Category Archives: Science Fiction and Fantasy

August 12, 2021 · 1:00 am

A Review of Lux Terra – An Origin Story

Title: Lux Terra – An Origin Story

Author: Zachary Hagen

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 9, 2021

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 10 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

This is a prequel and origin story for the world of Lux Terra featured in the upcoming novel, Eternity’s Well, set to release August 2021. Please enjoy this look into the lives of Elior, Eliam, and their mother on a rainy morning in their home.

Review:

Rainy days were made for telling folktales.

The warm, positive relationship between the main characters and their mother as they drank tea and listened to her stories was refreshing. Too often parents in the young adult genre are either no longer present in their children’s lives due to death or abandonment or are wildly out-of-touch with what their kids are getting up to. It’s always nice to see authors break these tropes, and I hope Mr. Hagen will continue to do so as Elior and Eliam have further adventures.

While I certainly wouldn’t expect an origin story to contain as much conflict as the books that are meant to come after it, I did have some trouble paying attention as I was reading because of how little conflict was present here. It would have been helpful for this reader if Elior, Eliam, and their mom Emily needed to face some sort of obstacle or disagreement as they decided how to spend their time while the summer storm raged on outside.

I enjoyed the author’s measured writing style. He always seemed to know exactly when to describe something in great detail versus giving the audience the basic gist of it and then expecting us to fill in the rest with our own imaginations. Fantasy is one of those genres that can really benefit from expecting the audience to do some of their own legwork in imagining fantastical places in my opinion, so this was a great choice.

Lux Terra – An Origin Story is a good pick if you’d like a sneak peek at a new fantasy series.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Fantasy, Folklore, Self-Published, Short Stories, Young Adult, Zachary Hagen

August 5, 2021 · 1:00 am

A Calculated Risk: A Review of Go Outside

Title: Go Outside

Author: Adam Vine

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 1, 2021

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 8 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

Cal has the opportunity to travel across the stars to the world of the enigmatic and enlightened Hosts… but doing so will mean leaving behind everything he has ever known.

Review:

Content warning: Grief. I will not be discussing it in my review.

What is the biggest risk you’d be willing to take?

This is one of those stories that works best if you know as little about the plot in advance as possible, so I’ll need to be careful about how I word this review. I did like the way the author gave the audience more information in small doses here and there. It made sense to write the exposition that way given what we learned about the main character and how busy he was with critical tasks when we first met him.

There were a few times when I wished the narrator went into more detail. Cal gave brief descriptions of his reasons for travelling so far away from Earth, what the Hosts were like, and what they hoped he could do for them. I certainly wouldn’t have expected the narrator to go into vivid detail about any of these topics given the short length of this tale, but I did find myself wishing I knew a little more about all of them so that this setting and these characters could become more vivid in my imagination. This was a minor criticism of something I otherwise enjoyed quite a bit.

The ending was well done. While I did still hope for more information than what it provided, it did answer my biggest questions in a pretty satisfactory manner. I also liked the way it balanced wrapping things up with leaving space for a sequel if Mr. Vine ever decides to write such a thing. There were certainly plenty of topics he could cover, and I’d be thrilled to read more about Cal’s adventures if the author ever decides to revisit this character.

Go Outside was a delightful glimpse into a unique corner of the universe.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, Adam Vine, Aliens, Book Reviews, Science Fiction, Self-Published, Short Stories, Space Exploration

July 29, 2021 · 1:00 am

Second Chances: A Review of The Ghost of Beth’s Mother

Title: The Ghost of Beth’s Mother

Author: Twylla Johnson

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: February 20, 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical

Length: 12 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Beth was a homely little misfit girl who lived at the Maudlin Mary Magdeline Orphanage. She claimed her mother, who had passed away a year before, was constantly with her. A wealthy widow named Mrs. Stone decided to adopt her. Does Mrs. Stone get more than she bargained for? Is Beth and her mother a package deal?

Review:

Content warning: car accident, adoption, and references to the death of a parent. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

Every child deserves a loving home.

It’s rare for me to read a ghost story that genuinely makes me shudder, but this one accomplished that. I really enjoyed Ms. Johnson’s take on why spirits decide to haunt the living, what they’re capable of, and what happens if the living don’t take the wishes of the dead seriously. She put such a creative spin on these topics, and I’m saying that as someone who has read this genre regularly for many years.

There was very little character development in this tale. While the main characters were all briefly described to the audience, I didn’t get to know them well and never really saw many indications of them growing and changing as a result of their experiences. That’s obviously not easy to do in only a dozen pages, but I would have happily gone with a higher rating if the author had put as much work into this as she did with the unique plot itself.

