Beth Tabler's Blog, page 186
May 31, 2022
Review – Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar
Akhtar definitely makes you wait for the information- but it’s 100% worth it when all of those points add up
When I first picked Gunmetal Gods up, the pacing felt too fast for me and like I didn’t have time to get to know characters before we were moving on to the next scene, but by the end, I was absolutely glued to the pages and couldn’t put it down. I attribute my initial feeling to the fact that I had just come off of reading slower paced fantasy (such as The Veiled Throne), but I liken the change I felt to listening to an audiobook at 2x speed. At first it feels garbled, but once you adjust, you can’t imagine another speed.
The character work and world building are done in very piecemeal fashion-Akhtar definitely makes you wait for the information- but it’s 100% worth it when all of those points add up. I loved the characters in this story; all of them were multi-faceted gray characters that you could loathe on one page and then sympathize with on another (I would die for Kinn and Sadie). I also adored how much the Gods in this book are directly on the pages, and book two promises to show us even more of that which I am over the moon about.
By far the strongest aspects of this book are the themes it deals with and the political machinations. Themes of faith, sacrifice, mortality, and mercy are wonderfully explored through the masterful webs of political alliances/betrayals and the power structures of religion. I love when religion is viewed from a broader lens of cultural development and that was done wonderfully here. However, at the heart of all of these lofty schemes and meddling gods, the core of this book lies in the soul of the individual humans that inhabit the page.
Be aware going into this that it’s a very brutal world, and Akhtar is not afraid to make his characters hurt. But honestly I think that’s one of the best things about this book. You truly never know what’s going to happen.
Overall this is a wonderful world that I hope we get to spend a bit more time exploring in Book 2…which I will be reading ASAP.
Follow Taylor here.
Read Gunmetal Gods
The post Review – Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
Review – Justice Calling by Annie Bellet
“I wouldn’t touch a gun even if it snuggled and made me waffles.”
About
From the publisher, “Jade Crow lives a quiet life running her comic book and game store in Wylde, Idaho. After twenty-five years fleeing from a powerful sorcerer who wants to eat her heart and take her powers, quiet suits her just fine. Surrounded by friends who are even less human than she is, Jade figures she’s finally safe.
As long as she doesn’t use her magic.
When dark powers threaten her friends’ lives, a sexy shape-shifter enforcer shows up. He’s the shifter world’s judge, jury, and executioner rolled into one, and he thinks Jade is to blame. To clear her name, save her friends, and stop the villain, she’ll have to use her wits… and her sorceress powers.
Except Jade knows that as soon as she does, a far deadlier nemesis awaits.
Justice Calling is the first book in The Twenty-Sided Sorceress urban fantasy series. Readers who enjoyed The Dresden Files or The Iron Druid Chronicles will likely enjoy this series.
My Thoughts
“Life-changing moments are sneaky little bastards. Often we don’t even know that nothing will ever be the same until long after, only in hindsight can we look and say “There! That was it! That changed everything.”
Justice Calling – Annie Bellett
“Justice Calling,” is an absolute treat for lovers of Urban Fantasy with strong female characters. A la Mercy Thompson, Kitty Norville, and my favorite Rachel Morgan. Holla at “The Hallows!” Justice Calling is an exciting, albeit too short romp through a new world created by Anne Billet. The protagonist is fun, saucy, and not at all annoying. Something that I have missed in the last few Urban Fantasy novels I have read as of late.
Jade Crow, Sorcerous, shop owner, and gamer finds herself in a pickle of a situation. Does she stay or does she run? Does she out herself, and possibly bring ruin upon her future? Can she do all that she needs to do, and not use magic? I think if you are a fan of the Mercy Thompson Series or the world of Kate Daniels this might be a good series for you. Although definitely not as well developed as those worlds, it has the bones of a great series. Good plot points, fun characters, and I have to admit I absolutely love the gamer bent. Me being a gigantic geek myself, I can relate to her quite a bit. I hope that in her later books the author can flesh out the characters a lot more and give us more to read but, great start! Also, Jade has a very cool superpower. She knows every language. That is a superpower for a total geek. I love it!
“A girl needs options. To me, video games are like shoes. But with more pixels and a plot.”
