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The Chronicles of Brendan Earle, Apprentice Mage. Totally Interactive. Autosaved.
Brendan Earle is a Science Fiction Fairy Story. It is an adventure in which two people are menaced by what seems a world of magical forces. It's about how things aren't always what they seem, but can easily be much more real that what you think. If you read and enjoy such writers as China Mieville, Iain M Banks, William Gibson and Philip K Dick, you might find things in it that you can relate to.
- GenresFantasy
292 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 22, 2012
1 person is currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Bob Studholme
1 book22 followersBob now lives and works in Al Ain, in the UAE. He has previously worked in Solomon Islands (not many people have), Japan, Australia, Brunei Darusalam and Spain.
He speaks very bad Japanese and pretty good Central Solomons.
He currently practices Shotokan Karate and has previously practiced Judo, Aikido, Brazilian jujitsu and Tai Chi. He's awful at all of them.
He speaks very bad Japanese and pretty good Central Solomons.
He currently practices Shotokan Karate and has previously practiced Judo, Aikido, Brazilian jujitsu and Tai Chi. He's awful at all of them.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 17, 2012
Let me start by saying that this really should be a 3-1/2 but the rating system above will not allow half stars.
With that said, I really enjoyed the story very much. There are many aspects of many other fantasy novels that you will find within these pages, and there really is something for everyone. I would venture to say that there is even a mild dystopian element to the story, as it occurs several years into the future, and the technology that exists during that time is nothing like what we have now.
The characters were interesting, and I was intrigued by the prospect of a virtual reality style game where you live out life as the characters and physically and emotionally experience what they do, with an intelligent AI that will adapt as you go.
I would have rated this higher, but I found it mildly distracting that I had to spend a great deal of time adjusting to the vast number of slang terms used in the book. The story, however, is enjoyable enough to make it worth it if you give it a chance. Just make sure that you have urbandictionary.com handy in case.
I may be limited in my view, having not ever left the United States, so have never experienced some of the things talked about in other countries. I did thoroughly enjoy reading about the experiences in Japan, as that is a culture that fascinates me and reading this book encouraged me to learn more!
Overall, this was still a good read, and worth the money if you enjoy fantasy novels. It is a very different novel, and I have yet to come across one similar to this. Thanks to the author for a copy to review.
With that said, I really enjoyed the story very much. There are many aspects of many other fantasy novels that you will find within these pages, and there really is something for everyone. I would venture to say that there is even a mild dystopian element to the story, as it occurs several years into the future, and the technology that exists during that time is nothing like what we have now.
The characters were interesting, and I was intrigued by the prospect of a virtual reality style game where you live out life as the characters and physically and emotionally experience what they do, with an intelligent AI that will adapt as you go.
I would have rated this higher, but I found it mildly distracting that I had to spend a great deal of time adjusting to the vast number of slang terms used in the book. The story, however, is enjoyable enough to make it worth it if you give it a chance. Just make sure that you have urbandictionary.com handy in case.
I may be limited in my view, having not ever left the United States, so have never experienced some of the things talked about in other countries. I did thoroughly enjoy reading about the experiences in Japan, as that is a culture that fascinates me and reading this book encouraged me to learn more!
Overall, this was still a good read, and worth the money if you enjoy fantasy novels. It is a very different novel, and I have yet to come across one similar to this. Thanks to the author for a copy to review.
August 13, 2012
Read my full review @ http://bit.ly/RgpojB
Overall, I thought that this was a cool book. I loved the images and descriptions written by Mr. Studholme. I am starting to just get into Dystopian literature and part of the reason is that authors normally can write scene descriptions of "far away" places that a creative reader can imagine in their minds. This book, while not the best, was chomping at the heels of some really good ones that I have read. There were a couple of things that I had a more difficult time with in regards to this book that I haven't in the past though.
These include:
This book is written in multiple person perspective. It made the book very difficult to follow at times. Because of this, it took me about 100 pages to get into the "rhythm" of the book. I ended up needing to take a couple of notes to track important events. This book would have been a "couldn't put it down" for me if this wasn't the case.
There were some grammatical errors that I thought made the book come off looser and less professional than what it should have been and really detracted from how good of a story line this book had. I felt the book could have benefited from the services of an editor.
In reviewing some of the other reviews on Goodreads, the topic of the use of jargon was brought up frequently. Personally, I didn't have an issue with that. I thought it added to the story and made the characters "approachable".
Overall, I thought that this was a cool book. I loved the images and descriptions written by Mr. Studholme. I am starting to just get into Dystopian literature and part of the reason is that authors normally can write scene descriptions of "far away" places that a creative reader can imagine in their minds. This book, while not the best, was chomping at the heels of some really good ones that I have read. There were a couple of things that I had a more difficult time with in regards to this book that I haven't in the past though.
These include:
This book is written in multiple person perspective. It made the book very difficult to follow at times. Because of this, it took me about 100 pages to get into the "rhythm" of the book. I ended up needing to take a couple of notes to track important events. This book would have been a "couldn't put it down" for me if this wasn't the case.
There were some grammatical errors that I thought made the book come off looser and less professional than what it should have been and really detracted from how good of a story line this book had. I felt the book could have benefited from the services of an editor.
In reviewing some of the other reviews on Goodreads, the topic of the use of jargon was brought up frequently. Personally, I didn't have an issue with that. I thought it added to the story and made the characters "approachable".
July 29, 2012
Review of Brendan Earle
A bargain for readers of this genre.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
What I liked
This is an intelligent, creative, innovative story that combines fantasy with enough science fiction to make it feel within the realm of the possible.
Although and enjoyable stand-alone story, this is the first book in what may be a series according to the author, so if you like it there should be more to follow.
The tale is written entirely in the first person, but from the perspective of many different characters. Difficult to follow at times, the variety of perspectives eventually brings the whole story together in a surprise ending, closing all the gaps, and answering all the questions that mount as you try to digest the fast paced story.
What I didn’t like
I had some difficulty with the jargon and vernacular. The characters use a combination of UK jargon (difficult for a Canadian like me to follow), youthful jargon (through the view of young teens who often make up their own words and language) and what appears to be made up terms for the purpose of living in “The Land”. However I suspended my minor discomfort with that and fully enjoyed the story.
A bargain for readers of this genre.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
What I liked
This is an intelligent, creative, innovative story that combines fantasy with enough science fiction to make it feel within the realm of the possible.
Although and enjoyable stand-alone story, this is the first book in what may be a series according to the author, so if you like it there should be more to follow.
The tale is written entirely in the first person, but from the perspective of many different characters. Difficult to follow at times, the variety of perspectives eventually brings the whole story together in a surprise ending, closing all the gaps, and answering all the questions that mount as you try to digest the fast paced story.
What I didn’t like
I had some difficulty with the jargon and vernacular. The characters use a combination of UK jargon (difficult for a Canadian like me to follow), youthful jargon (through the view of young teens who often make up their own words and language) and what appears to be made up terms for the purpose of living in “The Land”. However I suspended my minor discomfort with that and fully enjoyed the story.
March 20, 2012
I very much enjoyed this. Almost all of the cultural references were within my orbit. The author has a witty turn of phrase and it is enjoyable to have all the accents, particularly from the northeast. The style is engaging as you move back and forth with different characters and the overall tongue-in-cheek tone works well in this. I am a sucker for the story within a story within a story and so I probably read it a bit too quickly and missed some of the subtle nuances in the narrative.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews