Tagged: masq1
The Cult of Me by Michael Brookes
(Cover picture courtesy of M.R. Gott’s Cutis Anserina.)
For years he dwelt apart. With his unique ability he invades and destroys their lives. Now, bored of the game he decides to enact a bloody last stand, but while preparing his plan in prison he discovers he’s not as unique as he once thought.
[Full disclosure: Michael Brookes sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
Well, I certainly can’t accuse Michael Brookes of relying on clichés too much because just when I thought I knew how things were going to end, he changed everything up. Yes, there was the whole villain reluctantly working for the good guys to save the world aspect, but there are so many twists on this trope that I can’t fault him for that.
The story starts off with our unnamed narrator in prison, feeling very smug about himself. Through events at the prison and flashbacks (but never in the same chapter so it isn’t confusing!) we learn that he has incredible psychic powers. He can control people’s minds and even kill people with just the power of his own mind, which he discovered on the night of his mother’s murder. The flashbacks that happen every other chapter allow us to slowly realized what caused him to acquire his present smug, brilliantly evil attitude. From a psychological standpoint, it’s fascinating.
I wasn’t really sure where Michael Brookes was going with this until he delved into the whole coming apocalypse angle. That wasn’t that surprising or unique. However, his approach to the apocalypse was in that the man trying to bring it about is one you’d never, ever think of on your own. The best part about this scenario is that Michael Brookes presents it so that both readers who are familiar with the Bible and readers who aren’t can understand it. You don’t have to be a theologian or even Christian to help piece together the puzzle.
My only real complaint about The Cult of Me was that things could have been proofread better. There are times where quotation marks face the wrong way or shouldn’t be there and missing periods, which are more likely run-on sentences. Still, I wasn’t so distracted that I didn’t enjoy the book and I think Michael Brookes has a great idea here going with The Cult of Me. I can’t wait to see what the next book brings after that huge cliffhanger.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
*Not currently available.
The Redheaded Stepchild by Kelly I. Hitchcock
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Cady O’Donnell is The Redheaded Stepchild, the heroine without any grandiose heroic actions. In this disjointed collection of short stories, we follow Cady as she tries on every hat in the this-is-your-life store to see what fits and works best in the adventures she shares with her special head of hair. Each chapter acts as a screaming independent connection between the most formative years of her life, as she meets, lives with, and loses one of the most influential people in her lifetime. Set in a rural community in Minnesota, The Redheaded Stepchild is an archetype of life in small-town America and a testament that the broken family is the new whole family, just as Cady O’Donnell shows how the unwanted stepchild can be a everyday hero.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from Kelly Hitchcock in exchange for an honest review.]
Sometimes, after reading fantasy and science fiction you lose sight of the fact that normal life makes good fiction as well. The Redheaded Stepchild is just that: a tale about normal life out in rural America, which is also applicable to rural Canada. And as someone who grew up in a very rural area, I can say with absolute certainty that Kelly Hitchcock portrays rural life incredibly well without any embellishments.
Our heroine Catherine, or Cady for short, isn’t a kick-butt action heroine that you find in a lot of sci-fi and fantasy. She’s just an average girl trying to deal with a dysfunctional family situation. Her family’s poor but not starving, her father is divorced and has remarried and she’s going to college to make a better life for herself. No, nothing truly unusual or overly dramatic here. But that doesn’t mean The Redheaded Stepchild isn’t interesting. What it does mean is that you get a slice of normal characters trying to deal with normal life, a true rarity in fiction. It sort of puts things in perspective as we watch Cady grow up through several disjointed short stories. (Of course everything is tied together in the end, but I found it was an interesting way to tell Cady’s story.)
Really, what else is there to say? Cady was a great character with a believable character arc, the plot was not fast-paced but it was interesting and Kelly Hitchcock’s quality of writing is excellent. The Redheaded Stepchild probably isn’t for everyone, but if you’re tired of fantastic stories and want a slice of normal life, this would be a great book for you.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
The Scarlet Bastards by Sean Mac Úisdin
(Cover picture courtesy of The Island Scrivener.)
The Scarlet Bastards is the first in a series of memoirs from a retired jawan of the United Nations Off World Legion – a man by the name of Alexander Armstrong. He joined as a youth, fleeing the comfort and tedium of his teenage existence in 2098 – or as he characterized it, “in a fit of teenage pique” and was sent to the UN colony of Samsāra in orbit around Delta Pavonis, some twenty light years from Earth. A dumping ground for the downtrodden, the unwanted, and the forgotten, Samsāra with its nearly 100,000 Terrans and 250,000 Gliesiun refugees was a backwater hell – a technological and infrastructural wasteland where the tundra camel reined and a law-abiding and organized society was almost non-existent.
[Full disclosure: Sean Mac Úisdin sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m not sure what it was, but The Scarlet Bastards never made the jump from ‘okay book’ to ‘great book’. This could be because it’s not something I would normally read or maybe it really is just good, but not great. There were some things I absolutely loved about Mac Úisdin’s book, but there were some other elements that I didn’t like.
I’ll start with the former. I absolutely loved the idea of a spoiled Canadian boy setting off on an adventure to what turns out to be the United Nations’ most ragtag army ever. The premise was excellent and overall it was executed well. There was plenty of humour, but also some poignant moments, which is actually quite a bit to pack into one novella that’s only 50 pages long. As for the characters, you have your gag characters like MacShaka, but also your somewhat serious characters like Alexander himself. Alexander as a narrator has an interesting enough voice and does mature quite quickly throughout the story, so I appreciate the effort Mac Úisdin has put into character development.
