Beth Tabler's Blog, page 216
August 23, 2021
Review – The Audacity Trilogy by Laura Loup
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
the audacity by laura loup August 23, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress “Squeeze their very souls from their bodies and then fine them for not applying for a soul-release license.”Carmen Loup recently released the third and final book in their The Audacity trilogy of sci-fi comedy novels. As a lifelong fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – and an Adams-influenced sci-fi comedy author myself – I fell in love with the first book when it was released back in 2019. Loup perfectly captures the feel and tone of the Hitchhiker’s books, while pivoting enough to do their own thing and to keep things fresh and modern. It is a must read for any fan who is looking to scratch their Douglas Adams itch, and who didn’t really much care for Eoin Colfer’s well-intentioned technical sequel And Another Thing…
But, to get to the point, I’ve collated my reviews of the past two Audacity books below, followed by my review of the latest. I hope you consider jumping into the series, because if you do, you’re gonna have a blast.
The AudacityCarmen Loup’s The Audacity is the book I’ve been looking for for a long time.
Now, I’ve said this before, and I’m going to say it again: when people review Sci-fi/Fantasy comedies, they inevitably fall into the trap of comparing them to Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett, because they really lack any other significant frame of reference.
… I’m going to fall into that same trap, despite my self-awareness. That’s because you can see incredibly clear strands of Hitchhiker’s Guide DNA in The Audacity. Right down to the very initial set up of the story.
But Loup takes that set up and lovingly pivots it into its own unique tale filled with bright, colorful, and snarky characters and a fun, insightful (and, indeed, inciteful) voice that rings incredibly true to an Americanized Douglas Adams (that is, lacking in British poise and restraint).
There are times in the middle where the story meanders and seems to just be taking its time in lieu of advancing a narrative, and some might find a few of the fourth wall breaking jokes to be a bit much for a novel. But Loup’s narration, descriptions, and hilarious world-building really made those concerns moot for me.
The Audacity is simply an amazing sci-fi comedy from start to finish and feels like a love letter to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and, indeed, to all its fans. This, and anything else Loup touches, is an instant buy for me. We’ve been lacking in these kind of books for years, and, frankly, I need more.
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
the audacity 2 - time warp by laura loup August 23, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPressCarmen Loup’s The Audacity was one of my favorite books of 2019, being the spiritual follow-up to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that I’d been looking for for a while. It had everything: fun and clever humor, weird concepts, and outlandish, but endearing characters.
I’m happy to report that The Audacity 2 continues the trend. It picks up a few months after the first book ends and we get to catch up with Xan, May, and a host of new, delightful characters as they race to try to stop Chaos once again in a thoroughly enjoyable adventure.
As much as I enjoyed the book, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that the plot revolved once again around Chaos’ evil schemes, and was hoping to see something a bit different and a bit more fresh. Her plan in this book involves time travel (not a spoiler because just look at the subtitle) and is a little more tough to put a finger on than in the first book. We also don’t really see much of her, and that makes her feel like more of a physical obstacle than a developed character.
All that being said, while Chaos and her plans don’t feel super detailed, a lot of that time gets spent on the relationships and humor between the existing and new characters, which is where this book really shines. The humor and style is zanily consistent with the first book and just oozes the same snark, imagination, and charm that I love.
Overall, a very enjoyable read, and I’m eager to see what’s in store for Xan and May in the 3rd installment, although I hope it will expand their world a bit more.
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
The Audacity 3: Be Kind, Rewind by laura loup August 23, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPressIt’s been about 2 years since I read the first Audacity book, and what a hell of a two years it’s been. At this point in time, after everything that’s happened, the third and final Audacity book is exactly what I needed.
If you’ve read the first two, you know how they read, and The Audacity 3: Be Kind, Rewind is happily more of the same. It is queer, technicolor, sci-fi joy swaddled within the confines of a book. Xan, May and the wonderfully fun characters from the first two books, return, of course. But this time, the titular ship of the saga is nowhere to be found and goddess of Chaos is no longer the primary antagonist. Instead, it’s the glowing green fungus that has taken Xan’s brain hostage and won’t stop growing until he’s dead.
All of this combines into much more personal stakes than either of the previous adventures. And after hanging out with characters I could call my fun, bizarre friends for two books, this transition made the book all the more compelling.
But don’t worry, all the wacky galactic fun of the past two books is present as well, albeit tinged with the subtle melancholy of mortality – both for Xan and the series itself, since it was halfway through the book that I realized this was going to be the endcap of the trilogy.
The ending, which I won’t spoil here, is, like the rest of The Audacity series, very much in line with the tone and style of its obvious direct ancestor The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It mashes up the mysteries of space-time and the philosophy of existence with bizarre absurdism and mundane, yet compelling interpersonal relationships.
But where Douglas Adams’ seminal work always had a sense of nihilistic cynicism about it to the (quite) bitter end, The Audacity eschews that approach entirely and instead opts for hopeful, loving optimism.
And, in no slight to Adams, I think these days, we could use much more of the latter than the former.
Read The Audacity series. You surely won’t regret it.
Check Out some of our other reviews
August 22, 2021
Review – Pawn’s Gambit by Rob J. Hayes
Beth Tabler 5/5 
pawn's gambit by Rob J. Hayes Purchase Here Rob J. Hayes, Pawn's Gambit About“Beauty is emotion, good or ill. Pain or happiness or fear or love. Beauty is in the experience.” ―
The Mortal Techniques novels are a series of stand-alone stories that can be read entirely independently, set in the award-winning Mortal Techniques universe.
Even Pawns can checkmate Kings.
Once a century, the gods hold a contest to determine who will rule from the Jade Throne. Each god chooses a mortal champion, and the fate of heaven and earth depends on the winner.
