Son of Cayn by Jason McDonald. The Cayn Trilogy Book #1
Introduction
Xandor the ranger has a mission from Marcus, the leader of the Kral’s Secret Service. Xandor must infiltrate a caravan headed out of the city of Pazard’zhik with his crew including Chert, Jasper, and Grendel. The caravan is smuggling soap. Soap? Yes, soap. Xandor’s crew must determine where and why the soap is being smuggled. The answer to those questions will task his courage and determination.
Summary
Jasper is hired as the caravan’s cook by the caravan leader, Dragahn. Dragahn drives the Chuckwagon and Jasper rides with him. The second wagon is driven by Sachin, the financier of the caravan who has just hired Grendel, a half-orc, as his bodyguard. The third wagon is driven by Pyotr, the horse doctor, with the cook’s helper Lucky sitting by his side. Xandor is a Ranger and Chert is a dwarven cleric. They try to discover the secret of the soap but are unsuccessful before the caravan leaves the city. They follow the caravan trying to complete their mission. The caravan goes through the Plague Lands, into the haunted forest, and approaches its destination.
Xandor and Chert fight deadly foes along the way. The people of the caravan must also contend with Marco the Knight, Kourash who is a beast, and the unnamed villain leader. Secrets are revealed, enemies are uncloaked, and the next book of the series is set up.
Recommendation
Son of Cayn is a brisk and well-drawn adventure quest. The novel was influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. There is a human Ranger, a dwarven cleric, a human mage, a half-orc, trolls, orcs, elves, and other fantastic beasts. The novel reminded me of the first law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie because both series are about a group on a quest and the setting is dark. I like the smuggling soap plotline. It was very inventive. There were a few things that could have been better. It took too long to establish that Marcus sent this crew to investigate the smuggling operation of the caravan. That should’ve been clearer earlier. There were one too many battles with Xander and Chert defeating a fantastic beast. They both almost get killed again and again and Chert heals them back to full health. Xandor’s powers, like the cat thing, appear unestablished.
My main issue was the villain wasn’t revealed until over halfway through the novel. Early viewpoints from the villain would have increased the tension. I like the Russian names and background including the references to the Christian church. The orcs and other beings are referred to as Sons of Cayn which is an interesting background element. I like Xander’s crew and plan to follow them on their next adventure in book 2 of the trilogy.
The Speed of Sound by Eric Bernt. Speed of Sound Thrillers Book #1
Introduction
Dr. Skylar Drummond has recently been hired at Harmony House. Harmony House is run by Dr. Fenton and is a place where kids with autistic disorders are housed. These kids were specifically picked by Dr. Fenton because they have savant knowledge along with their autism. Skylar connects with her patient Eddie Parks who has Asperger’s syndrome. Eddie’s project is to create a machine that can replicate sound waves, an echo box. He wants to hear his deceased mother sing. If he can make the device work, Dr. Fenton and other government agencies will take it from him. They will kill to get the device. Skylar cannot let them take it from Eddie.
Summary
Eddie Parks doesn’t want to be touched, he likes birds and has designed his room to specific sonic specifications. Skylar connects with him partially due to her experience with her deceased brother, Christopher. She helps Eddie rethink his echo box. Three factions want a working echo box. Barnes, Dr. Fenton’s security chief at Harmony House wants the box for Dr. Fenton to secure the funding for Harmony house. A mysterious group called the Heritage Foundation also wants it. They are a group that has money and connections inside the government. The Heritage Foundation put political candidates into office and assassinate undesirable targets. They want the box to record secret meetings. The third group is Homeland Security who wants the echo box to help in the war on terror.
Recommendation
This novel is a techno-thriller. Eddies’ echo box is the McGuffin that everyone wants. Events proceed quickly after the situation is set up. I thought that some of the choices of the author made the novel difficult to follow in the beginning. Giving viewpoints to characters only to kill them off did not help the reader to identify the important characters. The author’s head hopping, even sentence by sentence, disorients the reader. Readers should know that this novel ends abruptly and leaves plot threads incomplete to be addressed in the next novel in the series. I think that the next novel will be better than this one.
Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress. A Book from the Elements of Fiction Writing Series published by Writers Digest
Introduction
This book is a how-to guide for common problems suffered by beginning writers. The author covers the ways writers develop problems and suggests ways to fix those problems. She noticed three main issues in her writing students work. The story drags at the beginning, the story flounders in the middle, or the resolution does not complete the story arc. She covers each of these cases and suggests solutions. Writing exercises follow each section of the book.
Summnary
Beginnings are covered first. The first scene is important to every story. The main character must be identified and established. It must show at least a hint of the conflict to come. It must set up a tone that follows throughout the whole story. The second scene can be one of three types. A backfill scene is one of expository background. A flashback scene goes back in time to illuminate the opening scene. The continuation of the storyline dramatizing whatever happens next to the viewpoint character. Do not be tempted to continuously revise the beginning of a story. The clarity of the ending will influence how the beginning starts, so better to have that ending before attempting a major revision.
Middles are next covered. The middle is everything after the introduction and before the climax. Three choices must be made by the writer to have a strong middle. Decide whose story the writing is about, the person who defines the book’s plot and its meaning. Decide the point of view character or characters. Then decide the throughline of the story, or what happens to the protagonist. The main character must also show four things in the middle of the story. The character must have a want, show the ability to change, a series of events push the character to change, and the character must switch to a new motivation.
Last is the ending. The climax must do four things. It must relate to the implicit promises raised at the beginning of the story, deliver emotion, deliver a level of emotion like the rest of the story, and be logical to the setup of the story. Everything after the climax must show the consequences of the climax and anything not addressed in the climax.
Recommendation
The definitions, examples, and exercises in this book were informative. I’m glad I read this book. It gives clear examples and solutions to a writer’s problems. One of the short stories referenced in the book was “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. I got a copy of the story and reading it helped illustrate the points made by the author of this book. This is the first book I have read of the eleven books I know of in the Elements of Writing Fiction Series. I intend to read more of them.
Zoe Bentley is a profiler working with the FBI at Quantico. She is new to the area having worked in Massachusetts on high-profile cases. She has a dark past. Tatum Gray is an FBI special agent forcibly transferred from the Los Angeles office for disciplinary reasons. Tatum gets assigned to the Strangling Undertaker case in Chicago and requests that Zoe help him with the case. They fight the serial killer, the Chicago Police, the BAU Chief, and each other. Can they set aside their differences to catch the killer?
Summary
The first chapter of the novel is from the perspective of an unnamed killer who will become known as the Strangling Undertaker. The novel is set in the summer of 2016. The lead character is Zoe Bentley who is from Maynard, Massachusetts. She earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a JD from Harvard. She assisted in cases in Boston but has moved to Dale City, Virginia to help the FBI at Quantico. Unit Chief Mancuso is the head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of the FBI who assigns Zoe a case about a Highway Serial Killer before Agent Tatum arrives at Quantico. They meet briefly before Mancuso sends Tatum to Chicago. Tatum’s life is complicated by caring for his recently widowed grandfather, Marvin, who lived with him in Los Angeles and came with him to Virginia.
Tatum leaves Marvin to watch his home and goes to Chicago. He works with Lieutenant Martinez of the Chicago PD and an ineffective profiler named Dr. Bernstein. Tatum requests that Mancuso send Zoe to help him. Zoe comes to Chicago and they investigate the case but their unorthodox methods alienate them from Lieutenant Martinez and he sends them away when they screw up. The reader learns Zoe’s backstory through flashback chapters set in Maynard in the fall of 1997 when she was a girl and a serial killer was operating in her hometown. Both cases intersect in unpredictable ways and resolve at the climax of the novel.
Conclusion
This novel is a tight thriller with enough surprises to keep the reader guessing. It’s almost like a written version of the television show Criminal Minds. If that intrigues you then I can recommend this novel to you. The television show is about the agents at the BAU investigating serial killer cases and that is what this novel does as well. The only weakness I can point out is about the points of view. The killer, Zoe, and Tatum are the main points of view and they work.
There are three other single chapter points of view that are not as successful. I can understand the viewpoint of a potential victim but I don’t want to get inside a character witness’s point of view. It doesn’t add to the narrative for me. Then there is one more point of view, follow me here. You know that scene at the beginning of Law and Order, the one where you know that the person doing whatever they are doing will stumble onto a murder victim. You know that scene, well that scene is a single chapter in this novel. It would have been better left unsaid. Other than that, this novel did what it set out to and did it well. I plan to follow Zoe Bentley on her next adventure for novel #2 IN THE DARKNESS due to be released on July 16, 2019.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of A Killer’s Mind by Mike Omer.
Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time Book #1
Introduction
Rand and his father Tam are sheepherders near the village of Emond’s field. The Trollocs invade and threaten their world. Trollocs are minions of the Dark One. The Dark One longs to break out of his centuries-long imprisonment. The Dark One is threatened by three young men from Emond’s field, Rand and his two friends Matt and Perrin. Will they be killed by the Dark One’s minions or will they escape to the mythical city of Tar Valon?
Summary
Rand and his friends are helped by five people early in their journey to Tar Valon. Nynaeve, the Wisdom of Emond’s field, and her apprentice Egwene. A wisdom is a female healer and weather forecaster found in villages. The Aes Sedai, Moiraine and her Warder named Lan. The Aes Sedai are female magic users from Tar Valon who use the One Power to do their magic. The last helper is the gleeman, Thom Merrilin. Gleemen are traveling entertainers who are found infrequently in the villages. They try to avoid the Trollocs, their commanders called Myrddraal and other followers of the Dark One called Darkfriends. The group faces the dangers of Shadar Logoth and the Children of the Light. They are helped by Min, the Tinkers, the forest dweller and friend of wolves named Elyas Machera, and the Ogier Loial. The young men are named ta’veren, a person who the Wheel of Time revolves. The Wheel of Time is the pattern where the ages repeat again and again. They must find the Eye of the World to defeat the Dark One.
Recommendation
This novel is an epic that begins an epic series of fifteen books (fourteen novels and a short prequel novel). While inspired by the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, there is much more in this novel. Ran, Mat, and Perrin have different personalities and wants. The narrative pushes them to face the Dark One through dreams and increasing danger from his minions. The Dark One has an objective and a way to achieve it. This novel ends with a bigger world beckoning and a reluctant hero beginning to understand his place on the Wheel of Time. I have waited a long time to start this long journey of reading this series, but I am glad that I have chosen to start it now. This first book is great and I look forward to reading the last three novels which were completed by Brandon Sanderson, one of my current favorite authors. On to book number two, The Great Hunt.
Review of The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan. Rand searches for the Horn of Valere since he needs it for the Last Battle. Rand becomes the Dragon Reborn and Nynaeve learns how to use the One Power. Amazon Prime Video will adapt the first two novels of the series in 2020.
Homicide detective Sam Porter knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up to a call about a suspicious death. An apparent suicide, the case turns when Sam finds a diary in the man’s pocket. The diary is from an uncaught serial killer that Sam has searched for in the past. As Sam investigates the suicide and studies the diary, he enters the mind of a killer. Will he crack the case or will he become the serial killer’s next victim?
Summary
The Four Monkey Killer has operated in Chicago for the past five years before this story takes place. The killer has claimed seven victims. Three boxes per victim. See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil, Do no evil. An eye, an ear, a tongue, and a body. Sam was assigned to the 4MK task force to catch the killer but they have not been able to. The apparent suicide is assumed to be the killer but Sam figures out that he was just another victim since the man holds box number one.
Sam follows up the clues on the victim’s body, the clues in the diary, and the clues discovered by the task force. The points of view of the novel alternate between Sam and the diary until a third viewpoint is introduced. Fifteen-year-old Emory Conners is the third viewpoint character who appears to be the killer’s next victim. The readers follow Sam as he learns who she is and tries to save her. The task force reconvenes including detective Claire Norton. They help Sam’s quest to catch the killer.
Conclusion
This is a great thriller. The novel moves fast following many false leads and containing many surprises. What I liked the most was the diary sections because it was a puzzle of how much to believe the killer. Is the killer an unreliable narrator, telling the truth, or somewhere in between? Read the novel to find out. I plan to read the next novel in the series, The Fifth to Die. It is scheduled to be released on July 10, 2018.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Fourth Monkey by JD Barker.
In Armada by Ernest Cline, Zack Lightman is facing a life crossroads during his last week as a high school senior. He fights a bully, Douglas Knotcher, he struggles with his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Ellen Adams, and he hangs out with his best friends, Cruz and Diehl, aka the Mikes. Zack tries to connect with his dead father by playing computer games, watching VCR tapes, and listening to music that his father liked. Zack’s favorite current game is a spaceship simulator called Armada. What happens if the game becomes real? That is the dilemma that Zack will face in this novel.
