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All posts for the month July, 2021

BYSTANDER 27 – Rik Hoskin

Posted by Daniel on July 30, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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The earth is protected by superheroes – who are really nothing more than vigilantes with some sort of unusual power. But this book isn’t the story of one of those superheroes … not really.  This is the story of one of the many, an innocent bystander who happened to be in the area where a superhero and a supervillain are squaring off.
Former Navy SEAL Jon Hayes and his wife Melanie (pregnant with their first child) are witness to a moment when superhero Captain Light is attempting to bring the criminal Jade Shade to justice. A super-powered battle is always going to draw attention and a news helicopter was already in the area to get the best shots.
The fight was reaching a fevered pitch, creating a stampede of people trying to get out of the way of the supers. The fight takes to the air and Jade Shade reaches out and grabs the helicopter to hurl it at Captain Light, who knocks it aside. But by knocking it away, it goes hurling into the stampeding crowd below, which has swept up Melanie who is directly in the path of the falling helicopter and is killed instantly.
And so begins Jon Hayes’ singular focus of avenging his wife and unborn child. To do so, he must study and learn everything he can about Captain Light and the other superheroes, and some surprising revelations come to light. Among them, he notices that the same people seem to be bystanders over and over again at superpowered fights.  He even spots himself … and his family? … at one.
Jon recognizes that by seeking revenge against Captain Light it puts him in the role of villain, but he has no other choice.  Perhaps literally?  Is someone else behind it all, pulling the strings?
I really liked the concept of the book, although I do feel as though the idea of superheroes as a problem is almost too common now. I also found that I liked author Rik Hoskin’s writing, but at the same time, the book was a bit over-written. There’s a lot of action in the opening couple of chapters, and the ending, with its twists and turns, holds the reader’s attention, but the very large middle portion of this book is one very long set-up which has Hayes planning what he’ll do, then questioning himself, then planning, then questioning, and so on. Fortunately, Hoskin’s prose keep the book flowing pretty smoothly, but if 100 pages were cut from the middle of the book, I don’t think it would affect the story.
I liked Hayes, but the fact that we’re told he was once a Navy SEAL (and told this more than once) always felt emboldening. I never really got the sense of this man as a SEAL – he seemed a lot more ‘everyman-ish’ than strong, military type.
I’m glad to have read this, and fans of superhero novels might find this an enjoyable read.
Looking for a good book? Bystander 27 by Rik Hoskin is a modern superhero story with a common Joe taking on a ‘super’ (if your common Joe is a Navy SEAL), and the story offers up some fun twists along the way.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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Bystander 27
author: Rik Hoskin
publisher: Angry Robot
ISBN: 9780857668592
 
paperback, 400 pages

THE IMMORTALS – Jordanna Max Brodsky

Posted by Daniel on July 28, 2021
Posted in: MYSTERY, MYTHOLOGY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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What happens when the ancient gods are no longer worshipped the way they once were? They begin to lose their godly powers and take on some mortal characteristics. For instance, Artemis, the Virgin Goddess of the Hunt, now Selena DiSilva investigates the murder of a woman she discovers on the shore of the Hudson River.
The discovery reminds Selena/Artemis of a promise she made a very long time ago to protect the innocent, and the method and brutality of the murder remind her of an ancient cult  who must be stopped. Selena finds herself teaming up with a Classics professor, Theo, who knows the ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses … perhaps better than she who is a goddess. Selena will need to call on some friends who may have to dig deep to pull up their godly powers to help Selena and Theo.
Who doesn’t like a good novel featuring some of our favorite Greek and Roman gods? Rick Riordan made it cool to put the gods in contemporary stories again, and we’ve seen plenty of the gods making appearances since then. here, author Jordanna Max Brodsky makes it a mystery with a very interesting choice for a protagonist.  Artemis is a name that is familiar to many, but other than the fact that she’s often depicted with a bow and arrows, few know too much about her.
Sadly, I found the character of Selena to be dull and uninteresting. Given that she is 90% of the book and the driving force behind the story, this was not a good sign. And rather oddly enough, I liked her most at the beginning of the book when she was simply Selena. It was when the element of the ancient gods was brought in that the book became less interesting.
Overall, the book was just rather … “eh.” As a mystery novel this was just fine, but trying to make it more than that just wasn’t successful for this reader.
Looking for a good book? The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky is a modern day mystery with its roots in ancient Greece and featuring some ancient gods in mortal coil.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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The Immortals
author: Jordanna Max Brodsky
series: Olympus Bound #1
publisher: Orbit
 
