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The Way Life Was Forever

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 22:48:00 -0700

Title: The Way Life Was Forever

Author: Carey Corp

Number of Pages: 37

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Lyra has been brought up to never go out in the daylight—in fact, her entire community stays locked in their vaults all day, only daring to set out at night, long after the dreaded “sun-dwellers” have gone to their rest.

Don’t dally outside: the doors will be locked and you’ll be left to the sun-dwellers, who will eat your flesh straight off your bones…

Lyra had never even thought to stay out, but when her sister wanders too far, Lyra stays out too long to find her, and instead finds Perseus… a dreaded Sun-dweller? Nor does she quite fit his idea of a blood-drinking Moonwalker…

Star Rating: 3/5

Thoughts:

The moral of this story is horribly, terribly obvious. Don’t follow anything with blind faith! Keep questioning, you have more in common with your enemies than you know! People are people, etc.

The romance element here was quick and a little forced, and a little… unnatural. It seems unlikely to me that someone, having been raised to one strict standard of beauty (which we know is rigidly enforced in both camps—sundwellers and moonwalkers alike) could so quickly and easily adapt to another one. Also, instant attraction doesn’t seem to me to be a very good base for running away together and leaving everything they’ve ever known behind.

The ending was a little too feel-good as well. Everyone lived and was happy! They are building a new society where everyone is valued and beautiful! Huzzah!

Also, I have to say… forming a new society in the forest doesn’t seem like the best solution. We never find out why the people were separated in the first place, down all those years ago, and it rankles with me that rather than trying to go back and convince people to open up a bit, they instead… do nothing and just hope everything will one day turn out alright.

Short, a bit overly simplistic, but a quick short read that should keep you entertained during a commute or something.

Download? Yes

Party Favors

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 02:38:34 -0700

Title: Party Favors

Author: Aubrey Watt

Number of Pages: 16

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Irina is the beautiful assistant of the most boring man at the ball—er, business gala affair. Rather than deal with snobbish, unattractive people she doesn’t know, beautiful Irina sneaks off into the host’s library. There, she catches a waiter also taking sneaking a break—and when his equally gorgeous buddy-waiter shows up with some cocaine, things really take off.

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

Do you like reading about slightly melodramatic sex? If you answered yes (and, really, who would answer ‘no’?) then this book is the book for you!

While nothing here is exactly revolutionary, there are two hot guys giving a beautiful woman all she could want, or stand. She orgasms like six times in sixteen pages, does drugs, and then practically waltzes out of the room because she’s just that awesome.

Sure, some things are a bit unrealistic: dresses are hard to put on, especially fancy ones, and I find it a little hard to believe that she could take hers off, do a lot of messy things with fluids and whatnot, and just slip back into the thing with NO ONE THE WISER. But, you never know.

Also, as a fair warning to all, this story doesn’t mention protection of any sort. Then again, the main character also snorts coke she got from a stranger, so I think it goes without saying that this story is literally just for the purposes of wish fulfillment and clearly not a how-to.

It’s short, it’s fairly to the point, and it’s kind of the perfect fantasy for everyone who’s ever been to a dull party where they don’t know anyone: bored? Don’t worry! Here are two dashingly attractive (and attentive) gentlemen in fancy waiter-evening wear and a bag of cocaine just to brighten your evening!

Download? Yes

Inspector Zhang Gets His Wish (a free short story)

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 22:23:02 -0700

Title: Inspector Zhang Gets His Wish

Author: Stephen Leather

Number of Pages: 43

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: May 20th, 2012

Summary:

In Singapore, there are no unsolved murders. There are very few murders at all, and Inspector Zhang’s one greatest desire is to solve a “locked room” murder mystery. Based on the title, I think you can guess what happened.

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

Murder mysteries! I like murder mysteries, and the opportunity to say things like, “Murder! Murder most foul! !!!” and so forth. On the plus side, the inspector is as large a fan of that kind of stuff as I am. He’s positively thrilled by all this, and I can get behind that aspect of his personality.

However, I could not get behind the story nearly as much. It dragged. The best thing about locked room mysteries is, typically, that you’re trying to outguess the detective. Unfortunately, this is pretty hard to do here.

The author bogs down the story with the main character’s own sense of the import of the moment. He even goes so far as to explain the six most common reasons/theories of solving the “Locked room mystery”.

Nevertheless, this was a pretty fun read. If you can guess the outcome before it’s revealed, +10 points for you!

Everything taken all together, however, it was a good waste of a little bit of time. It’s fun.

I didn’t much care enough for the writing to invest in the free chapters that came with this story, but the story was alright.

Download? Yes

Dead Earth: The Green Dawn

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:18:51 -0700

Title: Dead Earth: The Green Dawn

Author: David T. Wilbanks, Mark Justice

Number of Pages: 89

Publication Type: Novella

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Something bad has happened in Nevada. The government isn’t reporting it, but the fact remains that nothing has been heard from the state in three days.

Sheriff Jubal Slate of Serenity, New Mexico, has a pretty easy job most of the time. The small town is very self-regulating, and these past few days have been even easier. It seems like almost the whole town is coming down with something—a hacking cough, it seems like.

But when the sky dawns green one day, it means the incubation period is over.

Star Rating: 3/5

Thoughts:

In this case, the story arch here was the arch of my attention span.

I was not impressed by the beginning—it was meandering and a bit boring. Also, the audience is reminded (approximately) three times per page that THE SKY HAD BEEN GREEN FOR A MINUTE OR TWO THAT MORNING. *cue the creepy organ music*

Honestly, I just wasn’t that impressed by the opening, and lingering on it for a long time didn’t spark more interest.

It did pick up quite a bit in the middle. When people start dying—and, of course, coming back to life as raving vicious hungry monsters—it gets interesting. When Jubal’s fiancee makes a choice (a very sensible one, in my opinion, and one I can respect) that has intense consequences, I was invested in the story. If it had ended then, I could have been happy.

Instead… things got weird. There was an alien riding a hover craft controlling the zombies, apparently and also people were having psychic visions which I didn’t think meshed well with the science explanation for the zombies. It went on too long, took weird turns, and divorced itself from the emotions I had come to enjoy as the story progressed.

Nevertheless, it still gets three stars for the good part in the middle that was interesting and touching. Also, the one conversation with the paramedic over the radio was brilliant. I would way rather the story had followed that guy.

Download? Sure

LZR-1143: Perspectives

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:22:38 -0700

Title: LZR-1143: Perspectives

Author: Bryan James

Number of Pages: 56

Publication Type: Short Story Anthology

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Based in the modern United States, LZR-1143 follows the first opening moves in a zombie outbreak through the eyes of individuals: a female army sniper, a fast food fry cook, a teenage boy, an airline pilot. And so forth. No explanations are given, and there’s a lot of confusion.

According to the description, these stories follow incidental characters in the author’s two novels in the LZR-1143 universe. I find that a bit difficult to believe, because the characters all die at the end of their stories. Sorry for the spoiler there.

Star Rating: 3/5

Thoughts:

These stories are alright. I’m still interested in Zombies, but the market is pretty saturated right now. I’ve gotten to the point where gross descriptions of zombies eating people doesn’t make a story for me anymore. I’m still a little shocked by it if it’s particularly gruesome, but I need more in a story to get into it.

This anthology is heavy on the gore, light on the rest of the things that make a good story. Most don’t have enough plot to really carry them—the plot is that there are zombies in this story too! Wow! And they’re eating people—gross!

Even when characterization did start to shine through (and I think the author tried), it was a bit… stereotypical. The Army Sniper who Loves Her Daughter, for example. It’s fairly garden variety characterization.

If you love zombies, download this. It is full of zombies, and you can have fun reading about them eating people. Also, it does pose a few interesting thoughts, like… when there’s a zombie outbreak on the ground, where do the air traffic controllers send their planes?

If you don’t like zombies, however, there isn’t really anything else to recommend these stories, and you should skip ‘em.

Download? Skip.

Real Lies

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 13:29:07 -0700

Title: Real Lies

Author: Liana Brooks

Number of Pages: 7

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

A rescue diver tells the story she can’t put in her report: how, one time, when she went out to cut a body loose from the kelp, it wasn’t some poor drowned beach-goer or murdered yacht princess: it was a mermaid.

