How To Climb The Eiffel Tower

eiffel_towerThis is a difficult book to explain at first. It’s about cancer, but it’s neither saccharine nor depressing. It’s about transformation, but it’s not a lifetime channel inspirational tract. The best I’ve come up with so far is that it is an unusual Cinderella story, in which cancer is the prince. Whatever it is, it was a moving and powerful read, that also made me laugh.

Lara Blaine isn’t easy to like at the beginning of the story. She’s had a rough early life and it hasn’t left her friendly, approachable, or all that interested in others. She’s driven when it comes to her work, and impatient with incompetence in others. She has trust issues. She’s prickly.

So, when she gets a diagnosis of cancer, she isn’t very well equipped to deal with it. She doesn’t have a circle of family or friends around her, and her personal resources are limited as well. But, in dealing with her illness and her treatment, Lara grows, makes friends, and finds herself.

In that way, it’s kind of like a post-apocalyptic story, where a character is burned in the crucible of severe life challenges and their true self is formed or revealed.

I recommend this one to readers interested in stories that focus on the main character’s inner journey.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/

Sticks And Stones

sticks_and_stonesI met Shawn McGuire online when I joined the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s indie author group. I knew she wrote YA fantasy and let it go by. I ran into her again at the awards event at the BookBar when I was named finalist in the Independant Writer of the Year award. Again, I knew she wrote YA fantasy but let it go by. I ran into her several times at the annual convention earlier this month and decided I really needed to read more of her work.

Yeah. I’m kicking myself for not digging into this series sooner. The books are not published by an indie press in California but by her own imprint that just happens to have the same name.

First, yes. She’s promoting them as YA. They’re YA. The characters are all mostly under twenty — except those who might be over 200 because it is fantasy after all. I think the YA tag kept me from digging in. That was a serious mistake on my part — and I knew it when I did it that I shouldn’t be looking too closely at that.

Second, holy cow. These books are amazing. The stories may be a bit stripped down for a YA audience but the richness that remains, like a nice pan-glaze reduction, carries these stories. I got the three-book omnibus edition and screamed through it in about three days and went looking for the rest. I think the series is complete at five books and it was the best investment I’ve made in a while.

Third, McGuire knows how to tell a story that doesn’t depend on people being stupid. Okay, Desiree has a serious blind-spot or two, but it only makes her feel more real – and having a genie (Kaf hates that word) feel as real as the mortals she’s helping is no mean feat. It goes beyond and I found myself questioning my own decisions, wondering what I would wish for, and what I would do if I got it.

I found this to be a touching, satisfying series. Grab a sample and see what you think … and think twice before you make your next wish.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

ETA: Shawn contacted me to correct the press. It’s hers and not the California one. I corrected the review above.

[Note: You’re seeing more reviews from me because fellow authors aren’t stepping up with reviews of the books they like. If you’re an author, consider the submitting a review about an indie book you loved. The submission guidelines link is at the top of this page.]

Starship’s Mage

starship_mageI don’t remember who turned me onto this series. Probably Deb Geary. Glynn Stewart’s ability to blend science fiction and science fantasy floored me when I read this volume. Like many writers starting in recently, he tried the serial approach and, I assume, learned – as most do if they keep at it – that people will wait until the serial is complete before picking up the first one. Once burned, twice shy.

The omnibus edition holds all five serial episodes and does a good job of sweeping the reader along in a breath-taking vision of starships powered by magic and the toll it takes on those who must fly them. It hooked me immediately and kept me turning pages thought this volume and every volume since.

Stewart has just published the fourth book in his series and it’s just as good as the rest.

If you’re looking for a different take on interstellar navigation, you might want to grab a sample of Starship’s Mage and give it a try.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

A Sip Of Fear

sip_of_fearGordon Greenbough is one of the Illuminated. That means that he is bonded to a familiar spirit and gifted with extraordinary powers. Being Illuminated can take a lot of forms. Gordon is a biomage linked to the spirit of life itself, Ela-Tu. This gives him power and influence over living things including the ability to heal, but it also makes it hard for him to keep love in his life as his connection to life makes him promiscuous. When trouble comes in the shape of Shadow, the bogey-man of the Illuminated world, Gordon has to rise to a whole new level if he’s going to survive.

In Sip of Fear, Brian Rush created a fascinating contemporary fantasy world and peopled it with engaging and sympathetic characters. From the very beginning I was intrigued by the world and by Gordon. The story is well paced and, while somewhat predictable in some aspects, quite well written. Rush’s prose flows well and pulled me through the more philosophical moments that might have had me skimming in another book.