Justice Calling – Annie Bellett
Things that I don’t dig. Why is it that every Urban Fantasy with a female character needs to have some sort of love angle? No really. C’mon. Not all ladies need to have a love interest. Nor do those ladies need to be saved by the said love interest. Although, props to Anne Billet for letting this lady do the saving. Don’t get me wrong though, I enjoy a good romance now and again, but this particular possible love interest seemed a bit shoehorned. Yes, he is hot, yes he has rippling muscles, yes he turns into a (sexy?) white tiger? I wish that he was a more normal dude. He doesn’t need to speak like a combination of Dolph Lundgren and Daniel Craig to be compelling. At least that’s how I picture him. It makes him much more relatable. How many guys like Daniel Craig have you met in your life? Also, there isn’t much of a story. This is more like an introduction to the characters. Which I really like and a very quick problem that they need to overcome. That is fine for me for the start of a series.
Do yourself a favor, and read the novella. It is good light fun. Not a barn burner, but it’s funand saucy. I am looking forward to the next one.
Read Justice Calling
About the Author
Annie Bellet is a full-time speculative fiction writer. She holds a BA in English and a BA in Medieval Studies and thus can speak a smattering of useful languages such as Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Welsh.
Her books include Avarice (Pyrrh Considerable Crimes Division: Book 1), The Gryphonpike Chronicles series, and the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series.
Her interests besides writing include rock climbing, reading, horse-back riding, video games, comic books, table-top RPGs, and many other nerdy pursuits.
The post Review – Justice Calling by Annie Bellet appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
Guest Post – Game Review of The Stanley Parable
From Wikipedia, “The Stanley Parable is an interactive storytelling and walking simulator video game designed by American developer Davey Wreden…”
“While both the mod and the remake use the first-person perspective common to other Source engine mods, there are no combat or other action-based sequences. Instead, the player guides Stanley, the game’s protagonist, through a surreal environment while the narrator, voiced by British actor Kevan Brighting, delivers exposition. The player has the opportunity to make numerous decisions on which paths to take, and because at times the narrator says what Stanley will do next, the player can choose to ignore the narration and make a different choice. Every choice made by the player is commented on by the narrator, and depending on the choices the player makes, they will encounter different endings to the game before it restarts.”
My Thoughts
“Choice: It’s the best part of being a real person, but if used incorrectly, can also be the most dangerous.” – Training video voiceover, The Stanley Parable
I think that The Last of Us was an outstanding game, and if the writers had so chosen, could have been an outstanding movie as well. To the Moon is game with a beautiful and touching story, which I believe could also be made into an outstanding novella. Baten Kaitos goes out of its way to blur the distinction between the real world and the game world, and when I pick it up for a re-play I almost feel like I’m visiting old friends; its story could stand proudly next to any of a number of fantasy epics.
But The Stanley Parable has a story – a deep, meaningful, impactful, beautiful and brilliant story – that could not be told in any other way. There could never be a Stanley Parable movie, novel, album, or television series. In order to be told this story, you have to have a controller in your hands. For this story is all about choices: the ones you make, the ones you don’t, and perhaps most importantly, the ones you don’t realize are yours to make.
The Narrator of the game has a very specific agenda: he has a story to tell, and he needs the cooperation of the player to make the decisions that will drive the story forward. By some counts, there are as many as 19 different endings to the game, and there’s only one that the Narrator considers “correct.” The Narrator will complain, cajole, insult, beg, or simply manipulate the game in order to keep things moving the way he wants. Ultimately, though, he is powerless: no matter what he says or does, he isn’t the one with the controller. But then again, neither is Stanley.
A room of many choices
One of the most clever things the game does is to describe Stanley as an employee whose job is to push buttons. “Orders came to him through a monitor on his desk, telling him what buttons to push, how long to push them, and in what order… Stanley relished every moment the orders came in, as though he had been made exactly for this job.” Then, as the game begins, you’re faced with an open door and the suggestion that Stanley moves forward to explore the office – and therefore you, as the player, know that you should push the “walk forward” button for a few seconds, and thereby relish this moment of gameplay. Thus, when the Narrator is demanding that “you” press some buttons, it’s not always obvious whether he’s talking to Stanley or to you.
