Take a look at:
On page 26 you will find an article entitled:
by Susan Dawson-Cook
Enjoy!!
Glory is book one of a five book series. I see that number two is now out on the market.
We enter the world of Glory at the beginning of the Apocalypse. Let me tell you, Jackson was a surprise. He is the first person we meet who seems to be affected by what is striking people.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
By now, the words meant nothing to Jackson. He could only hear sounds coming out of the old man’s mouth. He didn’t know what they meant. The concept of language had left him moments ago.
He didn’t respond.
“Are you all right?” the man asked again. Slower this time.
Jackson continued to look at the old man, but still didn’t say anything.
He looked down at the fingers touching him. He could make out the white hair on the knuckles. Grabbed him. Squeezed him. He didn’t know why this old man was touching him, but he did know that he didn’t like it. He felt anger well up inside of him.
He looked up again at the old man. The old man was smiling his skewed smile, trying to make light of the situation and find out what was wrong. To Jackson, his face caused his anger to turn to rage.
The old man. Smiling. Looking. Staring.
Jackson roared.
Then he took his knife, grasped it tightly and stabbed it into the old man’s throat. The old man’s eyes opened wide with surprise. He tried to grab at the knife as Jackson pulled it away. Blood spurted from the wound and covered the table.
It’s bizarre. People seem to turn in the space of a few minutes. All comprehension of the meaning of words or other people’s actions seems to evaporate. Anger is the prevailing emotion they are left with. Without thought of pain, hunger or consequence they just attack. In that sense they are like zombies. Otherwise they are totally different. Alien infection or some kind of engineered disease were my first thoughts.
The prologue is tense. The whole novel is intense. McMananon writes incredibly well drawing the reader into his world and keeping us there.
What we get after the prologue is easy to imagine. A total collapse of society as we know it occurs. Those who are left “normal” discover they have to stick with each other. But sticking with some of the survivors might not be such a good option. Some of them are almost worse than the diseased in that they have “all of their faculties intact”. Good people remain good and not so good people remain pretty awful.
There is some explicit violence in Glory. Sexual violence is part of that violence. Thankfully, we also encounter samaritans. All of these actions were believable. The shock, anger, helplessness, courage, violence, friendship. All of them were perfectly believable. This is probably what would happen in this world if something like McManamon’s version of Apocalypse happened.
Would I recommend Glory to young adults. NO. Glory is just too dark. On the other hand, kids these days see a lot of violence and sex that I never did back when the dinosaurs lived. Maybe it is good for them to encounter it. I know the feelings portrayed by the sexual abuse victims were pretty much the way real life abuse victims experience them.
We were left with a cliff-hanger or maybe we were already falling off it. Shame on McMananon for sending us to the edge. Glory 1 is an excellent first novel and I very much encourage you to read it.
According to Heather McCorkle, Born of Fire is intended for young adults. That seems a fair assessment.
Born of Fire is the story of the night Aiden was born. I have to admit that I have no idea who Aiden is aside from the main character of the Channeler novels. Born of Fire was also my introduction to him. Being present at a person’s birth isn’t the worst way to get to know a person. Talk about a dramatic entrance.
Me, I’m all for being in a hospital having people ready just in case something goes wrong. Aiden’s parents, on the other hand, tried to run away from a bunch of people called Hunters. I can’t imagine being about to pop when the bad guys catch up to you, because let me tell you, giving birth really hurts and you have no control over when the pain hits. Not a good time to be in the middle of a car chase.
McCorkle brought plenty of drama into her short story and writes that drama well. Good job!
Reviews:
You know you are too old to trick or treat when:
And the number one reason Seniors should not go Trick or Treating:
I’m trying to figure out if the James May of Heartbeats is the same James May as the one of BBC’s Top Gear. Any takers? I’m not finding any information on him out there.
It was not the cover that made me buy this short story but rather the blurb. It contains the words evil, sword and stop nightmare. Yup, that will often be all it takes to get me to read.
