Adam Oster's Blog, page 40

Fat Mogul vs. Honesty

I used to struggle with honesty.  A lot.

When I say that, I’m saying that I used to lie so much about everything that it really didn’t matter what we were talking about, I probably slipped a lie in there somewhere.

I’m not entirely certain why I used to lie so much.  Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I didn’t really like myself, or was afraid of how much people wouldn’t like who I was, or who really knows.  All I know is that I hid so much of the truth of myself that it got downright ridiculous.

It wasn’t until about twelve years ago when I finally fully realized how much I was into hiding the truth.  I had gone down somewhat of a deep hole, leading into some pretty  hefty doses of depression, and ultimately getting to a point where I just didn’t know who I was, or who I was supposed to be.   A large part of that conversation is one I still have with myself today.  The idea of being happy with who I was had long passed me by because I had been so afraid of who I was that I had utterly lost it.

Acting became an outlet I greatly enjoyed because even though the characters I played were generally the goofy sidekicks, these were still the few moments where I might actually have something to emote…

You see, because once I allowed the façade I had created to fall, there was something of an emptiness that developed.  I really didn’t know how to express myself and the creative expression allowed through something like acting really worked for me, it allowed me to have something to express even if I didn’t have it myself.

I credit my lame attempts at acting with helping me to actually find myself.  And shortly after I began acting on a regular basis, I starting finding my need to express my own thoughts and ideas increasingly demanding.  Which is when I really began to write.

I had always written, but for many years what I wrote was absolute garbage.  I’m not going to say my early attempts at getting back into writing immediately came out golden (as it was far from that), but it immediately had a very different quality to it.

Here’s why:

Honesty.

There’s an often quoted phrase used for writing which says: Write what you know.   This doesn’t mean that you should write a book about the ins and outs of medical coding documentation simply because that’s what you spend your days with.  It means that you need to write what’s true.

For such a long period of my life I couldn’t write truth because I didn’t have any.

As I began forcing myself to be true, to allow the real me out whether people liked him or not, I began seeing that come through on my writing.  Most specifically in my characters.

Now that I’ve been getting older, I’ve been reflecting on the years before I decided to stop hiding behind lies and have come to the realization that not much of that time is easy for me to remember.  I hid so much from the truth that much of my early years have been mostly forgotten.

So, when an opportunity for writing a piece for a new anthology piece came up, imagine my surprise when I decided to take a piece of my own personal history and turn it into a story.

Imagine my greater surprise when I began writing this story and I realized how utterly pathetic I was as the main character of this tale…something  I had always known to be true to some extent, but, well, I didn’t realize the true lengths of patheticism involved here.

In fact, the actual truth of these moments, a truth I had never forced myself to accept until now, has been quite painful.  I was a naïve fool who spent his time in constant fear that people who recognize me for who I truly was.  And I didn’t really understand that until a few days ago.

Again, I realized it, but not to the extent that this was true.

But what does this have to do with anything?  Always a good question to bring up with my blog posts.

You see, my daughter came home this week talking about Vincent van Gogh.  She often learns about new artists in her art class and comes home talking about all the cool things that she learned about them.  But van Gogh was different.  She wasn’t telling me all about him as much as she was asking for more information.  Luckily he’s one of the artists she’s come home talking about whom I have a bit of information about.

When talking with her about van Gogh, I immediately saw that same concept of honesty involved.  For a man who spent so much time painting sunflowers, you still saw the honesty in his work, that he was pouring himself into what he was doing.  Yet, he still seemed like he was hiding, and his ultimate end probably states that even more that any of his work does.  He died in relative obscurity because no one saw him for who he truly was.  He mailed a woman a piece of his ear instead of a piece of his art, folks!

But his art was the true him.  It was him being honest, possibly because he couldn’t be honest in person.  It was his soul being allowed to be expressed.

I’ve so often felt like that, felt that I couldn’t express who I am to people in person, which has been the great thing about creative expression.  But it’s also the necessary piece of creative expression, because if there isn’t truth there, there isn’t worth.

