J-J-Computing

Review::Destroyer by Brian G, Turner

Lucia — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 15:45:51 GMT

Destroyer by Brian G. Turner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Destroyer by Brian G. Turner Is a bit different from his first novel of the Chronicles of Empire Series. However it is not quite what I expected and definitely doesn’t quite match what the title Destroyer might conjure.

Destroyer is the first of three novels about space travel—the migration of man from his home into the unknown of a new planet. At first I expected a generation ship and though it might be loosely defined that way it really isn’t. However I’m not real clear on what the mission called for in respect to the crew operating the ship. There may have been plans for some rotation. Otherwise the settlers were all frozen, waiting for arrival and landfall.

The whole of the Chronicles of Empire has a similarity to Gene Wolfs New Sun-Short Sun-and Long Sun novels; the sheer suggestion of something in a magnitude of Epic. Though in style and setting the first Novel of Chronicles did bear some similarities to the New Sun portion of Gene Wolfs work, this the generation ship was less so in comparison to the Long Sun. Having recently finished the New Sun and the Long sun books I would be more inclined to compare this set of books to another generation ship set of book I recently read by Beth Revis; her Across the Universe trilogy of books. Even so, there are elements of style and theme that make Destroyer and her sister books something more of Brian G. Turner than anything else.

I might confess of looking at the cover and thinking that this could contain some space battles, what with the massive design of the ship portrayed and the title Destroyer. That’s not the case, and for me it wasn’t a make or break situation. In fact, the author quickly makes it clear that this story is about something else. And as I suggested I was originally thinking of Generation Ship and Colonization of new worlds. To some small extent this is a novel of colonization. Once again, though, the author makes it clear that this is going to be a novel of survival.

Still; none of those adequately describe what this novel is all about. This is a novel about a disparate group of people who have just met under dire circumstance who have to learn to work together to survive. They have to learn to trust each other and or to put aside differences long enough to find a solution to their situation. But more surprisingly this book and the series of three are more about relationships and particularly the relationship of two of these people. Jaigar, we learn early on, is a possible saboteur, though it is unclear what his agenda is. Vannick is a political officer of the government that is funding this program. If Vannick even suspected Jaigar he has the means and duty to squeeze it out of Jaigar. This becomes just the tip of the iceberg of distrust that threatens to end the group before it gets started.

Aboard a ghost ship, the crew have all mysteriously died, this group is, for unknown reasons, brought out of cryo and left to deal with an uncertain crisis where the ship might be dying and taking them and all the other frozen settlers with it. If they can’t work together they are surely doomed and even if they manage to muddle through, there are no guarantees they can solve the problems.

If you enjoy a good mystery and have enjoyed other Generation novels, this should please you, and I think anyone who loves Science Fiction should enjoy this set of books

J.L.D 2021

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Review::Implied spaces by Walter Jon Williams

sural — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 20:07:20 GMT

Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams is a book I read originally because someone was searching for a book by some loosely defined description of a book about the singularity and a man with a talking cat. I have picked up a number of books because of someone’s haphazard search for something they once read.

This was one of two that were found and I can’t remember now which was the one they were looking for. However the other book was Accelerando (Singularity) by Charles Stross[third book of the the Singularity series]. Oddly enough Amazon has a quote from Stross on William’s page—giving him some support kudos for his work on implied Spaces.

Both feature the talking cat and the singularity.

I was trying to remember what I liked about Implied Space. It’s definitely not the prose at the end that might be said to mirror epic poetry such as the Odyssey or Iliad and though it is not nearly as dense as Nikos Kazantzakis’ The Odyssey A Modern Sequel, I still don’t have a taste for it.
I decided to read it again.

What I did like was the notion of the Implied Spaces. Our hero Aristide is traveling through the multi-worlds of the singularity and examining the implied spaces[unused spaces created through the architecture]where he discovers interesting things exist. This is how we are introduced to him. However it goes deeper as it’s revealed that he is one of the architects of the group of AI who run(maintain)the multi-worlds. His cat is in fact a construct of one of those AI’s that is used to give that AI freedom to travel with Aristide.

In the beginning we see Aristide as he tries to blend in with the different cultures that exist within the multi-worlds and we also get a sample of his morals and character as the story evolves. The important thing though is that his musing over what exists in the implied spaces is going to be disrupted by a threat to the multi-worlds. Someone or thing is trying to destroy the multi-worlds connections and possibly trying to free the AI’s from perceived slavery: under the authority that presides over the singularity’s multi-worlds.

While pursuing the perpetrators Aristide becomes convinced(applying what he’s learned about implied space)that the universe exists within an Implied Space, which both points to an architect in creation and yet also that mans existence is a non-planned event that filled an otherwise unused void.

That’s not a spoiler. Since the most important thing seems to be the revelation of who the perpetrators of the disruption are.

There are some things that I found predictable(that’s predictable the first time I read it, since this time everything should have been predictable).

Great depiction of what the singularity could be along with some bonus adventure and interesting characters.

J.L.D 2021

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Review::The Human Blend by Alan Dean Foster

Lucia — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 19:50:41 GMT

The Human Blend by Alan Dean Foster
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Human Blend (Tipping Point Trilogy) by Alan Dean Foster

I don't have much in my collection from Alan Dean Foster and that's all pretty ancient. So I thought I'd try this one out and see how his writing has improved. The premise is pretty good and the first chapter kept my interest; but then something happened and it might be related somehow to the fact that the author has quite a few film adaptations to his credit.

The story starts out with two melds, Jimney and Whispr, as they roll another meld for his parts, or at least his advanced hand. Jimney is employing a device that stops the man’s melded heart and his intent seems to include knowledge that this will kill the victim. Later Whispr makes a statement that either sounds like he didn't know all of that or he's trying to downplay what really went down. The bottom line is that the man has a piece of interesting tech woven into his clothing and they sign their own death warrants, when they take that. They are soon to be pursued by the police and two other shadowy agencies.

Elsewhere Dr. Ingrid Seastrom discovers a rather interesting added bit of tech in a meld done through some of the cheaper meld markets. The tech seems to be some sort of impossible metal that is quantum-ly entangled and over a period of time vanishes leaving her with no evidence. We later discover that Dr. Seastrom may have some hazy edge to her practice that borders on illicit; though possibly she has twisted moral reasoning behind what she does. This is not well defined and almost comes as a surprise although as a reader I was certain that the goal was to ultimately mix Dr. Seastrom with Whispr.

The next part of the novel is the cinematic influenced dance with death and destiny that brings Whispr through one desperate situation after another until he reaches the doorstep of the Dr Seastrom. In his wake are a number of victims who are mostly killed by way of brief association with Whispr. This part has the same feel as the movie Into the Night with Jeff Goldblum and Michele Pfeiffer. This made each meeting of Whispr with a new contact quite predictable in that the reader knows someone will soon show up and his contact would be permanently silenced. Many times the climactic scene was right while Whispr was there making the escape more thrilling. Oddly something happens, inexplicably, with the meeting with Dr. Seastrum and it takes much longer for the brute squad to catch up. By that time they have enough warning that the two have escaped.

There is a bit of haziness about why Ingrid ends up finally on the run with Whispr; though there could have been any number of fair reasons it seems mostly an almost clinical yet obsessive interest in the new technology and what it might potentially mean to her patients (yet even that is unclear). Murder and mayhem now follow at a slight bit slower pace; the possible excuse for that being that the two together make a better team against those in pursuit. In fact, it seems that that isn't so; as the reader will see that that is more of a self delusion; while coming up close on the end.

This is a serial so while the end is somewhat complete for this story the reader is left with a sense there is a lot more to come and we'll have to check those out to find the rest of the story.

