Story Review: Little Wren and the Big Forest by Michael J. Sullivan from Unfettered II

Cover for Unfettered II taken from its Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Spoiler Free Summary:  Little Wren and the Big Forest by Michael J. Sullivan is the eighteenth story in the Unfettered II Anthology.  Everyone knows not to go into the forest. Everyone. But Wren’s lost a sheep, and her brother needs to find it. When he doesn’t come back, her parents leave. When they don’t come back, she goes looking. What she finds is a terrifying situation that forces her to pit her wits against an ancient creature bent of bringing something terrible to life.

Character:  Wren was one of the more memorable characters in this anthology. There was a good amount of fear and bravery. Being young, she couldn’t be that competent (unless she was a prodigy, which she wasn’t), but she makes up for that with sympathy and proactivity.  

Exposition: This was also fantastic. The story flowed seamlessly and was very hard to stop listening to (I listened to the Audible version). I don’t remember any point at which this story slowed down at all for me.

Worldbuilding: This is probably where the story fell short a bit for me. The reader honestly gets everything he needs, but this world seems so fascinating, and we don’t get much information on how this world operates. This might be from a larger story or series, which would mean fans already familiar with the world already know what’s happening. Even though I did get what I needed, I wish I had a bit more of this world to enjoy.

This image of Mr. Sullivan was taken from his about page on his website for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Dialogue: I can’t put my finger on what this story reminds me of, but a significant portion of the story is Wren’s battle of wits with the creature she meets in the woods. That conversation was very well done and is probably why I enjoyed this so much.  

Description: I was satisfied with the description in this story if not impressed. Perhaps one of the reasons I didn’t put this story in my top three from the anthology was because I would have liked a bit more sensory data here. Levels of description in order of desired outcome: 1) The reader knows what’s going on. 2) The reader can imagine some of the scene or characters. 3) The reader can imagine all of the scene and characters. 4) The reader has vivid imagery and imagination of the story. However, the highest level is this: The reader FEELS like HE is the character in the story and FEELS like he is in the story. I have the description for this story somewhere around 3, which is good, but not great. A story this fantastic deserved a bit more.

Overall: This was a rather disturbing fairy tale. It’s compelling in its conflict and imagination. While I wouldn’t call it one of the greatest stories ever, it’s certainly deserving of being read or listened too. If you like your youth fairy tales a bit on the darker side (I.G. Witches or The Watcher in the Woods), this is probably right up your alley.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Book Review: Trial of Chains by Sohan Ahmad

Image taken from the book’s buy page on Amazon for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Trial of Chains  is the first book in the Crimson Crossroads saga by Sohan Ahmad: Two brothers, one a slave, the other destined to rule, are separated by a tragedy born of secrets. One young noble is orphaned by the assassination order of a jealous queen.  All of them fall into a life of fighting and blood. Will any of them find peace? NOTE: I’m still reviewing this book because I’ve read it, but it’s out of print at the moment.

Character: I thought the characters were all very sympathetic and memorable. I liked this cast. I’m very done with the dark “everything is murder, blood, and horror” fantasy angle, but this story had a very “Game of Thrones” feel. The author did a good job of revealing each character’s motivation.  

Exposition: I thought this was done well. There are some parts that lagged, and the biggest issue was less about the exposition of plot points and more about occasional soliloquies which felt more like author soap boxing. Still the action and drama of the characters kept me engaged.

Image of Mr. Ahmad was taken from his Amazon author page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine. 

Worldbuilding:  This wasn’t as broad as I’d have liked. It wasn’t extremely lacking. I am aware of the politics and some of the geography, but I didn’t get the immersion I really wanted from a story like this. I don’t know how many words this book was, but I needed another two or three thousand to give me some context and history. The people were real, and that’s what matters most. However, the locations felt hollow to me.

Dialogue: This is an area of improvement for the story. The dialogue felt wooden and more like the author trying to push the story forward than actual conversation. As real as the character’s motivations were, their dialogue felt even more off to me. Not all of it was terrible, but there were a lot of segments were the things said were more like “move stage right,” or “the characters have to get to this next location.” There were signs of potential though. The conversation between the king and his son was exactly what it should have been.  

Description:  This was good. It wasn’t too much, which I appreciate, but I don’t think there was enough. I needed to feel the locations more, and I needed to have more senses activated. There was a scene where a sword master was fighting in the woods. That had the amount of description and perception I want. There were reasons for that. The character had an issue which limited his ability and the author had to account for that in the description. I wish he’d used more of that mindset in the rest of the story.

