It's been about a year since I finished writing and editing this book--and from the look of it I should have done at least one more edit. I figured that would be enough time to get a little perspective on the story since it wouldn't be so fresh in my mind. It's good to see that after a year I still like t. Maybe after five years that will be different, though I doubt it.
I set out to write something in the style of John Irving novels like The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules and generally I think I succeeded, though not as well as though books of course. If you're so inclined you can also compare it to Great Expectations, The Adventures of Augie March, or Forrest Gump.
Like those, Where You Belong is the story of a man's epic journey through life--much of it unwillingly. Frost Devereaux never had anything like a normal upbringing. His parents conceived him in a one-night stand during a blizzard and then were wed in a shotgun wedding sans an actual shotgun. Frost's mother hates the man who knocked her up enough that she forces him to live in a barn on her property, from which he is essentially a stranger to his own son. It's not much of a surprise then that when Frost's mother dies in a traffic accident and Frost's face is badly burned, his father takes off to leave him in the care of an inattentive aunt.
From there Frost might have grown up as an isolated lunatic if not for the arrival of redheaded twins from Boston: Frankie and Frank Maguire. They establish the pecking order early on where Frankie is the boss, her brother plotting behind the scenes, and Frost the loyal sidekick to them both. This pecking order remains for the next thirty years of Frost's life.
Much as Frost would like a nice, normal life, it remains tantalizingly out of reach. Or if he does find a moment of happiness it's soon pulled away. His friendship with Frankie lasts through elementary school, but the forces of puberty soon prompt Frankie to leave him behind. He turns to Frank and they head off to an elite private school in upstate New York, but Frank soon has other plans that don't involve Frost. In college, Frost finds a new friend in his roommate Peter, a Trekkie who searches the skies for signs of extraterrestrial life. This budding friendship is soon brought to an end in tragic fashion.
From there Frost ends up in an artist's colony in New Mexico before Frankie returns to his life. Again he thinks he has happiness in his grasp only for it to be snatched away. Heartbroken, Frost finds comfort with Frank only to find he's not that different from his twin.
Maybe this description makes the story sound depressing, but really it's not. Through it all Frost, like most of us, maintains a sense of optimism that someday things are going to work out. And maybe they will. You'll just have to read to find out.
What I like most about the book in reading it a year later is that Frost remains consistent throughout. Some people have described him as passive and he is, with good cause. Never having a stable existence, not to mention a facial deformity, he is an outcast. So it really makes sense--at least to me--that he takes on the sidekick role in order not to alienate those willing to be his friends. Not to mention characters like Frankie and Frank are naturally overpowering and domineering. For the most part these characters and Fate in general move Frost around like the feather in Forrest Gump. It's only near the end where he maybe starts to take control of his own destiny. Still, he remains consistent throughout the book.
For that matter, so do Frankie and Frank. As I said earlier, their pecking order remains in place throughout the thirty years covered by the book. Frankie remains passionate, with her heart on her sleeve while Frank remains a calculating schemer. Because love is blind, Frost never understands that the Maguire twins are more alike than he thinks and generally not good for him until it's much too late. Not to say they're bad people so much as just bad for him.
The downside of writing a book like this that goes from pre-conception to early middle age is that you have a lot of ground to cover. Unless you make the book 2000 pages long, inevitably things get skipped or glossed over. In the first draft I had trouble with dwelling too long on Frost's early years, so that things had to be sped up a little. I think not too much has been lost and so it's still an effective portrait of a man who like many of us is searching for a home.
That is all.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Lyon's Legacy
Lyon's Legacy (Catalyst Chronicles #1)
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(4/5 stars)
As I've said before in reviews, there are some books that are much too long and there are others that are much too short. This falls into the latter category. While I enjoyed reading the book, I wished it had been longer, to give more time for the story and characters to grow.
The story takes place in the late 21st Century, in a future world that isn't apocalyptic, but not a utopia either. Getting into a PhD program is difficult because of government regulations, but Joanna Lyon still yearns to be a geneticist anyway.
Her rich uncle offers her a way to get the money for enrolling in grad school. All Joanna has to do is get on a spaceship, go through a wormhole, and find her famous ancestor, music legend Sean Lyon.