Heartbeats is part one of what thus far is four parts. I have only read the first and am therefore not certain if that is the end. Each story is about the same length as this one (between 15-20 pages).
Heartbeats is a dark story, one of death and destruction and grief. We meet Stalus at the celebration of the wedding of Duon and Shelly. Except what was to be a happy event has turned into a nightmare, a nightmare that has been part of Stalus’ life for the past thirty years. It is the story of a man growing from utter helplessness to the realisation that he, too, can make a difference. Hopefully Stalus will be able to hold on to his humanity through all he has to do.
I would have to say that this is one of the darker stories I have read. Not so much because of the violence, although the violence is explicit and plenty. But more because of the utter hopelessness that is conveyed through the writing. James May writes well within the flow and writes a story that makes me think about what it must be like to fight against the odds without believing that you will make it.
Todd Maternowski states:
(Exmortus) is NOT intended for children, unless you like your kids reading about grisly murders, sex magic and genocidal demons, in which case, it IS intended for your kids.
Exmortus is in part a coming of age novel. As such I guess you could call it a young adult novel (keeping in mind the above warning). But it is also about the arrogance that comes with believing that you have the correct truth.
The Knights of Exmortus Abbey believe that their path is the correct one. They get to see a whole lot more of the more challenging sides of life than the people living inside the great wall. Ash Xavier is one of the apprentices hoping that he will make the rank of Knight. Ash is incredibly smart and knows it but he has no idea how to apply his knowledge to real life. That is what Speed and Ziggy (the duo) show him while his fellow apprentice, Simon, shows Ash that there are alternative ways of thinking.
Getting his dreams smashed within a few hours is certainly a factor in helping Ash grow. The demons that destroyed the Abbey are on Ash & company’s tails through much of the novel. People they thought they could trust (at least Ash did) show themselves as traitors while people Ash had thought of as evil end up getting Ash & company out of trouble.
We get plenty of action, some philosophising and some enthusiastic sex. The action is graphic at times while the sex is semi-explicit (probably not new to most teenagers).
Reviews:
This story takes place seven months before Coveted begins.
These are our introductory words to the story of Collected. Collected is one of those easy-to-read fantasy tales with a twist. Our protagonist has OCD:
For a split-second, I was tempted to discard my shoes and track them on foot. That’s what any werewolf would do. But I didn’t operate that way, nor would I even entertain that idea, no matter how much I wanted that box. The very idea of ruining my pantyhose was enough to make me get in my car.
Imagine being a werewolf with OCD. What a pain. Here part of you wants to let loose and run in the forest but another part holds you back because you might get dirty. Dirty means ages in the bathtub trying to scrub all the filth off. What an impossible position to be in when you are looking for a thief who happened to run into the forest.
Natalya’s other oddity is her collection obsession. My guess is all collectors are a bit insane. I know I am when it comes to books. Whenever I buy a new one I feel kind of guilty. Whether I can afford it or not doesn’t matter because I know that I could go to the library to get something or try Kindle free. After all, I don’t need another book. So that part of me understands Natalie completely. I don’t know that I would agree to a dangerous mission to get ordered books back. I’m not quite that far gone. But Natalie is. What a bummer.
These oddities are what make Natalya an interesting character. That and the fact that she is so matter of fact about them. Kind of nice to have an author write about a condition as complex as OCD. Kudos to Madison for that. Shawntelle Madison writes well and has managed to create a werewolf with character. Good for her.
Reviews:
Gender seems to be the main theme of The Necessity of Man. The Necessity of Man is utterly believable. I cannot count the times men have used women’s nature as a reason for men to rule. Women are supposed to be nurturing and caring by nature. But guys, you could not be more wrong. We are just as self-serving as you are. Lupo shows how things could turn out in a gripping and frightening manner. My goodness, that man is courageous and can he ever write.
The whole idea of how the women at MedTronCorp handle lay-offs and their need for biological products is fascinating. Getting rid of useful men has been a gradual process and does not seem to bother men much. Perhaps that has to do with the spa. There is plenty of sex, zombie games and the availability of everything one might wish. Being offered to stay for an indeterminate length of time in such a pleasant place is a dream come true. But you know, if something seems to be too good to be true it usually is.
