The Sex Gates
by Darrell Bain & Jeanine Berry
(2/5 stars)
I'm not going to say too much so I don't get yelled at as has happened
before. Suffice it to say the writers have a great future writing for
the adult film industry. Like many indie books this has a number of
typos; the writers should learn the difference between "succeed" and
"secede" for instance. Maybe because of all the graphic sex I found all
the characters unpleasant. The first one to go through a gate and
change his/her sex was the worst. He goes through the gate and becomes a
woman, promptly turns into a whore, and that's pretty much her only
function. A main character goes through, becomes a woman, has sex with
everyone, and then we skip forward 3 years, so it didn't really add
much.
There was a forehead-slapping moment where that character named Lee goes from a boy to a girl and they all get together and decide to change her name to Li. What? I checked this on a couple baby name sites and Lee is listed as a unisex name. Duh. Lee would be a lot less confusing than Li, where they'd probably think she was Asian, bringing to mind an old Seinfeld episode involving that scenario. That was about the moment I lost all confidence in the authors.
At least by the end we sorta find out what the gates are,
though it was kind of obvious; I think the various incarnations of Star
Trek did it a number of times. I don't understand the decision to set
it in the future as that only creates confusion that makes it harder to
grasp the impact of these weird gates appearing from nowhere. And I
could have done without the Limbaugh-esque junk about those entitled
poor people receiving government handouts. I would invite the authors
to try to live on Social Security or welfare and see how entitled you
feel.
I've probably said too much. Oh well.
That is all.
Here you will find all the reviews I've written for self-published and small-published books over the last four years, collected from Amazon and Goodreads
Friday, August 16, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Powered
Powered
by Cheyanne Young
(5/5 stars)
As someone who wrote a series of superhero novels and another standalone superhero novel, I'm always interested in reading the competition. So I eagerly volunteered to read an advanced copy of this book. On the whole I really enjoyed it.
The biggest strength I think is that the author creates a unique world for the characters. In this world there are a bunch of "supers" (ie superhumans) most of whom live in "Central" in the Grand Canyon. The supers have a sort of caste system. There are the Heroes who do all the superheroic stuff like fighting villains and then there are the Retrievers. I didn't fully understand the Retrievers but I take it they pretty much clean up the mess afterwards.
Maci Might is 16 years old, which means her powers have finally reached their full potential. She then undergoes the test to determine if she'll be a Hero or a Retriever. This doesn't go quite as well as she hoped. From there Maci's life continues to unravel as she alienates her friends and family and has to take refuge in South Africa with a cute researcher named Evan. Probably too much time was spent on Maci and Evan hanging out before we get to the final showdown with the villain.
My main criticism is that I think the villain could have been stronger. Almost half the book goes by before we even find out who the villain is and then another quarter of the book goes by before the villain really becomes any kind of threat. Superhero stories are defined as much by the villain as the hero, like Batman vs. the Joker or Superman vs. Lex Luthor or the Scarlet Knight vs. the Black Dragoon.
The only other criticism would be that for what I presume is a YA book there's some gore in there that even made me cringe. The part where Maci suffers a severe head injury had me literally yelling, "Ewwwww, Gross!!!!" So it's probably not best suited for the younger end of the YA spectrum.
(One other technical note is people don't ride donkeys in the Grand Canyon. They ride mules, which are only half-donkey and half-horse. The stuffed mule I bought from the Grand Canyon gift shop wanted me to note that.)
Still, on the whole it's a brisk, fun read. And of course there's plenty of room for Maci's adventures to continue.
That is all.
by Cheyanne Young
(5/5 stars)
As someone who wrote a series of superhero novels and another standalone superhero novel, I'm always interested in reading the competition. So I eagerly volunteered to read an advanced copy of this book. On the whole I really enjoyed it.
The biggest strength I think is that the author creates a unique world for the characters. In this world there are a bunch of "supers" (ie superhumans) most of whom live in "Central" in the Grand Canyon. The supers have a sort of caste system. There are the Heroes who do all the superheroic stuff like fighting villains and then there are the Retrievers. I didn't fully understand the Retrievers but I take it they pretty much clean up the mess afterwards.