This is a fair offering in the SSF department and has element familiar to steampunk (In the augmented human quantity and the sense of a dystopic future). Though I have this sense that this novel could be compacted by removing some of the excess cinematic specials, there is something to saying that it would then deprive the reader of some of the basic journey to get to the point.

J.L. Dobias

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J.L.Dobias Archive

Lucia — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:50:45 GMT

The Originals by William Voigt

The Originals by William Voigt is one amazing book that takes place in the early 50s.

Willow Rogers an adolescent girl on vacation on the rustic and dangerous wilderness Dumas Island encounters a wild boy claiming to live on the Island. She knows only that he's saved her life and that she's inexorably drawn to him.

As she grows from an awkward teen to a beautiful young woman she is still haunted by her wild boy. Her thoughts and dreams are filled with his memory though each year that she returns to the Island she is unable to find him.

As the years go by and the Island business is closed and Willow goes to college she tries to forget the wild boy. Her fiance, Barry, coaxes her to take a camping tour of the Lake Superior shore line in Canada. Willow once more finds her life in danger and everything changes.

The wild boy, Mike, has returned from a tour of duty in Korea. When a service buddy and friend gets into trouble he helps him out. This puts them both on the run. They head for the now quiet and deserted Dumas Island.

Two separate sets of thrilling and deadly circumstances are destined to somehow bring these two together again

This book is a story containing mystery and suspense along with a deep romance. What is woven into or around it is a mystical mythos that has the Island and Lake Superior moving things in a specific direction.

This is a well crafted tale I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys suspense , romance, and a bit of the fantastic.

I was fortunate to obtain a copy of this in a small used book store in Charlotte MI.
I'm not sure how obtainable copies of this book are.

J.L.Dobias

Short Reviews of Other Writer's works

Series of reviews:: Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams

Funny thing: I ran across this book while looking for a book someone had described to me and could not name the author or title. This is not the book they were talking about but it had most of their description.

This is a story of pocket universes created through the application of matrioshka arrays and a man and his pet cat who is an AI Avatar for the larger AI that runs the displays.

In this story the main character is an architect who just happens to be studying the Implied Spaces that were created when these world were designed. (Those spaces create in a sort of accident of design while the architects are setting the structures and features of their normal designs.) His quest for a simple understanding of these spaces and the flora and fauna that have populated them thrust him and his AI avatar into an adventure across the arrays. An adventure that threatens their lives and the continued existence of the arrays.

Though it builds slow. It starts out with a sword and sorcery motif in one of the pocket worlds. It quickly builds up steam and when the mains plot kicks in it grabs your attention.

Goodreads reviews for Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams

Having never read this before I jumped at the opportunity to grab up the E-book of Legions of Space by Keith Laumer.

Once again Keith pulls through with a timeless tale. This time he rivals Robert Heinlein with a flawed hero who pulls out all stops to stay alive. No matter how hard life has kicked him Legion has a way of surviving and eventually coming out on top.

This has a bit of Heinlein's Glory Road and Philip Jose Farmers Green Odyssey.

Told only the way Keith Laumer can tell it.

Goodreads reviews for Legions of Space by Keith Laumer

The Making of Legend by Richard Barrs was a fine add to my E-book collection.

If you like the old Robert Heinlein and are a fan of The Last Starfighter and other such movies you should love this book.

Making of Legend has the making of a new universe of endless tales. The protagonist in this installment is a bit full of himself and has a long way to go to grow up.

Pick this book up and you'll see how that works out in a one night read.

Goodreads reviews for Making of Legend by Richard Barrs

This book took me by surprise. The main character was someone who I found so engaging I could relate to her immediately. And the story is peopled with a magnificent supporting cast.

There may be a few distractions from errors,(even with a good copy-edit it is hard to get them all) but not enough to ruin the story.

Bravo on a first novel. Looking forward to the next. Did someone call for a sequel? I concur.

Goodreads reviews for Valens Rise

I'm not a fan of Distopia stories. But I was pointed at After Things Went Bad and decided to give it a chance.

My thought is that if you took Rod Serlings Twilight Zone and a bit of Ray Bradbury and blended it up you might come out with this.

Some times the writing style is a bit rough but it works because these are gritty stories. They showcase some things about human nature even if it's parts of human nature that aren't too flattering.

They are little chunks out of someones daily life. But they hit their point hard and make you think.

Still not a fan of Distopia.

Goodreads reviews for After Things Went Bad

I picked up the E-book Retief by Keith Laumer and of course could not resist re-reading stories I've read before.

I never tire of reading the stories of this hard hitting diplomat with a penchant for tongue in cheek humor.

What I find the most interesting is how they seem to stand the test of time. I can read these stories with the same awe I had for them back in the 60's. I suppose that's because they are more about diplomacy than about science fiction.

Anyone who likes Science Fiction containing those suave cut through the red tape action hero's will love this collection.

More: Goodreads reviews for Retief by Keith Laumer: Click Read More

I acquired Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton recently in E-book format. I found it to be entertaining.

If you are a fan of Dumas, Dickens, and Tolkien. You'll love this. Add a bit of Shelly and you round it out.

The richness of description of the world of the Goblin Moon are reminiscent of Charles Dickens. While the lead Female character would be likened to Little Dorrit. The depth of intrigue is similar to the work of Alexander Dumas. The Male lead is in someways like the Count of Monte Cristo. Throughout is a thread of theme which is like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

Toss some Dwarves and Goblins into the mix and you'll have trouble putting this one down.

More: Goodreads reviews for Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton: click Read More

Review::Archive-JL-Dobias

Lucia — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:19:41 GMT

The Originals by William Voigt

Having been surprised to find the Fifth Man in e-book I devoured it in one day.

I love that John and Randy put their definition of High Concept in the back.

It's quite different from the other definitions I've seen.

I liked the story and it was a page turner for me. I'm not sure that it was because of the High Concept.[even by their definition]

It reminded me of the survivor and big brother reality shows.
I don't watch reality shows much.

But over all the interaction worked to keep my interest so I must not be averse.

I suppose that the finger pointing in both settings kept the excitement going but you'd have expected by this time they'd learned some lesson from the flight out in Oxygen.

[minor spoilers here and below]
Some of the more die-hard fans might raise a fuss about communication taking 40 min while the robots often appear to react too appropriate to the moment as though they are getting instructions instantaneously from long distances.

In most cases I could resolve it in my mind to mostly serendipity.

The excitement was a lot like the movie leviathan and It was perfect that they ended it mostly with rational explanations for almost everything.

I really did like it despite my apparent tone above and I can at least say that I read this from cover to cover without judging it by its cover or its blurb.

Which is something that can't be said about everyone.

J.L.Dobias

Once We Were Human by Randall Allen Farmer

"When I screamed myself awake, nothing had changed. Metal cot. Straitjacket. Legs shackled together. A single tiny light bulb on the ceiling, behind a metal cage, bright enough to hurt my eyes."

Farmer, Randall (2011-11-09). Once We Were Human (The Commander) (Kindle Locations 39-41). MajorTransform Unlimited. Kindle Edition.

For me this is where the book begins. There is some preface and it does have relevance. But, as a reader the line above is where the story grabbed hold of me and began to draw me in.

There seems to be some discussion about genre- I have no qualms with calling this Science Fiction. There were many similarities that I could draw between this and the Novel Darwin's Radio. And for anyone who liked that book this book will be a satisfying read to you. For those who felt as I did that Darwin's Radio had a tendency to dwell too much on the stale scientific end of things ;then this book will not disappoint you.

There are some similarities- but mostly about the conjecture that there is some disease involved in what is happening.

