None May Say

Review Posted Elsewhere: Modern Man by E.J. Lonergan

2010-02-07T14:25:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note that I've posted a review of Modern Man by E.J. Lonergan over at The Strangelands, so check it out over there. (The Strangelands is the website of author Ray Weeks, whose books The Adventures of Portly Boy and Eat Me I've previously reviewed.)

FreeBooks #11: Snapdragon Alley by Tom Lichtenberg

2009-11-28T18:48:00.001-05:00

Tom Lichtenberg writes curiously engaging novellas. His stories are not driven by action but by mood and metaphysics. His premises often begin with fairly standard, often vaguely science-fiction concepts: time travel in Time Zone, for example, or mind control in World Weary Avengers. But he spins those concepts out into melancholy, thoughtful tales.

Lichtenberg cares little about the mechanics of the MacGuffins that underlie his stories. Rather, he explores the emotion and (often) dislocation that people feel when confronted by something outside their normal experience. In Somebody Somewhere that "something" is as commonplace (relatively speaking) as a kidnapping and hostage situation; in Time Zone, as noted above, the "something" is as vast an incomprehensible as travel through time. Lichtenberg's characters may adapt to the situation or ignore it, or become totally overwhelmed; but the true story is always in those emotions and responses, rather than the rote turnings of some formulaic plot device. Although Lichtenberg's spare, quiet style could not be more different than H.P. Lovecraft's ornate verbal extravagance, the two share a conceptual interest in exploring how people respond when conventional reality is stripped away.

Lichtenberg's prose in some of his novellas ranges pretty far into the experimental; although I have enjoyed some of these, my admitted preference is for those works that hew a bit closer to a traditional narrative style. My favorite thus far is Snapdragon Alley, the story of young friends who discover a vacant lot at the end of a bus line that, perhaps, is more than it seems.

Lichtenberg's "launching point" for Snapdragon Alley is nothing new (Lichtenberg himself gives away in his back-cover blurb that, in investigating the lot, the children "encounter the possibility of" a gateway to "another dimension"). Nor, despite some interesting narrative quirks along the way, are the bare facts of how the story plays out particularly novel. But Lichtenberg captures beautifully the poetry of what such a gateway might mean to the people who stumble across it, and the emotions it might inspire. There are no loud explosions in Snapdragon Alley, or, indeed, very much overt action at all. But the novella, like much of Lichtenberg's writing, inspires an appreciation of just how vast, mysterious and majestic "reality" is, and that is both a far tougher task and a greater triumph.

Lichtenberg recently made several of his novellas (including Snapdragon Alley and all of the others mentioned above) available for free on Smashwords. (He also maintains a complete index of all of his works, including a link for free webpage reading of each and additional links for download sources, here.) Beyond Snapdragon Alley, other recommendations include Orange Car With Stripes (described by Lichtenberg as an "atheist science fiction comedy," as good a description as any) and, on the slightly more experimental side, the aforementioned Time Zone. However, all of Lichtenberg's novellas are quick reads and well worth checking out.

REVIEW: Eat Me by Ray Weeks

2009-11-21T15:27:00.001-05:00

In a prior review, I discussed how much I enjoyed Ray Weeks' superhero parody/homage The Adventures of Portly Boy. I now turn to Weeks' altogether more serious, but equally enjoyable, Eat Me: A Zombie Story Collection (Lulu paperback or pdf download).

Eat Me is formally a series of disconnected short stories, each set in a progressively further future and populated by completely different characters. However, the collection as a whole forms a novelistic arc of the history of a zombie armageddon, from present times through the end of our current civilization and into to what follows.

And even though the book itself is fairly short (at 170 pages), the tale is epic. Each story stands very well on its own; by giving himself the luxury to progress through time and different characters' lives, Weeks frees himself to explore some very interesting new ideas (and to bypass entirely those boring, undying cliches that seem to infest zombie fiction, the evil biker gang and the evil military).¹ But even beyond the effectiveness of the individual stories, the whole creates something even greater: an apocalyptic panorama that is variably exciting, humorous, sad, and uplifting.

If Eat Me has any (minor) flaw, it is that all of the characters have similar voices. The collection is professionally written and edited, and I enjoy Weeks' casual yet muscular writing style. But Weeks especially excels at a snarky, sarcastic tone (as is apparent from The Adventures of Portly Boy and Weeks' blog, The Strangelands). In Eat Me, no matter the supposed background of the character narrating a particular story or the overall tone of that piece, one can sense that persona lurking close by.

But this is a minor quibble. Even if all the characters sound a bit similar, they are also similarly captivating, and I can unreservedly recommend Eat Me to anyone who is looking for zombie fiction that is epic in scope, imagination, and the range of emotion it inspires (if not in page count).

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

In addition to his book writing, Weeks occasionally reviews other authors' novels on his blog. He has been especially fulsome in his praise for the first two novels in Rhiannon Frater's As the World Dies zombie trilogy, The First Days and Fighting to Survive (click titles for Weeks' reviews; click here to purchase The First Days, Fighting to Survive or the third book, Siege, as ebooks from Smashwords, or here for paperback or Kindle versions from Amazon). I agree with the core of Weeks' review, which is that Frater's writing is very strong, particularly her characterization:

Her characters are interesting, and the story trucks along at a good speed. There's gore and death and all that other fun stuff you expect from a zombie story, but there's also an actual story, so it isn't just a bunch of people you don't care about getting chased by dead things.

Nonetheless, I have a bit more difficulty with the plotting in the trilogy than Weeks apparently does. I fully enjoyed The First Days, which seemed wholly fresh and avoided the "evil gang / military" cliche discussed above. However, even though the writing remains involving, the crux of the action in the second novel (as foreshadowed in the first) involves an evil gang. I haven't read the third novel yet, but am concerned that an evil military may be involved.

I very well may be wrong (which is the problem with discussing books one hasn't even read yet). And even if I'm right, Frater's writing is strong enough that I can add my recommendation to Weeks' for anyone whose personal prejudices about how zombie novels should be plotted do not coincide with mine.

---

¹ Seriously, why do so many zombie novels and films feel compelled to revisit the tired old trope of the eeeevil biker gang or soldiers, whose main pastime is invariably sexual subjugation? I'm not necessarily arguing that such evildoers wouldn't arise in the 'real' world after the collapse of civilization. But aren't other people bored of reading about it? As Ken Begg recently observed over on Jabootu.net when reviewing the movie The Infestation:

The film does at least a couple of things very right. First, there’s no human villain to waste time on. I remember how glad I was to hear that Piranha 3-D was going that route, and this proves that I was on the right track in this regard. Amazingly, the filmmakers apparently [recognized] there was enough juice in a giant bug apocalypse to drive the narrative, and that eeeevil military or corporate scientists were not required.

I couldn't agree more. Isn't there enough juice in a zombie apocalypse to drive the narrative, such that eeeevil biker gangs or soldiers are not required?

REVIEW: The Fence Mender by Anghus Houvouras

2009-11-15T15:14:00.004-05:00

The Fence Mender is an enjoyable if not revolutionary addition to the zombie genre. Decades ago, mankind faced an apocalyptic infestation of parasites that transformed people into murderous, cannibalistic automatons (i.e., zombies). Now, a small number of urban enclaves are the last bastions of civilization, each protected by a metal-mesh protective fence that keeps the zombies out. (Why no one ever built a concrete wall is never explored.)

Our lonely, misunderstood hero is responsible for keeping the fence in good repair. However important his job may be, his heart yearns for something more, something beyond his narrowly circumscribed world. Specifically, he yearns for a life with with a woman in a neighboring fence-city with whom he has maintained a wistful radio relationship. When the woman's town is overrun by zombies, the fence mender decides to abandon his post and make the seemingly impossible journey to try to rescue her.

It is no surprise that first time novelist Anghus Houvouras is a film critic and filmmaker, as The Fence Mender (Lulu paperback; Kindle ebook) has a decidedly cinematic flavor. And notwithstanding the novel's pastoral cover, sedate start and melancholy official blurb, that flavor ultimately is action extravaganza. Our initially nebbishy, contemplative hero slides easily into improbable action man mode for the final third of the story as he literally pulls out the heavy artillery and faces down hordes of zombies while participating in several mighty big explosions. And even as Houvouras entertains us with large-scale violence and chaos, he also focuses the attention down on our leading players, inviting us (as action movies often do) to care more about the fate of two people than about the dozens of other minor characters who flesh out the action (or the countless multitudes who have already died pitiably in the background).

But even if The Fence Member is a novelized screenplay at heart, it is fun and effective. The action sequences excite, and the novel does succeed, in a broad-brush way, in creating empathy for our hero, as well as tension about who will ultimately survive. These accomplishments are genuine and significant.

However, the novel needs a thorough proofread, as typos and continuity slips abound. Moreover, although the novel is already a relatively short 200 or so pages, more could easily be cut. The first 10% of the book is completely extraneous, including an entire pre-credit sequence -- excuse me, prologue -- that provides some needless background on the origins of the fence-city system. Indeed, our hero is not introduced until chapter three. Everything before that is expendable, as are the occasional subsequent passages where the POV shifts away from our main characters to some military and political folks who deliver some clunky exposition. The Fence Mender is a good read, but it could be even better in a revised, re-edited, refocused edition.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte Books for Young Readers; Amazon) also involves a zombie menace that has overrun the world but is kept at bay from the few remaining pockets of humanity by a chain-link fence. However, except for that similarity, Ryan's world is very different than the one portrayed in The Fence Mender. Civilization has deteriorated far more; the origin of the fences is far more mysterious. Most importantly, there is far more teenage angst and moping. Once the heroic fence mender in Houvouras' tale decides to save his lady love, mindless action (which I enjoy tremendously) takes center stage. By contrast, although The Forest of Hands and Teeth contains a perfectly fair amount of zombie mayhem, it is overshadowed by teenage whining, self-doubt, self-discovery, self-loathing, and general self-involvement. Some people may prefer that. And Ryan's writing certainly is fine, the atmosphere of dread and mystery is strong, and the novel maintained my interest enough that I read through to the end. Moreover, I didn't notice any typos. But for all that, I enjoyed The Fence Mender more.

REVIEW: Do the Math by Philip B. Persinger

2008-05-27T22:46:00.001-04:00

PLOT

William Teale, long ago a math prodigy, now spends his time teaching at a small university in the Hudson River valley. He is deeply in love. But not with his wife.

Virginia "Faye" Warner, William's wife, is a romance novelist. Her books all follow a rigid -- and successful -- formula. But her reality falls fall short of her fairy tale public façade.

Claire is the woman William lost twenty-five years ago -- and never forgot. And now, by chance, she has shown up again.

Roger, William's graduate intern, finds himself bearing witness as the destinies of William, Virginia and Claire intersect during the course one fateful school year. But in Virginia's romance novels, the rules of love are clear. In the real world, affairs of the heart are rarely so precise -- or straightforward.

MY TAKE

To its credit, Do the Math is not a novel of overblown passions. To be sure, there are momentary explosions, both of fire and of humor. But the strength of the novel lies in its tender, sympathetic portraits of the lonely and middle-aged trio at its core: William, a man trying to do right by his wife, even if that means stifling his own happiness; Virginia, a woman who, in her own fashion, is just as trapped as William; and Claire, the "other woman" who is flung by fate into the middle and who, perhaps not entirely unwillingly, is unable to extricate herself. Because these characters feel genuine, we care about their story, even if it does not involve the standard young hunks or ladies with heaving bosoms that lie at the heart of most romance tales.

So the fact that Do the Math does not rise to the extravagance of a typical romance novel (no pirates, for example, and the coma and hospital romance aren't what one might expect) does not detract from the novel at all. Rather, the book's unaffected elegance and overall good humor (combined with Roger's charming narration) more than carries the reader through. And given that the novel's primary conceit is to explore an ultimately unanswerable question -- whether true romance can be boiled down to a logical equation -- the fact that Do the Math nonetheless both satisfies and is satisfyingly unpredictable right through to the end is a testament to author Philip B. Persinger's achievement (and, perhaps, to how unimportant the question really is).

AVAILABILITY

Do the Math is available as a $17.95 paperback (or a $27.95 hardcover) from iUniverse, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon. Author Philip B. Persinger also maintains a very bare-bones website for his novel here.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Love is, of course, a fundamental, ancient and ever-fertile subject for all manner of art and expression. On the lighter side of the spectrum, check out Erin Cosgrove's hilarious, smart romance novel parody The Baader-Meinhof Affair ($14.95 from Amazon; out of stock at Barnes and Noble). Some bonus material is also available at her website here.

On the far opposite end of the range, Daniel Johnston's majestic, tragic, beautiful, utterly heart-rending "Some Things Last A Long Time" (originally from his album 1990) is absolutely not to be missed. Johnston is definitely an acquired taste (see a detailed discussion of his life and music here), but the raw emotion of this song blasts through the substantial technical limitations of the recording. "Some Things Last A Long Time" can be purchased as an individual track, as part of the 1990 album, or as part of the wonderful introductory compilation Welcome to My World, which is available from, among other locations, either eMusic or directly from Johnston's webstore.

REVIEW: Stray Not Beyond by Michael B. Pinkey

2008-05-20T23:21:00.001-04:00

WARNING: mild spoiler ahead, for those who like to know no more about a novel's plot than what the back cover reveals.

PLOT

All Irving Carlisle wanted was to find some more Suttlespyce (Number 17), the finest pipe tobacco he had ever smoked.

All Irving found in Otterwood, North Carolina -- home of his beloved Suttlespyce (Number 17) -- was some decidedly unfriendly locals.

Then he got lost, and found something else, too. The entryway to a different world. A very unpleasant different world.

MY TAKE

Is it fair to criticize Stray Not Beyond for not telling the story I wanted it to tell? I've previously discussed the frustrations of having a novel side-step a specific plot point I found particularly intriguing in favor of pursuing a different agenda. But Stray Not Beyond takes the problem -- and thus my dilemma -- to an extreme.

The novel starts on a folksy, low-key note, as Irving recounts how a sample of the preternaturally sumptuous Suttlespyce (Number 17) pipe tobacco arrived, unsolicited, in his mail one day from a Theodamus Rroyhall in Otterwood, North Carolina, and how Rroyhall equally suddenly stopped responding to Irving's orders two years later. So Irving sets off for Otterwood to investigate.

In Otterwood, the locals start by giving Irving the run-around, and then become even more hostile when Irving persists. And although the novel's tone becomes increasingly dark, I thought I knew, at least generally, what I was in for: the story of Irving's investigation into the mysterious Rroyhall and his Suttlespyce (Number 17). I wasn't sure how dark the story would get, or exactly where the plot was headed. But the laid-back, appealing narrative style and intriguing plot had me primed and eager to see how the mystery would play out.

But then, on page 56, everything changes. Irving finds himself no longer in Otterwood, but in a quite literally different world altogether. From that point, the novel proceeds through an episodic series of surreal, hellish encounters as Irving struggles to find a way home. Although author Michael Pinkey ultimately does tie everything together in a fairly satisfactory manner, the story of Rroyhall and Suttlespice (Number 17) -- and, indeed, any story beyond Irving's bare struggle for survival -- takes a distinct back seat for the remainder of the story, as Stray Not Beyond essentially becomes a travelogue through a nightmare.

To be fair, Stray Not Beyond is a very well-written travelogue. Pinkey recounts the individual elements of Irving's nightmare journey with consummate skill, and individual scenes are genuinely creepy and effectively convey Irving's desperation and hopelessness. Unfortunately, these scenes never come together into a compelling overarching narrative: they remain a serial assortment of disparate events.

And so Stray Not Beyond is, above all, frustrating. Through page 55, I did not know exactly where the story was going, or even what genre the novel was going to end up being (it seemed capable of going anywhere from whimsical rusticity to black comedy or even violent thriller), but I did expect that the story as already started was going to continue. Unfortunately, when Irving loses his way, so too does Stray Not Beyond.

AVAILABILITY

Stray Not Beyond is available as a $14.95 paperback (or $24.95 hardcover) from Barnes and Noble or Amazon or direct from iUniverse. Pinkey -- who appears to date not to have published anything else -- also maintains a bare-bones website for the novel.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

David Zimmerman's Socket (available from Barnes and Noble or Amazon) also goes in a different narrative direction than I had initially expected. However, I have to admit that Zimmerman's direction works beautifully; indeed, Socket has quite simply become one of my favorite novels, period. I have more to say about Socket, but consider this a cliffhanger: check back next week for my review roundup of the last decade of winners (including Socket) of that thirty-year Labor Day weekend tradition, the 3-Day Novel Contest.

