Fantasy Book Critic

So it’s that special time of the year, SPFBO II has begun. I’m a little late with this introductory post, but in my defense, I truly get very little time to read with an infant. However I have a plan for this edition. First of all you can read all about SPFBO II over at Mark Lawrence’s blog wherein the second edition was launched.

Now I plan to read atlas 3 chapters from each book. I’ll be doing 6 rounds with 5 books each. I’ll be updating each round after 3-4 weeks. If the book catches my interest after 3 chapters, I'll be reading it entirely. I'll try to say why I thought each book did or didn't work for me. Bear in mind that it's solely my opinion and that doesn't have to match everyone else. I try to be as fair and accommodating as possible.

All 6 books selected after 6 rounds will get mini-reviews (which are decently sized, checkout my previous mini-reviews) either at the end of each round or at the end of all rounds depending upon my time constraints. Lastly after reviewing all six, I’ll be selecting my eventual round 2 choice which will reviewed in the full FBC format and possibly I hope to provide an interview with the author as well.

If I don’t like any book in any batch then I might not select any and might select a title in the end from the other batches. If that should occur, I’ll be stating my reasons as to why that was the case.

And here’s the list of books that have been allotted to me:
V.M Jaskiernia - Larkspur; a necromancer's romance
Scott J. Robinson - The Age of Heroes
Thomas K. Carpenter - Revolutionary Magic
Kristal Shaff - Powers of the Six
K.A Fenwolfe - Tiz Phoenix and the Witch's Tree
L.S Johnson - Vacui Magia
R.J. Blain - Storm Without End
Roger Atreya - Hondus Pointe
Rachel E. Rice - Insaitable
Loren Bukovka - Nicky and the fairy named Anika
Phill Berrie - Transgressions
Michael-Scott Earle - The Destroyer
Jeff Russell - The Dungeoneers
Fiona Skye - Taming Shadows
Cameron W. Kobes - Tales of Cynings
Jeff Davis - Scalebane
P.F Davids - Lesser Evil
Jack Conner - War of the Black Tower
Becca Mills - Nolander
Rosemary Fryth - Arantur
Katrina Archer - The Tree of Souls
Katlynn Brooke - The Six and the Crystals of Ialana
Eustacia Tan - The Nutcracker King
Teddy Jacobs - Sword Bearer
Marilyn Peake - The Fisherman's Son
S.K.S Perry - The Moonlight War
Emily Martha Sorensen - Fairy Eyeglasses
Katie Salidas - Dissension
Travis Bughi - Beyond the Plains
Allan Batchelder - Steel, Blood, and Fire

Authors, if you wish for more detailed updates, please feel free to reach out to me via email (fantasybookcriticblog@gmail.com) or on Twitter or via Facebook. I won’t mind it if you just want to chat and talk to me about your book or series or just want to say howdy.

I’m hoping that I can be more transparent and make it easier for all of you as well. So I look forward to hearing from you. My first batch will be the first five titles of the aforementioned list and I’ll be selecting one title for a mini-review.

NOTE: SPFBO banner courtesy of Matt Howerter.

12:00 AM |

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Wednesday, May 11, 2016

GUEST BLOG: The Art of the Mash-Up (How Colliding Ideas Create New Stories) by Jeff Wheeler

Link to Jeff's website: http://www.jeff-wheeler.com/

Link to Jeff's Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/muirwoodwheeler

Link to Jeff's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/muirwoodwheeler/

Fantasy Book Critic is excited to welcome Jeff Wheeler to our blog today. Jeff Wheeler is the author of The Queen's Poisoner, a new fantasy series. Today he joins us to talk about the art of the mash-up, or ways that authors combine ideas to create one unique story.

About The Queen's Poisoner:

King Severn Argentine’s fearsome reputation precedes him: usurper of the throne, killer of rightful heirs,ruthless punisher of traitors. Attempting to depose him, the Duke of Kiskaddon gambles…and loses. Now the duke must atone by handing over his young son, Owen, as the king’s hostage. And should his loyalty falter again, the boy will pay with his life.

