Desolation :The Keystone Bone Trilogy Volume 1

I recently had the privilege of reading a book called Desolation :The Keystone Bone Trilogy Volume 1 by an author I had never heard of previously, Jesper Schmidt. Essentially, it was a fantasy adventure, or more a fantasy with a bit of adventure. There are a few characters. First and foremost, and my favorite, there is a man from a, basically, extinct species of nearly imperishable and stubborn half demon/half dragons. He is intelligent, honorable, honest, strong and defiant when he believes he must be. Then there is Aea, who comes from an ancient race of war expert tree dwelling people. She has been sidelined and classified an outsider by her people, because when she was six her father was executed as a thief. Her journey begins when her mother appears after many years of disappearance and sends her to find her sister. Third, there is a second young woman from the same tree people who is enrolled to become a sorceress one day, however, she has been an apprentice for longer than any other in history. When an ancient ArchDemon is about to escape his binds, the ancient halfling is sent on a quest to find some way to assuage the situation. What will become of the three as they are all three forced into uncomfortable territories?

This I will say about the book; I liked the masculine character, because his mind was very adult, slow to anger and caught between a mountain of stimuli from many other characters which should have him walking on pins and needles, however, his pride would not allow him to get sucked up into drama which was unfolding all around him. Instead, he thought his problems through, would not concern himself with the subjugations of lesser or even greater characters attempting to assert dominance over him and even put said characters back into place when the time called for it. I actually enjoy his demeanor very much. In fact, I employ it quite often in my own works. Second, the young sorceress, I think, was a well thought out character. I liked her very much, however, really, it’s with the female characters that I begin to see problems. In the beginning, so many terrible things happen to the main character (Who I believe is the main character), Aea, and so many events occur at simply just the correct time, which seem to cause a rift between the realm of possibility and probability in the book. I feel at occasional points that certain characters were meant to expire, but the timeline was rewritten because it was decided to keep them. I feel like in certain places of the book, an event was supposed to transpire, in fact there were multiple occasions where it should have, in a specific cell for certain, and it simply never did, even given multiple occasions, and the reason seems to be because another route was simply thought up, possibly to extend the book, or because there were certain details the author wanted to work into the book and was looking to tweak the storyline to cause it to occur. For a number of reasons, it simply did not flow. I liked it and I definitely think the author is on to something, however, I think it would do a great deal of justice to revisite. However, as the title of the site implies, I’m a Nobody Loser…

Broken Crossroads Review

Buy Broken Crossroads 2.99

I’ve read plenty of fantasy books in my day. The genre can be a game of hit and miss. Generally, it is. When I picked this book up, I was not in the least bit frightened that I would have an issue with the contents, as Patrick Leclerc has been a safe bet for me in the past. Not only does he write a fun story, but he writes it well.

Broken Crossroads is the story of a couple of wayward characters, a young female thief and an aging warrior, meeting in an untoward situation which quickly turns convenient for the both of them. As it would happen, the warrior has decided to abandon the Free Companies for a simpler life, a life which isn’t lived at the behest of greedy rulers. Why wouldn’t he take the company of a pretty lass and become her muscle in calculated jewel heists? The story comes together, employing amazing wit and sarcasm, and it story never dulls. At some point, you begin to figure out that the two main characters really rather an easier lifestyle, but every once in a while, they each get wrapped up in their own complicated political missions, not to mention, they tend to spend enough that, sooner or later, they find themselves picking rich men’s locks for loot again.

I thought this book was amazing. I’ve never read a book like this. The story isn’t over told. It isn’t too serious either, but it is very believable within the context of a fantasy genre book. I loved it. Plenty of magic. Plenty of shenanigans. Plenty of fun.

Review of Jae Erwin’s Book Stillness Dancing

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Thriller fans. Recently I had the privilege of reading a book by Jae Erwin, an author with a knack for unique story telling. While I must admit I didn’t immediately get into it, the book really begins to take a hold of you later on. Being generally less appreciative of lifelike storytelling, I usually steer clear and immerse myself in worlds of fantasy and science fiction. True life, or near to true life just never clicked with me. Religious fantasy, or at least a light religious fantasy aspect is where she sucked me in I think.

It struck me when I was reading this book how little I knew about Islamic religion though, even having read from the Koran myself. What’s crazy is that Jae was able to take aspects of life, true to religion or at least I suspect so, and breathe an odd, light true life fantasy into it that really begins to take over the deeper you get into this story. Stillness Dancing begins with some women not so different from our female family members we love so much. One has a little more experience with the Bedouin culture. All of them are unprepared for the road ahead.

