The Best of 2013

Each year, the reviewers here at the New Podler Review of Books pick the book (or books) which we feel are the very best independently published (or small press) works. The only other requirement we have is that it was reviewed here on the blog. Here are the winners for 2013: The Bookworm: I'm going to go with Realmgolds by Mike Reeves McMillian. It's everything that a reader could want in a steampunk novel. It combines politics, innovation, social unrest and the fight for basic freedoms in a compelling story. And the books in the series are even better.

Rob: Black Book: Volume 1 by Dylan Jones, is my pick for the best of 2013. It had a cool blending of genres (Western, sci-fi, and fantasy) that you don't often see in traditionally published books. However, be aware that it's a serial novel made up of three "episodes." You'll need to buy future volumes to learn the characters' ultimate fates.

DED: It should come as no surprise that my selection for the best book of 2013 is Anne Charnock's A Calculated Life. It is an excellent character study of a young augmented woman named Jayna who works for a global trends analytical firm. Her journey of self-discovery is what makes this story. Charnock deftly bonds the reader to Jayna by granting us unfettered access to her mind, thus making us her mute confidant.

Since my review, the novel was picked up by 47 North, Amazon Publishing's speculative fiction division, and nominated for the 2013 Philip K. Dick Award.

We reviewed 24 stories last year and rejected over 170. Considering that we were closed for seven months, that's still a fair amount of submissions.

The Girl in the Photo by Wally Wood

Surgeon Robert Emmerling’s death at age 86 in The Girl in the Photo’s opening chapter serves as a catalyst for a series of discoveries by his two children. While clearing out their father’s home, David and Abbie find a memoir he had written about being stationed in Japan during the Korean War, years before he met their mother. It describes his involvement with Masami, a woman he met there. David and Abbie also turn up Masami’s photograph and a letter she had written to Dr. Emmerling after he returned to the U.S. This previously unknown episode in their father’s life raises questions for the siblings: Why did the romance end, and what happened to Masami afterward?

The novel draws the reader into this family’s story through plot elements that span past and present-day action. In the present, Abbie and David deal with their grief, pursue the truth about Masami and try to resolve dilemmas in their personal lives. But the past mingles freely in the form of frequent flashbacks to the siblings’ childhood and the memoir, whose chapters are interspersed with the main text of the novel.

During the events described in his memoir, Dr. Emmerling exhibits some of the same qualities he did while raising David and Abbie. Central to his character is the tendency to pass judgment on others. His memoir recounts Dr. Emmerling’s efforts to discourage a fellow military doctor from marrying his Japanese girlfriend. He enumerated various reasons for his objections to their marriage, such as cultural differences and the prejudice that a Japanese wife and children would be subjected to in the U.S. during the 1950s. He concluded, “Face it – marrying a Japanese woman is taking someone from a third-world country and expecting her to make it in a first-world country.”

David and Abbie’s recollections also depict a judgmental, controlling man who made his children feel inadequate. David recalls the confrontation in which he told his father that he didn’t have what it took to continue with his pre-med studies.

Dad wouldn’t let that pass. “Of course you’re good enough. You’re smart enough. You’re not trying hard enough. You’ve got to try harder.”

David looked to his mother at the other end of the dining room table for understanding and support. “I am trying! I’ve been trying all year. I just can’t do it.”

“You’re not stupid, David,” said Dad. “I refuse to believe you can’t pass second semester chemistry.”

Abbie too has memories of unsavory aspects of her father’s personality. She had been selected to perform in a school musical, but his reaction shocked Abbie, who remembers,

He said, “I understand you want to sing a duet in public with that colored student.” I didn’t know what to say. He never paid any attention to what I was doing in school. “You may not,” he announced. “I absolutely forbid it.” … I was crushed. I couldn’t believe my own father was so prejudiced. I probably said something like, ‘”Why?” He wouldn’t look at me. “I’m your father,” he said. “As long as you live in my house, you’ll do what you’re told. The subject is closed.”

On the other hand, the memoir illuminates aspects of their distant, unemotional father’s character that David and Abbie never knew existed. It reveals him to be capable of tenderness, rage and confusion – things they did not witness while growing up. Describing how he feels when he’s with Masami, Dr. Emmerling writes in his memoir,

At these moments, I feel as if I’ve briefly come truly alive. This is the only reality I crave. Not the hospital. Not the operating room. Certainly not the war and the endless train of wounded GIs. Not whatever is to come after this time – the States, a hospital affiliation, a career, a wife, children, a home, two cars, country club membership. None of that could ever be as real as this.

Further muddying the waters are flashbacks in which Dr. Emmerling unexpectedly behaved with great kindness toward those in trouble. As a result, he initially appears to the reader as a man rife with inexplicable inconsistencies. But through the shifts between present and past, the author gradually assembles the various pieces of the puzzle that is Dr. Emmerling’s life. Behavior that seemed incomprehensible earlier in the book makes sense in the context of subsequent revelations. Along with David and Abbie, the reader comes to an understanding of a complex man whose character was indelibly marked by the profound experience he had in Japan.

This novel’s greatest strength is its characterizations. Dr.Emmerling emerges as a flawed, often unlikable but fully realized human being. The reader can easily imagine how he might react in any situation. The characters of Abbie and David are also painstakingly constructed. The reader learns about their relationships, their careers, their triumphs and their disappointments. Their father’s influence reverberates in their lives, and the reader can trace his impact on their choices.

