tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23152907544589251412024-03-12T21:18:43.113-07:00Writers' Symposium"Helping Writers Write"Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-30670536843944211092013-09-20T02:08:00.001-07:002013-09-20T02:08:26.373-07:00Review of Warbound by Larry Correia (no spoilers)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="warboundcover-2.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTLmWQwg_vveEUwJmZvWG5CFOwUUjyapHC8t6soBT9s7FbDqKNv28DpM4CSK0CDLDhVyU0a26UiDea9kF30bIPEP8OSvfW1IqAZiYABU6oCiyfbYYh1cm8Ujk9mwTJ5haR44cDp8hWJc/?imgmax=800" width="420" /><br /><br />The Grimnoir Chronicles by New York Times’ bestselling author Larry Correia is a fantastic series. I just read book three, Warbound, which concludes the story arc started with <a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2011/08/hard-magic-review.html">Hard Magic (Book I)</a>, and Spellbound (Book II). The world is an alternate history Earth set mostly in the 1930’s, and is a cross between X-Men and Boardwalk Empire. That’s right, superheroes and gangsters in the 1930’s fighting for the fate of the planet. It’s epic and awesome. I must mention there are airships, pirates, and ninjas—as well as a hick girl from Oklahoma who is possibly the most powerful magic-wielding person of all time. You find out why in book three.<br /><br />Warbound mostly features a trio of main characters—pictured on the cover: Faye Vierra—the hick girl with the power of teleportation (she’s called a Traveler) who is likely the best assassin ever; Jake Sullivan—a World War I veteran who can manipulate gravity (he’s called a Heavy); and Tokugawa Toru, a samurai (he’s a Brute) who can change the density of matter). Toru is such a great character and he just might be the equal of Sullivan. Toru wields a nasty war club (a tetsubo) and just might end up wearing a suit of really amazing armor. (Hint: the cover artist did a wonderful job). Toru can cause things to weigh almost nothing, which is good for him, and really bad for his enemies as he can swing his tetsubo really fast.<br /><br />There is so much action in this series and Warbound was off the charts with magic and mayhem. The story arc concludes in Warbound, but I’ve heard rumors there will be at least one prequel, perhaps two, set several years before Hard Magic, likely set during World War I. There will also be at least one short story set in the Grimnoir world featured in one of the many anthologies Larry Correia has on his impressive release schedule.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYx08hwnIMwF9gYbURSVzplj6Soou77dlpCHqZ8QB5eZBoYSvgPgJF8339kPI0D5fdic_1XC5XpccVGOhxF7uVFwn03njj2k2lMdQeFwLJj_nrI52i9beAb354R6ML_q9jUIJu_yXyfw/s1600/spellbound1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYx08hwnIMwF9gYbURSVzplj6Soou77dlpCHqZ8QB5eZBoYSvgPgJF8339kPI0D5fdic_1XC5XpccVGOhxF7uVFwn03njj2k2lMdQeFwLJj_nrI52i9beAb354R6ML_q9jUIJu_yXyfw/s320/spellbound1.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spellbound: Book II</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN81j-bdR2SemyaPe-a6__ZJlV-gU4-sskDUz00GzfdQURIdhIjvNlcojQGqoj6mebfo24To9W8LJJ3YJhWB-vD42oCef6eLajFYZGNfpnULyxi3UdhfkrICPrlnh2vL9EXFczb2x9Moc/s1600/hard-magic.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN81j-bdR2SemyaPe-a6__ZJlV-gU4-sskDUz00GzfdQURIdhIjvNlcojQGqoj6mebfo24To9W8LJJ3YJhWB-vD42oCef6eLajFYZGNfpnULyxi3UdhfkrICPrlnh2vL9EXFczb2x9Moc/s320/hard-magic.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard Magic: Book I</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Warbound delivered on the promises of the first two exceptional novels and tied up all the loose threads, while delivering a bullet-riddled and exciting ending filled with all sorts of wizardry. The characters are a lot of fun and the plot was fast-paced as it barreled toward the final confrontation. The only thing I didn’t like was that President Franklin Roosevelt was cast as a villain along with much of the U.S. government. Correia does have some justification, as it is true that Roosevelt committed a terrible crime and interned thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II—but I found some early parts of the book a little too heavy handed.<br /><br />Regardless of my own bias, I found myself engaged and inside this book on many levels. The characters and the story pulled me in. I was so intrigued with how the magic unfolded as well, and all the questions brought up in books one and two were answered. The connections made by the characters and the sheer magnitude of the Enemy coming to destroy the world amped up the tension throughout.