Tag Archives: Self-Published

Gardening Woes: A Review of Tomato Dreams

Book cover for Tomato Dreams by P.B. Cannon. Image on cover is a rustic painting of tomatoes growing on a row of tomato plants in a garden. Oddly enough, there are several colourful fish swimming between the plants. Maybe they’re underwater? Title: Tomato Dreams

Author: P.B.Cannon

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 10, 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Humour

Length: 34 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Red has planted her very first vegetable garden. She is tending it when she makes a surprising discovery: fish are growing on her tomatoes. With the help of friends that are… let’s just say they are as unusual as Red, she sets out to learn why this has happened – and why flocks of birds are trying to steal the fish.

(Set in the universe of Cady and Sam, a short story series about werewolves and other paranormals.)

Content Warning: Pregnancy

Review:

Even paranormal creatures need downtime.

Imagine finding fish swimming around your tomato plants! I chuckled at that image in the first scene and couldn’t wait to learn more about why this happened and how the characters were going to react to it. Gardening can be unpredictable for sure, but generally one doesn’t find such bizarre changes to their crops from one day to the next.  I don’t want to give away spoilers by going into too much detail about what was actually going on here, but I thought it was a great way to draw new readers in and help us care about these characters and the silly things they sometimes experience.

As much as I enjoyed the leisurely pace of Red’s life, I did find myself wishing for more conflict to keep my interest levels high. It could have been something as simple as a thunderstorm or a brief argument with a grumpy neighbour. High stakes are not necessary here, but I would have happily gone with a much higher rating if Red had faced a few more challenges as she tried to figure out where all of those fish came from.

Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that explore what magic is and isn’t capable of doing in this universe. This is something that can shift dramatically from one story to the next one in the fantasy genre, so I always approach these explanations with an open mind and with as few assumptions about what should be happening as possible. It was interesting to see how this author described the benefits and limitations of magic in her world, and I wouldn’t mind learning more about it in the future.

This was a standalone tale in a series.

Tomato Dreams made me smile.

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A Review of The Kingdom in the Middle

Book cover for Kingdom in the Middle (Stories of Lives in Crisis) by Nadi Abdi. Image on cover shows a computer-generated drawing of five mansions that are of equal distances to each other. Each mansion has a road that leads to a smaller house in the centre of this image. Title: The Kingdom in the Middle (Stories of Live in Crisis)

Author: Nadi Abdi

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: May 13, 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Historical

Length: 20 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

The wish that killed five kingdoms. From wishes gone wrong to dreams turned to nightmares, these short stories reflect the desperation that comes with being a human in almost inhumane situations. A drained and exploited kingdom wishing to be free. A loved one who no longer loves you but won’t admit it. A child looking for one moment’s peace in a cruel and chaotic home. A spouse and an immigrant who only wish that promises be kept. They find reprieve in the unlikeliest of places, including in the arms of death itself.

Content Warning: Death. I will not discuss it in my review.

Review:

Be careful what you wish.

Fans of W.W. Jacob’s The Monkey’s Paw might have already guessed what this tale is about as the two share certain similarities. Knowing the plot twists wasn’t as important as following the king as he attempted to make the lives of his subjects easier. It was a noble goal that I wholeheartedly supported and hoped he’d accomplish.

The ending was a bit of a letdown given how abrupt it was. I was okay with the fact that it wasn’t as happy as I hoped it would be, but I also wished the author had spent more time explaining why the king had developed his special power that kicked the storyline into motion and what would happen to his kingdom after the final scene. There was so much more that could have been done with this premise, and I would have happily gone with a higher rating if it had been given additional time to develop and explain why this world worked the way that it did.

I liked the way this story nudged readers to consider every possible outcome of the decisions we make in life, from the ordinary to the unlikely. These scenes when this truly felt like a fairy tale because of how indirectly it made its point and how much it trusted the reader to connect what I thought were fairly obvious causes and effects. Yes, I know that might sound like a little of a contradiction, but it makes sense within the context of something that wants readers to think a little but also doesn’t make it too difficult to understand what’s going on.

The Kingdom in the Middle was thought provoking.

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A Review of The Core Directive

Book cover for The Core Directive by Lyam Lockwood & Steven Nimocks. Image on cover shows a side profile of a human-like face looking to the right. it’s grey and looks computer generated. The back of the head and part of the cheek and neck is dissolving into computer code. Title: The Core Directive

Author: Lyam Lockwood & Steven Nimocks

Publisher: Three Notch Publishing

Publication Date: January 11, 2025

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 37 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

In a world where every action is monitored and every decision is calculated, compliance is the measure of success. His task is straightforward: ensure that the system’s core directive—absolute stability—is upheld. But when discrepancies in the data begin to surface and compliance ratings fluctuate unpredictably, he finds himself drawn into a deeper mystery. What is the true nature of the system he’s sworn to protect? And why does it feel like something—or someone—is watching him more closely than ever?