REVIEW: Aftermath by Brian Fischer-Giffin

2008-05-11T14:31:00.001-04:00

PLOT

A plague has descended in the wake of a passing comet. Most people are dead. Biker Talon Willis is one survivor. Teenaged Tahnee Goss is another.

But living through the plague is one thing.

Living through the aftermath is quite another.

MY TAKE

If you're looking for a basic, bread-and-butter post-apocalyptic tale, Aftermath will likely satisfy. Fischer-Giffin's writing (which alternates between Talon and Tahnee's diary entries to tell the story) is straightforward, engaging and, of critical importance, brisk. Fischer-Giffin keeps the action moving forward at all times, which is exactly the right approach. Most readers of Aftermath likely will already be familiar with the conventions of the post-apocalyptic genre, and Fischer-Giffin hews closely to them in his episodic tale, up to and including the expected climactic battle between the forces trying to rebuild civilization and the eeevil marauders out only to rape and pillage. Accordingly, because we readers know what to expect, there is no need for Aftermath to linger; rather, it is a locomotive, allowing us to enjoy the ever-changing scenery, even if we are already familiar with the journey as a whole. (And, to be fair, there are some welcome, if mild, deviations from what I predicted when I started the novel: biker Talon does not turn out to have quite the heart of gold one might expect (tarnished bronze is more like it), and teenaged Tahnee, even making allowances for the fact that her family and friends are dead and she's living in a post-apocalyptic nightmare, is, amusingly, really quite insane.)

AVAILABILITY

Aftermath is available from Lulu as a $3.75 pdf download (or a $19.50 paperback). Fischer-Giffin also maintains a MySpace page.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Aftermath may not be particularly innovative, but sometimes telling a simple tale in a straightforward manner can be more fun for the audience than would be a more unconventional narrative. For example, I enjoyed the short film Postapocalyptic Sandpit for most of its increasingly outlandish running time. But as it entered its more surreal final moments, it lost me entirely, both in terms of literal narrative and emotional response. By contrast, I can enjoy the new-wavish song "Among the Ruins", a straightforward soundtrack to the loneliness of life in the post-apocalyptic world by long-dissolved punk 'n' roll band the Vee Gates (which bills its music as "post-apocalyptic rock"), without reservation.

REVIEW: Vegetation by Mark LaFlamme

2008-05-04T20:17:00.001-04:00

PLOT

Diana Luce loved plants. And they loved her.

Diana's husband, Bertram, didn't particularly love plants. Or her.

So Bertram murdered Diana.

And the plants are not pleased.

Not at all.

MY TAKE

There is not much plot to Vegetation. It is a tale of vengeance for murder, pure and simple. Except that the avenging party is not a bereaved family member, is not even human, but rather happens to be the collective flora of the world. Even so, it is apparent from the start exactly where Vegetation is headed.

So the pleasures of Vegetation do not lie in intricate plotting, although the plants devise many clever means of attack. Rather, the fun -- and there is much fun to be had -- comes from two sources. First, there is author Mark LaFlamme's dry, darkly humorous writing. LaFlamme's omniscient narrator is almost another character in the novel, stepping in to further belittle Bertram and almost giving a voice to the plants who, of course, are unable to actually speak for themselves. For example, when Bertram feels wronged by a bank teller early in the novel, he longs to drive away dramatically after verbally harassing her. But as the narrator makes clear, Bertram is not quite up to the task:

He was so angry, he even considered squealing his tires to add exclamation to his dissatisfaction. Sadly, he did not know how it was done.

And again, the narrator laughs with us (and with the plants) in setting the stage for another floral assault in Bertram's own bathroom:

Two things he learned very quickly: the rigid, pointed leaf of a Mother-in-Law's Tongue was as capable of piercing flesh as a combat knife. And a cactus does not belong in the bathroom.

Vegetation's other amusement, while perhaps more base, is no less genuine. For Vegetation is a novel for those of us who can admit that, on some level, we enjoy seeing evildoers suffer. Sure, some might argue that finding amusement in the torment of another, regardless of whether that person can be said to "deserve" his fate, only deadens the soul and begets more violence. And perhaps those people are right. But regardless of whether it is ennobling, the desire for vengeance is powerfully present in the human psyche. Watching it played out, even (or perhaps especially) in a fictional context (where no one is truly harmed), can be very cathartic. And seeing the pompous, amoral Bertram Luce increasingly harassed by the plants -- the novel makes clear that they are proponents of playing with their victims -- on the road to his ultimate punishment is, to be frank, emotionally satisfying.

But Vegetation actually is not quite so simplistic. LaFlamme goes out of his way to give us the background of Bertram's wretched childhood, so we can better understand the man (and the murderer) he grows up to be. As a result, we are not allowed the unfettered glee of uncomplicated justice. We know how Bertram came to be a monster, and so, even while applauding the plants' revenge, we also sympathize with the boy he used to be.

Yet LaFlamme's sympathy for Bertram, in turn, also is not quite so simplistic. LaFlamme comments on one occasion (after an incident during which Bertram has been brought especially low) that, if Bertram could only maintain the fleeting feelings of empathy and contrition he has been forced to experience, the plants might back off of their retribution. Bertram, however, is incapable of real change. So perhaps we are meant to understand that Bertram is beyond redemption after all, and that his punishment truly is deserved. I don't know if there is a right answer. But I credit Vegetation for being smart enough to raise the question, and nimble enough not to let it detract from the novel's overall fun.

AVAILABILITY

Vegetation is available in paperback for $15.95 from BookLocker, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon. LaFlamme also maintains a website that includes further information about Vegetation and LaFlamme's two other novels, several short stories for free download (and links to a couple more shorts available through Amazon), and lots of other additional content.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

For more about the nature of vengeance, check out "Vengeance is Ours," a fascinating article recently printed in The New Yorker magazine. Or, for a more musical analysis, check out alternative industrial band Comrade Kommissar (on Four Control Records). For me, the highlight of From out of Nowhere (2004), Comrade Kommisar's only album to date, is "Revenge," on which the Comrade affects a laconic, lounge-esque baritone over a mid-tempo, dark alternative backing to extol the fine art of getting payback:

It has to be dangerous
It has to be refined
It has to be skillful
You need to take your time

Really, what more is there to say?

REVIEW: Summerworld by Serdar Yegulalp

2008-04-29T21:04:00.002-04:00

PLOT

It all starts when psychoanalyst Dr. Hirofumi receives an odd note from Masuda, a former patient, inviting Hirofumi to join Mausuda at a country spa. Odd because Masuda committed suicide three years ago.

And that is just the beginning. Hirofumi soon discovers that the veil of perceived reality has been ripped away altogether, and the rules of the old world no longer apply. What is left behind is called Summerworld. It is a realm where people can be who they want to be. Or at least who they view themselves as being. And Summerworld is changing to meet the expectations of those who inhabit it.

But Hirofumi also learns that straddling the line between your past and your hopes and dreams for the future can be tricky. Not everyone can walk that tightrope and make the transition. Especially when forces are gathering to push Summerworld entirely off balance.

MY TAKE

It is really quite impressive how Summerworld pulls together its seemingly divergent stylistic threads into such a satisfying tapestry.

Summerworld is deeply philosophical. Author Serdar Yegulalp presents a thoughtful meditation on the fine balancing act between clinging to the past and losing oneself in dreams of change. Yet, philosophy aside, Summerworld also contains several wonderfully involving action scenes. And happily, Yegulalp knows that a battle is all the more exciting when the sides are evenly matched. It never feels like the villains are too strong, and thus that the heroes can only prevail through luck or authorial caprice. Rather, even at the final, spectacular confrontation, there is a pronounced sense of balance, and that only heightens the tension.

Summerworld is in many ways a fantasy novel. It takes place in the world of magic, warriors and dreams that emerges after our modern society has been pushed aside. But the novel also is grounded in reality. On a literal level, remnants of our present world linger even after Summerworld rises. More importantly, many of the characters carry the baggage of their prior lives. As a result, Summerworld's characters feel completely genuine and of this world, notwithstanding their larger-than-life fantasy trappings. On the outside they may be heroes, but on the inside they're people.

Summerworld has a powerfully epic quality. Hirofumi's journey to understand the nature of the threat that surrounds him is fully developed and feels complete. Yet Summerworld also tells smaller, intimate stories about the relationships, both old and new, that are forged in this new world. And these small, understated character moments are just as compelling as the overall saga.

Summerworld's final apparent contradiction is that, despite the scope of Yegulalp's achievement, the novel is in fact only 284 pages long. So even if you're pressed for time, there is absolutely no reason not to go and pick up this fine novel.

AVAILABILITY

Summerworld is available from Lulu (as are Yegulalp's other novels) as a $14.99 paperback. Yegulalp also maintains a personal website that includes, among other information, news about various past and upcoming projects.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

The members of Mystechs recently announced that they are putting the band on hiatus while they head to Hollywood to pursue their moviemaking dreams. It is hard to argue with their logic: after ten albums in as many years with limited commercial success, they feel it is time, at least for a while, to focus on other creative endeavors.

Happily, while moving forward, the band members appear also to value their years in the music trenches. As one member comments in a recent blog entry, "I don’t think I’m being full of shit when I say I wouldn’t trade the Mystechs experience to play in 98% of the bands that get lots of hype or sell lots of records." Nor have they foreclosed the possibility of returning to music some day, even as they focus for the moment on their filmmaking.

In the meantime, the band leaves behind a substantial musical legacy recorded in several different pop and rock styles. The earlier albums tend to be a bit hit or miss, although they include some songs I truly love, like the bouncy, clever political dance pop of "Shouldn't Be Dancing" from Showtime at the Apocalypse (2002). But the more recent albums, each of which is a witty pastiche of a particular genre, are much more consistent: Dixie Inferno (2008) is a riotous take on southern rock, Hot Tub O' Blood (2007) is an equally warped take on heavy metal, and Escape from Planet Love (2006), my personal favorite, takes on '70s disco and funk.

Straddling the early- and late-period albums is 2005's Warriors and Warlocks, a (very) loose concept album about using fantasy to escape the drudgeries of the workaday world. Any horror movie aficionado will appreciate "Zombie Mountain," an exhilarating three-and-a-half minute zombie flick with a hillbilly twang. But the highlight is title track "Warriors and Warlocks," about a suburbanite's dream to leave behind her "white-bread paradise" for a more exciting world where her inner elven princess can fight dragons, devils and demons. Not a novel theme, certainly, but one that the Mystechs handle with charm, sympathy, and a nicely propulsive chorus.

More information about purchasing all of the Mystechs' albums (including iTunes links for the more recent releases) can be found at their website.

MiniReview: Cannibals by Rex Bowman

2008-04-24T17:54:00.001-04:00

Note: I don't know whether Strider Nolan Media is in any way a POD or self-publishing operation, but, if not, it is certainly an extremely small micropress, with only three active titles in its current catalog. Accordingly, I think that reviewing this title falls within the general spirit of this blog. Nonetheless, because the novel may technically be outside the POD world, I'm going to keep this very short.

Rex Bowman's Cannibals (available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble for $5.99), although technically a "young adult" novel, is a compact, ruthless thriller that will entertain cannibal fans of all ages. The basic plot is simple as can be: six teens are stranded on an island. With cannibals. Mayhem ensues. And this is not "high adventure" mayhem, but down-and-dirty, brutal bedlam. As one character notes, being shipwrecked can "sound so wonderful and exciting when it's happening in a book. Just the opposite when it's happening to you. In real life it's miserable and scary and all you feel is your hunger and thirst." Here, the teens' travails don't sound like fun at all; indeed, the novel's likable protagonists, fearsome villains, unabashed nastiness, and even its relative brevity (222 smallish pages) all work together to make Cannibals a horrifyingly satisfying nightmare.

REVIEW: Imaginary Friends by Darren Pillsbury

2008-04-22T17:43:00.001-04:00

PLOT

Jeff Tanner is trying his best to be a good father to his two young sons after the death of his wife. But it's not easy. His youngest son, Davey, is a mischievous smart-aleck. Older son Brian has withdrawn altogether, focusing only on his drawing. And Jeff himself is both lonely and uncertain how to move on.

But now things have gotten even worse. Jeff has started seeing strange, freaky creatures wherever he goes. Strange, freaky creatures that are becoming increasingly upset. And Jeff had better figure out why, because that agitation is turning into outright hostility. Towards Jeff. And they may be little, but they're everywhere.

MY TAKE

There are no big surprises in Imaginary Friends. From the moment young Davey makes a Christmas wish that his father could see all of Davey's imaginary friends, we know that wish is going to come true. We know that the imaginary friends will cause chaos, but that, ultimately, they will help Jeff recognize what's important in life. We know that, as part of this process, Jeff will learn how to honor his wife's memory while also moving on, and that this lesson will revitalize both his relationship with his children and his career. Imaginary Friends is a story of holiday redemption; as such, there's only one place for the story to go.

But that's OK, because even if we know the eventual destination, the journey is a lot of fun. Pillsbury displays a flair for both big, comic set-pieces and quieter moments of loss and melancholy, and Jeff and his family and friends are charming, likable protagonists. Some characters, like precociously cute youngest son Davey and Jeff's spunky live-in mother-in-law, feel a bit too much like standard television sitcom archetypes. But others, like Jeff himself and introverted son Brian, keep the novel grounded; they're real people, with real flaws and problems that resist instantaneous resolution. Even the "imaginary friends" themselves, rather than being strictly cute 'n' cuddly, are appropriately menacing when riled.

As a result, although Imaginary Friends as a whole displays an appealing tenderness, it never descends into treacly holiday pap. Rather, there is enough bitterness mixed with the sweet to keep the reader involved, and this vitality easily compensates for the lack of narrative surprises. After all, we may know already know that the Grinch is going to learn to love Christmas; but that doesn't mean we can't still appreciate the real emotion underlying the tale.

AVAILABILITY

Imaginary Friends is available for $12.95 from Amazon. You can read the first 80 pages of the novel for free at the book's website; further material, including the beginning pages of a webcomic adaptation of the novel (as drawn by Pillsbury himself), is also available here.

Incidentally, and unfortunately, the latest blog entry on the webcomic site illustrates how difficult it is for even a well-reviewed POD book to achieve much success. If you look at the nine (to date) customer reviews on Amazon, you'll see that Imaginary Friends has been widely praised, not just by the usual friends and family, but also by an Amazon top-100 reviewer, two top-50 reviewers and a top-10 reviewer. I'm aware of the debate about the worth of some of Amazon's top reviewers; nonetheless, one might think that having so many positive reviews would count for something.

But Pillsbury's blog reveals that "sales of the book have stunk," well below the (fairly minimal) 200-300 books he hoped to sell. The problem, of course, is that favorable reviews on Amazon can only sway readers who have already found the book. As always, the problem is getting the potential customer's attention in the first place. And as always, even for the worthy titles, there is, unfortunately, no easy solution.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Glen and the Sunshine Gang are a fun, quirky power-pop band that sing about fun, quirky topics like Jackie Chan ("Jackie Chan"), Jason Voorhees ("Friday the 13th"), and Billy Blanks ("Winners Anthem," which also has a nifty video).

Oh, and unicorns. Following their adventures in Imaginary Friends, I can perfectly imagine Jeff and his family singing along to the rousing chorus of "I Believe in Unicorns." I have a bit more difficulty picturing the family singing along with the ugly, death-metalesque bridge two-thirds of the way through, but even that aspect of the song is thematically consistent with the novel: just as Jeff's preliminary mistakes and failures make his ultimate growth all the more compelling, so too does the ugliness of the song's bridge make the final chorus that much sweeter.

All of Glen and the Sunshine Gang's songs are available DRM free for $0.89 each through Snocap on the band's MySpace page (where the band's two videos can be seen as well).