ISBN: 9780316347181
 
hardcover, 447pages

SIN EATER – Megan Campisi

Posted by Daniel on July 26, 2021
Posted in: HISTORICAL FICTION, MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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Atonement for one’s sins comes not by way of a priest’s blessings or forgiveness, but by the eating of specific foods. A Sin Eater leads an unusual life – when one is on his or her deathbed, the Sin Eater is summoned so that the dying might confess their sins and the Sin Eater puts together a list of foods so that the Sin Eater (and the family?) might eat away the sins so that the dying person can go to meet the Maker free of the burden of sins. For those who pass on before they can confess their sins, a general meal is prepared. But other than this one moment in a person’s life, a Sin Eater is shunned and avoided.  Touching a Sin Eater is bad luck. And except for the Sin Eater’s prayer and requesting first a confession and then call for the foods, a Sin Eater does not speak.

Fourteen year old May, living in 16th Century England, is arrested for stealing some bread.  She sits in prison for many weeks, having already seen the judge, and she watches others come and receive their punishments while she lingers behind bars. Finally her punishment is pronounced.  She is to become a Sin Eater. Not knowing anything about how to become a Sin Eater, she goes to the home of a Sin Eater, shows the “S” brand on her collar marking her, and becomes an apprentice to an old, slovenly woman.
The pair are summoned to the Royal Court where they hear the confession of the former governess to the Virgin Queen and the older Sin Eater refuses to eat one of the confession foods and May is embroiled in a mystery of lies and murder within the Royal Court. But what can a Sin Eater, not allowed to speak, do about it?
I was not aware of the concept of sin-eating, but I realize now that this is an actual, historical concept. So at first I was thinking ‘what a great concept for a story’ but realized later that it was a great find for a story concept.
But the first third or so of this book was about this concept.  Identifying our protagonist and being a sin-eater. The plot to the story doesn’t show up until nearly half way through and by that time we think the story is about being a Sin Eater.  It is not.  It is about being privy to a dangerous secret at the highest level of society and how the lowest level in society can fight to avenge a wrong.
Author Megan Campisi’s writing is luscious and the book is easy to fall into. Only two characters stand out – May, and the old Sin Eater – but there really aren’t many others that get much page time.
The first half of the book was interesting and I looked forward to reading it. But the second half grew boring for me.  That’s the second half with the actual plot. I enjoyed reading this …  moderately well, but I would define this as a ‘must read.’
Looking for a good book? Sin Eater, by Megan Campisi, is a historical fiction mystery that is worth reading for the beautiful writing, but the story slows it down.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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Sin Eater
author: Megan Campisi
publisher: Atria Books
 
ISBN: 9781982124106
 
hardcover, 304 pages

APPLES OF NORTH AMERICA – Tom Burford

Posted by Daniel on July 23, 2021
Posted in: NON-FICTION. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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What I know (or knew) about apples: There a many different kinds.  Some I like and some I do not.

In this book, author Tom Burford has opened my eyes somewhat to a veritable cornucopia of apple varieties. So many, in fact, that this was almost overwhelming. Almost.

Burford gives a great deal of information on nearly 200 varieties of apples (this is not a complete list … these are the ‘exceptional varieties’ according to the book’s subtitle). This information generally includes a brief history of the variety, other names it might be known as, a description of the exterior of the apple (ie: shape, size, color), a description of the interior of the fruit (such as crispness, sweetness, etc), the productivity of the tree,  the fruit’s disease resistance, the ripening season, storage quality, and uses for the variety (desert, baking, cider-making, vinegar making, etc).  I thought it was interesting that only five of the 200 listed mentioned that they were good for ‘eating-out-of-hand.’

After the brief look at the different apple varieties, Burford also presents the reader with ‘Recommended Uses of Apple Varieties,’ a look at planning and planting a home orchard and tree care, and some apple products.

Burford clearly has a great deal of knowledge about and a love affair with the apple.  He comes from a family that has grown apples in the United States since the early 1700’s and there’s probably no one better suited to give us the 411 on apples. And in many ways I feel quite prepared for a trivia night or a series of apple questions on Jeopardy after reading this book.

But…

The bulk of the book is the look at the different varieties, most of which I’ve never heard of or seen in any of my local stores or markets (I live in the upper Midwest). If I wanted an Early Joe or Westfield Seek-No-Further apple, where would I find one? What does it mean when one of the best apples I’ve eaten in a long time (an Envy) isn’t even listed? This is a wonderful list with some great insight, but it is not very practical from my standpoint.

I have thought it might be nice to have an apple tree in my yard (until I have to mow the yard, of course) and to that end, the information about planting and tree care is quite helpful even though I’m unlikely to take any action in this regard.

Something I didn’t see here, but rather expected, was a growing zone.  For the 200 varieties listed, am I likely to find them in Minnesota?  In Colorado? Virginia? Florida?

There are a number of apple varieties listed here that I’d like to check out, but I’m not sure I’ll ever find them.

Looking for a good book? Tom Burford’s Apples of North America provides a great deal of information about nearly 200 apple varieties, as well as expert advice on planting, growing, and maintaining apple trees.

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

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Apples of North America: A Celebration of Exceptional Varieties

author: Tom Burford

publisher: Timber Press

ISBN: 9781643261171

paperback, 312 pages

COLD MOURNING – Brenda Chapman

Posted by Daniel on July 21, 2021
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

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A week before Christmas, a wealthy business man, Tom Underwood, disappears into thin air.  The Ontario police assign new recruit, Kala Stonechild – a member of the First Nations reserve, to the case. Her boss is Detective Jacques Rouleau and he has his hands full trying to control her.  Together they discover that there is a large pool of individuals who would want to see Underwood dead.

This is one of the oldest books in my ARC-TBR queue and based on the description it sounded like something I really might enjoy. Given my rising interest in mysteries and my continuing interest in indigenous cultures I really felt that this was a book/series I might gravitate toward. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

The book opens with a brutal rape and murder scene, so well written that I wasn’t sure I wanted to read any further. The rest of the book, however, is quite tame by comparison. But the connection between the characters in the opening scene and the rest of the book is also a mystery. We do not see the survivors of the rape/murder until the last 15% of the book and the entire time I kept asking myself where this was going and what was the connection.  I’m still not sure because the story lost my interest.
The characters seemed intriguing and the writing was powerful.  I was seriously invested and therefore horrified and shocked at the opening and that takes some really powerful writing to get to me that way, but I did not feel that invested later on. Perhaps I was brought into the story too powerfully … because it made such an impression on me but then we leave those characters for 3/4 of the story,, it was just a  let down.
Looking for a good book? Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman is a mystery with good writing, but the story doesn’t connect.
I receive a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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Cold Mourning
author: Brenda Chapman
series: Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery #1
publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 9781459708013
 
paperback, 392 pages

THE BOOK COLLECTORS – Delphine Minoui

Posted by Daniel on July 19, 2021
Posted in: NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

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In the mid-2010’s Daraya, Syria – a small community just outside Damascus – was a focal point of the Syrian Civil War (which is still going on).  Bombs and chemical weapons would rain down on the community daily – as much to wear down the morale of the citizens as it was to kill them.

