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Stumbling Through Adulthood
In Stumbling Through Adulthood, author John Sheirer delivers a collection of intricately linked short stories which are connected, some more loosely than others, by their central theme. This theme is summed up by the title. As stumbling implies that progress is being made, albeit slowly and not without its setbacks, the stories feature numerous instances of relatable mishaps and mistakes as the characters progress through adulthood. Take one character, for example, who ends up locked out of their home, or another who manages to consume an entire donut in one go. Sheirer’s characters appear throughout the collection from different perspectives and at different stages of their lives, as we see snapshots of them doing their best to stumble through adulthood.
Sheirer writes engagingly, making even the most mundane or trivial moments entertaining. This, combined with the relatability of many of the challenges the characters face and the sprinkling of subtle humor throughout, ensures that you will remain hooked. Underneath this humor, Sheirer addresses some severe and somber themes such as race, politics, and mental health. These topics are handled in a thought-provoking manner that ensures you’ll never be left entirely without hope.
However, the most important theme addressed in Stumbling Through Adulthood is revealed through the construction of the collection itself. Jumping between various characters in a short space of time would appear to invite comparisons between them. Still, ultimately Sheirer’s writing rejects this idea as every character and story, despite being suspended in a web of relationships with the others, are still stand-alone stories. Instead, every short story is a perfectly compact moment of a character’s life who is doing their best and who we will revisit as we smile or worry along with them as they stumble through their own personal adulthood.
Stumbling Through Adulthood is an intriguing collection of short stories that will appeal to adults in all stages of life. These stories are brought together by the common thread of just getting through life as an adult. With humor and realism giving the stories character and energy, they will stay with readers long after they are done with the book.
Pages: 233 | ASIN : B0996BQ6ZN
The Cool and Warmth of Hearts
Dating back to the inception of the written word, there has been no shortage of lines put to paper on the subject of love. Whether it’s romantic, unrequited, soul-crushing, or life sustaining, writers and poets have explored the emotion endlessly in an attempt to capture its nature and explain why it moves us as much as it does. In The Cool and Warmth of Hearts, poet J.A. Santana adds his own unique voice to the conversation in a collection that covers many kinds of love experienced within a lifetime.
One of the most interesting things about the subject of love is that there is no shortage of writing on the subject. Santana pays homage to those great voices that came before him by invoking the names in classic literature most closely associated with romance, both the writers and the characters. As he weaves his way through all the stages of love, Santana’s narrative tells a distinct story, putting to words thoughts and feelings anyone with any life experience has had. We travel along with the narrator as he navigates all the highs and lows to be found in love, even dwelling a short while on life itself and the rapturous feeling associated with simply being.
Santana’s poems follow a mostly uniform style and tone, often employing a rhyming scheme that makes them read as lyrical and rhythmic. I felt at times the use of rhyme seemed forced in certain spots, however, it still works well, flowing in a way that makes them read smoothly. One of the highlights of this collection is the inclusion of multiple versions of the same poem, which happens several times throughout. It’s a unique glimpse into the creative process and one that should be especially of interest to fellow writers who understand all too well how difficult it can be to choose the “perfect” word or phrase. By the time Santana rounds out his collection with a poem appropriately titled “Twilight,” he has touched every stage of love and loving with intense imagery and emotion.
The Cool and Warmth of Hearts explores and describes love in ways that are almost other-worldly at times but always authentic in its expression, leaving the reader thinking about the poems long after putting the book down.
Pages: 123 | ASIN : B09QXSTRXQ
Pulling Teeth and Other Stories
Grimdark fiction with a paranormal focus can settle like oil underwater when blended with action and gunplay, but Pulling Teeth and Other Stories by Jessa Forest has a balanced blend. Each corner of stark weird or science fiction here is softened by the wolves. Sterile laboratory prison landscapes are brightened somehow with childlike wonder. Bounding through these forests untethered, we find stories of the bond between father and daughter, master and apprentice, trust and honor.
As a collection of novellas and short stories, Pulling Teeth is the beginning of a series about a young hybrid werewolf, Regina Slaughter. Maintaining a similar tone and following in chronological order, each story hits extremes of tension, horror, and the unknown with ease and alacrity.
Regina’s tragic upbringing to the age of nine and the fate of her family unfolds as we follow her from being an imprisoned test subject to her freedom after being taken in by another faction, more of her kind, mercenary werewolves. Considering this is a world where werewolves, magic, parallel dimensions, and vampires exist, in the relatively small space these stories provide, we also delve into friendships, family, loss, and lunacy which is no small feat for a world with such complexity.
Regina was test subject 33 at the HADES facility. After two years of their attempts to control the powers of werewolves with torture and restraint, her rescue comes in a bloody and unexpected ally. Atlas, a werewolf mercenary from a nearby stronghold, becomes her protector and unlikely substitute for her father, who was taken away too soon. Her new pack leader, Thane, who dresses in the hides of mysterious creatures formed into a plague mask, is cold and strict. But, when he unexpectedly takes the feral Regina under his wing, her animal strength and desire to serve her new pack with honor seem to have finally found a place. There are many factions at war or with tenuous alliances in the world that Jessa Forest has created. The world can seem quite complex.
