The Bad Seed by Michael Lackey

"Borrowing from mega hits like Game of Thrones, Merlin and Lord of the Rings, The Bad Seeds grows on you, pushing away the world we're living in, into a new one."

     Mike Lackey, author of The Bad Seed, has created fan fiction.  I never knew what it was until today.  Numerous times, I'd heard of authors submitting fan fiction, but had I not picked up The Bad Seed, I'd have remained in the House of Ignorance.  Right now, this novel is free on KindleUnlimited with regular price being $2.99.  Not too shabby for the opportunity to slide into another world.

     The story is about The Champion of Light, but he may not be born yet!  So until then, or we're led to believe, we learn what happens before the challenger of evil matures.  That gives us Zachery Morley.  He's headed towards the herb garden when he spies a stranger in a dark cloak doing something suspicious.  As he tries to watch the figure proves to be a demon who delivers a cryptic message before dramatically vanishing.  In its wake is a small sapling.  From there, we follow Zachary and the adventure he'd always wished for but wished he'd never taken.

     When I began reading this story, I was über impressed.  The idea of the story was nice and I liked Zachery.  I was able to understand Zachary and slightly care for him as a character.  His thoughts were in another font instead of italics, like many authors choose to do, but most of those times, I didn't need to know what he was thinking.  It got to be distracting at times but wasn't damaging.    

     So here's where I learned about Fan Fiction!  Lackey used some awesome ideas from great storytellers, that allowed me to know exactly the sort of atmosphere and creatures inhabiting the story.  Borrowing concepts from stories like GOT, LOTR and even Merlin - was kinda cool.  It let me know exactly what I was supposed to see,  As I'd previously stated, I'd never read anything like that before, so at first I was like, "Nuh-uh", and "Oh no he dih'nt!"  Then I was like, "Oh... okay, I get it now!"  Fan fiction-  It's borrowing and evidently, a lot of people can do it and not get trouble for stealing.  Well, what do you know...   
Hi-Five, Alyssa!
Fan Fiction definition:  when someone takes either the story or characters (or both) of a certain piece of work, whether it be a novel, tv show, movie, etc, and create their own story based on it. (UrbanDictionary.com)    

     So now because Michael Lackey is a first time author, he's gotta go through some of the rites of passage as the rest of us.  He's gotta grasp the 'Show it, don't say it' skill.  There were a few times where he simply stated a fact, taking from the story's build up and sorta deflating the action in my mind's eye.  The best part of a book, for me, is the description.  We all see things differently, but if instead of providing that visual, it's all plainly stated, the beauty of the read is lost.  It happens to many of us.  Did it hurt the story for me- a little bit.  I think once he masters that, his next book will be EPIC, no doubt!  

     Although I like knowing things from other stories, but I don't know if I'm a huge fan fiction sorta gal.  I love originality.  When I see something epic in another person's story, it just feels like mimicking to use someone else's stuff.  But that being said, the story still carried its own premise and a charm that can not be missed.  I have to say- on a good day, this story packs some punch.  I liked it.  The Bad Seed is a cool story.  Grab yourself a copy and enjoy!