Jeremy Rodden's Blog, page 2

Misanthrope Beechworth & The Dustwaste Wellspring Available Now!

Just a quick post to celebrate that the second Tales from Toonopolis novella, Misanthrope Beechworth & The Dustwaste Wellspring is now available on Amazon! For those of you that prefer books in print, fear not… the first Tales from Toonopolis collection of short stories & novellas is in production, including this story as well as the never-before-in-print Anchihiiroo – Origin of an Antihero. Stay tuned for deails!

MarsCon 2019 Roundup Post

So this morning I woke up after a really fun weekend in Williamsburg, VA attending my first ever fantasy/scifi convention as an author: MarsCon 2019. Actually, it was my first one ever! After spending the first 7 years of my author career staying behind the keyboard, I started getting out last year for the first time.

Last day at MarsCon, dressed in my “all growed up” Ash Ketchum costume!

Coincidentally, the reason I was at MarsCon this year in the first place was because I was encouraged to attend by the wonderful Tara Moeller of DreamPunk Press, whom I met in Norfolk at the Slover Library Local Author Fair in March of 2018 (my first “fair” as an author). In addition to telling me about MarsCon, she also invited me to submit to the fae-themed anthology she was publishing specifically as a charity anthology *for* the con. Fae Thee Well was the result and includes my “Tiny Brown Hands” Shoemaker & the Elves retelling set in a modern-day Indonesian shoe factory. It’s a beautiful charity anthology full of fae-themed short stories and poems and proceeds from the book went to the Heritage Humane Society. It was released this weekend at MarsCon but is available to order through DreamPunk Press here!

After a short day on Friday (I set up my table but went back to Norfolk for a date night with my wife to see Trevor Noah, which was awesome), I got into gear on Saturday full swing! I met some amazing people, had some awesome geeky chats with folks, sold some books, exchanged some business cards, and had a blast with my table neighbors! On my left, a talented pair of artists from NeverBen Designs who were super chill. And on my right, the inestimable Mo “Mxknowitall” Moeller (who is the child of the aforementioned Tara and someone I was lucky to befriend last year).

On top of this, I met and had great conversations with some other wonderful authors like epic fantasy author Katika Schneider (with whom I did a book trade and am looking forward to reading the first book of her Afflicted Saga!) and scifi author Drew Avera (who, despite being friends on Facebook for nearly a year and living 15 minutes from one another, I never met in person before this weekend). Andrew Hiller, a fellow contributor to Fae The Well, was a delight to listen to with his wonderful storytelling ability and life experience.

On Sunday, I participated in my first panel as an author (with Tara and Mo, who is trans) called “Forget The Glass Slipper,” where we discussed raising a child without traditional gender roles and had a very lively and positive chat with the attendees. Not surprising my first panel was more for my experience as a father than as an author but I’ll take it! I’ve made new friends, new colleagues, discussed some possible future projects (I’m super excited about a few of them), sold some books, and just loved the positive energy of the event.

Left to Right: Andrew Hiller (hilarious storyteller/author), Tara Moeller (my new BFF), Mo Moeller (my other new BFF), Travis Sivart (the man with a sharp mustache and even sharper wit), and myself!

All in all, I am super happy and energized by my weekend. I’m simultaneously tired and need a nap, but MarsCon was a most wonderful experience for a con rookie like myself and I can’t wait to do more… especially MarsCon 2020, where I understand the theme will be Rogues and Rebels and expect to see some serious pirate action!

If you’re in the general area of Hampton Roads and wanna find me and chat in person, keep an eye on my Facebook Events page for where I’ll be next!

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Tales of the Peculiar

Author: Ransom Riggs

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fable

Release Date: September 3, 2016

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales.

Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—the collection of fairy tales known to hide information about the peculiar world, including clues to the locations of time loops—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.

Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories in this deluxe volume of Tales of the Peculiar, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar. Featuring stunning illustrations from world-renowned woodcut artist Andrew Davidson this compelling and truly peculiar anthology is the perfect gift for not only fans, but for all booklovers.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

For anyone who read the rest of the Miss Peregrine series, this book is a delight. Much like the Fantastic Beasts spin-off for Harry Potter, Tales of the Peculiar brings to life a book referenced inside the stories for us to read as its own book. The fables inside this collection are intended to teach lessons to peculiar children (not the normal ones like us), with stories ranging from lessons on greed, humility, and compassion… the same way collections like Aesop’s Fables teach the rest of us.

