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Hungry Monster Book Awards: August 2016
The Hungry Monster Book Awards are given to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and The Hungry Monster is proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
Gold Award Winners
Jabberwocky: A Novella by Theodore Singer
Silver Award Winners
Milijun by Clayton Graham
Derailed by Alyssa Rosy Ivy
Bar Nights by Dave Matthes
Death of a Gypsy by Janet Hannah
Mervyn vs. Dennis by Niels Saunders
Stage Door Comedies by Sally Roger
Asana of Malevolence by Kate Abbott
In the Eyes of Madness by Michael Pang
Welcome to Deep Cove by Grant T. Reed
The Six and the Crystals if Ialana by Katlynn Brooke
Thing Bailiwick: A Collection of Horror by Fawn Bonning
Tarbabies: The Shadow Man of Ichabod Lane by Allen Brady
Books have the ability to entertain and inform us. They can make the impossible possible. They are vehicles of time travel and windows into perspectives. In books, authors are gods and imagination is their power. Transforming letters into words; words into characters and places; and these into emotions and worlds. Even if we never meet, we are connected by the stories we tell.
Visit the Hungry Monster Book Awards page to see more information on the awards. See all award winners.
Suddenly Dropped Into My Mind
Ken Hart Author Interview
Behind the Gem follows Raymond and his coworkers as they are taken from Earth and transported across the galaxy where Raymond becomes a surrogate for the aliens eggs. How did you come up with this intriguing and idea and develop it into a story?
The idea just suddenly dropped into my mind. It took off with a mind of it’s own, with me towed behind. It quickly became an obsession, and I was frequently awakened at night with ideas that had to be written down before I’d forget them. Many ideas were lost until I purchased a voice recorder that I keep with me constantly. I keep it on my bed table, and the next morning, I’m amused by the sleepy voices emanating from it while I write down ideas recorded from the night before. Like any novel in progress, the story line changes; it has to. The first completed write of Behind the Gem is 235,000 words long, The finished version of Behind the Gem is 81,00 words long. Some of the first write will appear in a second story in progress, Behind the Gem: A New Direction. Don’t groan, it won’t be as a flashback.
Raymond has to overcome many obstacles in his new life with the Drassens. What was the inspiration for the culture of the Drassens? Are they modeled after any particular society?
In contrast to the alien movies on the silver screen, I have always envisioned a gentle, benevolent society of aliens, showing us how to live in peace and harmony with them, and each other. I had to shuck the commonality of current thinking about aliens, and dig into my imagination for a story that I would enjoy. Key words, ‘I would enjoy’. I wrote Behind the Gem for my own entertainment, but encouragement from others suggested I should get it published, get a movie deal, make lots of money (what?). Reality supersedes such lofty goals, but we must have a dream to keep life interesting. This dream is mine.
I understand that you grew up in a military family. How do you think that affects your writing?
Not so much for Behind the Gem. It does have a limited effect on my second novel, The Eyes Behold Tomorrow.
What is the next book that you are writing and when will it be published?
To be released in 2017, my third novel, It Was A Small Affair, chronicles an Army infantry squad delivering ammunition to a training exercise, gets caught in a time warp that lands them outside the Alamo, thirteen days before it fell. My own military experience is shown here with glaring efficacy.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
Ripped from heart and home by galactic farmers, Ray and his co-workers are taken hundreds of light years across the galaxy and left to fend for themselves. When he begins hearing a voice in his head and is unjustly blamed for the deaths of his friends, he is separated from them and is led to a gentle race of aliens called the Draasen. He experiences a new way of life with responsibilities and challenges he never could have imagined. He is accepted into their society, but at a high cost to his dignity when he is led into protecting and birthing their eggs. When the galactic farmers arrive to take the Draasen population as fodder, the Draasen’s fate becomes entwined with that of the nearly extinct human race and their mutual struggle to survive.
The Scalian Legacy
The Scalian Legacy is science fiction tale that follows a man named Jack Felder who thinks he is going on a leisurely trip in the Amazon, when he finds out his brother, Robbie, has been taken and Jack needs to save him. At the same time, a hundred light years away, another planet is brutally attacked. Jack’s rescue mission turns into an adventure outside this galaxy and into a battle to save not only Jack’s brother, but the fate of several other worlds. This alien invasion based story will take readers on a wild ride where they never know what to expect. It takes them beyond the world they know and introduces them to something new and unique.
Norman Monfort provides a tale that will keep readers on the edge of their seats waiting for more. And it seems this novel is ripe for a series of novels. The prologue treats readers to a vivid description of a planet named Helos 4 being attacked. I was immediately drawn in and the rest of the story just takes off from there. There is never a dull moment, nor does it ever feel like it is going too slow. Don’t try to predict what will happen in this novel because you won’t be able too, there are so many twists and turns, you’d think you’re riding a roller coaster. You never know what to expect with this novel and that makes for a fantastically thrilling story. The writing is not highly complex with words most people don’t use every day; it is written plainly and right to the point without a lot of filler material.