I loved The Necessity of Man.
The Necessity of Man has an “anti-copyright” from the author because:
We believe that copying is a form of flattery and do not abide by the copyright laws. Those laws serve to restrict the flow of ideas, which no one can really own. Please share freely and frequently. (Copyright page of The Necessity of Man)
Review:
There are tons of reviews of Seraphina out there. Seriously, tons. Most of them praise Rachel Hartman’s writing to heaven and with good reason. Believe it or not, this is actually Hartman’s first novel. Her grasp of the flow is amazing. This is definitely an author to follow.
What genre is this? Well, that is a toughie. Like The Intergalactic Academy blog points out in their review, there are reasons one might suspect the world of Seraphina lies not only in a fantasy universe but also in a science fiction one. You would be surprised at the number of stories out there that seem to be fantasy (and are) but end up having a basis in humans having come to another world.
One of the traditional conflicts between humans and dragons in Seraphina has to do with humans invading the continent of the dragons. This might be one hint as to the otherworldliness of humans. The other is as TIA points out some of the vocabulary.
How the wars began in the first place is not commonly known, but as Seraphina is lucky enough to have a dragon music teacher (Omra) she learns of these matters. That her father happens to be the local expert on the treaty between humans and dragons has given Seraphina more knowledge than the usual citizen. There is a reason for her father’s expertise. He is the father of a girl who is half-dragon/half-human. Seraphina’s mixed race must be hidden from the knowledge of both dragons and humans as such a relationship is thought of as disgusting. But it is interesting that such a relationship is even possible. Perhaps that means that a dragon’s transformation into human is on a genetic level.
When peace was forged, one of the consequences was that dragons could no longer be among humans in dragon form. Dragons society seems to be ruled by logic rather than emotion. To them becoming human is a shock to the system as they are drenched in feelings they do not understand. Emotions are forbidden and all memories pertaining to such emotions are excised upon returning to dragon form. Such excision could mean that the dragons have some form of advanced technology unless the excision happens through some kind of paranormal ability.
Seraphina’s mother took human form and fell in love with Seraphina’s father. Seraphina was the result of that match. Sadly, Seraphina’s mother died at child-birth. Child-birth is the time her father discovered that Seraphina’s mother was a dragon. This has to do with the color of dragon’s blood. Seraphina herself showed no sign of the match until puberty. At that time she gained scales on parts of her body and a gigantic degree of self-disgust. In fact, her disgust ended up being so strong it led to self-harm. I have absolutely no trouble understanding why the self-harming happened. When one’s difference is so readily identifiable, the temptation to remove it must be staggering.
There are some positive factors in Seraphina’s life. Her music teacher Omra has stuck with her since her dragonhood was revealed. With him she does not have to fear revealing her forbidden race. As I said earlier, Omra is Seraphina’s music teacher. When Seraphina showed the same kind of talent her mother had had, Seraphina was permitted lessons if they were held out of sight of her father. Music has led her to the position she now holds – as the assistant to the court composer.
Seraphina is our protagonist. An excellent protagonist. She has depth and character in a way that only the British can manage to convey. Understatement seems to be something the Brits get through their mother’s milk. Hartman attacks a great deal of society’s crueller sides gently and with enough of a sting that the reader feels it. (I feel it) Such writers are a miracle to me, something I can admire yet never aspire to be.
Reviews:
Gaspar and the Demoiselle Clara was a free download from various sites when I got it. It is no longer available by itself. But it is part of a novel called Gaspar The Thief. I have not read this novel yet.
David A. Lindsay is from Scotland. That gives us an insight into Scottish humour. I am a huge fan of English humour, although I do tend to call that British humour. Shame on me.
Gaspar is two-thirds bravado and usually one-third inebriation. He tends to like having money but is also relieved when he has managed to spend it all. That way he can leave off his life of indulgence and get back to work. As you have surmised, Gaspar’s job is being a thief. This time his mark is to be the Demoiselle Clara.
