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The Tale of Onora #1
The Boy and the Peddler of Death
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
At the core of this tale is a love story that spans a lifetime, wrapped in a gritty, epic, real man's fantasy that anyone can sink his or her teeth into. It is a beacon of truth in an enslaved world suffering from moral relativism and willful ignorance in the presence of Knowledge.
For the mature fans of Harry Potter, A Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Elder Scrolls, Legend of Zelda, Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Fable, and Dragon Age, The Tale of Onora follows the journey of a young orphan after his village is destroyed and he is forced to grow up in a dangerous world. As he navigates through different walks of life, he begins to uncover a conspiracy as to why his village was destroyed. Before he can put the pieces together, his fate is sealed by a terrible war. In the storm of chaos that follows, his actions turn him into a legendary hero. The more renowned he gets, the closer the source of evil is drawn to him. The more he fights for the truth, the more of an outlaw he becomes. In Book One, a boy at the brink of adulthood travels beyond the ruins of an ancient elven city, to The Crown of The World in the far north. It is there where he meets his father for the first time, in search of the answers and reasons his mother refuses to discuss. At the risk of his life, he learns that finding the truth requires knowing The Tale of Onora.
At the core of this tale is a love story that spans a lifetime, wrapped in a gritty, epic, real man's fantasy that anyone can sink his or her teeth into. It is a beacon of truth in an enslaved world suffering from moral relativism and willful ignorance in the presence of Knowledge.
For the mature fans of Harry Potter, A Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Elder Scrolls, Legend of Zelda, Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Fable, and Dragon Age, The Tale of Onora follows the journey of a young orphan after his village is destroyed and he is forced to grow up in a dangerous world. As he navigates through different walks of life, he begins to uncover a conspiracy as to why his village was destroyed. Before he can put the pieces together, his fate is sealed by a terrible war. In the storm of chaos that follows, his actions turn him into a legendary hero. The more renowned he gets, the closer the source of evil is drawn to him. The more he fights for the truth, the more of an outlaw he becomes. In Book One, a boy at the brink of adulthood travels beyond the ruins of an ancient elven city, to The Crown of The World in the far north. It is there where he meets his father for the first time, in search of the answers and reasons his mother refuses to discuss. At the risk of his life, he learns that finding the truth requires knowing The Tale of Onora.
96 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 7, 2014
14 people are currently reading
1236 people want to read
About the author
Dylan Saccoccio
14 books421 followersDylan Saccoccio grew up in Boston, MA and Providence, Rhode Island before moving to Manhattan at eighteen years old to pursue his career as an actor. He grew up playing every sport, fishing, sailing, and breaking rules. He's been writing for as long as he's been acting, and playing guitar for twelve years in the style of John Frusciante and Jimi Hendrix. He moved to Los Angeles at twenty years old temporarily before moving there permanently the following year. In his never-ending journey to attain his highest and best self, he explored many different avenues. The 2008 crash jolted him to awaken from the American Nightmare of being a gangster for capitalism. Among the many screenplays he wrote, his magnum opus is The Tale of Onora, a series that is a metaphorical tale of his life. For every thousand people hacking at the branches of evil, only one is hacking at the root of it. In The Boy and the Peddler of Death, every conscious solution to today's collectivist problems is blended into a fantasy tale that tells the story of us all, for there is no great story that did not dance with the truth.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
June 5, 2015
This was just...so unnecessarily wordy and pretentious. I just did not enjoy it at all. Which makes me sad because the summary says it's for fans of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and World of Warcraft. Aka three of my favorite things. So how did I loathe this so entirely from page one? I don't know.
March 5, 2019
After just having finished the book, I really have to say that this was not what I expected.
I feel like this is nothing more than the author trying to sell his philosophical ideas by using a fantasy world as a wrapper. This is not what I expected from a book labeled as High Fantasy.
The character development to me felt shallow. I never really felt attached to any one character. Everything was presented as a long string of historical events that gets washed down with a heavy swig of the authors personal socioeconomic views. Having said that, I have no issue when authors use characters to project their own ideas and fancies. I do have issues when authors create one dimensional characters that ONLY do that.
The book just feels a little forced. There are also times when I really questioned the authors commitment to making sure everything makes sense. Like the line "Lugh's eyes burned with electromagnetism." Huh? Electromagnetism is the STUDY of electric and magnetic field interaction. Is Lugh a physicist obsessed with his work?
Overall I give it 2.5 stars (leaning more to 2).
EDIT: Everyone please read the comments from the author and myself. You get a real look into the egocentric mind of the author. PS, if you didn't pick up on the "Nazi ban on Jews from the ownership of arms" in the book, you aren't alone. I didn't either.
Edit 2: It seems the author deleted his replies. I will leave my responses up for historical purposes.
I feel like this is nothing more than the author trying to sell his philosophical ideas by using a fantasy world as a wrapper. This is not what I expected from a book labeled as High Fantasy.
The character development to me felt shallow. I never really felt attached to any one character. Everything was presented as a long string of historical events that gets washed down with a heavy swig of the authors personal socioeconomic views. Having said that, I have no issue when authors use characters to project their own ideas and fancies. I do have issues when authors create one dimensional characters that ONLY do that.
The book just feels a little forced. There are also times when I really questioned the authors commitment to making sure everything makes sense. Like the line "Lugh's eyes burned with electromagnetism." Huh? Electromagnetism is the STUDY of electric and magnetic field interaction. Is Lugh a physicist obsessed with his work?
Overall I give it 2.5 stars (leaning more to 2).
EDIT: Everyone please read the comments from the author and myself. You get a real look into the egocentric mind of the author. PS, if you didn't pick up on the "Nazi ban on Jews from the ownership of arms" in the book, you aren't alone. I didn't either.
Edit 2: It seems the author deleted his replies. I will leave my responses up for historical purposes.
June 6, 2015
Incoherent mess of outdated tropes. Imagine a science-fiction novel where the protagonist had to equip power armor to fight insect monsters or fly space fighters against an evil empire.
Dylan Saccoccio mixed together some fantasy novels and video games, added a bit of pretentious language, and now sells it as "for fans of...".
No, but just because I am a fan of A doesnt mean I read everything with the lowest common denominator.
Dylan Saccoccio mixed together some fantasy novels and video games, added a bit of pretentious language, and now sells it as "for fans of...".
No, but just because I am a fan of A doesnt mean I read everything with the lowest common denominator.
June 6, 2015
I saw the author's reaction to a low review go viral, and after reading his comments, thought that maybe the book wouldn't be half bad and the reviewer was being too harsh on him.
I got two pages into the preview.
First of all, a foreword OR a prologue. Both is overkill. But considering the author's tendency towards the sesquipedalian, I presume overkill would be a recurring theme.
If a reader needs to take a breath in the middle of reading one of your sentences aloud; then Mr. Saccoccio -- you need to rethink your use of punctuation.
Also, "Nordic" implies a people similar to Northern Germans, "Che'el De'Trezen" sounds like a French prostitute drunkenly slurring.
"By the time I'm finished with your city," the cloaked figure shouted up at them.
"There will be nothing but beggars left of your race!"
Was that supposed to be one sentence? Because it read like two, which doesn't make any sense. Logically, it should have been:
"By the time I'm finished with your city," the cloaked figure shouted up at them, "There will be nothing but beggars left of your race!"
Overall, it read like an angsty high schooler's attempt to be Tolkien. I wouldn't finish reading it, even if the author was a tolerable person.
I got two pages into the preview.
First of all, a foreword OR a prologue. Both is overkill. But considering the author's tendency towards the sesquipedalian, I presume overkill would be a recurring theme.
If a reader needs to take a breath in the middle of reading one of your sentences aloud; then Mr. Saccoccio -- you need to rethink your use of punctuation.
Also, "Nordic" implies a people similar to Northern Germans, "Che'el De'Trezen" sounds like a French prostitute drunkenly slurring.
"By the time I'm finished with your city," the cloaked figure shouted up at them.
"There will be nothing but beggars left of your race!"
Was that supposed to be one sentence? Because it read like two, which doesn't make any sense. Logically, it should have been:
"By the time I'm finished with your city," the cloaked figure shouted up at them, "There will be nothing but beggars left of your race!"
Overall, it read like an angsty high schooler's attempt to be Tolkien. I wouldn't finish reading it, even if the author was a tolerable person.
June 21, 2015
No one ever starts a fight.
Whether it's a street brawl or a war, both sides always insist they're defending against an aggressor who (figuratively or literally) threw the first punch.
Considering that no one in the world ever plays anything but reluctant defense, you'd think this planet would be a heck of a lot more peaceful than it currently is. But as you've no doubt noticed, when we're not ducking and covering on an actual battlefield, we're engaging in heated wars of words on the home front.
Question: What does that have to do with a book review?
Answer: Everything, if it's this particular book.
Even if I wanted to write a neutral review of this book, it would be impossible. If I say anything the least bit critical, the author and his defenders will see me as one more oppressor who wants to keep down independent writers. If I praise it, those who are critical of both his behavior and his writing skills will see me as a shill or an idiot, or both.
If I don't say a thing and give it three stars, his supporters will sneer at me for not understanding the amazing five-starness of it all. His detractors will reread the code attached to the star-rating system here, look at me incredulously, and say, "You liked that? What the hell is wrong with you?"
For the record: this book is very badly written, and I did not like it at all. I read the whole damned thing, and I can back it up with supporting quotes when I tell you that this author got everything wrong. On the technical front, his spelling, grammar, and punctuation are atrocious. So far as the story goes, the characters are stick figures. The dialogue is hard to understand. The plot is impossible to find. And if you got rid of half of the adjectives and adverbs, you'd still have a book in which every object and action is smothering under a life-threatening layer of modifiers.
What this writing reminded me of more than anything was a wonderful scene in Muriel Spark's novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in which two ten-year-old girls are writing a novel together. Here: try to figure out which of the following passages was written by a man who believes his writing is absolutely perfect, and which was written by an award-winning novelist pretending to be a ten-year-old.
"Stand back from the door, I say!"
"Never!" said Sandy, placing her young lithe body squarely in front of the latch and her arm through the bolt. Her large eyes flashed with an azure light of appeal.
The man's expression flashed a brief glimpse into the unadulterated darkness of his soul. "Do not seek the sanctuary of evil, for I have tread in the heart of it."
Tough call.
But the fact remains: bad as it is, this book is just one more poorly written self-published novel on a site that's host to hundreds of them.
So why is it under attack?
Because it is. There's no other way of putting it. There's a battle going on, and this book's in the center of it.
Dylan Saccoccio would say that he was the wronged party. Someone wrote a negative review of his book, and he was just defending his work.
Others would insist that his inflammatory language in response to that review was what started this skirmish, and they couldn't just sit back and watch him verbally attack a young woman who was bewildered by his response to her review and startlingly civil in the face of extreme provocation. (Not that I'm biased or anything.)
Obviously I side with the latter group, but I would go a step farther and say that the reason this is an all-out war is because this author is just one more soldier in – oh, why not borrow some purple prose from the author in question and call this a battle for the soul of Goodreads.
To be a little less flowery, there's an ongoing war of words about what Goodreads is and what it ought to be. And while this particular skirmish seems surprisingly heated to outsiders (I only learned about it when a friend showed me a post on PZ Myers' Pharyngula blog), it's depressingly business-as-usual for those of us who spend a lot of time here.
There are people who consider Goodreads a place to talk about books and say what we like and don't like about them. These people consider reviews a matter of personal expression and a reflection of personal taste.
Then there are people who believe that free speech doesn't mean freedom to be unkind to total strangers who after all are just trying to tell a story and maybe make a buck or two.
What's messy about this war is that it isn't as simple as writers vs. readers. There are plenty of writers, both conventionally and independently published, who are fiercely protective of a reader's right to gripe about books she doesn't like. And there are plenty of non-writer readers who truly believe that if you can't say something nice, you shouldn't say anything at all.
In a world that isn't exactly staggering under a surfeit of niceness, that last bit is the kind of idea that can be hard to argue with. To apply it to this situation: okay, this book is bad. So what? Why talk about it? Hate a book all you want in the privacy of your own home, but why hurt a writer's feelings?
Who cares if someone who isn't basically competent insists he's master of a craft and wants to be paid for his work?
Well, when you put it that way...
And that's the point a lot of us are trying to make. We put it that way because there isn't any other way to put it.
The fact is, no one's forcing a writer to write. It's easier on any given day not to write than to write. (Trust me. I'm speaking from experience here.)
And no one at all is forcing a writer to publish what he's written. Again, that's a task it's much easier not to do. No writer has ever rolled over one morning, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, stared in bewilderment at the neatly-bound volume on her pillow (complete with cover illustration), and screamed, "Holy crap, I wrote a BOOK! It just, like, HAPPENED!" She has also never run to her computer and seen to her shock and dismay that this effortless dream-volume is now available for sale on multiple sites on the Internet.
"But I didn't even DO anything!" this writer has never, ever shouted.
Writers have been known to say that our books are our babies. (Heck, Jane Austen said it, so it must be true.)
If that's the case, some writers are nightmare parents who want all the fun stuff that goes along with having a baby – first smile, first step, first birthday cake – but steadfastly refuse to change diapers.
Wanting all the good things that can come along with being a writer (money, fame, fan mail) while refusing to accept the negatives (deadlines, bad reviews, hate mail) is delusional.
It also isn't fair to the rest of us.
Let's take a closer look at the argument for niceness. A writer is a person. Why hurt his feelings by publicly saying bad things about his writing?
Read the sample pages of his work. Those should tell you if you'll like the book or not. If you don't like what you see, don't read the rest of the book. And if you don't read the book, of course you have no reason to post a review.
Simple. Everybody's happy.
Everyone except the people who would like the rating system here to actually mean something.
In a post I read recently, a writer compared posting free-to-read fan fiction to baking cookies and sharing them with your coworkers. What if someone did that every day, and all she asked in return was a little feedback so she could feel appreciated and learn to be a better baker? Is that so much to ask when someone's offering you free yummies?
It was an interesting analogy, and it led to a lively debate.
I bring this up because a lot of people – specifically, the people who think it's unkind to give a low rating and a negative review to any book – seem to regard all books as baked goods.
If you visited your elderly great-aunt and she offered you her home-baked cookies, maybe you'd accept out of politeness, even if you didn't really want one. Even if they weren't very good, you wouldn't say anything mean about them. She worked hard to make you something she hoped you'd like. You'd have to be some kind of jerk to say, "Ye gods, woman – these are hard as rocks and not nearly as sweet. Can I bring some home in case I need something to throw at burglars?"
Saccoccio urged readers not to read his book if they didn't think they'd enjoy it. That way, only the people who enjoyed it would review it. And his GR rating would be heartwarmingly high.
But the reason he wanted a high rating was so (as he said himself) he could sell lots of copies of his book. A negative review could destroy his dreams of becoming a successful writer.
And that's where the cookie crumbles.
If an author wants to be treated with all the kindness and consideration you'd give a cookie-wielding great-aunt, and that author also wants to succeed as a professional in a field that's supposedly a meritocracy – well, that author is guilty of what used to be called wanting to eat his cake and have it too.
That's what's wrong with the argument I've seen made by readers and writers alike that it's one thing to trash-talk writers who have already made it big. Stephen King isn't going to cry his eyes out if I say I couldn't stand It. But it's unkind and unfair to air the flaws of a writer who's just starting out.
There are two things that are very, very wrong with that argument.
First of all, it's factually incorrect. A study was done on the connection between reviews and book sales. Good reviews boosted sales, of course. But so did bad ones.
EXCEPT bad reviews of established writers.
That's right. Poor reviews – even scathing ones – of unknown writers gave a bump to sales. But they did damage to authors who already had a reputation to hurt.
Here's a link, if you want to see for yourself:
https://hbr.org/2012/03/bad-reviews-c...
The other thing wrong with the "pick on someone your own size" argument is what it says to readers. Specifically, it says that a high rating on GR is meaningless when it comes to independently published or small-press fiction, so readers should stick with the conventionally published books from the big houses – the ones people are free to trash-talk if they deserve it.
I think I can safely say that no indie-writer wants to go there.
Who'da thunk that letting people tell the truth about your book – even if the truth hurts – isn't just good manners. It's also good for business.
I really hope that through some miracle, Dylan Saccoccio has a change of heart and decides he has something to learn from the reviewers who took the time to say what they thought of his book. Not just the ones who said things he wanted to hear and already believed, but the ones who pointed out that his story is impossible to follow, his prose needs cleaning up, and his dialogue doesn't resemble how people actually talk (even in high fantasy).
He probably won't, but I can dream.
Whether it's a street brawl or a war, both sides always insist they're defending against an aggressor who (figuratively or literally) threw the first punch.
Considering that no one in the world ever plays anything but reluctant defense, you'd think this planet would be a heck of a lot more peaceful than it currently is. But as you've no doubt noticed, when we're not ducking and covering on an actual battlefield, we're engaging in heated wars of words on the home front.
Question: What does that have to do with a book review?
Answer: Everything, if it's this particular book.
Even if I wanted to write a neutral review of this book, it would be impossible. If I say anything the least bit critical, the author and his defenders will see me as one more oppressor who wants to keep down independent writers. If I praise it, those who are critical of both his behavior and his writing skills will see me as a shill or an idiot, or both.
If I don't say a thing and give it three stars, his supporters will sneer at me for not understanding the amazing five-starness of it all. His detractors will reread the code attached to the star-rating system here, look at me incredulously, and say, "You liked that? What the hell is wrong with you?"
For the record: this book is very badly written, and I did not like it at all. I read the whole damned thing, and I can back it up with supporting quotes when I tell you that this author got everything wrong. On the technical front, his spelling, grammar, and punctuation are atrocious. So far as the story goes, the characters are stick figures. The dialogue is hard to understand. The plot is impossible to find. And if you got rid of half of the adjectives and adverbs, you'd still have a book in which every object and action is smothering under a life-threatening layer of modifiers.
What this writing reminded me of more than anything was a wonderful scene in Muriel Spark's novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in which two ten-year-old girls are writing a novel together. Here: try to figure out which of the following passages was written by a man who believes his writing is absolutely perfect, and which was written by an award-winning novelist pretending to be a ten-year-old.