The piece I’m writing right now, about my own personal history, it’s brought up some bad memories, some old wounds have definitely begun to sting.  Not that I’m reliving the days and wishing things had gone differently, because I’m pretty happy with my life, but that I’m realizing what had truly happened and coming to terms with what all it might have truly meant…and becoming a bit more aware of who I truly am…something I’m still trying to come to terms with.

But I’d still rather write about zombies…

Have fun out there!

Fat Mogul vs. New Genres

So, as part of this whole new and exciting future for the Adventure Novelist you’ve come to know and love, I’ve found myself itching to move into some new genres.  Now, I’ve never exactly done so well with the idea of sticking with one specific genre.  There’s a great deal of difference between Daddy of the Dead and The Long Chron.  However, I’ve got some stories I’m working on that seem even further removed from the more imaginative sci-fi-esque pieces I’ve put out to date.  The first of such pieces will be available in an anthology due out in the next couple weeks (I should really probably get that date memorized one of these dates) called Gifts from the Dark.  The piece in there is actually almost boring, especially when compared to The Agora Files.  But, it tells something a little deeper…although I’ve been told the subtlety of it tends to go over many folks’ heads…

But I’m moving into some much more folksy pieces.  In fact, the next novel I have to edit is incredibly folksy, having large portions of it consisting of old men talking.  The new piece i’m writing at this very moment is a bit of a nostalgic piece based on my own personal history.  And I’ve got a story I’m itching to write very soon which is basically a romantic comedy…and actually…the comedy piece of that one will be mostly non-existent.  So will the romance, come to think of it.

Of course, each of these have a sense of adventure to them, but they’re different.

And, from everything I’ve read, this could be a killer move for me as an artist.  Readers aren’t always so keen on genre-jumping authors, but I have to write what I’m inspired to.

However, this isn’t really as much of a cautionary note for myself, but a note to all of you, my faithful readers.  You see, I’m not forgetting those stories which you have already come to expect from me.  Agora Files part 2 is due out in the next month and I’m already putting notes together for part 3.  I’ve been putting some thoughts into another story in the world of Daddy of the Dead.  I’ve got a lot of the plotting done for Return of Kid Zero (and honestly can’t wait to get this one together).  And I’ve got a story about the concept of Hammerspace which I think could be genre-changing to be completely overly confident.

I want to write all of these right now.  I mean, seriously, if I had eight hour days to focus purely on writing, I believe I’d be well on track to release at least 6 books next year.

But the point is, I’m not allowing myself to be constrained to one style of writing, whether or not it will kill my barely-existent career.  But what I will promise you is that the adventure will continue, and I believe each of these stories will continue to give you exactly what you’ve come to expect from me.  A wild ride.  Even when the story is just about a guy trying to get a paper done on time.

So, speaking of things to do…I’m getting back to work.  Have fun out there!

Fat Mogul vs. The Redesign

Hey folks, in case you hadn’t noticed, the site’s different!

That’s right, after some difficulties with the old site, I went ahead and changed everything, rebuilt from scratch and came up with an absolutely new design and all that cool stuff (well, yeah, I definitely used a template, but I modified it heavily to suit my needs).  What this could mean for you is that some things, like your notifications of new posts, could have completely stopped.  I apologize for this.  I’m really truly sorry.  As a webmaster, one of the most terrible things I can do is not blast out that I’ve put out new content at the top of my lungs every time I do so.  Unfortunately, no matter what I was able to bring over from the old site, the notifications through RSS or e-mail or other just didn’t seem to work out.  I’m still seeking a way to rectify this, but for now, if you’re reading this and didn’t get notified of it through the normal means, I’d suggest clicking one of the buttons in the side bar around here somewhere that will get you back on the right track.

Now, I’m not just here to blather on about how I’ve made my site look different, and in some ways, more annoying to the regular visitor (again, I apologize, but too many folks were stopping by the site and not moving forward…seems to have been rectified already with the redesign).