Maci Might is 16 years old, which means her powers have finally reached their full potential. She then undergoes the test to determine if she'll be a Hero or a Retriever. This doesn't go quite as well as she hoped. From there Maci's life continues to unravel as she alienates her friends and family and has to take refuge in South Africa with a cute researcher named Evan. Probably too much time was spent on Maci and Evan hanging out before we get to the final showdown with the villain.
My main criticism is that I think the villain could have been stronger. Almost half the book goes by before we even find out who the villain is and then another quarter of the book goes by before the villain really becomes any kind of threat. Superhero stories are defined as much by the villain as the hero, like Batman vs. the Joker or Superman vs. Lex Luthor or the Scarlet Knight vs. the Black Dragoon.
The only other criticism would be that for what I presume is a YA book there's some gore in there that even made me cringe. The part where Maci suffers a severe head injury had me literally yelling, "Ewwwww, Gross!!!!" So it's probably not best suited for the younger end of the YA spectrum.
(One other technical note is people don't ride donkeys in the Grand Canyon. They ride mules, which are only half-donkey and half-horse. The stuffed mule I bought from the Grand Canyon gift shop wanted me to note that.)
Still, on the whole it's a brisk, fun read. And of course there's plenty of room for Maci's adventures to continue.
That is all.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The Turning
The Turning
by Mark Barwell
(2/5 stars)
This book was recommended to me by Amazon, mostly because I've already published a book with a similar concept (Chance of a Lifetime). My book focuses only on one man who becomes a woman, like Virginia Woolf's Orlando or Yann Martel's Self, whereas this focuses on a mass event like the comic book series Y the Last Man. Hard-core feminists steal an experimental drug in Australia and disperse it into the air, causing the entire world's population of men to become women, a few at a time. Chaos ensues.
Now obviously since I've written a book on similar lines I'm willing to buy into the concept, as ludicrous as it may seem. It does stretch my disbelief to think a single airborne particle could have such a radical effect. It really stretches my disbelief to think there are no symptoms exhibited a male "turns". And it shatters my disbelief to think a man can turn into a woman overnight without ever being aware of it. I mean come on, when your entire body is rearranging itself like a human Transformer toy, you'd have to be in a lot of pain. There's no way you'd sleep through it and wake up the next morning like, "Hey, what the heck?"
But my biggest issues are what happens after the turning. There's something very misogynistic and a little homophobic about what happens to these men after they become women. One of the first ones to turn is taken shopping for women's clothes by a female friend and instantly falls in love with women's clothes and shopping. And she instantly knows how to walk in high heels and how to do her hair and makeup. Say whaaaaat? Rearranging body parts and increasing the amount of estrogen in the body would not be able to change behaviors at the drop of a hat. Only 1950s comedians thought women innately possess all those behaviors. In the real world, changing your DNA would not instantly change your behaviors.
Then within a couple days this new woman is hitting on men and shagging them as they'd say overseas. At that point the suspension of disbelief has completely disintegrated. Because again, rearranging body parts and changing chemical balances can't instantly erase psychological behaviors. If you were attracted to women before, you wouldn't instantly be attracted to men. Even if there are physical symptoms of attraction, there are a lot of mental hurdles to overcome.
This why I said there's something a little homophobic about it. Pretty much all the men who turn are instantly attracted to the opposite sex. It's as if being attracted to the same sex is impossible. That's in line with what all those religious pundits who say being gay is a choice rail about. According to people far more in the know about this subject, that simply isn't true. You're born liking men or liking women and that's not going to instantly change because you've lost a Y chromosome.
The other thing that bugs me is the 14-year-old's fascination with sex and breasts. It seems almost everyone who turns is super hot with huge knockers. Is this supposed to be erotica? Then I suppose that would make sense. As I've previously indicated, the author introduces the sex early on. Far too early really. It reminded me when I watched the movie "Being John Malkovich" where ordinary people find a way into the famous actor's mind. Almost immediately the people used it to seduce women and from there the story really had nowhere to go. By the same token in this book you have the newly turned woman shagging by the 20% mark and the roommates (one turned and one not) shagging by 45% then you've pretty much left yourself with few options to escalate things. It's like if a country launches it's nuclear weapons right from the start; there's really nothing more you can do at that point to escalate the conflict. Maybe that's why it felt so dreadfully long.