Once a world-renowned strategist and general, Yuu made one wrong move, and the Steel Prince paid for her mistake with his life. Now on the run, she relies on her wits to evade royal bounty hunters. But what if there is a way to bring back her dead prince?
On a playing board full of heroes, warriors, assassins, and thieves can Yuu survive long enough to even learn the rules of the game, let alone master it?
Pawn’s Gambit is a stand alone story set in the award-winning Mortal Techniques universe. It’s a wuxia adventure filled with heroes, gods, spirits, and magic.
Pawn’s Gambit by Rob J. Hayes is one of my most anticipated releases for 2021, and it lived up to the hype. Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing the Wuxia epic Never Die, it was my first introduction to Rob as a writer, and I got to say that his books are fast becoming some of my favorites.
“Beauty is emotion, good or ill. Pain or happiness or fear or love. Beauty is in the experience.”
From my review, “Never Die is centered around Ein…and has been sent on a quest from God. ..For Ein’s mission to succeed, the mysterious and powerful Emperor of Ten Kings must fall. To succeed in his quest, Ein must walk barefoot across the cities, mountains, and rivers of the countryside and never don footwear. Ein must select champions to fight the Emporer for him, and these champions must die first so that their souls are tethered to Ein.” Never Die was the first installment in the Mortal Techniques world. Pawn’s Gambit takes place many years after Never Die and is not a sequel, although there is some fun scattered Easter eggs for the readers of Never Die to enjoy.
Instead, Pawn’s Gambit is a stylized Wuxia epic with some steampunk and game theory thrown in that takes place in the same world of Never Die. It has the same rules and techniques, which we learn more about, but it is about redemption and finding peace.
“Yuu shrugged. “Throw her a tea party or something, sure. Whatever works.”
Pawn’s Gambit’s plot centers around the protagonist Yuu, also known as The Art of War. Yuu is a former famous military strategist, who wears a white mask at all times, and is known for pulling out military wins in the direst of situations. Her ability to see all the angles of a fight are legendary. Though these wins often come at the high costs of human lives lost. Her grandmother, the previous incarnation of Art of War, trained Yuu in all the aspects of war and strategy. However, unlike Yuu’s grandmother, Yuu cannot separate herself from the battles. She feels the pain of the deaths that she helped cause, even if she won the war. They weigh heavy on her heart.
“Failure was always due to a lack of focus. With enough attention and preparation, no outcome could not be predicted, and no situation could not be overcome.”
Five years ago, Yuu made a choice that cost her the thing she held most dear but won the battle. The repercussions of that choice caused her to drop the mask and leave batteling forever. She no longer wanted to be The Art of War. Now five years later, we find Yuu sitting in a bar, getting drunk as she does every night, fleecing men for coin in battles of chess. It is below someone who was once The Art Of War, but at this point, all she wants to do is forget and drink till she feels the pain of the loss no more.
Meanwhile, in another realm, the Gods are having a battle of their own. Every 100 years, the gods have a contest to see who will sit upon the throne for the next 100 years. The God who is currently sitting on the throne, Batu, is the God of War. He has brought nothing but devastation and horror to the land of men for the last 100 years. He cannot help it; it is his nature. But it is time for a change.
“The first step toward winning is knowing which game you are playing.”
The contest is this: Each God participating must give up a thing they hold most dear. The objects are placed throughout the land, and champions, chosen by the benefactor God, must go out and find those objects. Whoever has the most items wins. It is a grand scavenger hunt. Natsuko, the Goddess of missed opportunities, has chosen her champion, Yuu. Yuu is not thrilled with this.
Yuu is an interesting character. She is one of those types of characters that isn’t likable, but she could care less about being liked. She has a core of inner strength that you can see even when readers start the story, and we see Yuu at her very lowest point. But this story is her redemption arc, and what that redemption actually is, is up to the reader. Hayes doesn’t concretely define what redemption looks like for Yuu. I think that makes her a stronger and more interesting character. She has layers and different parts to her. Is she the strategist, the friend, the woman, the human? I am not sure, but I know that the various facets of Yuu are tested thoroughly throughout this story.
The dialog for the story is funny and very human. Hayes can bring out a situation’s nuance and doesn’t need to pound the reader with heavy-handed dialogue. This made me relate all the more to Yuu and the supporting characters she finds along the way to help her. These characters, seen on the superb Felix Ortiz and Shawn T. King cover, help her in different ways. The journey is not the same as Never Die, but there are similar teamwork elements that carry through.
Pawn’s Gambit is a worthy addition to the Mortal Techniques series and a follow-up to Never Die. It is really good, and I am so excited that I got to immerse myself in this Wuxia inspired world with great characters, exciting fight scenes, and heartfelt dialog once again. This story asks some big questions and challenges what redemption is.
You should come and take this journey with Yuu; you will not regret it.
This review originally appeared on Grimdark Magazine as part of a tour with Fantasy Book Critic
Check Out My Other ReviewsReview – Battle Ground by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #17)
Review – The Ikessar Falcon by K.S Villoso
First Chapter, First Paragraph; Never Die by Rob J. Hayes
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
Review – Never Die by Rob J. Hayes
Review Book Reviews August 22, 2021 10:00 am 13 Comments Samurai, shinigami, vengeful spirits, and an impossible quest. Beth Tabler 4/5 
Never Die by Rob J. Hayes Purchase Here Rob J. Hayes, Never Die About“It takes a lifetime of evil to be a villain, and only one moment of good to be a hero.”―
The Mortal Techniques novels are a series of stand-alone stories that can be read entirely independently, set in the award-winning Mortal Techniques universe.
Samurai, shinigami, vengeful spirits, and an impossible quest.
The Emperor of Ten Kings has plunged Hosa into war, and the gods are angry.
