Wesley Britton's Blog, page 14

Book Review: Illusional Reality by Karina Kandas

Illusional Reality
Karina Kantas
Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: lulu.com (March 8, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1326583662
ISBN-13: 978-1326583668
https://www.amazon.com/Illusional-Rea...

Reading the opening pages of this fantasy/ romance, I had the sense I was reading a modern retelling of an ancient myth, fairy tale, or legend. Perhaps it was my overactive imagination, but some of the story’s early elements sounded familiar.

For example, the book opens when an ordinary marketing executive named Becky, who at least thinks she is an ordinary human, is rescued from an attack in a dark alley by an “alien” named Salco. Unhappily, in her opinion, she is transported to a different realm where she discovers she is really Princess Thya of Tsinia, a city of light-hearted (mostly) tree-top dwellers. She had been hidden away on earth until she is expected to fulfill her prophesized role as a wife to establish an alliance with the powerful city called Senx. Much to her distaste, she is apparently obligated to wed Kovon, the son of the proverbial dark lord, Darthorn. Darthorn is no more fond of the wedding idea than Thya, preferring the conquest option which he is certain he would win.

Learning this marriage is intended to preserve and save the magical realm on the brink of destruction, Thya spends many hours being tutored about a world she doesn’t know. Thya slowly learns about her true identity including the undesirable prophecy and the fact she has supernatural powers she doesn’t know how to use or control. Along the way, she falls in love with one of her teachers who is himself obligated to marry another.

After this set-up, readers experience a series of possible paths for Thya to explore and deal with as we meet a growing set of sometimes duplicitous mentors and advisors for the Princess. I admit, my interest kicked in when Thya began to assert her will and resist prophecy, no matter what her court advisors tell her what she must do. From this point forward, I felt I was reading a completely original story based on, well, whatever Karina Kandas cooked up for her heroine and her changed circumstances in this first volume of a coming duology. Thankfully, the magical ride keeps building up speed until we get to the final third of the book where everything intensifies from the psychic battles to the emotional hits to Thya and her chosen lover, Alkazer.

A major stroke of creativity in this novel is the lofty dialect and diction Kandas has most of her characters using. I’ve read other reviews where some readers were put off or challenged by this. I don’t see the problem. Every sentence was perfectly clear to me. How tough is it to recognize “with certainty” means “Yes”? In addition, the tone used by most of these characters seemed perfectly spot on for high officials and palace courtesans, not to mention black-hearted warlords.

This book can fairly be classified as YA as there are moral lessons being taught, mainly about the importance of selflessness and putting community above yourself. So Illusional Reality is the sort of book that should be welcome under your Christmas tree, especially for those reluctant younger readers for whom this adventure should be quite inviting. Why not give them a sexy female Harry Potter with a good figure? It shouldn’t be too long before the sequel, The Quest, will belatedly debut in 2019.


This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Dec. 16, 2018:
https://waa.ai/oOA3

Shock Cinema Archives available for fans!

Shock Cinema is Here!

The Cult Movie Magazine's Archives Are Now Available At BearManor Media!

In the early '90s, Steve Puchalski started the fantastic publication Shock Cinema which covers the unusual, the obscure, and the fantastic world of movies. Since 1998 the magazine has also featured interviews with some of cult cinema's luminaries from William Smith to Fred Williamson to Eddie Deezen and more.

BearManor Media is proud to announce that back issues of Shock Cinema are available for sale via BearManor Media!


http://www.bearmanormedia.com/magazines

Alpha Tales 2044 is finally here!

This is a huge weekend for Wes Britton as Alpha Tales 2044 was just published on Nook, Kobo and iBooks. Tomorrow, Dec. 9, it’s coming out on Amazon! For this entry in the Beta-Earth Chronicles, you have your choice of e-books or paperback!

Link for Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/BNAT2044
Link for apple/ iBook http://bit.ly/IbAT2044
Link for Kobo http://bit.ly/ATK2044
Link to all stores http://bit.ly/B2RAT2044
Lulu paperback http://bit.ly/LUAT2044


Here are links to the first two posts in our ongoing blog tour—

https://www.kmmcfarland.com/blog/new-...

https://urbanhype101.wordpress.com/20...

https://www.kmmcfarland.com/blog/new-...