I am a huge fan of the footnotes and “in character” storytelling aspect of things. Millard Nullings, the invisible boy from the original trilogy (and well known historian among the peculiar children under Miss Peregrine’s wing) is the curator of the anthology. The in character aspect adds an extra level of flair, in the same way that Lemony Snicket as an in-character narrator adds to uniqueness of the Series of Unfortunate Events books or Bartimaeus’s footnotes in The Amulet of Samarkand.

My favorite story was probably the one about the cannibals, which was the lead story in the collection. It really set the pace for both the specificity of peculiar issues the children who would be told these stories would need to know. There is also some great background and tie-ins with the events of the books, and that is always fun! Definitely worth a read for fans of the Miss Peregrine books!

Content/Appropriateness

They are stories written as fables for peculiar children so, as such, they are more than appropriate for regular children. Granted, regular children don’t often have to deal with unique powers or being able to regrow limbs, making them ideal candidates for a symbiotic relationship with cannibals. There are similar lessons throughout, sometimes landing the protagonist of the story in a bad spot, but nothing that would preclude children of any age from being able to enjoy the stories as they are told.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon[image error] | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: Science Fiction, Fairy Tale Retelling

Release Date: January 3, 2012

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

Having recently enjoyed another scifi fairytale retelling, I was may more excited to dive into this one. Unlike the last one I read (Melanie Karsak’s Curiouser & Curiouser, a steampunk Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland retelling), there are way fewer reminders throughout the course of this book that it even *is* a retelling. Meyer started with “Cinderella” as a foundation, but she made it so completely unique that it’s hard to even consider it a true retelling.

The depth of the medical science aspects in this book is fantastic. Meyer clearly dug deep to try to make both her technology and her biomedical elements feel real. I never had a moment while reading where I had to suspend disbelief to a level that didn’t work within the story and that is sometimes hard to do with good scifi.

Every once in a while, there are reminders that we’re in a retelling (ish) such as the fact that one of Cinder’s cyborg parts is her foot. But there are also times where Meyer flips a portion of the retelling so fantastically that it reminds us of the retelling because of its contrast (example: when Cinder arrives at the ball, she catches everyone’s eye… but not for the same reason as in the original). The modification on the relationship with the evil stepmother and stepsisters (the fact that one of them actually isn’t evil and mean is so wonderful) is another great flip.

Overall, this was an amazing story and I can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series. At this point, it’s just an awesome cyborg-centered scifi with intergalactic implications that I just can’t wait to experience!

Content/Appropriateness

Again unlike the last fairy tale retelling I reviewed, this one is most definitely all-ages appropriate. There is, of course, the romantic angle of things (I mean, Meyer couldn’t remove that from a Cinderella story!) but it is simple. It isn’t the “head over heels” early-Disney stuff, either, which shows a progression away from the criticized parts of old fairy tales. There are no language or sexual issues. There is some scifi level violence (including some death, but nothing gruesome).

Where the content gets deeper and what makes me rate this more 12+ versus all ages is the depth of the social issues grappled with in the story. The outcasting of both Cyborgs and Lunars delves into some serious racism/xenophobia problems that parallel reality in a fantastic way. Meyer handles them deftly and not in a heavy-handed “hit you over the head with a moral” way, and the narrative is all that much better because of it. So still content-appropriate for younger audiences, but some increased maturity will improve the experience a lot.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon[image error] | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

Ever Upward (The Excelsior Journey, #2) by George Sirois, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Ever Upward (The Excelsior Journey, #2)

Author: George Sirois

Genre: Science Fiction

Release Date: May 10, 2018

Synopsis (from Amazon):

An ancient foe. A divided planet. An impossible choice to make.

A newly established link between Denab IV and Earth has endangered both planets, causing Excelsior’s own people to turn against him. With General Hodera ready to lead a deadly new army and an ancient foe awakened and more powerful than ever, everything both Matthew Peters and Excelsior love is on the brink of destruction.

Excelsior must return to Earth to undo the damage he has caused to his planet and his people, but doing so would sever the connection Matthew Peters still has with his loved ones.

A decision must be made, but time is running out.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

The first review on this blog that is a sequel, but one I have been waiting years to read! I read Excelsior (book 1) shortly after release and absolutely loved it. I reviewed it on the blog last year here. I was really excited for the sequel because I really had no idea where the story was going to go next. While Sirois left plenty of backstory and such on the table, Excelsior had a very complete and satisfying ending.