This book is what I would term an Alternate Universe story - the story takes place in the 1960s. And in many places there are hints at speculation that what is happening may have happened one or more times in the past. This might create a feeling that its dwelling on myth and fantasy, but I believe as with other books like this it still stand strongly in the category of Alternate Universe Science Fiction. I'm not sure that it needed to be in the 60s, but it was a good place for these characters to be coming from.

In this story the reluctant Heroine is thrust into a nightmare that she would only relegate to what in her mind was the worst of sinners and criminals. She has to face her own prejudice and self loathing in order to cope with what she's become. And all around her are the barriers and abutments of a society that is living in fear of what she and others like her represent.

Randall Farmer takes us into our own paranoid 60s and creates some believable characters who are all working sometimes at odds with each other to try to contain something they can't begin to understand.

It's been a while since someone has written a novel that has kept me as engrossed in the story and immersed in the characters. This was both a thoughtful and fun read that I had difficulty putting down. There's a lot of room left for the next story in the series. I shall move to that after I catch my breath.

J.L. Dobias

Chasing Power by Genevieve Pearson

I really liked this book- that's a sort of mirroring of what that star selection says. I might have given into one more star but there were elements of the style that kept me rolling back to clarify what I'd just read. The sad thing is that I believe its the fault of the Kindle book and not the author.

Chasing Power is a really good book. It grabbed my interest and kept it most the way through. Though it took a while before I started seeing elements of something new or surprising. Some of the sequences were predictable such as Harry being thrown off from his protective guard duty by an attractive females uncanny attention to someone like Harry. Eventually though the author , Genevieve Pearson, shows her stuff as she begins to throw in a few twists to the plot.

I really enjoyed the main character, Samantha's, distrust of the others. Of course it's only fair that she doesn't trust Lane, Al, and Harry while she views them as her kidnappers. She has trust issues. I think that this was all handled well and the subsequent miscommunication because of mistrust was quite believable adding much to the story.

The one little issue- and it most cases it works just fine to use this style- is that there were whole sections of dialogue without any classifiers as to who was speaking. And though in most cases when I went back I could sort it out there were e-book related formatting problems that munged dialogue together at some of these points.

I'm certain this boarders on nit picking since it might work the other way for other readers who would be put off with the inclusion of too many he said- she said - cluttering the pages.

I recommend this book to anyone who reads Science Fiction or Fantasy or who loves those super hero graphic books. This has elements for all those people put together with some original plot twists and it's begging for a sequel.

Or maybe that's just me begging for the sequel.

J.L. Dobias Author of Cripple-Mode: Hot Electric

Vivid by Andrea Murray

The novel Vivid by Andrea Murray is definitely YA though I would add Mature to that- that's just me.

There are some familiar elements- that's not a bad thing - in fact it made my hair stand on end to see Vivian and her friend Abby in high school facing the usual angst that life dishes out plus being the target of Trista and the bully elite. When Vivian displays some rather remarkable powers that's when the chills start and I got shades of Stephen Kings Carrie.

Fortunately we have Easton Garrett and Cooper McNeal to ground them. These fellows are almost unbelievable. That might be why it takes the girls so much time to figure out that they are real.

Just when things begin to look like they are getting better Vivian discovers her families dark secrets and it supplies some answers to some rather frightening memories she's been having. Vivian is beside herself trying to keep her secrets and live a normal life. But, prom is on the way and we all know what that could lead to.

Because she's been using her powers- even though its sparingly- she's running the potential for putting a pin on the map for some very bad people.

By the time things get rough we have moved on into something similar to Stephen Kings FireStarter and the feeling that this could get really bad.

And though I mentally draw these similarities Vivian and the people surrounding her are nothing like the characters in those other books. Andrea Murray uses her knowledge to draw us into the lives of some convincing teens trying to deal with their normal lives while they get thrust into something that is far from normal.

By the end of the story you will definitely want to know what is going to happen in the next of the trilogy.

J.L. Dobias Author of Cripple-Mode: Hot Electric

Shiva Winters Once Upon Another World

The title and the cover almost had me thinking 'fairy tale'.
Once I dove in feet first it was more like Zelazny's Amber series and Farmers Tier series rolled together and given a special Shiva Winters touch. Raven Sinclair is a powerful character well matched by his counterpart LeShana, who is not only lovely but also as powerful and kick-ass as Raven.

Suffice it to say, I loved this book, and there is only one reason I give it 4 stars instead of five. There are so many errors in spelling, grammar, and questionable usage of some words and missing words- sometimes extra words that just don't belong there. I can live with some of this in dialogue- no one speaks perfectly all the time. But it leaks heavily into the narrative portion and that gets me to believing that maybe those characters don't really speak that way either. This book is offered free, but as a representative of self publishing it could have used a bit of polish. (Another couple of pairs of eyes.)A number of people I know might toss this book down after the first 50 pages and that's their loss.

One thing I disagree with other people about is that an editor could have pared it down some. I'm not a fan of muting the authors voice. An edit will help the spelling grammar and other but the author's work should stand unless the author decides some portions might not be necessary or should be reworked. I did not see anything that just jumped out at me and said I don't belong here.

As it stands Once Upon Another World is a well packed novel with a fairly tight plot that has plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing. It also demonstrates some skill in world making that Shiva should be proud of. She has a writing style that I was comfortable with, though I'll need to read more of her work to see if the style changes as she becomes more polished.

If this book ever goes to paper print copy I would suggest a strong look at some editing and a signed copy for me.
Bravo! For an awesome first novel.

J.L. Dobias Author of Cripple-Mode: Hot Electric

Fizz nothing is as it seems by Zvi Schreiber is the thoroughly enjoyable story of a young girl coming of age in a community that shuns technology blaming it for everything from war to global warming.

This is a great novel for anyone who loves physics and anyone who thinks they cant understand it. And maybe even a few who hate physics. It's also a great novel for anyone who loves historic novels. Though In both these cases I'm not sure I'm the best qualified to attest to the veracity of the content.

We pick up Fizz in her life when she is given a possible choice to leave her protective community and mingle with the evils of the outer world while making an informed decision about where to spend the rest of her life. Unlike some other communities that shun the modern world that have sprung up throughout the ages this one doesn't seem to have any firm roots in religious beliefs in a god and creator. It does have strong opinions about and against the study of science. Fizz finds herself questioning many things around her which she is expected to take at face value. So,though it is common for most who reach her age to take a pass on this option to strike out into the world, she is strongly considering it because of her inquisitive mind.

Add to this the notion that her father (who has already left the community before she was born) has spearheaded the construction of a time machine and you have the beginnings of an odd but engaging experiment.

This novel takes the reader and Fizz on a historic journey back through time to begin the study of physics on a quest to answer a few simple questions that Fizz is certain will be solved in one simple visit with one of the great minds of the past. As the story builds we not only get a glimpse of Fizz but we get a glimpse of what must be a universal principle that the more you know the more you need to know. We get to see Fizz grow and the reader perhaps begins to question the wisdom of a community that has stifled someone with such a brilliant intellect and thirst for knowledge. And somewhere in all of this she may begin to see the work of a creator.

J.L.Dobias

Shiva Winters - Of Forgotten Days and Lost World - continues to weave the magic of the Salak'Patan series.

The story picks up after the life changing and somewhat life shattering first book with Monorth out in the field trying to continue the work of rebuilding the Salak'Patan. As his reward he is subjected to backstabbing and treachery until he has no choice but to retire from that, which he has been so driven to complete.

So begins the wandering through the halls and out to the very Rim of the Empire. His ever strange sometimes dysfunctional family growing around him and their support for him also growing. Out on the Rim his destiny brings him to Phoenix or Nix as he calls himself. And I was almost fooled into thinking this was going to be another man with ultra intelligent cat stories of which many abound.