The memoir’s descriptions of Korean-War-era Japan and its denizens are richly detailed and effectively transport the reader to another time and place. In some sections of the book, however, the level of detail about Japanese culture is somewhat excessive, and readers may find their interest flagging through these passages.

Overall, The Girl in the Photo is an absorbing tale whose characters remain vivid in the reader’s memory long after the closing chapter.

This book is available from Amazon.

Collegium Sorcerorum: Thaddeus of Beewicke by Louis Sauvain

It is a summer of the Dark Ages when an old vagabond appears in Beewicke offering the parents of the boy, Thaddeus, the promise of a fine education and a trade for their son. Gold exchanges hands and the stranger and the boy go off in the old man's cart, pulled by the sentient mule, Asullus.

On the journey, he is joined by two others recruited by their new Master—Anders of Brightfield Manor, a scholar, and Rolland of Fountaindale, a street thief. The three boys are unaware they are all the ultimate descendants of this very same Sorcerer.

Silvestrus begins the instruction of his charges by stating that the use of Sorcery is governed by Belief. If one has the inborn talent and the strength of Belief, one’s desires can take form—assuming any size, any shape and for any purpose. But he also warns them that each use of Sorcery shortens a Sorcerer’s life span by an unknowable quantity. The old man pronounces one last requirement—before he or she can command the use of Sorcery, a youth must first be intimate with a beloved.

Their quest for the College is perilous and on the way they are beset by beasts, brigands, a Demon, a black-haired Courtesan, the King of the Moths, tree fiends, ghost legions and Greensward Aelvae as they seek to achieve their final goal—the ancient and revered Collegium Sorcerorum.

Much in the same vein as The Hobbit, Collegium Sorcerorum: Thaddeus of Beewicke is a travelogue.  Louis Sauvain has built a spectacularly detailed world (with maps and illustrations to boot) and he doesn't skip a chance to celebrate it.  He treats the reader to a dark age filled with fairy, demons, and all sorts of magical creations.

Thaddeus finds himself overwhelmed by this world as he has been swept away from Beewicke in order to be trained as a sorcerer by Silvestrus.  He acts very much like what you'd expect from a typical teenager for the most part.  Even though Thaddeus is the main character, Rolland (another apprentice) often steals the show (literally).  He is a great character, almost reminiscent of a young Locke Lamora.

I found myself enjoying the author's use of the Latin language.  So often in fantasy, we are subjected to made-up magical/fantasy languages that really are just bastardized versions of Latin (I'm looking at you, J.K. Rowling!).  Sauvain uses the Latin languages for all things he deems important.  It was a nice little tidbit to have added to the book.

One of my main sticking points was Asullus, the talking mule.  Sauvain gave him a backwoods type dialect that he transcribes onto the page.  While this is nice for flavor every now and again, there are long passages where Asullus just talks and talks and talks and I found myself skipping them only to come back and have to re-read them because Sauvain uses him as an info dump to fill the reader in on the story.

Here's an example of his speeches:

"Hmm.  Well, I see ye'll no' be lettin' me go till I spills it, will ye? All right, but donno' be tellin' the old man where ye heard this. This is just 'tween ye, me, an' the feed bag, aye?..."

This particular speech goes on for twenty or so lines. Asullus isn't the only one who is wordy.  So many times, the characters (especially Silvestrus) repeated the same things in short order.

Another issue that I had was the large cast of characters.  In my opinion, Sauvain wasted too much time on temporary characters who show up for just a couple of paragraphs or a chapter and don't really add anything of value to the story.

The idea that sorcery is connected with sex is an intriguing concept but one that feels out of place in a book that has very much a young adult genre feel to it. Though the actually sex takes place "off camera", so to speak, I feel it is often rushed and handled poorly.

For example, Thaddeus's first sexual encounter happens at the behest of some fairies who "thank" him for saving their queen by getting him drunk and the screen fades to black, but he is too embarrassed to talk about it later with Asullus.

For all its flaws, it was still an interesting read.

Collegium Sorcerorum: Thaddeus of Beewicke is available from Amazon.

For more reviews from the Bookworm, stop by the Bookworm's Fancy!

Nutmeg Book Festival

This Saturday, November 23rd, is the first Nutmeg Book Festival in New Milford, CT. The NPRoB's own David Drazul will be one of twenty indie and small press authors gathered together to meet the public and hopefully interest some of them in their work.

Please visit the website for more information including location, author roster, and genres covered.

While there are gatherings of this nature all over the world, if you're an indie author or small press whose work has been featured here on the blog and you're participating in a similar event, let us know and we'll throw a shout out here on the blog and Google+.

The Silver Cross by Gayla Scot-Hays

A young woman named "Cross" is sent out into the post-apocalyptic wasteland by her father to find "the soldier", a man believed to hold the key to saving their plague-ridden village. Before the desert can claim her, a warrior-priest named "Zero" discovers Cross and learns of her mission. When he spies a silver cross, the symbol of his brotherhood, glinting in her hair, he pledges his sword to defend her.