What I feared most was the elevation of Matthew Peters to the demigod Excelsior and that he would immediately become the superman/undefeatable hero type. Sirois did an amazing job very early in this sequel of reminding us that he is still very flawed and still human enough to screw something up even with the best intentions. The fact that some of the main conflict in this story is directly *caused* by the hero really helps us continue to connect with Matthew/Excelsior as the protagonist. He isn’t unreachable or unrelatable and that is huge.

I was so happy to see more of the history of the alien world (including some of the etymology of not only the planet, Denab IV, but the Krunation race) and how intertwined Earth and Denab IV have been since events far preceding the backstory of even previous Excelsiors Valertus and Semminex. In the notes on the first book, Sirois talks about how expansive his planning has been for this series. When your “backstory” goes all the way back to the Big Bang and the creation of the universe, you know you’ve got some deep history!

Similarly to how Sirois kept us connected with Matthew’s humanity, he did the same thing with Earth. While the story taking place entirely on Denab IV would have been fine (we knew it was a Science Fiction with alien races), it was way more enjoyable for the dual stories taking place on both Earth and Denab IV. Diving into the history of Excelsior’s home planet and the truth behind the Krunation “god” was such a wonderful experience. With more focus on Krunation point of view characters, the reader is more able to accept their “humanity” as well, which is huge for the progression of the plot.

As with the first book, I feel this story is whole and complete. The epilogue makes me excited for the last book in the series, though, and I am looking forward to figuring out how much more we can learn about this massive world Sirois has crafted! Highly recommended!

Content/Appropriateness

As with the first book, this is definitely all-ages appropriate from a content standpoint. No bad language, no sex, and violence is minimal/comic booky in nature. There are deaths, but Krunations and Denarians simply turn to ash when they die so even then they aren’t gory like a human death would be.

A note (for any who care): there are some monotheistic religious undertones that are unsurprising considering the savior-styling of the protagonist, but Sirois does a really good job of keeping this less of an allegory and more of a connection to Earth and the readers and not “preachy” at all.

There are some romantic elements in this tale and things are a little more adult (in complexity, not in content) which is the only reason I recommend more of the 12+ range over a 10+ range. A mature and strong reader of any rage could enjoy this story/series, though, due to the all-ages level content.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon [image error]

Fellowship of Fantasy: Heroic Summer Giveaway!

Heroes!

What would stories be without them? The Fellowship of Fantasy has put together an Incredible prize pack featuring fictional Marvels. If you have a Vision, you’ll want to get your hand on this Wonder of a collection, including a Woman Woman Journal, a Paperback copy of Hall of Heroes, and a ten ebook mini-library of Fellowship of Fantasy titles.

It’s Super–

What?

Oh …

Apparently I’ve used up my bad pun allowance for the week.

Use the rafflecopter giveaway app to enter to win this prize pack including

To Save a Race by Kandi J. Wyatt

https://www.amazon.com/Save-Race-Kandi-J-Wyatt/dp/1985153688/

My Alien Boyfriend by Janeen Ippolito

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Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors by H. L. Burke

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Mercy’s Prince by Katy Huth Jones

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The Shaman’s Apprentice by B. Muze

https://www.amazon.com/Shamans-Apprentice-Jovai-Book-ebook/dp/B078QVJLQR/

Aerisia: Gateway to the Underworld by Sarah Ashwood

https://www.amazon.com/Aerisia-Gateway-Underworld-Sunset-Beyond-ebook/dp/B071JQ89QT/

Imani Earns her Cape by Bokerah Brumley

https://www.amazon.com/Imani-Earns-Her-Cape-Middle-ebook/dp/B079RV29SL/

After by Savannah Jezowski

https://www.amazon.com/After-Neverway-Chronicles-Book-1-ebook/dp/B079RJR8JR/

Between Heroes and Villains by Various

https://www.amazon.com/Between-Heroes-Villains-Superpower-Anthology-ebook/dp/B072182MTB/

Toonopolis: Anchihiiroo by Jeremy Rodden

https://www.amazon.com/Anchihiiroo-Origin-Antihero-Tales-Toonopolis-ebook/dp/B005VQGOUS/

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Joshua N’Gon: Last Prince of Alkebulahn by Anthony Hewitt, Blog Tour!