"Stand back from the door, I say!"
"Never!" said Sandy, placing her young lithe body squarely in front of the latch and her arm through the bolt. Her large eyes flashed with an azure light of appeal.
The man's expression flashed a brief glimpse into the unadulterated darkness of his soul. "Do not seek the sanctuary of evil, for I have tread in the heart of it."
Tough call.
But the fact remains: bad as it is, this book is just one more poorly written self-published novel on a site that's host to hundreds of them.
So why is it under attack?
Because it is. There's no other way of putting it. There's a battle going on, and this book's in the center of it.
Dylan Saccoccio would say that he was the wronged party. Someone wrote a negative review of his book, and he was just defending his work.
Others would insist that his inflammatory language in response to that review was what started this skirmish, and they couldn't just sit back and watch him verbally attack a young woman who was bewildered by his response to her review and startlingly civil in the face of extreme provocation. (Not that I'm biased or anything.)
Obviously I side with the latter group, but I would go a step farther and say that the reason this is an all-out war is because this author is just one more soldier in – oh, why not borrow some purple prose from the author in question and call this a battle for the soul of Goodreads.
To be a little less flowery, there's an ongoing war of words about what Goodreads is and what it ought to be. And while this particular skirmish seems surprisingly heated to outsiders (I only learned about it when a friend showed me a post on PZ Myers' Pharyngula blog), it's depressingly business-as-usual for those of us who spend a lot of time here.
There are people who consider Goodreads a place to talk about books and say what we like and don't like about them. These people consider reviews a matter of personal expression and a reflection of personal taste.
Then there are people who believe that free speech doesn't mean freedom to be unkind to total strangers who after all are just trying to tell a story and maybe make a buck or two.
What's messy about this war is that it isn't as simple as writers vs. readers. There are plenty of writers, both conventionally and independently published, who are fiercely protective of a reader's right to gripe about books she doesn't like. And there are plenty of non-writer readers who truly believe that if you can't say something nice, you shouldn't say anything at all.
In a world that isn't exactly staggering under a surfeit of niceness, that last bit is the kind of idea that can be hard to argue with. To apply it to this situation: okay, this book is bad. So what? Why talk about it? Hate a book all you want in the privacy of your own home, but why hurt a writer's feelings?
Who cares if someone who isn't basically competent insists he's master of a craft and wants to be paid for his work?
Well, when you put it that way...
And that's the point a lot of us are trying to make. We put it that way because there isn't any other way to put it.
The fact is, no one's forcing a writer to write. It's easier on any given day not to write than to write. (Trust me. I'm speaking from experience here.)
And no one at all is forcing a writer to publish what he's written. Again, that's a task it's much easier not to do. No writer has ever rolled over one morning, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, stared in bewilderment at the neatly-bound volume on her pillow (complete with cover illustration), and screamed, "Holy crap, I wrote a BOOK! It just, like, HAPPENED!" She has also never run to her computer and seen to her shock and dismay that this effortless dream-volume is now available for sale on multiple sites on the Internet.
"But I didn't even DO anything!" this writer has never, ever shouted.
Writers have been known to say that our books are our babies. (Heck, Jane Austen said it, so it must be true.)
If that's the case, some writers are nightmare parents who want all the fun stuff that goes along with having a baby – first smile, first step, first birthday cake – but steadfastly refuse to change diapers.
Wanting all the good things that can come along with being a writer (money, fame, fan mail) while refusing to accept the negatives (deadlines, bad reviews, hate mail) is delusional.
It also isn't fair to the rest of us.
Let's take a closer look at the argument for niceness. A writer is a person. Why hurt his feelings by publicly saying bad things about his writing?
Read the sample pages of his work. Those should tell you if you'll like the book or not. If you don't like what you see, don't read the rest of the book. And if you don't read the book, of course you have no reason to post a review.
Simple. Everybody's happy.
Everyone except the people who would like the rating system here to actually mean something.
In a post I read recently, a writer compared posting free-to-read fan fiction to baking cookies and sharing them with your coworkers. What if someone did that every day, and all she asked in return was a little feedback so she could feel appreciated and learn to be a better baker? Is that so much to ask when someone's offering you free yummies?
It was an interesting analogy, and it led to a lively debate.
I bring this up because a lot of people – specifically, the people who think it's unkind to give a low rating and a negative review to any book – seem to regard all books as baked goods.
If you visited your elderly great-aunt and she offered you her home-baked cookies, maybe you'd accept out of politeness, even if you didn't really want one. Even if they weren't very good, you wouldn't say anything mean about them. She worked hard to make you something she hoped you'd like. You'd have to be some kind of jerk to say, "Ye gods, woman – these are hard as rocks and not nearly as sweet. Can I bring some home in case I need something to throw at burglars?"
Saccoccio urged readers not to read his book if they didn't think they'd enjoy it. That way, only the people who enjoyed it would review it. And his GR rating would be heartwarmingly high.
But the reason he wanted a high rating was so (as he said himself) he could sell lots of copies of his book. A negative review could destroy his dreams of becoming a successful writer.
And that's where the cookie crumbles.
If an author wants to be treated with all the kindness and consideration you'd give a cookie-wielding great-aunt, and that author also wants to succeed as a professional in a field that's supposedly a meritocracy – well, that author is guilty of what used to be called wanting to eat his cake and have it too.
That's what's wrong with the argument I've seen made by readers and writers alike that it's one thing to trash-talk writers who have already made it big. Stephen King isn't going to cry his eyes out if I say I couldn't stand It. But it's unkind and unfair to air the flaws of a writer who's just starting out.
There are two things that are very, very wrong with that argument.
First of all, it's factually incorrect. A study was done on the connection between reviews and book sales. Good reviews boosted sales, of course. But so did bad ones.
EXCEPT bad reviews of established writers.
That's right. Poor reviews – even scathing ones – of unknown writers gave a bump to sales. But they did damage to authors who already had a reputation to hurt.
Here's a link, if you want to see for yourself:
https://hbr.org/2012/03/bad-reviews-c...
The other thing wrong with the "pick on someone your own size" argument is what it says to readers. Specifically, it says that a high rating on GR is meaningless when it comes to independently published or small-press fiction, so readers should stick with the conventionally published books from the big houses – the ones people are free to trash-talk if they deserve it.
I think I can safely say that no indie-writer wants to go there.
Who'da thunk that letting people tell the truth about your book – even if the truth hurts – isn't just good manners. It's also good for business.
I really hope that through some miracle, Dylan Saccoccio has a change of heart and decides he has something to learn from the reviewers who took the time to say what they thought of his book. Not just the ones who said things he wanted to hear and already believed, but the ones who pointed out that his story is impossible to follow, his prose needs cleaning up, and his dialogue doesn't resemble how people actually talk (even in high fantasy).
He probably won't, but I can dream.
June 6, 2015
Really, really awful. How anyone could think this drivel was worth wasting their time on is beyond me. Like most positive reviews for this book, I am an aquaintance of the author's, got it as a gift, and really tried to like it. Alas, unlike the others, I did not find it within me to lie for a friend. Dylan, if you're reading this, for everyone's good, find a form of employment that requires little literacy, and no creativity at all. And for God's sake stop boring everyone to death with your half-baked theories.
June 6, 2015
This book is awful. How bad? Well, I got the book free via Kindle Unlimited, but I still think I deserve some sort of refund for the time wasted on it.
People, learn from my folly. Avoid this book.
People, learn from my folly. Avoid this book.
June 6, 2015
Wow, just wow. Obviously I tried reading this after the hype on the review page, and I'm sorry, but I didn't like it. Not the story, but the writing. This is a series, right? Cool down. You don't need to expound your worldview right out of the gate. Either write a coherent book of philosophy or fiction--remember the 50 pages or so in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, when Galt gives his speech on the radio? 95% of readers skip that entire section, whether or not you believe they're better off for it, because you betray the reader by forcing a philosophical viewpoint when the story simply can't carry it off.
June 12, 2015
Too few pages, very loquacious and pretentious, overused cliches and not worth the time or money.
This piece of writing is a crude mixture of overused tropes, cliches, worn out one dimensional characters, and a plotl that is as predictable as death and taxes. The author tries too hard to appeal to fans of fantasy movies and games by employing every cliche from the usual repertoire of said movies and books in a very child-like fashion. But in the end too much words and pretentious writing messes up any structure, and the limited pages numbers prevent any interesting plot development. But with the kind of writing the author presents, increasing the number of pages would only cause one to drop the book.
This piece of writing is a crude mixture of overused tropes, cliches, worn out one dimensional characters, and a plotl that is as predictable as death and taxes. The author tries too hard to appeal to fans of fantasy movies and games by employing every cliche from the usual repertoire of said movies and books in a very child-like fashion. But in the end too much words and pretentious writing messes up any structure, and the limited pages numbers prevent any interesting plot development. But with the kind of writing the author presents, increasing the number of pages would only cause one to drop the book.
