Book Review: The Cerulean's Secret by Dennis Meredith

The Cerulean’s Secret follows the story of Tim and his accidental involvement in the theft of a genetically engineered cat. Worth more money than he’ll see in his entire lifetime, Tim has to help solve the mystery of the iridescent feline and who stole it. But along the way he discovers much more than the thieves' identity, but the Cerulean’s secret.

I’ll admit that I was initially drawn to the book because of my own novel, which also deals with animals and genetic testing (albeit in a slightly different way). It sounded so silly that I had to try it out. I can honestly say that I was not expecting this novel. I finished it largely in one sitting, which is quite rare for me. Dennis Meredith’s writing is quick, witty, and completely believable. Was some of it a little cheesy? Yep. But that honestly added to the story. It’s a very distinct style, and one I enjoyed thoroughly. I also really enjoyed how this novel can age. There are no definite years mentioned in the novel itself, or pop culture references (which I hate seeing in sci-fi) so it can stand the test of time.

The idea of genetically engineering animals honestly isn't that far out of our reach. Perhaps not in the ways described in the novel, but it’s there and definitely worth exploring as an ethical and even social issue. Meredith introduces the reader into this near-future society without bombarding us with heavy explanations. Everything feels natural as though we’ve always known this about the future technology. At times I felt as though everything just happened to line up so perfectly and was a bit overdone, but honestly I think that added to the style. And I really enjoyed how while the characters figured things out, the reader was kept in the dark until the big reveal. I thought that was really well done, but now re-reading it may not give the same impact.

So, my overall thoughts? Go read this novel. Enjoy.

You can buy the book on Amazon.

Book Review: Twice Upon a Time - edited by Joshua Allen Mercier

Twice Upon a Time is a short story anthology with a focus on re-tellings and re-imaginings of fairy tales, folklore, and myths. I don’t tend to review anthologies, but I do love me a good fairy tale and as I’m also a fan of the Cinder series I wanted to read more re-imaginings of the same genre.

I’ll find it easier to review the anthology as a whole, as it would be too much to review each individual story. Of course, some I enjoyed more than others but I’ll try to speak generally when possible. In general, I really did enjoy reading the different stories. At times I was frustrated that I wasn’t able to identify the fairy tales/folklore they were inspired by and I’m not sure it’s as simple as my inability to recognize the story. Some were definitely based on obscure fairy tales (which there's nothing wrong with), while others weren’t a retelling but rather a completely new story with the same moral lesson as the original fairy tale. In that case, I likely wouldn’t have included it in the anthology or would have advertised it differently.

Some stories were not short stories at all, but instead were excerpts of a full novel. Those were the worst for me and I don’t think the editor should have included those at all. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy them, but they don’t have a place in this type of anthology.

I also was not a fan of how the stories were arranged. There didn’t seem to be any flow or pattern to the entries. I likely would have tried to organize them in some form of pattern, such as moral lessons, type of retelling (alternate universe, sci-fi, role reversals, etc) but as far as I could tell it was a bit of a jumble. There was also the inclusion, near the end of the anthology, of two biblical narratives which seemed very jarring and out of place. I understand that the anthology was advertised as including myth, but I would be very careful calling Old Testament narratives myth, especially if they are based on events that have been historically confirmed. There’s a completely separate genre for stories set in that time period. Two in fact: historical fiction, and Biblical fiction.

Overall, the stories chosen for the anthology were well written and I enjoyed the imagination of the various authors. Again, some of the stories I wouldn’t consider re-tellings, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying them for the unique qualities. I would have preferred a bit more flow to the layout of the anthology as a whole. But overall I did enjoy the variety of stories.


You can buy the anthology on Amazon.

Excerpt from "Jason Caroll and the Olympians Book 1: Incarnation of Apollo" by Solomon Merid

An exclusive excerpt from "Jason Caroll and the Olympians Book 1: Incarnation of Apollo" by Solomon Merid

"I understand what you are saying," said Zeus, looking intently at the young, solar physicists. "TV and radio transmission all over the world have been disrupted. Aurora borealis and aurora australis have been lit like giant, Christmas trees."

"You are right about it, Archmagus Zeus," said N’krumah. "Solar storms generated by the corona stream through space at speeds as high as 800 miles per second. They had disrupted their television transmitting satellites and had also temporarily altered the Earth’s magnetic field."

