LARP: The Battle For Verona

Book Review of Justin Calderone’s LARP: The Battle For Verona

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Author, Justin Caldrone, sent me an e-copy of his novel LARP: The Battle For Verona.

Description from Goodreads:
Dennis and his friends have been LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) since high school. Now, in his 20s, Dennis is seriously considering giving up LARPing for good. He’s tired of dealing with his overzealous friend Mark; he’s tired of his older brother Brad’s constant put-downs; and he’s tired of the fact that he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Check that. Not a girlfriend, but the girlfriend. Alyssa—the one woman he’s been pining over for years.

Dennis and his fellow LARPers have never been considered cool, in their small island community of Verona, located off the coast of Washington State.

But all of that is about to change . . .

While Dennis and his friends are attending a big LARP tournament on the mainland, a rogue terrorist group of Mongolians in medieval garb, led by an American madman, invade Verona and take its citizens hostage—including their families and friends.

When the LARPers find out what’s happening in their home-town, they do what any dedicated LARPer would do: they put on their armor, strap on their swords, and fight their way home—LARP-style!

Review:

Larp: The Battle For Verona is utterly ridiculous. 🙂 A small island off the coast of Washington State is occupied by an invading horde of medieval Mongols…riiighhhtt. Then a group of local Live Action Role Players ride in to save the day, not the US military, militia, or even the freakin’ Boy Scouts, but LARPers….Ooookaaay. But all of that is written on the back of the book, so you know going in exactly what you are going to get. This is the type of book you pick up because of the absurdity of the story, not in spite of it.

For me the whole point is being able to abandon myself to the unpredictable nature of the characters who find themselves in a completely unforeseeable circumstance. LARP doesn’t let you down in this regard. Dennis, Freddy, Mark, and Jen a good fun. As semi-professional twenty-somethings they each embody their time. Dennis is stuck. He can’t seem to find meaning in his mundane life. Freddy is struggling with an ethnic identity. Mark hasn’t quite managed to grow up and Jen is determined to find respect as a ferocious woman (as opposed to a pretty lady, or worse, Daddy’s Little Girl). These are characters you recognise from life. You see them day in and day out. Watching them each overcome their own uniquely modern problems has a certain gratifying feeling to it, as does seeing them concur the external problem.

I did find that the book repeated itself a lot and this got a little tiresome. It also felt like everything wrapped up a little too well. I’m all for a happy ending, but it all became so hunky-dory that it felt a bit like a veneer. This was only a small irritant on an otherwise really enjoyable read however.

Review of Dream Song, book II of the Songs of Talmanor series

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On finishing Selarial’s Song (which I reviewed here)  I raced right out and bought the sequel, Dream Song.

Description from Goodreads:
Selarial is trapped and injured on the distant planet Taledra. Alcar, now on Sorth, finds himself in a conflict with the Singer Council over a rescue expedition. At the same time, the need to discover who betrayed his former command in the Fleet gnaws at his conscience. Both goals drive him to perfect his psychic abilities, establish a new Istari Order to help protect the Coalition from the increasing Thess’n threat and find a way to expose the traitor in the Coalition. 

Hostilities increase on both fronts. The Thess’ns attack Sorth directly and the Singer Council place psychic bonds on Alcar to prevent him from going after Selarial. After the attack, Lord Nafron (Selarial’s father) and Alcar increase Sorth’s covert ops with the Trader’s Guild aimed at intelligence gathering and destabilization of the Thess’n Empire. Nafron works in the Coalition Assembly to pass a Declaration of War. Alcar, with Selarial’s team, leaves Sorth to join the Traders in operations inside enemy space.

On Taledra, Selarial lies in a coma from both physical and psychic trauma. It takes a desperate effort on her mother’s part to heal the psychic damage and wake her. As Selarial recovers, she joins the rest of her crew in exploring the remnants of Tarkus’ beginnings. Disturbing clues appear that point back to the far past in an unexpected direction.

Events draw Alcar into a position he never wanted, but must take up if the Coalition is to survive. The only way to get to Selarial is to first get the Coalition’s house in order.

Review:
Like it’s prequel, Dream Song contains an interesting account of the accord that deep understanding of one another can produce. Here of course it is possible because of some individuals psychic abilities, but I think the lesson could be taken as a general one. I appreciate that. The story itself is an interesting one and I also really enjoy Brewer’s writing style and use of language.

Unfortunately I don’t think this book quite reached the high standard of Selarial’s Song. For one, it isn’t as well edited. Granted the book hasn’t even been out a month yet. Hopefully the author will take the opportunity to give the text one more pass and put out a 2nd version. For another, it is quintessentially a middle book. The beginning of the story had already been established but no true conclusion is reached by the end. While Book One chronicles the universe’s acknowledgement that they are at war, this book sets the stage for that war. There is a lot of strategizing, team building, discovery of new talents, etcetera, but very few game changing events. Even the passing of some of the main characters or the reunion after years apart of others wasn’t given any real weight.

Lastly, and a personal irritant, Alcar was simply too good at everything. More than once he offered advice or instruction in something he recently learned to others who would have been previous experts. No matter the specialty he was deferred to. He was accepted as leader of Sorth and the coalition (and by extension the Fleet) without any real descent. Could it really be so easy? I have a hard time accepting that. His mere presence completely eclipsed Selarial, who was hardly in the book until the last 15% or so. Even then he, not her, was the leader. Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t Roth and Kirrlea HER team?

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the story. It is a lot more intellectual than its description lets on. I always like that in a book. I’ll almost certainly read the next one when it comes out. But if the pacing is anything to go by The Songs of Talmanor is going to be a very long series.

selarial's Song

Review of Laura Brewer’s Selarial’s Song

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I grabbed Laura Brewer‘s Sci-Fi novel Selarial’s Song (The Songs of Talmanor, #1) off of the KDP free list a few months back.

Long description from Goodreads:
Selarial, a Singer of notable telepathic ability, is Chief Engineer aboard the Equinox. Few outside the other Sorthians aboard her ship are aware she is also the daughter of Sorth’s Ambassador. She, like all Singers, is mind bonded with two of Sorth’s other sentient species; Kirrlea, a sisha (feline) and Roth, a lidan (raptor). Both are known for their independence, loyalty and ferocity in a fight. As strange as it appears to outsiders, both Singers and sisha are often skilled healers as well as fighters. 

Alcar Trent is Captain of the Ventura and native of Tarrel, another of the Founding Worlds. His only home has been his ship for two decades. He is uncertain of the talents of the Sorthians on the Equinox, but regards them as strong allies that he trusts to watch ones back in a fight. Not all of his crew agree with that. However, he comes to rely on Selarial’s abilities and to discover some of his own.

When Selarial and Alcar’s ships are assigned to border patrol together, they know it is likely to get rough. It had been eight hundred years since the war with the Thess’n Empire. The Coalition’s relations with their old enemy had always been strained, but now the Thess’ns are raiding again. The Coalition forces on the border know war is on the verge of breaking out again, but most of the leadership is too concerned with political maneuvering to take the threat seriously. The notable exceptions are the worlds that founded the Coalition, including Sorth and Tarrel.

As incidents increase, Selarial and Alcar begin to see that Sorthians are high on the list of targets. Selarial also appears to acquire the personal enmity of one of the Thess’n Warlords. When ancient weapons, long thought destroyed, begin to appear in the hands of their enemies, Selarial wants to know why. On Sorth, the Singer Council delves into ancient records for answers, but uncovers more questions and an urgent warning.

Review:

I really enjoyed this book in a mellow sort of way. I like the story and the characters a lot, but it  moves fairly slowly. This encourages the reader (or at least me as a reader) to slow down too. Brewer spends a lot of time describing history and/or the use of one’s psychic skills. This is interesting but slows the action down. It also makes the book feel like it is probably part of a much bigger story. Otherwise the story couldn’t afford to dedicate so much time to non-events IMO. What the book lacks in heart-racing, page turning action it makes up in carefully considered spiritual awareness though. The Sorthians are a model of what humans should and could aspire to. Well maybe not the whole psychic linking part (though that would be pretty awesome), but certainly the environmentally, socially and spiritually cognizant part.

I have to admit that Alcar and Selarial’s bonding did smack a little bit of the insta-love that is so frequent in YA books. It always irks me and here is no exception. I would have liked them to have gotten to know each other a little bit. I get that there is probably supposed to be a certain amount of providence or divine intercession going on, but that feels like a necessary assumption that I would rather not have to make. Either way I enjoyed the book enough to race right back to Amazon and buy the second (Dream Song). 

Roark’s Cove

On a more personal note, I discovered from Brewer’s Twitter page that she is from (or at least in) Monteagle, Tn. This  is pretty close to my home turf. I was born in Alto, which is just down the mountain. This will mean next to nothing to most people, since both Alto and Monteagle are  pretty small towns. But it gave me a small personal thrill. As a result, while I would never be so arrogant as to presume to know any author’s inspiration, I have completely re-visualized The Vales on Sorth as Roark’s Cove. I just can’t help it. The Cove is one of my favourite places on earth and I think it is every bit as beautiful as the Singer’s haven is said to be.