The final scene was nicely written. It tied up all of the most important conflicts of the plot, but it also left plenty of space for the reader to imagine what might happen to Beth and the widow who adopted her next. My hope is that the author will someday write a sequel to it. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll also be perfectly content to return to this world through rereads and quietly thinking about these characters’ possible futures.

If you’ve been missing truly scary paranormal fiction, The Ghost of Beth’s Mother may be right up your alley.

4 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Historical, Paranormal, Self-Published, Short Stories, Twylla Johnson

July 22, 2021 · 1:00 am

Corporate Space Race: A Review of Loss Leader

Title: Loss Leader

Author: Simon Haynes

Publisher: Bowman Press

Publication Date: May 1, 2010

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 45 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 2 Stars

Blurb:

After many delays and last-minute setbacks, the first colony ship leaves planet Earth for a distant star. Join the crew as they discover all is not as it seems…

Review:

Anything can happen during cryostasis.

The descriptions of how cryostasis worked in this universe were well done. That’s one science fiction trope that simultaneously fascinates me and freaks me out a little, so I liked reading about how these machines were designed to keep people alive during their long journey.

I had a hard time keeping track of and getting to know the various characters. There were only about half a dozen of them, yet the narrator spent such scant time exploring their personalities and interests that I’d struggle to explain what any of them were like outside of their willingness to take risks and possibly have an adventure. I definitely don’t expect the same level of character development in a short story as I do in a full-length novel, but I sure would have liked to get to know them better than I did here.

The foreshadowing at the beginning was handled well. It was obvious enough for the audience to quickly begin wondering what was happening behind the cheerful scene of the launch of the Glory. With that being said, it was also subtle enough for me to understand why the characters were able to brush certain danger signs aside and prepare for their mission. They certainly had other explanations for what was going on that wouldn’t have alarmed them in the least.

As excited as I was about the premise of this story, the plot holes were too numerous and serious to ignore. I won’t say what the twist was, only that it was something that required the cooperation of a large number of people in order to have any hope of happening. The storyline was also inconsistent about explaining how the technology in this futuristic world worked, who had access to it, and what they were and weren’t capable of doing with it. These were all things that were imperative not only for the storyline but for the genre as well. The premise itself was a fantastic one, but the execution of it would have benefitted from a much stronger emphasis on how it would all logically fit together.

The ending left plenty up to the imagination. It was never quite clear to me if the author intended this to be read as a serial or simply wanted his audience to have a chance to imagine what happened next for ourselves. I personally like being left to my own devices after a certain point in the plot, so it was cool to close my eyes and picture what might have happened next.

I’d recommend Loss Leader to die-hard fans of this genre.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Bowman Press, Cryostasis, Dark Science Fiction, Hard Science Fiction, Short Stories, Simon Haynes, Space Exploration, Spaceships

July 15, 2021 · 1:00 am

A Muddy Quest: A Review of The Storm

The Storm by Alex Cross book cover. Image on cover shows lightning and wind near a grove a trees during a violent thunderstorms.

Title: The Storm

Author: Alex Cross

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 2, 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Historical

Length: 10 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

A storm rages in the night. A dark and perilous journey through the southern forest. Doran races against time. Will he make it or will he be too late? The night is filled with danger, but Doran must drive on in order to succeed. He must succeed. If he doesn’t, then who would he really be?

Review:

Content warning: kidnapping, murder, theft, and blood. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

A forest isn’t generally the best place to be during a heavy thunderstorm, but there’s an exception to every rule.

Doran’s character development was excellent. Due to his profession, my first impression of him was of someone who was incredibly skilled at what he did but whose personality was a little flat. While it took a little while to get to know him better, I couldn’t have been more wrong about that! There were so many layers to his personality that weren’t apparent at first. I’m glad I kept reading and got to know him better.

Intellectually, I knew that wandering around in a forest during a thunderstorm is dangerous, but I’d never spent much time thinking of the many reasons why this is true. It was fascinating to read the long list of reasons why Doran’s travelling through this rough terrain so carefully even though he was at the peak of his physical and mental fitness. These facts were shared in so much detail for reasons I’ll leave up to other readers to discover for themselves.

This was the second story I’ve read from this author so far, and I’m just as impressed with his work as I was the first time around. Mr. Cross has a knack for coming up with plot twists that are as exciting as they are clever. He has a marvellous imagination and knows exactly how to use it to surprise his audience. Based on how much I’ve enjoyed Mr. Cross’ work, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of his stuff in the future.

If you haven’t read any of Mr. Cross’ work yet, The Storm is the perfect place to start.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, Alex Cross, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Historical, Self-Published, Short Stories

July 8, 2021 · 1:00 am

Sweet Sleuthing: A Review of Junkyard

Title: Junkyard (a Fractured Stars Novella)

Author: Lindsay Buroker

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 5, 2019

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery

Length: 81 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blurb:

McCall Richter works as a skip tracer, tracking down criminals, con men, and people who stop making payments on their fancy new spaceships.

