Marty Longson has a very suave, slick writing style. He wants to make sure you are swept off your feet and from taking a look at some of the available chapters he does this with style. This promises to be a neatly packed sci-fi/fantasy/mystery series.

Daniel “Indy” Locke Jr. has a new dragon tattoo, crazy thing is… it actually moves. His world is forever changed when he passes through a mysterious aurora surrounding a large valley in northern California. The aurora of shimmering lights is somehow connected to the discovery of ancient artifacts buried deep below the ground. The artifacts and tattoo are all capable of incredible powers, but at a price. Once inside the aurora, no one is able to leave… alive.

You can get book 1 Daniel Locke and the Tower of Eden for FREE by going to Marty’s website and grabbing the coupon code for Smashwords. Enjoy!

https://sites.google.com/site/martylongson/home

Catrina Taylor writes the story of: Merx Tol, a resistance fighter, striving to balance life, his empathic sense, and the protection of his people under his mother’s leadership. Everything he desires changes the day Henessa Sar, a young woman presumed dead, appears among the debris of a supply truck.

This is a Sci-fi Romance. Best of all…..
Now available on Smashwords for FREE

Get it while it’s hot! It’ll be priced soon!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/146086

A new reading for my Google+ friend Daniel Koeker. You can bet I’ll be stuck in this book until the end. Thanks Daniel!

The Dream Sanctum is now available at:

Amazon

Rex Rising by Chrystalla Thoma

Rex Rising is the first book in Elei’s Chronicles. Elei is a man in a world where parasites create different human races that rule over others. Unwittingly Elei steps into a mysterious plot that leads him to have to trust people he doesn’t know all the while fleeing certain death should he be caught.

I have to admit that while this particular book in the series was an adventure, and contained some really exciting moments, I found myself putting it down more than once. It was rather singleminded in purpose and form. Elei was well described and certainly I could see where he went but I’m not sure that the descriptions of the world’s “bad guys” were broad enough early on to really grab me.

I can find no fault with the editing nor with the basic storyline. The first early pages were mysterious enough but as the chase went on it seemed to lose me just a bit. I came back to it easily enough since it was a futuristic apocalyptic Sci-fi story. Every time something happened to Elei that involved the parasites I was very interested. Once I came to the last parts of the story I was intrigued enough to keep reading until the end.

The author proves that she a very good writer with this story. It is complete and the questions left unanswered lead into the next books. There are an impressive number of works by this author and I like the little extra about one of the characters thrown into Amazon as well. Sometimes we are left wondering about a certain character and this gives us this little extra.

This book is worth spending five dollars or so on especially since you know there is something more to the story once you finish the first book. If you like the way this author writes, there is also plenty to choose from by her. She is continuing to write at a healthy pace and her writing blog is filled with wonderful things to read.

Find Chrystalla at: http://chrystallathoma.wordpress.com/

Rex Rising available at:

Amazon

Buckyball by Fabien Roy

Sci-Fi Thriller

For a NaNo Novel writer that I have never EVER heard of before, I have to admit that Fabien Roy is going to be on my watch list. Buckyball is a weird tale of a man who experiments with a new form of ecstasy (the drug, not the feeling) and finds himself in a reality that doesn’t usually come with the pill.

Looking at the description, you wouldn’t be particularly impressed. “Oh another time travel story, yawn.”

This isn’t a “usual” story though. It’s not just the travel, its the way the the stories of each person are told that really made it a page turner for me. I found myself biting my lip when there was danger. The unpredictability really appealed to me. Telling the story in first person of the prime character was a nice touch, especially when you knew that the whole occurrence was still happening even as the character TOLD the story! I kept wondering if he would even be able to finish the story.

Plenty of danger and action as well as bright descriptions of the feelings while on drugs made this exciting and fun. Each character had real feelings and were clear to the inner eye. Not having done these drugs, I am unsure if the descriptions were accurate, but they sure were interesting and a little tantalizing! A bit of physics and scientific description made me go “hmmm” but fear not, this is not a geek book. Anyone would be able to read these references comfortably. This is set in the 90′s club scene which again I am unfamiliar with, but it wasn’t hard to visualize it!

Because of the drug and sexual references I really have to suggest this book only for adults. I can imagine teenagers really would find themselves tempted by these descriptions. There are a few homophone and spelling errors that are in the book which is acceptable for this effort. The editing was fairly decent. I do recommend either the extra money to repair the mistakes or move to a different publisher for the next published work. Once you move beyond two errors in a book, you risk people putting it down which you don’t want in a book of this caliber.

If you are interested in reading about real buckyballs, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerene .

This will not only tell you about carbon based Fullerene, but will give you a few visuals for what Fabien’s “buckyball” pills might look like.

Available through:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble ( http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/buckyball-fabien-roy/1022300182?ean=9781449093402&itm=1&usri=buckyball )

Farsighted by Emlyn Chand is FREE today! click the link to go to the review page that includes the link to Amazon:

http://www.ebookitreviews.com/?p=508

Nails Jane by Trista DiGiuseppi

Ati is a soldier with a distaste for authority. But she’s willing to follow orders if it means she can spend a few days back on Earth. As each mission ends, the search for her lost husband begins. But her search reveals more about her past than she ever anticipated. Cast into exile, she finds herself stranded on a strange and savage planet.

