The Libyco-Berber Alphabet
(The Forgotten Civilisations of Africa - Part 1 : The North of Africa)
Bob Idjennaden
Amazon Digital Services
Nonfiction, History/Lettering
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: When most people think of Africa, they think of Egypt, deserts, and primitive tribespeople. Few realize the wealth of history and prehistory of the continent's diverse past, the many civilizations and cultures whose artifacts continue to amaze and puzzle modern archaeologists and anthropologists. One of these relics is the Libyco-Berber written alphabet, which might even predate the so-called first alphabet of the Phoenicians. In this ebook, the author discusses the alphabet's origins, controversies, and continued usage among certain Berber-speaking African cultures.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: Another freebie download, I hoped it would help me with my ongoing efforts to generate interesting story ideas. Idjennaden's book makes a decent introduction to the concept of non-Egyptian ancient African cultures, but struggles to find a balance between engaging the uneducated masses and discussing the subject matter and surrounding scientific controversies. Being firmly on the uneducated-mass end of the spectrum, I felt a little lost. It might have been interesting to see more visual aids; more photos of Libyco-Berber artifacts and translations, modern usage, or something to help me connect to this undoubtedly significant archaeological discovery and its ramifications. For what it was, it was reasonably informative, but it never truly engaged my interest or imagination.
You might also enjoy:
Abandoned Places (Lesley and Roy Adkins) - My Review
Just My Type (Simon Garfield) - My Review
The Encyclopedia of Mysterious Places (Robert Ingpen and Philip Wilkinson) - My Review
Mysterious Places (Jennifer Westwood, editor) - My Review
Monday, April 9, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Goblintown Justice (Matt Forbeck)
Goblintown Justice
(A Shotguns & Sorcery story)
Matt Forbeck
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Max Gibson didn't go out looking for trouble... not that night, at least. But when you're a human mage in Dragon City, trouble has a way of finding you. A scream from a dark alley draws Gibson to a grisly scene: an orc kneeling over a brutally murdered guardswoman. Worse, Gibson recognizes them both, old colleagues from his shady past. Naturally, just then, the Imperial Guard turns up. The orc Sig insists he's no murderer, and Gibson simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the elf guard captain doesn't care; someone's been murdering enough of his mortal underlings to draw the attention of the Imperial Dragon himself, so somebody's going to pay the price. Max doesn't have much time to track down the real killer before the wheels of Dragon City justice crush another innocent victim.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: A short story that claims to be a prequel to a longer, more ambitious series, Goblintown Justice quickly sketches in a gritty urban fantasy realm full of desperate, corrupt characters. Gibson's briefly-mentioned past seems far more interesting than this brief detour of an adventure, unfortunately; most of the matter resolves itself without his actually solving anything. In the Afterword, the author writes that this story was born out of an aborted role-playing game idea, which might explain the tendency toward racial/species stereotypes, not to mention why the story felt like an excuse to visit Dragon City's seedy underbelly and characters that, no doubt, will be revisited in future adventures rather than a real hunt for justice. While I can see how interesting tales could indeed play out on the streets of Dragon City, I just wasn't intrigued enough by this brief taste to investigate further.
You might also enjoy:
The Vlad Taltos series (Stephen Brust) - My Review
Finder (Emma Bull) - My Review
The Familiar Dragon series (Daniel Hood) - My Review
Bitterwood (James Maxey) - My Review
(A Shotguns & Sorcery story)
Matt Forbeck
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Max Gibson didn't go out looking for trouble... not that night, at least. But when you're a human mage in Dragon City, trouble has a way of finding you. A scream from a dark alley draws Gibson to a grisly scene: an orc kneeling over a brutally murdered guardswoman. Worse, Gibson recognizes them both, old colleagues from his shady past. Naturally, just then, the Imperial Guard turns up. The orc Sig insists he's no murderer, and Gibson simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the elf guard captain doesn't care; someone's been murdering enough of his mortal underlings to draw the attention of the Imperial Dragon himself, so somebody's going to pay the price. Max doesn't have much time to track down the real killer before the wheels of Dragon City justice crush another innocent victim.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: A short story that claims to be a prequel to a longer, more ambitious series, Goblintown Justice quickly sketches in a gritty urban fantasy realm full of desperate, corrupt characters. Gibson's briefly-mentioned past seems far more interesting than this brief detour of an adventure, unfortunately; most of the matter resolves itself without his actually solving anything. In the Afterword, the author writes that this story was born out of an aborted role-playing game idea, which might explain the tendency toward racial/species stereotypes, not to mention why the story felt like an excuse to visit Dragon City's seedy underbelly and characters that, no doubt, will be revisited in future adventures rather than a real hunt for justice. While I can see how interesting tales could indeed play out on the streets of Dragon City, I just wasn't intrigued enough by this brief taste to investigate further.
You might also enjoy:
The Vlad Taltos series (Stephen Brust) - My Review
Finder (Emma Bull) - My Review
The Familiar Dragon series (Daniel Hood) - My Review
Bitterwood (James Maxey) - My Review
An Essay on Dragons (S. Shana)
An Essay on Dragons
S. Shana
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Folklore
* (Terrible)
DESCRIPTION: This brief essay offers an overview of the popular mythological beast, the dragon.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: Possibly the biggest rip-off I've yet downloaded, far less than half of the file actually discusses dragons; the rest consists of page after page of links to the author's other articles and books. The essay itself - written in an unnecessarily large font - barely pretends to scratch the surface of the subject. If this is the extent of the author's knowledge of dragons, they need to move away from coloring books as their source material. (Seriously, I own a dragon coloring book that goes into more depth than this thing.) An exceptionally disappointing waste of five minutes, even as a freebie download.
(EDIT - It seems that this selection has mysteriously vanished from Amazon's archives. Strange...)
You might also enjoy:
Tales of Great Dragons (J. K. Anderson) - My Review
Step Inside Dragons (Gaby Goldsack, Nick Harris, and Richard Jewitt) - My Review
How to Raise and Keep a Dragon (John Topsell, Joseph Nigg "editor") - My Review
S. Shana
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Folklore
* (Terrible)
DESCRIPTION: This brief essay offers an overview of the popular mythological beast, the dragon.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: Possibly the biggest rip-off I've yet downloaded, far less than half of the file actually discusses dragons; the rest consists of page after page of links to the author's other articles and books. The essay itself - written in an unnecessarily large font - barely pretends to scratch the surface of the subject. If this is the extent of the author's knowledge of dragons, they need to move away from coloring books as their source material. (Seriously, I own a dragon coloring book that goes into more depth than this thing.) An exceptionally disappointing waste of five minutes, even as a freebie download.
(EDIT - It seems that this selection has mysteriously vanished from Amazon's archives. Strange...)
You might also enjoy:
Tales of Great Dragons (J. K. Anderson) - My Review
Step Inside Dragons (Gaby Goldsack, Nick Harris, and Richard Jewitt) - My Review
How to Raise and Keep a Dragon (John Topsell, Joseph Nigg "editor") - My Review
Saturday, April 7, 2012
A Cry Out of Time (J. L. Redington)
A Cry Out of Time
(The Esme Chronicles, Book 1)
J. L. Redington
Judy Bristow, Publisher
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Fifteen-year-old Esme never believed in ghosts... until her parents took her for a month's stay at the old Heceta House on the Oregon Coast. Reputed to be one of the most haunted houses in America, visitors report the apparitions of an old woman and a little girl who opens doors and flips light switches. Esme wasn't sure she believed all that stuff, until she starts hearing and seeing things. Even stranger, while Esme can see and hear the house's spirit, her parents are oblivious to the ghost in their midst. The little girl seems bound to Esme in some way, even influencing her dreams. If she can't help the ghost of Heceta House, Esme's coastal vacation may become her own grave.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: A simplistic ghost story, A Cry Out of Time tries too hard not to spook younger readers. The characters tend toward shallow sketches, invariably friendly (if affably clueless, like Esme's parents), and even the presence of a ghost barely elicits any fear. The dead girl hits it off surprisingly well with a modern teen, despite being the product of another time and, essentially, another culture. Usually, ghost stories have a mystery at their core, but the "mystery" here is too obvious to be properly labeled as such. There's a little ghostly action, a lot of silliness, and a moment-of-truth revelation in which Esme has to learn to look beyond her own insecurities for the sake of others. And that's about it. I have to wonder if this was ever intended to be a stand-alone story or simply a setup for the implied series to come. Either way, I found it too flimsy to engage my interest.
