Tales From the Emerald Wind: The Green Shadows Trilogy

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Indie supporters, I recently took up my most difficult reading task to date. There have been many a book to touch these hands. Some I liked and some I did not. A recent read left me feeling clueless some of the time though and I’m not certain it was all that warranted. In fact, I’m still not exactly certain I followed the book all that well.

Tales From the Emerald Wind: The Green Shadows Trilogy, was a long and arduous excavation for a story for me. Actually, what I gathered from it was a unique combination of two themes: a fantasy religion about prophecies, gatekeepers and bards mixed with a hard science fiction opera. From what I was able to gather, as the forces of evil have nurtured a prophecy and built themselves to rise against all that is positive in the world and subscribe to annihilation, two young boys are recruited to be the new heroes of all civilizations in the deep. It all takes place in a futuristic technologically advanced universe, save for the planet the boys are from. The closest comparison I can make to explain the religious scifi aspect is The Chronicles of Riddick, only backwards.

It took me a good two weeks to gain a pretty decent understanding of the story. It’s sad for me, because, I suspect if I were able to read it in it’s original language, as the author is Malaysian, it might have been much better. Editing, however, was it’s main downfall. I’ve seen better dialogue in books, I’ve also seen much worse in the way of stories. The part that tears me apart with this one is that the story as I understood it overall, was quite good. It had definite potential.

As a personal note to the author, I’d like to point out that I’m currently a failing author myself. I submitted my book about two years ago to a publisher when I couldn’t afford editing and they wrote me a nasty letter back saying they would never waste their time reading a book that contained a typo in the first chapter. I had read and reread the book about six times. When you’ve read something that many times, the words run together and the mistakes get harder to find. I think it’s a shame the way companies handle hopeful authors. I read SaifulNizam’s book to the best of my ability and I’m sorry to give such a negative review, because, I suspect, if I had an easier time with it, I would have given a better review. I loved the story for what it was. Don’t give up writing. Indie?

Ila Review

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Hey readers. Thanks for swimming by. For those of you who didn’t catch my Noah Review, It’s about half accurate (to the bible book) and half fantasy. Personally, I got into a few parts and thought it was quite good. Beginning with the murder of Lamech by Tubal-Cain when Noah was a child and then jumping into the future during the time where Noah is contacted by God. The book and, I’m assuming, the play/movie make a pretty decent addition to the religious fantasy arena.

It’s inaccuracies, for me, are probably the least of the issues it found with me. After all, it’s difficult to take the bible in as pure fact. Some of the fantasy aspects were my biggest problem, but putting everything I know about the bible (or even the Koran and a large portion of other original religious books and stories) to the side, I actually enjoyed the read quite a bit. There is a definite story and plenty of action, so needless to say, I enjoyed the read. My reading of Ila’s perspective on the Noah story, however, wasn’t as enjoyable.

What I didn’t like about it was the fact that, when Ila isn’t making an appearance in the Noah Novelization, for whatever reason, there appears to be several gaps in her own story, almost as if her character doesn’t exist unless there is someone around her. Does a tree make a sound if it falls and there is no one to hear it. I don’t know, but I know Ila can’t hear any trees falling unless someone is there to see her hearing it.

Honestly, it was nicely written. It wasn’t terrible and it did add a little extra perspective, including a more feminine grasp on the plight of Ila as she deals with the hardships that dominate her life. The problem is that it doesn’t add much in the way of extra story. What went on with Ila behind the scenes and what else did I miss that maybe never received mention. Considering the movie novelization relied so heavily on fantasy, I expected to see some more in Ila’s Story. It ends up being a wasted read if you ask me. Indie?

The Gift : Littlefield Chronicles

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Fantasy fans! Ever had a story to tell that was so out of whack, no one would ever believe you? It seems the main character in this great book, The Gift : Littlefield Chronicles, has a story to tell. Perhaps it’s a farce and perhaps there is some truth to it. The thing about Tucker Littlefield is that he loves to tell it and he’s very suspenseful about it. It keeps him paid and it keeps him drinking.

The book sets off from this point : Tucker in tavern, either spinning a yarn, or telling a tale; however you see it. The details of his story are more Big Fish than believable, but it doesn’t stop people from getting lost in his magnificent story telling. In fact, they pay to keep him in his seat. And so, he tells his tale. It’s a tale about a man, who is a little more crooked than caring. He cares more for money than people and he finds himself in the company of a king one night, a ball or festival of some sort.