Stay tuned—more news as it comes in, hot off the press as they say!

Star Trek fans mourn passing of John D. F. Black

On April 9, 2014, Wes Britton interviewed writer/producer John D.F. Black on “Dave White Presents.” They discussed Black’s work on the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mr. Novac, Shaft, and Combat!

On Nov. 29, John Donald Francis Black died at the age of 85, apparently of natural causes. In his memory, Star Trek fans have set up a Gofundme account to set up a memorial to celebrate his legacy.

Please visit and donate to the GoFundMe
https://www.gofundme.com/startrek-fan...

You can hear Wes Britton’s “Dave White Presents” interview with John D. F. Black at:
http://tinyurl.com/nlbz847

Book Review: Tom Petty and Me by John Scott

Tom Petty and Me: My Rock ‘n Roll Adventures with Tom Petty
John Scott
Publisher: Chickasaw Buddy Publishing, INC. (2018)
ISBN-10: 069209119X
ISBN-13: 978-0692091197
https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Petty-Me-J...

Reviewed by :Dr. Wesley Britton

“Six weeks before our record was going to be dropped from ABC Records, Jon Scott went to radio stations with a vengeance and got our record played and on the charts. Because of that, we are forever grateful to him.”

-Tom Petty (The Hollywood Bowl, September 25, 2017, Petty’s last concert performance)

It’s no trade secret that promo man John Scott was very instrumental in igniting the career of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers when no one else in the music business believed in them.

As chronicled in Scott’s very personal insider’s tour of the music industry, in 1973 he moved from behind a Memphis radio station microphone to work for MCA Records as a Southern-based promo man. Then, he was promoted to head of national album promotion and worked and traveled with bands and artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, the Who, Olivia Newton-John, Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey and Golden Earring.

In 1977, Scott moved over to ABC Records with the same job title. It’s here where his story really gets interesting as Scott’s 40-year association with Tom Petty begins after a series of coincidences and serendipitous events. That was when Scott put his radio and promo experience to work as he threw all his energy behind Petty and his music.

So the memoir is part a detailed review of what a promo man does, revealing why they’re an indispensable part of an artist’s success. In part, the book is about the professional collaboration between Petty and Scott as well as a fond series of reminiscences and anecdotes of their long friendship. That includes behind-the-scenes stories in the recording studio, song composition, and touring.

So this is a book not just for Tom Petty fans who won’t want to miss this one, but for those who’d like a peek into the promotions side of the music industry, especially from the 1970s onward. Happily, Scott writes with a personable, engaging style any reader can enjoy. On top of that, we also get an informative foreword by John Mellencamp, another musician who benefited from Scott’s work.

If you’re interested in a signed copy of the book by John Scott, here’s how to get one:

https://tompettyandme.com/

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 29, 2018:
https://waa.ai/oaFb

Book Review: Press F5 to Load Game by LeVar Ravel

Press F5 to Load Game
LeVar Ravel
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B00SVE9TU4
https://www.amazon.com/Press-Load-Gam...

Press F5 to Load Game is one of those quasi-sci-fi yarns that is more concept and inventiveness than an engaging story with Well-drawn characters. It reads like a plot gamers would enjoy who’d like their own technology to reset reality. Who wouldn’t want the ability to do whatever they liked without consequences? An event didn’t work out the way you hoped? Never mind—press F5 and you can start all over again and wipe out a reality that didn’t go your way.

The story is all about an underling in the employ of State Senator Kenji Glover named Lars Uxbridge. Young Uxbridge, an egotist frustrated by having to work in the shadows for his publicity-seeking boss, is recruited by a businessman named Mr. Fix to dig up dirt on a state representative named Frannie Up wood. While she’s an apparent political underachiever, a much more powerful representative has allied himself with Upwood and no one can figure out why. Lars spies on her and what he discovers shocks and amazes him. He soon follows her while she is out and about and doing very strange things.

To be more specific or describe events as they go along would absolutely go into the realm of spoilers. What LeVar Ravel excels at are unexpected twists and turns and unpredictable surprises. I won’t rob readers of the opportunity to discover these twists for themselves.

