THE INVASION – graphic novel

Posted by Daniel on September 30, 2020
Posted in: CHILDREN'S, GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

No.  No, no, no.

I absolutely loved The Animorphs book series by K.A. Applegate.  I worked in a book store when they first started coming out and I was constantly recommending the series.

The story in a nutshell: a group of young kids (Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco) witness an alien spacecraft coming down .  A creature emerges – an Andalite (looks like a blue, short-necked giraffe).  The Andalite is dying and he’s escaping the evil Yeerks (they look like giant cockroaches).  The Yeerks have already invaded Earth but they remain hidden and rely on their being able to control the humans unseen.

Before he dies, the Andalite gives the kids a unique ability … when they touch an animal, they can capture the animal’s DNA and then transform themselves into that animal.  But if they stay in that animal form for longer than two hours, they will remain that animal for the rest of their lives. Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco may now be Earth’s only hope to rid the world of Yeerks.

This story, originally by K. A. Applegate, is quite intense and actually very dark.  While there’s awe and wonder at exploring what it’s like being an animal (what a cool idea!), the underlying threat is always present. And when the kids learn that some of the humans who are being controlled by the Yeerks are adults that they have trusted their whole lives, things get even darker and scarier.

There’s a lot of ‘cool things per page’ – changing into animals, experiencing even the most common things through an animal’s (or insect’s) eyes, cool blue aliens, scary cockroach aliens – the book is full of wonders.

But at its core, this book is dark and scary as the fate of the earth is in the hands of frightened pre-teens.

Dark and scary is okay, even in children’s literature. (Does anyone still read Grimm’s Fairy Tales?)  Let’s just not pretend it’s something other than this though.

And that’s what this graphic novel does.

The artwork in a graphic novel sets the tone and whereas art that evoked Dark Knight would be apropos here, instead we get Scrooge McDuck.

I think that Chris Grine’s artwork is totally wrong for telling this story.  His animals are fine (hawk, tiger, gorilla, elephant, etc).  In fact, they are the most realistic part of the book (I know … somebody’s going to write “maybe that’s the point” — really? the animal that was morphed from a child because of the stolen DNA is more real than the kids?). But his humans are very cartoon-y.

And can someone please explain to me why everyone, even these pre-teens, looks like an alcoholic with rhinophyma? Big, bulbous, bright noses on everyone, all the time.

This seriously bothered me the entire book – it was very distracting.  When we first see the kids (page four), I honestly thought we were going to get a new story line about the kids having a cold. But it quickly became clear that this was just the art style.

I love the Animorph’s series, and if this builds new readers who will check out the original books, then I’m all for it.  But I don’t believe that this style of reinterpretation does any favors for the franchise.

Hey kids … your parents are actually just puppets to giant, alien slug-like creatures.  Isn’t that scary?

Looking for a good book? Go find one of the original Animorphs books and give that to the young reader in your life, and pretend the graphic novel, The Invasion, by K.A. Applegate and Chris Grine doesn’t exist.

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

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The Invasion (Animorphs Graphix #1)

authors: K. A. Applegate and Chris Grine

artist: Chris Grine

series: Animorphs Graphix #1

publisher: Graphix

ISBN: 1338226487

hardcover, 240 pages

A STAR-WHEELED SKY – Brad R. Torgersen

Posted by Daniel on September 28, 2020
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Based on a number of Brad R. Torgersen’s shorter works, I felt that Torgersen was one of the best sci-fi writers currently writing and I told him so in a Facebook message (to which he very kindly replied).  But I have been less enthusiastic about his most recent novels, including this, A Star-Wheeled Sky.

A long time ago (from our very distant future) humans left Earth, to find other planets to settle, in ships that were slower than speed of light. Getting to any potential new settlement would take generations. But on the journey they discovered the Waywork – an alien super-highway that provides nearly instantaneous travel to and from different star systems. The number of systems is limited and humans, being humans (human nature just never seems to change), have completely taken over these new systems, setting up unique governments – which of course leads to disagreements, fights, and wars between the human settlements.