Keeping with such company is probably difficult enough, but when he meets Enon, a massive warrior of a man, and his dog, who has the ability to spy into his soul, everything he knows will be turned on it’s head. A young jewel of a girl is taken from the king’s home and so he finds himself on a quest to bring her back with Enon and his eyes are opened to the world as it really exists.

This book was fantastic! As far as fantasies go, The Gift really adds a whole new meaning to the word. Several aspects of the fantasy itself are totally original. The relationships between the people in it, specifically the relationship between Tucker and Eloise, are spot on. I can’t tell you how many times I laughed while reading the comments and situations between the two. Beyond that, the author Tegon Maus gives Tucker a “happenstance” hero kind of attitude. On top of it all, the ending truly left a smile on my face. It’s definitely a book I might read again, a great read and I fully recommend it.

Indie?

The Pact

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Hey there, epic fantasy fans! All too often, the pages we read are filled with beauty and virtue, tainted by an enemy that expects to destroy all that is good. The world of man is made out to be magical. Unique races are, or may become, united. The fall of the enemy was foretold by an ancient prophecy. A hero is coming to save us all.

The Pact, a high fantasy novella by Graeme Brown, tells a tale of angelic creatures. Beautiful goblins frolic in the fields; exotic ogres paint the daytime grasses with wondrous colors; and the unborn bask in the sun, radiant and stunning. But when the sun falls below the horizon, these creatures become fiends of the night, terrorizing men and women foolish enough to be in the vicinity.

The book begins with a young boy of ten. All humans—including his family—have been forced into small areas that they inhabit and protect with their lives. Towns are spread to unfathable distances, thinning any human resistance yet further and children grow up behind walls. Aside from the walls, the only thing keeping people safe is a flimsy 200-year-old pact between humans and monsters. It’s a pact that people are beginning to suspect the enemy would like to break soon, given the creatures’ recent actions.

During the king’s festivities one night, the king’s knights march in wishing to break this pact and wage war on the enemy. So do other knights from afar. But one of the great wartime knights, feared by all, brings in evidence that the pact has already been broken. The time to wage war is upon us. The story opens up, following the children as they escape death and learn a little something about the outside world they have been protected from for so long. Will they become heroes, or won’t they? Either way, they can’t stay hidden from the dark and evil forces of the unborn forever.

This short novella was unique and fun. It’s nice to follow fleeing children for a change in an epic fantasy, rather than a seasoned hero, or even an unlikely hero. It really chnages things up. So, The Pact was a good story and definitely worth a read. Check it out and tell me what you think downstairs. Indie?

The Walker’s Daughter Book Review

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Readers, Isn’t it fitting that, a week after my Noah review, I picked this book up. It’s strange the way it came together really. I guess you really don’t have any idea yet, but this book asserted the most odd interpretation of the few words allowed into bible that have to do with the odd Book of Enoch.

Interestingly enough, our main character and her daughter, family still mourning the loss of a husband and father, are what you would call walkers. They have an uncanny ability to leave their bodies whenever they choose, projecting their”selves” into a spirit plain where only they can see each other or see average people that can not see them. Talk about an advantage over others. Only, Cora, mom and main character, has not “walked” in a very long time, because of something that occurred during her childhood, something she is afraid could repeat itself. These evil and frightening memories are owned by a massive man; a man with silver hair, a killer.

I never would have put two and two together and arrived at the conclusion that the idea of the walkers was drawn from the few words spoken of Enoch in the bible if not for the help of the author, or at least without reading much further into the book. For those of you that remember, “Enoch walked with The Lord all of his days and then was taken into heaven.” This book really gives “walking” a definition and one that I found impressive.

As little Grace and Cora continue to blossom from their hard shells of mourning, or lack thereof, in Cora’s case, they begin to meet others like themselves and, eventually, Cora is moved to walk again. After breaking her promise never to walk again, will she meet with this evil man from her past again? The odds say no, but Cora knows better. The man with the silver hair has been waiting.

At this point, the book really takes off into another realm where religion and urban fantasy mesh together in harmony and and the “offspring is” one of the best ideas for an Urban Fantasy book I’ve read. Janet Allison Brown is a fine author. She has allowed her mind to fabricate an authentic new idea and has given it to her soul to pen. Read up, you won’t regret it. Tell me what you think downstairs.