Of course, there’s nothing new in sci-fi about the ability to restart reality. The most famous example is probably Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic 1971 The Lathe of Heaven in which “effective dreaming” did the reboot trick. This time around, Ravel gives us a backdrop of political machinations to give Upwood her reasons for using the unexplained F5 device. Like modern real-life politics, we don’t really see what the political insiders want to accomplish other than get and stay elected. In other words, the novel isn’t a contrivance for Ravel to present a political philosophy disguised in SF clothing.

Press F5 to Load Game is likely to resonate most with gamers who might want to see what might happen if things that can take place on their hand-held screens could work in real life. Still, you don’t have to know anything about video games to follow the story. But an interest in those toys might stimulate your interest in this short book.

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 28, 2018:
https://waa.ai/ozYU

Check Out Wes Britton's CRACKS OF CONSCIOUSNESS!

Thanks to webmaster Cheryl Morris, today I was able to resurrect a sampling of my poetry published throughout the 1990s collected in my first book, CRACKS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. I’m hoping new readers will enjoy the revised humor, character sketches, meditations, and narratives updated for your reading pleasure. You can find the free collection in the “Books” section after the listing of The Beta-Earth Chronicles at:

https://drwesleybritton.com/books/

I’d like to dedicate this edition of CRACKS to the cover artist, Cliff Roberts, who was one of my Sherman, Texas pals who left us much too soon in this long year of premature passings.

On that note, here’s a silly sampling from CRACKS:

THE CONDOM STORM OF '72

A true story from my misbegotten youth. One of the poems that works very well at poetry readings.

Well, Paul broke into the rubber machines last night
looking for quarters but failed and
showed up at our poker game dumping
a foot-high pile of
individually shrink-wrapped little boxes
of rubbers of all sizes 'n colors
on my single bed

'n we drunken boys blew up our balloons and
tossed them out the boarding house window
'n we must of made a major dent in that pile
cause the next morning I set out
to walk my hangover to the breakfast deli
but stopped on a dime seeing
the sticky balloons on
cars
'n windows
'n parking meters
'n poles
'n grass, the sidewalk,
'n the street.

'n my landlady's front porch
where she stood with arms folded
'n tapping her foot
'nwishing to laugh admonition—

"I know who's behind this one, Britton."

'n I walked into the deli where the condom storm
replaced all other news
'n I stayed mute
not wanting
to let on we hadn't planned the whole thing
to start with.

You should have seen it,
it was a wonderful sight.
More colorful than Christmas
bathed in prophylactic lights.

New Fossil Species to be named after Progressive Rock band

Friday October 19th - Visionary progressive metal quintet, Between The Buried And Me are honored to have a fossil of a new species of brittle star (slender-armed cousin of the starfish) named after them.

The new species is named Amphilimna intersepultosetme, which is the literal Latin translation of Between the Buried and Me, lived 67 million years ago and was discovered in South Carolina by paleontologists Drs John Jagt, Lea Numberger-Thuy and Ben Thuy from the Natural History Museum in Luxembourg.

Speaking on the new discovery, Dan Briggs (bass) said

"We are honored to have been thought of alongside this little magical creature who swam in the waters of the Carolinas many years before us and we'll be linked together for many years to come."

Media Enquiries Please Contact
Charley Bezer, Cosa Nostra PR, US
Charley@cosanostrapr.com +1 (818) 423-9273

20% off Scripts from the Crypt

Take 20% Off Any Script from the Crypt

Can your heart stand the shocking truth behind your favorite horror/sci-fi films? The Scripts from the Crypt series peals back the veil to give readers heretofore untold behind-the-scenes stories. Marvel at the detailed production histories of films like Dracula's Daughter, The Hideous Sun Demon, Bride of the Gorilla and more.
Take 20% off any Script from the Crypt title with the discount code SFTC20 at checkout until midnight on Halloween -- 12:00 AM E.T. Wednesday October 31, 2018.

How to order:
http://bearmanormedia.com/index.php?r...

Halloween Treats

As well as picking up your copy of my THE FATES OF EVIL MEN, you can grab more chilling and horrifying books all for free.

https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/2...


Here's another chance to pick up some Halloween treats.
(If you dare)
The Fates Of Evil Men is among the goodies.
https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/K...