don’t know.

As I mentioned, the premise was mildly clever, which is what drew me to the book initially, but the writing (the plot, the characters, the world) didn’t have a hold on me and I was constantly losing interest.  This was a chore.

Looking for a good book? Talus and the Frozen King by Graham Edwards is an experiment (combining two genres) that didn’t turn out too well.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Talus and the Frozen King

author: Graham Edwards

series: Talus #1

publisher: Solaris

ISBN: 1781081999

paperback, 333 pages

LOCKLANDS – Robert Jackson Bennett

Posted by Daniel on April 21, 2022
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

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I’ve used the term ‘epic fantasy’ to refer to a style or genre of fantasy before, but Robert Jackson Bennett’s Lockland, the conclusions to his The Founders Trilogy, is truly epic in style and heart – not just as a genre description.

Note that you won’t want to read this as a stand-alone novel.  It requires prior knowledge of the characters and the world. Being already familiar with this world, I’m not 100% certain how it reads to a newcomer, but just based on how much I needed to recall in order to not feel completely lost, I pity anyone coming fresh to this final volume.

Our heroes are Sancia, Clef, and Berenice. They’ve worked and fought together before, but this time they take on not just petty criminals and the occasional ruler, but someone with the power of a god.

Trevanne is our antagonist.  He is powerful and growing more so. He has been using scrivings to control not just the inanimate objects, but the people around him as well.  His goal now is to completely reset all life. To do that, Trevanne needs to open the reset door and Clef is the key (yes, that’s a pun, for those of you who’ve read the other books).

This book doesn’t waste any time and jumps right into some action with our heroes apparently on a heist (like their early days), but we sense there’s more to it.  The section heading, “The Scriving Wars” lets us know what we’re getting in to.

If you know what scriving is.

Here is one of those areas where Bennett relies on prior knowledge of the world. The details of this world were described so clearly in the previous books – it’s part of makes a reader want to return, but this book focuses more on the story than the world. Which makes sense, of course, being the third book in the series, we aren’t likely to learn too much new about the mechanics of the world. (We do learn some new tricks and new strengths for Clef.)

But despite my perceived shortcomings to the book, my attention was rapt.  If anything, this made me want to go back and read the trilogy, start to finish without years between publications.

Bennett builds truly remarkable worlds with strong, unique characters caught up in epic … yes, epic … struggles where the outcomes will determine the path for entire worlds.  If you like fantasy, you must read Robert Jackson Bennett.  If you think you don’t like fantasy, you must read Robert Jackson Bennett to really understand what the genre can be.

I would rate this book a 4.5.  But on Goodreads, do I give it five stars or 4? It’s not a 5 star book, but it’s definitely better than 4.  You read it and decide.

Looking for a good book? Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett completes The Founders Trilogy. This is sad for readers because there is so much we still want to explore in this world, but it’s also a joy because we finally get to read more spectacular Bennett writing.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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* * * * * *

Locklands

author: Robert Jackson Bennett

series: The Founders Trilogy #3

publisher: Del Rey Books

ISBN: 1984820672

hardcover, 496 pages

THE VIKING HEART – Arthur Herman

Posted by Daniel on April 19, 2022
Posted in: NON-FICTION. Tagged: 3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, History, non-fiction, Reviews. Leave a comment

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Arthur Herman’s The Viking Heart is a history book … well, no, it’s a sociology study … er, it’s a personal memoir … or, rather, it’s … it’s a little bit of everything. Including flawed.

The subtitle, How Scandinavians Conquered the World, is meant to be quite broad. We don’t realize this at first, reading through the early chapters discussing the early Scandinavian explorers – the Vikings. There is some really good, really informative history here about the make-up of the early Vikings (not all one group of people [Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, etc]) and their likely intent on their raids.

I should note that I assume this good history. I don’t know my Scandinavian history as well as I should.  But I think I can recognize fact based on study and data as opposed to supposition.  And Herman does a fair amount of supposition based on available facts.