Indie?

Hy Brazil : The Elven Wars Trilogy Book Series

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Edward Harry is awfully full of pride, he’s got an uncommon tutelage in writing and it’s his nature to set a  magnificently high bar of morality for himself. In fact, everything about him seems to be the real deal. That is, everything except his name. The young man, having answered to “boy” until he was a young adult, decides upon his name, insisting on the importance of a strong and meaningful name. The incident of his name, I felt, was a very important scene, because it is the introduction point to the sort of person Edward Harry is. After little reading, it becomes clear that, no matter what decision lies ahead of this man, he shares his trajectory, for the most part, with the straight arrow. His only shortcoming is his inability to hold his tongue when he should, though generally, it seems almost a strength .

However straight an arrow Edward might be, he is apparently subject to peer pressure and, because of that, he finds himself on a short scenic trip, by sail, with a young wayward Irishman, despite his master’s wishes that he not keep the young man’s company. It turns out, the young Irishman, Calveigh, has quite a bit more character than anyone expected. The two become quite good friends on their journey: their scenic journey which turns into a fantasy crossing from the world of men into the unnatural world  of elves, fairies and other myths.

This crossing to a fantasy world leads the young men to sights far beyond those in their wildest dreams and into situations far beyond those in their ugliest nightmares. Rather than being introduced to a world of graceful elves and wondrous fairies, Edward Harry and his friend walk head first into a place where human kind are either not welcome, or welcome for the purposes of servitude in the slave trade. The elves have the attitudes of cared for kings, the self given deserving of two year old toddlers and have raised their kind onto pedestals from which they spit down on the masses. Edward Harry however, even when he is afraid, spits back anyway.

This book is a part of The Elven Wars Trilogy, which will be a series that tells the story of Edward Harry and his lifting from his lowly class within this new world, to the commander of a great army against half of the Elven population marked by their tainted snobbery. It WILL be epic.

This story is the best high fantasy story I have read to date… Ever. Taking place so long ago, it is written to sound very old English. Edward Harry is a smart ass and he has a tendency to stay under the skin of those attempting to exert their “God given” dominance over him. I absolutely loved this story. I loved the personalities of the main characters, I enjoyed the humor and the shenanigans and I laughed at some of the nonsense in this great read. If you like epic fantasies, this is a must read.  Indie?

The Sarah Chronicles Review

As Submitted To FanboysAnonymous.com

Readers. As an adoptive parent, I tend to have a unique perspective on things. Anything can get worse, I know, because sometimes people are forced to endure it. Abuse has a real and lasting effect on children and the effects are long after prevalent in their behavior, but to see them triumph over their situation is a gift. It’s the reason I’d like to discuss a recent read of mine, The Sarah Chronicles, a short book by author Laura Hughes.

The Book description opens:

Imagine yourself in a place where not only your wildest, most imaginative dreams but also your worst nightmares are living, breathing reality. One second, you’re a helpless, victimized child, and the next you can control ocean currents, produce rainstorms, and freeze lakes. Would you use your powers for good? Or would you give in to the part of yourself that wants revenge and control over those who caused you pain?

It’s a question of stability; stability of mind, stability in life… Maybe even a question of stability with “enemies”.

Sara, our heroine, is a young woman living with an abusive foster family. She tumbles down the steps of her home basement during an altercation, though when she lands, she’s not quite within the reality she understands anymore. She lands upon the soft grass of a world not her own.

After walking on almost endlessly, she comes across a man and woman who clear polar opposites to the adults she is used to. They set her on her way to find her way. Landing on the doorstep of a makeshift family, she begins to learn the way of her new place and position. In this realm of limitless magic and potential, she makes friends of two orphaned boys that also have abilities in prestidigitation, and a powerful wizard who helps them to grow in their potential.

With her new family, Sara rises above her abusive situation and learns to take on bigger, badder enemies – enemies like The Garren. The Garren are soulless, dark fiends from a distant realm, intent on destroying all light and happiness. For those of you with an affinity for Kingdom Hearts, The Garren seriously seem to have been bred from the same thought tree. Book one of The Sarah Chronicles was a definite 3.5/5 Stars.

Indie Author/Comic Creator/Film Maker?

