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Limbo.
In the world created by Marko Pandza, Death is not one hulking figure haunting our last moments of life, but rather a whole society of different Reapers. One Reaper, Grim, though at the top of his game and the ranking of the Elites, despises his job and what it stands for. He longs for a time long gone, of his mortal life as John Grim and his wife, Dora. On a chance encounter with an Engraver, those beings tasked with creating and intertwining souls, he discovers his love is back in the living realm and is informed of a way to return to his beloved. He must fight Heaven, Hell, and everything in-between to be with his true destiny.
This book spares little in ways of imagery and wit, though both are steeped in valleys of dust, it is so dry. The intriguing and original concept of the book helps the reader get through the slow beginning. The author can conjure up a rich and enticing vision through his words. However, this works to both his advantage and disadvantage. It is easy to envision the characters and scenery he creates, but when the creations become grotesque, the reader can feel ripped from the moment, hindering the story.
The overall story and world was fully fleshed out. The setting of Limbo itself was a solid induction into the story, and the home of the Reapers had much to offer, along with the mortal realm, personal paradises, and even rooms from the Maker of Limbo Itself – the audience experienced plenty, and again, this is where the author showed his expressive talents. The reader could easily see the home that Grim shared with his wife, or the performance hall of the Reaper awards. The characters were never floating in a gray area without much detail.
The characters the reader is introduced to throughout the story each have a different motivation, and is it laid out for everyone to see. Grim is the main focus, but by no means the only view point explored. Friends, strangers, and even deities have their stories told. Because of the switching between voices, the reader can live through many stories. However, when the author chooses to pursue narrow avenues for these characters that leave a lot to be desired, it detracts from the quality of the story.
Limbo, much like death, is not a story that everyone is ready for, but it is not without value. This story is by no means badly written, nor does it fall into many typical tropes, but where the concept and the fluidity of descriptions are absolutely high points, the choices to include the depressing overtones and the highly unpleasant imagery of many deaths – they are Reapers, after all – cause the story to fall a couple of notches away from higher ratings. The morbidity and grim tone for the entire book causes the reader to walk away shaken and more than a bit prone to contemplation on their own existence. This may not deter every reader, however, and its commitment to tone and atmosphere is to be applauded. This book won’t appeal to the vast majority, but those who enjoy it will praise its value for a long time to come.
Pages: 278 | ISBN: 1367857368
Immortal: Curse of the Deathless
This fantasy novel is bursting at the seams with an intricate world waiting to be discovered, not only by the reader, but also by the main character, Asher. He is a college student in a world that appears to be similar to the Earth we know and love, but he is also an immortal. He uses his power to help people with their issues for small fees. This earns him enough money to survive, but it also earns him some powerful enemies and sends him on a trip to learn about his past and parentage.
In the Fae Realm, Asher gets caught up between two feuding noble houses, Summer Court and Winter Court. While he is there to meet his mother, the inhabitants of the realm look to exact some favors from Asher before his quest can reach its end. Will his immortality prove to be a blessing, or will he come to think of it more of a “curse of the deathless”? What will he discover about his birth and will the evil organizations of his home planet come for him?
This novel is gritty, funny, and entertaining. The narration is mostly in third person, although Asher will interject his thoughts directly to the reader whenever he deems necessary. For example, while trying to survive what would otherwise be a fatal sword blow, he thinks “Note to self: Lungs and swords don’t play nice together”.
However, there are some pitfalls that come with a fantasy novel of this scope. The author has created a universe that is seemingly vast and full of magic creatures and objects, of which the reader and the protagonist know very little. Because of this, it gives the reader difficulty when it comes to finding out what is going to happen next. I felt that issues were resolved by seemingly random events which then spawned the next set of events. The plot points come across as if they were written for a video game, as there are checkpoints to be met before the story can progress. For example, Asher has to gain favor with the rest of the family members before his step-sister will let him meet his mother.
If you can ignore these minor issues then you will find an entertaining adventure story in a world that is rich and worthwhile. The universe has plenty of depth, lore, and legend for any fantasy fan. The narration is spectacular despite a couple of minor grammatical mistakes. The characters are fun, and the dialogue is original although parts of the story may be a bit cliché. I’m not sure how nearly every woman in the story came to be so attractive, but there it is.
Overall, this story is quite the undertaking, and I can’t wait for a sequel, which the author seems ready to deliver.