Seeking allies and eluding Severn’s spies, Owen learns to survive in the court of Kingfountain. But when new evidence of his father’s betrayal threatens to seal his fate, Owen must win the vengeful king’s favor by proving his worth—through extraordinary means. And only one person can aid his desperate cause: a mysterious woman, dwelling in secrecy, who truly wields power over life, death, and destiny.

Fantasy Book Critic wants to extend a huge thank you to Jeff Wheeler for stopping by today.

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The Art of the Mash-Up (How Colliding Ideas Create New Stories)

Eight years ago, I read an interview with Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games, where she described her interest in Greek and Roman mythology and an episode of channel surfing late one night. Drowsily watching TV, images of war coverage began to mesh with a reality show based on teenagers. In her own words: “That’s the moment when Katniss’s story came to me.”

This wasn’t the first time I’d heard of something like this. JK Rowling had a similar experience being on a train and inventing Harry Potter. It’s happened to me many times. What I became curious about, as a writer, was how to make inspiration happen.

There are two principles I’ve learned about the art of the mash-up and I’ve used both in my writing.

The first principle comes from John Boyd, famous for being a dog-fighting instructor for pilots at Nellis Air Force Base. I read his biography years ago and learned that he not only invented the fighter pilot methodology called the OODA loop which is still used today, but his insights into aeronautical maneuvering were also impactful on his engineering studies where he figured out an optimal ratio for speed and acrobats of aircraft. This model has been used to develop more modern combat planes. Mr Boyd wondered where his creativity came from and wrote an essay called “Destruction and Creation” in 1976.

In the essay, Boyd describes how we get ideas through mashing up different ideas together in our minds. We take a piece of this and another piece of that and throw them together. We toss out information that doesn’t help. We incorporate new information. So in its rawest essence, creativity comes from the destruction of bad ideas and forming new patterns or connections.

For me, the practical application of the Boyd principle is to constantly immerse my mind in new material. I like to read a variety of things and not just genre fiction. I read history books, biographies, business books (which is how I found out about John Boyd, actually), as well as classics from the past. I always have a kindle nearby, a book on CD, and physical books, and I go through several simultaneously. I’ve always found a lot of inspiration from history and from the books that I read.

The second principle comes from Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, which I’ve dubbed the new math: 1+1=3. Hill called it the Mastermind principle. It goes like this. One person talking to another person about a problem or an idea doesn’t just constitute two minds working on a solution, but invokes a third genius. Have you ever experienced that before? The act of consulting and discussing something with another person can often lead to brilliant insights that just seem to come out of nowhere but in fact come from our creative faculties. These flashes of “inspiration” are crucial to an author and they can come purposefully.

In Hill’s book, he credits the idea to the old steel industry tycoon Andrew Carnegie, but I have witnessed this happening in a variety of settings, even during my career at Intel. It would impress me how a team of engineers could get together and routinely solve insurmountable problems just by putting their heads together. The combination of individual efforts, discussed in a setting that encouraged openness and candor, resulting in near-miraculous breakthroughs.

Now for the application. I think every writer needs someone they can bounce their ideas around with. A lot of the creative process happens alone, but I need a sounding board and it’s usually my wife who plays that role. Sometimes I’ll put my characters in situations that I don’t know how to get them out of, and so I’ll bring the problem to my wife and discuss it with her. While I was writing the Covenant of Muirwood trilogy, I was conflicted by a scene near the end when what I had planned to happen wasn’t meshing well with where the chapters were going. I wrestled over the dilemma for a while and then went out to vent with my wife. During our discussion, she suggested something that changed my way of thinking about it. That stroke of inspiration came right when I needed it and helped impact the story.

For my newest book, I used both principles. For starters, I’ve enjoyed a childhood favorite called Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. I thought the story about a spider trying to save the life of a pig could be transposed onto a fantasy setting. I wanted something Game of Thrones-ish, but without the violence, sex, or swearing. So I turned to my master’s thesis from college where I explored sanctuary rights during Richard III’s reign. I re-read some of the historical documents I had researched long ago. I watched several interpretations of the Shakespeare play. During this process, I also went with my wife on a trip to Yosemite and was entranced by the majestic waterfalls. All these ideas came together to form the basis of the series.

But before I wrote a single chapter or submitted the book proposal to my publisher, I remember sitting down with my oldest daughter and running my ideas past her. She’s an avid reader and listened to my ramblings very patiently. I was going to take some risks in this series that I’d never done before like having such a young protagonist in the first book. We discussed it closely and new ideas came which would be spoilers, so I won’t share them here. 1+1=3.

The result is a mash-up of Charlotte’s Web and a clean Game of Thrones. Even the title came to me as a flash of inspiration: The Queen’s Poisoner.

More about Jeff Wheeler:

Jeff Wheeler took an early retirement from his career at Intel in 2014 to become a full-time author. He is, most importantly, a husband and father, and a devout member of his church. He is occasionally spotted roaming among the oak trees and granite boulders in the hills of California or in any number of the state’s majestic redwood groves. He is the author of The Covenant of Muirwood Trilogy, The Legends of Muirwood Trilogy, the Whispers from Mirrowen Trilogy, and the Landmoor Series.

1:15 AM |

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Wednesday, May 4, 2016

GUEST BLOG: Exploring Character Development in Fantasy Writing by Fox Lancet

Visit Fox Lancet's Website Here

Fantasy Book Critic is excited to welcome Fox Lancet to our blog today. She is the up and coming author of a new fantasy novel titled Otherworld Soldiers: Rise of the Apocalypse.

Today she stops by to discuss character development and writing her latest novel.

A huge thank you to Fox Lancet for stopping by today!

Summary of Otherworld Soliders: Rise of the Apocalypse:

A Demon lord running low on victims.
A woman who was never meant for the world she was born into.
An enemy seeking to stand in the path of a violently ravenous horde.
When Lord Nefarion learns of the Otherworld, he stops at nothing to bring his legion to its gate and cross over. The Key must be found so that the demons can keep control of this precious gate out of the hands of their enemy.
Meanwhile, the Seraphs will do anything to keep the demons from their goal. Earth and its billions of humans cannot be allowed to fall victim to the savage bloodlust of Nefarion and his Horde, but they are outmatched. Only allies on this Otherworld can help, but can this equally blood-driven race be trusted?
Can either side locate the Key before the other and secure their access to this new battlefield? What happens when there is much more to it than any could have guessed?

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There are all sorts of aspects in writing that we writers have to hone in order to be successful. Between setting, characters, structure, and dialogue it’s tough to be the master of it all. One of my favorite parts of writing is character development. Creating intelligent beings and unveiling their personalities through their words and actions never loses its luster. In a way, we writers have very personal relationships with every character we bring to the page.

It is beyond simple to write a likable character. We make them do things that we ourselves wish we could do or would do if we were in their shoes. Even beyond that, we write people we like into those very characters. But we have to tread lightly when writing the likable character because they’ll often become predictable and fall flat as a believable character. A writer has to remember to give each of them their own quirks and flaws because that’s what makes a true, intelligent being. Allow them to make mistakes, to be cruel, to be overbearing or irrational. Before you know it, your character will start moving through your story doing things you never would have guessed and that’s when you’ll know you have succeeded.

No story would be an interesting story without the unlikable character. This one can be as easy as it is difficult. Think of people you don’t like and why you don’t like them and put them on your pages. The difficult part is still giving this character a chance. Give him opportunities to be somewhat likable or relatable by giving him empathetic motivation or actions. My struggle with these types of characters is my disinterest in them. I wrote most of my book almost completely ignoring a key character because he didn’t interest me. He was a thorn in the spines of my main characters and so I just blew him off. Then it was brought to my attention that the reader needed to know him more in order to really care what was happening in the book at all. It took great effort to write him in, primarily because I didn’t really know him and secondly because I didn’t like him. But after writing in more scenes with him he really rounded out and became easier to include later on.

Motivation is probably a writer’s strongest tool when developing a character. Once you establish their reason for existence and what moves them through your pages, the rest should come easier. After that you just have to establish his attitude and give him some personality. So long as you’ve had your own human interactions, creating a make-believe person with certain personality traits shouldn’t be too tough, otherwise you may be trying too hard and trying too hard often creates a calculated character that’s flat and predictable. I always like to say, “You have to hate what your characters do sometimes and even more, let them surprise you.” Once you really know your character, you can stop asking yourself whether that’s something he would do or not do. He’ll do what he does for you.

The relationships your characters have with one another are pertinent to revealing their personalities. This is probably one of my favorite ways to develop characters, through their interactions. It sets up moments of actions and reactions to another intelligent being’s own actions and reactions. These scenes will give you plenty of chances to show off your character’s personality. Even if he is conniving and fake, we’ll see him faking it when discoursing with another character. Most of my favorite characters are part of a dynamic duo because I like to write a lot of my characters in pairs. This way they play off each other and they know each other well enough to remark on the other’s traits.

In some respect, you have to be aware of certain emotions and characteristics within yourself to help the process of developing characters. If you don’t know how to be mean—or nice—how would you ever expect to write about someone who can be one of those things? Recently, I told a friend (who is an aspiring writer) how he needs to get in touch with all aspects of himself, even the most loathed parts of his being. He’s one of those ridiculously nice persons who wouldn’t curse you even if you crapped in his morning cereal, but he is an unbelievable comic and book nerd! He loves the bad guy. He loves the good guy. But I believe to write these characters you have to feel the good and the bad in yourself and everything in between. If you can’t connect in some way with those parts of yourself, how can you imagine writing those personalities?

After I told him this he went ahead and tried to play an RPG game through and was attempting to make his character the most diabolical by making all the most terrible decisions and he admitted that he really struggled with it because he didn’t want to disappoint the character’s father or bestie, etc. See right there? If you go into a fictional role still acting like yourself, you’ll never find characters beyond yourself. They will always be just you. In other words, if you can’t break from your own mold, you’ll never break the fictional mold. If you can tap into all aspects of personality possibilities (try saying that ten times fast) then you have an unlimited supply of characters at your disposal.

Developing characters is, in my experience, a very rewarding process. I’ve created these beings that move around the pages of practically their own volition. I think about them when I’m out and about and I even dream of them. I’m pretty much to the point I wish they really did exist, but maybe it’s because they’re like my babies. Either way, just try and stay away from the clichés and get ready to let your characters do what you DON’T want them to do. You can’t always lead your characters otherwise you’re just doing what YOU want to do and your character’s can’t be themselves. And don’t be afraid to feel things you don’t normally like to so you can write a personality that’s nothing like you.

2:14 AM |

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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

"Flawed: Flawed Book One" by Cecelia Ahern (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)

Visit Cecelia Ahern's Website Here

OVERVIEW: Celestine North lives a perfect life. She’s a model daughter and sister, she’s well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she’s dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.

But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule and now faces life-changing repercussions. She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found flawed.

In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where perfection is paramount and flaws lead to punishment. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything

FORMAT: Flawed is the first book in a YA dystopian novel. The novel has some romance in it, but mostly portrays the political scene within this dystopian setting. The novel does contain some brief scenes that involve branding and self-harm.

Flawed is the first novel in a proposed series. It is written from the point of view of Celestine North. It stands at 336 pages and was published April 5, 2016 by Feiwel and Friends.

ANALYSIS: Dystopian YA novels are a dime a dozen. Everyone wants to get in on the latest literary trend, which means multiple authors are stepping outside of their comfort zone and trying their hand at writing a YA dystopian novel that will be the 'next big thing'. Some succeed, some do not.

Flawed, the first book in a new YA dystopian series titled Flawed by Cecelia Ahern (a well-established chick-lit/romance novelist), is proof that while authors do indeed seem to follow a template of sorts when writing this type of fiction, if you have the ability to make it your own, it can create a decent, captivating novel. Just as its name suggests, Flawed does have some flaws – it is by far not perfect – but there is something about it that kept me reading and wanting to know more.

