Author: marianlthorpe

Not content with two careers as a research scientist and an educator, Marian L Thorpe decided to go back to what she’d always wanted to do and be a writer. Author of the alternative world medieval series Empire’s Legacy, Marian also has published short stories and poetry. Her life-long interest in Roman and post-Roman European history informs her novels, while her avocations of landscape archaeology and birding provide background to her settings. As well as writing and editing professionally, Marian oversees Arboretum Press, a small publishing imprint run as a collective. Marian is currently writing Empire's Heir, the sixth title in the Empire's Legacy series.

I AM SLEEPLESS: Sim 299, by Johan Twiss: A Review

i am sleeplessAidan is a prime. Primes have special powers, but each of those powers comes with a price, a defect that limits the prime in some significant way. Except for Aidan: his multiple prime gifts have not come with any defects, except that he doesn’t sleep.

Aidan, in his sleepless hours, meets secretly with General Estrago, who provides him with forbidden books for reflection and discussion, but additionally, Aidan spends his time working through the levels of the simulations designed to prepare each coterie of primes for battle against the Splicers, the creatures that sent this race from their home planet in search of safety. Aidan has reached Sim 299, the top level and a level higher than any other prime.

In attempting to conquer the challenges of Sim 299, Aidan must seek the assistance of both his friends and his enemies among the prime coteries, endangering them not only in the simulation but in real life. As the battles become all too real, Aidan uncovers a web of secrecy, betrayal and rebellion at the highest levels.

I AM SLEEPLESS: Sim 299 is science fiction for the young adult/new adult reader. It is fast-paced, and the world-building unfolds competently through both the narrative and through ‘quotes’ from a character’s book at the beginning of each chapter. The concept of cohorts of young people being trained for battle is familiar from books such as Ender’s Game, but that very familiarity helps the reader in accepting and believing in the story, which is at its heart a quest story.

A couple of things niggled at me. I would have preferred the information about each type of prime, their gifts and defects, to have been presented at the beginning of the book, not at the end: I found that trying to sort out what each prime was capable of distracted me a bit from the flow of the narrative. As well, Aidan’s world contains beasts which are apparently hybrids between (for the most part) familiar animals: the cobramoth for one. These animals are charmingly illustrated in the book (by the author’s wife), but I wanted an explanation for them. Are they genetic modifications? I would also hope for some stronger female characters in the sequel; in this first volume they seemed to me a bit more like adjuncts than full participants in the story.

I AM SLEEPLESS: Sim 299 is the first book in a series. It ends with the story not complete: Aidan and his friends have overcome one challenge, but many more lie ahead. The characters and the conflicts presented were compelling; I look forward to the next installment. My overall rating is 3 1/2 stars for this debut novel.

The author provided me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions expressed here are mine alone.

Reviewers wanted!

This may be an odd request from someone who reviews indie books, but I’m having a very hard time finding people to review my young adult/new adult e-book, Empire’s Daughter. In part, this may be because it doesn’t fit into any major genre and is difficult to classify. It takes place in a world inspired by Britain after the fall of Rome, but is not historically, geographically, or socially a direct copy. There is no magic. Human relationships cover all pairings, but there is no explicit sex.

You can check it out here:

http://www.amazon.com/Empires-Daughter-Legacy-Book-ebook/dp/B00TXFTZ3G/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24979052-empire-s-daughter?from_search=true

If you’d like to give it a try in exchange for an honest review on Amazon and/or Goodreads, let me know and I’ll send you the electronic file of your choice for Kindle, iBooks, or Kobo (basically, any of .mobi, e-pub, or PDF).

Thanks, and keep sending me review requests for your indie work (review policy here).

Marian

Name a Character Contest

I need a name for a fairly major character in my in-progress young adult adventure novel, Empire’s Hostage, the second in the Empire’s Legacy series. Empire’s Legacy is set in a world not quite our own, but that is based on Britain/Northern Europe in the years after the fall of Rome. The character I need to name is the “Viking” heir-apparent to the king of the islands of the north coast, more or less equivalent to the Hebrides.

He’s not a terribly nice character, so might not want to suggest your best friend’s name!  The name also needs to sound vaguely Scandanavian/Icelandic/Gaelic to fit in with the rest of the names in the story.

What do you win?  A mention in the acknowledgments in the book, when it sees the light of electronic day sometime next year; a free copy of it and its predecessor, Empire’s Daughter, and, if you wish, either a review of a book of your own on this website, or a beta-read of work-in-progress.

The contest remains open until I have twenty names to choose from, or to December 31. Respond in the comments section or to marianlthorpe at gmail.com

Feel free to send this out to others!

thanks,

Marian

Hunt (Freya Snow: Book One) by L.C. Mawson: A Review

Hunt (Freya Snow: Book One) by L.C. Mawson

Freya Snow, the unknowing child of magical beings, has grown up in foster homes her whole life. Moving once again in her teens, her discomfort at a new situation grows as her powers begin to emerge and she discovers that the social worker who has organized her new home is actually her magical guardian and mentor.

Freya has only one friend, an older girl at her last foster home, Alice,who is high-functioning autistic and whose disinterest in most social norms and trends Freya shares. Unsurprisingly for a child who has moved multiple times and perhaps borders on the ASD spectrum herself, Freya finds it difficult to make other friends. But at her new school she is approached by the somewhat odd Damon, who is not English and is unfamiliar with many of the cultural references of the school and society. The two become allies and then friends as Freya’s world becomes much more complex, confusing, and dangerous.

The basic premises of Hunt will be familiar to readers of young adult fantasy: the magical child from another world whose powers begin to develop in their teens, bringing them to the attention of the powers of evil and good from their own realm. But for this premise to be convincing, the magical world must be internally coherent, fully understood by the writer, and that internal coherence conveyed to the reader. In the case of Hunt, this coherence is missing. While introducing such a magical world in small hints and explanations, to build interest and plot, is a valid device, in this case it leads more to confusion than epiphany. Whether or not this stems from a lack of understanding of her own magical world by the author, or a lack of telling the story in a way that explains that magical world, is not clear.

Hunt would have benefited, in my opinion, from being a longer book, told from two points of view, the second being from the magical realm, which would have given the author an opportunity to more fully flesh out the structure and conflicts of that world. As part of a planned series, these may be revealed in later books, creating from a promising but flawed first volume a substantial and fully realized universe.

My personal rating is two-and-a-half stars for this story from a young writer who is learning her trade. I’ll be interested to see how Lucy Mawson develops as a writer over the next few years; I think she’s worth watching.

The author provided me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. The opinions here are completely my own.

How Stories Come to Be

If you’ve read my profile on this or other sites, (or if you read the post called Landscape and Story I posted a few days ago) you will know that I describe myself as (among other things) a part-time student of archaeology.  Currently I’m in the middle of an on-line course from the University of Exeter called “Landscape Archeology I”.  This week’s assignment was to look at what types of environmental archaeological evidence – things like animal bones, soil and water micro-organisms, wood – can be used to interpret either a castle or monastery site.

My response to the assignment was to write a brief story about a fictional monastery and point out all the things we knew about this monastery because of the archaeological evidence, which was fun and more interesting for me than just making a chart or list.  However…now this fictional monastery has a life of its own in my writer’s brain, and doesn’t want to go away.  It wants to tell its story more fully.

It doesn’t fit into the series I’m writing right now, but it may just fit into another planned novel/novel series. Or maybe it will be something completely new.  I don’t know yet.  I’m hoping I can use it for further assignments for the course, but regardless, it is now a real, dynamic place inside my mind, and another dimension of my created landscape(s) has made itself evident.  Now I have to see where it takes me.

Magic of the Gargoyles, by Rebecca Chastain: A Review

Magic of the Gargoyles (1)

Mika Stillwater is a mid-level earth elemental adept, specializing in quartz working. Moonlighting from her unfulfulling quarry job, she is desperately working late into the night to finish a commission that will finally fund her own shop, when a frantic, terrified baby gargoyle arrives on her balcony. Seeking help in rescuing its kidnapped siblings, new hatchlings that have been taken for black-market sales, the gargoyle has been attracted by the strength of Mika’s magic.

The opening scenes of Magic of the Gargoyles grabbed my interest and attention immediately. Nor did either wane throughout the novella. Well-paced action, interesting and strong female characters, and a fresh and imaginative take on a magical world all contribute to the strength of this story. Chastain’s writing is crisp, with enough description to flesh out her world and the people and creatures that inhabit it, and her descriptions of Mika’s magic are tactile and convincing.

I had only one tiny niggle, and that was the description of a captured hatchling as “a gross mimicry of a Thanksgiving dinner plate”. To me, the inclusion of Thanksgiving into this magical world, clearly not our own, jarred, and it took me a few minutes to return to the state of disbelief (or belief) needed to thoroughly enjoy this urban fantasy.

I would recommend this book to good readers over the age of twelve (there is some violence, no love or sex scenes). Girls especially will enjoy it, but it shouldn’t be limited to a female readership. It is also completely appropriate for adults who enjoy urban fantasy…I’m well into my sixth decade but read it in one day with great enjoyment. Magic of the Gargoyles is available from Amazon. Five stars.

The author provided me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. The opinions here are completely my own.

The Quantum Door by Jonathan Ballagh: A Review

The door into another world is as old as Alice in Wonderland and as new as Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, with many many interpretations and reiterations in between (and since). In The Quantum Door, Jonathan Ballagh’s debut novel, it is given a familiar yet fresh treatment in this middle-grades science fiction story set a very few years in the future.

Brothers Brady and Felix are attracted by a faint light in the forest behind their Vermont home, a forest that has recently been purchased and fenced with No Trespassing signs. Felix, the younger and more technologically-oriented brother, attempts to investigate with a drone, leading to the discovery of the quantum door, a door into a parallel universe fraught with menace and danger.

The door has been constructed by Nova, a strong, resourceful female character who appears to be roughly the same age as the boys. With her robotic, AI dog – a canidroid? – Achilles, she is attempting to find a safe place away from the Elder Minds, the artificial, evolving intelligences that now rule her world.

The Quantum Door is imaginative and fast-paced, introducing young readers to many of the classic science fiction themes. The science and the technology is realistic and feasible, building on current knowledge, devices and systems. The scenes of the underworld where the Neurogeists, constructed creatures that house the reprogrammed minds of transgressors of the Elder Minds’ rules, are resonant of many dystopias portrayed in text and film, and yet manage to be fresh horror.

A mention must be given to the outstanding illustrations by Ben J. Adams. Dark and fractured, they convey the dystopian side of this novel perfectly.

The reading level and story complexity are also worthy of mention: they are appropriate to the age group to which this book is aimed, without talking down in any way. This is a book that in my previous career in education I would have been recommending to middle-grade teachers without hesitation. Five stars to this outstanding debut novel, and here’s hoping for a sequel.

This is an independent review of copy of the book provided by the author. The opinions stated here are mine alone.

Seralized Fiction Bloggers – A Question for us All

If you’re publishing your book in installments on WordPress, like I do at empireshostage.com, here’s a question – or rather a two part question – for you:

  1. Is there a blog where such serializations can be listed, so they can be fairly easily found?
  2. If there isn’t, is it something that would be useful?

This question comes out of a on-line discussion I was having with a couple of other bloggers. I was thinking of something that was limited to blogs, rather than work on Wattpad or Inkitt or other sites…they have their own ways of promoting and advertising.

Anyhow…this is a serious question, and I’d appreciate serious answers, and re-blogs if possible.  My goals, as many of you know, are to assist in the promotion and dissemination of indie writing, and I’d be willing to get something started if there is a need or an interest.  I’m not looking to make money; thankfully, I don’t need to.

thanks

Marian

Which cover?

Currently I am using two covers for Empire’s Daughter…one is the professionally-done cover that I use on the commercial (paid) version of the novel, and one is my own work that I use for the Wattpad version (for copyright reasons).  I’d like to ask you…which do you prefer?  It will let me know whether or not to buy a cover for Empire’s Hostage when it comes out.  Here are my two covers – with the peregrine falcon theme – and the professional cover of Empire’s Hostage.  Please let me know what you think!

Empire's Daughter cover500x700edpperegrine