(I also have to wonder if anyone bothers double-checking their spelling and grammar software; once again, homophones slip through in ways that make the author seem amateur. "Bazaar" is a marketplace, not a synonym for "strange" - like the intended word "bizarre.")
You might also enjoy:
Devil's Race (Avi) - My Review
The Wish List (Eoin Colfer) - My Review
The Ghost in the Third Row (Bruce Coville) - My Review
Ghost Ship (Dietlof Reiche) - My Review
(The Esme Chronicles, Book 1)
J. L. Redington
Judy Bristow, Publisher
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Fifteen-year-old Esme never believed in ghosts... until her parents took her for a month's stay at the old Heceta House on the Oregon Coast. Reputed to be one of the most haunted houses in America, visitors report the apparitions of an old woman and a little girl who opens doors and flips light switches. Esme wasn't sure she believed all that stuff, until she starts hearing and seeing things. Even stranger, while Esme can see and hear the house's spirit, her parents are oblivious to the ghost in their midst. The little girl seems bound to Esme in some way, even influencing her dreams. If she can't help the ghost of Heceta House, Esme's coastal vacation may become her own grave.
A Kindle-exclusive title.
REVIEW: A simplistic ghost story, A Cry Out of Time tries too hard not to spook younger readers. The characters tend toward shallow sketches, invariably friendly (if affably clueless, like Esme's parents), and even the presence of a ghost barely elicits any fear. The dead girl hits it off surprisingly well with a modern teen, despite being the product of another time and, essentially, another culture. Usually, ghost stories have a mystery at their core, but the "mystery" here is too obvious to be properly labeled as such. There's a little ghostly action, a lot of silliness, and a moment-of-truth revelation in which Esme has to learn to look beyond her own insecurities for the sake of others. And that's about it. I have to wonder if this was ever intended to be a stand-alone story or simply a setup for the implied series to come. Either way, I found it too flimsy to engage my interest.
(I also have to wonder if anyone bothers double-checking their spelling and grammar software; once again, homophones slip through in ways that make the author seem amateur. "Bazaar" is a marketplace, not a synonym for "strange" - like the intended word "bizarre.")
You might also enjoy:
Devil's Race (Avi) - My Review
The Wish List (Eoin Colfer) - My Review
The Ghost in the Third Row (Bruce Coville) - My Review
Ghost Ship (Dietlof Reiche) - My Review
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Casting Shadows (J. Kelley Anderson)
Casting Shadows
J. Kelley Anderson
World Castle Publishing
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: When Edward Kelley's beloved sister Beth died, the last of his humanity seemed to die with her. Already embittered by the deaths of their missionary parents, his anger at the world and the heartless, hypocritical people infesting it consumed his very soul. How could the same loving God he once prayed to, the God his ill-fated sister embraced so wholeheartedly, allow such terrible things to happen - and how could the town he grew up in turn their backs on him when he needed them most?
Perhaps he should've been more skeptical when the mysterious envelope arrived on his doorstep, containing the details of a dark ritual to contact the entity known as Seth. Perhaps dabbling in powers beyond his comprehension was a bad idea, even deadly. But Edward's life wasn't worth living anymore as it was; if he could gain the power to take down the rest of suburban Hurst, Ohio with him, why the Hell not?
When Edward manages to summon a skeletal servant, doubts begin to plague him. Vincent makes him question his self-destructive hatred, offering him a glimpse of the human heart that still beats in his own chest. But Seth - and the mysterious stranger who started Edward on the black path - won't let go of their protege so easily... and some paths, once started down, cannot be lightly turned aside. Suddenly, the angry young man finds himself hunted by a powerful enemy, wielding forces he scarcely comprehends - all to save not only himself, but the very town he once vowed to see burned to the ground.
