Trey Stone's Blog, page 38

Book Review: Death of A Songbird by Yvonne Crowe

In Death of a songbird we follow Lina, a Rome-based news reporter, who after hearing about the death of famous Romani folksinger Kezia, tries to get the scoop on the story. The case seems very open and shut, and Lina is among the first on the scene, definitely a big win for her career.

But of course, the case isn’t as open and shut as first thought. How did Kezia die? And who killed her? Was the Romani people involved, and why are they so secretive? As Lina delves deeper and deeper into the beautiful mysteries of Rome, the case only grows darker, and darker.

This reads very much like a Dan Brown novel (of whom I’m a huge fan), except it’s prettier and more romanticized. Set in Rome, Crowe uses a lot of Italian in her writing to emphasize the place and culture. At times, a little bit confusing for me (who doesn’t speak a word of Italian), but mostly just beautiful. The inclusion of the Romani culture is both mysterious and educational because I love reading about other cultures and histories any day, and it works so well in the frame of the story. It adds layers, intrigue.

This is a well-woven mystery novel, and though it could ideally done with another round of edits to ensure a tighter grip on the reader, the story is thrilling and captivating nonetheless.

Check out Yvonne Crowe and many of her books on Goodreads.

First-person Point of View.

First-person writing fascinates me. I’ve never written in it myself, because it feels a bit unnatural to me, but I’m always intrigued when I see other people do it.

It’s easy to do wrong I feel. It seems it much easier to fall in the telling not showing trap when you’re writing in first person.

At the same time you can be much more intimate and emotional with your story. (Or maybe it’s not the amount of emotion that changes), but it’s different, more hands on.

I have a project I’m working on that I think could benefit from being written in first-person. It’s currently in third, which everything I do is, but I haven’t gotten too far, so it wouldn’t be difficult to change it.

It’d be interesting to see how it would turn out, like I said, the people who can do it well do it brilliantly. It’s like a little treat to myself when I realize the book I’m about to read is in first person, and I’m not quite sure why.

Maybe it just feels a bit more exciting, a bit more mysterious to actually be told something, instead of observing through a third-person lens. I can’t really put my finger on it…

But if you do write in first-person, I envy you, and I’m proud of you. Well done. I hope I’ll be able to do it too, one day.

The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

I’ve just finished listening to the third installment in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series: The Waste Lands. No that’s not a typo. Apparently.

It’s amazing. I’m so into this now. I feel like book 1 and 2 were weird, a bit strange, not off-putting but just crazy enough that a lot of people probably wouldn’t carry on with the series.

But book 3 is where it begins. Book 1 sets up the world, the entire universe around The Dark Tower, and introduces us to some key players. Book 2 brings a few more of the keys players onto the field, and by book 3 – we’re off!

I haven’t started #4 yet, but I’m really looking forward to it.

It’s such a rich, vast world. King has this extraordinary ability to write so much about, what seems like, so little. In one sense, I feel like I can break the whole book into not only four parts, but four scenes. (They are more than scenes, but you get what I mean). It’s something I don’t think you could the other way around. If these were huge, big scenes where lots of stuff was supposed to happen, you couldn’t drag them out like this, but because they’re not–because they’re so minuscule in a sense, the scenes can last forever. And it doesn’t feel weird, or forced. It’s good. Soooo good in fact.

Like I said, I’m really invested in this series now. There’s so much I want answers to, much of which I doubt ever will be, but I really look forward to seeing this whole thing unfold.

If you’ve read my previous reviews of the other books in the series, you know I saw the film before I read any of this. I both sad and glad to say I hate the film more and more. Not because it’s not a good film. I just can’t see why they’d go the way they went with it. Maybe it makes more sense later, when I read more of the books.

But anyway – if you haven’t already, I absolutely recommend getting started with this series. Me, I hadn’t even read any of King’s work before this, so this has been an amazing introduction. I look forward to more of his writing.

Read my review of book 1 here.

Read my review of book 2 here.

 

Book Review: The Front Range Butcher by R. Weir

P.I. Jarvis Mann has a new case. Or an old one, depending on how you look at it. When his ex-girlfriend’s father wants to meet with him, Jarvis is nervous as first. But when he tells Jarvis that The Front Range Butcher, the serial killer from twenty years ago is back at it, Jarvis is more than keen to get on with the case.