A group of youth, determined to resist the attacking forces, would walk through town after a bombing raid to search for survivors. In addition to the occasional survivor, these youth found books.  Books. And more books. Soon what this band of rebels had was an underground library.
The story was brought to the attention of Delphine Minoui, a French-Iranian journalist who managed to make a connection with the youth stocking and protecting and sharing the library. What she found were smart, dedicated people just looking to hang onto their homes, and with nothing to do day in and day out but wait for the bombs and search for survivors, these young people became voracious readers who also looked forward to semi-regular Facebook conversations with Delphine. For her part, Delphine became attached to these youths and would try to send digital books that were requested by the villagers who were essentially held captive in their own homes.
This is a fascinating story and with Delphine Minoui’s help we get to know a few of these young rebels. And while they might be presented on the news as rebels (if the news would even bother to cover this war), this book really humanizes these victims. With not much to hang on to in a city slowly being literally destroyed, a group of educated, intelligent young people have sought refuge and escapism in books. For those of who love to read (and chances are, if you are reading this blog or finding this review on Goodreads, you love to read) we can easily see ourselves here … minus the ever-present threat of being blown to bits.
Minoui relates and compares some of her own experiences watching horrors in her home of Paris and while visiting Istanbul, and these experiences make a strong statement on the general aggressiveness of human beings.
And while I found the book engaging, at the end of it I wasn’t sure what I was meant to take away from the reading.  Is it just a news story, meant to inform and let the reader take away from it what they will?  I don’t think so.  It’s meant to be more than that, and the connection is in the books and the library, but that final literary ribbon to tie it all together was missing for me.
Looking for a good book? The Book Collectors by Delphine Minoui is a powerful story of a war-torn city and its people trying to survive but an opportunity to tell how the creation of the library was important to maintaining a semblance of normalcy was missed.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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The Book Collectors
author: Delphine Minoui
publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 9780374115166
 
hardcover, 197 pages

SUBURBAN DICKS – Fabian Nicieza

Posted by Daniel on July 16, 2021
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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Andrea Stern was once a respected FBI profiler, but she gave it up to be a stay-at-home mom to her four children (with a fifth very much on the way). She now lives in the suburbs (West Windsor, New Jersey) with her children and husband (a convicted white-collar criminal).

When one of Andrea’s very young children is desperate for a bathroom while driving home, Andrea pulls her car into a service station and tries to hurry her daughter to the bathroom when they are stopped by two patrol-officers who are starting to tape off a crime scene at the location. Just as the officers inform Andrea that she and her daughter need to leave, the little girl pees all over the area, contaminating the crime scene. And so begins Andrea’s involvement in a homicide in her own community.

Andrea finds she’s missed using her skills and she’s serious about the murder of the young man at the service station mart. With the help of a journalist friend, Kenny Lee, who’s badly in need of a good story to help get his good reputation back, Andrea investigates the homicide … which she notes does NOT have the signs of a random or gang murder as the police try to frame it. Which can only mean the police themselves are either extremely incompetent or covering up something. But what?

This book was a really delightful read.  I got so involved with the characters and the story that I was looking forward each day to getting back into the book. I was out of town for a long weekend and throughout the three days I was away I was constantly thinking of the book and where it might be heading.

The writing is delicious (I didn’t realize it at the time, but author Fabian Nicieza is the creative force behind Deadpool) and there is more than a fair amount of humor, and yet I never felt that the story was sacrificed for the humor. It flowed naturally and easily.

The story unfolds appropriately so we keep thinking we know what might come next but are often wrong. Or, if we’re correct, the surprise will be in how the matter is resolved.

The story is pretty quick and there are not many red herrings, but there are a few surprises here and there.

The characters and their relationships are what makes this book really shine and you can count me as someone highly interested in reading more Andrea Stern mysteries. This also would make a very good tv series.