"There were problems with computers and the Internet too," said Indira. "Power transmissions in various parts of the world were disrupted. Huge power blackouts had sent many cities into complete darkness."

"Let me have a look," said Zeus and headed to one of the solar telescopes which used special filters in order not to damage the eyes.

Zeus brought both his eyes to the binoculars of the solar telescope. He saw huge, coronal loops, known as fountains of fire, writhing like giant, celestial snakes of fire. There were so many of them close to each other. "O Holy Presence!" he exclaimed.

Apollo went to the solar telescope and looked at the sun. He saw giant, coronal loops suddenly touching each other and causing a huge solar flare. "O tempora! O mores!" he exclaimed.

"What is it? You just saw two coronal loops fuse together," said Zeus.

"They are coronal loops which have just touched each other and short-circuited each other," said N’Krumah.

"They are frightening, those coronal loops which short-circuit each other," said Shapiro. "
Come and look through this telescope."

As Apollo took a step or two toward Shapiro Zeus put up his hand, "Stop! First we must see baby Jason and his mother in the hospital," he said. "Come over here, Apollo."

Apollo went and stood near Zeus. Zeus pointed his staff at the wall-sized screen in the lab and a huge golden-yellow image of Sol in ultra-high definition lit up on the giant, holographic screen. The screen showed the huge, writhing, coronal loops on the sun in 3-D.

Shapiro, N’krumah, Indira and the three Olympians stood in a bunch and watched the strange, mesmerizing sight on the surface of the sun. Sol looked like some strange lifeform of fire. Zeus and Poseidon stood side by side. They looked like identical twins.

"Go ahead, Poseidon," said Zeus.

Poseidon pointed his trident at the screen and said, "Delia’s hospital room" in a soft voice.

The screen split into two. Sol appeared on the left side and the image of Delia and Avatar Jason appeared on the right side. Athena and Ares were standing outside the door of Delia’s room. Ares wore a stylish, black suit by Giorgio Armani. A white shirt, a flowery purple tie and dark sunglasses completed the attire. Athena wore a black, leather overcoat with imitation fur collars. Athena and Ares vanished as two nurses appeared in the corridor leading to Delia’s room.

Zeus waved his staff in the air and said, "Zoom in!"

The image of baby Jason lying in his crib suddenly jumped onto the right side of the screen. Suddenly baby Jason’s face turned red as beetroot. Lines of rainbow colors flitted over his face intermittently. A golden-yellow halo formed around his head. Athena had placed a Sleeping Charm on Delia and she was sound asleep as usual. All of them stood inside the Astrolab and observed Sol and baby Jason projected side by side on the screen. The coronal loops on the surface of Sol were so close together that they short-circuited and produced a solar flare every five minutes or so. They observed something astounding. Whenever two coronal loops short-circuited each other and produced a solar flare baby Jason had an attack of hiccups and he burped loudly. The instruments also showed an increase in Jason’s heartbeat.

"Great galaxy!" Poseidon shouted. "It appears that Jason’s physiological conditions are working in synch with solar phenomena on Sol."

"CORRELATION OF FLARES AND BODY FUNCTIONS OF JASON DETECTED," said the speakers of the supercomputer.

"I will be damned! What is going on, Zeus?" asked Apollo. His eyes were riveted on the two halves of the screen.

"SOL AND JASON ARE IN SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP." said the speakers of the supercomputer.

As if in answer a huge coronal loop on Sol appeared on the left side of the screen and waves of psychedelic lights undulated around baby Jason’s head.

The speakers of the supercomputers blared again. "CORRELATION OF SOLAR FLARES AND JASON’S HICCUPS AND BURPS ASCERTAINED ONE HUNDRED PERCENT."

"Holy Presence!olyHolhhhh" Poseidon exclaimed.

"SOL AND JASON ARE IN SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP. THEY ARE COMMUNICATING BY MEANS OF FASTER-THAN-LIGHT PSI WAVES," said the speakers of the supercomputer.

This author is currently working on publishing the book, and we hope to have news of purchasing outlets soon!

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Review for "Fall from Grace" by J. Edward Ritchie

Review for “Fall from Grace” by J. Edward Ritchie

Fall from Grace by J. Edward Ritchie is a thrilling new take on the story of Lucifer and Michael; great angels in heaven and brothers who fall out when Lucifer rebels against heaven. We hear the story from both Michael and Lucifer's perspectives; alternating between the two of them, so we understand exactly what happened, and more importantly, the kind f relationship they had with each other, and how it changes over time.