This is probably the most ‘investigative’ crime thriller I’ve ever read. Jarvis is a P.I., and he’s damn good at it. We get to see a lot of his world, meet his friends and contacts, watch him pick up on favors, and follow him as he follows the leads. The book is long and sometimes very slow paced, but only because Jarvis actually does a lot of investigating. I can imagine many other version of people writing this book where Jarvis instantly would have been thrown into life-threatening action. (And I’m not saying he isn’t here). I’m just saying he actually does what he’s supposed. Weir has put a huge amount of work into creating a huge, vivid world, the kind I’d expect from fantasy writers. In one sense, I feel like I know this world, as if I’ve gotten used to it, I understand it, even though this is the first Jarvis Mann book I read. There’s something familiar about it, in the way that it pulls you in.

There’s a myriad of plot lines to follow here, threads to pull and connect, and on top of it all Jarvis is trying to keep up with his social life. Usually I’d say this book is a bit too sexy for me, because Jarvis is the definition of a lady-killer and a hound if ever there was one. But it’s so integral to his character, such a huge part of his being and the plot that I didn’t give it a second thought after a while.

There’s so much going in this book, I’ve nearly forgot about the most important thing. The Butcher. Active around twenty years ago, his M.O. was to skin people alive and deliver the remains to the doorstep of loved ones. Now he’s back. But can it really be the same person? And why is Jarvis constantly met with roadblocks and threats during his investigation?

I realized I recognized this book, after a while. Not because I’ve read it before, or because the plot is similar to anything. But because, this is the exact kind of book my father always read. The kind of staple thriller, that always sells everywhere, never falling out of fashion. My father would always have one with him, at the airport, on a train, on our holidays. It was a happy little memory when I realized.

I’d absolutely recommend this book to anyone who’s a fan of the genre. You won’t be disappointed. Go check it out here.

My Experience: Writing a second book

Writing a first book is like learning to ice skate.

You look at other people doing it, with ease, floating around. It looks fun. It looks easy.

So you put on your skates, pull yourself up to standing, and take a run at the ice.

You last for about 3 straight seconds before you faceplant violently on the ice, tearing it up with your mostly-broken teeth, your face at this point more porridge than anything else, a trail of gravel and blood behind you.

You roll over on your side, and with a mix of bodily energy and shame you crawl away.

It wasn’t as easy as you thought. You hate yourself, you can’t do anything you say, and you assume everyone else hates you as well.

Then you realize no one laughed at you for making an effort–maybe it looked funny when you fell–but hell, you didn’t even know how to ice skate. That’s an A+ for effort, and at least a B+ for plunging yourself into something that’s incredibly difficult and incredibly scary.

By the time you write your second book, you’ve already done a few rounds on the ice. Yeah, you wobble a bit, but you remain standing. You’re not doing triple-backward-sommersaults, like some of the others, no, but you’re managing. And we’re proud of you. You’re doing well, you’re getting there, and it shows.

This has been my experience with writing a second book – I look back at my first one and cringe, hard, thinking of what I thought, knew, and did. Had I seen myself the same then as I do now, I would never in my wildest dreams have been able to make it as far as I have, which admittedly isn’t very. I’m glad I was unknowing, but it makes me look toward the future with a shameful, cringey outlook.

This has been a weird metaphor, mostly because I never managed to learn to ice skate. I fell and never dared going back out.

Dare to go back out.

Podcast Review: Lore, Cabinet of Curiosities, and Unobscured by Aaron Mahnke

I began doing reviews by request. To help indie authors get the word out there about their books. Recently, I’ve also started reviewing the books I read on my own accord – they’re few and far in between, but I manage to find room for them some how. And for ages now, I’ve wanted to review some of my favorite podcasts.

It all started with Lore. I remember vividly how I came across it – because it was all by coincidence. My wife listens to a lot of podcasts, on and off, maybe just an episode here and there. I’m completely opposite, I’ll only devote time to it if I really, really love it, and if I do, I’m going to listen to all of it.

We were sitting on the couch, reading and surfing the web, when my wife were scrolling through some podcasts on Spotify. I cast a quick glance at her phone, and saw that she scrolled past something called “Lore.” I figured, if there’s a podcast out there for me – that’s going to be it.

It all started as a marketing strategy. Mahnke is an author, like so many other of us, and had written a few books before he made Lore. He made the podcast in an attempt to market and sell his own books (or so I’ve heard, if I’m wrong about this, I apologize), but ended up instead making an incredible fascinating podcast (not that his books aren’t great I’m sure).

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I’ve described Lore to friends as historical horror. It’s horrible, terrifying, but best of all – real. Mahnke puts on his historian’s hat, and tell us the most chilling and gruesome stories imaginable – real ones. As an archaeologist, I love anything that has to do with history and the past, and the fact that it’s always horrible make it just so much more interesting. Every episode is about 30 minutes long, and none of them are the same. They’re from all over the world, all through out history, and can be about a person, a place, an object, a building – anything you can imagine. Mahnke is coming close to his 100th episode anniversary, so if you get hooked now, you have a lot of good podcasting in your future. There’s also a Amazon Prime TV series based on the podcast (which I’ve yet to see), as well as a series of books. I’m sure they’re both as good as the podcast.