When war is nearly inevitable between two diametrically opposite ruling factions, a new Waypoint appears. A race is one to see which faction (aka ‘Starstates’) can get there first to gain control and expand their empire.  But one of the most vicious regimes in the Waypoint is also on the hunt.

Torgersen definitely has a knack for military sci-fi and it is in the battles and the battle planning that he shines brightest here.  He can’t seem to not add a moment or two of religious contemplation as well (it didn’t bother me here the way it did with the previous novel of his that I reviewed, and I think it was only because of this that I took notice).

The characters are … okay.  Nobody really stands out as someone with whom I can’t wait to see what they do next, nor so evil that I can’t wait to see them get their comeuppance.

I had a nagging feeling all along as I read this that someone, either Torgersen or his editors, were trying too hard to fit a mold to appeal to the widest possible audience. But by doing so, it’s created a rather bland, almost generic, sci-fi adventure.

I sincerely hope the next one stands out.

Looking for a good book? Brad R. Torgersen’s A Star-Wheeled Sky isn’t a bad sci-fi adventure, but it won’t likely excite too many readers.

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

* * * * * *

A Star-Wheeled Sky

author: Brad R. Torgersen

publisher: Baen

ISBN: 1481483625

paperback, 384 pages

THE LOST QUEEN – Signe Pike

Posted by Daniel on September 25, 2020
Posted in: ROMANCE, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It’s Arthurian legend retold time again.  This time we focus on Languoreth, a future queen, and her brother Lailoken.  They are raised in Scotland as royalty in the old ways – with mysticism and magic.  But a new religion is on the rise, threatening their way of life and their future – Christianity.

Languoreth has been promised to wed Rhydderch, son of a Christian king, in order to secure her reign over a larger swath of Britain. But the forces of magic have her in love with Maelgwn, a soldier in the army of Emrys Pendragon. This new landscape of politics and violence could be tough on a gentle soul like Languoreth, but she has her brother and a tough old druid named Myrddin to help her.

I found this book to be boring.

It was clear quite early that this was a romance novel with an Arthurian setting. Which is fine, except 500 pages of mooning and pining gets old.  There is more that happens, of course, but none of it is important to Languoreth. so it doesn’t seem important to the reader either.

What makes the book most boring, though, is that Languoreth is not a particularly interesting character.  When you narrow it all down and describe her in one paragraph or so, she looks, indeed, like a fascinating character to write about … but she needs something to do other than be confused about love and how to act like a queen.

I had high hopes that this was going to be another Crystal Cave or Mists of Avalon, but it’s not.  It’s an angst-y, brooding, YA-like romance that drags on too long.

Looking for a good book?  It’s hard to go wrong with a story in the Arthurian legend, but The Lost Queen by Signe Pike does just that.

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

* * * * * *

The Lost Queen

author: Signe Pike

series: The Lost Queen Trilogy #1

publisher: Touchstone

ISBN: 1501191411

hardcover, 527 pages

THE KINGDOM OF THE GODS – graphic novel

Posted by Daniel on September 23, 2020
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, GRAPHIC NOVEL. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I requested this book because it looked interesting. I do occasionally enjoy a graphic novel, and lately I’ve wanted graphic novels that are not the ‘norm.’  I had no idea that this was a Netflix series.

This book is two stories.  They don’t don’t really seem to be related – not the same characters, not the same setting.  It’s really confused me.

In the first story, a country’s prince turns to a common thug (who used to be much more than that) for help in getting back to his castle.  All of his bodyguards have been killed. The prince really wants to be a good ruler.  They come across a town where all the dead citizens are coming back to life. A local doctor (an attractive woman) is trying to understand what is happening to them.  It’s a classic zombie story that doesn’t really go anywhere.

This is a Netflix show?

In the second story, a mass murderer/cannibal is exiled to an island between Japan and Korea. He doesn’t seem too torn up about it, instead reveling in his being able to rule over the deserted land.

Then a doctor from another country is also exiled to the island. He because of the killing and dissecting of his patients (all in the name of science, of course).  He also doesn’t seem too upset with his banishment.