REVIEW: Placing ancient magicks in an unexpected contemporary setting may not be new territory, but Casting Shadows makes it feel fresh. Anderson weaves in threads of Russian folklore as he establishes a magic system that relies more on the caster's own subconscious than any teachable rituals; Edward can be given the tools, but not the knowledge to use them, and figuring out how his own powers work teaches him nothing of what other casters can and cannot do. Starting fairly quickly, the story moves at a good pace, establishing interesting characters and the unique magic system along the way without significantly holding up the plot. The troubled, angry protagonist finds himself transformed from a would-be villain to a would-be savior, but not without some setbacks and sidetracks as he tries to come to grips with his own emotions. His sidekicks - the skeletal servant Vincent and a jovial, if foul-mouthed, cop friend, plus a mysterious ally who might be more dangerous than his enemy - can only carry him so far; the path of magic is a path that can only be walked alone. Some distant religious undercurrents threatened to turn the story into a Christian tale of salvation, but - surprisingly - they stayed distant enough not to interfere with the plot, leaving many gray shades between Good and Evil and no clear-cut answers. The story lost a point mostly due to poor proofreading; many instances of wrong words and bad formatting in general grew distracting over the course of the book. (I read the Kindle version, so perhaps that explains the formatting problems, but it wouldn't explain errors such as "hear" instead of "here.") I also thought some elements wanted further exploration. Overall, though, I enjoyed Casting Shadows, and wouldn't mind revisiting the universe if Anderson chooses to continue it.
You might also enjoy:
Song for the Basilisk (Patricia McKillip) - My Review
Heroes of the Valley (Jonathan Stroud) - My Review
Devil's Tower (Mark Sumner) - My Review
Dragon's Bait (Vivian Vande Velde) - My Review
J. Kelley Anderson
World Castle Publishing
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: When Edward Kelley's beloved sister Beth died, the last of his humanity seemed to die with her. Already embittered by the deaths of their missionary parents, his anger at the world and the heartless, hypocritical people infesting it consumed his very soul. How could the same loving God he once prayed to, the God his ill-fated sister embraced so wholeheartedly, allow such terrible things to happen - and how could the town he grew up in turn their backs on him when he needed them most?
Perhaps he should've been more skeptical when the mysterious envelope arrived on his doorstep, containing the details of a dark ritual to contact the entity known as Seth. Perhaps dabbling in powers beyond his comprehension was a bad idea, even deadly. But Edward's life wasn't worth living anymore as it was; if he could gain the power to take down the rest of suburban Hurst, Ohio with him, why the Hell not?
When Edward manages to summon a skeletal servant, doubts begin to plague him. Vincent makes him question his self-destructive hatred, offering him a glimpse of the human heart that still beats in his own chest. But Seth - and the mysterious stranger who started Edward on the black path - won't let go of their protege so easily... and some paths, once started down, cannot be lightly turned aside. Suddenly, the angry young man finds himself hunted by a powerful enemy, wielding forces he scarcely comprehends - all to save not only himself, but the very town he once vowed to see burned to the ground.
REVIEW: Placing ancient magicks in an unexpected contemporary setting may not be new territory, but Casting Shadows makes it feel fresh. Anderson weaves in threads of Russian folklore as he establishes a magic system that relies more on the caster's own subconscious than any teachable rituals; Edward can be given the tools, but not the knowledge to use them, and figuring out how his own powers work teaches him nothing of what other casters can and cannot do. Starting fairly quickly, the story moves at a good pace, establishing interesting characters and the unique magic system along the way without significantly holding up the plot. The troubled, angry protagonist finds himself transformed from a would-be villain to a would-be savior, but not without some setbacks and sidetracks as he tries to come to grips with his own emotions. His sidekicks - the skeletal servant Vincent and a jovial, if foul-mouthed, cop friend, plus a mysterious ally who might be more dangerous than his enemy - can only carry him so far; the path of magic is a path that can only be walked alone. Some distant religious undercurrents threatened to turn the story into a Christian tale of salvation, but - surprisingly - they stayed distant enough not to interfere with the plot, leaving many gray shades between Good and Evil and no clear-cut answers. The story lost a point mostly due to poor proofreading; many instances of wrong words and bad formatting in general grew distracting over the course of the book. (I read the Kindle version, so perhaps that explains the formatting problems, but it wouldn't explain errors such as "hear" instead of "here.") I also thought some elements wanted further exploration. Overall, though, I enjoyed Casting Shadows, and wouldn't mind revisiting the universe if Anderson chooses to continue it.
You might also enjoy:
Song for the Basilisk (Patricia McKillip) - My Review
Heroes of the Valley (Jonathan Stroud) - My Review
Devil's Tower (Mark Sumner) - My Review
Dragon's Bait (Vivian Vande Velde) - My Review
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