When the god of death gives Ein a mission to kill the immortal emperor, he knows he can’t do it alone. He needs allies, heroes who will fight for him. How else can an eight-year-old boy hope to do the impossible?
Whispering Blade, Iron Gut Chen, the Century Blade, and Flaming Fist. These are all names of legend. And the god of death has given Ein a way to bind them to his cause. There is only one catch. In order to serve him, they must first die.
Never Die is a stand alone set in the world of Mortal Techniques. It’s a wuxia adventure filled with samurai, shinigami, heroes, and vengeful spirits.
Mark Lawrence, the author of the grimdark series “Broken Empire,” said this of Rob Hayes’s writing ability, “(he) is one of self-publishing rising stars,” and he is unquestionably right. This story is the epitome of fantasy; it pits dark against light, has epic fighting scenes, heroes that are not quite perfect, and a subtle undercurrent of rye humor. Everything that makes a fun fantasy story.
“She whispered a prayer for those she slain, knowing full well the stars were deaf, and those men didn’t deserve it anyway.
Never Die is centered around Ein. A boy who is not quite right and has been sent on a quest from God, a death God and Ein’s mission to succeed the mysterious and powerful Emperor of Ten Kings must fall. Also, to succeed in his quest Ein must walk barefoot across the cities, mountains, and rivers of the countryside and never don footwear. He must also select champions from myth and legend to fight the Emporer for him, and these champions must die first so that their souls are tethered to Ein.
“I’m not most children he said somberly.”
The champions are where Hayes really excelled in his story writing. Often when reading fantasy characters, an author tends to muddle together different character tropes to be some kind of quasi trope hybrid and usually they are similar from story to story. That isn’t the case here. First of the champions is Itami Cho, AKA Whispering Blade the fastest and quietest warrior in the kingdoms. A spoken word from her can shatter walls and tear apart bodies. Secondly, Emerald Wind is a bandit who is a real self-centered bastard of the story. He is able to blink in and out of existence moving from place to place often popping behind enemies to pierce them through their back. I find that his unabashedly disreputable character is refreshing and adds an excellent counter-balance to Itami Cho because not all heroes are good people. Thirdly we have Iron Gut Chen. He has an impenetrable skin and an impenetrable ego. He needs to consume massive amounts of wine to be happy and reminds me of a jolly sumo wrestler. Lastly, Bingwei Ma rounds out Ein’s literal dream team. Bingwei is the greatest living master of wushu ever to live. He uses no weapons and has never lost a fight.
“Sorry. I am still learning how to use a needle. Flesh is quite different to cloth.”
As you can see, this is a team of heroes not cut from the traditional cloth. Each also has a weakness: one is good but tortured in the case of Ikami, One is gregarious but full of himself in the case of Chen, and you have one that is chaotic with a streak of goodness, buried deeply in Emerald wind. Bingwei Ma does not know how to lose and has never left his valley, his issue is gullibility. During the journey of the story, there is the day to day peril of existing. Not enough food to eat or angry villagers punctuated with bouts of violence and battles. This keeps the frenetic pace of the story plausible and comfortable. Hayes knows as a writer how vital pacing is, that the slow moments in a story are just as important as the wild crazy ones. As these heroes move towards their overall goal of slaying the Emporer, I found myself cheering for this band of miscreants and heroes. Will they succeed in their quest? Will they tear themselves apart first. Can Ein keep the band together through the threat of not giving them a full life again? The questions are answered beautifully in the denouement of the novel. It takes the reader to places that I had no idea where coming. I absolutely loved and appreciated the ending.
I am new to the worlds of Rob Hayes and his wonderful fantasy novels. But I am sure as hell going to stay around and make myself comfortable. If his other books are one-tenth as good as this one is, I am in for a treat. Come for the story of Never Die but stay for the heroes.
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
August 21, 2021
#SPFBO Review and Cut – The Dividing by Devin Downing
By Steve Caldwell 
"To secure her crown, Rose must acquire the power and prestige associated with the guard. Only guardsmen have access to the amulets—powerful weapons that grant dominion over the elements." The Dividing by Devin Downing 
the dividing by devin downing Buy A Copy Here What is it about? Adamic is the language of the Gods. When spoken, it has the power to create worlds, to raise the dead, to make man as God.
Fortunately, no one has spoken it in thousands of years. The only remnants are the written spells.
The people of Cavernum depend on these spells. They’re etched into the city walls, fending off the feeders—deadly creatures with a thirst for human blood.
They kill and consume any caught beyond the walls. Yet for the lower class, Cavernum isn’t much safer. Children starve, and illness runs rampant. I
n an effort to maintain order, all children turning 18 are subject to The Dividing—a city-wide competition for the highest paying guilds. Those who aren’t accepted are sent to the fields, condemned to a life of slave-labor.
Princess Roselyn Malik has trained her entire life for The Dividing. She’s guaranteed a spot in the royal orchestra, but equalist rebels threaten her throne.
To secure her crown, Rose must acquire the power and prestige associated with the guard. Only guardsmen have access to the amulets—powerful weapons that grant dominion over the elements.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, Matt will do anything to help his terminally-ill adoptive mother. For now, that means poaching to pay the bills. Until one day, Matt is attacked by a feeder and plunged into the world of Cavernum.
There too, Matt is drawn to the guard, in search of a magic strong enough to save his mother.
But danger lurks beyond the walls, and Cavernum won’t be safe for long.
Steve's ReviewI got The Dividing in my grouping of review books for SPFBO7, so had no idea what the book was about aside from being fantasy in some way. It turns out this is in the Portal fantasy category, which is one of my favorite sub-genres, so that wasn’t a bad thing at all. And now, the review.