Star Rating: 2/5

Thoughts:

The story is very anecdotal. It reads like what it’s supposed to, I guess: some telling you about something that once happened to them. It’s not always the best format for a fiction piece, however, and even though I love stories about crime and stories about mermaids, I was let down by this story that combines the two.

It just didn’t have much punch, much vigor. I was looking for a gripping read, and this just didn’t deliver. As a note, I’d have to say that describing everything in great detail while avoiding the one thing the reader wants to know about does not always build suspense. Sometimes it just bores people.

Nevertheless, the story is readable, and entertaining for a moment. As the song goes, “If you don’t expect too much from me, you might not be let down.” It could help a few stops on the bus route pass, if nothing else.

Download? Meh.

Baby Bonanza

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 13:30:40 -0700

Title: Baby Bonanza (Silhouette Desire)

Author: Maureen Child

Number of Pages: ~300

Publication Type: Novel

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Jenna is only aboard this luxury cruise for one reason: to find millionaire cruise line owner Nick Falco, show him photos of the twin four month old boys he fathered, and demand that he chip in child support.

She’s not here to have fun.

She’s not here to get swept off her feet by a man she still loves.

She’s not trying to win back his heart, or anything. She doesn’t need him, and the boys don’t need him: just some money. That’s all.

And then Nick and Jenna spend a lot of time being angry and sulky and feeling WILDLY PASSIONATE FEELS that they heroically keep to themselves for their various reasons, and the author never lets us go two pages without reminding us how physically attracted they are to each other.

And then at the end they get engaged because really they ARE in love after all! And they’re going to be a family! Yaay!

Star Rating: 2/5

Thoughts:

Once again, if you’re into this kind of book, then you should download this book. Right away. Because this is a very “romance” romance, and that’s all there is to it.

Basically, this is 300 pages that could be solved in 30 if everyone involved was honest and talked about their feelings. Instead of just assuming everything and putting all kinds of words into other people’s mouths. And jumping to conclusions. There was a lot of conclusion-jumping in this book.

It did make me feel things, though: frustration. There were plenty of times where I thought of slamming my Kindle down and storming away (I didn’t! Kindles are fragile and it’s not the ereader’s fault anyway). Because it was just that frustrating.

And, once again, what’s the major lesson this book taught us? Wanting to have sex with someone is the essence of love. If you want to fuck him more than you’ve wanted to fuck anyone else, YOU ARE IN LOVE. Welcome to happily ever after, the all-sex, all the time station!

Really? They have twin boys, book. There is going to be a lot of diaper changing and 3am feedings and barf and little kids wanting to crawl into bed with you and not a lot of time for sex. Just saying, I predict trouble down the line for this marriage.

Plus, the leading man is a jerk. He buys a house without even asking her; also a puppy. And then he’s like, “YOU MUST OBVIOUSLY BE PLEASED WITH MY GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE, NEVER MIND THAT I REALLY JUST LIFTED MY POCKET BOOK AND I DIDN’T ASK YOU EVEN AT ALL WHERE YOU’D LIKE TO LIVE, OR EVEN IF YOU’D BE ALRIGHT MOVING OUT OF THE HOUSE YOU HAVE.”

Nick Falco. Asshole.

Also, it clearly says that Jenna called and emailed him several times a week for a year, trying to tell him about her pregnancy and the birth of their sons. He says he deleted the emails unopened, and the voicemails unheard. I get the voicemails, but the emails?

If I ever accidentally got pregnant and the father wasn’t returning my emails, the subject line would start to say things like “YOUR BASTARDS ARE AT SIXTEEN WEEKS BECAUSE I AM PREGNANT, YOU ASSHOLE”. (Technically, bastards is correct here. Also, I’m sure most unplanned out of wedlock children are loved and cared for and that “bastard” is an archaic, judgemental term.)

I would make it really, really hard for him to avoid the issue. Also, I would have found a lawyer willing to take their fees out of the settlement and SUED HIS ASS long before our children were four months old. Trust me, Nick Falco is a millionaire; I’m really sure some lawyer would take the case. The settlement would be great.

