Beth Tabler's Blog, page 213
September 28, 2021
First Chapter, First Paragraph – Lord of the Flies by William Golding
What it is About? 
At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want.
Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”
First Chapter, First ParagraphCheck Out Our Other First Chapter, First Paragraph
The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.
He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry; and this cry was echoed by another.
“Hi!” it said. “Wait a minute!”
The undergrowth at the side of the scar was shaken and a multitude of raindrops fell pattering.
“Wait a minute,” the voice said. “I got caught up.”
The fair boy stopped and jerked his stockings with an automatic gesture that made the jungle seem for a moment like the Home Counties.
The voice spoke again.
“I can’t hardly move with all these creeper things.”
The owner of the voice came backing out of the undergrowth so that twigs scratched on a greasy wind-breaker. The naked crooks of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns. He bent down, removed the thorns carefully, and turned around. He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat. He came forward, searching out safe lodgments for his feet, and then looked up through thick spectacles.
“Where’s the man with the megaphone?”
The fair boy shook his head.
“This is an island. At least I think it’s an island. That’s a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren’t any grownups anywhere.”
The fat boy looked startled.
“There was that pilot. But he wasn’t in the passenger cabin, he was up in front.”
First Chapter, First Paragraph – The White-Throated Transmigrant by E. Lily Yu
First Chapter, First Paragraph – Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
First Chapter, First Paragraph – Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Why You Should Check This Out...This is one of those books that as I got older, I became more aware of how messed up some of the themes are and how good the writing is. I think it is one of those books that you could read every decade of your life and get different things from it. I think I will reread it again in a few years when I am surrounded by puppies and kittens and everything is grand.
This book is harsh. You may like it. You may hate it. Honestly, it is a book that will affect you in some way. I first read it in high school and have carried it with me since then. It illustrates the dark side of humanity, in what should be the least dark part of humans, kids.
September 27, 2021
Review – Stitches by David Small
A Story of The Muted 
Beth Tabler 5/5 
Stitches by David Small Purchase Here David Small, Stitches About“ When you have no voice, you don’t exist”―
One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot, the fourteen-year-old boy had not been told that he had cancer and was expected to die.
In Stitches, Small, the award-winning children’s illustrator and author, re-creates this terrifying event in a life story that might have been imagined by Kafka. As the images painfully tumble out, one by one, we gain a ringside seat at a gothic family drama where David—a highly anxious yet supremely talented child—all too often became the unwitting object of his parents’ buried frustration and rage.
Believing that they were trying to do their best, David’s parents did just the reverse. Edward Small, a Detroit physician, who vented his own anger by hitting a punching bag, was convinced that he could cure his young son’s respiratory problems with heavy doses of radiation, possibly causing David’s cancer. Elizabeth, David’s mother, tyrannically stingy and excessively scolding, ran the Small household under a cone of silence where emotions, especially her own, were hidden.
Depicting this coming-of-age story with dazzling, kaleidoscopic images that turn nightmare into fairy tale, Small tells us of his journey from sickly child to cancer patient, to the troubled teen whose risky decision to run away from home at sixteen—with nothing more than the dream of becoming an artist—will resonate as the ultimate survival statemen
Image #1 
My Thoughts
“THE ODD THING ABOUT RECURRING DREAMS IS THAT, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU DREAM THE SAME THING, IT ALWAYS TAKES YOU BY SURPRISE.”
DAVID SMALL, STITCHES
“Graphic Novels. They Aren’t Books. They have no literary value.”
Sigh.
I have often heard this. Repeatedly. Books like Stitches are the reason that the argument against graphic novels not being literature heavyweights is so brainless. This story is poignant, as well as painful and oh so very real.
David Small is a famous children’s illustrator who took his childhood memories held them, squeezed them, and wrapped them up into a ball and served us this novel. His childhood was not a happy one; “Dad was never there except occasionally for one of mother’s dry, burned little meals; mother coiled tight inside her shell of angry, resentful silence; my brother in his, and I in mine.”
This is a story full of angry moments. At the beginning usually from his mother, later into David’s adolescence, the anger belonged to him. It was full of lying and cruelty on the part of his parents. Often when reading this, I had to put the book down and take a moment to appreciate my own family, my own parents, and myself as a parent. I am doing better than I think I am.
Most of the story centers on a lie David’s parents told him regarding his health and the casualty cruelties accompanying it. What was supposed to be an easy cyst removal in his neck was actually cancer and left David disfigured and mostly mute. His parents never acknowledge what had happened to him until much later. This leaves him with both physical scars, “A crusted black track of stitches; my smooth young throat slashed and laced back up like a bloody boot,” and understandably the mental scars that would come with that.
I am sure at this point you are wondering why someone would read something like this. It sounds like a long story of pain, and it is. However, David’s story is also one of hope and overcoming your past. It is beautiful and tragic and heartbreaking. But this is a story that will dig into your mind and stay with you. There is a reason it is considered one of the best graphic memoirs ever written. Stitches is a collection of profound moments, and by the end of the story, we understand that even in the worst of circumstances one can find their own voice, and be who they want to be even if they are mute.
Check Out My Other ReviewsReview – Battle Ground by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #17)
Review – The Ikessar Falcon by K.S Villoso
If You Liked This - Please Share the Love Beth Tabler
Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
#MusicMonday – Finally Moving by Pretty Lights
#musicmonday Music That Speaks to Me Sometimes a song, is more than a song.