Although billed as a post-apocalyptic fantasy, this is, in fact, a post-apocalyptic romance novel. And were it not for a couple of references to said apocalypse and cultural references, one could not be blamed for thinking the story took place during the Middle Ages, perhaps even post-Crusades. Lying somewhere east of the Pyramids and south of Jerusalem, the wasteland is home to brigands and marauders, merchants and slavers, heathens and sinners. The men are misogynistic at best. Women are property—slaves to the whims of the men that own them. It matters not if the man is Muslim or Christian; women are inferior and must be treated as such. Love is a delusion.

So where's the romantic element? Cross and Zero. Cross spends most of her time pining for Zero, hating him for putting his faith before her, dwelling in her negative self-esteem, and believing that she's just a "stupid girl", as so many people call her. Meanwhile Zero struggles with his inner demons, trying to repent for the sins he commits and has committed. He could lose himself in her but fears it will cost him his soul.

A good deal of the novel is spent between these two characters exploring their feelings for the other. There's some action, too. Oh, and I don't just mean the sexual kind; there's some melee combat as Zero battles brigands and his former brother-in-arms.

While romance novels aren't my cup of tea (or, more accurately, my pint of beer), I do appreciate colorful prose. Whether it's from an action scene,

The sword's voice sounded shy, not much more than a whisper. A fountain of blood gushed high in the sky, and seconds later, pattering like rain, the drops fell back down to the ground, leaving little red dents all over the freshly scuffed sand.

a moment of personal struggle,

Empty now, and cold, she trembled as the wind leered at her nakedness, raking her body with its icy, invisible touch. So she drew up her knees and folded her arms over her head, weeping as the lost rhythms of childhood tried to rock her to peace.

or a point of tension.

There was no sound but the rushing of the waterfall. Even the droplets of grease hanging from the hare simply shuddered in the firelight, like tears too frightened to fall.

For me, it was passages like these that got me through the ugliness of this world that Scot-Hays has sifted from the ashes. It made for a welcome contrast to the brutality that all the women in the novel had to endure.

In The Silver Cross, Gayla Scot-Hays posits a grim world for women after the apocalypse. But aided by the use of colorful prose and characters desperately seeking redemption, she manages to grow a romance novel in the misogynistic wasteland.

The Silver Cross is available from Smashwords.

Clockwork Skies: Secrets by J Cunningham

Gelton isn't the revolutionary type. If you asked him, it would be the last thing he would ever use to describe himself - if you could get the gefling to answer at all. When he gets entangled in events larger than his own story, he finds that he's got more than a few things to learn about himself.

Part speculative history, part fantasy, and definitively steampunk, Secrets is the first novel in the Clockwork Skies series. Action packed and full of political intrigue, romance, and richly detailed fantasy settings, Secrets will entice you from the first page and keep you guessing until the last.

Clockwork Skies: Secrets starts strong.  The reader is introduced to Gelton, a gefling in the services of a high-ranking Braelish ambassador.  The relationship between Gelton and Ambassador Grayson is charming, paternal, and the most well executed in the whole book.  Grayson both nurtures and skillfully handles Gelton’s childlike wonder and curiosity. Gelton is especially bright for a gefling.

J Cunningham never really describes what a gefling is/looks like outside of phrases such as “single meter height”, “not overly strong”, and “one of the most clever of all races.”  I’m assuming that geflings are similar to gnomes (but that is just my assumption).

Some authors can get away with this vagueness.  Most notably, Dickens did this with the character of Pip in Great Expectations.  Dickens succeeds because the character of Pip is one of transformation.  While Gelton may indeed be a character of transformation, he is no Pip.

The extremely, exceptionally talented Gelton (Cunningham never wastes an opportunity to have another character remind you of how clever Gelton is) does go through a series of transformations.  But rather than having these transformations bubble up organically from within Gelton, they are almost exclusively a result of some sort of deus ex machina (e.g. Gelton loses his fear of public speaking and social awkwardness thanks to the mystical workings of a Elvorian shaman).

While I’m on the subject of deus ex machina, Cunningham uses it almost as a crutch.  For example, there is a scene where two geflings are on the run and hide in a barn.  The farmer finds them and instead of turning them in (or worse) invites them inside and his wife feeds them.  They give them a place to stay for the night and clothing.  Oh, and this benevolent farm couple (who are never mentioned previously or again) just so happen to have the key to unlocking a puzzle in the form of a book of braille that apparently was/is for their daughter.  Before this intervention, it was obvious that even our super smart gefling was not going to be able to solve this puzzle.

One of my biggest gripes about the book is the setting.  The story takes place during the Victorian era, during which there was an event known as the Great Opening, after which the dwarves, geflings, and Elvorians (ice elves?) revealed their presence to the world.  Something about the Great Opening caused all the water in the world to become toxic.  Cunningham never explains why but the rain/fog is now acidic (which in itself could be a very awesome plot line if executed correctly) and the only drinkable water is from ice, which is in the control of the Elvorians.

This setting device can be done with success and Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series is a great example of this.  But whereas Harrison keeps things familiar within a political/social/economically changing setting, Cunningham changes without reason or direction.  Rather than use British, Irish, Scottish, Cunningham uses Braelish, Ire’lads, and Scot’rs.  It was just too much for me personally.