I’m also here to highlight the fact that change is coming.  Not only do I have the sequel to Agora Files coming to you quite soon (seriously, I’m really excited, even if it does mean random calls at all hours of the day to yell at me about how the book ends yet again…).  Not only do I have an anthology coming out soon with quite possibly one of my more experimental pieces to date in it (as well as some fantastic stories by some of my favorite indie authors).  Not only do I have my murder mystery script due to have auditions within the next couple months so it can be performed for hundreds.  Not only have I begun working on a piece for another anthology with tells a story that might be a little too personal…Not only am I getting mighty close to finishing a first draft of my collaborative piece with my daughter.  Not only….Alright, you get the point, in the world of writing, I’ve got a lot coming up mighty quick.  And I’m pretty excited by it all.  And I’m getting even more going forward.  I really am.  But right now, life still seems to be a little overly busy on the side of things that don’t involve a keyboard.  Which is cool.  I’m getting to spent a ton of time with the baby…and he’s pretty awesome right now, even if he’s exhausting.  I’m getting caught up on some house tasks that I haven’t taken care of in years.  I’m really just getting to a point in my self-employed life that I’ve been looking forward to ever since I took the plunge to be a stay at home dad/full time writer.

I’ve even gotten to the point where I’m starting to think ahead of what I’m going to be doing tomorrow.  I mean, I’m now to the day after tomorrow, but that’s a whole 24 hours extra into the future!

So, not only have I redesigned my site, but I’m feeling like I’m in the midst of redesigning my life, actually accepting where I’ve gotten to, and looking forward to how I can continue to redesign it to match my needs more effectively.  It’s taken some time, but I’m getting there.  And I’m nearing happiness about it all…which is pretty darn cool.

But what does this all have to do with you?

Well, for one, I’m working on trying to get back into regular blogging again.  I’m not making any promises at this point as to how frequently new content will be coming around, but I’ve got some ideas and I’m looking toward carving out some time to get them out here now.  And I’m writing on a much more regular basis again in general, which is pretty great.  Seriously, the new short story I’m working on is shaping up to quite possibly be one of my best pieces to date.  And if I can get it right, will be the template for a few longer-form stories I’ve been wanting to tell for quite some time now.

In other words, this redesign of everything lends well toward my own acceptance of myself as an author.  A few months ago I finally got to the point where my answer to the question of “What do you do for a living?” became: “I write books.”  And now, after giving that answer for a couple months, I’m starting to be able to do it without looking at the ground and kicking the dirt.  I’m proud to be an author.  I’m proud to be part of this whole crowd of independent authors who are just looking to get their art out there.  And that’s why one of the things you should notice first with the redesign is that my books are right there at the top of the site.  If  you come here, you will know what I’ve written…as it should be.

Alright, so, enough rambling for today.  The infant’s about to wake up and I’ve got some cleaning to do before I can get down to the real writing for today.  But, look forward to more stuff coming up around here than just book reviews quite soon.  I know I’m excited for it.

Have fun out there!

Oh yeah, at this point you might be asking yourself:  What did this have to do with the picture of the giraffe.  Well…nothing really, but the redesigned site works a lot better with pictures attached.  And I did have this picture of me with a giraffe, which will be the last picture of me with a giraffe as I found out shortly after that I am quite terribly allergic to my long-necked friends.

Book Review: The Scavengers by Michael Perry

I don’t often post my reviews of books from the big publishing houses here on the blog, but seeing as Mr. Perry is a native of the Chippewa Valley and, well, you know, constantly defeats me as number one (and sometimes 2 as well) favorite author for the same region, I figured I might as well put out on here how I feel about my competition…you know…the competition that I’m really not in any form of competition with.

Actually, to be honest, I’ve held back from reading any of Perry’s books for a long time.  I’ve heard folks say wonderful things about his writing.  My in-laws tend to adore him.  In other words…I’ve found myself quite envious of his successes and thought it would be terrible to find out that he actually deserved them.

