Review: Pride’s Spell by Matt Wallace

Publisher: Tor

Publishing Date: June 2016

ISBN: 9780765390011

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 1.9/5

Publishers Description: The team at Sin du Jour—New York’s exclusive caterers-to-the-damned—find themselves up against their toughest challenge, yet when they’re lured out west to prepare a feast in the most forbidding place in America: Hollywood, where false gods rule supreme.

Review: A novella a bit longer than average that reads in length like War and Peace. 

Although the action was fairly constant and consisted of the CRASH-BOOM!! variety, the characters were woefully underdeveloped and relied on cursing or levity in tense situations to build a shallowness to scale. The storyline was barely cogent and seemed to lack logical progression in the midst of an undefinable world. Although I am new to this particular party, I should be able to reason out a story line within the current melee and work out an understanding of preceding novels and how they tie into each other. I was never given enough information to even intuit the disparate threads that make up a whole because I think the “whole” is never defined adequately. While the characters were boring in that you never really care what happens to them (patterned conflict resolutions), there were some fun instances with the Easter Bunny and others.

I suppose this is more of a cult following that I failed to understand with limited rhetoric in hand. 

Review: Argonauts by Kevin Kneupper

 

Publisher: Book Enthusiast Promotions

Publishing Date: March 2016

ISBN: 9781530820290

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 2.4/5

Publishers Description: Some called her a sorceress, though what she did was science. Medea was a genomancer, a programmer of human genetic code. She could extend someone’s life, turn an ugly duckling into a startling beauty, and cure the most stubborn of diseases. She’d have spent her life helping those who needed it, if only she could have.

Review: A pretty cool story line with a futuristic take on “Jason and the Argonauts”.  In the Greek tale there were 85 crew members of the Argo, whereas in this story there are only Jason, Medea, Idas, Mopsus etc ….and the Gods have been replaced with Artificial Intelligence.

While this was a great take on an ancient mythos, some of the characters really diminished the story line. Take Medea for example. An expert genome manipulator that looks at Jason’s “flashing emerald eyes” and hard abs. She is obviously smitten but we have to wade through her juvenile descriptive tendencies. Additionally there was a lot of backstory to wade through. While Medea is getting tingles in her naughty bits and blushing constantly, Idas is just too way over the top. He has no emotional brakes and it is only his preconceived notions that are most important, especially in crisis situations. Constantly hating someone for an assumed transgression even in the face of innocence did not create the tension desired. It was too overt and was subsequently annoying as it reared its ugly head in every scene. Other modes of excessiveness were the reliance on the “Gods” and sudden insights of clarity. A little too Deus Ex for me. 

Delete dipshjt……er Medea and her love-struck YA persona and you got a great novel.

Review: The Further Adventures of Langdon St. Ives by J. Blaylock

 

Publisher: Subterranean

Publishing Date: July 2016

ISBN:9781596067820

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 4.6/5

Publishers Description: Subterranean Press is proud to present The Further Adventures of Langdon St. Ives, which includes three classic adventures, a new novella and novelette, and more than forty illustrations by J. K. Potter.
Langdon St. Ives, explorer, scientist, naturalist, and family man rarely has a restful day: adventure befalls him and a colorful cast of characters around every seemingly innocent turn.

Review: A heck of a lot of fun as the writing is superb. A few adventures with a sort of Sherlock and Holmes flavor. Really well developed characters tied to plenty of movement.

Review: WolfKing by Sarah Rayne

 

Publisher: Venture

Publishing Date: April 2016

ISBN: 9781533010131

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 2.8/5

Publishers Description: Following the terror of the Apocalypse, life in the community of Tugaim, Ireland is simple – but controlled. Families eek out their meagre livings from the blasted earth, carefully avoiding the forbidden patches of land that still shine with eerie light… Joanna Grady is happy in this community, and has even met Flynn, whom she loves and hopes to be matched to. They dream of Ancient Ireland, a land of magic, royalty and terrible foes.