On the whole, I spent a great deal of my play time laughing (loudly), as The Stanley Parable’s crisp sense of timing and delivery lets each of its well-written jokes shine. The little bit of time I wasn’t laughing was by design: I spent a lot of time thinking about what choices I was making and why; how the Narrator was or wasn’t able to manipulate my choices; how much of what I was doing reflected my personality versus my priorites as a game-player. It’s a game that has stuck with me for years, and I enthusiastically bring it up in any conversation about best or favorite games. Ultimately, I feel like the game is worth ten or fifteen hours of anyone’s time, and that’s about how long it should take to discover most of the endings on your own. If you’re a completionist, you’ll want to discover all 19 endings, but you shouldn’t feel bad if you need some hints or a walkthrough to find them all. I’ll also admit that there’s one ending that I’ve only ever seen via a Youtube video (the story calls for four hours of button clicking – I’m a huge fan of the game, but I have my limits). All that being said, though, I’ve never regretted a single second I’ve invested in the game, and I hope you’ll be inspired to take it for a spin.
Oh, and if you do, you should try to get the Broom Closet ending. The Broom Closet ending was my favorite.
Much of the biographical information for this post was taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stanley_Parable
The post Guest Post – Game Review of The Stanley Parable appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
May 29, 2022
Review – DAUNTLESS (The Lost Fleet #1) by Jack Campbell
DAUNTLESS (The Lost Fleet #1) by Jack Campbell has the premise of Captain John “Black Jack” Geary being a officer who has been stuck in stasis for a century. Much to his dismay, he finds out his heroic last stand has been elevated to Davey Crocket at the Alamo/King Arthur levels of proportion. So much so that he is treated as the Second Coming when he is finally rescued, as well as the man who is to deliver them from the same enemy he “died” fighting so many years ago.
It’s not a bad premise, though I think Jack Campbell overdoes it. Tactics have degraded in the future to the point everyone just flies at the enemy and gets killed, he’s constantly reminded of how awesome he is (while thinking he’s not), and everyone who is skeptical of him is either evil or dramatically overreacting. One character assumes he’s going to either get them all killed in a heroic attack or try to take over the Alliance. Despite this, I very much enjoyed the setting and liked the focus on the laws and customs of war. John is a person who comes from a more civilized time and is appalled by the treatment of prisoners in the present. I think few books bother to treat the “enemy” characters as anything but targets so this was a nice change of pace.
The starship battles are well-designed with a focus on fleet action as well as real-world tactics (applied to space) like formation, training, and the importance of discipline. Jack Campbell worked in the Navy and its influence on his work is obvious. It’s nice to see someone who bucks the usual trend of military mavericks. Jack just wants a disciplined well-oiled machine and he’s got a bunch of Leeroy Jenkins in starships.
Characterization-wise, most of the people involved are a bit broad. John Geary is the “only sane man” on the ship as everyone is just determined to kill the enemy by attacking relentlessly. He’s also a subject of great suspicion by the civilian governments because they have no experience with any officers who don’t have utter contempt for them. There’s some similarities to Captain America as well as King Arthur with a moral paragon waking up to take the reigns, even as John is nothing like the tough-talking badass that history has made him out to be.
I feel like there’s some missed opportunities here as Jack never really takes time to mourn anyone who might have died while he was asleep as well as the sheer culture shock of waking up a century later. Instead, he’s all business and his problems are primarily with how the Navy has degenerated into a band of pirates. I feel like giving him a Peggy Carter equivalent or have him react to his initial awakening would have been more interesting.
On the other hand, I have to say I’m very impressed with the villains. I very much enjoyed the idea of the enemy being an ultra-capitalist cyberpunk state run by corporations. That’s something you don’t see often in military science-fiction and while they mostly remain targets, they eventually do get fleshed out in future books (particularly the spin-offs).
Speaking as an author of space opera fiction, I’m always on the lookout for new or classic fiction in the genre to read. Mind you, I’m one of those lumps who originally had his exposure limited to Star Trek and Star Wars. I’ve always thought of it as a visual medium so while I love Babylon Five, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, and Halo–I never quite got into the literary side of things. Well, you know, until I decided to write it myself. After writing Lucifer’s Star, I did become an afficianado of military science fiction and have read many authors I’ve since come to love. Lost Fleet is an excellent example of the genre and one that was recommended to me many times before I picked it up.
In conclusion, this is an entertaining fun book even if it’s not something that I absolutely felt I had to read. Still, if you’re looking for deep characterization and a less-than-perfect hero then this isn’t the series for you. On my end? I don’t mind a little competence porn and read the entire series. Those who love big epic space battles and a guy trying to bring an unruly crew together will find a lot to love in these books. Dauntless is only the start of an epic series and it continues right until a truly epic climax (no spoilers). I should note that I listened to the audiobook and very much enjoyed its narration.
Read Dauntless
The post Review – DAUNTLESS (The Lost Fleet #1) by Jack Campbell appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
Graphic Novel Review – The Sandman Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
“You get what anybody gets – you get a lifetime.”