In a way it is. But the rich detail of the story- often confuse as Purple Prose- yet in fact it is Purple Patch. And for those who don't know- there is a difference. Purple prose detracts and takes from the story. Purple Patch enhances it with its poetic beauty. The consistent depth of the characters that walk through this story - though sometimes it seems they can do no wrong - are all painted with their own quirks that give this story its excitement and adventure and romance.

I've already warned those who are distracted by the occasional misspellings and grammatical errors so this time I'm going to rate the book on what it did for me.

It gave me a pleasant exciting good read filled with a patchwork of poetic beautiful worlds, characters and ideas. Getting us ready for the next great book.

I won't recommend this for everyone- but, then some of you are going to miss some really good stuff.

Keep them coming Shiva.

J.L. Dobias

Murder on the Pier by Jere Myles and Murder Behind Closed Doors by Jere Myles.

I love a good mystery and I thrive on good drama. The best old movies were well acted dramas taken from stage productions and put onto film.

In Murder on the Pier I feel that the author Jere Myles has woven a drama entwined in a mystery that is more evident to the readers than to the players. For the players it’s the story of their search for love and affirmation in a world that seems to have gone mad. Though the world would argue the players are the ones gone mad. The nature of their lives as it all unfolds is at the very least thought provoking.

"The biggest hurdle we have to leap in this world is the one we place in front of ourselves. No one cares whether you live or die unless you care.” –Dr. Mieko Mitchell

This is life seen from a place many people I am acquainted with do not often want to go. And yet in this place I found many words and ideas I've often tried to express, put on a page in such an eloquent way it drew me in.

In Murder Behind Closed Doors Jere Myles brings the players up to the level of the readers regarding the mystery, while continuing to resonate with the same voice.
"How can you expect someone to say they love something they have been taught to hate? My friends would never have let me turn my back on my...my faith.”-Eleanor Evelyn JoyLynn Moore.

Anyone who likes mysteries or suspense or drama will love these books. But, more so, if you don't mind stepping out of your comfort zone to examine yourself.
This series is like a multifaceted mirror with page upon page of interesting unusual reflections.

As for the mystery; Taking place in the 90s and considering the main characters race and sexual orientation this could easily be construed as a hate crime. Adding the dialogue of the killers to that would almost add affirmation. But, remembering the rule of mysteries; nothing is as it seems…

I don’t plan on missing the third book, Murder on Michigan Avenue, which promises to be a thriller.

J.L. Dobias author of Cripple-Mode: Hot Electric.

Reviews::Sural Xiong page 2

Lucia — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:03:22 GMT

Gabriel:Zero Point (Evan Gabriel Trilogy) by Steve Umstead

Sometimes the problem with a short intro story to a trilogy; is that it's difficult to fully capture the nuances of the character that shows up in the real story. Having not read the rest of the story I can't make a judgement.

I love Trevanian and especially his Shibumi and I love Ludlum and his Jason Borne series. But these are not really the type of book I particularly go out of my way to pick up. The reason I mention them is that the story of Evan Gabriel- in this short brought them to mind. We have the focused killer who has a little bit of heart somewhere buried under his hard core. The trick for them is to not let on to too many people or it might compromise your effectiveness.

This story takes Evan from not so humble beginnings - at the top of his class at the academy- to his ultimate final evolution to the super soldier. There's an element in this story that I found predictable- maybe not everyone will. I can't say because it's a spoiler.

Anyway the story seems to revolve just on the edge of trying to explain Evan's motivation for being where he is in this military program- while at the same time making it clear that he's more hijacked into it than anything. The disturbing part is that his superior is painted as a rather ruthless individual who will do anything at all costs to ensure the security of the federation.

We really don't get a chance to see much of how good or evil that thought may be though we see a bit of life in Evan as he struggles with the whole concept. I'll assume that in the later stories that we see where Even's heart lies in this matter. I'm not at all sure about Biermann.

Anyone who loves those thriller suspense novels with the spies and agents of exceptional ability should love these stories. It will be interesting to see how Evan makes it through all this and if he can retain his humanity.

Sural

Star Wanderers Part 1: Outworlder by Joe Vasicek

One thing about building worlds in science fiction is that there is really no wrong way to build. It's mostly a matter of building a believable system with some consistency that adheres to its own rules.

I have read Sholpan -by Joe Vasicek- which had an interesting take on prisoners being pressed into slavery and sexual submission- I was impressed by it and decided to give Outworlder a try. Its a short read and well worth the try.

The Outworlder story is short and sweet. It seems a bit disjointed in that we jump into the story and rely on flashbacks to bring us up to speed.

I'll try to decipher. Some catastrophe may have taken the home-world Earth and now there are settlements far and wide that have been looking for the new Eden which will match the patches of earth they have brought with them as their model. We start with Jeremiah on the Station Megiddo- though really Jeremiah has started from Edenia; raised by his parent to the age of 18 upon which time they have given him the old star-ship Ariandne. It seems Ariandne is some sort of family heirloom given to him so that he may leave Edenia and spread his seed elsewhere.

The society of this future relies on the notion of sending the men away from home never to return so that there is a strong cross sampling of genetic material through the vast new plane of existence. In a nut shell Jeremiah is expected to find himself a wife and a new home. The problem is that he's not really all that enthusiastic about it and even his sister, Sarah, is having a hard time letting him go. His parents are more like the mother bird, all too willing to thrust the chicks out of the nest and watch them flounder and fly.

This is how Jeremiah makes his way to Megiddo- despite warning that something is wrong in that sector and ships have not been returning- Jeremiah is looking to make some trades. To do this he's been told he needs to dock and meet with the Station Master. With some trepidation he does so.

The reader is quick to discover that there are language troubles when traveling afar, but Station Master Korha knows just enough Outworld creole to get Jeremiah into trouble. There seem to be some problems on the station, which are indicated as potential danger to Jeremiah. If we believe Korha, then it is these problems that have precipitated his urgency in trying to dump his entire household of five daughters into Jeremiah's hands. Jeremiah senses some sincerity in the girls being in danger and he hesitates too long.

We're about to learn that Ariandne is not a large vessel and as a bachelor Jeremiah has been content to keep his living quarters quite cramped. I'm not sure whether that's a blessing here, but it does limit his choices and he ends up with what he feels is the eldest of the group. Of course with great sense of danger and threat he has to quickly retreat to his ship and cast off from the station before he can have second thoughts about what he just did.

Unsure if he's been hastily married, yet at the same time sure that shouldn't be the case- there are some complicated implications in the social structure of things that might bite him later if it's so. Jeremiah tries to convince himself that he'll find a good place to drop her off where she can make a life for herself. Mostly figuring he's unworthy because he once promised his sister he'd never leave knowing full well he would have to go.(He figures he's just a bad person.)

If I could tell him, I'd let him know that being in close quarters with a lovely single woman and trying to keep your distance is a losing proposition. Compound that with the language barrier. Apparently Noemi does not know any Outworld creole. This creates a tense situation and clearly keeps Jeremiah clueless about what he's in for.

I at first felt sorry for Noemi- in many ways because Jeremiah is clueless and conflicted. But, it seems that Noemi might be a bit smarter than average.

My understanding is that there might be an installment in the series of stories that takes this from her point of view. I'm definitely going to look into the other stories to this series.

Interesting almost social side step story that should engage anyone who like science fiction and social commentaries.

Sural

Weeping for Raven Book One: Inducing The Calm by Mel Kinder

This e-book was around five dollars. I've been doing the free ones and usually borrowing the money ones. This is not specifically Science Fiction- it tends more to Paranormal Romance. But, its got this kind of John Carter of Mars leap from one body to another thing going so in that respect its like a Sci-Fi adventure. It has a bit of mystery at first while trying to figure out what is happening.

I read a bit of a sampling first and was drawn into the story. Enough that I purchased a copy.

