Nikolas P. Robinson's Blog, page 48

The Land: Catacombs: Chaos Seeds Book IV by Aleron Kong

With a title of Catacombs, I suspected that we would be exploring deeper into the tunnels beyond the Great Seal. There are definitely tunnels and subterranean adventures, but not the ones I went into this anticipating. With the pace we’re addressing some of the things I expected to see explored further, it seems like we’ll never get there in four more volumes in the series.
There’s nothing disappointing about the book or the narration for the audiobook, but I’m starting to worry that we’ll never see some of the adventures I’ve been waiting to witness.
I’m currently listening to the fifth audiobook in the series and I will absolutely still be picking up the remaining three books of this series.

The Land: Alliances: Chaos Seeds Book III

The title seems a bit misleading, knowing that we were expecting Richter to develop an alliance with the dwarves (as had been discussed in the previous volume in this series)…beyond that, it’s an excellent addition to Richter’s adventure in The Land.
As with the previous book, this one begins with another hint of a deeper tale and huge things looming on the horizon before it picks up where we left off.
As with the other books, I’m listening to these as audiobooks. The writing and narration are such a perfect complement to one another and I find myself listening with greater frequency the further I get into the series.

The Land: Forging: Chaos Seeds Book 2 by Aleron Kong

If you are unfamiliar with the author, Aleron Kong, and his fantastic ongoing American LitRPG series (now two series) of novels, you are missing out. Not only are the stories entertaining and endlessly fascinating, but the community built up around love of these books is similarly amazing. I recommend checking these books out, the audiobook versions are my personal preference.

The second book in the series picks up right where the first left off, with a brief introduction that clearly sets the stage for something huge on the horizon.
These books are the first audiobooks I’ve bothered listening to, initially just when I was at the gym three days a week for an hour or so at a stretch…and now I find myself listening to this series while I’m sitting in my office, working on things that don’t interfere with my ability to concentrate on the story. The writing (the characters and the adventures themselves) and the narration are superb and captivating.
There is plenty of conflict, high-stakes action, and exploration…precisely as you’d hope to find.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Land-Forging-Aleron-Kong-audiobook/dp/B072VRDT7M?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_dp

Odin Rising by Axl Barnes

Before reading this book, I made the mistake of reading some of the reviews. Admittedly, that made me apprehensive about what I was going to be reading.
I really didn’t need to be concerned and, based on the interpretations of this book on display in many of those reviews, I’m fairly certain many of those people either did not read this or didn’t read more than what was available as a sample.
I’ll say it right away that this is not a book for everyone. It’s heavy in tone and in style…heavy like a brick at times, and equally hard to swallow.
At its core, this is a book about a juvenile delinquent, his delinquent friends, and their desperate, fumbling attempts to find a place for themselves in the Eastern European world around them.
Tudor, the initial focus of the story, is arrogant and self-assured in the way only the least self-aware and incompetent can be. He is a bitter, resentful young man who feels like he is too good for the life he’s subjected to by the inferior parents who are raising him. He finds solace in the interests shared with his small group of friends; heavy metal, occultism, anarchism bordering on nihilism, and ultimately he finds himself influenced by the neo-Nazi philosophy adopted and promoted by the one friend he actually admires and respects, Alex.
All of this changes after a series of poor choices and impulsive actions leads to a dramatic, violent mistake.
Tudor, being the maladjusted boy he is, spends his time retroactively justifying and rationalizing what he’s done, to the extent that he begins fixating on further violence and killing.
This drives the whole final third of the story.
Tudor finally goes over the edge, experiencing the first seeming spark of self-reflection, as Alex seeks to go the other direction and displays nothing but contempt and disdain for Tudor.
We finally arrive at a climax that feels both feverish and well thought out. It’s as much a conflict of opposing philosophies as Tudor and his remaining friends against Alex.
While the story may feel slow at times and it’s difficult to want to continue, with protagonists/antagonists who are far from sympathetic. Think of it as a supernatural horror story mixing in elements of A Clockwork Orange, Stand By Me, and Gone Girl, and you’ll probably have a decent idea of what you’re getting into.
The further into the story you get, the further the lines become blurred between fantasy and reality, waking life and dreams. There are flashes of brilliant prose that draw your attention but you should be prepared, as I said above, it’s a thick and heavy book to read.

Mania [Revised Edition] by Lucas Mangum

Mania [Revised Edition] by Lucas Mangum feels altogether too short by the time you reach the end.
The story of a cursed screenplay and the absolute nightmare that accompanies that curse is told in a way that can only be described as cinematic. It’s smutty, gory, and depraved…and not in turns, but all at once.
I really don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a scene before the halfway point where a character witnesses a dead and disemboweled woman masturbating with a length of her own intestine. Keep in mind, that isn’t even halfway into the story.
I recommend this one for my more depraved and horror-obsessed friends…but I have to admit that some aspects of this particular book might go too far for different people.
Read it at your own risk, of course…but read it either way.

Mania – Revised Edition

Standalone by Paul Michael Anderson

I was torn between giving this one 4 or 5 stars and I had to lean into 5 stars because of the sheer creative audacity of the author.
Standalone by Paul Michael Anderson is not what I expected. I don’t think anyone will be able to read this book and feel differently than that by the time they reach the end.
There’s no way to anticipate what this book really is based on a synopsis without that synopsis being half the length of the story itself. I’m certainly not going to try and explain it. It’s better if you experience it for yourself anyhow.
It’s a book that, at its core, manages to weave together a bizarre and surreal science fiction tale with an old school slasher narrative and a nice dose of body horror. It’s difficult to adequately describe, is really what I’m trying to say.
It’s fun, fast-paced, and intense…and I absolutely recommend that you read it for yourself.
Plus, you get the bonus of an additional short story at the end that has a sort of touching “Monkey’s Paw” or “Tales From the Crypt” feel to it.