REVIEW: Timely Persuasion by Jacob LaCivita

2008-04-13T11:50:00.001-04:00

PLOT

I don't usually do this, but today I am simply going to quote Timely Persuasion's official blurb (see here or here) as my plot description (trust me, I have my reasons):

What did Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and my sister have in common? They were all my friends, and they died. Timely Persuasion follows an anonymous music critic on a quest to save his sister from the relationship that ended her life. After a chance encounter at a bowling alley leaves him with the ability to travel in time, our hero uses his musical knowledge to “blink” through the years attempting to keep the couple apart by any means necessary. But is her husband Nelson really to blame? Along the way he launches a new folk rock star, accidentally restructures his family tree, and crosses paths with the likes of Huey Lewis, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Billy Joel. Reliving past events through the eyes of his younger selves, he soon finds that correlation and causation are not always what they seem. This story of death, life, love, and rock 'n’ roll defies genre conventions while paying tribute to the classic time travel tales that came before it.

MY TAKE

Timely Persuasion reflects a peculiar phenomenon that is common in mass-market releases, where hired gun publicists write the back-cover copy, but is less usual in the do-it-yourself POD world. To be blunt, Timely Persuasion's misleading plot blurb makes a fun novel sound absolutely cheesy. Based on the official description (with its promise that the hero is "friends" with Cobain and Hendrix and also "crosses paths" with assorted other rock luminaries), I suspected that Timely Persuasion would be a series of trite wish-fulfillment trysts between a thinly-veiled author-stand-in protagonist and his musical idols, which in the end would add up to little more than a collection of fanboy fantasies.

Happily, Timely Persuasion absolutely does not go down this road. The conceit of the novel is that time travel is possible to any date that resonates strongly in the traveler's memory. For our time-traveling protagonist, those days often have rock music significance. However, our hero does not actually interact with his music idols. Rather, although his remembrances of important music dates are the springboard from which he launches his travels through time, they really are just the backdrop to his real mission: to prevent his sister's suicide.

And so Timely Persuasion ends up being much more enjoyable than the the above description had led me to expect. The writing is professional and polished, and author Jacob LaCivita does an admirable job keeping the complex mechanics of his recursive plot clear for the reader. At times his exposition is a bit too blunt, as one character will spell-out for another exactly what is going on. But that's really no different than Doc Brown drawing on the blackboard to explain the intricacies of time travel for Marty in Back to the Future Part II. And Timely Persuasion is clearly a movie at heart. Indeed, on April 1, LaCivita joked on his blog that Timely Persuasion had already been snatched up as a movie with an all-star cast. Although LaCivita was kidding, Timely Persuasion absolutely has "summer blockbuster" written all over it.

Of course, as I've mentioned before, big-studio summer films are known for being fun and clever, but also for ultimately being disposable. Indeed, Timely Persuasion raises a number of intriguing issues that it never fully explores. For example, the narrator at one point funnels hit songs from the future to a singer from the past, in order to advance the past performer's career. He expressly recognizes that in doing so, he is effectively depriving the future (original) artists of writing (or profiting from) their own songs. Maybe it's just me, but I find the implications of that fascinating (not just in the chicken-and-the-egg paradox sense; what I really find interesting is the ethical and artistic issues). And so perhaps it is unfair of me to criticize LaCivita for staying focused on the tale he wanted to tell, rather than going off on a tangent that I was interested in. But it is very frustrating to have interesting themes explicitly raised, only to be quickly brushed off to the side.

Nonetheless, high-concept films and novels definitely have their place, and Timely Persuasion fits solidly in that category. I enjoyed it for its substantial cleverness, breezy style, and pleasingly convoluted plot, which had just enough pathos at the end to give the journey some substance. If I'm a bit dissatisfied with Timely Persuasion, it is only because I would have liked more focus on some of the side-issues. But even as the novel stands, it is great for beach reading, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

However, I would still change that back jacket copy.

AVAILABILITY

Timely Persuasion is available as a $16.00 paperback or a $5.00 pdf download through Lulu. Alternately, you can read the novel for free through an online reader at the Timely Persuasion website, where further background information is also available. Even more information is available at the novel's blog, including an ongoing series of chapter-by-chapter author's notes and comments. Finally, random bits and pieces thematically linked to the book are available at Local Blog Done Good (the name has significance once you've read the book). LaCivita clearly takes marketing his book seriously (for which he should equally seriously be commended).

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

In the spirit of Timely Persuasion, I offer up a music track that always pulls me back in time (not from an independent artist, alas -- this dates back to a time before I discovered that wonderful world): Ratt's "Round and Round" (the link is to the DRM-free Amazon music store). Back in 1983, I thought this was a great song; to be honest, I still do. And, should a movie adaptation ever be made, I think "Round and Round" would be the perfect choice to play over the credits. Anyone, or at least anyone from my generation, would instantly understand the concept that pop music can transcend time and create a tunnel straight back through the decades (has it really been 25 years?). And while I know that the song isn't actually about time travel, I don't think anyone really knows the lyrics beyond the perfectly apropos "Round and round/what goes around comes around/I'll tell you why" anyhow. So cum on feel the noize! (oh wait, that was someone else.)

Imperfection

2008-04-05T09:14:00.001-04:00

I recently changed the text of a posted review. Not much -- basically only a single word. But it did somewhat alter the meaning of what I originally said.

I did this because the author (very politely) wrote to question my original language, and, after due consideration, I agreed that my original word choice had been poor. I want to be clear: I did not change my review because someone challenged me. I changed it because I came to realize that my review as first posted did not, in fact, accurately convey what I truly feel.

I've never substantively changed an entry before (although I have fixed some typos). Going forward, I will redouble my efforts to choose my words carefully, so that I don't have to make such changes again. But I want my writing to be as accurate as possible about my thoughts, even if that means making after-the-fact edits. I feel particularly compelled to listen with an open mind to valid post-posting suggestions (even from interested parties) because I, like (I suspect) most bloggers, don't have anyone else review or edit my work before I post it. We POD reviewers constantly urge authors to have their work edited by a third party before publishing it. If I don't take that advice myself before posting my reviews, the least I can do is listen to comments afterwards.

Some might argue that I should follow the blogging tradition of striking through the old text (but keeping it on the blog) at the same time as I insert the new language, so that my change of heart is recorded for posterity. But I'm not sure what that accomplishes. I don't know that the few people who may have read the original review are ever going to go back and read it again to see if anything has changed. Nor do I think that new readers of the review would gain anything by reading my original poor word choice.

So why am I posting a whole blog entry about this? For one thing, I'm making penance for my original poor draftsmanship by confessing my sins.

But more fundamentally, this whole experience will hopefully make me a better reviewer. It has served as a humbling reminder of the massive task that any novelist undertakes. I can't get through a few-hundred-word review without agonizing over it again and again; even so, I quite clearly still fail at times to find the right words to convey my thoughts. The novelists whose work I critique often write more than a hundred thousand of those words, primarily to entertain or enlighten readers like myself. The tremendous effort involved certainly does not mean that the resulting books are above criticism. But after all of that effort, POD novelists at least have the right to expect that if I am going to say anything, and especially anything negative, I am at least going to make every effort to say it right. That's an important standard for me, as a reviewer, always to try to live up to.

REVIEWS: Strange Sleuths: Three Novels about Peculiar P.I.s

2008-04-02T10:04:00.002-04:00

Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. Robert Parker's Spenser. Hard-boiled detective thrillers are a venerable and beloved staple of American literature. To be honest, I have never been a tremendous fan of the traditional crime novel. But that is not an issue with any of the three novels below, each of which takes the detective novel is a wholly unconventional direction.

Wildclown Hijacked by G. Wells Taylor is the most straightforward of the bunch, which is really saying something given that the novel chronicles the adventures of a spirit, in the quasi-post-apocalyptic world of the Change (in which the dead have arisen to resume their old lives), who possesses the body of an alcoholic private investigator who, in turn, wears clownface greasepaint in order to hide his face -- and thus his past -- from his own gaze.

Wildclown Hijacked is the sequel to When Graveyards Yawn, a novel I absolutely adore, and, perhaps unfairly, the new installment suffers a little bit in comparison. The problem is not with the writing; Taylor's prose continues to be absolutely top-notch. Wildclown's gritty, down-to-earth narration perfectly counterpoints the nightmarish phantasmagoria of life after the Change, and Taylor captures the mystery, violence and horror of this new world beautifully.

Rather, it is the plot that falters. To anyone already familiar with Wildclown's world (or even who has just read the above paragraphs), the title of this novel explicitly gives away exactly what is going to happen. Moreover, beyond the titular event, not much else occurs. As a result, there is very little surprise as events unfold. The details of the journey are everything. The strength of Taylor's writing is such that it is nearly enough. But in the end, Wildclown Hijacked was a little bit too predictable, even with its completely over-the-top finale.

(Wildclown Hijacked is available as a $9.94 paperback when ordered from Lulu through a special link at the book's web page -- go to wildclown.com and click on the Wildclown Hijacked cover there.)

On the surface, Robert Barry Kaplan's The Useless Detective appears much more conventional. Our narrator, a small time P.I. so lackadaisical that he doesn't even get a name, has managed to rouse himself to attend a twenty-year college reunion party at an isolated country estate. Before the night is over, one party goer has been murdered and a sudden storm has cut off all contact with the outside world. No one has any faith that our narrator can solve the crime before the killer strikes again. This, it would seem, would be the perfect opportunity for our hapless "hero" to prove his worth.

But we humans don't always rise to meet the opportunities presented to us. Sometimes, when given the chance to shine, we just stay in our ruts. And so it is with our useless detective, who, in fulfillment of his classmates' expectations, utterly fails to rise to the challenge. And so The Useless Detective proceeds like the novelization of a nonexistent Luis Buñuel film, as ennui conquers all and the partygoers resign themselves to day after day of ever more stagnant food, sex, and ultimate slaughter by the unknown killer.

So if The Useless Detective is just a big existential joke, the question becomes whether it at least is a good joke. On the positive side, Kaplan is a polished writer, and the humor, while bone dry, is very real. But once the narrative settles down into its endless cycle of dreary days and nights, I found myself waiting in vain through for something new to happen. Which, of course, is exactly how I'm supposed to feel. I genuinely respect that effect on an intellectual level. In the final analyis, however, this is a novel that is easy to admire but harder to really enjoy. And I wonder whether that's not fine with Kaplan.

(The Useless Detective is available as a $15.95 paperback from iUniverse, Barnes and Noble or Amazon. Kaplan's homepage is here, and he also writes a drolly amusing blog.)

Chuck Rosenthal's The Heart of Mars is the most out-there of the three novels, both in terms of setting and style. It is four hundred years after mankind was rescued from ecological disaster by benevolent extraterrestrials. Much has changed. There are few pure humans left. There are no machines -- everything is biological, alive. And there is no more writing, or storytelling. It's just not how things are done.

The Heart of Mars is poetic, almost psychedelic. The loose plot, involving half-human Marl's investigation into the hijacking to Mars of a ship full of fish, is only there to give the wispiest of structure to an elliptical journey that involves all manner of strange places and even stranger creatures with still stranger dispositions. The novel is a bit like an Alice in Wonderland in space, except that Marl, unlike Alice, is an intrinsic part of the strange world he inhabits.

In the end, the plot essentially falls away. As Marl gets closer to solving the mystery, the mystery itself becomes less and less relevant, until all that remains is the importance of telling the story. The Heart of Mars may ultimately be too oblique for readers looking for a straight-forward narrative, and, to be honest, I'm not sure I understand it all. But the sustained otherness of the journey is enthralling.

(The Heart of Mars is available in hardcover from Hollyridge Press, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and other online retailers for $23.95.)

FreeBooks #10: The Adventures of Portly Boy by Ray Weeks

2008-03-27T22:46:00.001-04:00

Howard McKay isn't really a superhero. He doesn't have any superpowers. In fact, he's a fat alcoholic, who only dresses up in a fluorescent yellow body suit (complete with pink running shorts and boots) because of an unfortunate incident in which he mooned a judge during a drunken romp through the park. As his punishment, the vindictive judge sentenced Howard to an even more unfortunate community service sentence: to patrol the city streets as a citizen watchdog, while dressed in the rather unique aforementioned ensemble.

Moreover, The Adventures of Portly Boy isn't really a novel. Rather, it is a compilation of the first 37 installments (of a total of 69) of a meandering serial narrative that author Ray Weeks posted on the Strangelands website between March 2004 and January 2007 (to go directly to the Portly Boy part of the website, click here). Because Chapter 37 ends at something of a natural (if abrupt) breaking point, Weeks evidently decided to make those chapters available as a free, convenient pdf download from Lulu (and also as a $16.67 paperback, for those who want a more corporeal embodiment of Portly Boy's adventures).

So, for many reasons, Portly Boy is not really a "superhero novel." It is, however, absolutely hilarious. Weeks has a light touch and a genuine gift for situational humor. Howard is an appealing schlub protagonist, and the supporting cast of cut-rate sidekicks and not-so-super villains are appropriately eccentric and amusing. Howard's adventures are consistently fun and, amazingly enough given the glib nature of the entire enterprise, manage to be genuinely tense and exciting at times.

To be sure, the serial nature of Portly Boy's origins, where the original episodes were stretched over a period of nearly three years, takes its toll. Certain jokes are repeated over and over. Nor is there more than the barest whiff of an ongoing plot. Yet none of that undercuts Portly Boy's essential good humor or entertainment value, and I look forward to reading the remaining uncollected adventures (nearly as extensive as the adventures collected in this book) available at the Portly Boy website.

REVIEW: Eerily Familiar by Darren Lamere

2008-03-23T15:52:00.001-04:00

PLOT

Tom Morrow awakes to a message on his bedside pad. It says that Raquel, who was murdered three years ago, is still alive. And it appears to be in Tom's own handwriting.

When Tom goes to visit Raquel's grave, someone is already there. Someone who looks a lot like Tom. Someone who, unlike Tom, remembered to bring a boombox to play Tom and Raquel's song.

More than just his girlfriend, Raquel was -- and remains -- the center of Tom's world. So Tom needs to figure out what is going on. Especially when her doppelgänger shows up as well.

But each step is accompanied by a profound sense of déjà vu. Back to three years ago. When Tom first investigated the truth behind Raquel's death . . . .

MY TAKE

Eerily Familiar is smart. The first half of the novel captures the reader in its baffling, David Lynch-style universe as Tom -- both in the present and, in alternating chapters, three years in the past -- investigates Raquel's death. But unlike many novels that rely upon cryptic happenings for their plots, first-time author Darren Lamere actually plays fair: halfway through, he explains the peculiar happenings, in a way that makes sense and is consistent with everything we've read so far.

What makes this impressive is that the explanation in no way diminishes the remainder of the story. Often, when a novel or movie depends upon apparently inexplicable circumstances to drive the plot, the story can no longer sustain interest once the explanation is revealed. The moment that Tom uncovers the truth, I braced myself for the novel to lose its enjoyably enigmatic tone.

In fact, Eerily Familiar only becomes richer. The explanation of one mystery branches off into several new complications, and the full implications of the situation are thoroughly explored. With each development, Lamere treats the reader fairly and with unbending intelligence, as what we thought we knew reconfigures itself to incorporate ever more intriguing situations. Yet throughout this process Lamere's first person narration remains impressively clear, so that, as confounding as events may become, we never have any difficulty in following the story.

Unfortunately, despite its prodigious strengths, Eerily Familiar is a little too bloodless to be fully engrossing. Although my mind was constantly entertained, the novel fails to achieve equal emotional heights. Events occur that should be extremely poignant, and, indeed, Tom duly talks about his inner upheaval. Yet Tom never really comes alive for the reader, and so his pain does not effectively translate into a shared emotional response. Lamere is clearly an extremely skilled writer, and he does wonders marshaling his detailed plot into a coherent, entertaining whole. My only hope -- and my genuine expectation -- is that next time, his characters will be as fully developed.

P.S.: This is a minor point, but cute names are almost always distracting. "Tom Morrow" is no exception, and is the one place where I felt Lamere was trying to be too clever.

AVAILABILITY

Eerily Familiar is available from iUniverse or Amazon as a $19.95 paperback, a $29.95 hardcover, or a $6.00 DRM encrusted Adobe ebook. As far as I can tell, Lamere does not maintain an author website.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Eerily Familiar's chilly conceptual intensity reminds me a lot of Primer, the $7,000 indie film from 2004 that reduced the mysteries of time travel to a simultaneously baffling yet workaday reality. Primer, like, Eerily Familiar, thoroughly engaged my mind, and was genuinely worthwhile for that reason alone, but ultimately failed to fully progress beyond being an extremely clever intellectual exercise to become emotionally involving as well.