Ritchie created a great new story around one that is very old, and makes the world of heaven and the angels really come to life like never before. Where you might expect something more other-worldly the background and lore of Ritchie's world was surprisingly relateable and very human. I felt fully immersed in this world, and sat on the edge of my seat for the last quarter of the book.

I had few issues with this book, overall being something very enjoyable and well worth the cost, however one thing that bugged me was the character of Satan, referred to as both Satanail and Satan. As someone who grew up catholic I know that Satan's angelic name was Lucifer (meaning light) and I was actually a little disappointed that this name wasn't used in the book, especially since the names of angels and other creatures was an important part of the story. Every other name for the creatures you met made sense, and Ritchie twisted their relationships skillfully. Regardless of your religious affinity I think there is something for everyone in this book.

To learn more about author J. Edward Ritchie click here.

To purchase "Fall from Grace" click here.

Review for "In the Eyes of Madness" by Michael Pang

Review for "In the Eyes of Madness" by Michael Pang

Where demons and teenage angst intersect, “In the Eyes of Madness” by Michael Pang shows what happens when teenagers discover the world of demons and those who fight them. This story centre's around Declan, a sweet natured and loving teen with a troubled past he is constantly trying to put behind him. With the help of his best friends he tries to keep it together, and help his aunt and uncle who raised him, but the memories of his mothers mental break keep coming back to haunt him. When he meets a mysterious new coworker at the hospital everything changes for him and his friends.

This book was a little slow to start, but after a little while ratchets up the intensity and the suspense, to my delight. Pang sets he scene really well by introducing us to the main characters and giving just enough information so we can start to form attachments and opinions on these characters, but still keeps something held back to allow for more natural reveals throughout the book that takes you by surprise. The flow was great, and as the book goes along you start to notice small thing that accumulate into some great twists and turns.

This is a short book however, and because of the slightly slow build at the beginning it feels pretty rushed at the end, and there is quite a lot of exposition crammed in to make sure it ends in some semblance of a solid conclusion. The author description does also say that Pang is a Christian, which you might have guessed from the book content in general, but I found it not quite too preachy as you might expect. I did like the book, and if you are looking for a well crafted quick story filled with teens, romance, heartbreak and the supernatural, this is the book for you.

To learn more about the author Michael Pang click here.

To purchase "In the Eyes of Madness" click here.

Review for "The Revelation Room" by Mark Tilbury

Review for "the Revelation Room" by Mark Tilbury

The Revelation room is part mystery, part action with a little romance thrown in for good measure. The story centres around a young man named Ben Whittle, mild mannered and soft spoken, who's father is a private detective. Ben is thrust out of his comfortable life in a small sleepy town in England when he receives a phone call from his father, clearly in distress, pleading for help. Now Ben has to rescue his father, while somehow getting over his crippling self doubt, with the help of his best friend and secret crush Maddie. Despite the odds, and a violent cult leader, Ben summons the courage he needs to save his father, and perhaps learn something about himself and his own strength along the way.

Well, what can I say about this book. The content requires some maturity to get through as things get quite dark at times, and it certainly is original from my perspective. We don't see this from the perspective of a talented private eye, but instead from their kid; decidedly NOT talented. So while the story I found compelling and original, the character of Ben Whittle was so annoying and frustrating it almost made me put the book down. He is the very definition of a wet rag; he constantly complains about how much he sucks at everything from cooking to walking, and he is terrified of literally everything. He convinces himself that his dad is already dead and he is just walking straight towards his own doom. I understand that the point of Ben being like this is that once he goes through the trial of saving his father he is supposed to find an inner strength, and transform himself to save the day, and I won't spoil it for you, but suffice it to say I was thoroughly underwhelmed by this character the entire time.

I have to give kudos to Tilbury though, I knew what he was going for and he nailed it. I would almost say it crafted this character too well, because I honestly would have punched him if I was with him. I will say I wish the ending was more satisfying, and that I saw more of a transformation with Ben, and saving that I just wish he got the nerve to tell Maddie the truth about his feelings. In the end however Ben goes back to being Ben, and perhaps that's more impressive than him changing, since he is able to experience the things he experienced and somehow keep himself together.

To learn more about the author Mark Tilbury click here. 

To purchase "The Revelation Room" click here.