The story starts with a prologue, which I always enjoy, with a city being attacked by a magical force that somehow overcomes the defenses. A woman with a baby is on the run from some sort of creatures, and her husband lays down his life using powerful magic to let her escape. I have to say, this is definitely a solid opening for a story. Magic, family on the run, cities falling to monsters. It’s a solid foundation.
With a solid foundation, I expected the story to take off. I was surprised at the pacing, though. It’s pretty slow going for a while. We are introduced to the two main characters early on, Matt in the mundane world and Princess Roselyn in Cavernum, which is a city hidden on the other side of one of the portals.
Matt has a mysterious past, having been a foundling on a doorstep, and raised by the people he’s left with. Kind of an old trope, but it can be effective. Roselyn, on the other hand, is a princess, and the heir to the throne, who’s path is guaranteed, but of course, she doesn’t want it.
She wants to join the guard, who have access to the magical amulets that let certain people control elements. Of course, she is the best at everything she does, and is overconfident in every decision, leading to some truly heinous problems as the social order breaks down. I just found her to be the typical YA kind of character, better than everyone else.
Why? Don’t know, she just is. Matt just kind of blunders along into the portal. Why? Because the story needed him to just wander into a potentially dangerous area to advance the plot, that’s why. I won’t spoiler it, but Matt’s decision making is typical of a lot of YA books, and just left me kind of cold. A lot of the character’s decision making was like that. Just done to move the plot, whether it made sense or not.
While the story does have promise, this contest is about showcasing the best of indie fantasy and though this book has appeal and should appeal to fans of YA, it’s a middle-of-the-road story with some head-scratching moments for me. While not bad, it’s merely solid, not the kind of special that I would move on to the next round, so its journey in SPFBO7 will not continue past this round.
Rating: 6.5/10
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 Steve Caldwell
I have literally been a fan of fantasy/magic my whole life, with some of the earliest memories I have being my mother stories of brujas and spirits in the town in Puerto Rico where she was born.
What really flipped the fantasy switch on full, though, was discovering a battered copy of the Sword of Shannara that cost me 25 cents at the local used book store when I was 11.
Its been a long journey since that day almost 40 years ago, and thousands of books later, here we are. Living with my wife, our two non-adult kids, four cats and a vicious attack beast Chihuahua about an hour south of Seattle, I’m glad to be able to share my love of fantasy and science fiction, especially Indie and small press, with anyone who’s interested.
Where to Find HimAugust 20, 2021
#SPFBO Review and Cut – A Drowned Kingdom by P.L. Stuart
By Steve Caldwell 
"When one kingdom drowns, a new one must rise in its place. So begins the saga of that kingdom, and the man who would rule it all." A Drowned Kingdom by P.L. Stuart 
A Drowned Kingdom by p.l. stuart Buy A Copy Here What is it about? Once Second Prince of the mightiest kingdom in the known world, Othrun now leads the last survivors of his exiled people into an uncertain future far across the Shimmering Sea from their ancestral home, now lost beneath the waves.
With his Single God binding his knights to chivalric oaths, intent on wiping out idolatry and pagan worship, they will have to carve out a new kingdom on this mysterious continent
a continent that has for centuries been ravaged by warlords competing for supremacy and mages channeling the mystic powers of the elements―and unite the continent under godly rule.
With a troubled past, a cursed sword, and a mysterious spirit guiding him, Othrun means to be that ruler, and conquer all.
But with kingdoms fated on the edge of spears, alliances and pagan magic, betrayal, doubt, and dangers await him at every turn. Othrun will be forced to confront the truths of all he believes in on his journey to become a king, and a legend.
When one kingdom drowns, a new one must rise in its place. So begins the saga of that kingdom, and the man who would rule it all.
steve's ReviewI went into A Drowned Kingdom knowing nothing about it, just having it in my grouping for SPFBO7. I’m not used to being particularly hard on books in my reviews, especially indie books, but the nature of SPFBO means I will have to be brutally honest so we can narrow down the field to just the chosen few.
I did like the world building with this book. The idea of an advanced empire centered on Atlantis, which has a military and economic empire spread across the island, as well as in large parts of another continent, is very appealing as a reader.
The fact the Atlanteans are more technologically advanced is also intriguing, as well as having the military power to enforce their will making them seem quite daunting. Their monarchy is stable, and looks to be in no danger of being overthrown as well, so that lends an air of stability to this powerful nation.
I did have issues with a few things, though, mostly in regards to characters and some over-reliance on fantasy tropes. The first issue has to deal with the Atlanteans being religious fanatics, tolerating no dissent from their worship of the One God, and that bigotry coloring their view of any other people they deal with. It tended to make the characters of the princes unlikable.
The overused trope of the two prince’s rivalry, with the older prince being petty and vindictive is just a bit overused, and this book is no exception.
The other trope I just didn’t want to see again was the heathen foreign princess seducing the Crown Prince, causing dissension for the princes and the Kingdom in general, because obviously the prince bought it hook line and sinker, never thinking about anything but his lust. Again, a tired trope that just seems played out.
Things change drastically once the cataclysm occurs, but there’s just a bit too much hand wavium and plot armor used to move the story along later to advance the cause of the Atlantean remnants. This doesn’t kill the story by any means, but it just keeps it from being in that top echelon of books that will advance to the final round.
I will give A Drowned Kingdom a recommend to read, but I will not be advancing it on to the next round.
Rating: 7/10
*Beth Note: P.L. Stuart will be joining BEFORE WE GO as a reviewer, but not as an SPFBO team member. Those are two separate teams. This came to pass after the review was given to me to post and neither reviewer nor author has had any contact. His joining us is a very new thing and we are extremely glad to have him on board. There is no conflict of interest
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 Steve Caldwell I have literally been a fan of fantasy/magic my whole life, with some of the earliest memories I have being my mother stories of brujas and spirits in the town in Puerto Rico where she was born.