That's a problem for Joanna because she's grown up in Sean's shadow her entire life. Her uncle even tried to make her go on tour as a tribute act, but Joanna refused, creating bad blood between them. Still, if it means making her dreams come true, maybe she can do what her uncle wants and meet the man who inadvertently ruined her life.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. For a novella, there is quite a bit happening. I really wanted more interaction between Sean and Joanna. Though maybe that will happen in the sequels. Certainly everything is set up for a sequel.
As I said at the beginning, the only real complaint I have is that I wish there had been more. Everything, especially her relationship with George, seems to move so quickly. A full novel would have given the story a little more time to breathe.
Still highly recommended.
That is all.
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(4/5 stars)
As I've said before in reviews, there are some books that are much too long and there are others that are much too short. This falls into the latter category. While I enjoyed reading the book, I wished it had been longer, to give more time for the story and characters to grow.
The story takes place in the late 21st Century, in a future world that isn't apocalyptic, but not a utopia either. Getting into a PhD program is difficult because of government regulations, but Joanna Lyon still yearns to be a geneticist anyway.
Her rich uncle offers her a way to get the money for enrolling in grad school. All Joanna has to do is get on a spaceship, go through a wormhole, and find her famous ancestor, music legend Sean Lyon.
That's a problem for Joanna because she's grown up in Sean's shadow her entire life. Her uncle even tried to make her go on tour as a tribute act, but Joanna refused, creating bad blood between them. Still, if it means making her dreams come true, maybe she can do what her uncle wants and meet the man who inadvertently ruined her life.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. For a novella, there is quite a bit happening. I really wanted more interaction between Sean and Joanna. Though maybe that will happen in the sequels. Certainly everything is set up for a sequel.
As I said at the beginning, the only real complaint I have is that I wish there had been more. Everything, especially her relationship with George, seems to move so quickly. A full novel would have given the story a little more time to breathe.
Still highly recommended.
That is all.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Vallar
Vallar
by Cindy Borgne
(4/5 stars)
This is from that old school of space opera with lasers and space ships and not a lot of highly technical explanations for everything. It's not as cheesy as say old "Flash Gordon" serials, but it's not "hard" science fiction either. Which is fine for people such as myself who enjoy "Star Wars" and the like.
The story takes place on Mars, which is divided into a bunch of corporate factions. The largest faction is Marscorp, whose goal it seems is to return to Earth. Marscorp's philosophy is that if you don't agree with us, then prepare for a hostile takeover. (And we're not talking about buying out your stock.)
To help them with this, they recruit a couple of young psychics, Ian Connors and his friend Nate. One day Ian has a vision of himself with a beautiful redheaded girl and becomes obsessed with finding her. But she turns out to be part of a rival corporation, Gentech. Ian has another vision of her in trouble during a Marscorp attack, so he goes to the battle to try and help. But that only winds up getting Nate killed and Ian in big trouble.
As the plot progresses, Ian discovers that while he's the one with the visions, a lot of things are not what they appear.
I found the plot intriguing. As I said at the beginning, it's not really hard sci-fi. There aren't explanations of how everything works. That's just as well for me, because that stuff can get tedious. Though I was curious why radar deflection is such a big deal. We have stealth technology on airplanes now that uses radar deflection. There was even a prototype ship made using those principles, though it was too expensive to put into production. Since this is in the future, shouldn't they have something better? At the very least if radar isn't working, shouldn't they have infrared or something to spot the ship?
Other than that, some of the dialog was kind of cheesy. Like many self-published novels it could have used another editing pass to eliminate some errors.
Overall though it was an exciting light read that's worth the discount price.
That is all.
by Cindy Borgne
(4/5 stars)
This is from that old school of space opera with lasers and space ships and not a lot of highly technical explanations for everything. It's not as cheesy as say old "Flash Gordon" serials, but it's not "hard" science fiction either. Which is fine for people such as myself who enjoy "Star Wars" and the like.
The story takes place on Mars, which is divided into a bunch of corporate factions. The largest faction is Marscorp, whose goal it seems is to return to Earth. Marscorp's philosophy is that if you don't agree with us, then prepare for a hostile takeover. (And we're not talking about buying out your stock.)
To help them with this, they recruit a couple of young psychics, Ian Connors and his friend Nate. One day Ian has a vision of himself with a beautiful redheaded girl and becomes obsessed with finding her. But she turns out to be part of a rival corporation, Gentech. Ian has another vision of her in trouble during a Marscorp attack, so he goes to the battle to try and help. But that only winds up getting Nate killed and Ian in big trouble.
