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The Second Son
Norman is only the second son, so everything about is him subordinate to his older brother and crown prince Eric. As long as Norman is a child he does not really mind. But one day Eric’s bride-to-be arrives at the Castle. He name is Icelandia and she is beautiful beyond belief. Eric gets stinking drunk so Norman innocently asks her to dance. They hit it off really well and that is just not allowed!!
Poor Norman is banished to a remote province. While he is there, an alien starship lands on their planet, intent on enslaving the population. This crises forces everyone great and small to reexamine the traditional roles that society has laid out for them.
How does Norman deal with his issues, both planet-wide and personal? What role will Icelandia play? The answers may surprise you. Only 99 cents or free on Kindle Unlimited!
Poor Norman is banished to a remote province. While he is there, an alien starship lands on their planet, intent on enslaving the population. This crises forces everyone great and small to reexamine the traditional roles that society has laid out for them.
How does Norman deal with his issues, both planet-wide and personal? What role will Icelandia play? The answers may surprise you. Only 99 cents or free on Kindle Unlimited!
133 pages, ebook
Published January 4, 2018
About the author
Wayne McKinstry
8 books13 followersWayne has been an avid reader all his life. His favorite genre is probably sci-fi/fantasy, although he has read a LOT of fiction over the years.
Some of it has been very good, others make you think “I could do better that that.” So this book is Wayne’s attempt to “Do better than that”.
Wayne recently retired from a 40+ year career in IT, mainly as a programmer and developer. The field changes rapidly, to say the least. Now is a chance to move in new directions.
One of those new directions is writing and publishing fiction.
Wayne and his wife Loretta live in Springfield, IL. They enjoy travelling and visiting extended family.
Some of it has been very good, others make you think “I could do better that that.” So this book is Wayne’s attempt to “Do better than that”.
Wayne recently retired from a 40+ year career in IT, mainly as a programmer and developer. The field changes rapidly, to say the least. Now is a chance to move in new directions.
One of those new directions is writing and publishing fiction.
Wayne and his wife Loretta live in Springfield, IL. They enjoy travelling and visiting extended family.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 27, 2018
What a great little read this was. So witty, and very unique in style. I don't think I have ever read anything like in my life. There was something that I really found as great little add on, the fact that if something was mentioned that the author thought you might quite not get, he left a little explanation at the end of the paragraph explaining what he was trying to convey.
The writing, overall was sound, and the story itself was really witty. The layout of the story was not the norm, but that didn't bother me. Nothing about it bothered me. If I could compare it to anything, it reminded me of something Monty Python might come up with.
I think you could say that this book was a mixture of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and all I can say, is that the transition from one to the other was done really well. The whole story was well thought out, as were the characters. A really enjoyable read!
The writing, overall was sound, and the story itself was really witty. The layout of the story was not the norm, but that didn't bother me. Nothing about it bothered me. If I could compare it to anything, it reminded me of something Monty Python might come up with.
I think you could say that this book was a mixture of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and all I can say, is that the transition from one to the other was done really well. The whole story was well thought out, as were the characters. A really enjoyable read!
June 1, 2018
So i'm not really sure how to review this novel. It's super quirky, and definitely unique, but I don't think it was unique in the way I would have wanted. I will say that I loved what the author was going for! This sort of over-the-top tale blending fantasy and scifi with some 4th wall breaking. The story never really took itself too seriously and the humor was pretty spot on.
Major positives:
- The pace of the novel and energy. The novel keeps you churning forward and you definitely feel caught up in the zaniness.
- The humor is a lot of fun. Props to the author there.
- The social commentary, though not very subtle, wasn't obtrusive either. I thought it was well integrated. Keep in mind this is definitely not my typical genre and so please take that into consideration with my rating.
Major negatives that sadly kept this from being a 4 or 5 star read.