Also, we have basically the same inner conversation again and again. Jenna keeps reminding herself not to be in love with him, and then she keeps seeing him looking smexy, and then she keeps reminding herself not to be in love with him… rinse and repeat. Jenna, we get it: he’s hot and great in bed, but he’s also the man who ignored all your calls and emails, missed your entire pregnancy AND the birth of his TWINS, and is probably even at this moment being a dismissive asshole. Get over it!

As for the actual sex… there were only a couple sex scenes, and most of them were in flowery language that made it difficult to tell what was going on. If you like romances but hate sex scenes, this might be a good book for you!

And yet, once again… I have met people who enjoy romances. If you’re capable of looking at this situation and seeing it in a romantic light, then by all means, download this book!

Otherwise, don’t. Just don’t.

Download? Nope. (Unless you love romances and hate female independence!)

(That last part was unfair but I’m only a little bit sorry.)

Opt-Out

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:28:06 -0700

Title: Opt-Out

Author: Steve Umstead

Number of Pages: 19

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Harrison Lumberpond just wants to do a good deed and maybe impress his wife when he signs up to be an organ donor via his social networking site (which is totally not Facebook). However, Harrison, like so many of us, failed to read all the terms and conditions… and he forgot to opt-out of one very important feature.

Star Rating: 3/5

Thoughts:

I called this a mile away. I don’t really want to completely spoil it for anyone who wants to read it, but if you’ve seen “Repo: the Genetic Opera”, you know what the little term he forgot to opt-out of was. Or you have a pretty good guess, anyway.

Given how little there actually was to the story, I actually think it was a little long. Either lengthen the ending scene, or lessen the build up; the end was very abrupt.

This has a lot of standard speculative fiction aspects: cold, unfeeling government agents, the perversion of humanitarianism (he just wanted to help someone out after he was dead!), the pitfalls of not reading the fine print, etc. The main character was a nice enough fellow, but utterly forgettable.

I feel this sums up the story, too: a nice enough story, but utterly forgettable.

At the end there’s a link to the authors other books (A trilogy and a couple of novellas, I think) and I am sorry to say that this story had the opposite effect of the one intended: I am going to stay clear of those books, so as to avoid a nice enough, but utterly forgettable time.

This short story, though, by itself, is a fine enough way to waste a little bit of time.

Download? Sure

Satisfying Audrey (Contemporary Couples' Fantasy)

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 13:17:00 -0700

Title: Satisfying Audrey

Author: Laurel Bennett

Number of Pages: 14

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Audrey loves her husband, but she loves the body of his sexy best friend Matt. Is this an on-the-phone three-way? Or just a fantasy?

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

The twist at the end is a little confusing at first, but you can figure it out if you try.

Otherwise, this is pretty straight forward sex, with the exception of there being someone on the phone. Oral, and mild toy use, mild dirty talking. Pretty straight forward, with slightly more characterization of the main character than one usually sees in these short erotic stories.

Download? Sure

Sleeping Handsome

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 13:22:00 -0700

Title: Sleeping Handsome

Author: Jean Haus

Number of Pages: 58

Publication Type: Novella (the story arch is too complex for short story)

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

Paige has to do community service to avoid being expelled after helping (IE, writing) her “Queen Bee” Best “Frienimy” do a project. Because she’s an aspiring actress, Paige is assigned to read to a young man locked in a four month coma.

At first, Paige can’t stand the job, or the silent, unresponsive “audience” of one. But when she stumbles on the boy’s journal, she ends up becoming very close to who he used to be—and taking a hard look at who she currently is.

Star Rating: 5/5

Thoughts:

The title is HORRIBLE. Absolutely horrible, and does not do this story justice. It is the stupidest title and it makes me angry because I feel like it doesn’t really represent the story.

This story isn’t much for subtly—you can see the character arches coming a mile away. Even still, it’s very worthwhile story. For preteens, or young teens, this story might be more surprising and not telegraphed.

I do wish that the boy hadn’t turned out to be so attractive. Just because the author had such a good emotional connection, non-sexual romance going on that turning the romantic lead turn out to be INCREDIBLY SCORCHING HOT kind of undermined that point.