It starts with the mystery;someone wakes up in a garden of flowers and trees wondering how they got from their bed to the garden. They think they're dreaming and their senses seem to be off a bit; plus they now have a different color hair.

The story shifts to Gwen Penn who is registering for classes- perhaps at the local community college. Gwen seems to be a bit of a loner and doesn't normally interact with people much more than necessary. While waiting in line she meets Mick who calls himself Mimic, a nickname from an affectation of his which is stuttering. They seem to get along well and even to Gwens surprise- she starts to design a schedule that will intersect with his.

Gwen's parents are out of the picture. Her mother is institutionalized. She lives with her grandparents and has become codependent on them. They have encouraged her to go to the college of her choice and she's decided to make her choice local. It seems that she may not be focused on what she wants to do. Contrary to that Nick seems to have a strong notion of going into Art. Gwen has some ability in that area which might explain the corresponding scheduled. Gwen's reserved nature, inward drawn personality is partly there because she has recently lost her best friend Baylee in an accident. She's not easily ready to commit to friendships because of this.

We don't spend much time with this Gwen because most of the story takes place in some alternate universe. This is a universe of magic where everyone has some magical ability and where cars don't have wheels and they fly. There are no restaurants because people don't eat in this universe. And people get energized from the rays of a dark sun. They're daylight seems to be more like moon light at night and extreme dark when the black sun is up.

Gwen of course is the one waking up in the garden. It is actually close to a house which is similar to her grandparents house and eventually we find that that is where she lives. She has skipped into another body and discovers that her name here is Alexa Murdock. Alexa seems to live alone-possibly an orphan. Her father died doing experiments related to an epidemic, which is plaguing the world. It seems that the victims are called Wardlows and they are people who's spirit has been usurped by demons who are considered bloodthirsty and dangerous. Alexa's father thinks there is more to it than that and had tried to create a drug that would induce the same syndrome on someone for a limited time so he could prove this theory. It seems now that Alexa has taken up his work and Gwen is the Wardlow.

The original plan was for Alexa to do this while her friend Cat made sure that if it succeeded that the Wardlow would not be found out and Cat and some others could observe and discover the truth. For some reason Cat does not get there in time and a young man named Rook finds her collapsed in the garden and takes her to the hospital. Gwen has an immediate connection to him-which is very odd for her. Rook had been on his way to visit his sister at the hospital. His sister Raven is in a coma and his father is institutionalized because of his grief over the accident that left Raven that way and killed his wife.

Gwen wakes up in the hospital and begins the tenuous process of learning about this strange world through Rook. She's playing it cool and by the ear because she doesn't want to end up institutionalized like her mother. What she doesn't know is that there are people who capture and execute Wardlow's like her and she shouldn't be involved at all with Rook or anyone else except for a select few in some secret group that knows about this experiment.

The people looking for Wardlows are called hunters and they work for the TAS The All Seeing. The all seeing work for someone else but they have the ability to find the Wardlows and they send the hunters. The hunters are invisible normally but Gwen is able to see them. That allows her to elude them. For a time. Eventually they will catch up to her.

Gwen is falling for Rook, while knowing how wrong that has to be considering she won't be staying here and the amount of danger that puts her in. She has to make sure Rook doesn't figure out what's wrong with her. She also doesn't have any idea what Alexa might be doing while she's in her world in her body. She's also beginning to see some injustice to what's happening to the Wardlows and she may have to invest more of herself into this reality to help find an answer. It could cost both Gwen and Alexa their lives. And the secret behind all of this may be something more sinister than just fear of contamination.

This is the beginning book of a series that I guess would fall in the Young adult- Paranormal Romance category although it has elements that show up in Science Fiction- that's a great thing since that's what I like to read.

There's more to the story- though I don't think the second book is yet finished.

Sural

Touchstone Trilogy by Andrea K Host.

I began reading the Stray which hooked me because it reminded me of some of Robert Heinlein's later works where people could take a a left turn in just the right way and end up in another dimension. Maybe even get lost as his character JOB did. And Cassandra is such a dear character- reminding me of one of my favorite book critics whose not afraid to use the f**k word.

I could see her as this character when she discovers she's lost F**Kity F**K. Sort of jarring as an opening sentence.

This novel is done from a first person perspective and that works well for this story. Contrary to what many believe, first person is not what makes this YA its the YA in the story that does that.

This is a sort of Young Adult story so it throws one that it starts right way with this type of language-or at least it does us older folk.

Her full name is Cassandra Eloise Devlin. She's been living a sheltered life in Australia and the last thing she wanted today was to get lost on the way home. Well at that age it's a bit embarrassing to get lost. But with this the wrong left turn thing going here it's going to take a while for Cassandra to figure out that she's not just lost. She's LOST.

The good news is she has her wilderness survival kit. The bad news is it has everything she might need if she's lost in Sydney. Not much use for where she's at. At one point she's speculating New Zealand- she's still thinking just a bit on the shallow side of the galactic pool.

In the next few pages I have sympathy for Cassandra because she's going to do a lot of camping. I hate camping. And she's being forced to do it while still rather lost all the way around. Of course this camping becomes survivalist pretty soon, which is totally different from camping- not that I like it any more.(at least camping usually has the full range from survival roughing it to places that have electricity so you can charge your gadgets and stuff.) No there's not hope for that.

Things have gotten real by this time when Cassandra has found all sorts of mysterious flora and fauna. They look almost familiar but very much strange and unfamiliar. And very much wild and dangerous. After wearing down her few useful tools and walking endlessly she comes across a settlement. Unfortunately it seems to be abandoned.

Having some time to relax a little and become frustrated by her lack of survival skills Cassandra also has a chance to check out the new world to make some few observations about things. (These become handy later but for now its mostly her own curiosity.) She tries unsuccessfully to make her own materials for bedding and clothing and other house items.

Thankfully there are others who know of this world and settlement and who also seem aware of the openings between dimensions and worlds through which Cassandra has stumbled. A team of these people show up at her settlement and a couple of them scare the daylights out of her when she wakes up to them hovering over her. At this point though she's sick and feverish so she's more relieved than frightened.

Taken to a hospital like environment she is poked prodded and injected. She doesn't understand the language right away but there seems to be a technology that helps her with this. Once she starts to learn things she realizes that she's considered a savage and that she possibly will never reach their level. When it finally dawns on her that they're treating the savage like a lab rat she begins to balk and that's when her true character kicks in. They say that they will try to return her to her home, but they don't have a clue yet where that is, though they seem to know how to do it once they find it.

Later we find its not so easy to do that.

Of course at this time Cassandra also begins conflict with the people who saved her and it interferes with whats up for her future. This is a sort of Science Fiction fantasy and almost Paranormal romance, which will contain some romance for Cassandra down the road. But with the speed bumps she creates for herself in the first two books it's going to take a while.

I loved this story as Science Fiction. The characters were every much as engaging as I hope for. I'm a character driven story lover and don't much care that all the science is believable nor do I demand a long explanation of the science for validity. It's a bonus that there's a cute romance story that comes out eventually and of course one whole underlying thread that's resolved at the end of the trilogy.

I think YA and Sci-Fi and fantasy and paranormal romance lovers will not only love this book but whatever else Ms Host has in that great mind of hers.

Keep it coming Andrea.

Sural

Sholpan by Joe Vasicek

I never know what to expect with novellas. I certainly didn't know what to expect from this one. But it was free so it was worth a try. I had hopes at least that it wasn't going to digress into erotica, which it could based on the small blurb that was there.

One issue with novellas is that they have more wiggle room than short stories and less development room than novels. At least with short stories you forgive the lack of room to develop characters and you can move on to the next short story because generally short stories come in groups- except now with e-books that's not so much a rule.

