Trey Stone's Blog, page 9

Book Review: Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You by Marcus Chown

This is the kind of book that I love reading, even though I can’t tell you a single thing about it when I’m done.

I recently discovered Bill Bryson and his writing a few years ago, and since then I’ve really enjoyed reading books that aim to teach you stuff. I love watching documentaries, and No Such Thing As A Fish—a podcast about random facts —is one of my favorites. So whenever I get the chance, I love sitting down with a non-fiction book to see if I can learn something.

Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You is—as you might have guessed—about quantum theory. I can’t say that I knew much about the subject before reading this book, or if I did at some point, I had forgotten all about it.

Still, most of the stuff that the book talks about is very familiar. You recognize most of the terms used when they talk about atoms, molecules, nuclei, electrons, gravity, light years, particle mass and black holes. And I felt like I did understand it, in the moment, but I’m not sure I have retained much of the knowledge.

I still found the book fascinating, and I love reading stuff like this. It’s presented in a fun and easily accessible way that makes it a much more fun type of learning, compared to how I remembered things from school, 20 years ago. Even if I don’t remember everything from cover to cover, I’d very happily pick up more books by Marcus Chown, and I might even consider giving this one another whirl.

Quantum theory is surprisingly exciting, after all. I was very surprised to learn that gravity doesn’t actually exist.

Have you read something fun and educational lately? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and as always, I’d love it if you checked out my books!

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Book Review: The Black Lord by Colin Hinckley

Just when you thought you had seen every kind of monster out there someone goes and writes something like this!

When a young child goes missing, his 9-year-old brother Eddie feels like his whole world has crumbled to dust. Things can’t possibly get worse for him and his family.

That’s until a thing starts showing up at the edge of the forest outside Eddie’s window. A thing that whispers in the night, that makes Eddie’s forehead feel funny, and keeps talking about his little brother.

Tenebrous Press has been putting out amazing things for as long as I’ve read them, and The Black Lord is no exception. Hinckley’s writing is incredibly delicate and nuanced, putting dark, horrifying words to paper with ease. I had difficulties putting this book away.

The plot is brilliantly puzzled together, with each chapter going over the events from a different family member’s perspective, often back tracking a little to give you a sense of knowing where you are, yet slowly revealing that things might not be exactly what they seemed earlier. It’s not just fantastic art, it’s excellent craftsmanship.

Oh, and the book is terrifying, in that goose bumps-inducing, chills-down-your-spine invoking way that makes you want to finish it all in one sitting.

The book is out September 12 – check it out here! Highly recommended for any horror fan!

Have you read something terrifying lately? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and as always, I’d love it if you checked out my books!

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Book Review: Stop This Game by Jaka Tomc

Stop This Game is an honest, heartfelt and brutal book about living with bipolar disorder.

Jaka Tomc is a Solvenian author and poet. I first heard about him on Twitter, years ago, and I’ve read a few of his books before. What I never knew was that he has struggled with bipolar disorder for nearly fifteen years.

This book lays it all bare. From the early days of his symptoms, to his first hospitalizations, to living through the many, many, manic episodes and to trying to just… figure out life.

It’s a raw and very real book. It doesn’t hold anything back, doesn’t try to look at bipolar disorder through an objective lens or with an eye for medical detail. It just explains. Elaborates. Tell us, the reader, what it’s all like and how it all feels, from the heart.

It’s not always a very good book, even though the story is fascinating. Much of it is written in a sort of rambling monologue, simply delivering information upon information upon information, with one scenario following the other then the other after that again. At times I wanted to stop and say, Hey, slow down will you? This is impossible to follow!

Then I realized, this is probably exactly what it’s like? This is probably what it feels like to have one of those manic episodes, exactly like it’s described in the book.

I thought I knew what bipolar disorder was, before reading this book. I still think I have a pretty good grasp, but there are a lot of things that were described in this book that have helped me understand how and why manic people act the way they do. How they think, and how they reason. I feel like, after reading this book, I recognize things in friends that I’ve never even thought about before. Things they’ve never told me. It’s eye opening, for sure.

At times, it’s a difficult book to read. It’s raw and real, you know what I mean? Jaka Tomc isn’t just an author, he’s a real person and he’s out there, living with this. But at least he’s talking about it, he’s putting himself out there, and I’m sure he feels better for it. At least, I hope it helps. I could probably do with being a bit more open myself, and this book puts things in perspective. All honor to Tomc.

