Review: Culn by James Lutze

Title: Culn
Author: James Lutze
Publication date: December 10th, 2017
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Rating:

I have seen things: abominable horrors that belong to darkness.

I have done things: evil things in the shadows of the mountain, where men dare not go.

But I long for the light: for the memories of happiness and good that were once a part of my world.

So I do what I must to survive, for I know how I was brought here, and that no matter how impossible it seems, there must be a way out.

But I am afraid. Afraid that if I do escape, they will look at me with repulsion. Afraid they will not recognize that I was once one of them, long ago, before I was taken.

More importantly, I am afraid of myself. When you are raised by Evil, does it remain a part of you, or does it simply haunt you?

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I'm a stay-at-home dad with the most wonderful, beautiful wife and daughter in existence. I've been telling stories my whole life, and finally decided to write them down. I've been blessed to have traveled the world, and even lived overseas for seven years. When I'm not looking after my daughter, reading or writing, I am teaching myself blacksmithing, playing the piano, etching glass, wood burning, or cooking.

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In his chilling and gripping debut, James Lutze's Culn is in essence satisfyingly captivating and thrilling. In the first few lines, the reader is introduced to the mysterious protagonist, Culn, who  claims to have a story worth telling. As the reader steps into his memories, they discover a world of fantasy and idiosyncrasies. Hidden deep within the mountain of Unkeitherhom, Culn has been constantly battling the ramifications of trying to survive in captivity of the orcs, or Orikis. In a tone that is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy, the reader discovers that he has been a prisoner since the age of 6, his family perishing in the invasion. 

Taken as the prisoner of the orc, Kreichok, Culn is tortured and beaten as a sport. His suffering is evident, and it seems his sense of self is slipping away. He is forced to perform unspeakable acts, such as fighting to the death Gladiator style and processing human remains leftover from the orcs' attacks. The reader travels through Culn's life as he is tormented every day and it is in many ways dark and gritty. The setting is a composition of fantasy and battle, but the underlying theme is the emotional connection Culn has to the author through his struggle to hold onto any thread of his own humanity.

Culn is well written within the context of dark fantasy. There is a lot of gore, so if that isn't your cup of tea, this book isn't for you. However, if you enjoy a lot of battle and a heavy emphasis on the orc race (one of the lesser races found in fantasy novels), this will be a great choice for you. The book is written within a memory, so it is mostly read experiencing the day-to-day afflictions of the protagonist. I would have preferred a little less time was spent on this, leaving room at the end for a glimpse of life after Culn is a hostage of Unkeitherhom as I expect it would require a certain level of adjusting. However, it also leaves the ending open to a sequel. Overall, a very good book that held my attention.

Cover Reveal & GIVEAWAY: Quanta Rewind (The Shadow Ravens #4) by Lola Dodge

Quanta Rewind
Lola Dodge
(The Shadow Ravens #4)
Published by: Ink Monster LLC
Publication date: April 25th 2017
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

With more and more Red Helixes turning up missing or dead, the Shadow Ravens are ready to take their fight to Doctor Nagi himself.
But breaking into Alpha Citadel is no cakewalk, and Quanta isn’t so sure about this whole “teamwork” thing.
If she and the Ravens can’t learn to work together, no amount of rewinding time will save them from the inevitable.
And if the Seligo win, everyone loses.

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Author Bio:
Lola Dodge is a compulsive traveler, baker, and procrastinator. She earned her BA in English from Stonehill College and MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University—and hasn’t stopped moving since. When she’s not on the road, Lola spends her time indoors where the sunlight can’t melt her, writing or bingeing on anime and cherry soda. She can be summoned in a ritual involving curry, Hello Kitty idols, and a solid chocolate pentagram.

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Review: Spectacle by S.J. Pierce

Title: Spectacle

Author: S.J. Pierce

Publication Date: July 13th, 2015

Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi

Source: ARC from Author

Rating: 

Synopsis (from Author):

Hunger Games meets Avatar in this spellbinding new Young Adult, Science-Fiction novel by bestselling author Susan James Pierce.

Two hundred years after the Great Disaster, the day earthquakes ravaged Earth’s landscapes, humanity has finally regrouped and is working toward a better future. But in New America – one of three remaining landmasses – the threat of overpopulation makes a better future seem bleaker by the year.

Mira (Mirabella) Foster and her parents are citizens of New America, and with the threat of starvation and disease looming on the horizon, a new discovery threatens to push everyone to the brink of chaos: blue markings develop on people’s skin. Markings that allow them to camouflage their skin, but also make them feared, and eventually, targets of violence.

Mira’s dad is one of them.

  

Susan James Pierce has a degree in Marketing Management, works for a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, Georgia, and devotes her precious, spare time to writing Fantasy, Paranormal and Sci-fi novels.

Please visit www.sjpiercebooks.blogspot.com and sign up for her mailing list or subscribe to her blog if you'd like to hear when new books come out! Coming soon:

Iris (Novella: The Captivated Series) Available now!!!

Fight for Me (Book Two: The Captivated Series) 

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For those who love The Hunger Games and Divergent, S.J. Pierce's new novel, Spectacle, will be sure to tickle your readerly taste buds.

In this newly established dystopian, the world is becoming overpopulated 200 years post "The Great Disaster." After a series of ravaging earthquakes, the planet suffers from limited land. Mirabella Foster resides with her family in New America. One day, her father reveals to her a secret that seems to uproot the earth all over again...he is part of an alien group called Changers. They are covered with blue markings that are mistaken as a disease that sets the community into an uproar, leaving the Changers quarantined on an isolated island to live away from the humans.

I enjoyed the plot of this book, and the undertones of acceptance woven into the storyline. The opener is attention-grabbing, which is always more pleasant than trying to plow through the foundations of the plot just so you can reach the part where the story travels on its own. The best part was the Changers. They were well-developed and I felt a connection to their story that surfaced emotion.

Some low points for me were that some of the ideas weren't quite original. There were a lot of parts that seemed to be taken from other stories, such as The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Avatar. But, if you're looking for a book that contains similar elements as these, then you'll enjoy Spectacle. I also felt like the romance was rushed near the end, and I just wasn't feeling it. It felt underdeveloped and a little messy.

Overall, I liked this book. People who enjoy young adult dystopians as their main genre of choice will likely enjoy it as well.

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Spotlight: Hopebreaker (The Great Iron War #1) by Dean F. Wilson

Title: Hopebreaker

Series: The Great Iron War #1

Author: Dean F. Wilson

Publication Date: December 15th, 2014

Publisher: Dioscuri Press

Genre: Sci-Fi, Steampunk

Pages: 382

Synopsis (from Author): In the world of Altadas, there are no more human births. The Regime is replacing the unborn with demons, while the Resistance is trying to destroy a drug called Hope that the demons need to survive.

Between these two warring factions lies Jacob, a man who profits from smuggling contraceptive amulets into the city of Blackout. He cares little about the Great Iron War, but a chance capture, and an even more accidental rescue, embroils him in a plot to starve the Regime from power.

When Hope is an enemy, Jacob finds it harder than he thought to remain indifferent. When the Resistance opts to field its experimental landship, the Hopebreaker, the world may find that one victory does not win a war.

 

The walls crashed down and the soldiers stormed in, replacing bricks with leather boots and stones with clenched fists. The dissonance died down, but the dust hung for endless moments, dimming the light and stinging the eyes. Yet Jacob did not need to see; he knew why they were here, what they had come for.

A figure, tall and broad, stepped into view, his hair and uniform as black as the long shadow he cast across the room. His fists were not clasped, but the anger was still there, pouring out of the cracks and crevices of his crooked face. Everyone could recognise him, even in darkness—especially in darkness. Everyone knew his name. Domas. Yet not everyone knew what he was.

“You are accused of smuggling amulets,” Domas said. He paced to and fro restlessly, until the very floor began to recognise him. The light from the oil lamp flickered on his face, creating and killing lots of little shadows. Those shadows made him look inhuman, but under any other light he looked like everybody else. Jacob remembered when he was first told about them by his father. They are like you and I. They walk among us.

“What evidence do you have?” Jacob asked, hoping they would not search the bookcase, hoping they would not scour his soul.

Domas drew close, seizing Jacob by the collar. “I don’t need evidence.”

Jacob parried Domas’ glower with his own. He felt like responding, like snapping or biting, even though he knew it would not help. It would make him feel better for the briefest of moments, and then, as the soldiers responded with their fists, it would make him feel much worse. The words of his father haunted him like a demon. In time they will replace us.

“Take him to the Hold,” Domas barked to one of his commanders. He turned to leave, but halted as something caught his eye. “Open your hand,” he ordered.

“It’s a bit late to shake it.”

“Open your hand,” Domas repeated. He did not need to give a warning. His tone gave enough.

Jacob offered his left hand, which was empty.

“A clown as well as a smuggler,” Domas said. “Your other hand.”

Jacob reluctantly loosened his grip on the tiny bag of coils he was holding, his all too meagre payment for smuggling an amulet into the city. Domas snatched it from his grasp.

“You won’t be needing this,” he said. “In the Hold, the rent is free.”

The soldiers seized Jacob and pulled him outside, where a mechanised wagon waited, one of the many vehicles the Regime used to transport its forces—and its prisoners.

In moments Jacob was hauled up and hurled into the back of the warwagon, where he banged his head against the iron walls. He heard the cogs and pistons start up, and he heard the roar of the furnace and the rhythm of the wheels.

The smell of coal and smoke filled his nostrils and seeped into his lungs, until finally he faded off into a halfway place between the waking world and dreams, where he imagined what things might have been like if the demons had not come here, if the Regime had not gained power.

Dean F. Wilson was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1987. He started writing at age 11, when he began his first (unpublished) novel, entitled The Power Source. He won a TAP Educational Award from Trinity College Dublin for an early draft of The Call of Agon (then called Protos Mythos) in 2001.

He has published six novels to date, and is working on several others.

Dean also works as a journalist, primarily in the field of technology. He has written for TechEye, Thinq, V3, VR-Zone, ITProPortal, TechRadar Pro, and The Inquirer.

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Event: Young Adult Sci-Fi

Science Fiction is the hottest genre right now. Add in some best selling authors and Young Adult books and you have an event not to be missed. So come celebrate these awesome YA Science Fiction Authors with us! Giveaways, book exclusives, games and more! Young Adult Science Fiction Multi-Author Event March 19th from 5:30-9PM. You can enter the big $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway at the bottom of this post!  Don't miss it!

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The authors are excited to see you on the 19th but in the meantime, check out these amazing titles!

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5:30-6:00 – Angela Scott 6:00-6:30 – Laxmi Hariharan 6:30-7:00 – Theresa Kay 7:00-7:30 – Lee Strauss 7:30-8:00 – Pavarti K Tyler 8:00-8:30 – Susan Kaye Quinn 8:30-9:00 – Joel Ohman 9:00 – Pavarti (Announce Rafflecopter winners - Enter at the bottom of this post!) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol 2 by Various Authors

Title: The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol. 2
Author: Various Authors

Publication Date: August 28th, 2012

Publisher: Tachyon Publications

Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Pages: 432

ISBN: 1616961635

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating: 

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Fantasy & Science Fiction continues to showcase some of the most famous authors writing in any genre. The magazine jumpstarted the careers of bestselling authors such as Roger Zelazny, Bruce Sterling, and Jane Yolen and continues to champion bold new crossover talents including Paolo Bacigalupi and Ken Liu. 

Now drawing upon F&SF's impressive history of classic and contemporary tales, this extraordinary companion anthology revisits and expands upon sixty-five years' worth of top-notch fiction. These broad-ranging, award-winning tales appeal to readers of genre fiction and beyond, exploring alternate history, time travel, urban fantasy, virtual reality, modern myth, horror, interstellar travel, epic fantasy, mystery, and space opera. 

  

"The Third Level" by Jack Finney 

"Fondly Fahrenheit" by Alfred Bester 

"The Cosmic Charge Account" by C. M. Kornbluth 

"The Anything Box" by Zenna Henderson 

"The Prize of Peril" by Robert Sheckley 

"---All You Zombies---" by Robert A. Heinlein 

"Green Magic" by Jack Vance 

"The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" by Roger Zelazny 

"Narrow Valley" by R. A. Lafferty 

"Sundance" by Robert Silverberg 

"Attack of the Giant Baby" by Kit Reed 

"The Hundredth Dove" by Jane Yolen 

"Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison 

"Salvador" by Lucius Shepard 

"The Aliens Who Knew, I mean, Everything" by George Alec Effinger 

"Rat" by J. P. Kelly 

"The Friendship Light" by Gene Wolfe 

"The Bone Woman" by Charles de Lint 

"The Lincoln Train" by Maureen McHugh 

"Maneki Neko" by Bruce Sterling 

"Winemaster" by Robert Reed 

"Suicide Coast" by M. John Harrison 

"Have Not Have" by Geoff Ryman 

"The People of Sand & Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi 

"Echo" by Liz Hand 

"The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates" by Stephen King 

"The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu

The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction vol. 2 is the second compendium of the most famous and well written short stories to ever grace the pages of an already prolific magazine through its 65 year history. Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine has been the premier publication for the genre, and has showcased some of the most inventive and creative writers in any genre. 

I love these short story compilation books. Getting to experience different worlds, characters, atmospheres and themes every 20 pages or so is a real treat sometimes. Even more of a treat is the fact that each story was incredible in its own right. Before each story is a blurb about the author and some background on the stories wherever possible. This really helps you change gears from story to story and helps to give a greater appreciation for the work in relation to the era it was written. 

The stories themselves cover the full spectrum of sci-fi and fantasy and speculative fiction. Everything from the classic styles to contemporary and Avant-Garde pieces found their place amongst the pages. I salute the editor for avoiding a common pitfall with compilations, by including a bit of everything instead of sticking to one type or subgenre or style. On top of that, every story was interesting and entertaining; really showing off where Sci-Fi & fantasy has come from and where they are going. That being said, even the older stories didn’t show their age in a bad way.  

Usually it’s easy for me to pick a favorite and least favorite story in a compilation such as this, however I found that I enjoyed them all, and never found myself trying to speed through one to get to the next. They all have such different subject matter and style that picking one favorite would be a futile exercise. The setting and gritty futuristic feel in Winemaster was one that I enjoyed but I could just as easily pick any title out of a hat and tell you all the things I enjoyed about it. If I had to find anything negative about it, it would be that the titles could have used a bit of organization, and possibly some more background info about the stories and authors, but really that is nit-picking. Any fan of sci-fi, horror, fantasy or plain old fiction would be happy to count this collection as a part of their own. 

Review: Doctor Who: Into The Nowhere (Time Trips) by Jenny T. Colgan

Title: Into the Nowhere
Series: Doctor Who: Time Trips

Author: Jenny T. Colgan

Publication Date: January 16th, 2014

Publisher: BBC Digital

Genre: Sci Fi

Pages: 49

ISBN13: 978-1448141838

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The Eleventh Doctor and Clara land on an unknown alien planet. To the Doctor's delight and Clara's astonishment, it really is unknown. It's a planet the Doctor has never seen. It's not on any maps, it's not referenced on any star charts or in the TARDIS data banks. It doesn't even have a name. What could be so terrible that its existence has been erased?

A | B&N | Gr

Jenny T. Colgan was born in 1972 in Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK. After studying at Edinburgh University, she worked for six years in the health service, moonlighting as a cartoonist and a stand-up comic, before the publication of her first novel Amanda's Wedding in 2000. In 2013, her novel "Welcome to Rosie Hopkin's Sweetshop of Dreams" won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. She is now working on her next novel. 

She is married with Andrew, a marine engineer, and had three children, Wallace, Michael-Francis, and Delphie. She mostly lives in France, with frequent visits to London. She occasionally writes for The Guardian newspaper, as well as a TV series.

Her Doctor Who novel Dark Horizons is published under the name J.T. Colgan.

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          Doctor Who: Into the Nowhere is the eleventh doctor’s turn to be captured in print by the Time Trips series.  He and Clara stumble upon a mysterious planet with no name or known history.  Not even the TARDIS knows where they are.  Not long after they leave the safety of the TARDIS, they realize that the world might not want its secrets uncovered and it seems as if the elements themselves turn against the Doctor and his companion.  

      The Doctor and Clara encounter a dizzying number of obstacles from the get-go in this fast-paced mystery.  At times there was so much being thrown at them that it seemed chaotic, in a nail biting and enjoyable sense.  For instance, at one point they escape a moving forest closing in on them, run into a conflagration of sorts, jump through it and almost fall off a cliff with a valley full of huge maggots beneath and an animated skeleton on the other side. Then they get attacked by a giant snake, all without catching their breath. Whatever forces exist on this planet, mean business. 

     All the authors that write for this series have done an exceptional job at writing their characters into some original and entertaining circumstances. The same can certainly be said for Jenny Colgan in this story.  What has consistently amazed me with every installment in this series, is the way the authors are able to replicate the mannerisms and details from the characters we know and love from the television show, and make them believable. The eleventh doctor is full of quirk and insanity, energy and goofiness.  Jenny has done Matt Smith proud with her installment, just as she has done a service for Whovians by creating this wonderfully diverting short story. Clara seemed to be a bit angrier than usual, and maybe a tad whiney at times but such is the lot for a Doctor Who companion. I didn't feel that her character was as believable as the Doctor for most of the story but that doesn't hurt things too badly. 

     As long as you don’t expect to have all the answers by the end, you won’t be disappointed by Into the Nowhere.  It’s funny and action packed and it’s chocked full of timey-wimey adventure that any fan would enjoy.  In looking back, the fact that there were still questions at the end didn’t detract from my over-all enjoyment of the story.  The missing pieces add to the story and I hope one day to read (or possibly see) more from this story-line in the future.