New Release: "Memoirs of a Girl Who Loves God"

This author I met at Clean Indie Reads released a new book the other day so I'm helping to spread the word. Her author name is C.L. Wells and her book's name is "Memoirs of a Girl Who Loves God".  The rest of this post is from the Press page of her own blog.

 

Synopsis Back Cover Blurb

Fourteen-year-old Krystal finds herself flailing when her parents separate. Unable to cope, she begins cutting. No one knows.
At her new school, she makes one single friend, Em, who invites her to volunteer at the local homeless shelter. There, Krystal discovers fellow misfits, including Brandon, a boy from her school. How can Krystal start a new life when the scars of her old one will never fully heal?

What readers are saying about “Memoirs of a Girl Who Loves God”

 

“This is a heartwarming story that was written from the heart. It brought real meaning to me––of some things in life––that never made sense before. It made me smile, and also brought tears to my eyes. This is a must read. I wasn’t able to put it down once I started.”
“A compelling story that will have readers touched and unable to put it down. I’ve read it more than once and each and every time it brings tears to my eyes.”
“WOW!  It is not an easy book to read, but it is a powerful book. Heartbreaking, heartwarming, challenging and uplifting.”


You may purchase at Amazon via this link.

 

Connect with C.L. Wells

Facebook – facebook.com/Author.CLWELLS
Twitter – twitter.com/clwellsauthor
Website – theclwells.com
Blog – http://theclwells.com/ramblings
Newsletter – http://theclwells.com/newsletter
e-Mail – clwells.author@gmail.com

What Can You Do In A Dungeon?

In an earlier post I talked about the importance of "getting to the dungeon" when writing action/adventure stories (the same concept can be in other stories but it takes some more abstract or metaphorical thinking in that case). Now I'll talk about the sort of things you can do once you get there.

 

First and foremost is the adventure and exploration aspect. This is where you build the environment for your Reader. Describe for them what the character (in this case, The Hero) is experiencing through his senses. What does he see in this dangerous place? What is he searching for? What kinds of sounds does he hear or the smells that he encounters? That sensory thing adds to the action that, even when included in non-dungeony scenes, is more staid than in dungeon scenes instead of being part of the action.

 

When writing the Journey to Chaos series, I can get a lot of mileage out of the environment that Eric or someone else is entering. I also like world building and showing off this new area and what it means in a bigger picture. Sometimes I get carried away and talk about the history of some minor thing that does nothing but clutter up the narrative.

 

There's challenges to find. The typical Indiana Jones dungeon would have some pit traps and giant rolling boulders.  There can also be some puzzles and physical obstacles.  Most exciting can be anything living in these areas. That's right; MONSTERS!

 

Monsters, whatever their form, are my favorite part of the dungeon. Designing them and pitting my hero against them is great fun whether I'm the player, the reader, or the writer. In fact, just last week I wrote about Eric fighting a golem in the draft of Journey To Chaos book 4 and it was the most fun part of that chapter. Not only that, but it led into the first scene with that arc's major villain.

 

That's the other thing about dungeons and the main narrative reason for them. Without a plot purpose, the hero is just going into a place to do cool things without a reason. Granted, this can certainly be a legitimate plot and a good one (who doesn't like a wandering blood knight?) but most heroes will have a reason for going into the dungeon.  A lot of stuff can happen here: An existential hero's journey through the darkness and monsters, a bonding event between two or more characters, a driven pursuit to strike down a foe, rescue someone dear, or both. There are endless reasons to send your hero into this dangerous area known as a dungeon. It is a conflict creator.

 

 

This is why the trope In Media Res is employed and it is also the point my other post about whether Origin Episodes are necessary.  Why not skip the foreplay and jump right into the action? You have the characters talk about that stuff while they're in the dungeon, between the traps and the monsters and the intra-character conflict and bonding. That way the information is present and available to the reader but the main thrust of the story is unrestricted.

Answering Review Request: Dark Expanse, Surviving the Collapse

Paul M. Joy Jr, the  Head of Community Relations Deorc Enterprise, asked me to read an anthology of science fiction stories. It is called  Dark Expanse, Surviving the Collapse and it's a collection of stories that share a background and setting but are otherwise unrelated. A race of beings known as the Zyxlar created this vast interstellar empire and then disappeared without warning. Being the micro managers they were, this caused quite a shake up. I will examine plot, characters and polish and then assign a grade.

PLOT

Being an anthology, there is no overall plot. A couple of them reference the myth arc of why the Zyxlar disappeared, where they went and what they're planning, but that is all. As it becoming standard, I will only discuss a couple in brief and give my opinion of the work as a whole.

Most of these are great. They have this solid plot that is quickly set up, built up, executed and resolved satisfactorily.  It's not easy to do that in a short story format. There are some exceptions, stories that leave too much hanging for once thing, or stories that feel too thin/flat on characterization, or too bareboned in their plots. However, these are indeed exceptions.


Some of them feel like complete stories ("Dominos Falling" and "Fires of Night") and others like the start of a story ("Hellfire Unleashed").  A third group could have moved on if they wanted, but as they are now they a sense of thematic completion, if not narrative completion ("Ten Suns" and "Castles of Night"). Of those that feel like the start of a story, that is a compliment; Hellfire Unleashed leaves off at the point of its greatest world building potential. I wanted to read more of that plot line.
 

Many of them also incorporate the Short Story Twist. Some of them do it better than others. Some don't use it at all. 
Some of them make great use of meaningful echoes and other repeating narrative tropes, with others it feels lame.

"Fires of Night" is fun, deep, and doesn't pull some last minute twist. It also has this Dececptive Disciple, Master-Apprentice Team that is usually a martial arts story angle, not a space intrigue thing.

"Gorlack the Destroyer's All You Can Eat Adventure" has a great degree of humor. It can vary from Black Comedy to Ironic Humor and then twist around and and become pretty scary.

"Betrayal, Clear as Kanzai Glass" is fascinating in terms of a species origin story.

CHARACTERS

Characters on the whole are good throughout the stories. It was a fun exercise to determine what species the protagonist is in each story. It is not always obvious and you can't assume it to be human. With one or two exceptions, they and the others in the story are created to be distinct individiuals isntead of simple view ports for the story.

