Intervention (The Galactic Milieu Series Book 1) by Julian May; How the Galactic Milieu Began

 

Intervention (The Galactic Milieu Series Book 1) by Julian May; How the Galactic Milieu Began

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Upon rereading The Galactic Milieu Series by Julian May, I came to a discovery that I never knew for decades: the series is not a trilogy. When I purchased the series in the late 90’s, it was advertised on the covers as a trilogy. I read it in order as a trilogy. It has a beginning, middle, and end, with some intriguing exposition and back story, as a trilogy. Everything about it screamed, “Read me, I'm a trilogy!” Well, it turns out that I was wrong. The Galactic Milieu Series is actually a four book series. 

Well depending on where or when you read it, the series is either a four or five book series. The actual first volume, Intervention was published in 1987 in the UK as one volume and in the US as two volumes: Surveillance and Metaconcert. The subsequent books, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, and Magnificat published in 1991, 1994, and 1996 respectively were released as a trilogy separate from Intervention at the time. Intervention has subsequently been rereleased as one volume and renumbered to fit the series proper. 

Oh and to make things even more interesting, I just learned that Intervention links The Galactic Milieu Series to May's earlier series, The Saga of Pliocene Exile. Even more important, some Milieu characters, most notably Marc Remillard, serve double duty in both series making them one continuous shared universe, The May Literary Universe or MLU if you will. Julian May loved to make things difficult for her readers didn't she? But I digress.

The good news is that the intriguing exposition and backstory hold up as a decent gatekeeping introduction to the rest of the Galactic Milieu Series. Intervention gives us important information about the Remillard Family, the Galactic Milieu, the Atoning Unifex, and the introduction of metapsychic abilities, the sociopolitical intergalactic circumstances that will affect the world at large and the Remillard's personal struggles and conflicts which will result in the creation of Fury, the metapsychic creature who will make the family’s lives miserable in the next three books.

The book begins when narrator Rogatien “Rogi” is a tween with his twin brother, Donatien “Don,” in the 1940’s and ends in the late 90’s when intergalactic intervention occurs. It is a fascinating experience to read this book after the trilogy just to see how concepts like psychic abilities are introduced. 

In the subsequent books, metapsychics are so well known that those abilities are considered commonplace. It's interesting to see a point when they are so new that it scares Rogi the first time that he hears someone's thoughts. He, like anyone else who would discover mental telepathy, thinks that he imagined it or he's going crazy. 

Throughout this book, we see metapsychic abilities evolve from a pseudoscience, to a theory, to something few people have, to a recognized legitimate phenomena, to something openly studied and practiced, to something feared and used to dehumanize others, to something that gives a huge advantage for those who have it, to becoming a central facet in some lives. The trajectory has some historical and scientific parallels in the real world. 

I keep forgetting to mention in these books there are five types of metapsychic abilities. There is creativity which is creating illusions, changing shape, manipulating energy, and assembling matter into new forms, coercion which is controlling others' minds, overwhelming mental awareness, and creating mental defenses, psychokinesis which is telekinesis, farsensing which is communicating with others mentally and sensing remotely, and redaction which is psychic healing and mind reading. In previous books, some excel in one specific ability like Dorothea with redaction and Rogi with creativity while others notably Jon can practice all five.

 This book emphasizes those different types and how they can be used and misused. Some use their specific abilities to help others like Denis who uses farsensing to create a bridge of understanding between those who are metapsychic and those who aren't. Then we see those like Denis’s brother Victor who uses coercion to commit criminal violent activity. It shows the different talents that one can specialize in and what means they use them for.

The book also introduces us to the conflicts found within the Remillard Family. Fury has yet to be formed but we see the toxic environment in which such a being would be mentally created and thrive inside a powerful subconscious. Rogi and Don’s struggles begin early. As Rogi studies his abilities and comes to terms with his sterility, Don falls into alcoholism, early marriage and fatherhood, and philandering. Rogi who is in love with Sunny, the woman who married Don, becomes the de facto husband father figure in her and her children's ives alienating Don further.

 Rogi eventually bonds with Denis who becomes a favorite nephew to him. Rogi and Denis’s mentor protege relationship is one of the highlights of this volume. He guides him in testing his metapsychic powers foreshadowing Denis’ eventual status as Remillard Family Head and prominent leader in metaphysics study and intergalactic relations. This also retroactively makes the decline of their relationship in the remaining books much more poignant knowing how close they once were.

The Remillards have several generations of family rivalries and this book shows the origins with Rogi and Don, then with Denis and Victor. While Don is simply a failure that exists for hedonistic pleasures, Victor is much more cunning and ruthless. He sees metapsychic powers as a means of superiority over people who don't have them.

As previously mentioned, Victor uses coercion in violent and destructive ways such as assaulting women, accessing accounts and government secrets, and brokering an alliance with organized crime leader, Kierian O’Connor while manipulating O’Connor’s daughter. In this reality, the Cold War is still relevant into the late 90’s and Victor manipulates various political sides to his advantage.

Later such things as intergalactic intervention, creating the Galactic Milieu, and interstellar travel will do their part in making these Earth struggles between warring nations and the law and lawless seem minor in comparison. But here they are in this book, present and unaware that the time when Earth's residents believed that they were alone in the universe and can treat the planet as horribly as they want will soon be at an end. Victor, like many, is all about his personal gain until forces greater than himself render him obsolete.

As far as the aliens are concerned, mostly they interact with each other in space, observe Earthling activity, and debate whether this planet deserves Intervention and an invitation to join the Milieu (No spoiler alert: obviously we know they will extend the offer and Earth will accept otherwise the previous books would never have happened). Mostly they just summarize what has happened so far.

However one alien character fascinates: The Atoning Unifex AKA Rogi’s Family Ghost. The Unifex has been helping Rogi since he was young to discover his powers, predict his future, help him face conflicts, and provide the extra strength for self-defense. There were hints in the next three books of what exactly the Unifex is and what is their motive for helping Rogi without confirming or denying the truth. One line in this book reveals the truth behind this character’s identity and why they are connected to Rogi.

Readers could skip Intervention and begin with Jack The Bodiless as I did. The exposition is revealed in an easy way to follow without getting lost and the three books could be seen as occurring en media res. It wouldn't have changed anything and there are advantages in reading the three without it like gaining immediacy with the characters and being left surprised at the twists and revelations.

However, Intervention does include some interesting backstories and take us to the beginning of Rogi and The Remillard Family. In turn it makes the remaining series more meaningful and powerful.

Now maybe onwards to The Saga of The Pliocene Exile to get the full story.

Magnificat (The Galactic Milieu Series Book 4) by Julian May; Galactic Milieu Series Ends With Emotional Catharsis, Mental Impact, and Provocative Questions

 

Magnificat (The Galactic Milieu Series Book 4) by Julian May; Galactic Milieu Series Ends With Emotional Catharsis, Mental Impact, and Provocative Questions

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Stop! Before you do anything else, I request that you read my reviews for Jack The Bodiless and Diamond Mask, the previous books in Julian May’s Galactic Milieu Series to fully understand this review. I will try my best to keep spoilers to a minimum but I can't make any promises so from this point out this review may contain MAJOR HEAVY DUTY SPOILERS!!! Read at your own discretion.

Ready? Good. On we go.

All good things must come to an end and Julian May chose a great way to end her Galactic Milieu Series with Magnificat. She gave it the right blend of emotional catharsis, mental and psychological impact, and still managed to ask and answer some thought provoking questions of the characters and themes involved.

The previous volume, Diamond Mask, ended with a final wham line by revealing a potential true identity of Fury, the violent manipulative alter ego that has been haunting the powerful metapsychic Remillard Family for decades since the death of patriarch Victor. Magnificat builds on that claim by narrowing the identity down to two family members both of whom might not be aware that Fury dwells inside their minds and refuses to leave. Meanwhile Fury’s protegee Hydra, once five cousins sharing a hive mind, is whittled down to one remaining member who is losing their sanity and planning a more personal approach towards revenge.

The undercurrents of rebellion against the Galactic Milieu have finally exploded and they have found their new figurehead in Marc Remillard. Marc is not only the Rebel leader, he is invested in his Mental Man project of creating babies injected with heightened amounts of the Remillard psychic DNA so he can communicate through them. Be the Fury to their Hydra if you will. Marc’s project and rebellious involvement pits him against his brother, Jon “Jack the Bodiless” Remillard and Jon’s wife, Dorothea “Diamond Mask” McDonald-Remillard, both of whom are determined to stop him and create Unity even if they have to use their entire minds, souls, and bodies to do it.

May’s gift for deep characterization and themes can be found in this volume as well as the others. Jack The Bodiless was mostly about Jack and his unique birth and overwhelming talent and his relationship with his dysfunctional family particularly his parents, Paul and Theresa Kendell-Remillard. Diamond Mask looks at Dorothea’s youth and transition from outsider to profound intergalactic leader as well as Hydra evolving from one mind into five distinct individuals.

 This final volume focuses specifically on two characters: Rogatien “Rogi” Remillard, the dry deadpan narrator hiding his own emotional pain and conflict behind a veneer of detachment and observation and Marc, who straddles the lines between genius and insanity, empathy and coldness, understanding and fear, rebellion against this higher threat and forcing his own brand of conformity. Through their eyes, we see a changing world erupting from the violence and tyranny within.

Rogi has been on the sidelines through most of the series, a part of the family but observing them at an emotional distance of wit and sarcasm. (When his great-niece, Anne reveals Fury’s identity, Rogi is not relieved about the resolution to a mystery that has been plaguing the family for over twenty years. Instead, he grumbles that she ruined what would otherwise have been a perfect day of Jack and Dorothea's engagement party.) However he is where the story begins and ends.

In the future, he is recruited to write the memoirs of the Galactic Milieu and the Remillard Family by an enigmatic character called The Family Ghost and The Atoning Unifex, an ageless god-like being who seems to know more than they let on and are clearly manipulating the situation for their own purposes. Rogi’s memoirs are a means to separate the truth from the lies and to show the reality of Milieu seen through the eyes of a family that lived through it. Rogi gives his family the chance to tell their own story.

Rogi is largely an observer but does take an active position in previous volumes. His most prominent action previously was to hide a very pregnant Teresa Kendall-Remillard in the Canadian wilderness and communicate telepathically with Jack while he was still in his mother's womb. This moment shows him as someone who puts his family before his own needs every time, a motivation that propels him in this volume as well.

Rogi is a contradictory character. He is a member of the Rebellion but is still close to the family members like Jack and Dorothea who support Unity. He is unmarried and sterile having no immediate family of his own but has a lost love and considers himself a father figure to the younger generations. He is as powerful as some of the stronger members but keeps his psychic levels firmly in check, assuming the form of a befuddled eccentric bookseller. He considers himself a coward but is proven to have the strongest moral character and highest amount of integrity in the entire cast of characters.

Rogi's most powerful moments occur when he is face to face with Fury. His anguish between destroying a monster responsible for the deaths of many and a beloved family member who became a surrogate child to him is deeply felt. He realizes that he is the only one who can kill the monster even if that means killing the vessel that he has grown to love.

Another character who gets a strong focus is Marc. His evolution from a devoted older brother to primary antagonist is one of the strongest character arcs as we see a man of immense talent and genius, unhappiness and anxiety about the world that he has been given, and an arrogant vision and ego to recreate it.

Much of Marc’s characterization comes from the themes of unity vs. rebellion. Many of the characters support Unity, combining their minds as one with the rest of the intergalactic species. The rebels want to maintain Earth's standing as an independent world. 

Marc and Rogi have some interesting twists to their characters, particularly their opinions towards Unity. Most Science Fiction readers are hard wired to be on the side of the Rebellion. Think Star Wars. Dune. 1984. Brave New World. Handmaid's Tale. Fahrenheit 451. Parable of the Sower. The Hunger Games. So on and so forth. It seems as though May is no different. 

After all her narrator character and one would assume Author Avatar/Creator Favorite character is Rogi, dedicated rebel. However he is not as cut and dry as one would think. Rogi is proud to be a rebel so much that when the mental call for Unity is thought around the globe, he mentally shuts down and refuses to join no matter how much Jack and Dorothea beg him to. However, he is chronicling the Milieu history on behalf of the most powerful being of the Milieu suggesting that his Unity involvement was pending. His true loyalties are multi-layered and three dimensional.

Marc is even more multilayered than Rogi. Jack and Dorothea falter a bit becoming card carrying supporters of Unity. They spend a lot of time getting married, starting a new life together, and become central figures on Earth and in the Milieu but become opaque and remote, no longer human or identifiable. As their characters become weaker, Marc’s strengthens. He weighs his actions and looks at the wide picture of what the planet could gain and lose. 

Marc's decision to become a Rebel is motivated by the cold logic of loss outweighing gain. He is the one who we see pursue goals, aspire for greater positions, respond with righteous anger and pride, fall in love, get his heart broken, fall down, and pull himself together. Since Jack and Dorothea are far off from us, Marc is the one closest to us. However there is a catch to understanding Marc’s humanity.

One would suppose that we are meant to support Marc’s rebellion but his creation of Mental Man muddies the outlook. He isn't looking to break from Unity for altruistic or global reasons. He is looking to create his own version of Unity and he can't allow any interference with those plans. He is not a Winston Smith fighting Big Brother because he wants to be Big Brother himself. 

The layers in character make the themes even more open-ended and invites readers to make their own decisions by presenting no side as being completely right or wrong. That is what this series’s ultimate gift is to make us see this fictional world but decide what we believe and where we stand for ourselves.

On a final personal note to the late great Julian May (RIP): Thank you for a groundbreaking and influential series that has meant so much to me and has led to almost 25 years of loving a genre that has given me so much creativity, imagination, inspiration, wonder, and joy.

The Emissary (The Selanian Chronicles Volume 1) by Peter Krausche; Immersive Science Fiction Puzzles and Enchants with Immense Plot, Superlative Characters, and Visceral Setting

 The Emissary (The Selanian Chronicles Volume 1) by Peter Krausche; Immersive Science Fiction Puzzles and Enchants with Immense Plot, Superlative Characters, and Visceral Setting 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I know this is going to be a good year book wise (I can't speak for any other reason though, especially Presidential wise). But it will be a good book year when I have already found a candidate for the Best Book of 2025. Peter Krausche’s The Emissary first book in The Selanian Chronicles.

This book has everything that I love in a Science Fiction novel dialed up to eleven. An immersive visceral detailed setting. A wide spread plot that covers various situations, worlds, and time periods. Some puzzling points that hint at future revelations and hold the Reader's interest. A large cast of multifaceted deep characters. Strong themes that are relevant to their society and our own.

The book begins with a long prologue about Philip Brannon, the head of a religious order called The Selanian Society. He recounts a romance and short marriage with a mysterious beguiling woman, Silana who introduced him to her unique views.

This prologue is a self-contained story into itself which could be a separate novella. There are hints of a connection to the main plot but so far they are not expressly stated. It lends itself to speculation about its involvement in the overall book leading us to make our own speculations. It is also a nice romantic story of two very different people that shake up each other's worlds and make them think about things that they previously hadn't. 

Silana sees beyond her people's arrogance and prejudice to understand human concepts like love, devotion, and basic empathy. Phillip opens himself to deeper concepts of spiritual consciousness and universal connections. Silana settles into a marriage with Phillip and Phillip transcribes an account of her otherworldly origins. The events of the novel proper is the account.

The majority of the book is set on the planet Piral after an event called The Galactic Diaspora. Some strange ominous occasions that herald trouble are on the horizon. There are rumors that the Millennial Peace is coming to an end and greedy opportunistic monarchs want to stretch their rule to other kingdoms. The women of the spiritual Selalian Order are in disarray after the mysterious death of their High Priestess and a young inexperienced one was installed in her place. Catyana, a future acolyte for the Order, has frightening potentially prophetic dreams. There are a group of enchantresses with murderous violent intent who are responsible for mysterious deaths and misfortune. An amnesiac stranger, named Vilam Tavisan, arrives and befriends a small circle of women, notably Catyana and Nova, a woman with hidden powers and ties to the Selanian Order. There are hints that a figure from mythology called The Emissary might have finally arrived and what a coincidence, Vilam fits many of the signs. Could he be the foretold Emissary and if so what does that mean for the future of Piral and the rest of the universe?

The details in Krausche’s Piral setting are massive and quite impressive. He put together a timeline at the end of the book that illustrates the important events in the world’s history that are important to the text and some that the book hasn’t referred to at all (or rather hasn’t referred to yet since this is a series). They give background information to events like the forming of the Selanian Order and what caused the Galactic Diaspora and the results afterwards. It puts the book into a wider scope that involves the entire universe and no doubt carries important information from volume to volume. Also, it shows Krausche’s ability to create a complex history of his fictional universe.

This is one of those plots that involve a wide cast of characters and in this case various worlds. Even the prologue, which is seemingly unrelated, reveals that Earth is an active participant in this narrative. Things that happen in Piral are connected to things that happen on Earth. The fact that the religious society that is a large part of Piralian life has a small but growing sect on Earth suggests that these completely separate universes will soon have to unite on some future date. So this is unknown through most of the book but perhaps is acknowledged by Phillip’s time at least in some capacity. 

It’s also worth noting that there are some suggestions that time is not linear in this book. Philip is revealed to be the Earth Selanian Order head through a dialogue that identifies him as such in the early 90’s. In the prologue set in the early 80’s, he reads Silana’s account that we assume is most of the novel. It makes sense that Philip is reading historical documents of people that existed in the past. But what then muddies the water is within the text, Vilam begins to dream about Philip and Silana’s wedding and even indicates that he knew them. So he is having dreams in the past of the man reading about him in the future that he may have known or had even been in the past. Perhaps these are prophetic dreams. Perhaps this is proof of reincarnation. More than likely, time in this series is not linear but cyclical. Things that some characters remember are not just what happened in the past but what will happen in the future. These thoughts require Readers to pay attention to the details as they make their own interpretations. 

While the sweeping plot and intricate setting are well written, the heart of the book are the richly detailed characters. The characters go through various trials and challenges that bring out their complex motives and fluid personalities. Two characters for example, Soshia and Maralena start out as maids and comic relief characters. Soshia is particularly humorous when she openly and blatantly flirts with Vilam who is bemused but then receptive to her advances. Then she is put through a very traumatic violent situation and we learn about her and Maralena’s backstory. We find out that they are more than we originally thought.

Catyana is another character who evolves quite a bit both in terms of her gifts and through her own personality. She is a very shy, passive young woman with a large talented family. She has odd quirks that confuse and sometimes upset her so she tries to suppress them as much as she is able to. A shocking experience intensifies her power but also almost drives her insane. She is able to access a much higher power and receive training by the Selanian Order where hopefully she can learn to increase and hopefully control her abilities. This trajectory could lead her down a path of great wisdom, authority, but also insanity.

Many of the characters from opposing kingdoms or ideologies are also portrayed as understandable. Some are driven out of revenge over the deaths of loved ones. Others are motivated by a desire for power when they themselves are marginalized. Some want to maintain the status quo and are afraid of the changes on the horizon so are desperate to hold onto what they can. Some of their actions improve things and bring people together and others create more dissension and division.

Nova and Vilam are at the center of the various conflicts and become catalysts for many of the other characters to facilitate their own paths and personal journeys while reflecting and traversing their own. Nova is a leader with great power and wisdom which she contains or wields when necessary. Quite often she is an observer that mentors and guides others to achieving their potential but still has emotional ties to the people involved.

Vilam also goes through a brilliant journey, particularly when he begins to exhibit the traits of The Emissary. Many of the characteristics are done by accident or without meaning to. He is someone who befriends and defends various characters like Soshia, Nova, and Catyana. His protective nature towards those around him as well as his humility when confronted with this prophecy show that he is the right person. He is a simple but kind man who leads because it’s the right thing to do not to gain accolades or fulfill someone else’s prophecy. He fits the type of reluctant hero, someone who makes a good leader because he doesn’t want to be. 

Vilam’s regular guy persona briefly declines in one chapter where he uses one of the foretold weapons of the Emissary. His voice changes and speech patterns become more elevated. His posture and movements become more strident and he uses his weapons as though they were attached to him. Vilam briefly disappears leaving The Emissary in his place. It's an awesome but haunting transformation especially because it's only temporary and he reverts back to his original self. Vilam’s change might involve a complete evolution or overhaul of the man that he was into the man that he is destined to become. 

The Emissary is an immersive experience that captivates and puzzles Readers. The first book leaves a long-lasting impression which the next volumes are challenged to fill.

Disrupting The Power of Fear: A Journey to Challenge The Overlords of Earth by Alden Gray; Discovering The Problems With Flaws: A Quest to Criticize The Author of SF

 Disrupting The Power of Fear: A Journey to Challenge The Overlords of Earth by Alden Gray; Discovering The Problems With Flaws: A Quest to Criticize The Author of SF

 By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Note: This review is also on Reedsy Discovery 

I will just say it. I don't think Alden Gray’s Disrupting The Power of Fear is the book for me. It might be because I am not a conspiracy theorist. It might also be because I have read better Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, including two at the exact same time as this one so it pales in comparison to them. 

But I found this book to be less of a Science Fiction novel and more a treatise about a conspiracy, and a tedious treatise at that. It is more than likely written for people who follow and believe the more outlandish theories that the world is run by reptilian overlords, that every dead celebrity is secretly alive or were murdered for “knowing too much” (about what no one ever says), Satanic airports and daycares are real, or that children are murdered for their adrenochrome. At least if they aren't in the rabbit hole of conspiracy, the book might be for people who are curiously peering at the edge to see what all of the fuss is about. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer much to anyone else.

In Antarctica, Jin-Soo and Maya Kang discover hidden relics that reveal humanity's history that Earth was invaded by Reptilians called The Anunnaki since ancient times. They were worshipped as gods and their hybrid descendants have manipulated world history by waging war and encouraging avarice, greed, invasion, and conquest. Someday a “Child of Prophecy” will be born that will alert humanity of their captivity and bring enlightenment through knowledge and meditation. Maya gives birth to a daughter named Ashley that displays impressive intuitive abilities and might just be the Child of Prophecy that was forsworn.

The concept despite being frequent could work. A popular topic in and of itself would not be bad as long as the author finds something interesting to do with it. Let's not lie to ourselves: conspiracy theories are topics that are so frequent, practically cliches, that they are screaming for authors to find fresh approaches to them.

They could satirize it like Adrian Deans did with Asparagus Grass or go for the excessive laughs the way B.G. Hilton did with Mysterious Aisles. There can be humor found in a plot that involves reptilian overlords taking over every aspect of our lives.

 The author could also write it with sincerity and take the time to ask some interesting questions within the theme. Say what you will about The Da Vinci Code and the theories behind it, but no one can dispute that it got people talking and that Dan Brown wrote the book like he believed every word of it. That's the problem with Disrupting The Power of Fear. It is uncertain whether Alden Gray believes it or not or how the book should be perceived, a warning about things to come or taking digs at the warnings themselves.

The title alone makes it sound like a personal development nonfiction book and the writing almost turns it into one. Gray does not follow “the show don't tell” writing advice. He tells us the Hybrids are evil and manipulative but doesn't give us any examples of what they did in the past or are doing now. He just presents secret meetings between them and real-life political figures but doesn't show us the influence that they hold or the aftermath of their actions. We're just supposed to take for granted that they are evil because uh I guess the conspiracy says so. 

It’s probably just assumed that Readers are familiar with the Reptilian Conspiracy Theory so they take for granted that they are evil because they're there. 

Without any sense of the Hybrid’s actions or goals, we aren't made aware of how awful they are or why they must be stopped. The conflict is neutered and the characters fall flat as a result.

Flat characterization is a huge detriment in this book. The Hybrids and Anunnaki aren't the only ones who suffer from it. Gray throws real life people into the plot like Queen Elizabeth II, Barack Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg, but not for any meaningful purpose other than to give them cameos and say, “You see them huh? Aren't I cleverly mixing them with the conspiracy? They are bad Earthlings because they are with the conspiracy!” 

If you are going to put real people into your conspiracy either go all in and do something elaborate with them or don't do it at all. They are world leaders, and business CEO’s. There should be some stakes raised because of their associations with world conquering aliens.

With a couple of exceptions, the real people are just here and gone at a few meetings without any real effect on the overall book. Gray could have just as easily created fictionalized versions or composites of the real people and it would have had the same effect. I would even argue a better effect because he could pursue their story arcs to the fullest potential without being tied to known information about them. 

Ashley is also a prime example of flat characterization. If we can't understand why the Anunnaki and Hybrids are so bad, we definitely don't have much hope in rooting for Ashley to stop them. I am reading Disrupting The Power of Fear at the same time as The Emissary by Peter Krausche and Speechless in Achten Tan by Debbie Iancu-Haddad, the former even has a Chosen One narrative as well. But with those books, Readers are given rich vibrant characters. They have realistic interactions in fantastic environments where they get to know the people around them. They have goals and strive to pursue them. They make mistakes and learn from them. They display insecurities, frailties, arrogance, low self-esteem, confidence, courage, and perseverance. We see them in their highs but most importantly we see them in their lows and how they have to adapt, adjust, survive, and live in these strange worlds. They change their minds and spirits, so their journeys are complete as they transform their worlds but also more importantly themselves.

Ashley is not like those characters. She is hidden and educated in secret to become the Child in Prophecy but she isn't really affected by anything around her. She shows very few flaws or moments where she needs to develop her character. She is one of those precocious types who show wisdom beyond her years, the kind of wisdom that should come across as profound but instead seems more pretentious and ingratiating. She has some intuitive and healing abilities but it's nothing spectacular. In fact, for a Future Leader of the World, she's kind of dull, a mere sketch of what that character would be like than an actual character herself. Similar to how Gray wrote the Hybrids, we aren't told why Ashley is the Chosen One or deserves to be just that she is. If that's okay for the Prophets then by all that is sacred, it should be for us. She almost becomes a Mary Sue of a character rather than an actual person.

There are glimpses of good characterization. Senator Mira Grant is an idealistic politician who leads the Resistance even at the expense of her own life. Jin-Soo still suffers from the trauma of living under government oppression as a child and is concerned whether his memories and experience affect his upbringing of Ashley. There is even an interesting story arc with one of the real people that encounters the Hybrids. They are caught between their legitimate desire to help people and the realization that they were manipulated by forces beyond their control. Unfortunately glimpses are all that we get.

It seems like Gray was not interested in writing a novel as much as he was interested in writing about these conspiracy theories. It seems more like a Nonfiction book with plot and dialogue rather than an attempt at writing a Science Fiction novel. It could be that Gray sincerely believes in what he wrote and wanted to build a story around it but there could be another possibility.

The book repeats itself constantly about the secret conspiracy, the evil Anunnaki, and the good Ashley. The adjectives and situation of the characters discovering something new, sharing it with others, and this information affecting Ashley's training is repeated to the point where it goes from tedious to self-parody and it does make one wonder if Gray was being serious or ironic.

It could be his standard good vs. evil dichotomy is not meant to be sincere but an intentional shilling meant to make us question the concepts and if we are meant to believe what the narration tells us about these events. In writing this book as a conspiracy theory, could he be trolling his intended Readers the theorists themselves? If so, it's not a very good troll. It runs on far too long, meanders, and ends too abruptly with several remaining chapters left to go. It might be real or it might be a joke, but it definitely needs to be a better book.

If you want to satirize conspiracies go ahead but again go all in and do so. Make the concept as far fetched and ridiculous as it sounds. Put in some laughs and parody it for all of its worth. It's a weird concept and weird people spread it. Have fun with it.

If you believe in this stuff and are serious, then make it challenging and thought provoking. Don't be timid and just tell us what is happening, show us. Make us fear this secret organization and hope that there are heroes to fight it. Make the protagonists worth rooting for. Make us aware of the high stakes and what needs to be done.

Gray’s writing style is detached, not trying for satire or sincerity. It's unclear whether he believes it or not and is instead keeping the world in the book at arm’s length instead of wanting us to be invested either way. Worst of all, this approach makes Disrupting the Power of Fear completely forgettable. Instead of Disrupting the Power of Fear, maybe Gray should have been Developing the Process of Good Writing.

The Evolver by Jessica Grace Vargas; Science Fiction Novel About Searching For Family and Finding A Purpose

 

The Evolver by Jessica Grace Vargas; Science Fiction Novel About Searching For Family and Finding A Purpose 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Jessica Grace Vargas’ The Evolver is a familiar topic this year of “High School Aged Kid Discovers That Have Super Powers and Become a Hero.” However, this search goes from a Science Fiction novel about a girl discovering her abilities but also trying to learn about her family and her own place in the world, or worlds.

Kennedy Neff feels like a freak in Tucson. She doesn't get along with her single mother, Roberta, or her vapid sister, Audrey. Most of the other kids think she's weird except Reddick Vincent, a senior who tries to befriend her. She also has unusual powers like telekinesis and astral projection. An incident in which she uses her abilities is observed by Reddick and Zuele Zuniz who reveal that they are part of an alien race that are members of an intergalactic defense team called the Evolvers. Oh and they want Kennedy to join them. Oh yeah and she's half human and her missing father isn't from Earth. Kennedy is stunned, amazed, and excited about this new adventure. While she is looking forward to the adventure, there is another more important reason. She has been trying to find out information about her father, even basic things like his name or where he lives. Maybe since he isn't from Earth, she can go with them and find out the truth.

The Evolver has some tropes that are standard on these types of books but there is enough attention to world building and characterization that makes it stand out as a better than average standard for the genre.

There are some standards that are to be found in typical YA novels. There is the fish out of water meeting her new friends. One who is the smart scholarly one that provides the much needed exposition and. The other is a plucky but good natured comic relief/trouble maker. There is the snooty rival who fights the protagonist for academic success and the love interest’s attention. Then there is the obligatory love interest who seems detached but later shows that they loved the newcomer all along. All present and all here and frankly doesn't add anything new.

What The Evolver excels in is world building. Zuele goes into the history of the Evolvers and the intergalactic conflicts between planets. We also get some insights about the various issues within the planets like how Zuele’s home world has a dubious reputation which causes its citizens like her to downplay their origins. We also get inside looks at the various topographies and socio political structure of the planets. 

The Evolvers’ abilities and origins are elaborated to provide interesting context to who has those powers and how they contribute to their society. One gets the feeling that Vargas did not only do a thorough job on creating her fictional world, but that what we are told is less than a third of what she knows about it.

The other aspect that makes The Evolver a well written work is its attention to the themes of identity and belonging. Kennedy's primary motive for becoming an Evolver is so she can locate her father. She searched the Internet but came up short. All that she has to go on is a strange tattoo on his forearm. She follows the lead and questions other characters. Many know about her search and tell her that she is better off not knowing. This only continues to fuel her curiosity.

Mostly, Kennedy wants to find her father to answer questions about who she is, why she feels like an outsider, and where she belongs. This search could fill in the missing parts to her life and give her a full picture. The book presents two possibilities, one more positive than the other but both still rely on deceit, secrecy, betrayal, and unclear motives. 

Kennedy thinks that she needs to reunite with her father to belong. She doesn't realize until it's almost too late that she has finally found a place to belong and be accepted all along. In searching for her birth family, she created a new one with the people around her.

Demons Also Dream: Summoned (Deadly Sins Book 1) by Ava Lock; Meta Dark Fantasy/Horror is Also an Effective How To Writer’s Guide

 Demons Also Dream: Summoned (Deadly Sins Book 1) by Ava Lock; Meta Dark Fantasy/Horror is Also an Effective How To Writer’s Guide

By Julie Sara Porter

Spoilers: Ava Lock’s Demons Also Dream: Summoned is not the first time that I have reviewed a How to Writer’s Guide disguised as a novel. That honor would go to D-L Nelson’s Lexington: Anatomy of a Novel which features author Nelson’s Historical Fiction novel about a British soldier during the Revolutionary War while giving us the process in which she created, researched, wrote, and edited said novel. Technically, Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series flirts with that concept as well, especially in the books, First Among Sequels and One of Our Thursdays Are Missing when Thursday’s adventures are put in book form and she has to contend with an even more fictionalized version of herself. Jen Finelli's Becoming Hero gives us a graphic novel in which characters argue with each other and the authors about the directions in which the graphic novel is going. 

But Lock’s book Demons Also Dream, takes that step even further. She wrote an effective sharp witty satirical Fantasy but also offers advice how a Dark Fantasy novel should or shouldn’t be written by having the protagonists talk and argue about it during the action. 

Our Literary Deadpools are Jocelyn B. “Joss” Wild, best selling Horror and Fantasy author, and Azazel, AKA Fury, a demonic genie, former lover of Lucifer, and Joss’s muse. Joss shares a psychic connection with Fury and Hell’s denizens so she can see what’s going on down there and this in turn gives her inspiration for her works. Joss however wants to write her final Fury novel and move onto other works. This does not sit well with her favorite subject as Fury questions Joss’ novel and what this untimely end would mean. While this is going on, Fury bids to collect a bounty on Roger Ford Garrison, the escaped soul of a news anchor who in life kidnapped, tortured, and murdered members of the LGBT+ community. Joss encounters April S. Showers, a fan and aspiring author who is not exactly the picture of perfect sanity. 

Demons Also Dream is a Hell of a fun time, particularly because of its two leads. Joss is a cerebral sardonic character who probably would have preferred to experience Hell, demons, psychopaths, and psychic energy through the pages of the books that she writes. She would rather be an author of best selling novels and go to the bar to cruise for an attractive woman to sleep with. What she gets instead is Fury, an aggressive sexually charged denizen of Hell who lives up to her name. She reacts with passion and fury inspiring Joss with her experiences and her energy. It's a difficult life one of demonic encounters , kidnappings, torture, and frightening psychic visions but Joss endures it, reports on it, and even makes money off of it. The two bounce off each other really well in these insane situations in which they find themselves. 

The book is ripe with deliciously juicy bits that add to the overall tone of the story. Lucifer is described as looking and sounding like George Clooney. Roger works for, what else, Fox News. Hell is less a place of torture than a place of ineffective bureaucracy. When April holds Joss captive she submits her to the worst torture imagined: she makes her read her unfinished sappy Princess Fantasy novel! This book is a hilarious and savage delight.

The best parts are the meta commentary which reveals that this is a smart novel about how to write a Dark Fantasy novel. Characters call attention to various plot points that happen particularly Fury. It's one thing to kill off a lead character as Joss was planning to do in her novel. But when said lead character sits up and argues with you about it is something else entirely. It's particularly good when in the end Joss changes the name of her intended book from Demons Also Die to Demons Also Dream implying that the book that we just read is the one that she wrote. It makes one wonder how Lock’s actual creative process went in putting together her book.

The most brilliant and savage commentary is when Joss reads April's manuscript which, let's just say, makes the Vogons from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Mentor’s William Lansing look like misunderstood literary geniuses. Rather than outright attack the banal work, Joss gives her captor smart advice. She tells her to make her Mary Sue protagonist more real by giving her flaws. Put her into a conflict that raises the stakes and changes her outlook. Happy endings are fine but make them well earned by having her struggle. This is all good advice that any author needs to hear and the fact that it is written inside a novel that plays with and illustrates these conversations is really telling

 Demons Also Dream: Summoned is an amazing and effective Master Class on writing a novel that is Trojan Horse disguised as a fun and exciting novel.

Weekly Reader: The Cloud by Robert Rivenbark; Involving High Tech Science Fiction Excels at Presenting Microcosms of Futuristic Tech Heavy World

 Weekly Reader: The Cloud by Robert Rivenbark; Involving High Tech Science Fiction Excels at Presenting Microcosms of Futuristic Tech Heavy World 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It's always a treat when I read one book, then I read its polar opposite. I read two books set in the 2040s, Mark Richardson's Malibu Burns and Robert Rivenbark's The Cloud. Both are set in California, both after times of political and environmental unrest and both have worlds in which technology and AI have taken over. However, in execution the two books go in opposite directions. Malibu Burns doesn't concentrate on the futuristic world so much as it does on the mindscape of its lead protagonist. The Cloud does involve interesting characters but it concentrates more on how this futuristic world affects them. Malibu Burns is strong on character and The Cloud is strong on setting and world building.

Blaise Pascal is a VR designer who works for The Cloud, the tech corporation that practically runs the world. He is currently working on Gilgamesh V, the latest game to appeal to The Slags, the lower classes who aren't connected to The Cloud (like Blaise once was). His director, Minsheng is impressed with Blaise's work but wants him to tweak the game to include an addictive drug which will control The Slags. As Blaise climbs higher in the corporation and spends time with the Slags, he begins to see the corruption, dehumanization, and mass murder that his superiors are planning. He is caught between the luxurious technology driven world that he wants and the honest connections of the human driven world that he needs.

Many of the characters are well written, Blaise in particular, but mostly they serve as microcosms of the society in which they live. They are shaped and changed by the universe around them and we see the strengths and weaknesses of the world because of how it affects them.

Blaise is the person in the middle. He came up from the low tech Slag world leaving behind a missing father, a mentally ill and deceased mother, and intense poverty to move to the high rise Cloud world. He hooked himself up to the devices that monitor his actions and created VR simulations for the people that he was once a part of.  

While Blaise is a huge part of how the Cloud works, he is not exactly enamored with his surroundings. He is a military vet who has seen his share of bloodshed in the name of the corporations and governments who pulled the strings. He also is mourning the deaths of his wife and daughter, the last people he felt connected to. Now he buries himself in work and a sardonic attitude. While his remarks are humorous (for example when his immediate supervisor, Mitsuko gives him an order, he remarks, "I ignored you the first time."), they reveal a cynical detachment for a lifestyle that provided him with creature comforts but little else.

Blaise's only relief is the downtime he gets when he goes to the Slags towns, perhaps his only means of any type of companionship and the only time that he can be himself without being spied upon. It is here that he meets Kristina, who is part of a resistance group against The Cloud. She tells Blaise some important information about his mother and what his role is to be in this revolution. As Blaise starts to see the Cloud for its true colors, as a dictatorship, he becomes an active participant in ending it by being the revolution's inside person and saboteur. 

Unfortunately, Blaise's new role as rebel coincides with his promotion through The Cloud and his involvement with his supervisors, Mitsuko and Minsheng and the shady directors behind them. The threats and underhanded deals that collapse the lower classes are made all too real. In one chapter, Blaise is nearly tortured by mantises, cybernetic insects which inject their victims with a painful venom. He then watches in horror as those mantises are then used on people including many of the rebels.

Blaise becomes involved in a love triangle between Kristina and Mitsuko. While normally, I don't like love triangles because I find them cliched and often unnecessary with The Cloud, I will make an exception because of what each character represents. 

Mitsuko represents The Cloud. She is a narcissistic ambitious person who uses many that come near her. In her world, relationships can only be made on a superficial shallow level. Because of this, terms like "friends, "family," and "lovers" are mere words. Because they are just words without feeling around them, those terms can be redefined however they see fit as Mitsuko reveals during one of the few times when she displays some reality beyond the materialistic driven persona that we have already seen. She is a woman who has been hurt in the past, knows what it's like to struggle to get to where she is, but doesn't care. She lost her humanity and compassion for others and sees the people around her as allies for or obstacles against the company that she reveres and even worships. She represents the worst that Blaise could be.

Kristina represents the resistance, the rebels that are still in touch with their humanity. They have technology in that they were able to build a functioning self-sustaining community, but all of their technology is used to benefit a larger society, rather than controlling it. They, particularly Kristina, haven't lost who they are or the love for those around them.

Kristina cares about her fellow rebels and family. Even though she is in love with Blaise, she isn't afraid to call him out on the actions and the people behind The Cloud's actions.

Kristina has a strange ability to read into other's souls. This ability opens up possibilities that when society heads further into progress and science, what was once considered magic could be rediscovered.

It also gives Kristina deeper insight into people. She sees beyond the surface that Mitsuko sees. She sees into Blaise's past and how he really feels. She makes a real connection with him, a connection that Blaise thought was lost.

The Cloud shows us a world that becomes so intertwined with its technology, that only the very few remember what it means to be human and it is them who will rebuild the world once that heavily technological superficial world is gone.

Weekly Reader: Malibu Burns by Mark Richardson; Science Fiction Novel is Aflame With Psychic Powers and Internal Conflict

Weekly Reader: Malibu Burns by Mark Richardson; Science Fiction Novel is Aflame With Psychic Powers and Internal Conflict 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Sometimes with a Science Fiction novel, the fact that it's set in the future is merely incidental. That is the case with Malibu Burns by Mark Richardson.

Richardson's previous books were more about world building. The Sun Casts No Shadow takes place in a futuristic world that has fantasy creatures like nymphs, dwarves, and anthropomorphic animals. The Hunt for the Troll is set primarily in the world of cyberspace where characters are hunting an Internet troll who might also be a magic troll from legends. These books are intrinsic in their setting and world building, what goes on outside affects those within.

That is not necessarily the case for Malibu Burns. 

There are some tropes that are evident to reveal the tech heavy world of 2040s San Francisco in this novel. No one owns a personal vehicle and all drivers are AI. Police officers are paired in human-android teams. The Internet is outlawed. Sea levels have risen to astronomical heights and environmental changes are present. Historic landmarks such as Alcatraz have become casinos. 

Most of the external is less important than the internal, of what goes inside the head of its lead protagonist, Malibu Makimura.

Malibu is psychic and empathic, able to read thoughts and emotions. She works as a caricaturist in a nightclub. While working, she meets a mysterious man named Max. He says that Luciana, the very wealthy woman that he works for, would like to meet her. Malibu is then sent to Luciana's Presidio Heights mansion. The wealthy seductive eccentric wants to hire Malibu to burn down old cottages and Malibu gets to pick them. It's illegal but Luciana points out that the cops won't care. Malibu will be well paid and if she suffers any guilt, don't worry about it. Some places want to die.

This book focuses less on plot and larger questions than it does on character and excels at that. Malibu is a great lead with a rich interior life that Richardson explores.

Malibu's past was not an easy one and helped shape her into the troubled woman that she is. Her father was obsessed with expanding his mind through LSD and then testing Malibu's abilities to the point of sharing thoughts with her. Then he abandons his family for another woman, leaving his wife to commit suicide and his daughter to be institutionalized.

Malibu's institutionalization isolates and infantilizes Malibu but it is instrumental in her artistic pursuits. She makes an abstract portrait of a fellow inmate, capturing his soul instead of his face. Upon her release, she continues painting caricatures of people's souls such as a seemingly quiet pleasant woman holding a knife. (She says it looks just fine.) Because of her time in her own mind and the intrusive thoughts that Malibu hears in her own head, she is more interested in what's inside other's minds and souls than their appearances.

 That's why her caricature portraits are abstracts. It's her own way of continuing the experiments on her of exploring someone else's consciousness. It is an outlet to channel her confusion, depression, and frustration with the world around her and the abilities that isolate her.

Another safety net is her love of movies, particularly from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Many of the situations in which Malibu finds herself in parallel her situations in this life. She watches Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and later she is caught in memories and thoughts that she isn't sure whether they are real or created outside of her. She sees Vertigo and has an affair with a woman, whom she is passionately in love with but can't trust. She compares Max to Max Von Mayerling, Erich Von Stroheim in the movie, Sunset Boulevard because of his physical similarity to the butler in the film and also because he works for a wealthy eccentric. No points in guessing who his employer Luciana is similar to in Sunset Boulevard.

In fact, Malibu's fondness for movies could be less of an escape than it is another sign of a troubled mind. Many of the situations that she finds herself in are so close to her favorite movies that it could be coincidences, hallucinations of a troubled mind struggling with their sanity, or evidence that Malibu is somehow controlling the world around her.

The longer Malibu remains working for Luciana, the weaker her grip is on reality. When she finds the cottages, she hears voices telling her that they are in pain and want to die. With each cottage that gets burned, Malibu loses parts of herself becoming someone who craves danger and hurting others. Her darker impulses takes over until she becomes someone lost in her own insanity.

While many Science Fiction novels take their Readers through the outside world to see how it affects their characters. In Malibu Burns' case, we are taken inside a character's mind and perception to show she affects her world.

 

New Book Alert: The Girl With The In-Sight by William P. Mills; Suspenseful and Lovely Urban Fantasy About a Magical Young Girl And Her New Family

 New Book Alert: The Girl With The In-Sight by William P. Mills; Suspenseful and Lovely Urban Fantasy About a Magical Young Girl And Her New Family

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: The Girl With The In-Sight by William P. Mills is a suspenseful and lovely modern fantasy novel with plenty of magic. It has a girl with magical abilities but it also reveals the magic of lonely people who get together to become a family.

Mirari Ramirez is a sweet young girl with intuitive and empathic abilities. She is attuned to the feelings and needs of others. She can also see auras and colors floating above other people's heads. However, her abilities can't protect from a dark sinister creature that she dubs the Bloody Dragon who stalks her. Nor can she prevent her mother from being killed.

Terrified, Mirari runs for her life and hides. However, she finds two protectors in  Sharisse, a beautiful nurse and Virgil, a scarred recluse. The three strangers bond together to protect each other from the dark terrifying creatures, learn deeper secrets about Mirari's origins and powers, and become a newfound family by choice.

This book is similar to The Book of Uriel by Elyse Hoffman, Fearghus Academy: October Jewels by I.O. Schaeffer, and The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum by Alexandra Lane about a magical child and their loving protectors. In each one, it shows the child having this marvelous ability and how their parents and guardian accepts and protects this child in their care, even when they don't always understand what they are going through. They are the true definitions of families that accept and unconditionally love each other despite their abnormal behaviors, appearances, thought process, and abilities.

Through his three leads, Mills shows the making of a sweet loving family. Mirari is an adorable bright girl without being overly cutesy or cloying. She has seen poverty and hardship and is well aware of the darkness that surrounds her, both human and demonic. She just chooses to look for the goodness and light within others. She refers to her guardians by nicknames that reveal what she sees in them, "Angel Lady" for Sharisse and "Friendly Monster" for Virgil. She sees better things within them than they see in themselves.

Her guardians are also well written, especially with how their relationship with Mirari helps them with their personal struggles. Because of his appearance, Virgil withdraws from most people, women in particular. He had a misanthropic nature in which he imagined other people hurting as much as he was hurt. All of that changes when he meets Mirari. The girl opens up a loving and paternal side to him. He begins to care for her and others.

Sharisse has problems from the opposite end of the appearance spectrum. She is someone who fits the saying about "beauty being a curse." People dismiss her kind and intelligent nature by seeing her as a vapid pretty face. She is often physically assaulted and believes that it is some sort of punishment for her looks. Mirari and eventually Virgil see the real kindness inside her and see a person who is  beautiful both inside and out.

The family aspect of the book is the strongest part of  though there are some interesting other facets as well. There are some creepy suspenseful scenes against the dark demons after Mirari and the truth to her origins is fascinating.

However, the real magic and insight in the story is the creation of a new loving family.

New Book Alert: Sapphire and Planet Zero by Christina Blake; Amazing Hero’s Journey Voyages To Unique Planet

New Book Alert: Sapphire and Planet Zero by Christina Blake; Amazing Hero’s Journey Voyages To Unique Planet




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


Spoilers: Sapphire and Planet Zero could be best described as MYTHS IN SPACE!!!!

It is about a young woman who goes on a Hero's Journey by discovering her destiny through a magical creature, is received a task, given many trials, and faces a great enemy to ascend into a different higher role. This journey is more of a science fiction based one as the young protagonist visits another planet.

Sapphire is a typical teen with a typical teen life with friends, school, and ultra talented parents who don't spend much time with her. Unfortunately, some things are happening which makes her life….not so typical. A bottle of perfume from her grandmother's shop appears to cast a spell on her. People are mysteriously dying with no probable cause, including one of her classmates, and her newfound black cat, Toby begins talking.

Well it turns out that Toby is from Planet Zero and says that the planet has been conquered by Thaddeus, a powerful wizard. Oh yes and Planet Zero is inhabited by a species called the squila who each have a twin on Earth and Thaddeus has been killing squilla on Zero. So when the squila dies so does the twin. Oh and did I mention that Sapphire is half-squila on her mother's side and that she is the one destined to bring down Thaddeus?

So Sapphire has no choice but to gather Toby and her friend, Luke and take a trip to Zero to take on Thaddeus. They have to free the Good Ones, squilan leaders, from Thaddeus. Fortunately, they left clues for any attempted rescue and that's what Sapphire, Toby, and Luke must do follow those clues to find the Good Ones.

Sapphire and Planet Zero is in the grand tradition of the works of Madeleine L'Engle and Ursula K. LeGuin, a blend of fantasy and science fiction. Author, Christina Blake handles both aspects very well.

Planet Zero is a very evocative fanciful setting and the squila are a fascinating new species. They are human in appearance but are more attractive. There are also some other strange properties that make them stand out such as crystals running through their veins and violet eyes. (So did Elizabeth Taylor have squilan ancestry?) They also stop aging at 19 and appear forever youthful. When Sapphire's grandmother arrived on Earth however, she hid her squilan appearance and took an aging potion so her body could appear like that of an Earth woman. She also put a spell on her daughter, Sapphire's mother, to make her the most beautiful woman on the planet cancelling her anti-aging abilities as well.

The most interesting aspects about squilan life is that they are born with some unique power or ability. Sapphire's grandmother has magic powers and even calls herself a witch. While on Planet Zero, they encounter Nathan, a friendly young man with telepathy and telekinesis (“anything with tele-,”he says.) Who helps them. Unfortunately, Thaddeus's corrupt influence causes the squilans to use their powers against each other such as the moment when Sapphire and Co. witness a club brawl consisting of people fighting with powers that produce tornadoes, water, and flight. (Sort of like what would happen if the X-Men got really drunk during a night out.)

A fantasy or science fiction novel is only as good as its protagonist and Blake gives us a good one. One nice aspect is that Sapphire is clearly described as a person of color. It is refreshing to get some diversity in fantasy and science fiction, particularly in the former which unfortunately is still lagging behind other genres in that respect.

While the narrative uses the “Chosen One” motif, Blake doesn't go overboard in making Sapphire too perfect or too much like a Mary Sue. When she first hears about her half-squila ancestry, she is naturally horrified and angry at her grandmother for hiding it all these years. She can be stubborn and argumentative, often bickering and challenging Toby's advice especially when it doesn't make sense to her. She goes on this adventure like a normal teen would, stubborn and sullen but willing to learn.
Sapphire has just as many virtues as flaws. She and her friends are very smart and use their intelligence to solve the clues. She also expresses tremendous strength in character in her fights with Thaddeus. Another chapter that shows her strength is in her encounters with the Milo, a team of siblings who use their various powers to test Sapphire and her friends so they can be ready to face Thaddeus. Though the tests are physically and mentally challenging, Sapphire is able to use those lessons to her advantage in her final battle against Thaddeus and his Troop.


In some ways, Sapphire can be contrasted with Rey in the new Star Wars movies. However, where the Star Wars movies fails is in making Rey too superhuman. There is no meaningful transition in which she discovers the Force and uses it in small ways making rookie mistakes before she masters it. In The Force Awakens, she already uses the Jedi Mind Trick before even really knowing what the Force is. By The Last Jedi, she is using it in ways no one had done previously like making rocks stop in mid-air and contacting Kylo Ren telepathically.

By contrast, Sapphire is only learning about her connections to Zero. While she uses new-found powers in an extraordinary way by the end, it is a logical process. Her first time on Zero is filled with embarrassing faux pas and even her encounters with the Milo take a toll on her. Her mastery of her squilan heritage is clearly earned as we saw it evolve from her beginnings as a brash uncertain confused girl to a strong confident leader by the finish. Sapphire's journey also leaves us ready for another adventure with her (which a sequel is advertised at the end of the book. It hopefully should be another great read.)

Sapphire and Planet Zero has the interplanetary travel of science fiction but doesn't get too technical. It has the magic of fantasy but doesn't get too fanciful. Instead it creates a 21st century Hero Journey which is the perfect marriage of both genres.

Classics Corner: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice; Spellbinding Epic Novel About A Family of Witches is Anne Rice’s Best

Classics Corner: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice; Spellbinding Epic Novel About A Family of Witches is Anne Rice’s Best

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Lestat Who?

Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles is considered her most popular work, but it is far from her best written. At least in this Reader's opinion.

Anne Rice's best work is The Witching Hour, a captivating novel about several generations of a family of witches that is both an epic historical fiction and a spellbinding dark fantasy. Along with Imajica by Clive Barker and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, The Witching Hour is another favorite book that I read this year.




Michael Curry is a 48-year-old house restorer who moved from New Orleans to San Francisco. He survived a near death experience in which he was pulled from the freezing bay by a mysterious woman captaining a yacht. Besides a longing to meet his beautiful rescuer, Michael also has developed psychometry, an ability in which he receives psychic impressions of people by touching their objects. A few times this ability becomes overwhelming as just brushing past objects like clothes, doorknobs, or windows give him these impressions making walking in public areas difficult. Not only that but he is haunted by childhood memories in his native New Orleans in which he walked by a mansion and encountered a creepy ghostly looking gentleman in old-fashioned clothing unseen by his mother. He retreats into alcohol and solitude until he meets his rescuer, Dr. Rowan Mayfair.




Like Michael, Rowan has an interesting ability and a mysterious connection to New Orleans. A neurologist, Rowan has healing powers that have nothing to do with her education and experience as a doctor. She can heal people with a touch but has been known to accidentally kill them as well. She had a couple of victims to her credit including her adopted father.




While Michael's abilities stem from his near-drowning experience, Rowan's abilities appear to be inherited from a family of witches. Even though she is adopted by distant cousins and raised as their daughter, Rowan is the illegitimate daughter of Deirdre Mayfair, a catatonic woman who has been in the care of her domineering aunt, Carlotta.

Oh yes and it is her family manse where Michael encountered the ghostly figure. The Mayfair Family (and a few others) knows about the figure as well. They refer to him as either “The Man” or “Lasher” and he usually appears in the presence of certain specific members as if guarding them and is also seen when said member dies.

Rowan learns about her family at the same time that both her adopted and birth mother die. The deaths send her, Michael, and their new friend Aaron Lightner, a member of the Talamasca, a group that studies paranormal activity, to New Orleans to learn about the history of the mysterious enigmatic Mayfair family.




Rowan and Michael make for a charming couple as they are a study in contrasts. Michael is more emotional and spiritual. He is convinced that he survived his near-death experience because he has to do some good with his abilities. Rowan is more logical and frightened of her abilities wishing they would disappear. Michael has a love of history and a deep connection to the past which is illustrated in his occupation of restoring old houses and his nostalgic feelings for New Orleans. Rowan at first prefers to live in the now, fascinated with medical research and modern living. After she becomes acquainted with Michael and the Mayfairs, Rowan falls in love with this odd family and their history. Michael and Rowan are an excellent team as they become a romantic couple and help each other through their struggles.




The highlight of the book (and the majority of the action) is detailed in a long account that the Talamasca has collected on the Mayfair Family since 17th century Scotland when Petyr Van Abel first met Deborah Mayfair, the daughter of a Scottish woman who was executed as a witch. Petyr helped Deborah escape, and hid her in the Talamasca's Amsterdam headquarters. The lovely Deborah becomes a model for noted Dutch artists like Rembrandt and marries a French count. Petyr meets Deborah again almost twenty years later when she is on trial for witchcraft, accused by her in-laws, and in despair for not only herself but her daughter, Charlotte. Though Peter is unable to save Deborah, he assists Charlotte in her escape and reunites with her years later in Haiti where she heads a plantation and is married to a sickly man. Through Deborah and Charlotte, Peter becomes acquainted with Lasher, a demon who helps the mother and daughter by catering to their needs and continues to be a part of subsequent generations as the family's advisor, lover, familiar, guardian and quite possibly the means of their destruction.




Deborah and Charlotte Mayfair set the pattern of the following generations in which they have extraordinary magical or psychic abilities which are passed from parent to child, mother to daughter mostly (with one exception). The members retain the last name of Mayfair as they travel from France to Haiti ultimately settling in New Orleans in the late 18th century.




The Mayfair Family History is an amazing account as Rice individualizes each member making them brilliant fleshed out characters, an impressive feat considering that she covers nearly 400 years of history. The most intriguing members are the witches: thirteen members that have powerful abilities and are linked by an emerald necklace that they wear on special occasions, their deep connection to Lasher which manifests from infancy, and their designation as the heir to the Mayfair Family legacy. Their strange family legacy of magic and supernatural abilities proves to be a benefit as they become quite powerful because of it but also is destructive as various members fall into unhappy love affairs (some with close family members), violent deaths, and/or self-destructive behaviors.




Among the most interesting of the Mayfair Witches are:

Julien- The only male member with magical abilities, he is active from the mid 19th century to the 1920’s. He is a sophisticated gentleman about town known for his affairs with men and women and his cultural tastes often attending operas and plays. Many of his lovers, especially his male ones, recount his love life which was passionate and stormy as he slept around with just about anyone that moved. He lived to be quite old and died of natural causes.

Mary Beth-One of my favorite characters in the book, Mary Beth, Julien’s niece and possibly daughter, is active from the late 19th century to the 1920’s. She is an ardent businesswoman who increased the Mayfair Family fortune by investing in various companies and technologies. Like Julian, she too has various affairs and dresses like a boy and accompanies Julien to brothels as well as engages in affairs with younger men.

Mary Beth’s savvy business skills brings her family untold wealth and her familial ties, particularly displayed during the family get-togethers that she organizes, allows  th various branches of the Mayfair Family to bond. She too lives to be quite old and dies of cancer.

Stella- Mary Beth's daughter, she is active from the 1910’s to the 1920’s. She is a free-spirited flapper who listens to jazz and flirts with many men including with Stuart Townsend, a member of the Talamasca who disappeared while investigating her. Stella hosts various parties and séances, and brags about her abilities to those outside the family acquiring a reputation as “The Witch of New Orleans”. She also has  a close relationship with her unstable brother, Lionel who during a party shoots  an kills her.

Antha-Stella's daughter, Dierdre's mother, and Rowan's grandmother, she is active from the 1920’s to 1930’s, Antha is more introverted than her mother, Stella and grandmother, Mary Beth. Antha is a romantic budding author who attempts to leave the family legacy behind and settle in New York to begin her writing career. Unfortunately, she is pushed or jumps from a third story window to her death at the Mayfair home.




The other non-magical family members are interesting in their own ways as well from the unstable Lionel, to the secretive Cortland who may be Rowan's biological father, the sweet but mentally disabled, Belle and the ruthless Carlotta who may be responsible for the deaths of various family members. The Mayfairs stand out as individuals and as a unit. It is easy to see why Rowan bonds instantly with the family and despite the scares that she and Michael encounter, is happy to be a part of them.




When the book returns to the present, it drags a bit as Rowan and Michael rebuild the Mayfair house thanks to Rowan inheriting the lot, and Rowan attempts to communicate with Lasher who avoids her until the time is right. However, things begin to pick up when Lasher and Rowan finally meet and the demon reveals his desire to be with her.




Tension and fear develop as the characters’ motives are questioned particularly Lasher's. Is he protecting the family or hurting them? What does he want from them to serve them or to rule over them? Why do the Witches attract him and what is he looking for in them particularly in Rowan? Lasher like the Mayfair Witches builds suspense because even though he fascinates and captivates other characters as well as the Reader, no one knows exactly who he really is and what he wants.

Like the rest of the Mayfairs, Lasher is the type of character that may be fun at a party but only the very foolish would be alone with him.




The story build into a climax as Rowan and Michael learn the reasons for their abilities and why they were called to the Mayfair Home. The conclusion is open-ended as yet another generation is born that will no doubt retain the Mayfair legacy of witchcraft, sexuality, and danger.