Review: An epic in story telling wrapped around some fairly well built characters set in ancient and magical Ireland.

spoiler alert:

Joanna is, initially, a pretty good character to follow. She is headstrong, opinionated and never one to stand around when there is doing to be done. Her Dad gives her away so he can have access to a pig farmers lands, and she is subsequently groped and ejaculated upon which drives her escape back to her only friend Flynn. Once she goes through the time veil, Joanna becomes less like her self and is given to bouts of speaking about her predicaments in the third person. She comes off like an out of breath second grader relating the details of events as they unfold.

Of course Joanna is super speshul and the Wolf King wastes no time banging her then later, raping her. But its ok, cause he is so wolfy and can’t help himself. Joanna is passed around like a joint at a frat party, and soon is getting her nether region licked by an insidious witch. While laying there taking it, Joanna beats her to a pulp with a dildo…..at least I think that’s what it was. Anywaaaay, most of the scenes are rather contrived and lack believability. Especially in that the characters fall for most of the obvious traps which should never have happened in the first place as events unravel. Like how is Joanna able to beat a powerful witch senseless when said witch captures them all and is unable to get hurt when attacked? Dildo power? Still, if you can get into it, the novel was entertaining. With a bit of patience as to the switching points of view (first, third person) you can ferret out the story line and follow it.

Review: Casimir Bridge by Darren Beyer

 

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent

Publishing Date: February 2016

ISBN: 9781530164080

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 2.7/5

Publishers Description: What follows is a heart-pounding, unforgettable ride through the hallowed halls of big government, AIC’s outer space headquarters, and the revelation of a conspiracy that runs so deep, Mandi’s life – and the future of humanity – are put at stake.

Review: The early chapters seemed as if constructed to please a television producers mien. “Oh, Mandi well you came and you gave without taking….but I sent you away….”. The initial development of Mandi is rather patterned and clichéd. Nothing can kill her bubbling optimism in the face of multiple assassination attempts. She just KNOWS TOO MUCH! She comes off rather smug but can behave badly because she is super hot and sexy and intelligent and caring and carefree and popular and tough yet tender…..well you get the picture. 

<spoiler alert>

I have re-written this review three times as I have gone through the novel in order to build a review that is sound, fair and pointed. After the initial few chapters this became a very compelling novel then there were some hiccups that detracted from the whole. Mandi surfaces again as cub reporter that just happens to know how to spacewalk and saves her tender-eyed hunky man, Grae after the stabilization of a derelict ship goes wrong (she came up with the idea). She then goes on to tell a genius neutrino expert how to track the bad guys through space…..by triangulating neutrinos. Really? I mean, fukin’ really? If Mandi is not “getting lost in Grae’s eyes”, she is ordering people around like she knows how to run a spaceship and inserts herself where she has no business being. Oh, and she “presses her lips”, a lot.

On the positive side, the supporting characters were developed with superb rendition and the world building was crazy good. The science fiction has a lot of artistic license yet is rendered so well it becomes considered fact. This could be a great novel and an even better sequel if Mandi disappears into a black hole and pops out the other side to ruin an alternate universes novel.

Review: The Chromosome Game by Christopher Hodder Williams

 

Publisher: Venture Press

Publishing Date: April 2016

ISBN:9780947634001

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 2.0/5

Publishers Description: Has the history of mankind been erased forever? Or has earth been abandoned? Whilst others look on, the terrifying aftermath of mortal life in an alternate dimension plays out and a universal order comes to light… Meanwhile, a preserved vision lies in wait. Carefully selected human DNA conserved in gene banks is the only legacy of a disturbing and volatile experiment.  

Review: Just could not get into this novel. Quite a bit of dialogue that goes nowhere with rather poor character development. I didn’t see what another reviewer saw as being a fast paced novel. It was slower than shjt coming out of a constipated rhino. Most English authors really delve into the prose and dialogue of infinite descriptive spew, and has never attracted any willingness on my part to continue reading through to the end. Just my bias.

Review: Parched by Andrew C. Branham

 

Publisher: Ant Press

Publishing Date: April 2016

ISBN: 9781530519248

Genre: SciFi

Rating: DNF

Publishers Description: The sun has become a ‘red giant’ and the world is hot and parched. In California, James and Lexie Deforio have three goals: to find food and water, to survive another day, and to protect their two children. When their home is abruptly robbed and burned to the ground, the family is forced to embark on a cross-country journey in search of safety and water.

Review: As far as I know with my limited astronomical sense is that once our sun becomes a red giant all life will cease and most likely destroyed as Earth is engulfed. The idea that people are living under a red giant is ridiculous.

Review: Schism by Britt Holewinski

 

Publisher: Delirious pixie

Publishing Date:  March 2016

ISBN: 9780988300750

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 1.8/5

Publishers Description: A virus, created by the smartest minds in the United States government, which is meant to target male adults in times of war, is accidentally released before testing is complete. Within weeks six billion people are eliminated from the world. The only survivors are prepubescent children.

Review: The beginning of this novel is “The Andromeda Strain” meets “The Blue Lagoon” where Morgan and Andy are so fucking hot they could be Super-models on a beach….er, their beach in Bermuda. Andy’s Dad was a Doctor (she inherited his skills) and her mom was a first-chair concert cellist. REALLY??? Then everyone dies.

After sailing 600 miles to the mainland because Charlie, Morgan’s brother is a CERTIFIED GENIUS the novel morphs again, reminding you of  “Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdork” meeting “The Hunger Games”. Again, everyone they meet (the oldest people are eighteen) are hotter than a half-fucked foxes and constantly brush their hair back or think longingly of showers and food. So they go here and there, get into scrapes, get out of scrapes and generally behave like retarded hormonal adults (teenagers).

I could go on but time is a fleeting thing not to be wasted. If you like pina colladas, and getting caught in the rain, and the sound of the ocean…..buy this. If not, then run screaming like there are really fast zombies after you and not the slow shuffling, moaning type.

 

 

Don’t forget the ever pervasive theme of guns are bad and everyone hates inanimate objects but use them cause they have to. HUH?

Review: Diamond by Tigris Eden

 

Publisher: Kats Kreative Ideas

Publishing Date: April 2016

ISBN: 9781625177247

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 3.4/5

Publishers Description: Eons ago, the comet Biel passed through Earth’s atmosphere, depositing Travelers and leaving behind remnants that drastically altered the planet and its inhabitants. Hundreds of years later, mutation and evolution have left behind a desolate wasteland and dangers beyond comprehension. 

Review: Our anti-heroine Nadya is on a quest to sell her puss to the highest bidder as she is a virgin warrior living in squalor with no means to save her adopted family. She travels to the Quarry in hopes of securing a sponsor for said puss, because unsullied snapper is the best kind of fish. Nadya has a hidden past that comes through in spurts of ability but doesn’t take over the story-line with super human feats. She is battered and beaten in every sense, and doesn’t remember most of her previous life, only that she owes a debt to those that took her in.

Ah, dystopian where is thy sting? Much of this novel skirted with the romance angle, that many times I almost round filed the whole thing. BUT, it never quite reaches a culmination of active hormones and turns you on your ear as to previous considered outcomes. Whereas all the guys have huge penis’ and all the women are hot I failed to grasp the relevance to the story line. All the sex, voyeurism, violence and depravity failed to capture the dystopian theme mainly because they were so overt and lacked a subtle expertise in order to slowly bring your emotions into play. Its just “Wham Bam” shock type writing that most are immune to.

The world building is very good as is the writing. The supporting cast is fairly one dimensional and much of the scenes lacked logical progression.  Tighten this up and you get an easy 4 stars.  

Review: Silent Hall by NS Dolkart

Publisher: Angry Robot

Publishing Date: June 2016

ISBN: 9780857665683

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 2.6/5

Publishers Description: Five refugees from a plague-stricken island cross the continent searching for answers. Instead they find Psander, a wizard whose fortress is invisible to the gods, and who is willing to sacrifice anything – and anyone – to keep the knowledge of the wizards safe. 

Review: An obvious first attempt at writing that strangely works.

The world building is what really stood out in this novel. Descriptive elements are the emphasis rather than the character development. Each character has named chapters that give their unique perspective on the traveling entourage and their own internalizations. Add in some wizards, Elfs, a dragon and a few angry Gods and the patterned recipe is set.