Summary
Zack’s mother is a single mom so Zack must work to earn the money to buy his games. He works at Starbase Ace, a used video game shop, for Ray, who is an older father figure to Zack. Ray is just as committed as Zack to sci-fi gaming, movies, and TV shows. Zack buys his gear from Ray. This book is set in 2018. In the book, a video game publisher called Chaos Terrain begins operations in 2010. A few years later they release Terra Firma, a first-person shooter video game. A year later they release Armada, a space combat simulator.
Zack has been playing Armada for the past few years. Zack is so accomplished in the game that he is #6 on the worldwide leaderboard. The plot is similar to the movies Iron Eagle, Ender’s Game, and The Last Starfighter. The movies all had a kid learning to train for real-life combat by using a video game simulation. At the end of Phase One of the novel, something unusual happens to change the novel from a high school drama to a military operation based on the video game Armada. In Phase Two, Zack meets many new people including Lex and goes on a dangerous mission. In Phase Three the book wraps up with a final battle where Zack must make a complicated and important decision.
Recommendation
I enjoyed this novel almost as much as Ready Player One also by Ernest Cline. Both novels had protagonists that looked back in time to the 80s and 90s to find the answers to the questions of their narratives. The references were familiar to me. I particularly liked the Raid the Arcade Mix tape that Zack’s dad had made and Zack found and liked listening to. There are 28 songs on the tape. Thirteen songs were in my collection and obtained 6 more from the library. I thought that Lex did not have enough conflict with Zack as his romantic interest. I also thought that the ending was too easy for Zack to solve and too open-ended. It will make a great movie.
Raid The Arcade Mix Tape
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Armada by Ernest Cline.
This is the link to my review of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Wade Watts is poor. The year is 2044. The only way out is to win a contest for a billionaire’s fortune. The contest started five years ago but no one has won it yet, so Wade is determined to win it to secure his future.
The Darknet by M T Bass, Murder by Munchausen Mysteries Book 2
Introduction
The Baron is back and hunting murder victims. Detectives Jack and Maddie are hunting him. Will they find him before he kills again?
Summary
In the previous book in the series, we learned that a serial killer called the Baron has been recreating past serial killer murders by using androids to commit the crimes in a near future Cleveland, Ohio. Jake the previous book’s protagonist, a detective from the Android Crime Unit (ACU), consults with Cleveland homicide detective Madeline “Maddie” on their connected cases. They had a previous romantic relationship which complicates their investigation.
As the investigation continues, more bodies appear and Maddie must discover the identity of the Baron before more victims die. The first murder in this book is witnessed by Amy who is orphaned and homeless. Maddie takes her in to protect her. Amy’s fate becomes important to the investigation. Maddie is helped by Jake, Maddie’s homicide partner Sanchez, and the members of the Android Crime Unit nicknamed the Geek Squad by Jake.
Recommendation
The events of this story follow directly after book #1. It was a jarring experience starting book #2 because Jake is the first-person narrator in book #1 and Maddie is the first-person narrator in book #2. Jake has a distinctive voice. He is snarky and has a quip for every situation. Maddie is more in the background. It took me some time to understand her voice. This book ended up being good but not as good as the first book because of the change in narrator. The descriptions of Cleveland locations continue to be well researched and believable.
This series seems to be sections of about 150 pages of a novel with a thematic climax at the end. Book #1 is 134 pages and Book #2 is 146 pages. Book #3 is called the Invisible Mind due to be released on 08-25-18 and Book #4 is called Motherless Children with a release date to be determined. I will read these sections when they are released.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Murder by Munchausen by M. T. Bass.
This is the link to my review of Murder by Munchausen by M. T. Bass. Cleveland, Ohio detective Jake and his partner E. C. are searching for an Android Subject (AnSub) that has committed a murder. The AnSub leads him to a serial killer.
Head On by John Scalzi, Book #2 of the Lock In Series
Introduction
Chris Shane witnesses the death of Duane Chapman, the first player killed in the new future violent sport of Hilketa. Years ago, in our future, an epidemic called Haden’s Syndrome affected millions of people who are now unable to control their own bodies. They interact with the outside world by using autonomous robots, called threeps, which are remotely connected to their brains. Chris and Duane have Haden’s Syndrome.