I am also a sucker for (nonsexual) romance. The meeting of minds and spiritual energy is so much nicer than “romances” that are basically “I want to fuck you more than I’ve ever wanted to fuck anyone— THIS IS WHAT TRUE LOVE IS LIKE”. Seriously, sexbooks are great, but they’re not real romances.

This is.

Download? Yes!

Bury the Children in the Yard: Horror Stories

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:29:58 -0700

Title: Bury the Children in the Yard

Author: Andersen Prunty

Number of Pages: 102

Publication Type: Short Story Collection

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

In this collection of gruesome, occasionally bewildering, stories, there is no guarantee that anyone will come out alive.

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

This collection caused me to reflect, just a little, on what horror actually means. It has often come to mean a monster or chainsaw-wielding slasher, but it doesn’t have to be. A horror story is any story that makes you feel horrified, and horror can have a lot of base emotions besides “fear”. Contempt, I think, is the strongest base for the horror a lot of these stories bring up, both on the part of the reader and the author (thought, of course, I cannot speak for Andersen Prunty, it is the impression I received).

These stories are not all expertly written. There are typos in a few, and more than one has what I consider an unsatisfying ending. However, there is a wealth of emotional experience portrayed in these stories. If you want to feel a wave of revulsion, pity, contempt, and build that into horror, these stories are for you.

Download? Yes

The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge (Sherlock Holmes)

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:28:24 -0700

Title: The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Number of Pages: 70

Publication Type: Novel (Novella?)

Download Date: May 28th, 2012

Summary:

The great Sherlock Holmes is hired to clear the name of a man accused of a murder (he claims) he did not commit, and meantime solve the mysterious disappearance of the murdered man’s house servants… and explain an enigmatic note written in code the dead man tried to burn.

Just another week as a Consulting Detective and his companion/biographer, Dr. Watson.

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

Far from my favorite Holmes mystery, but good for a fun diversion anyway. Suddenly, VOODOO!

In any case, the fact that this did not get 5/5 is due entirely to a formatting… error?… which put only two words on every other line. I assure you, it was a most irritating way to read. Sherlock is in fine form, however, with his high-minded nearly-poetical lamentations of boredom and charmingly patronizing manner to his dear Watson.

Download? Yes

Tag Team

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:21:41 -0700

Title: Tag Team

Author: Nicola Marsh

Number of Pages: 26

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: June 20th, 2012

Summary:

They’re as alike as can be while still being total opposites; Australian special forces, brought together to stop a terrorist plot to put Ricin into the water supply of major Australian cities. And then, while stuck in a safe room while their headquarters is being attacked by the terrorist group, Coralee and Fox have sex to pass the time. No joke.

Star Rating: 2/5

Thoughts:

I am sick and tired of STRONG WILLED, FIERY FEMALES who, none the less, NEVER LET THE MAN FORGET THAT HE’S A MAN.

In the end, it’s Coralee’s VULNERABILITY and FEAR that eventually put Fox over the edge, so he fucks her to get her mind off the fact that they might be exploded in a terrorist attack in four minutes.

What? Just, what? What? She finds SHELTER IN HIS STRONG ARMS and so forth. He also makes her FEEL LIKE A WOMAN.

Don’t worry, folks! Despite being a CRACK MILITARY OFFICER, she’s still A FEMININE WOMAN UNDER EVERYTHING.

What? What’s wrong with her just being KICK ASS AND AWESOME? Why do they have to harp on her EMOTIONS BEING HER WEAKNESS?

‘Well, of course they are, she’s just a woman after all!’ <— the moral of this story.

My outrage (and the inconsistent message) aside, the sex is pretty average. Rough enough, fairly well written, but not exceptional. Despite the fact that Coralee mentions more than once how much it’s blowing her mind, I didn’t see anything to make me reread a line twice.

However, I will say that if super sexy women (with a D-cup. I hate to say it, but a SWAT woman with D-cups could be in trouble. Breasts are heavy, ladies and gentlemen, and if she was going to be running around she would probably want to invest in a breast reduction before she snapped her ligaments) spitting out military facts and talking about guns turns you on, YOU SHOULD READ THIS STORY.

There is so much gun-porn and military-porn, aside from the sex-porn, that it should make it worth your while if you’re into that.

On a side note, I don’t know that much about Australia, but I wouldn’t have pegged it for a hot terrorist spot.