Have you read something that moved you lately? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and as always, I’d love it if you checked out my books!

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Get A Free Excerpt of At The Gate!

If you love reading psychological thrillers as much as I love writing them, you’re going to love my 2022 novella, At The Gate! And if you won’t take my word for it, I have an even better way to convince you – a free excerpt!

Feel free to grab the first two chapters right here, and share them with whomever you want!

Yes, I’d love a free excerpt!

Joseph can’t live with the fact that he’s responsible for his daughter’s death. He checks into The Gate as his final destination, but after the disappearance of a guest everything begins to unravel. Days go missing, people are acting strange, and nothing is what it should be. At every turn, he’s reminded of this most painful mistake.

Joseph disappears down a rabbit hole of mysterious events, all the while keeping up the battle against his own inner demons. Now he is trapped inside a haunted hotel trying to find a guest that may not even exist.

Book Review: Yumi and The Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

The most successful kickstarter ever delivers again!

I mostly knew Sanderson by rumor when I pledged to his insanely successful kickstarter. I had read the first Skyward book and was working on the first in the Mistborn series, and figured getting four mysterious ebooks over the course of a year sounded like a very fun thing to be a part of. And it has been!

Tress and The Emerald Sea was an excellent start and set the bar very high. You can read my full review here, but in short: I loved it.

The second book, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, was—in comparison—a bit of a let down. Though it’s a great book, it just didn’t grab me like Tress and her adventures did. Naturally, I was very excited to see what book 3 would be. Would it live up to the first? Or perhaps been even more of a miss then the second?

Straight out of the gate, just judging by the title alone, I was intrigued. Yumi and The Nightmare Painter sounds like one hell of a fantasy novel. And it is!

The story follows—as you can probably guess—Yumi, and a Nightmare Painter. His name is Nikaro, but for most of the book he’s just referred to as Painter.

Yumi and Painter come from entirely different backgrounds, different worlds actually, but through strange circumstances their lives become woven together and an adventure unfolds. At first, this adventure focuses on finding out why their lives are interlinked in the first place, but after a while it delves deeper. Why is Painter’s world shrouded in darkness and full of nightmares? And why is Yumi’s so rigid, governed strictly by rules and rituals?

You’ll have to read it yourself to find out.

Sanderson’s a master of world building, and it was mostly that that pulled me in. At the start of the book I didn’t really care about what was happening to Yumi and Painter, I just wanted to live in their worlds! They’re both incredibly detailed and expertly crafted, and I enjoyed every single sentence that painted another part of them.

Eventually though, the story pulled me in. Of course it did. And by the end I sat there, mouth agape, in awe of how it all unfolded.

So I’m happy to say that this book hit the spot, and landed itself right at the top. I’m not sure if I can pick a favorite between this one and Tress and the Emerald Sea, but if not, they’re worthy equals.

Now, I’m just waiting for the fourth and final book, hoping that it will be just as good as the first and third.

Did you pledge to the kickstarter or have you read any of these books by themselves? Let me know in the comments! If you’re going through all of them like me, I’d love to hear what you think.

Oh, and as always, if you’re into stories, I’d love it if you checked out my books!

And please, subscribe to my mailing list. That way, you’re never left out.

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Book Review: Mage Breaker – New Release from Sean R. Frazier

First came the magic. Then came the aliens.

Ellyne is the Golden Gunslinger. A veteran of wars. A historic, almost mythical figure and a hero. And she’s so sick of it all.

All she wants to do is hide away. To go by her days, unknown and unnoticed, drinking in Victor’s pub and trying to forget it all. She almost succeeds as well, managing to tuck herself away in Karnascus’s underbelly. Until a weapon suddenly appears in her apartment.

A weapon named Nicole.

Mage Breaker is an urban science fiction/fantasy novel that is equal parts cozy friendship adventure, badass magical action flick, and dark, conspiring mystery, and it’s all amazing. We’re pulled straight into it from the start when Nicole shows up in Ellyne’s apartment and Ellyne finds herself dragged back into a world of warring factions, magical aliens, and hitherto unknown conspiracies and plots. A world she wants to forget.

The relationships between Ellyne and Nicole is a complex and exciting one. It starts off as victim/protector type situation (unwillingly from Ellyne’s perspective, as you’ve probably gathered), before it evolves into a master/apprentice sort of vibe, and eventually: friendship. It’s awesome to see how the two characters play off each other, how they learn to like each other, and how it all comes together in the end.

