Trial of Intentions
In THE UNREMEMERED: Author’s Definitive Edition (EBR Review), Peter Orullian delivered a classical fantasy novel that hearkened to the stories of Tolkien, Brooks, and more. Heroic adventures, dramatic conflicts, and nuanced storytelling continue to be the hallmarks of Orullian’s writing. And he delivers all the joys of fantasy you could want.
But, Orullian has found an untapped reservoir of talent in TRIAL OF INTENTIONS (Amazon). Where THE UNREMEMBERED shines, TRIAL OF INTENTIONS transcends. Where THE UNREMEMBERED lagged or suffered, TRIAL OF INTENTIONS has displayed deftness that is far beyond its status as the second book in a series. Orullian is not just an author, but an artist. One of the rare writers, like Hemingway, Steinbeck, Lewis, and others, whose use of words, imagery, and literary techniques lifts him above his compatriots and peers into a category inhabited by the truly great.
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Slow Bullets
Price points are a topic of interest for me when it comes to publishing. Why are some stories priced as they are while others of equal length are so much cheaper or more expensive? This is especially relevant in today’s market where the opportunity to sell stories with lengths in the “middle ranges” (novellas, novelettes) becomes more attainable, when in yesteryear’s market they just weren’t viable options. It’s interesting, and sometimes sardonically humorous to me, where those prices are set. I’m one of those that thinks that shorter fiction is meant to draw readers toward your larger fiction, which is where you make the large majority of your money. So, for me, shorter fiction should be pretty cheap. Thus, even though Alastair Reynolds is one of my absolute favorite Science Fiction authors, I was really surprised and somewhat put off by the price point of this book.
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Of Noble Family
Here we are, at the end of our journey in The Glamourist Histories by Mary Robinette Kowal, with book five, OF NOBLE FAMILY (Amazon). Jane has come a long way from SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY (EBR Review). Her and Vincent have been married three years and overcome many trials together, surviving with their relationship intact. But now we discover that Vincent’s abusive father is dead, along with the eldest brother, and the inheritance falls to brother number two. Richard is unable to travel to Antigua to put to rights the family property there, and enlists Vincent to take care of loose ends. Jane, of course, insists on traveling with her husband for what promises to be a long round-trip, but a quick last family obligation to fulfill.
Unfortunately nothing goes as planned. What they find when they arrive in Antigua is a mismanaged estate and the children and mistress of Vincent’s late father–but that isn’t even the biggest shocker of all.
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Woven
Nels can’t remember a time when he didn’t want to be a knight. Unfortunately, despite his aptitude for combat and a desire to help others, Nels’ mother won’t let him apply to become a squire. So far he’s listened to his mother. But this year she’ll be gone during the festival and decides to sneak out of the house while she’s gone.
By the end of the night he wishes he’d listened to his mother. Everything goes wrong. He gets in a fight with a real knight. Offends the princess. And is found by the very man who wants to see him dead.
Princess Tyra is in love with Knight Arek. Sure he’s a little pompous, but the idea of governing the kingdom scares her, and she’d rather hand it over to a capable husband. She just needs to convince her father that Arek is the best choice. Things were going well until Arek gets in a fight with peasant boy at the festival. When the boy wins he demands his prize–a kiss from the princess–and she refuses, she’d been expecting to kiss Arek as the winner. But later that same boy comes to haunt her–as a ghost.
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Blog-off Entry Commentary: On Beginnings
Beginnings. Always been a heavy topic of discussion here at EBR. A good beginning can make a book awesome. A bad beginning can absolutely ruin a novel. Think about it. How many novels have you put down because the opening was horrendous? We’re talking about books you pick off the shelves at your local bookstore. At EBR, we’ll admit to triple digits. You?
With the The Great Self-published Fantasy Blog-off, the importance of beginnings has become a major focus for us. Many of the authors who submitted their novels have questions. Why isn’t my book selling? Why am I getting poor reviews? What can I do to improve it? Etc, etc. A huge part of the issues these self-pubbed authors are facing stems directly from the writing, but even mediocre writing can be dealt with if the story is good and the hook is set. There are so many published examples of this that it’s ridiculous.
Let’s talk about general stuff to avoid though:
- Slow pacing
- Starting too early in the story
- Description heavy
- Cliché
- History of the cosmos
- Describing your map
- Mysterious babies
- Forwards used to tell the readers that if you don’t like the book, it’s YOUR fault
Okay, maybe some of those were not so general. Still, that is by no means a comprehensive list. Nor does it mean you can’t do any of those things. The better writer you are, the more you can get away with. Current fantasy novelists prove this all the time. But let’s get into the details of some of the things we saw, and why they didn’t work.
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The Planet Mercenary RPG
It’s time for another Kickstarter recommendation!
This time around is The Planet Mercenary RPG. This is Role Playing Game designed by two good friends of Elitist Book Reviews: Howard Tayler and Alan Bahr. Do those name sound familiar? They should. Howard Tayler is best known for his Schlock Mercenary webcomic. Alan Bahr is a game designer, and one of the reviewers here at EBR. Both are great friends, and great people.
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Hexed: The Sisters of Witchdown
Luci Jenifer Inacio das Neves–Lucifer, for short–isn’t the kind of teenage girl you’d find at any given high school. Beyond the mundane such as her unusual name, living on her own in a dump of an apartment, thieving for a living, and avoiding the authorizes, there’s the fact that she knows about magic while the rest of the human population lives unawares. She makes it clear from the beginning that she doesn’t have magic, but she can use magical items. That’s where the thief part comes in: she steals these magical items from bad people.
It turns out that even though she’s not technically an adult yet, she has insider knowledge of a world few know about. So when a policeman’s daughter, Gina, is kidnapped by a witch in a mirror, only Lucifer knows how to navigate the strange and mystical in order to bring the girl home.
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Giveaway: Writers of the Future, Vol. 31
Updated 5/11/2015: Tomas D. of Houston, Texas is our winner. Congratulations! Your book will be sent out soon!
The publishers have generously provided a copy of this year’s WRITERS OF THE FUTURE , which is released today.
To enter the giveaway:
1. Email us at elitistbookreviews@gmail.com
2. Include the following in the subject line: Writers of the Future Giveaway
3. In the body of the email include your name and address.
The giveaway ends midnight (MST) on May 10th. The winner will be posted on Monday, May 11th. Good luck and May the 4th be with you!
Be sure to check out Dan’s review being posted today, as well!
The Border
Robert McCammon has never let me down. When I sit down with one of his novels, I can kick back and enjoy it because I know it’s going to be solid. THE BORDER (Amazon) was no different. I loved every page.
If you’ve followed McCammon’s career, or if you’ve just recently discovered him, you’ll notice that he stepped away from traditional Horror for a while. Recently he’s been writing the incredible Matthew Corbett series, which has some Horror elements, but they probably aren’t considered pure Horror novels. THE BORDER is Horror, pure and simple. For this reason it has been on people’s radars since announced. McCammon? Doing traditional Horror? Take all my money!
Actually, that isn’t quite right. THE BORDER isn’t just pure Horror. It’s Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Horror. That description should have McCammon fans salivating.
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Writers of the Future, Vol. 31
Writers of the Future is quite easily one of, if not the, most prestigious contests in the world for speculative short fiction. The contest runs each quarter of the year, with the top three stories in the bunch being awarded with publication in the anthology, a place-dependent cash prize, royalties on the anthology they are published in (I believe), and a free week-long writing retreat with all of the new authors published in the anthology being taught by a large cadre of impressive, published authors. It’s no small thing, this “little” contest. If you’re a new writer, you should absolutely be starting off by sending your short stories there. Start at the top, I always say. Don’t short-change yourself by starting anywhere else. If you’re not a new writer though, and you find yourself picking this anthology up, you can be sure to find lots of interesting Science Fiction to satiate your palette.
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