June 7, 2015
Since my first review sadly got deleted, I have to add another. I got this for free via Kindle Unlimited and managed to read it all the way through. It took me longer than a book this size should have taken because it is so wordy and written so poorly that you start to mentally drift away from the book and realize you sort of just skimmed the last three paragraphs - so you go back and read them, only to find it didn't really matter anyway. I know my time hasn't been well-spent when I feel like I've overpaid for a free book.
The summary says it's like Game of Thrones; perhaps the author meant that Game of Thrones is also a collection of ink and pages bound together in sequence, but the similarities end there. Speaking of ink, I can only assume the author was attempting to save on print costs with how long some of the sentences run. To say that the sentences were tortured is akin to dismissing a fictional Robot Hitler's Fourth Reich as "problematic."
The book is heavy-handed with the author's philosophy on economic issues, which would be fine if the author had opinions worth noting on the topic. I would rather read John Galt's speech than this book, because at least it's genre-defining and a seminal work. The author's take on socioeconomic issues is just as subtle, just as wordy, twice as skippable, and freely accessible without Kindle Unlimited at your local chapter of the Young Communists' League.
The summary says it's like Game of Thrones; perhaps the author meant that Game of Thrones is also a collection of ink and pages bound together in sequence, but the similarities end there. Speaking of ink, I can only assume the author was attempting to save on print costs with how long some of the sentences run. To say that the sentences were tortured is akin to dismissing a fictional Robot Hitler's Fourth Reich as "problematic."
The book is heavy-handed with the author's philosophy on economic issues, which would be fine if the author had opinions worth noting on the topic. I would rather read John Galt's speech than this book, because at least it's genre-defining and a seminal work. The author's take on socioeconomic issues is just as subtle, just as wordy, twice as skippable, and freely accessible without Kindle Unlimited at your local chapter of the Young Communists' League.
June 8, 2015
I can’t bring myself to even say this book is okay(2 stars). I really didn’t like it at all. I got it through kindle unlimited so thankfully all I wasted was time. Incoming giant review. There was just so much I hated I have to get it all out there.
Let’s start with the part labeled “Foreword”. It’s a bunch of wishy washy garbage like “To you, that you may awaken to understand that the whole universe is a dance of energy, and that energy is God, and that energy is you.” And ends with “So this is for you, my fellow creators, my fellow gods, and my fellow selves, that coincidence may never disguise itself with the mask of fate and torment you, that every moment be meaningful, and that no experience be lost.”
That’s fine. I’ll ignore it and continue.
So first we are introduced to some bad guy. He murders a whole town , but the most notable part is when he is faced with a mother and her children and says “I long for your souls to haunt me,” he called out to them. “That I may best you over and over again for all of time!”. Very impressive…besting some children. You the man. I couldn’t tell if the reader was supposed to find this comical or horrific. I just shook my head, sighed, and forced myself onwards.
Without further plot spoilers here are some annoyances I had with this “book”(it’s really short. It took less than 2 hours to finish so I don’t know if I can even call it a book. It’s supposed to be for adults but this is shorter than a YP novel). There are quotes but I assure you, nothing is spoiled. It’s hard to spoil this anyway since there wasn’t much of an interesting plot.
1. I don’t like a third person narrative that jumps between the thoughts of the characters in the scene. I find it comes off as sloppy. It’s much cleaner to choose one character, and make it their POV, but still maintain third person.
2.Lines like “Just because he was a champion of freedom, of truth, and integrity, it did not mean that he wasn't capable of being flawlessly evil.” made me cringe. Cheesy while clearly trying to sound like something more. “Every night the sun watched itself die in the mirror of Lake Aryalus.” It’s called a sun set. As a planet moves around a sun, the sun goes across the sky and disappears when that side of the planet isn't facing it any longer. This is called a day and night cycle. Cut the dramatics. “Silence stole all sound yet again.”. Silence is the literal absence of sound. Stop trying to sound fancy.
3.Boring. So very boring. Page after page of flowery language with a plot I couldn't find interesting. Pages of history, SHOW DON’T TELL! I don’t want to read a friken fake history book. And descriptions of geographical locations that no character was heading to. When a book this short has this much useless filler it becomes a lot more noticeable.
4.Magic system is like a bad version of Name of the Wind magic. You need to know the true name of the thing you are controlling…like a BOTTLE OF BRANDY.
5.It seems I'm supposed to be like “DOWN WITH THIS GOVERNMENT!” I can’t get behind finding the government evil for suppressing magic when it is so damn dangerous. You can kill someone by just saying some words; no shit the government doesn't want everyone having that power. And everyone on the planet can do it, some are just better than others? That’s super unsettling.
6.
7.
8.If you don’t have a father you become “wicked”. Keep that in mind all your fatherless people! You can’t be trusted if you don’t have a daddy!
9.I love video games. Video game terms are jarring in books. Like a spell that granted a 2/3rd chance to dodge or “Adults could not equip them”(this one may be used elsewhere but I’ve never heard it outside video games. Usually you wear armor, not equip it in real life). There is no place for that language in a book unless the book is about being in a video game a la Ready Player One.
10.Another complaint about the political crap in this. So many strange parts that are clearly about ANARCHY RULES. Like his rant about the evil of banks. I didn’t know this book was a comedy, because it sure had me laughing!! “The entire western world is dependent upon them. They play a dangerous game of musical chairs. The only difference is that those left without a chair become slaves.” Damn my enslavement to banks! I’m an accountant too! I must be EVIIIILL. I even believe in taxes :O! “A real man recognizes when the power structure of his country is merely one group of people suppressing the progress of others. They sprinkle this faelen dust of lies upon you, or patriotism, or whatever other illusion is necessary to get you to sacrifice what's good and best for yourself to their agenda. But ultimately the illusion empowers only the ones who create it. A real man becomes aware when a parasitical hex has been cast upon him, and that all power is derived off that hex.” I read this as “Here is my political agenda and let me hit you over the head with it. DOWN WITH THE GOVERNMENT.”. YAWN.
11.Hate for gun control laws as seen here: “Banning weapons under the guise of security was a tyrannical ploy, nothing else. There was no such thing as weapons control. There was only people control. Logic dictates that inanimate objects do not do anything on their own, much less kill people. It is an irrefutable law of nature.” I’m not from America so gun control Is A OKAY by me. This part just made me shake my head and laugh. “that having an unarmed population would lead to a mountain of atrocities.” I better let Canada and Europe know we are living in a tyranny! Also our crime rates are a lie and probably much higher.
This is absolutely not like the actual GOOD books that are listed in the description. It’s just another unmemorable fantasy novel that had way too much that bothered me for me to actually enjoy it. I’m going to give a big “NO THANK YOU” to the next in the series. I don’t need more of this crap political agenda being pushed on me. It’s just propaganda.
I think this review is actually longer than the book.
Let’s start with the part labeled “Foreword”. It’s a bunch of wishy washy garbage like “To you, that you may awaken to understand that the whole universe is a dance of energy, and that energy is God, and that energy is you.” And ends with “So this is for you, my fellow creators, my fellow gods, and my fellow selves, that coincidence may never disguise itself with the mask of fate and torment you, that every moment be meaningful, and that no experience be lost.”
That’s fine. I’ll ignore it and continue.
So first we are introduced to some bad guy. He murders a whole town , but the most notable part is when he is faced with a mother and her children and says “I long for your souls to haunt me,” he called out to them. “That I may best you over and over again for all of time!”. Very impressive…besting some children. You the man. I couldn’t tell if the reader was supposed to find this comical or horrific. I just shook my head, sighed, and forced myself onwards.
Without further plot spoilers here are some annoyances I had with this “book”(it’s really short. It took less than 2 hours to finish so I don’t know if I can even call it a book. It’s supposed to be for adults but this is shorter than a YP novel). There are quotes but I assure you, nothing is spoiled. It’s hard to spoil this anyway since there wasn’t much of an interesting plot.
1. I don’t like a third person narrative that jumps between the thoughts of the characters in the scene. I find it comes off as sloppy. It’s much cleaner to choose one character, and make it their POV, but still maintain third person.
2.Lines like “Just because he was a champion of freedom, of truth, and integrity, it did not mean that he wasn't capable of being flawlessly evil.” made me cringe. Cheesy while clearly trying to sound like something more. “Every night the sun watched itself die in the mirror of Lake Aryalus.” It’s called a sun set. As a planet moves around a sun, the sun goes across the sky and disappears when that side of the planet isn't facing it any longer. This is called a day and night cycle. Cut the dramatics. “Silence stole all sound yet again.”. Silence is the literal absence of sound. Stop trying to sound fancy.
3.Boring. So very boring. Page after page of flowery language with a plot I couldn't find interesting. Pages of history, SHOW DON’T TELL! I don’t want to read a friken fake history book. And descriptions of geographical locations that no character was heading to. When a book this short has this much useless filler it becomes a lot more noticeable.
4.Magic system is like a bad version of Name of the Wind magic. You need to know the true name of the thing you are controlling…like a BOTTLE OF BRANDY.
5.It seems I'm supposed to be like “DOWN WITH THIS GOVERNMENT!” I can’t get behind finding the government evil for suppressing magic when it is so damn dangerous. You can kill someone by just saying some words; no shit the government doesn't want everyone having that power. And everyone on the planet can do it, some are just better than others? That’s super unsettling.