The two men discover each other (it’s not a very big island) and while neither understands the other’s language, they do both see each other as a threat … as well as an opportunity to cut, dissect, and feed.  They fight.  And fight. And fight. Both masters with a blade and evenly matched.

Another ships’ crew happens on the island, and the two men agree to take a break from trying to kill each other in order to attack the newcomers.

Yeah … that’s pretty much it.

Neither story is particularly well developed and the art is fair at best.  In fact, for most of the second story, I really believed that one of the characters (the doctor) was a woman. This made it somewhat interesting (a female murdering doctor who can fight intensely well).  When she was finally addressed as ‘he’ I realized my error.  Not that it made any difference (other than to be less interesting).

This book did nothing for me, and I definitely have no interest in seeing a television program based on what I read here.

Looking for a good book? The Kingdom of the Gods is a graphic novel that is quite unremarkable.

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

* * * * * *

The Kingdom of the Gods

authors: In-Wan Youn, Eun-Hee Kim

artist: Yang Kyung-Il

publisher: VIZ Media LLC

ISBN:1974715132

paperback, 288 pages

TIME’S DEMON – D. B. Jackson

Posted by Daniel on September 21, 2020
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Tobias Doljan is only fifteen, but he’s already lived multiple lives.  Tobias is a ‘Walker’ – he can move backward or forward through time. The only catch is that his body ages with however much time he ‘walks.’  Recently (in the previous book), Mearlan IV, the ruler of a territory, hired Tobias and asked him to Walk fourteen years in the past to convince himself (Mearlan) to not start a war with a neighboring territory.

Now Tobias, only 15 but looking 30, finds himself the target of assassination attempts. Mearlan himself has been killed and his entire family has been wiped out, except for the infant daughter, Sofya.  Tobias is now on the run with Sofya and another Walker (and Spanner [those who can move great distances in a single moment]), Mara, trying to find a way to right the future that he comes from.

Their current flight has them on an ocean journey where they hope to ultimately get to a land where it is rumored that a chronofor (the device a Walker needs to travel through time) might be purchased.

This journey will not only have the assassins after them, but a number of different demons as well … including Droë, who is fascinated with humans in general and Tobias in particular.  Will Tobias and Mara be able to call on Droë for help when they need it most, knowing that she sees Mara as competition for Tobias’ affections?

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and I thought that this volume was actually tighter with the story. However, this book is also a classic ‘middle’ book.  We’ve lost sight of the initial cause of Tobias’ being stranded in time, and unless you’ve read the first book, you don’t realize that the Tobias had a bit of a crush on Sofya, now the infant in tow.

Author D.B. Jackson does provide a “What Has Come Before: A Summary of TIME’S CHILDREN” prologue, which is great (more books that are part of a series should do this).

I definitely enjoyed this portion of the journey, but with all that happens to them, more than once I wondered if this was still part of the story that was begin in Time’s Children, or where we now on some completely different journey?  It is a bit of both, of course.

The additional characters, or growth of additional characters, was particularly enjoyable. Droë’s role in the story provides the most interest (and it’s quite clear that she’ll play an additional role in the next book).

This was a lot of fun, even if I didn’t feel it was the same journey I started back with the first book.

Looking for a good book? Time’s Demon by D. B. Jackson is a strong fantasy with tremendous characters, which appears to be far from the story it started out to be.

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

* * * * * *

Time’s Demon

author: D. B. Jackson

series: The Islevale Cycle #2

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857667939

paperback, 504 pages

TUNE IT OUT – Jamie Sumner

Posted by Daniel on September 18, 2020
Posted in: CHILDREN'S, YA. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Louise “Lou” Montgomery lives with her mom – a struggling, single parent with nothing but praise and encouragement for her daughter.  Maybe a little too much so.

Lou doesn’t like sudden or loud noises.  She doesn’t like to be touched (or any sort of contact). But Lou’s mom won’t listen to anyone who might suggest that Lou is ‘on the spectrum’ and she pushes her daughter, who has a great singing voice, to perform in public at local establishments.

Lou’s mom is convinced that the two of them should leave their Lake Tahoe ‘home’ and move to Los Angeles where Lou can really be discovered. But before they can head out, Lou (who is only 12) is driving the car to pick up her mother and has an accident.  Having an accident gets the police involved, and being only 12 and driving gets child protective services involved.

It seems that Lou hasn’t been to school in some time, and home life sometimes means sleeping in the car.  Lou is going to be sent away, separated from her mother, and she will be staying (at her mother’s request) with her Aunt Ginger and Uncle Dan in Nashville, until her mom can get settled and prove that she can care for her daughter.

Lou misses her mother fiercely, but makes some pretty good friends at her new school – friends who really understand her (they wave signs that read “Applause” instead of actually clapping just so that they don’t upset Lou). She gets involved in the school play (as assistant director) and meets with a counselor who listens and is patient.

When Lou does finally get to see her mother (in a public, supervised location) she sees that her mother really isn’t ready for her.  She doesn’t listen to Lou, instead making plans as if nothing had changed.  Lou sets her straight, letting her know that she’s never liked preforming in public, and she’ll stay with Ginger and Dan and her friends.

This is an easy to read, quick book, with lots of heart, plenty of feel-good moments, and a central character that readers will rally around.

I don’t know much about autism or ‘the spectrum’ but clearly Lou shows signs of having some issues.  Whether or not these specific issues will resonate with readers – I don’t know.  But most of us have felt ‘different’ or separate from the crowd during school, and there are aspect here that we can relate to.

I have a few issues with the mother, presented in such a positive light – even when Lou finally realizes that her mother hasn’t been understanding her. Everything here is Hallmark Channel squeaky clean and we don’t get a lot of time to settle in to all of Lou’s new routines, but instead Lou makes big adjustments that seem slightly out of character in order to keep the story moving swiftly.

Still, it tugs at your heart and Lou is a strong character and it’s easy to want to see her succeed.  This will definitely hit home with a certain school-aged audience.

Looking for a good book? Tune it Out by Jamie Sumner is a very positive look at a young girl with some social issues showing strength of character as she starts a new life (at age 12) with distant relatives and new friends.

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

* * * * * *

Tune It Out

author: Jamie Sumner

publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 1534457003

hardcover, 288 pages

CURSED – Thomas Wheeler

Posted by Daniel on September 16, 2020
Posted in: MYTHOLOGY, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I’ve had an interest in the Arthurian legends for a very, very long time and it’s been interesting to see the cyclical nature of new Arthur-era stories.  We can go years without seeing new Arthur stories being told and then suddenly we get a slough of them.  I was interested in this because of the multi-media aspect – illustrations by noted comic book artist Frank Miller, and that this was (when I started reading this) about to be aired on Netflix as a series (the series was released the day after I finished reading this).

We’ve got all the familiar characters (including the sword Excalibur), but the twist with this take on the legend is that the sword has chosen a young woman (Nimue) as the worthy bearer.

Nimue grew up in a village of druids, but she was feared even by the village elders, for her formidable control of dark magic. Her mother has been Excalibur’s keeper and, just before she dies, instructs Nimue to bring the sword to a certain wizard who will know what to do with it.  But once she’s got it in her hands, Nimue doesn’t want to part with it, and she’s pretty certain it doesn’t want her to let it go.

I found this book … boring.  Magic, wizards, witches, druids, Excalibur, knights.  This should be anything BUT boring, and yet it really was kind of dreadfully dull.

None of the characters are particularly heroic.  If you’re going to retell the Arthurian legend in a new and interesting way, wouldn’t you want to keep the heroic nature of some of the characters?  I know this is trying to be different, but if we’re changing things up so drastically that we don’t keep any of the elements other than a sword, why not make this a unique world, instead of treading on Arthurian ground?

The story doesn’t move particularly well.  We get a lot of chunks of character, character, character, then a little bit of story (plot moving forward), then more character, character, oh look what we’re doing with this character, maybe a little more story.

I feel like there’s been a fair amount of hype over the inclusion of art by Frank Miller.  Personally, I don’t feel one way or the other about Miller’s art … but I didn’t really understand what he was going for here.  This art reminded me more of a stylized Ralph Bakshi interpretation than new works by the famous Daredevil and Batman artist.  There’s also not a lot of artwork here (more than most books, significantly less than a graphic novel).  Anyone buying it for the art work will likely be disappointed. Anyone buying it for the story will be even more disappointed.

Looking for a good book? Cursed, by Thomas Wheeler, looks like it should be a winner, given the well-known characters and legend that it plays with, and the artist of a strong reputation who contributes drawings to the project, proving that looks can be deceiving.

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

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Cursed

author: Thomas Wheeler

artist: Frank Miller

publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 534425330

hardcover, 416 pages

COZY – Jan Brett

Posted by Daniel on September 15, 2020
Posted in: CHILDREN'S, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I envy today’s children who will be able to grow up with the opportunity to see a new Jan Brett book every so often, just as my generation (and the generations before me and after my childhood) got see new Dr. Seuss books.

Cozy is Jan Brett’s latest and follows what has become her signature style – a sort of Russian nesting doll in luscious art.

Cozy is a musk ox with a thick, soft coat. He finds himself alone in the middle of a snow field when a terrible storm whips up. One by one, a cadre of animals approaches Cozy and asks to take refuge from the storm under his fur. Many of these animals might normally be prey to the next animal, a predator, but in this children’s book we know that everything will work out just fine.

If you are at all familiar with Jan Brett’s work, you can expect that in the side panels of art are glimpses of the next animal that we will meet once the page is turned.

It’s a very cute story and young children will definitely want to have this one read to them over and over.  The beautiful art will keep parents enjoying the multiple readings.

If you have young children or grandchildren this is definitely a book you will want to have in your library.

Looking for a good book?  Jan Brett’s Cozy is about as good as it get for pre-schooler’s picture book.

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

* * * * * *

Cozy

author: Jan Brett

artist: Jan Brett

publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 0593109791

hardcover, 32 pages

ROBERT KIRKMAN’S THE WALKING DEAD: TYPHOON – Wesley Chu

Posted by Daniel on September 14, 2020
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Honestly … the main reason I wanted to read this was not so much because it’s a “Walking Dead” novel, but because it’s by Wesley Chu.  I’ll read just about anything by Chu (though I’d prefer to read more in the Time Salvager or Io series’).

China has been hit particularly hard by the outbreak that creates the walking dead (called “jiangshi”) – there may be upwards of one billion jiangshi roaming the country.  Survivors have clustered in large groups and created new settlements to best defend themselves from the walkers. These settlements bring together people of all backgrounds and from all walks of Chinese life, each now tasked with new day-to-day jobs for the good of the settlement.

At one such colony, known as Beacon of Light, we meet Zhu, once a poof, rural farmer, Elena, an American student taking a gap year to teach English to Chinese students, and Hengyen, a can-do military officer who firmly believes that the Chinese military will overcome this problem.

There are some 3,000 other citizens in Beacon of Light encampment which means there are a lot of people who need to be fed. The most consistent source of food comes from scavenging the homes and towns around them, but each scavenging raid means going further and further out, which of course has many dangers as the scavengers get further away from the safety and protection of the settlement.

On one such scavenging mission, Zhu finds himself in his home village and discovers that there are other survivors who’ve made their own small, protected settlement.  Zhu isn’t sure if he should leave them alone or encourage them to join Beacon of Light.

Meanwhile, a typhoon of jiangshi are soon going to engulf the countryside.  The leader of the settlement assigns Hengyen with the task of rounding up anyone not in a protected settlement. Zhu, is even more conflicted given his love of the American, Elena. Does he run with the villagers who will attempt to flee the approaching tidal wave of walkers, or does he stay with Elena and Beacon of Light, which will surely be overrun.

While I watched The Walking Dead television show somewhat faithfully for the first three seasons, I never had the burning desire to make sure I stayed with it to see what would happen next.  It’s on my list of things to watch ‘someday.’ So I am somewhat, but not intimately, familiar with this series.

I liked Chu’s storytelling a lot, and I really appreciated this look at The Walking Dead world from an entirely different cultural point of view.  But at the same time, what as worked so well (for me at least) with The Walking Dead has been the set of characters, even though rotating in and out. This book could be any zombie novel.  There’s not much tying it to Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead other than that title. Maybe that works in its favor; maybe some readers want their zombies but are tired of the same old group of people.