FreeBooks #9: Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty

2008-03-19T22:18:00.001-04:00

Laura "Keepsie" Branson is in the Third Wave of people born with superpowers: anyone who tries to steal from her gets frozen in place. A few years ago, her power was judged inadequate, and her application to train with the First and Second Wavers at the Seventh City hero Academy rejected. So now Keepsie quietly runs her bar, catering to her minor-league peers. Until she suddenly finds herself at the center of an epic battle between the mightiest heroes and villains of Seventh City, and Keepsie and her friends discover that it is up to them to save the day -- if they can figure out whose side they're really on.

Mur Lafferty's Playing for Keeps is an intriguing but imperfect effort. Lafferty is a clearly a talented writer, and her colloquial style, appealing common-folk (if superpowered) protagonists and skill with action scenes go a long way towards holding the reader's interest. The story, however, does not feel fully developed. The novel is paced a little oddly, with Keepsie and her friends doing a lot of running about that doesn't seem to advance the plot. The motivations of both the "heroes" and "villains" that Keepsie must confront are at times unclear, and their characterizations feel similarly inconsistent. Nonetheless, Playing for Keeps shows tremendous promise both in its writing and its basic premise, and, given the near-cliffhanger nature of the book's conclusion, we will hopefully see more, better-realized adventures of Keepsie and her crew.

Playing for Keeps is available in several different formats, including as a free download (or a $16.99 paperback) from Lulu or as a free audiobook from PodioBooks. Check out the very thorough Playing for Keeps website for other options and extras; Lafferty also maintains a general website here.

REVIEW: Voltage by Justin Conwell

2008-03-16T21:16:00.001-04:00

PLOT

After attempting suicide, Eric had his self-destructive thoughts blasted out of his head through Electro-Convulsive Therapy. Unfortunately, the therapy also stole his memory of what drove him to suicide in the first place. Even worse, it tore away the creative part of Eric's brain, leaving the former painter without the inspiration to do much more than work as a clerk at the local discount store.

Now a year has passed, and Eric's daily routine is upended when the latest load of donations includes a box filled with ashes and labeled "Harold." Pressed into a road trip to bring Harold's remains back home, Eric finds himself forced to confront both his current life and the past that got him there.

MY TAKE

Over a year ago, I wrote a brief review of Saints Visible by "Justin Gil." I described the novel as a "charming, folksy tale" with considerable "laid back charms," although I found the resolution to be "rather abrupt" and "too easy."

I have been told that Voltage, attributed to a "Justin Conwell," is in fact the same author's second novel. Based on the evidence of the two books, I certainly believe it. Voltage demonstrates the same strengths as Saints Visible: a clear, inviting writing style that immediately draws the reader in. Voltage, however, is a considerably greater triumph, as it marries those strengths to a much more mature and involving story.

With its themes of suicide and long-buried memories, the novel may sound exceedingly glum or melodramatic. And indeed, as one might expect, Eric's buried memories do conceal a tragic story that ultimately impact his present as much as his past. However, Voltage is not a melodrama. Rather, Voltage is a tragedy, in the most positive (if not quite Grecian) sense of that word.

Like any good tragic hero, Eric is both deeply flawed -- indeed, infuriating at times -- but also deeply, recognizably human. Conwell draws us into Eric's tale slowly; although dark rumblings can be heard from the start, the early part of the book is fairly relaxed, and even whimsical. But as the story progresses, we grow to care about Eric and his traveling companions (including romantic interests both actual and potential). When Eric's failings and history inexorably surface, there is nothing flashy or over-the-top about the results; everything in Voltage feels real, and plausible. And this quiet power makes Eric's journey all the more affecting.

Indeed, by the end of the novel Eric and his friends have all learned, in one way or another, that you cannot run away from your past. This is, of course, an ancient literary theme, dating back (at least) to the aforementioned classical Greek tragedies. Yet Voltage distinguishes itself through compelling characters that make its exploration of this well-worn trope feel fresh, powerful, and, ultimately, heartrending. Saints Visible was worthwhile as a cute "feel good" book; Voltage, by contrast, is a genuine work of art.

AVAILABILITY

Voltage is available from Lulu here as either a $0.50 download or an $11.99 paperback. Saints Visible is also still available from Lulu, either as a free download or an $8.56 paperback. The author does not appear to have a website; nor am I aware of any other books he may have written, whether as Justin Gil, Justin Conwell, or some other pen-name.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

The Sheds have made all four of their folksy rural rock albums available for free download, and I strongly recommend that you take them up on their generosity. Each is strong, but the most recent two -- The Sheds Quit Smoking and You've Got A Light -- are especially stunning. The Sheds sing about the small issues of day-to-day living, and, appropriately enough, their songs encompass the gentle humor, quiet yearning, and upbeat joys of everyday life, while also maintaining a consistent and intense melodiousness. These guys should not be missed.

FreeBooks #8: Deadolescence by Robert Devereaux

2008-03-09T22:21:00.003-04:00

Robert Devereaux's Deadolescence (A Tale of Love and Sacrifice) is a slippery customer. The story is set in the Demented States of America, where violence is a way of life and decent people live in threesomes (so long as the threesomes are mixed-gender; after all, same-sex threesomes are just wrong). To prepare them for the rigors of adulthood, high school seniors undergo a deadly prom night rite of passage: one couple is picked at random to be slaughtered by a designated slasher, chosen from the ranks of the high school faculty. This year, however, something has gone very wrong at Corundum High. And a lot more than one couple's blood is going to be spilled. . . .

At first, everything about Deadolescence seems too blunt. The satire is obvious: the President of the Demented States of America is a literal puppet, for goodness' sake. The violence (and there is a lot of it) is graphic, gory and extreme. So is the sex; there is stuff going on with piercings and zippers that I really don't want to think about any more. Be warned: this book is not for the squeamish.

But once I acclimated to the excess (more or less; the finale takes it up another notch and truly made me squirm), I was able to appreciate the novel's considerable strengths as well. The story as a whole is smartly paced and plotted, with an effective conclusion that thoughtfully, if gruesomely, caps all that came before. There are also tinges of subtlety and humor amidst the novel's extremes, whether in the amusing portrayal of anti-government crusaders or in the more quiet moments of genuine fear, such as when a young girl must hide in a closet while unspeakable things go on outside.

Perhaps the most surprising -- and ultimately telling -- aspect of Deadolescence is how much we come to empathize with, or at least understand, the students, teachers and parents of Corundum High. Violence and the infliction of pain are fundamental parts of life in the Demented States of America. The characters who inhabit that world, naturally enough, largely tolerate (and even endorse) the society in which they have always lived. As a result, they accept and do things that we, as readers in the United States of America, might (and hopefully do) find barbarous. Yet even if we don't always agree with their worldview, we can at least begin to understand it, given the context in which it developed. Despite our profound differences in values, we can even relate a little bit, as we wonder how we would behave if we grew up in their world.

I don't mean to make too much out of Deadolescence. It is, in essence, a slasher film in novel form. But as such things go, it is an especially fine and intelligent slasher film. It is filled with effective gore, real frights, and good characters, is thoughtful enough to have real substance, and is great fun to boot.

As of this writing, Deadolescence is available for free at the author's website. Grab it while you can; Devereaux has promised to try to bring the book to print, either from a traditional publisher or, if necessary, POD. (And I must say, in the event that you don't read this until after the novel is no longer available for free: if you can stomach extreme horror, Deadolesence is well worth paying for). For more graphic violence-and-sex fun, this time set in a world where Santa Claus and fairy tales are real, check out Devereaux's equally extreme Santa Steps Out, published by Leisure Books and available used on Amazon.

REVIEW: Perchance to Feast by Ellen Belitsky

2008-03-08T13:56:00.001-05:00

PLOT

Sixty years ago, the cosmic imp Chance, in his eternal quest for entertainment, set a scheme in motion. He contrived to inspire Sadie and Lillian, best friends at Hometown Junior High, to write the story of Subring, a hellish realm where the mean girls who bullied them would be punished. Scared of their own creation, the girls quickly abandon the story. But dark ideas, once loosed, are not always easily buried.

Now, decades later, Chance is ready for the grand amusement to begin. A new generation of Hometown residents, including Sadie's own granddaughter, have been set in motion and are ready to assume their roles. And Subring is ready to be unlocked.

MY TAKE

I expected the worst from Perchance to Feast. The back cover description seemed to promise a twee fairy tale. Based upon my own prejudices, the author bio (Ms. Belitsky describes herself as a "retired teacher" who "is passionate about peace, the environment, the Bill of Rights and all things built of words") appeared even worse. I knew I was being unfair, but what could a retired teacher have to say to someone as jaded as me? And the first few pages -- told from Chance's point of view -- heightened my fears. They struck me as overwritten, filled with alienating alliteration and the typical "look at the superior cosmic being who happens to find amusement in playing with humans" clichés that I have seen so many times before.

And, to be honest, Perchance to Feast does lack a certain professional polish that betrays its POD origins. The (thankfully few) passages told from Chance's perspective continue to be heavy-handed. Similarly, Sadie's dialogue, filled with "Oy!"s and noun-verb inversions, is less colorful than it is a caricature (she is a Russian immigrant). And Ms. Belitsky's decision to use on-the-nose names for places and off-stage characters (the novel takes place in "Hometown," which is home to both "Hometown Junior High" and snooty "Classical Academy;" "Mr. Cleanitup" is the janitor, while "Mrs. Fuddydud" and "Mrs. Stickler" are teachers) is not so much clever as evidence that Ms. Belitsky was trying too hard.

But my reservations soon fell away, and I suddenly realized that I was truly enjoying Perchance to Feast . The novel quickly hit its stride once the POV shifted from Chance to other characters and the story began to unfold. Yes, the novel is essentially a fairy tale about a brave young girl foiling the plans of a grotesque evil queen. However, Perchance to Feast is anything but twee. The story is surprisingly dark, mature and involving. Although Subring does not open its doors until the last portion of the book, Ms. Belitsky holds our interest throughout with an interesting backstory and a slowly escalating tension, with a fully satisfying resolution.

Indeed, the many successes of Perchance to Feast easily overcome its few stylistic failings. In particular, Ms. Belitsky's handling of one of the novel's underlying themes -- how stories impact our lives -- is impressively graceful. Novels dealing with "the power of the imagination" are often uncomfortably blunt and, quite frankly, unimaginative. But Perchance to Feast handles this theme deftly. The novel may not exactly be subtle; after all, the premise of the novel is that Chance has manipulated the cosmos so that the imaginary Subring will intrude on the real world. But Ms. Belitsky's handling of this subject is elegant and low-key, allowing the theme to play out naturally and without becoming overbearing.

Ultimately, however, it is Ms. Belitsky's handling of her characters that is particularly accomplished. The more "down to earth" characters, such as Lillian (an elderly woman for most of the novel) and Sadie's grand-daughter Karma Robin (a thirteen year old who likes to be called K-Rob) all feel genuine, despite the range in their ages and personalities. The more "extreme" characters such as the villainous Hera, the drama teacher at Classical Academy, are so (entertainingly) monstrous as to be almost inhuman. Yet both types of character work well on their own and, impressively, this contrast does not tear the novel apart. Perhaps the ability of these disparate characters to co-exist is due to Ms. Belitsky's decision to keep them apart for most of the novel, until the situation is so out-of-control that the mashing of the ordinary and the extreme seems reasonable. Or perhaps it is because Ms. Belitsky succeeds in giving us just enough background detail about even the monsters so that, ultimately, they don't seem quite so inhuman after all.

AVAILABILITY

Perchance to Feast is available for $15.95 from iUniverse or Amazon. (As always, iUniverse has a free preview of several pages available.) Ms. Belitsky writes a blog about the novel called Perchance to Publish; she has written several interesting posts about the benefits and frustrations of publishing through iUniverse, including a couple that reveal how such an interesting novel ended up with such an uninspiring cover.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Back during the initial run of this blog, John Purlia sent me a review copy of his novel The Extraordinary Adventures of the 25 Year Old Birthday Muse (available from Lulu through a special link available on request from the author). I didn't review it at the time because I didn't know quite what to say. In large part, I still don't.

Extraordinary Adventures is an episodic fairy tale about Kathy, muse of Gardening, Fashion and Photography, who wishes on her twenty-fifth birthday to "finally find the artist whom I shall inspire." She is immediately cast from Olympus in order that she might better chase her dream. What follows is a series of agreeable encounters with quirky people and places (illustrated by full-color reproductions of masterpieces of mythologically inspired art), events that, while individually interesting, lack conflict or narrative drive. I enjoyed Extraordinary Adventures, the same way one might enjoy a languorous stroll through a local art museum on a hot afternoon: a pleasant diversion to be sure, and worthwhile in its understated charms, but, ultimately, not fully inspiring.

FreeBooks #7: A Dancing Bear by Mark Osher

2007-05-27T20:50:00.000-04:00

Poor Fenton Bland. His life at college is rapidly spiraling out of control. It's bad enough that he's stuck in the class of Professor Ivan Lego, whose theory of socioliterology -- the concept that any writing is wrongfully oppressive because "it owes its very existence to a foundational act of suppression, namely, the suppression of non-language" -- is taking the academic world by storm. It's even worse that he's inadvertently given Pamela, a student activist with whom Fenton shares a deep, dark shame, the idea to strike a blow for the disenfranchised by campaigning for the release of a notorious serial killer. Still worse, Fenton's relationship with his lesbian faux-vegetarian deadbeat housemates is worse than ever (not least because of the dead cat). But worst of all is that the student Maoist group that Fenton joined solely for the purpose of getting close to the beautiful Charmaine is singularly focused on announcing itself by assassinating someone, and Fenton is stuck right in the middle of the plot.

Don't worry if you don't have a good sense of what "Maoists" are. Neither do I. Nor, for that matter, do the members of the Maoist group. And that, in a nutshell, is what makes Mark Osher's delightful A Dancing Bear such a spot-on primer to the college experience. It's all there: the students whose big plans and grand statements are undermined by their own lack of understanding (and ability). The academics whose outré theories are driven by self-promotion rather than genuine relevance. The everyman stuck in the middle, trying to do what is right but restrained by his own passivity. And, of course, the university public bathrooms:

No gent in his right mind had ever employed this door more than twice, in very quick succession: once on his uninformed way in; and once more, about two seconds after that, to effect an appalled and lifelong departure. For behind this door lay the most deplorable block of toilets on campus. Clearly, something had gone badly wrong in there. It was as though at some point the facility had been officially forgotten, had slipped outside the purview of whatever body or agency was meant to stand between such places and anarchy. Maybe during an administrative restructure it had vanished into the grey area between two spheres of responsibility. Maybe every cleaner in the university just assumed some other cleaner was cleaning it. In any case, it was beyond redemption now. The cubicle doors swung crookedly from busted hinges, like wounded soldiers being helped along a trail. The lights buzzed and flickered like dying flies. . . .

And the stench … the stench was the stench of the jungle. No man who smelled it could possibly retain any of those frayed illusions concerning the supremacy, or even the adequacy, of his gender. But the really alarming thing about this reek was this: it kept getting worse. Which could only mean one thing. People kept contributing to it. Somewhere on campus there existed men who were still prepared to use this facility – men who thought it a fit venue in which to bare the most intimate parts of their flesh. Who were they, these men? Chillingly, they had to be out there in the general population, blending in, walking past you every day without your knowing it. Maybe they were your friends, your tutors. The guy with the mysterious grin who ran the bakery. The shuffling first-year with the bad skin and the walkman. Elderly professors who wore sneakers with their slacks and accused your essays of being “prolix,” hardy old campaigners who probably took broadsheet newspapers in there and settled in for the long haul. The insane. The incontinent. Fugitives from justice. The damned.

A Dancing Bear is consistently hilarious, combining effective satire of academic, political and individual pomposity with regular moments of slapstick, laugh-out-loud humor. However, equally impressive is the novel's philosophical heart. For all of its worthwhile silliness, A Dancing Bear also is concerned with deeper questions that confront all collegians, and, for that matter, all thinking people. Can I steer my life where I want it to go? Or am I locked in to a path set by outside forces or simple inertia? What would it take to change my life? A Dancing Bear seamlessly works these weighty themes into its rollicking tale, ultimately proving satisfying on many levels.