6.
7.
8.If you don’t have a father you become “wicked”. Keep that in mind all your fatherless people! You can’t be trusted if you don’t have a daddy!
9.I love video games. Video game terms are jarring in books. Like a spell that granted a 2/3rd chance to dodge or “Adults could not equip them”(this one may be used elsewhere but I’ve never heard it outside video games. Usually you wear armor, not equip it in real life). There is no place for that language in a book unless the book is about being in a video game a la Ready Player One.
10.Another complaint about the political crap in this. So many strange parts that are clearly about ANARCHY RULES. Like his rant about the evil of banks. I didn’t know this book was a comedy, because it sure had me laughing!! “The entire western world is dependent upon them. They play a dangerous game of musical chairs. The only difference is that those left without a chair become slaves.” Damn my enslavement to banks! I’m an accountant too! I must be EVIIIILL. I even believe in taxes :O! “A real man recognizes when the power structure of his country is merely one group of people suppressing the progress of others. They sprinkle this faelen dust of lies upon you, or patriotism, or whatever other illusion is necessary to get you to sacrifice what's good and best for yourself to their agenda. But ultimately the illusion empowers only the ones who create it. A real man becomes aware when a parasitical hex has been cast upon him, and that all power is derived off that hex.” I read this as “Here is my political agenda and let me hit you over the head with it. DOWN WITH THE GOVERNMENT.”. YAWN.
11.Hate for gun control laws as seen here: “Banning weapons under the guise of security was a tyrannical ploy, nothing else. There was no such thing as weapons control. There was only people control. Logic dictates that inanimate objects do not do anything on their own, much less kill people. It is an irrefutable law of nature.” I’m not from America so gun control Is A OKAY by me. This part just made me shake my head and laugh. “that having an unarmed population would lead to a mountain of atrocities.” I better let Canada and Europe know we are living in a tyranny! Also our crime rates are a lie and probably much higher.
This is absolutely not like the actual GOOD books that are listed in the description. It’s just another unmemorable fantasy novel that had way too much that bothered me for me to actually enjoy it. I’m going to give a big “NO THANK YOU” to the next in the series. I don’t need more of this crap political agenda being pushed on me. It’s just propaganda.
I think this review is actually longer than the book.
June 12, 2015
This is the best book I have ever read in my life. It has everything I want in a book. It has pages and most of those pages have words on them. Furthermore, the words form into sentences and you can read from one sentence to the next and it eventually forms a sort of story, if you will. My eyes got a little tired because it turns out there is quite a bit of reading involved. The other aspect is the turning of pages. At one point, my hands started to cramp up because I was gripping the book so tightly. I eased up and continued to read. I read and I read. It took a lot out of me and I'm not sure I'll ever read as hard as I read this. I got the impression that the author grew up playing every sport, fishing, sailing, and breaking rules. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Saccoccio has lived in Boston, Providence, New York City, and LA. There is a strong theme in the book. I won't give it away because it has to be read to be believed. I had to burn the clothes I was wearing when I read this--that's how powerful the book is. I fell down the stairs while I was reading it, too, and take that as a sign that I should not read while walking down stairs.
June 7, 2015
This book makes me feel better about myself as an author. No matter how bad my writing is, I know I'll never be THIS bad.
I first found out about this book when the author turned a single review into a damning train wreck. Once I saw the wreckage, I decided to take his advice and read the sample. I'm so glad I did. It's almost worth buying the thing, just so I can look it up every time I'm feeling bad about myself.
I'm not going to go deep into what's wrong with it. You've seen the same thing everywhere else. It's long-winded, dull, and pretentious. The very fact that he rips off Shakespeare for his own book description gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. . .
I actually think this guy's a troll, who doesn't care about the book, he just wants to have fun inflaming a review thread. It might be that he did one of those computer-generated story builders to get the first sixty thousand words, then threw it out there just so he could enrage people.
Whatever the reason, I'm glad I got out when I could.
I first found out about this book when the author turned a single review into a damning train wreck. Once I saw the wreckage, I decided to take his advice and read the sample. I'm so glad I did. It's almost worth buying the thing, just so I can look it up every time I'm feeling bad about myself.
I'm not going to go deep into what's wrong with it. You've seen the same thing everywhere else. It's long-winded, dull, and pretentious. The very fact that he rips off Shakespeare for his own book description gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. . .
I actually think this guy's a troll, who doesn't care about the book, he just wants to have fun inflaming a review thread. It might be that he did one of those computer-generated story builders to get the first sixty thousand words, then threw it out there just so he could enrage people.
Whatever the reason, I'm glad I got out when I could.
June 7, 2015
After reading the spectacular comment thread about this book yesterday, I decided I would try reading the sample (the book DID have a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews, and I'm an avid fantasy reader). I thought if it snagged me, I might even purchase the whole book.
I have to say, my single star seems completely justified now.
1) The preface is at least partially plaigirized from a speech available on Youtube.
2) The graphic depiction of violence (there's a florid description of eyeballs leaving sockets) begins within a page.
3) The author's use of language might generously be referred to as purple prose. This book could have benefitted from an editor, if the author wished it to be taken seriously. I am still boggling as to WTF, exactly, an "austral beggar" is and why that's supposed to be an insult.
I was going to try to read the whole thing, but I just couldn't subject myself to it.
If grimdark, poorly edited fic is your thing, though, you'll probably love this book.
I have to say, my single star seems completely justified now.
1) The preface is at least partially plaigirized from a speech available on Youtube.
2) The graphic depiction of violence (there's a florid description of eyeballs leaving sockets) begins within a page.
3) The author's use of language might generously be referred to as purple prose. This book could have benefitted from an editor, if the author wished it to be taken seriously. I am still boggling as to WTF, exactly, an "austral beggar" is and why that's supposed to be an insult.
I was going to try to read the whole thing, but I just couldn't subject myself to it.
If grimdark, poorly edited fic is your thing, though, you'll probably love this book.
June 8, 2015
This is a terribly written book whose prose is the purplest I've ever seen. The style of writing is terrible and takes forever to wade through. It is not remotely in the same vein as Game of Thrones or Harry Potter beyond being labeled as fantasy. If you're expecting any sort of high fantasy epic adventuring, you'll be sorely disappointed. I do not understand why it is compared to those works. It has none of the depth, characterization or story development that mark a good story. It's merely the author's personal pseudo-spiritual philosophy presented in a transparent fantasy wrapper. Saccoccio's rambling incoherence strongly reminds me of the paranoid conspiracy writings of David Icke. If you enjoy anything written by Icke, you'll probably enjoy Saccoccio. That said...
This book is made even worse by the author's attitude toward his customers. Any author who bullies, attacks and harasses people, then creates multiple accounts to defend those actions, and otherwise displays contemptible behavior, is not one I want to support and can not in good conscience recommend.
This book is made even worse by the author's attitude toward his customers. Any author who bullies, attacks and harasses people, then creates multiple accounts to defend those actions, and otherwise displays contemptible behavior, is not one I want to support and can not in good conscience recommend.
June 6, 2015
Incredibly tortured prose, uninspired characters and a predictable plot. Give this one a miss.
books-i-wont-support
June 17, 2015Going to pass on this one. Per Cait's review, it was quite helpful
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
avoiding-to-read-atm
June 8, 2015
If you don't get the reference, this gif is from the song by En Vogue called "Never Gonna Get it (My Lovin')". So this book is never gonna get my love.
June 6, 2015
Just too obviously derivative; overwritten. With a good editor and humility this author might write something I'd want to read, because he's not without virtues.
So didn't download whole, as felt I'd be disappointed and the effort of thinking oneself into this world wouldn't be rewarded.
So didn't download whole, as felt I'd be disappointed and the effort of thinking oneself into this world wouldn't be rewarded.
June 6, 2015
I didn't read this book, because I'm a smart man who doesn't need to read books about wizards or whatever. It looks HELLA dumb ya'll do yrselves a favor read a cool book, like La Jalousie by international playboy Alain Robbe-Grillet
June 6, 2015
DNF 22%
to-avoid
June 11, 2015Q: Do you have empathy?
A: Sometimes.
Q: Do you know what it's like to make something for a living?
A: Maybe.
Q: Are you human?
A: I think so.
Q: Or do you just look at other people like they're automatons that you can slander as though your actions don't manifest consequences?
A: Huh?
So, in order to avoid suppressing the consciousness of humanity, I won't be reading this book.
A: Sometimes.
Q: Do you know what it's like to make something for a living?
A: Maybe.
Q: Are you human?
A: I think so.
Q: Or do you just look at other people like they're automatons that you can slander as though your actions don't manifest consequences?
A: Huh?
So, in order to avoid suppressing the consciousness of humanity, I won't be reading this book.
September 9, 2025
0.10 ⭐
(because the 5 star reviews are funny)
If you had time to waste, I wouldn't even recommend this book.
(because the 5 star reviews are funny)
If you had time to waste, I wouldn't even recommend this book.
June 6, 2015
Derivative, way too wordy, boring.