Finally moving by pretty lights Lyrics I get a good feeling, yeahOh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeahGet a feeling that I never, never, never, never had before oh, no
I get a good feeling, yeahOh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah
Get a feeling that I never, never, never, never had before oh, no
I get a good feeling, yeahJust want to tell ya right now
I really do believe it
Just want to tell ya right now
I really do believe itOh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah
Get a feeling that I never, never, never, never had before oh, no
I get a good feeling, yeahJust want to tell ya right now
I really do believe it
Just want to tell ya right now
I really do believe it Check Out Their Album Here Check Out Some Other Great Songs Below
#MusicMonday Ivar;s Revenge by Danheim
#musicmonday Eyes on Fire – Zeds Dead Remix by Blue Foundation
September 25, 2021
Interview with Peter V. Brett, Author of The Demon Cycle series
Peter V. Brett "... Fight choreography is a mini-passion of mine, and I gravitated toward books that did it well. My favorite part when I read The Princess Bride was the long fight between the Man in Black and Inigo atop the Cliffs of Insanity, or Drizzt Do’Urden vs Artemis Entreri in The Halfling’s Gem. I practiced Kendo in college, and follow movie fight choreographers the way others follow lead actors. I’ve been kickboxing for the last 7 years or so, and I consider it a business expense, because the practice dramatically helps my writing. That excitement is probably why fight scenes have always been the one part of writing that flows quickly and easily for me......" For me as a reader, there are books and authors such as Peter V. Brett that have made a lasting impression on me. Ones that I consider to be gateway drugs for lack of a better term. When I first discovered the joy of dark fantasy, Peter’s series, The Warded Man, was one of the first that I plowed through. At the time I had only read series like Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time. The Warded Man is a sweeping world of fantasy with a land full of heroics, gray characters, and demons that would make any of the most jaded and stolid of horror readers sit up and take notice.
Peter has come back to this world with a new novel called The Desert Prince debuting in August. This novel takes place 15 years after the last book, which means that we will have throwbacks and echoes of the first series, but with a new cast of characters to get to know and cheer on.
Peter was kind enough to interview with me and talk a bit about writing, his influences growing up, and the new book, The Desert Prince.
The Original Interview appeared here
BWG: Who influenced you as a young reader growing up?
I get this question a lot, and the practiced answer is usually something like: Tolkien, 1980s Marvel Comics, Terry Brooks, RA Salvatore, CS Friedman, James Clavell, Robert Jordan, and George RR Martin.
But that answer doesn’t cover the literally hundreds of other SF & Horror novels I devoured, plus the 10,000+ comics & graphic novels in my collection. King, Herbert, Moorcock, Norton, Eddings, Farland, Hobb, Feist, all the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels, most every comic book published 1984-1990, the list goes on and on.
One thing that did not influence me as a young reader was my school English curriculum. I am glad to see none of my children will ever be subjected to the torment that is Ethan Frome.
BWG: You have a degree in English Literature and Art History from the University at Buffalo. How has your education affected your writing?
Not a lot, if I am honest. I left high school knowing I wanted to be a novelist, but UB didn’t have a creative writing program, so I just took a lot of literature classes and figured the writing part would take care of itself. It was a terrible plan, but looking back I guess it worked so maybe not that terrible? Definitely a harder road, though. I graduated in 1995, and didn’t have a novel I thought was worth submitting for another ten years.
Even then, my agent rejected my first two manuscripts as the work of “someone who taught themself to write quite well, but was still making a lot of amateur mistakes”. He suggested I read Writing to Sell, by Scott Meredith, which was an enormous help in rewriting one of my trunk novels into what would become The Warded Man.
The minor in Art History has come in pretty handy over the years, though! I get to work with some incredibly talented artists, and it helps to be able to talk the talk. One of my favorite things to do on book tour is to steal an hour or two to visit museums in tour cities, experiencing in real life pieces of art I only read about in books.
BWG: What do you like in a fantasy story? What thrills you, what repels you? Have you read any books lately that really affected you?
I like a protagonist I can relate to emotionally, and stakes I actually care about. Someone who has to earn their power, and sweat a bit to get the job done. I don’t have a lot of patience for convenient “Chosen One” plot structure, which is something I poke a bit of fun at in Demon Cycle.
My other literary turn-off is what the Turkey City Lexicon refers to as “I Suffered for My Art, So You Should, Too”. Basically, it’s when an author does a TON of research for their book, and feels the need to fill pages with endless extraneous details to show off how much they learned. I don’t need to know that much about the rigging of medieval sailing vessels, thanks.
Reading time is at a premium these days with two young kids home-learning and a partner working from the dining table during a pandemic. I switched the majority of my reading to audiobooks while I hike around the park or fold laundry or whatever. Recently I’ve really enjoyed Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Books, as well as SA Chakraborty’s Daevabad books and RF Kuang’s brutal and amazing Poppy War trilogy. I loved Andy Weir’s Project: Hail Mary.
One book that I did manage to power through in print was Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter (the sequel to Rage of Dragons, which blew me away). I managed to call in a favor and score an advance read copy, and the magic holds in the second book. I’m pretty biased these days, but those books made me feel like a kid reading R.A. Salvatore again.
BWG: I know you are an avid fan of RPG’s and Comics. What are some of your favorites and why?
Not counting computer RPGs, I was always a bit of a D&D purist. I felt the rules and setting were so wide and varied that it let you tell a virtually limitless set of stories, so why keep learning the rules to new games? I invested quite heavily in the hardcover rule books (edition 2.5 was my heyday) and plotted out ridiculously epic stories for my players.
Regarding comics, I read most everything in the 80’s and 90’s. Superheroes were always where my heart was, but I also loved noir comics like Criminal and Sin City, indies like Cerebus, Thieves & Kings, and Stray Bullets, as well as Euro comics (mostly via Heavy Metal magazine, or when I could find translations), and more.
BWG: Has your creative outlet always been writing?
Between the ages of 12-16 I wanted to be a comic book artist, but I was never very good at it. I started writing seriously around then, and finished my first (godawful) novel at 17. It was close to two decades before I wrote a good one. I still draw sometimes, though. It’s relaxing.
BWG: How do you structure your daily writing schedule?
Not sure which is more LOL, “structure” or “schedule”. I used to strive for 1000 words a day, and I still think that’s a good benchmark for writers. It’s little enough that there isn’t really a good excuse for not being able to reach it, but big enough that is scales quickly if you do it consistently. But since having kids (and especially in these last 18 months when the whole family has invaded my home office) having a structured schedule became impossible. I write during the day when I find a quiet window, and work late at night when I can’t.
BWG: You have written five books and four novellas, with a new novel, The Desert Prince coming out soon. Some have been more polarizing in reviews than others. From a seasoned author like yourself, how does an author take criticism, positive or negative, and use it to keep moving forward?
It’s different for everyone, so I don’t want to speak for others, but for myself, I genuinely like my own work. There are lots of times when I think reviewers are being biased or downright unfair (being mean always gets you more clicks), but I’ve never once read a review that made me doubt my artistic choices, or wish I’d done something differently. Some will try to paint me as a bad person because a I made a make-believe person in a make-believe world think or feel or experience something they feel is problematic, but I know why I made those choices, so those criticisms mostly roll off. The thing I am most criticized for is two characters saying they love each other too much (six whole times in one 800 page book!) which kinda says it all.
BWG: You are a lifelong New Yorker and saw September 11th first hand. How had that experience affected you firstly as a New Yorker and secondly as an author?
It was a rough day. My father-in-law was in the Towers, and it was hours before we learned he evacuated in time. So many others weren’t so lucky. Worse was how the trauma brought out some of the worst instincts in Americans and government, leading to horrific foreign policy blunders that continue to ruin lives to this day.
Artistically, though, it gave me insight that I think made my early books resonate. Everyone in New York, myself included, was terrified on September 11, but each of us reacted to that fear in our own unique way, across a broad spectrum. I tried to reflect that in the fear that permeates The Warded Man, as people check their wards and wait for the demons to rise.
BWG: Tell me about your beginnings writing The Painted Man. I read you wrote it on a iPAQ 6515 while riding the subway.
True story. After reading Writing to Sell, I threw away about 60% of the original Painted Man manuscript, including the entire third act. I had an agent interested in the rewrite, but I also had a full time job, friends, a relationship, and other things filling my time. Writing was important to me, so I knew I needed to find the time somewhere.
I had a commute from Brooklyn to Times Square every day, and I mostly spent that time reading. I decided instead to try writing during that commute. I bought a Windows smartphone that had a pared down version of MS Word called Docs to Go, broke my manuscript into chapters that would fit on the phone, and wrote about 300-400 words on the way to work and the same on the way home. At night I would sync it to my desktop, fix all my thumb typos, and add enough to get up to 1000 words for the day. I did that for a year, resulting in the book that’s in stores now. Technically, there were hurdles, but it also taught me that I could be creative anywhere, on command, and that’s a powerful thing.
BWG: The first book of The Demon Cycle series is The Painted Man or The Warded Man, depending on where you live. Why two titles? Which title was the preferred title?
The Painted Man was my original title. Random House US decided they wanted to change it, but took a while to settle on a variant. In that time, HarperCollins UK, who were fine with the title as it was, decided to move ahead and go to press. The book published there in the fall of 2008 as The Painted Man to great success, and then in February of 2009 it published in the US as The Warded Man, losing a bit of momentum because of the change.
That said, The Warded Man has grown on me over the years, and is now my preferred title. I just wish it could have been consistent.
BWG: Labels are thrown around a lot that try to classify and pigeonhole fantasy books into different genres, but they rarely get it right. I have heard The Demon Cycle books described as grimdark, although I didn’t find that description wholly accurate as a reader. How would you describe The Demon Cycle books?
I tend to agree with you. I don’t think my books are grimdark. Sure, I deal with a lot of heavy themes in a scary world, but my books also have a lot of hope, and in the opposite of grimdark tradition, a lot of the characters that seem awful at first turn out to be trying to do the right thing in their own way once you see it from their perspective.
Subgenre labels are useful to booksellers and marketers who don’t have time to read every book, but I think authors do themselves a disservice when they try to write in a subgenre and follow its “rules”.
BWG: The Demon Cycle series is combat-heavy, employing detailed fight scenes. What kind of research do you do for fight scene creation, or do you write what feels natural and flows best in the scene?
Fight choreography is a mini-passion of mine, and I gravitated toward books that did it well. My favorite part when I read The Princess Bride was the long fight between the Man in Black and Inigo atop the Cliffs of Insanity, or Drizzt Do’Urden vs Artemis Entreri in The Halfling’s Gem. I practiced Kendo in college, and follow movie fight choreographers the way others follow lead actors. I’ve been kickboxing for the last 7 years or so, and I consider it a business expense, because the practice dramatically helps my writing. That excitement is probably why fight scenes have always been the one part of writing that flows quickly and easily for me.
BWG: The Krasians have certain similarities with Sparta and spartan culture. What attracted you to the war training aspect of Sparta as a model for The Krasians.
I pulled bits from various cultures when first forming Krasian society because I wanted them to feel real, and plausible, but Krasia and its people very quickly grew into something unique to my world.
The Krasian religion is centered around Sharak Ka, the war on demonkind. In the beginning of The Demon Cycle, before the return of combat warding, that meant fighting demons—immortal, armored creatures that can heal almost any wound in minutes—with plain weapons of wood and steel. The more I thought about it, the more staggering it was that they might survive at all, much less find any kind of victory.
What would it take to forge a warrior with that level of courage and skill? What kind of indoctrination would it take to make an otherwise sane man stand before a charging horde of demons, night after night? How would you best go about it? You wouldn’t use a sword. No one wants to get in close with demon teeth and claws. You’d want long spears, and a shield wall.
So it was sort of natural to pull very general themes from Ancient Sparta. The myth—the perfect warrior, forged in the fires of the agoge and legendary for their suicidal stand against a vastly superior force. But also what I imagine was the reality—flawed, damaged and emotionally stunted men, abused through childhood, traumatized by seeing friends killed and the horror of their nightly war.
