Time of Their Lives

The simple tale of what happens when a super hero and super villain meet by chance after years of retirement...  The original story was published in May 2004 by Top Cow Productions, and is written by Troy Hickman

http://seananmcguire.tumblr.com/post/84545084905/geardrops-oldearthaccretionist

I know I usually review books, with the occasional graphic novel, and one short story, but it still seems odd to now include a link to a comic that has been reblogged on tumblr.  This one is a short comic - only nine pages - but the story it tells is so perfect, so moving, so incredibly powerful, that I have to include it. I can't say anything more about it without telling the tale, so I'll let the author take it from here.

Spoilers:
Nothing, really.  No swears.  No sex.  No drugs.  Just the amazing complexities of human interaction.

Spartanica

Spartanica

Ty and Marcus Mitchell are average middle school brothers growing up in a suburb north of Chicago until one night when they’re hurtled through an inter-dimensional gateway to a parallel world defined by its multiple moons and planet-wide apocalypse. As they struggle to figure out where they are and how to get home, the boys encounter refugees of “the last day” from the distant city of Atlantis and a mysterious girl called Bellana, the sole survivor and resident of the devastated metropolis of Spartanica. Ty and Marcus soon learn they only have seven days to get home. But before they can leave, they must battle through long-extinct deadly predators, find the elusive Professor Otherblood (if he’s still alive), and rescue a new friend from certain death. Is all of this insanity just Ty’s overactive imagination or are the brothers truly on the brink of being stranded in the brutal wasteland known as Spartanica?

Author: Powers Molinar

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This was a fun young adult science fiction book.  The characters of Ty, Marcus, and Bellana are enjoyable to read about, their adventures are fascinating, and the world is vast and complex.  I am looking forward to reading more from this author - especially since Spartanica is the first book in The Survivors of Sapertys series.  This is not a book you can just power through and read quickly - although it's hard to go slowly!  The storyteller's point of view changes among the three main characters, and the world is described and defined through their unique perspectives, so this requires a bit more focus than usual.  The language and measurements of Spartanica were difficult to grasp at first since the contextual cues are initially vague - I could tell that one was a measurement of time, but not whether it was an hour or a century.  This is defined for the reader as Ty and Marcus figure it out, but was a little frustrating at first.  Place your trust in the writer - the ride is worth it!

Spoilers:  Ty and Marcus are very much alike in terms of their narrative style and I found it quite difficult to tell from whose point of view the story was being told unless the speaker was complaining about his brother. Which they both do.  At great length.  As I mentioned above, the contextual cues as to the meaning of Spartanican words are vague and are defined only after they have been used for several chapters.  This made reading quite frustrating for me and broke the willing suspension of disbelief - reminding me that I was reading rather than allowing me to stay lost in the story.  This book has a cliffhanger ending, so if this frustrates you, wait until the series is complete - the second book is still being written.  

I received a download of this book for my honest opinion.

The Golem and the Jinni

The Golem and the Jinni

In The Golem and the Jinni, a chance meeting between mythical beings takes readers on a dazzling journey through cultures in turn-of-the-century New York.

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life to by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic and dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free

Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends who share a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.

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Helene Wecker's gorgeous writing, careful research, and clear passion for folklore and literature make this an enchanting, intriguing read.   She does a wonderful job of presenting supernatural creatures of folklore as main characters without making anyone into an idealized character.  Everyone in the story is refreshingly human, with merits, faults, worries, and humor.  The backdrop of turn-of-the-century Manhattan is beautifully rendered, and even those unfamiliar with the setting will not be lost.  The author embraces many cultures and sources of folklore and folds them together in a way that is both honest and refreshing.  This book is reminiscent of the tales of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Scheherazade, with a twist of Jane Addams thrown in for good measure.  An absolute "must read."

Spoilers:  This reads at times like a young adult book, but the ghastly conditions of New York City tenement houses in 1899 are described in some detail.  There are scenes of married and premarital sex, prostitution, murder, death from wasting illness, and use of both alcohol and drugs.   It also deals with concepts of faith, religion, apostasy, reincarnation, and eternal damnation - although not in a preachy way.

Scattered Links - Release Day Tour

Release Day Tour: Scattered Links is a novel that pulls its characters from the gutters and, in the end, celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit. Thirteen-year-old Oksana lives on the streets of Russia with her pregnant mama and abusive aunt—both prostitutes. When Mama swells into labor, Oksana makes a decision to save herself from abandonment, a decision that torments her forever. When her plan fails and her aunt dumps her in an orphanage, she never has the chance to say goodbye to her mama or tell her the secret that haunts her. Scattered Links is a story of family and the consequences that come from never learning how to love, of a girl’s inability to bond with her adopted family and the frustrations that follow. How can a child understand the mechanics of forming a healthy relationship when she never had a mother who answered her cries, held her when she was frightened, fed her when she was hungry, or loved her unconditionally? Only when the child meets a rescued abused horse, and recognizes the pain in his eyes, does she begin to trust again.