Cecelia Ahern does an amazing job of writing in a way that draws the reader in. Many times while reading Flawed, I felt antsy and a bit uncomfortable with the novel. Not a bad uncomfortable, but uncomfortable because the things that were going wrong and stuff that was happening was so.... wrong. It made me sad that society could have gotten to a point where fear causes people to become so blind to injustices and blatant hatred.

It was the writing style and its ability to connect with me that ultimately made this novel. I think it was the whole thought that one simple mistake could destroy your entire life. And society allowed it. The mistake could be as simple as handing someone a quarter who happened to be 'flawed'.

I will note that I am sure my fascination with the US political situation played a role in my like of the novel. Given the state of things, it is easy to see how a system like this could develop. Yes, its extreme, but it isn't as if this type of 'flawed' system was completely unrealistic. Seeing how it could relate to some current events, it could be enough to make some people uneasy.

There isn't a whole lot of world-building that goes on within the novel. Readers are kind of thrust into the midst of a chaotic situation and they learn as the novel goes along how things came about. Readers learn a very brief history of how the Guild – a group of individuals charged with judging and punishing those who commit moral/ethical misdeeds – came about. Readers learn what happens when an individual is branded 'flawed' and what consequences are for that happening.

Unfortunately, while readers do learn a very basic overview of these things, a lot of it isn't really explained in depth. A vague 'higher political power/bad guy' in YA dystopian isn't unheard of and certainly not a rarity, but I think a lot of questions could come up while reading Flawed. I believe – and hope – those questions will be answered as the series goes on and we dive deeper into the Flawed system and Guild's authority.

Even though there are parts that aren't well-developed or described, the novel does an amazing job of setting up this bleak, brutal dystopian world. There are a few 'grit your teeth' moments that don't graphically depict violence/torture, but that infer it or fade to black when it happens. I think there are just enough moments to reinforce how bad the world is in the novel without going over the top.

The characters in the novel appear one-sided, but over time they start to show different sides. The mother in the novel is a super model who appears to like cosmetic surgery and shopping, but in time she shows a deeper softer side to her. The grandfather appears to be a crazy old man with government conspiracies and wild tales, but he eventually turns out to be a deeper more understanding individual willing to help.

The main character – Celestine North – could be a bit frustrating at times. She is run by logic in a world that operates based on fear. She sees things as black and white, but there are deeper issues involved. It is her logical, straight-forward side that leads her into trouble.

What was frustrating – to me – was she seemed to want everyone to think things through when it came to her and her situation and try to be more understanding, but she was one of the most judgmental individuals. Every person she came across after her court date, she seemed to believe should show her compassion and understanding, but she judged them harshly for how they acted or didn't act or for the things they were still doing. For someone so logical, it didn't really fit that she was so judgmental of everyone especially others in similar situations to herself.

Celestine was also very naive. Multiple times throughout the book she was put in situations where she should have seen stuff coming up or what would happen, but didn't. Even after people told her it might happen, she fought them and still continued to believe in her naive ways. Eventually at some point, you'd think she would wake up and realize what was happening around her, but she didn't seem to do that until the very end.

There is one refreshing thing about Celestine – she isn't being portrayed as 'the one'. You know what I'm talking about. The "One" individual in the novel who has all those special skills and who just happens to have lady luck on their side at every moment. Celestine for the most part is being used by multiple individuals – the Guild, the media, other Flawed individuals, other politicians. She is being used because she was in the right place at the right time, not because she is some special snowflake who has it all.

It was refreshing to see Celestine put into situations that were real life scenarios and watch her try to get out of it. Sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she didn't. If she was able to solve a problem, she did it mostly on her own and didn't really have that magic 'get out of jail free' card flying around. There were a lot of times where she had to think and make decisions on her own and then live with those consequences.

Flawed is unique enough to put itself above the pack, but it doesn't have everything it needs to make it a genre changing novel. It is perfect for those who love dystopian novels and want something a little different, or those looking to venture into the genre, but if you feel burned out from the genre it won't have the 'oomph' needed to spark your interest again.

I – personally – loved the novel. Sure it has some flaws to it, but not enough to ruin the experience. I fully expect the entire series to be a complete package and can't wait until the next novel.

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