- The writing style was too...not sure how to say it...stilted? Dry? It's difficulty to put to words. I could definitely see McKinstry's voice in his writing and how he wanted to project his story, but the actual mechanics and syntax of the prose just betrayed his intent. The sentence variety felt lacking, the dialogue often felt robotic, and the way the novel is formatted just irked me (like how paragraphs don't start with indents)
- I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I think this was more me than McKinstry though. This ultimately did however result in my read feeling a bit like a chore.
The Boy From The Forest is a unique, fun, if not strange novel. I personally didn't connect with it, but if you like an author that tries to tickle the reader's funny bone, pique his curiosity, and take you on a zany ride of aliens and kings, then this book is for you.
Major positives:
- The pace of the novel and energy. The novel keeps you churning forward and you definitely feel caught up in the zaniness.
- The humor is a lot of fun. Props to the author there.
- The social commentary, though not very subtle, wasn't obtrusive either. I thought it was well integrated. Keep in mind this is definitely not my typical genre and so please take that into consideration with my rating.
Major negatives that sadly kept this from being a 4 or 5 star read.
- The writing style was too...not sure how to say it...stilted? Dry? It's difficulty to put to words. I could definitely see McKinstry's voice in his writing and how he wanted to project his story, but the actual mechanics and syntax of the prose just betrayed his intent. The sentence variety felt lacking, the dialogue often felt robotic, and the way the novel is formatted just irked me (like how paragraphs don't start with indents)
- I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I think this was more me than McKinstry though. This ultimately did however result in my read feeling a bit like a chore.
The Boy From The Forest is a unique, fun, if not strange novel. I personally didn't connect with it, but if you like an author that tries to tickle the reader's funny bone, pique his curiosity, and take you on a zany ride of aliens and kings, then this book is for you.
April 3, 2018
Science Fantasy with Quirky Humour
“Vincent, we need to get in on this. It is the main event for our whole generation."
Norman is the second son, so his brother Eric will be King and he is the one who gets the cool magic sword and is to marry the Princess Icelandia. Not that Norman minds that much, he’s usually to be found off practising shooting fruit from the trees. but when the mountain of metal descends from the sky, things change. All the warring petty kingdoms have to set aside their differences and fight the invaders. A medieval society against high-tech aliens? Should be no contest!
This is a book that has a definite charm of its own. It has some laugh out loud moments and at other times the humour is very subtle. There is definitely a level of social comment going on, but it is done lightly and does not dominate the fun.
The characters are all a little cardboard, stereotypes and plays on stereotypes rather than any sense of being real people, but that rather works with the tongue in cheek way it is written.The world building is also largely founded on well-known tropes but with the occasional interesting twist. The pace is generally well maintained and the overall standard of the writing is good.
“Norman, what is that thing? It came out of the sky!”
But there were several elements of this book that spoilt it rather badly for me. Dialogue was often very stilted with people over-including the name of the person they were talking to. In normal conversation, it is not common to use the name of the other people you are talking to much at all, so this was very jarring. Another irritation was that some of the humour - or what I assumed was meant to be humour - fell rather flat. For example, being told a foal was a baby horse might have been meant to be funny, at least I hope it wasn’t serious, but it came over more patronising than witty. The other fatal flaw was the choppy narrator voice which sometimes swept over events and sometimes intervened in a way that broke reader immersion.
Those irritations aside, it was quite a fun read and I think those who enjoy fantasy humour would do well to investigate it.
“Vincent, we need to get in on this. It is the main event for our whole generation."
Norman is the second son, so his brother Eric will be King and he is the one who gets the cool magic sword and is to marry the Princess Icelandia. Not that Norman minds that much, he’s usually to be found off practising shooting fruit from the trees. but when the mountain of metal descends from the sky, things change. All the warring petty kingdoms have to set aside their differences and fight the invaders. A medieval society against high-tech aliens? Should be no contest!
This is a book that has a definite charm of its own. It has some laugh out loud moments and at other times the humour is very subtle. There is definitely a level of social comment going on, but it is done lightly and does not dominate the fun.