February 25, 2015
This book definitely reminds me of the Hobbit story, but instead of the focus on Bilbo its focused on Thorin. Just less orc an gobliny, if you will. I did enjoy it, I thought it was well written and very creative. For a fantasy it was well paced as your being drawn into the story. As with most fantasy novels your going to have a lot of unusual terms and names, which does add to the story, so if your looking for a Bob or a Brittney, your not gonna find it.
The Tale of Onora starts out introducing a man called Woden Caliph who's a nutcase if you ask me. He's bent on destroying people who most would consider "free thinkers". He's a magic user who's ruthlessly destroying kingdoms and entire races of people. This introduction is pretty important because it changes the entire world, which leads into the rest of the story. I'm considering this to be like the prestory, an explaining this because I noticed a few people who weren't sure how this all connected. Woden is the cause for how the world is in Aitheins time.
The story then focuses on a boy called Aithein Shadowlight who's the son of a Nordac royal woman named Olwyn. Aithein leaves his mother though to be trained by his father, and become a more powerful magic user. There are better terms used in the book, but I'm not going to get into that.
If you wanna know what comes next, your going to have to read it for yourself. I'm not gonna give anymore away, I just wanted to clear a few things up;). On a side note, this book does jump POVs so you get a better understanding of the world an story. I don't think its hard to follow, but you do need to pay attention to catch all the little details that connect the dots. That was one of my favorite things in this book, I loved picking up on the subtle hints.
Altogether, I think the author is extremely talented and has a very unique story on his hands. Maybe this will be the next Lord of the Rings or even Wheel of Time story, who knows. Honestly though, I think the descriptions in this book are far better an paint a better picture of whats happening. I'm glad I picked this up, and will probably pick the next one up as well. I'd recommend this to fantasy lovers, and to readers who want a story thats a bit more involved.
The Tale of Onora starts out introducing a man called Woden Caliph who's a nutcase if you ask me. He's bent on destroying people who most would consider "free thinkers". He's a magic user who's ruthlessly destroying kingdoms and entire races of people. This introduction is pretty important because it changes the entire world, which leads into the rest of the story. I'm considering this to be like the prestory, an explaining this because I noticed a few people who weren't sure how this all connected. Woden is the cause for how the world is in Aitheins time.
The story then focuses on a boy called Aithein Shadowlight who's the son of a Nordac royal woman named Olwyn. Aithein leaves his mother though to be trained by his father, and become a more powerful magic user. There are better terms used in the book, but I'm not going to get into that.
If you wanna know what comes next, your going to have to read it for yourself. I'm not gonna give anymore away, I just wanted to clear a few things up;). On a side note, this book does jump POVs so you get a better understanding of the world an story. I don't think its hard to follow, but you do need to pay attention to catch all the little details that connect the dots. That was one of my favorite things in this book, I loved picking up on the subtle hints.
Altogether, I think the author is extremely talented and has a very unique story on his hands. Maybe this will be the next Lord of the Rings or even Wheel of Time story, who knows. Honestly though, I think the descriptions in this book are far better an paint a better picture of whats happening. I'm glad I picked this up, and will probably pick the next one up as well. I'd recommend this to fantasy lovers, and to readers who want a story thats a bit more involved.
July 15, 2014
I'm not much of a fantasy reader although I love watching them. Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, awesome but the book sometimes get complicated to follow.
In this case it was the opposite (although the imagery here would make a great movie or series) I saw the book shout-out on Twitter and decided to look it up. When I did I was intrigued by the cover and book description. Seeing the almost unanimous 5 star reviews made this an easy purchase.
The author clearly has a command of the written word and one of those unending imaginations that makes you jealous. The world described was fascinating. So descriptive that even though it is foreign I had no trouble creating the landscape and scenes in my mind.
Like all great epic tales the characters are going through self-discovery and evolution. We journey with them through hardships, discovery of ever lasting love destine to last even past death. The story of a boy becoming a man and discovering the tale of his father and the life lessons learned through a very unique method of viewing the events that shaped the world he lives and is to rule.
What good is such a tale without an epic battle pitting enemies and family against one another. Throw in some impressive magic and you have my attention and just when you thought fairies were these cute little creature who spread music and happiness you find out it is not wise to try to mess with the fairies. Simply ask Baelwyn about Dani the DeathSmith.
Fans of stories like Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings, and even Harry Potter fans should enjoy the world and cast of characters this author has created.
In this case it was the opposite (although the imagery here would make a great movie or series) I saw the book shout-out on Twitter and decided to look it up. When I did I was intrigued by the cover and book description. Seeing the almost unanimous 5 star reviews made this an easy purchase.
The author clearly has a command of the written word and one of those unending imaginations that makes you jealous. The world described was fascinating. So descriptive that even though it is foreign I had no trouble creating the landscape and scenes in my mind.
Like all great epic tales the characters are going through self-discovery and evolution. We journey with them through hardships, discovery of ever lasting love destine to last even past death. The story of a boy becoming a man and discovering the tale of his father and the life lessons learned through a very unique method of viewing the events that shaped the world he lives and is to rule.
What good is such a tale without an epic battle pitting enemies and family against one another. Throw in some impressive magic and you have my attention and just when you thought fairies were these cute little creature who spread music and happiness you find out it is not wise to try to mess with the fairies. Simply ask Baelwyn about Dani the DeathSmith.
Fans of stories like Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings, and even Harry Potter fans should enjoy the world and cast of characters this author has created.
June 7, 2015
Awful book. Characters are poorly constructed and very flat. The book itself is pretentious and far too wordy. The author seems to be trying to convey a GRR Martin persona with regards to the style he's chosen but this book doesn't have the ability to pull it off. All the pomp and nothing to back it up. Disappointing.
June 9, 2015
Usually, I try not to judge a book that I've never read without at least giving it a chance. But here, I feel perfectly fine not bothering with it. If the author's reaction to people not liking his work is any indicator - and this certainly would not be the first time I've seen an author who enjoys thesaurus-thumping and spouting off faux-philosophical trite rather than put any effort into the actual story get pissy over a review they didn't like - then his work will be equally as poor quality, and to me, that's good enough to make a judgment call on its own. And I didn't even say that about Twilight, because somehow, that had more class then this.
To wit: I despise Twilight. But at least its author, Stephanie Meyer, is better about keeping her head then this little cretin Dylan could ever hope to be - ah, my apologies, this little "indie author." (what even does that mean? Is that just code for authors of his sort who think they're being "deep" and "thought-provoking" when all they're really doing is spitting nonsensical garbage? Damn, son, if you're gonna bullshit me, you could stand to put more effort into it than that!)
Oh, but for the same of saying that I'm not just here to attack the author - I expect him to use that tired old weapon against me, and that idiocy about bad reviewers being "the worst of humanity" and other such bile of that sort; he seems to enjoy doing so with everybody else - let's have a little piece of his story for me to thoroughly deconstruct, in a method I like to refer to as "riffing." Now, normally, riffing is meant to be comedic, but I don't think the little worm warrants comedy here.
So! An excerpt:
“Truth is relative,” the man replied. “Our minds have a tendency to remember things only the way in which they happened to us, the way they made us feel. It results in us inadvertently lying about what we experienced”
Ugh.
Truth is not relative, fool. Truth is what actually happened, whether people fess up to it or not. Anything aside from that is a lie. Get your facts straight, why don't you.
And how about another excerpt:
“Foreword To you,"
To should not be capitalized.
"that you may awaken to understand that the whole universe is a dance of energy, and that energy is God, and that energy is you."
Hmm, now if you had written that at all like how a normal human being would have said it, I might have been inspired.
Instead, you went with this flowery shit.
Ever heard of "purple prose," Dylan? Because you sure seem to enjoy puking it up everywhere.
"You are something that the whole universe is doing, that God is doing,"
What I'm doing is calling you out on your stupid shit. If the whole universe is following my lead, including God himself, then damn, that's not looking to good for you, pal.
"just as a wave is something that the whole ocean is doing."
And this just in: ice cream is cold. More from Captain Obvious at eleven.
"The real you, the energy, the soul, is not a puppet that life pushes around."
The fuck it isn't. The reason I was even born was because life wanted it to be so, and when I die, that'll be life's fault, too. Again: if you truly insist on bullshitting me, put some better effort into it than that.
"The real you is the whole universe."
Now you're REALLY grasping at straws.
"The real you is God,"
Then how the fuck come I can't smite your sorry ass? Somebody ripped me off in the "godly powers" department.
"destined to follow no one, destined to ignite the ether,"
Destined to get arrested for drug abuse because huffing ether is illegal. Hey, maybe that explains this author! He's too fucking high to realize the crap that dribbles out of his mouth!
"experience life from an individual perspective,"
As opposed to jumping out if my skin and into somebody else's body and seeing the world like they do like the spooky-ass skeleton that I am, right?
"and take part in the creation."
What, of your series? No thanks, I have my dignity to uphold.
"So this is for you, my fellow creators, my fellow gods,"
Puffing up your ego will not make me like your books any better.
"and my fellow selves,"
Implying that I'm the same as you is a good way to get yourself punched out, fuckboy. I like to believe that I'm better than whatever you have to offer.
"that coincidence may never disguise itself with the mask of fate and torment you,"
Care to repeat that in the Queen's English, please?