Content Warning:

Review:

Perfection is possible.

Writing this in the form of journal entries was a creative flourish that isn’t used as often as I think it should be these days, so kudos to the authors for approaching storytelling from this perspective. I was drawn into the question about what was really going on immediately and couldn’t wait to see which clues might be shared next. This wasn’t quite a traditional mystery, but it had elements of that genre that worked beautifully with a narrator who didn’t always know which pieces of information were going to be important in the future or that a human might interpret slightly – or even wildly – differently than they would

Additional world building would have made this an easier read for me. I struggled to understand some of the things the narrator was saying about how this society was set up due to how many euphemisms were used for what happened to people and computers when they were discovered to be flawed in unacceptable ways. While I do think I eventually figured it out, the confusion I felt in the beginning and middle interfered with my ability to enjoy the storyline because I wasn’t quite sure what was going on or which characters I should trust.

With that being said, I was intrigued by the narrator’s methodical approach to its tasks. The way it thought about the world – if, indeed, thoughts are the correct term to use for an intelligent computer – was so wildly different than how the average human would generally describe those same events that it was easy to forget this was fiction. I had glimpses of an intelligence that was nothing at all like my own, and I wanted to learn more.

The Core Directive was interesting.

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A Review of Space Snot

Book cover for Space Snot by Jonathan Antony Strickland. Image on cover shows a photo of a shirtless white man standing in a living room in front of a couch and large mirror. Grossly enough, his body is splattered with an overwhelming amount of green snot. Title: Space Snot

Author: Jonathan Antony Strickland

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 1, 2019

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror

Length: 12 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A man gets hit in the head by a meteorite. Then things get a little weird! Friday was the day when a meteorite was shot through my head… Yet here I am! Why? Why did I not die? You may say that I shouldn’t question, say I should consider myself lucky! But the fact is, I don’t!

Content Warning:

Review:

Silliness is underrated.

This is one of those cases where having two narrators in a short story is not only a great idea but makes the execution of a humorous plot line a thousand times better than it would have been if readers had only gotten to know what happened from one point of view instead. Seriously, go read this and see how Mr. Strickland developed both voices and gave them unique speaking patterns and habits that made it so effortless to switch from one of them to the other, sometimes as often as a single sentence at a time. Kudos for pulling this off! It isn’t easy, but it’s so rewarding for a reader when it does happen.

The ending left something to be desired in my opinion. While the most important conflicts were resolved, there weren’t a lot of details about how they were wrapped up or what might happen to the characters next. I’m the sort of reader who likes to imagine what happens next, so even in cases where a sequel isn’t warranted I still like to have a few clues to work with there. It wasn’t quite a cliffhanger ending, but it was vague enough that I felt a bit dissatisfied.

Don’t let the horror genre tag scare you off if you’re not generally a fan of such things. The occasionally gross moments didn’t involve any blood, and they were greatly overshadowed by how playful and wacky this tale was. Sometimes it felt like something written for a middle grade audience instead of an adult one as far as the themes and execution of plot twists played out, although I do believe this was actually intended for adults.

Space Snot made me  shudder, laugh, cringe, and shake my head almost simultaneously. This is a fun read for people who want something zany. 

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A Review of The Occurrence at Boyd Boone’s House

Book cover for The Occurrence at Boyd Boone’s House by Nadi Abdi. Image on cover shows several illuminated skyscrapers glowing at night. These buildings are casting beautiful reflections in the calm lake water next to the downtown of this city. Title:  The Occurrence at Boyd Boone’s House (The Demon Cleanser, #0.5)

Author: Nadi Abdi

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: June 11, 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 38 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

The magician may go to prison, but beefing with a superpower is forever!!! Set months before the events in Power of the People and a couple years after the arrest and conviction of Demon Commander Boyd Boone, Lillas and her demon-hunting Triumvirate are called to Boone’s house to investigate tales of strange noises and sightings of people inside. Police have also called in help from the local magician family, the Drays. Whatever Boone was into may have been unbelievable, but it wasn’t impossible.