Frazier’s writing is thrilling, captivating, and most of all, fun. I love the world building, the occasional drips of history, of what has happened before and why the world has come to be like it is, and I love the humor. There’s tons of cheeky dialogue between Nicole and Ellyne and even though it’s a serious book with plenty of hefty magical action, they find themselves in a lot of funny situations. If there’s anything I could highlight that drags the book down for me – and that’s a very personal if – it’s perhaps only that Ellyne and Nicole seem a bit too powerful at times. I’d love to see some higher stakes, where I didn’t expect Ellyne, The Golden Gunslinger, to be able to shoot herself out of a bad spot.

At the same time, a good showdown is always fun.

All in all, an exciting and magical book, that I can recommend to any urban science-fiction/fantasy fan. Several times while I read this I was reminded of the Buffy spin-off series, Angel, with Ellyne filling the role of the dark, brooding hero who’d rather be left alone, but somehow can’t help themselves standing up for the little guy, while also wanting to figure out what’s really going on in the dark corners of the city they used to love. If you liked that show (I absolutely loved it), I can promise you you’re going to enjoy this book, a lot.

Mage Bre aker is available for pre-order right now and you can pick it up here.

Have you read anything exciting this summer? Let me know in the comments.

Oh, and as always, if you’re into crime- and psychological thrillers, I’d love it if you checked out my books.

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It’s Slow Going These Days

I don’t know what happened.

I was so motivated after the summer. We went on vacation, spent some time away resting and rejuvenating, and I felt like I came home with newfound inspiration.

And then… I never did anything with it?

Lately, it’s been feeling like every day is the same. Like I’m just spinning around in circles, in and out of sleep, chores, work and nothing of importance. And I’m not sure I know why.

Sure, some important things have been going on. My brother’s wedding was just a few days ago, so that’s been in our headlights for a while. And I’ve been trying to meet some deadlines for a couple of short stories I’ve been very excited about. I have a concert with one of my bands coming up in a few weeks, and right after that, I’m going overseas to another wedding.

So yeah, I guess I’m busy, even though it doesn’t feel like that.

I guess the problem is that I’m busy with the wrong things. They’re important things, sure, but it feels like they’re things that keep me from being busy with what I want to be doing. And when I don’t get to do what I want o be doing, I feel like I’m not doing anything at all.

I’m not sure if any of this makes any sense. But maybe writing it down here helps me think it through. Or at least, be aware of why I’m feeling what I’m feeling and thinking what I’m thinking, the next time it happens. Because it’s bound to happen again.

Right now, all I can do is wait for the things I can’t control to be over and done with. Maybe I’ll regain some motivation and inspiration then.

How have you been feeling lately? Staying busy, or in a slump like me? Let me know in the comments!

And as always, I’d love it if you checked out my books.

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Summer Update – Book Release, Our First Single & Upcoming Anthology

It’s been a weird year – and a summer break was sorely needed.

I feel like it was only a few days ago since it was the middle of December, right before Christmas, and my wife and I had just moved into our new house. The holiday passed us by in a flash as we spent every waking hour painting, sorting through our things, and getting our new home the way we wanted it to be.

Then it was suddenly February, I had joined death metal band, Dark Delirium as their rhythm guitarist, and we were rehearsing furiously to learn all the songs and get ready for our first couple of gigs. It was an exciting time, and I’m so thankful that I joined these guys because it’s super fun and we keep playing better and better, writing new, cool music all the time, but for a moment there, it was a bit stressful.

Three months on, we’re in May, and I’m right in the middle of publishing my third crime thriller, A Form Of Revenge. Self-publishing is definitely worth it and I love being in control of everything from title, cover design, formatting, to release date, but is without a doubt a lot of work. But the book is out now, the response has been great, and you can pick it up right here.

By the time we got to the middle of July, my wife and I were exhausted and we were very much looking forward to a couple of weeks vacation. We split the vacation down the middle—one week in Budapest to see Rammstein live, and then one week spent cycling 340 kilometers through southern Norway. Yeah, guess which idea was my wife’s? She’ll think of insane stuff like that to do, and for some reason I keep saying yes. It probably has to do with love or something, I don’t know.