Pages: 319 | ASIN: B01F0ING16
Birth to the Still Dead
![Birth to the Stilldead by [Johnsen, Eric]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5125KAq7HYL.jpg)
Eric Johnsen offers a striking, mind-bending novella in Birth to the Stilldead. If the title and cover aren’t clear enough, this is a horror novel with disturbing imagery, and may not be suitable for all readers. It certainly delivers on the promise of supernatural horrors lurking just beyond the veil of life and death.
Doctor Tel Hunniset is tired. He works in the pediatric unit of a hospital, treating children with cancer. It’s grueling, emotional work. His boss, Doctor Klemens, knows from experience that Tel is both exhausted and uninspired by his job, and questions his motivations for becoming a doctor in the first place. After the children in his ward become infected with a pathogen that causes convulsions and death, Tel races to save lives, but narrowly misses disaster. When a hospital volunteer offers his assistance—a decidedly non-medical cure—the children begin to stabilize just as the “volunteer” is discovered to be an imposter and escapes.
The mysterious man introduces himself as Aarne Soars, and with his help, Dr. Hunniset can save the lives of the remaining patients. In the aftermath of the outbreak, Tel is called a hero but the stress he’s under is also affecting his wife, Millary. Someone has vandalized her graveyard-like memorial garden, her mother has cancer, and her husband is either asleep or at work. They both experience events that could only be described as supernatural, accompanied by eerie visions of a bloody-wraith-like woman, lead him back to Aarne. What he learns from the mysterious man forces him to rethink everything, even the nature of reality.
Birth to the Stilldead had me hooked early. Working with children suffering from cancer and other serious medical issues can be heartbreaking. It’s a high-stress place, not only for the kids and their families but also the staff who care for them. Johnsen showed this through the eyes of Tel Hunniset as he watches his colleagues work in the chaos around him while he internalizes his fears. The pediatric ward is beset by worried parents and lawyers. Dr. Klemens seems to be intent on criticizing Dr. Hunniset at every opportunity. It’s easy to keep turning pages because even the moments of normalcy are tinged with building tension.
Aarne is both mysterious and perplexing. He listens to the dead, knows what they want and need; knows their secrets. For the living, there’s a price to pay for taking a life, but what happens in the world of spirits when you save one? Aarne is one of the rare few who can bridge the gap between the living and the dead. His pockets are full of tricks, but without them, Tel wouldn’t have been able to save the lives of so many.
The last few chapters of the book kept me riveted. It’s a fast-paced read, and since it’s a novella, there’s no point in putting it down. I recommend this for fans of supernatural horror. The secrets that Aarne reveals are thought-provoking. They may follow you around for a while, tugging at your subconscious, asking you to listen.
Pages: 58 | ASIN: B01HFS9YJ2
I Designed Death
Sidney Wood – Author Interview
Thicker Than Blood is a fast paced action story about a battle hardened veteran desperately trying to keep his daughter safe. What was your inspiration for Hayes’s character and the relationship he has with his daughter Charity?
This story went through many evolutions before it became what it is today, but regardless of his back story, Lynn Hayes remained the same at his core. He was born with a talent for leadership, unflinching courage, and an irrepressible will. He inspires others by actions, not just words. He believes in duty and honor, and that is evident in all aspects of his life, including his role as a father. I drew upon my own experience as a father of two daughters when describing the interactions between Lynn and Charity. The main inspiration for Lynn Hayes was my own father and his father. My training as a United States Marine and a US Army Soldier, and all of the heroes I served with had no small part as well.
There is a mercenary in the story that is after Hayes and Charity that doesn’t seem to stay dead. What was your process in creating that character and developing the characters motivations?
I started with his appearance and imagined what a person might fear about him. I designed Death to be heartless and cruel, then crafted a relationship between his moral decline and a life changing interaction with the main character. Death is the antithesis of Lynn in every way. I wanted him to be someone the reader could hate. His physical characteristics resemble his flawed personality. He’s gaunt and pale to the point of being skeletal. He towers over people and intimidates, hungers for power and is driven by revenge. Death craves blood, revels in savagery and abuse. Death also introduces the reader to blood magic, the source of his regenerative power. Throughout the story, Death’s blood lust grows in direct relationship to his indulgence in blood magic. My goal was to create something that oozed evil, and enabled supernatural changes in Death and others affected by blood magic.
What was the idea, or spark, that first set off the need to write Thicker Than Blood?
I began writing about Charity and her father, Lynn Hayes, as a bedtime story for my daughters. Believe me, the story I started back then didn’t look anything like it does now! When I made the decision to write for a more mature audience, I revised the story to meet my own preferences and satisfy my guiltiest pleasures. I love a violent and gritty story with larger than life characters, and an underdog who faces insurmountable odds.
I find a problem in well written stories, in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planed for Hayes?
Book two is in the works! In the second book, a new hero joins Lynn and the others to fight against Duke Dennison and the Rebels, and a new threat from over the mountains. Foss Bird is the biggest bastard anyone has ever seen. In his first battle, he wields his axe with such brute force that it breaks against a stone, leaving him with a blunt hammer. Foss towers over the battlefield, and sweeps aside the enemy ranks. Unafraid of the revenant soldiers, he strides forward, breaking bones and crushing skulls. Singing as he smashes all those in his path, Foss earns the moniker “Hammer.” Thus the Hammer Battalion is born.
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Lynn Hayes will do anything to keep his daughter safe. He is a battle hardened veteran who doesn’t flinch, he swings…hard. When a mercenary named Death picks up their trail, Lynn cuts him down, but the evil bastard won’t stay dead. Allied with a smart aleck Lieutenant, and a luckless cripple, Lynn knows that fighting dirty is the only way to win. The bloody and vicious fight that follows revives an old legend and inspires hope in a people who desperately need it. They need it more than anyone knows, because Death is not just a mercenary, he is a harbinger of darkness yet t come.
Thicker than Blood: Stronger than Bone
Thicker than Blood: Stronger than Bone is a fast paced action story about a battle hardened veteran desperately trying to keep his daughter safe in a world filled with black magic and mercenaries that won’t stay dead. Thick than Blood is set in a world filled with evil, danger and impossible odds. Private Hayes and his daughter Charity embark on a journey longing for a place to call home. But a mercenary named Death is hot on their trail and to stay alive they must team up with some unlikely allies.
Sidney Wood takes you to a kingdom where political scandals run rampant and trust is a luxury not often given. Thicker Than Blood takes readers on a journey of friendship, love, war and self-sacrifice. Hayes is no stranger to battle and uses his quick wits and battle experience in an effort to survive the day to day wars he must fight to keep himself alive. Alongside longtime friends, Lieutenant Martin and Corvise Brente, Private Hayes seems unstoppable. But an unknown dark enemy lurks in their mist. Black magic rituals stain its body. People fear it wherever it goes. Death is always watching, waiting, prepared. With its eyes set on one target, the stakes are higher than any of them realize.
Meanwhile, Charity, a blossoming young woman, tries to find herself while in the middle of a man’s world. Joszette, a friendly woodly woman, helps teach her in a way only a mother could. Charity and Joszette are interesting characters that are developed, along with many other characters, slowly throughout the story.
Sideny Wood deftly handles description and detail to easily transport readers into the story. With lots of gore and destruction throughout, the descriptions leave little to the imagination. But this story is by no means one dimensional. You’re placed in the mined of multiple characters while in the same situation to get a change to fully understand and appreciate each characters perspective. In the end you feel an attachment to the characters that only experienced writers can achieve.
While there are plenty of unforeseen twists that leave the reader wanting more, I found sound parts of the story to be predictable. The story was fast paced and there was a real sense of urgency throughout, but there were many chapters that ended with some loose ends. This always bothers me in a book that is so well written because I know the author has the talent to give me so much more to satisfy my curiosity. I suppose patients is a virtue here, as many things are wrapped up near the end of the story.
The Royal Guard, with Hayes as their prematurely named champion, battles enemies from all angles. Will the rebel army marching on with all its secrets and skills conquer? Will the spies already in the walls of the castle have their chance to reign? When the king falls and the future of the kingdom is unknown, a hero must rise. Who will prevail?
Pages: 250 | ASIN: B01C9UN35W
Please Don’t Ask
Please Don’t Ask by Lyman Ditson is a collection of poetry. There are fifty-one poems in the collection covering a wide range of topics and eliciting emotions of all kinds from the reader. The book opens with the title poem please don’t ask. It sets the tone for this collection, one of sarcasm and dry wit. It makes it clear this is not a book of love poems, or Shakespeare. This is not the book for someone looking for romantic rhyming verses with perfect meter or even following any standard poetic mechanisms. Instead, Ditson uses freeform prose, punctuation and line breaks to convey a deep message in each poem.
Some of the poems are light hearted such as dog nap, a playful take on the frustration of how such a small creature can take up the whole bed when they refuse to move. This is something all animal owners are well aware of. Than there are poems like the general. This piece speaks of war. One of the longer poems in the collection, it goes into great detail talking about the meaninglessness and pain that war causes, that it is not by God’s direction, and not some grand event to run quick into. Instead the author shows the pain, the meaningless loss of life and just the drudgery that is there, not glory.