BWG: You have very detailed dialects utilized throughout your stories. How did you develop the specific dialects and world-building for the different free cities?
It was a subtle way to convey a sense of isolation. The Free Cities are walled bastions against the demon corelings, each the last remain of some once great duchy of Thesa. They share a common culture and language, but over the many years since demons returned and cut them off from each others, they’ve each developed their own unique character. One of the ways to show that was to have words, usage and phrasing that was unique to each city, and even their vassal hamlets. Not too different from how every town in the UK has it’s own dialect, or even the boroughs of New York, once upon a time.
BWG: I know that The Demon Cycle series has been critiqued for its female characters and the presence of sexual assault. While readers form their own opinions based on their experiences, I found it wonderful to read the series as a woman who loves fantasy. It was hard to find my fantasy heroes growing up, where female characters have agency and are more than pretty faces, and your stories feature women warriors and in a position of power. Did having daughters impact how you wrote your cast and their story arcs?
The Warded Man and most of The Desert Spear were already written when my first daughter was born, so I don’t think that had a lot of impact on those early stories. It came more from my own experiences, and the frustrated sense that fiction as a whole was failing not just women, but everyone by excising women from stories. Women are more than half the population. You mean to tell me intrepid world explorer Indiana Jones only encounters one per movie?
So I made it a point to not just have a female lead in my stories, but to make women half the people you meet, from regular supporting cast members down to the local butcher who gets one dry joke, or the young stable hand who doesn’t even get a line. Varied women, not there for the male gaze, but because they belong. It made the stories feel more real to me.
Like most people, I have loved ones that are survivors of sexual assault. Excluding that aspect of women’s lives and experience, even as I did my best to support friends and family during their healing process, seemed dishonest to me. I wanted those people to feel seen in stories, too. Not just the trauma, but also the triumphs still to come in a life lived. I have never used assault as a shortcut, or in gratuity. But as you say, every reader brings their own experiences and opinions to a story, reading with a unique perspective. It’s what makes books so magical. So while I regret that some readers are put off by that aspect of my books, there are also many many readers who see it closer to my intention, and love the stories all the more for it. I don’t think it’s possible for an artist to make everyone happy, so all we can do is tell the story that feels true to us.
BWG: You are extremely popular in Germany and have referred to yourself as the “David Hasslehoff of fantasy.” How did that come about?
For some reason, my books are very popular in Germany. Vastly more popular per capita than they are in the United States. I honestly couldn’t tell you why. I made a joke one time during some interview that it made me the David Hasselhoff of fantasy, since in the US he’s only TV famous, whereas in Germany he was performing to packed stadiums. The joke got a laugh, so I kept it aspart of my regular routine at events and on podcasts and the like. You never throw away a laugh.
BWG: You have a new book coming out, The Desert Prince that takes place fifteen years after The Core, and it stars Olive Paper and Darin Bales. Can you tell us a bit about The Desert Prince and what to expect and about its main stars, Olive and Darin?
Olive and Darin have grown up in a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Olive has never even seen a demon, and Darin, living on the outskirts of the purge zone, avoids them as much as possible. But both have spent their whole lives in the outsize shadows of their hero parents. Most of us know what it’s like to have our parents not approve of our college major or life choices, but what if your parents literally saved humanity from extinction? How does any kid not get lost in that?
In The Desert Prince, their parents aren’t always there to save them, forcing Olive and Darin to find out who they really are.
BWG: What was it like coming back to this world again?
In some ways it was like coming home. I designed the Demon Cycle world to let me tell all sorts of stories, and I had (and still have) a lot of plans for it. But it was difficult, as well, keeping canon with the old series and providing cameos to let longtime readers see what’s become of some fan-favorite characters, while also telling a story that welcomed new readers without burdening them with the baggage of the original series. Anyone can pick up The Desert Prince and dive right in with everything they need to get lost in the adventure.
Buy Peter's Books
Check Out Some Of Our Other interviews Interview – Kristyn Merbeth Author of the Nova Vita Protocol
Interview – Author Grady Hendrix
September 24, 2021
Review – Ringlander: The Path and the Way by Michael S. Jackson
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
ringlander: The Path and the Way by michael s. jackson September 24, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPressRinglander: The Path and the Way is a wonderfully detailed and exceptionally well-done fantasy story that stands out as one of the best titles I have read this year.
When I was asked to be a part of this tour, reading the book’s blurb, I was very intrigued. “Holes between worlds are tearing through Rengas. Firestorms are raging as multiple realities battle for control of the elements. Even the Way, the turbulent channel that separates Nord, Határ, and Kemen, the lifeblood of the city of Tyr, has turned.
Kyira’s search for her missing brother draws her away from the familiar frozen lines of Nord and south into the chaotic streets of Tyr, where games are played & battles fought. As reality tears, Kyira must choose between her family or her path before the worlds catch up with her.”
I mean, you pretty much had me at holes between worlds. The thought of things crashing through is a very powerful visual. However, the book was much more than I expected. While the worldbuilding is exquisitely done, what stood out for me was the characters. What I need to connect to a story entirely is a dialog that flows, characters that feel real, and protagonists that make me care.
The characters are not cardboard cutouts. They have deep personal histories and cultures that help define their actions to the reader. Instead of one event, going to another event, then finishing. We have more reason for the actions done in the name of the plot. I appreciate that a lot as a reader.
Aside from the unique personal quests, the main characters go on, the rich history and backstory Jackson has built, we also have a current of political intrigue and oppression. The Bohr, a group of non-human oppressors, seek to claim all of the lands. They seek to dominate and conquer all around them. This layering of plot and history creates such a cool juxtaposition to the other worldbuilding and characters. Everything comes together.
All in all, this is a book not to be missed. Everything was correct for me. I was engaged, and I felt like I was reading something fresh and original, and I can’t wait until I can read more books in this series.
