Jason Waltz > Recent Status Updates

Well they just surprised me and I know I'm not even grasping half the surprise since I'm so unschooled in this 40K world.

This is intense. Oppressively impressive. Looming with mystery, fraught with tragedy, overwrought with emptiness. One tough story.

This ... is ... rather ... interesting. Seriously. It's a whole world I don't know, so I'm feeling my way through it, learning lots of terms I can't quite place. It's like watching a Sam Spade flick set in a combo *5th Element* + Stallone *Judge Dredd* world. The mystery plot is pulling me in and along, all while the atmosphere and environs are keeping me on edge.

Been a fun and good read thus far.

Fascinating: we cannot make a decision, even though we may understand it and be able to logically articulate it, without emotion. (Antonio Damasio's discovery.)

Great explanation and usage example of the 'accusation audit'...which I really have to remember to employ.

John Slaughter was a name I'd heard but knew not much of. Seems one tough hombre. Happens to have been Sheriff of Cochise County,AZ...a county I actually know because my grandparents lived there. So was cool reading this. An efficient and effective lawman - like we need today.

Interesting yet actually helpful example of Oprah Winfrey as a master negotiator.

Myers, "Hangovers and Hell": great title, fun character, bombastic action, needs better editing, and very modern. Different but not bad.

Riley, "Lies and Treachery": Horbeck has the right of it: I'm not trusting this priest and his harlots either. Definitely some lies and trickery, along with some good characterizations and scary foes. The stopping point seemed a bit abrupt, but I look forward to resuming the story.

Langan, "The Fourth Intruder": fun, long story about a few hours in a bar. Clever title, interesting threat, well-written dialogue and stalling plot. A different style of storytelling that actually seemed less different after all the other quite different ones to precede it.

And it ends on page 194, so I don't know who put this in with a total book count of 190.

Fox, "The End is the Beginning is the End": started and remained strong until it ended weakly. An examination of will, always a good thing in Sword and Sorcery or Heroic Fantasy or Dark Fantasy or Gothic Fantasy. A good and entertaining thing to examine powerfully...and that's where it broke down. What began strongly, what was powerful, ended in a whimper and a let down.

Adamson, "The Forbidden Land": short and sweet...oh who am I kidding?! Short and savage, which is sweet.

Rabuzzi, "Discovering the Caliper'd Heart": I have no idea what this is. Some attempt at mimicked verse.

Miller, "Censor, Poet, Paper, Tree": unexpected end didn't help an oddly told third act. Trying to be clever doesn't always work.

Fultz, "Nobody Kills A Wizard": fun tale, Fultz always knows how to spin a yarn.

Morrissey, "Shadows under Assoil": interesting, intriguing even, and I'd know more of both world and characters, but this is just a slice of something more, a prologue to an unoffered tale.

Madden, "The Saga of the Stew": wow, quite the storytelling! What a different pace story after the opener but truly equally impressive. Two great characters fleshed out well, very personal story, and a great story. Very delighted with this story and the great double whammy opening.

Sabatella, "Heart of the Depths": heavens to murgatroid! This issue begins with a terrific BANG, perhaps the darkest tale I've read in CQQ yet! Deadly, deadly, deadly things come out at night. There is truth in the old folks' tales that should be heeded.

Vaughan, "Rendezvous Aboard the Ship of Death": badass tale I loved! The type of story that immediately made me go read the author's bio and find if he has other work. Loved loved loved the two staring characters, enthralled by the world and setting, greatly enjoyed the wonder of this tale. I sure hope Ko-Mon and Ilhar have more stories.

Thank you, Vaughn, for giving me this day my daily blessings. Finally my kind of storytelling!!

Olfert, "A Grass Rope": a coherent story! Featuring Jon's fascinating mammoth people in a survival tale. Powerful and clever and ugly and true.

Margariti, "Old Warlocks Never Die" poetry: the last line made me laugh.

Atreya, "Galatine": at least we have a story and one that isn't nonsensical and I actually grasp the most though not the all of it.

Brewer, "Diamond Skin and Bones of Jewel": what the heck?

Zaremba, "Kathekon”: over-written, though it holds an intense hero who is not the star of the show but so overshines the protagonist that he improves the story. As for the interview, a writer who does not enjoy reading and finds no S&S tale good enough strikes me a bit pompous and begs the question, why bother?

Fun intro, Richard! Thanks for keeping the light on...and Miller regularly fed 😁

Barron, "Now I Have The Scent": I'm all for inventive, stylized writing and story presentation. I've published some. But this was crazy. I didn't like it until 2/3rds in, almost quit several times. Then suddenly I enjoyed the protagonist and his tale. And the denouement was clever and I appreciated the finale a lot. But I won't recommend anyone read this story.

Carl Walmsly writes fun stories, ain't no denying it. He is a clever, strategic writer whose ideas are usually fascinating - this time no different. I've been pleased to publish him in the past and delighted to read him here. This is a terrific tale featuring multiple characters I'd read more of...though I'm not convinced this is S&S.