I enjoyed this for the story itself, but not as part of The Walking Dead series.

Looking for a good book? Wesley Chu brings to life (pun intended) a story of love and conflict in a strange time and a strange land in his foray into Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead: Typhoon.

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

* * * * * *

Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead: Typhoon

author: Wesley Chu

series: The Walking Dead novels

publisher: Skybound Books

ISBN: 198211780X

hardcover, 400 pages

THE BAYERN AGENDA – Dan Moren

Posted by Daniel on September 11, 2020
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

There’s a saying (which most of us are familiar with) that there are two things which are inevitable … death and taxes.  If you were to add a third item to the list of ‘inevitables’ it might be that where two or more humans are gathered, there will be a cold war.

Simon Kovalic is a top intelligence agent for the Commonwealth of Independent Systems (ie: the good guys). There is a very hot Cold War going on with the very aggressive Illyrican Empire and Simon is right in the middle of it all.

Kovalic and another member of an infiltration team are rescued from a mission (Kovalic is injured and another team member was killed) and Kovalic is immediately assigned to a new mission.  The Illyrican Empire, it seems, is working quite dilligently to make friends with the Bayern Corporation.  The Bayern Corporation … think “Swiss banks” on a planet-sized scale. If the Empire can get a foothold in the banking system they could easily bring the rest of the worlds to their proverbial knees.

Kovalics handler for this new mission is his ex-wife (Natalie Taylor) and the two may have a few things to work out still.  But Natalie and Simon will need to trust one another, and Kovalics team will have to trust that the two can work together, when word gets to Natalie that the Empire is expecting and waiting for Kovalic’s team.

This book starts out with an exciting space opera-style scenario. There’s a clear mission, secrecy, and well-trained agents who, after everything goes awry and one agent is killed, manage to keep an entire squadron at bay until they can be rescued.  It’s fact and exciting and we get to know our primary character pretty well.

It’s a great set-up, except … it feels like much more than a character set-up – that the information they get here is going to be essential to some other part of the story, and that’s just not true. This is too bad because tying it together better and not just using the opening scene to establish character, really could have pushed this to the next level.

I did enjoy this spy/thriller scifi book and I look forward to more adventures of Simon Kovalic, but I was definitely expecting something, based on the opening, that didn’t follow through.

Looking for a good book?  The Bayern Agenda by Dan Moren, is a good scifi thriller read, but don’t be fooled by the opening scene … the intensity of the action at the beginning will not be repeated.

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

* * * * * *

The Bayern Agenda

author: Dan Moren

series: The Galactic Cold War #1

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857668196

paperback, 384 pages

A LAND APART – Ian Roberts

Posted by Daniel on September 9, 2020
Posted in: HISTORICAL FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Have you ever visited a historical site – in the U.S., these places are usually identified with brown signs signifying they are places of historic significance – and then gone into the visitor’s center at this historic site and seen the plethora of memorabilia that is somehow connected with that site, usually including plenty of books (fiction and non-fiction) written and published by local authors?

I am the guy who buys those books.

While Ian Roberts’ A Land Apart wasn’t purchased at a regional historic site, the feel is pretty much the same.

The story is about Etienne Brulé and his part in the French colonization of Canada in the very early 1600’s. Not surprisingly, his life in and among the natives (arming the Wyandots to be able to defend themselves against the Iroquois who’ve been armed by the English) plays a major part in Brulé’s time in this land.

I have to admit that I know (knew?) next to nothing about Canada’s early explorers – which is precisely why I like this sort of book.  It’s packed full of history (presumably well-researched) and told in an easier (narrative) way to make the reading enjoyable.  Or at least that’s the idea.

Ian Roberts does a very strange thing here with the actual writing of the book.  He tells this story in third person historic present tense. The idea, I think, is that this is supposed to make us feel the immediacy of the moment much more when the action is taking place now, rather than looking back on it. But for me the effect was just the opposite. I struggled constantly through the book because the narrative just felt wrong to me. While I recognize that this isn’t the first book to be written in this tense I’ve noticed that those I can recall I have not rated very highly.