As the plot progresses, Ian discovers that while he's the one with the visions, a lot of things are not what they appear.
I found the plot intriguing. As I said at the beginning, it's not really hard sci-fi. There aren't explanations of how everything works. That's just as well for me, because that stuff can get tedious. Though I was curious why radar deflection is such a big deal. We have stealth technology on airplanes now that uses radar deflection. There was even a prototype ship made using those principles, though it was too expensive to put into production. Since this is in the future, shouldn't they have something better? At the very least if radar isn't working, shouldn't they have infrared or something to spot the ship?
Other than that, some of the dialog was kind of cheesy. Like many self-published novels it could have used another editing pass to eliminate some errors.
Overall though it was an exciting light read that's worth the discount price.
That is all.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Merlin's Charge
Merlin's Charge
by Peter Joseph Swanson
(4/5 stars)
The Arthurian legend is a subject that's been around so long that there are all sorts of adaptations of it from realistic takes like Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord Trilogy" to musicals like Camelot to cartoons like Disney's "Sword in the Stone." "Merlin's Charge" falls on the "Sword in the Stone" end of the spectrum. It's a lot of whimsical, lighthearted fun, though not quite as campy as the Disney movie.
The story takes place in the 5th Century when he Roman Empire is fallen. A terrible drought has taken hold of Britain. Mother Hubbard is looking after a group of children, using her magic to lay eggs for them after their magic cauldron was stolen. Meanwhile, teenage Arthur is under the tutelage of the grumpy old wizard Merlin, learning what it's going to take to become king after he pulled the sword from the stone.
Eventually Mother Hubbard is arrested by the Church for being a witch and set to be burned at the stake. Arthur pleads with Merlin to save her, which he does, though he has another purpose in mind--making Mother Hubbard his wife because even wizards need some company in bed.
When they compare notes, Mother Hubbard and Merlin decide they should try to find the cauldron, otherwise known as the grail. Joining them in the quest are Parsifal, son of a Roman general, and a corrupt abbot of the Church, whose primarily function is to go around declaring everything evil.
The book isn't very long; it only took me a few hours to read it on my Kindle. A lot of it is spent talking, which is good in some ways because it means no windy passages of description, although a few more descriptions might have been helpful sometimes. I think what surprised me the most was that despite being called MERLIN'S Charge, Merlin is largely absent from the grand finale.
Still, if you're a fan of Arthurian legend, especially "The Sword in the Stone" then you'll enjoy this hilarious new take on the subject.
That is all.
by Peter Joseph Swanson
(4/5 stars)
The Arthurian legend is a subject that's been around so long that there are all sorts of adaptations of it from realistic takes like Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord Trilogy" to musicals like Camelot to cartoons like Disney's "Sword in the Stone." "Merlin's Charge" falls on the "Sword in the Stone" end of the spectrum. It's a lot of whimsical, lighthearted fun, though not quite as campy as the Disney movie.
The story takes place in the 5th Century when he Roman Empire is fallen. A terrible drought has taken hold of Britain. Mother Hubbard is looking after a group of children, using her magic to lay eggs for them after their magic cauldron was stolen. Meanwhile, teenage Arthur is under the tutelage of the grumpy old wizard Merlin, learning what it's going to take to become king after he pulled the sword from the stone.
Eventually Mother Hubbard is arrested by the Church for being a witch and set to be burned at the stake. Arthur pleads with Merlin to save her, which he does, though he has another purpose in mind--making Mother Hubbard his wife because even wizards need some company in bed.
When they compare notes, Mother Hubbard and Merlin decide they should try to find the cauldron, otherwise known as the grail. Joining them in the quest are Parsifal, son of a Roman general, and a corrupt abbot of the Church, whose primarily function is to go around declaring everything evil.
The book isn't very long; it only took me a few hours to read it on my Kindle. A lot of it is spent talking, which is good in some ways because it means no windy passages of description, although a few more descriptions might have been helpful sometimes. I think what surprised me the most was that despite being called MERLIN'S Charge, Merlin is largely absent from the grand finale.
Still, if you're a fan of Arthurian legend, especially "The Sword in the Stone" then you'll enjoy this hilarious new take on the subject.