Author and blogger Mike Reeves-McMillian (whose book Realmgolds we previously reviewed) wrote that there are basically three type of steampunk:  brass romance, pulp adventure, and steampunk that uses the setting to explore technological advancements’ effects on the social, political, and personal interactions.  With a plot that ultimately goes nowhere, Clockwork Skies: Secrets nobly attempts to be all three but ultimately falls short on each level.  The multiple layers of alienness in the setting and Cunningham’s penchant for deus ex machina tests this reader’s suspension of disbelief to its breaking point.

The book is available from Amazon.

For more reviews from the Bookworm, stop by the Bookworm's Fancy!

I Am John, I Am Paul by Mark Tedesco

I Am John, I Am Paul by Mark Tedesco follows the lives of two real-life Roman soldiers in the fourth century, Ioannes (John) Fulvius Marcus Romanus and Paulus.  John and Paul form a strong bond of friendship during their days fighting on the German frontier, a bond that is never broken even when John is sent away to Alexandria by a sadistic centurion.

John spends years in Alexandria longing for home and corresponding with his family and Paul in Rome.  While in Alexandria, John is initiated into the Mithraic religion, but his faith in Mithras doesn’t seem to give him the peace he thought it would.

Political upheavals enable John to return to Rome, his family, and Paul.  John and Paul resume their duties in the Legion, and even volunteer to rescue a close family member of Emperor Constantine, who was kidnapped by a rival Roman general. The mission succeeds, and the Emperor is so grateful that he gives them both farm lands and a house in Rome, ensuring they and their families will never again know poverty.

While in Rome, John and Paul discover the ‘Way,’ the nascent Christian movement that threatens the old Roman gods. In the Way, John discovers the faith he always hoped would fill his heart, which strengthens both men when they suffer the inevitable persecution.

I’m a huge ancient Rome geek, so there were many things I liked about this book.

For one, it was well researched.  The author knew his history and provided illuminating details of the lives of average ancient Romans.  Tedesco had a clear understanding of Roman religions, including Roman pagan rituals, Mithraism, and the practices of the ‘christus followers'.  The book was beautifully written in a first-person narrative told primarily by John, with dialogue that had an ancient, almost biblical feel.

Now I offer the following as an observation and not a criticism, as it is more a warning about the book’s style. 

I felt like I was reading John’s personal journal.  And like the journals of real-life people, you won’t find the standard fiction novel plot twists and character conflicts.  For the most part, things just happened to John—he doesn’t really do much (besides plan and execute the rescue mission, which was the best part of the book for me).  Most of the conflict is internal, with John searching for spiritual meaning in Alexandria and Rome.  Tension between characters was minimal.

In other words, read this book for the thoughtful writing about a man searching for his spiritual home, or to experience the lives of everyday Romans during the fourth century.  But skip it if you’re seeking a page-turning adventure story set on an ancient Roman battlefield.

I Am John, I Am Paul is available on Amazon.

Standing Together by MJ Dougherty

Standing Together is the sequel to Standing Alone. The War for British Independence from the European Federation rages on. The Euros still occupy the southern half of England but the valiant fighting of the Brits has convinced the Americans to join their cause. But are the British dumping their Euro overlords only to be annexed by the US? The Nordic League offers Lady Elizabeth Sinclaire another option: League Protectorate. Meanwhile, "Shotgun" Mike Halsey runs a special operations unit answerable only to Sinclaire. And when she can drink enough whisky (or even whiskey) to drown out her guilt, she'll send him out on another suicide mission because she has no other choice.

Once again, Dougherty provides a story that's heavy on the action—even more than the first book—and bound to please military sci-fi fans. Heck, even if you like contemporary military stories or you're a World War II buff, you'll like this story. Even though meks—that tank with arms and legs on the book's cover—figure prominently in most of the battles, the tech talk is not far enough out there to alienate these audiences. There's still enough dogfights, naval battles, and infantry action to go around. Dougherty, a military history buff and defense analyst, knows his stuff. I would not be surprised if he ran war games in his basement just to validate the battles that appear in the book.

There isn't any new character development for Halsley or Sinclaire. They're the same blokes they were in the first book. Some minor characters who survived the first book make appearances and receive some more time in the spotlight. The good guys fight valiantly; the bad guys twirl their mustaches. There's little time for introspection or reflection. People are dying after all. One exception is an interesting exchange between Halsley and the Napoleonic General Lavelle during a ceasefire that stirs the sub-plot regarding Halsley's past. Dougherty also offers glimpses into the political machinations of the day; stuff that makes Halliburton's foray in Iraq seem like a picnic. But these serve more as hints of what's to come in future installments of the series.

One unfortunate move that was made was the inclusion of a Forward and Introduction. While the Forward contained some interesting information about military philosophy, I think it could've been left out or saved for an "Afterward". It delays the reader from getting into the action, which starts in the Prologue. The Introduction all but summarizes the events that took place in Standing Alone. While adding another delay for readers, it might also discourage them from picking up a copy of that book, which would be a shame.

Yes, my skepticism regarding an ascendent European Federation still stands, but it was easy enough to set aside and just enjoy Standing Together for what it is: good military fiction.

Standing Together is available from Amazon.