What really flipped the fantasy switch on full, though, was discovering a battered copy of the Sword of Shannara that cost me 25 cents at the local used book store when I was 11.
Its been a long journey since that day almost 40 years ago, and thousands of books later, here we are.
Living with my wife, our two non-adult kids, four cats and a vicious attack beast Chihuahua about an hour south of Seattle, I’m glad to be able to share my love of fantasy and science fiction, especially Indie and small press, with anyone who’s interested.
Where to Find Him
August 18, 2021
Graphic Novel Review – They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, Harmony Becker
check it out here COMIC REVIEW
THEY CALLED US ENEMY by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, Harmony Becker August 18, 2021 10:00 am 5 Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress“Years later, the trauma of those experiences continued to haunt me. Most Japanese Americans from my parents’ generation didn’t like to talk about the internment with their children. As with many traumatic experiences, they were anguished by their memories and haunted by shame for something that wasn’t their fault. Shame is a cruel thing. It should rest on the perpetrators but they don’t carry it the way the victims do.”
MY THOUGHTSYou never know the journey someone has walked until you hear their story. At best, you can empathize with their journey, but you will honestly never know what someone has felt or gone through unless you have walked in their shoes. This story comes as close as one could get to walking in someone’s shoes. That someone is George Takai of Star Trek fame. Here are the superficial things you know about George Takai. Firstly, George stared in Star Trek as ensign turned captain in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek franchise. You also probably know that George Takai has a wicked sense of humor, having turned the phrase “oh my” into an art form. You may even know that George is a massive defender of LGTBQI rights. Takei currently serves as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign “Coming Out Project.” What you probably don’t know is that George was an internee of the Japanese internment camps during world war 2. A dark stain on America’s history. And this is the crux of George’s very personal memoir; They Called us Enemy.
When reading a story with the gravitas of Japanese internment, the holocaust, or something of the same ilk, there are two ways a story could go. Both are equally accurate, but they have very different effects on the audience. Firstly, a writer can present facts and tragedies, much like a history book. Some historical graphic novels do this. Or, you can offer the history and story with a personal twist to it. A la Maus and now, They Called Us Enemy. I find the historical graphic memoir a very personal way to present someone’s history and a much more engaging read when paired with the graphic novel format.
They Called Us Enemy is the story of how a young George Takai and his family were given no notice, nor judicial recourse and taken and put into mandatory custody in Arkansas based on the color of their skin. George was locked in multiple detainment camps in Arkansas. All of their parent’s assets, including a home and dry cleaning business, were unduly ceased, and their bank accounts were frozen. They were isolated from society, told that they could not be loyal to anyone but the Emporer because of their racial bias. They were put into a small barrack in the hot Arkansas swampland and told to live. George recounts his early memories of him and his brother and young baby sister playing in the dirt. Of how his mother had tried to make this barrack a home and keep their family together and healthy. The thing I was taken within this story was that a story such as this could get maudlin. This is not at all. It is a truthful accounting of events as George lived them and how those events affected who he was then and who he became. It is hard to read because we as a country were so blind then, but George always tinges the story with hope. There is still hope. Hope for better things and by the better angels of man’s nature. It was uplifting, and I couldn’t put it down once I started it.
Graphically, this is simple. The pictures help tell a story but are not there to completely distract you from the importance and gravity of the words, much like icing on a cake.
I recommend this for a multitude of reasons. It is one of the best graphic novels I have read this year. It is on a topic that is seldom talked about but should be and because I am a fan of George Takai, and I want to know more about the exciting life that he has lived.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR George Hosato Takei is an American actor best known for his role in the TV series “Star Trek,” in which he played the helmsman Hikaru Sulu on the USS Enterprise. His baritone earned Takei recurring appearances as the announcer for “The Howard Stern Show” starting on January 9, 2006, after that show’s move to satellite radio.
August 17, 2021
Interview with Author Kevin Hearne
Kevin Hearne "... Tyromancers are folks who can detect the patterns of the future in the formation of cheese curds. Pattern recognition is the basis of many forms of seerage—whether it’s augury, reading tea leaves or palms, or tarot cards. I don’t recall exactly how I came across it, but once I did, I knew I wanted to create an anthology based on cheese wizards. It was just a mountain I needed to climb. So that’s how Three Slices came to be: I asked Chuck and Delilah to write a novella that included tyromancy, wrote one myself, and kablam: summit achieved. You can buy the world’s first tyromancy anthology in ebook or audio today, so cheez, don’t wait!..." Today we are talking to New York Times bestselling author, Kevin Herne. Herne is the author of multiple fantasy series, The Iron Druid Chronicles, The Seven Kennings, and Ink & Sigil. He also often works in collaboration with Delilah S. Dawson for their The Tales of Pell series. Herne chats with us about the power of the written word, tyromancers, and much more.
BWG: I read that Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a big inspiration for you as a writer. Why is that, and how has it influenced your writing?
First, I have to acknowledge that rereading it today, there are a lot of problematic bits. But what interested me at the time I read it (in the early nineties) was the narrator’s voice and how his language changed as his mental health improved. It illustrated how vital language use is to a character’s personality, and that observation has really stuck with me and influenced how I approach building a character. What’s their vocabulary, their manner of expression, their favorite stock phrases? It signals quite a bit about who they are.
BWG: I watched an interview where you called science fiction and fantasy’s current state a golden age. I couldn’t agree more. Who are some outstanding authors that you are following right now?
Andrea Stewart! Read The Bone Shard Daughter, y’all. And The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. Any or all of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.