Neil Gaiman, Preludes & Nocturnes
About
From the publisher, “New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman’s transcendent series SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision.
In PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman.
This book also includes the story “The Sound of Her Wings,” which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl Death.
Includes issues 1-8 of the original series.”
My Thoughts
Preludes and nocturnes is a reread for me. I am ending the year as I started it; with one of my favorite series. Sandman is considered by many readers and educators as one of the most important graphic novels ever written. It is also one of the most important series in my life. It literally showed me how great and beautiful the genre could be.
I am at a bit of a loss as far as reviewing goes. What can I add that hasn’t been said a thousand times over?
Let me tell you a little bit about how Sandman has affected me as a reader.
As far as the graphic novel genre goes, I came to it a bit late in life. I didn’t “discover” comics until my early thirties. I have however read many, many books. As a child, I was a voracious reader. A habit that continued into adulthood and played no small part in shaping who I became as a person. You can learn much from fiction, as much or more than you can from non-fiction. But, like many readers out there I deemed comics childlike and inappropriate for the discerning reader.
I was a snob. I was wrong. Comics are a combination of two of my favorite things: art and words. They can be as childlike or adult as the author sees fit. Sandman is an adult comic with adult themes steeped in dark fantasy. Gaimon took legends and mythos from various religious and mythological backgrounds and cobbled them together into a cohesive plot. It is definitely dark, adult, and a perfect book to jump into the genre.
“CHORONZON: I am a dire wolf, prey-stalking, lethal prowler.
MORPHEUS: I am a hunter, horse-mounted, wolf-stabbing.
CHORONZON: I am a horsefly, horse-stinging, hunter-throwing.
MORPHEUS: I am a spider, fly-consuming, eight-legged.
CHORONZON: I am a snake, spider-devouring, poison-toothed.
MORPHEUS: I am an ox, snake-crushing, heavy-footed.
CHORONZON: I am anthrax, butcher bacterium, warm-life destroying.
MORPHEUS: I am a world, space-floating, life-nurturing.
CHORONZON: I am a nova, all-exploding… planet-cremating.
MORPHEUS: I am the Universe — all things encompassing, all life embracing.
CHORONZON: I am Anti-Life, the Beast of Judgment. I am the dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, gods, worlds… of everything. Sss. And what will you be then, Dreamlord?
MORPHEUS: I am hope.”
Neil Gaiman, Preludes & Nocturnes
Preludes and Nocturnes follow Dream also known as Morpheus, who is the younger brother of Death. As an Endless, one who lives forever, he becomes trapped for seventy years in an evil magician’s basement. The evil magician thought he was trapping Death to live forever, but what he conquered instead was “little death.” Dream escapes captivity after 70 years and searches out his lost tools; The helm, the sand, and the ruby. He is much weakened from his years trapped, but once he regains his strength he begins his quest to require what was stolen from him and in the process rebuild his crumbling realm.
Preludes and Nocturnes is an opening book to many stories to come. This story reads fairly straightforwardly. However every page is setting up the future books; Dream loses power, dream gains power, and Dream seeks revenge. As straightforward as that seems there are overarching themes about family and what death and sleep actually are. Death is very secure with herself, while Dream lacks that security. Often he questions himself and his actions. There is a beautiful sequence later in the volume where Death and Dream are talking. Death mentions how everyone fears her while the same people go into Dream’s realm with no complaint. His response, “And I am far more terrible than you, sister.” Highlighting that Dream holds incredible and terrible power while Death is a release from pain and could even be seen as a kindness. The irony is not lost on either of them. Dream’s relationship with family and specifically his older sister Death play a large part in how Dream views the world and how future stories play out. Death’s opinion of Dream’s actions and who he is are one of the few opinions that he cares about.
There is much more to this story. It is stacked with beautiful but subtle nuances. However, it is up to the reader to find those subtleties for themselves. I don’t think that this series is for everyone, but it is a great place to start reading and appreciating graphic novels. But if this story sings for you, it will be one of the most beautiful things you have ever read.
Stick a toe in, and see how the water is.
Read The Sandman Preludes and Nocturnes
Short Story – Sunbird by Neil Gaiman
The post Graphic Novel Review – The Sandman Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
May 28, 2022
Review – Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Legends & Lattes is simply an infuriating book
Very little actually happens in it. And certainly nothing unexpected or completely out of left field. You could pretty much predict the ending 1/3rd of the way through.