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Then came Cabinet of Curiosities. I had originally planned to review Lore ages ago, but I’m glad I waited. Curiosities is shorter (10-15 minute range), and more frequent (twice a week), and a little bit less horrible. It’s more often than not, just fun fact, a kind of “Did you know that” of historical oddities. Very often it will be about a historical person who’s done something strange or peculiar, where the real identity isn’t revealed until the end of the episode. There’s always two Curiosities per episode, and they’re delightful.

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The latest edition to Mahnke’s world of historical storytelling is Obscured. It’s a longer, more detailed version of Lore, where each season focus on one historical topic. The first of which is, The witch trials of Salem. There’s guest commentary by relevant scholars, and it’s a much more in depth look at a case than the Lore episodes, yet just as terrifying. It’s quickly becoming my favorite of Mahnke’s podcasts and I look forward to seeing what future seasons are going to investigate.

Aaron Mahnke is a powerhouse of podcasts and I’m so happy he’s doing what he’s doing. His podcasts make up about 50% of what I regularly listen to, and if you payed attention above, that means a lot. I’m also proud to say I’ve listened to all of it. Not only are the stories he’s telling fantastic, but so is his storytelling. He has a way with words which will leave you fascinated.

You can check out everything Mahnke is up to here, or you can go find him on Twitter and say hi. He loves it when people says hi.

Book Review: The Golden Fountain by Zuheb Alep

The Golden Fountain follows a young boy named Benjamin on his strange and magical journey through the kingdom of Aradia. After saving Prince Adam’s life, the two boys quickly become friends, and are both caught up in a huge conspiracy involving missing children, war in distant lands, and a magical fountain.

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This is the kind of book that proves the value of a good cover. Would you look at that beauty? It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? And I say that now, because I didn’t really like the book. As it happens, I nearly didn’t finish it, which is rare for me.

The premise of the story is great, and the world it unfolds in is vivid and magical, enough to grip any young reader.

But the way it’s done breaks it for me. The writing is often basic, and near childish. At the same time the intricate plot lines seem too disconnected from each other, so much so that it was difficult to understand what was going on.

And there were small details that constantly broke the immersion for me. For example, a load of children were kidnapped an evening. I can’t remember the exact number, but it was in the hundreds. At first I assumed they’d be magically whisked away, until it was revealed they were all kidnapped – in a van. Hundreds of kids in one van in one night?

And then there’s the world building. In one sense, there is none, you’re just trust into everything. There’s no explanation, no creation myth or anything that explains anything. But remember how I said we were in the kingdom of Aradia? Well there’s also the Kingdom of Brytannia, Scotlandia, Egpytia – you get the gist. It’s our world with extra letters, but at the same time, we’re in another galaxy. There are also a tribe elephants, a tribe of lions, there are Spartans, there’s a country of polar bears… I could go on.

I’m going to assume this book is MG, which might be why it’s difficult for me to read review. It’s a bit easy, childish like I mentioned above. Which would have been fine, but I don’t think a middlegrader would’ve been able to grasp this. To get the intricate story, to follow who the characters are and what they’re doing. There’s also scenes of war, death, and torture, which I’m not sure any MG should read about.

I want to come back, full circle, to what I said to begin with. There’s a great story here, an amazing plot. It’s just all the bits in between that ruin it for me.

A problem in the self-publishing world

Sunni D. Proofreading

I’ve seen it talked about but hadn’t encountered the problem in such close proximity until recently. Authors flooding the market with work that isn’t ready to be sold. There are sites that can be used for work that hasn’t been tested or, at the very least, proofread. If you’re dying for readers but you know your work’s not ready to earn you money, check those place out. Mingle, get to know your fellows. Find some folks who might not mind helping you clean that WIP up.

We’ve all spotted a typo here and there before—even in traditionally published work. Because, let’s face it, even the best at their job is probably going to miss something from time to time. We’re human. We make mistakes. It happens.

But when an author is flooding the market with work that is so riddled with errors that you literally can’t get through one tiny…

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The Dark Tower #2 The Drawing of The Three

Here it is, the 2nd installment in my quest of reviewing Stephen King’s great book series, The Dark Tower.

As with the first one, I’ve listened to this one on audiobook. Mostly while driving, but also while walking to and from work, and while working out. It’s kind of the only way I get to read things besides what indie authors are asking me to review, because there’s only so many hours in a day.

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Straight off the bat, book 2 is better than book 1. It’s more of a coherent story in a sense, because it’s not 5 parts which later were combined into a book (as happened with book 1).