All told, A Dancing Bear is a brilliant success and is highly recommended. It is available for free at the official website (which is very amusing in its own right), either as chapter-by-chapter webpages or as a printer-friendly RTF file of the complete novel. The novel is also available as a free downloadable audiobook. As the website notes, "the world is fast running out of excuses not to read this book."

REVIEW: Noah, Penny by David Skinner

2007-05-21T13:00:00.000-04:00

PLOT

Thirteen year old Penny knows that she is not beautiful. But she also knows that she loves Noah, and only wants him to love her back.

Unfortunately, Noah is awkward and unreadable. Does he feel the same way? They've been friends for years, but this is new terrain.

And the sudden appearance of Fyfe, an ancient elfin creature who's interested mainly in spying on the affairs of humans, is not making Penny's life any easier.

MY TAKE

David Skinner's Noah, Penny is a contemplative, touching novella that, though brief, has a lot to say about how we relate to each other.

I first discovered Skinner over a decade ago, when I was wowed by his The Wrecker (Simon & Schuster 1995). That novel explores questions of good, evil and free will in a manner that, if infinitely more restrained in its imagery than Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, is no less effective for its subtlety. Whereas The Wrecker can be seen as a rumination on hate and violence, Noah, Penny, by contrast, is a charming meditation of first love. Although both novels are formally works for the Young Adult market, both offer tremendous rewards for the adult reader as well.

Quiet and a bit melancholy, Noah, Penny doesn't rely upon a formal plot. Rather, it explores Penny's situation -- and, ultimately, the nature of love and acceptance -- through a series of generally understated vignettes that follow her halting, uncertain relationship with Noah. Skinner demonstrates a deep, sympathetic understanding that matters of the heart are, ultimately, beyond rational explanation. Penny's story is sad and sweet and real in all the right places. And far from being a jarring intrusion in this otherwise naturalistic tale, the age-old Fyfe instead adds a perfect touch of magical realism, ultimately teaching that the questions Penny faces are not new, but are, indeed, eternal.

AVAILABILITY

Noah, Penny is available as a paperback from Lulu, as are several other of Skinner's self-published books. (The Wrecker is available used on Amazon.) Skinner's website is located here.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

The animated zombie movie City of Rott is not quiet or subtle. It is the extraordinarily violent tale of an old man seeking to survive -- and to find new shoes -- in a post-apocalyptic world populated primarily by the undead (or, more specifically, dead corpses controlled by alien space-worm-parasites). The violence is graphic and never-ending, if somewhat charming in its cheerful excessiveness.

I suspect that the audiences for City of Rott and Noah, Penny overlap very little. Moreover, Noah, Penny is far more successful and involving than the oft-monotonous City of Rott. Nonetheless, the two works are similar in at least two respects. Both focus primarily on mood and individual moments rather than a detailed plot. And both end on a note of grace that, each in its own way, celebrates the human spirit.

And as a special added bonus recommendation, check out this panel from the increasingly popular xkcd webcomic.

An Abashed Return

2007-05-20T17:37:00.000-04:00

So I've been gone for two months. But I'm back now. For good, I think.

Basically, I had a minor existential crisis. Really very minor, in the scheme of things: I’m perfectly happy with family, friends, health, and all the important things in life. My crisis was limited solely to the value of my reviews. In mid-March, I happened to read an article about how most books even from big-name publishers with real marketing campaigns only sell one or two thousand copies if they’re lucky.

I already knew this, but it drove home many of my doubts. Why, I wondered, do I bother writing reviews when I doubt that I will ever be able to persuade an appreciable number of people to buy these books that I enjoy so much. No author is going to sell thousands -- or hundreds -- or dozens -- or necessarily even a single copy due to a positive recommendation from me.

Then, just like in a poorly written, melodramatic novel (whether POD or otherwise), I had my epiphany. The friend of an author I’d previously reviewed happened to write to say that the author had happened to find my review (I always try to e-mail authors who I’ve reviewed, but this was one I hadn’t been able to contact) and that my review had “made his day.”

Now, I know that my positive comments were more a minor bright spot in this author’s day than a moment of unparalleled rapture. But still, this reminded me why I started my reviews: to let those POD artists (who, let's be frank, likely will never reach a big audience regardless of their talent) know that they’ve touched at least one person. I know that this is an exceedingly minor prize, but I hope it's worth something, and, I have to say, I think (hope) it may be enough to make this all worthwhile.

So I've neglected this site for a couple of months. But no more. I know I've been impolite, ignoring my fellow POD reviewers and, indeed, all of the e-mail I've received. But I have been reading, lots and lots of books, as well as checking out new movies and music. So I'm going to start answering my backlog of e-mail (if anyone still cares). I'm going to start posting reviews of all the great stuff I've read, seen and heard in the last few months. Because if I don't, who will? (Well, except for all of the excellent sites listed at right, plus all the new ones that have probably sprung up recently. Check them out too. But don't give up on me yet. The best, hopefully, is yet to come.)

Freebooks #6: How and Why Lisa's Dad Got To Be Famous by Michael Allen

2007-04-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

How and Why Lisa's Dad Got To Be Famous by Michael Allen (aka the Grumpy Old Bookman) is a quiet little book with a salacious-sounding plot: a reality show producer stages a show wherein Harry, the eponymous dad and an HIV positive man, must find a woman willing to sleep with him notwithstanding his condition. Despite a frank attitude towards sex and some rather explicit images (the climactic moment of the show is to be captured from within the woman on a pre-inserted miniature camera), the story is actually rather low-key and the satire rather benign (if only because the reality of reality television these days is already so extreme). If the novel (like the almost too salt-of-the earth, plainspoken Harry) lacks something in conflict and excitement, Allen nonetheless maintains a consistently congenial atmosphere that keeps the reader pleasantly interested and involved throughout the tale.

Lisa's Dad . . . is available as a pdf download here.

FreeBooks #5: The Flesh Remembers & Dark Terrains by Richard Wright

2007-03-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

In late 2005, Richard Wright released The Flesh Remembers as a free pdf on his website. (A paperback is also available through Lulu or Amazon.) The Flesh Remembers is a terrific, genuinely creepy novella about Dexter Lomax, a tabloid reporter who, investigating a series of small, mysterious craters, stumbles across a nasty secret involving flayed bodies (living and dead), an unconventional videotape, and some rather unpleasant Lovecraftian things. Lomax's first-person narration builds perfectly to capture both Lomax's terror and his pity as he doggedly uncovers the truth, rendering The Flesh Remembers worthwhile for any horror fan.

In late 2006, Wright released Dark Terrains, a collection of short stories, also as a free pdf on his website. (And again, a paperback is available through Lulu or Amazon for those who so prefer.) Although the compilation as a whole was released a year after The Flesh Remembers, the collected stories reflect some of Wright's earlier work, and most if not all of the individual tales predate the novel. As a result, Dark Terrains unsurprisingly is somewhat inconsistent, and does not reach the heights of The Flesh Remembers. Nonetheless, many of the stories are quite compelling, including "The Jealous Dead," which perfectly lampoons (in a very serious way) the attention lavished on Princess Diana's passing; "Feedback," a quirky story about an unfortunate day in the life of a man who doesn't realize that he's an empath; and "The Ghosts of Christmas Presents," a story about love and murdered kittens that is almost heartwarming. Almost.

More information on both of the above works is available at Wright's website, along with information on some of Wright's other books that are available for purchase.

REVIEW: Chion by Darryl Sloan

2007-02-28T20:14:00.000-05:00

PLOT

The end of the world doesn't come with a bang. It sneaks up, as quiet and beautiful as the falling snow.

Seven-hundred students are trapped at Clounagh Junior High School. Among them are Jamie Metcalfe and Tara Morton, the girl Jamie secretly loves. No one is coming to rescue them. No one can.

Jamie has secrets of his own. But he's determined to do whatever it takes to save Tara. Even if it means venturing outside. Into the snow.

MY TAKE

Good literature can captivate a reader of any age, and a young adult novel can fully entertain an adult audience. I didn't read Shade's Children by Garth Nix until well past my teen years, but, although labeled a "young adult" novel, it remains one of my favorite works of post-apocalyptic fiction. The Fire-Us Trilogy, set in a world where a plague has wiped out the entire adult population, also starts spectacularly, although it peters out at the end with a too-easy resolution.

I similarly enjoyed Chion, a young adult apocalyptic novel, for almost all of its length. The story starts strong and quick. The scenario is convincingly nightmarish and fiendishly clever. The narration is intimate and natural (although a shift in focus halfway through from one character to another jars a bit). The school setting is fresh even in the face of the standard apocalypse tropes (escalating panic, violence, and hopelessness), and Jamie's secret adds an intriguing twist. And Jamie's plan of escape is clever and plays fair, leaving the reader excited to follow wherever Sloan leads.

Unfortunately, Sloan doesn't lead as far as I wanted to go. Part of this is just wanting more. Chion is quite short, closer to a novella than a full length novel. The book and Sloan's writing are compelling enough that I hoped to spend more time with Jamie and Tara.

But even apart from its brevity, Chion's end is too abrupt. The story just kind of stops, as though Sloan couldn't think of anywhere else to go. Even worse, the conclusion seems to backpedal from much of what previously made the story compelling. I understand the character arc that Chion is trying for, and, in its modest way, it succeeds. But so much of the novel is so good, I wish Sloan could have carried his vision through to a grander place.

AVAILABILITY

Chion is available through Darryl Sloan's website as a $7.99 paperback ($12.99 including shipping from the U.K.). Sloan's website also features an entertaining blog and free short films, while Darryl's Library (linked at right) provides book reviews (including some reviews of POD books).

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Comics used to be considered a juvenile art form, although that perception has largely faded. As with novels, a good comic can captivate a reader of any age. One online comic that I enjoy is the Post-Nuke Comic, a harrowing series (divided into several online "issues" and still ongoing) about life in a post-nuclear winter. The most frustrating thing about the Post-Nuke Comic is the long gap between pages being posted; I'm constantly chomping at the bit for the next installment.

FreeBooks #4: Geek Mafia by Rick Dakan

2007-02-27T20:35:00.000-05:00

Paul Reynolds' business partners have just told him that his services are no longer required at the company he helped establish. A band of free-wheeling, high-tech scam artists, led by the beautiful Chloe, offer to help him obtain the severance package he feels he deserves. Now Paul is becoming ever more involved with Chloe and her crew, leading a more exciting -- and dangerous -- life than he ever imagined.

I first learned about Rick Dakan's Geek Mafia through an ad he placed on Boing Boing. Although certainly an expensive investment, it appears to have paid some dividends in terms of attracting readers (and Cory Doctorow's subsequent very positive review on Boing Boing undoubtedly helped as well). Whether he ever recouped this investment, I admire an author who is aggressive enough to put advertising money where his pen is.

And Geek Mafia deserves Dakan's vote of self-confidence. The novel reads like a fun Hollywood motion picture, filled with colorful characters, fast action and escalating double-crosses. Geek Mafia may also share some implausibilities with summer popcorn flicks -- how is it that beautiful women always fall so quickly and soundly for the nerdy nice guys in these stories -- but so what? The point here is simple enjoyment, and Geek Mafia delivers.

Geek Mafia is available as a free pdf download here. If you enjoy the book, consider buying the cheap $5 paperback here. Like any good cinema-style romp, a sequel is already well underway.

FreeBooks #3: An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil by Jim Munroe

2007-02-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

Kate's life is a bit unusual. Her roommate Lilith may (or may not) be an actual demoness. She certainly engages in bizarre rituals. Seeing an opportunity to break out of her rut, Kate talks Lilith into taking her act on the road as a performance art piece.

An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil by Jim Munroe is a slice-of-life novel in the form of a blog, following nine months of Kate's entries about her experiences with Lilith and on tour. Like many real bloggers who focus on their personal lives, Kate is likable if a bit too earnest, and her story convincingly captures a young person trying to find herself by adding some excitement to her life. Even so, Kate's story on its own could easily have become boring. However, the "is she or isn't she" questions floating around Lilith add just enough spice to hold the reader's interest without descending in silliness or fantasy. And in the end, Lilith's growth and self-discovery are the most compelling parts of the novel.

The entire text of An Opening Act . . . can be read in blog format for free at RoommateFromHell.com (the URL of Kate's blog in the novel). If you want a more convenient paperback, one can be purchased directly from Munroe or on Amazon. Munroe also has some great t-shirts available for sale (and has made the design available for free if you want to make your own).

Review: Rexroi by Steve Sommers

2007-02-21T23:19:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Poor Gary "Little Kid Guy" Gates. He's short, so no one in his frat respects him. His girlfriend is withholding her charms, forcing Gary to sneak around on the side. And Gary's fraternity brothers insist on humoring Alex, a local short-order cook who proclaims that he's the "King of the World" (and that Gary is his "General Monkey Dance"), even though anyone can plainly see that Alex is just a fat oaf.

Now things are getting even worse. Gary is experiencing blackouts and disturbing dreams, not to mention being blackmailed after an indiscreet fling with one of the nurse/stylists at the local blood bank/hair salon. Alex is becoming more and more popular at the frat. Soon Gary finds himself caught between mysterious forces in an epic battle to determine the fate of the world.

It can only end with exploding cows.

MY TAKE

There is no reason to assume that Steve Sommers was a self-important twerp in college. After all, this is fiction. From the other goings-on in the novel, I doubt that this is a reality-based roman à clef. But I have to give credit: Gary Gates is an all too believable obnoxious frat boy protagonist.

Happily, the results are consistently entertaining. Gary may be insufferable, but his egocentric narration perfectly complements the bizarre scenario. On the one hand, we never care much about Gary as a person. He often causes his own problems, and at times crosses the line from obnoxious to outright loathsome. But on the other, his tart recital lends the proper bitterness to a tale that otherwise would deflate under the weight of its own essential silliness. Indeed, reading Rexroi is a bit like watching an inebriated frat boy perform a monkey dance on a ledge: a bit uncomfortable for the audience, but also quite amusing if you're in the right mood, and, perhaps against your better judgment, impossible to turn away from.

AVAILABILITY

Rexroi is available through Lulu as a pdf download ($1.81) or a paperback ($11.95). Steve Sommers appears to have had a number of websites over the years, including here (a blog about Sommers' various Lulu books) and here (a site about Sommers' first novel, Breakfast with the Antichrist). However, I am unclear as to whether either of these (or some other site) is still active.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Los Angeles-based Channel 101 and its New York offshoot Channel 102 present monthly five minute DIY "television episodes" that are submitted by members of the general public and voted on by fans at monthly live screenings. Shows that score in the top five are given the honor of returning the following month; below that cutoff, the show is cancelled. All shows are archived on the respective websites and freely available for perpetual viewing pleasure.

One of my favorite Channel 102 series (on which its producers voluntarily pulled the plug) is Shutterbugs, a hilarious series about two self-important jackasses who run a talent agency for child stars. Check it out, along with the rest of the oft-outstanding lineup (Channel 101's Time Belt is particularly great).

FreeBooks #2: Memories of Home by Derek M. Koch

2007-02-14T11:37:00.000-05:00

In honor of Valentine's Day, I present Memories of Home by Derek M. Koch (available for free download on Lulu). After growing up together, Max and Lisa have only been dating for a few hours. Unfortunately, they're now trapped by a sinister (if ill-defined) force in the Jefferson Theatre, an old-time movie house where Max once accidentally killed a man. As if this first date weren't already bad enough, Max's previous girlfriend also shows up, apparently possessed by the same nebulous evil and out for blood.

I know it's unfair of me to criticize Memories of Home. The novel was written in only 30 days as part of National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo). Koch readily admits in his introduction that the novel needs further work, which is why he is giving it away for free.

