Available at Amazon.com

You should, by now, already know about Amanda Feral.(1) The celebutante zombie star of Happy Hour of the Damned and Road Trip of the Living Dead is back in action, returning to Seattle’s night-life scene, albeit with far less cash than she started with. Like the rest of the world, Amanda’s finances are on the rocks, and the only thing that looks like it will save her(2) from the bone-breaking threats of the reapers, to whom she’s indebted, is taking a role on a reality show. Amanda’s no actress, but playing herself to the camera is something she’s perfected. The problem is, she has to work opposite one Johnny Birch, a dirty wood nymph with sexual proclivities to make a yeti gasp. It’s no wonder someone wants him dead — Amanda wants to kill him within minutes of meeting him, after all — but it does put a hamper in the reality show when someone actually does murder the star. Far from being willing to give up, Amanda smells opportunity(3): make the show about solving the murder!

Amanda’s no detective, but her on-the-rocks boyfriend was a member of the police force before being turned into a werewolf. With his help, and the assistance of Wendy, Gil, and even Ethel (Amanda’s mother, if the word mother translates to antagonist-for-life), Amanda’s ready to crack the case wide open, and look good on camera doing it. And there are certainly plenty of excuses to check out the latest hot-spot openings in Seattle’s undead-scene that help with solving the murder. Right?

Where Road Trip of the Living Dead veered away from the Seattle celebrity scene that made Happy Hour of the Damned such a hook for the rest of the series, Battle of the Network Zombies throws readers right back into the world of zombies, vampires, windigo, fairies, ghosts, sirens, and other bizarre creatures of the night who are all just trying to make a living.(4) Mark Henry includes just as much snark as ever, and his send-up of reality television, both with Amanda’s show and the short TV Guide like blurbs for other programs at the beginning of each chapter, is dead-on. Better yet, while the novel pokes fun at the whole genre of television programming, it does so in an almost loving way — obviously, Henry has to have watched plenty of reality television to be able to lampoon it so well.

While we get a full on Agatha Christie style denouement as Amanda solves the case, we sadly don’t get the villain’s last monologue to explain why all the chaos happened in the first place. Happily the climax involves as much campy action as the movie Clue, so though I could have used a little additional filling in on why certain characters showed up at the conclusion, the end results are utterly satisfying. Even better, a long appendix at the end gives us a look at adolescent Amanda, just discovering how she can manipulate everyone around her, leading her to become the snarky bitch we all know and love. Amanda Feral and I would never be friends(5), and while she grows and develops as a character in Battle, she remains shallow, self-centered, and utterly hilarious to watch. Here’s to crossing my fingers that Amanda’s adventures will continue well after Battle of the Network Zombies!(6)

(As the reviewer, I received an e-ARC of this novel for free from the author. I’ve heard there have been some changes in the final version, so it is possible there are errors in my description.)

1) If not, why don’t you? You’ve had two years, people!
2) And her fabulous wardrobe.
3) Notably, opportunity smells better than the low-lives that make up most of Amanda’s meals.
4) Or eat the living. If they’re a good vintage.
5) You can find her at Myspace.com/amandaferal.
6) To help make sure Amanda gets further book contracts, consult the Save Amanda Feral campaign at www.markhenry.us.

Review by Alana Joli Abbott

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

Series written by Guido Henkel

I’ve not experienced “Dime Novels” before. I’ve never really even seen one before, although growing up my mother owned a “collector book” composed of several dime novel reprints that I once looked through. They’re a format that seems to have died out here in the union long ago. It looks like however, that the “Dime Novel” format could be on the verge of a comeback.

My dad happened upon a new gothic horror series while visiting one of his favorite websites and asked me to check it out. Following his queue I did a little homework and indeed I’d discovered a new book series titled “Jason Dark: Ghost Hunter”, a series written in the spirit of the “Dime Novel” format. This initiative brushed my interest with a fine tooth comb and I inquired further with Guido Henkel, the author of this series in progress. Guido turned out to be a really cool guy and was kind enough to send me the first two novels to read and review.

When they came in the mail, I was a little surprised by their physical size. They are about half the size of a comic book with a page count of only sixty four pages each. Again, I’ve not read nor ever held a true “Dime Novel” before, so this was a new experience all around. In a world of large and epic stories taking tons of space on your book shelf, can something this small be entertaining and enjoyable? Can the experience of such a short story be worthwhile? Are these “fun size” stories really fun to read? YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE IT FOLKS!

My first opportunity to sit down and read the first volume came while waiting for my wife, who was having surgery on her sinuses (she’s doing fine, thanks for asking). I had a few hours to kill in the waiting area, which made cracking open Volume I an ideal opportunity. What Jason Dark offers is a fast paced, action packed adventure that reads quickly. It’s not Shakespeare, it’s not Stephen King, nor is it an engrossing mind job of a horror story that mentally beats you violently and senselessly. But you know what? It didn’t have to be. It was just plain fun and easy reading, something that I found surprisingly satisfying!

I don’t recall the last time I was able to sit down to a book and get through it so quickly and have such a lax and fun time doing so! The adventures are told in a dramatic, fast paced and yet simplistic method and the pages just flew by. So my experiment with Volume II was to read it over my lunch hours at work. Its size allowed me to slip it into my back pocket, freeing a hand to allow carrying my drink and lunch bucket without juggling a book in the mix. I finished reading it over two sittings, and again it made for a smooth, fun and easy read. In a way it was a gratifying experience to be able to just read through them at my own pace and not have to worry about remembering all the details that a large and epic story that takes weeks to read over my lunch hours require.

Then I tried another experiment, I asked my daughter (who turns fifteen next week) to read the two volumes and let know what she thought of them. Guido’s method of telling a horror story (or perhaps its just the way of “The Dime Novel”) is to be direct and matter of fact in the violence and moments of horror. There is no lavishing on the gruesome and disgusting here, making it an ideal read in my opinion for teenage horror fans in training as much as they are for those who don’t enjoy the hardcore horror story. I’m happy to report that my suspicions were correct as my daughter, who’s really into “manga books” right now, was able to enjoy these tales as well.

And what of the protagonist, the “Geisterjäger” Jason Dark? What can I say, I dig this cat! Imagine a setting in the heart of Victorian England and an intellectual character in the vein of a Sherlock Holmes type of hero who hunts and confronts supernatural evil and you’ve got the idea. There are a lot of classic horror elements to these stories and the familiar backdrop makes getting in and out of such a quick story that much easier to enjoy. Volume I has him dealing with demons while Volume II brings on the vampires (in a more “Nosferatu” style of vamp no less). The city of London is depicted in surprising detail and there are some great cameo’s of both historical and literary significance from the time period sprinkled in as well. In short, they are quick stories, but they can offer features that you can discuss with other readers afterwards.

I’ve been enlightened to the world of “Dime Novels” just as much as I’ve been enlighten to the world of Jason Dark. I encourage you to pick up and enjoy these stories as I have, unless that is, your afraid of the dark. You can either purchase the ongoing series in paperback format by visiting JasonDarkSeries.com (free shipping no less) or you can collect them in e-book format by visiting DriveThruHorror.com. I happened to notice that the series made the “Staff Favorites” list on the front page of this site. It seems that I’m not the only one who’s been enjoying this new series.

Side Note: I had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a phone conversation and interview with series author Guido Henkel. Keep an eye out (or both of them if you prefer) for the interview here on Flames Rising.

Review by Steven Dawes

Available at Amazon.com

After I got done reading CHANGES by Jim Butcher, the twelfth novel in the Dresden Files series, the first words that popped into my head were, “Holy hell.” First? There is absolutely no way that I can review this book without spoiling something for someone, so consider this a warning – if you don’t want anything spoiled for you, then don’t read this review. Second? If you’re a fan of the Dresden Files, then this is “the” book for you.

Okay, now back to the review. The first chapter opens up with a sucker punch to the gut. (You can read the first chapter of CHANGES on the author’s website.) Harry Dresden has a kid and she’s seven or eight years old? (Has it been that long since we’ve started reading the series? Are we THAT old?) Harry wastes no time delving into the darker regions of his soul to rescue his little girl, one that he’s never met. His sense of chivalry kicks into overdrive and along the way he gets badly maimed, makes some questionable decisions, turns over a lot of stones, and enlists the help of several other characters.

If you’re expecting a direct sequel to TURN COAT, this is not it. CHANGES is, in many ways, a fulcrum for a lot of the other previous books in the series, because it ties together several characters and settings from the previous books as a result of Harry’s incredibly single-minded goal. He will save his daughter, even if it means that he might lose his own life in the process.

CHANGES is an incredibly fast read and, in my opinion, is the best-written of the series. The hits just keep on coming and coming and coming. There were a few places where I couldn’t quite follow the logic or the slower explanation bits, but you have to remember that I read really fast — especially when every chapter ends on a cliffhanger and you need to know what happens next. To say that there are a lot of “changes” is kind of an understatement — Dresden isn’t the only character that shifts in this book.

Part of the appeal to the plot, is that there isn’t a lot of time to sit around and have a meaningful discussion about what to do or even — the morality — of what they’re about to do. There are moments where Harry confronts Susan about her poor decision not to tell him about his kid, and there is definitely still tension between the two. It’s interesting to see how the Red Court takes advantage of their feelings for each other, because as far as vampires go — they’re pretty damn evil.