That is all.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The House on the Corner
The House on the Corner
by Andrew Leon
(3/5 stars)
This starts off like the stereotypical haunted house story. The Howard family (Air Force master sergeant Will, his wife Claire, 12-year-old Tom, 10-year-old Sam, and 6-year-old Ruth) move from Denver to Shreveport, Louisiana. The house they move into is old and spooky-looking with a lot of flaking paint, dusty, and overly large rooms. Some of those rooms have strange things in them. Oh, and the house's last inhabitants disappeared.
So through 40% of the book I kept waiting for there to be the bumps in the night and such that you would expect in a haunted house story. But then the book does a 180 from that and becomes more like "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." There becomes a lot of talk about fairies, Guardians, Towers, wizards, and a magic sword. Which is a little surprising because there are so many Star Wars references.
The book gets much more interesting once that stuff comes into play. Unfortunately at that point there's only 60% off. I think the author bit off more than he could chew at that point. It made for a rushed ending that wasn't extremely satisfying to me.
Also, the book is in dire need of a real editor. A lot of typos. Also, I'm not fond of authors who use the word "suddenly" a lot.
There are still a lot of good things about this book. The first-person narration between Tom, Sam, and Ruth is a little confusing at first but gets easier as it goes on. I liked the kids, especially Sam and Ruth. The relationship between the kids was well-drawn. And once the book really gets going it's hard to put down--or shut off the Kindle.
That is all.
by Andrew Leon
(3/5 stars)
This starts off like the stereotypical haunted house story. The Howard family (Air Force master sergeant Will, his wife Claire, 12-year-old Tom, 10-year-old Sam, and 6-year-old Ruth) move from Denver to Shreveport, Louisiana. The house they move into is old and spooky-looking with a lot of flaking paint, dusty, and overly large rooms. Some of those rooms have strange things in them. Oh, and the house's last inhabitants disappeared.
So through 40% of the book I kept waiting for there to be the bumps in the night and such that you would expect in a haunted house story. But then the book does a 180 from that and becomes more like "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." There becomes a lot of talk about fairies, Guardians, Towers, wizards, and a magic sword. Which is a little surprising because there are so many Star Wars references.
The book gets much more interesting once that stuff comes into play. Unfortunately at that point there's only 60% off. I think the author bit off more than he could chew at that point. It made for a rushed ending that wasn't extremely satisfying to me.
Also, the book is in dire need of a real editor. A lot of typos. Also, I'm not fond of authors who use the word "suddenly" a lot.
There are still a lot of good things about this book. The first-person narration between Tom, Sam, and Ruth is a little confusing at first but gets easier as it goes on. I liked the kids, especially Sam and Ruth. The relationship between the kids was well-drawn. And once the book really gets going it's hard to put down--or shut off the Kindle.
That is all.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A Dead God's Wrath
A Dead God's Wrath
By Rusty Webb
(4/5 stars)
The Old West meets the future in this novella. It starts out as a fairly conventional Western scenario: Thomas's main squeeze Mary is kidnapped by the evil O'Malley brothers gang. They demand Thomas give them a thousand bucks (a lot of money back in 1895) by daylight or they're going to kill Mary.
Thomas of course doesn't have that kind of money. But no problem, because he runs into a black guy with a disfigured face who seems to be an old flame of Mary's. But as Thomas encounters the O'Malley's, he finds things aren't what they seem.
I think if I have any complaint, I wish this were longer. The author's notes indicate this is part of a universe, but without reading any of that, I'm not sure exactly what happens at the end. So I'm really hoping there is a sequel or expanded edition in the future.
Otherwise, this was an engrossing story that I read in about an hour or so. It's definitely worth the 99 cents. The formatting is good too for the Kindle, although I noticed a few typos that could be cleaned up.
That is all.
By Rusty Webb
(4/5 stars)
The Old West meets the future in this novella. It starts out as a fairly conventional Western scenario: Thomas's main squeeze Mary is kidnapped by the evil O'Malley brothers gang. They demand Thomas give them a thousand bucks (a lot of money back in 1895) by daylight or they're going to kill Mary.
Thomas of course doesn't have that kind of money. But no problem, because he runs into a black guy with a disfigured face who seems to be an old flame of Mary's. But as Thomas encounters the O'Malley's, he finds things aren't what they seem.