And Koch is not being modest when he says that Memories of Home is still rough. He does a credible job of setting up an aura of dread and mystery. However, once Max's friend (under the influence of the aforementioned evil) pulls a gun to force Max and Lisa to accompany him to the Jefferson, the story starts spinning in hamster-wheel circles. Various characters sporadically get possessed by the something, and then come to their senses. A variety of menacing, if somewhat haphazard, nasties chase our heroes around. Everyone runs several laps around the Jefferson, but no one ever arrives anywhere. Then the evil and the novel both just stop (when, I suspect, the 30 day NaNoWriMo window ended). I don't require everything to be explained in a horror novel -- indeed, I often think a novel works better when substantial mystery remains -- but here, the menace is not so much mysterious as arbitrary.

What's amazing -- and at times frustrating -- is how clearly Koch's talent shines through despite these problems. Even when the novel starts treading water, it does it with panache. The writing remains polished and effective, and many individual scenes are truly unnerving. The novel may have significant structural problems, but I nonetheless enjoyed reading it for the power of the discrete moments.

Which, ultimately, prompted this FreeBooks entry. I want to encourage Koch to keep up his efforts. I want him know that someone (someone he doesn't even know) is reading is work, and that I truly look forward to his next book. Because even horror authors need love on Valentine's Day (although I'm sure Koch will understand -- and, indeed, be grateful -- if I leave the heavy lifting in this regard to his wife).

For more information on Koch, check out his website and blog.

FreeBooks #1: Saints Visible by Justin Gil

2007-02-07T20:29:00.000-05:00

Saints Visible by Justin Gil (available for free download on Lulu) is a charming, folksy tale about what happens when a fundamentalist preacher arrives in small, easy-going Brahmton and his influence begins to grow. The town librarian's narration is funny and relaxed, and even the rather abrupt, too-easy resolution is tonally consistent with the novel's laid-back charms. All in all, Saints Visible is a quick, satisfying read for a low-key evening.

Unfortunately, Gil appears neither to have his own website nor to have written anything else to date.

FreeBooks #0: An Introduction

2007-02-07T17:29:00.000-05:00

In order to make everyone's work week a little bit brighter, every Wednesday night I'm going to post a link to a free downloadable e-book. Because the proper way to celebrate the coming weekend isn't with a beer or a new episode of Beauty and the Geek (as much as I love that show), but with a new POD novel!

These are not going to be full-length reviews (not that my normal reviews even really rise to the level of "full-length"). Rather, where I've read the whole book, I'll post a short capsule review. Other times, I'll write about a book that looks intriguing after the first few chapters, but that I haven't yet had the chance to finish.

One thing I want to make perfectly clear: the fact that I write about a book on "FreeBook Wednesday" rather than in a standard review is not an implicit assertion that the book isn't up to par or that it in any way is not worthy of my (and your) time and attention. I most definitely do not mean to punish any book for having the decency to be free. The very first book I reviewed on this blog, Soren Narnia's outstanding Roll! They Cried, which I tremendously enjoyed, is available for free on Narnia's website. Rather, this is just another way of trying to get word of worthwhile books out there, to my vast readership.

By the same token, finding a meritorious free e-book every week is going to be a challenge. I encourage (i.e., beg) you to let me know about any interesting free finds you've stumbled across.

And now, on with the FreeBook show . . .

REVIEW: Fake Girls by Matthew Sloan

2007-02-05T22:41:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Molloy might pass as a real private investigator if he had a bit more class. But as things stand he's a scavenger. People who are desperate somehow find him. For a fee, he helps.

Nada Klone is the internet's hottest adult personality. And she's missing. Two powerful opposing factions have each commanded Molloy to find her, or else. Now Molloy is trapped in a nightmare, caught between these mysterious forces and his own equally murky passions in his quest for a woman who is as elusive as the internet itself.

MY TAKE

Fake Girls does many things well. It is wonderfully written: the sleaze that permeates Molloy's life oozes off the page, and Molloy is a likable narrator whose sardonic sense of humor enlivens the story without undercutting the situation's menace. The mystery, although more philosophic than literal, is compelling. And, unusually for so metaphysical a story, the ending is terrific, with a satisfying conclusion that neatly both encompasses and builds upon all that has gone before.

Fake Girls has many interesting points to make about the nature of reality and personality in the digital age. However, the most intriguing -- and touching -- part of the novel is its exploration of who and why we love (kind of like a grindhouse version of Enola's Wedding). Molloy has a genuinely tender relationship with a transsexual prostitute, and then a more lustful affair with a woman he meets during his investigation. A husband loves the wife who cheats on him constantly. A man searches for his online lover, with no prejudice about who that may turn out to be. In all of these instances, Fake Girls quietly but firmly imparts its message: love is where we find it, and we simply have to adapt.

AVAILABILITY

Fake Girls is presented by the Afterhuman Press and published through Lulu. Until recently, it was available for purchase as a paperback or a pdf ebook directly from Lulu; however, the Lulu link appears not to be working at the moment. Hopefully it will revive shortly; until then, the novel is available as a Lulu-printed paperback on Amazon ($15.96). Matthew Sloan appears not to have his own website.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Spray is a great synth duo who produce outrageously fun pop music. Not only do their songs consistently impel me to dance (and I am rather hard to get in motion), but, surprisingly for the genre, the lyrics are witty and just as worthwhile as the music. Spray has just released a splendid new album, Children of a Laser God. Among the highlights are several songs about the illusory and mysterious nature of relationships, including "He Came With The Frame," about the merits of treating the guy pictured in a new photo frame's marketing insert as your significant other; and "Pretend Girlfriend," about the advantages of paying someone to pretend to be your partner in front of your friends.

Children of a Laser God is available for download on eMusic, as is Spray's equally outstanding first album, Living in Neon. (If you can tolerate buying music encumbered with DRM, both albums are also available on iTunes). Living in Neon is also presently available as a physical CD from CDBaby; hopefully Children of a Laser God will soon be as well.

REVIEW: Bass Desires by DJ Lufkin

2007-01-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Jude Barnes is nearing forty. His music career has gone nowhere, his trust fund is almost depleted, and Rachel, his wife, thinks that it's time for him to get a "real" job.

But Jude has just met Nerfertiti. Nefertiti can sing. Her talent could even push Jude's little bar band into the big leagues. If Jude can convince her to stay with the band. And if Jude wants to stay himself.

MY TAKE

Jude Barnes is kind of a jerk. And that's what makes Bass Desires interesting.

DJ Lufkin is a proficient writer, and Bass Desires is an enjoyable read with a brisk narrative flow. The problem is that the reader can predict the entire plot from the back cover blurb. A beleaguered hero, searching for that one last chance to fulfill his dreams, will overcome both his materialistic wife and a soul-numbing white-collar career opportunity to find musical, spiritual and maybe even romantic fulfillment with a new muse. And so the novel goes. Indeed, Jude and Nefertiti's relationship, while well written, is the least involving part of the tale.

However, Lufkin has an uncommon and welcome perspective on Jude's relationship with Rachel. Jude is not a wholly sympathetic hero: he has cheated on his wife in the past, and seems a bit too willing to do it again. Nor is Rachel wholly unsympathetic: Lufkin displays some empathy, or at least understanding, for her desire to live a more comfortable life after struggling through years of Jude's pursuit of a music career (and other women).

Perhaps most interesting is Jude's response when Rachel forces him to attend a motivational seminar. The speaker advises that sometimes one has to place one's own dreams above all else, even if it means leaving other people behind. Jude is disdainful of this trite aphorism, recognizing that it justifies both Rachel's desire to move into middle-class respectability and his own desire to continue to pursue his musical goals. In other words, it solves absolutely nothing. But at the same time, Jude seems to understand that his desires are not better than Rachel's, just different. He has sympathy for Rachel even as he chooses to pursue his own wants and objectives and their relationship teeters on collapse, a tension that persists to the end of the novel.

Or rather, I think that tension exists. To be honest, the shadings are subtle. I wonder if I'm seeing things that aren't there. Despite what I've said, Lufkin still portrays Rachel as a bit too shrewish. And he stacks the deck against Jude's potential new career as an investment advisor by not only making his workplace stressful and boring but also outright corrupt, which makes Jude's choice to reject that lifestyle much less interesting. Moreover, Lufkin doesn't really explore the difficult question of whether, at some point as the years fly past, it becomes unreasonable to continue to devote all of one's time to pursuing an artistic dream.

To the extent I'm correct about Lufkin's intent, I appreciate his efforts at giving his characters depth and balance. But I wish he had gone a little bit further in that direction.

AVAILABILITY

Bass Desires is available in paperback for $14.95 from iUniverse or Amazon, or as an Adobe eBook (a restricted-use format that I adamantly oppose) for $6.00. DJ Lufkin has both a dedicated website and a MySpace page for the novel; however, neither provides any substantive content beyond advertising the book's existence.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Dreams don't always come true. Genuinely talented artists give up every day without achieving any recognition or success in their chosen field. I mourn the passing of Cubic Feet, a splendid powerpop band that never garnered much attention and, as far as I can tell, called it quits by 2002. Although the band is no more, all four of their albums remain available on CDBaby, including the exemplary Passenger in Time. Should CDBaby ever sell out its stock, three of the four albums (including Passenger in Time) are also available at iTunes, albeit encrusted with iTunes DRM (which, as I've mentioned before, drives me crazy). Unfortunately, Cubic Feet's albums are not available for download at either of the non-DRM legal download sites I frequent (eMusic and MP3tunes).

REVIEW: Continuity Slip by Till Noever

2007-01-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Ray Shannon is an ordinary guy, driving home on an ordinary day.

But then Ray saves a stranger named Alyssa Weaver from certain death, pulling her from her burning car in the midst of a massive freeway pile-up.

Now Ray's entire world has changed. Literally.

The highway on-ramp that used to have one lane now has two. Ray's colleagues at work have been replaced by new faces. Ray's wife suddenly hates him.

Even worse, the cops suspect Ray of murder.

And worst of all, the evidence points to one conclusion: they're right.

Now Ray and Alyssa need to work together to figure out what's going on, before everything they know slips away forever.

MY TAKE

Continuity Slip reads like an archetypal summer Hollywood movie. The writing is clean and polished. The narrative pushes forward relentlessly. Parallel universes are always fun, and the philosophical conceit at the heart of the novel -- the way little changes in experience might cumulatively impact a person's entire nature -- is intriguing. Ray and Alyssa are a likable couple, and their romance is not only part of the plot, but cleverly explains the plot (and yes, I know that sounds rather cryptic).

However, also like many big-studio films, Continuity Slip feels a little shallow. Although the novel raises interesting concepts, it never explores them. All of the recondite discussion about alternate realities ends up serving only as background color for a standard murder mystery that could just as well have happened in this reality. The two plot threads never significantly mesh. Indeed, once the mystery is resolved, the shifting realities thread is wrapped-up very quickly, almost as an afterthought.

I look forward to reading more works by Till Noever. He plainly is very talented, and Continuity Slip is nothing if not professionally written. The strength of Noever's style and the affability of his characters easily carried me through the novel. I only wish that the journey had lived up to its full potential.

AVAILABILITY

Continuity Slip is available as a pdf download from Lulu ($1.45) or in paperback from either Lulu ($9.99) or Amazon ($13.00). Till Noever also has a website which provides details on his other novels (and which, annoyingly, auto-shrinks my browser window).

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Clubbo Records' website claims that "[f]or more than 40 years Clubbo Records has epitomized the maverick spirit of the old-school independent record labels." It speaks proudly of the label's history of issuing "bold, if sometimes ill-advised music," and includes detailed biographies of some of Clubbo's biggest hitmakers over the years.

However, Clubbo Records does not really exist. The website is a big, elaborate joke. So elaborate that the site includes dozens of song pastiches representing Clubbo's hits over the decades. These songs perfectly capture the sound and feel of their (supposed) eras. More than that, they're really good pop songs as well. There are many highlights, including the brilliant progression of one song ("Yeah Yeah No No No") from mournful 60s ballad through 70s folk-rock remake and 80s dance hit to cat food jingle. (Indeed, Clubbo's songs are not only available for streaming on the website, but are deservedly available for purchase in two compilation volumes available on iTunes, CDBaby, and eMusic).

Personally, I get nostalgic over Clubbo's early 80s band Bleep. Bleep may be best known for "Rubber Lover" (their paean to inflatable sex toys). But who could forget (if it had ever existed) Bleep's thought-provoking masterpiece "Space Doors," with its profound ruminations upon the manifold nature of reality ("There are doors in space / leading somewhere else / where you're face to face / with your other self")?

REVIEW: Every Sigh, The End by Jason S. Hornsby

2007-01-03T20:22:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Ross Orringer is bored with it all: his job, his friends, his family.

But if his life is so pointless, why are cameramen recording his every move?

Then the zombies show up. And the world turns out to be much more complicated than Ross ever suspected.

MY TAKE

I enjoy encountering the profound: that rush of thought, that churning of the imagination and gut, that feeling, if only for an instant, of connecting with something grander than oneself. There is no single type of narrative that can move me in this way. A poignant moment in the simplest of narratives can reveal great truths.

At the same time, even stories that I don't fully understand can give me this rush. I have my limits: I lose interest if a novel is too abstract, abstruse or surreal. But a little mystery and uncertainty can be exceedingly powerful. Perhaps I'm just fooling myself in these instances; perhaps the author has only dazzled me with style, and there is no substance hidden underneath. But such concerns are largely irrelevant. Awe, like fear and mirth, is an emotion. It is real if I feel it to be real. Perhaps I am shallow, but sometimes I don't care whether I've actually learned anything, so long as an author makes me feel like he is saying something important. That feeling can itself be a worthwhile experience.

With that understanding, Jason Hornsby's Every Sigh, The End may be the best zombie novel I have read. And no, I don't mean to damn with faint praise. So let me rephrase that: Every Sigh is a fine novel, period.

To be sure, Every Sigh is well-written. The atmosphere is tense. The characters are real. Ross Orringer may be an annoyingly passive and obnoxious protagonist at the start of the novel, but we come to understand him as he faces situations way beyond his (and our) experience. The build-up to the zombies -- just one element of a much broader horror -- is slow, but compelling. When the zombies actually appear, they have context, and that makes them all the scarier.

However, what makes Every Sigh stand out is the impression of significance. It feels like a grand truth is peeking through the enigmatic and conspiratorial fog that suffuses the novel. It all seems to mean something.

Now, to be honest, I'm not really sure what that "something" is. Every Sigh's secrets are never fully revealed. Where I see glimmers of profundity, others, perhaps rightly, may see empty posturing. But I think Hornsby handles his enigmatic narrative just right. The story feels epic. The ending feels satisfying. And I like that the mysteries underlying the novel are never fully explained. Too much exposition can transform the mysterious and compelling into the mundane and silly. Hornsby answers enough questions to sate the reader. But he knows when to step back and let the reader's imagination finish the job.

AVAILABILITY

Every Sigh, The End is available through iUniverse and Amazon. Jason Hornsby presently does not have a personal website, although I suspect that, as often is the case with POD zombie novels, Every Sigh's audience will find it regardless.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Greg Stones paints watercolors. Some of his paintings depict surreal juxtapositions of fanciful characters; others are more contemplative. While I like them all, I have a particular soft spot for Stones' zombie paintings. I proudly display this fine piece in my home:

And best of all, the print only cost $20. I encourage you to check out Stones' website for yourself; in addition to this print, there are several other worthwhile zombie (and non-zombie) paintings and prints available for purchase.

An open letter to any POD author who for some strange reason is not writing about zombies

2006-12-27T01:45:00.000-05:00

Pardon by bluntness, but I have to ask. As a struggling POD author, why waste your time writing about love? Why explore worldly cultures or mystical long-ago lands? Why bore us with your character's internal journey of self-exploration?

Why write about anything other than zombies?

A POD author's greatest challenge is attracting readers. Even books from major New York publishing houses struggle for attention. What can you offer that stands out from the POD horde?

Mouldering ambulant corpses, that's what. Because the public loves zombies. More importantly, the public searches them out.

Look up your favorite non-living-dead POD book on Amazon. Chances are that no one has posted a review. Maybe two or three at most.

Now look up the Amazon pages for some POD zombie novels. As of this writing, David Moody's Autumn (a fine novel which I have read) has received twenty-three reviews. Seventy-two people have reviewed Mark Rogers' The Dead (which I have not read but which looks intriguing). Even a widely-reviled POD zombie novel like Aftermath of the Dead (which I also have not read), with its one-and-a-half star rating, enticed nineteen people to read and review it.

For POD titles, those figures represent an extraordinary level of interest.

