Book Review: Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

The cover of the book was taken from its Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Starsight  is the second story in the Skyward saga by Brandon Sanderson.  My review for Skyward is here. Spoiler Free Summary: Spensa’s dream of becoming a hero is only the beginning. An alien visitor appears, giving her the chance to learn about the people who have kept her captive this whole time. She also learns about the entity that is even more horrifying than the thought of humans at war. What secrets will she unveil? Will she be able to protect the secrets she keeps? What doe the eyes of the starts know?

Character: Spensa is still a charming character. She’s growing, which is nice to see. I like MBot too. She’s proactive still, rather like Naruto in a lot of ways. However, she’s growing smarter. She’s forced to teach, and that gives her some tools that she needs. I honestly think seeing her growth from the last book to this one was one of the more interesting parts of the story. The cast sort of splits and expands here. We meet essentially an entire new cast. We don’t cut completely away from the other characters, but they don’t get much screen time.  

Exposition: The exposition of this story wasn’t beyond what I’d expect from a first person narrative. There are, of course, some “conversations” that decently hide the information we’re provided. They’re fun conversations and also reveal character, so I didn’t mind them at all.

Image of Sanderson by Nazrilof was taken from Sanderson’s website for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Worldbuilding:  This novel expands on the universe and provides insight to “the big bad” everyone is afraid of. In true Sanderson fashion, “the big bad” is never really what people think it is.  This is where Sanderson has always, and will always, shined. This book made me miss Rithmatist (but not enough for him to stop working on Stormlight 4). The slow expansion of the world and it’s secrets is similar.

Dialogue: This is pretty much what I’d expect from any Sanderson story (especially a Sanderson YA story).  

Description:  I thought the description was great. I felt Sanderson was a little understated in his description in the last story, but this gave me the “something” I felt was missing from the last story.

Overall: This is easily the second-best book I’ve read so far this year. It fulfilled a lot of the promises the first book made. It became impossible to stop listening to it (this was an Audible story for me) with about three hours to go. It was a lot of fun. The only demerit I have is the cliffhanger ending. I hate those. I will always hate those. Even with that ending, I still loved it.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Book Review: Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Skyward is the first story in the Skyward saga by Brandon Sanderson.  Spoiler Free Summary: Spensa has wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and be a pilot since she was a child. Unfortunately, her father is the world’s most famous traitor. He turned on his wing during an alien attack. These creatures have oppressed her planet for years, and the pilots are the ones who protect her world’s way of life. When everyone else seems to be against her even training to be a pilot, her father’s old wing mate gives her the chance she’s always wanted. However, the truth of her father’s death and the key to the aliens attacking her might prove she never should take a cockpit.

Character:  Unlike Rithmatist or Steelheart (which are other YA books by Sanderson), I had to sort of turn off the adult in my brain. If I do that, Spensa is a wonderful character. Honestly, she’s just young. She’s a well-written and designed character, and she’s perfect for YA, but her thoughts and motives are a little less mature than Sanderson’s usual work. It’s still better than most YA I’ve read, but it’s probably more suited for younger readers. She’s quirky. She has a personality trait I personally find endearing. It reminds me of Sir Didymus from Labyrinth. 

Exposition: Despite the first-person narrative, this story didn’t drag down too much. Sure, there was the inevitable “conversation” that established world history. There’s a backstory that might slow things down in there, but this story was a much-needed, highly-anticipated quick-read for yours truly. It moves at a perfect pace that made it hard to put down.

Image of Sanderson by Nazrilof was taken from Sanderson’s website for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Worldbuilding:  This has all the usual hallmarks of a great Sanderson saga. As the plot unfolds, we learn more and more about the people on the planet (and then the aliens above). Most of this story builds on the history and culture of the humans, but I hope the rest of the series expands on this universe. The book sort of feels like Top Gun meets How to Train Your Dragon.

Dialogue: As is usual in any Sanderson novel, the quick-witted, snappy dialogue helps move the plot along. It constantly impresses me the number of different personality quirks Sanderson can emphasize just in how he writes their dialogue. This books is something I’d recommend for anyone struggling to make a character sound distinct.

Description:  I felt like this story had less description that usual. I’m not normally one to harp on this subject, but I would have appreciated a bit more from Sanderson on this, especially in distinguishing the lower levels of the planet from the surface.  If I have a knock on this story, it’s here.

