Tag Archives: Katherine Perkins

Book Review: Unchosen by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins

by in Book Review and tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Unchosen by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins

A Dark Fantasy Novel published by Amazon Digital Services LLC (10/10/17)

Summary:

“There’s no more ifs. There’s no more maybes.” (Page 104).

Everything went wrong when the chosen one died. Had they horribly misinterpreted the prophecy? Their world will now be under Xaramor’s rule for thousands of years, but there may still be hope for the chosen one’s four companions to still save the world.

Keywords:

Powerful Females, Diversity, Epic Fantasy, Fight, Prophecy, Tragedy, Death, Baba Yaga, Doom, Hope, Travel, Tower, Magic, Healing, Battle

My Review:

I noticed. The chosen one may have been your typical young male, but those left behind were the most diverse cast of characters. I appreciated so much this fact that two of the main four characters were powerful females with their own distinct personalities and abilities (Celeste and Noriko). The other two main characters were also diverse in their own ways as well (Nils and Hobie).

I liked how the chapters had their own POV and we got to see the unfolding of the world from different voices and get a little more inside the main characters’ heads.

I enjoyed the breadth of the world that the main characters traveled to accomplish their missions – the book had a definite Lord of the Rings vibe – even if for most of the action they didn’t really have one distinct mission. How to stop Xaramor? You can’t just stop him!

This book turned “the chosen one” trope upside down and showed how sometimes prophecies can be misinterpreted. Finally, a realistic plotline! They didn’t always get it right on the first guess – which is where mayhem and battles ensued. Although there’s lots of death and violence, this book isn’t bloody and gory.

I’ve never read such a good and well written middle – but I did sorely miss the traditional beginning, middle and end of a “chosen” one fantasy. This book was a deviation from the norm. It was fun and different. I loved the Baba Yaga scenes.

The book featured a truly epic final battle – worthy of the slow, slow buildup from the beginning of the end in the beginning to the end of the end at the end.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services LLC 10/10/2017 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.50

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jeffrey Cook on FreeValley Publishing

Jeffrey Cook’s Facebook

Book Review: Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk by by Jeffrey Cook, H. James Lopez, Warren C. Bennett, Katherine Perkins, Carol Gyzander, S.A. Cosby

by in Book Review and tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

25132487

Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk by by Jeffrey Cook, H. James Lopez, Warren C. Bennett, Katherine Perkins, Carol Gyzander, S.A. Cosby

An Anthology of Shakespeare Inspired Punk Stories published by  Writerpunk Press (03/09/15)

Though there is quite a bit of front matter, it is short and concise and good to read to gear up for the rest of the stories. At times the language gets oddly Shakespearian and at times the action takes turns that may be confusing. Some of the characters are somewhat stilted and lacking in description but overall this is an enjoyable and worthy read!

 

Mac by Carol Gyzander

“Different was dangerous.” (Page. 44).
“We’ve gained nothing, to still not have happiness. It would be safer to be that which we destroy, than to have destroyed it and still live in doubtful joy.” (p. 82).

In the strict society governed by ‘moddy’ chips that regulate emotions, hormones and even obedience, Mac is not happy with his lot in life, but he should be. Moddy dictates he should be content at his factory job doing the same as everyone else. Then his friend Banks opens his eyes to a whole new world, an underworld of the Moddy’s rejects… Written as somewhat dystopian, Mac tells the story of a man who learns the truth about how his world really operates and chooses to reject the moddy’s chips control over his life.

 

The Green Eyed Monster by S.A. Cosby

“Everyone lies, young buck.” (Page 172).
“Love was just a synonym for fool. Love made you blind to treachery, deaf to the truth and dumb in the face of facts.” (Page 178).

This is a story of manipulation for revenge. Iggy is a crazed man who can only see the end goal of revenge and doesn’t care how he gets there. He wants to ruin everyone he can along the way. There is lots of action and revenge. Iggy plays the manipulative and vindictive typically female-stereotyped role. Will Iggy go all the way or will he be found out by one of his mates before he can stick them with their own ruination?