Again, there’s really nothing more that I can say without spoiling what happens for you, because there are a lot of surprises in CHANGES. (Though, I will say I enjoyed Vadderung immensely.) I imagine a lot of fans will be screaming, yelling and/or crying after they read this book, because CHANGES doesn’t pull any punches. It ends on a rather “big” cliffhanger — probably the “biggest” cliffhanger to date. With eight books in the series left to go, it sucks that we’ll just have to wait to see what happens next.

Review by Monica Valentinelli

Available at Amazon.com

On the front cover of my copy of THE STEPSISTER’S SCHEME, there’s a quote. The quote reads:

“These princesses will give Charlie’s Angels’ a serious run for their money, and leave ‘em in the dust.” — Esther Fresner, author of Nobody’s Princess.

Immediately, that quote set my expectations that THE STEPSISTER’S SCHEME was going to be a so-called fantasy “popcorn read.” That I was just going to sit back and watch Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty kick a whole lot of troll butt while they flirt their proverbial tiaras off. You know that part where you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover? Yeah, guilty as charged.

While there is plenty of action and adventure in THE STEPSISTER’S SCHEME, it is not a straight-up “popcorn read.” The series is a re-imagining of classic fairy tale characters from a more realistic (and in some cases, truly terrifying) perspective. Each princess has a “real” name and a very, realistic identity that adds to her character. Part of that identity, is the “cost” of either becoming a rags-to-riches princess, being beautiful, or having an insane amount of power because you’re the daughter of an evil sorceress. In this book, which is the first of the series, you are introduced to “some” of that backstory through Danielle, which you may commonly know as Cinderella. THE STEPSISTER’S SCHEME picks up after Danielle/Cinderella had gotten married to her prince. Not only does Danielle have a hard time reconciling her humble beginnings, the remainder of her family (a.k.a. the stepsisters) do as well. The plot not only revolves around the kidnapping of Danielle’s husband, Prince Armand, and her pregnancy, but also introduces her to Queen Beatrice’s so-called “secret service.” This “secret service” is where the Charlie’s Angels analogy comes into play, for in this book Princess Talia (Sleeping Beauty) and Snow White help Queen Beatrice maintain the peace in interesting ways.

As you would expect, female characters do have more of a prominent role in this book, but they are definitely presented in a multi-faceted way. In this book, I didn’t like Danielle’s character because I thought she was too whiny and I couldn’t understand Talia’s peculiar behavior until I learned more of her backstory. My favorite character in this book was “Snow” (as in “White”) who didn’t want to be referred to by her real name and, at times, felt embarrassed by her mother. Even though I didn’t like Danielle, I thought that her backstory was very inventive and strong, and definitely facilitated her ability to be compassionate. About half-way through the book, I realized that Hines was leaving a lot of room for her character to grow.

When I reflect upon my feelings, I think that my mixed reactions to the characters is a good thing. THE STEPSISTER’S SCHEME is a fantasy and, in many ways, a dark one. Hines ability to flesh out tried-and-true characters in a new and more realistic way enables us to relate to them, regardless of where they are or what story is taking place.

Because my attention was so heavily focused on the characters, I found that the plot moved really quickly. I was able to enjoy the blending of classic fairy tales into an actual world where these characters live, because much of the world-building made sense to me. If I shared any more, I feel as if I would spoil the book for you. In my opinion, reinventing fairy tales and blending them into “one world” is a challenge for any writer, and I believe that Jim C. Hines did a bang-up job.

So if you like fairy tales, female protagonists and dark fantasy, then I believe you will really get a kick out of THE STEPSISTER’S SCHEME.

Review by Monica Valentinelli

Available at Amazon.com

Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido

One of the perks of being a reviewer on Flames Rising are the free E-books. I’ve been given some great books to review that I probably would have never come across and enjoyed otherwise (see my last review of This is My Blood for a great example). Fate and da’ flames have now granted not one, but four advance reader books for yours truly to read and review. Even more interesting is that these books are all based on the “Supernatural” television show!

I really enjoy watching the “Supernatural” show. I’ve been watching it since it first started, I got a few of the seasons on DVD and I’ve been considering checking out the RPG as I am a modern horror RPG junkie. I know that the show is a flawed one at times, but the great character development, the interesting stories and “monster of the week” premise, the “road trip” angle and the plain fun of this show keeps me in the game as an eager player. So reading a set of books based on the show sounded like an ideal position for me to be in.

Well, now I find myself questioning this position.

The first book of the “Supernatural” series is simply titled “Nevermore”. As a fan of Edgar Allen Poe’s work, I could envision a lot of potential using his material in some shape of form in this book. I envisioned the potential of putting Sam, Dean and the Impala (yeah, I’m the mook who sees that swank car as a third character) placed in such a situation involving Poe’s work. But after reading this book I only wish the author was as interested in potential as I was. What do I mean by that? Get your rock salt and hunky supernatural exterminators ready, were goin’ hunting!

The storyline goes something along the line of the Winchester boys heading out to the New York City area to check out a rocker house as he thinks it’s haunted. And which deciding if there is even a haunting, they catch word of a couple of college students finding their lives cut short in a macabre kind away. Even more interesting is that this is but one of a string of seemingly related killings that have ties to the scribes of Mr. Poe. Sounds like it has potential right?

So what went wrong?

Well, it seems to me that the author was more interested in the setting than in the characters. Honestly, this book serves as more of a tourist guide to the Bronx and Brooklyn than it does a story about Sam, Dean and Impala. I have nothing against the author’s love for the city or if it’s his hometown in which he’s fondly familiar with (probably both) and wants to tell all about it. But this book size is too short to be going into such details on the city as everything else suffers. I mean I get it; Edgar Allen Poe once lived and died in the Bronx, but all the education on his home was wasted text as it didn’t add anything to the story about the Winchesters or their two cases.

The next issue was the errors and the continuity issues in places. I won’t go into all the details, but as a lukewarm fan of the show (I don’t live for it or watch it over and over again); even I could pick out character errors the author gave about the bro’s. I can imagine that the diehard fans will chew this book up and spit it out for its bitter tasting errors.

The last big issue with me was the lame characters presented around the Winchester boys. While the brothers themselves were written fairly credible to the show (as little as they were actually in it), the remaining cast in this book felt like clichéd cookie cutter characters whom you’ve seen a thousand times before. The book featured these goobers with more book space than the Winchesters got (who’s story is this anyway?) And yet, their extreme amount of trite detailing was even further diminished in the all the exuberant and lavish details of the city itself.

I formed a theory of how this book was written while I read it. I believe that this book was a story written by the author long before he got the job of writing a Supernatural novel. Then he watched maybe a handful of episodes to get an idea of the characterizations of the Winchester Boys, and then shoehorned them into the book. This book feels like the boys were an afterthought in a story that should be about them and their dealing with the supernatural baddies. And finally, the ending was just flat and lame. Was there really even an ending? Did the boys really solve anything? Questions like this does not a good book make.

I can really only recommend this book to those who want to know more about the city of New York as there’s plenty of info about it. Perhaps the author should consider a career as a tour guide; the man knows his city, I’ll give him that! But if you’re looking for a “Supernatural” book, then this is not the droid you’re looking for.

Sadly this book has caused me to lose some of my zest to read the other three. Where was the clever, witty and imaginative nature of the show? Did the WB give any thought to whom they let write this book based on their beloved show? Did they sell out this badly? Well, were gonna find out as I’ve got three more to go. On a bright note however, the other books are all written by different authors, so who knows? This one could have just been a rough start. But I won’t bet the Impala on that thought at this point.

Review by Steven Dawes

Available at Amazon.com

A New War begins…

Fallout is the third volume in the Vampire Apocalypse series written by Derek Gunn. This story picks up almost immediately after the previous book, Descent into Chaos, wraps up. Now, the free humans are still recovering from the events of the previous novel, and have new challenges to face. Burdened by a huge influx of rescued people to their hidden community, the main characters have a lot of challenges weaning them off a deadly serum and integrating them into their new lives as survivors and freedom fighters.

I’ll say from the start that this review will be difficult to write without spoiling something in the story. There is a lot of action in this volume and plenty of twists and turns to the ongoing narrative. So, I’ll attempt to spoil as little as possible in the review, but a few minor bits might slip through in the process…

Reluctant hero and resistance leader Peter Harris continues his quest to free as many humans as possible not just from vampires, but also the effects of the “serum” (the drug cocktail the vampires and thralls have been using to keep the populace docile). As it turns out, the serum is poisonous and will end up killing everyone still on the drug in the near future. What was once a more straightforward mission to free people from ending up as food in the previous books is now a matter of worldwide life-and-death.

In the last book, Harris and his team had to defend the resistance’s home base against attack from a massive army of thralls during a clash between two vampire factions. The only thing that kept the resistance alive, was the vampires’ willingness to slaughter each other which was extremely rare among the undead in this world. Could they be feeling the effects of the serum as well?

This volume of the story had some of the best fight scenes Gunn has written so far in the series. Gunn continues to keep the adrenaline pumping throughout the story and our heroes are barely able to overcome overwhelming odds time and time again. They do not escape unharmed, war continues to take its bloody toll on this group. This is one of the things I enjoy about the Vampire Apocalypse series, our heroes are indeed mortal and do not smash through monsters with ease, they have to work for each and every victory.