But that’s not what’s goddamn frustrating about it. Far from it.
What makes me so angry is I have no idea how Travis Baldree managed to craft a book that’s so damn good! Probably partly due to the experience he’s gained narrating so many awesome audio books.
Now this is certainly not the first review to rave about Legends & Lattes, and it certainly won’t be the last, but if, for some reason, you’re one of the few people who haven’t heard about it or picked it up, I highly suggest you do so.
The plot is simple: Viv, an orc, tired of her mercenary past, decides to retire and open a coffee shop in a small town.
And that’s pretty much it. Sure, there’s some conflict that drives things forward with the local crime element, and a jealous figure from her past, but really all of that is secondary, at best. In fact, I’d wager that if Baldree had omitted those elements entirely, the book would still be an utter joy to read.
Because what really carries Legends & Lattes isn’t a plot or any large scale, epic worldbuilding. No, the book coasts along for a breezy 300 or so pages with such gentle grace that by the end of it you’re left in such a good mood that the only thing you could be riled up about is how fast the book went by.
Every single goddamn character in this book will charm the fucking pants off of you. Viv, the aforementioned orc shopkeep, Cal, her taciturn craftsman, Tandri, the succubus barista… even the rat-man baker is a friggin’ delight! And they’re all nice, kind people just doing their best to build and run a business. And I could read 300 more pages of it!
But – at the same time – I also don’t want to.
This book gives us something different than any other fantasy in a hundred different ways – simple plotting, calm pacing, no elaborate world-building, and low, gentle stakes – but the one other mold-breaking aspect I was quite impressed by is that Lattes so immensely satisfying and complete on its own that it doesn’t leave you desperate for the next thing. I’m quite happy with the experience Baldree has given me, and to ask for more would just feel greedy.
In a time of high-stress and world-shattering stakes, Legends & Lattes is a book that thinks maybe we should all sit down, take a deep breath, and just have a sip of coffee.
6/5 (Yeah. It really is that good.)
The post Review – Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
Review – Star Trek Picard No Man’s Land by Kirsten Beyer & Mike Johnson
STAR TREK: PICARD: NO MAN’S LAND is a audio drama that is about an hour and a half long as well as primarily done by Michelle Hurd alongside Jeri Ryan. There are plenty of other cast members, though, and it is written by Star Trek mainstay Kirsten Beyer. It is something I immediately bought despite not liking audio dramas generally and much preferring the printed page or more traditional audiobooks.
This is because I’m fantastically in love with STAR TREK: PICARD’s setting. Not necessarily the show itself but the world it envisioned for its first season. The Romulan star has exploded and a great star empire has fallen. The Neutral Zone has collapsed into chaos and there’s now feuding warlords fighting it over territories without a unifying leader. There’s the Fenris Rangers, Qwat Milat, seedy criminals, and a Federation that has absolutely no desire to get involved.
My reasons for loving this setting are basically the same as my reasons for loving an RPG setting: it is absolutely full of all manner of fun for characters to get into. It is dangerous, sexy, and interesting politically. There’s no coincidence similar ideas were explored in STAR TREK ONLINE’s Romulan campaign as well as the much-earlier STAR TREK: NEW FRONTIER novels that were a massive influence on my own Space Academy books.
Unfortunately, for all my love of the setting, Star Trek: Picard doesn’t spend much time in the former Neutral Zone. Instead, we deal with a couple of baddies and then it’s off to deal with other problems. It’s part of the reason I want a FENRIS RANGERS or STAR TREK: SEVEN’S NINE series set in the place. You could really get into the interesting politics and intrigue involved in a power vacuum and whether a tyranny is worse than anarchy.
No Man’s Land is a pretty short story to cover all of this and I would have easily read a Kirsten Beyer-written novel about this subject. I’m still hoping for more information on the former Neutral Zone in the upcoming novel, Second Self. However, I should note this novel isn’t actually the lengthy guide to the setting of Picard I wanted but primarily a short adventure (probably novella length) that primarily deals with Seven and Raffi’s relationship.
This is arguably the best part of the novel because there’s absolutely nothing obscure or hesitant about depicting Seven and Raffi’s relationship. They are romantically interested in one another, want to pursue a serious relationship, and the only thing standing in their way is years of emotional baggage. They don’t erase the fact both women are bisexuals either but portray that upfront while making it clear it’s not an impediment to a long-term relationship as some queer-phobic media has.