The end features first a gap in logic the size of the Grand Canyon and then a "twist" revealing the mastermind of the feminist scheme, which was obvious about 2% into the book. All told I disliked this book on a lot of levels. But I think it could really work as a movie vehicle for Adam Sandler or Seth Rogen, though I think Rob Schneider beat them to it with "The Hot Chick."
That is all.
by Mark Barwell
(2/5 stars)
This book was recommended to me by Amazon, mostly because I've already published a book with a similar concept (Chance of a Lifetime). My book focuses only on one man who becomes a woman, like Virginia Woolf's Orlando or Yann Martel's Self, whereas this focuses on a mass event like the comic book series Y the Last Man. Hard-core feminists steal an experimental drug in Australia and disperse it into the air, causing the entire world's population of men to become women, a few at a time. Chaos ensues.
Now obviously since I've written a book on similar lines I'm willing to buy into the concept, as ludicrous as it may seem. It does stretch my disbelief to think a single airborne particle could have such a radical effect. It really stretches my disbelief to think there are no symptoms exhibited a male "turns". And it shatters my disbelief to think a man can turn into a woman overnight without ever being aware of it. I mean come on, when your entire body is rearranging itself like a human Transformer toy, you'd have to be in a lot of pain. There's no way you'd sleep through it and wake up the next morning like, "Hey, what the heck?"
But my biggest issues are what happens after the turning. There's something very misogynistic and a little homophobic about what happens to these men after they become women. One of the first ones to turn is taken shopping for women's clothes by a female friend and instantly falls in love with women's clothes and shopping. And she instantly knows how to walk in high heels and how to do her hair and makeup. Say whaaaaat? Rearranging body parts and increasing the amount of estrogen in the body would not be able to change behaviors at the drop of a hat. Only 1950s comedians thought women innately possess all those behaviors. In the real world, changing your DNA would not instantly change your behaviors.
Then within a couple days this new woman is hitting on men and shagging them as they'd say overseas. At that point the suspension of disbelief has completely disintegrated. Because again, rearranging body parts and changing chemical balances can't instantly erase psychological behaviors. If you were attracted to women before, you wouldn't instantly be attracted to men. Even if there are physical symptoms of attraction, there are a lot of mental hurdles to overcome.
This why I said there's something a little homophobic about it. Pretty much all the men who turn are instantly attracted to the opposite sex. It's as if being attracted to the same sex is impossible. That's in line with what all those religious pundits who say being gay is a choice rail about. According to people far more in the know about this subject, that simply isn't true. You're born liking men or liking women and that's not going to instantly change because you've lost a Y chromosome.
The other thing that bugs me is the 14-year-old's fascination with sex and breasts. It seems almost everyone who turns is super hot with huge knockers. Is this supposed to be erotica? Then I suppose that would make sense. As I've previously indicated, the author introduces the sex early on. Far too early really. It reminded me when I watched the movie "Being John Malkovich" where ordinary people find a way into the famous actor's mind. Almost immediately the people used it to seduce women and from there the story really had nowhere to go. By the same token in this book you have the newly turned woman shagging by the 20% mark and the roommates (one turned and one not) shagging by 45% then you've pretty much left yourself with few options to escalate things. It's like if a country launches it's nuclear weapons right from the start; there's really nothing more you can do at that point to escalate the conflict. Maybe that's why it felt so dreadfully long.
The end features first a gap in logic the size of the Grand Canyon and then a "twist" revealing the mastermind of the feminist scheme, which was obvious about 2% into the book. All told I disliked this book on a lot of levels. But I think it could really work as a movie vehicle for Adam Sandler or Seth Rogen, though I think Rob Schneider beat them to it with "The Hot Chick."
That is all.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Cloak of the Shrouded Man
Cloak of the Shrouded Man
by Tony Laplume
(3/5 stars)
Since I'm familiar with the author's love of comics from his blogs, I was really expecting more from this book. This is as they say a "hot mess." After about 35%, the Eidolon, Cotton Colinaude pretty much disappears from the book. Wasn't he supposed to be the main character? That last 65% is largely a bunch of philosophical dialogues that cause the story to grind to a halt.