Remember Big by Kelly Wittmann

Remember Big follows the bumpy journey of Charlie Matthias as he tries to rebuild his life after bottoming out in his early 30s. When the story begins, he’s living in his wealthy parents’ suburban Chicago home after addiction wrecked his marriage and professional golf career. He’s surrounded by dysfunction – a bullying father, a manipulative mother and an assortment of insensitive acquaintances – all of them passing judgment on Charlie’s squandering of his potential. Despite his loathing for the shallow country club enclave into which he’s retreated, Charlie is hobbled by inertia. He has no motivation to find a new career or do anything other than pine for his ex-wife. His family’s relentless criticism finally goads him into making a new start, and he moves to the city. His apartment building’s owners are the parents of a woman he’d known as a teenager. The daughter, Erica Denner, also lives in the building, and Charlie is immediately attracted to her, even though she is the antithesis of what Charlie has been taught to appreciate in women. Unlike the meticulously groomed trophy wives who populate the spas and shopping malls of Charlie’s hometown, Erica leads a more authentic life – helping her parents manage the building, working in a feminist bookstore, pursuing artistic endeavors and treating everyone with kindness.

The main plotline is the relationship between Charlie and Erica. Conditioned to worship material success and go to any lengths in its pursuit, can Charlie find happiness with a woman whose modest lifestyle centers on the intangibles that no amount of money can buy? Interwoven with the romance are various subplots including friction with Charlie’s parents, who disapprove of his relationship with Erica; his sisters’ struggles with anorexia; and a run-in with a cop who carries a grudge about something that happened when he and Charlie were schoolmates.

Remember Big incorporates many conventions of contemporary romantic comedy – the spunky, insightful elderly mentor (Charlie’s grandmother); the juxtaposition of old-world traditions with modern American life (Erica’s parents are East German immigrants); the inevitable big night out scene in which the female lead transforms herself into the spike-heeled, cleavage-spilling vixen of every man’s fantasy. The novel avoids descending into cliché thanks to the engaging voice of its antihero narrator. Charlie makes humorous, piercing observations of himself, those around him and the banality of American suburbia. Describing his parents’ aversion to visiting Chicago, he says, “It was dirty and loud and there were unpleasant poor people there. Rich and Faye didn’t miss the sophistication, or if they did, it apparently wasn’t worth the trouble of finding a parking spot.  They needed to be – always – in places where it was possible to just glide to the next destination, rolling slowly to a stop at the end of a path as smooth and crisp as a brand new polo shirt.” At times Charlie can be exasperating. He fails to exercise self-control at critical moments and lapses into self-destructive behavior when beset by troubles. But he is also compassionate and endearingly vulnerable. Explaining his reluctance to visit the bookstore where Erica works, Charlie notes, “Lesbians and their unknowable, half-removed society made me feel like what I feared I really was, a shallow ill-educated philistine from the suburbs who was in over his head, trying to be cool for his new girlfriend while everyone laughed behind his back. A guy who couldn’t be hip if his life depended on it.”

In spite of the narrator’s penchant for introspection, the novel doesn’t get bogged down in navel-gazing. Charlie pauses the narrative when he needs to in order to explain his thinking or relate a snippet of relevant backstory, but these pauses are nearly always justified and, with one or two exceptions, never become unwelcome digressions. As a result, the plot moves briskly enough to hold the reader’s interest from start to finish. My one quibble with the pacing is the abruptness of the events leading to the resolution of Charlie’s vacillation between his residual feelings for his ex-wife and his new relationship with Erica.  It seemed to me that near the end the novel suddenly shifted from third gear to fifth, and then a couple of chapters later, it was over.

Remember Big has a robust cast of secondary characters – some lovable, some annoying, some entertainingly quirky, and nearly all somehow dysfunctional. As each one is introduced, the author provides ample characterization through words and actions, so the reader immediately understands what type of person this is. Because each new character immediately makes a strong impression, the reader never has trouble identifying characters when they reappear later. On the other hand, I was looking for more insight into the motivations of two main characters – Charlie’s parents. Their behavior toward Charlie inexplicably seems aimed at destroying his self-esteem. For example, at one point his father, trying to convince Charlie to break up with Erica, says, “So you’re happy? You’ve been happy since you started – having relations with this Denner girl? Because if you are, you should win an Academy Award. Do they have a Best Lead Moper category? Oh, wait – you’re never in the lead, are you?” Nothing that Charlie relates about his parents adequately explains such cruelty.

For a novel whose characters have so many issues, Remember Big is a lively read. I enjoyed the references to Gen X pop culture and the skewering of upper-middle-class pretension (on being told that his pregnant sister is considering the baby names Camden and Mason, Charlie involuntarily spews out the cookie he had been eating). In addition to being entertaining, the book raises deeper questions about social expectations and what it means to be happy and successful. For this reason, I think it would be an appropriate selection for book groups, since it has enough substance to provide adequate fodder for discussion.

Remember Big is available from Amazon for the Kindle and in print.

In Apple Blossom Time by Robert Wack

Note: The author has re-named this novel to Time Bomber. We don't know if there have been any revisions to the story.

In Apple Blossom Time by Robert Wack starts with an interesting Prologue—a time traveler jumps back and forth in time between different locations in World War II Europe tracking another man important to the time traveler’s mysterious mission. It’s a violent struggle, as the traveler sometimes kills his quarry and then sometimes loses him.