A note on metaphor: So while writing this review, I couldn’t remember why I actually didn’t care for the book. Then I read my own summary and realized it. This author has potential (or had if he’s chosen to step away from the craft), but he used far too many metaphors far too often, especially in fantasy.  I was flat out confused sometimes because I didn’t know if I was reading description or metaphor. This book also had too many proofreading issues. Again, I don’t normally harp on this. I’m not anywhere near perfect, but when there are more than five typos per page, I can’t help but notice, and it can’t help but drag the story down.

Overall: This story was entertaining despite its issues, but it would have been great if those issues (just the proofreading and removal of useless, confusing metaphors) were addressed. Still, if you like the battle and fighting portions of Game of Thrones, this book isn’t such a bad read.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Cover Reveal! Smoke and Mirrors by C.L. Schneider

Greetings all,

If you’ve been following my blog for long, you’ll know that Cindy (C.L. Schneider) is a dear friend of mine who has been incredibly supportive. Today I have the distinct privilege to offer her my support.

Her Nite Fire series has a new edition, and I get to show you all the cover!  I read Flash Point, and you can see my review for that here. As I usually do, I’ll wait for the saga to end before I jump on any other books in that series (unless the audio books come out when I have a credit or two). But I am excited to see where the series goes.

Without further delay, I present to you the cover for Smoke and Mirrors, the third book in the Nite Fire saga.

 

I love the color of this image. Backs of heads are usually a no-no in the image business, but given the cool dragon in the mirror, it works. The warm of Dahlia’s hair (the fire is so well done) contrasts perfectly with the cooler surrounding colors.

Here’s the cover blurb:

Secrets are a dragon’s best friend. Deception is a close second. Both provide a sturdy armor, allowing half-dragon shapeshifter, Dahlia Nite, to live undetected among the humans. Walking in two worlds, belonging in neither, she wraps herself in a shroud of lies to hide in plain sight. But nothing stays hidden forever.

When dismembered bodies of multiple species are dumped on the riverbank, the case falls to Dahlia and Detective Alex Creed. Backed by Sentinel City’s new task force, the pair find themselves urged along by clues that seem too good to be true. Bouncing from one crime scene to the next, they hunt for a clear motive in a murky sea of conflicting evidence. Already on edge from the recent string of unexplained crimes, the city begins to unravel.

Drowning in missing creatures, slaughtered remains, masked men—and the search for her sidekick’s missing sister—Dahlia burns the candle at both ends. Seeking answers, she employs her empathic abilities, and uncovers something deeper and more sinister than a simple serial killer’s web. As the dots connect, and worlds collide, she struggles to shields her friends from the truth. But secrets can be deadly. And Dahlia’s not the only one who keeps them.

Smoke and Mirrors is scheduled to be released in May of 2019. So if you’re interested, and you want to catch up, you have plenty of time (especially since book one is on Audible).

Cindy truly is an amazing author, and I’d recommend her book to just about any fan of fantasy, but her books are best suited for fans of dark fantasy with some steam (if you catch my meaning).  She doesn’t get graphic though.

Please check out her work; you’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Dream Student by J.J. DiBendetto

Spolier Free Summary: The Heresy Within by Rob J. Hayes is a the first book in The Ties that Bind series.  A knife for hire, a female blade master, and an Arbiter (religious traveling wizard), collide while pursing parallel paths to a common goal.  Two of them hate each other. Two of them are attracted to each other. The rest of the world wants them all dead. Their common enemy is someone who’s learned the dark secret of where the arbiters gain their powers, and why they have to guard that secret so closely.  This was my July 2017 Book Cover of the Month winner.

(CONTENT WARNING: This is dark, graphic and sexually explicit. Only for adults.)

Character:  In a story about a group of antiheroes, the trick is to give each of them a degree of sympathy. I think the arbiter (Thanquil) and the knife for hire (The Black Thorn) are fascinating character studies. Their flaws are real, and Thanquil’s core desire is admirable even if his job forces him into so brutal situations. I wasn’t such a fan of Jezzet, as her character seems oddly submissive for a blademaster, but I can say that submissiveness is a character arc she works with, so while I wasn’t a huge fan, I at least understood it was intentional.  This story bounced around with these characters quite a bit, and that got confusing and frustrating in the early chapters.  However, once I had everyone figured out, I could follow the story and connect better with each character. I’ve encountered this same problem in my writing, but I feel both I and Hayes made the right choice. The cost of confusion is worth the reward of sympathetic characters.