Check Out some of our other reviews
Review – The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Teaching the Girls in My Life Through the Power of Books
Reviewv-The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty
Beth Tabler Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
September 23, 2021
Jane Eyre Reimagined in McKenna’s “Jane”
Stats
3 Out of 5 Stars
Hardcover
224 pages
Published September 19th, 2017 by Archaia
ISBN1608869814 (ISBN13: 9781608869817)
Edition LanguageEnglish
Awards
Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominee for Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team (for Ramón K. Perez) (2018)
About Jane by Aline Brosh McKenna
From the publisher, “A reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel Jane Eyre set in the present day, written by acclaimed screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna and Eisner Award-winning illustrator Ramón K. Pérez.
Growing up in a broken home in a small fishing town, Jane dreamed of escaping to art school and following the allure of New York City. When that dream becomes a reality, however, it’s not long before she feels out of place by the size of the city and the talent of her peers. She soon discovers her place as she begins to nanny a young girl named Adele, but that is upended when she falls for the girl’s father, Rochester, a sardonic man of power, wealth, and unexpected charm. Jane learns that in the world of New York’s elite, secrets are the greatest extravagance and she’ll have to decide if she should trust the man she loves or do whatever it takes to protect Adele from the consequences of his deception.”
My Thoughts
Clearly, Rochester is the worst father in the world. Then the apartment. No way it could be creepier. Locked doors, a strange man wandering in, all these portraits of the dead wife…the whole thing is overseen by Magda the Crypt-Keeper. I’m telling you, something weird is happening in that apartment.
Excerpt from Jane by Aline Brosch McKenna
Jane is a modern retelling of the original Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Jane is an orphaned art student who worked as a fishmonger to save up enough money to move to New York City. Slinging fish builds character people! Her art scholarship requires her to get a job, and she finds one with a reclusive billionaire as a nanny to his daughter, Adele. Jane brings calmness and balance to the daughter and by extension to the billionaire father. Because again, Jane has character. Jane Eyre has now become a sort of Cinderella/Billionaire/Fifty Shades thing. We go back to the gothic part of the story where there is a door that Jane must never touch at the top of the stairs. This definitely is invoking some gothic elements like the original Jane Eyre. Rochester, the father, acts quite abusive and poorly in a few scenes and blames it on alcohol. I always had a difficult time with the original story because of the way that the male lead acted.
McKenna works with what she has got. But, the original version seems very apt for the period in which it was written. I am not sure that the mores that the characters displayed can be transferred to modern sensibilities. Eventually, Jane falls in love with Rochester. Rochester falls in love with Jane. Relationship weirdness happens, and somehow they all end up on a mysterious island. I will stop there and save the ending.
I am not a huge fan of Gothic stories. I have tried quite a few of the Bronte books and always found that they take themselves too seriously. Everything in a Gothic story is at it’s most dire or most exquisite or whatever all the time. There never seems to be much subtlety or small moments. This is just a personal preference, do not come at me Wuthering Heights lovers and Jane Eyre fans. But, cmon! They are exhausting to read. Jane, however, goes too far in the other direction. It is a whole lot of subtle moments that climax into a V.C Andrews ending. It feels unbalanced. The rest of the story is almost yawn-inducing then the last ten pages of the story seem to become an entirely different book with blockbuster movie effects.
Additionally, the various adaptions that Brosch takes with the original Jane Eyre story are problematic. Firstly, there is the doe-eyed feel of the new Jane character. It feels wrong and out of place in the story. In the original Jane Eyre, Jane seems like a solid and assertive character. Jane from the new adaptation is to unsure of herself to come off as confident, she comes off more as “please sir, may I have another.” Secondly, Rochester never has a moment of redemption. He starts off as a handsome, rich jerk and pretty much ends up that way. The moment of the redemption that occurs in the original story is left out of this one.
OK, so you came for a Jane Eyre story, but here is what you stay for. The art. The art in this story is exceptionally well done. Uniformly well done. Ramon K. Perez excelled at styling and coloring the panels to give the story various moods and atmospheres. For example, we see Jane often riding the train in New York City. She is recognized as colorful, while the train riders all around her a muted green. Anyone who has lived in a big city can understand the unique kind of loneliness of a train car full of people, but feeling utterly alone.
Overall, this isn’t a bad story. I don’t believe it is as successful as it could have been. I think some of the choices made were wrong for the story and the characters needed more fleshing out. But, I think that many readers will find a lot of enjoyment in the story, it just didn’t resonate with me. That being said, I will revisit this story to stare at the art. The art elevates the lackluster story significantly. Let me know what you think.
Procurement
I checked this out from the library.
About the Author
Aline Brosh McKenna is an award-winning filmmaker and one of the highest-grossing female screenwriters of all time. McKenna is best-known for the film adaptation of the popular novel, The Devil Wears Prada . The screenplay is considered a modern classic, filled with memorable and oft-quoted lines, and features one of Meryl Streep’s signature roles as the imperious magazine editor, Miranda Priestly. In 2006, McKenna garnered Writers Guild, BAFTA, and Scripter award nominations for the worldwide box office hit.
In 2014, McKenna added television to her resume when she co-created the critically acclaimed Emmy Award-winning CW series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with its star, Rachel Bloom. She has been Showrunner, Head Writer, and Executive Producer since its inception. McKenna also directed the Season 1 finale and directed and wrote the Season 2 finale of the show.
McKenna’s feature film credits include the worldwide hit and perennial wedding favorite, 27 Dresses, starring Katherine Heigl; Morning Glory, starring Rachel MacAdams and Harrison Ford; the Cameron Crowe-directed, Matt Damon vehicle, We Bought A Zoo; and her adaptation of the musical Annie, which was acclaimed for its diverse cast and unique approach to updating the Broadway classic.