This book introduces you to a culture that finds little issue with drug peddling. For some, it’s just a way of making money for the village. Also, all middle eastern laws concerning women tend to apply, with exceptions for western women in some parts. If you are a western woman, absolutely don’t venture off without your male chaperon. Chaperon or not, our women leads In this story find themselves captive to a psychotic narcissist interested in hurting others and furthering his own end.

A plus and minus of this story is the level of deprivation of these captors. The leader is a terrorist for an organization against the western way of life. Just as all middle eastern terrorists do, he twists his own religion to mold it into one that allows him to do his evil. His evil… is terrible, inhumane and some of the worst ongoing physical and sexual assault you can imagine in a book. In fact, it carries on and their situation gets worse. It felt so real sometimes that I found myself stopping to allow my brain time to remind my heart that these women weren’t actually real and nothing was happening to them. I had to stop and take breaks, because every time one of them experienced the terror of this brute, the book would give clues to the amount of time they were spending in captivity in between. This book will break your heart. I can’t tell you how sad it made me to read the words, two weeks later, or several days later. From my experience with Jae Erwin’s Stillness Dancing, I’ve found that well written books can literally suck you in. She knows how to create characters and conversation, and she most definitely knows how to create a villain.

A great thing about Jae is that she is an author from within a collective of authors that make up Firedance books, a non-for-profit editing and publishing company for and by the authors. It most definitely seems to have it’s advantages. An interesting, if not amazing, fact about Jae Erwin is that she seems to love to invent words, which is something I’m also a fan of. In the publishing and editing world, there is a cut and slash attitude toward inventive wording and, considering Shakespeare himself is credited with inventing somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,700 words, it completely boggles my mind, however, the crush of the corporate publishing industry is less felt in the pages of Jae Erwin’s Novel Stillness Dancing. I would read this five out of five star work again and I think you should as well. Listen to chapter one and tell me what you think downstairs!

Kinless Review

Stephen Godden’s Kinless

Some time ago, I was approached about writing a book review for Kinless. I suspect my name was mentioned in passing as, at the time, I had been spending much of my time reviewing other author’s work. I was in charge of the literature section at FanboysAnonymous in fact, a Geek site which treated me with enough respect, I suppose. Anyhow, I sat down to this book not knowing what exactly to expect. As a reader, it’s hard to know what you are getting yourself into anyway. I’ve read a lot of bad books. No offense to the authors, and no insult intended. I started reading this book with little reserved hope for the better.

 

I will say this much, I finished it. That’s to say, I finished it quite quickly. I read it almost inside a day. A certain number of my own life issues, circumstances which might have been helped had I kept the right mindset about things all these years, got in the way of me finishing it. This review is about a year and a half late, maybe later, but I’ve decided to write it none-the-less, so here goes: …

 

Kinless is the story of an ignoble Knight, a man who fights even for those that don’t want him, a man named Drusten DesainCoid. They broke his sword, they cast him out, the love of his life betrayed him and still he returns to fight for them, but only as a mercenary for higher. Such tends to be the fate of men who are part man and part immense ogrean monster demon worshipper. The thing about Drusten though is he’s got a bigger heart than other men and it comes in handy in battle. He’ll need it.

 

As to my earlier statement about reserving hope for the better, I was sorry the notion ever crossed my mind after reading this book. It cleansed my palate completely. There’s something about the hard sword and sorcery, demon magic which causes men to think they are wild vicious search dogs and epic battle plots, not to mention visits from Gods, of this story that comes together in a furious hurricane of wow. If you pick this book up, you will not only finish it, but you will love it. I did.

Chocolate Chocolate Moons

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com/

Readers. As you all know, I am The Fan of Nonsense… If there ever was one. Personally, I feel the world wouldn’t be much without it. It is, in my opinion, already mundane and practically event-less. I suspect it’s the reason the joke was invented to begin with. Who knows, but I can say that my tastes tend to lean toward scifi/fantasy/action books rather than light comedic/light scifi. So, it may come as a surprise when I announce that recently I read through the pages of a comedic gem written by Jackie Kingon, an obviously intelligent woman/teacher/artist/author.

From the onset, Chocolate Chocolate Moons becomes a book that you know you will, if not directly, then eventually finish. Ever since I read the Damon Runyon Omnibus, somewhere around fourteen years ago, I’ve always wanted to pick something up that was just as clever. I’m certain this is it. Although the writing styles differ, in that the D. R. O. is more of an adult Catcher in the Rye, it hit me with the same brick of intelligent writing and shenanigans.