As you’ll find out below…he mostly does.

Anyhoo, as I was saying, I had avoided picking up any of his books for a long time, but when I passed by The Scavengers on the library shelf a couple weeks ago, I kept on walking…but then I suddenly turned around and said, I should probably give it a read.

And so it was…and so here’s the review:

The Scavengers by Michael Perry does something quite special.  It mixes Perry’s standard home town folksy narrative with that of a dystopian science fiction novel.  The combination of the two genres is quite striking.  From the first moment to the last, you feel a sort of nostalgia toward this future that never existed.  A remnant of your own childhood pokes through into the life of Ford Falcon, or at least some remnant of your imaginative playtime as a child.

In truth, Perry does an amazing job at building the world of The Scavengers.  We see a great history of food troubles, of government/corporate partnerships, of health care issues, and a whole host of other things that ultimately make this book feel incredibly real.  Even the locations for each segment of the tale have a rich history, showcasing how they might have gotten to the state they are in at the time of the novel.

Some may feel as though this world building takes over a bit on the novel.  And it does probably take about half of the book before we’re even directly introduced to the true issue at hand.  But if you can sit back and enjoy the imagery Perry builds, there’s due to be a great amount of enjoyment gained from it.

In all, this book turns out to be quite the spectacular read.  It might move a tad slower than most other mainstream dystopian fiction (I hear a voice in my head saying “but that’s just how things go ’round these parts”), but ultimately I think the juxtaposition of genres works.  I’d like to see Perry delve more into the subject matter and see what he can do once he’s got the world-building out of the way, as the final third of the book really moves along and gets you wanting to explore the pieces of the book we only get a glimpse at, such as the bubble cities themselves.

In conclusion….I actually liked the book a lot and feel that I should give his standard genre reads a look, you know, to be completely fair with my judgment of him.  Turns out, he probably deserves winning over me time and again.  Although, I’d love to see Ford Falcon go up against Cyrus Rhodes (well…actually, Eve Gardner would be a much better matchup, wouldn’t it?)

Buy it now!

Book Review: The Hades Contract by Ken Mooney

A long long time ago, I was honored to read an early excerpt of the first book in Mooney’s New Gods series, Godhead.  Once the book was finally released to the public, I was ecstatic to see what he had going on with the thing.

Fast forward a brief period of time and I got lucky enough to read a beta version of The Hades Contract.  Then I had to wait over a year to tell anyone about it.

Book delays aside, once this book finally came out officially, I knew I had to give it a re-read.

And I’m glad I did.

The Hades Contract is a spectacular follow up to Mooney’s Godhead. Sure, we might get some background on Aphrodite that might cause us to completely reevaluate how we feel about her, something which this reader, to be honest, was saddened to find that there might be redeemable qualities in the super-villainess of the first book.

But, favorite-character-revelations aside, this book does everything a sequel should. It ups the odds, gives the characters more confidence, and overall, gets readers more excited for the next book. I mean, seriously, what could Mooney possibly have in mind with the way The Hades Contract takes the series.

I loved Godhead, I really did. But with the sequel, we’re seeing a much more grown up form of storytelling. Sure, there might have been more sex and gore in the first book, but in this one, we’re seeing some true gravitas, some real human understanding, and quite a bit of foreshadowing for things to come.

If you liked the first book, you’re bound to love this one, even if Aphrodite might have more going on that we initially thought…

Seriously, buy this book!

Fat Mogul vs. The Summer of My Unemployment

Hey folks, school’s back in session, which means I’m down to just one kid keeping me busy nowadays.  Surprisingly enough, the baby isn’t actually the one that takes all that much work…well…I mean…sorta.  He is in full exploratory mode at the moment, meaning that although I can set him down in the intention of getting a few pages of Agora Files Part 2 edited (I promise, I’m really really close to done!), he has the nasty habit of getting into every single possible thing he can…and our house isn’t exactly baby-proofed.

But I’m not here to talk to you about today.  I’m here to talk to you about my summer.

I want to start out with the simple note that I am incredibly proud of all stay at home parents.  I mean, I had it somewhat easy, what with my wife working from home, meaning that if I needed an extra set of hands, they were there, but even with that bit of a crutch, I ended each day in complete exhaustion.  And my kids were awesome.  Pretty much all summer.  I didn’t spend my days screaming at misbehaving youngsters, or chasing runaway boys (well…not all the time anyways).  No, in fact, most days I sat outside at a local park and chatted with mothers and just enjoyed my time away from a desk (while also fretting about how I hadn’t gotten any writing done…)

I mean, seriously, how do those mothers do it?  I suppose it’s the whole fact that summer is short, and then school comes along and gives you a bit of a break.  Like I said, things are actually quite relaxing at the moment with the baby around.  He’s eating a snack while I type this and keeping himself quite well entertained.

Whatever it is, congrats to you mothers.  I only had a summer of it, and it was quite early on when I began the job hunt quite hard because I knew that this wasn’t feasible for my body for an extended period of time.

 

Of course, this all makes it sound like my summer was terrible.

Quite to the contrary.  My summer was awesome.  Between just getting to hang out outside, actually having time to slowly explore the city and it’s many interesting local shops, ambling through the Chippewa Valley’s many local events, like the Eau Claire County Fair, you know, things that I wouldn’t normally have time to do, and still feeling like I didn’t get everything done.  I mean, my kids had been talking to me all summer about heading up to Leinie’s and seeing how beer is made…didn’t happen.

I lost weight!  It was kind of a personal goal to try to walk as many places as possible, and it ended up paying off quite nicely.  Actually, between the tan and the slightly slimming waistline, I’m feeling happier with my appearance than I have in quite some time.  But even more important was that my kids lost weight.  My kids weren’t, by any means, dangerously overweight, but they’ve all started with a good bit of chunk and never really gotten down to the tiny sizes of their cousins.  What can I say, they’re good eaters.  But all the walking I made them do this summer means that clothes that were too tight at the start of the summer are having a hard time staying up at the end.

I got reacquainted with the local library.  I mean, I’ve always loved libraries.  I remember as a young one getting quite excited every time my parents would drop me off at the library.  I could explore that thing for forever.  But as I got older, specifically once I got my kindle, I found it easier to just click the one-click button for anything I wanted to read.  But, of course, that meant that I wasn’t really being introduced to as many new books as I would normally like.  It was usually indie lit that I was asked to review.  I have to admit, right at this very second, that I have a difficult time not going down to the library every day and just perusing the shelves.  I know…a little nerdy, right?

But even more importantly than any of this was that I got to spend some really needed time with my kids.  The past few years were difficult.  My job really sucked the life out of me.  That meant that once it came to family time, my brain would usually shut down and make it difficult to enjoy it nearly as much as I would like to.  My interactions with my kids, while still fun, were beginning to look like those of the sitcom father…you know, where the kids run around in the background every once in a while, but they’re mostly just stage dressing.  That’s an exaggeration of course, but it felt that way from time to time.

In fact, I remember having intense feelings of overwhelming sadness overcome me every morning as I dropped the kids off at daycare.  This feeling that I was losing my connection to them.

My summer as a stay at home dad (although, for the record, I was at home much less than when I was employed…) may have begun as something that we didn’t necessarily want or plan for, but it worked out quite amazingly in the end.  It was precisely what I needed to get back into the game, to refresh and really try to get back out into the job market appropriately.

Which is what I’m doing right now.  After six months of mostly focusing on just getting through the days with enough energy to sit and talk with my wife after bedtime, I’m finally looking at getting back to work.  Technically, I’ve worked on it a bit over the past few months, but nothing quite felt right.  In fact, just a couple weeks ago, I was offered a job, but it’s wasn’t the right fit for my family.  But there’s some great prospects that have been opening up, things that I think would work out pretty awesomely, should they happen for me.

But if they don’t, I’m having a great time getting to just play with a 10-month old who doesn’t seem to stop moving.

And the occasional nap…

Have fun out there!

Book Review: Mermaids by Pankhearst Writers Collective

As with all short story collections, you’ll find that some stories work for you and some don’t.  But, this collection is different than many in that instead of a vague theme, these stories all work on a very solid high concept idea:  What if there was a big flood?

I have to admit that although many of the stories in Mermaids weren’t quite my preferred style of storytelling, I was impressed throughout at the epic scope each of these tales had, while still keeping themselves rather brief.  Many of the tales would probably be better considered novellas as opposed to short stories, but even with that understanding, these action-packed adventures (well, not all of them were action-packed), are amazingly filled with enough to fill a full length novel, while still keeping themselves to the brevity the format requires.

As with other Pankheart collections, this one is definitely worth the read if you’re on the lookout for new and talented authors.

And, if you read through them all (and pay close attention), you might start to realize that there’s a bit more in common between them than a theme.  In fact, you might start to realize that this is a growing collective story…which I’m guessing will be even more evident with the release of Moremaids.

Buy it now!

Book Review: Alpha Male by Joshua Mays

In the world of superhero novels, there seems to be very few that actually take the subject seriously.  Alpha Male by Joshua Mays seems to be the exception to that rule.

In fact, the scope of this novel is immense.  We’re taken through the lives of a multitude of characters, seeing into how a superhero living among us might cause a drastic change in how each of us go about our daily lives, and it’s not always good…especially when we start to see a supervillain appear.

If there were anything I could say negatively about this book, it’s that things wrap up a little too quickly, and a little too neatly, even if it’s got a bit of a mess.  However, I’d say that the amount of realism and consideration of different points of view, as well as keeping true to the actual subject matter, makes this quite simply one of the best novels on the subject I’ve ever read.

Alpha Male is exactly what you should expect from an all-powerful being.  You know…not awesome.  I mean, he’s awesome, and he does a lot of good, but he’s still pretty much a jerk.  And why shouldn’t he be?

We get the chain-smoking police chief who actually has to cope with the decision of allowing this vigilante to run her town, even though we all know that she doesn’t really have much of a choice in the matter.

We get the beat cop-turned detective who is really just trying to get down to the bottom of things.

And…of course…we get the opposing viewpoint, most commonly referred to as THE BAD GUY.

But Mays quickly shows us that not all bad guys are exactly bad guys (thanks, Wreck it Ralph).  In fact, it’s possible that the bad guy is really just a guy who has a very specific grudge, but otherwise is trying to do a lot of good.

Maybe…or maybe not.

This book keeps you questioning the truth until the very end.  And even then you can’t help but wonder how everything really fits together.  It’s a page-turner written majestically.  And I know you’ll adore it.

Buy it now!

Book Review: Shero by Jack Wallen

Quick Note:  This book is part of the Indie Superbundle sale currently going on at Storybundle.com.  A great opportunity to get some of today’s greatest Indie Superhero Novels.  Also…only available for the next 2.5 days (you know…so, act now and all that!)

Shero, at it’s most simplest of looks, might just appear to be a single high concept ideal based on selling books to an underrepresented part of the reading population.  I mean, even I had my reservations about how well put together a book about the world’s only transgendered superhero could really delve into the deep concepts behind what it’s like to be transgender.

And, I’ll admit that at the start of the book even, those reservations weren’t immediately lost.

Shero likes to dress up in women’s clothing, meaning that he likes to kick butt in a dress.  And at first, we see Shero focusing a lot on the clothes, which, to be fair, if you like to dress up in the finest of female attire (whether male or female), it’s probably something that does consume a fair amount of your brainpower (as a male who dresses poorly, I can’t say anything for certain).  But at first, I was nervous as it seemed almost to come across as the dialogue was written for some outmoded female stereotype where the person was more concerned about chipped nails than about their fellow man.

