Tag Archives: book review

the wave of silence

Book Review: The Wave of Silence, by Xen Randell

I recently picked up a copy of Xen Randell‘s The Wave Of Silence as an Amazon freebie.
the wave of silence

As with most disasters, this one began as a potentially good idea. A breakthrough for humanity.

After a science experiment gone awry which throws the world into chaos and destruction, Alex finds herself alone and on the fringe of surviving.

Fanged, savage strangers called strigòns populate the Earth, entering from one of the dimensional tears; and despite their mutual animosity and hatred, Alex and her super-smart dog Einstein hop on an adventure to save both their and the strigòns’ worlds.

Will this group of unexpected allies save what’s left of their post-apocalyptic worlds or is the damage too great to be repaired?

Follow Alex and Einstein in their quest and see how far it gets you.

my review

I freely admit that I chose to read this book entirely for the dog on the cover. So, I didn’t go into it with high expectations. Which is good, because I’d have been disappointed. I think pedestrian and not particularly well edited is the kindest way to describe it.

The book sets up an interesting premise and world and then goes about completely not utilizing it. The whole book is basically traveling to the important thing they’re supposed to do, as opposed to the actual thing, completion or prevention of the things, and/or the fall-out of the thing. I was frankly bored for most of it. Which meant I had nothing to distract me from the messy editing and sometimes impenetrable writing. Like this, for example, “Soft susurrus of the more persistent leaves concerted with the melancholic whine of the late autumn wind kissing naked tree branches.” Do you know how long it took me to figure out the wind was blowing through the trees?

Add to all that the predictability, deus ex machina saves, and the way everyone lusted over the rather lack-luster heroine and I was just plain not having a good time, my dude. Glad to be done with it.

the wave of silence

witches for hire

Book Review: Witches For Hire, by Sam Argent

I’m not sure where I got Witches For Hire, by Sam Argent. It’s been resting in my Caliber file since 2017 though. So, I suspect I picked it up during one of DSP’ events. But I wouldn’t swear to that, only that I came by it legitimately.

Witches For HireAll recovering drug addict and witch Jeremy Ragsdale wants is to shamble on to the next job without any disasters. Instead, the temp agency saddles him with a fellow witch who hates him, an Amazon one violent outburst away from deportation, and a knight from another world as his boss. Even worse, their jack-of-all-trades magic business stumbles upon a conspiracy to kill Desmond the Great, Atlanta’s sexy star magician. Jeremy must prevent it without letting his colleagues know that he not only has ties to the energy vampires behind the plot, but that his past misdeeds might have instigated the attacks.

Despite Jeremy sporting a suit and tie like a good witch, his lies snowball to bite him in the ass. The lack of trust brewing between him and his teammates could cost Desmond his life and Jeremy his progress on the straight and narrow path if his secrets are revealed. Because no matter how much Jeremy has reformed, there’s still enough bad witch in him to kill anyone who messes with him or the people he cares about.

I had a truly odd experience reading Witches For Hire. The book has an awesome cover and blurb (though much of the blurb, while accurate, is irrelevant to the story). I liked the characters. I enjoyed the humor. I liked the voice or tone of the storytelling. The writing was mechanically competent and I don’t remember any big editing mishaps. By all accounts I should have adored this book.

But…and it’s a big but…the book would do well as a second or third book in a series. It does not, however, do well as a first. There was so much missing backstory that was hinted at throughout, and world-building that was left hazy, at best, that I spent most of the book asking “what is happening” and considering DNFing it.

I can’t count how many times I went online to check if there was a prequel or if this was a spin-off from another series. As far as I can tell there isn’t and it isn’t. It really is a first in a series, all on it’s own. And as much as I wanted to love it, the stingy was information was doled out, one frustrating crumb at a time, was a style that didn’t work for me.

The thing is though, there was so much I did like (even if not enough to rescue this book) that I’d be willing to give an Argent book another chance. Like I said, odd.

witches for hire

reading the rainbow

Wasting time…or playing with my book reviews

This post sort of came about by accident, as a result of me trying to keep myself busy. As I say in the Instagram posts below, I’m having my first real experience with sciatica. The result is that I’m largely uncomfortable if I’m walking around, but I also can’t sit for too long without stiffening up and hurting more. Yeah, it’s no fun…It is not fun.

So, in trying to find activities that I can do both while being up and about and while sitting down, I discovered that making little Pixgram videos can be a fun distraction that I’m able to do in on the go and while sedentary. As a result, I decided to make a cover reel of for each color of the rainbow. Yes, it’s random and basically just me frolicking in my digital book pile. But it’s something to keep me occupied.

After the fact, it occurred to me that, since most of these books have reviews here on the blog, there’s no reason I shouldn’t pull them all together too. Yes, it’s basically just a game and me playing in my review pile. But it is what it is.

The standard by which I chose books is set out in each of the post, but I’ll quote it here. “I only chose from books I’ve read (though not necessarily reviewed), the cover was heavy in the color I was looking for, I didn’t hate the book too badly when I read it, and I didn’t remember posting about it super recently (though, since I’ve read them, I probably have at some point). And I tended toward books that seemed like they’d not had a lot of attention.” Plus, I snagged Saint Louis Authors when I saw them. Gotta support the locals.

I’ll also add that the whole thing depended pretty heavily on chance. I literally scrolled until I found a book that matched my criteria, grabbed it and went for the next. So, it could have been this batch of books or an entirely different one. The result is that I ended up checking out some reviews I’d not had reason to look at in several years, which was fun. I forget what is buried in the review archive sometimes.

Here are the Pixgram reels and I’ll link each review below it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COlc0oSjZSO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Martini of Destiny
Food of the Gods
10 Ways Io Piss Off A Reaper
The Winter Boy
A Surefire Way
Love and Fuck Poems
Technologies of the self
The Clockwork Monk
Slippery Souls
The Fire King
The Devil’s Revolver


https://www.instagram.com/p/COlcvdAD88S/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Prince and the Program
Storm Dancer
The Tide of War
Was Once a Hero
The Quest For Juice
Finding His Feet
The Guest of Honor
Resistance
Mars on the Rise
Gracier


https://www.instagram.com/p/COlcj1eDTss/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

A Bullet A Piece
Light a Candle
Colt Harper Esteemed Vampire Cat
Spirelli Paranormal Investigation
The Magic Laundry
Murder Takes Patience
Edge Of Desperation
100 Ghost Soup
Dhata Mays
Death Days
Season of the Wolf


https://www.instagram.com/p/COlcd_mj42V/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Guesswork
Duende
The Flower Bowl Spell
Creature of Dreams
For the Clan
Curva Peligrosa
Alien Chicks In Citrus Bras And Stalkers From Beyond The Stars
Life After Love
King’s Raven
The Wounded Ones
Rook
Man Made Man


https://www.instagram.com/p/COlcY4djDzX/

Last Witch Of Cahokia
Cotton and Indigo From Japan
Dancing With Gravity
Ghost
Shadowcursed
The Eighth Square
The Wizard of Crescent Moon Mountain
A Late Bite To Eat
Night Watch
Eternal Samuri
Half


https://www.instagram.com/p/COlcTyVjzA-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Dragonspire
Welcome To My Chair
The Mechanical Universe
One Dead Vampire
God Killer
A Lesson for the Cyclops
Wild Wild ghost
Thorn and Fangs
Dear Mona Lisa
Silver Moon
Binding Shadows
liberty