Coming to novel writing from a storytelling tradition myself, I was forced to learn the truth that being a storyteller does not make one a novelist. A storyteller has his or her personal performance skills to attract and hold the attention of the audience. The novelist has no such advantage. So people who come from…
Month: October 2017
REVIEW
“An Unexpected Afterlife” by Dan Soper
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A new twist on an old plot: what would you do if you woke up and found out you were dead? Would you take it as a chance to start over, or would you make a desperate attempt to get back what you lost? Moshe Karlin is given this opportunity, but despite the promise of the…
REVIEW
“Beauty and the Beast” The Remake by Disney
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So Disney had to try to go one better. Too bad. I suppose they thought that a musical version with live actors and CGI settings and magical characters would touch all the bases. And it did. It’s just that some of the bases should have been left out. Beauty and the Beast has always been…
REVIEW
“Turing Test Girlfriend” Society Agent Series Book 5 by Shaun J. McLaughlin
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I suggested in my review of the other books in this series that there was a danger, because of the restricted scope of the conflicts, of the stories becoming too similar. So go ahead, Mr. McLaughlin, and prove me wrong. I can take it. And he has. This book is definitely a step up in…
REVIEW
“Revolution 2050” by Jay Chalk
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In this day and age, we once again need reminders that each generation must fight for its own freedoms or it will lose them. What better plotline to borrow than the original: Orwell’s 1984. A dystopian society, close enough to our own to be scary. A repressive regime. A disaffected lower-level Party member, afraid to…
REVIEW
“Hands of Ruin” by Dylan Lee Peters
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I recently reviewed a series of very short books, held together by a common setting and main character, but each a complete story in its own right. This book is exactly the opposite. It is one of a series of long stories, each an integral part of the group, none complete in itself. Each book…