Overall:  I’d say this is my favorite book of the year so far. I’ll also admit this year has been a bit tough regarding my reading. This book is good, and I did enjoy it, but I don’t know how it would hold up against any of my top three from last year. I say that to give some context. I’d say very good, but not great. It’s absolutely a fun read. It still has Sanderson’s usual charm, but it ended on a high note that has me hopeful for the series overall.

Thanks for reading

Matt

A 5-Star Review for Repressed!

Greetings all,

Repressed just got a five-star review! I’m always stoked when I get to share reviews, and the fact that the reader liked the book is an added bonus!

I’ve mentioned a few times that I don’t see myself doing a lot of YA. There are book sin that genre I really love, but some of the tropes I just don’t like much. So when I set out to write Repressed (and Sojourn in Captivity), I wanted to make an effort to stay true to the challenges a young adult (or teenager) faces without falling into some of the routines I didn’t appreciate in other stories.

This review is particularly fulfilling because it mentions and appreciates that I pulled away from some of the more-common plot threads in YA today.

I’m thrilled to see the first review for Repressed is positive, and I hope more keep coming. If you’ve read it, please consider leaving a review. Even if you hated it, I’d appreciate the honest criticism.

Thanks for reading,

V/R
Matt

The Repressed Audiobook is finished!

Greetings all,

I’m happy to report that the Audiobook for Repressed is in ACX’s review process and will hopefully be available within the next two weeks!

Kenzie worked extremely hard. She took all of my direction with grace and eagerness to match the narration with my imagination. This is all any author can truly ask of an audiobook’s producer. I think she did a fine job. She might not have the best equipment (I don’t actually know her setup, so I truly mean might). However, her drive to get the story read the way I wanted it was wonderful, and I think if more authors give her a shot, she’ll only improve as she gains opportunities.

I’ll post another blog when the title is actually live on Audible and iTunes. At some point, I’ll also have another batch of free books at that point (Audible codes I can use to gift you a copy of the book).

I was joking today that my goal was to write so many books, people would have to read them just to get them out of their way. Only, that’s not actually a joke.  I’m still adjusting to a new life schedule (and loving that), but I work on the craft, and I work to create new stories.

For example: with Repressed all the way done, I’m going to start working on the text to Hazel (which I’ll talk about next week). I got the first ten or so pages, and I’m astounded at how cool the art looks. So I’ll get issue one prepped for Collin.  Then I actually have to start formatting Sojourn in Captivity and the flip-book featuring Sojourn and Repressed, which will give me a fourth physical book to offer to readers at conventions.

If I just keep churning out titles I believe in, it’s just a matter of time before sales grow more consistent. Pray for me that God blesses me with the strength to endure and the patience to continue.  I still believe this is what he put me on earth to do.

I’ll continue to keep you updated on how things go, and I’m so grateful to you all for your support.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Repressed is Live! Get A Copy Today!

Greetings all,

Last year, I set a pretty high goal. I wanted to publish four titles in the year. Today marks the fulfillment of that goal. Honestly, I count it both as the end of one year and the first of the next. I’m simply so excited to hit “publish book” so many times.

I’m proud to present to you all Repressed: An Oneiros Log YA Novella. I put that in the title so fans of Caught wouldn’t be too jarred. This is a YA story with YA themes and style. That means it’s a different feel than Caught. The characters are there, and you do get to see where they are between Books One and Two of the main arch, but this is all about Kaitlyn.

She’s one of my favorite characters overall, so when this idea took hold, I figured it’d be something nice to give fans of Caught to tide them over while I get Betrayed set up (I’m 14 percent through the discovery draft of that book by the way).

I’m thankful to those who preordered the book, and I hope any seeing this decide to give it a try. It will remain 99 cents until the 15, when it goes to it’s regular price of $2.99.

Here’s the official blurb:

Some girls grow up watching cartoons of princesses and unicorns. Some girls grow up wearing pretty dresses and dreaming about meeting a nice boy. Some are even tomboys, taking more active roles in sports or getting their hands dirty with the boys.

Kaitlyn Olhouser didn’t have any of those options. She was a long-term experiment that resulted in becoming an empath. She was rescued by her now adopted family, a team of people each gifted with psychic powers that calls itself Oneiros. She has abilities just like them. She’s even more powerful than all but one of them, but she’s 16, and her caretakers seem more interested in making sure she graduates high school that letting her use her abilities to join the team.