<br /><br />I’m a big fan of Correia’s writing and his Grimnoir books are amazing. <a href="http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Warbound-Audiobook/B00E3WV9DI/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1379665320&sr=1-1">The audio versions</a> of all three are also quite exceptional. Spellbound won a prestigious Audie Award in 2013 and all three books feature the same narrator, the brilliant voice actor, Bronson Pinchot. Paperbacks of the first two books are out now—as of Sept. 2013, and if you’re an audio book fan, download them now. All of Grimnoir books are available as Kindle eBooks, though you might want to collect a hard cover while they’re still available.<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2011/08/hard-magic-review.html">my review of book one, Hard Magic</a>, for more details about this series.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYXC3W8/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img">Warbound Book III of the Grimnoir Chronicles</a><br />5/5 Stars, Highly Recommended<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Author of The<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Dragon-Series-ebook/dp/B006PU7PIE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379667376&sr=1-1&keywords=the+golden+cord"> Iron Dragon Series</a><br />Editor of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B004SY6A76/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379667425&sr=1-1&keywords=the+crimson+pact">The Crimson Pact Series</a> </div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-3623142483975018362013-07-26T07:07:00.001-07:002013-07-26T07:07:35.112-07:00CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK VS. ALIENS ANTHOLOGY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-KyoiWM2WVUg3qXOIG3NO7sGiYfphav59IR0USir1_EW7mCQt-8AMrlvY_5BYwddWkpLPdVhX6zGSTgzYKt2oJzgBZ64s47WblAeCqagiRcrPYwW1XaqOuihrDszlVX0Bf4YXp7KSWo/s1600/STEAMPUNKOCTOPUS.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-KyoiWM2WVUg3qXOIG3NO7sGiYfphav59IR0USir1_EW7mCQt-8AMrlvY_5BYwddWkpLPdVhX6zGSTgzYKt2oJzgBZ64s47WblAeCqagiRcrPYwW1XaqOuihrDszlVX0Bf4YXp7KSWo/s640/STEAMPUNKOCTOPUS.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This is the awesome steampunk anthology I was asked to submit a story to by editor Joshua Palmatier--who is a great writer. His Cracked Throne novel blew my mind. Anyway, I hope this gets funded because I really want to write my story, which will be set in 1800's Australia. There's no guarantee my story will be accepted, but I have high hopes.<br /><br />If you are able, please consider contributing to the Kickstarter. There are tons of great offerings at many price levels, and you can get the antho as an eBook, print book, and also get various other books as rewards. <br /><br />Here's the Kickstarter video below or watch it on <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543968884/clockwork-universe-steampunk-vs-aliens-anthology">the official site here</a>. <br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543968884/clockwork-universe-steampunk-vs-aliens-anthology/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-83157395918548976362013-07-26T06:54:00.001-07:002013-07-26T06:54:34.498-07:00Review of Fearless: Powerful Women of History<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="fearless_1600x2400.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUttTyFsjG8cXQbNLEX3Ku-kSy7uqVxNqat1015iqQR7p9VNhPCmDTH9Gubg91TzRw4WF0pWZZ4uGvvHcVvYuxK9fyhOFZhoZxwgKZkNdFWa6JBxor1SwghV9ulof0WyvcXLCiq6dr8a4/?imgmax=800" width="425" /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Powerful-History-Historian-ebook/dp/B00DTAGTLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374846558&sr=8-1&keywords=fearless+powerful+women+of+history">Fearless: Powerful Women of History by Zachary Hill</a><br /><br /><br />This is a really fun and fascinating book that uses satire and humor to describe more than sixteen amazing women that we should all know about. Young women and girls need to understand that women shaped the course of human history, just like the men who usually get most of the attention.