However, I did feel that this book introduced far too many new characters and an unnecessary extra escape plot. This escape took place at a new location and involved new characters; I felt that this plot was a distraction since it took place far from our resistance fighters we have grown to know over the course of the previous two volumes. As I was reading the story, I felt it was getting difficult to keep track of the new names, faces and locations with each of the extra sub-plots going on throughout the book.

The overall setting certainly was more expanded in this book. Readers had the chance to learn a bit more about how the vampire council works and even uncovered a few clues about the history of the vampire race. This was extremely cool: it is interesting to see how different authors build the history of their monsters and it looks like Gunn has some cool backstory yet to flesh out in a future volume.

Fallout escalates the conflict to new levels, with three (or more) factions attempting to control portions of the American Midwest. No one side has dominant power, although if the fractured vampire groups would consolidate their forces neither the free humans nor the independent thrall army would be able to resist them. It would be interesting to see the free humans and free thralls team up, but such an alliance would be tenuous at best.

My one major complaint with this volume is the atrocious editing. I found far too many typos and misplaced words. (E.G. Words that are spelled correctly, but do not make sense in a particular sentence like replacing “dusk” where “dust” was supposed to be.) In the story, I also found that there were a few amusing American vs. European word choices that didn’t hurt the overall story, but certainly seemed out of place.

So, if you enjoyed the first two volumes of Vampire Apocalypse you are going to really like this one, especially after the cliffhanger ending of Descent into Chaos. If you dig an action-packed tale of free humans fighting off monstrous cruel vampires and the twisted thralls that serve them…check out the Vampire Apocalypse books, you won’t be disappointed. I do recommend that a new reader start at the beginning (A World Torn Asunder) rather than attempt to dive into Fallout. This volume is far more dependent on what has come before than the previous volume.

Review by Matt M McElroy

Available at Amazon.com

I discovered Dakota Cassidy through the League of Reluctant Adults, and have been following her blog for ages. She did an excellent back and forth short fiction piece with Mark Henry (Happy Hour of the Damned, Road Trip of the Living Dead, and the forthcoming Battle of the Network Zombies) that appeared on their web sites (a murder in an America’s Top Model-like environment) featuring characters from Mark’s Amanda Feral series and Dakota’s “Accidentals” series. Having fallen in love with her online writing, I put her books on hold through my library.

And I waited. And waited. And waited. And by the time the first book actually arrived through my library system (where apparently it was too popular at the home library for them to ship to me), Dakota’s fourth book, Accidentally Demonic, started appearing early on bookshelves. When Dakota found out I was a reviewer, she promptly sent me an e-ARC, and so I’ve now finally read a full novel in the “Accidentals” series. My verdict? If the first three are this good, I should have just bought them instead of waiting!

In Accidentally Demonic, Casey Schwartz doesn’t quite remember what she did to end up in jail, but she’s been told it has to do with assaulting an off-duty police officer. The ever-practical Casey, whose career involves keeping two celebutante sisters out of the tabloids, has no idea why she’s become so prone to violence — until Wanda, Nina, and Marty, the stars of the first three “Accidental” novels, let her in on the world of the paranormal. Suddenly, Casey not only has to deal with the idea that her sister Wanda, with whom she’s been out of touch, is a were-vampire, but that the changes happening to her — being able to sling fireballs, levitate, and use super-strength — are permanent. Things get even more complicated when the person responsible for her change, a hottie vampire named Clay, shows up to coach her through the process and instantly sets her libido on fire. Struggling with wanting to blame him for all her new troubles and wanting him naked between the sheets, Casey begins to navigate the paranormal world, only to find out that the demoness Hildegarde, whose blood she now shares, wants her dead, or bound in Hell, whichever comes first.

Dakota writes her “Accidentals” novels just like she writes her blog entries and like she chats on her Vlogs. Her characters use words like “evah” and, once in Accidentally Demonic, use LOL Cats speak. They’re utterly snarky, sometimes potty-mouthed, and all-around appealing characters. The four women are a fabulous support group who really care about each other and are determined to take the paranormal world by its horns. (In Casey’s case, this is sometimes literal.) The romance between Casey and Clay happens fast, which works brilliantly well in context, and the sex scenes are hot. Even the supporting cast is well drawn, from the men who were the love interests in the first three novels (and are now attached to Wanda, Nina, and Marty), to the demons either helping to train or trying to manipulate Casey, to the former vampire manservant Archibald (who steals every scene he’s in with his addiction to cooking shows and too-proper manner of speech). Only Hildegarde seems a little shallow, but being a demon nut-job completely obsessed with eventually winning her man could have that effect on anyone.

I’d definitely categorize Accidentally Demonic as a paranormal romance (readers know from the beginning that the guy and the girl will have a happy ending eventually), but unlike most paranormal romances, the focus here is just as much on the relationships among the women as it is about the relationship between the love interests. That element gives the story a deeper dimension without having to build an incredibly complicated world or huge overarching plot with a good vs. evil sort of battle cast out at the end (ala Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series or Meljean Brook’s Guardians books). The novel is incredibly character-centric, and the idea that this sort of accident happens to otherwise normal people just trying to get by and make their way through life is pervasive. While not as dark as most of the books that show up here at Flames Rising, I’d definitely recommend Accidentally Demonic (and most likely the other “Accidentals”) to anyone who has enjoyed Mark Henry’s Amanda Feral books (or Molly Harper’s “Nice Girls Don’t” novels). Folks who normally don’t read romance should still find the novel appealing — the sex scenes come at logical places and make sense in the plot, rather than seeming like they’re thrown in there just for the heck of it, so they’re not a distraction from the rest of the story — and romance readers will be tickled by the way the relationship between Clay and Casey builds through to the epilogue.

So, don’t wait like I did — go pick it up! Accidentally Demonic and the other accidental novels are on shelves (or available as e-books) now!

Review by Alana Abbott

Available at Amazon.com

A LOCAL HABITATION is the second book in Seanan McGuire’s “October Daye” urban fantasy series. The first book in the series, ROSEMARY & RUE, was a stellar debut for McGuire while A LOCAL HABITATION is a worthy successor. Toby, the series protagonist, returns to the service of her Duke for an ‘easy’ job of checking on the Duke’s niece, Countess January, who has mysteriously gone silent in the wilds of Fremont, California AKA the County of Tamed Lightning. This job is supposed to be such a piece of cake that the Duke sends a fostered squire, Quentin, along for the ride as a learning experience.

This would not be an October Daye book if anything nice or easy happened to Toby or anyone with her.

This is an excellent standalone book that may be read without reading the first book in the series while still fitting into the supernatural world McGuire has created to overlay the San Francisco Bay Area. However, this is also a very different book than its predecessor. Where the first book was a gritty noir tale, A LOCAL HABITATION is basically a locked door murder mystery where the bodies keep growing and the list of suspects keep shrinking. This is not a bad thing.

While I miss a bit of the gritty noir feel of the previous novel, I strongly approve that the character of October Daye is growing, changing and healing. This is nice to see. I enjoy her friendships with the unlikeliest of people like Tybalt and the Luidaeg and her requited but untouchable love in the very married Connor as well as her sudden role as a mentor to Quentin. What I don’t like is Toby’s apparent abandonment of her lost mortal love and daughter. Then again, in the first book, Cliff and Gilly (the mortal love and daughter, respectively) pretty much told Toby to DIAF. I’ve been told this kink in Toby’s tale will be addressed in a future novel.

The story itself starts months after the end of ROSEMARY & RUE, allowing Toby time to heal some, grow into her duty as a Knight again and to continue to straighten her life out as best she can. Once the first bit is through pointing out that things have changed, the reader is thrown head first into the murder mystery at the computer company of the Duke’s niece, Countess January, when Toby arrives on the scene to discover a dead body—and it is not the first. After that, the action is fast and furious. Through it all, Toby’s relationship with Quentin grows. The squire softens Toby’s edges and that is exactly what the sarcastic, blunt changeling needed.

Over all, A LOCAL HABITATION is an excellent book that continues October Daye’s story after a 14 year curse, a hell of a wake up, the murder of her only friend and her attempts to make sense of a life that refuses to cooperate. This is my favorite urban fantasy series to date and I’m eagerly looking forward to the next installment.

Review by Jennifer Brozek

When I first sat down to read A DARK MATTER, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Sure, I had read Peter’s work before and I’m pretty familiar with modern horror, but I didn’t know anything about this particular story other than one, little tidbit. In our interview with Peter Straub, he had mentioned that he was inspired by his experiences in Madison, Wisconsin. That little morsel made me curious, because I went to school in Madison and could see how he got the idea for this book. Madison is unique from the rest of the state, because you can study or pursue just about any religion, philosophy or political group in this college town. I could imagine that those same gurus that Peter saw in the 60s might be strolling around State Street today. Needless to say, the concept piqued my curiosity.

With that in mind, I started reading A DARK MATTER and was a little surprised by what I had read. Heavily focused on characterization, the story has a literary quality to it that I don’t really see much in mainstream fiction — especially modern horror. What do I mean by “literary”? Well, in my mind, literary fiction has a serious tone to it because the author is more deliberate with his (or her) use of words, and how those words are typeset on a page. The word I often use to describe literary fiction is “crunchy.” As a reader, you’re then forced to savor each word and each sentence before moving on to the next. A DARK MATTER has that kind of quality, even though I feel it’s not as “crunchy” as FINCH. The characterization in this book is very deep and thorough; you feel as if you know these characters in a way that you might know a lover or a twin. You feel what every one of these characters feels both in the present and in the past, a technique that is masterful considering the sheer volume of characters that are in this book. In many ways, reading A DARK MATTER is like taking a step back from a large mosaic; the further you get into the story, the more you understand how all the pieces fit together.

Spencer Mallon, a guru with a childlike need for power, manipulates himself and his followers into believing that they can successfully conduct an ancient occult ritual on the first try and reap in the benefits. His “followers” include Don Olson, Keith Hayward, “Hootie,” the Eel, and a few others. The bulk of the story is focused on the investigation by Lee, the Eel’s husband, a successful author who didn’t share that part of his wife’s past. He was the only one who didn’t attend the ritual or “buy” Spencer Mallon’s claims, even though he knew most of the others who did. The book focuses on his investigation and his ability to interview the other characters in order to unlock the past. Each character provides a piece to the puzzle about what really happened that night and each one suffers from that event in their own, unique way. Since the group is inexorably linked to one another, their intimacy creates conflict between Lee, the author, and Lee, his wife. Lee, the author, also suffers from the knowledge he gains because he starts to wonder more and more about the secrets his wife, Lee “The Eel” Truax, seems to be keeping from him.

The horror in this book hit me from all directions, because this story also serves as a warning to anyone who is careless with their pursuit of forbidden knowledge. I felt that this was one of the most realistic depictions about what would happen if the doorway between reality and the occult were blown wide open. Every character (including the author) is irrevocably changed by what they experienced during that ritual and the events leading up to it. The horror comes from their paranoia, the forbidden knowledge that they’ve gained and how they deal with it, the unique experience each of them felt during the ritual and the personal effect that they’ve had on each other. Here, the horror doesn’t just come from facing the proverbial monster under-the-bed, but knowing that it exists in many forms, and that it can’t be defeated. As they say, “Ignorance is bliss.”

For those readers that are interested in a modern horror story, there is a thread of that in A DARK MATTER as well. One of the characters is linked to a mass murderer; to tell you anymore would probably spoil the story for you.

So, having said all that I have, who would enjoy reading A DARK MATTER? If you’re a curious person who “has to know”… If you’re the type of reader who enjoys a dark mystery and doesn’t mind being frightened when you least expect it… If you’re someone who has always wondered “What if?” Then this is the book is for you.

To keep up-to-date with news about Peter’s work, we encourage you to visit the official Peter Straub Facebook fan page or his website located at www.peterstraub.net. If you’re interested in pre-ordering A DARK MATTER, you can get your copy through Amazon.com today.

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

Written by David Niall Wilson

I’ve only been a reviewer on da’ flames for about a scant 6 months now (my, how time does fly), but I’ve already read and reviewed some good books within that time. In one particular case however, I decided to read and review a book (Personal Effects- Dark Art) after reading a featured preview. As it turned out, this was a good book and was worth taking the leap and I told myself I would review more featured books in the future. And now I’ve recently read the featured preview of This is My Blood. This preview also grabbed me by the attention and I took another leap of faith. Was my faith rewarded?

Well before I answer this question, I feel a need to explain my review style. For those of you who’ve read my past reviews, I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If always been a philosophy and goal to make my reviews as enjoyable, including adding what I think are sometimes witty and/or silly bits of humor, sarcastic remarks, different points of view, where I am coming from on a given subject and so on. I feel that if I can’t keep you interested or entertained along the way, you probably won’t acquire the interest to look into the items that I’ve enjoyed nor think twice about looking into the items that I didn’t.  Well, I’m scraping this method this time around for a more serious review.

So why am I traveling along a more serious route today? The answer ties into the first question when I asked “was my faith rewarded?” In a word I could say “absolutely” or even “completely, but I don’t feel that either of these words (or any group of words in general) will do this book justice. This is My Blood is nothing short of amazing, and I believe that no matter how hard I’d try, I won’t be able to give it the praise it deserves. So instead of my attempts at long winded goofy commentary in the hopes of encouraging you to sit down to this book, I’m simply going to implore you to read this extraordinary piece of literature. And to that end, I’m going to attempt to obtain your interest by stating the facts and I see them. So please follow along with me on this one, I wouldn’t just ask if I didn’t feel so strongly about this book.

-Fact #1. Even when I knew what This is My Blood was going to be about via the preview, this book continually surprised, impressed and amazed me. For those of you who haven’t read the preview yet, I ask you to click here to read it before continuing on with this review. The preview basically spells out what will happen and even hints at how and why it happens, so I won’t rehash it here. What I will say is that the story quickly becomes a personal adventure unlike anything I’ve ever read before.

One of the aspects that got my attention right away were the two main characters themselves; specifically Jesus Christ and a vampiress created and sent by Lucifer to tempt and ruin him. While I’ve read plenty of vampire stories and stories of the life of Jesus Christ, in my experience there’s never been a story involving both. I know how blasphemous this idea sounds; I am not a spiritual man by nature and I’ve only read the stories of Jesus from a “parable” and a “good reading material” point of view, and I still felt that this story was probably going to boldly drive into restricted areas.

But I couldn’t have been more wrong. The author wasn’t interested in ruffling any spiritual feathers. Once the story moved to a personal level I realized that the vampire angle was only the catalyst. In the end this story is really about faith (both spiritual faith and faith in one’s self), love, hope and sacrifice. I never saw any of this coming and I was simply blown away by it all. Such a tale in lesser hands may have been seriously flubbed with such a volatile mix of themes and loaded subjects, but David proves to be a master of the written word and treats the subject with a subtle and graceful finesse that only builds and adds to the profound depth of thought and feeling this book has to offer.

-Fact #2. I don’t think Mr. Wilson had any interest in trying to question, convert or re-affirm anyone’s faith. I believe that his interest was in telling the story of Jesus Christ through a very different and unexpected point of view. While that idea in and of itself is an interesting one to ponder, what’s more amazing is how inspirational this book was to me. Like I said, I’m not a spiritual man, and I think a large part of that is because I don’t truly “get” what the stories are trying to convey anymore than I can really “feel” the faith and inspiration they’re supposed  to invoke in me. In short: I don’t really believe in the faith, I don’t even understand it.

However… as I read, something switched a light on for me. I’m not entirely sure how or where it happened during the story, but I’m honestly seeing Jesus and Christianity itself in a whole new light. Maybe it was something in the way Jesus was portrayed in this book, or the method of experiencing his life through the eyes and insights of such an unorthodox protagonist; but along the journey I learned new things, I saw events from the bible in a light that made sense where they hadn’t before, I had moments of teary eyed revelation and insight about Jesus and the all-father, and by the end of the book I truly felt like I’ve had some kind of spiritual enlightenment. I’ve even considered taking my very first “voluntary” step into the local church this Sunday. That has to speak volumes about this book!

-Fact #3. I keep a small library of books on a shelf at home that I call my “books that I wish I’d written myself shelf”.  While I cherish lots of books, it’s a short list that makes this shelf. Some examples off the top of my head include Dracula (an annotated and a regular copy), A Christmas Carol, Shade (written by Neil Jordan), The Road, The Last Unicorn, anthology books with H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe and others.

While I possess an e-book version of this story, as of this morning I purchased a copy of this physical book on eBay. I paid several times the cost of the e-book, but it’s a first edition, it’s autographed, and it’s worth every penny in my opinion. As soon as it arrives, it will find a place amongst my list of books that I wish I’d written. To me, this fact has to be another sterling example to how incredible This is My Blood really is.  
 
I also need to give praise to Mr. Wilson’s writing prowess. This book might not have been half as effective as it was without his writing style. As I read, I honestly couldn’t help but wonder if the man knows more than he’s telling in his fiction. This story was simply good enough to make me think that this could have really happened! I recall in the preview that this was his first novel. I’ve never read any of his other work, but if they are even half as potent as this one, consider me an instant fan who will be hunting down his scribes very soon!

While rooted in the realm of horror & dark fantasy, This is My Blood is in reality a personal journey more complete and deeper then nearly anything I’ve read. It’s been an incredible experience for me, and I believe it will be for you if you take a leap of faith on it.

Review by Steven Dawes

Look for more David Niall Wilson fiction at DriveThruHorror.com.

Available at Amazon.com

Details:
A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill
Black Library Publishing
558 pages

Description:
Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their homeworld of Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret. But when the ill-fated primarch forsees the treachery of Warmaster Horus and warns the Emperor with the very powers he was forbidden to use, the Master of Mankind dispatches fellow primarch Leman Russ to attack Prospero itself. But Magnus has seen more than the betrayal of Horus and the witnessed revelations will change the fate of his fallen Legion, and its primarch, forever.

Review:
Picked up the book last evening, finished reading and turned out the light at exactly 3:33am. Coincidence?

My review? Go out and buy the book, absorb it in one sitting.

That’s it?

I have to admit that is this is a difficult book to read and review as I am forced to set aside any fanboy glee for what is my personal favorite Legion (1ksons) and the Horus Heresy novel I’ve been waiting for since the beginning. Deep breath. I’m a pro. Objectivity. GO!

WOW!

