Matthew D. Ryan's Blog, page 10
September 2, 2015
Announcement: The Sceptre of Morgulan is Now Available for Pre-Order
Hi All,
Just an announcement to let you know that The Sceptre of Morgulan, which is the second book in my series From the Ashes of Ruin is now available for pre-order at Smashwords.com and shortly Kobo, iBooks, and Barnes & Noble. The link is: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/574196
Just click on it and set up your pre-order for the novel. The pre-order is good for ebooks only. However, the pre-ordered book is at a reduced price: just $1.99, from now until the release of the book. The re...
Announcement: Coming Soon: The Sceptre of Morgulan: The Cover Reveal
Hi All,
Just an announcement to let you know we’ve set a date for the Cover Reveal for my next novel, The Sceptre of Morgulan. The Sceptre of Morgulan is the second book in my series From the Ashes of Ruin. It was preceded by Bk. I: The Children of Lubrochius, and the prequel: Drasmyr.
The Cover Reveal will be hosted by GoddessFish and it is scheduled for October 13th, 2015. Stay-tuned; the book has an awesome cover (designed by Digital Donna).
Announcement: Coming Soon: The Sceptre of Morgulan
Hi All,
Just an announcement to let you know we’ve decided on a release date for the next book in my series From the Ashes of Ruin. Previously, you have borne witness to Drasmyr, the prequel, and The Children of Lubrochius, Bk. I. Now, I am pleased to announce the coming release of Bk. II, The Sceptre of Morgulan. It continues the adventures of Coragan of Esperia and his struggles with the vampire Lucian val Drasmyr and the evil witch Korina the Black. The ebook is scheduled for release on No...
August 25, 2015
I’m Looking for Reviewers for my Novel
Hi All,
This is an open request to any fantasy aficionados out there. I have previously published the novels “Drasmyr” and “The Children of Lubrochius.” “Drasmyr” is the prequel, and “The Children of Lubrochius” is Book I in my series “From the Ashes of Ruin.” I am nearing the final stages of Book II “The Sceptre of Morgulan” and I’m looking for reviewers. If you have read the prequel and Book I, great, I’m hoping you will consider reading Book II and reviewing it for me in exchange for a fr...
March 25, 2015
Movie Review: Cinderella (3 *’s or 4 ½ *’s) (2015)
All right. I admit it. I broke down and went and saw Cinderella. Mostly for this blog. But I was also curious. Anyway, the film is by Disney, of course. It was directed by Kenneth Branagh and starred Cate Blanchett (the cruel stepmother), Helena Bonham Carter (the fairy godmother), and a number of lesser well-known names.
It tells the story of Cinderella. And just so. I haven’t seen the original Cinderella animated film nor read any of the stories for a number of years, but this version added...
March 8, 2015
Old Movie Review: Heavenly Sword (3 ½*’s) (2014)
Heavenly Sword is an animated film (I did not realize that when we first picked it out—but that’s okay, animated films are fine) set in ancient Japan (or, at least, that’s how it appeared to me). The main character is a young woman named Nariko (voice by Anna Torv). She has a compatriot (her sister) named Kai (Ashleigh Ball). The movie is based on the computer game of the same name. I’ve never played the game, so I can’t really comment on it. The movie had the feel of a computer game. It was...
March 1, 2015
Movie Review: Seventh Son (3 ½ *’s)(2015)
Seventh Son is a movie inspired by the novel The Spook’s Apprentice. I think there is also a novel or a series of novels out there entitled The Seventh Son of a Seventh Son which has some connection to the movie as well, but I’ve read neither, so I can’t say for sure. Anyway, the main character of this book is Tomas Ward, the apprentice of Master Spook, Gregory. A spook is a man who hunts down evil spirits and creatures. The main antagonist in the story is an evil witch queen named Mother Ma...
February 17, 2015
Book Review: Firefight (2015: Brandon Sanderson) (4 ½ *’s)
Firefight by Brandon Sanderson is the second book in his series The Reckoners. It is a young adult novel. In a nutshell, the series is about evil super-heroes (called Epics) and the attempts of common humans to take them down. Basically, it’s set in an alternate Earth where a strange cosmic occurrence happens—a burning red star-like object appears in the sky—and a small sub-population of the humans inhabiting Earth are granted supernatural abilities. The first book in the series was entitled...
September 11, 2014
Upcoming Goodreads Giveaway for “The Children of Lubrochius”
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Children of Lubrochius
by Matthew D. Ryan
Giveaway ends October 15, 2014.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
September 3, 2014
Book Review: The Wise Man’s Fear (Patrick Rothfuss) (4 *’s)
The Wise Man’s Fear is the second book in Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles. It continues the story of Kvothe (pronounced “Quothe”) the gifted Edema Ruh (kind of a gypsy) who is currently studying at the legendary University to become an arcanist (a scientist/magician kind of). The backdrop of the story is an old inn where the elder Kvothe is telling his life-story to a man known as Chronicler and Kvothe’s demon-friend, Bast. This outer, framing story is dipped into several times throughout the book. Both interwoven tales keep the reader engaged. The book is nearly 1000 pages long. As such, condensing the plot down into a manageable paragraph is nearly impossible, particularly since I was a slow reader on this one and have forgotten much of the first part of the book.
Anyway, Kvothe has one real romantic interest, a young wandering woman named Denna, who pops in and out throughout the story. The first part of the story consists of Kvothe always scraping for money. It’s kind of interesting: they tell writers to make sure your characters have a goal or desire to keep the tension going. Rothfuss used Kvothe’s lack of wealth for much of the story as means to keep the tension. I found that interesting and refreshing; it wasn’t just go and kill the bad guys. Anyway, Kvothe has run-ins with another student by the name of Ambrose which continues to escalate. Finally, he takes a semester off and goes to work for a powerful noble in a distant land. The culture described is unique and interesting, although essentially feudal. While there he does some mercenary work and winds up going to another distant land and learning about another culture (basically a martial arts style culture with very unusual beliefs regarding sex and reproduction). The story ends shortly after the point where Kvothe returns to the University for the next semester.
Strengths: the writing was good, the character development was good, and the tension was good. I enjoyed the story, though I did not read it as quickly as I would have liked. Weaknesses: in terms of literary structure and stuff, I could not find any weaknesses. I will remark, however, that if you are offended by sexual promiscuity, this book is not for you. There is not much of it in the first half of the book, but in the second half it is chock full of it. There is a culture that treats sex almost like a sport. They don’t believe that sex causes impregnation. They believe that children just grow as a woman naturally lives. Men do not contribute anything to the reproductive process. Children are fruits of womanhood, and that is all. As a result, everyone in the culture is having sex with everyone else. And, of course, for some reason they don’t suffer from STD’s. I would mark the book with a warning because of that: not appropriate for the very young.
Anyway, I still enjoyed the book and I’ll give Patrick Rothfuss’ The Wise Man’s Fear four stars out of five.
For those interested, you may read my review of the former book, The Name of the Wind, .