Stella is quite an interesting character. She has a potential to be strong but she's young and in some ways naive though mostly sometimes just annoyingly softened by way of her upbringing. She's intelligent and she's been apprenticing on a ship as an astrogator so she is going through the motions, but her heart doesn't seem to be fully into the direction she's following. In some ways it seems she might be interested in being a housewife, her father has encouraged her to do more just as a fall back.

It's on a break from her apprenticeship when she and her brother Ben are on their way to the surface of Kardunash IV where she intends on meeting her boyfriend Lars. We learn that her family owns a merchant-ship the LLEWELLYN and she was born in space-on a space station. This is all important for later.

The Hamaji battle fleet show up and her entire life is thrown into chaos. She's captured and doesn't know where her brother Ben has ended up at and she's been pressed int servitude as a major Hamaji general's concubine. Hence the worry that this could go all erotica on us. It thankfully doesn't. Another important thing is that Stella has made sure that she is versed in many of the languages including the one primarily used by the Hamaji.

As things evolve so does Stella and when put to the test we see that her beliefs and convictions are more than just following what her father thinks she should do. Stella proves to be a person of strong character and we can't help but be left with the notion that whatever she decides to do it will always be what she thinks is right.

Overall in the limited space allowed Joe does a great job of introducing us to his universe and his characters and even keeping it entertaining for all.

I recommend this for a quick read for anyone who likes Science Fiction and adventure- if you're looking for erotica you'll be disappointed.

Sural

The Beginning Of The End:Book One by Michael Edward

I liked the premise of this book. I liked the internal story. I would have loved to be able to say I loved this book- but I can't. And, I do understand that there is a certain kink in the method of this writer- I just think that someone reading this should come prepared.

It might just be me, so take this with a grain of salt. After all, I watch movies with similar genre element, but not too many times do I read books of this genre.

There were several things that started out as little annoyances and just kept building into grating elements.

First I'll give some back ground on the story. We start with Heather, who seems to have had an accident or something and has lost her memories. Then there is a disembodied voice that tries to help her through her panic as she becomes aware of memories and realizes she has a brother and she thinks something is wrong.

The voice tries to calm her and then proceeds to say that she's going to go on some sort of mind travel journey into the past to obtain a full picture of something that will help her.

Then, apparently in the mind travel, we are at Seaborn a quaint community that seems to be quiet and sheltered. When we arrive, there seems to be something which is going to cause a stir in their community. We start with a group of youths Dasha, Jorn, and Kasper. They are concerned about their friend Maggie and her father Orloff, something is wrong but they are afraid to approach the adults of the council.

This is where two of the problems start for me. And, again it might just be me, but there are several-not all-but a lot of times where it looks like contractions are avoided. Now I know some people don't like them in some writing, but it began to sound a lot like a certain android we will not mention. There were a few contractions, but many times the lack of them showed up in dialogue and sounded stiff and unnatural.

The next thing is that it begins a rather annoying trend that works into the entire novel. This could be a device for part of how this Heather is seeing things but it's still annoying. We begin head hopping back and forth between the three each time we get the full thoughts and emotions of these people and its like some hot potato game.

When they link up with the adults it hops over to them quickly. Now we have Karen, Savannah, Jackson,Gordon, Orloff, Tracy and Perry. It seems that Orloff's wife and daughter are missing. And soon we find out that Dasha has been communicating with some voice in her head that takes the name Ikron. Ikron has been taking Dasha on Mind travels and now, using Perry's memories, is going to take her to her grandfather's birth.

This feels like that mirror in a mirror thing starting here.

Now its Dasha watching(maybe Heather watching Dasha watch) and we go to Carol and John Writer, Doctor Holfman, and Tom Brady. Carol is nineteen pregnant and frightened. Doc is getting prepared to deliver her and everyone is excited. Carol starts ranting about it being a mistake to have the child suggesting they should have aborted it.

At the time of birth the lights go out and when they come back on there is one baby and 5 dark clouds of energy. It's difficult to say if Carol delivered all of that but that's the suggestion. Carol declares that Ethin is here and the room grows cold and Sheriff Tom Brady acts like he's gone mad. A strange person shows up and in the end only John and Holfman and the baby-Jason- are left alive.

Fast forward to when Jason is a teen.

The cast of names grows exponentially. We get to know some of them dearly and the head hopping begins to get thick though I think I understand it's purpose.

This novel is like some of my old favorite movies; Aliens, Terminator, all the night of the living dead. People are going to die and it seems we'll be in many of their heads at the time that that occurs. That means we're introduced to all of them even some that would seem minor just for this privilege.

This is the hot potato of death. Well, its just a hot potato for a while until the terrible five show up.Of course these five are somehow related to Jason. And Jason is the only one who can do whatever must be done with Ethin and so they are out to get him but they also have to rack up some soul points by killing over a hundred people. Only they call it end or ending them. They do this seemingly quite freely using a weapon that causes no excess blood. This is okay with me because I hate those descriptive bloody scenes anyway.

So, other than Jason don't get too fond of anyone.

Now, I really do like some of the basic idea here. There's a parallel or alternated universe where Ethin has been defeated by his enemies, so he is going to come to Earth and prepare for a comeback. This somehow involves having only a small pocket opened into our world that can only be expanded after a specific amount of 'ends' to the inhabitants. Jason's mother has left him some information that will help him which his father has so sparingly left till just this very last moment to give to his son. There's even a part where things get so bad they have to get away quickly and somehow leave the book with all the clues, so they have to come back.

All this time we're doing head hopping, even into the head of very minor characters that we'll get to know long enough to watch them die from an up close and personal place.

So if you like those breathtaking seat of your pants thrillers that show you everything-except this time for the blood and gore- this is the story for you.

It has, I think four books, and I do want to know what happens. Maybe even find out how Ethin and his cronies decide, which people have value- what that means- and whether that means they are safe from ending.

For me this was a bit difficult reading- I'd expected it to be the wholesale slaughters that would stop me-it turns out there were other issues. Maybe most everyone else can get past my issues and enjoy the nifty plot and the excitement.

I still need to find out why Heather had to hop to Dasha who had to hop to Jason through Perry and how Perry's memories manage to do that wild head to head hopping.

Since Jason seems to be Dasha's grandfather I guess we can assume he will make it through the four books. Or at least most of them.

By all means visit the author's website to get some insight to his process.

Sural

Reviews::Sural Xiong

Lucia — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 23:53:44 GMT

Wisdom(Blue Moon Rising Trilogy) by Bonnie Watson

There was a free one to the trilogy of books. It turned out to be the second in the trilogy. So I borrowed this copy from the person who recommended it. It's a good thing too, because I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow the next one without this one. As it is this book is chock full of detail and description and the initial setup of all the world building and creatures therein. This is one of those novels where you have to keep an eye on the details and even when it looks like you have a chapter that's way out in left field it's still important to concentrate on who is doing what with whom.

The author, Bonnie Watson, does an excellent job of keeping the story flowing and keeping the various storylines separated and somewhat uncomplicated so that the reader can follow it. It's just not a novel you want to rush through or you could miss something easily.

This novel has a whole lot of elements that almost come right out of some of my favorite MMORPG's. With the Harpies and other feathered beasts and the Unicorns and Mages I was on the lookout for a dozen other magical creatures. Of course they weren't there because this isn't really a story from those games.

The main character Keith Larson is a child when we meet him. He seems a bit mature for his age, but considering further revelations about him this probably tracks okay. Keith's Uncle- who apparently might not really be his uncle- is not a nice person and is instrumental in the death of Keith's parents. The other instrumental character is someone we find showing up consistently in one of the other threads. When Keith's father is killed Keith knows by then that his parents have been murdered and he is kidnapped and sent to the big city possibly to be sold- that parts not really clear. In the city through the luck of the draw a thief frees him and takes him under his wing. Keith is an albino and that makes him stick out and we are soon to find it also opens possibilities for his being a magic user. So while he begins the journey to discover himself he is being well hidden by the Thieves Guild.