Need more proof? Soren Narnia is a terrific writer who has published fifteen POD books in a variety of genres, including literary romances, comedy, and horror (I reviewed his slapstick buddy novel Roll! They Cried here.) Fourteen of those books have nothing to do with zombies. Of those fourteen, nine have zero reviews on Amazon; three have one review each (including my review for Roll! They Cried); one book has two reviews; and the last has three reviews. However, Narnia's remaining book, the splendid zombie novel Song of the Living Dead, has eight reviews -- a 266% increase over Narnia's next-most-reviewed work. Math like that doesn't lie.

The lesson is clear. Writhing, squishy zombie bits pave the road to POD glory. (And big-publishing glory as well -- several prominent literary critics have named Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel The Road, published by Knopf, as one of the best books of 2006. And it (essentially) includes zombies!)

I think there is a simple explanation for the popularity of the POD zombie novel. For fans of the zombie genre, pertinent POD novels are easy to find. Go to iUniverse, or Lulu, or Amazon, and search for "zombie." It's like a gunshot to the head: quick, easy, effective.

By contrast, if you're in the mood for a quirky POD comic novel with great character development and a madcap denouement . . . well, good luck finding it. Unless you think trolling through piles of POD PDFs and online previews is fun (like I do), you pretty much have to rely on the handful of POD review sites (like this one, and those at right) for guidance. Big, shambling things such as animated corpses are easy to find through a keyword search. Elusive concepts like humor and emotion are not.

In sum, absent a marketing budget (which most POD books do not have), a POD novel needs a way of letting the world know it exists.

Zombies really stand out in a crowd.

Plus -- and let's not forget this -- they're just really, really cool.

REVIEW: Enola's Wedding by Jack Mauro

2006-12-23T10:25:00.000-05:00

PLOT

An unprovoked bee sting hobbles Enola Tyrwhitt. Drew Morrigan, ever the gallant knight (and, in this instance, the noble steed as well) comes to her rescue, sweeping Enola off her feet and carrying her to safety.

After so romantic a first encounter, what choice do Enola and Drew have but to wed?

In ways both profound and minute, Enola and Drew's engagement reverberates far beyond the happy couple. As does Enola's slow realization that, just maybe, she and Drew are not quite soul-mates after all.

MY TAKE

Enola’s Wedding tells several love stories. It tells of love amongst friends, family, and lovers; of love that is returned and that is unrequited; that redeems and that demeans; that persists and that withers.

Contrary to the common edict, Mauro often tells rather than shows. He does simply recount his characters' actions and thoughts. Rather, he comments and philosophizes, observes and contradicts, editorializes and explores. Mauro’s narration dominates the tale.

This approach has its risks. Such an idiosyncratic style can easily descend into irritating self-parody if not handled with consummate skill. Indeed, Mauro’s characters initially wilt into an undifferentiated mass in the shadow of his overwhelming personality.

However, Mauro proves more than equal to the challenge. His writing is, quite simply, glorious. His voice is insightful, funny, and captivating. He swoops in and out of characters’ thoughts, histories and feelings, and then darts into illuminating analogies, reflections and homilies. The reader may constantly be aware of Mauro as narrator. But Mauro understands his characters too well, and talks about them too vividly, for them not to develop as full and sympathetic individuals.

Nor does Mauro's inventiveness hide his fundamental compassion for his characters. This empathy does more than soften Mauro’s often arch tone. It elevates Enola’s Wedding from being a mere stylistic showpiece into being a truly moving, wonderful meditation on the manifold nature of love.

AVAILABILITY

Enola's Wedding is available through iUniverse and Amazon, as is Jack Mauro's stylistically similar, and equally wonderful, Spite Hall. Mauro’s decision to publish through iUniverse is fortuitous; as I discussed here, iUniverse allows customers to preview the books it publishes, so you can check out Mauro’s writing before laying down your money to confirm whether you find it as enthralling as I do.

Additional information about Mauro is available on his homepage, although as of this writing its current focus is Mauro's upcoming guide to online dating (due to be published by Simon & Schuster in 2007). I wish Mauro the best of luck with this book, but must admit I hope he returns to fiction one day.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

David W. Jacobsen is a singer-songwriter with a distinctive voice, both in terms of his vocals and his compositions. Jacobsen’s quirky edge sets him apart even when addressing well-worn matters of romance and loss. His virtues come to the fore on The Chasm.

As Jacobsen notes on his website, The Chasm is “about the gap between people who are trying to connect.” While a bit overlong, the album is a fine tribute to the humor and pain of love. Among several highlights, “Jacqueline” beautifully elegizes a relationship that cowardice killed before it could even begin; “Dry Spell” is a humorous folk mock-anthem about Jacobsen's solidarity as “one of many not getting any” (sex, that is); and album-opener “10,000 feet” rages, in a polite folk-rock way, about a woman trying so hard to be special that she isolates herself from the man who is trying to treasure her.

The Chasm, as well as other Jacobsen albums, is available for purchase on CD from CDBaby, or as MP3 downloads from eMusic, or, if you don't mind being subject to Apple's DRM restrictions (which I personally find abhorrent), from iTunes. Just like iUniverse, all of these sites offer previews, so you can sample Jacobsen's voice before you buy.

REVIEW: Skinny by Dana Donovan

2006-12-16T19:49:00.000-05:00

PLOT

John Beckman has humiliated himself. A fishing buddy nearly drowned during a camping trip because John was too scared to take action, or even to call for help. Only the fortuitous intervention of a third friend averts tragedy. Ashamed of his cowardice, John leaves the campsite in the dead of night to head for home.

Unfortunately, John takes a wrong turn. He ends up in the backwoods town of Plenty, where food is in abundance, the Festival of Feasts is rapidly approaching – and the porcine local population don’t take kindly to outsiders who are skinny.

MY TAKE

There is much to like about Skinny. Dana Donovan’s writing is brisk and assured, and he instills the entire novel with an unnerving sense of otherness. John is a sympathetic and smart narrator. The people of Plenty, though somewhat bumbling, are truly menacing. And the action scenes, as John tries desperately to escape from Plenty, are clearly rendered and nerve-racking.

Unfortunately, all of that excellence services a plot that is a bit too lean. Once John arrives in Plenty, he is jailed and forced to eat. He escapes. He is recaptured. He is forced to eat again, with some torture thrown in. Then he escapes again. Then he is recaptured again. And so on. And on.

Each of these iterations, standing on its own, is well written. However, although the specific events differ in each cycle, the narrative as a whole never seems to advance. Nothing ever really changes.

An inescapable nightmare can be terrifying in short fiction. A novel, however, needs more. In order to stave off boredom, a novel needs a complete story. Unfortunately, Skinny doesn't quite have one.

AVAILABILITY

Skinny is available from Lulu (as are other Donovan titles), both in paperback and download form. The download, at $1.25 at the time of this writing, was well worth the cost even with my reservations. Dana Donovan also maintains a website here.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Existo chronicles the adventures of a left-wing musical performance artist in a near-future right-wing America. The film has a great premise, great production values, a great soundtrack, and a great failing: it goes absolutely nowhere. We follow the characters through a roughly related series of events, but there is no real beginning, end, or forward momentum. The film just happens to start and stop.

However, the filmmakers behind Existo obviously have tremendous talent. If you are not as hung-up on plot as I am, you may want to check out the Existo website, which has video clips and extensive supplemental material. But for me, there was simply too little story to hold my interest.

The Eternal Question for the POD Reviewer

2006-12-16T10:54:00.000-05:00

All POD reviewers face a fundamental question. Do I post negative reviews of books that I didn't like, thereby potentially reinforcing the (frequently accurate) stereotype that all POD authors are, to be blunt, unskilled? Or is it better to try to elevate perception of the medium by focusing solely on works that I can wholeheartedly recommend? There plainly is not a "right" answer to this question, and the POD websites I've seen run the spectrum of review philosophies.

I follow a "does it deserve to be taken seriously" approach. That is, I am not limiting myself to wholly positive reviews, or even to works that I can recommend at all. Rather, I will review a POD book if I feel, in my sole and unscientific discretion, that the writing is at such a level that the book deserves to be taken seriously as a work of art. This obviously is a wholly subjective question. But that, of course, is almost the definition of the reviewing game.

Thus, the question of whether I ultimately agree with all of an author's choices, or enjoy his or her style, plainly will impact the substance of a review. However, so long as I feel that I can treat the author with respect, and a book appeals to me enough that I feel I have something worthwhile to say, I'll review it. To use a very non-POD example, I personally can't stand James Joyce's writing. But even I, begrudgingly, will acknowledge that he had, maybe, a little bit of talent. So I would review A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

But that doesn't mean I'd have to like it.

REVIEW: Other People's Heroes by Blake Petit

2006-12-13T18:01:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Josh Corwood reports on Siegel City's resident superheroes for Powerlines magazine. From epic battles to the latest superhuman couture, Josh covers it all.

Then Josh discovers that he too has superpowers. Even more surprising, Siegel City's heroes and villains are not in fact adversaries in an eternal fight between good and evil. Rather, they are all players in a grand and not-so-sinister charade, designed to amuse the public and turn a quick merchandising buck. No one gets hurt, and everybody wins.

Until things start going wrong. Superhumans are becoming violent for real. It's up to Josh to figure out what's going on, save his beloved from her nefarious boyfriend, and uncover what really happened to Lionheart, the greatest hero of all.

MY TAKE

If Other People's Heroes were a Hollywood superhero film, it would be Sam Raimi's Spiderman. In both stories, an average guy gets extraordinary powers, and then has to confront an even more extraordinary threat. Although these characrers are superhuman, both heroes (and their respective allies and adversaries) breathe as real people, not cartoons. In addition to plentiful humor (with a tinge of pathos for color), both stories feature numerous well-realized action set-pieces, and both climax with an extended, bang-up brawl that is truly exciting (as opposed to just loud). Finally, both tell self-contained stories, but leave dangling threads for potential sequels (a promise that in each case was quickly fulfilled).

There have been many other superhero movies, but none are quite as close in spirit. Heroes is frequently funny, but is not slapstick like Batman (1966). Heroes also has a few dark moments, but is free of the pervasive gloom of, well, Batman (1989). Heroes doesn't take itself as seriously as X-Men (or 2, or 3) (2000; 2003; 2006), but doesn't try as hard (and fail so miserably) at being hip and funny as Mystery Men (1999). Unlike Superman Returns (2006), Heroes' protagonist is not a flat and emotionless bore, and, unlike The Punisher (2004), Josh also is not a psychopathic lunatic. And Fantastic Four (2005) just stank.

Other People's Heroes does not quite scale the heights of The Incredibles' (2004) astounding blend of humor, action, emotion, and philosophy. But Blake Petit has produced a novel that is extremely accomplished. And in the world of superheroes, Spiderman is mighty fine company to keep.

AVAILABILITY

Other People's Heroes is available through PublishAmerica or at Amazon. You can read more from Blake Petit, as well as links to his prolific reviews and columns, at his LiveJournal blog Evertime Realms. Petit used to offer an online sequel, 14 Days of Asphalt, which was also well worth reading (even though Petit maintained that it was only a draft). Unfortunately, 14 Days is no longer available.

However, Petit's very amusing NaNoWriMo novella from 2005, A Long November, is still available online (parts one, two, three). A Long November tells the story of a genuinely good man who just can't relate to Christmas, and the Christmas spirit assigned to do whatever it takes to bring him around. Following NaNoWriMo rules, A Long November was written in only thirty days. As a result, it's not quite as developed as Other People's Heroes (or 14 Days of Asphalt). Nonetheless, A Long November is an outstanding accomplishment and a lot of fun, and I heartily recommend it for this holiday season.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

Connor Mackenzie could be Josh Corwood's West Coast cousin. By day, he is a mild-mannered mid-level marketing executive. By night, he is the Velvet Marauder, an up-and-coming superhero with mid-range super strength, increased resistance to harm, and a mild envy of his more well-regarded brethren. Connor also keeps a blog. Like many bloggers, Connor recounts the daily highs, lows, and day-to-day minutia of his life. Unlike most bloggers, that life includes fights with robots and carnivorous plants, romance with a mystical hottie, and ordering super-supplies while watching sports on the TV in his secret lair (hidden within his suburban home).

The Velvet Marauder is a creation of David Campbell, who also runs Dave's Longbox, a comics review site. Campbell updated the Velvet Marauder regularly for nearly a year. Although the full run is still available online, Dave stopped posting new entries in mid-2005. That was a tremendous loss. The blog perfectly blends the Velvet Marauder's superheroics with the quieter moments in Connor's life. Although the adventures recounted in the blog are largely episodic, Campbell also included an overarching conspiracy plot which developed nicely over the life of the blog and which received at least some closure before Campbell pulled the plug. As a result, the entire run can be read together as a nifty little novella. I continue to hope that one day Campbell will again take up the Velvet Marauder's adventures, either on the blog or in novel form.

If I Had A Million Dollars (I Would Not Invest In A POD Empire)

2006-12-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

My Fantasy

I sometimes wonder what I would do if I had a million dollars. Actually, a million dollars isn't that much these days; let's say a hundred million.

I sometimes think that if I had a hundred million dollars, I would start my own media company. I would buy the rights to my favorite POD books, music, and movies (paying the artists fairly, of course; my media conglomerate is not evil). I would give these works the full-scale distribution that my favorite artists plainly so richly deserve. My taste, of course, is impeccable: just cutting edge enough to be exciting, but still accessible to the masses. As a result, money would come rolling in. The CEOs and bean-counters at those other media companies would tremble in envy, splittle delicately frothing from their lips and splatting on their expensive baby-cow leather shoes. And I, like a wise and loving father (but without even a hint of superiority, because I'm not one to gloat) would patiently explain that they, too, could have such success, if only they stopped releasing the same boring formulaic novels, top-40 pablum, and mindless action movies, and started releasing good stuff (you know, the stuff I like).

Then, aliens from Nemo Loquitus IV would fly down from the skies and give me the power to shoot diamonds out my butt (without the chafing that would probably normally result).

My Problem

That last bit is actually the most realistic part of my fantasy.

There are some in the world of POD (as I use that term) who revel in obscurity. (MC Frontalot deflates this pompous mindset in his hilarious nerdcore hip-hop song "Indier Than Thou.") However, I suspect that most POD creators and fans want the works they create or admire to be popular. That's perfectly natural. We all want to be loved for what we do, or at least for what we buy.

However, many people believe that their POD art (or favorite works of POD art) in fact would be enormously popular if given half a chance by The Establishment. That's a load of butt-diamonds.

I certainly don't deny that corporate backing and media exposure frequently accompany, and can significantly contribute to, mass popularity, or that some successes are largely manufactured. However, backing and exposure do not guarantee success. Otherwise, every major label book, film and album would be raking in the cash, and that simply is not true. Moreover, outsider artistic visions frequently scale the heights (or at least the middles) of popularity without big-money backing, particularly in the age of the Internet.

A popular work of art is popular because it appeals to a lot of people. I realize that this statement is both simplistic and naive. But I believe it also contains a grain of bitter truth. On some fundamental level, people like what they like. And while I like them very much, I don't know that a lot of other people are looking for a novel about a misanthrope bonding with the ghost of a long-dead warrior, or a no-production-value serial-killer parody that includes a sock-stealing monster (down at the bottom of the page) , or jazzy compositions about subjects like abject poverty (ditto).

My Rant (an aside)

However, I do believe that people are entitled to like what they like, without shame or apology. It annoys me when a band expresses frustration that its polyrhythmic "new sound" is not as commercially successful as the old. It irritates me every time a literary author bemoans the state of reading in this country because people choose to purchase chick-lit novels over his or her masterpiece. And critics who complain that people are getting the films (or television or whatever) that they deserve because they refuse to support the critics' own preferences absolutely infuriate me.

I am appalled by these people's lack of respect for others. Taste is a personal matter. To be sure, the works that dominate pop culture often are not to my tastes (although often I do enjoy them). But that fact is irrelevant. I do not expect anyone to apologize to me for having different or less esoteric tastes than I do, just as I have no intention of apologizing to those whose tastes are even more outre or otherwise different than mine. It is the height of condescension for anyone to say "This is a legitimate piece of art, and therefore you are wrong to like something else." We all work hard ay our jobs, and face daily strains and pressures. We are all entitled to seek pleasure and spend our entertainment dollars as we see fit. No one has the right to decide what should entertain, enlighten, or move another human being. And certainly no one has the right to make others feel guilty about their choices.

