New Book Alert: Just A World Away: A Collection of Modern Folk Tales Edited by John Tannhauser; Folk and Fairy Tales For The 21st Century

 

New Book Alert: Just A World Away: A Collection of Modern Folk Tales Edited by John Tannhauser; Folk and Fairy Tales For The 21st Century 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Who doesn't love a good folk or fairy tale, especially one that illustrates the beliefs, characters, fears, and magic of a certain area? The type of story that is just as much about the people reading and hearing it as it is about the people that are inside the story.

That's what John Tannhauser accomplished when he edited and gathered ten short stories by various fantasy authors for Just a World Away: A Collection of Modern Folk Tales.

While many folk tale collections are modern adaptations of older stories, this set is made up of new and unique stories created from the minds of the authors themselves. Yes, some characters and tropes are familiar but the spin in which the authors take is all theirs and is reflected in the cultures in which they are set.

All of the stories are winners but the best are:

“Tales of Fuji” by Voima Oy (United States)

A favorite trope in folktales is the magical animal. Sometimes they talk and dispense some worldly advice and sometimes they provide good luck to a warm hearted but unfortunate soul.

In this case, the animal is a bobtail tabby cat named Fuji. Well actually, Fuji is an immortal spirit currently taking the form of a ghost cat and comes to help a boy named Michio.

This is a beautiful dream-like story that is reminiscent of an anime short film or Japanese folktale. Fuji brings luck to Michio and the people around him by her own presence and those of other spirits. At first, Michio’s father is convinced that she is a demon but after a talk in his dreams where Fuji predicts that Michio will have a large loving family and the town will achieve success, the father relents.

This is a gentle heart warming story about the love between humans and animals and the importance of having and believing in one’s dreams. 

“A Genie's Tale” by Lani Davies (United Kingdom)

From a folktale inspired by Japanese folklore to one inspired by Arabian Nights. Davies’ contribution is a love story between a male djinn, Asem and a human woman, Safiya and what happens when a female djinn, Naria, becomes obsessed with Asem and wants to get rid of the competition.

This romantic adventure gives some interesting insights towards djinn lore like they are creatures of fire and air and part of the Court of Iblis. The backstory gives them more depth than being funny or sexy wish granters in a lamp. They are well written and some of the most interesting characters in the story.

Another brilliant attribute that this story has is that it captures multiple viewpoints. Asem is the primary first person narrator but we also get narration from Safiya and other characters. This captures the Arabian Nights story within a story narrative with the stories being told by Scheherazade leading to tales about characters like Aladdin, Sinbad, and Ali Baba, then parts of those stories are told by other characters. The pieces of the narratives work together to tell one whole tale. 

The multiple narrative also gives equal opportunity to Asem and Safiya. Both characters get to tell separate adventures in which they had to display courage, cleverness, and love to be together again. While there are plenty of male characters in Arabian lore, some of the female characters have adventures of their own like Morgiana, Badoura, Dalilah and her daughter, Zaynib, and of course, Scheherazade herself. “A Genie's Tale” reminds us that male and female characters play their parts in folklore and have their own stories to tell.

“Bear With It” by C.S. Voll (South Africa)

One of the favorite tropes in fairy tales is metamorphosis, particularly humans into animals. Sometimes they are cursed to remain an animal until someone does something for them and they change back. Other times they don't and embrace their bestial side.

Mateus is curious about the strange inhabitants of a nearby castle. Why are there so many inhuman cries coming from there? Why doesn't anyone ever see anyone go in and out? Why have villagers like Mateus’ father disappeared? Why has the village been cursed ever since their arrival? Mateus goes to the castle to meet its inhabitants: a golden haired woman named Frida and two bears, Bumbles and Gleams.

This variation of “Goldilocks and The Three Bears” makes a family out of the bears and the one-time intruder. The bears often fight trolls which pester Mateus’ village as well. It is an interesting take to the original fairy tale and Beast Man stories that depicts the benefits of the animal in which the characters inhabit such as superior strength and a pack (or sleuth since they are bears) mentality for each other and those that they look after. This also explains why Frida is so devoted to them. 

The human to beast transformation is treated less like a curse and more like a blessing, one that Mateus ultimately partakes in and embraces the closer he gets to Frida and her family. He sees a devoted loyal family and protectors that he wants to be a part of.

“The Voice on the Water” by Lila (Ireland)

There are often spirits of the elements that are part of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. This story goes one better. It personifies a river itself. 

Tara, the river, falls in love with William, a young lonely blind man. They have many long talks and build a connection. 

This is a strange romance but it fits as the two bond with each other. Their conversations play off each other rather well and how each fills a need. Tara finds someone who will defend her and protect her from being abused and polluted. William finds someone to see and really listen to him. 

“Voice on the Water” develops a literal spiritual connection between humanity and nature. There is a certain sadness and poetic melancholy as though William and Tara are taking a chance on love that could never realistically be and could end because of the selfishness of the humans around them that could destroy everything that Tara is. It's one of those folktales that the Reader knows is destined for a sad ending. The only immortality that they receive is to live on through their story.

“All in a Name” by John Tannhauser (Australia)

Similar to “Tales of Fuji,” this story has a Japanese setting but it is less gentle and more ghostly and dark.

Hiro gets lost in the snow and he is rescued by a mysterious beautiful woman who won't tell him her name. 

There is something sinister as she leads him through the cold snowy landscape. She tells him very little and even though she saved Hiro from near death, it is unclear whether there is an ulterior motive.

She appears to be a magical spirit who tells him that if he remains by the lantern light, he will remain warm. She also knows about him and his sick grandmother. These details add to the overall unease that she demonstrates in this story. That she isn't human becomes clear but whether she means to help or harm him remains to be seen.

There is a great moment in which Hiro learns her name. Names are important in folklore stories (think Rumplestiltskin). A name can empower or defeat a character. To know a name brings that being or thing to life and allows one to overpower or free them. When Hiro learns his rescuer's name, he is able to see beyond her mysterious exterior and see something human and alive within her. It connects them by bringing her to his level as an equal.

Just a World Away captures the beauty of folktales reminding the Readers that there is another world than the physical one around us. There is another world of magic, old ways, fantastic creatures, and heroes that show courage, strength, and wisdom.

New Book Alert: In The Hands of Women (A Gilded City Series) by Jane Loeb Rubin; Revealing Historical Fiction About Reproductive Rights Resonates In Modern Day

 

New Book Alert: In The Hands of Women (A Gilded City Series) by Jane Loeb Rubin; Revealing Historical Fiction About Reproductive Rights Resonates In Modern Day

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Some Historical Fiction novels are not necessarily about capturing the time period in which they are set. Well that's important as well. But they are written in response to current events. They show how these struggles started, why they are necessary, why people are still fighting for them, and why those who are against them fear accepting those rights. They remind us how far we have come and what still needs to be done.

It's hard to distance Jane Loeb Rubin’s novel, In The Hands of Women from the current events dealing with the controversies towards granting reproductive rights. It was certainly the nucleus of inspiration or at least a reminder of what was lost, gained, re-lost,and needs to be regained.

In the Hands of Women concerns Dr. Hannah Isaacson, an obstetrician and suffragist in 1900 Baltimore and New York City. This situation is dour as many do not take her seriously. Some midwives are even performing illegal and badly performed abortions which seriously hurt the patients more than help. When a close friend dies in childbirth, Hannah decides to take action. 

Hannah befriends Margaret Sanger, birth control advocate and founder of Planned Parenthood. Hannah joins Sanger on her crusade to provide contraceptives and safe early trimester abortions for patients, in defiance of the restrictive Comstock Laws. Unfortunately, after a patient that she is attending to dies from the results of a botched unsafe abortion, Hannah finds herself on trial for murder and is sent to the notorious Blackwell’s Island Prison.

In the Hands of Women has one foot set in the past and another foot set in the immediate present. The historical details of a female doctor's experience in the early 20th century are well written and researched. However, the themes are timeless and serve as a word of caution, a warning,maybe anger that we were not listening, and hope that we will.

Hannah's story is rich with details about the struggles that women had to go through (and some still do) to become and be taken seriously as doctors. Even though Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the United States in 1849, that was still a long way from accepting her younger successors into the medical establishment. Hannah is such an example.

Hannah is shoved to the sidelines by her male colleagues and is often mistaken for a nurse or a midwife. Many mock her ambitions and dismiss her medical advice. Even when her advice is proven right, either her colleagues take credit or the patient's husband or father downplay it.  Even Hannah's husband who was at one time supportive of her drive and career turns against her and ignores her when her alliance with Sanger lands her in prison and threatens his reputation.

The patients often have it worse. Many of Hannah’s patients are overlooked by male doctors because “everyone has babies.” Hannah isn't always called in unless the situation is dire and by then it is often too late.

Some of the patients are teenage or younger aged girls who have been raped. Some have trouble giving birth having difficult labors that could kill them. Patients have had one too many children and really don't want another one but their husbands insist and some have had miscarriages or stillbirths that are treated like abortions.

Because of the bad treatment from many of the medical professionals, these women often turn to herbalists and midwives who have had very little training, don't always know what they are doing, and are careless when it comes to saving lives. 

The book is filled with bloody surgeries, last minute life saving techniques, and terrified patients on their deathbeds or reduced to victims of PTSD because of the medical treatment. In one chapter, a woman undergoes a torturous abortion only to have a nervous breakdown and be institutionalized (and the mental health treatment is not any better so it is a certainty that she will continue to suffer). It is easy to see why Hannah wants to change things and while she and Sanger work to provide better reproductive care for women, why such a situation takes a long time to improve potentially not in Hannah's lifetime and certainly late into Sanger’s. When the entire  establishment is at fault, change can take several generations.

While this is a book about the past, it is also a call to action for the present. Even now women's reproductive rights are threatened as Roe V. Wade was overturned in several states (though the recent election has resulted in potential changes in that). Many businesses and individuals question paying for contraceptives, wanting to end not only the means to terminate a pregnancy but the means to prevent it in the first place. Planned Parenthoods are forced to charge for services, threatened by demonstrators, and even forcibly shut down so cis and trans women can't always get the proper inexpensive health care that they need. The bad old days from In The Hands of Women are unfortunately not far behind us and could be in the immediate future if we are not vigilant.

In The Hands of Women is less of a historical fiction novel than it is simultaneously a savage look over what happened in the past when reproductive rights weren't granted and a warning of the potential dark future that could happen if they are denied once more.

Lit List Short Reviews: The Undeniable Power of Movement by Nicole Mott; The Performance CEO by Michael Koch; Unexpected by Dr. Jill Carnahan; God is Good by Margaret Liu Collins

 

The Undeniable Power of Movement: The Irrefutable Power Habits of Elite Athletes, Leaders & High Performers to Achieve of Any Goal

By Nicole Mott

Sometimes, when people have a goal that they have trouble starting it, staying motivated, or get easily discouraged against it, they quit their goal before achieving it. Nicole Mott’s book, The Undeniable Power of Movement, delivers common sense advice to help readers not only make and reach goals, but provides tips and advice on how to stay focused on that goal.

Mott was inspired to write this book after her son, Caleb, was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. Despite the diagnosis and the difficulties that the syndrome took on Caleb's body, he wanted to try out for the major league soccer development academy team. After a lot of practice and determination, Caleb became part of the team. He was released after a year but used that experience as inspiration for later obtaining an academic and athletic scholarship at a university in West Virginia. This example of Caleb's life reminds the reader that despite hardships goals can be achieved and sometimes changed but with a positive outlook, one can still find happiness and personal satisfaction.

Many of the chapters consist of certain steps like “Focus” (stating the goal and the steps towards meeting it), “Discipline” (working hard to achieve each step and being a team player at work and home), “Mindset” (maintaining a positive mental attitude and using each setback as a learning experience), and “Health” (making sure to diet and exercise to heal the body and mind).

The best chapter is the one on “Reducing Distractions.” It is particularly concerned with people who have Depression and Anxiety. Those and other mental disorders are some of the biggest stumbling blocks that interfere with goal setting and achieving. This chapter provides some good advice for people whose minds might be filled with those nagging questions, doubts, and those times when the body is too overwhelmed or too unmotivated to move beyond that moment and seek a positive future.

The Undeniable Power of Movement is a plainly written book with steps, tips, and exercises that engage readers. Like any good personal development book, it allows people to get moving.

God is Good 2nd Ed. by Margaret Liu Collins

Margaret Liu Collins’ book, God is Good 2nd. ed. is a deeply spiritual and inspirational book for readers who look for a Higher Power to help them with their life struggles.

Collins inserts Biblical passages from the text that serve as comfort for the readers. Verses such as “The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’”(Psalms 32:8 NLT) They illustrate the recognition of faith in the life of a religious or spiritual person.

The author also uses examples from her own life in which she felt God's presence encouraging and aiding her in times of trouble. One of the most dramatic chapters recounts her abusive first marriage when she relied on God's strength to help her persevere through the tremendous physical and emotional abuse and give her courage to rebuild her life with her children when the marriage came to an end.

God is Good is an excellent book for the spiritual and religious minded person to remind them that they are not alone.

Unexpected: Finding Resilience Through Functional Medicine, Science, and Faith

By Jill Carnahan, MD

Unexpected: Finding Resilience Through Functional Medicine, Science, and Faith is a book about deeply personal struggles and how anyone can find comfort and strength within them.

Many of Carnahan's struggles are detailed and lead to lessons that she learned that are to be shared with others. Carnahan writes lovingly of her childhood on a farm in Illinois with a large close family. Unfortunately, that farm life took a tremendous cost on her health. She developed allergies and fatigue and later breast cancer at a young age. The cause, she later discovered, was the highly toxic and carcinogenic chemicals that her father and other farmers used for their crops. This experience not only got her interested in science and medicine, but taught her the importance of trusting one's intuition, to study the environment and how to implement functional medicine, a systems based biology based model that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of the diseases. 

Carnahan’s marriage taught her to trust and rely on others and find humor even in bad situations. Eventually, the marriage ended in divorce which taught Carnahan to learn to let go. These situations may run parallel to circumstances that readers find themselves in and can practice in their own lives.

Unexpected is a book that leads by example. It tells the readers that if Carnahan got through her troubles, so can they.

The Performance CEO: An Extreme Cognitive Protocol for Entrepreneurial Success by Michael Koch 

Michael Koch’s The Performance CEO: An Extreme Cognitive Protocol for Entrepreneurial Success is a high energy, cognitive approach for the ambitious forward thinking CEO who often feels discouraged and a little out of focus.

This book is encouraging towards those who have a daring ambitious active drive to be a success in all that they do. In fact, there is something of the drill sergeant/tough love instructor in Koch’s narration. This approach works for the type of reader that this book is aimed for: the reader who wants the straight forward tough approach of facing life's challenges. They want the author to give them the facts and activities and leave out the sentiment.

Most of the book consists of physical activities like diet and exercise. Koch recommends a very rigid and active approach that requires dedication. For example, the diet chapter encourages fasting 23 hours for one day per week requiring a high level of commitment. 

The exercise chapter encourages high activity with weight lifting and strength training along with stretching and poses to encourage mindfulness. 

The Performance CEO is the type of book for the high energy ambitious executive who needs incentive to keep moving.

New Book Alert: Horn(y): A Shadow Spark Publishing Anthology by Erika McCorkle, Kaitlin Corvus et al; Sexy Sultry Sinister Erotic Anthology

 

New Book Alert: Horn(y): A Shadow Spark Publishing Anthology by Erika McCorkle, Kaitlin Corvus et al; Sexy Sultry Sinister Erotic Anthology

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Warning: This review contains mature themes, particularly sexual content and is very upfront about such terms. Reader discretion is advised.

Spoilers: If you title an erotic anthology, Horn(y), it damn well better be.

Luckily This Shadow Sparks Publishing Anthology by various authors is very. It is also sexy, sultry, sinister, and even satiric at times. The authors concocted an interesting blend of Supernatural Horror and Dark Fantasy Erotic novellas that mostly involve affairs between mortals and supernatural beings. These are stories that will spice up any late night reading and fulfill many a dark subterranean fantasy.

The stories are:

“You Cannot Serve Both God and Mammon” by Erika McCorkle

One of my favorite books that I read last year was McCorkle’s Merchants of Knowledge and Magic, a Science Fiction/Fantasy set in the Pentagonal Dominion's, which seemed to consist of characters and settings that came from every Reader's fever dream. It was a creative unique experience with a lot of fascinating touches. Among them is the distinct lack of human or humanoid characters. There are subtle hints that Earth exists in this universe but does not play a large role and by the same token neither do its residents.

According to McCorkle's novella, “You Cannot Serve Both God and Mammon,” Earth isn't as far away from the Pentagonal Dimensions as originally thought. In fact, we learn that Earth is the old stomping grounds of Simon Williford, the Demon of Ignorance, the god-like being that is often on hand to aid the likes of the novel’s protagonists, Calinthe Erytrichos and Zakuro “Pom” Rathmusen.

 Turns out that Williford had a prosaic beginning. He was once a typical Christian man who made a deal with the Devil for immortality, devilish magic powers, charming good looks, and an, ahem, little big friend that wouldn’t quit. The results of this deal are that he turned into a low level demon. Williford’s Earth Christian origins explains much of his behavior in the rest of the series such as why he is familiar with Welsh slang and seems more human as compared to the other characters.

Most of “God and Mammon” consists of Williford getting used to his new surroundings and abilities, particularly coming between Lucognidus, the Conqueror God, and the Demon Lord, Emberdyme. The power plays between the various deities become a comedy of errors from another dimension where the characters use magic, demonic possession, shape shifting, and the power of their own sexuality to ally alongside of, compete with, or outdo each other. This pantheon makes the gods and goddesses from Greek Mythology look like a well adjusted loyal happy family. Of course what do you expect from gods with titles like Ignorance, Selfishness, and Insanity?

Williford emerges as a well formed character more than the weird deus ex machina guide that he was previously. We learn about his past life on Earth, even his former girlfriend, Julie, and how he adjusted to his new normal by allying with more powerful gods and demons, including sleeping with the gay, Emberdyme. But he finds the ultimate test from Mammon, the Lord of Greed, who has one important card to play against the new deity on the block. Reading this story gives more drama and depth to a character who had previously been a comic relief guide. Turns out by the end, Williford is as cunning, manipulative, powerful, and sexually charged as the rest of the pantheon and will fit in fine in the Pentagonal Dominion.

 Because of the layer of familiarity and depth to this world and the transformation of one of its supporting characters turned protagonist, this story is my favorite in the anthology.

“Mirror, Mirror” by Kaitlin Corvus

From another fantastic dimension to a more Earthly subgenre, the Gothic Dark Fantasy, “Mirror Mirror” owes a large debt to works like Jane Eyre, Rebecca, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Dracula where there is a creepy manor and sinister potential supernatural goings on occur. 

Inside Vesper Manor, Amber Strong senses a strange presence watching her and speaking to her through a mirror. This presence is part of a curse that has haunted the manor for generations.

She senses that the presence is evil but mesmerizing. If it's covered by a black shroud, whatever it is can't come through. One day, after her chores, Amber's curiosity gets the better of her and she uncovers the shroud. Through it appears a demonic figure named Rasp.

Amber's fascination with Rasp turns into lust and then obsession. When Rasp wants to get rid of strangers in the house, including Amber's cousin, Katya, Amber is mind raped to comply. 

The relationship between Rasp and Amber is practically one of abuse. Rasp violates Amber and leaves her longing for more to the point of isolating her from others and sacrificing the people around her. 

One could say that this is a metaphor for domestic violence and how the abuser appears charismatic and charming on the surface but upon further investigation, the abused sees a monster who dominates, manipulates, and isolates them.

While many of the romances and pairings in this anthology are the right kind of sexy and sultry by opening up desires and passions that the characters never before experienced, “Mirror Mirror,” shows the dangers when one is opened up to that passion by someone who wants to use and exploit them. It is not an equal partnership but instead becomes an imbalance where one of the parties controls the other. Amber reverts to becoming Rasp’s servant, ready to bring a body to him and continue the family curse at Vesper Manor.

“Me and My Demon King” by Reyna Faith

This puts new meaning to the sexual term “I want you inside of me.” In this case, the Demon King needs a vessel or a body to inhabit. Many candidates have been unworthy and are violently murdered. The King's Army is heading straight for Serpens Way, home of the narrator, Csilla and her lover, Arylia. If a vessel is not found, disaster would befall everyone. Rather than stick around to witness the violent graphic finish, Arylia suggests that she and Csilla run away. However, the approaching hoofbeats and falling bodies suggest that it's already too late.

While this story is as erotic as the others, there is also an emphasis on violence and suspense. The failed sacrifices’ deaths are particularly bloody and nightmarish. This is a Demon King that does not play nice. It is also a story that asks difficult ethical questions of its characters. Do you throw others under the carriage for the chance to live another day? Would you sacrifice yourself so those you love can survive?

Once the decision is made, it becomes an emotional tug of war between the new vessel and the friends and lovers that they once knew. They also realize that not all is as it seems and there is more than one villain at play in this sacrifice scenario. The twists are too numerous to get into but they definitely make this story worth reading until the end.

The main sexual biplay is between Csilla and Arylia, two characters who are devoted to each other. It is less of lust and fulfilling desires than it is a declaration of love no matter what form that they take with each other. 

“Oh Hell Yes” by Eric Avedissian

This novella is more than tongue in cheek. It is a brilliant satire which shows that even in Hell, there is plenty to laugh at.

From the first chapter when the innocent hitchhiker/creepy driver trope is turned on its head, the Reader knows that they are in for a devilish good time. This is the type of story in which Hell has a torture game show and one of the levels is playing “The Floor is Lava” with a literal lava floor and the grand prize is…a lesser torture. Where Lucifer's daughter, Ruby, goes out to Earth to capture wayward demons and still complains that she's bored so she gets a new job of torturing people. 

“Oh Hell Yes,” is the type of story that is less interested in plot and more interested in atmosphere. Avedissian definitely had some wild ideas about how Hell would be depicted and wanted to show it off. It definitely has a fun grim savage sense of humor. One of Ruby's torture victims, Fausto, wants to order a pizza but since he knows it's Hell, he’ll stick with pineapple toppings.

Another great moment is when Fausto winds up possessing the body of a deceased occultist, Jasper Pryne, and Ruby has to find him. She is not appalled by the occultist's use of magic to summon her father or that his wife tried to murder him. She is upset that Pryne used various spells from Gardnerian Wicca to Leveyite Satanism with no clear direction on which path or how to use them. It's one thing to summon demons but to do it in a sloppy manner, now that's just wrong. 

Of course where there are demons from Hell, there is always going to be the opposition and it comes in the form of Rev. Atticus Jeffords and his followers. They are after not only Jasper but the demon who possessed him. Ruby and Fausto have a time interrogating the not so good Rev. who is certainly a hypocrite who cares more about the bottom line but hey if Fausto can get out of Hell, he will join the Hallelujah chorus if need be.

However, the denizens of Hell have their own way of dealing with religious hypocrisy. 

The sexual tension between Fausto and the demons, particularly Ruby, is insurmountable as they go from hating each other, to understanding one another, to punishing and rewarding each other. The sex serves as magic to bind them to one another for all eternity. It's a strange union that somehow works.

“Incubusker” by Benjamin Langley

Already this is an interesting concept based on the title alone. It is a portmanteau of incubus, a male demon who drains human females of energy and busker, a musician who performs on the streets, bus stops, subway stations, and other urban areas for money. So we already have a hint that we have a potentially charming seductive demon with musical talent.

Stephanie Parris just broke up with her former fiance and is in the process of burning his stuff. Getting rid of the remnants of her ex, Stephanie is hypnotized by a busker that plays a guitar late at night. The music arouses her and gives her sexual orgasmic energy. She becomes obsessed with seeing him again and even hears his music when he isn't near her. It's almost like the busker has some power over her. When she sees him again and he smiles with a forked tongue, it becomes clear that he is not a common ordinary street musician.

While Stephanie tries to live a normal life, dating regular men like Eric, she also finds herself torn between the reality of men like Eric and fantasy of the busker. Men like Eric give her the usual date and questions on whether this relationship is going anywhere. It's almost painted by ordinary numbers.

The busker represents her darkest fantasies. It's no coincidence that she gets aroused and explores her body after he plays. The busker awakens feelings inside her that she never before felt. These passions spill over onto the other men as they mysteriously disappear.

When Stephanie and the busker finally meet each other, it becomes a release of tension and turns the fantasy into reality. The busker has a name, Gus, and has a more normal appearance. He might never have been a demon. But there is something sensual and sinister about him. He delights in controlling and maintaining a hold on Stephanie. 

It's not too long before she realizes that she ended one troubled relationship and embarked on another, one that as passionate as it is, needs to end before she loses herself entirely.

“Tell Me Where It Hurts” by Azshure Raine

And we’re back in Hell. This time we get into the inner workings of Lilith. The infamous demoness runs her domain like a dominatrix and CEO who is all about business and that business is pain.

During her time of doling out punishments and discipline, she gets an odd request from Gabriel. Yes, that Gabriel from Heaven, Angel of Annunciation, and has a way with a trumpet. He needs to work out his “kinks.”

This encounter shakes Lilith. What begins as a game of erotic one-up ship from one enemy to another becomes more internal than Lilith perceived. She tries to return to her former life like having sex with willing subordinates and sparring/making out with her ex, Lucifer. But she is definitely shaken. Gabriel’s touch wakes something within her. 

Love between an angel and demon is nothing new, most recently explored in Good Omens. This story gives it a slight edge as Lilith questions the underworld around her and why if she's a demon, she possesses such emotions or why she is even capable of feeling them. 

It's a nice reversal of gender roles with the female character as the more dominant and guarded and the male as the more vulnerable and emotional but since Lilith is a demon and Gabriel is an angel, it makes sense. In her dungeon, Lilith is used to being in control, leading everyone around her. But Gabriel opens up parts of her that she thought never existed.

With Gabriel, Lilith opens herself to things like dates and romance, concepts that are foreign to her. She is confused when he says that she is brave and in her own way, she keeps Hell’s citizens happy. After all, those who go to see her want to be there. In his own way, Gabriel is dominating her.

Things come to a head when Lucifer gets involved and he is not a demon who will take no for an answer. This leaves Lilith to make a decision between her life in Hell and her own demonic heart.

“But I Have a Boyfriend” by Salem Wolfe 

The life and loves of a succubus can be difficult, just ask Emily. This novella reads almost like a sitcom from another dimension where Emily works at a bookstore and hangs out at a record store that sells Hell’s best or worst music and a pizza place. She also avoids her mother’s succubus classes and flirts with locals like one she dubs “Cute Demon.” It turns out “Cute Demon” has a name, Steven and he and Emily have a lot of chemistry. Emily is just like any young twenty something…except she is a demon who sucks the life out of mortal men. But hey, we all have hobbies.

Instead of horror, this one is more lighthearted than the others. There is a dark humor when the characters talk like the cast of Friends and then throw in a reference to remind you that they are demons. (“Does Sara like me? Oh yeah, and did you see that guy get thrown in the River Styx? That was awesome!”)

It's more like life if you were a regular run of the mill demon, working 9 to 5 tempting mortals, and going to the bar for a literal Blood of the Virgin. It's a cute and silly concept but somehow works.

Unfortunately, Emily has to investigate her love life when her relationship with Steven increases. She can’t have open sex with multiple partners because she has a boyfriend. Well, that's just a disgrace to her succubus forebears. 

Emily's moments with Steven are surprisingly sweet as though they were any other couple. Their relationship filters out into other characters making Hell a surprisingly romantic place.

It's a peculiar final story that ends an anthology that is hot, steamy, sexy, and funny, and surprisingly sweet.

Weekly Reader: Cryptic Spaces Book One: Foresight by Deen Ferrell; Captivating Science Fiction and Fantasy Combines Mathematics, Magic, and Time Travel to Make An Incredible Journey

 Weekly Reader: Cryptic Spaces Book One: Foresight by Deen Ferrell; Captivating Science Fiction and Fantasy Combines Mathematics, Magic, and Time Travel to Make An Incredible Journey 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: One could describe Deen Ferrell’s Foresight, the first book in the  Cryptic Spaces series, as the Thinking Person’s Fantasy Adventure. It is the kind of book that shows characters with supernatural gifts, but instead of citing them as magic or psychic abilities, they are more symptoms of an intellectual deep thinking mind. It is a captivating journey of the mind and spirit.

Willoughby Von Brahmer is an eccentric teen prodigy with some very unique gifts. He can see numbers and patterns all around him and because of that, he can recognize mathematical equations and solutions. He is obsessed with looking at what he calls “the spaces between,” those areas of emptiness between solid objects like alleys between buildings, the cracks on a cement or painted surface, or the space between leaves on a tree branch. These spaces seem to tell him something and make him feel like he is being observed. He is also responsible for solving the Riemann Hypothesis, a mathematical equation once thought unsolvable. 

Unfortunately, Willoughby is something of a social misfit. He has very few friends, does not always get along with his seemingly normal family, has questions about his missing father, and gets tongue tied around girls. Even a picture of renowned violinist Sydney Senoya makes him flush with embarrassment and nervousness. In fact, his only friend is Antonio, a talkative friendly barber who dispenses some brotherly advice to the kid genius. Willoughby is definitely someone who lives inside his own head more than anywhere else.

Willoughby soon comes to learn that inside his own head is not the safest place to be either because he is starting to see people appearing and disappearing through those in between spaces. Some are even watching him and want to harm him. He also sees certain numbers shine more than others like they are pointing him towards a code or a specific pattern.

He follows the number patterns and between spaces to the headquarters of Cryptic Spaces, a secret society that travels through time, and studies and solves mysteries and puzzles that have eluded experts for centuries. Willoughby is invited to join this group by its enigmatic leader, H.S.  The offer is tempting and before he knows it, Willoughby finds himself onboard a windjammer, The Absconditus, heading for the high seas with the other Cryptics. They include Antonio who is not just a barber but an architectural genius, Sydney, who has a hypnotic mesmerizing way of playing her violin and a gift for languages, Dr. James Arthur “Dr. J” Washington, the kindly physically fit medical doctor, Dr. Hugh O’Grady, a nervous expert on string theory, and T.K., the cabin girl assigned to watch this band of genius misfits. The Cryptics' latest assignment is to travel back to the 16th century and encounter the famed seer, Nostradamus but unfortunately they are not alone. They are being followed by another more sinister group that has been very interested in their doings since Willoughby joined them and are hot on the trail of the young math genius.

Cryptic Spaces is a book that activates the mind and imagination by fusing science and magic, reason and romance to make a perfect blend of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Adventure. While mathematical concepts are explained in detail, they are done in a way that is not only understandable but poetic. There is something genuinely beautiful about the concept of someone seeing mathematical patterns that form in the air and realize how connected everything is by a specific design and structure. It's a visually appealing thought that makes Cryptic Spaces not only a good book to read but a beautiful work to imagine. When the characters discuss for example the Golden Mean, they reveal that they are able to capture the golden strings that it emits and travel along the streams through time.

Even if you aren't a Math person, you will still find this book to be a work of art and imagination.

There are plenty of awe inspiring moments spread throughout the book. How does H.S. convince Willoughby that he is on the level and the Cryptics really do time travel? Why show him a Jurassic era sea complete with plesiosaur of course. There are some interesting possibilities about the alleged prophecies of Nostradamus and how exactly he knew so much about the future, possibilities that had better be followed up on.

The way that characters travel through those in between spaces is an interesting concept. It's like that person that you barely see out of the corner of your eye and they quickly disappear. These abilities are impressive but could make one doubt their sanity. Of course it doesn't help that you're not paranoid. Those characters that pop in and out of your line of sight really are trying to recruit or kill you!

Foresight is the typical first book in the series where the core characters meet, get to know each other, show their special gifts, and ongoing conflicts are introduced that trail throughout the series. Romances bloom and friendships are made. The Cryptics are a fascinating bunch with diverse talents and peculiarities. Sometimes they make others suspicious. H.S.’s motives are particularly questionable and characters wonder more than once what his real goals and intentions are. There is also an attack and betrayal comes from a familiar face. Most of this is routine for a first book. But with a concept like this and a fascinating ensemble like the Cryptics, the formula works well.

Cryptic Spaces combines the reason of mathematics, the imagination of fantasy, the wonder of science fiction, and the thrill of adventure to make one of the best books of 2023.

Weekly Reader: Satan’s Fan Club by Mark Kirkbride; Thriller Looks Into The Darkest Sides of Humanity

 

Weekly Reader: Satan’s Fan Club by Mark Kirkbride; Thriller Looks Into The Darkest Sides of Humanity

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Well we saw The Devil take a holiday off in A Festive Juxtaposition, now let's see what his biggest fans are doing. Well sort of.

Mark Kirkbride’s Satan's Fan Club is a disturbing intriguing psychological thriller which explores the darkest sides of human nature, the secret desires that we don't want anyone to know about, and the people who are willing to let those secrets come forward.

James Glavier is a young man who is invited to join a secret society known as Satan's Fan Club. The entrance fee is a very simple one. He has to commit a crime that is very personal to him and he has to kill someone important to him. It's not like James is a law abiding do-gooding citizen anyway. He is sexually attracted to his twin sister, Louise and the two live an isolated suffocating existence with each other as their only companion. James also sees darkness around him as his father is attracted to the au pair, Riika. Not to mention there is a serial killer on the loose and his victims are found awfully close to the Glavier household.

This is one of those types of books where it's hard to root for anyone because everyone is so reprehensible in some way. Satan's Fan Club did not have to do a whole lot to make these characters explore their dark side since they were pretty deplorable to begin with. They just pushed them along the path that they already took the first step on.

James and Louise’s relationship is one that is born out of toxicity and mutual abuse. They isolate each other from the world around them and are extraordinarily possessive of each other. They know that if found out, their affair could be catastrophic but they don't care. If anything, it excites them even more because it's dangerous and forbidden. It seems to be born from a selfish need to be the only one in each other's life and to live recklessly rather than any type of real affection.

Their parents are just as bad. Their dim mother seems to turn a blind eye to their affection or is easily deceived. It's only later that we discover that her naivete is a front for hiding her own jealous and duplicitous nature. She only reveals what she knows when it serves her best interest.

Their father is someone who talks a good game about religion but does not follow his own standards. He behaves like a regular church goer by quoting the Bible, doing good works, and acting like a pillar of the community. That's what people see on the outside. Inwardly, however, he is a philanderer who barely hides his affair with Riika. He has a violent temper when things don't go his way or something counters his religious beliefs. He is a hypocrite of the highest order.

The Glavier family is so unlikeable that at one point their young daughter shows some violent tendencies suggesting that she too will end up like everyone else.

The final chapters are dripped in irony as the consequences of the characters’ actions are called forward and secrets are revealed. Even the true identity of Satan's Fan Club and its members are called into question as the characters discover too late that this is one club where the membership cost is too high.

New Book Alert: Third Wheel by Richard R. Becker; Nostalgic High School Memories Turn Dark and Disturbing

 

New Book Alert: Third Wheel by Richard R. Becker; Nostalgic High School Memories Turn Dark and Disturbing

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Richard R. Becker’s previous book, 50 States, was an ambitious and ultimately successful endeavor in which he wrote an anthology of fifty stories that were set in each state. His drive to capture the setting, dialect, and character of each state and its residents was perfection beyond comparison.

Becker's next work, Third Wheel, is a bit less ambitious but still a brilliant work. It begins as a nostalgia piece of 80’s kids living their best days during a time of music videos, shopping malls, and Dungeons and Dragons. Instead it becomes a much darker and grittier tale involving greed, corruption, violence, and murder.

In 1982, teenager Brady Wilkins moved with his family from the Midwest to suburban Las Vegas. Brady feels out of place in Party Town and joins a group of friends including older boys, Mick and Brett in playing Dungeons and Dragons. After Brett moves away, Mick draws in another kid, Alex, into their inner circle. Unfortunately, Alex's interests lie less in the realms of fantasy with paladins, clerics, thieves, and wizards and more in the real world of gangsters, dealers, addicts, and criminals. Alex becomes involved in drug dealing and then gets his friends into the scheme. Suddenly, Brady finds his close network of friends are not the people that he thought they were.

The book is a definite change of tone. It begins light-hearted with a strong tinge of nostalgia. I actually lived in Las Vegas from 1989-90 (while my father worked at Nellis Air Force Base. Yes, that Nellis, conspiracy buffs!) so it's actually very easy for me to picture the setting and time period. 

The first few chapters seem to imply a fun romp with high school hijinks and plenty of details to remind any 80’s kid. If you were a D&D player, the references and descriptions of game play will be fun to read through. 

We also see the wild parties when the parents are gone. When underage drinking and drug taking flows freely, the hook ups are plentiful, the cops are a phone call away, and someone's parent arrives at literally the worst moment. It's a tried and true staple of any coming of age story particularly one set during the rad consumerist spoiled spirit of the 80’s.

Brady is the typical kid who is on the outside of this group. He enjoys the D&D games and the parties but he's on the outer fringes of the in crowd. He sees other kids acting more daring and wilder than he does. He is often just the hanger on and after thought, the one that the cooler kids “forget” to pass the joint to and probably think he should just stay home. He isn't geeky enough to be a nerd and not wild enough to be a stoner. Brady's just there.

During these early chapters, there are hints of a dark undercurrent because of Alex. During the D&D games, he declared that fantasy games are stupid and knows where they can have some real fun. Then he starts lecturing them about Church of Satan founder, Anton LaVey more to shock his friends than actually following any of LaVey’s teachings. At the parties, he gives his friends hard drugs instead of the usual pot almost as if testing the effects on them. He then gets Brady and Mick into drug dealing to the point that when Brett returns to the group, he barely recognizes his old friends.

Once the drug dealing and criminal activity becomes prominent, lighthearted nostalgia ends. Third Wheel becomes a dark gritty crime drama. What was once fun and games and a way to relieve boredom becomes a means to get money, respect, and to survive.

Brady falls into Alex’s world feet first. At first, it's exciting and shakes up his world but the more he falls in, the more he loses parts of himself-friends, love interests, family, and parts of his identity. 

There is a point in the book where the dark undercurrents become overcurrents. Violence ensues and everything that Brady once did, thought, and believed is called into question. He is left to face the real consequences of what a life can bring and how much he stands to lose.

Third Wheel takes different tones and does both well. It's a comparatively smaller work than 50 States but no less brilliant and powerful.