Duane plays in a team sport where the threeps battle on a sports field. The object of the game is to rip the head off the designated opponent’s threep and score a goal with it. Duane’s threep was destroyed and his body should not have died but it has. Chris is an FBI agent who must find out how and why Duane died. The case goes down unexpected paths and Chris must put together the clues to find the truth or risk Chris’s own life.
Summary
Chris is non-gender specific in the novel. Chris is at the Hilketa game because Chris’s father is interested in purchasing an expansion team based in Washington, D. C. Chris’s father is a famous championship-winning former basketball player and a real estate billionaire. Chris was the poster child for Haden’s rights but now wants to just solve cases for the FBI in relative anonymity. Chris’s partner in the FBI is Leslie Vann. She is the senior partner and helps Chris investigate the case. People keep dying in the novel as Chris gets closer to the truth. The criminals destroy Chris’s threeps and eventually threaten Chris’s life.
Recommendation
I enjoyed this novel very much. It is not necessary to read the first novel first though it helps with the background material. This novel reads fast, the action does not stop, and the revelations are valid. The police procedural part of the novel holds up well. The part of the novel dealing with Chris’s self-identity and struggle with being famous is the most interesting and the most frustrating. Keeping Chris gender-neutral has eliminated any romantic relationships. Duane is a Haden married to a non-Haden, Marla. Though that relationship does not end well, I wanted to see Chris struggle with a relationship in this novel. I think this might be what the author is building toward if there is a third novel in the series. I look forward to reading more about Chris Shane if there are more novels in the series.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Head On by John Scalzi.
This is a link to my review of Lock In by John Scalzi, Book #1 of the Lock In Series. FBI agent Chris Shane cannot physically examine a murder scene because Chris has Haden’s Syndrome. Chris interacts with the world with an android.
The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams, Book #0.5 of The Last King of Osten Ard
Introduction
The Storm King has been defeated at the end of the novel To Green Angel Tower (Book #3 Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn) and the Norns, long-lived humanoids called immortals, must retreat across the hostile lands of the mortals. This is the story of the Norns retreat and the mortal army that follows them looking to destroy their race forever. Will the Norns successfully defend their last mountain fortress of Nakkiga or will they perish?
Summary
This book serves as a bridge novel from the first trilogy to a soon to be published sequel trilogy. The author tells this story from four different perspectives. Duke Isgrimnur of Elvritshalla is the leader of the army pursuing the Norns. He wants vengeance for his son Isorn who was recently killed in the war. He leads the Rimmersman who are the mortals who live the closest to the Norns. Porto is from the southern island of Perdruin and is in the mercenary part of the army tracking the retreating Norns. He wants to finish the job of defeating the Norns and return home safely.
Viyeki is a Norn who is in Order of Builders. Builders do not fight but serve the military, called the Order of Sacrifices. He wants to help secure their retreat to Nakkiga and save his people from destruction. Lady Miga is a Norn of the Order of Chroniclers who writes a scholarly retelling of the events depicted by the other three narrators. She brings perspective to the events and illustrates how legends are created from real events.
The novel is divided into five parts. Part One. The Ruined Fortress is about the Norns defense of Tangleroot Castle which is on the road to the Norn Fells, the Norn homeland in Osten Ard. Part Two. Three Ravens Tower is about the Norns stand at the tower which is part of the fortifications surrounding the Norn Fells. Part Three. The Nakkiga Gate is about the battle outside of the mountain. Part Four. The Fatal Mountain is about the resolution of the conflict. Part Five. The Long Way Back is about the aftermath of the conflict.
Recommendation
I think this is a great book and makes me want to read the second trilogy. The Witchwood Crown (Book #1 The Last King of Osten Ard Book) was released on June 27, 2017, and the second book, Empire of Grass, will be released in 2019. There is a thirty-year time jump between trilogies. I would call The Heart of What Was Lost as Book 3.5 of the first trilogy because the events follow immediately after book #3. It could be called a coda to the first trilogy since it is 197 pages long. I liked how all four narrators showed different perspectives on the conflict and each arc was a complete and interrelated story.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams.