Her job description says nothing about locating vast quantities of stolen maple syrup, but thanks to her helpful new android employee, she finds herself tramping through a “sugar house” on a frosty moon full of suspicious characters. The only witness to the crime? The junkyard dog next door.

Junkyard is a stand-alone novella set two years before Fractured Stars.

Review:

Talk about a sticky situation!

It only took me a few scenes to find McCall endearing. She was an independent person who knew exactly what she wanted out of life. I was intrigued by the quirkier aspects of her personality, too, and was eager to get to know her better. The short introduction to her was more than enough to whet my appetite for more from this character and series.

I would have liked to see more time spent developing the mystery elements of the plot. The basic structure of it was there, but it was so simplistic that I didn’t have to put much effort into sorting everything out at all. There was a lot of space here to add nuance to the question of what happened to the maple syrup and who might have been responsible for the theft of it. This was the only thing preventing me from giving this tale a higher rating.

Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that showcased McCall’s relationships with Scipio and the other non-human creatures she spent a lot of time around, especially given how much she struggled to relate to other humans at times. It was marvellous to see her relax and enjoy the company of a select few companions who understood her so well. I’d love to see more of this later on in this series if it happens to be included there.

Junkyard would be a good read for fans of both the science fiction and mystery genres.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2010s, Autism, Book Reviews, Canadian, Canadian Authors, Lindsay Buroker, Mystery, Novella, Science Fiction, Self-Published

July 1, 2021 · 1:00 am

A Review of This Time Around – A Canadian Werewolf Story

Title: This Time Around – A Canadian Werewolf Story

Author: Mark Leslie

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: February 16, 2013

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 70 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blurb:

Caught Between the Moon and New York City

Being a werewolf isn’t all about howling at the moon.

Or running carelessly through boundless fields feeling the wind in your fur.

Not when you live in the most populous city in the US.

For Michael Andrews, a Canadian living in Manhattan and afflicted with lycanthropy, there are odd side effects to being a werewolf in the middle of a bustling metropolis.

Such as waking up naked in Battery Park with absolutely no memory of the night before as a wolf and trying to figure out why there is a bullet hole in his leg.

Just another day in the life of a man living with the odd side effect of his werewolf affliction.

(This 10,000 word short story is the original short story written by Mark Leslie that eventually inspired the full length Mark Leslie Novel: A Canadian Werewolf in New York)

Review:

Content warning: blood and brief violence. I will briefly mention the former in my review.

If you think you know what it’s like to be a werewolf, think again.

Humour wasn’t necessarily something I was expecting to find when I began reading about Michael’s adventures here, but it was exactly what he and I both needed. Some of the scenes were subtly humorous in ways that nodded at Canadian culture. While they certainly had universal appeal as well, it was nice to see the author acknowledge his character’s background like that.

The only thing that held this story back from a much higher rating were the typos in it. I can ignore the occasional grammatical or punctuation error, but they happened so often here that I felt compelled to mention them. With another round of editing, this would have easily been a five-star read for me. I loved everything else about it.

This was such a unique take on werewolves. The plot showed how Michael coped after waking up naked and covered in blood in a park after spending his night in his wolf form. Obviously, that’s not the ideal way to start anyone’s day, and somehow things only became more complicated for him from that point. I was immediately sucked into his quest for clothing and, eventually, answers about what happened to him the night before. The author went into the perfect amount of detail about what this sort of experience is like for a shifter and how many different things they must consider as soon as they revert to their human form.

If you enjoy lycanthropy fiction, definitely do check out This Time Around – A Canadian Werewolf Story.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Canada, Canadian, Canadian Authors, Fantasy, Lycanthropy, Mark Leslie, Science Fiction, Self-Published, Shifters, Short Stories, Werewolves

June 24, 2021 · 1:00 am

Unsettling Art: A Review of 300 Down

Title: 300 Down

Author: Keith Minnion

Publisher: White Noise Press

Publication Date: January 21, 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary

Length: 11 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

Arthur Hubbard just purchased another painting for his NYC art gallery: an Expressionist portrait of a red-headed woman in a lurid green dress. He already owns two others, all different paintings, all by different artists, but the subject, the redhead in a green dress, is the same. Why is Arthur so compelled to seek out more paintings, more portraits, of her? The most important question, however, is: why is she haunting him?

Review:

Content warning: Infidelity and suicide. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

If you love unsettling art, keep reading.

There’s nothing like staring at a painting of what appears to be ordinary scene only to feel a chill run down your spine as you gaze upon it. Arthur’s obsession with the paintings of the red-haired woman wearing a green dress he kept finding only intensified over time. The more it bothered him, the stronger my curiosity grew to find out what it was about this woman that made it impossible for him to ignore her.