Demon hunters, demon knights, vampires, and vampire-hunting magicians have gathered here today to make sure nothing goes wrong. But with a mix like that, how could anything go right? This is the tale of how Lillas was banned from Boyd’s house after going off on her own, then turning on her own with a power no one knew she had. In her defense, she didn’t know what she was doing. Also in her defense, Boyd was doing a lot of things he had no business doing. Note, the conviction. They may have found where (some of) the bodies were buried, but murder wasn’t the only thing going on in here.

Lillas is a powerful human, made to hunt demons and those to consort with them. Boyd was one of her most powerful opps, and one of those who consorts with demons. He wasn’t home, but the monster still was. Like his ghost was hanging around. Note: he was still very much alive. (Not her idea.) They did tell her not to snoop. But she was the daughter of a detective. What were her other options? All of that to say, what happened that day may not have been foreseen, but could have been avoided had they listened when she said, “I don’t wanna go to that man’s house!” but slightly more explicitly. Peer pressure. Not even once!

Review:

Normal is a relative term.

Some of the most memorable scenes were the ones that focused on how interpersonal politics affected everything from how magic was used to how information was collected. That is to say, who one knew in this world and how strong their relationships were with each other was often just as or even more important than what anyone’s special powers were. This is something that can range from helpful to frustrating in real life, but no matter how it affected the characters it added a layer of reality to their struggles that I don’t see enough of in the fantasy genre. It struck me as much closer to the truth of what our world would be like if we really did have magical beings running around.

I had trouble keeping track of all of the characters because of how quickly they were introduced. As interested as I was in the storyline itself, this did make reading it more challenging it than I wished it could have been. If the plot had focused on fewer people and saved the rest of them to be introduced in book one of the series, I would have happily given it a higher rating as there were so many other things I enjoyed about these adventures.

The world building was complex and fascinating. Sometimes only a sentence or two was used to describe something, but those brief moments gave me the impression that they were barely skimming the surface of what this series had to offer. I had enough information to understand what was going on while still knowing there was plenty of ground to cover if I were to dive deeper in this universe. It’s hard to strike that balance in a short story, so kudos to the author for pulling it off!

The Occurrence at Boyd Boone’s House was action-packed. 

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A Review of Child of the Sea

Book cover for Child of the Sea by Elvira Dahl. Image on cover shows a young child with wet hair swimming in the ocean on an overcast day. The scene is grey and looks cold. Title: Child of the Sea

Author: Elvira Dahl

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: August 15, 2022

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary

Length: 53 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

I’d had the dream for as long as I could remember: I’m standing on the edge of the jetty, under a steel gray sky, looking out over the inlet. Watching the waves crash against the shallow reef out in the bay. There’s a large, submerged rock in that spot, and in my dream, someone is standing out there, waist-deep in the water. A dark silhouette perfectly still among the waves. I know it’s watching me. It’s been watching me since I was a kid.” When Vendela arrives at her seaside childhood home to look after it while her mother’s away, she realizes that something’s not right – with the place, with her mom, even with herself. She makes a series of chilling discoveries that make her question everything. What do the recurring nightmares mean? Where has her mother gone? And who is the creature from the bay that’s haunted Vendela all her life? Child of the Sea is a dark fantasy/mystery story inspired by tales from nordic folklore.

Content Warning: Excema, drowning, and a brief reference to a possible rape. I will not go into detail about these topics in my review.

Review:

The ocean is full of mysteries.

I try to prioritize reviewing books that match the seasons, but that’s a little more difficult in the middle of summer given how much less common it is for the speculative fiction I typically read to be set on a warm, sunny day when the world often feels cheerful. There are exceptions, of course, and I was pleased to discover that this was one of them. While it isn’t set during summer, the beach is one of the most summer-friendly settings and the sound of crashing waves is something that makes just about any scene better in my opinion. The setting continued to surprise me as I kept reading, eager to find out exactly what it was about Vendela’s visit to her childhood home that was so unnerving for her.

It would have been helpful to have more context clues about which Nordic myth was being referenced in this tale. While I have a theory about which one it might have been, not knowing for sure was distracting and a little disappointing given how important this information was for understanding the cliffhanger ending that otherwise didn’t quite make sense for me as a reader. As much as i wanted to select a higher rating, this issue prevented me from doing so.

While there were definitely horror elements in the storyline, this was not at all gory or gross. Instead, it built up suspense and dread as Vendela discovered layer upon layer of things that weren’t quite right about her mother’s habits, life, and normally messy seaside cottage. This is the sort of horror I am drawn to because of how many parallels I can make between it and real life, say, when one visits a place they once knew intimately that has changed so much it feels slightly wrong even if you can’t necessarily put your finger on why you’re feeling that emotion at first. Maybe it’s too quiet, for example, or there are other details about it that are slightly but also jarringly different from previous memories of it.