There are points in the story where the characters talk about how belief systems effect how you handle tragedy, this is a part that is highly interesting and you don’t find in many books. What Jack has to say about what he believes is interesting and causes the readers to almost stop reading and think about how their own belief system affects the way they handle tragic times. Monfort writes in a way that makes the reader feel as if they are sitting and listening to the story being told rather than reading the story, which heightens the enjoyment of this story. Readers will find themselves engrossed in the story, unable to tear themselves away from the pages.
This book will thrill science fiction fans and military fiction fans. It has a little something for everyone in this novel. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a new author to fall in love with. The Scalian Legacy is a book that would make a great addition to any bookshelf and will find itself being lent out to others to read. It is easy to see why fans will be eagerly waiting more books from Norman Monfort.
Pages: 318 | ISBN: 1534645209
Perforating the Darkness
Jacob Harrell Author Interview
The Transient, The Emperor, and the Man Left Alone is a science fiction story that follows a common man from Earth and his interstellar misadventures. This is a very fun novel. Did you have fun writing it?
Of course. I don’t think I ever could have completed this novel if I didn’t enjoy what it was that I was writing, and it was that enjoyment which helped to propel me forward day after day. When I first began writing ‘The Transient,’ I had absolutely no idea where I was going to go with any of it. There is a certain degree of excitement buried in the unknown, and each day brought a whole new set of wonder to me. In the end, I hope that the reader will be able to pick up on my enjoyment, on my excitement, and maybe, just maybe, they will be able to find this piece as fun, fresh, and entertaining as I had found in writing it.
The main character is abducted by aliens whom might be more human than they pretend, and their motives are deeper than a simple probe. How did the idea for the aliens creation and motives come to fruition for you?
Before I had even begun to formulate my ideas for ‘The Transient,’ I had written a rather short story about a guy and his apartment and it kind of went absolutely nowhere. It was just a few pages and it ended just as abruptly as it began, but there was something about the ideas that it presented that piqued my interest. I had wanted to take it a step further, but had no idea where I wanted to go with it, or how I wanted to get there, so I set the story aside and forgot all about it. Later, much later, I was hanging out in a forgotten section of West Virginia, staring up at the night sky. It was brilliant out there, a million points of light perforating the darkness, and it got me thinking about everything. I thought about our relative place in this infinitely vast universe, about life in all of its complex arrangements, about this and that, and, of course, about whether or not we are alone. The concept of extraterrestrials has always intrigued me, especially the idea of alien abductions. What is it about the human race that would make another advanced race want to travel a countless number of lightyears across the galaxy to study? I mean, are we really that interesting of a people? Surely, if these abductions are truly happening, they would have to harbor some sort of ulterior motive aside from the “we just want to study you people” excuse. For hours, laid back beneath the starry sky, I thought about this, and then, at some point, the idea of that original story I had written crept into my skull and, quite suddenly, I knew that an abduction would be the perfect segue into taking an otherwise abstract story that went nowhere and spring boarding it into any which where that my mind thought to take it. Of course, the aliens had to be as human as possible, because, as Hollywood teaches us, if there is to be intelligent life out there, it would undoubtedly be modeled after us, and it would also have a firm grasp of the English language. It’s as if Earth is the warm and happy center of the universe that all life gathers around. We are just so very important, aren’t we?
This story offers outrageous situations that serve as biting commentary on human’s need for entertainment. What are some of the things that you find naturally funny about the human condition that you think makes for great fiction?
There is so much that I find funny, and sad, and ridiculous, and depressing about the human condition. I’m not even sure where to begin here. Certainly, our diminished attention span thanks to our love affair with pointless technology is something to laugh at. Also, our never-ending courtship with violence, our dependency on television and other socially inept forms of entertainment, our inability to see the glaring hypocrisies that govern our lives, our further inability to take responsibility for our actions, and our complex social hierarchy that states that one group is much more preferred over another group simply by having the dumb luck of being born a certain way or in a certain place, are all extraordinary themes that are finely suited for the world of fiction. Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of our species, the one that just may dictate everything else, is our overwhelmingly enlarged ego. We have an enormously big head, and having such an inflated view of ourselves translates quite well into some great fiction. We have this tendency to think that we are superior to all else. Nature is our footstool and the very Laws that govern life cannot possibly apply to us as humans. I love playing with this notion of collective self-worth. I only hope that we will one day be able to take a step back and realize that we are not some special and perfect little creature. We are just victims of blind coincidence just as everything else is. Maybe there will come a time when we can once again live with Nature instead of in constant opposition to it.
This novel is funny, in the same was at The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is funny. What were some of your inspirations as a writer?
It was only recently that I read ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide.’ I’ve heard others mention it when talking of my book, so I thought to finally check it out. I must say that I am completely humbled to have my story be compared to that of such an amazing writer and story teller as Douglas Adams. ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide’ is a fantastic piece of fiction that I urge everyone to read. All that aside, I think that what inspires me more than anything else is…boredom. I spend a lot of time on the road, or lost on some trail, or doing some mundane activity, and it is through these actions that I find the creative juices tend to flow best. I usually carry around a pen and notebook because I never really know when inspiration is going to strike. I am also heavily inspired by the surreal no matter the medium it comes in. Works of Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher, Les Claypool, Frank Zappa, Franz Kafka, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Kurt Vonnegut have all had a great impact on my thinking.
What is the next novel that you are working on and when is that due out?
There are three things that I have in the works right now. The first is a continuation of Derren’s story. This next part will pick up where ‘the Transient’ leaves off and will describe Derren’s new life back on Earth. Without giving too much away, I will say that it will involve murders of crows, shady governmental entities, and inter-dimensional beings living in the rectum of a cosmic being. I am also hard at work with a novel centered on life in a small town life. It is a tale that points out the glaring and countless contradictions and hypocrisies that guide us through our lives. This is something that I have been working on for quite some time, but I hope to have it completed and out in print by next year. Lastly, I have been compiling together a number of short stories, poems, and other oddities. These are just miscellaneous bits of this and that, ideas that came uninvited that I felt the need to capture. I hope to have that collection out in print by the end of this year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
Derren Washington’s life has never amounted to much, and lately it has become boring and stale. Sure, he does well for himself. He has a job, a place to live, and is breathing and living-enough for most people and all Derren believes he needs. And then one morning, Derren is awoken to an unexpected knock that changes the course of his life, spurring a mad journey that he never could have possibly imagined. Confronted with the sudden loss of his apartment and, subsequently, everything he has ever owned, Derren must face the insensitive marriage of blind chance and sheer coincidence. His situation becomes even more dire after a regrettably made phone call finds him abducted by a group of towering extraterrestrials who have mistaken him for their long, lost emperor. Now Derren struggles to navigate and survive in a baffling world amid suffocating seas of deceit and absurdity in hopes of one day making his way home and finding some meaning in his life. This science fiction novel tells the tale of one man’s unintended adventure as he stumbles from one confusing world to another in an attempt to regain what he has lost.
Tarbabies: The Shadow Man of Ichabod Lane
Tarbabies follows the protagonist, Josh, as he and his wife experience a catastrophic event that changes the world as we know it. Through news reports, Josh watches as New York City falls victim to what he calls “tarbabies”, monsters made of a soft, gooey substance. These tarbabies have the ability to change any living thing they touch into one of them, and they are immune to physical attack. It’s not long before the simple yet dangerous monsters show up in his neighborhood, and despite their slow, plodding movements, they manage to increase their numbers daily. Josh and his neighbors try to learn as much as they can, but their knowledge might not be of any use, as they are slowly running out of allies. What they do learn, though, is just as mysterious. There is something attractive about these monsters. People attacked by them feel no pain, and instead seem to experience some kind of euphoria before being taken over completely. Josh and his wife leave their quiet neighborhood, determined to reach the safety of her parents’ home across the state. Will they make their journey safely? What are these monsters, and are they getting smarter?
Josh and his wife have loving, fun interactions. Brady did very well crafting these two, and I spent almost every page of the story hoping that both of them make it through. The author also excelled at creating each of the characters on Ichabod Lane, especially the young boy Logan, who treats the dangerous, slow-moving monsters as a fun activity.
The novel also has a nice balance of settings. There are scenes taking place in big cities, small communities, woodlands, and more. The characters travel well and the descriptions of their travels are very entertaining. Particularly, it was fun to read about Josh and his wife and their hiking adventure through the Catskills.
This novel is written very well. If I have any complaints, I would say that the pacing is a little rough, due mostly to the slow pace of the monsters, themselves. The main thought for the first half of the book is that if the main character does get captured by any of these creatures, it would be a silly mistake that would only immensely frustrate the reader. The events also take a long time to unfold once the initial shock from the discovery of the monsters takes place. There are several characters that are well written, but their interactions are difficult to care about as the action is a bit dull.
Overall, this novel provides plenty of tension and suspense through the monsters that have invaded New York. While the reader may want to experience more suspense and action, the author seems to be in this story for the long game, taking his time to develop the characters and to develop the rapidly evolving monsters. This series will be more entertaining the longer one reads, so don’t quit if the first hundred pages aren’t enough.
