Review: Beren and Luthien (J.R.R. Tolkien)

I feel like an idiot for not having really leapt into Beren and Luthien before now! There are shadows of LOTR written all throughout the book. I have had this book since it released and only now got around to reading it after intending to pick out the passages from the Silmarillion in the past.

This is the show that they ought to be making for the upcoming Amazon series!

Everything about this story increases the intensity with which one reads the Lord of the Rings with (for instance, how Elrond feels about Arwen’s devotion to Aragorn—Elrond is the son of Tinuviel/Luthien who gave up her immortality for Beren.)

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Be careful with your monkeys: how to accidentally mess up with Mailchimp’s new changes

 

So Mailchimp made some very unpopular changes which affect a lot of us indie authors. Part of their appeal had been to offer free services up to 2,000 people. Some of their shenanigans have really put the screws to those of us who spend more time writing new stories than managing our lists.

A lot of folks who are better at this than me can speak to the shady maneuver the head chimps pulled to sneakily insert useless data into our lists and inflate them. if you only have 100 or so readers it is no big deal–but if you’re constantly hovering around the 2,000 subscriber mark, it makes a world of difference! What happens when your mailchimp audience/mailing list hits 2,000 members?

Review: Always Gray in WInter

As a SF/F author I go to lots of comicbook conventions with my books and meet new an interesting folks. I also blog and keep in touch with my readers and I am always somewhat fascinated with the furry community (and being from the Midwest, I’ve never seen a higher per capita number of furries at con than Fargo, ND). That’s how I was introduced to Always Gray in Winter by Mark J Engels.

The book is technically SF/military SF and for a few good reasons. As an avid fan of World of Darkness in my teen years (Werewolf the Apocalypse, Vampire the Masquerade, etc.) I appreciate shapeshifter fiction, and I had always loved that universe’s bastet (werecats,) of which Pawlina Katczynski is one (and the word play in the naming is ingenious.)

Review: Turn Coat (Dresden Files)

Finally, I got around to reading some Jim Butcher. I’m glad I did.

Turn Coat was my introduction to Harry Dresden. People have been recommending it to me for a while now since I also write some paranormal fiction and one of my series has a detective (though I modeled him more after Constantine as I hadn’t yet read any Dresden.)

Review: The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi

I recently got an audio version of Kelvyn Fernandes’ book The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi. It was the perfect adventure for my recent road trip—something that the characters themselves also seemed to find themselves on, of a sort.

Fernandes’ does a good job of crafting an original feeling fantasy world, but also keeping it familiar enough that we are not pushed out of the story. I typically enjoy anything with a goblin element and so the first tale of their plundering a goblin king’s treasure was a great hook.

Review: Black Moon by Tegon Maus

The first thing that I noticed on Tegon Maus’s second installment of the Tucker Littlefield Chronicles was the cover. Front and center on Black Moon, we have perhaps the most unassuming protagonist ever. It immediately made me wonder if Vizzini from the Princess Bride was our main character. Something about the completely normal seeming Littlefield is particularly appealing. Honestly—who puts a balding, middle aged, normal dude as their Fantasy protagonist? Honest people who’ve had enough rippling muscles and flat abs… and Tucker Littlefield is honest (and likeable, too.)

Review: Before the Fall

I got an ARC of Leah Downing’s Before the Fall to review for my blog, Inside the Inkwell. It is book #3 of the Shooting Star Series.

While this is not normally my type of book (it’s in a POV I normally hate and on the more romance-tilted side of my main genre,) I found myself really enjoying this book.

Review: Boxer Earns his Wings

Boxer Earns his Wings, by Douglas Van Dyke Jr. has a certain flair to it. It opens by putting you smack dab in the middle of action and Van Dyke does a great job of continuing the level of excitement throughout the book. It was an easy read and not overly long which is nice, but also promises more in another fun realm Van Dyke writes in.

Review of Firefly: Big Damn Hero

One of the things I wanted most for the holidays was to take a day or two and sit down with this new Firefly book. Mission accomplished. Big Damn Hero (and I’m assuming the subsequent two books) takes place immediately after the Firefly series ends and in that period of time between the show and the movie Serenity.

There were many things to love about this book by James Lovegrove. There was a fair amount of other involvement as well, including oversight by the Wedon himself.

Review: The Terran Privateer

I finally got to my review of The Terran Privateer by Glynn Stewart which has been in my TBR pile for a few months, now. Stewart writes a number of book series, like myself, and they all have beautiful covers.

Something about the early interplay in the dynamics between characters gave me a Battlestar Galactica vibe (the new version). While Terran Pivateer’s plot isn’t exactly original, that doesn’t make it less enjoyable. The indie world has a number of great SF writers, including Stewart (and also guys like Mark Cooper, and Jay Allan)…