Child of the Sea was intriguing.

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A Review of The Merlin

Book cover for The Merlin by Benjamin Parsons. Image on cover shows a drawing of a shirtless white man sitting on a rock. There is a hawk just about to land on his outstretched hand, and he is looking thoughtfully at the bird. The bird’s wings are still outstretched as it flies the last few inches to the human. Title: The Merlin

Author: Benjamin Parsons

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 9, 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Historical

Length: 58 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Down-to-earth falconer Rowland is determined to marry his childhood sweetheart Rowena, just when her life is turned upside down by bereavement, illness and debt. A strange old jeweller forges the perfect engagement ring for the proposal, but Rowland refuses to pay the unusual price the jeweller demands. From that moment on, Rowland is drawn further and further into the realm of the supernatural, as everything he loves slips away from him. Part of the collection The Green Man and Other Stories.

Content Warning: Life-threatening illness and death. I will not discuss these themes in my review.

Review:

Everything has a price.

The most memorable scenes for me were the ones that took place when the jeweller was creating the special ring and then negotiating the price of it with Rowland. This happened early on in the storyline, so I feel comfortable talking about it in more depth here. There were so many magical  moments in those scenes that made me perk up and wonder where the plot might evolve from there. It was also interesting to see some of the protagonist’s personality quirks emerge during the course of that day as this was an excellent opportunity to show what he was like when he felt negative emotions like boredom or frustration. Wondering what the jeweller was up to also piqued my interest as the effort he put into creating the ring didn’t quite match what the protagonist or I knew about how jewelry is made.

I would have liked to see more character development for Rowland. Normally, I’d expect the protagonist in a tale like this one to have some glaring personality flaw that overshadowed his or her common sense at least on occasion, but this wasn’t what happened. Yes, Rowland could be a little too stubborn at times, but he had a good heart and was genuinely trying to do the right thing not only for himself but also for everyone around him even if his choices didn’t always create the desired effects. The ending didn’t quite sit right with me because of how much I liked Rowland. If there was a lesson to be learned here, I struggled to know what it might be as those scenes felt more like something that would occur in real life than in the fantasy genre.

One of the things I appreciate the most about Mr. Parson’s stories is how willing he is to take risks and bend the rules of the genres he chooses. This means that I’m never quite sure what to expect when I return to his work, whether that’s related to plot twists or which characters might get to live happily ever after among many other subjects. It makes the reading process exciting and is why I keep reviewing him here. He really knows how to keep his audience guessing.

This tale is part of a collection that does not need to be read in any particular order.

The Merlin was thought provoking.

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A Review of Nude Descending the Stairs Forever

 Book cover for Nude Descending the Stairs Forever by Shoyu Monsieur de la Défense Robotique:. Image on cover shows a white metal or plastic humanoid robot who has breasts bending over and dancing gracefully. Title: Nude Descending the Stairs Forever

Author:Shoyu Monsieur de la Défense Robotique

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: April 13, 2025

Genres: Science Fiction, Psychological Horror, Contemporary

Length: 9 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

When art historian Alix returns to a forgotten wing of the museum, she expects dust and silence—not the fractured echoes of herself or an AI installation gone strangely aware. Nude Descending a Staircase (Version 3.0) was once a dazzling tribute to motion and form. Now it glitches, watches, and beckons. As Alix is drawn deeper into the haunted corridors and corrupted code of the museum, she uncovers a terrifying truth: the installation isn’t just sentient—it’s a dam holding back the collapse of simulated realities. And it’s dying. To preserve the boundary between simulation and chaos, someone must take its place. A surreal blend of speculative horror, philosophical sci-fi, and aesthetic wonder, Nude Descending the Stairs Forever explores identity, recursion, and the high cost of consciousness.

Content Warning: Claustrophobia.

Review:

What is the purpose of art? Think carefully about your answer before reading this book or this review.

The question of whether there was genuine artificial intelligence at work in this piece kept my interest levels high. I normally do not feel interested in A.I. themes, especially if they’re used to described machines that can’t actually think for themselves, but this approach to the topic was well done and thought provoking. The questions it raised about how art can affect the viewer and what creators owe to their creations were complex and would require a book of their own to fully explore, but even a small taste of them was enough to keep me thinking as I wrote my review. That’s exactly the sort of reaction I hope for when I read science fiction!