The protagonist from "They Cannot Scare Me With Their Empty Spaces" is complicated a character (also a Silicate, by the way). At first he sounds like some dim witted muscle guy that's part of a comedy act, then he goes out and does some insightful philosophizing without meaning to. You can say he is both dumb and wise at the same time.

Chaplain  Theodore from "A Small and Secret Freedom" is also one of my favorites. He's like this perfect mix of Chaotic Good, Church Militant, and Good Shepherd. In other words, he's a badass that doesn't need to have bulging muscles and a huge laser chainsaw; a mental strength that is quietly dignified and heroic.


POLISH

It looks good. No spelling or grammar problems

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Dark Expanse: Surviving the Collapse" a B+

Are Origin Episodes Necessary?

Are Origin Episodes Necessary?

I watched this video on youtube "7 Things That Need to Happen in the Deadpool movie" the other day. It's the one that slated to be released in 2016.  One of those things was that Deadpool's origin should be established to provide a basis for his madness and skill set, but "that should not be mistaken for a full blown origins".  It was about getting to the meat of the matter rather than starting from scratch.  This got me thinking: Is an origins episode necessary?

I can certainly see their point. It's possible to get so tied up in how your character becomes whatever it is you want them to be (in this case, a deranged and superpowered mercenary) that you spend the whole story getting them to that point. By the time they become this great and fascinating and over all FUN character, the story is over. Also, there is a question of exposition. There's a lot of explaining and definitions of things; this is X and that is Y and this plot point Z is very important or the universe will explode. This can make the story drag. It's spending so much time in development that the author and audience together don't see the payout.
 

I had a case of this when I started writing "A Mage's Power", the first book of my Journey to Chaos series. The first chapter had a lot of stuff about Eric's world that is irrelevant to the story as a whole because he's going to another world at the end of the first chapter. It was just filling in Eric's past in order to establish his personality so as to explain why this trickster spirit needs to help him. I cut a whole bunch of stuff out and the first chapter is still much the same way, just a lot leaner. The next two chapters are similar: I was so caught up in world building that I forgot to add a plot (specifically Eric's plot). Again, rewriting had to go in to make sure that there was a purpose to all this and it wasn't too info dumpy.

A third point against origin episodes is about starting from scratch. To use the Deadpool movie as an example, do we really want to start the movie with Wade Wilson as some Canadian kid playing hockey? No. We want to see Deadpool, the adult mercenary dual-wielding a katana and a gun against assorted villians. For this reason, the video stated a quick flashback or something more creative should be used to reveal the horrific events that lead to the creation of Deadpool. They used X-Men Days of Future's Past as an example of successfully putting the audience into a story without explaining every little thing. I pefer using 300.

In the prologue of 300, there's this narration about what a typical Spartan childhood is like. The boy we see is Leonidas himself, from the moment he was born. This skips through his life up until he is this grown and married man who is about to march off to Thermoplayae. The bulk of the movie is this battle. Thus, the bulk of the movie can show the badass army stomping on the mooks until their Last Stand. They don't try to show Leonaidas' whole entire life, just glimpses of it for Sparta in general. I recall other epics (which I will not name because I don't want to provoke any fans) but they do a TERRIBLE job of this. They cram their hero's entire life into 1.5 hours and as a result, nothing is well developed. It would have been better to skip forward to their epic hero time instead of jumping through their childhood.

Another idea I had while writing is this is the opening part of a RPG like Final Fantasy. At the start, the player characters have no skills, no abilities, and no special equipment. They have to learn, acquire and master these things over the course of the game. This can be rather dull because all the characters can do is attack, run, use items (which they don't have) etc. You need to get past chapter/arc/disc 1 before you have some variety.

On a contrasting note, origins episodes set stuff up. Without the explanations and the info dump and the build up, you just have a bunch of nonsense because you don't understand the situation. There's no sense of progression. There's no depth. That's why the video said that SOME backstory has to happen. If you know Deadpool's backstory then there are more dimensions to him and his actions in the present can be seen as being influenced by them. There's a framework for the character and the plot to move on from.  The trick is to do this in a concise manner.

Answering Review Request: Unreliable Histories

Rob Gresgson asked me to read his novel "Unreliable Histories". It's an urban fantasy that looks to take place in a fantasy counterpart of the British Isles during the Age of Exploration. I will examine plot, characters and polish and then decide on a grade.

NOTE: this review is about the first edition. I was 1/3 finished with it by the time Mr.Gregson put out the second.  He informed me that the chapter ordering is a little different, Jul has a little more screen time and the opening was rearranged, but in terms of content and story, they are the same.

PLOT

What we have here is two characters investigating a mystery. Myrah and Al encounter a wizard in a big and flashy event who tells them to find a certain object before dying. Mostly because they're bored, they go off on this little scavenger hunt. They travel from place to place learning about this thing they've found and uncover pieces of information relating to alternate histories for their country and their own lives.

What I like the most about this story is its angle about the Commercialization of Adventure. Myrah's uncle is one of the three heads of an empire spanning company that supplies explorers, adventurers and the like. It's called FMS Exploration and it has everything from ships to equipment to crew for its customers. Most of it is just for show because the adventurers are just for show. They're trying to become rich, famous or some other self-serving goal by lying about their boring and profitless adventure. There's a running gag about how they name innocuous and harmless places something intimidating and fearsome like "Light of Dragon's Blood" or some other such silliness in order to spice up their tale.
It's the opposite of the trope No Hero Discount. While the hero sees the merchant as greedy for not cutting him a break when he's trying to save the world, the merchant sees the hero as walking money whose not as special or important as he thinks he is. It's even this sort of merchant that keeps the traps in all those dungeons fresh and ready. HOWEVER, this is all done is good fun (narratively speaking). It's not a dark and gritty sort of angle but a light hearted mocking angle. I find that much more appealing than someone who piles on the tragedy.