Download? Nah.

The Law of Large Numbers

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:47:09 -0700

Title: The Law of Large Numbers

Author: TK Kenyon

Number of Pages: 27

Publication Type: Short Story

Download Date: May 28th, 2012

Summary:

The Law of Large Numbers dictate that, if you wisely play your cards, you will win more Blackjack hands than you lose on average. It looks so, so easy… But it’s really only a foil before the more complicated questions of faith vs math, what is doctrine, and what can be done about it.

Star Rating: 5/5

Thoughts:

I loved the cynicism in this. The mixture of bitterness with intelligence, back story with the present, is hypnotic and beautiful. The emotions in this piece shine so brightly and fiercely that it really jumps out at you.

It is well written, well paced, well characterized. It is, in short, well done. It makes such topics as the invisible dark matter of the universe accessible and understandable. And, most important to most people, interesting.

Good stories make for short reviews: get this ebook.

Download? Yes!

The Boy Who Cried Zombie (Zombie A. C. R. E. S.)

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:19:43 -0700

Title: The Boy Who Cried Zombie

Author: Joshua Cook

Number of Pages: 23

Publication Type: Short Story Collection

Summary:

Four ultra-short short stories set in the same fictional universe. Zombies—the reanimated dead, some with a hunger for flesh and some retaining a strange amount of their original personality and knowledge—have been created by a pharmaceutical company. Various people cope in various ways….

Star Rating: 3/5

Thoughts:

The writing here isn’t spectacular, but the content is interesting. It’s not quite as dramatic as the author thinks it is, or tries to make it, but this is still a very pleasant short read.

It doesn’t particularly stick in the mind, but is a fun time waster, and some descriptions of decay on Zombies is delightfully disgusting. Fun, quick, but not overall that important.

Download? Yes

Call of the Herald (Godsland Series: Book One)

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 13:24:37 -0700

Title: Call of the Herald

Author: Brian Rathbone

Number of Pages: ~250

Publication Type: Novel

Summary:

When a school feud erupts into serious violence, Catrin erupts into serious magical powers. Despite the cries of “Witch”, and being banned from the town, Catrin’s life continues relatively smoothly until Zjhon soldiers land on her island, looking for the Herald of Istra—the chosen of the Goddess who prophetically is to destroy their empire.

Catrin (and companions) are forced to flee from the soldiers, drawn into a secret organization set up expressly to protect the Herald—and get her to destroy the Zjhon. Catrin must come to her senses and learn to control and embrace her magical talents… and discover what it really means to be the Herald of Istra.

Star Rating: 2/5

Thoughts:

The very first thing about this story: it moves about as fast as molasses rolls uphill in the winter time. There is nothing so long as the first half of this book: it just keeps going… and going… and going.

The second half also drags, though not as badly.

Secondly: show, don’t tell. All of the characters were very into just saying how they felt, and not acting it out. Catrin, in particular, was subjected to us being told about her emotions. “She felt afraid”, etc. Every once in awhile, if her emotional state is at odds with her actions, that’s acceptable. But if she’s afraid, so she’s hiding… We get that she’s afraid from the fact that she’s hiding and trembling. Give us a break.

The supporting characters were also pretty much flat, one note wonders. To be honest, I kind of lump three of them together; they’re basically interchangeable in the story line anyway.

The sad thing about this, of course, is that there might have been a story worth reading in this. If the story was condensed to about 50% of its current length (especially cutting out the pages and pages and pages of world building for a location we never went to. What was the point of that?), it could fix the pacing issues. Work on characterization, and maybe ditch one of the extra boys since they all seem to blend together anyway.

Show, don’t tell.

And then, this story might have been really interesting. However, it would also be lacking a bit in the plot department. This is just the first book, but I could easily see this all being a one-chapter prologue. Or even a back-story revealed in a later work. This didn’t need to be a novel: it’s a pretty thin novel. Sounds like most things are going to start happening in the next book—or possibly the third book.

She might just go to a monastery and learn to do magic. Which is cool, but not something I’d want to read an entire book about, going from how much I didn’t enjoy reading about a CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT FROM SOLDIERS. If that could be made boring…

Download? Skip.

