Renaissance Writer: Gordon A. Long

REVIEW

“Skyman’s Legacy” by Pete Kramer

by renaissanceadmin • 2025-02-09 • 0 Comments

This story is a cautionary tale to all Sci-Fi writers, especially of the Steampunk variety. Don’t fall in love with your setting, especially the politics. You want your readers to become immersed in your newly created environment, and to do so they need to know all sorts of things. Readers don’t know this. They signed…

“Vivid Visions” by Seyed Mosayeb Alam

by renaissanceadmin • 2025-02-02 • 0 Comments

These short stories take us on deep dive into the depths of strongly affected minds. They range from the real to the surreal, yet every one rings true in its own way. Some have their roots in traditional tales of witchcraft, some are completely original creations of twisted minds. The strength of the writing is…

“Attack on Boredom” by L. B. Spillers.

by renaissanceadmin • 2025-01-26 • 0 Comments

These short stories are more tightly interwoven than in most works of this genre. They are thematically linked, being multiple well-considered examples of the possibilities involved in having our lives taken over by Artificial Intelligence, alien overseers, gods or the plain old economic elite we’ve always had. Likewise, the general tone of the book is…

“The Triangle Age” by David Aumelas

by renaissanceadmin • 2025-01-19 • 0 Comments

This is a very original Science Fiction novel, styled in a surrealistic setting based on Inuit legends. It is characterized by a minimalistic dearth of setting details, with only the immediate vicinity of the character even mentioned, and never the overall setting, which seems to be inside some sort of space station. In a strange…

“Private I” by Ashlei E. Watson, Jill Fain Lehman and Paul Pangaro

by renaissanceadmin • 2025-01-12 • 0 Comments

This novel is very much a Sci-Fi “almost present day” look at a possible future for humanity. It is notable for its attention to the details of everyday life in that society, with settings and societal elements given appropriate descriptions, names, and acronyms. And thereby hangs a problem. Excessive acronyms are accurate, even in our…

“Unborn” by Eva Barber

by renaissanceadmin • 2025-01-01 • 0 Comments

This book is an example of a good story that is being presented for assessment before it has been properly edited. Characterization The main strength in the writing is the emotional drive of the characters. At the beginning, the mother’s feelings upon finding the baby are strong, reasonable, and natural. This is what drew me…

“The Legend of Uh” by Aaron N. Hall

by renaissanceadmin • 2024-12-29 • 0 Comments

This book is a lovely bit of Fantasy, but it seems like the author isn’t quite sure what kind of a book he is writing. Let me explain. As the title indicates, this is basically a take-off of the standard Fantasy Quest. It contains references to pickleball and other modernisms. I particularly liked the celebration…

Short Story Six-Pack: A collection of high fantasy tales by David Carl

by renaissanceadmin • 2024-12-22 • 0 Comments

This is a volume of six long short stories, each one taking a different slant on an old fairy tale formula. It’s dangerous ground to tread, because the Fractured Fairy Tale has been around a long time, and has been tried by some of the best. The first, Cinderayla, is perhaps the most slanted of…

“Altered Pathways” by T. R. Neff

by renaissanceadmin • 2024-12-15 • 0 Comments

Yet another example of a novel where its greatest strength creates a serious weakness. This is a Noire Detective story in a Sci-Fi setting, but the multiple futuristic names and scientific and social jargon make it difficult to understand what, exactly, is happening. It falls just on the wrong side of the delicate balance between…

“Card Snake” by John Morey

by renaissanceadmin • 2024-12-08 • 0 Comments

This is classic Action Fantasy involving a large cross section of people in a society struggling against civic corruption. Set in a world equivalent to our late 19th century, it still echoes problems we have today. Authors take note; this story has used the marvelous technique of having an important backstory which is revealed slowly…

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