A Thousand Sons is a story about one loyal son and his Legion versus another. If you’re expecting this to be about The Thousand Sons being vile traitors…you will be surprised to say the very least.

Graham McNeill crafts a moving story about one of The Emperor of Mankind’s most loyal sons. If anything this can be considered one of the greatest tragedies of the entire Horus Heresy. I think that Magnus, like all his brother Primarchs are flawed in some way. Arrogance, hubris, pride…just like their father.

You ever have a friend or know someone who is really a genius, and every time you tell them something…they “know it”. Maybe they do, maybe not. Even if that person has the very best intentions…it’s hubris.

That is Magnus.

If anything The Thousand Sons are the most personable Legion of Astartes I’ve seen yet. They have character. They are Astartes, so they are trained and hones like any other…but free thinking. Critical thinkers who question, evaluate, and delve in to all matter of knowledge. They are extremely disciplined in their learning. Magnus? Nicest and coolest Primarch you ever met. Ahriman? Great guy, love to share a glass of wine with him and talk history.

Graham McNeill makes the Thousand Sons very inviting. Very easy to like. You really do get to like them. Camaraderie and banter better than anything I’ve seen so far from “Astartes”. Every single one completely and steadfastedly loyal to their Emperor.

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions”

I swear that could be the byline of the novel and the XV Legion itself.

The novel tends to be fairly conversational. The Thousand Sons don’t have the battle history that other Legions had. Where Russ and Lorgar tended to be largely weapons to be pointed at a target, Magnus and the Thousand Sons were considerate of the How and Why of battle. Winning hearts and minds. What is the point of conquering a place if everyone is dead? I am glad Graham McNeill was slotted for this novel because he does “conversational” well.

I don’t mean to say that the author doesn’t do action well or anything. He’s just a very thoughtful, philosophical author. Take in to consideration the short story “The Last Church” in Tales of Heresy (a short story I consider to be absolutely fantastic). The author does a fantastic job at delving in to secrets (and being a frigging TEASE). I can’t say much without spoiling things. Graham McNeill does a good job in expanding what is known about The Thousand Sons, The Emperor, the Emperyan, and the Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 universe at a whole…without giving away the farm.

Quibbles? The naming conventions are flavorful, but alien to a modern day American…so I had to reference the up-front cast of characters often to avoid confusion on who’s who. What can you do though? The Legion has a pseudo-Egyptian flavor.

There are some slow spots. Sometimes frustrating spots…but then when you consider that these guys deal in prophesy, visions and interpretations of possible futures…it can be a little weird. It fits though…it’s not jarring or anything. I guess in a way you have to expect it. Maybe it was just anticipation wanting things to GO FASTER…but then we’d miss important plot points and bits of secrets. Mwahahahahah [rubbing hands together]

Like most BL novels the reader needs to understand that the books are written from a certain perspective: In this case from the perspective (largely) of Ahriman’s. The Space Wolves are wild barbaric beasts, cunning and ruthless in extremis. Almost mindless savages. Again…this is a matter of perspective. I’m interested to see what Dan Abnett does with the other half of the story.

Rating:
Overall, the story is a vast landscape of knowledge to be absorbed. There’s a lot of material here just in understanding of The Warp and how it works as a tool and just how pervasive it can be. The secret bits of Thousand Sons and Horus Heresy lore are tasty. Other secret bits of Warhammer 40,000 lore, like the Blood Ravens? Well…I’ll leave that for you to read for yourself!

4 out of 5 Stars.

Review by Jeff Preston

Available at MorriganBooks.com

This review is long overdue. Matt sent me Grants Pass, an awesome post-apocalyptic anthology edited by Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar (more on why it’s awesome below) this past summer. It may have even been late spring. And after reading the introductions on my computer screen (which, on initial read, made chills creep up and down my spine), the anthology languished on my computer. I could not get myself sitting down in front of the screen long enough to read the carefully crafted short stories, couldn’t explore their interconnectedness while looking at them on a monitor. I printed out the whole pdf onto paper — but the formatting was a little odd, and not only was the collection heavy, the font was so large on the print out that it actually made it difficult to read. The three ring binder I put it in traveled from room to room in my house — but it didn’t open. The book languished… until I decided to try out an e-Reader. In less than a week, I’ve accomplished what it took me months to do: finished reading the whole anthology, cover to cover (as it were).

So a word on the e-book version’s format: if you like reading on your computer screen, this is a well designed pdf, great for that format. If you prefer reading print, I’d advise purchasing a print copy of the anthology, as the pdf does not translate well from screen to printer. My Nook had some formatting issues with the book as well (page lengths don’t always translate well on the Nook, and the drop caps that begin each story were dropped to the bottom of the story’s first page), but I had a very easy time to adapting to reading it that way.

And now into the actual meat of the anthology. In two introductions from the editors, which might have actually been better as afterwords (so as not to prepare the readers so thoroughly for the journey on which they’re about to embark), the concept of Grants Pass is explained: Jennifer once wrote a blog post as a mental exercise that’s much like the one included in the anthology. If the world ends, what would your plan be? What would you take with you? Above all, meet in Grants Pass, Oregon, where other like-minded spirits will be waiting. Written from the voice of Kayley, the blog post starts out the anthology with the premise, and each story refers back to Kayley and her promise for a place where people can find a new home if the apocalypse should happen.

A series of news articles and radio broadcasts describe just that: three terrorist-developed viruses sweep through the world, alongside several natural disasters that are consequences of global warming and other factors. The majority of the people in the world are dead. This section is the one that brought chills: news reports are featured in several languages, and eventually, the speakers break down, from a newscaster on the BBC giving up hope on air to a radio announcement in Spanish declaring that everyone is dead — but calling people to believe in a place called Grants Pass, if there is anyone out there, listening (which the speaker doubts, but pleads is true).

The stories that follow take place all over the world. Some are, understandably, bleak. The strongest selections mix despair and hope, humor and questionable ethics. “Animal Husbandry” by Seanan McGuire is a stand-out: a veterinarian, traveling with an entourage of animals, is held at gun point until she promises to help a little girl who has one of the plagues. Her commentary on the state of humanity after the plague is wry and clever:

I’ve come to see looting as a sort of hopeful omen, a little piece of proof that the human race will manage to recover from what it’s done to itself. I was less pleased to see that my would-be looters had focused their attentions on the junk food aisles and cosmetics, almost completely ignoring the canned goods and well-stocked pharmacy. Maybe that was better for me, but it didn’t bode well for the survival of the species.

That narrative tone makes her questionable decisions by the end of the story seem even colder — and yet, it’s difficult to disagree with her choices. Others have to face those same decisions: do they kill to save their own lives? How do they protect themselves, and others they find along the way, without losing what has made them who they are? In “Men of Faith” by Ivan Ewert, the narrator has to make a decision of whether to be loyal to the people who have been his team on their journey to Grants Pass, or whether to take matters into his own hands when he believes their decisions are wrong. “Remembrance,” the final story, written as a journal found long after the apocalypse, shows how even the right decisions — protecting others from those who would take advantage of them — come with a cost to the conscience.

Two of the stories feature young narrators: “Hells Bells” by Cherie Priest, which is told from the voice of a ruthless child who has no trouble being glad for the deaths of those who are mean to her, and “The Few that Are Good” by Scott Almes, in which a young boy learns from the example of his older brother, beginning with hope in humanity and descending into the lack of ability to trust anyone. “Chateau du Mons,” written by Brozek, features a teen narrator stuck in a foreign land, and is one of the most hopeful stories in the collection as the girl decides to embrace the original intention of her home. Other stories feature narrators on the brink of madness: the narrator in Jeff Parish’s “Final Edition” is a reporter barely holding onto his sanity, if at all; in “Ink Blots,” an Australian woman is sure that the ink from articles she printed out before the computers all died has seeped into her skin and is causing her to go insane; and “Black Heart, White Mourning” features a narrator who was in a psych ward before the end of the world and is now free to do what she pleases. Kayley’s own story is left ambiguously in the Epilogue — her final journal entry does not reveal whether she ever makes it to Grants Pass, but I’d like to believe that she does, and that she finds all those people waiting for her there.

As with most anthologies, some of the stories are stronger than others, some more to one reader’s taste than another’s. The middle of the anthology includes several stories where the narrators have little hope — or little enough sanity that whether or not they can realize their hope is doubtful — that the return to the successes of the characters in “Remembrance” is a breath of relief after so many things have gone wrong for other characters. But despite that weight in the middle, all of the stories have power — whether making the reader question what they might do at the end of the world, or whether the sacrifices of the characters make the reader’s breath catch in the throat, or gulp around the lump forming there. It’s a remarkable collection, and while occasionally the connection to Kayley’s original entry and the hope of Grants Pass seem tangential to the story, the anthology hangs well together as a whole. I highly recommend the book to readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction in general, and to those who find the complex morality of human decision making in the face of everything falling apart in particular.

Review by Alana Abbott

Available at Amazon.com

Details:
Crosscurrent by Paul S. Kemp
Del Rey: Random House Publishing Group
352 Pages
Final Pre-Release Proof Copy

Description:

An ancient Sith ship hurtles into the future carrying a lethal cargo that could forever destroy Luke Skywalker’s hopes for peace.

The Civil War is almost over when Jedi Knight Jaden Korr experiences a Force vision so intense he must act. Enlisting two salvage jocks and their ship, Jaden sets out into space. Someone—or something—appears to be in distress.