A short encounter with some bullies inspires her to find her own opportunity to be the hero she knows she’s destined to be. But being a hero isn’t exactly what comic books make it out to be. Her actions put an Oneiros mission in danger, and her antics in school create more problems than she could imagine.

Kaitlyn must embrace what it is to be a hero to make a real difference, not in the war against bad guys, but in the lives of her friends.

 

(END BLURB)

So there it is. I’m proud of this story for a number of reasons. First, it’s a new title, and that’s always an achievement. Next, I wrote outside my comfort zone. Most of you who follow my blog know I’m not a YA fan. Sure, I liked the Divergent series, and I think the Chaos Walking Trilogy was extremely underrated, but on the whole, I’m just not a fan. So I wanted to think critically about what I liked and didn’t like and put my money where my mouth was. The Audible version is under production now. I think the story is charming. Most importantly, I think it covers some very important issues, primarily racism and bullying. I sincerely hope you’ll give it a try and offer a review. I’d be thrilled if I had 20 people pick up a copy today. It would honestly help me so much with the Amazon machine, and simply knowing 20 people gave my work a try would be a great way to start off the year.

You can click the above link, or this link here to purchase your copy.

Thanks for reading,

V/R
Matt

The Audiobook Edition of Repressed Is in Production!

Greetings all,

I’m happy to report to you that Repressed, which is still available for preorder, is now under production as an audiobook!

I had auditions open for about a week-and-a-half, and Kenzie’s, Jennifer Wooster, audition blew me away. Her voice was perfect for Kaitlyn at this stage in her life. Kenzie’s listening to Caught right now to get some context for the characters, and we hope things wrap up by the end of January. I still have some free audible codes for both Caught and The Power of Words if you want a free audiobook and want to give my work a try.  Just shoot me an email. Speaking of which, I have a 5-Star Review on Audible for The Power of Words.

I’m thrilled to have been releasing products at the pace I have been.  I’ve started writing Betrayed: Book Two of the Oneiros Log, and I think things will go well once I get a few days of writing under my belt.

I just wanted to update everyone on the good news. As always, I’m so appreciative of all that you do to support this dream of mine.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

Book Review: Dream Student by J.J. DiBendetto

Spolier Free Summary: Dream Student by J.J. DiBenedetto is a YA Romance Paranormal mystery novel about Sara Barnes, a med-school student who’s having strange dreams, some of which are horrifying.

She doesn’t think too much about them until she meets the boy of these dreams. Realizing he’s real, she pursues (aggressively) a relationship with him. However, if her romantic dreams are real, her horror comes back when she realizes her nightmares were also real. She chooses to use her dreams to learn who the killer is and help bring him to justice.

DISCLAIMER: J.J. is a friend and fellow author. I met him at AwesomeCon and he became a fan of my work. I think well of him, and bought his book because of the wonderful support and kindness he showed me. I assure you, the only “hookup” I gave was to buy the book based on that friendship. My opinions on his book are based solely on his book.

Character:  This is hot and cold for me. I think Sara’s a good character. Most who know me know I’m really not a fan of romance, and YA romance only amplifies that distaste. So if I read a book like that and don’t want to throw the main character out of a window, you can trust that fans of the genre will love it. The problems I have with the characters in this book are simply common problems I have with any character in a romance novel, or a YA novel; and when it’s a YA romance, well, God help me. I expected to have to slog through this book, but Dibenedetto’s Sara Barnes is a character worthy of a story. Sure, she jumps into some decisions that I sometimes struggle with, but I consider those hazard of the genre more than failures of the author.

Exposition:  This was where I felt there was the most room for improvement. Here, I understand that 1st person narrative inherently feels like a ball of exposition, but I noticed a few times where the MC seemed to be explaining herself to convince the reader to go with the plot more than provide scope or context. This wasn’t a problem through the whole book, but it got real heavy in the middle, and that part did indeed slow me down. Characters do this in 1st person, and if done with the right emotional tone and timing, readers consider it more snark, wit, or contemplation than justification. Here, I felt that happened, and it happened more than I feel it should. The consequence was that it slowed the middle of the book for me. This also happened at a point when I felt the story sort of veered off course. Once it got back on course, I was enthralled by the mystery and the clues.

World building:  This, alternatively, was a strength of the story. Whenever one deals with dreams in fiction (and I’d know a bit about this) it takes a lot of world building and planning. DiBenedetto does a solid job hiding clues in the dreams. He also uses those sequences and that world to a range of emotional results. In this, it felt a bit like the show Medium, which I enjoyed.