Note: This is an informational post about a fairly recently released book by British author Anton Marks (writing this series as Anthony Hewitt). I did not personally have a chance to read the story due to life, but wanted to share the book with my blog readers as it sounds like a fun afrofuturistic story! Info below:

When a secret world of ancient alien kingdoms and evil corporation’s clashes with adolescents,

school, and homework. You won’tt be able to put down this wild adventure of discovery, friendship,

and coming of age!

What would you do if you discovered you were descended from ancient alien African royalty and

you could hold the key to save your friends, family, and the world from evil destructive forces?

Joshua N’Gon seemed like an ordinary boy. Raised in a loving foster home in north London and a

gifted student at the St Augustine private school. But as he grew older, a thirst for meaning and true

purpose began to grow greater and greater…

With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility

On Joshua’s tenth birthday he received mysterious packages from his birth parents. Parents who had

left him as a baby under mysterious circumstances. Opening the packages, he would find gifts that

would forever change him both mentally and physically. Magical technology unlike anything he had

ever seen and the best part, only he could use it. But his secrets would not stay that way for long.

Evil forces were gathering and they would stop at nothing to acquire the powerful science behind his

amazing inventions.

With the help of his two best friends, Brick and Mina, Joshua sets out to develop his abilities, find his

real parents and stop the Technology Billionaire Kanu Umbekwi from subjugating the planet.

Buckle up and get ready to go on an exciting thrill ride, full of suspense, mystery, and alien

technology with Joshua N’Gon: The Last Prince of Alkebulahn.

Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2K71mED

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Batman: The Killing Joke

Author: Alan Moore

Illustrator: Brian Bolland

Genre: Graphic Novel

Release Date: March 1988

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Presented for the first time with stark, stunning new coloring by Bolland, BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE is Alan Moore’s unforgettable meditation on the razor-thin line between sanity and insanity, heroism and villainy, comedy and tragedy.

According to the grinning engine of madness and mayhem known as The Joker, that’s all that separates the sane from the psychotic. Freed once again from the confines of Arkham Asylum, he’s out to prove his deranged point. And he’s going to use Gotham City’s top cop, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and his brilliant and beautiful daughter Barbara to do it.

Now Batman must race to stop his archnemesis before his reign of terror claims two of the Dark Knight’s closest friends. Can he finally put an end to the cycle of bloodlust and lunacy that links these two iconic foes before it leads to its fatal conclusion? And as the horrifying origin of the Clown Prince of Crime is finally revealed, will the thin line that separates Batman’s nobility and The Joker’s insanity snap once and for all?

Legendary writer Alan Moore redefined the super-hero with WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA. In BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, he takes on the origin of comics’ greatest super-villain, The Joker —and changes Batman’s world forever.

Stunningly illustrated, BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, THE DELUXE EDITION has been lushly re-colored by artist Brian Bolland, presenting his original vision of this modern classic for the first time.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

I must start with an important caveat: I had never read this story (nor watched the recent film version) before a few months ago. Growing up, I was always more Marvel than DC so I missed this one when it was relevant and shocking in the late 80s/early 90s when it released (plus I was only 6 when it first was published, so there’s that). This review is from the POV of a 35 year old geek who read it for the first time in 2017. I think that’s important to note.

Why would boys like it? Well, it’s Batman and Joker. Not only Batman and Joker, but what is widely considered one of the most pre-eminent stories in the Batman mythos. The “origin” of Joker? What could drive a man to be as purely insane as Joker has been and is? Well, we get a glimpse of it… kinda. There are debates as to how much Joker’s identity represented in The Killing Joke is “canon” (meaning, true to the core history/legacy of the character and the underlying world) so we still really don’t know “officially” if this is how Joker became Joker (before he became Joker, you know what I’m saying?). Look, comic book canon is a confusing wormhole you just don’t wanna go down. Believe me.

Canon or not, the play on the concept of “one bad day” being all it takes to break a man is a wonderful concept, however. In a similar vein as David Fincher’s classic (oh gods, something released in 1995 is considered a classic now) thriller Seven, the ultimate point the villain is trying to prove is that with enough stresses/pressure points hit, even a “good” man can snap.  This was Moore’s greatest feat and something that has lasted well into modern day adaptations of Batman/Joker: that the two of them are way more similar than they seem on the surface and one of them broke while the other didn’t.

The actual story is simple: Joker wants to put his enemies (first Commissioner Gordon, then Batman) through enough stress to show that they’ll break and that “good” and “evil” are relative concepts depending upon the situation. I think at the time it was published it would have been more shocking than reading it 30 years later when way more has been done with these and other comic characters. In between, we get some background on just how Joker broke and became the insane man he is today.

The art is wonderful and the cat & mouse game is classic Batman/Joker interaction with, obviously, Batman coming out on top. It ends with some ambiguity as to whether or not Batman has really finally ended the continuous circle by finishing off Joker once and for all (but again, since it isn’t really canon it doesn’t matter… it’s more of a “what if” scenario).

I enjoyed it and I think I would have rated it 5-stars when I was younger but look at it as more of a 4-star story at this point. It’s still wonderful but not that over-the-top fantastic wonder when you’re done reading that makes you think it can’t get any better than this. And that may just be my age/experience talking and not any detriment to the work itself.

Content/Appropriateness

This is one of the darker applications of what can be done in a comic. The shooting and paralysis of Barbara Gordon is considered one of the “worst” things done “on-screen” in a comic from one of the big publishers (especially in a Batman story). Further, there are images of Barbara that Joker showed Commissioner Gordon with her nude and bleeding (no nudity visible in what we see other than her butt) that are meant to break Gordon (and nearly do) into madness. They might be disturbing images for a younger reader (especially thinking of this book being published in 1988).

It’s most definitely not for young readers and I’d say into solid high school and up category (kinda like darker/more violent comic characters like Deadpool or Punisher). But I wouldn’t shy away from a mature middle schooler being able to read it so long as the parent is okay with darker themes, some blood, and a girl’s butt.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon[image error] | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

The Belch Park Field Trip (Chrome Junction Academy, #3) by Andrew Mackay, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Barry and the Chronicles

Author: Alun Davies

Illustrator: Kveather

Genre: Adventure, Satire

Release Date: March 12, 2018

Synopsis (from Amazon):

IT’S A JUNGLE IN THERE!

Henry Williams has never been a leader.

Or stood up to the bullies.

Or kissed the girl of his dreams.

In fact, he’s never stood out from the school crowd.

Mind you, he’s only twelve years-old.

And a foot shorter than his classmates.

All that will change today, though.

The school inspectors are visiting Chrome Junction Academy.

The principal needs to get rid of the cream of the cr@p!

He’d have preferred to send them to another galaxy far, far away…

Instead, the obnoxious, high-on-energy-drinks brats are off to…

BELCH PARK!

Roller coasters! Mega-drop towers! Ghost trains! Ferris wheels! Bumper cars!

No end of opportunities for fun, thrills and spills!

The perfect place to run rampant and enjoy themselves…

But wait!

South London’s notorious Our Lady of Sacrifice Roman Catholic school is also there.

They’re Chrome Junction Academy’s natural enemy.

Oh bugger…

NOW IT’S WAR!

Limbs will break…

Dares will result in irreparable damage…

The innocent will be caught in the crossfire…

Even the park may not survive

Henry’s destiny awaits…

Chrome Junction Academy’s underdog must step up… and grow a pair.

He’ll have to ensure the safety of his friends.

Fend off the bigger, badder kids.

…and get them out of Belch Park in one piece!

Join the Chrome Junction Academy gang on the ultimate field trip you’ll never remember*

(*Probably because they drugged you and stole your phone and wallet.)

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

Let’s just start off by saying this is a first for my blog. I’ve never marked a book 18+ before (I tend to be fairly lenient and trust parents to decide what is right for their kids), but this book is like a British version of South Park in literature form. For people who like reading stories about terrible people or watching shows starring terrible people (such as The League or It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia), this book is right up your alley. Nearly every person in this book would qualify as a sociopath or seriously demented in some way. This goes for the children, adults, and even the nuns that show up.

That being said, the book is terribly funny so long as you take everything in that first paragraph into account. There is something in here to offend everyone, but at the same time there are still occasional glimmers that this really is satire and not simply a horrible person (eg, the author) trashing a bunch of kids. In the same way that Mortal Kombat X was uber-violent yet so hyperbolic it was unrealistic, Belch Park Field Trip is the same with crudeness of language and mean-spiritedness (and absolute apathy from any of the adults around).

Much like the characters, the plot itself is also fairly hyperbolic. This is not meant to be a “realistic” or “believable” tale. Instead, it’s like an Adult Swim cartoon akin to Robot Chicken where the author clearly just wants to see how absolutely horrific he can make this story go while still holding on to the semblance of a plot. He pulls it off, though, and the fast-paced dialogue keeps the story moving fairly well, even amidst absolute absurdity.