The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 13:24:32 -0700

Title: The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle

Author: Beatrix Potter

Number of Pages: 12

Publication Type: Short Story

Summary:

Lucie has lost her pocket handkins! On her search for them, she meets Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, the kindly animal washer-woman who gathered up her scraps to wash along with Tabby Kitten’s white mittens and Mr. Robin’s red vest!

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

An adorable children’s story. It’s been made slightly more difficult to understand due to the passage of time. I don’t think this an entirely bad thing; young readers can be introduced to terms they are not familiar with, and their minds and vocabulary correspondingly widened.

Beloved for ages, and with good reason, this story is endearing and sweet, and sure to spark the imagination of any child. What other animals wear clothes, and what are they like?

Download? Yes!

Alien Offer

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:14:52 -0700

Title: Alien Offer

Author: Al Sevcik

Number of Pages: 15

Publication Type: Short Story

Summary:

Earth hovers on the brink of utter destruction. There is an alien fleet they cannot hope to fight descending on their planet. Every man, woman, and child would be killed… But a second alien race has appeared, offering to take all they could—100,000—humans off the planet before it is destroyed. Give them Earth’s children, and mankind will always live among the stars…

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

I called it pretty quickly, but it was still a pretty good read. It was a little info-dumpy at times. The tension was raised a little too early in the story; that arch never really intensified because it was already so high.

The dilemma presented was very real, however, and very well done. Can you trust this extremely unlikely coincidence, or not? If you don’t, aren’t you stealing any sort of chance those children might have had?

It can really make you think. What would you do in that position?

Download? Yes

NOT A REVIEW

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:35:27 -0700

State of the Blog time!

So, for the past months, I have been continually bothered by certain things. Every so often, when I’d go back to the Kindle Shop book description to confirm or check some detail, I’d find that the book was not free. This always dismayed me, because I usually try to triple-check that it’s free before I download it.

I’m sure all the bargain hunters have, at one time or another, accidentally purchased a book for money that you stumbled upon while looking for free things. I know I have, and it’s always quite frustrating. I thought it was just happening more than it had before, no matter how careful I was.

Well, it turns out that I’m kind of slow on the uptake. It has come to my attention that it’s fairly common for self-published works to start out free until they have a certain number of downloads, or reviews, or star ratings, or something. And once they reach that chosen threshold, they start charging for it.

Clearly, they don’t take into consideration book-hoarding reviewers like me, who might end up with weeks or a couple months passing before they actually finish reading any specific book.

So, once the current queue runs out, you’ll be seeing a new feature on my reviews: date downloaded. It’s pretty obvious what that means; I’ll be including the date I downloaded it to show that, as of that date, the book was free. I can confirm this from my Amazon Account Digital Orders form if the book has switched to paid between my download and its appearance.

This is also so that, even if the book is still free when I review it, it may switch over later and I may just look like a liar. Got to protect my reputation, etc.

Anyway, happy reading!

Thrifty

Elfbitten (A Taryn Malloy Fantasy)

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:25:00 -0700

Title: Elfbitten

Author: Leila Bryce Sin

Number of Pages: 48

Publication Type: Novella

Summary:

Taryn Malloy is a Bright Elf, someone who thrives off life bringing and life raising acts. Her mope-fest after being dumped by her boyfriend of three years has a dangerous draining affect on herself and her magic, and she’s dragged by her friend Roxy to the Club—a place where Elves, Fae, Pixies, more exotic magical beings, and their chosen humans can mingle in magic-raising, life stimulating pleasure.

Star Rating: 4/5

Thoughts:

Rapid fire sex scenes that aren’t too explicit while still being fairly hot. There’s an interesting premise here, and it plays fairly well. This is some evening, since the story takes place in one long scene, but that’s kind of the point: she needs a wild, crazy night.

Some of the parts that weren’t sex were clumsily executed, and everything is slightly over the top and unbelievably extreme.

The other thing I must mention is that, eventually, she has the best sex ever with a vampire. Why is it that, no matter where I seem to go in ficiton, vampires are always the sexiest? Out of a room full of of lively Elves, punky Pixies, and fantastic Fae… the dead guy was the sexiest? Really?

Download? Yes