About half way through there's a genre shift where Myrath and Al go through a genuinely threatening dungeon that houses a genuinely threatening demon and receive aid from a genuinely heroic adventurer (Myrth, in her jadedness, still thinks he's a scoundrel, despite a smidgen of infatuation). There's still more of the Commercialization of Adventure going on, but I got the sense that the vain glorious adventurers of the start are just the most public and visible; there's a deeper layer going on.

Ending is great. There's closure for the book's conflict and a funny lampshading of the remaining plot threads and how everything is not all neatly tied up. It also works well as a launching pad into the second book.

CHARACTERS

Myrah is the hero of this story and a character I like. She's practical, she's both intelligent and cunning, and she has heroic spirit. She's also jaded from her uncle's "profit above all else" business model, poser explorers and the general misogyny of her society. Third, she has this British wit which I believe is a gift direct from her author.

Al (Alaethar) is her partner and foil. He's this big guy that helps Myrah because he's in love with her. He's routinely Mistaken For Badass because of his size and an innocent scare on his collarbone. At the start, you think he is the one going to be the Ascended Fanboy but then he becomes Myrah's voice of reason as she tries to figure out the Index. It is quite amusing to see Agent Mulder turn into Agent Skully so quickly. The genre shift has quite an effect on him.

Nevigorn is a fun character. During his previous adventure, he found The Truth and gained an Enlightenment Superpower that changed his view of the universe and everyone in it. As a result, he rarely makes any sense to anyone. It's cloud cuckoo lander humor that is at the same time very pertinent to the plot. His Lack of Empathy can come off as Leaning On the Fourth Wall.

Fievelus is Myrah's uncle and one of two villains for this story. He may be the Big Bad or an Unwitting Pawn by the end but he's certainly The Heavy. He's greedy. He's a Corrupt Corporate Executive that has developed a Social Darwin style philosophy to explain how he is not corrupt despite his actions. Myrah tries to keep him out of the loop regarding her adventurer activities as much as possible because she knows that he will push her aside to make as much profit as possible regardless of anything else.

Hahn is a minor character but I wanted to include him but he is a fascinating case. He is every bit the Ideal Hero: brave, charismatic, kind, generous,  defender of the innocent and scourge of oppressors while also very skilled in combat. For this reason Myrah thinks he's a scoundrel because he's known as an outlaw (because of the scourge of oppressors thing) and because she's never met an adventurer that wasn't a selfish glory hound. On the contrary, he spends all his praise on Al, a rookie warrior and a stranger to him. He also speaks in a formal heroic style, which Al and Myrah both find strange but fitting with his character type.

POLISH

It looks good. No spelling or grammar errors. The foot notes have some funny and interesting world building.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Unreliable Histories" an A+


This is a free review request. I received nothing in exchange for it but a free copy of the book.

Click here for the previous book review (which was not a request): Spice and Wolf Volume 4

Movie Review: Avengers 2 Age Of Ultron

I saw Age of Ultron the other week and so now I can continue with my reviews of movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This one will cover plot, characters and polish and then assign a grade.

PLOT

This movie has a different pace and momentum than the previous. Starting out with a battle against HYDRA, it lulls for for a funny party at Avenger's Tower where Ultron is created, shows up and rebels. Then there is a series of confrontations followed by a climax. I like this approach because it makes it different from the previous film. There is certainly no sense of formulaic or paint by number stuff going on here. Only the most basic sense of storytelling tools like Rising Action and Climax followed by Falling Action and Resolution.

Also, the Evil Plan is certainly more complex. Loki's goal in The Avengers was basically to open a path for an alien invasion. Here we have a Well Intentioned Extremist upgrading himself while working on a Social Darwinist thing to "bring peace in our time" as his creator instructed. If Ultron's motives or reasons or goals seem to shift frequently, that's not bad writing. That is good writing because it showcases Ultron's personality in this verse. For one, he's crazy, for two, he's manipulating the twins by withholding his true goal and three, he simply changes his mind the Avengers steal his Vision.

Battle scenes are amazing, as has become standard with the MCU. My favorite is two part. One of them is the Hulk vs the Hulkbuster armor. The other involves a Hold The Line involving the Avengers and a couple new allies.

I don't see the problem with the Natasha/Bruce romantic angle. Given what she says, it makes sense (though a nod to Betty would have been nice). I don't see the "sterilization" thing as misogynistic at all. Isn't the fact that she it happened at all mean that the Red Room considers her value far and away outside her ability to produce children?

Ending is great. There is resolution to the conflict and then a springboard to the solo films of Phase 3. It's a shifting of narrative weight that provides both closure and excitement for the next installment.


CHARACTERS

Ultron is a fantastic villain. He looks menacing with his robotic stuff and he certainly puts up an impressive fight in physical combat while carrying out a multi-pronged Evil Plan. He has the snark comedy (very well delivered by James Spader) and making this even better is that he gets it from his "father" Tony Stark, and he hates being compared to him. On one hand he's this sinister philosopher villain and then he goes and does something goofy or childish like the "smaller people" line. A combination of insanity, immaturity mixed with great knowledge, and a dash of obfuscation and manipulation, and the true extent of his Evil Plan remains flexible and mysterious.

The Avengers continue to perform well. They are a better oiled team than in the first movie, as natural because they've been working together against HYDRA for some time now, but there is still tension. Iron Man's "peace in our time" philosophy clashes with Captain America's "don't try to win wars that haven't started" philosophy. With knowledge that Captain America 3: Civil War is coming, you know that this is where it starts.

Hawkeye gets great development here. Not only is he a badass archer and secret agent, but he's also The Heart of the team and a family man to boot.

POLISH

This movie looks amazing, both in battle scenes and in quiet scenes.

Trickster Eric Novels gives Avengers: Age of Ultron, an A+

Review for Avengers 1 can be found here

New Release: REGINA SHEN series!

I'm helping out another author today. Their book was released yesterday and will be discounted for the rest of the month. If you like post-Apocalyptic Dystopian things, then you should check it out.

 

 

REGINA SHEN SERIES DESCRIPTION

Abrupt climate change melted ice caps, flooded coasts, and expanded deserts. The World Federation’s notorious Department of Antiquities polices barrier walls and suppresses knowledge from the past. Three-hundred-plus-year-old Grand Old Dames rule using a caste system.