The Prologue promised a novel filled with paradoxes and alternate timelines. In my opinion, however, the novel did not deliver on that promise.

Dr. Willem von Stockum is an American mathematician who abandons a lucrative academic career to join the British Royal Air Force prior to the Pearl Harbor attack. He’s disgusted with America’s indifference to Nazi oppression in Europe and wants to do what he can to free his Dutch homeland from the Nazi invaders.

When his bomber is shot down over Normandy during the D-Day invasion, a group of lost American paratroopers rescue him from the wreckage.  They hide from the German army in a French home with members of the French Resistance and two strangers who tell peculiar stories about the fantastical theories von Stockum will one day develop. Von Stockum ultimately has to choose between believing the absurd stories of these strangers, or doing the right thing in the here and now.

There were quite a few good things about this book that kept me reading.

The author knew his material: Details of the Normandy invasion and the mathematics of quantum physics and the Theory of Relativity were all authentically presented within the narrative.

The dialogue was spot-on for the era and expertly rendered; whether it was Americans or British or even the French speaking, I could hear their accents without the author resorting to phonetically spelling them out (e.g., “ve have vays of making you talk!”).

What bothered me, however, was that the book felt like the author expanded a beautiful short story into novel length by adding flashbacks, reveries, and information dumps.  The first third of the book was filled with von Stockum thinking about his past, reminiscing with fellow pilots, or reading letters from home.  He didn’t do much.  I found myself skipping pages of von Stockum reveries just so I could get back to the American paratrooper story lines, which were quite exciting.

The second thing that bothered me was that the time travel element was not as important to the story as I had hoped.  The paratroopers and von Stockum simply thought of the time traveling strangers as either German spies or lunatics, and the strangers didn’t seem to impact the decisions of the main characters in any significant way; if they did, it was way too subtle for a promised 'time travel' novel.

Still, if most of von Stockum’s ruminations were cut out and a more impactful role given the time travelers, I think In Apple Blossom Time would have made a marvelous short story or novella.  But as a novel, I can only give it 3 of 5 stars.

Time Bomber is available on Amazon.

A New Outlet for Indie Books

Mick Rooney of The Independent Publishing Magazine offers a link to a Forbes article about a new indie outlet: Libiro.

The article claims that Libiro is intended to compete with Amazon. One of the site's founders laments that indie authors get lost in the sheer volume of books offered by Amazon, not to mention the mammoth marketing budgets that the big publishing houses have at their disposal. No argument here, but there already is an alternate outlet for indie authors: Smashwords.

Smashwords, for those unaware, offers indie authors (and small presses) a venue to sell their work as well as distribution to the major online retailers. Name the outlet and Smashwords probably distributes to them. While the site isn't without its problems (the manuscript upload engine is called the "grinder" with good reason), it provides a valuable service to indie authors.

Unlike Smashwords, Libiro isn't offering distribution to major online retailer outlets. It intends to be an online retailer in its own right. The only formats it intends to sell are ePub and pdf and it is the author's responsibility to convert her manuscript into those formats whereas Smashwords does the work for her.

Libiro is based in the UK so for American readers, there may be some sticker shock as the prices are listed in pounds. As I write this, 1 £ is equal to $1.60. While exchange rates vary daily, this isn't far from the historical average.

I'll give Libiro points for its clean interface and recommendation engine ("people who bought this book also bought") but there's no preview feature. As a reader, not to mention a reviewer, it is important for prospective customers to be able to preview an author's writing. For me it's essential. I've seen many a book fail to live up to the promise offered by the book description and I have little patience for poorly edited work. This isn't anything new. Before Smashwords and Amazon offered it, we went to bookstores and picked up books to read a few pages.

As of right now, there's little incentive for readers to shop Libiro. The selection is limited—they have 70 books as of Tuesday—and the prices are higher. For indie authors, it's great to have another outlet to sell their work, not to mention the 80% royalty. But if no one visits the store, that doesn't mean much. There's nothing wrong with competition. As Libiro grows and improves, it should force Smashwords to improve its services in order to retain its UK business. But as for taking on the mighty Amazon, keep dreaming. People aren't looking for indie authors; they're looking for books. And, in that, Amazon is king.

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DED

We're Still Here

We apologize for the lack of posts. We've been busy cleaning out the old slush, taking much needed vacations, recruiting new reviewers, and getting caught up on old reading lists. But fear not, we will have more reviews.

As I write this, the Bookworm's Fancy is crafting a review. Rob and I are reading our next selections. Our new recruit, Bertha Thacule, is eagerly anticipating the arrival of her first book for review. Libby is still searching for a match. And the submissions keep coming.

Over on GooglePlus, we're having some problems with our update stream. It seems that most of our announcements have gone missing. And the Bookworm's Fancy has learned that we are not alone. Perhaps we need to have Twitter as a fallback platform for G+. ;)

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DED

UPDATE 9/10/13: Ok, it looks like Google+ is back to normal. The missing announcements have returned.