I like the depiction of the Fenris Rangers as a contrast to Starfleet. They’re an all-volunteer force that is underpaid, underfunded, and do not have much in the way of equipment for their task. Nevertheless, they try to do the best they can and their primary goal is to protect refugees from the rampaging forces of the former Romulan military as well as aristocracy.
Everything else is a kind of straightforward TOS or video game plot. There’s an insane Romulan nobleman, a Maguffin that grants immortality, a madman who can lead the way, and a twist ending that was pretty telegraphed but still satisfying. The performances are great and we do get to see the Fenris Rangers in action. I also like the supporting cast, which adds a nice bunch of comic relief without being ridiculous. Sadly, I think the book could have been at least an hour or two longer without wearing out its welcome.
Listen to Star Trek: Picard No Man’s LandThe post Review – Star Trek Picard No Man’s Land by Kirsten Beyer & Mike Johnson appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
May 27, 2022
Bjørn Again Presents: Quenby Olson
Quenby Olson is the author of universally acclaimed and beloved humorous fantasy Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons). This March, the follow-up to Miss Percy was published – The Scandal of the Vicar’s Wife. (Note I did not say “the sequel.”) Miss Percy is a dragon-owning spinster, who sometimes finds herself in the proximity of a humble vicar. So… I guess the vicar married Mildred Percy… and then… and then I decided to ask.
Miss Percy conquered the world, and now The Vicar’s Wife is following in her footsteps. As a fan of Ms Mildred Percy, how will I feel about Mrs Julia Benton? Or Dorothea from The Half Killed?This is honestly the most difficult thing about the way I write (and why I suspect traditional publishing would never work for me). Oh, boy. Um, Miss Percy is a book someone could read to their children, I think, without there being any issues. The Vicar’s Wife has so much more… mature content. Not just with the sex scenes, but dealing with infertility and miscarriage and adultery. I would say if you’re a fan of historical romances that can become steamy and tackle serious topics, then you can leap right over. But definitely check the blurb and the reviews first, and don’t auto-buy thinking it’s going to be another fluffy romp. That’s what I would have to say.
I flip back and forth so much, from genre to genre to subgenre, writing according to my moods. And it does make it difficult when someone loves a book I wrote, and then I might not have another book like that on the shelf to offer. I wish I had a better plan or some kind of Venn diagram I could use to market all of the various styles I’ve tackled, but so far it’s just me throwing out my creative brain vomit at random and seeing what sticks.
My visual imagination would like to thank you for that last sentence. Have you ever considered pen names? If yes (or if no) how many do you think you would need?I did consider pen names at one point, like an Iain Banks/Iain M. Banks situation. I’ve seen other authors do it, with separate social media accounts and everything, but I feel like I can barely manage one author name, and juggling more would be impossible. But if I HAD to separate them, I would have the fantasy name, the historical romance name, and… possibly contemporary? That is if I had continued in the style of my first book.
Have you ever had readers complaining in the reviews “I wanted more of X and got Y instead”?Strangely, not between the fantasy and the romance. And I anticipated that. I have had some between the historical romance novels, where some didn’t like the stories I wrote that had sex scenes in them and wanted them to stay more mild (like The Firstborn, etc.) and complained about that. So even within a subgenre, there are still dividing lines. Which is another reason why I just didn’t bother with taking on multiple pen names.
What was your initial vision of yourself as an author?I didn’t start seriously writing until my 20s, and more towards my mid-to-later 20s. I thought I’d be more of a slice-of-life contemporary author at first. Then I started drifting toward romance. Then fantasy came in and it just became a lot of trying to figure out which direction to go in. It took a while to realize I could mix them up and go in any direction I wanted. Now I write about dragons and cake.
It’s hard to believe that Miss Percy and Julia Benton are related, but they both have you as a mother. Who came first?It is odd because I wrote them both in the same year. Miss Percy was born from pure anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic. I was at home with my kids, we had no idea what was happening, really, or how things would go (like now!) and so I started writing this light little book that calmed me down. And that was added onto having always wanted to write a fantasy story about someone who was middle-aged going off on their first adventure, rather than it being about a young kid, destiny, etc. and so forth.
Julia then was another side of that coin. Also middle-aged, also someone who until that point had never really lived. She married because it was expected of her, she tried to have children because it was expected of her, and she always felt utterly invisible. And me, being in my 40s and with chronic health issues completely understood that feeling, of not being seen by doctors and society. I wasn’t young anymore, couldn’t have kids anymore, so what worth was I? And that story became more of a lancing the wound kind of thing, venting onto the page.