But it was a very welcome break, and even the long bike trip was surprisingly relaxing. There’s something about just getting out of your head, disconnecting from the world and focusing on the single thing that’s in front of you in the moment – like cycling 100 kilometers a day – that’s just very peaceful. Before our vacation was over, we also managed to go for a few hikes, amongst others to Pulpit Rock, the very famous cliff you can see in the photo at the top of the post here. The weather wasn’t great, but the fog gave it a very unique atmosphere.

Now that our summer vacation is over though, I’m diving right back into everything – starting with some very exciting news: my band has released it’s very first single!

No, not that death metal band I talked about earlier—this is something completely different. We’re an acoustic singer/songwriter trio called Maryon and we’ve been playing together for a few years now. When I’m not writing books or stories I write music, and I’m the main lyricist and vocalist in this band. Our first single Afraid was recently released on all streaming platforms, and I’d love it if you gave it a listen.

Check it out on Spotify

Of course, that’s not all. I’m still writing, still getting my stories out there, and though A Form Of Revenge is still fresh off the press, I’m working on several new things, the first of which is a story in an upcoming fantasy anthology. It’s currently set to be released in September, and I can’t wait to share more about that as soon as it’s out.

I’m also pitching more short stories and novels to various independent publishers and I’m waiting to hear about a horror podcast I’ve written for. It’s currently in production and I can’t wait to be able to share that with you as well!

Meanwhile, I would love it if you checked out my other books. As always, you can find them all right here on my website.

Oh, and I’d love it if you signed up for my newsletter! That’s where you’ll get all the latest news and all the best deals.

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Book Review: Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett

What a truly magnificent story!

I started this not knowing anything other than that it’s supposed to be an epic story. I knew the name of the book and had heard about the video game adaption (which is supposed to be very good). And though I wasn’t impressed by the little I had read by Follett before, that’s all changed now. What a book!

The story sounds simple enough on the surface. It’s set in a small town in medieval England, and it follows the building of a new church. But it isn’t just a church, and it isn’t just a small town. It’s the cathedral of Kingsbridge, and the building of it will affect people across generations, from the lowest born to the most royal, throughout all of England and even past its borders.

It’s expertly crafted. I’ve read one of Follett’s thrillers before and it wasn’t great, but this is something else. The complex interwoven plots, the conspiracies and political drama, the historical accuracy and the details that were poured into the masonry and the building of the cathedral make this an absolutely brilliant book. And on top of all that, there’s war, love, economics, religion, life and death. We follow at least three generations through an incredible, all-encompassing story and it’s fantastic. It’s so much more than just the building of a church.

To begin with I was kind of dreading the length of it, but as I got into it, I realized I didn’t want it to end. I’m glad to know that there are three more books in the series, a TV show and of course the video game. This is the kind of story you can lose yourself in, forever.

All in all – a magnificent piece of writing. I’ve never been so invested in stone masonry in my life, and now I want to be one. If you’re into historical fiction, this comes very highly recommended from me. Whoa.

As always, I’d love it if you checked out my books and please, consider signing up for my newsletter.

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Book Review: I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben has been highly recommended to me more than once – so when I learned he had a new book coming out, just around the time I needed something new to read, I jumped at the chance. I wasn’t disappointed!

The plot? A guy is in prison for murdering his young son. He’s been there for five years. He doesn’t think he’s guilty, but that doesn’t matter: all the evidence says that he is. That’s until someone shows up with something that convinces him he’s not. In fact – his son might not even be dead at all.

Coben writes in a very straight forward way and I love that. It’s not that it isn’t exciting and gripping, it’s more that he doesn’t put anything in between. There’s a sense of getting exactly what you’ve asked for, and that’s never not appreciated in my book.

The plot is exciting. Straight off the first page you’re pulled into a mystery that won’t let you go, and it seems impossible that our protagonist is going to find a way to figure it all out. Every step of the way you catch yourself thinking, “well, that’s it, it’s over now,” but then somehow it manages to carry on rolling. Coben is very good at that.

I enjoy trying to figure out books, especially mystery thrillers like this, and I did perhaps feel a tiny bit disappointed in the ending. I wanted there to be something more, something I hadn’t understood. That doesn’t make it a bad book or bad ending, it just means I’m hard to please.

As a first time Coben-reader, I’m sold. His writing reminds of Don Winslow or Lee Child, and I’m very glad for the recommendation. If you’re into mystery thrillers that will set your gears into motion, I’d happily pass the recommendation on.

Oh, and as always, I’d love it if yo checked out my own thrillers. The third in my dark crime series was recently released and it’s definitely something else.

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