Chocolate Chocolate Moons is a book brimming with misguided reasoning, insanely inaccurate historical references and quirky characters. I must admit, I was not initially sucked in, but the unending word plays were a treat that I could not help but gorge myself on, which is… almost a trait I share with the main character of this book.

Molly is an eater. Everyone else in the galaxy? Not so much. Picture this: It’s far into the future, take your pick of what planet you might want to live on. The gravity of these varying planets has changed the physiques of the modern human into something of a stick, not to mention health supplements have become a part of every person’s daily life. The short story? She is looked at through disgusted eyes but she has a platter of other issues considering her favorite candy, Chocolate Chocolate Moons has been putting folks into comas. It must be time to go rogue detective.

This book was the most cleverly written nonsense I have ever read, packed to the brim with funny events, silly remarks and a pretty ridiculous Schrodinger Box joke that made me smile for the better part of the night. While I still prefer to read scifi/fantasy of a much more masculine persuasion, it goes, though not without saying, I would definitely read Jackie Kingon’s work again, because life is too short not to laugh and she is an author that loves to make me laugh. Tell me what you think downstairs.

Koko Takes a Holiday

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Readers, scifi enthusiasts and lovers of everything that is all that it can be. I recently took an order for review from A. Mango, the owner and CEO of our bad ass little site here, strictly based on description. It was a uniquely described work called Koko Takes a Holiday. In short, Koko is a young retired mercenary in a world corporations are the world governments. Surely you can imagine what that would be like. As a retiree, she has much time on her hands for leisure, running a pleasure resort and pimping male prostitutes. Yes, you read correctly, she’s a pimp hard at work. This, in combination with other subtle descriptions led me to look into into it. Was this a comedy?

Imagine this, because this is how the introduction hit me: A commercial opens up on the old window to the world. It’s a beautiful day and clouds are rolling. The land is lush and jungle like. The waterfalls cascade from high cliffs and form exotic pools of water. That’s just the scenery outside. Inside, there are resorts, one after another. Pick your poison of pleasure. You can slaughter your boss on the old simulator, have sexual encounters of the most disgusting sort, digital or otherwise. Or for people of simpler taste, maybe you’ll just hunt big game dinosaurs, perhaps stop by Koko’s bar and have yourself a lusty time with one of her boys. FYI, Koko takes a Holiday was not a comedy.

While running her little resort bar and “treat” some unwelcome patrons begin to make a scene. They are of the wild sort, probably came to slaughter dinosaurs, or slice up other paying customers. Who knows? But they walked into the wrong tavern with abysmal animalisms. Koko is always ready for someone to pull out a weapon and start making demands. In fact, you might say she has an itch that keeps her waiting for such a time.

One thing leads to another and she unloads on the patrons, regaining control, feeds them to the local wildlife, makes sure her boy-toys clean up the mess and gets quickly back to her liquor and lounging. Tomorrow will be a new day, when her supervisors show up and give her a slap on the wrist for dealing with customers in such a fashion. I know, I know, you’re thinking I’m telling the entire story, but this is all just the beginning. The discussion with corporate gets out of hand and it leads to a landslide of action, violence, and more insane story line you will not believe.

Just when you thought you had read it all. Koko is wild. She takes life moment by moment, savors slaughter life by life, and ends existences one at a time. The bitch with the blue hair is for sure an alpha, but is the definite omega; stop at the line and make a direct change of direction to the afterlife. I’m so excited by the this book that I wrote my first review, this one, that contains foul language. Read Koko takes a Holiday and tell me what you think downstairs. You won’t regret it!

Tim O. Goyette’s New Short Story Publication

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Readers and Timothy O. Goyette fans, I just wrapped up Tim O. Goyette’s newest  read last week and I have to say, I found it interesting… To say the least. As a compilation of shorts, it did just as you might figure it should. It kept things short and quick and it stayed interesting. You might remember I wrote a review about Timothy’s Lockdown not so long ago. I said then and I’ll say it again, he’s got a definite talent for character development.

I believe, after reading Lockdown, I said something to the effect of, “Lockdown is literally the best book I’ve read that disappointed me.” This is because the characters were so believable. I loved the book. It was action packed and fast paced. The plot never gave up. The alien and it’s process within life were the only part I didn’t like.