Eventually things go bad for him and the guild and he is captured and placed into the local slavery market. The slavery market in this story is a rather strange arraignment. It seems that the person who runs it can curse things and has somehow cursed the contracts of all slaves so that he knows where they are at all times and even when he sells them he is connected to them and more often than not they get rotated back to him. That arraignment allows Keith to be sold to many different people. Each time he learns more about his magic abilities until he is almost at a point where he can't really be imprisoned but the cursed document keeps him in check. Everyone seems to treat the slavery as a game more than as what it is-slavery. Keith has to learn the game to win and this takes a good portion of the book wherein he meets many different characters who affect his life. One would think he'd be bent on revenge for his parent's deaths, but that seems to take second place to finding himself.

Eventually his goal is to find out who or what he really is.

I enjoyed this novel to the very end and it was a tough read that was well worth the effort. Everything came together and though there are two more books and plenty of issues to resolve I think it satisfactorily brings all threads together in a neat and tight package at the end. Now to get on to the free book.

Sural

The Rationality Zero (The Paean of Sundered Dreams) by JM Guillen-or unknown

This book was free- it does not look to be free presently- so, lucky me.

There is a claim here that this is part of an interconnected series with an implication that it's written by more than one author though only one author's name shows up at any point; most times there is no mention of the author involved from what I can tell.

I so far can find 7 of these::
Red Handed (A Hard-boiled Steampunk Detective story) (The Paean of Sundered Dreams)
The Herald of Autumn (The Paean of Sundered Dreams)
Rationality Zero (The Paean of Sundered Dreams)
Bound (The Beckoning Stanza) (The Paean of Sundered Dreams)
Slave of the Sky Captain (The Paean of Sundered Dreams)
Handmaiden's Fury (The Paean of Sundered Dreams)
Summoned (The Paean of Sundered Dreams)

At least four of them seem to be erotica novels-only by way of reviews- I've only read the one which is not much in the erotica.

This series seems to fall into an Amazon created genre of serial novellas that often are portioned out at 99 cents each.

These are 2.99 possibly because some are erotica or because someone told the author that fewer people go for the free and 99 cent novels. Whichever it is I will probably wait for any free offerings on these.

I won't say that I didn't enjoy Rationality Zero - because I did. It reminded me of the surreal worlds of Philip K. Dick and also Keith Laumer's- Lafayette O'Leary series. Throw in some matrix for fun and probably a bit of any random MMORPG out there. It was fairly entertaining and it has some neat concepts.

Basically we have the hero's Michael,Wyatt and Anya- operatives who are unaware of their jobs and the organization they work for until they are called to work a job. They live normal lives up to that point where they are touched in their neural interface and remember who they are and that they have another important assignment to get to.

There's an element in the writing that drove me bonkers. Too many times the characters seemed to eschew the use of contractions and it not only slowed the pace it made the dialogue seem stilted and un-natural. (Such as- "I cannot do that Dave." as opposed to "I can't do that, Dave.") Maybe deliberately drawn out as though these people possessed no emotions whatsoever. Maybe it's intentional yet when I think it is; one of them uses a couple of contractions and I'm at a loss.

I suppose that I could use that as a key to discover if the same author writes these stories or if there is an open possibility that there are several authors.

Either way if you like some of the surreal in your fiction or maybe a bit of justified erotica (that's from someone else's review. And, not in this installment.) These are the books for you. There are box sets (around 20 of them) but they seem to make no sense though if you can figure it out you can save a few bucks by buying two or three of the offered box sets.

Sural

The Frey: The Frey Saga by Melissa Wright

Another free sampling,which I believe is still offered and for a good reason. Once you read this you'll want to buy the others to find out what happens.

I think the extent of my knowledge of this genre might be the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. I've read the four books and enjoyed them but there was enough struggle that I was never enticed into much more of that type of fantasy.

This was free and I had some time and I'm happy that I took the time because this restored my confidence in the possibility of being entertained by -fairy tales.

Freya, more formally known as Elfreda Georgiana Suzetta Gloforia, lives with her Aunt Fannie while taking lessons with Junnie. She's an elf and she thinks her father is an Imp for having named her such a simplistic yet convoluted name.

Freya lives a simple existence among the elf with a small problem in that she doesn't appear to have the usual magic abilities of all her peers. That's about to change- and with that so is her simple life and in time she will learn the true reasons for her inability to manifest magic.

Melissa Wright weaves a rather devious tale. It starts out like a simple story perhaps with hints of a fairy tale maybe some romance and evolves into something really serious and in some ways sinister.

Freya is about to become acquainted with a large number of people she will have trouble trusting, while at the same time she has to rely on them. She's about to begin to be pursued by the council who are willing to use deadly force. Freya has no idea why this is and as the story evolves and the reader discovers what is happening, Freya has to begin to grow and change to survive.

I loved this story it has elements of a love story- innocent love and infatuation. And it tells another story about pursuit of power and abuse and kidnap and the love of a mother willing to do anything to protect her daughter.

I admit at a few times I may have gotten lost, but I think I was able to sort most of it out.

I recommend this to anyone who likes adventure fantasy and romance. It's well worth reading.

Sural

The Ordinary (The Anything But Series)by Lindy Zart

So this is another in the series of free offerings.

Unfortunately I'm not sure It's still free.

Now, because it's free, I should at least be civil and nice. But at the risk of spoiling things- You can't end it like that.

Granted I'll give that this is almost like a Zombie Apocalypse novel, but it's really not- so there.

Make no mistake, I really liked this story and I'll be waiting for the other half of it to make it to e-print.

This story has many elements of similar novels of this type:
Honor lives with her mother and sister and has lost her father. She's living a life that she's about to discover is a lie. There are people who are out to get her- with the notion they want to help. Do they really?

Honor doesn't know and is struggling to trust anyone after her world has just been destroyed and re-arraigned. It all starts when she notices Christian, an acquaintance and classmate, exhibiting odd behavior- which pales to the odd behavior around them as no one else seems to notice. Later she sees what she thinks is Christian being abducted. The very fact that she could see what Christian was going through has put her in danger, but it will take her a bit of time to discover that.

Honor, who is one of those people who probably brings every stray dog they find home, is concerned for Christian. It almost looks as though her concern is what gets her into trouble, but she's already there it just hasn't caught up to her.

Honor has two school related nemesis, Natasha and Ryder, who figure into the gang of people who try to 'save' her.

In Honor's universe there was a virus that was accidentally released which over time began to manifest itself with dramatic changes in the DNA of those affected. There are three types of people the UD's who become zombie like, the UDK's who are able to control and eliminate the UD's and the ordinarys who may carry the virus but show no signs.

-----------------Spoiler- maybe but maybe not--------------------------
Now, and this is speculation and not a spoiler unless I've speculated correctly, this really sounds like a- lets make the ultimate soldier gone bad scenario. Once again we're making soldiers with no way to safely integrate them back into society. Only this time were growing them up to a trigger date without any good missions to point them at.
------------------end spoiler alert------------------------------------

Honor has to start trusting her instincts because she can't trust anything that's she's being told. The problem is that this lack of information could get her and some of her friends and acquaintances killed.

And as things unfold- that may be someones plan.

This is a well told story and though it seems to be cliffhanger-ish it does stand well alone and definitely grabbed my interest to where I will buy the next book once it comes out.

There are plenty of unresolved threads-but as you can see it gives much room for speculation and imagination until the writer gets that second half out.