I enjoyed the early chapters, detailing the early Viking heart and spirit and travels.  Herman makes a good case for their inclusivity (an important aspect of his book, which I get to a little more in just a little bit) but at its core, I can’t help but feel Herman wants these people to be more inclusive than history actually suggests.

As the book progresses toward modern times (early 20th century on through World War II), the book becomes much more lackluster. Here Herman begins reaching, trying to associate the Viking spirit (‘the Viking heart’) of the early raiders/explorers to the behavior of some familiar Scandinavian names in history.

What prompted Lindbergh to fly across the Atlantic was the same spirit that had the early Vikings sail unchartered waters to raid new lands. Right?

What prompted Raoul Wallenberg to save hundreds of thousands of Jews in Hungary was the same Viking heart that had the Viking raiders taking slaves to … erm … well, there’s a connection there somewhere.

The general idea of comparing modern Scandinavians and their good deeds to ancient and medieval Scandinavians is fine, if it works, but Herman spends a great deal of time on unnecessary adiaphora. We really don’t need so much time on Lindbergh and his anti-Semitic comments or his pro-Nazi beliefs.  It’s almost as though Herman is countering his own arguments about the Viking heart.

We also get Herman writing a good deal about his own ancestry. Some general comparisons might be fine, but the author goes on too much, ignoring more generally known historical figures in favor of family.

Before I address the last issue, I want to be clear on one aspect… Arthur Herman and I are generally cut from the same cloth.  We both come from strong Scandinavian backgrounds.  We both grew up and were educated in similar fashions.  Bottom line, we’re both middle-aged-to-old white guys with Scandinavian ancestors.

Early on, Herman makes some very general statements that show a clear favorable bias toward the early Scandinavians (“After acting as a largely destructive and disruptive force for two centuries, the Norsemen suddenly pivoted and became a galvanizing presence in European civilization. They helped shake Europe out of its Dark Age malaise, finding innovative ways to transmit ancient Greek and Arab knowledge and science to the West, while expanding and fortifying the boundaries of Christendom, thereby laying the foundations of the medieval West.”) so we know to take a lot of what he writes with a grain of salt and we can see that sometimes he is really reaching to make a point or a connection.

My biggest issue, however, is a point he tries to make about how the Viking heart prompts a work ethic to be envied.  I don’t necessarily disagree, but his rationale for making this point is a real slap in the face to our current culture. He writes:

As the sociologist Nima Sanandaji has put it, “High levels of trust, a strong work ethic, and social cohesion are the perfect starting-point for successful economies. They are also the cornerstones of fruitful social demographic welfare policies.”

What’s striking, in fact, is how powerfully those same bonds can be seen at work among Scandinavia’s offspring in the United States.

He goes on to show how not only have Scandinavian Americans done well, but “when we look at the experience of Scandinavian Americans, we see a substantial difference in their economic performance and status that simply living in the United States can’t explain.”  Well, of course he does explain it, in his own bias: “…the right cultural ingredients, plus the kind of environment in which the qualities of the Viking heart can flourish, add up to a powerful socioeconomic advantage.”

What he never addresses is to me the most obvious of factors.  White privilege.

While he writes briefly of how the Nazis assumed the Scandinavians would agree with their Aryan race ideas and how the misguided white supremacists have errantly taken to Viking culture for their beliefs, he fails to comment that simply by being a white man in America has contributed to the socioeconomic advantage.  We don’t have to be actively or consciously taking advantage of this for it to be there. I’d argue that many cultures and many races have work ethics as strong or even stronger than the early Vikings, but the shade of the skin has had a strong contributing factor in how they are seen, historically and still today.

Looking for a good book? The Viking Heart by Arthur Herman has some interesting ideas but the author fails to truly make the strong case for his theories. The history in the early pages is worth reading, but the theories later, mixed with personal ancestry, should be skipped.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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* * * * * *

The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World

author: Arthur Herman

publisher: Mariner Books

ISBN: 1328595900

hardcover, 512 pages

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