<br /><br />Fearless: Powerful Women of History is a little like the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, as many of the historical figures actually make appearances in the book, and are interviewed by the author, and his panel of hilarious historical figures. This is history made fun, and reading it is a joy. I think reading this aloud would be hilarious and fun for a family, especially if Mom, Dad, and the kids (aged 11+) took on the roles of the panelists. Some essays are a little gruesome, so read them in advance, but overall it’s fine for most people. The only distraction I had while reading were the frequent typos, but I did read an advanced reader copy, and learned that the next version will be cleaned up.<br /><br />The author, Zachary Hill, a man with a history degree who is obsessed with researching history, describes in an unscholarly way a few of the famous people we probably already know something about: Joan of Arc, and Jane Austen, but the rest are more marginal figures that have not gotten the attention they deserve. Hua Mulan (Disney made a movie about her) is described in as much detail as we know, and the truth of her life is incredible.<br /><br />There are also essays about: Empress Theodora of Constantinople; the Byzantine Princess and historian Anna Komnene; Queen Tamar of Georgia the Conqueror; the warrior woman Rani Lakshmibai of India; Queen Matilda of England; Roman Empress Galla Placidia; the female “samurai” Tomoe Gozen of Japan (and there’s a separate essay about other Japanese female warriors); St. Olga of Kiev (a brutal woman and her essay is probably PG-13); Caterina Sforza (who kicked butts so far they woke up in the next time zone); St. Teresa of Avila, and more.<br /><br />Author Zachary Hill’s history blog, <a href="http://minimumwagehistorian.com/">MinimumWageHistorian.com </a>has a ton of great information as well. Go there to browse the many topics he’s covered over the years.<br /><br />Making history fun and engaging can be hard to do, but Fearless: Powerful Women of History succeeds in bringing to light some amazing women who must not be forgotten.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Powerful-History-Historian-ebook/dp/B00DTAGTLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374846558&sr=8-1&keywords=fearless+powerful+women+of+history">Fearless: Powerful Women of History </a>(110 pages, $4.99 eBook, $5.99 print book)<br />HIGHLY RECOMMENDED<br /><br />Paul Genesse</div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-77960984488856215292013-05-11T22:24:00.001-07:002013-05-11T22:24:22.269-07:00The World As a Character Presentation from LDS Storymakers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="tepui4.jpg" border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPiIH6wOfzDjrnHn16HTpL3L2Qty2yJfvpxT5whqheuLJzEpYaOhDySNlOmgPsXHZvvrV64Hx1rTnzIoCuTAXgtMhXzc9a0f5cLfi_p9ksLwtFilGlRgcGOpMpQhPIHqadhghFcvvahRY/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br /><br />(These are just a few notes, not really what's on my note cards, and I'm not posting the 50 slides).<br /><br />"The World as a Character," a few notes from my presentation. Most of this is in the world building book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eighth-Day-Genesis-Worldbuilding-Creatives/dp/0985825405/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368335889&sr=8-1&keywords=eighth+day+genesis">Eighth Day Genesis</a> edited by Sabrina Klein. The book has been nominated for a 2013 Origins Award.<br /><br />*Think of some of the most iconic fantasy or science fiction settings: Frank Herbert’s Arrakis, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Land, James Cameron’s Pandora. You can imagine each of those worlds as a character with distinct personalities.<br /><br />*Reactions are much more interesting than a boring description about a place. They show the character of the setting, and also the main character’s thoughts, which accomplishes the two major goals of character development at once.<br /><br />*Your job is to show us which face the world takes wherever the characters go.<br /><br />*Consider very carefully what kind of story, or stories, you want to explore before you craft your world. You don’t want your story to clash with the world and make what you are trying to do seem unbelievable or inconsistent. Think about the common descriptions of plot before your proceed with the world-building.<br /><br />*Write a bio from the point of view of the world. Just a couple of paragraphs.<br /><br />*Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch is credited with coming up with a famous list of plots I’ve often heard at writing seminars and are considered the basic type of literary plots: Man against Nature, Man against Himself, Man against God, Man against Society, Man caught in the Middle, and Man & Woman. Make sure your world and your story are compatible. Some plots seem to fit better with certain types of worlds.