Novelnaut

Exploring the Depths of Novels and Writing

Afterthoughts
By: Lawrence Block

Afterthoughts is an interesting compilation. It is, essentially, a collection of many of the afterwards’ that Block wrote for many of his novels and stories. But, what it accomplishes is a bit more. It serves as a sort of memoir of Block’s writing career, with notes about where he lived while writing the story, what his thoughts were on the story, and even the original editors and publishers. The informal, correspondence style that the afterwards are written in makes it an easy read and I quickly read through most of it.

I haven’t read any of Block’s actual stories, so some of the references were completely lost on me. There were few of those, however, so I was able to read through it and get the information that I think Block intended for us to get. And, that, is that his career was far from simple, and it certainly wasn’t the career of an instant bestselling author. Few of us aspiring authors will be that instant bestselling author, so it’s heartening to read the history of someone like Block who wrote his way up the authorial ladder to be the recognized crime fiction author that he is today.

Don’t expect to get any great tips on becoming a successful writer, except that you just have to keep writing and selling. Do expect a great story, through a collection of afterwards that weren’t really intended as a coherent story, but did just fine as one.

Nascence: 17 Stories that failed and what they taught me

By: Tobias Buckell

When most authors have a story that failed, they bury it somewhere deep in a drawer or closet somewhere.  What they most assuredly don’t do, is bring it out into the daylight and publish it for everybody to read.  Thank goodness Buckell isn’t one of those authors.  Nascence is an incredible journey through 17 of Buckell’s short stories that failed.  For each story in the collection he gives a short foreward explaining what it is that he was trying to do, and how the story failed.

What I found most interesting, is that for several of the stories, he has a second and third attempt at the same story and we can easily see how Buckell’s writing improved from one to the next as well as how the story evolved along with it.  It’s not often that we, as readers and authors, get that kind of view into the progress of an idea.  I won’t comment on the writing itself here, as Buckell does plenty of that (sometimes a bit too critically, in my opinion) in the collection, itself.

If you’re a fan of Buckell, you won’t be disappointed by this venture into his older works and the evolution of some of the elements that appear in the Xenowealth series.  If you’re an author, I think this belongs on the digital bookshelf right along-side the “how-to-write” books you’ve already got.  It’s a rare peek behind the curtains of short story creation and author evolution.

Pick it up from Buckell’s online store, or at Amazon.

Transfection

By: David Gaughran

Tranfection is a short story with lots of plot packed into it.  In fact, I think it could have easily been novella length or longer, and maybe one day Gaughran will do that for us.  It’s a story about a scientist that works with Genetically Modified foods, and a discovery he makes during his research.  I can’t say much more about the plot without giving half the story away, so I’ll stop there.  Gaughran has a talent for creating that feeling of suspense that is so very necessary in the short story format.  He also has a talent for the unwritten plot.  Several times in the story, there are parts of the plot that weren’t expressed, but that came through just as clear as if they had been through the way that Gaughran delivered the response to those plot points.  It’s an old-school science fiction story that reminds me of the stories we used to get through Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.

It’s a great read, and well worth the affordable price on Amazon.

Mercury Rises

By: Robert Kroese

Disclaimer: I was sent this book as a review copy.  As is my policy with all review copies, I don’t review them unless I liked them in some way.  If I don’t like them, I don’t review them.  Simple as that.

Mercury Rises is the second book in a series of books about an angel named Mercury.  He’s a bit of a wayward angel.  Down on his luck, you might say, eternally.  I haven’t read the first book in the series, Mercury Falls, but I don’t think that’s actually necessary in order to understand what’s going on in Mercury Rises, as Kroese does a good job of filling in the backstory without it becoming intrusive to the story.  This was one of those books that I had a hard time getting into.  Part of that, I think, was the ensemble cast that took some introducing.  Maybe that would have been lessened by having read the first book.  Maybe not.  Quickly, though, as the plot lines began to form, and the action picked up, I was drawn into the story and it read fairly quickly.  The writing isn’t the best I’ve ever read, but it is far from the worst.  And, don’t let that keep you from reading the book.  Especially if you’re a fan of authors like Terry Pratchett.  I found the story and humor in the book to be very similar to Pratchett’s.  Of course, I’m not a big fan of Pratchett, so that means that I am not really a big fan of this book either.  More a problem with taste than with anything else, and entirely my fault rather than the book or author.

