"The boy she’d lost, and finally found again, is not the same boy she remembers.
As one of the most powerful Sixes, Kale has changed in ways Dez can’t ignore. He swore he’d never kill, and now he’s out for blood. He swore he’d never harm her, and now he struggles to control his fatal touch. They’ve been to hell and back, over and over, but this time they might not survive the fire." 'Transcendent' is the fourth book in the Denazen Novels by Jus Accardo. I have not ready any of the previous parts of the story, but suffice it to say.. though I didn't 'love' this book.. it was still highly enjoyable and I absolutely liked Kale enough to go back and buy the first three. The history in his wake has been a rough one and somehow he's still come through it with a tenderness and loyalty that others easily throw away. Essentially, Denazen is a corporation run by a greedy, diabolical individual who has systematically hunted down people with special abilities, called 'Sixes.' He's not above torture, manipulation, exploitation, extortion, or anything else to get what he wants from them. Some of the Sixes we meet in this book have already been through just about everything he has to throw at them in previous novels, but you know how evil geniuses are.. always working on one more thing to use as leverage. This one is no exception.. and he really is awful. I did feel like I needed a bit of a scorecard to keep up with character family ties. Everyone is either related to everyone else, is and/or was involved with everyone else, or at some point one and/or both of those things changes at least once. While I'm sure it's meant to keep things interesting, I felt like it had the reverse effect. After enough incidents of it, I just blew off whatever changes occurred and didn't care. Likewise, while I said I loved Kale, with the exception of a supporting character named Aubrey.. no one else really moved me. The main character swings back and forth between being kind of petulant and thinking she's a bad ass and the cast of characters treat her like she's the latter, but she's much closer to the former. There's plenty of drama, emotionally and otherwise.. I just never felt connected to any of the characters and easily there should have been a couple of scenes that would have made me tear up, but they didn't. It was definitely a page-turner though and the author handled fight scenes well, describing just enough to give the reader a visual, without drowning them in a transcribed attempt at showing them the entire thing start to finish. I'll also say, some of the abilities designed in this story are surprisingly creative, not always 100% good for the wielder, and in one case.. as it develops.. pretty damned cool to 'see.' If you're looking for a read with some substance, but one you won't find yourself overly invested in, this may be your title. As I said before, I'll definitely try to go back and read the first three books eventually, if only to see the rest of Kale's story, but if I get to busy and it doesn't happen.. I won't be crushed either.
0 Comments
The Shrike & the Shadows
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play -- EXCERPT: “See these lines here, my maus?” She tapped the top of Greta’s palms. “They are your heart lines. The way it curves, you have a caring soul.” “You must have that, too, Mama.” “Aha!” her mother exclaimed, and Greta jumped. “These love lines! How auspicious, little maus.” “What, Mama? What do they mean?” Greta looked up into her mother’s face eagerly. She smiled. “It will surprise you, this love of yours.” Her mother paused, frowning for just a moment before taking up her smile again. “But not for many more years. You will be ready then…” Greta’s mother stilled, her words falling from her mouth quietly. She barely heard anything after that. “Mama?” “Yes?” “Will I be okay?” “Oh, of course! But to be sure, we must find your fate,” she said, though somewhat distant. “Here they are. And look! They meet here, at your life lines… goodness, so young for such a burden.” Greta frowned at her mother. “Mama, you’re not making any sense.” “I know, my maus, I know. I did not expect to see so many… things.” “Are they sad things? Because you sound sad, Mama.” Her mother grasped at her hands and held them for a moment. She gave a gentle squeeze and said, “Not all, but some, yes. Some will be sad, and others will be happy.” “Oh.” Then, Greta’s mother fell into her with an embrace. She locked little Greta into her arms and rocked her slowly. She had felt so warm in her hold, and so content, she had almost missed her mother’s final words: “It will be a fearsome trial, my love. Your fate is bound to a great and daunting endeavor.”
GIVEAWAY!
"Abandon hope. Do not trust to faith. Sacrifices burn on pyres of madness, rotting corpses stir in unquiet graves. Daemonic abominations leer with rictus grins and stare into the eyes of the accursed. And the Ruinous Gods, with indifference, look on."
As I'd never explored anything from the Warhammer 40,000 universe before, yet heard so much about it from a long-time friend of mine, I was eager to experience a bit of it for myself when I saw the opportunity arise. 'The Oubliette' by J.C. Stearns was just such opportunity. The cover depicts a seemingly large, dark hand.. clutching what seems to be a fallen being of fair hair and skin dressed in formal attire.. reaching for a pendant or something they have dropped which is about to slip away. The novel, listed under Warhammer horror, opens with the funeral for a highly regarded governor of the populace of a planet called Ceocan. It's viewed from the perspective of his daughter, who in what is perhaps some strange twist of fate, has found herself inheriting his role due to the death of both him and her eldest brother. A younger sibling has also returned for the funeral. Having been sent away as an 'extra heir,' upon his arrival we find him to be an arbitrator, this world's version of an officer in charge of investigating incidents of just such magnitude. Though in this case, as a conflict of interest, it's not something he'd be able to become involved with despite his sister's certainty there was foul play afoot. Normally, I lose interest with a lot of political intrigue, but the aristocrats amongst the Ceocan community are complex creatures. I enjoyed watching the battle even in what were essentially parliament style meetings between the various speakers of both the great and small houses. It was fascinating to watch them dance and duel verbally, utilizing not only their words.. but their social weight.. the volumes of their voices.. and the maneuvering of others around them. It put me in mind of the great Senate meetings in Star Wars actually and since the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop game originated within years of the first Star Wars film, it's not unreasonable to think the creator may have taken some inspiration from it. Though, it could just as easily have been inspired by the Senates of Rome or some other real ancient ruling body. "At the apex of the facade, the Emperor of Mankind stood in profile, His noble gaze cast to the east. In the middle of the night on Reunification Day, His gaze into the night sky lined up with the direction of Holy Terra, His graven visage seeing the distant star that mortal eyes could never discern in the blackness. Behind Him, the great aquila spread its bronze wings." Though the violent crescendos throughout the story are brief, they are absolute. They are crisply detailed making the visuals unavoidable and lending themselves to the memory for some time. While the supernatural horrors contained in the telling are highly imaginative, the ties that bind are a bit of rather brutal fun for the reader, so long as we're not overly squeamish. There's a great deal of conflict, both inner and external. Enemies and friends alike, faced with unenviable choices of realignment or action, sometimes to a surprising result. Loyalties tested, mettle tested, even hands being forced by circumstance to choose pragmatism or failure at some crucial junction. "Her father had had a saying: When conspiracy goes abroad, coincidence is the mask it wears, and she was beginning to see the wisdom in it." This is an excellent story.. full of all the darkness and light that can be at war within.. elegantly crafted in the style of some of the most timeless classic horror novels I've ever read. I'd highly recommend it to any horror buff who isn't just looking for a jump scare, but rather a slow dawning realization of the state of one's moral compass. "She held up the two bras in front of the mirror. The yellow one looked nice. Maybe she could find a pair of matching panties and play banana for a lucky someone to peel later tonight..." No. You read that correctly. That's exactly how 'Hot Ash and the Oasis Defect' by Philip Wyeth begins. I don't know a single woman who thinks like that. Nor one who would wear a 'dark teal blue combat bra' in the line of work as a cop if she could, particularly one with 'blue glitter.' That stuff gets everywhere. But it's just a story and in this case it's really not meant to be realistic. If I'm being honest.. and that's something I pride myself on in reviews.. I immediately put the book down at that point and stared at it. I picked it up, re-read it, and followed the same pattern a couple of times in disbelief. I even went around my house telling people what I read.. because I was astounded that I'd read it at all.. but bear with me.. until the end of the review. The book is actually very well-written, despite my issues of personal taste and the general state of disorientation it left me with. Basically a satirical dystopian sci-fi story, the book is literally only 178 pages long. It should have been a quick read, but it wasn't and for me that's mostly because I found it so weird. I love sci-fi, dystopian works, and satire.. but together it takes a bit of adjustment. I'm a pretty open-minded person and reader.. so I'm not offended by the drug use or strange scenes or devices like the 'Clam Bake.' I'm not explaining that one here.. you're going to have to read it.. if you want to understand. As is especially popular these days, the book puts women in charge of the populace. The difference being that in this future things like procreation are all handled in labs, menial jobs by robots, and any work of any real value is done by women. Men are essentially being phased out. A few older men may still hold positions from before the changes, but the younger ones are mostly kind of set aside in communities together and kept entertained. As I said, it's an incredibly odd story. There's a lot of man-hating going on here and that's just something I've never been a fan of.. so I had to keep reminding myself it was a satirical approach. Unpopular opinion time. This felt like a representation of a lot of what's going on in society today. Women have been oppressed, harassed, assaulted.. so much.. that many men not only defend against that, but can be found going so far as to verbally degrade their own overall. Not just specific people. The same can be said for discussions on race, religion, gender, sexuality, and more.. and that's interesting.. but also kind of frightening. Anyway, after several attempts to read the book.. about 48 pages in, I hit my stride. I finally at least mostly adjusted to the strange atmosphere of their world and though the way women spoke to and about men never felt comfortable, I was used to seeing it enough that it didn't automatically pull me out of the story. Digging beyond all that, there's a murder mystery below that's centered around a group of women that have elevated themselves through helping to bring on the societal changes at hand. It's a bit predictable and the conclusion doesn't feel really satisfying, but it was woven well and no one could ever blame Wyeth of lacking in creativity. The book mostly comes across as a fun, kind of campy sci-fi adventure like one might have read in the 70's and 80's.. or like you still might catch on one of those tv channels specializing in bikini clad babes fighting aliens with giant guns shaped like-- well, you get the picture. If you enjoy those types of things, this is the book for you. |
Archives
November 2023
|