I was going to ask – since Miss Percy 2 (in Wales!) and 3 (I don’t know where!) are coming, as I happen to know, do you see yourself sticking to one genre, but I am pretty sure the answer is no – so… do you see yourself sticking to two genres? Or will it always be “this is what I came up with and you might love it or not”?Definitely at least two genres, for now. I’m in the middle of writing Miss Percy 3, am also working on another historical romance (but this one much lighter and… jauntier in tone?) and then the next fantasy is going to be another historical but with best friends who become amateur vampire hunters and also lovers and it’s a kind of a cozy black comedy mystery?
Oh no.
Read Quenby Olson’s Books
About Author, Quenby OlsonQuenby Olson lives in Central Pennsylvania where she writes, homeschools, and glares at baskets of unfolded laundry. After training to be a ballet dancer, she turned towards her love of fiction, penning everything from romance to fantasy, historical to mystery. She spends her days with her husband and five children, who do nothing to dampen her love of the outdoors, immersing herself in historical minutiae, and staying up late to watch old episodes of Doctor Who.
The post Bjørn Again Presents: Quenby Olson appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
Review – Picard Season 2
STAR TREK: PICARD Season Two is something that I was deeply looking forward to from the moment it was announced as I was a huge fan of Season One. My impression of that season was that it had an extremely strong start but stumbled due to episode length. We didn’t get enough follow-up on events and were left with more mysteries than answers. Basically, I wished they had done THE LAST BEST HOPE by Una McCormick as a two-parter to open it and added an epilogue to follow up on what happened after the events of the tenth episode.
Still, I was very excited for the return of the cast and seeing how they would deal with the consequences of the first season. Unfortunately, the answer to that is generally: not at all. I think Doctor Jurati being cleared of murder charges due to mind-control was the only subject matter that got addressed. What about the Zhat Vash? What happened to them? What about Admiral Oh? Narek? Is the Federation going to work with the Romulans tracking down the terrorists who burned both? How about the ex-Borg?
Instead, the series focuses much more on an entirely new storyline. After rejecting his employee, Laris (Orla Bradly) when she attempts to start a romantic relationship, Admiral Picard (Patrick Stewart, duh) is requested by the Federation to help with a First Contact scenario: a new race wants to join the Federation. Except, it’s not a First Contact scenario, it’s the Borg and things end disastrously with Picard blowing himself along with the rest of the heroes up.
Like a script editor, this will not do for Q (John De Lancie) and he restores Picard as well as his merry band of miscreants to life. He proceeds to put them in what appears to be a dystopian version of the Federation and from there, Picard must take Seven (Jeri Ryan), Raffi (Michelle Hurd), Rios (Osvaldo Ríos Alonso), and Doctor Jurati (Alison Pill) to the 21st century in order to somehow prevent things. Due to contrived but entertaining circumstances, they also bring the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching). Characters Sonji (Isa Briones) and Elnor (Evan Evagora) have vastly reduced roles.
Generally, the show swerves between zany comedy reminiscent of Star Trek IV (with several homages) to that story and deep traumatic introspection, which is not always consistent. Captain Picard remembers his father as an abusive monster to his mother and her as a saint but there’s a trick his memory is playing on him. I feel like the episodes might have benefited from picking a lane as it sometimes feels like they undermine each other’s tone. There are also some areas where the actions on screen contradict what we’re later told. For example, Q seems to be trying to achieve one thing in one episode before revealing that he was doing the exact opposite later (which is, admittedly, not out of character for Q).
On the positive side of things, I think John De Lancie has lost absolutely none of his touch and preserves all the things we love about Q. He’s Loki, Satan, and God all in one with a wide-eyed grin as he destroys everything for the greater good or saves everyone for his own twisted amusement. The few scenes he and Patrick Stewart have are fantastic and he’s also a bright spot in episodes where he deals with Adam Soong (Brent Spinner) or Kore (Isla Brione). Speaking of Soong, he is a bright spot in the show once they cast aside any moral ambiguity and just make him a straight-up Bond villain. Not every Star Trek antagonist can be misunderstood, and this transformation gives some higher stakes when the story has perhaps too many moving parts.