Realmgolds by Mike Reeves-McMillan

The Human Purity movement is growing in power and influence in Denning, attacking dwarf businesses and caravans and inciting popular rebellion against the central government, with the passive or active support of many of the ruling Golds. Opposing them almost alone is the Realmgold, a young man named Determined. His problem is that, even though the Realmgold is meant to be in charge, nobody is paying much attention to him. Victory, who rules neighbouring Koskant, would love to support Determined, but an ancient magical treaty between their realms means she can’t send in her troops, her skyboats or her pressure guns. What she can do, though, is share a new magical communications technology – and her elite corps of Gryphon Clerks…

Realmgolds is the first actual steampunk type novel that I can ever remember reading and Reeves-McMillan certainly made a steampunk girl out of me. While the steampunk label may dismay some potential readers, let me assure you that your time will not be wasted reading this book. Reeves-McMillan has built a world that is not only enjoyable and intriguing, but he filled it with a variety of entertaining characters that never fail to evoke an emotional connection for the reader.

I came across a review of this book which stated that it took a while to get started. I couldn't disagree more. Reeves-McMillan quickly builds tension in the beginning by illustrating Realmgold Determined's inability to control his Provincegolds to the point that they outright ignore him. We slowly see the increased activity of the Human Purity movement in the background of all the early action and quickly see Determined and Victory reacting to it.

Reeves-McMillan successfully illustrates the ramifications of each political decision and each counter decision. Nothing is without consequence. Each level of society is affected by the actions (or non-actions) of the other.

If the book is a slow beginner by any measure, it is because the writer does the reader no justice by throwing the reader into political turmoil without laying the foundation of such turmoil and offering the reader some background of it. A charismatic group that works for "the good of the people" in a realm with an ineffectual, shy ruler turns into a virtual powder keg when said ruler, decides to actually work for the good of all people in the realm.

An important (interesting) note on the society in the book is that instead of using "upper", "middle", and "lower" class designations, the author uses the terms "gold", "silver", and "copper". Copper are the commoners. Silvers are the merchant class. Gold is the noble/ruling class. In Reeves-McMillan creation, transitioning from one class to another is not uncommon.

The Human Purity Movement is spearheaded by a group of Golds who have dubbed themselves the "Realm Benefit Party". They have convinced the Coppers (often uneducated) of the worthiness of their cause. The rabble flock to the RBP in droves. It draws definite parallels from our world where charismatic leaders promise the masses whatever it takes to get them on their side, while not ever thinking twice about sacrificing them to save their own hide.

Lately, I find a lot of authors have been using a "flawed villain". They are using a villain, who under the right circumstances you might agree with his actions or do the same thing. That is not the case here. The reader will have no problem disliking Admirable Silverstones (leader of the RBP) and his commanders.

My main gripe about the book is that it wasn't long enough. I was somewhat disappointed when I finished the book. I truly wanted to know what happened after the end of the book.

After this completely rambling review, I give the book 4.5 out of 5 stars and definitely recommend it to readers of steampunk and fantasy alike.

     For more reviews from the Bookworm, stop by the Bookworm's Fancy!

25 Perfect Days by Mark Tullius

A totalitarian state doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a slow, dangerous slide. 25 Perfect Days chronicles the path into a hellish future of food shortages, contaminated water, sweeping incarceration, an ultra-radical religion, and the extreme measures taken to reduce the population.

25 Perfect Days is a collection of short stories that span 40 years and charts the downfall of the U.S.A. It gets off to a great start with "Five Minutes Alone", a powerful short story that stands on its own as it weighs in on capital punishment. "Fourteen Angry Marchers" is next and highlights a pivotal moment in the history of the Church of the American Way, a fictitious Christian outfit which takes full advantage of President Bush's faith-based initiative and expands its reach through a clever argument.

With the separation of church and state erased, it's all downhill from here. The rest of the book ticks off the loss of freedoms as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and atrocities are revealed that would make North Korea jealous. But the problem is: we don't know how all the safeguards we have now were circumvented to allow it to happen. Tullius skips anywhere from nine months to four years between stories and doesn't explain how these terrible edicts came to pass. His failure to do so makes many of them too incredulous to believe. We must somehow just accept them and I cannot.

Except for "Fourteen Angry Marchers" we really don't get to see the motivations behind the Church of the American Way. That story contains the incident which shapes the young leader's future but that's all we have to go on. While the incident is a dramatic one, and certainly life changing, it doesn't explain how this Christian man transforms into a monster on par with Hitler.

Another complaint I have is that there's some repetition in story structure. In several stories, we're introduced to Character A who sets out to accomplish something. The bad guys show up. Then Character B (or Character A) sacrifices themselves so that A (or B) can get away. It's a bit too formulaic, though a successful one.

But enough criticism. Tullius is a skilled writer. Despite the multitude of characters and their limited appearances on stage (Thank you for the character glossary), they make the most of their time. Besides the two stories mentioned above, other standouts are "Four Percent", "Ten Drops of Bleach", "Six Hail Mary's", and "Eight Out of Nine".

Tullius cites Stephen King as a influence and it shows in the everyday personalities of the characters and the frankness of dealing with grim situations, not to mention that bad things happen to good people. He's also good at building suspense and sometimes throws a surprise at you that you won't see coming.

For more information, visit the author's website.