The characters are all a little cardboard, stereotypes and plays on stereotypes rather than any sense of being real people, but that rather works with the tongue in cheek way it is written.The world building is also largely founded on well-known tropes but with the occasional interesting twist. The pace is generally well maintained and the overall standard of the writing is good.
“Norman, what is that thing? It came out of the sky!”
But there were several elements of this book that spoilt it rather badly for me. Dialogue was often very stilted with people over-including the name of the person they were talking to. In normal conversation, it is not common to use the name of the other people you are talking to much at all, so this was very jarring. Another irritation was that some of the humour - or what I assumed was meant to be humour - fell rather flat. For example, being told a foal was a baby horse might have been meant to be funny, at least I hope it wasn’t serious, but it came over more patronising than witty. The other fatal flaw was the choppy narrator voice which sometimes swept over events and sometimes intervened in a way that broke reader immersion.
Those irritations aside, it was quite a fun read and I think those who enjoy fantasy humour would do well to investigate it.
June 21, 2018
Well that was different. Knights and talking horses and enchanted swords and aliens, oh my!
An invasion by a group of disorganized and less than clever aliens brings together the civilized kingdoms and the people of the forest to fight for survival.
The Boy from the Forest is, I'd say, a spoof on all things epic fantasy and sci-fi, and it could have been utterly brilliant, if not for the utterly horrible writing. The story itself is ok- not unique until you get to the alien part. The characters are funny and quirky, but not deep. Where this book shines-- or has the potential to really shine-- is in its sense of humor. I wish I could say how, but even that is unique and really hard to explain. Suffice to say, I was constantly surprised, and the story kept me smiling, if not laughing out loud. Unfortunately, the writing itself is so clunky and terrible, that the brilliant humor and wit is nearly lost. With extreme passive voice narration, overly simplified prose, the worst of the worst type of on-the-nose dialogue, and constant point of view hopping, if you pick this up you're in for a rough ride. Despite that, though, I could still appreciate the witty turns of logic and twists on clichés.
Overall, if you're someone who isn't bothered by style, looking for a short, light-hearted tale that will absolutely make you chuckle, then by all means check this out!
An invasion by a group of disorganized and less than clever aliens brings together the civilized kingdoms and the people of the forest to fight for survival.
The Boy from the Forest is, I'd say, a spoof on all things epic fantasy and sci-fi, and it could have been utterly brilliant, if not for the utterly horrible writing. The story itself is ok- not unique until you get to the alien part. The characters are funny and quirky, but not deep. Where this book shines-- or has the potential to really shine-- is in its sense of humor. I wish I could say how, but even that is unique and really hard to explain. Suffice to say, I was constantly surprised, and the story kept me smiling, if not laughing out loud. Unfortunately, the writing itself is so clunky and terrible, that the brilliant humor and wit is nearly lost. With extreme passive voice narration, overly simplified prose, the worst of the worst type of on-the-nose dialogue, and constant point of view hopping, if you pick this up you're in for a rough ride. Despite that, though, I could still appreciate the witty turns of logic and twists on clichés.
Overall, if you're someone who isn't bothered by style, looking for a short, light-hearted tale that will absolutely make you chuckle, then by all means check this out!
March 22, 2018
The Boy from the Forest is a fun read, with quite a few problems.
The writing is not very polished, with a lot of short choppy sentences and poor dialogue. Whenever someone speaks for the first time, they name the person they’re speaking to, which makes for very stilted conversations. Mr. McKinstry breaks the fourth wall a lot, speaking directly to the reader, which brings you out of the world and reminds you that you’re reading a story.
The story itself is fun though. A medieval world, which may or may not be ours years in the future, is visited by aliens. The inhabitants have to put aside their prejudices and join forces to beat them. McKinstry has a good sense of humor, which shows in the both the story itself and in some of the phrasing that he uses.
With some editing and polishing, this could be a very fun to read.
The writing is not very polished, with a lot of short choppy sentences and poor dialogue. Whenever someone speaks for the first time, they name the person they’re speaking to, which makes for very stilted conversations. Mr. McKinstry breaks the fourth wall a lot, speaking directly to the reader, which brings you out of the world and reminds you that you’re reading a story.