After delving into Tim Goyette’s new line of short stories, I was surprised to note that he enjoys to use odd and intelligent creations from take your pick across the galaxy almost no matter what. He tends to play with the possibilities and see what his mind can ponder, which, in and of itself, is a respectable process for any creative author. I sort of felt as though I were watching him as a child, building rocket ships from Legos and drawing out of this world aliens to visit. In effect, the shorts ended up complimenting Lockdown and complimenting Tim Goyette’s creative process.

Of the stories within this compilation, a few really took my eye. One of those stories being a scifi/fantasy mixture with witches and robots, another dealing with time travel and the complication thereof and a third, which I enjoyed tremendously, a crazy computer language based, literal identity theft. These took my eye, not only because of how different they were, but also because I felt as though I could really feel Tim’s liveliness in them as well.

I heard a saying four million years ago by some guy older than dirt that has stuck with me through all these years. He told me, “A man (or woman) that erases and writes, and erases and writes until his heart sees art is an author, and a man (or woman) that writes to publish is a writer.” It spells the difference between what we are when we write. Simply, if you love to write, then you write so that people can see your writing, but if you love to tell stories on parchment, then you write to perfection. Timothy Goyette is an author. I think that he took great care in writing these stories and I think he will take great care in writing many more. This work is a definite four star read.

The Sara Chronicles: Book 2

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Readers and fantasy lovers. Great book! After reading the first not too long ago, The Sara Chronicles: Book One, I’ve noticed a definite though not drastic increase in creativity on Laura Hughes’s part. Book one followed our heroine through unspeakable dangers, a difficult life and ugly obstacles and then leaves her with the ability to control nature’s furious weather patterns. She find her way and becomes better for it in the end with the tutelage of her powerful mentor.

Sara learns control and she learns to fight, but what happens when the enemy becomes yourself. Book two begins something like this: Sara and friends have become powerful-perhaps too powerful. All the children are boiling pots of magical fury and all are still dealing with hard pasts. Each and every one is afflicted by painful memories of abuse, abandonment or loss. Like Professor X (X-Men) says, “The question, Jean Grey, is, are you gong to control the power, or allow it control you?” The children do the latter. Each and every must learn to defeat the enemy inside to overcome the evil tactics of their dark enemy, the soulless Garren.

This series is unique. It’s centered around a religion whose god, Iam, a name I assume will mean more later, controls which vessels may recieve souls, a luxury most Garren are not afforded. From Final Fantasy like summoning, to X-Men style powers, to especially creative  lands, Laura Hughes’s Evolution of Us was a terrific read. Once again, I felt it was a bit rushed, but all in all, I enjoyed it. A definite nearly four star read.

A Foreword : Introduction to Timothy O. Goyette’s Short Story Collection

The short story and its author have a difficult job to do. It’s no easy feat to set a story, imagine and transfer the results of your imagining artistically into words, and do it using far less paper, while accomplishing the same level of creative story telling as a full-size book. Charged with leading the literary section of FanboysAnonymous.com, I’ve had the privilege of meeting and speaking with a great number of authors. An interesting and defining quality I’ve noticed in a certain, particularly skilled author, Timothy Goyette, is his affinity for short stories and short story telling. His Quantum Muse Ezine is a perfect example.

Having read and reviewed Lockdown, his full-length novel, I was introduced to Timothy’s various links, Quantum Muse most importantly, which hosts contests for serious science-fiction short story writers and artists and collects donations to help these creators keep producing their work. For me and, I’m sure, for many, the Quantum Muse Ezine stands out as one of the greatest indie platforms on the web. For those of us writing indie work, such platforms are too far and few. It’s one thing to experience the hardship of trying to be a successful author, but to build a creative outlet based on that hardship—one that allows for the hidden gems to rise and be heard—is entirely different. Finally, in a world filled with injustice, there stands a hero against the villainy of corporate literary crime.

Timothy, being the fanatic that he is for short works, has written many science-fiction short stories. This new collection plays an odd game with its readers that I appreciated, and I’m sure you will too. I float through life in such a state of mind that I thought perhaps my mind was rearranging these stories for my entertainment. Upon second read, however, it appeared the stories are ordered in such a way that causes them to run together, almost as though part of a schizophrenic dream. They set an odd cloud of amnesiac déjà vu upon me, which was a unique reminder that perhaps there are people just as weird as myself out there. It’s a feeling that I’ve experienced through just one other medium in life, a show that no longer exists but that everyone still remembers—The Twilight Zone. I hope you appreciate this series of shorts as much as I have. Sweet schizophrenic dreams.  

Author of Heaveny Convalesce to Light State and         

Section Chief of Literature at FanboysAnonymous.com