But what Jaden and his crew find confounds them. A five-thousand-year-old dreadnaught—bringing with it a full force of Sith and one lone Jedi—has inadvertently catapulted eons from the past into the present. The ship’s weapons may not be cutting-edge, but its cargo, a special ore that makes those who use the dark side nearly invincible, is unsurpassed. The ancient Jedi on board is determined to destroy the Sith. But for Jaden, even more is at stake: for his vision has led him to uncover a potentially indestructible threat to everything the Jedi Order stands for. (Amazon.com)

Review:

Crosscurrent is set some 41.5 years after the events of A New Hope…and some five thousand years before that. Crosscurrent is told through a series of flashes from the past and the “present”. It’s very much about threads of fate, plots and events of the past coming to fruition in the future.

Now most of the time this way of storytelling can be jarring. I’ve put books down and left them on the shelf because of this. Usually it’s hard to keep the flow of interest going on two simultaneous stories.

The author does a masterful job in tying the two together as well as keeping both halves of the story exciting. He makes it really work. I do love being surprised!

Without spoiling anything I can say that the story (stories) definitely nail the Star Wars vibe. Sith vs. Jedi showdowns, space battles, star fighter chases, smarmy cantinas, cryptic force-visions and how they play out…all really well done.

A lot of the names from Star Wars canon are mentioned, but the reader is bashed up-side the head with them. It would be easy to make up a formulaic “Star Wars” Story, slap some canon names on things and call it good, but Paul S. Kemp actually crafts a very thoughtful story. It’s not preachy (as some Star Wars novels have been.)

You can certainly see a difference in the Jedi of ages past versus Jedi of “The New Order” but you can see similarities too. They are still Jedi. I think in a lot of ways “The New Order” Jedi have to be a bit more contemplative: seeing more shades of grey than the Jedi of old (which I think led to their fall).

Crosscurrent is a stand-alone novel. You don’t need to read anything else before reading it, which is nice. This is a great book to give to people that haven’t read a Star Wars novel before, or if they’ve read them all: I think the story stands up nicely.

I did have to go back and re-read a few bits. Occasionally I got confused on whether I was reading X’s story or Y’s story. This is to be expected, especially when the whole thing is a series of flashbacks (and flash forwards.) I did get a bit confused on names too, but I think that is because I’m reading the PDF version and not a paper book where I can easily flip back to the “Cast of Characters” page for handy reference.

The author does a fine job of keeping the reader on their toes. I wasn’t sure where the story would lead or who would die or not. I think that’s a great thing in storytelling (something many authors don’t seem to achieve).

I love to be kept guessing as well as being wrong in my assumptions of where the plot is going. Granted there were a couple groaner events, but still…a really great story.

One part in-particular wraps nicely around a card game. Beautifully crafted scene. Very well done. That is one of the best negotiations I’ve seen in a long while. There are funny moments and great dialogue and some full-stop moments that will have you scratching your head.

About halfway through the novel you have an “Oh Crap” moment and everything starts falling together. At this point if you weren’t snagged by the author’s hooks, you are now!

Rating:

Overall, it’s a fun ride with lots of bumps, twists and turns. Good sci-fi in general, smart Star Wars fiction in particular.

4 of 5 stars!

Review by Jeff Preston

Available at Amazon.com

Details:
Dark Creed by Anthony Reynolds
Black Library Publishing
413 pages

Description:
Dark Creed is the thrilling conclusion to the Word Bearers trilogy, and sees epic conflicts fought and old scores settled in the world of Warhammer 40,000.

Review:
Dark Apostle is the third in the Word Bearers series and the culmination of a massive plot. Of course when you consider that the Word Bearers and other Traitor Legions are over 10,000 years old and their schemes stretch over millennia it’s hard to grasp the scope of such a “plot”. Wheels within wheels and the Word Bearers are plotters in the extreme.

The story of Dark Apostle Marduk continues and his goal of using the ancient Necron technology to essentially propel himself higher up the food chain and bring as much chaos to the Imperium as possible is fought with peril from within and without.

As any reader vaguely familiar with the material can surmise, Chaos Space Marines, while disciplined are still suffering from some serious testosterone poisoning. They’re all plotting and scheming to be the Alpha Male. That mush is established. Unlike say the World Eaters, the Word Bearer Legion has their own way of pursuing personal goals (vendettas?) and Anthony Reynolds does a great job of breaking it all down so we as readers can follow these spider-web plots (without dumbing it down too much).

Seriously…I have to commend Mr. Reynolds for his deft handling of the story. He gives good insight to the inner workings of the Word Bearers as well as the White Consuls Space Marines (and many others) who are working in opposition to Marduk’s plans. Without spoiling anything let it suffice to say that the scale of the novel is pretty ginormous. Epic. Sector fleets, multiple hosts of the Word Bearers, several chapters of Astartes as well as innumerable Imperial Guardsmen and the various Titan Legions. (Much of this is inferred or happens off-screen)

This is a novel with a lot of moving parts. Tons going on. Anthony Reynolds does a really good job of keeping it manageable for the reader. The battles range from naval engagements to gritty melee.

I’ve always found it difficult to get in to reading the Chaos-side of Warhammer novels. They seem so unbelievably over the top that I have a hard time suspending disbelief. Often with Space Marines as well…they seem too perfect. Chaos Space Marines in contrast become the most heinous thing ever. It’s too…black and white.

Anthony Reynolds does an admirable job in keeping things believable. Granted, there are still moments where the Astartes are perfectly heroic and the Chaos Marines are perfectly heinous. Still…my spidey-sense wasn’t going off and telling me to glaze over pages due to *yawn* more nail a baby to your forehead moments.

I think Mr. Reynolds does however have an excellent grasp on the dark, hopelessness of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It’s a messed up place where a human is one among untold bajillions and nobody will miss your passing. The author definitely has this DOWN.

One think I do appreciate in this novel is that there appears to be very real peril around all the characters, including Marduk. Nobody is safe. Any of them can be crushed by falling beams, have their head blown off or simply die an ignoble death (which is SUCH an appropriate 40k thing).

My only complaint would be that due to the massive scope of the plot, there’s a lot of interesting things going on, and it’s easy to get lost. Granted Mr. Reynolds does a great job in showing us one scene, then shifting the camera elsewhere to see a scene…sometimes it’s easy to start wondering “Hey, what happened to Brother Bob?” Largely the author does a great job in keeping the suspense going. Still, there are some parts that I personally would have loved to see more of…but that’s really just a personal quibble. I think in reading we gravitate towards some characters more than others…and sometimes those characters aren’t really the focus of the story. Meh, it happens. Still a damn good book!

Rating:

Overall it’s a fitting ending (?) to the Word Bearer series.
A really good read whether a part of the series or as a stand-alone novel.
4/5

Review by Jeff Preston

Available at Amazon.com

Details:
Sons of Dorn by Chris Roberson
Black Library Publishing
414 pages.

Description:
Sons of Dorn is a thrilling new Imperial Fists novel featuring a memorable cast of characters and all the intergalactic action associated with the Black Library.

Review:
It’s a familiar tale: enemy warriors fighting a desperate battle only to be snatched up and put through a grueling series of tests and implantations to become Astartes. Eventually they learn to be a team and work together (or die) as scouts, neophytes, etc. If you’ve read the Space Wolves Omnibus (specifically Space Wolf) by William King then you know the story. Honestly, if you’re a Space marine fan of any sort you likely are familiar with the story already. That’s all there is to know, right?

Wrong!

While the process of creating a Space Marine may be fairly well-trodden ground, this is very much an Imperial Fists book, and Imperial Fists aren’t your everyday Space Marine. The Imperial Fists are one of the original founding Legions, from which many smaller “chapters” were spawned. These aren’t Ultramarines or some other cookie-cutter Codex Astartes clone…and they take their identity serious. The book has a lot of unique Imperial Fist flavor to say the very least.

Add to this that Chris Roberson isn’t your everyday writer. He’s got a unique feel to his writing style. Where the Space Wolf stories read like Icelandic Sagas of superheroes who are greater than gods…Roberson makes Astartes supermen without making them perfect in every 4-color way. These guys have an ounce of humanity left in them. Unlike some stories that lead you to believe that Space Marines are these perfectly indoctrinated controlled psychopaths who are nigh unstoppable…Chris Roberson gives them a little bit of feeling. A bit of color. A bit of inner turmoil and gives us as readers a bit of insight in to what it would be like to undergo such a life altering event, complete with missing or fuzzy memories and added hypnotherapy weirdness…and deal with it without going nuts.

Roberson tells a good yarn. He’s really good at setting the stage, pacing and misdirection. He’ll trick you. Most of the time these sort of stories play out fairly predictably. Chris Roberson does a great job in keeping you going and throwing curves and twists at you.

Is it a unique story? No. It is however done in a very creative manner. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if another “making of a space marine” would be anything short of a snoozer, but Chris Roberson really does a great job at taking a well-worn concept and breathing fresh new life in to it.

Rating:
3 of 5 (4 of 5 for IF fans)
Definitely an enjoyable read! I want to see Chris Roberson get cut loose on some fresh material…I’m sure he’ll knock our socks off!

Review by Jeff Preston

Available at Amazon.com

Details:

Shadow King, a Tale of the Sundering by Gav Thorpe.
Black Library Publishing
522 Pages of visceral, bloody adventure.

Description:

When his family is betrayed and slain, Alith Anar, ill-fated prince of the Nagarythe, is forced to walk a dark path. With the island of Ulthuan in the grip of a civil war with their evil counterparts, the druchii, Alith Anar follows his destiny to become the Shadow King. Hunting his enemies from the darkness, he is now on a quest for vengeance that will never end.

Review:

A few months back Gav wrote a post in his blog regarding cutting out “faffy” words. A lot of writers use a lot of excess language to get a point across where Gav tends to cut to the meat of the story and carves his way through the pages at a fevered clip.

The Shadow King is another great example of this. To be honest I was hesitant about whether Thorpe could pull that off. I mean…over 500 pages. That seems pretty wordy to me. So I sat down and set about consuming and digesting this thick tome (larger than anything he’s written to date I believe page-wise. Don’t quote me but I *think* that is accurate.)

As per usual Gav gets right to it. The stage is set and things start going to hell…fast. This is the second book of The Sundering, following Malekith. I haven’t read the first book, and I understand that there is some overlap between the books: the first segment covers the events of Malekith from a different angle and the second segment delves in to wholly new territory.

Now having missed out on the previous novel, the intro is breakneck. This isn’t a complaint. Hardly so. I want the story…not a wordy intro on the same ol same ol. Some writers, even really good ones meander a bit when starting a novel. Gav tends to bull straight forward.

One of the best parts in reading Gav Thorpe’s books is that he’s a smart writer. He’s a pro when it comes to hooking you right in at the first few pages. He grabs you by the nose and drags you kicking and screaming down a road that you *KNOW* is going to end badly. Especially in writing about events considered “history” in the Warhammer Fantasy or Warhammer 40,000 universe.

A lot of the time we have the broad strokes of what the story is about far in advance of the novel ever being read. The story of Alith Anar is a prime example of that. We all know that Alith Anar is the last of his line, prince of Nagarythe. His family murdered, and his revenge is eternal. Blablabla. Yeah, we know.

The Shadow King delves in to territory we didn’t even know existed. He paints Morathi and the Witch King and others in vibrant colors. You get to understand a bit of the “why” of the story. You see just how far the elves had fallen in many cases and as a reader you can grasp the “why” of Alith’s plight and to a certain degree understand why he snaps the way he does. It’s a deep and treacherous story.

In many ways, the elves of Ulthuan are alien to us. They are elves. We’re human. They are different. They see life in a very different way. Almost a manic-depressive way I guess is a good way to describe it. To a certain degree we won’t fully understand the characters or their excesses…but where the writer really nails it is in illustrating them in such a manner that allows them to be seen as alien, but close enough that we can largely sympathize with the characters.

As a writer, in order to have a character we care about, we as readers need to be at least a little sympathetic. We have to understand. Thorpe is able to keep the Elves slightly alien while telling a story about a character whose whole world is utterly ruined and his subsequent rampage of death and revenge. In no way does the story leave you flat or uncaring or wanting to simply skip a page. Sometimes when we get bored with a character or what is happening we do that.

I think the main reason for this is because the characters aren’t bi-dimensional, 4-color comic book toons. Alith Anar is one messed up dude. Serious. He’s got problems. He’s not perfect. He’s not the shiny perfect High Elf lordling riding a pegasus whose farts sound like angels singing.

It’s not black and white. That’s really saying something considering how dark the druchii are. Think of Alith Anar as being kind of like an elven Batman. His scars are deep, and revenge…brutal. You almost feel sorry for the druchii…almost.

The battle scenes are epic in scale and seem tactically smart. Some thought on how forces would maneuver definitely went in to it. There is a definite feel of the mythic fairy tale of shimmering hosts, and gleaming spear tips and lances and coats of maille. Banners flying, beats on the ground and in the air. Seriously good battle than seems all mythic and shiny…and dwindles down in to the more brutal reality of the aftermath. Like it starts at sunrise and goes until a bloody sunset and a night of weeping over the dead. Really moving stuff. Then there are the skirmish-level bits: raiding caravans and Special Forces/ unconventional warfare stuff.

Again Gav Thorpe does a masterful job in playing our heart strings. It was a damn good read. 5/5 on this one. Previously I thought 13th Legion was his best, most visceral work. This one really matches it. I have a hard time admitting maybe better…but…maybe it is.

Five Stars out of Five!

Review by Jeff Preston

Available at Amazon.com

In his introduction to “Michael H. Hanson’s Sha’Daa: Tales of the Apocalypse” author Mike Resnick sates that is “not quite a round-robin novel by its many authors, but is somehow more than an anthology.”

That statement is an accurate one. This book has a total of ten separate stories, and ten additional short “interludes” between each story written by Michael H. Hanson. Hanson wrote one of the ten stories, as did editor Edward McKeown. The remaining eight stories are written by eight separate authors.

Each story is connected, however, by one over-arching theme and one or more re-occurring characters. For a 48-hour period occurring once every 10,000 years, a variety of demonic creatures known collectively as the Sha’Daa break through their Hell-dimension and come Earth. Each of the stories is an episode during the Sha’Daa attempt to come into this world. However, the mysterious character known as Johnny the Salesman appears in each story, often providing an item or artifact to one of the characters that will likely be helpful during his or her battle with the Sha’Daa, whether or not the character knows that item will in fact be used for that purpose.

Furthermore, the individual stories are sort of “bookended” by a prologue and an epilogue which deals with the goddess-being Akasa and her son Prana. Prana also appears in the last two stories as well — “Prana” by Hanson and “The Salesman” by Rob Adams — which lead into the final denouement of the epilogue.

Like most anthologies, some of the stories in Sha’Daa are better than others.

The first story is “The Dive” by McKeown, which is about public works department personnel fighting ape-faced demons in the New York sewer system. “Tunguska Outpact” by Deborah Koren is an excellent character study of a woman who accompanies her semi-abusive boyfriend to the famous Tunguska site in Russia. “Lava Lovers” by Wilson Pete Marsh has a married couple visiting a volcano near Greece when an eruption with demonic consequences occurs and their only hope of survival lies with an ancient sea captain. Arthur Sanchez’s “The Way of the Warrior” may be the best story in this book. This humorous story is about a young boy at a Buddhist monastery who, armed only with a mop and bucket of soap, must defend the compound from a demonic onslaught. “Breaking Even” by Jamie Schmidt has the fate of the entire universe at stake during a poker game between two higher (or is that lower?) beings. “Dixie Chrononauts” has Civil War re-enactors actually sent back in time to Gettysburg, along with an evil sorcerer and the professor who is trying to stop him. Adrienne Ray’s “The Great Nyuk-Nyuk” is also a humor-laden story. It is about a sarcastic boy who may be the only person to save the world if he can get a powerful demon-lord to actually laugh. “The Seventh Continent” by Lee Ann Kurganti is about the demomic invasion of Antartica at a military base. “Talking Heads” by Nancy Jackson is set on Easter Island during the Sha’Daa awakening and a group of students and islanders must stop it.

“Prana” is next, and is an interesting story about how a god could (or should) interfere with the mortal world. “The Salesman” provides the history of the most re-occurring character, Johnny, and that proves to be an excellent conclusion to the book.

Overall, Hanson and McKeown set high goals for this book. It is a hard-to-classify literary experiment and it deserves high praise for trying to break the mold of what constitutes an “anthology” or even “novel” of speculative fiction because it can be viewed either way.

However, some of the stories fall short of the goal they had set up for this book. Some of the stories are a bit longer than they should be, and some of them are simply not engaging enough. The same holds true for the interludes as well; some are interesting, and others make the reader simply wonder why they are part of this book.

Sha’Daa is worth the read if you are looking for something that is bit more experimental than the usual fare, although be aware its goals are bit more than its reach.

Review by Chris Welch

Available at Amazon.com

NOBODY LIVES FOREVER. NOT EVEN A VAMPYRE.

Just ask Joe Pitt. After exposing the secret source of blood for half of Manhattan’s Vampyres, he’s definitely a dead man walking. He’s been a punching bag and a bullet magnet for every Vampyre Clan in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, not to mention a private eye, an enforcer, an exile, and a vigilante, but now he’s just a target with legs.

For a long time, Joe Pitt has been on the receiving end of the whip-as stick, and you might be wondering if he gets to turn it around in this, the final book of the Joe Pitt Casebooks series. I can tell you definitively and without a doubt that everyone gets what’s coming to them. And I do mean everyone.

Let’s be honest. Joe Pitt isn’t exactly what you’d call a hero; hasn’t been for the last several books. The darkness has been closing around him for a long time. The thing about darkness, though, is that it’s not always bad. Oppressors can be fled. Justice can be served. Anonymity has its virtues, although Kitty Genovese might tell you otherwise. And I’m sure that after everything in this series is said and done, our boy Joe would, too.

See, Charlie Huston has never been the type of author to turn the camera off when the action got too rough at for the folks at home, and My Dead Body leaves the Theater of the Mind’s Eye spattered and dripping in blood. He’s a master of his form, though. His prose is sharp and lean and pointed, more a stiletto than a chainsaw. Whether you wait around for the final act is up to you, but I highly recommend it.

