Finally a novel about a video game that doesn’t read like a video game. While loosely based on a game format, this novel has a definite story arc and realistic, developing and wildly charismatic characters. It also has weirdly creative humor reminiscent of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” which results in such absurdities as traveling […]
“Calico Thunder Rides Again” by T. A. Hernandez
This kind of Fantasy ought to have its own sub-genre. Sort of “steampunk art but modern-day with fantasy creatures thrown in.” The plot of this novel involves a late 19thcentury traveling circus with dragons and griffins and twenties-era gangsters with trolls as enforcers. So much for creativity. The story is peppered with Characters with a […]
“Moon over London” by Shawna Report
As you already know from the five stars, I really enjoyed this book. While perhaps not portraying the complexity of “A Hunt by Moonlight,” the first in the series, it’s a real page-turner. Great characters, a complex plot, a difficult crime to solve and many levels of conflict all combine to keep the reader’s interest […]
“The Last Cleric” by Layton Green
I finished my review of the second book in this series with “There has to be a Book Three.” This is it, and I’m a touch disappointed. This book has all the trappings of a “potboiler,” a book in the middle of a series where the author is running on automatic, including all the things […]
“The Second Life of Eddie Coyne” by Louis K. Lowy
This book is one of those “what if” fantasies that uses the possibility of a something-after-death to explore the development of a character. Eddie Coyne is a man with a gambling problem whose life is spiraling out of control when a fatal accident dumps him into limbo or purgatory or whatever you want to call it. […]
“The Journals of Incabad Reyl” by Gregory Tasoulas
Most fantasy writers start a book and create a world in which to place it. A very few spend years creating a fantasy world and finally write a book about it. Gregory Tasoulas is one of the latter. Picture a universe where once every few thousand years the whole basis of the world undergoes a […]
“Kingdom Cold” by Brittni Chennelle
“Kingdom Cold” is a bit of a stylistic olio. The opening chapters introduce a Medieval Fairy Tale setting with characters molded in modern terms. The Princess is on a hunger strike, and soon tops it by getting drunk at the wedding feast and throwing up in the hallway. These are very modern, realistic people, dealing […]
“The Realm of Beasts” by Angela J. Ford
I find this book very much like its cover: a beautiful medley of images, but so unrelated that I cannot quite understand the logic that places them together. It is ostensibly the story of a character with gaps in his memory who is trying to learn both his past and his present in a new […]
“Arcatraissa” by Lacy Sheridan
This story is based on the “only children can see fairies” plotline with a modern twist. Cassie is no longer a child but she can see them, as can her dying aunt. However, the rest of the adults consider this ability mental illness, with all the hush-hush and secrecy that abounds where that topic comes […]
“The Knight’s Secret” by Jeffrey Bardwell
This book starts out with an interesting premise – the main character, Kelsa, magicked into her grandfather’s body – but the possibilities are not explored fully, especially when it comes to her reaction to romantic encounters. There is also the problem of empathy when the person she becomes takes over our attention, and we forget the […]