<br /><br />*Don’t info dump about the world and expect the readers to keep reading.<br /><br />*Basic Questions to answer during world creation:<br />• Stable agriculture?<br />• Navigable rivers?<br />• Mountains, deserts, or bodies of water that close it off from other areas?<br />• Plants that are easily domesticated?<br />• Animals that are easily domesticated?<br />• A mild or harsh climate?<br />• Deadly diseases that are endemic to the area?<br />• A human population that has been there a long or short period of time?<br />• Natural resources that benefit the local population?<br /><br />These questions are huge and if you want to understand the significance of them more read anthropologist Jared Diamond’s incredible book, Guns, Germs and Steel, and also Collapse. The answers to those basic questions above will determine a lot about the people who live in the world, and your bio about certain parts of the setting will answer the rest.<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eighth-Day-Genesis-Worldbuilding-Creatives/dp/0985825405/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368335889&sr=8-1&keywords=eighth+day+genesis">Eighth Day Genesis </a>on Amazon.com and check out all 21 essays on world building.<br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-80118754453265796022013-05-05T15:46:00.001-07:002013-05-05T15:46:34.890-07:00Review of Allied Zombies for Peace by Craig Nybo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWv3R2GO4EMPU4wDga1hhXTJW333qqT29inMBcX1fCB372EAFjP7aeWu1s0QDUqBH7tXy_opO2rCrXnDpFZCPtCQoo23eyDw6UUsyRlaLZsgh9TX1tvqBNF7pGaXelPp9dBVJAyNzKVjw/s1600/AZPPROMOPIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWv3R2GO4EMPU4wDga1hhXTJW333qqT29inMBcX1fCB372EAFjP7aeWu1s0QDUqBH7tXy_opO2rCrXnDpFZCPtCQoo23eyDw6UUsyRlaLZsgh9TX1tvqBNF7pGaXelPp9dBVJAyNzKVjw/s640/AZPPROMOPIC.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(Allied Zombies for Peace display at Night Flight Comics in Salt Lake City)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Review: I loved reading Allied Zombies for Peace by the hilarious author Craig Nybo. I had no idea that a riot involving zombies, WWI veterans, cops, and the vile KKK at a peace rally in 1967 could be so entertaining. It's written like a screenplay with short, punchy chapters, and told from many different point of views, and covers only 42 minutes of mayhem. If you're looking for a fun read, check out this book.<br /><br />Here's the awesome book trailer video--errr, I mean news cast about the riot.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zFq-7Rz7mds?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQ1ND2CRY0l3LcG_cw6lFKobcab8oTHqWIEaWaWXDjp_R0EXVwCQqj2v3WYzE1YQv5gxVyHLSedvnj3o83gip2yjARp7VIIYvUmOAwFUhtTh4NyI2Yjb81uNQ5SOZnWbs5BrBTulM448/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cover_zombie_red-300x220.jpeg" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQ1ND2CRY0l3LcG_cw6lFKobcab8oTHqWIEaWaWXDjp_R0EXVwCQqj2v3WYzE1YQv5gxVyHLSedvnj3o83gip2yjARp7VIIYvUmOAwFUhtTh4NyI2Yjb81uNQ5SOZnWbs5BrBTulM448/?imgmax=800" width="128" /></a></div><br /><br />Reading about zombies clawing and munching on some vile KKK jerkwads was awesome. There just can't be enough of that in the world. Nybo is a great comedic writer and a rising talent. I can't wait to read what he writes next.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Allied-Zombies-Peace-Craig-Nybo/dp/0988406403/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367793191&sr=1-1&keywords=allied+zombies+for+peace">Check it out on Amazon</a>.<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Dragon-Series-ebook/dp/B006PU7PIE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1367793121&sr=8-1">Author of the Iron Dragon Series</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Patrick-Tracy/dp/0983263159/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1367793160&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=The+crimson+pact+volume+1">Editor of the Crimson Pact Series </a></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-43697925386975846182013-03-29T22:48:00.001-07:002013-03-29T22:48:31.307-07:00REVIEW OF AT THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER OF BEES BY KIJ JOHNSON<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="RiverOfBees.jpeg" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi7QR0L3jnY337-N-pNK15otsXJN5hRVxDibT8gHrATbhSDJOuCAw4xi2pVSdjs1Zrx3_B1QJjbylNl3epfS1r4j_aQOXYDmg3Rd48ufe235LrsUJMyt0dQ6dJrB0QhRIxmZ0B0YpeI8/?imgmax=800" width="300" /><br /><br />AT THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER OF BEES (short story collection) by Kij Johnson<br /><br />This is an incredible collection of stories by one of the best short story writers on the planet. She’s won practically every major fantasy and science fiction award and been nominated for all of them multiple times. If you want to read some amazing short fiction, this is a collection you must have. Her work is often featured in the years best collections and her skill at crafting beautiful and thought provoking stories is second to none.