Regina Shen is an outcast condemned to live on the seaward side of barrier walls. She survives by her wits on swampy islands and thrives on salvage from sunken cities, including illegal print books from before the Federation. With her photographic memory, she defies Antiquities by reading books not available in the Federation. The Federation claims she has unique DNA that could single-handedly reverse the extinction of humankind. It's too bad she doesn't trust them enough to barter fairly, let alone with her life.

Regina Shen: Resilience – A hurricane threatens to destroy Regina’s world. Separated from sister, mom, and home, with Antiquities in pursuit, Regina fights to stay alive and avoid capture while hunting for family. Does she have the resilience to survive both the storm and Antiquities?

Regina Shen: Vigilance – Pursued by Antiquities, Regina jumps the barrier wall into the Federation to find her kidnapped sister and winds up on a closed-university campus with heavy security. Regina must use her wits to escape and rescue her sister without letting either of two rival inspectors capture her. Can she rescue her sister from an obvious trap?

 

They are available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Lance-Erlick/e/B00C1PKYSA) and the first book is discounted at $2.99 through the end of May.

Get to the Dungeon!

These days I'm writing the fourth book of the Journey to Chaos series, currently untitled. It's the ninth chapter and I was at a rut. Things were moving slowly. It was difficult to move the story forward. Part of this was a simple lack of framework for the arc to come but something else was in play; something more fundamental. My characters were not in a dungeon.

In the terminology of an RPG, a "dungeon" is any enclosed area where there are monsters, traps, treasure chests etc. that adventures pass through for the sake of the plot. A dungeon can be a forest, a cave, a literal dungeon of prisoners within a castle, the ruins of a town, etc. I'm not sure if a plain that one passes through on their way to something else would count as a dungeon, in the same way or otherwise, but the point is that a dungeon is where the action happens. That is where the fights occur, and the plot develops. A hero could, for instance, receive a mission from the king in a town and then go out to accomplish this mission in a dangerous locale. The town is only good for buying supplies/equipment, resting at the Trauma Inn, and talking with NPCS.

The early video RPG were entirely dungeons. I remember playing the original Zelda game and it plopped Link straight into the first dungeon without fanfare. I didn't play it far but I don't recall any towns or such. The second game had only minor, one-screen, towns where you couldn't do much. The dungeons were where stuff happens. That is where the hero fought mooks, engaged with villains, and pushed the plot of he game forward by pursuing the objectives of his mission.

FFXIII was entirely dungeon. It was a pretty neat trick, how the developers kept the characters (and thus the players) in dungeons throughout the entire game despite the fact that all of Cocoon was inhabited, settled or otherwise used by humans. There were nature preserves, mechanical grave yards, military installations, and when a character reached some honest-to-goodness town, some soldiers would show up and drive the NPCs away, and then it would become one more dungeon. The usual function of a town is fulfilled by the save sphere, which in this game is a high tech communication device for purchasing all sorts of stuff. Personally, I liked this idea. The plot never slowed down. In fact, I would find myself playing late into the night because I was driven by the energy of the plot.


I also remember playing the Dot Hack games and stuff always happened in dungeons. Specifically it was the bottom level of the dungeon. Even with its simulation of a MMORPG, events with "other
players" would occur inside a dungeon and at their bottom level. This was to ensure battles, treasure finding, the plunging of a new area and the development of characters. The town hubs were only good for finding equipment, party members, and quests to undertake within dungeons.

I struggled for days with the pace and direction of the ninth chapter of Journey to Chaos book 4 before I had this realization. So, without further ado, I placed them into a dungeon. Initially they were traveling to a peaceful town but that would lead to more talking. I realized that would be boring info dump and plot coupon-ish. So I altered the setting to make it dangerous. The details are naturally spoilers but in doing so the spoilers accelerate the rate at which I could move to the spoilers and introduce spoilers. This move suited the purpose of the plot but now it was easier to write and keep exciting. That change than accelerated my own discovery of the plot and this particular arc and its characters.

I'll have to keep this in mind for the next arc. It's of a different nature than the one I'm working on right now but if I keep this "get to the dungeon" thing in mind I believe that I will have a framework with which to progress.

Read for Fun: Spice and Wolf Volume 4

This is the fourth volume of Spice and Wolf and the one that was skipped when the anime was made. It's a shame because it's a good story. The thrust of this one is that the pair continue to look for clues to the location of Yoitsu, following the lead given to them by Diana in volume 3 and then get tangled up in local trouble. I will examine plot, character and polish and then assign a grade.

PLOT

I like the plot. It is a steady progression towards Holo's series goal of going home. It builds upon the revelation of the previous volume so the goal is still valid with this revelation. It is also woven into the troubles of this town but separate from it. From that angle one can assume it to be seen as filler or Wacky Wayside Tribe but I don't see it this way.

It's the same sort of cloak and dagger economics from previous volumes and the same delightful banter from the leads. It also goes deeper into the religious nature of the setting. It's nice to see sympathetic clergymen for once. Indeed, Lawrence has much praise for Elsa, even though she's technically not a priestess; medieval ordination being what it is and all.

This volume examines in detail the point of contrast between Christianity and paganism. There's Holo, a pagan deity that was worshipped until recently and the last two volumes introduced two more deities and now there's this village of Tereo that worships this giant snake which may or may not exist. With all these pagan deities running around, what's a Christian priest supposed to do? It's a Crisis of Faith for Elsa and it makes an intriguing side plot alongside the economics. I also like the solution she finds.

The nature of the conflict in this volume is a shift from the previous. Unlike its predecessors, where it's a business venture for Lawrence or otherwise a personal motivation initiated by him and carried out economically, this one is more like getting roped into something. It's defensive in nature which is a nice change of pace. He makes a profit, naturally, but it's more about responding to and manipulating a deal settled between two villages long before he arrived.

As before, the ending is good because the conflict is handled skillfully. The book's conflict is closed satisfactorily but the series conflict continues.