 

Prospero’s Island by H. James Lopez

This is a story full of half nymph-half enhanced machined parts characters and the few humans who rule these creatures. Prospero and Caliban butt heads, but Prospero is too kind to end the creature. They are all stuck on this island and trying to get off and when Prospero is given the chance to run two ships afoul near the island, he jumps to do it. Later, he decides to help the shipwrecked humans, but the Sycori, the feral nymph originators, run chaos of these plans and Prospero must make difficult choices and decide whom to save and whom to let fend for themselves.

 

A Town Called Hero by Warren C. Bennett

Hero is a small town and air base that was seemingly unaffected by the war with the Fatherland, but when twenty some odd pilots land rag-tag on the island amidst the defeat and end of the war, the island will offer up one of its most deep mysteries. Where does the advanced technology come from and will all the pilots be able to settle into this peaceful community?

 

Winter’s Tale by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins

“Who says prophecy isn’t truth?” (Page 288).

‘“Just because there’s nothing sane he can do doesn’t mean there’s nothing he can do,” Dita responded. “Never discount the risk of nobility doing something insane. Sometimes it even works.” Treveur grinned, “In truth, I’m counting on it,” he replied.’ (Page 311).

A tale of a man in power gone mad, Winter’s Tale drops off the story of Leonard and his sudden crazy notion that his wife cheated on him with his best friend and picks up sixteen years later with the story of the mad man’s daughter. She was smuggled out of Leonard’s grasp to grow up as a commoner and falls for a man who happens to be Leonard’s ex best friend’s son. Can a union between the two young ones bring about peace between the old men as well? The fight scene in this short story was truly magnificent and the banter between dueling enemies was quite entertaining.

This anthology was published by  Writerpunk Press on March 9th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.   TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Book Review: Foul is Fair (Fair Folk Chronicles) (Volume 1) by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins

by in Book Review and tagged , , , ,

11187767_1574408786156031_8763402221927114499_o

Foul is Fair (Fair Folk Chronicles) (Volume 1) by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins

A YA Fantasy Novel published through Amazon Digital Services (05/15/15)

 

Summary:

“You Hawaiian lawn gnome people are very strange.” (Kindle Location 2314).

Megan has known Lani for quite some time, but she never knew Lani was different. In fact, Megan never knew that she herself was different. Both girls are only half human. While Lani lives with both her parents, Megan’s dad has been absent for most of her life. When she finds out her dad is in trouble, though, she jumps at the chance to help save him. Aided by the pixie Ashling and her Crow, Cassia, and eventually a real live almost-knight, the girls set off on their quest – only to be interrupted by the politics in faerie land. They must first appease the faerie leader before saving Megan’s dad, but they find out that he didn’t just accidentally get himself into the mess he’s in, he was set up! A full on political war with all sorts of odd creatures rages and Megan must figure out what to do and in the process figure out who she is and what she wants to be.

 

Keywords:

 Faerie, politics, high fantasy, world building, mis-appearances, war, strangeness, magic, distinctions, evil, pixie, butterflies, knight, quest, heroines, queens, dancing, music

 

My Review:

 Megan has ADHD. The whole book is one big batch of ADHD and to someone who has never had anything like ADHD it is very peculiar. The books that mimic the thing they are talking about are rare and sometimes hard to follow. In Foul is Fair, the writing style, dialogue, and descriptions are written in the style of ADHD. The feeling one gets while reading this book is that thoughts are somewhat scattered and random. Many of the plot points and motivations seem random. Even from the beginning you are plunged into the story without too much of a foothold before the action ramps up and takes away running with you. It is very different to be reading a book like this. If this is how Megan and others with ADHD feel and interpret the world, boy do I get it now.

This book, as it is the first in a fantasy series, takes a lot of time to build up the world and the political scene. Faerie land is complex and so are the creatures. If fantasy with lots of different creatures and different types of relationships and a complex other-universe with its own laws and guidelines is your thing, you will love the Fae Chronicles. I’m more of a character lover than a complex fantasy world lover.

Megan and Lani were characters I enjoyed. They were both very different from each other and somewhat unique as characters. Megan personified ADHD, but she was also artistic and musically inclined. Lani was some interesting ethnic mix and her family, being openly (to each other) faerie inclined, were super odd and fascinating.

This novel was published through Amazon Digital Services May 5th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.50

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jeffrey Cook on FreeValley Publishing

Jeffrey Cook’s Facebook