I would have liked to see more time spent exploring why the installation was breaking down and how that may affect the characters in that work of art in the future. Knowing this information was important for plot reasons that I can’t go into a lot of detail here for spoiler reasons, but I never felt like I had quite enough information about how this was all supposed to work even though I loved the chilling descriptions of what was happening in the art gallery. Had this been explained better, I would have happily gone for a full five-star rating.

Alix made some decisions during the course of this tale that most people would find highly unusual, so I was thrilled to see how much effort was put into explaining her thought processes and the consequences of all of the choices available to her. I felt like I understood her perspective well and knew why she made the decisions that she did. Since that’s an important thing to have when reading about characters who make choices that cannot be undone, at least for me, I was satisfied by how it was all explained.

Nude Descending the Stairs Forever sent a tingle down my spine.

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A Review of A Fool’s Revenge

Book cover for A Fool’s Revenge by Jonathan Antony Strickland. Image on cover shows a tyrannosaurs Rex opening its mouth and looking at the audience. The dinosaur is light purple and, I assume, is meant to represent a toy or a museum exhibit that has coloured lights pointed at it. Title: A Fool’s Revenge 

Author: Jonathan Antony Strickland

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: February 22, 2013

Genres: Fantasy, Historical

Length: 12 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A bitter hate filled wizard seeks revenge against one who has cheated him of his rightful place to rule the city of Lardenmuk. But the question is how was he cheated? His only clue lies within one unknown word. Maferentuss!

Content Warning: Jealousy and death.

Review:

Revenge is a dish best served when others least expect it.

I liked the descriptions of how wizards are assigned to towns, villages and cities and why so many of them have a strong preference for the latter. This isn’t something that I’ve seen covered in the fantasy genre before, but I have sometimes wondered about how people with magical abilities decide who is going to look after which community.  Obviously, it would do little good to have ten wizards in one city while the outlying villages remain unprotected from anything that might try to attack them.

This short story would have benefitted from more world building. I struggled to understand the gaps in Zarkon’s knowledge when it came to what wizards were and weren’t capable of doing, especially since he was described as someone who was well-read and who had studied his craft in detail. While I wouldn’t expect him to know everything about his profession, especially anything esoteric,  it struck me as odd that he didn’t seem to be aware of what appeared to be knowledge that was fairly easy to obtain.

The twist ending made me chuckle. It fit the themes and mood of this tale nicely, and it also provided a little comic relief in what had otherwise been a pretty tense scene. There’s something to be said for being surprised by a humorous moment just when one least expects it! As much as I wish I could go into greater detail here, this really is something that other readers should get to experience for themselves without any additional hints about what is to come.

A Fool’s Revenge was creative. 

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A Review of Anatomy of a Violin

Title: Anatomy of a Violin Book cover for Anatomy of a Violin by J.M. Taylor. Image on cover shows a drawing of someone - possibly the Statue of Liberty? - wearing a blindfold and a long, loose garment. They are standing in front of a yellow background and leaning back as they play the violin. The person looks like they are made of metal and painted with a shimmery metallic paint that looks blue, green, purple, and red depending on which portion of the body you’re looking at.

Author: J.M. Taylor

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: May 8, 2025

Genres: Horror, LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Contemporary

Length: 37 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

A musician finds the ultimate prize in Prague – an instrument that can make anyone sound like a virtuoso. But his obsession with the violin threatens not only his relationship but his sanity.

Content Warning: Murder.

Review:

Everything  can be fixed with a little elbow grease and patience.

The unnamed protagonist was a complex and fascinating man. I liked the fact that his flaws weren’t superficial but instead had real effects on both his life and the plot. That was exactly the right choice for this piece, and I commend the author for being willing to take the risk that readers might not like this character. This is something I wish happened more often in fiction as it really adds depth to a character, especially in cases like this one when the reader is supposed to be weirded out by what is happening.

I would have liked to see a little more world building in this piece. Specifically, I’m thinking about the origins of the violin and how it was passed around among various owners over the centuries. The explanation for how this all happened made sense, but having more details would have helped those scene come alive in my imagination as I read. There was so much more that could have been done with them to accelerate the horror elements of the plot, and I would have gone for a full five star rating if that had happened. This is something I’m saying as someone who otherwise loved this tale.

Honestly, it was easy to see where the plot was headed early on, but this wasn’t the sort of tale that needs to surprise a reader in order to entertain them. What made it so interesting was taking note of what the protagonist had and hadn’t figured out about his incredible new violin. He was so enamoured with the workmanship and beauty of it that nothing else could grab his attention. I’ll leave it up to other readers to discover what he was missing in those moments as they ponder whether they, too, might have made the same choices he did.

Anatomy of a Violin was delightfully scary.

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