"that every moment be meaningful, and that no experience be lost”
Oh, this moment of me kicking the crap out of your trash is quite meaningful, though I'd very much like to forget the experience. Reading your work is physically painful for me. I think I'm bleeding out the eye sockets.
Aaand one more for the road:
“Have the courage to do what’s right when everyone else just runs away,"
Pretty sure I'm doing that right now, actually. It would be wrong for me to let you keep believing that you're a worthwhile author.
"for the distance between you and your dreams is merely action."
No shit, Sherlock. Was that supposed to be some kind of groundbreaking statement to me?
"Never hope. Hope will lead you nowhere."
Oh, you sad little sap, you have no idea the level of dumb that is. Hope is what drives people to reach for their dreams in the first place - if I didn't have any hope to write a story other people enjoyed, I wouldn't even bother. If people didn't hope for a cure for cancer, we'd have given up trying years ago.
Remember what I said about bullshitting me? Yeah, that's still in play, here.
"The greatest lesson I learned was that those who reach for their dreams walk in stardust.”
And you seem to be snorting the hell out of that stardust, buddy. Ever considered an intervention?
"But, Scott! How could you be so mean to this poor author?"
I'll let this stand as my line of reasoning. The context is that Dylan is responding to a previous reviewer who expressed a dislike of his story, and who is offering to reword her review so that it's a bit more fair:
"NO. I don't want you to do anything because you're immoral."
Is that what you call an offer to make up for unintentionally-done damages? Huh, on planet Earth, we call it being the bigger person.
"Leave this up so that every person henceforth can see ALL OF YOU for what YOU ARE."
Reasonable individuals who can conduct themselves like adults in public and don't need to use "henceforth" in a sentence in order to sound smart?
"DESTRUCTIVE to consciousness and humanity."
Oh, here we go with the fake-ass philosophical bullshit again...
"What you've done to me, you do to YOURSELF,"
Hmm... Nah, pretty sure it's just to you.
"because if you KNEW anything about anything,"
I could write a list as tall as I am of the things that I know any amount of information about, but that'd take all day, and quite frankly, to justify myself to you is to lower myself to the pit you exist in.
"you'd know we were all connected to each other,"
Gettin' reeeaaal close to punch-out land with your continued insinuation that we're one in the same, jack.
"and instead of destroying each other's work, you'd be supporting each other,"
Kissing your ass doesn't support you, it enables you to continue being a whiny little bitch. The tough love you've been receiving from the people you're mouthing off at is the support, because they care(d) enough about your work to tell you straight-up that it sucks.
"which is why I will NEVER behave like ANY of you immoral people,"
No kidding. You're behaving worse.
"and I won't go seeing what you've written or done in the world so I can destroy that."
Hey, at least I don't have to worry about this fuckbag ever reading my work! Thank goodness for small favors!
"No, I will only defend my work against EVIL."
By which he of course means anybody who doesn't kiss his ass.
"And today, all of you see why EVIL IS KICKING HUMANITY'S ASS, and why the human condition is SLAVERY."
No, that would be because of truly vile individuals like yourself making life hell for decent people. Let's not get things twisted, here.
"THAT'S what The Tale of Onora is about,"
The ranty, whiny bitching of a butthurt little boy who can't take no for an answer?
"and if you can't grasp that, then BE GONE!"
And when did you become my boss, exactly? Or are you still trying to claim that you're God? Because yours is no face I would ever worship.
So, there you have it. Dylan is a sniveling little runt, and if you must read an awful book, find something like Twilight, because at least it tries to remain dignified and isn't likely to be filled with cockroaches because the pages smell like the ass that shat all over them.
Now, I am going to take my pariah-of-humanity's-conscience self and do something with my time that I actually enjoy. Like defiling the universal, godly energy that is my fellow human beings by having a brain and knowing how to use it.
Teh horrur.
-Scott
To wit: I despise Twilight. But at least its author, Stephanie Meyer, is better about keeping her head then this little cretin Dylan could ever hope to be - ah, my apologies, this little "indie author." (what even does that mean? Is that just code for authors of his sort who think they're being "deep" and "thought-provoking" when all they're really doing is spitting nonsensical garbage? Damn, son, if you're gonna bullshit me, you could stand to put more effort into it than that!)
Oh, but for the same of saying that I'm not just here to attack the author - I expect him to use that tired old weapon against me, and that idiocy about bad reviewers being "the worst of humanity" and other such bile of that sort; he seems to enjoy doing so with everybody else - let's have a little piece of his story for me to thoroughly deconstruct, in a method I like to refer to as "riffing." Now, normally, riffing is meant to be comedic, but I don't think the little worm warrants comedy here.
So! An excerpt:
“Truth is relative,” the man replied. “Our minds have a tendency to remember things only the way in which they happened to us, the way they made us feel. It results in us inadvertently lying about what we experienced”
Ugh.
Truth is not relative, fool. Truth is what actually happened, whether people fess up to it or not. Anything aside from that is a lie. Get your facts straight, why don't you.
And how about another excerpt:
“Foreword To you,"
To should not be capitalized.
"that you may awaken to understand that the whole universe is a dance of energy, and that energy is God, and that energy is you."
Hmm, now if you had written that at all like how a normal human being would have said it, I might have been inspired.
Instead, you went with this flowery shit.
Ever heard of "purple prose," Dylan? Because you sure seem to enjoy puking it up everywhere.
"You are something that the whole universe is doing, that God is doing,"
What I'm doing is calling you out on your stupid shit. If the whole universe is following my lead, including God himself, then damn, that's not looking to good for you, pal.
"just as a wave is something that the whole ocean is doing."
And this just in: ice cream is cold. More from Captain Obvious at eleven.
"The real you, the energy, the soul, is not a puppet that life pushes around."
The fuck it isn't. The reason I was even born was because life wanted it to be so, and when I die, that'll be life's fault, too. Again: if you truly insist on bullshitting me, put some better effort into it than that.
"The real you is the whole universe."
Now you're REALLY grasping at straws.
"The real you is God,"
Then how the fuck come I can't smite your sorry ass? Somebody ripped me off in the "godly powers" department.
"destined to follow no one, destined to ignite the ether,"
Destined to get arrested for drug abuse because huffing ether is illegal. Hey, maybe that explains this author! He's too fucking high to realize the crap that dribbles out of his mouth!
"experience life from an individual perspective,"
As opposed to jumping out if my skin and into somebody else's body and seeing the world like they do like the spooky-ass skeleton that I am, right?
"and take part in the creation."
What, of your series? No thanks, I have my dignity to uphold.
"So this is for you, my fellow creators, my fellow gods,"
Puffing up your ego will not make me like your books any better.
"and my fellow selves,"
Implying that I'm the same as you is a good way to get yourself punched out, fuckboy. I like to believe that I'm better than whatever you have to offer.
"that coincidence may never disguise itself with the mask of fate and torment you,"
Care to repeat that in the Queen's English, please?
"that every moment be meaningful, and that no experience be lost”
Oh, this moment of me kicking the crap out of your trash is quite meaningful, though I'd very much like to forget the experience. Reading your work is physically painful for me. I think I'm bleeding out the eye sockets.
Aaand one more for the road:
“Have the courage to do what’s right when everyone else just runs away,"
Pretty sure I'm doing that right now, actually. It would be wrong for me to let you keep believing that you're a worthwhile author.
"for the distance between you and your dreams is merely action."
No shit, Sherlock. Was that supposed to be some kind of groundbreaking statement to me?
"Never hope. Hope will lead you nowhere."
Oh, you sad little sap, you have no idea the level of dumb that is. Hope is what drives people to reach for their dreams in the first place - if I didn't have any hope to write a story other people enjoyed, I wouldn't even bother. If people didn't hope for a cure for cancer, we'd have given up trying years ago.
Remember what I said about bullshitting me? Yeah, that's still in play, here.
"The greatest lesson I learned was that those who reach for their dreams walk in stardust.”
And you seem to be snorting the hell out of that stardust, buddy. Ever considered an intervention?
"But, Scott! How could you be so mean to this poor author?"
I'll let this stand as my line of reasoning. The context is that Dylan is responding to a previous reviewer who expressed a dislike of his story, and who is offering to reword her review so that it's a bit more fair:
"NO. I don't want you to do anything because you're immoral."
Is that what you call an offer to make up for unintentionally-done damages? Huh, on planet Earth, we call it being the bigger person.
"Leave this up so that every person henceforth can see ALL OF YOU for what YOU ARE."
Reasonable individuals who can conduct themselves like adults in public and don't need to use "henceforth" in a sentence in order to sound smart?
"DESTRUCTIVE to consciousness and humanity."
Oh, here we go with the fake-ass philosophical bullshit again...
"What you've done to me, you do to YOURSELF,"
Hmm... Nah, pretty sure it's just to you.
"because if you KNEW anything about anything,"
I could write a list as tall as I am of the things that I know any amount of information about, but that'd take all day, and quite frankly, to justify myself to you is to lower myself to the pit you exist in.
"you'd know we were all connected to each other,"
Gettin' reeeaaal close to punch-out land with your continued insinuation that we're one in the same, jack.