I especially appreciated reading a male character who was comfortable with himself and with love and was cheering for his success throughout. The other characters were well developed and real, especially Rose, Gordon’s love interest. Rush gave his characters real-life struggles alongside their magical ones, which is a mixture I’ll fall for every time.

I recommend this one for readers who love magic and mystery, especially when they butt up against each other in a story with great characters.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/

The Asphalt Warrior

Asphalt cover_Layout 1Gary Reilly will never know how beautiful his stories are. He has a good excuse. He passed away in 2011. One of my colleagues with the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers – Mark Stevens – inherited the trunk load of manuscripts and has been trying to get them out to the world ever since.

The Asphalt Warrior is the first in a series of humorous, noir adventures of a veteran taxi driver in Denver. Part of the charm – for me anyway – is recognizing the city landmarks. The real genius is the way Reilly display’s Brendan Murphy’s inner landscape. His quirky habits, his inner life, his outlook on the world seem both familiar and fascinating. Like seeing an intersection you’ve driven through a hundred times from the direction you’ve never traveled.

I picked up the first book just last week and I’m still shaking. It’s that good. I’d like to be that good. Someday, if I keep at it, maybe I will.

Grab a sample and settle in. You can thank me later.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

[Transparency: I never met Gary Reilly. I wish I had. I have met Mark Stevens and feel richer for it. I have no financial stake in the production of these works although I’m helping Mark get the ebooks into shape so more people can meet Murph. He’s not paying me for the labor and I won’t take anything in exchange. I feel that strongly about the stories that Gary Reilly has left behind. I’m honored to be able to help. That’s payment enough.]

The Sixth Discipline

sixth_disciplineUnlike some stories that culture clash as a motif, this novel both features action by characters from each culture in both cultures and portrays neither culture as ultimately lesser to the other.

The book tells the story of Ran-Del Jahanpur, a warrior from a forest tribe that focus on mental discipline and aim to live in tune with nature. He is kidnapped by Baron Hayden, a noble from a technologically advanced city, who keeps him prisoner, but otherwise treats him as an honoured guest. Despite the empathy granted by his training, Ran-Del struggles to understand both the Baron’s plans and the society that holds him.

With a plot that moves back and forth between the forest and the city, the novel skilfully balances the benefits and disadvantages of psychic and technological solutions and the cultures that have grown up around them.

I found Ran-Del to be a well-developed character. His social and moral choices are sometimes better and sometimes worse than others, making him neither the noble savage or the uncultured rural. He also displays an entirely believable assumption that, having grown up feeling if people are lying himself, everyone will know that he is telling the truth if he denies wrongdoing.

The other main characters have similar depth, each displaying a personal reaction to the facets of other culture that they meet. This complexity of response makes both the growing friendships and fledgling rivalries more meaningful and the sudden elevation of a minor character to significance more believable.

The speed and ease with which Ran-Del became able to function in the city seemed unrealistically fast. However this is mostly due to the elision of the repeated little conflicts that is common to most stories dealing with potential integration into an alien culture, and is preferable to too much exposition of the differences.

Overall I found this story very enjoyable. I would recommend it to people who like fantasy or science-fiction set in a complex societies.

I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair review.

About The Reviewer

Dave_Higgins

Dave Higgins writes speculative fiction, often with a dark edge. Despite forays into the mundane worlds of law and IT, he was unable to escape the liminal zone between mystery and horror. A creature of contradictions, he also co-writes comic sci-fi with Simon Cantan.

Born in the least mystically significant part of Wiltshire, England, and raised by a librarian, he started reading shortly after birth and hasn’t stopped since. He lives with his wife, two cats, a plush altar to Lord Cthulhu, and many shelves of books.

It’s rumoured he writes out of fear he will otherwise run out of books to read.

Learn more about Dave and his work at http://davidjhiggins.wordpress.com/

Queen Klutz

queen_klutzI don’t read a lot of humor, and I’m not a reader of “inspiring” books like Chicken Soup for the Soul and the like, so this book was a little bit of a stretch for me. But the more I read, the more I laughed. Queen Klutz is a collection of vignettes about life’s travails and troubles, and the author’s meeting of those moments with a sunny-side-up attitude.

I found I really enjoyed the stories. I gasped, winced, and laughed as a read, and felt inspired by Marti Lawerence’s infectious and delightful attitudes.