BWG: In an interview I had read from years ago, you had mentioned reading Chew and Revival. Two great graphic novel series. As much as we live in a golden age of SFF, I think the same can be true of graphic novels and comics. Would you agree, and have you read any lately that you thought were fantastic?
I think there’s a lot of great stuff going on, absolutely. However, I confess I haven’t read many comics or graphic novels in recent years. I used to rely on recommendations from people at the comic shop, but I haven’t gone to one in, uh…eek, four years now? Excuse me, I’m just gonna go park my butt in the Oubliette of Shame and think about what I’ve done.
BWG: Chuck Wendig occasionally speaks pretty passionately on twitter about things like apples and sandwiches. What is something you are passionate about, aside from books, reading, and writing? I hear you enjoy a good whiskey sour.
Yeah, I’m into nature photography these days and share plenty of photos on my Instagram, and I follow a lot of nature accounts there. Wombats and quokkas and stuff. I also tend to share good food and drink, and I even started a hobby account called @chipstandsofcanada where I go by the name Chippy McChipface. It’s all chip stands and chip wagons, their menus, and sometimes (but not always) their food. It’s kind of a Canadian thing—in the US you have food trucks, but up here they’re all chip wagons because they always offer fries and poutine no matter what else they offer. Some of them specialize in something—grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken wings, or gourmet sausages, perhaps—but you can always get a basket of fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. I enjoy the names of these small businesses and their bright paint jobs, because the name of the game is grabbing attention. So far my favorite is a wagon named Cheesus Murphy and the Grateful Bread.
BWG: Can you tell me about tyromancers? How did you discover that was a real thing?
Sure! Tyromancers are folks who can detect the patterns of the future in the formation of cheese curds. Pattern recognition is the basis of many forms of seerage—whether it’s augury, reading tea leaves or palms, or tarot cards. I don’t recall exactly how I came across it, but once I did, I knew I wanted to create an anthology based on cheese wizards. It was just a mountain I needed to climb. So that’s how Three Slices came to be: I asked Chuck and Delilah to write a novella that included tyromancy, wrote one myself, and kablam: summit achieved. You can buy the world’s first tyromancy anthology in ebook or audio today, so cheez, don’t wait!
BWG: What is #shakespuck and #spicepuck? Have you thought of branching out into other things such as #bladerunnerpuck, #Labyrinthpuck, or #ROUSpuck? Because the world needs all of these.
Ha! Well, it was a way to goof around on Twitter by juxtaposing hockey with Shakespeare. I’d share screencaps of a Shakespeare movie, quoting lines or appreciating a performance as I watched it on my laptop, and interrupt it to celebrate goals of a playoff game that was broadcasting on TV. So you might see “But soft? What light through yonder breaks?” followed by “TKACHUK GOES FIVE-HOLE! YEAAAAH BABY!” I did it with several Shakespeare movies and also did a couple of Jane Austen adaptations and the David Lynch version of Dune. I could certainly do some other stuff next time hockey season rolls around.
BWG: How do you write the different voices for your story and keep them all on track? I have heard that you use Scrivener tabs. Could you explain that process? It seems like you do a ton of prep work on every character before sitting down to write because they are all so very unique.
This recalls the earlier question about Cuckoo’s Nest. I definitely think about how characters speak and how that reveals who they are. And that Scrivener tabs thing—I use that specifically for the Seven Kennings trilogy, where I’m weaving together eleven or twelve different first-person narratives and they all need to sound like people who aren’t me. Part of it is what they love and therefore what they notice. Hanima, for example, wants to lift people up, so she’s always noticing the highlights of being alive and declaring that they’re “the best.” Gondel Vedd loves language, his husband, and mustard, so he talks about these things almost to the exclusion of all else. Daryck du Löngren is a hunter so he’s constantly noticing ambient noises and his surroundings, yet he depends on others for smells since he broke his nose too many times in fights and suffered nerve damage.
Once I have an idea of who they are, it necessarily colors how they take input, process it, and deliver output. There are some subtleties of language I pay attention to as well, some dry syntax stuff that might bore people to tears if I broke it down, but which I hope pays off on the page. The tabs allow me to write all of a single character’s chapters in sequence to keep myself in that headspace, and thereby (hopefully) keep their language consistent.
BWG: You have worked with audible hall of famer Luke Daniels on the entire Iron Druid series for audio narration. Do you adjust your storytelling for his voice, knowing that he will be recording it for a listening audience?
The only adjustments I make now are to insert something in there to mess with him a little bit. For example, at one point Granuaile had to run across part of Poland and had to stop somewhere for a break. I could have picked any city on the map, but I picked the one with the most consonants: Bydgoszcz. And yes, I laughed maniacally while I typed that out. Luke is simply outstanding and can handle anything.
BWG: You have a writing partner for the Kill the Farm Boy series in the great Delilah S. Dawson. What was your writing schedule like when working with a partner? Did you split up the story into specific sections or come together to write it in the same space?
Both! We would meet (in New Orleans or Seattle) to kind of sketch out characters and a broad plot outline, then we would trade writing chapters without worrying who the point-of-view character was. All characters were our characters, in other words, and none belonged to only one of us. The entire process was delightful. I’d write a chapter, email it, and work on something else until a new chapter arrived in my inbox. That chapter would make me laugh and then it was my turn again. Super fun—and, I hope, fun for readers.
BWG: Tell me about Oberon. How much fun did you have writing him? He is about the best animal character I have ever read and brings me joy just thinking about him. Was he always an Irish Wolfhound? Or was that a no-brainer due to the Irish folklore connection in Iron Druid/Ink & Sigil world?