It's hard to do a plot summary because so much of the plot is murky. When it starts off there's a Batman-type hero named Cotton Colinaude who goes by the hard-to-pronounce handle Eidolon. (I was glad to be listening to this on the Kindle so I would know how to actually say it.) There's another hero called Godsend who's a Superman-type. Godsend does not approve of the Eidolon's methods, especially as he goes after someone referred to as "the Cad."
And then...I have no idea. The middle section seems similar to Grant Morrison's "Batman R.I.P." though I think this book predates that. Then it turns into the Iliad. Throughout it there's a lot less action than you would expect and far more philosophical rambling.
To say something positive, it's obvious the author spent a lot of time assembling the world's mythology. There's a lot of background information on the characters and the city of Traverse, Alabama. There just needed to be less background and less philosophy.
That is all.
by Tony Laplume
(3/5 stars)
Since I'm familiar with the author's love of comics from his blogs, I was really expecting more from this book. This is as they say a "hot mess." After about 35%, the Eidolon, Cotton Colinaude pretty much disappears from the book. Wasn't he supposed to be the main character? That last 65% is largely a bunch of philosophical dialogues that cause the story to grind to a halt.
It's hard to do a plot summary because so much of the plot is murky. When it starts off there's a Batman-type hero named Cotton Colinaude who goes by the hard-to-pronounce handle Eidolon. (I was glad to be listening to this on the Kindle so I would know how to actually say it.) There's another hero called Godsend who's a Superman-type. Godsend does not approve of the Eidolon's methods, especially as he goes after someone referred to as "the Cad."
And then...I have no idea. The middle section seems similar to Grant Morrison's "Batman R.I.P." though I think this book predates that. Then it turns into the Iliad. Throughout it there's a lot less action than you would expect and far more philosophical rambling.
To say something positive, it's obvious the author spent a lot of time assembling the world's mythology. There's a lot of background information on the characters and the city of Traverse, Alabama. There just needed to be less background and less philosophy.
That is all.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sinai
Sinai
by William Smethurst
(4/5 stars)
When a German tourist dies of dehydration in the Sinai desert in only hours, Dr. Richard Corrigan begins to suspect something odd is going on. He joins forces with an American scientist, who shows him the body of an Egyptian boy recovered in 1973 but believed to actually come from the time of the Biblical exodus. Thus Richard begins to look for answers.
If you ever wanted a da Vinci Code involving physics then this is your book. It's lacking a little in terms of chills and thrills, though it has its moments. Mostly what holds this book back are the ancient Egyptian scenes. These weigh the narrative down considerably and for what they contribute to the end, it could have been compressed into a prologue. Really, we didn't need to hear the entire Exodus when all that mattered was what happened around Mount Te.
Another problem was the author clearly did not reference his military aircraft. At one point he mentions an American Sabre going down; Sabres became obsolete by the mid-1950s. Another point someone is flying in an SR-71 Blackbird; the last of those was retired in the 1990s. Then he mentioned something being tested on a Phantom; I'm pretty sure the Israeli's stopped using those a while back as well. In this age of Wikipedia it's pretty easy for an author or editor to research details like that. And as I always say, if you don't get the little things right, it worries me about the big things, especially in a book that involves so much history.
Anyway, as I said if you liked the da Vinci Code and like physics then this will be a great book for you.
That is all.
by William Smethurst
(4/5 stars)
When a German tourist dies of dehydration in the Sinai desert in only hours, Dr. Richard Corrigan begins to suspect something odd is going on. He joins forces with an American scientist, who shows him the body of an Egyptian boy recovered in 1973 but believed to actually come from the time of the Biblical exodus. Thus Richard begins to look for answers.
If you ever wanted a da Vinci Code involving physics then this is your book. It's lacking a little in terms of chills and thrills, though it has its moments. Mostly what holds this book back are the ancient Egyptian scenes. These weigh the narrative down considerably and for what they contribute to the end, it could have been compressed into a prologue. Really, we didn't need to hear the entire Exodus when all that mattered was what happened around Mount Te.