Nicola Cuti and the Moonie Series

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

To my apparently adult aged scifi readers. Recently I was given the opportunity to review the work of Nicola Cuti, author of the Moonie Series. Actually, I admit, it was a bit by mistake, really. It would seem that dropping an all encompassing blog call for any and all material in the Sci-Fi and fantasy genres, with no real stipulation to style and content, is a bu-bu for reviewers. When you expect Sci-Fi and end up with Skin-Fi, however, hindsight’s 20/20, because Nikola Cuti’s Moonie Series is just that-Skin-fi.

Moonie Vs the Spider Queen

The first book, Moonie Vs. The Spider Queen ,which essentially follows a couple of space craft owners, one of which is clever and witty and the other, who has just a mite more character and heart, is the best in the series I’ve read yet. It begins with our captain nonchalantly spilling his guts about what he likes sexually, how he got his ship and what he thinks of others. The man is all play, only cares about what he wants and will do anything to earn a buck or gain a possession, even a living one.

Quite plainly, the man’s narration through the beginning of the story is hilarious. It has a very “Men in the warehouse break-room” feel to it, which is probably what sells the book from the get. If you’ve ever read Catcher in the Rye, then you what I’m talking about when I say, this book is the equivalent of Dirty Adult Sci-fi Catcher in the Rye, with a double strong sexual overload.

Eventually, the space travelers stumble across something they couldn’t possibly expect to find in the deep-A woman-And she isn’t wearing a space suit of any kind. Such a preposterous insertion is exactly what a story needs to give it a very nineteen fifties Sci-fi feel and that’s exactly what Nicola Cuti did. The young Moonie, a disproportionally large breasted woman, was biologically crafted from protoplasm and, therefor, lives on radiation/energy of any kind alone (That’s the reason she needs to have as much skin showing as possible at all times.) It’s also the reason she doesn’t need air to breathe or food to eat.

The three find themselves on another planet where arachnids roam, except for one giant woman, the leader of an immense people who are enemies of the spiders. It’s hard to say which will be more the more ferocious, but escaping with their lives, at best, will be near impossible.

Before getting into this read too much, I’d like to make mention of the slight rule change I’ve added to my book review page:

Also, as a quick change to the current anything goes rules, I will be accepting submissions that have sexual innuendos, sexual content, or language, however, because of a recent submission, I’m making known now that if the content of your book is namely for sex play purposes, or sex fantasy, sexual sci-fi… In fact, if the entire dialogue tends to have strong sexual weight, then leads into multiple sex scenarios or scenes, I won’t review it. If an author choses to still send me his (<–Cuz let's face it, these ridiculous genres are owned namely by the bulkier sex), It will not get reviewed. Recap: Sex? Maybe. Porn? No thanks.

Having said that, I’m going to continue by saying I really did enjoy book 1 in the series. Personally, I thought the story would have been better if it didn’t jump from perspective to perspective. I didn’t feel like the personalities were identifiable enough between them, especially for shifting from point of view to point of view. However, a first impression is hard to forget, especially when it’s as strong as the one I got from this read in the first thirty to forty pages. If only it lacked the strong sexual content, it would probably make a pretty decent book.

Moonie and the Slave Market of Opuul

The second book in the series, Moonie and the Slave Trade of Opuul, begins with the scantily clad young lady meeting a young shape shifting woman who is able to shift from seal in water to human on land. Needless to say, it’s a very “seductive” meeting. The two become friends.

Down the road,Moonie and the young shape shifting selkie run into a red-head pirate, then they run into another young woman with octopus tentacle like arms. There are four girls, all with weird talents which the author apparently thought might make for a “sexy story”. The four are captured and forced into slavery, then break out and join a galactic policing force to end the exploitation and evil which occurred to them as slaves.

By the time I had read this far into the book, I was a bit fed up. I really didn’t enjoy this book. I didn’t enjoy the beginning, I didn’t enjoy the middle and I also hated the end. It seemed to be made of air really-Content thin almost. I always try to give my authors the benefit of the doubt, but this one was a major upset, save for an interesting biological research lab and some of the concoctions the scientists inside were responsible for. My feeling is that it was purely written to satisfy the porn readers. Enough said.

Too Many Moons

Before starting Too Many Moons, there was some trepidation. Book 2 was a nightmare in my opinion, but three opens, once again, with a character I could really appreciate. He’s an older ship captain that doesn’t care much for anything or anyone and he’s not afraid to say so or do something about it. In fact, he opens up the story by explaining the pickle he’s in-Another man is trying to skip town without paying him for his fuel. The captain is forced to take him out, which could or could not mean his arrest and maybe even his execution.

At some point, the captain also make acquaintance with a very personable robot – A robot by the name of Moonie, a sexual cyborg fashioned after Moonie. She’s not like other robots-Almost human, or Starbabe-Whichever.

There is also a young oddly colored, spotted, princess however (and the employer of the dead man by the way), uses the situation as an opportunity to get something out of the captain. He needs witnesses saying he’s not guilty of murder and she needs a captain to pilot her ship now that her hot headed pilot is dead. Half against his will, our hero travels with the princess across the universe to try and recover her planet’s stolen national heirlooms.

When this was the story I was reading, I didn’t super love it, but I didn’t hate it. About seventy or so pages in, this book entirely flips the script. The captain goes in search of the real Moonie. Somehow, another mission, apparently more important and worth much more pops up, and the captain, plus his crew, embark on yet another journey.

I decided to put the series away for awhile after this book. I knew it namely existed to appeal to the penis, while incorporating a fun Sci-fi/Fantasy story, but it’s seemingly just not my cup. Also, I was pretty sure I knew just about every word there was for the vagina, but it would appear that Nicola Cuti knows more. Even so, he tends to use the same words over and over to describe it. I think that’s probably a complication derived from overuse of the sexual situation. So far, save for the first book, the sex has been hard to overlook because the stories were so terrible.

I took the liberty of editing all three books and replacing most of the nouns with much less dirty words. I even took the liberty of editing the nude comic pictures inside which I will post in Nicola Cuti’s Moonie Part 2. Let me know what you think downstairs!

Indie?

A Stone’s Throw

As Submitted to FanboysAnonymous.com

Readers and hominids, what are the bounds that God has set for us? Where are the boundaries beyond which we should not go? These questions are taken straight from the text of this literary work and are a question man should ask himself before everything he does. Even men who don’t partake in the enlightenment of higher powers know, or should know, there is a certain moral boundary-A line which divides right from wrong. Perhaps a wrong, the commonly argued topics of cloning and bringing back once dead animals, or even men, is the hot topic in this book, because our main character, Andy, is a Neanderthal. As such, his “humanity”, his intelligence and his right to exist are questioned.

These questions are asked from the perspective of activist religious nuts as Andy, brought back after thousands of years of being frozen in ice, tries to live his life without being made victim by modern humans holding grudges. It really isn’t fair, considering he never asked to be brought back and especially considering there are no others “like him” to whom he can relate-No one except little Odie, a little boy who shares an interesting talent with the cave man, a talent that keeps them both in check.

A huge portion of the population don’t accept Andy, that is until his makeshift family find that he has an uncanny ability to throw at ridiculous speeds with impossible precision, an ability that is rooted in his previous life. What else would he do, but go to the next Red Sox try outs, sign a contract and pitch hundred and seven mile an hour fast balls. In such a position, perhaps the population will learn to love him and, making so much money, maybe he won’t have to be alone forever. Maybe, just maybe, he will be able to extract some of his people from the ice, murdered so many years ago, and teach them to live with him in the future.

There were some very awesome ideas in this read. First, the thought of bringing back primal men, as surely is disputed as being a no-no, is unique enough, but finding a way to turn him into a famous major league pitcher is just fun. It sounds like an instant kids classic to me. Also a great idea, there is a lot of neat description of the not so distant future and the technologies therein and, from time to time, description of the much more distant hypothetical future. I thought Ken Wisman had great ideas. Finally, enjoyed some of Andy’s “rememberings”, events taking place where he loses himself in his slowly returning memory and is forced to momentarily relive something from his first life.

In my opinion, this read could definitely make a decent children’s movie one day. What I didn’t like about the book was the author’s style of writing. It has the epic scifi drama feel that Bicentennial Man gave me, although, of course, the plot is quite different. The over all story is fantastic and is a piece to someday be realized, but I think it could use some work. Near the end, I felt that the story chopped itself up into several different tragedies, which was unfortunate, but upset me even more when I realized the actual ending was quite good. For the reasons specified above, I would still read a second installation, but my hope is that the author takes this piece to the cleaner, because it can definitely be great.

Authors, Comic Creators & Filmmakers