The story itself is fun though. A medieval world, which may or may not be ours years in the future, is visited by aliens. The inhabitants have to put aside their prejudices and join forces to beat them. McKinstry has a good sense of humor, which shows in the both the story itself and in some of the phrasing that he uses.
With some editing and polishing, this could be a very fun to read.
March 26, 2018
This was a unique blend of fantasy and science fiction, both genres I really enjoy. The fantasy aspects were a lot of fun and included things like talking horses, with fantastic banter. In fact, the humor sprinkled throughout was delightful.
The narrative voice was my only complaint with this as it was awkward at times with random interjections. There was also a lot of narrative distance. But even with that, I still through enjoyed this fun fast romp. In fact, I find the omni voice used a lot in classic fantasy and books that aim for that feel. Readers who enjoy that won’t have any issues with the narrative in this at all.
Norman is fantastic as is Vincent, they were my absolute favorite. That said, I did enjoy some of the aliens. Their thought processes about what they were seeing and who they thought was the dominate species was pretty funny.
Great fun, highly imaginative.
The narrative voice was my only complaint with this as it was awkward at times with random interjections. There was also a lot of narrative distance. But even with that, I still through enjoyed this fun fast romp. In fact, I find the omni voice used a lot in classic fantasy and books that aim for that feel. Readers who enjoy that won’t have any issues with the narrative in this at all.
Norman is fantastic as is Vincent, they were my absolute favorite. That said, I did enjoy some of the aliens. Their thought processes about what they were seeing and who they thought was the dominate species was pretty funny.
Great fun, highly imaginative.
June 11, 2018
This was a fun amalgam of sci-fi and fantasy, with princes, kingdoms, and--alien invasions. That's right. You heard me.
Second son Norman has no royal ascension or betrothal to look forward to, but little does he know, he'll soon have far more important things to worry about.
Norman and Vincent are colorful characters that leap off the page, all with their own very believable motivations.The story was imaginative, containing what you'd usually look for in a fantasy tale. I really appreciated the humor and wit, and I caught myself laughing out loud more than a few times. I did find myself wondering about the switching of tenses and the unusual formatting, like the extra spacing between the paragraphs. All in all, if humor and adventure is at the top of your list, this could very well do the trick.
Second son Norman has no royal ascension or betrothal to look forward to, but little does he know, he'll soon have far more important things to worry about.
Norman and Vincent are colorful characters that leap off the page, all with their own very believable motivations.The story was imaginative, containing what you'd usually look for in a fantasy tale. I really appreciated the humor and wit, and I caught myself laughing out loud more than a few times. I did find myself wondering about the switching of tenses and the unusual formatting, like the extra spacing between the paragraphs. All in all, if humor and adventure is at the top of your list, this could very well do the trick.
June 1, 2018
I was confused by The Boy From the Forest at first because it seemed to be written at a grade school level. However, I kept reading and, after a while, I began to see the author’s intent: it’s a Thurber-style tale, suitable for young readers but with dry, wry humor that only adults will “get”. I enjoyed the outbreaks of whimsy (talking horses) and liked the sudden insertion of a spaceship and subsequent culture clashes into what otherwise ws a standard sword and sorcery with royalty fantasy plot. Not every reader is going to like this writer’s style. The book reads like a story being told orally by an older person to a younger one. I think it was probably written for fun, and I had fun reading it.
February 22, 2018
An unknown metal fortress falls from the sky, an strange unknown creatures immerge and threaten mankind, forcing the allied and enemy kingdoms and clans alike to join forces to protect their lives, homes, and families.
The story was very captivating, filled with twists and turns.
The story was very captivating, filled with twists and turns.
November 13, 2018
Written by a third grader!!
Try using your big words. Very poor job. Don't quit your day job. Very predictable story line. Don't buy this piece of crap!
Try using your big words. Very poor job. Don't quit your day job. Very predictable story line. Don't buy this piece of crap!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews