Rising Karma by Eugene Samolin; Pulverize Aiko Rising Book 2 by D.B. Goodin; The Dark Chronicles by Karmen Spiljak

 Rising Karma by Eugene Samolin; Pulverize Aiko Rising Book 2 by D.B. Goodin; The Dark Chronicles by Karmen Spiljak 

Rising Karma by Eugene Samolin 

Spoilers: Eugene Samolin wants to say something with his spiritual novel, Rising Karma. He says it well with a clear message and a protagonist who is caught up in a vision but still retains his humanity. However there are concerns with how the message is shared from a storytelling point of view. It's clear that he wanted to say something important first and write a compelling novel afterwards. Unfortunately, the deficiencies found in the narrative keep the main point from being shared.

Rodney Real is part of a Jewish family who emigrated from Russia during a pogrom and settled in Australia. He is interested in his Creative Writing college class and Missy, an attractive Muslim student. One day he has a vision of the Biblical Tree of Life. This vision and subsequent research leads him to the conclusion that all religions are the same. Particularly the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam come from the same source.

 He is driven to create a new sect, Sion, based on the three paths that combine them. Unfortunately he receives derision and attacks from classmates, professors, members of these faiths, his own family, and the College's Administration Board especially one of its members who has a personal grudge against him.

It's clear that Samolin put a lot of thought into writing about the Tree of Life vision. The Afterward reveals that it was based on a dream that he had and Rodney is a wish fulfillment character who acts in ways that Samolin wishes that he did.

The Tree of Life chapter is the highlight of the book. It is described as a giant tree with uncounted human bodies acting as branches with a strong powerful presence of God to the side. Rodney sees Biblical figures and ancestors all the way to his grandfather. It is a vision of warmth, belonging, history, and acceptance. Rodney sees it as the kind of vision that reminds him of hisvimportance and charges him to find a way to change the world around him.

For a character like Rodney who is curious about his faith and history, this vision is very appealing. He asks questions about his heritage that are dismissed by his father. His dad wants nothing to do with the spiritual path in which he was born into and in turn open up the traumas of Antisemitism and genocide which his family had to carry all of these years. Rodney’s religious calling could be seen as an act of rebelling against his father's retreat away from faith.

It's worth noting that Rodney is wholeheartedly committed to combining various faiths. His relationship with Missy is based on an emotional and spiritual connection that transcends their religions which are often at odds. He goes through the initiation rites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as he is learning how to incorporate them into Sion. He is not blinded by one following but seeks wisdom from all of them. Sion seems to be a compromise which takes various teachings, philosophies, rituals, and traditions from other religions to create a new inclusive one. 

As a one on one personal relationship of one man with his chosen path and a spiritual and historical guide, it is well written. Perhaps if Samolin marketed it as a nonfiction narrative of his own experience, it might be better. Unfortunately that is not what we get.

As a writer of Jewish history and spirituality, Samolin is fine. As a novelist, he needs work. 

Because the book is written from Rodney’s third person point of view, we see everything from his eyes. Therefore, the book is written without any nuance, subtlety, or character depth.

Everyone is over written as either enemies or followers with no in between. Antagonistic characters, particularly one of the Administration Board members, are not just against Rodney's views. They are maliciously bound to silence him. 

There is no understanding of why they take such an approach and one is even possessed by a demon. This is a subplot that raises more questions and concerns about personal human responsibility. They are just evil because they oppose Sion. That’s all without any understanding about why they oppose it. The objections that are raised end up being hand waved without any real resolution.

The book raises some interesting concerns. Sion is a loaded term and many who emigrated from Palestine like Missy’s family are not unreasonably troubled by it. They came from a country where Zionism was often cited as a reason for people to get away with horrible crimes. In fact all three religious branches have histories of cruelty, murder, and animosity which may take several generations to heal. 

On paper, it's not a bad idea to bring them together. Helping them find some common ground and talk about concerns and prejudice is a good start. There are also plenty of historical and mythological commonalities that actually suggest that various pantheons and faiths have similar stories, archetypes, and beliefs. 

But it is naive and overly idealistic to assume that the people who follow those faiths will instantly abandon their old beliefs to embrace this new one.

 Rodney’s ideal plan only treats the spiritual aspects but ignores the very real physical, political, and historical conflicts that surround them. This is one of those types of situations where Rodney should let his actions do the talking. Instead of creating a new religion, he could have created an interfaith organization that bridges those divisions rather than force more contention on them. Perhaps he could incorporate social events and have real conversations with people who practice these faiths instead of assuming that he knows best and speaks for all of them. Not to convert them but to understand them.

The other concern is that the objections that many of the antagonists give can be reasonable from an outside point of view. If someone suddenly started going on about a religious vision, wanted to create a new sect even to the point of creating an official religious organization, and started using loaded, absolute, and exclusive terms could lead to quite a few possibilities. One is that it's a genuine vision and could lead to enlightenment. But another strong possibility is that we are reading the origin story of a cult leader especially when Rodney throws out more volatile, absolute language like insisting this vision leads to the one true faith. 

To his credit Rodney is never written as someone fatalistic or dogmatic. He is a nice guy who wants to share this vision with others but like many with a new outlook lacks the patience, foresight, or subtlety to gently lead people to it on their own. He is like many young people who grab an idea and won't let go of it. He lacks the filters to be gradual in his interests. As he faces continual challenges, however his character becomes muted by his views and becomes less of a person and more of a mouthpiece for his views or more specifically Samolin’s views.

Samolin clearly wanted to write a book that dealt with his personal spiritual journey then he should have written that book. Unfortunately, he gave this belief to a novel that is too unfocused and too one sided to be a compelling work of fiction.

Pulverize (Aiko Rising Book 2) by D.B. Goodin

Spoilers: Pulverize the second book in D.B. Goodin’s Aiko Rising series is an unsettling Science Fiction and a solid Family Drama.

13 year old Aiko Takahashi wakes up from a coma to find herself accused of a crime that she didn’t commit and sentenced to juvenile detention. Malcolm, a sinister figure at the center of this conspiracy, wants access to Aiko’s mother’s research and technology. 

When Aiko refuses, she is subjected to mind control experiments which awaken hidden powers, rage, and a desire for revenge inside her. Meanwhile Aiko’s uncle Hiroto is looking to save the girl with the help of his AI Kaen. 

The book is very disconcerting as certain moments occur out of time and place because of Aiko’s fracturing mind. She has nightmares of abuse, accusations, and torment which might be real but could be just as easily implanted into her head. While in prison, she compulsively writes numbers and phrases that she doesn’t understand like she is possessed.  

All of this is meant to fill Aiko with unease. If she can’t trust her own thoughts and actions, how much of a defense can she build against outside forces like Malcolm and his cohorts?

If torturing Aiko doesn’t work, Malcolm isn’t above using others to break her. He threatens her adopted family so that even when her sisters visit, there are suspicions that they are being manipulated by outside forces. A fellow prisoner that befriends Aiko is set on fire right in front of her. An enigmatic character named Operator 47 seems to know more about Aiko than he is telling. 

Aiko can’t trust her mind and body and now can’t trust that the people around her won’t betray her or get killed right in front of her.

Despite all of the uncertainty, there is a concrete more straightforward subplot. That of Hiroto researching his niece's whereabouts. He is a steady presence throughout the novel gathering information and interrogating others with dogged perseverance and obvious affection for this girl who is like a daughter to him.

In the chaos surrounding Aiko’s captivity and betrayals, Hiroto is the much needed order and sanctuary. He is the home that she needs and the adult who sees Aiko as a person not a means to an end.

Dark Chronicles by Karmen Spiljak

Spoilers: Sometimes with anthologies, the whole package is great. The set-up is immediately gripping, the characters are memorable, the plot builds in a proper manner, a twist is revealed which makes sense because of the evidence that was previously provided, and a resolution neatly ties up loose ends. Because it's a short work, the details have to work together or the whole project often falls apart. That isn't always the case and sometimes the work can survive with some weak details but it is still very noticeable. That is what is at play with Karmen Spiljak’s Horror/Dark Fantasy Dark Chronicles.

It's not a terrible anthology. The set-ups are well done and the paces are kept at just the right speed. They draw the Readers with the ominous energy and the dark presence of the fantastic unsettling images and words. Unfortunately, the resolutions aren't that great.

The plot twists are mostly predictable and pretty easy to guess especially if you watch and read similar anthology series like Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Black Mirror, Tales From The Crypt, and so on and so forth. Most of the stories just kind of stop with no real pay off. 

To her credit other speculative fiction authors have this same problem. Stephen King’s works are notorious for their lacking resolutions, but great build ups. What do we remember the most about IT, Pennywise the Clown dropping in and out of pictures and peering at Georgie from inside the sewer or the weird spider thing that can be taken out by a simple slingshot? I always found the ambiguous fear of an H.P. Lovecraft cosmic horror demon far scarier before arrival when the mention of its name and hints of its appearance spread insanity rather than the actual presence of an ancient god taking the form of a giant squid.

Spiljak is still new and has plenty of time to improve her craft but she's in good company when it comes to having difficulties ending her work. 

Spiljak knows how to grab a reader's interest.

She knows how to keep them there. But she isn't the best at sending them off. Nonetheless, there are some decent stories to recommend.

The five best are: 

“A Celebration”

This story makes use of the sight of a limitless barren road and the sound of an intrusive podcast to create a sense of unease.

Donald, a businessman, returns from a triumphant day at work to his loveless marriage. Along the way he drives down an unusual stretch of road and hears a podcast host reveal some things that hit too close to home for Donald.

Quite possibly, this story is a dig at another infamous Donald with a dubious reputation and overall unpleasant behavior but for now this is mere speculation. What it is is an exercise in how a limited setting and a small device can create a terrifying discomfort with their juxtaposition.

The twist is easy to guess which makes the resolution anticlimactic but the paragraphs before reveal the spiraling descent of a man who is on top of the world only to fall down. He is haunted by a place in which he is unfamiliar and a voice revealing things that are all too familiar.

“Andy”

The rivalry between humans and AI has never been more relevant than now with AI’s not only able to look and sound like us, they are able to take on human thought, emotion, creativity, analysis, and physical and verbal nuances.

Fre, an executive, volunteered to test Andy, an AI personal assistant. Fre thinks that Andy will do the boring admin clerical work while he does the Big Picture visionary thinking of a CFO in the making. Unfortunately, that's not what happens here as Andy takes on more human characteristics and responsibilities.

Now under normal circumstances, this type of conflict conditions us to side with the human and there is some of that here. It's perfectly natural for Fre to fear for his job and size Andy up as his competition. But there is something paranoid about his process from the beginning.

 Even while Andy is only doing the original admin work, Fre is already suspicious about him.

 It makes one wonder if Fre’s tension isn't because Andy is AI. Would he feel this way about a human colleague? Is this less about oversaturation of technology and more about one man's ego? This thought puts some of Fre’s later actions under suspicion. He isn't trying to reject or adjust to a tech heavy world. He is trying to own and control it.

“The Blaze”

While most of the story's endings are anticlimactic or arbitrary, the endings to this and the next story kind of work particularly within the context of the stories themselves.

Anita Del Rey, an aspiring actress visits the grave of her favorite movie star, Lilian Gladstone, and thinks about her own stalled career particularly her rivalry with Tatiana, another actress. At Lillian's grave, Anita lights a candle and wishes for fame and for Tatiana to have a little accident that puts her on leave. Anita's wish comes true almost instantly.

Anita's journey is fantastic but it is also an extended metaphor for the real life rise to fame which does not require a lit candle and spoken wish. It is usually talent, attractiveness, determination, who you know, notoriety,continuous presence, and or a combination of all of the above.

Anita goes through the constant media presence, the micromanagement of her life, the fast pace, and especially the jealousy of another rival with breakneck speed because of her wish. Fame arrives before she is prepared for it, making her climb and her fall even faster. 

It also is indicative of the times that she can't enjoy a slow rise or a long career in the spotlight. As quickly as Anita rises, someone else climbs to take her place, somewhere younger, better looking, more conniving, impatient to take her place, and also has a candle, a lighter, and a need to spend time with the dead. The ending works because it reveals the cyclical nature of fame is the same for everyone. It is continuous, unstoppable, and only the faces and names change.

“The Reply”

Like the previous story, the arbitrary end also works here for different reasons. While “The Blaze’s” ending was a commentary on the continuous cyclical nature of fame, “The Reply’s” ending is revelatory, calling to question everything that we have learned.

Francesca, a scientist, is emailed messages from a woman named Fran who knows about her research and wants her to end it. She claims to be Francesca from a parallel universe but is she?

The conflict between the two Frans shows how different choices and experiences affected these two women. One has only known tragedy and wants to end it with her actions. The other has scientific curiosity and longs to satisfy it with her research.

The end does call to question how much of the alternate Fran’s claims are real and what her actual goals were. It suggests that in her universe, she lost her empathy and humanity and became a literal danger to herself.

“For a Good Price”

You know those stories about the quaint little shop full of magical items and arbitrary prices? Yeah this story is about one of those. I admit, that is among my favorite tropes because I always enjoy visiting out of the way, book, antique, and New Age/Occult stores. I always imagine what I would do if such a fantastic shop existed in real life.

The Narrator visits a strange convenience store where Nick, the mysterious owner, sells Nick a hat. The price: time from The Narrator's life. It's a strange request, but The Narrator agrees until he realizes that the deadline for his lost time is approaching and he needs to give something else away for the price.

This story has dark edges but isn't as consumed by graphic supernatural horror like the other stories are. Instead, it is more akin to a slightly dark fairy tale in which a character obtains a magical object and finds out too late that everything has a price.

The Narrator is reminiscent of an addict. Now that he has been introduced to the concept of magic solving problems, he keeps going back for a new enchanting solution. He is on a constant mental loop and it's interesting to wonder how much of himself will be given away to feed this fix. Unfortunately, the story ends just as his addiction starts and before we get the full impact.