Pages: 272 | ASIN: B017PSKB58
Review: Science Fiction
Amidst the booming prosperity of 1950’s America people go about their daily routines unaware of how completely their lives are about to change. General Preston Hardgrave is the only person that has had a glimpse at what is to come. He’s in charge of a government project studying the Collapsing Ring-Field Theory that was headed by Dr. Albert Einstein. To get the project going again Hardgrave must recruit an old friend and physics professor, Glen Hardisty, to continue Einstein’s work. Glen soon learns that the technology for the ring is other worldly, but the search for the technology’s source is muted when colossal alien ships emerge from space and hover over every major city. Alien soldiers are on every street corner around the world; standing, waiting. No one knows what they’re waiting for, but it’s quickly clear that the Collapsing Ring-Field is no longer a theory. It is now humanities last hope.
This novel succeeds in its ability to deliver quality science fiction that is not only entertaining, but thought provoking. Much of the novel is written with a 1950’s era flare that takes you back to the period of campy science fiction novels. The ending of the novel reminds me of many Twilight Zone episodes. And in those moments where the narration captures the feel so perfectly I can almost hear Rod Serling’s voice in my head. The story follows three story lines that converge towards the end of the novel. General Hardgrave and professor Hardisty are locked in a government building in the center of New York with hundreds of research personnel. There’s a pack of secretaries roaming the streets of New York that manage to take out a few alien soldiers. And the last remnant of the US Army is a squad of soldiers that are determined to make one last strike at the alien invaders. Their stories converge at the end of the novel in a daring and thrilling turn of events. Although the writing was solid, the story often went off on tangents that did very little to progress the story. There are a few chapters where we follow some survivors that General Hardgrave sends out for food. I see how this is technically necessary, but I don’t see how it deserves its own chapters. It could have simply been summed up in a paragraph to keep the quick pace of the story. And some of the dialogue, although it may fall in line with the 50’s style writing, seems cheesy by today’s standards, but these moments were rare. The thing that captured my imagination were the rare moments when the aliens tried to speak our language. It comes out unintelligible, but still oddly poetic. What really stood out to me was the ending of the story, or really the reason why the aliens came to Earth in the first place. It was a unique idea that I’ve not heard or read before. It’s definitely an ending that makes this novel worth the read.
ASIN: B00RI7R718
Pages: 299
Review: We Are Death, Come For You
Humans are under attack from an invading alien race. The book begins right at the start of the alien invasion with two massive fleets facing off in a colony solar system. The human fleet is destroyed along with a nearby colony planet. It’s clear that the alien technology is not superior to human technology. The aliens simply overwhelm and destroy with their one powerful weapon, the ‘total conversion beam’. The aliens appearance and purpose is approached early on in the story so there is no time wasted finding out what the alien race is about.
The battle scenes are very descriptive. Space battles in the book play out in what seems like minutes to hours. There are plenty of weapons used: fusion and antimatter warheads, kinetic rounds, gigawatt and terawatt laser beams, proton and particle beams, hyperlight torpedoes and a total conversion beam which seems to be the alien races ultimate weapon. With all these magnificently sci-fi super weapons it seems that what finally wins the battle is the smallest of weapons, the nanite. The nanite is a nano robot that can be programmed to do a multitude of things. In the book it is used for everything from healing human bodies to repairing ships and, in the end, eventually used a weapon.
The aliens are a death cult. They look like a cross between a T-Rex and Velociraptor, with their tails constantly swinging behind them and their hulking bodies its funny to imagine these things controlling a space ship. They’re not the brightest of creatures and seem to be purely driven by rage and a desire to kill for their god. Their religion is based on the idea that life is an infestation that ruined the emptiness of the Universe. They seek to rectify this by killing every living creature in the universe. This allows for some interesting ideas to form because their main goal is the eradication of all life in the universe, but they themselves are living creatures. Their technology is crude as it is salvaged from civilizations they destroyed and they don’t invent or improve any of it.
There are several main characters in the story, but the only ones I found myself caring about were Bennie and Darcy. Bennie is a computer hacker that gets caught early on in the book and is forced to serve in the marine corp. Darcy was captured during the initial alien invasion and has been forced to work for the aliens aboard their ship since she was young. The other characters seem a little bland and didn’t have anything that stuck out for me to remember though they do contribute to the ending of the book.
The book is essentially a high science fiction space opera with plenty of hard hitting space battles, but the pacing suffers throughout the book as you get bogged down by unnecessary details and characters thoughts that don’t seem to contribute a lot to the story. The dialogue and interactions between the characters were a bit awkward, but even with that I found myself voraciously reading the last twenty pages of the book. If you like books like Orphanage or The Lost Fleet you would probably like this book.
Quote: “Cower, rodents. Cower in your holes. The Universe looks upon you in disgust. We are the cleaners of the Universe, come to sweep you from your systems. Cower, because we are death, and we have come for you.”
FileSize:524KB ASIN: B00CD8LFNI
LITERARY TITAN 