One other small reader beware here.  The book is about an angel.  As you can probably imagine, there are other angels in the book, and some biblical themes.  And, it’s a satirical humor that Kroese uses.  There were at least two places in the book where my more Christian leanings were a bit off-put by the way the story went.  But, like I said, it’s a satirical piece, so remember that and it isn’t as bad as all that.  Fair warning though.

Overall, the book was decent.  Like I said, I’m not a big fan of similar books, so this one didn’t do all that much for me, but I can see fans of this type of fiction really loving this book.  You can pick it up at Amazon.

Hal Junior: The Secret Signal

By: Simon Haynes

Hal Junior: The Secret Signal is the newest book by the author of the Hal Spacejock series of comedic science fiction novels.  It’s aimed at school age children as an introduction to the Spacejock world and is the first of many in a planned series.  Disclaimer: I was given a pre-release copy of the kindle book for reviewing purposes.

I’ve been following along as Simon Haynes wrote the book, and jumped at the opportunity to give it a read and review.  It’s a pleasant book, that reminds me a bit of some of the early books that I read in grade school.  The main character, Hal Junior, really, really wants to be a space hero like his hero Hal Spacejock.  The problem is that he’s always getting himself into a bit of trouble.  When the space station that he lives on with his parents is subject to a hijacking of sorts, and he’s challenged to be the one to save the station.

The book is a pleasant book, that will appeal to many younger school age kids.  Despite the differences in surroundings, I think they will be able to associate with Hal Junior and will be itching to have their own space suit.  I think that often times, this particular age group gets a bit ignored in favor of the middle school and high school YA group that has a bit more disposable income at the ready for movies and such, but the younger kids need heroes too!

The Secret Signal is a very promising start to a series that will give them the heroes they need, and a tickle to their imaginations as well.

Spell Bound

By: Kelley Armstrong

I first read a Kelly Armstrong book last summer when I was sent a copy of Waking the Witch by the PR agency.  (Disclaimer: I was sent Spell Bound to review as well.)  I started Waking the Witch and finished it in the same day.  So, I wasn’t all that hesitant to take a stab at Spell Bound as I was pretty sure I would like it.

Spell Bound picks up almost immediately after the end of Waking the Witch with Savannah Levine recovering from the events at the end of Waking the Witch.  I again found myself immediately pulled into the story and the world that Armstrong creates in her Otherworld series.  The paranormal world never seems like something that was roughly overlain on our world, but merely something that existed all along and is merely being revealed.  The characters aren’t as fully fleshed out as I would like, but I think that’s a risk that you take when you jump into a series of books.  You miss out on a lot of backstory on the characters, so they feel a little bit less “full” than they would had you read the entire series first.  It’s not necessarily a fault of the author, but more of the medium.  Long series’ (this is book 12 in the Otherworld series) tend to have some very long drawn out plot lines that can be somewhat confusing when you haven’t read the whole thing.

The writing, throughout, is good.  It’s easy to read and flows nicely.  I can’t imagine there are too many of you who are really into paranormal fantasy that haven’t read at least a little of Armstrong’s work, but if you haven’t, you really should pick up a few of her novels.  You won’t find much better done paranormal, with more readable stories.

American Gods

By: Neil Gaiman

I think that to properly understand some of what I’m about to say, you must know my back story with this book.  Literally, years ago (at least 5-6 years), I bought a used copy of this in hardcover off of amazon.  It’s been long enough ago that I don’t even remember why I bought it.  Perhaps it was recommended through the amazon recommended engine.  Or, perhaps I read something else by Gaiman that made me want to read something further.  Whatever the case may be, I bought a copy.  When I received the copy, I flipped through the pages as I usually do, only to find that the copy that I was sent was a signed, limited edition copy.  But, I still never read it.  Sometime spring, a local Relay for Life team was having a used book sale as a fundraiser.  People bring in and donate books to be sold for $1.  Who can turn down a book sale?  Not me.  While perusing the titles, I came across a paperback copy of American Gods.  I bought it.  That way, I could carry it around and read it without worrying about damaging the signed copy that I have.  And, so, I finally read American Gods.

And, I’m so angry at myself for not having read it earlier.  American Gods is easily the best book I’ve read so far this year.  Granted, it was only the 8th book of the year, but I think that it will remain right up there at the top.  Enough gushing.  Let’s get down to the review.