But the war against Humanity reaches far beyond Earth. As Ati struggles to survive in the strange, celestial wilderness, she discovers even the Guardians of our universe are in danger. The process of living and dying has been interrupted, as a monstrous weapon threatens to devour all existence. Ati learns she must return from exile with a warning for every sentient creature: Be mindful of extinction.

The beginning of this book is a bit like trying to watch Errol Flynn and Aasimov’s Elijah Bailey duke it out. There is both an action side, and a more philosophical side to the story and you are hard pressed to decide which to focus on. It does get a bit confusing at times. I was more than pleased to stick with it though as all those parts in the beginning are necessary fundamentals of the good vs evil sci-fi tale that ensues. It’s not classic and its not Freudian, but you will be pleasantly reminded of both.

Nails Jane is not actually a character but a concept. It is a concept that put into practice manipulates human life for a sinister purpose. Outside of the evil are those who would stop it. The guardians have been fighting for a very long time. They are in trouble. One of them places one human in a position to do the most damage to the worst evil humanity has experienced.

The ending is not as happy go lucky as you might think and yet, really holds you captive. It gets a little weird at one point, but this is the non-classic Freudian mystery and at the weird point gets obscenely .. cute.

Trista’s style of writing is to introduce the story to you through the character in first person. She is good at doing this. Very good. The beginning could have been crafted a little differently for my liking, the confusion made me go back a few pages once in awhile. It does work well in the whole scheme as the storyline is consistent throughout. I had absolutely clear pictures and voices in my head of what each character was doing at each point in time. It was so nice not to have to guess, and the subtle humor did not escape my notice.

Specific sci-fi concepts are not really explored a whole lot although sci-fi is the vehicle through which the story travels. I wouldn’t expect to hear a detailed explanation in how the galaxy moves being the center of the cause of the problem. This is far more about people and souls. How our decisions affect our moves, countermoves, and everything that happens between us. The personalities expressed for each character are completely distinct and unique.

All of this is augmented by the fact that there is artwork. I really liked the artwork. I don’t think everyone will. It is bold original line artwork, not designed to make you see the actual story, but describe the feelings and concepts behind the portrayal of evil and good. A few made me say “ooh, creepy, but cool.”

The editing was excellent. T’s crossed, I’s dotted, and and not too many comma’s. It was the perfect length for me to have a good read.

I am so happy to have read this book. I am so sad to have come to the end of it. I would like to tug at Trista’s shirtsleeve and hold up my bowl,

“please sir? Could I have some more?”

If you like good vs evil, you will like this book just as much as I did. I recommend this for more mature readers, though high school students might enjoy having a go as it is not your “average” tale.

Nails Jane is available at:

Amazon

LuLu:   http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/nails-jane/18760592

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/93513

Trista DiGiuseppi can be found at SixLetterPress: http://sixletterpress.wordpress.com/authors/about/

For 24 hours from 8pm PST 1-17-2012 to 8pm POST 1-18-2012 I censored myself as part of SOPA/PIPA protests. It wasn’t bad at first. On Ebook It Reviews I placed a placard then let it alone for the day. For every post I would normally have answered on Google+ or anywhere else on the net I posted < censored > instead.
As the day went on it became irritating to have to write nothing but < censored >. After all, I hadn’t told anyone that I was going to do it or why I was doing it. They would have no idea that this was all the response they would get from me. By the end of the day I found myself avoiding conversations. I didn’t want to have to post that < censored > anymore. I did so reluctantly and only when I was sure I hadn’t posted it before! I finally pegged what I was feeling and it was shame. I was ashamed that I couldn’t have a normal conversation! That my response might irritate and anger people I was used to talking to.
No doubt many of my online friends were wondering why the heck I was doing this and some were probably mighty irritated. A few may have uncircled me. Some probably understood why as I received a few +1′s on my < censored > posts.

Why would we create a world in which we feel shamed? If we haven’t done anything wrong and find that our sites, our posts, have been censored by the government, there would be anger at the inability to communicate, and shame. Shame that we couldn’t do anything about it and that someone was publicly slandering us without due process.

This is no way to live. Technology is supposed to expand our world, not close us in. With the advent of computers, BBS’s, the internet, we found a whole new way to share. We should not be penalized for this. Punitive measures for what is considered piracy are not the answer. Censorship is wrong. I don’t ever want to feel ashamed or feel I need to restrict myself from trying to express myself to people. As a book reviewer, I am scared. If these bills pass, my ability to be an effective reviewer may be severely restricted. Trying to give lots of exposure with a video reading could land me in serious trouble.

SOPA/PIPA and censorship is wrong. Tell your government officials, loudly, that you want no part of it.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/

Hi there!

My last 13 days have been a whirlwind of ferocity. I completed my novel “Hunchback”. This is a YA steampunk novel. You can see here the cover created for me by Doug Lance.

I have entered my novel into the NaNo Virtuoso competition. I will be slowly editing it as I make it through the levels of the competition. The But I need your help to do it. Please take a few minutes to read the first few pages and if you like it, vote for it! There are well over 25 entries and you can vote for up to five. The first level of the competition lasts until December 16 so be sure to get a vote in soon!

Here is the page with my entry:

http://curiosityquills.com/giveaways-contests/nano-virtuosos-competition/hunchback/

And here is the page to enter your votes on. Scroll all the way to the bottom and tick the boxes for the stories you like best. Only ten winners will move on from round one, I am hoping to be among them! Win or lose I will be working on this novel to publish sometime in 2012.

http://curiosityquills.com/giveaways-contests/nano-virtuosos-competition/round-one/
Thank you for coming to visit me!