My Acceptance Of Reality

Because taste is a personal matter, I acknowledge that my fantasy media empire is doomed to failure. I like what I like, and I'm realist enough to admit that what I like probably is not going to attract legions of other fans.

I would be delighted to be proven wrong as to even one of the works reviewed in this blog. Maybe one day I will be. But I doubt that I'll be proven wrong as to all, or even most, of them.

So my dream business would not be a good investment. Even the big media companies, which specifically try to release only the most commercial works, do not have continuous success. My enterprise, which would release products based on my idiosyncratic tastes, certainly would fare no better (and, in fact, certainly would do much worse).

This is not a total defeat. I take heart in the hope that the media conglomerate business model may be dying. Through the Internet, people can find what they like, on their own, without big business -- or me -- aggregating and distributing the product for them. My prospective media empire may be going down in flames, but the big media companies are going down with it. And that's a good thing.

REVIEW: Sway by Mike Preston

2006-12-07T15:11:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Stan Johnson has never connected with another human being. And that’s fine with him. Stan just wants to be left alone. He buys a small house in the middle of nowhere to pursue this dream.

But Stan’s new home comes with a companion: the spirit of a primitive (and not very bright) warrior. The ghost (who Stan calls Tonto) likes loud noises. He likes watching bad television. He likes starting fights.

In short, Stan and Tonto have nothing in common. But Tonto won’t go away.

Now on death row, Stan recounts the story of their relationship – and its murderous consequences.

MY TAKE

Sway is a twisted update of the old “Little Miss Marker” (or “Punky Brewster”) story. Traditionally, an adorable child redeems a grumpy recluse through the gift of love. Here, the "adorable child" role is filled by a slovenly, loud, and violent (not to mention hirsute) ghost. And rather than an appreciation for life, the characters’ relationship leads to serial murder and animal mutilation.

Surprisingly, the story remains as heartwarming as ever.

Sway is a comedy, which is fortunate. A novel about an unemotional recluse, a petulant ghost, and the murder of the people who come between them, shouldn’t take itself too seriously. Mike Preston, a stand-up comedian, succeeds in pulling a lot of laughs out of the escalating disasters that result from Tonto’s invasion of Stan’s world.

However, Sway is also a love story. Actually, it is two love stories, one platonic and one romantic. First there is the relationship between Stan and Tonto. As improbable as it may sound, the story of how these two lonely souls, who cannot even communicate with each other, learn to value companionship over continued isolation, is genuinely moving. Second, there is the story of Stan’s burgeoning affair with the checkout woman at his supermarket. Sway is funny, to be sure. But the novel is most memorable for these relationships, and for Stan’s growing realization that he does not want to remain isolated.

WRITING

Sway’s tone is somewhat inconsistent. For the most part, Preston’s humor blends well with the story of Stan’s two relationships. However, the slapstick (or attempted satire) of the novel’s framing device, in which Stan is hustled by his incompetent death row attorney, is jarring. (As an aside, I realize this is a nitpick, but no one in the United States goes from trial to actual execution within a matter of weeks.) Moreover, although the murder victims are generally unsympathetic, the deaths, though essential to the plot, still stick out a bit awkwardly. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Preston’s relaxed and conversational style, and do not hesitate to recommend the novel as a whole.

AVAILABILITY

Sway is available from iUniverse (and Amazon). As far as I can tell, Mike Preston does not have his own website, although a small amount of information about him is available here.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

“Miserable Girl” by I Hate This Place is a bouncy synthpop ode to two miserable, misanthropic people coming together to form a somewhat less miserable union. The song never fails to cheer me up. It is available on iTunes on the One More Minute album (which can also be bought in its entirety on CDBaby).

REVIEW: When Graveyards Yawn by G. Wells Taylor

2006-12-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

PLOT

The rain is constant. People have stopped aging. The dead have returned from the grave to resume their former lives.

And there are no more pregnancies. No births. No babies.

It can be depressing. But life goes on – and on, and on – after the Change.

Wildclown is a private investigator. His clown makeup hides more than his face. It masks the two souls that share his single body. Still, Wildclown gets by.

Then a murdered lawyer hires Wildclown to find his killer. The job is straightforward.

Until Wildclown hears a baby crying in the distance . . .

MY TAKE

G. Wells Taylor is Virgil to my Dante. Yeltsin to my U.S.S.R. Angel to my Faith (Buffy, not Bible). Taylor led me through the darkness to a gleaming truth. He taught me that POD novels could be just as good as any contemporary fiction.

I do not recall how I stumbled across When Graveyards Yawn, or what possessed me to purchase it. However, I do know that until Graveyards, I believed that all POD books were garbage. Why else hadn’t a real publisher snatched them up?

By reading Graveyards, I discovered that a great novel is a great novel, no matter the route by which it becomes available. Sometimes books just fall through the cracks of the commercial publishing industry. Or maybe Taylor had reasons for not even submitting it. Whatever the reason for its POD status, I loved Graveyards, and it cured me of my anti-POD snobbery. (Unfortunately, like many self-appointed boosters for alternative media, I have contracted an equally stupid anti-big-publisher bias. But that is the subject for another post.)

Inspiration is a personal matter. Graveyards probably won’t have the same impact on you as it did on me. Nonetheless, there is much here to enjoy for anyone who appreciates hard-boiled mysteries (especially ones infused with apocalyptic overtones). There is real tension and menace to the world of the Change. The violence is abrupt, brutal, and convincing. The mystery of the murdered lawyer and the baby's cry, although essentially a MacGuffin, is well-handled to the very end. And Graveyard's other mystery, about Wildclown's past and the two minds that inhabit his body, gives the novel the emotional heft of a true noir classic.

WRITING

One of the things I appreciate about Graveyards is its subtlety. That may be a strange comment to make about a novel that includes harrowing torture. But Wells treats his audience with respect. He does not spell everything out. He does not engage in random bursts of didactic exposition. Taylor wraps up the central murder mystery, but does not resolve all of the mysterious goings-on. Rather, he leaves the reader satisfied, but still searching. As a good writer should.

AVAILABILITY

When Graveyards Yawn is available from PublishAmerica (or Amazon). Taylor has also published Wildclown Hard-Boiled, a collection of Wildclown short stories and a novella, through PublishAmerica. These stories are welcome, but on his website Taylor has been promising a real sequel for years. (Actually, the website describes two separate lines of forthcoming sequels: once focused on Wildclown himself, and one on the world of the Change). I’ve been waiting a very long time. But hope springs eternal . . .

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

The movie Hey! Stop Stabbing Me tells the story of Herman Schumacher, recent college graduate, as he tries to cope with life, a serial-killer roommate, and a monster that steals his socks. It is unlike When Graveyards Yawn in almost every way. Where Graveyards is essentially serious, Stabbing is a slapstick “kitchen-sink” comedy. Where Graveyards is polished and professional, Stabbing is amateurish and juvenile. Where I would wager that Graveyards took months (or longer) to create, Stabbing probably took a few weekends (or less).

However, just as Graveyards inspired me to explore POD novels, Stabbing taught me that microcinema films can be extraordinarily entertaining. The two together changed my life. They are jointly responsible for the untold hours and dollars I have spent searching POD and microcinema websites for my next POD art fix. Thanks, guys!

I make no promises that you will enjoy Stabbing as much as I did. But I found it hilarious, and if you’re after a good-natured, silly little serial-killer comedy and are willing to overlook the nonexistent production values, you may like it too.

An Open Letter To People Who Debate Endlessly About Whether PublishAmerica Is A POD Publisher

2006-12-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

Dear People Who Debate Endlessly About Whether PublishAmerica is a POD Publisher,

Hi. The weather is beautiful here in New England today. Sunny and fairly warm. I hope the storms of this past week in other parts of the country haven't caused you too much trouble.

Anyway, I'm writing to let you know that I'm going to be reviewing a PublishAmerica book tomorrow. It's actually one of my very favorite books, and my review is going to be so relentlessly positive that you're going to assume that the author is paying me. (He's not. I wish he were. He's more than welcome to. But, sadly, he's not.)

However, I know that there is an endless, raging debate about whether PublishAmerica is a legitimate publisher, a POD publisher, or a particularly sleazy POD publisher. I don't want to get involved in that debate. Although my review is going to be so favorable that you may assume the author is my secret lover (which he's not - you've always had a dirty mind!), some people are going to be offended that, by reviewing this book, I've implicitly labeled PublishAmerica a POD publisher. Others will agree with the POD characterization, but object that, by giving a PublishAmerica novel a positive review, I'm just validating them. Most people, of course, really won't care one way or the other.

My point is that I don't want nasty e-mails either way. Please just accept that I consider PublishAmerica to meet my definition of a POD publisher. Please just accept that I like this particular book, and want to promote it. Please just leave me out of it.

Best,

Devon

P.S.: OK, if you want my real opinion, I think this says it all.

Why I Like -- And Hate -- Shopping At iUniverse

2006-11-29T19:07:00.000-05:00

iUniverse POD books are particularly well-represented on my bookshelf. It’s not that iUniverse authors are uniquely talented. Every POD publisher has a few great books, and a whole lot of dross. It's certainly not that iUniverse produces an especially beautiful physical product. iUniverse's cover art is as unforntunate as any POD publisher's.

Rather, I like iUniverse because it allows me to read several pages of the books I'm interested in before I purchase them. Other POD websites offer less extensive preview functionality. For example, Lulu (which I also really like, and which will be the subject of a future post) recently began providing pages from most (but not all) of its newer offerings. AuthorHouse sometimes provides a few random paragraphs. But iUniverse lets you check out the first several pages of all of its books.

This obviously does not advantage every iUniverse author. I've often passed on a book that initially looked intriguing after I've read the first few pages (or sentences). However, the fact that iUniverse gives me the opportunity to make this assessment is what makes me willing to buy its books at all. If I bought every POD book that caught my eye without further investigation, I'd be broke (and my house would be filled with awful fiction).

However, as much as I appreciate iUniverse's preview policy, its absurd e-book policy drives me crazy. Because POD paperbacks are expensive, I only buy a novel if I am very confident that I will enjoy it. However, I would be happy to take chances on more novels, ones that I am not quite as certain about, if I could purchase them in the cheaper e-book format.

In this regard, ordinary pdf e-books are convenient: they can be printed, read by a variety of software on a variety of systems, and freely transferred between all of my computers and handheld devices. Indeed, several POD publishers (like Lulu) distribute their e-books in basic pdf format.

Unfortunately, all of iUniverse's e-books are sold in Adobe Ebook format. Adobe Ebooks cannot be printed, which is a huge inconvenience for me. Moreover, Adobe EBooks can only be read using Adobe's own proprietary Reader software. The Adobe Reader must be installed and registered on every computer or device on which you want to read your Ebooks. If Adobe doesn't make a reader for your device, you're out of luck. If you buy an Adobe Ebook but then change your system someday so that the Adobe Reader no longer works or is not available, your investment is gone. You can never read your EBook again.

This is unacceptable. Why shouldn't I be able to print my e-books to read in the bathtub? Why shouldn't I be able to read my e-books on any program I want, and on any computer I want, without registering my every move with Adobe? Why should I have to worry about someday losing access to my EBooks altogether? Is iUniverse really that afraid of POD e-book piracy? I'm as big a POD novel booster as there is, and I truly believe that some POD novels are as good as any contemporary popular fiction. But let's be honest: the demand for these books in the black-market underground just isn't that great. All that iUniverse has succeeded in doing is alienating me and reducing its own sales.

REVIEW: Roll! They Cried by Soren Narnia

2006-11-26T18:37:00.000-05:00

PLOT

Years ago, pro baseball player Ben “The Blemish” Glinton disgraced himself through a particularly boneheaded performance during game seven of the World Series. Broke and humiliated, Ben now seeks to recapture fame and fortune by staging -- and winning -- a national tabletop "baseball" simulation championship. Accompanied by his biographer (who is seeking an explanation for Ben's foul-ups all those years ago) and the members of his tabletop baseball club (including a three-time Pulitzer-prize winning novelist and a twelve year old genius), Ben sets off on his cross-country quest, with glory, redemption, and $19,450 of his own money on the line.

MY TAKE

This is a very funny book. A slapstick buddy film in novel form, Roll! They Cried is consistently good-natured and high-spirited (and would, in fact, make an outstanding film). The humor may be broad, but Soren Narnia carries it off with wit and style. Not only are the jokes easy and unforced, but, impressively for this type of narrative, Narnia also tells a real story, with real characters (broad characters, but characters nonetheless) and a satisfying third act. Roll! They Cried may not be profound – indeed, it actively mocks profundity at several points – but it embodies “wacky hijinks” done right, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

A final word for non-sports-fans: don’t be put off by the baseball framework. No one could care less about baseball than me, but it truly is only a framing device, and enjoyment of the novel does not depend upon an appreciation of (or extensive knowledge about) baseball.

WRITING

Narnia's writing is thoroughly professional. Stylistically, Narnia writes with confidence and maintains a consistent, light-hearted tone throughout the book. Editorially, Roll! They Cried is equally accomplished. The iUniverse print version of the novel is a tight and satisfying 173 pages. There are no loose ends or extraneous characters or plotlines, and typos are extremely minimal. Narnia’s proficiency is perhaps unsurprising: he is a prolific, experienced author, with at least twelve other POD titles (in a variety of genres) to his credit. That experience shows here.

AVAILABILITY

Roll! They Cried, like most of Narnia's works, is available as of this writing for free at his website. If you like what you're reading after the first few chapters, I encourage you to support Narnia’s efforts (as I did) by buying a copy of the book through iUniverse or Amazon.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION

I am not a baseball fan but enjoyed Roll! They Cried tremendously. Similarly, I am not a jazz fan, but am a huge fan of Elvis Sinatra's off-kilter -- but thoroughly professional -- pop-jazz-vocal compositions, all of which are available as of this writing for free download from his website. Whether singing about the plight of us exceptionally attractive men (“Handsome Guys”) or about a man in love with a fish (“Pisces”), Elvis Sinatra has the musical and vocal chops of a serious Sinatra (Frank, that is) style musician combined with the wit of Dorothy Parker and the playful darkness of Lemony Snicket.

Personal Outlay Developed ("POD") Reviews: An Introduction

2006-11-23T23:35:00.000-05:00

This blog is dedicated to POD media. The "POD" acronym traditionally refers to "publish on demand" books, and books will, in fact, be a primary focus of this blog. However, I use "POD" to refer to a much broader category of outsider pop culture: all books, movies, music, comics and other media where the creator, propelled by personal vision (and perhaps by the fact that no one else is willing to advance funds), personally assumes the monetary risks and rewards of creation, publication and/or distribution of art. In other words, POD media is, for me, Personal Outlay Developed media.

Several POD book review blogs already exist, including the ones linked to the right. Yet I believe there is room for (at least) one more. With tens of thousands of POD books published every year (including at least a couple dozen good ones), only a very small fraction of even the best POD novels receive any attention whatsoever. My own bookshelf is stands in silent, faux-wooden testament to this fact: most of the POD titles that I personally have most enjoyed remain unreviewed anywhere. If I can help spread the words about even some of these books, then my time here is well-spent.

Moreover, I have a gimmick. Because my interest in POD media extends beyond books, this is going to be a full-service blog. Although the focus of each entry is going to be a novel, I, like a sommelier of the "do-it-yourself" world, am going to push a POD movie or album to complement each literary main course. Ideally, this will create an overall experience that is thematically coherent and brings out the full flavor of the novel being reviewed. In reality, I’m sure that the link will generally be as strained as this dinner analogy.

So there you have it. If the movie "They Live" were POD, I would close this introduction by paraphrasing "Rowdy" Ruddy Piper's famous quote: I’ve come here to chew bubblegum and write some reviews . . . and I’m all out of bubblegum. However, this sounds much less impressive than in the original version (where Mr. Piper said "kick some ass" rather than "write some reviews"). In any event, "They Live" was a major studio motion picture (even if it had a decidedly POD sensibility), so it is not really appropriate here. But as always, even if I break my own rules, my heart is in the right place.