Review by Matt Staggs

Available at DriveThruSciFi.com

Hey pals & gals, let me ask you something. Have you ever read a collection of short stories where the title suggests a particular genre, but it turned out to be all over the place? Have you ever picked up the same sort of book and basically misinterpreted what the title was even referring to? I ask only because if this has happened to you, you’ll find familiar territory with The Apex Book of World SF. But if you haven’t, then this collection won’t just break that particular piece of ice, it will shatter it!

When I got a reviewer copy of this book, I wasn’t entirely sure if I could give it a proper review. I’m really only a sorta-kinda-maybe Sci-Fi fan at best. I mean, I get the point of the genre and I’ve enjoyed some awesome Sci-Fi tales in my life, but my first love is Horror whom is followed by my favored mistress Dark Fantasy. But never the less, since I was entrusted to review this bad boy, I e-cracked open my shiny new e-book and read away.

I’ve never reviewed a short story collection before and I’m not sure about the best way to review one, but since the average page count of each story is only fifteen to twenty pages, I’m not going into much depth on the stories themselves. Any attempt to do so would basically tell the whole story. So instead I plan to tackle the main points, my thoughts and ideas and so on. But then again, I’m infamously known for my digressing so who knows where this review will take me (and therefore you the reader).

The first discovery I came across is that the “SF” in the title is misleading. While there are a few tales rooted firmly in Sci-Fi (like Transcendence Express and Wizard World), the rest find their footing in Fantasy, Adventure, Dark Fantasy and straight up Horror. Naturally this made for a strange ride as each story was different in theme and tone from the next. This constant change of pace kept the collection from getting boring or stale, but it also proved to be a distraction on several occasions and didn’t make my reading & reviewing the book any easier.

My second discovery was that the “World” in the book’s title was the key ingredient of these tales. You see, the authors are from literally all over the world. Thailand, Netherlands, Israel, China, Fiji, Malaysia and other hoods across the globe are found here. Once I got the idea of what the “world” SF meant, I found this aspect to be one of the best attributes of the collection. The majority of these tales takes place in the author’s native land and therefore made for some really unique visions and themes.

However, it must be said that the book’s greatest asset is also its greatest weakness in my opinion. Each story has a short intro about the author, and nearly every author wrote their tale to speak to their native readers via newspapers, websites, magazines books and whatnot. While this offers the American reader a unique look at the culture and country the fiction is based in, they’re also loaded with terms and words that I’ve never heard before. This could be completely my own fault as I’m an uncultured swine in many respects anyway, but this became a continual source of frustration for me.

Just off the top of my head, I found words new to me like Coolies, Hakka, babu, farang, bourgeoisie, bohmo, lamasery and others throughout the book. Of course every time I came across one of these “worldly” words, I needed to research it to get the scope of what the author was trying to convey.

It’s also only fair to note that I think the weakness of the worldy authors mentioned above trickled into the stories themselves. What I mean by that is the simple fact that at least a few of these stories had very familiar subject matters that have long since been explored here in America. One tale in particular that I figured out right away was “Biggest Baddest Bomoh” by Tunku Halim, who hails from Malaysia. In the story’s intro it was noted that Tunku is regarded as Malaysia’s premier horror writer. While it was indeed a good horror story (with no Sci-Fi involved), I have read several similar stories in pulp horror magazines & comics or watched play out on episodes of the Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery and others; so I knew where Tunku was going with his narrative long before he got there. This isn’t really knocking Mr. Halim’s writing (he was one of the better authors in fact), but I suspect Malaysia hasn’t progressed as far as the USA has in terms of the volume of available horror stories.

Another point of this weakness came through in the editing department. Again, this may come from the author’s in question being from a different culture and writing to that specific culture’s audience. So while their home land may have enjoyed the story very much, to me it was confusing to follow at times and required rereading portions or drawing my own conclusions. One example would be to point out the story Cinderer’s, which was written by Israel native Nir Yaniv and took place in his home town of Tel Aviv. I suspect that the author’s strange writing style is not so strange in his hood, but I honestly got lost trying to follow it several times. Another quick editorial note worth mentioning was Aliette de Bodard’s use of the word “whilst” instead of “while”. While I’m not an editor (as if you couldn’t tell that my chicken scratch scribes) I kept getting distracted by the word as it didn’t fit the author’s writing style.

While I’m on the subject of Aliette’s work, this is good time to bring up the fact that some research was required to follow her story The Lost Xuyan Bride. Much in the same fashion as Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, Aliette’s story take place in a re-imagined world that’s been fleshed over several stories. I’m not familiar with her previous work and this tale obviously wasn’t interested with informing new readers about what’s what, so I had to do some research on how her world works. In the end I spent more time researching her world than I did reading her story. On a more interesting note, The Lost Xuyan Bride turned out to be one of my favorite stories and I really enjoyed the world she created and I see lots of potential for stories within it. I just wish the intro could have taken the time to add some notes that would have explained the setting ahead of time.

The other story that required some researching to understand was The Kite of Stars by Dean Francis Alfar. Besides being a playwright, editor and writer, Dean is also a part of an anthology series via the web called the Philippine Speculative Fiction. As is common with anthologies, Dean has written several tales set within what he calls “Hinirang”, which is a re-imagined Philippines set during a time when the country was a colony of Spain. In my desire to better understand his work, The Kite of Stars became a Social Studies project for me to understand the difference between the real Philippines and Dean’s vision of “Hinirang”. Again, I don’t think this is an issue for the native Philippines, but for those not familiar with the land or culture will miss things unless you research them.

Finally, I feel compelled to bring up one story I gave up even trying to follow titled Ghost Jail. It’s a ghost story that’s obviously tied to the eastern theory and belief of ghosts (ala The Grudge, The Ring, and the Fatal Frame video game series). But I’m personally not a real fan of these kind of ghosts (or at least I fail to fully understand them) and between these ghosts and the authors strange writing style, I couldn’t get into this one and eventually abandoned it, moving onto the next story.

So I know I’ve knocked this book in a lot of ways, but I’m not saying the book isn’t without value. There are some great pieces of fiction to be found in here. For example, the earlier mentioned Kite of Stars and The Lost Xuyan Bride were two of my favorite tales in spite of the fact that I had to research them. There’s also a few horror related pieces like The Bird Catcher, which told a creepy story about Thailand’s version of the Boogeyman. There’s one story titled The Levantine Experiments, and its theme lies somewhere between horror and science fiction and it really got under my skin and stayed there for days.

When all is said and done, this book may have something for everyone to appreciate as it’s got an eclectic supply of stories which takes you to a lot of different places. If you think you’d enjoy reading from the perspective of different cultures, writing styles and possibly putting some time into researching them as you go, this one would be for you. But if you simply want a leisurely reading session, you’d best look elsewhere. I will also mention that with a price tag of a measly $5.00 via ordering it on drive thru Sci-Fi, even if you only enjoy a few of the stories, the cost is well worth it.

Review by By Steven Dawes

Available at Amazon.com
Also available at DrivethruHorror.com

No Door, No Windows by Joe Schreiber is, at its heart, a haunted house story; although it might be more accurate to say it is a haunted character story.

The novel is filled with characters who cannot escape their pasts, or their present, which means that their futures may be in jeopardy. Schreiber’s characters are haunted by guilt, regret, and emotional inertia as much as they are by supernatural forces. Schreiber wields both realistic and otherworldly horrors with deft and subtlety in this suspenseful novel.

The plot is centered on Scott Mast, a professional greeting-card writer living in Seattle who is forced to return to his native small-town in New Hampshire for his father’s funeral. The visit means he must stay with his single-father brother Owen and his 5-year-old son Henry. Owen’s drinking problem, coupled with their father’s death, brings out the dysfunction that has plagued the brothers since their mother passed away in a theater fire ten years earlier.

While going through his father’s items, Scott discovers his father’s unfinished novel called “The Black Wing” which is about Round House, a house that has no angled architecture; all the edges are smooth and rounded. While visiting Sonia, an old girlfriend (another regret) Scott discovers that Round House actually exists. At Sonia’s urging, Scott rents Round House with the goal of completing the manuscript and getting in published.

Scott soon discovers that there is a door in Round House that leads into an impossible long and dark hallway that has no doors or windows, yet there is a presence felt every time the door is opened. While reading the manuscript, Scott discovers there may be a blurry line between fiction and reality, as long-dead spirits begin to walk once more inside and outside of Round House. Or is Scott still just upset about his father’s death and is imagining the whole thing?

As he investigates more into the history of Round House, Scott discovers that the house is tied to both his family history and to that fire in the theater all those years ago. The awakened spirits hold a centuries-old secret that Scott must uncover before he, his brother, and his nephew become the next victims of Round House. But along the way, Scott discovers that the living members of the small-town may have even deadlier secrets they wish to keep buried.

Schreiber is a skilled writer, but he is not re-inventing the wheel here as the novel alludes to and occasionally borrows from the ghostly fiction by Peter Straub, Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson and Fritz Leiber.

However, he does not blatantly rip-off these authors; rather, No Door, No Windows is carrying on the tradition of the spooky old house tale, and Schreiber proves himself to be a literary artist that is quite capable of handling the task. Schreiber breathes new life into the bones of the haunted house genre. The novel is recommended for all horror fans in general, but those who appreciate classic, subtle horrors will enjoy this novel the most.

Note: Review based on an advance copy.

Review by Chris Welch