It takes place only few hours after book 1, and Roland, The Gunslinger wakes up on a beach. He ends up getting wounded when he faces off against some sea creatures, but manages to escape toward a door, marked The Prisoner.

This is one of three such doors, and as you might have guessed, The Prisoner is the first drawing of the three. Roland steps through the door, and ends up inside the mind of Eddie Dean, heroin addicts and drug mule of the 1980’s. Since Roland is hurt, he needs Eddie’s help – and Eddie, well he’s in a lot of trouble himself.

Thus begins the first drawing. I won’t bore you with the details (because this is a very detailed and long book), but let’s just say Roland finds two more doors, and does two more drawings.

At the point of writing this review, I’ve already started reading book no. 3, and let just say this: I feel like book 1 was just back story. Book 2 is setting up Roland and his companions for the real, true quest, which I feel like has started to unravel in book 3. In that sense, there’s not much happening in book 2, other than… The drawing of the three. Drawing them to Roland’s world, to help him.

I feel like I’ve revealed enough, so I’ll leave it at that. Let me conclude with saying that The Dark Tower series is… interesting. It’s very good, very exciting and fun to read/(listen to). But it’s also very different. Often, I feel like there’s nothing going on at all, and I’m in awe at King’s ability to make a scene last for sooo long. In my own writing, I tend to be very fast paced, scenes are quickly finished and we’re quickly introduced to something else. Since I listen to King when I’m driving, I’ll sometimes not pay attention, and fall out of focus for a bit. Then when my ear catches on again, I’ll think to myself “woah, they’re just sitting there? Still talking about the same thing?”

It’s not that this writing is better or worse than anything else I read, but it’s very unique.

But I love the progression, like I said, I feel like it’s only in book 3 which I’m reading now that we’re actually going somewhere. I’m looking forward to finishing it.

My Experiences Doing Book Reviews

I’ve been doing book reviews for a while now. I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned doing them.

First of all, I do it because it’s fun, because it’s useful (every writer, when not writing, should probably be reading), and because it’s helpful. You’ve probably heard “do unto others something-something?” If I can do something helpful for another indie author, I will. I want to give back, help the industry, help an author.

Anyway, most of the time it’s good. It’s simple – people send me books, I look at them, and if I like them, I read them. Simple as that. Then I review them.

Most of the time I get to read what I want. I get a lot of thriller, mystery and fantasy. Just what I want. I do get a lot of other requests, but unfortunately, I have to turn a lot of them down.

Some people don’t seem to understand this, but doing reviews is a buyers market if there ever was one. I don’t need more books to read, people are hurling them in my face right and left. So naturally I pick what I like the look and sound of most. Which means I have to decline things. A lot. Some people get offended. I’m sorry. It’s not because your book sucks (unless it’s absolute shit, but don’t worry, in that case I’ll tell you), it’s just that I have other, better options. Better suited for me I mean.

One thing I could do with more of is horror. I don’t see a lot of horror, hardly anything. I’ve been wondering if it’s because the horror genre is something a lot of indie authors don’t venture into, or if it’s just because it sells well enough as it is. Do they not need reviews? (I guess I might be barraged with horror requests now, so don’t be surprised if I have to turn you down).

That’s another thing – if I’ve read something that sounds exactly like your book last week, I might turn you down. “But you said you read fantasy!” doesn’t really help if that’s all I’ve read for three months straight. I like variations. Sorry.

Also – I like it when people are capable of asking. You don’t have to do much, write my name correctly, and be polite, but I absolutely hate it when people just send me their book with an email saying “WANT REVIEW!” (This actually happened). Also, if you mass-send an email, made out to “Debra”, I’m not going to throw myself around to read your book.

Yet another thing – if you ask for a review, and I accept, I assume you’re going to reply, and send me your book. I’m not going out of my way to hunt you down. You might be on my list for a while, but if you forget, that’s your fault not mine.

And the last thing I’m going to complain about – don’t expect me to send you my review for “approval”. I’m going to write my review honestly, and in my own way. You don’t get to influence it. If you found your way to send me a request, I’m going to assume you’ve look at my old reviews (at least a little bit). Of course, if you find a spelling mistake, or want to comment on it after it’s live, sure, I’ll happily edit it for you (if it’s reasonable), but you’re not in charge.

Okay, venting done, and I apologize. Most of the time reviewing is fine, it’s good, and it’s fun. I like it, and I’ll keep doing it. But please, if you have habit of requesting reviews, don’t be any of the people above. It doesn’t help you.

To sum up: Reviewing is great, most authors are awesome, some times people are lame. Don’t be lame.