The book, quite simply, is about American Gods.  It’s an incredibly interesting look at what might happen to the gods of the old world when the people who believe in them visit and move to America.  Throughout, we follow an ex-con named Shadow who gets picked up on his way home by a man called Wednesday.  From there, we learn that there is an epic battle of survival among the old gods and the new gods.  (I won’t go too much farther, as even that is a bit more spoilery than I usually care to go.)

Gaiman does an very good job of giving life to the many old (and new) gods that we encounter through the book, and makes the incredible task of tying them altogether seem effortless.  There were times when the plot slowed, but the information there was tied to the plot and made the slight plodding worth while.  This is, very much, not a suspenseful story.  At least, not in the traditional sense that you are constantly wondering what is going to happen to this character or that character, or, when will that bomb blow up.  It is, however, suspenseful in that you find yourself wondering how each of the plot points that are introduced will develop.

I thought that the book was a wonderfully put together piece of literature.  (I should note that I quickly borrowed this to Jake, and he disagrees to some degree.)  I think that it owes a great deal of that to Gaimans skill.  He has an incredible grasp of language, and prose.  A lesser author would not have been able to breath the life into this story that Gaiman did.

I don’t know where to place this book, genre wise.  In a way, it’s a piece of literary fiction.  In another, it’s a paranormal fiction novel.  Maybe it’s best being called a literary paranormal fiction?  I don’t know.  But, if you’re a reader, I think you owe it to yourself to read it.  I know I wasn’t disappointed.

The Black Prism (Lightbringer book 1)

By Brent Weeks

As with other reviews where I’ve been supplied a review copy, let me begin this one with the disclaimer.  I received a copy of this book to read and review.  I didn’t pay a dime for it, although it was on my to buy list and I would have if they hadn’t sent it to me.  In any case, they sent me a copy.  I’ve tried my very best to keep that fact from tainting my review in any way.

You can read my reviews of Weeks’ other books here.

I had truly high hopes for this book, and it didn’t disappoint.  The magic system that has been built into this story is incredible.  Truly unlike anything I’ve read before.  The descriptions of it and the mechanics of it lend it credibility and make the story believable.  There is minimal world building, but not that doesn’t detract from the book, as it is easily replaced by the deep characters that have been seeded throughout.

The plot follows a man named Gavin who is the “Prism”.  Think of him as the Pope of the magic religion here.  He’s just found out that he has a bastard son, when he ends up rescuing him from a power hungry, self proclaimed King of what was once part of the greater kingdom.  We wind deeper into the world as we meet more and more characters from Gavins present and past.

Throughout, the writing is easy and flowing.  I never found a spot where I had to make my mind slow and digest the words.  Further, it isn’t pretentious.  Weeks writes the characters as if they were real people.  Giving us an insight into their minds using language that we can both relate to and that comes through as real.

The book is very clearly meant to be  the first in a series as there is plenty of story that is felt, but that is left untold.  However, it could stand alone.  As a stand alone, the ending would leave me wanting as there are a few loose ends that are obviously going to be picked back up in the next book.  But, the major sub-plots are all finished by the last page which gives it a good ending while still leaving a bit of a cliffhanger (What’s going to happen!!!) to whet our appetites for the next book.

There are a couple of things that were extraordinarily good devices.  I’m going to attempt to give you a feel for them without being spoilery, so if you come away thinking “what was he just saying”, that’s why.  There is a plot device that is employed in the beginning of the book.  As far as plot devices go, this is probably the most important one of the book.  And somewhere around page 200, Weeks drops it on its head and punts it.  In a good way.  An incredible way, actually.  Another device that stood out to me, is the reality of the characters.  Few of them truly fit into any established “mold” for characters.  Each has his or her own quirks that make them unique to the story.  Also, unlike many books of this size (600 pages plus), it is very difficult to foresee the outcome of things.

A couple of things that kept me from giving the book as high of marks as it maybe deserves.  It was quite obviously put on the fast track to publishing.  There are several places where the editor or proofreader overlooked obvious grammatical errors.  And several places where there were extra words that just didn’t belong.  I also became slightly confused once or twice when that main plot device that gets twisted around is referred to in both the way it was and the way it is in the same paragraph or section.  I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s meant to be that way, but without the rest of the series to prove that, it merely just confused me.

Overall, the book is very much a must read.  There’s a reason that it’s a NY Times bestseller.  If you’ve read any of the night angel trilogy, by Weeks, you’ll want to read Black Prism.  It’s much better.  Which is saying something because the Night Angel books are pretty good too.