Books

A Time to Speak

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Darrick Dean

Even though some of my favorite books are old-school dystopian — A Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451 — I haven’t picked up many of the new wave of books in this genre. One exception has been Nadine Brandes‘ Out of Time series. I reviewed book one, A Time to Die here. Book two, A Time to Speak continues chronicling the life of Parvin Blackwater.

Parvin lives in a future where the world was devastated by disaster. All she knows of civilization is walled in from the rest of the world and run by an oppressive government. The rulers control the population through Clocks. Each person knows when their life will end as their Clock counts down. Parvin was only months away from the end and her life hasn’t amounted to much. In book one, we saw how she began to change that, facing perils she never could have imagined. The true nature of the world she lived in also began to reveal itself.

I don’t want to give too much about this book and reveal the ending of the first for those who haven’t read it. I will say, Parvin has not quit on changing the fate of her people even though events have become much worse. With the Council packing people up and shipping them off to an unknown fate — which reminded me of 1930s Germany — Parvin struggles with being anyone’s leader. People are also dying before their Clocks expire. Her journey will take her to distant parts of the globe and force her to decide if she will lead, and speak, regardless of the risk to herself.

Brandes continues a well-realized, character-centric story with Parvin. Not that the other characters aren’t important or without depth, but Parvin drives this tale. You want to see what happens to her next, her choices and her changes. While her dystopian world will be familiar to genre fans, and Parvin follows that reluctant hero path, it’s her journey that sets her apart from the others. Stories like this are one reason why people write and read:

To remind us to evaluate our own journey on this world.

ndtts

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Edit Without Mercy

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Darrick Dean

Miss Benison gives some great advice for the editing stage of writing your book. Editing can be a long, drawn out process.  It’s where you learn to shape and reshape words, sentences, plots, and characters. As Benison writes, this is where you need to:

Be ruthless and objective. Don’t think of the book as your own. Think that it belongs to a complete strangers. Don’t be afraid of the words “Cut” and “Delete”, in editing, they could be your best friends.

The idea of deleting may be unthinkable to some writers.  We all know what things aren’t working.  They probably never did. If they can’t be fixed or moved, deleting words, sentences, or whole paragraphs will often make a writer think, “Wow, that’s so much better.” Force yourself to evaluate your writing as someone else would. Don’t let yourself rationalize away parts of your story you know aren’t right.

Benison also writes about focusing on different aspects during each edit. Focus on grammar one time, details (too much or too little) during another.

At some point you may consider finding beta readers, because no matter how many times your review your manuscript, you’ll miss something. Then you’ll decide on whether or not you want an editor (other than you) to edit your work.  Separating yourself from your work can be hard.  Sometimes someone else can do it better.

Editing isn’t easy and it’s time-consuming. One of the best pieces of advice I read somewhere went something like, “Find part of your story that just pops: You know, every word is perfect and clicks with each other. It’s the example of what you want your voice to be. This is the standard the rest of the story should rise to meet.”

That’s a high standard, and no book is perfect to the author or all readers. If you set your standard as high as possible, however, you’ll end up with one amazing story.

Categories: Books, Writing | Tags: | 2 Comments

“Heavy Handed Message Fic” Doomed?

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Darrick Dean

Virtually every book ever written has some sort of message or messages. Even the escapist pulp variety once so popular — and now making a comeback — has some insights for us. What about books that go to the other extreme — authors who wish to overwhelm us with their commentary (and authors who think that’s what books should be)? Are these losing favor? Author Mike Duran seems to be leaning in that direction:

The more I grow as an author and a reader, the less I am interested in “heavy-handed message fic.” Of course, stories have messages. And writing stories for the “betterment of the world” seems like quite a noble endeavor. Nevertheless, when such an intention becomes the over-arching agenda and leads to “heavy handed message fic,” I’m checking out. I read to be entertained, inspired, disturbed, and moved. Nit-picking over an author’s race or gender, the number of ethnicities represented in their books, or the sociological or environmental issues they manage to tackle, seems like a wrong-headed approach to story-telling. Give me good, old-fashioned pulp over pretentious preaching any day.

Entertaining books. What a concept!

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Eris Miller Was Having a Bad Day

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Darrick Dean

I have followed Michelle Proulx for awhile (her site that is), but never checked out her sci-fi book Imminent Danger.

I’ve long been a sci-fi fan, but I think the “YA/Romance” label threw me off. Not really into either of those genres, well, not at all. And was this one of those “cute girl gets abducted by aliens” stories?

Then I found myself considering the book while reading one of Ms. Proulx’s posts the other day. Maybe it was the cover — the woman on the cover resembled the person on my book cover. Parallel universe, perhaps? Or maybe it was the intriguing blurb. Plus, I need to get my money’s worth out of the Kindle and the book is only $2.99, so I might as well give it a try.

I’m happy I did.

The story of Eris Miller being abducted and her subsequent perils across the galaxy is a fast-paced adventure that will keep you turning the pages. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy vibe makes Eris’ bad-day-that-just-got-a-lot-worse an entertaining departure from all the super-serious books out there. It was like I was back in my Space Quest days (gamer fans, you know what I’m talking about).

Even though the author has labeled this YA, I think it will appeal to all sci-fi fans. As for the “romance,” I don’t think there is any more in here than in many sci-fi or other adventures (I’m not counting that creepy Luke-hitting-on-Leia-before-he-knew-she-was-his-sister stuff). That’s a common enough thread in many books not strictly in the romance genre. So don’t worry (if that worries you).

So hold your breath and prepare for hyperspace. Eris is about to make the galaxy wish E.T. never snatched her.

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Tainted

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Darrick Dean

I’ve posted a number of times on Morgan L. Busse‘s incredible Follower of the Word fantasy series. Now she has given us a first look at the part one, Tainted, of her new steampunk series coming next spring:

Hopefully, some more sneak peaks into the series are coming soon.

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Lord of the Apes

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Darrick Dean

I have posted numerous times on the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs. His knack for fantastic adventures set the stage for books and film for decades right up to this day. Funny, though, I have never read his best known series.

Tarzan.

Twenty-six books in the series were penned by Burroughs. Some 200 films have the name Tarzan in the title, but most stray considerably from the source material. First written in 1912, Tarzan finally gets the big budget Hollywood treatment it deserves:

fflm

Disney failed to launch Burroughs’ epic Barsoom tales into a franchise (though take a look at how much Burroughs’ Mars books inspired Star Wars), but maybe Warner Brothers can bring Tarzan into the 21st Century.

And quite frankly, we need a hero who isn’t a mutant or alien.

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The League Through Stenibelle’s Eyes

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Darrick Dean

It wouldn’t be Christmas without…The League of Elder.

Say again?

Well, it seems that for the past couple years, I usually have a new volume of Ren Garcia’s sci-fi series in my hands around this time. This year is no exception with book 9 of his unique universe, Stenibelle, but one must back up a bit for those not familiar with the books.

The series has a couple self-contained stories (the first two books, then a trilogy, then another dualogy, etc.), and I always recommend starting at the beginning, but here we will go back to book 6, Sands of the Solar Empire.

This is where we are introduced to Paymaster Stenstrom who has had one dream: Becoming a captain in the Fleet. He gets his chance, but his life is never the same (if it was, it wouldn’t be very interesting). Set in Garcia’s unique sci-fi/fantasy/steampunk universe of the far future, Stenstrom faces evils, bizarre beings and death around every corner — only to learn there are many more versions of himself in alternate dimensions.

That’s where Stenibelle falls into place. In this dimension Stenstrom has lost his ship, ended up in jail and lost pretty much everything. And he isn’t a he — Stenstrom is Stenibelle, a woman. No, this isn’t what is sounds like, but it isn’t the typical parallel universe story either. In what is the author’s shortest book, it is almost like an alternate version of the previous volumes. Not word for word, but a tiny glimpse of what the Stenstrom books would have been like had the character been a woman. Steinbelle, though, is different enough (beyond the obvious) from her parallel self that fans may want to see her own adventures in the League. By the end of this book, she has become a strong, fierce hero of sorts — and still very much a woman.

The League is a big place and readers looking to disappear in a universe that doesn’t look like a hundred others, need to look no further.

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Choose Your Adventure

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Darrick Dean

The busyness of the Christmas season has become nearly a tradition itself. Many are bogged down in the Retail Apocalypse right to the last hours of Christmas Eve. Stores will do anything to get in you in the door and our leaders will smile at the minor economic bump and run and hide when it’s erased with post-holiday debt. Nevertheless, perhaps you’re like me and try to carve some time out of these weeks to tone it down a bit. Perhaps you’d like to go on an adventure? Disappear into the jungles searching for lost cities like Indiana Jones?

No, seriously, you can for only a few dollars.

In The Lost City of Z, you can follow the trail of legendary explorer Percy Fawcett. In 1925, he disappeared into the Amazon looking for the fabled city. When you’re done, head to Honduras in Jungleland and search for Ciudad Blanca — perhaps the fabled El Dorado. Then head back down south and follow the footsteps of Hiram Bingham and explore Machu Picchu in Cradle of Gold.

So take a breath, turn the lights down, and vanish into another world.

Categories: Ancient America, Ancient Sites, artifacts, Books, Forgotten Places, History, Mysteries, Native Americans | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Heeding the Warning

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Darrick Dean

When William R. Forstchen wrote One Second After in 2009, the novel warned us of the dangers of man- or nature-caused EMP events. These can induce a domino collapse to civilization as we know it. Now in the recent sequel, One Year After, he writes in the preface that not much has changed:

…frustratingly, much is still the same. I had hoped that by now there would have been government action at the national level to better secure our power grid, create plans both for defense and for public preparedness, and a more robust foreign policy that makes clear that the acquisition by rogue nations a weapons that could generate an EMP will NEVER be tolerated. None of this has happened.

Rather than spending the money to secure the vulnerable and ancient power grid, and investing in defense measures, the government spends billions buying votes, pay off contributors and whatever else allows them to hold on to power. This isn’t a partisan issue, yet we (the citizens) have let them (the professional politicians) ignore an avoidable catastrophe that defies anything we have seen. Forstchen continues:

The books are fiction, but the scenario could be real…Our parents and grandparents of the “Greatest Generation” allowed their leaders to close their eyes to the growing threats around the world…and a terrible price was paid. History has a hundred such examples…I pray that thirty years hence, these books are forgotten as dark tales of warning that never came true…I pray that I never one day hear, “Bill, you were right.”

oak

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Thongor of Lemuria

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Darrick Dean

In my continuing quest to find great “vintage” sci-fi and fantasy, I now turn to Lin Carter’s Thongor books. The six volume series takes place in the mythical lost continent of Lemuria. Thongor of Valkarth, the near-barbarian exile, finds himself on one near-death adventure after another across Lemuria. Not surprisingly, he rescues himself a princess and becomes a ruler and warrior of note. Often compared to Conan (which Carter also contributed to), but the stories ring closer to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ tales of peril. Perhaps that’s why I was drawn into this series more than Conan. The first outing is rather brief and straight-forward, but the storytelling in book 2 reaches that Burroughs-level of constant, page turning escapades. I think this kind of quick and fun adventure will, if it hasn’t already, find success with modern audiences. Sometimes authors try a little too hard in their world-building and narrative. Unfortunately, this series is a short one.

Sometimes – if not quite often – readers want to be swept away into another world full of larger-than-life, sword-swinging heroes facing unimaginable peril and rescuing their beautiful women. Thongor is all of this.

Politically incorrect? Perhaps to some. Fun and entertaining? Most certainly.

thon

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