"and instead of destroying each other's work, you'd be supporting each other,"
Kissing your ass doesn't support you, it enables you to continue being a whiny little bitch. The tough love you've been receiving from the people you're mouthing off at is the support, because they care(d) enough about your work to tell you straight-up that it sucks.
"which is why I will NEVER behave like ANY of you immoral people,"
No kidding. You're behaving worse.
"and I won't go seeing what you've written or done in the world so I can destroy that."
Hey, at least I don't have to worry about this fuckbag ever reading my work! Thank goodness for small favors!
"No, I will only defend my work against EVIL."
By which he of course means anybody who doesn't kiss his ass.
"And today, all of you see why EVIL IS KICKING HUMANITY'S ASS, and why the human condition is SLAVERY."
No, that would be because of truly vile individuals like yourself making life hell for decent people. Let's not get things twisted, here.
"THAT'S what The Tale of Onora is about,"
The ranty, whiny bitching of a butthurt little boy who can't take no for an answer?
"and if you can't grasp that, then BE GONE!"
And when did you become my boss, exactly? Or are you still trying to claim that you're God? Because yours is no face I would ever worship.
So, there you have it. Dylan is a sniveling little runt, and if you must read an awful book, find something like Twilight, because at least it tries to remain dignified and isn't likely to be filled with cockroaches because the pages smell like the ass that shat all over them.
Now, I am going to take my pariah-of-humanity's-conscience self and do something with my time that I actually enjoy. Like defiling the universal, godly energy that is my fellow human beings by having a brain and knowing how to use it.
Teh horrur.
-Scott
April 15, 2014
To be honest I find this book very difficult to rate and review, all because it was written by a very dear friend of mine. I’ve never reviewed for someone I know personally before and I was terrified to start reading because god forbid what if I hated it. Either way it wouldn’t change how incredibly proud of Dylan I am and what he’s accomplished. I know a little of what all went into the writing of this story and what he wants to see happen moving forward. All I can say is congratulations my friend you are off to a great start!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s crossed the land to confront the one man who can tell him why, who can explain and tell him who he really is. He may still only be a boy but he was born to be a king and he is determined to demand the answers to his questions. The man he meets isn’t what he expects though and the answers he demands may not be what he wants or thought to hear.
I’ll admit the beginning of this story was a little hard to follow. Dylan writes with a very florid style and three different timelines are established within the prologue and first two chapters. There is a lot of exposition up front and as with any fantasy tale a lot of foreign names and concepts. But as I began to piece together the details of the tale, as more and more was revealed within the twisty depths of this world’s construction the more fascinated I found myself.
In order to maintain the anonymity of the characters we’re introduced to in the man and the boy a fair bit of confusion is bound to follow. There are huge heaping spoonfuls of mystery doled out in this one. A dark and nebulous past hangs over the story and I think I’ve only gleaned a portion of it at this point. This is one of those stories that needs a re-read or two to really grasp everything that’s going on. Since I know it’s part of a series I imagine that’s exactly what I’ll end up doing before reading the next book. I’ll re-read this and then read the next book and both activities will clarify more of the world within which these characters live. (Yes I am purposely avoiding using names. Much of the mysticism Dylan creates comes from not being entirely sure who all the players are at any given moment. By the end of the book I think I have a pretty solid grasp, but I don’t want to give it all away in my review. *my smiley wears devil horns*)
As I said earlier Dylan’s style is a bit florid with lots of descriptors and turns of phrase. Metaphors and adjectives abound in his writing, but I quickly found myself becoming used to the way he pieces his story together. Despite the multiple head flipping and time line changes I was never confused over whose head I was in or what time line I was on so much as still piecing together how it all related to each other and what it meant to the future. I think the thing I found most intriguing reading this in some ways is the world view espoused in the writing. There are a lot of political undercurrents to the fantasy story being told. (Again, sorry Dylan I know you too well and for me this was a fascinating look at the way you think. :D)
I liked the darker elements to this story a lot. In fact it’s hard to determine at times who is on the side of good and who the side of evil. Nothing is black or white, it all seems to bleed into a darker shade of grey. Men’s intentions control the outcome of things not their innate nature. Magic is not in and of itself good or bad, it’s in its uses that we determine its end result. Everything can be twisted and sometimes it takes tearing everything apart to come out again into the light. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into things and completely out on a limb. Still it’s what I took away from the introduction to this world we find within this story.
This is a short read, one that is dense for all of its limited page count. The story comes to a rather abrupt end as well as the outline of the sketch of our characters history has barely begun to be shaded in. I have a feeling the reveal of all things is going to be a long time coming. As much as I enjoyed the slow reveal of information I do think one of the biggest, for lack of a better word, faults, of this story is the pacing is a little slow. Not a lot of action occurs within its pages instead there’s a lot of past storytelling being relived. In the last quarter of the story I found myself anticipating the grand adventure about to kick off. Yet even that is only one part of the story being told.
It’s interesting writing this review, in that I normally have to give no thought to being as objective as I can be. I write so many of these reviews and am always unfailingly honest in them. I like to think that those who regularly read my reviews know they can trust what I have to say in them. But I also know that not every book is going to come across the same to every person. I may love a book that someone else is going to absolutely hate. In order to do right by my friend I feel I can only do the same here. There is a lot of good in what Dylan has started here, but it’s not perfect. It’s an interesting new world that I want to know more about. I’m anxious to find out more of the motivations behind each of these characters as they walk the path of their destiny. I’m also very curious to see how Dylan develops as a writer over the course of the books yet to be released. In the end I would rate this at a 3.5 stars, which for love of friendship and potential of story I’ll round up to 4 stars in this sadly lacking half-star-less system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
He’s crossed the land to confront the one man who can tell him why, who can explain and tell him who he really is. He may still only be a boy but he was born to be a king and he is determined to demand the answers to his questions. The man he meets isn’t what he expects though and the answers he demands may not be what he wants or thought to hear.
I’ll admit the beginning of this story was a little hard to follow. Dylan writes with a very florid style and three different timelines are established within the prologue and first two chapters. There is a lot of exposition up front and as with any fantasy tale a lot of foreign names and concepts. But as I began to piece together the details of the tale, as more and more was revealed within the twisty depths of this world’s construction the more fascinated I found myself.
In order to maintain the anonymity of the characters we’re introduced to in the man and the boy a fair bit of confusion is bound to follow. There are huge heaping spoonfuls of mystery doled out in this one. A dark and nebulous past hangs over the story and I think I’ve only gleaned a portion of it at this point. This is one of those stories that needs a re-read or two to really grasp everything that’s going on. Since I know it’s part of a series I imagine that’s exactly what I’ll end up doing before reading the next book. I’ll re-read this and then read the next book and both activities will clarify more of the world within which these characters live. (Yes I am purposely avoiding using names. Much of the mysticism Dylan creates comes from not being entirely sure who all the players are at any given moment. By the end of the book I think I have a pretty solid grasp, but I don’t want to give it all away in my review. *my smiley wears devil horns*)
As I said earlier Dylan’s style is a bit florid with lots of descriptors and turns of phrase. Metaphors and adjectives abound in his writing, but I quickly found myself becoming used to the way he pieces his story together. Despite the multiple head flipping and time line changes I was never confused over whose head I was in or what time line I was on so much as still piecing together how it all related to each other and what it meant to the future. I think the thing I found most intriguing reading this in some ways is the world view espoused in the writing. There are a lot of political undercurrents to the fantasy story being told. (Again, sorry Dylan I know you too well and for me this was a fascinating look at the way you think. :D)
I liked the darker elements to this story a lot. In fact it’s hard to determine at times who is on the side of good and who the side of evil. Nothing is black or white, it all seems to bleed into a darker shade of grey. Men’s intentions control the outcome of things not their innate nature. Magic is not in and of itself good or bad, it’s in its uses that we determine its end result. Everything can be twisted and sometimes it takes tearing everything apart to come out again into the light. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into things and completely out on a limb. Still it’s what I took away from the introduction to this world we find within this story.
This is a short read, one that is dense for all of its limited page count. The story comes to a rather abrupt end as well as the outline of the sketch of our characters history has barely begun to be shaded in. I have a feeling the reveal of all things is going to be a long time coming. As much as I enjoyed the slow reveal of information I do think one of the biggest, for lack of a better word, faults, of this story is the pacing is a little slow. Not a lot of action occurs within its pages instead there’s a lot of past storytelling being relived. In the last quarter of the story I found myself anticipating the grand adventure about to kick off. Yet even that is only one part of the story being told.
It’s interesting writing this review, in that I normally have to give no thought to being as objective as I can be. I write so many of these reviews and am always unfailingly honest in them. I like to think that those who regularly read my reviews know they can trust what I have to say in them. But I also know that not every book is going to come across the same to every person. I may love a book that someone else is going to absolutely hate. In order to do right by my friend I feel I can only do the same here. There is a lot of good in what Dylan has started here, but it’s not perfect. It’s an interesting new world that I want to know more about. I’m anxious to find out more of the motivations behind each of these characters as they walk the path of their destiny. I’m also very curious to see how Dylan develops as a writer over the course of the books yet to be released. In the end I would rate this at a 3.5 stars, which for love of friendship and potential of story I’ll round up to 4 stars in this sadly lacking half-star-less system.
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