I guess you could say that Gaspar is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, a rapscallion. A guy like that makes a great character in a story but they aren’t very reliable in real life. Gaspar’s favorite jobs are the ones where he can scam another person. For that he needs to put on masks (not literal ones, no). Putting on a mask to get our way is probably something we are all guilty of. At least I am.
Demoiselle Clara is a fun one. She has learned the art of masking quite well. If Gaspar is lucky, he will learn a lesson from her depth of deviousness.
All in all, quite an enjoyable humourous read.
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The Corpse King is our introduction to the trilogy Elegy. We are in a land of sorcery, swords and adventure with arbiters running around trying to keep some kind of order and clean manna (magic) whenever it sends out bad vibes. In The Corpse King we have a dark fantasy in the way of zombies, death-manna and insanity.
Apprentice D’Arden Tal and Master Havox Khaine are two of these manna-cleaners. If you take a look at Kellen’s website you will see that for some reason the world Eisengoth is the one sending off bad manna vibes. How do you fight a world? With a world gone insane you are bound to live in a dark place. In fact, I find that the cover reflects the mood of this world gone mad.
It might be a good thing if you like zombie books. This description illustrates why:
D’Arden caught a glimpse of the old man, wizened head perched atop a naked, colorless, emaciated form that was slowly shambling toward him. The belly was swollen to the bursting point, dragging entrails across the wooden floor. Maggots writhed everywhere, covering the body nearly from neck to foot as they feasted.
As you see, not something for the faint-hearted. Well written though. Nice and gory.
Have fun. I did.
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In A Hidden Fire we meet a 500-year old vampire who happens to be a rare book dealer. Giovanni Vecchio is copying down a manuscript in the library where Beatrice de Novo works.
Gio’s one great failing in life is technology. Anything he touches with his bare hands gets zapped. This means that he and computers are not compatible which kind of makes modern life a pain. But Gio has a butler to help him with all of that – Caspar (not the ghost).
Caspar is human. It seems vampires in the Elemental Mysteries world need humans to deal with daylight affairs. Like a lot of vampires in literature these vampires tend to get severe sunburns during the day. They also have to sleep during the day and be active at night.
Vampires are strange creatures. Basically, they are semi-dead or wholly dead people who wander around usually looking pretty good. Giovanni looks good for any age. I wonder if this has something to do with a predator/prey sort of constellation. If a vampire looked its age, it is highly unlikely they would attract prey. At 500 he ought to be a walking skeleton. I still like vampires. They are sometimes really cool creatures. The ones in A Hidden Fire are fairly OK if a bit stereotypical.
Caspar, Giovanni’s human butler, is fun. He is fond of his boss and his family has been in Giovanni’s service for ages. I guess it would be kind of hard to advertise for a human caretaker on Craigslist. Caspar keeps Giovanni grounded. If he didn’t Giovanni would get too full of himself.
When Beatrice de Novo turns up as the librarian where Giovanni is copying down his manuscript Caspar has her checked out. There is something about her name that tickles Giovanni’s memory. When Gio learns that Beatrice’s father died in Italy ten years previously his warning lamps go off. But Beatrice is innocent of any wrongdoing having to do with vampires. In fact, she does not believe in them, something she and I share.
Beatrice seems to be dramatic looking, intelligent and of Mexican/Spanish heritage. Her grandmother, Isadora, is a hoot. Matriarch seems to be a fitting description of her. The two of them make a good pair for their daily lives looking out for the well-being of the other.
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Draw One in the Dark made me think about what it must be like to be a foster-kid and a homeless kid in the US. I haven’t been a foster-kid anywhere. Nor have I worked with foster-children and am therefore unqualified to speak about its reality. But I have wondered what it must be like. That and being homeless. I’ve read books and articles about both but that doesn’t show me the way the minds of people who have been in the foster-system and living on the street work. How would this affect a person’s ability to deal with situations? Let’s say you throw in being a shape-shifter on top of that. And on top of that you aren’t really sure if you are a shape-shifter or if you are just having psychotic episodes that leave you covered in blood every once in a while.
This is the point that Kyrie Smith and Tom Ormson are both at when Draw One in the Dark begins. Some months after meeting each other they both receive revelations about their nature and are thrown together into one dangerous situation after the other. This means that life becomes even more chaotic for the two of them but they soldier on as best they can.
That tells me something about resilience. For regular people soldiering on can be difficult enough but for kids with an atypical background soldiering on must be even more of a struggle.
To my way of thinking Draw One in the Dark is partly about resilience and partly about bravery. It is also about messed up people making messed up decisions and living with the consequences of those. Trying to make amends as best we can is one of life’s major lessons. What has been done can never be fixed, but maybe/hopefully some of the pain we inflict can be lessened.
Draw One in the Dark is an easy to read young adult urban fantasy novel that is of pretty average quality. But it spoke to me and helped me clear up a couple of things in my head. Oh, and I really liked the cover art (roar, my name is dragon).
Reviews:
Matt Heppe has a couple of places you can reach him. One is his blog and the other is on facebook.
Hadde and the rest of her village, Long Meadow, live within the area of “The Wasting”. The Wasting is a mysterious condition that seems to afflict all life – plants and animals. For some reason the world is wasting away, leaving the land barren. While out hunting one day Hadde and her two companions discover an impending raid upon their village. They manage to send warning and thwart the invaders. One of the invaders has silver eyes that fade to black upon death.
Hadde struggles with the village’s decision to slaughter their horses for food, and she goes hunting in hopes of finding food. A stag turns up that she follows. Hadde is led to a spot in the forest where the Wasting has somehow not taken hold. In this living space Hadde finds a gold pendant that bears the symbol of the goddess Helna.
All this sends Hedda to Salador for help for her village, whether it be temporal or magical. Along she brings Belor and their horses. Tragedy and adventure awaits.
Life is filled with difficult choices and tragedy. Pain seems to be part and parcel of life. Hedda is about to experience a lot of pain. Some of that pain is due to choices she makes while some of the pain is due to the choices of others. How she deals with death, violence, betrayal, friendship and love shows the kind of person she is. Like all of us Hedda is neither good nor bad but a combination of both. Finding her place in the world and discovering who and what she is creates dangers for her but also opportunities and growth.
I liked Hedda. She seemed so normal in an epic fantasy sort of way.
Eternal Knight seems to be targeted at anyone from young adult age and up.
Reviews:
Cover of “Viva la Vida”
Thanks to Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin for creating music that this old lady has fallen for.
I am including a couple of examples of why I like their lyrics so much. My absolute favorite track is:
42
Those who are dead are not dead
They’re just living in my head
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as wellTime is so short
And I’m sure
There must be something more
The words and rhythm come together in perfect harmony for me.
Next on the list comes:
Yes
When it started we had high hopes
Now my back’s on the line
My back’s on the ropesWhen it started we were alright
But night makes a fool
Of us in daylightThere we were dying of frustration
Saying, “Lord lead me not into temptation”
But it’s not easy when she turns you on
Sin, stay goneIf you’d only if you’d only say yes
Whether you will’s anybody’s guess
God only God knows I’m trying my best
But I’m just so tired of this loneliness
One more, I just have to add one more:
Strawberry Swing
They were sitting
They were sitting on the strawberry swing
Every moment was so preciousThey were sitting
They were talking under strawberry swing
Everybody was for fighting
Wouldn’t want to waste a thingCold, cold water bring me round
Now my feet won’t touch the ground
Cold, cold water what you say?
When it’s such, it’s such a perfect day
Such a perfect dayI remember we were walking up to strawberry swing
I can’t wait until the morning
Wouldn’t want to change a thingPeople moving all the time
Inside a perfectly straight line
Don’t you wanna just curve away?
When it’s such, it’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day
humanitysdarkerside 