Ditson has the ability to cover topics well that are mundane and those that are deep. He questions God’s will in many of the poems and those that are devote believers might take offense to some of his tone. Than there are poems such as Dear Brother, that are beautiful and deeply personal. Speaking of the everlasting relationship between brothers that will extend even beyond death. The poem frog heaven gives the reader a look into the world of what might be. It makes the reader stop and think of life in a new perspective, not all things that look bad to start are in the end. The author challenges the reader to think further than the moment and see the whole picture, not just in them, but of the world. Trying to feel truly strikes at the heart of some of todays problems in the world, the inattentiveness we have for those around us as we divulge deeper and deeper into the electronic world. The collection ends with several poems dealing with the end of things, death, end of a season of life, and a message that we are all smaller than we think we are in this world.
Over all Lyman Ditson’s collection of poetry is a good read. It brings forth an emotional response from the reader, as all good poetry should. I enjoyed the lack of whimsical prose and the more sarcastic realist views. The collection brings you face to face with many of the modern issues we are living with right now. It does not shy away from the topics that people do not want to think about. Thought provoking and meaningful poetry, a collection that can bring the reader in and leave them thinking about the subjects well after the cover is closed.
Pages: 140 | ISBN: 1504350324
The Seed That Plants Itself Into His Heart
Paradise City begins with Arlo and his best friend peeping into a stripper’s window trying and see what any young boy hopes to see. But what they see instead changes them forever. Do you think there’s a single moment in everyone’s life, maybe not as traumatic, that is life changing?
I hate to think of myself as believing in anything absolute, as if the same sort of scenario happens to everyone in some way or form. However, I do believe that everyone at some point in their life experiences a moment that separates how they were before that moment, and how they live the rest of their lives as a consequence. For me, as I’m sure most people can relate to, it was the day my father passed away. I remember the day itself starting out like any other in the summer. I was with my friends and everything was perfect. Then it happened and I remember the feeling, like everything that I was was switched off like a light switch. And even as it was happening, I knew that everything would be different from then on. With Arlo, in the beginning of Paradise City, he experiences a similar event, but deep down doesn’t know what to make of it. Instead, it sort of numbs him and sets the stage for the climax. At the end of Paradise City, the confrontation with his best friend, that moment is the moment that is the defining “light switch”. At that moment, even Arlo can’t ignore the fact that everything after that day will be different. It’s the seed that plants itself into his heart which spreads its roots deeper into his body and soul throughout the rest of his life. So yeah, I do think that everyone in some way can relate to that sort of change in their life.
In a lot of contemporary coming of age fiction novels authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?
Absolutely. Many of the party scenes were directly translated from memory to page, some of the adult characters were based off of some of my friends’ parents, and on a very subtle level, some of the parts involving Arlo’s mother were taken from my own experiences, though not quite in a literal sense. One thing that stands out the most though, is the feeling I think most kids grow up with, the feeling of wanting someone but never being able to have them. And also, I’ll never forget my first experience drinking whiskey. The feeling Arlo gets in the book when he drinks it for the first time… is pretty much exactly how I felt about it, if it could even be put into words.
Lot’s of bad things happen through Paradise City, but it makes you think about what one would do if in that same situation. What do you hope readers take away from the story?
The main theme of The Mire Man Trilogy, at least from my point of view, is being able to live with yourself after having done something excruciatingly horrible; so.. self-forgiveness in a way, and not letting whatever that thing is completely destroy you. In Book 2, being that it is an origin story, the main focus of the story was to give readers the notion that it’s actually okay to remember where you came from, whether it was a good place or bad place. Really, the only way to fill in the blanks of the future is to remember the past, remember how we got to where we are. We’ve all done horrible things, maybe not quite as bad as Arlo, but then again maybe Arlo didn’t really “do” anything. Maybe that something happened TO him. It’s that combination of question and consequence that drives Arlo forward. By the end of Paradise City, Arlo is left with that consequence, and he has no one and nothing to tell him or explain to him why he’s feeling the way he’s feeling. This is what really starts him on his path that leads to how we see him in Book 1- Bar Nights.
When is the third book in the trilogy due out and what will that be about?
Book 3 is titled Return to the Madlands, and the main theme of this final volume, besides the overall arc of self-forgiveness, will be something along the lines of “self-preservation”. Arlo will be confronted with the idea of death, and what happens after this event. Not necessarily to him, but to his memory. He’s lived mostly his entire life not really caring about what other people think of him, and to some extent that’s actually a healthy way to live, but he takes it to unhealthy and dangerous extremes. In Return to the Madlands, he’ll finally sit down with himself and do a little thinking on that matter. The story itself picks up about fifteen or so years after the present day events of Paradise City, and involves a recently deceased loved one imploring Arlo to hit the road one last time and experience life before he gets too old or dying to get that chance again. The twist here, which won’t ruin the reader’s experience, is that this loved one has been hiding something pretty major from Arlo, and only confesses to it after their death via handwritten letter. This leads Arlo to believe that Constance, the main woman from Bar Nights, (whom Arlo in his own way, fell in love with) is still alive and out there in the world waiting for him to come find her. The first big chunk of the story is all about this road trip, this journey to find Constance, and involves Arlo getting stuck or hindered by several bouts of misadventure. The road eventually leads to Nevada, where he runs into his still-alive, and very old and aging father, which sets in motion one hell of a torrential downpour of emotions for Arlo. Obviously I won’t say much more about what happens from there, but there will be a very, very bittersweet flavor of closure by the end. I’m about a hundred-ish pages written into the first draft, and am shooting for a much larger scale page-count with this final volume, not that the size of a book matters, that’s just how much is going to be going on. If my current work schedule is anything to go by, I’ll probably have the first draft finished by Christmas… maybe. I wrote Bar Nights in four months, and Paradise City in six; I may or may not have rushed through them, so I’d like to really take my time with this one.
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Book 2 in “The Mire Man Trilogy”, “Paradise City”, tells the origin of Arlo Smith, and illustrates the first steps on his journey toward becoming the seemingly soulless nothing he is in “Bar Nights”. It is a story that narrates what it’s like to grow up against the grit and torment of youth while under the vengeful weight of inevitability masquerading beneath the guise of well-intentioned promises… and the price of what true friendship can sometimes require.
Mystery Time
Mystery Time by Janet Hannah will leave you lost in a bit of a mystery, but in a good way. Professor Alex Kertész and Hildegard Kraus found themselves in the shadow of trouble after the death of a colleague caused the loss of a timepiece that would reveal itself as more than a teller of time. As though instinctively determined to get it back, Kertész and Kraus’, expeditions take them outside of their science convention in Prague, into the unknown. Escaping unwanted advances and skirting uncertain thoughts of desire, murder, lies, secrets and fate find their way into the lives of the two scientists. As if public speaking was not a daunting enough task, Professor Hildegard now has to contend with her colleague dying in her arms. After Bernard Green’s almost lifeless body crashed into Hildegard, professor Alex Kertész, assisted her in taking Green into a room, where his dying confession would direct suspicions to his killer. A fellow colleague and longtime rival, Joe Klein, would be in the hotseat as authorities tried to identify Bernard’s Killer. As casual as his death was expressed it guided the story onto a new focus, the loss of the watch. While the death of a colleague is traumatic, Hilgard had lost her own husband about a year earlier. Bernard, before his passing, had borrowed a watch that Hildegard’s husband had given to her. The timepiece however, was not found on Bernard’s body and she was intent on getting the watch back; no matter what it took. Alex, even endangered his own life in an attempt to retrieve the watch, although he had didn’t understand it; other than it was important to professor Hildegard. There was a mysterious bond Alex held with Hilgard, that added intrigue and romance to the story in subtle bits, as the plot thickened. After retrieving the watch, whenever Hilgard touched it, she had unexplainable visions. Somehow she could see Alex in pain at some point in time, future or past, she could not tell. While the watch did not trigger visions in Alex, his pains seemed to trigger something in the watch. He had his own past and present demons to fight, some from his previous life in Hungary and one by the name of MaryAnn. MaryAnn was a giddy headed girl, who did not understand or seemingly respect that Alex was a married man. Even though, ironically, his own thoughts of Hilgard never seemed to conflict with his marital status, although his admiration, on some levels, mimicked MaryAnn’s.
As their lives continued after the molecular biology congress, the death of Bernard Green remained unsolved and new information came to light about research Joe Klein argued with Green about, hours before his death. Hildegard and Alex worked in sync and found some shocking revelations that would help solve the mystery and motive of Bernard’s death, and it questioned the integrity of a few. Integrity was also a matter in the history of the watch. Dating back to previous owners, it was a trait that all owners were confronted with, as though the watch had a moral clause. The book tells two stories, one progressing in time and the other going back in time. The parallels between the stories indicate that this cosmic occurrence could have been linked to previous owners. The watch may have been mechanised to somehow defy the laws of physics and not only capture time, but instead a moment, but this watch had only known moments of pain. Mystery Time is a very interesting and unique read that will leave you inspired.
Pages: 241 | ISBN: 1432788442
LITERARY TITAN 