Tag Archives: life-changes

Greenwood, C.: Betrayal of Thieves (Legends of Dimmingwood) (2012)

2013-05-16 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

Once again Ilan has to leave the life she has known so well. Her feelings are conflicted and prickly. With her she tries to bring her mother’s brooch. But Terrac takes it from her. Terrac decides to leave the criminal elements as well. He feels as though he is losing himself, or rather who he had hopes of being (a man of peace).

The Fist had been waiting for suckers to come back and get their stuff at the camp and Ilan and Terrac turned out to be those suckers. Terrac gets captured while Ilan manages to escape.

Ilan and her bow bonded in Magic of Thieves. Its strange qualities and seeming awareness puzzle Ilan and she sets out to find help in figuring out what this magic is all about. If there is one thing I have learned in my long acquaintanceship with fantasy and science fiction it is to be wary of objects that seem to have mysterious powers. They always end up getting you into trouble.

Betrayal of Thieves was a pretty good fantasy read. I like prickly Ilan. I sure would not like to find myself in her position. For some reason I always look for common ground with the characters of the various novels I read. No matter how evil or how good they are, there always seems to be something I can recognize. Ilan and Terrac are just average people and therefore pretty easy to connect with. Terrac’s changes are interesting. Maybe I will continue reading this serial.

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Reviews:

File Size: 481 KB
Print Length: 181 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1481213229
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00ALDFXL2

My review of Magic of Thieves

Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller

Green, Amanda S.: Nocturnal Origins (Nocturnal Lives) (2011)

2013-05-15 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

I love it when an author gives me good details on their covers. A few include this on their copyright page, others on their websites and some again I have to contact. Thus far each author I have contacted has been kind enough to share the details for their cover artists. Yeah! to authors. In Amanda S. Green’s case I was just too blind to see the names on the copyright but she still gave them to me.

Below you will find three reviews for Nocturnal Origins that showed me what the rest of the world (well, three people) thought of this novella. They have a pretty good description of the contents of Nocturnal Origins.

My first impression of Nocturnal Origins was humour. We get it in the 5th paragraph on the first page. Mac describes her “unholy” miracle of coming back to life with these words: “Ask the poor attendant who’d run screaming from that cold, desolate room in the hospital basement, when Mac had suddenly sat up, gasping for breath and still covered with too much blood. He’d been convinced a demon from Hell had risen to come for him.” The visualisation with those words was excellent and hilarious.

Mac’s would-be murderer is insane. Completely and utterly insane. He just has to kill her and damn the consequences. Serial killer is what he is and a gory one at that. I kind of feel sorry for him because he is so lost to his own psychosis.

And then Mac has her whole world view blown apart. I mean shape-shifters and weres. Come one. They don’t exist. Except in Mac’s world they do and drumroll she is one of them.

Nocturnal Origins is meant for a somewhat adult readership. I had fun reading about Mac’s surprises and her reaction to them. Better her than me (or is it “better she than I”).

Fantasy, Mystery, Short story/novella, Thriller, Young Adult

Cheney, Kathleen J.: A Hand For Each (2011)

2013-05-09 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Three short stories are presented in A Hand for Each. The stories are: A Hand for Each, Masks of War and Fleurs du Mal.

A Hand for Each was published in 2007 in Shimmer’s Pirate Issue. From it we learn that if your ship is conquered by natives of some island and all of its crew left dead except yourself, you had better get off that ship as soon as possible. Otherwise you are going to be in serious trouble.

I guess you could say that A Hand for Each is reminiscent of The Flying Dutchman. That would make this a semi-horror story, although with the ending it might be more appropriate to call it a horror story. I like stories like these. I just know how it is has to end but I keep on hoping that I am wrong. (It probably doesn’t help that I often read the ending before I get there).

Masks of War was published in 2008 in Fantasy Magazine. It is obviously a story about masks of some kind, in this case a literal one. Sergeant Grey is given the job of tagging along with a German soldier who has had his face disfigured. Once the soldier puts on a mask to hide his disfigurement something strange happens and off the both of them go.

Masks of War is a story about hope and change. Sometimes it is possible to right a wrong, to change your path in life by acknowledging what has gone forever. I found it fascinating to follow along with the two ex-soldiers as they watched the amazing unfold.

Fleurs du Mal was published in 2010 in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I think you could probably call Fleurs du Mal a horror story. We have here a story about possession, a really strange type of possession. Good thing I have the opposite of a green thumb. Any plant that comes near me had better run for its life.

Fleurs du Mal was fun. It’s story has all of the ingredients that a mild horror should have. I am unable to read anything harder than that. The oh, oh feeling came back again and again and I kept a running commentary on the characters of the story. (I do this with movies as well.)

So, all in all A Hand for Each was fun to read and I definitely kept reading through all three stories. Good job Kathleen J. Cheney.

Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short story/novella

Christensen, Andreas: The Tunnel (2012)

2013-04-15 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Another Norwegian like myself. Woohoo!

Andreas Christensen is the author of The Tunnel. The Tunnel is the type of science fiction that I enjoy – weird and really cool.

Whenever I read a book, be it fiction or non-fiction (supposedly), I ask myself what I would do in a situation like the one an author describes. So, play along with me.

What would you do if you were on your way to work and suddenly discovered you weren’t? Here you are, driving through a tunnel you have driven through gazillion times before and your car breaks down. You think, ah – some person will stop for me. Then your cell phone doesn’t work. Because we are the people we are, we are geniuses at rationalizing what we experience into understandable boxes.

What do you do then? Well, you probably get out of your car and walk in the direction you were driving. Why that direction? I know I would.

Andreas writes in a nice tight style. The editing is excellent, unlike some of the stuff I’ve read lately. While a story can be good, editing can make or break it. Mr. Christensen manages to get the feelings of Randall across to me in a believable manner. He has definitely understood what the flow is all about.

Adventure, Science Fiction, Short story/novella, Young Adult

Byers, Richard Lee: Suiting Up (The Impostor) (2011)

2013-03-04 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Cover by Elaine Polk

Different sites I have been to claim that http://richardleebyers.com/ is Richard Lee Byers’ website. It is NOT. It might have been at one time but now it is a weight and cellulite management site. I think your best bet would be to try his live journal. Hopefully, it is still up and running – it was as of 2013 Mar 04.

In the world of Matt Brown we find superheroes and aliens.

Germantown is attacked by aliens who are looking for a snack. When the superheroes try to defend the population, most of them get killed. Matt Brown then has a life-changing experience. One that enables him to help those around him fight the hungry bugs.

With Suiting Up we see the beginning of a new superhero series, The Impostor. We are looking at a typical superhero style of writing. Those of you out there who are fans of the genre will enjoy Suiting Up.