This is a minor criticism of something I otherwise enjoyed reading quite a bit, but I did wonder why Arthur kept collecting paintings that were clearly causing him emotional distress. Given his employment in the art industry, it seemed like it would have been pretty easy for him to sell them and therefore not have to see them every day. There were a few tantalizing hints about why he decided not to go this route. I do wish he’d been more straightforward about his reasoning there.

The ending was perfect. Without giving away spoilers, I loved the way the audience was expected to come up with some of our own theories about what happened next while still providing enough resolution for the conflict that I felt satisfied by how it was all wrapped up. Arthur struck me as the sort of man who expected those around him to do their own fair share of mental work like analyzing clues, so I was glad to see this pattern continue until the final scene. I will keep hoping for a sequel, though!

300 Down made me shudder in a good way.

One Look Back: A Review of During the Dance

Title: During the Dance

Author: Mark Lawrence

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: July 4, 2014

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical

Length: 9 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Blurb:

A story of love, loss, and the dance in between. Absolutely not a romance.
A short story about a child with a gift for seeing past the world.

Review:

Content warning: Death of a child. I will not be discussing it in my review.

Memories are the gateway to the past.

The writing itself was lovely. Without wandering into spoiler territory as it would be easy to do for something of this length, this was set in the narrator’s past as well as his present. He glided between them effortlessly, and his descriptions of his early childhood memories in a low-income but nurturing family often made me smile. There were some hints about exactly when this was set, but I appreciated the fact that the author left the precise decade up to interpretation. That along with the poetic framing of the scenes made it feel timeless in the best possible interpretation of that word.

Unfortunately, there were several tantalizing and important clues that were never developed. While I’d certainly understand if some of them were left up to the reader’s imagination due to how young the narrator was when the earliest events of this tale took place, it was confusing for me as a reader to not have enough information to put everything together. I spent most of these nine short pages convinced that the things the child was seeing were a warning or threat of some kind because of how often they seemed to appear right before something bad happened. It was perplexing to never get confirmation or denial that this theory might be the right one. This would be a great jumping-off point if the author ever decides to write a sequel.

I appreciated what this story had to say about grief and loss. While the first pangs do tend to ebb with time, there is no expiration date on those emotions. Sometimes they can pop up again years later when something unexpectedly stirs up an old, half-forgotten memory. Mr. Lawrence did well at showing how suddenly these moments can happen and how they affect someone who wasn’t planning to spend their day reliving the past.

Yes, this review is a bit vaguer than my usual fare, but During the Dance really is something that should be leapt into without any spoilers in advance. If anything I wrote here tickles your fancy, I’d recommend reading it for yourself and coming up with your own conclusions.

Placid Revelations: A Review of The Lake

Title: The Lake

Author: Tananarive Due

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: August 11, 2011

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Contemporary

Length: 21 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

A free short story taken straight from the pages of THE MONSTER’S CORNER, an all original anthology from some of today’s hottest supernatural writers, featuring stories from the monster’s point of view.

In THE LAKE, Abbie LeFleur, a lifetime Bostonian, who hides her scales, webbed feet, and an incredible hunger for people, has relocated to Graceville to start her life anew when she sets her eyes on a young student in her English class.

Review:

Every town has its own unique way of doing things.

Abbie’s character development was well done, especially given the short length of this piece. I loved picking out new clues about how she was changing as she adjusted to her new job and home. Sometimes they were subtle, but they always made sense given who she’d been in the beginning.

There was one small thing I never understood about this story, and it had to do with the way the citizens of Graceville reacted to a new person moving there. In my experience, secrets are nearly always quickly exposed in small towns whether they belong to the newcomer or those who were born there. It didn’t make sense to me that Abbie could have lived there for as long as she did without anyone stopping by to welcome her and give her advice. Whether or not this character would heed their warning was an entirely different manner, but I struggled to understand why it was never given in the first place.

The ending made me shudder. While this was firmly rooted in the horror genre, but it wasn’t bloody or gory at all. Instead, the author relied on hints about what might happen next to frighten her audience. I love this sort of horror and had a wonderful time imagining what a sequel might be like. If the author ever writes it, I’ll read it for sure!

The Lake is a solid summer read for anyone who enjoys psychological horror.

Category Archives: Science Fiction and Fantasy

A Review of Lux Terra – An Origin Story

A Calculated Risk: A Review of Go Outside

Second Chances: A Review of The Ghost of Beth’s Mother

Corporate Space Race: A Review of Loss Leader

A Muddy Quest: A Review of The Storm

Sweet Sleuthing: A Review of Junkyard

A Review of This Time Around – A Canadian Werewolf Story

Unsettling Art: A Review of 300 Down

One Look Back: A Review of During the Dance

Placid Revelations: A Review of The Lake

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