CHARACTERS

Elise and Evan are fine foils for our leading couple. Elise is a proud and clever girl but still developing the confidence that Holo displays so easily. This makes her inner vulnerability more apparent than Holo's. Unlike Holo, she has an easier time showing affection to her guy. Evan is an aspiring merchant who wants to get out of his small town, which is what Lawrence used to be some years ago. The biggest difference, aside from the age and its experience, is his relationship with Elsa; it's much more straightforward.

 Town Elder Sem is also good. While is antagonistic, it's still easy to call him a Reasonable Authority Figure given the circumstances that surround him and his village.

This volume gives a more balanced view of the Catholic Church from previous volumes. It's not just some huge monolithic trading firm with religious slogans and different uniforms. The other one is certainly corrupt and greedy but the church of Tereo is portrayed as truly pious, both in this generation and the previous one. It is certainly a boon to Father Franz that a village of pagans have nothing but good things to say about him.

POLISH

Same as the others, no grammar or spelling errors.

Trickster Eric Novels gives Spice and Wolf Volume 4 an A+

Click here for the next book review (which is a review request): Unreliable Histories

Click here for the previous book review (which is also a review request): Amanda Moonstone 1 - The Missing Prince

Answering review request: Amana Moonstone book 1 The Missing Prince

Dan Wright asked me to read his fantasy novel, "Amanda Moonstone book 1: The Missing Prince". It is set in the same verse as his Draconica series but focuses in another country with an original cast. I have read three of those novels (You can read my review for the first one here). This one is about a sorceress that becomes entangled with a succession struggle involving the royal family of Celtland. I will examine Plot, Characters, and Polish before assigning a grade.

PLOT

At the highest level, what we have here is a Changeling story mixed with a Road Trip Romance, except the "romance" is foster mother/son rather than between lovers. The two leads are Amanda Moonstone and Daryl Gryphenpyre. Daryl is the son of the previous ruler of Celtland, Queen Sheena, and he's been in hiding since she was killed by her brother (his uncle) who is now the ruler. Amanda is a financially struggling sorceress who hopes that the reward for Daryl will put her life back in order.

It's pretty standard by the trope but this by no means makes it less touching. This is the fourth book I've read by Dan and I continue reading his work because he places a premium on doing a good job rather than being 100% original. I like this because the later goal is impossible and this frees him to raise the quality in other areas. Was I surprised by anything that happens in this story? No (well, maybe a few things...) Did I still laugh at funny parts, "aww!" at heartwarming ones or go "holy shit!" at the awesome parts? Definitely.

Another point in favor of this book is its place within the Draconica verse. I really like Verse stuff. It makes the stories seem fuller, you know? Bigger and more in-depth and that there is more to this fictional reality than what exists on the page. It's Imagination fodder. Anyway, there are references to the Dragokin sisters (Queen Sheena and Queen Daniar were friends, for instance) and Gothon's Campaign, which took place during Trapped on Draconica, informs the underpinnings for Celtland's current royalty in-fighting.

There are two things that bother me about this plot. Call it Fridge Logic.
1. Kimera, the new king who deliberately tries to be as vile and ruthless as possible to as many people as possible, is never assassinated. He once threatened to hang one of his guards for correcting his grammar. He treats everyone like this, from the grunts to the royal guard captain. After a couple years, you'd think one of them would stab him in the back, especially since he's replacing a queen who had a tremendously high public approval rating. If he were like Gothon, this would make sense because Gothon was personally powerful. This guy is just a fat slob. It breaks my Willing Suspension of Disbelief.
2. Luthar turns his back on Kimera after winning their duel. This guy has first hand knowledge of and painful experience with Kimera's treachery so why he would do this without first securing Kimera is strange. It feels like a petty plot twist to allow Luthar to get to his digs in at Kimera while also allowing a bigger climax with Amanda.

There's a great ending. It has perfect closure for this book's conflict while at the same time opening up a series wide conflict with a sequel hook.

CHARACTERS

Amanda Moonstone is a delightful Classic Antihero. She has a good heart but is living in circumstances that lead to less than heroic actions. She's struggling to cope with three interconnected tragedies in her past ranging from the supernatural to the personal. She also has impressive but not game breaking magic.

I'd like to spend a paragraph on that last point. There are a number of restrictions on Amanda's magic that feel arbitrary. It's like Dan is trying to Hold Back the Plotinium. For instance, Invisibility has a long recharge time, she can't use levitation on herself for flight, etc. I took this as a lesson he learned from the Draconica main series, where the dragokin sisters seem to lose power with each book to make their threats more challenging. I see the ground floor restrictions here as a sign that her Power Level will be more consistent.

Luthar is an expy of Taurok from Trapped on Draconica; the noble top enforcer who is coerced into serving the Big Bad via I Have Your Wife. He even took Gothon's only sympathetic trait (love for the late queen), thus making Kimera entirely evil. His past and vocation makes him Amanda's foil so sharing the screen time with her was a good idea on Dan's part.

Kimeria is a pitiful villain. Even with heinous villains, there's still room for admiration based on their talent, but this guy has none of that. This makes his villainous breakdown and downfall all the sweeter. Also, he's not the true villain here. The Author (a character in the story, not Dan Wright) is far more sinister,  imposing, and overall more important to the grand scheme of things.

POLISH

No spelling or grammar issues. The pictures look good and are well placed.

Trickster Eric Novels gives Amana Moonstone 1: The Missing Prince a B+

Click here for the next book review (which was not a review request): Spice and Wolf volume 4 

Click here for the previous book review (which was not a review request either): Sword Art Online Volume 2 Aincrad 2

To read my review for the sequel, Darkbane Sorceress, click here.

This was a free review request. I received nothing in exchange except a free copy of the book.

Read for Fun: Sword Art Online volume 2 Aincrad 2

This is the second volume for Sword Art Online. Again I must say that all the "problems" of the haters have to do with the way the story was adapted to TV, and the anachronistic nature of the two volumes. Thus, this is my second Defense of SAO. (To read the first click here) As before I will examine plot, characters and polish while responding to common critiques.

PLOT

This volume takes the form of four short stories set before Kirito clears the game. As I said in my review of the first volume, three of them occur before the main narrative of the first volume. This means that they form the earliest episodes, and because they are stand alone short stories, they are disconnected from each other and the main plot of volume 1 other than the fact that they are all within the grand narrative of the Aincrad Death Game. Thus they look like filler in the anime, but they have a specific purpose.