At first I really loved the world of Samsāra, but because of some of the slang words used by MacShaka and other characters who had been there for a while, I don’t feel I got everything that I should have. The descriptions of what the army was wearing and some of the dialogue was so dialect and slang ridden that I really had no idea what was going on sometimes. Yes, adding character quirks and local slang is important, but when it’s overused it gets both confusing and annoying. And while the dialogue in The Scarlet Bastards never reaches the annoying stage, it is rather confusing.
Maybe it was the fact that this book was never meant for someone like me, but I don’t think this is a series I’ll be continuing. However, if the blurb sounds interesting to you, go ahead and read it! It might just be a matter of personal preference on my part.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise by Diantha Jones
(Cover picture courtesy of YA Novelties.)
It’s official. Myth is doomed.
And it’s all Chloe Clever’s fault.
Still as whacked out as ever, Chloe is now faced with an even uglier truth: Not only is she the Pythia of the Great Unknown, but she is more powerful than she ever imagined and only the manifestations of her prophetic mind can save them all now.
With her Prince boyfriend, Strafford, and the Quad Fraternity always armed and ready to annihilate the opposition, she will embark on a mission to stop a great power that could consume every god in Myth…and everyone else she’s come to love.
But the worst is still to come.
Dark, painful secrets are revealed, threatening to tear Strafford from her arms, and just when she thinks the future could not look more grim, she is betrayed in the worst way.
With the heavens crumbling down around her, she must hurry to find a way to set things right. But will she be in time to save the one she loves most in the world from a fate that may be more dangerous than her own?
[Full disclosure: Diantha Jones sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
After reading and absolutely loving Prophecy of the Most Beautiful, I didn’t think it was possible for Diantha Jones’ writing to get any better.
I was wrong.
In Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise, not only are we seeing the characters themselves develop, but their relationships as well. There’s also more fighting, drama and conspiracy than ever before. In short, Diantha Jones absolutely did not succumb to Book 2 Syndrome. She improved not only her writing quality, but her characterization and even the way she chose to reveal her plot twists.
Both Chloe and Strafford are acquiring even more depth than before. Chloe is accepting her role as Pythia and really starting to show her backbone of steel as well as her intelligence. She’s no damsel in distress waiting around for Strafford to save her all of the time either! As for Strafford himself, he isn’t just the moody, tortured Sun Prince. We get to see a more tender side of him as he finally realizes just how much he loves Chloe and we finally learn why he’s in disgrace among other demigods.
As for the plot and pacing, I was absolutely glued to my computer screen. Not only was it fast-paced, there were so many unexpected plot twists that my head was spinning. Diantha Jones didn’t spend much time on re-hashing the plot points of the first book, but she added in tidbits of information that allowed me to follow everything despite reading the first and the second book so far apart. In Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise, you might as well just go with the flow because you’ll never uncover the conspiracy behind the conspiracy that involves Chloe’s little brother Benjy being kidnapped. Yes, it’s that unpredictable, but it makes total sense.
I may be a bit biased, but I absolutely love the Greek myths. I always have and probably always will. And let me just say that Diantha Jones most definitely knows her Greek myths, both famous and obscure! She takes many elements from these famous and obscure myths and blends them together to create a scenario in which such myths come alive in the modern era. Of course she adds her own twist onto a few things so you’re always on your toes. What else would you expect from such a talented writer?
I give this book 5/5 stars.
*Only available as a Kindle ebook.
Ghosts of Forgotten Empires by Michael J. Foy
(Cover picture courtesy of The Bibliophilic Book Blog.)
Ancient artifacts like nothing ever discovered before are uncovered in Egypt. They are manufactured by a technique unknown to man and defy all attempts at analysis. A few individuals acquire these items including two top intelligence operatives from Russia and the United States. They are instantly endowed with god-like abilities. But as everyone knows absolute power corrupts absolutely and even with strong national loyalties how will these men react? The American intelligence freelancer, Cord Devlin, is susceptible to temptation at least in the estimation of his friend and handler, Paul McMaster, at the CIA. Still when one is fighting a war against a gifted opponent one cannot afford to be picky about using one’s own assets. Thus a new cold war is born with men and weapons that make a nuclear deterrent look quaint. The one thing that gives Cord an edge is also the thing that makes him immature in Paul’s eyes. Cord’s deep and abiding love of all things Star Trek and the lessons it inspired will also help him deal with an otherworldly threat whose sole purpose is to indefinitely continue the conflict.
[Full disclosure: Michael J. Foy sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
Ghosts of Forgotten Empires definitely has an interesting premise, but I have pretty mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, there’s the awesome idea behind it and the fast-paced plot. The idea of a malignant alien technology being sentient and controlling humankind for millions of years is interesting, to say the least. Not a lot of time is spent on the technology itself, but the glimpses we see of it throughout the novel are just enough to satisfy a bit of our curiosity. Ghosts of Forgotten Empires also has a very fast-paced plot, which fans of thrillers and mystery novels will appreciate.
However, characterization was sacrificed in the name of this fast plot. To keep up such a fast pace, Michael Foy changed points of view. A lot. At times it was extremely confusing and although things were sort of tied together in the end, I was beyond caring. Characters make the book for me and the constant head-hopping made it hard to really relate to any one character. So on the other hand I didn’t enjoy Ghosts of Forgotten Empires as much as I could have.
One thing that really impressed me was Michael Foy’s attention to detail when it came to the science part of his science fiction novel. I’m not going to pretend I understood even half of the scientific explanations that appeared in the novel, but I’m guessing fans of hard science fiction will love them. If you don’t mind head-hopping and a large cast of characters and like to focus on science and plot, you’ll like Ghosts of Forgotten Empires. It just wasn’t for me.
I give this book 3/5 stars.