I would definitely recommend this book for people who have a thick skin and can understand that hyperbole can sometimes be a good satirical tool to show how messed up we can be to one another. The Chrome Junction kids certainly are good for that.

Content/Appropriateness

This book is a perfect example of a book that may star pre-teen/teen characters but is not even remotely appropriate for that audience. Swearing, overt sexual conversation and even some sexual content, gory violence (and dead children). Basically, if you wouldn’t let your kid watch South Park, you shouldn’t let them read this book. For adults or mature teens, however? Yeah, fair game. But most definitely I would steer clear of this book (and presumably the rest of the series) for anyone under 18 or not capable of handling massive amounts of crudeness coming from pre-teen kids.

On top of that, there are severe levels of transphobia, homophobia, fat-shaming, pedophilia, and pretty much everything else that terrible kids would say and/or do to one another. The characters are written in such an over-the-top satirical way, however, that it doesn’t feel like this book is attacking anyone… but simply demonstrating how horrible people can be to one another (even their friends). If there is any lesson to be held in this book for teens, it’s that none of these kids are being painted as role models or people to aspire to in any way (again, in a very South Park-ish way).

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon [image error]

Barry and the Chronicles by Alun Davies, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Barry and the Chronicles

Author: Alun Davies

Genre: Fantasy, Fable

Release Date: January 29, 2018

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

Barry encounters an evil force of Witches intent on capturing the minds of young children with a view to making themselves more and more powerful. Barry finds other Spiders along the way to help him stop their plans and together they battle for the upper hand.

Throughout the story there are constant references to The Spider Chronicles because it is a book of instruction, philosophy and meaning whose teachings are to be both followed and believed if good is to prevail over evil. Sometimes the content is easily understood but it cannot always be so and readers of all ages must seek the many messages being delivered.

The way Barry’s life evolves is quickly read but hard to forget; there are many threads to follow and weave. This story could stay with you for years to come.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

When I first started reading this book (and knowing it is written by an author from the UK), I felt like I could hear a British narrator akin to Mr. Conductor from Shining Time Station and Thomas and the Magic Railroad as the narrator. The first few chapters of the book read like individual fables, with a specific moral and lesson for the reader to glean from it like an episode of toddler television. The narrator is a character in and of itself, often stepping back into first person to remind the reader of a previous lesson or even give explicit foreshadowing that something that happened would become important later. Sometimes this narration device is nice, but other times it does have an air of “talking down” to the young reader that often bothers me with books written for this age group.

The whole spiders vs. witches aspect of the over-arching story is definitely a fun spin. Witches are so commonly used in British literature it sometimes feels overdone, but it is nice that this one focuses more on the spiders as a foil to witches as opposed to an aid (the two of them often being connected as allies in a Halloween-esque sense).  Barry is a delightful main character as a young spider who learns early on he has powers and, in a paladin-ish way, feels compelled to act on them and use them to help his community (that begins with his people-family & the creatures in his home and rapidly expands to include all of spiderkind and beyond).

I enjoyed the story and, if I did “half” stars would put it in the 3.5 range, but I don’t so it gets rounded up on my blog and review sites. I’d recommend it for late elementary/middle grade readers or for a parent to read to someone younger.

A note on stylistic choices that did bug me a bit: proper noun creation (eg, capitalizing an “important” term). This bothers some folk and doesn’t bother others. In this case, I do feel the author overused the concept a bit much. Proper nouning a term to draw attention to its importance is a perfectly legitimate stylistic technique, but when overdone it thins out its effect. Spiders. Witches. Secrets. Supers. Revelations. Underlining. Missing. Chronicles… there are so many uses of it, it felt like each paragraph by the halfway point of the story had one in it. It became distracting and when style choice interferes with the story it can be bothersome as a reader. This isn’t inherently “bad” but it did bug me so I felt it fair to make note of it.

Content/Appropriateness

This book is all-ages appropriate without any worries. Even though it deals with spiders and witches and the like, it would be even appropriate to read to a younger reader than the 8+ crowd that would be able to read it alone. The episodic nature of the storytelling for each chapter make it more than appropriate as a “read aloud” type of story with a complete lesson contained per chapter.

I also try to consider how something written by a British author would appeal or connect with US kids (considering that’s where I am in the world), and I don’t think it’s too culturally different to lose American readers. It definitely feels very “UK” but, like the aforementioned Thomas children’s show, it doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed on my side of the pond.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon[image error] | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound