aviary-image-1631252080947

The Most Average Book Ever – a review of Dark Passage by MJ Putney

by with No Comment FantasyHistorical Fiction

Guys, we did it. We found a perfectly average book!

I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but here we are. This book is perfectly balanced with its highs and its lows. This leaves me genuinely not knowing what to think of this book, but here we go I guess.

Victoria Mansfield returns from 1940 with her fellow magically inclined friends, whom helped out at Dunkirk to evacuate soldiers, and they return to Lackland academy to pretend to suppress their magical abilities and secretly meet at night to train their prowess. Soon it is the Christmas holidays, and the students must face the repercussions of embracing their magical talent. However, upon their return, their magical help is needed yet again in 1940 to evacuate a scientist imprisoned by Nazis in France, who holds the greatest medical discovery of his time in his hands.

One complaint I had with its predecessor was that the time travel aspects were barely foreshadowed, but in this second book it did a far better job. The plot was intertwined much greater with the connections between 1803 and 1940, historically and geographically, and it made for a very cohesive and satisfying plot. This was absolutely the strongest part of the novel, especially in the second half of the novel. This made the worlds too feel far more built out and cohesive.

Except for the subplots. Some subplots were inserted that had little to no connections to the events of the rest of the novel, and one of these subplots was practically useless. It was a couple splitting up and then getting back together after they realised how much they truly loved each other. The main plot points did nothing to enhance this, because they did it way too naturally. This is the worst kind of subplot – where you can pick it up and place it in any story and it works. No events contributed to this development once, at least not frequently enough.

Furthermore, the magic system felt very clunky in here. There were some moments where I thought they did make sense – such as their powers strengthening and they ways they could channel each others’ powers, but then there were moments where characters suddenly realised they had new powers or they just popped up out of the blue in the lead up to the climax as a solution for all that was going on. That’s a narrative sin we like to call the deus ex machina. There was no development whatsoever for Cynthia to casually say she has the powers of persuasion!

What’s just as weird is how reliant on dialogue this novel was, especially later into the book. The word count could be reduced significantly if they just made dialogue exchanges far more concise! I’m pretty sure the characters spent an entire chapter sitting outside of their mirror passage planning what to do and then doing it. Situations happened like this multiple times. Just do a timeskip and have the thoughts of the main character lay over the plan that was laid down and the shock if the plan goes to shit! It isn’t rocket science!

A final, very average point of discussion is the character arcs. Many of these felt short lived or not deep enough to make a significant change to the main characters of Tory and Cynthia. I can identify two somewhat minor ways that Cynthia changed and no significant ways that Tory changed over the course of the novel. The lessons they learn for the feats that they undertake are very small. I can only just accept them as character arcs.

Just as much as I can minimally say that this book was good. I didn’t hate it, not did I like it. It is about at split-down-the-middle average as average could get.

Dark Passage gets a score of 2.5/5. Perfectly balance, not as all books should be.

Yours in writing

Amy

aviary-image-1629438158449

Knock-off fantasy Star Wars – a review of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

by with No Comment Fantasy

I love me a good urban fantasy. It’s these kind of books that made me fall in love with storytelling, from the light and fluffy Rainbow Magic middle grade series to Percy Jackson and Brigid Kemmerer’s Elementals series. Those last two novels even got me into my love writing and motivated me to become an author!

So I decided to take on the next big young adult urban fantasy series of our time. And honestly, I am very confused after reading that first book.

City of Bones takes place in New York, in which young Clarissa “Clary” Fray has recently starting seeing things going on. Fae, lycanthropes, demons. And the Shadowhunters, a group meant to keep the nastiest of them from wreaking havoc on the mortal realm. After her mum gets abducted from such demons, Clary discovers her hidden lineage and connection the Shadowhunters and must unlock her inner potential to save her.

Except, she doesn’t. Everyone in the book says she goes out and does stuff, crediting her for four times as much as what she actually does. For the protagonist of this series, I’d assume, Clary doesn’t do shit! She spends more time looking at her crush Jace defend her than she actually does trying to help out. She claims she is so desperate to help her mother out, but not desperate enough to stop spectating and actually do something. Furthermore, she would be considered a Mary Sue if it weren’t for her sharp tongue, grudges and hypocritical help-outs. Otherwise, she is barely considered a personality. I couldn’t tell you anything about her except her barely touched on hobbies of reading and drawing.

I don’t think the plot helped her out either. It seemed to rely on other people doing things for her – information from this warlock here, having these celestials help her out there, making sure Jace is always protecting her… Some of the things this plot did felt very bizzare in terms of narrative, and boy I have a big one. They literally pulled a Star Wars. What part of it? Well, that’s spoiler territory, but if you read it then you know what I mean. When this happened in the book, when the “Star Wars” was revealed, I literally laughed out loud. This was supposed to be one of the most dramatic parts in the book, apparently, and I burst into giggles behind my mask on the bus. It literally felt like a joke and Clare took it so seriously!

But one thing it sort of had going, maybe the novel’s only redeeming quality, was the worldbuilding. You could tell this was where the most attention was put into, the careful thoughts about which areas and cultures of New York would feature which kind of magical creatures living in plain site. Even the creatures themselves had potential. I really enjoyed seeing how each parts connected, the mundane with the magical. And they featured very interesting takes for sure.

Too bad it was hidden behind a mediocre writing style. It was laced with filler words, pop culture references that will date it, and poor attempts at picking apart Clary’s mind deep enough. The style just doesn’t feel like it’s making an effort enough. It is such a shame because I know this works! I’ve seen concepts of this nature done really well, and City of Bones is in its shadow because its writing style among other more terrible things let it down. Dimension 20’s D&D campaign, The Unsleeping City, shares similar vibes with City of Bones and yet outdoes it in all aspects. If you want fairies and demons in New York, just go watch that. It is very easy to watch even for people new to D&D.

Apparently the rest of the books in the Shadowhunters series are far better, but book one has left me completely unmotivated. I am left genuinely wondering how this series got so loved from such a poor start.

City of Bones gets a score of 2/5. I’ve never read a more average book than this to date. And then Star Wars happened.

Yours in writing

Amy

aviary-image-1628845230946

Harmonious End – A review of Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer

by with No Comment ContemporaryFantasy

I’ve never finished a novel within a week. That’s either indicative of a short page count or a really good read, especially when my average for a really good book is two weeks.

So how did finishing Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer within a week fair up?

In the final installment of the Elementals series we focus on the oldest brother of the Merrick family, Michael. With the Guides seeking to exterminate his family and his allies and their presence looming ever closer, his concern of keeping everyone safe has him losing sleep. But as his entire street is set on fire by the Guides, his girlfriend Hannah is put at risk and Michael himself is suspected of arson. He must choose whether him and his loved ones should run and hide or stand up against the Guides before the entire county gets subject to a warped perspective of the greater good.

This would be the first book in the series to go outside of a high school and the formal classed “young adult” perspective, instead being classed more as an adult perspective as the audience grew up. But it was an interesting adult perspective, as the two main characters, Mike and Hannah, became adults and acting parents arguably too soon. This really highlighted and heightened the stakes when each of them had so much at risk. From the get go I was thoroughly engaged with what was present because I knew the stakes from the first word. This made for very action packed and harrowing moments. It really felt like the final book of the series as a result.

Kemmerer continues to succeed with her characters and their relationships, even without the typical narrative of finding love but instead having a preexisting relationship be explored. There is something really relatable and incredible about a story of losing everything you’ve built up, as a reality or as a threat. The inner thoughts of each characters’ POV were very insightful and engaging, especially seeing their respective struggles.

In terms of the plot, this plot was probably the best of the whole series. As mentioned before, the stakes felt so real here. I also liked how various plot points from the rest of the series were tied in to this – the arsonry from Book 2, Hunter’s family involvement from Book 3, Adam and Tyler from Book 4, and of course the grounds based in Book 1. I would have hoped that the partners of the main brothers were a bit more involved with the plot rather than some of them being supportive and this book being the big finale – especially Becca, being a Fifth herself. But I was still very pleased with how it ended and won’t complain about that.

In fact, I don’t think I have any complaints. This is rare. Other 5 star books on my site would have very minor complaints, but my only complaints as seen previously is minor squared. It is rarely that a final installment in a series would go so right. But this one did.

Sacrifice gets a score of 5/5. I couldn’t think of a better end to this series which I literally grew up through high school and university with.

Now we gotta rate the whole series! You’ll also catch my reviews of the first 2 books which I read before my blogging journey, albeit short.

Storm – 5/5, loved the characters, loved the plot. A breath of fresh fantasy air for 17 year old me.

Spark – 4/5, characters started to lack a little bit, but this plotline was something else.

Spirit – 4/5, absolutely incredible until the climax was rushed.

Secret – 3.5/5, an amazing blossoming romance that sadly wasn’t tied with the overarching plotline.

Sacrifice – 5/5, brand new and mature takes on pre existing elements to conclude the series.

If you want romance with high stakes set in a contemporary fantasy environment, this is the series for you. Kemmerer expertly portrays romances with deep connections in high risk settings across all books in this series. She understands her characters well, even greater when they have connections to their powers and how they are personified. While the plots get mixed up in places, the stakes are always very real. Even for it being a fantasy, it feel so damn real. This will definitely be one of my favourite series of all time. I cannot recommend it enough.

The Elementals series gets a score of 4/5. This one’s a keeper.

Yours in writing

Amy

aviary-image-1627693966919

With A Pinch of Salt – A review of Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

by with No Comment Fantasy

I was excited to get to this book – the final book in what I quickly assumed from book one would be one of my most favourite series of all time – the Reckoners series! With the first two books being highly rated in my eyes, I jumped into reading Calamity with hype.

But you know how they say that sequels don’t quite hit the original, especially with a third sequel? Why is it that the third one is the most frequently the worst in the series? But I don’t mean one star when it comes to this book, anyway.

With his mentor and leader having been corrupted by the sheer nature of Epics, David Charleston steps up, whether he wanted to or not, as the new leader of the Reckoners. And he’s got plans. His knowledge that the Epics’ descent into darkness isn’t permanent sends him not only on a quest to make his mentor safe again but to stop the one responsible for their corruption, Calamity. His quest takes him to Ildithia, the former Atlanta, as he tries to discover the weaknesses of the Epics around him not to kill them, but to have them face their fears to bring out the inner good inside of them.

So about that Calamity, the main antagonist… the way he was defeated, in the most spoiler free way possible, was pathetic. You know how villain monologues are frowned upon? This was the reversal. A hero monologue. That somehow defeated the main antagonist. After a high action climax for it to slow down in such a way, it was just plain BS! This was not what I came to read this series for. It made the conclusion feel absolutely hollow and feeling like there was a catch, a plot twist, a rogue’s sneak attack. But nothing came. For a series conclusion!

In spite of that, there was one character’s conclusion and character arc that really shone in this book. I didn’t really like this character too much in the first book, and she grew on me in book two. But in book three, Megan Tarash was at her best. The way her arc concluded made me thoroughly enjoy her, which I didn’t even think would be possible. She went from average to great. Books two and three really added some depth and points of interest to her which really shone in book three especially. Other characters were very nicely explored as well, even less serious characters showing some depth that previously felt hidden.

What also shone like an oily pimple was how much Sanderson didn’t understand his audience, more so how smart they were. For some reason, he withheld plans that David had made and their intentions from the audience even though the story is told from his perspective. This happened on multiple occasions where the solution to this plan we didn’t know got built up like crazy and it made for cheap plot twists. On the other hand, there were some plot points which were so obvious it was ballistic that David hadn’t noticed so either. It was almost like I was proven done when one plotpoint and plan David made went right over my head, and to forgive me Sanderson made a point that I noticed a quarter of the book earlier than the main character. And sometimes I’d forgive this, but not this time.

Still, none of that took anything away from the worldbuilding, what this series excels at. The world didn’t quite expand in the way that I expected, but it was still fascinating to see it occur in such a way. The powers, abilities and origins of the superhumans known as Epics were the focus of this worldbuilding here. I wasn’t quite a fan of how much it focussed on two Epics’ abilities more than the rest, but it was still very insightful to see how everything connected. If I wound up satisfied with anything in this book, it would be getting closure on the nature and abilities of Epics.

The same can’t be said about the narrative.

Calamity gets a score of 3.5/5. While retaining the core of the series, it leaves me wanting more in a bad way.

And what’s this? Another series done on this blog? Well I suppose I should review the whole thing now!

Steelheart – 5/5, an action packed start to a very unique series.

Firefight – 5/5, more great worldbuilding and the depth of the characters was incredible.

Calamity – 3.5/5, a conclusion that works well but is not quite satisfying.

Right from this start I knew I was in for something great with the worldbuilding and the uniqueness of it alone. I haven’t seen any piece of media quite like it with such high action and stakes. As many reviewers had previous said, it’s a blockbuster in book form. The characters were also of great interest, various ones getting their chance to shine in many different ways throughout. My only major complaint would be how it finished. I wished it was just as engaging, full of stakes and just overall exciting as the rest of the series.

The Reckoners Trilogy gets a score of 4/5. This series is a keeper.

Yours in writing

Amy

aviary-image-1626161765198

Just Watch Hadestown Instead – a review of Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan

by with No Comment Fantasy

Riordan was my inspiration to start creative writing, almost as soon as I finished Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief when I was 10 1/2 years old. His Heroes of Olympus series still stands as one of my favourites and shares a place of pride on my bookshelf along with the Percy Jackson series.

And then I picked up this book.

In this short story collection, Percy Jackson takes the tales of famous Greek Heroes into a modern lens and recites the tales of ones as famous as Hercules or as underrated as Atalanta.

I didn’t think I’d have big issues with any of Rick Riordan’s work, especially his character voices, but I for some reason did have a problem with Percy’s voice in this one. The modern lens he put things through was framed as the reality to what happened and it broke immersion way too much. The funny quips and dialogue between characters was fine, but I loathed every time he directly put something from modern society into the plot. We know there wasn’t an ancient greek walmart, and so every time I saw that I just blinked.

But the odd thing is, I was fine and thoroughly enjoyed Percy’s voice with the origin stories of the Greek Gods. I don’t know why it doesn’t translate well here when talking about Greek Heroes. Maybe it’s the fact that each hero gets stripped of the core of their stories as they get turned into what feels like Tom and Jerry episodes, making fun of violence and tragedy.

Orpheus was a key example of this one, and his tale was also told in my favourite musical Hadestown. It wasn’t told in a traditional sense either. Instead of having his story with 21st century twists in it, it took place during the industrial revolution. The medium of the industrial setting added more to the story than I can say in Hadestown, talking about how with music and artistic expression we lose our senses of self and love.

Percy Jackson’s take just turned him into a generic husk of a D&D bard. Like not even with emotion and character like all the best bards in D&D do have – this is the kind of bard that gets memed over being a douchebag with a guitar but on a battlefield. That is not Orpheus.

Few of these heroes seemed to keep their substance or their cores with the way that Percy referred to them, or if they are it is done so as a side note. This is to the point that I believe in some cases it genuinely disrespects the core of the Greek Hero. Rarely were the hardships key to the hero’s’ journey communicated as harrowing. Except perhaps a harrowingly long journey. This was fine with the Gods and their menial issues and the power they held, but the purpose of a mortal hero is within their suffering. And it is made a joke.

In the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus novels, Riordan and his narrative voice knew when to take things seriously and when to emphasise the suffering and the comedy within the tale of these heroes. There wasn’t anything of this nature present, as if the core of Percy Jackson had gone.

So yeah, this book stripped the concept of Greek Heroes INCLUDING Percy Jackson himself. It’s only redeeming quality is the dialogue quips between characters without 21st century product placement. Those were funny.

Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes gets a score of 2/5. This was just a marginally funny classical studies shitpost.

Yours in writing

Amy

blog (2)

The Magic System of Aster’s Coda

by with No Comment Aster's Coda

One of my favourite tropes of all time is magic connected to emotion, especially when it’s rage induced. So yes, I am a big fan of the Wild Magic Barbarian in 5e. This trope is also seen in RWBY and Brigid Kemmerer’s Elementals series. Comment any other media you’ve spotted this trope in!

If you commented my book, Aster’s Coda: Exposure, you are a psychic.

Magic, or casting as it is referred to in my series, I find to be reflective of the character wielding the power. I wanted to create a magic system that reflected this, in part inspired by how magic works in Dungeons and Dragons. I have characters based off of Sorcerers, Druids and Wizards in my novel, just to name a few. Additionally, with my novel taking place between Three Worlds I wanted the magic between each world to have a particular distinctness while still being versatile.

Let’s explore.

Each caster has a particular source or domain from which they get their power from, and while it seems to limit what they can do it leaves room for the magic to be more versatile in each domain. Across the Three Worlds power can be drawn from the elements, nature, sources from energy and even cosmic concepts. The integration between the Three Worlds has even enabled variations and amalgamations on casting.

Let’s start with Faetos. The main power to come from this world is Myst, pure energy which has enabled the Three Worlds to connect in a chain. Casters from here use sorcery, which is defined by being born with the ability to cast in a certain domain and harnessing inner power to put their source to use. Because of this, casting a spell too powerful can be taxing on the user and injury can further weaken the strength of their power. Sorcery is the most malleable casting type and users can forge exact effects from their energy, but the domains they control are typically limited. It is rare in Faetos to not be born with sorcery abilities, but it is mainly used in mundane and daily life. Pure casters usually require many years study of their own abilities and would typically only use their casting in battle.

Corryn is different. They use derivation, which involves drawing power from an external source, most commonly nature. While in proximity of their domain, be it water or the earth, they can control or absorb the element for their use when casting. Similar to the use of spell slots in D&D, this power is expended like pouring water from a bucket. Any derivation caster can store the same amount of energy, but inexperienced casters expelled their power far more inefficiently. Casting in Corryn is typically dependent on the species, but those who can’t cast have the ability to wield Powerstones, which work in a similar fashion and can cast force, necrotic, radiant, lightning and psychic damage. Derivation users can also draw energy from powerstones.

That leaves Earth. Nobody native to Earth is born with the ability to cast, but connections to the Three Worlds have left many deities interested in the lives of people on Earth. Therefore, the only way to cast if you’re human is through bargaining. Deals can be made through deities, malevolent and benevolent, to gain the ability to cast based on the domain of the deity. Similarly to derivation, their power is also a well but it can grow with the bond to a deity. Still, few humans have gotten the ability to bargain for magic. Less than 0.5% of Earth’s population have had the chance. However, bargaining is also of interest to Faetos and Corryn for either the power hungry or those in service of deities specific to those realms.

Woah, bit of an info dump, but more will come to light when reading Exposure and the rest of the series. Check it out next week when it releases, and be sure to pop into the livestream on July 22nd!

Yours in writing

Amy

blog (3)

Free Snippet of Aster’s Coda: Exposure!

by with No Comment Aster's Coda

It’s release month! Woohoo!

Because you guys are eager, and if not, then this will get you, I have now got a free snippet available for you to check out here! In these chapters, we get introduced to Abby Tacker, Beauclark high and a few more key characters twisting around the fingers of her fate.

Once you’re done, you can go here to preorder a copy – now in paperback too! It comes out July 22nd!

Want to join the hype on release day? At noon NZT – that’s 8pm EST or 5pm PST – I’m doing a release day livestream! We got an hour of chatting, games and more in honour of my book baby!

Hope to see you there

Yours in writing

Amy

blog (1)

Rotorua – the Setting of Aster’s Coda: Exposure

by with No Comment Aster's Coda

People underestimate the power and importance of a setting within a novel, film or any story. Most people think it is just a backdrop for a story to be set upon, a stage to perform on. I digress.

You won’t be able to tell a story the same when it is set elsewhere. The backdrop may be quiet, but it speaks volumes when you ask about it.

And the main setting of my novel coming out in 3 weeks, Aster’s Coda: Exposure, I found to be subtly crucial in the way I told my tale.

I wanted my novel to be set close to home, partly because literally every contemporary and urban fantasy takes place in America and I didn’t want that. But I wasn’t going to use my hometown in spite of my ties to South Auckland. I found a location I liked much more and made much more significant to the story of Abby Tacker.

Rotorua. Located in the middle of New Zealand’s North Island, it is a total tourist hotspot. I’ve visited there three times and always want to go back. If only my bank account would give me a break…

There were three key things that made me chose Rotorua over some other place in New Zealand or even the world; culture, nature and adventure. Funny enough, they are three roots to the Aster’s Coda series. Let’s explore that, shall we?

Culture

As I said in last week’s post, culture and diversity is one of the many things I always consider writing and building my worlds around. I love books that take place in new societies, unexplored or underrepresented cultures as inspiration for fantasy settings. I grew up surrounded by many cultures, so it is only fair I represent them in my works.

And I don’t think anywhere in New Zealand features its culture better than Rotorua. Two of the three times I went there I visited sites showcasing the rich culture of our natives, the Maori people. These sites were villages of days past and ones that still exist today, like Whakarewarewa. It gives an insight and educational experience into the culture of the local iwi (tribes) and significances of their many customs. My personal favourite has always been going inside their local Marae via karakia, that moment alone always gives me chills.

So how does this translate to Exposure? Not in a very explicit way, but some of these cultural aspects are evident. Beauclark High, the fictional school my main character goes to, features a diverse and culturally rich makeup of students. Additionally, themes present in Maori culture are evident in my novel, including genealogy, power and prestige.

Nature

Nature speaks volumes about how a world may look to me. Much can be said about a location simply describing how the trees look. Weather is a particularly underrated aspect of storytelling here.

Rotorua’s nature is almost otherworldly in of itself, most defined by the smell the moment you enter the region – the smell of mud and sulphur. Rotorua is the geothermal hotspot of New Zealand, with a big tourist attraction being the hot mud pools and geysers. I wouldn’t recommend getting close to any of them, some people have died by falling into the mud pools. Spas have made use of this location with the mineral streams too. Another place equally out of a fantasy world is their Redwood forest. I remember first stepping into there and instantly feeling like I had stepped into a high fantasy world.

Nature is key to the surroundings of the world and the casting that people in the Three Worlds do – being beautiful, natural and yet volatile.

Adventure

Adventure and action is a frequently used trope or subgenre in fantasy books, like in mine. High octane fights and bloodshed await!

Well, not quite in Rotorua. I’m not even a thrill seeker myself, but I know that Rotorua is one place you can get some action. Bush walks, a luge track, zorb balls… and this is just to name the more common! There’s plenty to do indoors and out to get your blood pumping!

And with all the highly regarded fights present in my novel, need I say more?

So maybe once this lockdown is over, this can be one place you can visit! See if you can spot locations mentioned in my novel!

Yours in writing

Amy

blog

Behind the Cover of Aster’s Coda: Exposure

by with No Comment Aster's Coda

With my physical copy having been sent to me (you can check out my reaction here) it was only appropriate for me to share more about it here. Today I’m diving into the inspiration behind my cover and design process.

It should also be worth mentioning that it’s available for preorder now and will release on July 22nd! Learn more about Aster’s Coda: Exposure and preorder it now!

The book cover is the most important part of any book or its release. Nobody has listened to the age old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” because today it doesn’t apply to books. It is a key marketing tool and a key way to portray what is within the pages of your book, your world, your story.

During my time writing this story on Wattpad in its early stages I made my own covers with amateur sketches and word document screenshots. I was totally chasing trends at the time, with magic swirling around sketches of my main character. I’m certain I changed that cover every four months in its lifetime.

But since I published my novel on Wattpad, Exposure has changed a lot. Thus, so did my opinion on what it should look like as a proper book cover.

I instantly knew that I wanted a book cover that was minimalist. No people on the cover – that was my priority as I knew the people would look nothing like my own characters. Frankly, I couldn’t even draw my own characters properly for a while. I was very paranoid about any photo-realistic depictions of my book being incorrect, so I decided that something minimalist and abstract would be the best approach.

My next priorities were with the colour scheme. I had three colours in mind in very specific ways – black background, white font and blue content. I was definitely inspired in part by the covers of Jenna Moreci’s The Savior’s series and similar covers.

But then it came to deciding what the content would be. I knew I wanted lightning, but not as the primary icon. I pitched a few symbols and things to my designer, and she was fond of the symbol you see on the cover now. The three triangles, one outlined and two solid. It becomes a symbol frequently used to represent the Three Worlds and the connection between them. And a little bit more…

But that’s not for me to say, but for you to find out! Preorder my novel now and get ready for release day on July 22nd!

Yours in writing

Amy

Untitled design

5 Things That Inspired Aster’s Coda

by with No Comment Aster's Coda

Creativity doesn’t exist in a void, and neither did Aster’s Coda. Here’s what inspired its creation:

Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus

Rick Riordan was probably one of the first authors that encouraged me to pursue writing outside of school, for fun.

There was something about his style that just resonated with me as a kid, and my early writing cringely copied his style. And when I finally picked up the Heroes of Olympus series in early high school, I fell in love with his writing all over again.

RWBY

I can’t think of anyone else who does fight scenes like the team behind RWBY.

Their fights are always a real excitement to watch (minus Volume 5…) because they combine nearly everything that is needed to make a fight stand out! Each character has different weapons, fighting styles and powers to supplement their prowess. The environment is just as pivotal to the battle as the people in it. And of course, a banging soundtrack to pair it to, narrative stakes and hitting emotional beats in breathers. What more could you want?

Twenty One Pilots

If Aster’s Coda became a movie or TV franchise, I’d want Twenty One Pilots to write the score for it.

Initially writing Exposure, I found almost every song by the band correlated to a scene throughout the novel. Of course, I found many more artists who could apply better, but Twenty One Pilots started this off and still have songs applying to scenes!

I don’t know if this is spoiler territory or not, but Fairly Local is the theme song for Geoff and Doubt is the song I pair up with the “darkest hour” scene. This is some examples in book one alone, and the way some of these lyrics relate to my characters is insanity.

Dungeons and Dragons

This was more of an influence that came up in my edits, but an inspiration nonetheless.

Hey, that was a D&D pun.

D&D really helped me reiterate the fighting styles and the roles each character has when they fight. While I don’t roll for initiative when I write fight scenes, it is great to know what each person’s capabilities are when comparing them to D&D classes.

Let’s take the character Jada. I’m writing a fight scene for her in the sequel, and D&D helped me flesh out her abilities well. Her D&D class would be a Wizard, with the Bladesinger as her subclass. While magic is her main feature when it comes to her abilities, those can still be used to help her fight. For instance, with a revamped version of a Shadow Blade spell.

See what classes you think my other characters are when it’s time to read my book.

Iron Man

Though it has since developed far from being an Iron Man knock off, this is where the origins of Aster’s Coda began. I wasn’t actively paying attention to it at the time when I was 12, but I did wonder why there weren’t female heroes shown in the same way as Iron Man.

And so Abby was born a cyborg! But much has changed since then. She and I have grown with our writing styles and developed something truly wonderful. The start of something unlike any of these things that inspired my novel combined.

Hope this inspired you to pick up a copy of Exposure this July! Learn more here!

Yours in writing

Amy

20210516_172836

Poor Unfortunate Souls – A review of Bane and Shadow by Jon Skovron

by with No Comment Uncategorised

This book was published before its predecessor, Hope and Red, was reviewed on my blog. And somehow, many of the fixes were already implemented.

Spoiler alert: the sequel is better!

Hope and Red have split apart again in their missions to rid the Empire of Storms from the selfish wrath of the biomancers. Hope takes to the seas as the captain Dire Bane, aiming to build her forces strong enough to take out the biomancers once and for all. Meanwhile Red joins the nobility of Stonepeak, a disguise so the biomancers can keep their new experiment in check. This leaves Red plenty of time to plot against them. Both face challenges as they learn of the new plots the biomancers are pulling; a “shadow demon” assassin killing seeming innocents, girls being ripped from their families and herded to abandoned islands, the arrival of foreigners deemed threats to the empire. All while Hope and Red still seek freedom and justice they’ve yearned for in their year apart.

My initial complaints regard the first book in the series was that the fight scenes had next to no detail in them. I’m glad that Skovron found a way to solve this with plenty more ways to create action and stakes. High sea ship vs ship fights, political tension, mental tension. There was a lot of variety of points of conflict present in this book that always kept me on the edge of my seat. I honestly didn’t think I’d be engaged by maritime warfare, but I genuinely found those parts of the book among my favourites!

I also loved seeing the depth of the characters Hope and Red now they had matured and separated. Maybe it was how their character arcs this round felt realer than the first time, especially Hope. Her character on her own didn’t sit with me in book one as she did in book two. She felt far more engaging this time! And of course I still fall for Red’s charm. But I loved seeing such dark situations either faced and how their brains ticked in their respective places.

The secondary characters were thoroughly entertaining in this novel too. Even some characters that appeared for no more than two chapters had so much going on with them it was hard to not forget them! They were so distinct from each other, reminiscent of NPCs in a tabletop RPG campaign. My only complaint is that there weren’t any villains of the like – the biomancers felt like copy-paste boys in white robes. But all the good guys and neutral parties were incredibly distinct and zany that I can’t pick a favourite!

And now comes the main downpoint. Similar to how fight scenes were treated in the previous books, there were some emotionally harrowing scenes and moments that weren’t given enough time. They barely left an impact on me because they barely had enough pages to let it sink in. I wanted that dread to sink in! But the plot had to move forwards sadly. And there were some big whammies facing it too – character deaths! One reaction to a character’s death barely lasted a page! I wasn’t even sure if they were truly dead! The strong emotional realisations that some characters had just felt like an afterthought in some cases as well.

To finish off, after reading book one I was honestly very unsure if I would read the rest of the series or not. But now I’m very glad I did. Bring on Blood and Tempest!

Bane and Shadow gets a score of 4/5. Real characters and real engagement, a fantastic step up from Book One.

Yours in writing

Amy

20210516_172912

Queer Airbender Twin – A review of Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

by with No Comment ContemporaryFantasy

I know Nick isn’t Aang, but that was how I had to describe him to my friends because that prospect excited me so much, okay?

And it still excites me because it was pretty well written.

Nick Merrick, one of four Elemental siblings, has more than just his air manipulation powers to keep secret; he’s gay. He’s got the hots for his cover-story girlfriend’s dance partner, but not the guts to come out even to his own twin. But tension rise between Nick and his posed girlfriend Quinn as not only is her situation at home worsening, but she’s hanging out with a sworn enemy of his family. Not to mention Nick trying to prioritise protecting his family in case a bloodthirsty Guide comes around over his own wants and dreams…

This story the more that I read it felt personal to Nick rather than the overarching plot of the Merricks vs the Guides. Am I saying it’s a bad thing? Kind of, but kind of not. It only really made an impact at the start and the finish. In the previous book, Spirit, the Guides were front, centre and a threat the entire time, ready to wreak havoc on the Merrick brothers and their allies. Here, they were established at the start to be there and then popped out of their hiding hole at the climax. There was barely a presence of them there for them to be so close to the climax of the series. It felt disappointing that the Guides weren’t really covered in this book. In fact, the Elemental side of things was hardly tied to it at all. Just kind of flavour.

Regardless, the intimate story that was there was done incredibly. The romance between Nick and Adam was downright magical. Kemmerer just does romance so well full stop! I can strongly say that my list of OTPs is very small. Nick and Adam – Nidam? – was just added to this list. They compliment each other so well and their relationship just felt so real and safe and pure. The emotions and language used made me feel so damn warm inside, no wonder I was shivering on the cold dank bus while reading this!

More on Nick, after reading this story he’s become my favourite of the brothers so far, if not my favourite character of the whole series. I feel like this book was also titled very appropriately; Secret. It was a key theme to Nick’s development; the secret that he’s an air elemental, the secret that he’s gay, the secret that he wants to move out of town. All of that was well reflected on his fear of going against what society expects him to be. Though it went so specific, it was a struggle that still felt universal and real. I understood him well solely on how he was written, how rooted he was in his fears. I feel like society is an obstacle for all of us to overcome. We often forget to look at ourselves, and I’m glad we saw that in Nick.

All that said, I started this series in 2017 when I read Storm in Year 12. Now it’s 2021, and you bet Sacrifice is only 4 more books on my TBR pile away. 5 years. 5 books. We’re on the home stretch now, Merricks. Bring on the final installment of the Elementals series!

Secret gets a score of 3.5/5. Chances were lost to tie the world to the plot better, but the plot was still something fantastic without it.

Yours in writing

Amy

ProShot_20210409_193857

There Wasn’t Even a MacGuffin- A Review of Realm of the Gods by Tamora Pierce

by with No Comment Fantasy

We’ve hit a feat guys. I have officially reviewed an entire series on this blog. It took about 2 years, but here we are!

And I have to say, I’m not sure what to feel. It’s the final installment of the Wild Magic series’ fault. The rest of the series was solid, gracing in the above average scoring for the first three installments. Book 4 hit below average.

As the once emperor mage Ozorne has awakened the god of Chaos, the world of Tortall has never been more under threat as immortals slaughter the lands. Daine and her mentor Numair must stop their enemy from bringing the all terrifying god into the world before it wounds up destroyed.

But oops! They got into the Realm of the Gods and the only way they can stop Ozorne is to get out again!

And I mean it was an oopsie. The literal 7 out of 10 chapters spent getting back to the mortal realm only served as an inconvenience and an excuse to meet Daine’s godly dad and a platypus with a “not Australian” accent. There was literally no other purpose to being in the realm, no powers for Daine to learn, no powerful magic MacGuffin to retrieve. It was like Lord of the Rings without the ring – just the walking. The world had peaked my interest and I literally got nothing out of it. Except dialogue between councils that went in circles to decide the fate of the characters for them. The solution would have been to just take this book’s climax and tack it onto the end of book 3. Appropriately, because I hated how book 3 ended.

Next complaint I have was the Daine’s character for once was inconsistent and too immature for a 16 year old. One minute she had a bloodlust and the very next she lost it and turned nurturing. Her bizarre changes in emotions literally felt like they were there to make the plot interesting (it didn’t). And the moral she had to learn in this whole book was not to blame creatures for acting the way that they do, sometimes it is just in nature, and that they should be forgiven. But she did it from the start? It’s like she unlearnt it in one chapter just to learn it again. What should’ve happened was the flat arc that changed the supporting characters instead.

And now here comes my biggest problem with this book. Where the hell did the romance with Numair come from? Literally the only foreshadowing that this would happen was him blushing at Daine when her clothes were torn and he could see her body. Daine showed no recognition of having feelings for him until they kissed and she was suddenly head over heels. And not to mention the moral grounds this crossed. Their 12 year age difference when she is under 20 years old, for example. And how Numair first met Daine when she was 12 and developed a crush on her as she went through puberty while he taught her. Numair himself even commented on how he had affairs with ladies far older than Daine and he still had a crush on her. Do people not recognise how creepy that is? Less worrying is how the relationship served nothing to their character arcs, but it is far less significant of an issue when I was disgusted to see how romantic that kiss was. Numair should’ve stayed a mentor or even became a brother figure. Psychologically and narratively, this relationship made zero sense!

What can I say? The series finished with a sour taste.

Realm of the Gods gets a score of 1/5. It was a MacGuffin plot without a MacGuffin.

But it doesn’t stop there, dear viewers! We have to rate the series as a whole!

Wild Magic – 4/5, a rich and enticing world that peaked my interest.

Wolf Speaker – 3.5/5, it didn’t acknowledge the events of book 1, but the fantastic characters made up for it.

The Emperor Mage – 3.5/5, overall fantastic until the climax ended.

Realm of the Gods – 1/5, it was pointless.

Tamora Pierce knew how to make a world and characters, though the writing could be stronger. It never had any particular flair to it that kept me engaged. However, the series’ main flaw especially in later books was the narrative – not connecting books, not knowing appropriate endings and even making an entire book pointless – that last point being especially bad when happening in the final one! Having studied narrative and letting it be the primary hook for me when reading a story, this makes this series a real bummer.

The Wild Magic series gets a score of 2/5. It’s going off the bookshelf.

Yours in writing

Amy

ProShot_20210116_171606

Deep Water and Deep Characters – A Review of Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

by with No Comment Fantasy

I had high expectations for Firefight. After loving its predecessor, Steelheart, I was hoping Brandon Sanderson would deliver.

He didn’t just deliver, he delivered something new. While Steelheart was a pepperoni pizza, Firefight was a vege trio pizza from Dominos. Both very exquisite pizzas, if you ask me.

After rescuing Newcago from the tyranny of the epic Steelheart, David Charleston and his fellow Reckoners have defended the city from other superhumans wanting to take over the city. They soon realise each have been sent by Regalia, the epic who runs the now flooded New York, renamed Babilar. While the leader of the Reckoners wants to go to Babilar to kill the epic, David has second thoughts. After all, the leader himself is an epic not yet corrupted by his powers. And somewhere out there resides Firefight, another epic David wishes to save from her powers. Could the Epics be saved from themselves after all?

Again, a strong aspect of this novel was the unique atmosphere of the world. If you thought Newcago had its own personality, then Babilar is something else. Even the way the world was built was very fascinating, seeing different cultures and the political standpoints of epics in this city versus the distance from the ones in Newcago. That and the way the city became rundown was amazing – an epic flooding the city so everyone has to live on skyscrapers AND vines overgrowing inside of buildings? Legendary.

The world was expanded upon well with the lore surrounding the epics too. One key aspect was studying what the core weakness of each of them was, especially when rumors were thrown around of a connection between an epic’s past and their Achilles Heel. This weakness became a key part of each epic it seemed and it was an interesting ride to analyse each of them and work out with David and the team what their weaknesses are. Granted I was often wrong, but it was still very entertaining to guess.

A significant improvement was with the characters as well. So much more depth was added to everyone that I thoroughly enjoyed. I especially enjoyed how David was developed, both with his goal of revenge gone and some fears adding so much depth to his character. He truly felt real in so many moments. Even characters I felt impartial to I wound up loving. But my favourite character has to be Mizzy, introduced in this book. She was fun, relatable and had great one liners right from the get-go. I can’t wait to see more of her in the future.

I found it wasn’t quite as engaging as when I read Steelheart up until the final quarter, but that wasn’t to demerit it. It had a lot more to think and reflect on in the novel rather than things to react to. This was mainly because David’s mentality had changed from react to reflect as well, making it a nice book to get through at an easy going pace. A distinct difference made for a different experience, allowing me to take it all in. It suited the atmosphere of Babilar too, especially being a new environment for David to be in. He had a lot more to take in than in Steelheart. So what it lacked in action it made up for in depth.

I suppose it just served as a calm before the storm that is Calamity: the final book in the Reckoners series. One I plan to tackle later this year. Can’t wait.

Firefight gets a score of 5/5. What can I say? The depth of the characters especially made this epic.

Yours in writing

Amy

20201231_193727

Woke, but Tiring – A Review of Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

by with No Comment ContemporaryFantasy

Just finished this book in time for the new year. Pity the review came out a bit later, so you didn’t know.

Another pity was this book. We’ll talk more about that in a second.

In Dead Until Dark vampires are real. The supernatural is mainstreaming and becoming part of daily life with humans. Including Sookie Stackhouse, a human with mind reading abilities. With the arrival of a hot vampire at the small town bar she works at, he brings on a little bit more trouble whether he wanted to or not. Murder. The deaths of various humans who get down with vampires, including one of Sookie’s coworkers. She’s down to prove the innocence of those she’s close with and do whatever she can to make sure she’s not targeted next.

Let’s talk about this Sookie character first. A lot of her traits felt very contradictory. She hates people due to reading their minds uncontrollably sometimes but she’s incredibly bubbly. Her emotions and feelings towards her clearly shifty boyfriend change more than weather in the spring, hating him in the morning and bedding him the same night. Her strengths became her weaknesses at the same time, and it was like the author flipped a coin to decide if she’d be good with them or not. It made me very hard to feel for her unless a situation she got into just had plain old shock factor.

Speaking of shock factor, the killer. This is a murder mystery plot after all. There wasn’t any realisation at any time during the novel over who the killer was and me being right, or when the killer was revealed I was in disbelief or realising it all made sense. It was just left feeling mediocre about it. It only barely made sense because this character really didn’t have a lot of presence in the story. There were no stand-out points that connected their motives and made everything click. It was like fixing a car with duct tape.

It wasn’t all piss poor though. The magical realism played into this book was quite well done, how the vampires decided to fit into the world and much about them was already well known to the general public, including some stereotypes. It made the world feel solid. Another solid part of the world was how diverse both the humans and vampires were and how naturally they were a part of it; black vampires, gay vampires, polyamoury between vampires and humans. It made the world feel all the more natural.

Until we talk about how the men in it were portrayed. All of them were assholes, and for some reason the main character looked up to a lot of them? The hot vampire she dates is clearly manipulative, her boss wants to be a homewrecker on her relationship, her brother calls Sookie’s mental trauma ‘excuses’. I’m not saying men are as pure as Jesus himself, but none of them came close.

And as much as I was looking forward to reading a lot of the series, I don’t want to now. This is the first and only Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood book I’ll be reviewing on this blog I’m afraid.

Dead Until Dark gets a score of 2/5. I’ll give it credit for being woke at the time of its publishing, but everything else can be discredited.

Yours in writing

Amy