Another problem was the author clearly did not reference his military aircraft. At one point he mentions an American Sabre going down; Sabres became obsolete by the mid-1950s. Another point someone is flying in an SR-71 Blackbird; the last of those was retired in the 1990s. Then he mentioned something being tested on a Phantom; I'm pretty sure the Israeli's stopped using those a while back as well. In this age of Wikipedia it's pretty easy for an author or editor to research details like that. And as I always say, if you don't get the little things right, it worries me about the big things, especially in a book that involves so much history.
Anyway, as I said if you liked the da Vinci Code and like physics then this will be a great book for you.
That is all.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Chet Finley vs. The Machines of Fate
Chet Finley vs. The Machines of Fate
by Eric Filler
(5/5 stars)
Fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or especially fans of "Futurama" should enjoy this smart-alec sci-fi adventure. The eponymous Chet Finley is an ordinary schlub in Newark until the day he uncovers a galactic conspiracy to control--and profit from--humanity. From there Chet enlists the aid of a surly robot named Ziggy and a shapeshifting assassin named Sadie to find the root of the conspiracy and free humanity. The journey takes Chet from Newark to a freighter loaded with bootleg DVDs to Monaco and then into the stars. From there Chet and company visit a library operated by giant birds, a casino in the Horsehead Nebula, to a planet where time itself has stopped.
As with any book of this type you might not get all of the jokes or think they're all very funny, but there are far more hits than misses. The book is loaded with geek culture references and a good dose of locker room humor to make it fun for grown-up sci-fi fans. It won't make you forget Douglas Adams, but it's still a fun read.
That is all.
by Eric Filler
(5/5 stars)
Fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or especially fans of "Futurama" should enjoy this smart-alec sci-fi adventure. The eponymous Chet Finley is an ordinary schlub in Newark until the day he uncovers a galactic conspiracy to control--and profit from--humanity. From there Chet enlists the aid of a surly robot named Ziggy and a shapeshifting assassin named Sadie to find the root of the conspiracy and free humanity. The journey takes Chet from Newark to a freighter loaded with bootleg DVDs to Monaco and then into the stars. From there Chet and company visit a library operated by giant birds, a casino in the Horsehead Nebula, to a planet where time itself has stopped.
As with any book of this type you might not get all of the jokes or think they're all very funny, but there are far more hits than misses. The book is loaded with geek culture references and a good dose of locker room humor to make it fun for grown-up sci-fi fans. It won't make you forget Douglas Adams, but it's still a fun read.
That is all.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Superhero (An Action Thriller)
Superhero (An Action Thriller)
by Victor Methos
(4/5 stars)
This is definitely in the mold of grim and gritty 80s style comics like "The Dark Knight Returns" instead of the more traditional Golden Age of comics. The plot is sort of like "Robocop" meets "The Greatest American Hero" in that our hero Jack is pretty much killed, but thanks to alien technology is able to be rebuilt into a cyborg with superpowers. He uses these to go after Agamemnon, the guy who nearly killed him and who has pretty much the same abilities as Jack.
Overall it's a pretty serviceable superhero tale if you like the grim and gritty stuff. Unfortunately an M. Night-style twist at the end ruins what would otherwise be a 5-star yarn. I do appreciate that the author at least tried to create a different hero with his own backstory, as so many other authors seem content to just mimic Superman or Batman or Iron Man, etc. and set them in play.
For the price I got it for on Amazon I'd have to say it was worth the money.
That is all.
by Victor Methos
(4/5 stars)
This is definitely in the mold of grim and gritty 80s style comics like "The Dark Knight Returns" instead of the more traditional Golden Age of comics. The plot is sort of like "Robocop" meets "The Greatest American Hero" in that our hero Jack is pretty much killed, but thanks to alien technology is able to be rebuilt into a cyborg with superpowers. He uses these to go after Agamemnon, the guy who nearly killed him and who has pretty much the same abilities as Jack.
Overall it's a pretty serviceable superhero tale if you like the grim and gritty stuff. Unfortunately an M. Night-style twist at the end ruins what would otherwise be a 5-star yarn. I do appreciate that the author at least tried to create a different hero with his own backstory, as so many other authors seem content to just mimic Superman or Batman or Iron Man, etc. and set them in play.
For the price I got it for on Amazon I'd have to say it was worth the money.
That is all.
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