He was always a wolfhound, yeah, because the early version of the breed—warhounds—are mentioned in the old stories about Cú Chulainn. I figured an Irish Druid would want one as a friend, especially if he himself could shapeshift into one. But Oberon’s character and behavior were modeled on a couple of smaller dogs with expressive faces, a pug and a Boston terrier who gave me much joy for many years. They unfortunately have moved on to another plane now, but I’m glad their spirit lives on in Oberon. He was (and is) an absolute blast to write.
BWG: Your new series, Ink & Sigil, takes place in the same world as the Iron Druid but is very much its own thing with its own distinct voice. What made you decide to come back to this world?
Well, I love the world and didn’t want to leave—it’s just that Atticus told his story the way he wanted to tell it. So a different narrator was needed, and Al MacBharrais presented himself as an interesting contrast—aging instead of eternally youthful.
BWG: Could you tell me a bit about Al MacBharrais as a character?
He’s a sixty-three-year-old sigil agent who’d like to retire but can’t because his apprentices keep dying in freak accidents. He discovers, however, that they might not be accidents after all; he’s been cursed, perhaps doubly so, and until those curses are lifted he’ll be unable to train a successor. As a sigil agent who writes and enforces contracts with otherworldly entities, using magical inks and sigils invented by Brighid, First among the Fae, he runs into many of the same deities that Atticus and Oberon did, so there’s plenty of continuity with the Iron Druid books without requiring people to have read them first. He’s been widowed for more than a decade and feels lonely, so he’s trying to do something about that, albeit slowly.
BWG: Buck Foi is a hilarious foil to Al MacBharrais. Where did you get the idea for his character? Are all hobgoblins as mischievous as he is?
Answering the second part first: Hobgoblins see themselves as fulfilling the role that court jesters used to fill in monarchies. They exist to speak truth to power and poke a needle in someone’s swelled head when it gets too big. That being said, some are far more mischievous than others and some struggle with whether they want to act as a check on power or actually overthrow it. Lots of that gets explored in the second book, Paper & Blood (more on that below).
As for the idea, I’d point to A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. Robin Goodfellow (or Puck) is a hobgoblin in service to Oberon, the king of the fairies, and he tends to screw things up rather comically.
BWG: Your newest book in this series, Paper & Blood, releases this month. Could you tell us a bit about where we are in the story and what we might have in store for this book?
There are only five sigil agents in the world, and when two of them disappear in Australia, Al has to go there with Buck to discover what happened. There he teams up with Atticus, Oberon, and Starbuck, and eventually they are joined by Nadia and Gladys Who Has Seen Some Shite (Yes, that whole thing is her name). Because there’s something in the Australian bush spawning some deadly chimeras, and Al wants to know why as much as he wants to stop it. Both Atticus and Al are surprised by who’s behind it and their motivation for doing it.
BWG: Lastly, the Iron Druid was a nine-book series. Are there long-term plans for Ink & Sigil?
I know how it’s going to end, but when exactly that comes depends a bit on demand. If folks want more, I can certainly write more adventures and would be delighted to do so. But I can also wrap things up in the next book, so spreading the word about these first two and getting folks to read them now would help tremendously in ensuring more to come. So have fun and tell your friends!
Interview originally appeared in Grimdark Magazine
Check Out Some Of Our Other interviewsInterview; Kristyn Merbeth Author of the Nova Vita Protocol
Interview; Author Grady Hendrix
August 16, 2021
Review – Behind Blue Eyes by Anna Mocikat
C.T. Phipps
behind blue eyes by anna mocikat Purchase Here About They are the perfect hybrid between human and machine. They are the next step in the evolution of mankind. And when they come after you, nothing in the world will save you…
Welcome to the year 2095.
Society has overcome everything that made human life miserable. It has become perfect — so perfect that it needs killer cyborgs to hunt down anyone who disagrees with it.
Nephilim isn’t just any elite death squad member, she is the best. Genetically and cybernetically enhanced, she and others like her strike terror wherever they go. Knowing nothing besides this lifestyle, Nephilim believes that she’s part of a righteous cause.
But everything changes for her after a hostile EMP attack.
She suffers a severe system glitch. Disconnected from the grid, for the first time in her life, she begins doubting the system.
Shortly after the attack, she meets Jake, a 100% biological human, and she falls in love with him. Jake helps her discover that everything she had believed in was a lie.
But there is no walking away from the system. And soon, Nephilim finds herself hunted by members of her own death squad.
In an era of deception, who can she trust? And in this brave new world, is there a place for love between a human and a cyborg?
Behind Blue Eyes is a fast-paced, cinematic action story in a dystopian setting. It’s a modern-day version of 1984 – on steroids.
My ThoughtsBEHIND BLUE EYES is a cyberpunk action adventure by newcomer Anna Mocikat who states in her interviews that she is a lifelong fan of the genre, George Orwell, Ghost in the Shell, and The Matrix. These influences are very obvious and help make the novel a wonderful homage to numerous classic works of cyberpunk. It’s also an entertaining story that involves beautiful cyborg super soldiers tearing through armies of goons like Underworld’s Selene crossed with Wolverine (the X-23 version).
The premise is that the future has fallen prey to a series of conglomerates that have replaced the world’s governments. The largest of these is the Olympias Corporation that rules the remains of the Americas. The Olympias Corporation maintains its control via the use of cybernetically enhanced agents called Guardian Angels. The most dangerous of these agents is Nephilim, a beautiful Eurasian woman who was raised to be a killer like all members of her angel-themed team. After a harrowing execution of dissidents, Nephilim is starting to have doubts about her purpose.
Nephilim only manages to keep her doubts, though, due to damage done to her cybernetics by a EMP weapon that leaves her able to question things without having her mind immediately erased. Taking advantage of this brief interlude and the affections of a smitten technician, Nephilim manages to permanently protect herself from brainwashing. This shows her the Olympias Corporation and its arcologies are not the utopian paradises but bread and circus dystopias where the rich prey on the poor for literal sport. Seriously, there’s actually a “Most Dangerous Game” hunt where the participants can kill their victims for money.