Standalone

The Night Silver River Run Red by Christine Morgan

My maternal grandfather was a big fan of Louis L’Amour and he had a massive assortment of paperback westerns when I was growing up. I developed a deep appreciation for those stories and others, as well as western movies and television as a whole.
The Night Silver River Run Red is absolutely not one of those westerns. Christine Morgan nails the language, the descriptions, and the tone of authentic western authors…but that is where the similarities end.
It starts off like a tale that could have been a Halloween-themed Laura Ingalls Wilder story from her Little House series. Kids in a rapidly depopulating town sneak out together at night to try and catch a glimpse of carnival attractions their puritanical parents oppose. The only element that wouldn’t fit is the presence of a religious cult a short distance outside of town, but I didn’t say it was a perfect comparison.
It doesn’t feel like one of those stories for long anyhow. The violence erupts and any thought that this could have been a western story you might have read while growing up is dispelled quite rapidly and that sense of familiarity never returns…plus, there is a uniquely psychotic rapist named Horsecock in the book, so there’s that.
I can only hope the other Splatter Westerns published by Death’s Head Press are this good…because Christine Morgan expertly weaves her own brand of extreme horror and visceral violence into an almost perfect replica of the pulp westerns a lot of us know quite well.
This is the fourth of the books, but it had to be the first I read, just because of this particular author.

If you are a fan of both horror and western literature, I highly recommend checking out the whole series of Splatter Westerns released by Death’s Head Press. There are currently eight installments to fulfill your filthiest, most bloodthirsty desires.

Interstellar Dad by Jeff Beesler

The author has a knack for crafting a story that is entertaining and exciting, while not taking itself too seriously (even though there’s quite a bit serious about the conditions when we first encounter our protagonist). Finishing this first book of the series, even without knowing it’s part of a larger series, you just know that this is a story that will continue past the final page…even if the author hadn’t chosen to continue…and that says something about the three-dimensionality of the characters an author is writing when you know that they are still going on and doing things after you close the book (or turn off your Kindle, whichever the case may be).

Carnivorous Lunar Activities by Max Booth III

Carnivorous Lunar Activities by Max Booth III is a jaw-droppingly good book. I will avoid spoilers as best I can, because I sincerely want everyone to at least sincerely consider reading this book for themselves.
There are definite nods to An American Werewolf In London as a point of inspiration beyond the obvious title derived from dialogue in that amazing piece of cinema and multiple points wherein the characters reference the film.
Infused with black comedy and dialogue that brings the characters to life, the first two thirds of the novel lull you into a certain sense of comfort in the discomfort of the whole scenario. Neither of these men are what one might call stable and they both have their own demons they are dealing with as the story progresses.
As two friends who’d grown apart come back together again under the most unlikely and bizarre circumstances, you begin to feel that the story will continue along in that same vein…maybe that the whole tale might have some sort of happy ending in that Justin, who insists he’s become a werewolf, will be proven to be nothing more than the delusional jackass Ted believes him to be.
But no, as the pages ahead become fewer Ted is hit with perhaps some of the most devastating news a person could imagine and the chance of anything even remotely happy coming out of the book is discarded like a used condom and stomped into the dirt.
That’s where it really gets interesting and the intensity doesn’t let up until the final page.
I don’t know that I can conceivably recommend this book enough.

Since originally writing this review in May of 2019, there have been some issues with respect to the publisher who released Carnivorous Lunar Activities, and it is recommended that anyone interested in reading the book wait until such a time as a solution has been found. This is unfortunate, as the book in question is a fantastic werewolf tale.

We Need To Do Something by Max Booth III

I’ve read multiple books by this author and each one is somehow so vastly different from the one before it that they could have been written by a totally different author.
Other books have been surreal, mysterious, even hilarious at points. This one is brutal.
It’s bad enough to imagine a family of four needing to huddle together in a cramped, windowless bathroom during a tornado warning. That scenario, in and of itself, is sufficient to serve as horror. When the father is a mean-spirited alcoholic, things get less pleasant. Now, imagine a tree falling through the roof and blocking the only exit from that bathroom, the door only opening enough to slip an arm through the gap as rain and wind blow through what once was a bedroom.
And this is only the beginning.
Max Booth III manages to obscure the lines between past and present as well as delusion and reality to the extent that the latter half of the novella becomes a dizzying blur. Claustrophobic discomfort, occultism, and familial tension blend together until, like the characters, you begin to forget how long you’ve been there with them. Looking back, I’m still uncertain just how long these people are trapped in that bathroom, but it’s surely a week or two. The fragmentary glimpses of the world outside of the bathroom itself are enticing and they leave you simultaneously wanting to see it for yourself and turn away and remain where it’s safe (relatively).
This novella is not for the overly sensitive or the squeamish, because there are some aspects of it that are sure to make a lot of readers uncomfortable…but it is so excellent.

Since originally writing this review of the novella in May of 2020, the author has adapted it to a screenplay that has since been made into a major motion picture, currently in post-production.