Exposition:  Most of this was hidden in the dialogue. It wasn’t overly noticeable. It might be a tad “infodumpy” (word copyright M.L.S. Weech) in a spot or two, but once the plot gets moving, the action makes up for any lag early in the story.

World building:  This element of the book had more promise than actual results, but as the first book in the series, I feel it was an intensional tease on the author’s part. We get just enough to make us want to learn how things work. I found myself wanting to learn more (especially about the magic system), but I was at least satisfied with what I did get. The author clearly did a lot of work prepping a dark, visceral world with many secrets to discover. If you can get through the content (or like that sort of content), you’ll love the depth this world offers, but book one is more a flash of how epic this world can be than it is a revelation of the world’s depth.

Dialogue: I may be the victim of the audio narrators on this part. Some of it seemed a bit forced, and it’s possible the narrators over-emphasized that. It wasn’t stilted or wooden by any means. It just felt  a little more caricature-like than I might have appreciated. That said, the raw nature of their dialogue (most of these characters are extremely flawed) comes out in the dialogue, and it supported the development of each character.

Description: Having been as long as it’s been since I read it (May 23), I remember less about it than I’d like.  The good news is I remember I didn’t feel overly burdened with minute details (something I don’t appreciate about some fantasy). What I do remember is actually wanting a bit more detail here or there. Not another 100,000 words of detail, just a bit more here and there. For instance The Black Thorn is burned, but I don’t remember much detail about the burns. It sort of reminds me of what people tell me is the blemish on Samantha’s face in Ready Player One which turned out to be quite minimized in the movie (I still liked the movie for the record).  What I mean is I know he’s burned, but I’m not really sure how badly.  Those little details are things I think I would have liked.

Overall: I can appreciate the writing and plot of this story. I would have been more captivated with it three years ago than I am now (I’m more sensitive to some content than I used to be). What I know is it took a bit to get into things (bouncing characters). Interesting world building and compelling characters made this a story that people can get into. It’s a great book one with a lot of teasing into some larger scope. Fans of dark fantasy with a lot of grit will probably enjoy this.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: The Silent Tempest by Michael G. Manning

Cover and portraits of Michael G. Manning were taken from Amazon or his website for review purposes under Fair Use Doctrine.

Spolier Free Summary: The Silent Tempest is the second book in the Embers of Illeniel trilogy by Michael G. Manning. As Daniel struggles to face the demons of his past, he dawns the identity of Tyrion Illeniel, and takes up the quest to guard the only remnants of Daniel Tennick’s life. Doing so forces him to become more ruthless. HIs children are forced to live out his sins and worse. His desire to protect those he loves is the only thing that can truly protect them, and his hate is the only thing that can help them protect themselves. I read this series out of order. Betrayer’s Bane was the first-ever winner of my Book Cover of the Month competition. Reading it made me want to learn more. You can see my review for that book here. I read The Mountains Rise afterward. That review is here.

Character:  I stand behind my previous assessment regarding Manning’s ability here. The characters in this story are all deep, and their motivations are heartbreakingly sympathetic. I found his relationships here so powerful. This book is truly about a father who would do any horrible thing if it meant extending the lives of his children. I worded that very carefully, and I stand by that clause. This book did a fantastic job of helping the reader spiral downward with Tyrion rather than contemptibly watch him plummet.

Exposition: This had less exposition scenes and explanations from Mort. I remember them being there, but it wasn’t as prevalent. The extra effort Manning used in Mountains allow him to focus on conflict and character with Tempest.

Worldbuilding:  One downside to reading this trilogy out of order was a plot twist regarding one of the races in the book. I think those who choose to read it in order (though I’d still stand behind how I read it) will get a bigger thrill out of some of the revelations in this book. The plot weaving in this series is wonderful, and the world just feels like a place one could visit (if he truly hated himself).

Dialogue:  The dialogue in this book is solid.  One of the characters we’ve only seen glimpses of in the first book gets a larger role, and her character brings a certain wit and light to the story that brightens the tale. To have such a huge cast and still give them each a unique voice is no small feat.

Description: I honestly felt like I was there in almost every scene in the book. Weather I was trapped or fighting for my life, Manning has a cinematic voice that makes the reader feel like they’re quietly observing this tragic, dark tale.

Overall: This whole series is one of the best I’ve read in 2017. This particular book was a brilliant second act with equal parts tragedy and triumph. It’s dark, but touching. It’s exciting, but tragic. Those who love dark fantasy should check out all of Manning’s work.

Thanks for reading,

Matt