September 22, 2021
Author Interview – Elizabeth Eckstein Author of Quicksilver & Brimstone
Elizabeth Eckstein "...I think I enjoy intrusion or low fantasy. It kind of feels as if the fantastic elements are less expected and more wonderful when placed in a very mundane world. I actually struggle with defining genre when creating my own stories, I don’t set out to write in a certain genre. The stories sort of appear as they are. Genre placement comes later. My favourite genre to read is really mysteries and thrillers. If they are also fully or dotted with fantasy elements, so much the better....." Six Elementals Author Interviews will introduce prospective readers to some of the best writers in their genre you may, or may not, have heard off, via a series of six questions. I encourage you to check out the work of these phenomenal creatives! Links to their websites and purchase links will always appear, accompanying the interview. Check them out!
I am very humbled to be joined by the amazing Elizabeth Eckstein, author of induction fantasy, fantasy, and illustrator extraordinaire. Elizabeth’s current published work is: Quicksilver and Brimstone.
Check out the original post here.
P.L.: Thank you so much Elizabeth for participating in this interview. Following your stunning debut novel, Quicksilver and Brimstone, we are all curious to know what exciting projects you are working on currently?
Elizabeth: I am experimenting with writing a genderless vampire novel!
P.L.: Oh wow! That sounds amazing! Sign me up to read that one! Your book Quicksilver and Brimstone is one of my favourites of all-time! It has been compared favourably in reviews to such books as His Dark Materials. Is intrusion fantasy your preferred sub-genre to write? What about to read? What are your favourite genres to read?
Elizabeth: I think I enjoy intrusion or low fantasy. It kind of feels as if the fantastic elements are less expected and more wonderful when placed in a very mundane world. I actually struggle with defining genre when creating my own stories, I don’t set out to write in a certain genre. The stories sort of appear as they are. Genre placement comes later. My favourite genre to read is really mysteries and thrillers. If they are also fully or dotted with fantasy elements, so much the better.
P.L: I love that, especially considering there is a mystery element, I found, to Quicksilver and Brimstone. Always love a good mystery! So, you are established as a very well-respected member of the writing community especially on Twitter. What do you enjoy the most about being part of the writing community on social media? What are some of the advantages to networking with fellow creatives?
Elizabeth: I think getting to know other authors, being inspired by them and sharing your work is one of the most rewarding things in the writing community.
P.L.: I agree and can definitely say that you are one of the authors who inspire me! Who are some of the authors that you will essentially at least try to read anything they write?
Elizabeth: I have read most of what some authors, now departed, have written, Dickens, Pratchett, Chesterton. Others are Tim Powers and Robert Harris.
P.L.: Those are some iconic authors you mention. I always wonder what inspires fellow creatives to pen the specific novel that they write. What inspired you to write Quicksilver and Brimstone?
Elizabeth: I became enchanted with alchemy, and wanted to create a fantasy without magic, using this magical science instead.
P.L.: I found that element of your book fascinating, with all the creepy gadgets and alchemy! What do you find the most challenging part of being an author?
Elizabeth: Just getting the words out some days.
P.L.: I think that’s a struggle for all of we creatives at times, just getting something on paper. But you have obviously excelled in that! Thanks so much Elizabeth for taking the time to be interviewed.
Elizabeth Eckstein is a storyteller and lover of thunderstorms, a coffee-soaked alchemist who lives amongst the pages of books. A devourer of classics and folder of origami birds, she is the mother of two cats and enjoys such domestic adventures as vegan cooking and gardening.
Check Out Some Of Our Other interviews Interview; Kristyn Merbeth Author of the Nova Vita Protocol
Interview; Author Grady Hendrix
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P.L. Stuart
I’m an experienced writer, in that I’ve been writing stories all my life, yet never thought to publish them. I’ve written informally – short stories – to entertain friends and family, for community newspapers, volunteer organization magazines, and of course formal papers for University. Now, later in life, I’ve published what I believe is a great fantasy novel, and definitely worth reading, called A Drowned Kingdom. My target audience is those who enjoy “high fantasy”. A Drowned Kingdom is not “dark fantasy”. It’s written in a more idealized and grandiose style that I hope isn’t too preachy, and not too grim. Still, I’m hoping my book has appeal to those who don’t typically read this type of work – those who don’t read fantasy of any kind – because of the “every-person” themes permeating the novel: dysfunctional familial relationships, extramarital temptation, racism, misogyny, catastrophic loss, religion, crisis of faith, elitism, self-confidence, PTSD, and more.
Many of these themes I have either personal experience with, or have friends or family who have dealt with such issues. I’ve had a long professional law enforcement career, undergone traumatic events, yet been buoyed by family, faith, and positivity. I’m a racialized middle-aged man. I’ve seen a lot of life. Ultimately I want the planned series, of which A Drowned Kingdom will be the introduction, to be one of hope, and overcoming obstacles to succeed, which I believe is my story as well. My protagonist, Othrun, will undergo a journey where he’ll evolve, change, and shape a continent. He’s not always likeable. He’s a snob, bigot, is vain, yet struggles with confidence. He’s patriarchal. Overall, he’s flawed. But even ordinary flawed people can change. We’re all redeemable.
Ordinary people can make a difference, not just fictional Princes. I want that message to shine through my work.
WHERE TO FIND HIMTwitter – @plstuartwrites
Facebook – @plstuartwrites
If You Liked This - Please Share the LoveSeptember 21, 2021
Review: MINDFRACKED BY M.R. Forbes
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
MINDFRACKED by MR FORBES September 21, 2021 10:00 am One Comment Facebook Twitter WordPressMINDFRACKED BY M.R. Forbes is my second favorite body-swapping cyberpunk thriller. My favorite, of course, is Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (as well as the first season of the Netflix adaptation). That doesn’t mean the book is derivative. Quite the opposite, it goes in a very different direction with a similar premise. As a huge cyberpunk fan, I had to admit I was very curious about the book when I first read its blurb and after the first chapter, I was completely hooked.
The premise is there is a black ops assassination program run out of the police department called Unity. Its agents, called Shades, are individuals who have had their minds uploaded into mainframes that can be switched around in new bodies. Cassidy is one of these agents and he has a contract for thirty missions before his cryogenically preserved body is returned to him. If you question whether this is too good to be true in a dystopian future, then you have probably seen a cyberpunk hitman movie or read a book about them before.
Cassidy is an interesting protagonist in that he believes very strongly he’s a cynical and worldly figure who is making the best of a bad situation. He believes he’s serving the lesser evil and that ultimately good will come from the draconian. Unfortunately, he’s actually a guy with a frightening level of naivety. He trusts his superiors will play straight with him because he’s been a good soldier.
Of course, when you’re dealing with totalitarian governments, you will find that they are not the sort of people who can be trusted to honor their commitments. Unraveling the conspiracy and its various moving parts over decades is the heart of the story with Cassidy going through different bodies that bring different baggage. People you wouldn’t think would die, die horribly and there’s a lot of twists and turns along the way.
I especially liked Mindfracked‘s vision of the future. It is a dark, rainy, dystopian setting where the government holds seemingly absolute power, but it has just ground the human race to impoverished misery. The opening chapter is extremely good at establishing mood. So much so and so repulsively are the villains established that when the author attempts to walk this back later, it doesn’t work, and you still loathe them.
I think the book also can be recommended for its action. While some readers might hesitate to say they read a book for its gunplay, excitement, and other qualities–I am certainly not one of them. There’s numerous exciting scenes spread throughout the book that emphasize the casual violence and brutality of the world.
In conclusion, I think this is a solid and entertaining novel that fans of the cyberpunk genre will enjoy. It is dark, gritty, and imaginative with a setting that fully brings to life the themes of freedom vs. comfort (not security) as well as moral compromise. Its protagonist does a lot of terrible things but that just makes him more interesting.
Check Out some of our other reviewsReview – The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Review – Psycho Killers In Love by C.T. Phipps
C.T. Phipps
C.T Phipps is a lifelong student of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. An avid tabletop gamer, he discovered this passion led him to write and turned him into a lifelong geek. He is a regular reviewer on Booknest.EU and for Grimdark Magazine.
He’s written the Agent G series, Cthulhu Armageddon, the Red Room Trilogy, I Was A Teenaged Weredeer, Lucifer’s Star, Psycho Killers in Love, Straight Outta Fangton, The Supervillainy Saga, and Wraith Knight.
September 20, 2021
SPFBO7 Semifinal Choice – The Inner Lands: Something Stirs by A.J. Austin
"Tell her I promised to protect her. Tell her she never promised to protect me." the Inner lands: Something Stirs by A.J. Austin 
The Inner Lands: something stirs by a.j. austin Buy A Copy Here What is it about? For centuries, the mountainous borders of the Inner Lands had kept the monstrous Grinth at bay, and people had finally found peace. But their complacency would be their undoing, for everything was about to change. As their world falls apart around them, an unlikely bond between a young girl, beaten by her father, and a conflicted warrior, haunted by his tragic past, could well seal the fate of all humanity.
As they fight for their survival, a final battle looms. But before they can stand a chance against the Grinth, they’ll first have to conquer their own pasts. Will friendship and strength prevail? Or will the cunning and cruelty of evil twist the world into turmoil? Nothing is certain in the Inner Lands.
When Fallor called a meeting for the entire Hillock village, little did Sill know that it was just the beginning in a series of events that would reshape everything she knew about their small world. The banishing of her abusive father frees her to embark on a journey of her own. One in which she encounters incredible natural wonders like the Moonmirror Peak, mysterious people like Draneth the shaman and his hawk Tamarellin, strange men with stranger eyes; and the mighty Rydan Fort, built into the side of a mountain.
It could have been the adventure of her dreams, were it not for the monstrous creatures that pursue her all the way; bringing death, destruction and tragedy to everything and everyone she grows to cherish. The power she kept a secret for so long is too much for her young mind to handle but she’ll have to learn how to wield it, and quickly, if she’s to survive in this harsh new world.
The Inner Lands is primarily the story of two young protagonists with tragic upbringings and experiences who come to understand they have crucial roles to play in a world where the return of a looming threat that has lain dormant for centuries is imminent. The main protagonists, Sill and Kallem are tasked with coming to grips with their own traumatic experiences in order to meet the challenges of the increasingly tumultuous world around them.
The novel immediately drew me in before the story even started with the foreword from AJ Austin about his own personal journey, seeking to draw from his suffering and heartache to channel toward his creative process. He dedicates the book to anyone who has gone through difficulties, hoping that this novel reminds them that they are not alone. It’s a truly poignant foreword that sets the tone for the kind of story he tells.
The book has a psychological and character-driven tilt to it that shines through in its main cast and their internal struggles. Indeed, it feels that the title of the Inner Lands refers not only to the setting but also to the introspective nature and journey of our protagonists. The main character, Sill, is a twelve-year old with a horribly abusive father. Austin depicts her as having retreated into herself making her a thoughtful, introspective child with a vibrant personality hidden beneath an initially demure exterior. Being in her point of view allows us to experience the substantial depth that exists for her beneath the surface.
Kallem is the other main point of view in this book. He is dealing with the ramifications of having witnessed the death of family members. He’s a character that has tried to close himself off to any emotional experience in response to this horrific event. Throughout the story, we get well-acquainted with his personal conflict, as well as the intricacies and nuances to him that underly his gruff exterior. Kallem’s complicated relationship with his mother feels very authentic, and there are dramatic moments between those two that served as highlights to my reading experience.
The worldbuilding has interesting elements and lore through evoking the trope of the looming threat returning to the world. This might appeal to fans of that element of A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin. I enjoyed the pacing at which this part of the story was revealed and unfurled. Aspects of magic, monsters, and mystery grace the Inner Lands in a way that I believe can entertain those who lean toward reading high fantasy and/or epic fantasy.
There were some parts of the book that I could see keeping it from working for everyone. The prose felt somewhat standard to me in the sense that it generally conveyed what was needed to tell the story without particular flourish or too many turns of phrases that stuck out to me. The plot could feel slow at times, especially in the middle of the novel. There were also some occasional spelling errors that took me out of the story. The other area that felt weakest for me was the lack of a well-fleshed-out villain or antagonist. The villains in this book are the Grinth, but they come off seeming like mostly mindless creatures and more a part of the world than characters in themselves. The lack of a fully realized antagonist could feel apropos for the Inner Lands, given that the true enemies for our characters lie within their own personal efforts to reconcile their internal struggles—in this case, the world-threatening enemy serves toward laying the stage to force them to grapple with these preexisting conflicts within themselves. In other words, it’s the inner demons rather than the outer ones that feel the most pertinent for our characters to address, even though the outer ones present an existential threat to the world. As a character-focused reader, I appreciated the internal struggles, while also wishing that they could’ve been brought out for our characters by a more personified enemy.
In all, I enjoyed the Inner Lands to the extent that I’m making it my choice to move on to Before We Go Blog’s next round in SPFBO! I’m excited to see how it fares against the other books our team has chosen for that round.
Check Out SOME OF OUR OTHER REVIEWS#SPFBO Review and Cut – The Deathless One by Niranjan K.
#SPFBO Review and Cut – The Hand of Fire by Roland O’Leary
If You Liked This - Please Share the Love Dylan Marsh
I like to talk, read, and write.
I talk with my lifelong friend, Charles, on the Friends Talking Fantasy Podcast. I discuss fantasy content on social media quite a bit too.
I read a lot of speculative fiction—mostly fantasy novels.
I write for Before We Go Blog. I’m also a graduate student in a Counseling Psychology Ph.D. Program. I write a lot for that as well. Most of that writing focuses on research I conduct on sense of calling and the experience of meaningfulness; I’m an author on several peer-reviewed scientific journal articles on these topics.
I also like playing tennis.
Where to find him
Personal Twitter: @DylanRMarsh
Friends Talking Fantasy Podcast Accounts
Twitter: @TheFTFPodcast1
Instagram: @TheFTFPodcast
Facebook: @TheFTFPodcast
September 17, 2021
Review – Choir of the Damned by Steven McKinnon
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
choir of the damned by steve mckinnon September 17, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress "Choir of the Damned is epic in every sense”Impetus. It’s what a top quality, third novel in a trilogy needs. ‘Choir of the Damned’ has it in spades. This is a story driven by an urgency to resolve a variety of apocalypses. These major catastrophes began in Symphony of the Wind (SPFBO finalist). They worsened, almost destroying Dalthea, in Wrath of Storms. A sceptic might ask, where do you go from there?
Steven Mckinnon’s answer is to widen the story to take in his entire world and increase the number of catastrophes. It’s a brave step. It requires additional world building and the introduction of new characters. We all know how that can slow a story down. Not here!
Our rag-tag band of saviours begin the story disheartened, lost and, in the case of Damien, knocking on death’s door. Each one battles with their past, Mckinnon’s characters are all damaged beyond repair. Their motives are key, they need to do the right thing. For Damien it’s a question of atonement. For Serena it’s curiosity as she searches for answers to her heritage. For Gallows? He’s determined to protect Serena, he’s got nothing else to live for.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most in this trilogy is the depth of characterisation. Not just in our major protagonists but in relatively minor characters too. They’re given backgrounds and motives imbued from the world in which they live. It has forged their resolution, their desire to put things right or their lust for power. But they are always intensely believable.
The other factor, crucial to sustaining the impetus I mentioned? You need to engage with them. You cheer on those trying to do what’s right. You long for retribution to strike those doing wrong. Mckinnon spends significant parts of the narrative on relatively minor characters building these characters because, at some point, that investment pays off. I’ll illustrate with Morton Brunswick whose actions are pivotal at one point but they happen because of who he is. He (and us) are led to that moment of fate. He’s a wonderful piece of characterisation that represents Mckinnon’s ability to find pearls in the strangest places.
Impetus also comes from the quality and style of writing. Here Mckinnon uses a rhythm-disrupting, staccato style to his fight scenes. We witness events in second-long snatches of action, blink-and-you-miss-it. Characters die in a single word. It’s brutal. Visceral. It forces you through events at such speed you aren’t sure what’s happened. It’s the realism of war. Yet, elsewhere we languish as places and people develop to give us chance to catch up and find realism through politics, culture, geography and history.
Choir of the Damned is epic in every sense but this is no behemoth, slow and cumbersome. It drives into oblivion without brakes. Only afterwards, when you’ve caught your breath, can you appreciate what a stunning story this is. Steven Mckinnon provides us with a masterclass in trilogy writing. You really need to get this book!
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phil parker
It all started when his parents bought him a typewriter as a teenager, Phil hasn’t stopped writing since. That is a long time ago. (Think fossils). It’s led to the publishing of books for Drama teachers (he used to be one) and journalistic articles on education. Now Phil writes fantasy stories along with a recent adventure into contemporary fiction, a challenge from his wife. She’s read it twice!
Phil is an avid reader of speculative fiction. (Is there anything else?) He reviews for his blog at the Speculative Faction and for Before We Go. He’s been a judge for SPFBO.
Phil consumes pizza in vast quantities and plans on being reborn as an Italian in the next life.
WHERE TO FIND HIMTwitter: https://twitter.com/PhilSpeculates
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philparkerfantasywriter
Blog: https://www.philparker-fantasywriter.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/philparker-fantasywriter If You Liked This - Please Share the Love