The chapters are short, and make for good reading in snippets in the short empty spaces of a busy life. I read it on my phone, one vignette at a time in all the waiting spaces of my day. I appreciated the way each chapter left me feeling uplifted, amused, and appreciative of the good things in my life.

I recommend this one if you need a boost and a reminder that a bad day doesn’t have to keep you down.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/

Hadrian’s Flight

[Transparency disclaimer: I’ve known Dan personally for years. We’ve collaborated on many projects. This isn’t one of those projects.]

hadrians_flightI’ve long admired Dan Sawyer’s ability to craft a tale. His Resurrection Junket left me breathless. His Clarke Lantham series updates the old school noir detective trope and brings it into the twenty-first century. Hadrian’s Flight is his first attempt at YA and he hits it out of the park.

The tale is set in his Kabrakan Ascendancy universe and provides some interesting insights into the beginning of the first interplanetary war. Young Hadrian Jin gets caught up in a web of spies and must navigate his own course through the confusing – and often contradictory – paths defined by those around him. His biggest challenge is trying to figure out who’s telling him the truth – almost nobody – and whom he can trust – again, almost nobody. In spite of that, he finds his way and pays the price for his actions.

It’s a very tightly drawn story filled with intrigue, betrayal, challenge and ingenuity.

I really liked this book. Grab a sample and see what you think.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

Connected

connectedThis stylish modern thriller interweaves quantum physics, theology, psychology, and computer science without losing either pace or the reader.

When his brother commits suicide, Peter volunteers to sort through his study; why does a musician have so many notes on religion and abstruse physics, and what did his last message that he knew everything mean? Across the country Doug’s best friend, and thesis partner, sends him a link to a file he must see but commits suicide almost immediately afterward; why did he erase all his work before he jumped? As these two men struggle to understand the last days of their loved ones, they are drawn into a race that could end in either humanity’s evolution or enslavement.

Denman includes plenty of details on the various fields that he draws upon while skilfully using point-of-view characters who are not specialists in the area, giving a sense that the plot has a solid base without either burying the lay reader under dry technical and philosophical discourse or skimping the interested amateur.

The characterisation varies between the two threads. Peter’s struggle with the death of his brother and the consequent impact on his marriage reads like a character-driven story, centred around a well-realised older man who is already burdened with the compromises and injuries of life. Conversely, Doug’s life, even before he is immersed in the plot, is a whirl of casual sex and rushing in where angels fear to tread, giving the feel of a more plot-centred narrative. Both threads are internally consistent, but they do not always sit perfectly next to each other, as if George Smiley and James Bond were investigating the same conspiracy.

A number of paragraphs are much longer than average for a thriller, some continuing for several average screens. However, these are balanced by much shorter paragraphs so would only be an issue for readers who dislike putting a book down, even briefly, in the middle of a paragraph.

Overall, as an interested amateur in both physics and metaphysics, I found the balance of theory and action most enjoyable. I recommend it to readers who like thrillers with a plausible explanation for a world-changing plot.

I received a free copy of this book.

About The Reviewer

Dave_Higgins

Dave Higgins writes speculative fiction, often with a dark edge. Despite forays into the mundane worlds of law and IT, he was unable to escape the liminal zone between mystery and horror. A creature of contradictions, he also co-writes comic sci-fi with Simon Cantan.

Born in the least mystically significant part of Wiltshire, England, and raised by a librarian, he started reading shortly after birth and hasn’t stopped since. He lives with his wife, two cats, a plush altar to Lord Cthulhu, and many shelves of books.

It’s rumoured he writes out of fear he will otherwise run out of books to read.

Learn more about Dave and his work at http://davidjhiggins.wordpress.com/

Arena Mode

arena_modeMatthew Moxon isn’t a superhuman. But he is in need of a serious cash infusion if he’s going to have a life-saving surgery. So, when the chance comes to fight in The Arena, a televised extravaganza arranged by a billionaire multimedia mogul, he decides to fake it till he makes it. He puts his smarts and his friends to work developing a suit and a public presence until he makes the cut and gets in the contest.

From there, the story becomes an elimination match a la The Hunger Games, The Running Man, The Maze Runner, Battle Royale, and other such stories. Although the plot is nothing new, the characters and relationships are fresh and interesting. I really liked Mox and was cheering for him and his allies to make it through, as well as for him to progress in his personal character arc. I don’t necessarily need the plot to be groundbreaking and unusual as long I’m rooting for someone.

This is the first of a series. I haven’t yet read the others, but they are in my TBR. I recommend it for readers who are fans of comics and superhero stories.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/