Samhain by Nuith Lachesis, Seed of Fear by Patrick Seaman, A Woman Between Two Worlds by Kim Brantley

Samhain: Origins, Lore, Ancestor Traditions, and Flexible Wiccan Rituals for Solitary Practice, Couples, Families, and Covens by Nuith Lachesis

Samhain is an important holiday for Wiccans. It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the winter in the Gaelic harvest calendar. Bonfires play a huge role for practical reasons like protection, gathering, and driving off pests and symbolic reasons like purification and marking the turning of the year. The day carried strong associations with the dead and ancestors. It’s sometimes referred to as a thinning veil. Divination customs are also traditions in modern harvests and Halloween traditions. This book explores the various customs and traditions associated with the holiday including for various types of Wiccans. 

The chapters include “History and Origin,” “Symbolism and Correspondence,” “Planning Your Celebration,” “The Solitary Flame: Rituals for Solitary Practice,” “Two Flames: Rituals for Couples,” “The Family Hearth: Rituals for Families,” “The Circle’s Fire: Rituals for Covens,”and  “Until The Wheel Turns Again.”

One of the most intriguing facets of this book is the emphasis on different Wiccan rituals for solitaries, couples, families, and covens. To do this author Nuith Lachesis mentions specific people who represent those types: Rowan, a Solitary Wiccan who lives in an urban apartment, so has access to only a limited amount of tools to practice her craft, Briar, a Solitary Wiccan with 20 years of experience, Dana and Marlowe, a couple who practice Wicca together, The Hart Family, parents Sam and Jordan and their three children Avery, Quinn, and Wren who represent the Fam-Trad tradition of passing Wiccan rituals across generations, and The Ashgrove Circle, a coven of eight to ten members who engage in elaborate ceremonies. These examples personalize the various rituals and practices that Wiccans can take to honor the holiday. 

For example “The Solitary Flame” chapter includes “Ancestor Altar Ritual,” “First Solitary Samhain Ritual,” “The Dumb Supper,” “Divination Night,” “A Releasing Ritual,” “Veil-Walking Meditation,” “Apartment Friendly Full Celebration,” and the “Full Solitary Rite.” 

 

Seed of Fear: A Biotech Conspiracy Thriller (The Quiet Harvest Series) by Patrick Seaman

Seed of Fear is a tense and emotion driven thriller about a couple separated by the manipulations of others.

DEA Special Agent Sean McCreary is the only survivor of an ambush that left the rest of his team dead or languishing in the hospital. He is filled with Post Trauma and Survivor's Guilt but he has another more personal struggle to deal with. His girlfriend, Grace Liang, a food engineer, has gone missing. Unbeknownst to her, she created a specific pathway design that other more nefarious government representatives and cartels want to get their hands on. Grace tries to survive her captivity while Alec tries to find her while uncovering the ambush and the reasons behind it.

This book has all of the qualities of an effective thriller. It has nail biting action, various methods of torture, clandestine meetings, betrayals on top of betrayals, and physical, emotional, and mental trauma than a real person can possibly take but it’s all in a day’s work for the protagonists. But what really sells it is the emotional journeys that Alec and Grace are forced to take.

Alec’s PTSD from the ambush is very real. There are some moments where he encounters his former teammates and their family members. He recognizes the cost of living a life on the edge for a government that could thank you for your service one minute and then pretend like you never existed in the first place. In some of the worst moments, he experiences betrayal when he learns that instead of helping him avenge their deaths, his superiors and colleagues would rather hush the whole thing up.

Grace also experiences betrayal as well though a more personal kind. She learns that one of her kidnappers is someone that she knows and once trusted. Her moments with this abductor are some of the emotional highlights as she simultaneously hates their actions and misses the relationship that they used to have. 

 A Woman Between Two Worlds by Kim Brantley 

This is a Science Fiction novel about discovering one’s inner power, transformation, rebuilding one’s life after tragedy, self-awareness, searching for and finding a higher purpose.

World governments have been given a message: In 30 days aliens, called the Velari, will arrive and in the meantime they have to prepare humanity for their arrival. After the transmission, the DNA of various Earthlings change revealing a hidden alien ancestry and the ability to communicate telepathically with the Velari.

One of those humans is Cassandra, a divorcee who is embarking on a second happier but unfulfilling marriage. She is selected along with the others to be an ambassador to the Velari and has to spend a lot of time with them. While among them, she has to figure out who she is, who she loves, and what she wants to do with her new abilities.

A Woman Between Two Worlds is a novel about transforming one’s body, mind, spirit, and purpose in life. Those who have been transformed, called Pathfinders, not only communicate with the Velari but share memories, emotions, thoughts, memories, and experiences. This bond changes them physically, mentally, and emotionally so they obtain higher consciousness and enlightenment. It's an experience that is both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

Kim Brantley explores the various aspects from the people going through the changes and those around them. The Pathfinders themselves experience this amazing transformation where they have the mindset of otherworldly beings but are still in the bodies of humans. They might have visions of other worlds but still have to eat, sleep, and live around people. 

This division of ethereal and human can be draining and create a schism within. Cassandra for example shares thoughts and emotions with others, but she worries about how her actions affect those around her. 

Cassandra is already anxious from her Earth troubles. She is shattered by the end of her marriage and still in that phase where she both loves and hates her ex. She floats along in her life feeling detached until the transformation happens.

The transformation turns her into someone more empathetic, compassionate, and intuitive. The visions of the Velari and their home world help her and the other Pathfinders search for ways to save their world. Far from being the drifting troubled woman preoccupied with her own struggles, she finds purpose and meaning in her life.

However no transformation comes without confusion or pain. Cassandra is filled with questions. How does being an alien ambassador change her relationship with her ex? Do her neighbors see an enlightened being, a cult member, or a traitor to her species? Do they want to heed her advice, burn her at the stake, or do both? Becoming a Pathfinder is an illuminating but anxiety inducing experience.

Earthlings around Cassandra and the other Pathfinders are fascinated but also fearful of the changes in their friends and family. Some come to them for advice or want to take part in the new world that they are creating. Others want to exploit them for their own gain. Others fear and want to study them, quarantine them, or execute them out of concerns that they will destroy the planet. 

The Velari gives Earth the answers to their problems in human form but the people have to set prejudice and fear aside and trust the human vessels to listen to them. 

No Room to Live by Kyle Fields; Brilliant Subversion On Alien Invasion Tropes

No Room to Live by Kyle Fields; Brilliant Subversion On Alien Invasion Tropes

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Kyle Fields’ No Room to Live isn't just aware of and acknowledges the tropes in Alien invasion Science Fiction. Instead it plays with them, confronts them, critiques them, and subverts them providing a different approach to the subgenre.

Central Pacific pilot Kup Winston survives a collision with a UFO and encounters an enigmatic alien called The Warden. Unfortunately his Good Samaritan gesture creates more problems as The Warden reveals an upcoming invasion project targeted towards Earth. 

The complex narrative moves to various locations and involves various characters, humans and aliens. Hawaii, Texas, Australia, Vanuatu, and Iceland become important strategic locations for the aliens and we see how these changes affect the characters that live there. 

Besides Kup whose original encounter becomes a catalyst for the incidents that follow, it includes Jerry Morgenstern, a Texan attorney, Leilani Damonati, a Hawaiian senator, Hildur Einarsdottir, an Icelandic guide, and Kahealani, Kup’s pregnant wife among others

 Each character goes through various emotions connected to this invasion. From confusion, to hostile suspicion, to curiosity, to empathy, to fury, to resilience in survival, to diplomatic reasoning, to adjusting to the new normal. They reflect the various choices that people would make when faced with this odd situation. 

Some would fire at the newcomers with their guns blazing. Others would at least try to communicate to find out the intent or negotiate terms. Some would welcome aliens with open arms. Others find a new minority to kick around.

 The human characters are complex and within this specific situation have to question their own positions, loyalties, values, and thoughts towards crossing boundaries and breaking laws. No matter what the alien's real intentions are, it's clear that the human race on Earth will never be the same again and many of those old structures will alter if not completely break.

The humans are not the only complex characters in the book. The aliens also are very layered. Kup’s time with The Warden reveals this. There is suspicion along with a survival instinct that Kup is near a creature that might do him harm. Then The Warden tends and cares for him revealing a softer side and we see what might become an alien-human friendship novel. 

Then something changes and we learn something different about The Warden and the aliens’ plans. Kup’s hurt is more evident because of The Warden's betrayal. Within a few chapters our perceptions of the characters change accordingly.

There are also other complications involving the aliens and their society which provide wry commentary on our own. Many of the human characters form genuine friendships with the aliens. Notably Hildur’s relationship with one of the newcomers provides a sincere contrast to the one established between Kup and The Warden. 

It's a way to demonstrate that the aliens are no more a monolith than the humans they encounter. Similar to their Earth counterparts, the aliens have different complex emotions, motives, behaviors, and thoughts about this new world and the people who dwell within it.

There are also deeper themes in the book. Aliens from outer space as a metaphor for immigration is not a new concept. It's been used in works like Alien Nation and episodes like Twilight Zone and Outer Limits among others. 

This book however runs full force with the concept exploring the different legal, political, social, moral, and ethical concerns that would appear in a situation especially if the aliens were found unsuitable in their previous worlds.

It's this stigma of aliens being outsiders in both their home worlds and here that garners the most attention in the book. The human characters learn that the aliens’ former world had very strict social structures and legal requirements over how people were supposed to look, what position they were supposed to hold, and how they were supposed to behave within them. These are impossibly high standards for anyone to hold, so the aliens’ arrival makes even more sense.

This revelation provides a bitter edge that humans may judge the aliens’ home world for these arbitrary regulations but are they any different than the ones here? In fact that makes the aliens’ arrival even more questionable that they might eventually go through the exact same situation here. 

Once again they might find themselves outside a society that refuses to accept them forever searching for a place to belong, a world that they can call home.

 

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.

Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods (The Emergent Designs Book 1) by Harry Dehrian; Wide Reaching Immersive Science Fiction Novel Excels in Character and World Building

 

Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods (The Emergent Designs Book 1) by Harry Dehrian; Wide Reaching Immersive Science Fiction Novel Excels in Character and World Building 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Among my favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy novels are the ones that don't involve Earth or characters from our world. I enjoy them because the authors have to work twice as hard to create them. They have to be aware of this new world, the names, the topography, the political landscape, the society, and the species and people that inhabit it. That imagination increases tenfold when writing Science Fiction, because often the author doesn't settle on creating one world, they have to create several as characters hop from planet to planet introducing Readers to these brave new worlds. That's where Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods, the first book in Harry Dehrian’s Emergent Designs comes in.

Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods is an epic Science Fiction novel that created a wide-ranging immersive world. 

Trouble is afoot in the Amestra Nuvo planetary system in the Styx Galaxy. The mutilated body of a member of the Elite has been found, possibly eaten by a leviathan. The opportunistic megalomaniacal Governor Jaas has designs on expanding his control beyond his planet of Mosaar. Meanwhile visions of an entity plague the various mortal inhabitants of the Amestra Nuvo System. It becomes clear that a great cycle is about to end and a new one is waiting to reset.

This is a Science Fiction novel that carries many plots and characters to draw the Reader into this world. The subplots are numerous as various characters are affected by the changes in their system. 

The Styx Galaxy is rich in character and detail. We are shown technology like Qu-ducts which allow faster than light travel. There are skinsuits, body suits that hold to the skin and appear as a full body. The technology is worked on by mekanoots, automatic mechanics. There is a lot of specfific terminology and even a glossary to describe these terms. 

The planets have unusual characteristics like one where the sun rises and sets in the same direction. Then there is a planet of mostly water which is inhabited by blood thirsty leviathans who would probably hang out with Cthulhu. 

By far the strangest beings are the Daune Reesh. They are the Most Elite of the Elites, wealthy, powerful and are often at the ear of politicians and royalty. They are able to manipulate and move situations into their favor. They are also immortal and are rumored to have certain powers. They bring overwhelming awe and hostile suspicion towards others because of their immense power but dubious motives.

Because of this vastness in setting and character, more than one character is given a point of view. The narrative is divided by six main characters. They are:

Vierdaat AKA X Dev-He is a cynical recently promoted Giest, law enforcement officer with questionable ethics but dogged perseverance. Dev’s assignment is to investigate a series of graphic murders which he hopes will lead him to a dangerous psychopathic criminal. 

Razia-She is an idealistic adventurous member of the Liberation Crusade, a military organization that protects various planets and species from captivity. As she becomes involved in violent struggles and corrupt politics, she finds her previously firmly held values threatened. 

Lord Baelin-He is an elite and trusted advisor to Queen Meiral. He is on a diplomatic mission between sympathetic worlds as well as looking after the Queen’s children. His endurance and confidence in his place in the universe end up in jeopardy as he challenges the motives of those around him.

Princess Disa Ecrit M’Rota-She is Queen Meirel’s bookish and studious daughter. The young princess is assigned to do a series of taxing physical and academic challenges that test her skills and abilities. She discovers an inner strength and wisdom she never previously knew.

Princess Nora Ecrit M’Rota-She is Disa’s arrogant feisty sister and Meirel's older daughter. She is aware of her future as queen. Like Disa, she too participates in the series of tests and has to learn some things about real leadership and personal responsibility.

Prince Vikaron Ecrit M'Rota-He is Queen Meirel's brilliant ambitious son and Nora and Disa's brother. He longs to prove himself as a future king to his mother. He investigates a mass genocide that puts him directly in the path of Governor Jaas and places targets on his and his family's backs.

The main characters provide a rich tapestry of the Amestra Nuvo System and Styx Galaxy with their interactions with the various settings and other characters.The Reader becomes invested in each character’s personal journey and their involvement within the larger picture around them.

Dev has a strange symbiotic relationship with his false-bod, a mechanical vehicle which he dubs the “little beast.” It grows from owner and machine to surrogate parent and child. He also has to weigh his own actions, interactions with others, and violent tendencies with his new role as an officer upholding laws as he hunts his prey.

Dev also develops a surprisingly touching bromance with Vikaron as their paths to investigation overlap. They compare notes about their goals and their places in the universe. Vikaron himself has been catapulted out of his comfort zone and has to rely on his wits, strength, and the assistance of others to survive this universe.

Nora and Disa spend a lot of time together and have to rely on one another's strengths and weaknesses. They encounter a fighting group, whose leader challenges their status and leadership and could be a potential love interest for one or both girls.

Meanwhile, Baelin acts as a father figure towards the royal youngsters becoming more personally involved in their lives than their mother. His affection for the children is present as he questions his allegiance to the Queen and the system that he represents.

By far one of the darkest chapters involves Razia and a situation that is all too common on Earth as it is in Styx Galaxy. She and her crew help a charismatic politician seek power that plays on their commitment towards justice and loyalty. Once he is elected, he gives a speech that conveys the exact opposite of what he previously claimed to represent. Razia’s stunned revelation that she and her team willingly allowed an authoritarian dictator through the front door is heart wrenching as it retains a lot of relevance these days in real life.

 On the surface this book seems to be a pure Space Opera with clearly drawn heroes and villains where good triumphs over evil. However, there is a dark undercurrent that hints that something Apocalyptic is on the horizon. There is the constant talk about cycles ending and beginning. It seems that all of these random violent corrupt events with natural disasters, military coups, and manipulative power groups might not be so random. It suggests that this cycle might be coming to an end in the most violent way possible and everyone is out for themselves to take all that they can with them.

There are also various statements that describe Styx Galaxy in negative terms. It's cold, lonely, and filled with a vast nothingness. This suggests a Nihilistic or Cosmic Pessimism where the characters are alone in the universe and have to rely solely on themselves and the trusted few that will ride the storms alongside them.

Another clue to the book's theme is in the title. The Innocents are clearly the main characters that are being maneuvered and placed into situations beyond their control. The Immortals has a double meaning. It refers to the literal immortals like the Daune Reesh who use their long life span to bend others to their will. It also refers to politicians and royals, Elites who want their names to be immortal. They can go down in history and they don't care who they step on to achieve it.

The last part of the title Amoral Gods is initially confusing. There are no shown deities in the book. None of the characters pray to them or speak about them and that's the point. The only being that they refer to in any reverence is The Styx Galaxy and as previously mentioned not in the most glowing terms. This suggests that they are alone in the universe. If there are deities or a higher power, they are at best apathetic to the concerns of mortals and at worst play with them for their own amusement. 

That the book ends in cliffhangers where the characters are in various forms of danger suggests that the cold universe isn't through playing with them. Things are about to get darker and a whole lot worse before they ever get better. If they ever do get better.

There's Something Weird Going On: Ten Existentialist Science Fiction Stories by ego_bot; Science Fiction Stories Reflect Tropes and Human Condition

There's Something Weird Going On: Ten Existentialist Science Fiction Stories by ego_bot; Science Fiction Stories Reflect Tropes and Human Condition 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: There is very little information that I can find about ego_bot, the author of the Science Fiction anthology, There's Something Weird Going On: Ten Existentialist Science Fiction Stories. All that I have found is that he is human and in this day and age that is not always a certainty with AI being able to reproduce the arts. 

He is also very private with very few details available online. Somehow the scant information on him adds to the overall eeriness of this anthology’s tone. It also plays into many of the book’s themes, particularly about the contrast between artificial intelligence and human experience. The book is about technology, space travel, the cosmos, simulated reality, colonization, social media, AI, love, family, tyranny, faith, rebellion, creativity, and what it means to exist. It's a wonderful anthology that does what all good Science Fiction does: uses Science Fiction concepts to comment on our current world state 

The stories are all wonderful but the best are:

“Parable for the Lovelorn”-This beautiful descriptive story about intergalactic travel and the nature of love puts you in the driver’s seat, literally. The story is in second person addressing the Reader and putting them on this fantastic journey to a distant planet filled with lush forests, cobblestone walkways, gorgeous waterfalls, and a wise friendly guide named Nath. Nath once lived on Earth and spent some time in Ancient Egypt. She gives the Protagonist/Reader a few words about love, the concept of soulmates, and the nature of existence in a vast Universe. 

This story is like a conversation with a wise guru as Nath’s words prove to be contemplative and meditative, making one think and feel. Since we aren’t given any details over who the person is that Nath is speaking to, the Reader can insert their own previous broken relationships and bad experiences making the story very personal but also universal. It is simultaneously about anyone and everyone. 

“Idle Eyes”-Many of these stories have fun with multiple narratives and this story is the most inventive for its points of view. It alternates between an Employee Instructional video for Ethitech Solutions’ newest Cognitive Systems Technician and various moments in the life of an unnamed protagonist who discovers that his life isn’t what he thought that it was. 

The technician’s job is to facilitate emotional intelligence into Ethitech Solutions’s social viability software and run the simulated reality of a customer’s consciousness. The Protagonist’s quest for answers runs counter to and overlaps with the Technician’s video in interesting ways.

The multiple narrative style puts us ahead of the Protagonist so we have at least some idea, if not a perfect understanding of the whole picture, before he does. The video’s descriptions give a wry commentary on the Protagonist’s life by predicting what will happen to him. For example, the video talks about other people in a customer’s life who are simply code or just there to provide atmosphere for the customer’s experience. This is revealed before the Protagonist meets Ricardo, a man who could be the love of his life. It is both amusing and heartbreaking to read about this man’s whole life including interests, romances, friendships, occupation, hobbies, and free time that are planned to the last detail. 

The quest for the Protagonist’s existence culminates in him experimenting with drugs, meditation, dream therapy and other sources. This is also predicted by the video as something that would be a fluke problem but isn’t worth worrying about. That is until it is.

“Mom's Message” -Despite the constant presence of technology, space travel, and other Science Fiction tropes, these stories never lose sight of the human element. This short story is a good example of interesting characters living in a futuristic world. Minnie recounts her relationship with her loving but intrusive mother over Konvo, an outdated app as compared to Holorift which is the latest in Social Media technology.

This novella provides the world of the 2050’s as a backdrop to comment on the constant use of social media. Holorift is connected to people’s brain waves and through visors. Working from home is the norm and working outside is the oddity, unlike the opposite in real life. People like Minnie invest their time in Sims-like games which hover close to reality. Since people live, work, date, and receive sustenance online, they never have to leave their homes. Technological addiction runs rampant as Minnie observes it in her roommate who looks at her with a dead expression and in people on the air transits who don’t have their devices present but are clearly mentally focused on them. Not that Minnie has room to talk. She admits that her simulated reality is more comfortable and real to her than her physical reality. 

While “Mom’s Message” is a witty and savage satire of modern technology and the dependency that it can bring, it is mostly a family story between mother and daughter. Minnie and her mother’s online conversations are both warm and funny. Mom’s insistence on wanting grandchildren and Minnie’s resolution on not having any children are among their conversations that are humorously repetitive and intimately revealing. They imply and reveal much about their previous experiences and generational outlooks that are the sources of much of their conflict. Their love for each other is present as well, particularly when Mom’s messages become more desperate and a worried Minnie learns about her troubled health.

“Trinity”-This story is a Cosmic Horror filled with suspense and terror from otherworldly destructive creatures and the darkest side of humanity in its struggle to survive them. On what might be her last night alive, the unnamed narrator is huddled in a shed hiding from terrifying aliens. They are a terrifying bunch that the Narrator calls the Trinities because they have three long arms that spread out in clockwork spirals and three eyes which peer down on their victims that may be the last things that they ever see. 

The Trinities have the power to fire electromagnetic pulses so any type of technology or communication ends the second that the Trinities become aware of it. Because of this, humanity is left unprepared and instantly weakened. Now, it’s simply a question of mere survival as the Narrator has to run from her alien captors.

As terrifying as the Trinities are, the toll it takes on humanity is far worse. The Narrator converted to Christianity right before the Trinity's arrival and she thinks of the aliens in strictly Biblical terms as signs of the Book of Revelation. Her faith gives her courage in these troubling times but becomes a detriment when she passively accepts circumstances as part of God’s plan. When she is faced with these creatures, they contradict everything that she once believed in: that Earth was created by God so he could be worshiped and that humans were to be the dominant beings. The Narrator’s constant repetition of Biblical concepts reveal her as someone who clings to her faith but never gives it any serious thought. 

Religion takes on an even more sinister tone as Earthlings create a cult based on their new Trinity overlords. Their loyalties shift from friends, family, their Gods, their country, even their own planet towards the Trinities. The Trinity worshippers travel in threes and carry walkie talkies to alert the Trinities of the presence of any human that has not assimilated into the Trinity Cult. It’s terrifying how quickly they break all ties and become willing worshippers and killers just to live a few extra days under the authority of aliens who will probably kill them anyway. 

“Paint the Stars”-One of the current controversies is AI technology being used for creative means like art, music, and literature. Naturally, many involved in arts and entertainment are worried about what it could mean for the future. Luckily so far AI produced art is pretty easy to discover since many of these works still lie in the Uncanny Valley and are riddled with errors that require decent revision and editing. But that day may come when consumers may not be able to tell the difference. 

Artemis, the newest AI artistic companion is programmed to work one on one with creators to collaborate on their works. She works alongside Alex, a painter, Sonja, a musician, and Pari, an author, to bring their works forward. Each has his or her own personal experience with the difficulties in an AI-run artistic world. Alex is disconcerted by the substandard art and his own internal debates about his creativity. Sonja is irate because Artemis sampled her music for other songs and worries whether she actually owns them or not. Pari relies on Artemis to help her write her books but she longs to write something meaningful and substantial rather than the quick formulaic books that she and Artemis pursue. 

This story is a strong character driven narrative that puts the protagonists on different sides of the AI debate and makes them individuals instead of simply microcosms reflecting different points of view. Even Artemis is well written as an almost maternal figure willing to cooperate with her human artists and helping them pursue their deepest potential even if it means pursuing them without her. 

Alex, Sonja, and Pari recognize that AI helps make their presences known but to what extent? Are they really creating or just typists with Artemis as the real artist? Are they producing real art or just products for people to buy? If there was no AI, could they make art on their own and would the public know the difference? Would they? 

 What is particularly meaningful is how the story presents different perspectives and opinions about this issue and lets each character speak for themselves. This suggests, like many controversies, there are different people who have different beliefs and opinions to say about AI and creativity. Just like in real life, opinions change and people on one side shift towards another when faced with alternative information.

 In some ways, this whole anthology presents a height of creativity: looking at some aspect of the human condition, creating a meaningful plot, setting, and characters around it, and finding a new way to say it.

 

Razor Country by Nicholas Wagner; The Headmasters by Mark Morton; Blackstone Griddle Cookbook/Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: Mouthwatering, Delicious, Healthy and Affordable Recipes with Images and Expert Tips for Griddling, Grilling, and Smoking Success by Dr. Jina;

 Razor Country by Nicholas Wagner; The Headmasters by Mark Morton; Blackstone Griddle Cookbook/Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: Mouthwatering, Delicious, Healthy and Affordable Recipes with Images and Expert Tips for Griddling, Grilling, and Smoking Success by Dr. Jina

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Razor Country by Nicholas Wagner

Spoilers: Razor Country anthology is a tribute to the hard boiled detective genre of the 1920’s-50’s where protagonists walk a thin line between cop and criminal and violence runs rampant. The book could end with the mystery being solved and the detective triumphing over their enemies, but it could just as easily end with death and loss. 

Colm Steiner is a private investigator and sometimes assassin who travels from one country to another within the British Empire during the mid-19-teens to the 20’s. He is hired by various clients to find someone or something and is promised money and expenses for payment. He does some interrogation and investigation techniques which often involve him roughing up a few witnesses, bribing a few others, and/or sneaking into forbidden areas to find results. Most of the time he finds what he is looking for. While there are a few complete successes, most of them end with him taking a vow of silence finding his target is in a better place than where they previously were or ends in violence with Steiner or others shedding blood and killing clients, targets, witnesses, and those in their way.

Razor Country never forgets what it is or where its roots lie. It could easily have fit in during the time period that it portrays. Steiner may have been written a whole century behind but he definitely fits in with characters like Dashiell Hammet’s Sam Spade, Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe, or Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer. Like them, Steiner recognizes the dark graphic bloody world around him and acts just as, sometimes darker, more graphic, and bloodier than they are. 

I would love to say that because it is set in different countries along the former British Empire, it would be an engaging travelog but it not surprisingly isn't. Nicholas Wagner wanted to show the worst in each country and he did not skimp on the dark details of corruption, slavery, racism, domestic and child abuse, and every other evil imagined in each country. It's like a World Tour sponsored by Hell. 

Because the book is arranged in short story format, it doesn’t lend itself to much character development. Some plot points carry over between chapters such as ending on a cliffhanger and one chapter's previous antagonists come back for revenge in other chapters. Steiner gains and loses a few friends and lovers along the way either through death or separation. Even a segue where Steiner takes a break from his investigator career to fight during WWI leaves him battle scarred and more taciturn than before.

Mostly Steiner stays the same dour sardonic character throughout the book. In this context, Steiner is an archetype that fits perfectly within his genre. Within the framework of the noir genre, it works. Someone with such wanderlust and cynicism who has seen much suffering and has his own brand of injustice is bound to be maladjusted. 

The stories kind of blend in together for this reason. They are so intrinsic within the noir hard-boiled detective genre that you don't expect characters to fall outside of it. You don't expect things to change much for them because when they do, some things are bound to happen that stifles it. Steiner is the type to never marry or settle down because he can't imagine a world that would let him. He would always be looking for another case to solve and enemy to beat.

There is no world in which Colm Steiner can exist except the dark corrupt world in which he investigates, fights against, and is still a part of.

The Headmasters by Mark Morton

(Note this is just a brief summary and review. The entire review is on LitPick’s site. A link is provided above).

Spoilers: The Headmasters is a provocative and intelligent Science Fiction novel that challenges its readers to think about oppression and domination, what it means to truly resist, and what motivates one to fight against a tyrannical system even when the citizens don't know that they are being tyrannized.

Maple is a member of Blue Ring, a community in what was once Canada after an unexplained global event that left those in Blue Ring among the many survivors. Those in the Blue Ring survived by coupling themselves with those called the Headmasters. They are parasitic aliens fused onto the bodies of humans controlling their thoughts and actions. 

 Maple begins to share memories and consciousness with the former host body, a woman named Zara, whom Maple had a previous connection with. Some of her memories include life before the Headmaster’s arrival along with knowledge and information that had been repressed and banned. The more that Maple learns from Zara, the more that she questions the world around her. 

The description of humans and Headmasters grafted together is deliberately painful and traumatic. The physical and psychological torture of one living being joined with and controlling the other is present. Maple describes it as a continuous feeling that something is watching and monitoring them. If they act contrary to the Headmaster’s commands, they receive electric shocks. However, there are times, such as when the Headmasters shut off during a procedure called the “slackening,” and places where the Headmaster’s hold is weakened, like the Deep (in reality what remains of a Deepak Chopra Center), so they are vulnerable. 

What is particularly interesting and upsetting about this parasitic life is that the human characters make little move to protest or take advantage of the Headmaster’s vulnerabilities. True, the shocks are torturous, but there is another subtle reason about why they don’t rebel. They lost the desire to do so. They willingly surrender to a life of apathy and ignorance to creatures that exploit them. There are vague glimpses of rebellion and they aren’t revealed until almost halfway through the book. 

Maple herself does not desire to rebel until halfway through the book. In fact her character meanders a bit, providing exposition to the reader until she takes action against her oppressors. When she takes a proactive stance first within the community and then when she is in exile and encounters survivors, does Maple come into her own as a fully fleshed protagonist and heroine. 

What helps ignite Maple’s characterization is the awareness of a passage of time within the narrative. Most of the dystopian events often occur over the course of a few months or a year or two from inciting incidents to the denouement. 

What makes the Headmasters different from them is approximately seven years go by from when Maple is joined to her Headmaster to the end. This gives Maple an evolution that comes with age and experience but also emphasizes how slow moving changing from small acts of rebellion to a full scale revolution can be.

 Maple has to go through that long growth and development before she is able to have the confidence and strength to learn how to manually shut off her Headmaster permanently, walk away from Blue Ring, and lead the community and outsiders in a new world that will emerge and not make the mistakes of the old world that became subservient. 

This is a two part cookbook with double the amount of delicious recipes.

The recipes vary not only as breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals but elaborate on what one could cook on a grill, smoker, or griddle. Such recipes as “Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches,” “BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger,” “Grilled Veggie Stir Fry,” “Traeger Grilled French Toast,” “Cherrywood Smoked Salmon BLT,” and “Smoked Garlic and Rosemary Lamb Shanks” are rather interesting ideas to spice up any meal.

Since cooking with outdoor equipment can be unpredictable, the book offers tips on maintaining such equipment and keeping safe while cooking. This book also offers tips on how to infuse flavors like selecting marinating sauce, seasonings, and wood pellets. There are also tips on gentle and low and slow grilling to achieve the perfect sear and infuse rich smoky flavors.

This is a good book for the eager outdoor chef. 

New Book Alert: Asparagus Grass by Adrian Deans; Surreal Satirical Science Fiction Reveals The Aliens Behind Earth's Scenes

 New Book Alert: Asparagus Grass by Adrian Deans; Surreal Satirical Science Fiction Reveals The Aliens Behind Earth's Scenes

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Since Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Science Fiction has shown us that if an alien invasion is ever upon us, then we should look for some unassuming idiot because apparently that idiot is the galaxy's pick for the one who will save us all.

The Idiot Du Jour in Adrian Deans' Asparagus Grass is Mitch Kuiper, a gardening assistant in New South Wales' parks department. Besides cleaning up the grounds, his daily activities usually consist of trying to stay out of his super Garrett's bad side, avoiding suck ups like Timmy O'Toole, drinking with his best mate, Cam, and sleeping with any woman who looks his way. The sleeping with is what gets him intergalactic interest because he slept with Martina Vader AKA Marty Mindshadow. Marty works in the office of the parks department and is considered drop dead gorgeous but strange. 

It is only after they are together does Mitch realize how strange Marty actually is. She takes him in a mini shuttle, called a shell, and takes him to a space station  to tell him the truth. She is part of the Aelur, an alien race that lived on the Earth for thousands of years. However, another race, the Xyk, took over Earth by using their own greed, ambition, and dominant nature. Because of this, the Aelur plan to destroy Earth. Mitch manages to get a negotiation that if the current head Xyk is taken out then Earth will be spared. Marty and the other Aelur agree except now Mitch has seven days before the planet goes boom boom bye bye.

Asparagus Grass is one of those novels that will describe the potential end of the world but does so in a satiric or farcical light to keep things humorous. Part of the humor is in its lead character. Mitch is the last guy anyone expects to be a savior of anything, which Marty insists means he's perfect. The Aelur are a race that believes in equality so much that no one strives for leadership positions. They consider that a Xyk trait. Mitch definitely is not leadership material. In fact, he only attends a leadership seminar because his boss, Garrett, cajoles him into it.

 Most of Mitch's actions consist of either making dumb decisions or getting out of them through chance and luck.

In one chapter, he decides that Marty's news is so grave and could put him in danger, that it would be best not to tell anyone. In the very next paragraph, what does he do? Tell Cam after a few drinks. He also foolishly sleeps with another woman, Lisa, and continues to talk to her even after he learns, oops, she's a Xyk.

He's supposed to be a hero. No one ever said that he was smart.

Marty is also a fascinating character. At first, she appears to be a vapid and spacy airhead, or possibly has ADHD, but when she reveals her truth, she is a lot smarter than many give her credit for. She becomes a source of wisdom for the information that is going on but she also lives a hedonistic lifestyle free of Earth restraints. She boasts of many lovers and doesn't care if Mitch has any (though certainly gives him an "I told you so" about Lisa). In fact, she says that because she spent so much time on Earth with hedonists, she developed her vague "Mindshadow" persona. 

Asparagus Grass has some fun with conspiracy theories by making the Xyk members of a secret organization that of course plan on taking over the world. Of course, they happen to be meeting right when the infamous Bilderberg group is also meeting, leaving Our Heroes to infiltrate a protest group against them. They have to find out which Bilderbergers and protestors are really Xyk and where the ones who are Xyk are having an even more secret meeting. The plot points and twists are enough to give one a headache.

Despite that the book is mostly played with laughs, there are some genuine moments of suspense. The fact that the Xyk could be anyone that they know definitely carries a lot of paranoia within the characters, not to mention that a character who was once very friendly is now ready to kill them because their Xyk Overlords insist on it.

There are also some moments of genuine warmth between Mitch, Marty, and the friends they make on their journey. It isn't just one laugh per page. There is time for plenty of other emotions.

Asparagus Grass is one of those books that describes a potential end of the world but does so with plenty of humor so the Reader doesn't mind.