I think if I have any complaint, I wish this were longer. The author's notes indicate this is part of a universe, but without reading any of that, I'm not sure exactly what happens at the end. So I'm really hoping there is a sequel or expanded edition in the future.
Otherwise, this was an engrossing story that I read in about an hour or so. It's definitely worth the 99 cents. The formatting is good too for the Kindle, although I noticed a few typos that could be cleaned up.
That is all.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Soon I Will Be Invincible
Soon I Will Be Invincible
by Austin Grossman
(4/5 stars)
I'm not really much of a comic book reader, so most of my superhero experience comes from "Superfriends" reruns, video games, and the vast array of movies in the last decade. Because of that I probably missed a few in-jokes in this book. I'm just saying.
Anyway, the story for "Soon I Will Be Invincible" is pretty much a comic book without the pictures. Though actually it's simpler than some of the big comic book story arcs I've read about in recent years. I mean there's no time traveling or dimension hopping or any of that, though those things are referenced as having happened at one point.
When it begins, Doctor Impossible (the resident Dr. Doom of this universe) is imprisoned for the twelfth or more time. Meanwhile, Earth's mightiest hero CoreFire (based on Superman) has gone missing. Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the government, is brought in as part of a new superteam known as the New Champions to find out what became of CoreFire.
Part of that involves interviewing Dr. Impossible. He uses this as a chance to escape and begin with his master plan for finally taking over the world. Fatale and the rest of the Champions--Damsel, daughter of a former hero and an alien princess; Blackwolf (based on Batman); Elphin (an elf warrior); Rainbow Fire, a teenage cyborg; Feral, a mutant cat; and Mr. Mystic (based on Dr. Strange)--go chasing after Dr. Impossible but in true superhero fashion are always one step behind.
Interspersed in the Dr. Impossible parts of the narration are flashbacks to his origins, although we never learn his entire real name. There's also some stuff about some of his previous schemes and battles with superheroes.
The whole thing plays out pretty straight. There's no real attempt to base the story in a realistic world like the recent Batman movies. There are no social concerns like "Watchmen". There's violence but it's not over-the-top without much in the way of gore. Not really any sex either. So basically it's a little more introspective Saturday morning cartoon.
Yet I have to say I was really curious to find out what Dr. Impossible was going to do and if he was finally going to succeed.
So overall it's fun light reading, especially if you like superheroes. And in terms of plot it's a cut above the more recent "After the Golden Age" I read.
That is all.
by Austin Grossman
(4/5 stars)
I'm not really much of a comic book reader, so most of my superhero experience comes from "Superfriends" reruns, video games, and the vast array of movies in the last decade. Because of that I probably missed a few in-jokes in this book. I'm just saying.
Anyway, the story for "Soon I Will Be Invincible" is pretty much a comic book without the pictures. Though actually it's simpler than some of the big comic book story arcs I've read about in recent years. I mean there's no time traveling or dimension hopping or any of that, though those things are referenced as having happened at one point.
When it begins, Doctor Impossible (the resident Dr. Doom of this universe) is imprisoned for the twelfth or more time. Meanwhile, Earth's mightiest hero CoreFire (based on Superman) has gone missing. Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the government, is brought in as part of a new superteam known as the New Champions to find out what became of CoreFire.
Part of that involves interviewing Dr. Impossible. He uses this as a chance to escape and begin with his master plan for finally taking over the world. Fatale and the rest of the Champions--Damsel, daughter of a former hero and an alien princess; Blackwolf (based on Batman); Elphin (an elf warrior); Rainbow Fire, a teenage cyborg; Feral, a mutant cat; and Mr. Mystic (based on Dr. Strange)--go chasing after Dr. Impossible but in true superhero fashion are always one step behind.
Interspersed in the Dr. Impossible parts of the narration are flashbacks to his origins, although we never learn his entire real name. There's also some stuff about some of his previous schemes and battles with superheroes.
The whole thing plays out pretty straight. There's no real attempt to base the story in a realistic world like the recent Batman movies. There are no social concerns like "Watchmen". There's violence but it's not over-the-top without much in the way of gore. Not really any sex either. So basically it's a little more introspective Saturday morning cartoon.
Yet I have to say I was really curious to find out what Dr. Impossible was going to do and if he was finally going to succeed.
So overall it's fun light reading, especially if you like superheroes. And in terms of plot it's a cut above the more recent "After the Golden Age" I read.
That is all.
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