Posts Tagged novel
Vengeance From Ashes — Compelling New MilSF
Posted by Jason Cordova in Book Review on April 28, 2014
Vengeance From Ashes is the first military science fiction book from author Sam Schall in the Honor and Duty series. It’s a solid piece of storytelling, and a compelling work of fiction that will be enjoyed by any fan of MilSF.
Ashlyn Shaw was a former Marine captain now incarcerated on fabricated charges and shunted off to the deepest, darkest hole they could find: the Tarsus Penal Colony. Condemned to five years of solitary confinement and practically left for dead, Shaw is surprised when she is suddenly transferred out of the penal colony and back planet side. FleetCom (the military) wants her, though she does not know why, and until she does, she will not trust anybody.
As the story progresses, it becomes clear to the former marine that there has a been a change in the government which had locked her up and made her disappear. A former admiral who had supported her even though she had been on trial was elected on the promise of clearing the charges the captain was under, as well as reforming the government as a whole. But while Shaw is being informed of all the happenings in the two years she has been “in the dark”, an attack by unknown perpetrators occurs in the capitol. Shaw, along with members of her former unit, the “Devil Dogs”, must try and protect a senator and repel the mysterious attackers.
Sometimes when you read a story, you seem to find yourself in the middle of something grand. You get to reading, eagerly awaiting the back story to propel the novel (as a whole) forward. The only problem I had with this book is that it seems like this it is the middle section and I missed the beginning. It’s not bad, per se. It just feels like I had missed something very, very important. Once I was able to break through that sensation (about 20 pages in or so) it was smooth sailing from there.
There is plenty of suspense in the novel, and enough background action to lay down the authenticity of the Devil Dogs and what they do. In the end, however, the story is about a Marine captain doing everything in her power to protect those who love her, and those who are loyal to her.
A positive read. A–.
–Reviewed by Jason
“Open Wounds” by Brandon Ford — Dark, Twisted Fiction
Posted by Jason Cordova in Book Review on April 22, 2014
It’s not very often that I get to compare classic books to their modern brethren (and enjoy them, I guess I should add), so when I received Open Wounds by Brandon Ford, I wasn’t expecting what I got. What I’d been promised was “horror” but what I got instead was something dark, twisted, without any sort of supernatural beings in it and seemed absolutely true.
Let me reiterate: it’s billed as horror, but it could be any teenage girl’s everyday life.
That’s scary. Really, really scary.
Kate Montgomery was your ordinary 14 year old girl when her parents divorced. Her father, who started drinking, became violent one day and hit his wife, Kate’s mother. Soon afterwards, Kate is forced to move cross-country with her mother, away from the only life she has ever known, and into the old haunts and streets of her mother’s childhood neighborhood in Philadelphia.
Jobless and without any sort of training, Kate’s mother is forced to find work at a dive bar. Meanwhile, Kate struggles at school and tries to fit in. But a dark specter looms over the family past as Kate becomes very nervous and uncomfortable around her grandfather, a sullen and quiet man. This all is depressing, true, but this is all nothing compared to the Hell that awaits her when her mother brings home a new boyfriend.
Without giving too much away, I can say that Kate’s mom’s new boyfriend is a very evil man. He drags Kate and her mom down into a dark, hellish pit of despair and hopelessness, one that Kate sees but cannot escape. Her life continues to get worse and worse as every imaginable horror is heaped upon her, crushing her spirit and her psyche. She becomes a “cutter” and begins to leaves angry scars on her legs and thighs.
When I read this, I was instantly reminded of the 1971 classic Go Ask Alice. However, Open Wounds leaves little to the imagination as the reader is assaulted with the pure agony of Kate’s life, her struggle to remain human, and her loss of faith and family. It’s gritty, realistic and terribly frightening… and, quite frankly, perfect. I mean, it’s a horrifying story, but I think that’s what makes it so damned good. I don’t know from what dark, personal hell Brandon Ford dug this from, but he needs to tap into this reservoir more often. This is, by far, the best thing of his I’ve ever read.
The pacing is rock solid, not too fast, and builds steadily towards a satisfying climax. The character of Kate is empathetic, endearing, and achingly sad, and it pains the reader to see her go through all that she has to. The secondary characters are complex and chilling, even Kate’s best friend. The setting (late 70s’-early 80’s Philadelphia) seems to straddle the fence between gritty reality and a product of the author’s mind.
In the end, the story triumphs over all else, and leaves the reader thoroughly satisfied with Kate and her story. This book is a definite must-buy for any fan of the teen genre, or anyone else who likes a chilling, dark novel.
How good is it, one asks? Well, I sat down to read just one chapter before I went to bed, and ended up reading the entire book in just one setting.
Buy it. Read it. See what I’m talking about.
Grade: A
–Review by Jason
Liberty 1784 — Excellent Alternate History
Posted by Jason Cordova in Book Review on January 7, 2014
With the execution of George Washington in the Tower of London, the American rebellion has seemingly faded to nothing more than a few leftover stragglers. The Loyalists and British troops have control of nearly all of the Atlantic seaboard and the rebels have scattered westward, been imprisoned in Jamaica, or dead.
All hope is lost.
Or is it?
The spirit of rebellion and liberty lives on in Robert Conroy’s latest alternate history venture, Liberty: 1784. With a strong cast of characters from American history melded in with fictional leads, the novel sweeps you off your feet as you are uprooted from the traditional sense and slapped back into the harsh reality of a land of failed freedom.