Luckily I read on, because it does quickly become apparent that there’s much more to Shero than jokes about Wang dresses.  In fact, it’s even much more about finding acceptance as someone who is different than others (as we see most people have come to expect Shero to wear his reinforced heels and are disappointed when he comes in anything less than the most impressive fabrics).  In the end, this is a story about doing what’s right, even if it goes completely against what you’ve been told is right all your life.  It’s a story about being true to you, and getting down what really matters.

In other words, Shero actually has a rather amazing subtle message hiding among the humor (as this is a comedy title).  It comes at the idea of being transgender (or different in any way) from an entirely different angle, and one that you might not notice if you weren’t paying attention.  It does it by questioning the norm, but being introduced to new ideas and finding that the ones you were told before were lies…but none of this actually relates at all directly to Shero’s choice in clothing.

I could actually go on for quite some time about the devices Wallen uses to get his ideas across, but I won’t do that here.

Instead, I’d rather focus on the fact that this well-crafted tale is something special.  It’s funny.  Just the fact that Shero’s superpower is that he can shoot his fingernails (covered in a variety of nail polishes which can induce a number of different status effects) is enough to make one smile.  The narrator has this sense of irreverence that one can’t help but think even he finds the whole event rather humorous.

It’s a fun story, hiding a deeper meaning, that is a great quick read which will leave you begging for more.

Luckily, there’s a second book out (and I believe a third on the way) to allow readers to get to know more about the man in the Prada (sorry…my knowledge of fashion is pretty limited here).  I know it’s on my to-read list.

If you want to read this one as well as some of the best indie superhero literature you can find, get it right now (like, you know, in the next 60 hours or so) at storybundle.com/heroes.

Otherwise, it’s always available here.

 

Book Review: Strike: The Hero from the Sky by Charlie Wood

Quick Note:  This is another one of those books from the amazing Indie Superhero Superbundle happening on over at Storybundle right now (hurry up, only 9 days left to get your bundle!).  But don’t worry, I don’t let such things as trying to sell more books cloud my reviewing integrity.  I promise!

 

Pretty quickly into Strike: The Hero from the Sky, even if you knew nothing about the book outside of reading the story itself, you can tell it’s a young adult novel, possibly even middle grade.  It starts off with the standards.  Kid in school, has troubles (although this one seems to have more going for him than against), suddenly whisked off to magical world to find out that he’s part of an elite crew who needs to save the world.  (To be fair, I took this roadmap when I wrote The Legend of Buddy Hero, which is NOT a young adult novel).

Yet, although this book is written for a younger audience, it’s easy to feel the emotion and creativity that Wood has put into his tale of superheroics.  Not only do we get great characters like the sidekick dog-person, or the shapeshifting robot, but we also get an entirely new world where superheroes actually like, a world separate from earth, but with people who have the ability to travel to and from our own planet.

And this is where the story truly begins to shine, because, this world, this other world, that Wood has crafted, it’s got history.  You can tell it’s got history through the descriptions alone, but also through how Wood relays the information to Tobin (the protagonist).  We only get bits and pieces and things move forward.  AND as things move forward, we quickly realize that not everything Tobin learns is accurate.

The story in this novel isn’t spectacular, it isn’t something that will cause you to drop the book at the end and consider to yourself how amazing everything was pieced together.  In fact, the climactic scene of the novel, you know, the moment in which the bad guy is finally thwarted, doesn’t exactly exist…it does, but, well, yeah…

But what does really work here is how the world is set up to continue the trilogy.  Assuming all that has been alluded to goes somewhere in the rest of the trilogy, we, as the readers, should be in a treat as Tobin gets to explore his homeworld and learn more about the history of his father.

Where this book does really shine is in its creativity.  Wood has some fantastical ideas that he puts to the page here, ones that make me think that he’s got plenty to offer as his tale continues.

Buy it now

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