I’m a big fan of cyberpunk that gets into the nitty-gritty of the methods that society uses to control us in the future. Anna Mocikat uses references to Animal Farm, 1984, and other literary references to get to the heart of what her dystopia is all about. On the surface, it’s much nicer than any of Orwell’s worlds but the seeming riches of the populace comes with a complete lack of rights. You can be killed at any time for any reason and your lives are completely under their control ranging from families to education to sexual rights.
There’s a romance between Nephilim and a seemingly enlightened “normal” citizen but this proves to be deceptive and I enjoyed the twists that accompanied it. Nephilim is also the object of affection of other characters with technician Finwick being a seeming parody of the kind of drooling nerds that are more in love with the idea of a woman than the actual thing. We also have Metatron, the leader of the Guardian Angels who revels in his power over his associates while flouting the power of conventional society even as it enforces its darkest deeds.
The book is fantastic and I really love its amazingly written action sequences. Anna Mocikat has a real gift for describing energetic emotionally-charged battles that take full advantage of the fact our heroine (as well as her opponents) are cybernetic superbeings. I really recommend it to people who want to give a fun little cyberpunk adventure a try and support an indie author. The ending is pretty dark but just caused me to immediately pick up the sequel rather than turned me off.
Check Out My Other ReviewsReview Psycho Killers In Love by C.T. Phipps
BookTrack Psycho Killers in Love by C.T. Phipps
If You Liked This - Please Share the Love 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 blogger on “The United Federation of Charles”.
He’s written Agent G, Cthulhu Armageddon, Lucifer’s Star, and The Supervillainy Saga.
Website: https://ctphipps.wordpress.com/
#Musicmonday – Eyes on Fire (Zed’s Dead Mix) by Blue Foundation and Zed’s Dead
#musicmonday Music That Speaks to Me Sometimes a song, is more than a song.
Blue Foundation - Eyes On Fire (Official Music Video)Lyrics I’ll seek you out
Flay you alive
One more word and you won’t survive
And I’m not scared
Of your stolen powerI see right through you any hourI won’t soothe your pain
I won’t ease your strain
You’ll be waiting in vain.
I got nothing for you to gainI’m taking it slow
Feeding my flame
Shuffling the cards of your game
And just in timeIn the right place
Suddenly I will play my aceI won’t soothe your pain
I won’t ease your strain
You’ll be waiting in vain
I got nothing for you to gainEyes on fire
Your spine is ablaze Felling any foe with my gaze
And just in time
In the right place
Steadily emerging with grace Ahh, felling any foe with my gaze
Ahh, steadily emerging with grace
Ahh, felling any foe with my gaze
Ahh, steadily emerging with grace
To Purchase This Song Click Here
Check Out Some Other Great Songs Below#MusicMonday Ivar;s Revenge by Danheim
#musicmonday Eyes on Fire – Zeds Dead Remix by Blue Foundation
August 15, 2021
Review – Crossover Volume 1 + Crossover #7
check it out here COMIC REVIEW
Crossover, Vol. 1: Kids Love Chains + CRossover issue #7 by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw (Contributor), Dee Cunniffe (Contributor), John J Hill (Contributor) August 15, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress "imagine everything you thought was fantasy...was real. And now join us, in a world where reality is dead...and anything is possible...”
Donny Cates’ and Geoff Shaw’s Crossover, as you would expect from the synopsis, is a comic book for comic fans. But not just fans of superhero books from “the Big Two”, fans of the very concept of a comic book. Crossover is very much a love letter to the very medium of sequential storytelling.
The story starts a few years after a catastrophe releases every character from every comic book into the real world in one gigantic, frenetic battle. And while the majority of these characters are trapped in a protective bubble (of energy and licensing issues), several move around freely in the real world but are being hunted by forces who wish to see them destroyed.
It’s kind of like what Ready Player One was to the 80s, except less overt and obnoxious about it (and I liked Ready Player One). What follows is the sort of weird meta-storytelling that I love peppered with references to comic books that you may or may not have heard of (I didn’t even know about some of them). Obviously, the real heavy hitters you’re seeing on the big screen don’t make appearances, due to the licensing issues I mentioned earlier, but frankly, I think the story is better for it, as it allows the narrative to twist in different directions while still offering some great cameos for fans of the wider genre and also being relatively accessible for people who want to enjoy the story.
If you like comic books, pick up this book. If you don’t like comic books, still pick up this book, because the story is fantastic, and it might even turn you on to some other comic books you didn’t know existed.
Crossover Volume 1 collects Crossover Issues #1-6, but I also picked up #7 because it’s written by and features one of my favorite modern comic writers and my 2nd favorite Handsome Boy Modelling Agency Graduate: Chip Zdarsky. Zdarsky writes himself into a side story, where he’s forced to go on the run from the law, since he once wrote and drew himself into an issue of Sex Criminals, and that particular instance of him has also come to life. It’s an incredibly, weird, dark, meta story that manages to be both figuratively and literally self-indulgent.
And that exactly the kind of weird bullshit that I love. Man, am I glad I picked this one up.
Check Out some of our other reviewsReview – The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Graphic Novel Review – Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness by Reinhard Kleist
If You Liked This - Please Share the Love G.M Nair
G.M. Nair is a crazy person who should never be taken seriously. Despite possessing both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering and a job as an Aviation and Aerospace Consultant, he writes comedy for the stage and screen, and maintains the blog MakeMomMarvel.Com. Now he is making the leap into the highly un-lucrative field of independent book publishing.
G.M. Nair lives in New York City and in a constant state of delusion.