Dialogue: This again seemed to fit in line with typical YA themes. I felt the interactions between some characters (especially Sara’s friend) could have had a lot more conflict, giving the story depth, but typically in these books (at least the small sample I’ve read), the side characters tend to just roll with whatever insanity the main character heads for, which takes potential tension from the story. Yes, DiBenedetto did this, but not to a more offensive degree than any other YA book I’ve read does.

Description: This was average if not more effective in the dream sequences. J.J. uses detail to highlight clues, and I found myself paying more attention to description than I normally do (which is not at all). He doesn’t beat you to death with description. He’s also more merciful with some of the scenes one would commonly see in a mystery novel, and I appreciated that. However, I understand others would not like that. I’m more of a fan of cut aways mid swing than I am watching the blades trace lines of blood along a subject. I advise readers of this review to take note and decide which person you are to determine what you’ll think of this technique.

Overall: This book had a satisfying ending to a pretty cute paranormal romance mystery.  Sara was the most interesting part. Like any good 1st person story, she’s the reason I kept turing the pages in a book that falls outside my genre preferences. I’d recommend this to this genre’s readers and fans of the TV show Medium.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Writing Update: I’ve Just Finished the Developmental Draft of Repressed! A Call for Beta Readers

Happy Day, everyone!

Just a few moments ago, I finished the developmental draft of Repressed, my Novella featuring Kaitlyn from Caught. If you’re curious, a developmental draft is when Sara (my editor) makes her comments and I apply them during revision. This is more about plot wholes and character, structure, and arc.  I’m proud to say Sara was pretty happy with this one.  She did give me some insight about procedural things and the workings of a teenage girl’s mind.  This draft felt like it went quickly for me, but I’m still proud of how the story turned out.

Now I need opinions of those who read the genre, so I’m calling out for Beta Readers. What I look for from Beta Readers are responses to surveys I send them.  This is really me measuring the progression of character, description, dialogue, exposition, and world building. If that looks familiar, it’s because it’s how I review books. They can feel free to add whatever they want, but I’m most invested in what they think of those aspects of the book. I also need Betas to tell me how they like the story.  So, if you’re a fan of YA paranormal dramas, I’d appreciate it if you took the time to read the story and tell me what you think.  Here’s a summary:

BEGIN SUMMARY

My name is Kaitlyn, and I have superpowers. No really, I’m an empath. About three years ago, I met some people, and well all have powers now. The five of us who survived the day we met, not all of us made it, live together. The thing is, they think that because I’m a teenager, I’m not ready to help them save the world.

* * *

When Kaitlyn decides to protect a new girl from bullies, she gets a taste for using her abilities and secret training like the heroes of the comics that she loves to read. But as she starts to do more, she learns her powers don’t work exactly the way she thought they did.  Things get even worse when she learns that hero work isn’t as easy as the comics make it seem. When hatred and ignorance come to a boil, Kaitlyn has to decide what it really means to be a hero, and her decision puts the lives of three other classmates at risk.

END SUMMARY

I’d appreciate it if Betas could commit to getting their comments back to me by Feb. 12. Email me if you’re interested. This will be the last draft where I look for issues and development. Essentially, it’s this next draft (what I call the Beta Draft) and the Proofreading Draft. Then, It’ll go onto the release calendar for early (I’m hoping for January) 2019.

What’s next for me? Well, I owe T.W. Iain one more pass on his story for The Power of Words anthology, and I also have to apply the feedback Alpha Readers gave me for that. So I hope to do both before Beta Readers get feedback on Repressed back to me.

There’s a lot of news fixing to come down the pipe. I’m going to be busy! First up, I have Animorecon! I’ll be there selling and signing books, and it’d be great to see you all there. However, I meant what I said about lots of news coming. Stay tuned, and, as always…

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Writing Update: The Alpha Draft of Repressed is finished!

Greetings all,

As the title indicates, I met my goal and finished this draft of Repressed. I’m happy with how it turned out. Before I go over some administrative notes, I want to make sure I thank my Alpha Readers.

First is Ben. He’s always first. He’s my best friend, and reads every first draft I throw his way, even while working a full-time job and helping my sister raise two wonderful, but active, children. Well…the Senior is all grown up, but I digress. Ben pointed out a few of the logistical conundrums this story had, and offered some advice I’ll account for when the book is completely finished.

Next is Grace, who I met at a convention. She liked Caught and wanted more. She was kind enough to not only send some general comments, but she also sent a document that highlighted some of the more egregious typos. She could have just sent an email, but she took time out of her life to give something I wrote a degree of detail I felt was above and beyond. I can’t thank her enough.

Whenever I write something, I try to stretch my abilities.  I knew that since this book featured Kaitlyn, who’s 16 at the time of this story, the novella would fall into the YA category, which I’m honestly not a huge fan of. But art and entertainment can do so many wonderful things. I’ve always believed that not liking a person or thing has more to do with understanding it than it being bad. So trying to write this story was a way of approach the genre. However, I’m not going to pretend I know everything about everything. I reached out to the Slush Brain, and Chess DeSalls answered the call. She was my “YA” expert, and I was very happy with her feedback. She’s a successful YA author, and I’ve even reviewed one of her books.

Peggy has not only read every book I’ve published, she’s also helped me sell more books than anyone else. She read my call for alpha readers, and decided to get some advanced reading done. Peggy, Grace, and Ben were particularly helpful because they’ve all read Caught, which I’m honored to say spent a few days on the Top 100 for its category (psychics) for a few days this weekend, and I was very concerned about keeping these elements together.

The reality is anyone can write up a book and get it published. I don’t want to just throw crap on the digital wall. I want stories that inspire and entertain. I want to write stories people enjoy. These alpha and beta (two drafts away) readers are critical to making that happen. They provide honest, direct feedback that lets me make the stories better.  I can’t do this without them.  Thank you!

So what’s next? Well, I’m going to take the rest of this weekend to watch football and read Oathbringer (probably not the whole book, but a LOT).

Monday, I’ll begin the First Draft of The Worth of Words, my contribution to The Power of Words anthology (Happy to report I’ve received yet another submission by the way). I’ll update you all via Twitter and Facebook on my progress there. Sara and I have began talking about how long she’ll need for developmental edits. If I finish the First Draft of The Worth of Words, I’ll start world building and outlining Betrayed (Oneiros Book 2).

That’s what I’ll be up to through December. Again, I want you all to know what a blessing it is to have anyone even remotely interested in my ramblings. It’s amazing! I’ll keep working hard to believe blogs you enjoy and books you can’t put down. As always…

Thanks for reading,
Matt

Writing Update: The First Draft of Repressed is Finished! A Call for Alpha Readers!

Greetings all,

I’m happy to report that I finished the first official draft of Repressed. I noticed a few things that I wanted to tweak, and I always like to do a pass or two for structure and grammar, which reduced the workload later on down the line.

I’m proud of this story and how it helped me grow as an author. Mostly, I’m proud of Kaitlyn, whom I’ve been blessed to watch grow through two stories now. But there’s still some work to be done. I need some help.

For me, Alpha readers are those who address specific needs. I’m looking for plot holes and continuity errors. I’m also interested in readers who’ve already read Caught, as this is Book 1.5 in the Oneiros saga.  Please remember though, this is absolutely a YA Paranormal story. Also, this story features a character who is Muslim. I’d be very grateful to anyone of that religion if they could help me be sure I’m true to that culture, especially since this story features the need for people to be less ignorant. I wouldn’t say this story is as closely related to the region as Sojourn was, but I want to be true to it.

I posted a semi-summary for the story here.

If you’re interested, please feel free to shoot me an email. I’m asking for Alpha Readers to have this back to me by Oct. 24. I’m always grateful to those who give my work a try.

In the meantime, I have the edits for the 2nd edition of The Journals of Bob Drifter back. So I’ll be able to get that going and headed to the printer ASAP. It’s a much larger story than the others, so it’ll take some time, but it’ll be worth it to have the control I’ve lacked so far.

The edits for Bob mean The Worth of Words is going to wait a bit longer. If I’m lucky, I’ll get Bob edited before the Alpha Readers for Repressed are done. If that happens, then I should be able to take another swipe at WoW after I do the Alpha Draft of Repressed. I SWEAR, I mean stop start working on Oneiros 2 as soon as I can. My hope is to start that in a few months.

All of your support means a lot to me. Even as small as my little corner of the world is, every person who sends me an email or message means everything to me. I can only hope that I continue to provide you stories that keep you engaged.

Thanks for reading,

Matt