Indeed, the storyline is a labyrinthine web akin to one of Fox Mulder’s conspiracy boards and we even get an homage to said character in one episode. “We have to go back in time with the Borg Queen’s help to find the astronaut who needs to be on the mission that will create the Federation, but Q is causing her to doubt herself. If she doubts herself, this will create the Confederacy in which Adam Soong will be their spiritual leader. Oh and the Borg Queen is playing both sides. All of this is related to Picard’s traumatic childhood. Somehow. That’s not getting into every individual character’s subplots.” It is 99% explained by the final episode but weirdly reads like a George R.R. Martin plot despite being written for television not a book.
Thematically, the story is all about trauma and how we can’t lose hope that things will get better. That the current troubles we face in 2022 will be things that we eventually overcome and make a better world from as long as we’re understanding and willing to forgive. Except Silicon Valley tech billionaires. Don’t forgive or try to understand them because they’re completely awful. Borg Queens can be persuaded and negotiated with but not those guys. It’s an argument that I’m okay with.
Negatively, is just about anything to do with time travel. This is a mess even by the standards of Star Trek and I can’t help the season would have benefited from stripping out a lot of the extraneous fluff. “Picard goes to bed one day with his crew and they wake up in Evil Federation. Q then meets with them and says he’s let them keep his memories because it amuses him to see them try to fix things Days of Futures Past style. Someone how has gone back in time to muck with the past. Maybe another Soong creation or Borg victim. Stop him. *snaps fingers*). Ito Aghayere does a good job as young Guinan but it’s confusing to explain away Whoopi Goldberg’s aging but not hers. Also, the change from “Time’s Arrow.” I mean, it’s an easy fix. “My people go through periods of aging and de-aging due to our life cycle.”
Overall, I liked Picard season 2 a bit less than season 1 but still significantly more than a lot of Star Trek. The overcomplexity of the plot and “prestige television” format is something that I feel is hurting the shows, though, because they don’t have enough episodes to resolve all the plots. I also was disappointed with the ending for some of the characters. While I didn’t always like what they did, I say that the crew of the La Sirena is the one I like the most since Firefly‘s. I wanted a spin-off show with Rios or Seven as captain. Instead, most of them are very likely no longer going to be doing Star Trek by the end and that’s a shame.
7.5/10
The post Review – Picard Season 2 appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
Review – A Star Named Vega by Benjamin J. Roberts
I’m going to get straight to the point: A Star Named Vega is a vibrant, colorful Space Opera with sumptuous and beautiful world-building that is a joy to read. You really shouldn’t waste time with the rest of my dry, flavorless review and just grab a copy and read that instead.
If you’re still here, fine:
Vega follows Aster Vale – graffiti artist and the daughter of a prominent scientist – as she makes the journey from Mars to the Vega system along with goofy genius wunderkind Isaac Branstromm. Her father and Isaac have been tapped for a secret project involving the most war-like inhabitants of the 12 systems: the Skarids. Meanwhile, Rel Akepri, a Skarid himself, receives orders to intercept the starship that Aster is on, for the good of his species. The two cross paths in a story that artfully explores the dark, beautiful past of the galaxy.
While you could be forgiven for thinking Vega is a YA due to the ages of the protagonists – Aster and Issac are about 13-15, and I believe Rel is around the same age (age is arbitrary in galactic standards anyway) – it really is more of a classic space opera, with a few more complex wrinkles. The protagonists aren’t all-powerful chosen ones, but feel like real people with interesting and fun personalities. Simultaneously, the antagonists aren’t moustache twirling evil despots, and have a great level of development and thoughtful introspection both as a species, and as people. And the world-building has a few great twists and turns – and every infodump about the galaxy doesn’t feel like an infodump about the galaxy, and actually made me want to learn more, which is a hard feat to accomplish anywhere.
The other thing is, Roberts writes Vega with such flair and style that its sometimes easy to forget it’s a space opera, especially when it zooms in and focuses on future subcultures. We’re given a look into a galactic order that teems with personality and color – often quite literally due to the incredible concept of Vocks: an app that encourages artistic displays of civil disobedience. What results is a fleshed out world that seems like an engrossing mélange of Battlestar Galactica, Arthur C. Clarke, and Jet Grind Radio, which is something I’d never thought I’d say, let alone read. It’s sparkling, vibrant storytelling in a genre I haven’t engaged with in a while. As a newly crowned SPSFC finalist, you should expect nothing less.
A Star Named Vega gets a lot of things right, but the best thing it does is give the Space Opera a fresh new coat of paint.
Read Star of Vega
The post appeared first on BEFOREWEGOBLOG.