Luckily, we have an introductory short story, Welcome to HADES, that outlines the differences between the organization’s different departments that hunt werewolves, vampires, mages, and other Void creatures in the form of an employee manual. The stories of these animals’ hunters and the hunted unfold in three novellas and two short stories mainly from the werewolf point-of-view. Regina’s Guide to Monster Hunting, later on in the book, serves as a bookend to the first chapter and creatively adds to the readers’ arsenal. Many of our questions are answered as we read on, exploring the world between these two chapters.
The characters of Regina, Thane, and Atlas are broadened expertly in the titular short story, Pulling Teeth. It is somewhat visceral; it reminds us that Regina is the scrappy orphan we envision as a budding werewolf warrior or typical young teen. However, the unexpected change of pace with Demon Tooth reveals that the humans here are largely oblivious to the dark world at their doorstep. Werewolves, understandably, stay within the shadows hiding in the darker recesses of humanity. Inevitably they will cross with this story of bored suburban human teens taunting forces they barely understand, but that Regina knows all too well.
Although we get to know a lot about her past captivity, abuse, and perhaps stunted personality, Regina sometimes comes across as a lot younger than she is. This could also speak to her animalistic and simplistic nature, which may naturally read as a younger girl than 11 years old. This is the only fault in the dialogue or how others treat her; at times, a child is a trusted member of the team. Her attitude vacillating from studious apprentice and bratty teen reads as unstable at times. Ultimately, it is refreshing to see some of the childlike phrases from Regina and see the world through her eyes guide our reactions to those around her to a certain extent.
As with much science fiction or weird tales, it takes a little getting used to the typology, the taxonomy, and jargon. One tactic Forest uses is likening Regina’s situations into contemporary, classic horror, and science fiction films. Without being a casual name-drop, this helps ground readers into the world through Regina’s eyes because she’s watched many films that fans of this literature are likely to have seen.
If anything, we want to find out more about Regina. Although we’ve had a great insight into her past, her future is a mystery. From the human threat to the Void itself, there is peril in our imaginations. The more we understand how she fits within this world, the more we want to see her adapt. As this is the beginning of a series, fans of this first set of stories will eagerly expect the next installment.
Our world of mythology and science blends here as naturally as fur and fang. Definitely a great fit for fans of a strong character storyline, the politics of warring factions, and following guns for hire. And, of course, those who love a new take on monster stories, specifically werewolves and origin stories for all that is dark, occult, and macabre.
Pulling Teeth and Other Stories is a riveting combination of grimdark, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. This collection of short stories will take readers on an unforgettable journey.
Pages: 266 | ASIN : B08M12631P
Legends of Perilisc
Legends of Perilisc is a collection of short stories created by Jesse Teller. This collection has eight different stories that all tie together along a timeline. While each story can stand alone there is a sense that it’s building up to something that we don’t get to in this book. Each title is subtitled with a phrase like “120,000 Years Before The Escape” (Teller p.7) and “Three Years Before The Escape” (Teller p. 197). While the preface lists the date as being after the Escape it offers no clue to who is escaping what. This leaves the author open to create many more books in this series. There is one character that reoccurs in most of the stories, Simon the Bard.
At first the beginning story sounds like a twist on the Greek Mythology stories from when the Gods battled for control of the world. While some of the names mentioned do link back to mythology, most of the characters are original to Jesse Teller. Their personalities and names differ from one story to the next. I think this lack of continuity is intentional and well done showing the different times and places in Perilisc. These stories are dark; they are not happy endings with moral lessons. It is a work of fantasy unlike anything I have come across. Each individual story tells of a quest, usually the quest is to find someone and kill them. Through these short stories you get so much detail though. The author does not waste words. Every line is important to character development, the action or setting.
Piecing together information from the different stories we learn more about Simon the Bard. He is the constant so far in the world created by Teller. He travels the word claiming to be a simple story teller, but is always in the right place at the right time to offer important information. He is immortal, and has magical powers but the reader does not discover just how deep those powers go.
As with any collection of short stories it can be frustrating to get small pieces of a story line and not see where they end up. Knowing that all these story lines interact building up to “the escape” is even more frustrating given the huge jumps in time. Chances are we may never know more about the characters we read about. One example is Konnon. His story is brief, we find out about his devastating childhood, his enslavement to an enchanted beast, and his revenge. His story takes place in one night, but we don’t know how this fits into the overall story line. It is just a good snap shot into the world and how it is developing through time.
Legends of Perilisc is a great collection for the reader looking for a fresh take on fantasy novels. It is not for the reader looking for a happy ending and a magical quest with elves and good wizards. This collection is dark, full of death and evil. Topics of patricide, cannibalism, adultery, rape and many more dark topics fill these stories. A good read with an open ending leaving the author free to continue this world and create many more stories to entertain and shock his readers.
Pages: 141 | ASIN: B01I7KD9O8