While waiting Lindy has another series out that you can read.

Sural

The Foretelling:Quest of the Auras by Jessica Acosta

Wow all this and free too.

It's easy to see why this book is free... It's so darn good you have to buy the next one.

No. Really. You have to.

I loved this book!

It started out with the characters on a nice simple normal camping trip in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas. Jamie, James, Brandon, Kyle and Tim are enjoying the clear night air. Jamie wakes up with an odd feeling maybe from a dream and starts to wander away from camp in the dark after having thought she saw something fly overhead. Her brother Brandon wakes and decides that he needs to go with her if she really needs to walk.

They eventually stumble across a cave and fall in. (Yea I know, usually it's Timmy who falls in the well.) There they find a strange object and are attacked by something that slashes them badly.

Rushed to the hospital; they eventually recover and then the strange things start happening. At first it looks like thier going to be really sick but then they heal quickly and get sick again. This all takes a long time and almost drags on. Don't be tempted to quit even though you might have to wait till half through the book to find out what's going on- it's well worth it.

At that point you get wisked into a secret world hidden from man where all the answers to the questions and the solution to the mystery are presented to Brandon and Jamie.

Or are they?

You'll have to read to find out. Best part is I think this book is still free.

There are some few mispelled words- but I've caught more in traditional published works of major authors so I didn't let them slow me down. They were actually incorrect word usages possibly the result of autospellcheck guessing at what word should be there. That makes it more difficult to locate especially if someone has been staring at the same novel through many consecutive reads writes rewrites and edits.

The number of characters I fell in love with in this story are too many to mention.

The description of setting and the world that the author builds are tremendous especially for first novel efforts.

I recomend this to everyone young and old - fantasy and science fiction lover- romance adventure-coming of age. There's something for everyone. You won't be able to put it down.

And; yes. I'm going to buy that other book.

Sural

Vampire Vacation(The V V Inn,Book 1) by C.J. Ellisson

I don't usually read Erotica.

Now there's something I hadn't expected to write in a review.

Honestly, I've been reading the free books that are available in e-book format and ran across the sample of this one. Because I don't usually read Erotica, I almost did not pick up the rest of this to read.

I've read a few other books that have taken me out of my comfort zone before so it wasn't quite a matter of feeling uncomfortable. I think it was more the notion that I might get to the end after expecting a lot and end up left empty by a vapid piece of fiction.

Vampire Vacation is not flat, weak, lame or lacking in flavor. This book has a lot of strengths. One of those is a Vampire that has better values than some overtly religious people I've recently met.

Vivian is a 580 year old vampire who doesn't do all the nasty things we usually expect from vampires. She still does a few- carry over from her job as an enforcer for the vampire tribunal who work out of Argentina.

Vivian and her mate Rafe own and operate an Inn that caters to the taste of Vampires. She has surrounded herself with loyal people ranging from normal humans to werewolf and some degrees of humans in between. The Inn focuses on keeping people relaxed and entertained, which may help account for the erotica.

The story opens with a murder- this is a murder mystery. The victim is largely unimportant. What this scene does is set the tone for the story and begins the world building, which is mostly accomplished through the eyes of our main character Vivian.

After 500 years Vivian's life story could be long and messy so were pretty lucky that it comes in piecemeal chunks as we need it. Having Vivian tell us her story helps us see how her mind works. It gives us insight into what parts of her personal philosophy diverge from her contemporaries. It adds the soul to her, which she is so often shown trying to cling to.

Vivian goes out of her way not to control her peoples lives- as in the usual vampire mind control and total domination. She does still have to resort to some tricks in order to keep herself and her people safe. Vivian is very good with empathy and projection and often uses this to help keep her hotel happy. Her level of expertise and power would make her a target of the people she used to work for if they knew what she can do. This means that she needs to ruthlessly protect herself and her employees and her mate. When those factors are involved she will revert to many of the tactics expected of vampires.

What makes her unique is that more often than not she allows the people around her to stay free of her influence. That means that they are there because they want to be, which is to her benefit and her credit.

Vivian seems to have a weakness as a romantic of a sort and just like Jane Eyre's Emma she likes to dabble in arraigning her clienteles private lives. Sometimes to her own dismay.

Vivian is a strong character. She take no crap from anyone and that includes her mate - even though she struggles with that because of her enormous sexual appetite.

The sex - which makes this book mature at the very least- boarders anywhere from obsessive normal/abnormal to kinky and though I'm definitely put off by the BDSM and might be tempted to say that the author has wedged these scenes in to fill the necessity in making this Erotic I'm not going to go that way.

Even when subscribing to the theory that everything in a book must be some logical inclusion that helps the plot along, I have to step back and say those scenes fit it. The reason they do is because they help develop Vivian's character. She is open to many different peoples preferences- she has to be to effectively keep them entertained- she is also very specific about her own personal life and what defines her. It is where she draws the line that helps the reader get in tune with her.

When I get to the parts that make me uncomfortable in a novel I always have to watch that I don't start scanning to get past them. This can happen in novels that display depravity or portray a person's mental decline into insanity and strange sexual desires that I'm not into. More often than not there is some plot element buried in these jarring scenes that leave some people going Huh at the end because they scanned past an important detail.

I'm not sure I saw any of that as far as the scenes contributing to the basic murder plot in the story. They are important though in helping develop the character of Vivian. So, you can scan these and maybe end up feeling less connected to her. Or maybe read them and have your eyes burn out. That depends on your personal preferences.

Vampire vacation was an entertaining read with a solid mystery and some good characters. If you're into it, there is the erotica.

I usually read science fiction and have a friend who writes it who admitted that they have written quite a bit of erotica. The reason it came up was that it would seem that their career in erotica is more lucrative than the science fiction she does.

Based on the number of reviews to this book I'd say there might be some validation of that thought.

It's refreshing to see that C. J. Ellisson has put a bit more depth into a story than what I might once have prejudicially assumed this genre would have.

Sural Xiong

Cripple-Mode:Electric Touche sample

Lucia — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 23:37:38 GMT

Cripple-Mode:Hot Electric sample

Lucia — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 23:29:38 GMT

Review::A Shattered Memory by Alan Halsey

Lucia — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 22:50:50 GMT

A Shattered Memory by Alan Halsey.

A twisting suspenseful edge of your seat thrill ride!

I picked up this book because someone gave it a bad review.

There's a bit more to it then just that but that should sound intriguing enough.

This story starts out a bit strange and I might compare it to a Philip K Dick novel-for anyone not acquainted with him he did the original book the Blade Runner movie is based on. He did a lot of novels that played on themes about the mind and consciousness.

The second chapter of Alan's novel takes us into the life of Carolyn. And I confess at this point I almost put the book down. I'm glad I didn't. There was something about the pace of the first two chapters that bothered me but they are important to the story. And once I read the third chapter I was hooked.

From here on its almost like reading two books waiting for the moment that they both hit the supper highway and collide head on.

The story of Carolyn , Jerry, Samantha, Bill, Ley, and Derick is a carefully crafted tale that needs special attention to the details. As it evolves it is reminiscent of the Suspenseful mysteries of Robert Ludlum and Trevanian. The reader quickly gets the impression that there are more to these characters than meets the eyes. As the bits and pieces evolve before their eyes they can only be drawn further into the story.

As I mentioned there were speed bumps on my road to this good read. And I would warn that there is what I consider rough content that you have to read through because there is important exposition and foreshadowing within those pages.

But, I have this to confess. I know that the author spent a considerable time writing this novel- years- and I shamelessly devoured it in less than half a day because I couldn't put it down.

For all you suspense and mystery readers this is a must. You won't be disappointed.

J.L. Dobias author of Cripple-Mode: Hot Electric