Celebrate the Sinner by Steven Merle Scott

Celebrate the Sinner takes place against the backdrop of the lumber trade in Oregon during the Great Depression. The family featured doesn't put the “fun” in dysfunctional: Marie, the mother, is a lonely alcoholic with serious boundary issues; Merle, the father, is an entrepreneurial sort whom the reader never gets to know; Teddy, their son, copes. They move to a house that gives real meaning to the word “ramshackle” when Merle acquires a sawmill. The descriptive writing here is mostly very good; the reader is introduced to the cacophony and grit of living on an industrial site, the constant fear of fire, the broken men who work there. There are intermittent reminiscences by the now-elderly narrator, whose only pride is in his undiminished sexual prowess. He casts off wives and girlfriends when they become ill and just looks for the next hot encounter. These asides are jarring, because the reader is left trying to figure out how he got from here to there. We are witnesses to Teddy's difficult, but not friendless, childhood; his problems in school overcome by Miss Cherry, a kind teacher; his relationships with the various characters who work at the mill; his inquisitive mind.

A novel full of flashbacks and asides requires a lot of heavy lifting on the part of the author. The long passages about his father entering the business are interesting, but his use of the first person (“The question had to have caught Dad off guard”), and his references to minutiae that he, a young child, would have no way of knowing (“Dad's heart was pounding in his ears. Sweat tracked cold along his ribs.”) don't ring true. If his Dad was so standoffish, how did Teddy ever get to know these things about him? One cannot imagine his brusque, businesslike father offloading these stories to his young son. Teddy is sensitive and has a moral compass; in a book full of bridge metaphors the bridge between his youthful self and his narcissistic dotage is not at all discernible. The book may have been a better read if the author had chosen to make Teddy an unreliable narrator, though that is also a huge challenge.

Then there is the issue of editing. It always raises its ugly head: “'Mills burn,' Dad said, settling into a tone that Moses likely used when he spoke to the apostles from the mount, 'either through bad luck or bad judgment.'” I don't remember Moses having any apostles. There are misspellings of names, such as Buster Keaton's, and other little dents and nicks. There is not enough variety in the vocabularies of vastly different people.

My quibbles should not detract too much from the book's good qualities. The depictions of the lumber business, the bad deals, betrayals, and bootlegging, are excellent. The reader gets a window on a little-known part of life during the Great Depression.

Black Book, Volume 1, by Dylan Jones

Black Book, Volume 1, has the first three episodes of the genre-bending Black Book series.  It’s a story that mixes Western, science fiction, and fantasy into a quest that spans centuries.

In Part 1: The Devil’s Blood, we find Sheriff Jack trying to keep the peace in a small, American West town during the 1860s.  But Jack is no ordinary Sheriff.  He has almost supernatural skills that help him survive a bloody encounter with bandits that shoot up his town and kill many of its citizens.  He’s quick on the draw, knows how to use his fists…and can time-travel out of town when a powerful adversary leaves him no choice but to retreat.

In Part 2: Out of Time, we meet Benjamin Freeman, President of the United States in the year 2308.  Ben has directed his time-travel corps to locate Jack, an old military comrade who has gone missing in the distant past.  When Ben personally oversees the operation, he walks into a trap orchestrated by a deadly faction that also wants to find Jack for its own ruthless purposes.

In Part 3: The Wall, Jack arrives in 1862 California.  He meets up with a six-year-old boy and his guardian, a mysterious old man who has met Jack before, though Jack has no recollection.  The old man guides Jack to a hidden object that Jack knows will change his life and the course of humanity.

First the good:

Jones’ scenes in the Wild West were so awesome that I thought I was reading a Zane Grey novel.  In Part 1, I could taste the dust on my lips and smell the body odor of the gamblers in the saloon.  The Western dialogue was spot-on and I could feel the bullets zip past my ear during the gunfights.

Sheriff Jack is an interesting character because he understands the stakes of his mission, yet cannot help himself when he goes out of his way to protect the innocent, even if it threatens the success of his mission.

Most of Volume 1 was about Jack, but Ben Freeman, who appears in Part 2, proved to be an interesting character as well.  Through him, we get a glimpse of the 24^th century and how time travel becomes a truly devastating weapon.  Volume 1 only hints at Ben’s military background and his relationship with Jack, so there is still plenty of ground to cover there in future volumes.

And in the Black Book world, lets just say time travel is not for those who fear pain or swimming.

Now for the warning:

I went into Black Book, Volume 1, thinking I'd get three episodes of good serial fiction.  What I got instead were three chapters of a great novel.

Let me explain.

A single episode of serial fiction should be like an hour-long episode of a TV drama -- the characters encounter a situation that they take action to resolve within that one hour.  While there may be an over-arching storyline that ties the episodes together, each one should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

For me, the three episodes of Black Book, Volume 1, did not have that clear beginning, middle, and end.  They had scenes that felt like set-up for a coming situation...but that situation never materialized, which made the scenes feel pointless within that episode.

But Volume 1's three episodes were what I'd expect from the opening chapters of an exciting sci-fi novel with an intriguing mystery.  Those "pointless" scenes would work well in a complete novel that is a single story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

The Black Book series promises to be a wonderfully engaging story that I look forward to reading and buying.  I highly recommend it for the storytelling, world building, and quality of writing.

I’m just going to wait for the omnibus version so I can read it all at once.

Black Book, Volume 1, is available on Amazon.