Looking for a good book? If you like mysteries Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza should be on your reading list. If you aren’t a fan of mysteries, this is a great entry to the genre.

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

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Suburban Dicks

author: Fabian Nicieza

publisher: G.P. Putnam

ISBN: 9780593191262

hardcover, 400 pages

THE ESSENCE OF DARKNESS – Tom Clearlake

Posted by Daniel on July 14, 2021
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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I no longer request an ARC of a book unless something about the book (sometimes the author, sometimes the description, sometimes even the publisher) attracts me to the title. So it should go without saying that I genuinely want to like and enjoy each book that I read.  Sadly, that is not always the case.

Five children have been abducted from a very small town in the past four months.  The FBI send agent Eliott Cooper to investigate. But what Cooper thought would be a pretty straight-forward investigation takes a sharp turn as an ancient evil begins to reveal itself in the woodlands around the community. Cooper is in for more than he ever bargained for.

This book was a bit of a slog to get through.

The mystery premise of the book was interesting and I was initially looking forward to getting more into the investigation. But the supernatural element just didn’t play well.

But the problems here are more than just an element that isn’t presented cleanly.  The writing itself often had me scratching my head and ultimately had me wondering why there wasn’t a stronger editing process.  Two things, small overall, but odd enough to catch my attention in the reading, jumped out at me.

The first was a conversation a man had with a doctor:

“Look, Doctor, I’m a businessman, and I’m up to my neck in work right now. I can’t allow myself the slightest health problem; do you understand? My company’s going to sign a big contract with a client in New York, and I need to be there this afternoon.”

“This afternoon? I’m afraid you’ll have to postpone your meeting until tomorrow. That would be wiser.”

Cooper pressed on. “That’s absolutely impossible!”

The doctor gestured that he could get dressed. Cooper went to his jacket and pulled out his wallet.

“Doctor, if it’s about money,” he said, pulling out a wad of bills, “I can pay, but I absolutely must have a full examination this afternoon.”

In my notes I wrote: “Is this really how you talk to a doctor you’ve never met before?” and “Why is he demanding an examination ‘this afternoon’ if he must be meeting a client in New York ‘this afternoon’?”

By all accounts, St. Marys, PA is a small town.  This is where the abductions have occurred.  The town appear to be surrounded by forests, where the evil dwells.  I’ve spent a lot of time living in small towns and something I’ve never seen or heard attributed to small towns before is ‘riots.’ In response to one of the abducted being found, dead, we are informed: “The city has been in turmoil since Captain Sherman made the news official. The residents are horrified. There have even been riots over the pas two nights.”

‘Horrified’ – for sure.  ‘Turmoil’ and ‘riots’?  Mmmmm…doesn’t ring true at all.

This was hard to read – not because of the theme or subject, but because it just wasn’t written well.

Looking for a good book? The Essence of Darkness by Tom Clearlake would not be the path to finding it.

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

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The Essence of Darkness

author: Tom Clearlake

publisher: Moonlight

ISBN: 9782956131

paperback, 445 pages

SHADOW SERVICE – graphic novel

Posted by Daniel on July 12, 2021
Posted in: GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

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Gina Meyers is a private investigator with a gift. Her gift is that she’s a witch, with full spell-casting abilities. But that gift may also be a curse as Gina wonders if she’s worse than the criminals she catches. She believes she’s unique with her ability, but of course she’s not and she’s soon recruited by the British super-secret spy service (MI666).

I found this book to be quite average.  If supernatural mystery comics are your thing (and it is for many) than this is probably a really good book for you.  But for the average graphic novel reader, there isn’t much here to attract the reader.

MI666 comes off less of a Harry Potter version of the Avengers and more of a military outfit that enchants their weapons and shields.

There seems to be potential in Gina’s character but so far in these collected comics I didn’t feel any connection or reason to want to follow her exploits. And I wanted to. I wanted to find a reason to really get into this because it sounded like something I’d enjoy.

The art was fair but somewhat uneven.  I liked the dark, monstrous creatures the most and maybe that’s one of my problems with the book… I feel like we’re supposed to be following Gina, but the nightmares are much more interesting.

I’m moderately glad to have read this, but I won’t be looking for any future volumes and can’t really recommend this.

Looking for a good book? The graphic novel Shadow Service doesn’t live up to the potential of the concept and doesn’t provide a compelling reason to chose this over the other graphic novel options available.

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

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Shadow Service

author: Cavan Scott

artist: Corin Howell

publisher: Vault Comics

ISBN: 9781939424815

paperback, 128 pages

T.I.M.E. STORIES: THE HEIDEN FILES – Christopher Lambert

Posted by Daniel on July 9, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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“Tess Heiden, twenty years old, born in 1993. A difficult childhood. Mother a junkie. Like you, she had numerous stays in psychiatric institutions. Father unknown… At the age of ten, you were placed with a foster family, the Heidens, who adopted you officially two years later, despite your… unstable behaviour, to say the least. Your adoptive parents died in a car accident in 2010…”

With this report, young Tess Heiden is recruited for a highly unusual, supremely secretive organization – the T.I.M.E. (Tachyon Insertion in Major Event) Organization. She must agree to work for the organization without knowing too much about them or what it will entail.  To her surprise, she is teleported into the future and her ‘essence’ is placed in a new receptacle (human body).  There she meets other recruits, brought in from other eras, other times, and perhaps from other worlds (it’s hard to tell since they are all placed in current bodies).  They must train together and learn to become a cohesive team – appreciating and relying on each others’ skills.  They train with a timer because once they are sent to a new time, they will be brought back either upon completion of their mission, once their host is killed, or when the time has run out.

Once ready, the team is sent to the past to rectify an error.  Once time travel was made possible, changes were inadvertently being created in the timeline and Tess was now part of a group trying to correct the mistakes.  Or so they claimed.  The more missions she takes the more Tess realizes that there are many others using time travel and all she has is the word of her organization that she and her team are doing ‘right.’

I didn’t realize it until I started writing this review, but this book is apparently based on a board game. I am not familiar with the game so I can’t say how well it fits or defines the game, but it does explain the episodic nature of the book. The team head off on a mission, it probably has to be done more than once, and then off to another mission.  There is only the slightest story holding this together and that’s the sort of story that is offered up in a board game theme.

I enjoyed the adventures/missions and these would have made some nice short stories. But without a better connecting story and seeing how these missions relate to bigger whole, this pretty much fell flat.

Fun, but not recommended.

Looking for a good book? T.I.M.E. Stories: The Heiden Files by Christopher Lambert has some interesting stories to tell but they need to be bound together with a stronger purpose.

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

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T.I.M.E. Stories; The Heiden File

author: Christopher Lambert

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 9780857668462

paperback, 344 pages

AWAKENING – Julie C. Gilbert

Posted by Daniel on July 7, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

There are certain YA books that I recognize I am probably not going to enjoy. I would base this partly on themes, publisher’s descriptions of the book, and even, yes, book covers. Don’t judge a book by the cover? Well, yes, to some extent you can and should.  Why?  Well, that’s probably worth a blog post in itself.  But let’s leave it with the idea that I would not have requested or accepted this book if the above book cover had been presented to me.  Instead, the book I have has a moody, angry looking teen in a dark, ominous forest.  That, with the description of a young girl fighting against the idea that she might be ‘the chosen one’ in a fight against an undead army, sounded pretty cool.

I received this book though InstaFreebie – a site where self-published authors try to get their books out to a new audience. I read and review a lot of books, and while most of these are from established publishers, I really enjoy finding a self-published author whose work is deserving of a wider audience, which is why I take books like this as well.

Julie C. Gilbert’s writing is fine. She has a good insight on the thoughts and concerns of teen girls (does this come, in part, from being a high school teacher?). The concept for this series is good – it must be good, it’s pretty common. Which is definitely one of the down-sides.  There wasn’t much here to separate this, in a positive way, from a library’s-worth of YA books with reluctant female protagonists who first have to discover themselves before they can save the world.

The development of the story took a back seat to our leading character (Victoria Saveron) sighing and contemplating.  And rather than letting the reader discover Miss Saveron’s deficiencies by showing them to us in action, we have one chapter, almost half way through the book, where Victoria says:

As the title spins in my mind, I expect a sense of excitement, pride, joy, or eagerness to discover what my future holds. Instead, I feel uncertainty, confusion, and even a slight sense of outrage.
This is a bad idea for many reasons.

And then she lists her ten faults, such as “I’m not a people person,” “I am short and slight,” “I don’t speak very well.” And that’s the chapter.

While the writing itself is okay, the story could have been developed more, giving the reader more opportunity to grow with Victoria, rather than simply reading about her.  I can see where this would appeal to some, but not to this reader.

Looking for a good book? Awakening by Julie C. Gilbert is the first book in a Young Adult series that has limited appeal as there are many books with the same themes and plots available to readers.

I received a free digital copy of this book through instafreebie.com.

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Awakening

author: Julie C. Gilbert

series: Redeemer Chronicles #1

publisher: Createspace

ISBN: 1536808407

paperback, 106 pages

THE LOST WONDERLAND DIARIES – J. Scott Savage

Posted by Daniel on July 5, 2021
Posted in: CHILDREN'S, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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Celia and Tyrus are both library nerds – Tyrus because he loves to read and Celia because her mom is the new librarian in town. The two strike up a fast and sure friendship and Celia reveals to him her personal issue … she’s dyslexic. Most people don’t understand what that means and she’s usually assumed to be, at best, stupid and at worst, carrying a disease. Tyrus is the first person who really seems to get Celia.
In their new-found friendship, they find that they share a love of the works of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) and Tyrus informs Celia that Charles Dodgson kept diaries his whole life but after his death, his family discovered that four of the diaries were missing.  Celia admits that she’s actually related to Dodgson – his great, great, many great grand-niece.
Going through a collection of old books in a box belonging to Celia’s family, they come across four leather-bound books. With awe, Tyrus announces that he believes they are Dodgson’s missing diaries.  But more importantly, while going through one of them, Celia and Tyrus become transported into Wonderland.
But the Wonderland that Lewis Carroll wrote about has changed.  Many of the characters are still there, but some have become ruthless monsters and Tyrus and Celia want only to return to their home. They will have to solve many riddles and puzzles and avoid being beheaded by the Queen of Hearts and they still may not find the secrets that will get them home.
I’ve long been a fan of the Alice in Wonderlands books and I’m a sucker for anything related to the books, but at the same time I am hesitant to read anything in this universe because it’s not likely to live up to the original. J. Scott Savage’s tale is a worthy offering, helped by the fact that this isn’t Alice returning.
The math involved here is cleverly done and quite appropriate for the story and as a young reader adventure story, this is quite enjoyable.
As a “Wonderland” story…?  This is clever and fitting in many ways, but it lacks the magic and spark of the originals.  The darker nature of some of the much-loved original characters really doesn’t work as well as it should.  The original Alice’s characters were pretty dark on their own without giving them some nefarious motives.
This is often the problem when playing in someone else’s world – to make it unique means messing with what’s already there.
Overall, I enjoyed this and would recommend it as an exciting fantasy for some readers, but it hurts a little bit to recommend it as an Alice in Wonderland adventure.
Looking for a good book?  The Lost Wonderland Diaries by J. Scott Savage takes readers back to Wonderland with two new young human guides, but it’s not the Wonderland we left when we closed Lewis Carroll’s books.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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The Lost Wonderland Diaries
author: J. Scott Savage
publisher: Shadow Mountain
ISBN: 9781629727868
 
hardcover, 352 pages