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Scattered Links, (initially titled Love is Just a Word), was the winner of the 2013 Aspiring Writers Competition, sponsored by Write on Con and The Reading Room. Scattered Links was intended to show a glimpse into the life of a child with RAD, reactive attachment disorder, so prevalent in children who never had unconditional love in infancy. This novel was inspired by Michelle’s journey to Russia to adopt her orphan daughter. Upon seeing the neglect of orphanage children and learning of the effects of RAD in post-institutionalized children, Michelle researched this disorder, committed to giving her daughter the best chance at a healthy life. Sadly, many parents can’t cope with the behavior from kids with RAD and re-home their children like pets.

Buy on Kindle | Paperback

 

About the author:

Michelle grew up in the burbs of Detroit with five brothers. No sisters. Each time her mom brought the boy bundle home from the hospital Michelle cried, certain her mom liked boys better than girls. But when her brothers pitched in with the cooking, cleaning, and babysitting—without drama, Michelle discovered having brothers wasn’t so bad. They even taught her how to take direct criticism without flinching, which might come in handy with book reviews. Michelle blogs at Random Writing Rants where she teaches and encourages writers how to get published.

Follow Michelle:

Blog link: http://www.randomwritingrants.com Random Writing Rants Teaching adults and teens how to get published   Website link: http://www.mweidenbenner.com Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/randomwritingrants Twitter link: @MWeidenbenner1 Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7171873.M_Weidenbenner

Found

Clarkesworld Magazine, ISSUE 83, August 2013.

"Found" is a gorgeous short story by Alex Dally MacFarlane, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ISSUE 83, August 2013.  You may find it online here:
 http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/macfarlane_08_13/

The setting for this story is haunting and beautiful: A cluster of colonies on a string of asteroids, abandoned and forgotten by their homeworld.  A short story about belonging, memory, and identity told by a spice trader who goes from colony to colony bringing the one commodity they cannot make for themselves: flavor. Beautiful language, vivid imagery, and poignant undertones.  Not much can be said of this gem without giving away the story, so suffice it to say that it is worth the fifteen minutes it will take to read it, and the twenty minutes it will take to re-read it while savoring every nuance, treasuring every smell, and relishing the flavors in the writing.

About the Author (source: ibid)
Alex Dally MacFarlane lives in London, where she is pursuing an MA in Ancient History. When not researching narrative transmission in the Alexander Romance traditions, she writes stories, found in The Other Half of the Sky, Heiresses of Russ 2013: The Year's Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Shimmer and Zombies: Shambling Through the Ages. Poetry can be found in Stone Telling, The Moment of Change and Here, We Cross. She is the editor of Aliens: Recent Encounters (2013) and The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women (forthcoming in late 2014)

Apocalypse Cult - Review

Apocalypse Cult

APOCALYPSE CULT is the first book in the Gray Spear Society series. They are God's secret warriors, His henchmen, His assassins cloaked in shadows. When lives and souls are at risk, He sends the Gray Spear Society to save mankind. This time the enemy is the Church of One Soul, a cult that intends to kill thousands of unsuspecting tourists in Chicago. But this is merely the first step in plunging the world into a devastating war. The Society has only a few days to destroy their elusive foe, despite interference by overzealous federal agents.
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Aaron Glade is a PI who is hired to rescue a fifteen year-old girl from a cult.  The job turns out to be less than straight forward, and Aaron's life will never be the same when he is asked to join the Gray Spear Society - a group of God's secret warriors...  Overall, this is a decent story: well-written, well-conceived, and well-executed.  There is a lot of blood and death - a little too much for my taste, but still a good read.  The genre for this book is difficult to categorize.  There are elements of film noir, spy vs. spy, and supernatural combat - all played out by holy warriors who follow the Christian god.  The main characters are described well, and each is unique.  The rapid-fire pace of the action is a little dizzying and makes the reader slow down to savor the story.

Spoilers:
The drawback to this story for me was the inconsistency that as "agents of God," the characters demonstrate no empathy, bear no responsibility, and experience no repercussions for killing, maiming, or torturing.  It was also hard for me to reconcile the need for secrecy with the killing of government, civil service, and law enforcement personnel.

I'm going in!

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Written by Robert Jordan and completed posthumously by Brandon Sanderson, The Wheel of Time is one of the greatest epics of fantasy and a #1 internationally bestselling series. Taking place both in our past and our future, the saga tells the story of a man destined to face the Evil One and save the world—or destroy it in the process.
- Goodreads   http://www.goodreads.com/series/41526-wheel-of-time
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I started reading this series when the first book was published in 1990.  It  was supposed to be a 6-book series, but has since grown to 11,962 pages spanning 14 books.  This does not count the prequels, supplemental chapters, or short stories that accompany the main series.  I made it through "Crossroads of Twilight" (book 10), reading them as they came out, but it became very difficult to keep track of the characters, locations, motivations, and sub-sub-sub plots that became major turning points two books later.  My plan is to re-read the series in order, back-to-back now that it is complete. I'm hoping that reading them one after another will be easier than waiting a year or more between books.

The story is complex, the world - including its magic and political systems - is very well developed, and the characters are plentiful (Book 10 has 522 named characters, 22 of whom are point-of-view characters).  I enjoyed the first ten books and am curious to see not only how the story goes and what happens to my favorite (and least favorite) characters, but also how Brandon Sanderson's writing matches up with Robert Jordan's.