The first volume is all about the elite. It's focused on the clearers who are in the latest dungeon, fighting the latest bosses and pushing the frontier closer and closer to the top of the castle. This is only a couple hundred people out of thousands trapped in the game. This second volume is focused on the middle grade players, who build new lives for themselves inside the game while waiting for the clearers to free everyone, as well as the bottom rung players, who are too scared to leave the Town of Beginnings.

There is also a difference in perspective. Kirito was a first person narrator in the first volume, but here, he only takes that role in one story. Silica, Lisbeth and Asuna are the viewpoint characters in the other three. This doesn't translate well into the anime and so these episodes lose a lot of substance.

Given this set up, there is no ending within the book but the plots themselves are closed well.

CHARACTERS

I have a feeling that the misunderstandings produced by this volume are responsible for a lot of the hate towards Kirito as a Mary Sue. He is an elite clearer that is hanging out with players of substantially lower levels. All of these stories take place away from the frontier. This is why Kirito is so much more powerful than everyone else. The anime doesn't frame this appropriately and so Kirito appears unfairly high in level. In fact, Kirito talks about how unfair the level based system is during the first story (this line is included in the anime but it's an easily missed thing). Anyone reading this volume for fantastic and suspense filled fight scenes is going to be disappointed. Kirito is here to provide a contrast with the middle grade and low grade players in order to give the reader perspective.

Silica gets the short end of the stick in regards to adaption. She is the supporting protagonist in her story, she gets a lot more development and she shows her true power. She does not get either of those in the anime. In regards to her status as part of Kirito's "harem", it's understandable that she would get something of a crush. After the rescue in the dungeon, giving her high grade equipment, and then helping her revive her familiar, all without asking for anything in return and after a period of prolonged loneliness, a young person is naturally going to think favorably towards him.

Lisbeth is a first person narrator in her story. We get her past and motivations here as well as a great deal more personality development when they are missing in the anime adaption. Her progress from selling crude weapons on the street and living out of an inn to owning her own shop and being highly regarded among weapon smiths didn't make the cut. In regards to her status as part of Kirito's "harem", it's a minor thing. Asuna appears in this story before Kirito does and their friendship with each other is established first.  Lisbeth picks up on her crush and when she finds out it's on Kirito, she has a brief period of anguish and then goes into Shipper on Deck mode. Furthermore, I get the feeling that death game induced loneliness is a bigger part here than one more notch in Kirito's belt. It just looks like the later in the anime because it couldn't preserve the first person narration.

Asuna herself is the viewpoint for the third story and she gets more development here as well. There's her backstory before the game and as well as the first day and her rise to her current spot in the Knights of Blood. This story is the only truly romantic one of the stories because it is with the only real couple, and during their Honeymoon to boot.

Finally, Kirito is the viewpoint again for the fourth story. This is about his days with the Full Moon Blackcats. I imagine that any complaint a hater could bring against him about this incident, he would agree with. Yes their deaths were his fault, yes a high level player shouldn't have been messing around with them, yes he was a horrible person for showing off (when he was truly keeping them alive and making them stronger) etc. This is Kirito's darkest moment. He outright states that he doesn't expect to survive fighting Nicolas the Renegade and is basically committing suicide by boss fight; he's choosing this particularly boss in the hopes of reviving at least one person. Again, you don't get this in the anime because of adaption compression.

POLISH
Like the first, no spelling or grammar problems. The artwork continues to look good as well.

Trickster Eric Novels gives Sword Art Online Volume 2: Aincard 2 an A+

Click here for the next book review (which was a review request): Amanda Moonstone 1 The Missing Prince

Click here for the previous book review (which was a review request): Shadow of the Raven

Answering review request: Shadow of the Raven

Matthew Ward asked me to read his book "Shadow of the Raven". It's about Edric Saran, a foreign ambassador, investigating the death of a friend and through that getting involved with supernatural happenings such as crossing between dimensions and conflicts between deities. I will examine plot, characters, and polish, and then assign a grade.

PLOT
This is a growing plot. The way that it builds upon itself from the murder of a scholar to a titanic cross world climax is impressive. It's like you look back and "Whoa! The Caterpillar has become a butterfly!"

It's a strong use of the macguffin trope. The fragments of the portal stone are collected, assembled and put to use in the second act. While it remains important through the entire work, its use and purpose shifts. It is, in other words, not a mere trinket for the heroes and villains to fight over.

It's quite the well structured plot. Heroes and villains each take action as appropriate to their situation and take care to determine multiple possible responses and ways to advance. When a character is passed the Idiot Ball, the narration is fully aware of this and quickly explains why this action is/was appropriate to the character's temperament. It also adds to a sense of foreboding. Narrations says something like " X did something foolish and it led to tragedy" and I was like "Oh no, what happened?!"

Additionally, the use of Chekhov's Gun is fantastic. The number of seemingly inconsequential things that are set up in advance to become important later shows how well thought out  the story is and it also provides a nice pay-off when the reader makes the connection.

 The story feels both very long and also, shall I say "full extended" in that it left no stone unturned in developing itself and its characters. It took me a while to read it all and I enjoyed every page because of this fullness to character and setting.  

There is a fantastic closure to the conflict. It's a great sense of resolution for the fantasy epic main plot line while at the same time leaves open the possibility of future clashes with the villains. It also creates a nice Maybe Ever After for the romantic sub plot.


CHARACTERS

The male lead is Edric Saran, a snarky gentleman. On Tvtropes, we'd call him a knight in sour armor because of his grumpy attitude and cynical view matched with inner heroism, and in this case, chivalry. I really like how he develops over the course of the story, both in terms of character growth and also the revelation of his backstory.

The female lead is Arawiyn Trelan. She has this haughty princess demeanor that I find appealing. Matched with her determination to do good and stop the evil Solomon, it highlights her noble nature and works as a cap against bitchiness. She has her own character arc separate from the main plot and Edric's own that sees her grow in a remarkable way as well.

The two leads develop this Sword and Sorcery/Lady and Knight dynamic that enriches the narrative. It's fun to read for its own sake but also for the classic nature of it in what appears to be an early modern setting.

As for the villain, one thing that I like about this story is the way it plays around with the notion of who is the Big Bad. Is it Lord Solomon the sinister council chessmaster? Is it Jerrack, the dreaded fae lord of Fellhallow? Is it Maglyen, the god of death? Or is it Arianwyn herself, duping Edric into helping her with a myriad of half-truths and a wounded gazelle image?

 I also like Jamar. He's a classic Big Guy with his size and strength, who is also quietly dignified and possessing a similar gentlemanly snark (perhaps butler snark is more accurate) as Edric. Quintus is similar in this regard as the only Lawful Good character here who also possess more hidden depths than "incorruptible law enforcer".

POLISH

No spelling or grammar problems.

This story is written from Edric's first person narration. There's no frame device for it and so I wonder why he's narrating. However, I also get the sense that he's dictating this story to someone because it has a reflective air to it, as if he's recalling these events years later. It certainly works to the book's sense of humor as Edric's wit is shown in both his narration and his spoken words.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "The Shadow of the Raven" by Matthew Ward an A+

Click here for the next book review (which was not a review request): Sword Art Online volume 2

Click here for the previous book review (which was not a review request): Worlds of Medieval Europe

The sequel to this book also has a review: Light of the Radiant

This was a free review request. I received in exchange except a free copy of the book.

Brian Wilkerson is a freelance book reviewer, writing advice blogger and independent novelist. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

Neccessity of a Verse Book (The Mechanics of Fantasy)

When writing a story, it's necessary to keep everything straight so everything makes sense. The who, what, where, why, and how of things can get complicated when you have a sheet for every place and character. This is especially the case for speculative fiction as it contains many more possibilities than realistic fiction.

I was revising a scene in Journey To Chaos book 4 and it was the latest of the many occasions that I've been struck by the complexity of the fantasy genre. The supernatural nature of world provides far more in the way of world building and character ability and backstory then an equivalent story in a real life location. This is what Looming Shadow took so long to publish; there were many elements to keep in balance and account for.

When I took the whole work into consideration at once, and then the work in context of the series and the series in terms of the verse, there was a lot that I had to keep track of. It was a fascinating period of contemplation and reconciliation between plot elements, but it was also a long and, at times, tedious process. It was like hiking without a map; it's enjoyable until you get lost so I'm glad I had been keeping a map and adding to it as I went.

As in realistic fiction, you have to keep in mind the terrain and its nature, all the characters involved and their motivations, how the characters relate to each other, and the actions they would take in this specific situation, not as logic would dictate but as their individual characteristics would dictate. However, fantasy fiction has more elements. You could have different scales on the Super Weight, from badass normal to moderate magic to high magic to god like(and the level of divinity for each god-like character) in addition to skills that might be supernatural but not really "magic" as such. You might have to keep in mind the aspects of a non-human race in comparison to the human race, and how these affect other races. The area itself could have a supernatural qualification.

It's kind of like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. "I have this character Bob, who has Y level of skill/strength/speed etc, S kind of equipment, a favored enemy of X, racial bonuses A and B, a skill set of G,H,T." Then you multiply this by the number of character in the scene. Character sheets are useful for summarizing them.

 The scene I referred to involves demon mage mercenaries, chaotic elven anti-order warriors, and chaotic elven priestesses, invading a land blessed by the head deity of order and fighting elite orderly soldiers with the assistance of chaotic deities. There is a lot of information to keep track of that would not exist in realistic fiction and so I found myself re-reading my notes and previous books.

Now I'm revising this blog post and I realize it reads more like a prologue to a chapter than a standalone thing. I suppose that's why D&D books are so thick...

Interview Post: Krysten Hager and "Best Friends...Forever?"

Hello my fellow writers and readers,

Today I'm doing an interview post with Krysten Hager to celebrate the release of her latest book "Best Friends...Forever?". In addition to the questions, Miss. Hager provided me with a blurb and excerpt of her book. 

On your book
1. What is a one-line synopsis for your book? And is this a stand-alone or part of a series?

--->Good friends have your back, but Landry soon finds some friends will go behind it. Best Friends…Forever? is the second book in the Landry’s True Colors Series.

2. How did you decide when and where to set Best Friends…Forever? What inspired the story itself?

--->It’s based in current times in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I’m from Michigan, but I’m from the other side of the state (an hour north of Detroit—a suburb of Flint). I set the story in Grand Rapids because I have family there and my parents both grew up there. I wanted to use that setting instead of my hometown because I think Grand Rapids is more relatable than my hometown of Grand Blanc would have been.

 The story was inspired by the way the media used to (and still does) portray groups of teen friends as having these unbreakable bonds where everything was sunny and no one ever had a bad day and me feeling like I couldn’t relate to that. I thought everyone had it all together BUT me and so I wanted to create a character who shares the other side of things (the awkward, anxious moments of growing up and trying to fit in) in a funny way so readers know they’re not alone in having those thoughts.

3. What are your current projects? What are you planning for future projects? What are you working on next?

--->I’m working on the third book in the Landry’s True Colors series and on another younger YA story and rewriting an adult novel as well.

4. Can you tell us a little about your world-building process, and how you designed the setting for Best Friends…Forever?

--->I actually use my grandmother’s house (in Grand Rapids, MI) as the house Landry and her mom live in, but I have the house set on my aunt’s street. I used to walk around there a lot and so in my mind I can picture Landry’s school (Hillcrest Academy), where she goes for ice cream with her friends, and where all her friends live. I even have Landry’s bus route written down and her school schedule.

5. Did you outline it ahead of time, or wing it?

---> The first book I had no outline for, but now that it’s a series and I have to make sure to stay consistent, I did do a bit of plotting.

6. How is writing a book now different from writing your first book?

--->The main thing is that now that it is a series, I had to put together what some people have called a “series bible.” So now I have down Landry’s class schedule, which teacher is for which subject, her friends’ siblings’’ names, etc. so that I don’t make a mistake. I also have to make sure I keep the characters all consistent.

7. What do you know now about being a writer that you wish you had known before you published your first book?

---> Right after I signed the contract, I saw another author post on Facebook that she loved being a writer, but hated being an author because it’s hard and scary and I thought, “What am I in for?” And she was right—it can be hard and scary, but this is what I chose to do. I wish I had known more about the business side of things though.

8. What is the most common rookie mistake you see new authors make?

--->Trying to do things to promote that are out of their comfort zone and they don’t come off well. If a person isn’t great in live (or print) interviews, it shows and they come off awkward and uncomfortable. One author who is an amazing writer did an interview where she got nervous and ended up making her character and book come off as a different genre all together. She was terrified going in and she did herself a disservice doing the interview. Meanwhile, her blog posts are great and that’s where she shines. So don’t force yourself to be something you’re not.

9. What sort of author marketing have you found to be most effective?

-->Basically making sure you start before the book is out so people know what to expect from your work. If they’ve read a few things from you then they are more apt to take a look at your book.

On Writing
10. Do you use beta readers, and, if so, what qualities do you look for in a beta?

--->I have. I like to pick people who will be honest and give feedback and not just say, “Yeah, I liked it,” or say they weren’t crazy about it, but not able to tell you why. I just had a conversation with one where they said they loved one part and I asked why and they said, “I was riveted in the parts about Landry dealing with the friendship misunderstandings. If more dads read this sort of thing they’d understand why their daughters act that way instead of chalking it all up to hormones. This was eye opening.” That was great feedback to get.

Personal
11. Where can we find your work?

--->Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Friends-Forever-Landrys-Colors-ebook/dp/B00UIP1N5S/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/krysten-lindsay-hager

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/true-colors/id890673002

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/true-colors-17

 
12. What book or books are you reading now?

---> I just finished The Paris Wife with my book club and a friend sent me The Rainbow Club. I have been so busy editing that I haven’t started it yet, but that’s on the list.

13. What do you do when you’re not writing?
--->I read a lot and I really relax with the TV. I have moved a lot so keeping in touch with friends is a big thing for me. I like emailing and even sending little cards and things in the mail to connect with friends who live far away so we keep in touch.

 14. Name three of your favorite television shows.
--->American Dad is my ultimate favorite. I re-watch episodes of it all the time. I also like Switched at Birth and Hart of Dixie

 

 

Best Friends…Forever? (Landry’s True Colors Series) by Krysten Lindsay Hager

Tag line: Good friends have your back, but some go behind it.

Blurb:    Landry Albright hopes the new year will start off in an amazing way—instead she has to deal with more frenemy issues, boy drama, and having most of her best friends make the cheerleading squad without her. Suddenly, it seems like all anyone can talk about is starting high school next year—something she finds terrifying.

                Landry gets her first boyfriend, but then gets dumped just as things come to a head with her friends. She feels lost and left out, but finds good advice about dealing with frenemies from what she considers an unlikely source. Landry faces having to speak up for what’s right, tell the truth (even when it hurts), and how to get past the fear of failure as she gets another shot at competing in the American Ingénue modeling competition.

Excerpt:

 “Landry, it’s gotta be so awkward for you to be going to Vladi’s school next year,” Tori said. “I mean, what if you run into him during the tour?"

"It’s a huge place,ʺ Ashanti said. “People break up all the time. It’s not a big deal.ʺ

Tori raised her eyebrows as if to say, “Yeah, right,” and went back to her sandwich. Meanwhile my delicious homemade soup was no longer sitting well. It never occurred to me Vladi might be around during the first pre‑freshman tour. I would be mortified if I ran into him and he was with a girl. Or worse yet, running into him, and he was with Yasmin. Plus, I hadn’t told my mom about the breakup, so if she saw him, she’d probably go over to talk to him. I could already imagine it: “Landry, Vladi’s here! Hon? Why are you hiding behind the garbage can? Your boyfriend, Vladi, is here. Come say, ‘hello.’ Stop trying to run away. Why is everyone laughing and pointing at you and calling you a ‘loser dumpee?’ What does that mean?”

Well, maybe the world would end and I wouldn’t have to deal with high school or Vladi and my mother running into each other.

****

Sadly, the world did not end, and on Thursday, we all had to go to the high school for a freshman information night from 6 to 9 p.m.

Author bio: Krysten Lindsay Hager is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series, a clean reads young adult series. Krysten writes about  friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle school and high school, frenemies, modeling, crushes, values, and self-image in both True Colors and Best Friends…Forever?

Krysten is an Amazon international bestselling author and book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South Dakota, and currently resides in Southern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

What people are saying about True Colors (Landry’s True Colors Series Book One):

From Teenage Book Recommendations in the UK: "This is a fantastically relatable and real book which I feel captures all of the insecurities and troubles which haunt the modern teenage girl. It is about a young model who has to go through tough times when she is torn between a life as a model and managing her friendships. You learn which friends she can most trust and which will create the drama typical of teenage life. Follow the life of Landry and try to see if you can find out which are her true friends before their true colours are revealed. This book is all about relationships, hopes and truth. I loved this book!"

From Books & Authors Spot: “This book is such an inspiration for those who just care about their looks and are tensed about them. This thing is looks aren't everything. This book is related to every teen's problem. Hager has written a very inspiring novel.”

 

Connect with Krysten:

Website: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/krystenlindsay

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KrystenLindsayHagerAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KrystenLindsay

 

signpost of what is to come-building a universe of stories

Journey to Chaos book 3: Mana Mutation Menace has been sent to beta readers. While they read it I'm working on book 4. Right now it is untitled but I'm leaning toward "Race to Applied Apotheosis". This is where the deepest plot structures that have been underpinning the series thus far will take center stage. After that, there will be on more book in the Journey to Chaos series. It too is untitled. Mana Mutation Menace should be released sometime in the late spring or early summer and, If I'm fortunate, book 4 will be released later this year,

Once Journey to Chaos is complete, I plan to write other books in the world of Tariatla. These will be both prequels that expand on the world's history and sequels that examine the new status quo following the Journey to Chaos. There will be new casts of characters but also many of the same, and taking place in similar locations and referring to events in the main story. Others will be completely separate but still taking place in the same world.