Will Drake is a prisoner of war on board a derelict ship, the Suffolk, and is certain that he is to die soon. Half-starved, he and the few survivors on the grounded ship have been forced to hide the bodies of their deceased fellow prisoners in order to have enough food to simply survive. Will is the beneficiary for one thing, however. The British, while knowing that he was an officer in the Continental Army, do not realize that he was a spy. For that he is fortunate. He couldn’t even begin to imagine just how mush harsher his treatment would be if anyone knew the truth.
Just as he has given up all hope, however, the Suffolk begins to break apart and sink. Will is lucky and manages to grab a piece of driftwood as he makes his escape, managing to hide from any pursuers as he is swept away from the doomed derelict and further along the coast. He gets wind of a place where the spirit of the revolution lives on, a town called Liberty, and, with the help of a free man named Homer, begins to make his escape.
Meanwhile, our second intrepid hero (heroine, actually), Sarah Benton, is awaiting punishment for daring to say something negative about King George III. Locked in a jail cell with her cousin Faith, she is awaiting her punishment: a day in the stocks. However, the disgusting Sheriff Braxton (a man who would play a more villainous role in the book later) offers her a way out: pleasure him, and not be forced to spend the day in stocks. Sarah is horrified by the prospect, so Braxton taunts her more by showing her that her younger cousin is doing so in the other room with his three deputies. Sarah, a widow from the rebellion, says no again, so Braxton locks her in the stocks. Her uncle and aunt, with whom she lives with, decide that it is high-time to get out of Massachusetts and that they all need to escape to the land of the free: a mythical place called Liberty.
The pacing of the book is excellent, and the historical notes all hit perfectly. I’d read other works of the author and have generally been left wanting, but this time Conroy absolutely knocks it out of the park. I can’t recall any time when an alternate history author actually executes George Washington and forces the others of the American Revolution to the forefront. Conroy mixes a tremendous historical event and a fantastic fictional novel into one, and plays to his strengths, which are the relations between the characters. He hits hard with combat scenes, something that I was personally pleased by. Too often do I find that alt-history writers gloss over the horrors of combat so that they can write more about the potential “What If?”. Conroy tells the “What If?”, and also forces the reader to look at the ugly underbelly of the Revolution, and the other reasons which drove a bunch of colonial farmers into open rebellion against the greatest nation in the world.
I loved this book. I can’t really say anything more than that. This one hit all the right buttons for me, and I didn’t even find myself nit-picking historical details that the author missed (and I didn’t find any glaring mistakes). The writing was tight and concise, and there were very few scenes which seemed to drag. The book is available for pre-order now, with it officially going on sale March 4, 2014. If you like the works of Eric Flint or Harry Turtledove, then you will definitely enjoy Robert Conroy’s Liberty:1784.
A must buy.
—Reviewed by Jason
Clockwork Angel — A Fascinating YA Adventure
Posted by Jason Cordova in Book Review on January 15, 2013
Some young adult novels are hard to categorize in just one area alone. Such is the case with Cassandra Clare’s effort, Clockwork Angel
Tessa Gray comes from the United States to England at the behest of her brother, Nathaniel, who promises her a good job and pay. In mourning after the passing of her caretaker and aunt, Tessa arrives in London and immediately meets two elderly women, sisters by the names of Mrs. Black and Mrs. Dark. They represent their brother, that tell her, since he is unable to meet her at the time. Tessa reluctantly goes with them and immediately realizes two important things: the two sisters use magic, and that her life is in danger.
Tessa is trained in dark arts as well, though she is reluctant to do so. She learns how to change — to assume someone’s shape, form and memories — simply by touching something they once owned. As she grows stronger, she learns that she is to be given to the Magister — a man of much power and influence in the dark London magical underworld. Tessa tries to escape but is caught almost immediately. The sisters tie her up, but she struggles to escape once more — and runs into a boy, no older than she, who is trying to break in to the house.
Will is a nephilim (a descendant of “relations” between an angel and human somewhere in his family’s past) and is hunting the murderer of a girl Tessa “changed” into to please the sisters. After a brief battle with Will, Tessa and the evil sisters, Mrs. Black is slain but Tessa is knocked unconscious. She is then taken back to Will’s home, called The Institute, where she meets the other “Shadowhunters” and their allies: Brother Enoch, Charlotte, Sophie, Jessamine, Thomas, and the mysterious Jem.
Part of the allure of the story is the cross-mesh between a good steampunk story and an urban fantasy, something that the author does rather well. Her characters are all varying individuals with their own reasons and desires, while they still maintain their friendships and relationships, and don’t come off as trite cardboard cutouts of anyone else. Ms. Clare does a wonderful job with the painting of the character Jem who, despite being sick, is a very skilled nephilim and shadowhunter.
Another compelling piece of characterization comes from Tessa’s motivation: her brother Nathaniel. She is willing to do anything, and go to any lengths, to save him. The twists and turns Tessa must face and overcome throughout the length of the novel makes for a fascinating read, and while it has a few minor bumps (there are some points where the story stalls, albeit briefly), it’s a wonderful introduction to an authors works.
With a twist you don’t see coming and a betrayal you almost wish you’d seen, Clockwork Angel is sure to leave the reader pleased.
—Reviewed by Jason
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