I believe that present tense is hard to sustain in a novel. It is much easier in a film or stage script.  And there we have the crux of what I consider to be the problem here.  In his Afterword, Robert’s tells us that this story started out as a film script that a dear friend insisted that he write.  When nothing came of it, he put it aside until one day when a friend who had a copy of that script told Roberts that he should do something with this story. And now it’s easy to see why this style was selected … it had already been written this way, for a different format, and of course it’s easier to rewrite when you keep the tense in which it was first written.

Let me randomly pick a scene in the book:

Brulé, tomahawk still in hand, now slams it down on the noble’s table itself, splitting it in two. …

Brulé is furious that he has let this priest get to him again. Behind du Barre, he sees LeCharon stepping into the water just beyond the gap at the end of the palisade. Near the priest, two soldiers talk. One leans against the edge of the palisade, the other nestles himself in the fork of a tree to have a view over the palisade wall into the forest. Another burst of laughter escapes from the four Algonquin on the other side of camp. A drunken laughter. And not far from them, six French men lounge against the palisade wall.

“Who are they?” Brulé asks.

“The company’s new men,” answers du Barre. “Those that will replace you.”

But Brulé is already striding towards them. His frustration and fury with the priest now overflow at the sight unfolding before him.

This definitely has a film script sense to it.  Rather than writing description for a read, this is written as description for a director to paint a scene.  And given this, I would much rather have read this as a script (though I suppose that aren’t really that many readers who are familiar with how to read a script).

This didn’t work me.  Maybe it would have if I’d known at the start that this was a (slightly) converted script-to-novel. And this is too bad, because I think the story could have been quite interesting.

Roberts also illustrates this book with some fine drawings.

Looking for a good book? A Land Apart by Ian Roberts is a nice, historic, Canadian story but the story format doesn’t appeal.

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

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A Land Apart

author: Ian Roberts

artist: Ian Roberts

publisher: Atelier Saint-Luc Press

ISBN: 0972872337

paperback, 224 pages

FOG SEASON – Patrice Smith

Posted by Daniel on September 7, 2020
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

The Mederos sisters, Tesara and Yvienne, are still the talk of Port Saint Frey. They are now in charge of their merchant house as their parents have left town. But incidents from the last book, specifically those surrounding the Gentleman Bandit (whose identity is still unknown). The Guild has sent a special investigator to look into the fraud that Tesara and Yvienne uncovered. This investigator, Abel Fresnel, has special powers and the Mederos sisters will have to stay on their toes around him or he will uncover their own secrets and the parts they played in the recent incidents.

Tesera is being pursued by some who want to force her to use her magic powers for their own purposes. Fortunately Tesera’s powers are getting stronger (though likely not nearly enough to hide her secrets from Abel). Yvienne, who is the older sister, is still the brains of the pair and most aware of where the dangers are in Port Saint Frey.

Although my rating for the first book in the series was only a 3 out of 5, I was looking forward to this book.   I really like the characters of Tesera and Yvienne and I love the setting. I was determined to stay focused here because there is so much that is appealing to me.

I still found the characters to be really well drawn and interesting. The addition of Abel brings some nice intrigue and conflict.

And yet I still lost interest in this book.

I was pulled in by the opening chapters, setting up a good story with great characters. The end really had me interested as all the different elements came together and I was eager to see the way the conflicts were resolved (or not resolved).

But the middle once again, just as with the previous book, dragged on for me. I couldn’t feel I was going anywhere and the character building wasn’t happening.  This just made the reading feel slow and long until I got to that point near the end where my interest was brought back in.

I think that this book appeals to a lot of readers … I’m just not one of them.

Looking for a good book? Fog Season by Patrice Sarath is a moody, historical, romantic fantasy that should appeal to readers you enjoy this style of fiction, but despite my interest in all these elements, this doesn’t work for me.

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

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Fog Season

author: Patrice Sarath

series: Tales of Port Saint Frey #2

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857667777

paperback, 352 pages