<br /><br />I’ve been a fan of Kij Johnson since I attended one of her writing seminars at Gen Con in 1998 and have read many of these stories before, but I found a lot that I hadn’t read. Having them all in one perfectly packaged book was awesome. Small Beer Press did a great job.<br /><br />It’s hard for me to describe all eighteen stories in the collection, but I’ll go over a few of my favorites.<br /><br />26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss was first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine in 2008 and if you haven’t read this Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy award winning short story, you’re in for a treat. The premise is crazy: a woman buys a traveling monkey show . . . because she must. It’s deep, amazing, and will get in your head for a long time. It’s still in mine years after first reading it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img alt="cwKIJ.jpg" border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0P1b99Rxci7o4KD3KjGGnqGtGQPUFn8bprU7eY_OSOGeWe9Yy9NM7R8pLQ-YUuth9Ch92NAJ5GelUTs-yOBrcLSinLgN1tjyvKmoMg-UBgzUcBVW1d2cLmk4GyiaC7G5P9HWVdUj9hA/?imgmax=800" width="226" /><br /><br />Spar, originally published in Clarksworld in 2009, won the Nebula for best short story, and this one will blow your mind. It’s a science fiction nightmare about a woman who is trapped with an alien for a very long time. It’s a chilling story. I hear people talking about this one at writer gatherings all the time. It’s that good.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="FoxWoman.jpg" border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7V0vYsVsNj7hFZ41PD6eHZ5BFS39stOfR89eFjWstx0BEctncJW2dLYRSRjaBmlqInn6TrdUaCfuqx4yYDONRmQJ4oWKwR5MSIZNSXGZiZI6v9ag85A44L8viOBCR53hSVHQmqGglqk/?imgmax=800" width="315" /><br /><br />Fox Magic, originally published in 1993 in Asimov’s, and won the Sturgeon Award. It became the basis for the award winning novel, Fox Woman from Tor, which I fell in love with. This is the legend of kitsune, the magical fox who became a woman and seduced a Japanese samurai lord. I loved this story and especially the novel. Fox Magic is incredibly beautiful and poignant. If you love it, read the novel for sure.<br /><br />Wolf Trapping first appeared in Twilight Zone magazine in 1989, and I’d never read it before. The story is about a wolf researcher who meets a strange, feral woman who is trying to become part of a pack of wolves. The ending will leave you sick and in shock.<br /><br />The Empress Jingu Fishes is a great story about a woman who can see the future, and goes through the years ahead with the bitter knowledge of what’s going to happen to the people she loves. Fascinating.<br /><br /><img alt="ASFN11.jpg" border="0" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnsrx3aJrUGMber9WJLUkahdGM0hEqnX6bJ9Edlag_0ayJSuGmIFvOwv8yfAvL2I_O9t6HyXoJ2SZ8Pm0bVxt_P6yB6mbbDdGn1GrbsJJnY-iNYw9V-4zIH77C7JSV-EZWruRaIK9I3LA/?imgmax=800" width="300" /><br /><br />The Man Who Bridged the Mist won the Hugo and Nubula award for best novella, and I found it to be beautifully crafted. It reminded me of the world I created for my Iron Dragon series a little, with the mists surrounding the land, so I loved that aspect, and was captivated all the way through.<br /><br />The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change, won the World Fantasy Award, and I can see why. I hadn’t read it before and loved it. The story is about a woman who becomes close to a pack of dogs after “the Change.” Dogs (and all the mammals) gain the ability to speak and it throws off the whole world. Dog lovers will be very touched by this one, I think. I know I was.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="Ponies.JPG" border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7v5fAyn2rvNEPc5KY5lQXtXrxU8hl4vfiH7yGw2b7g-X_kLCgo6Zh7hkKTMehYHDsyEYjz3C7nKHnoS3b0Xn9a7l4SkPzokCZC-bXQA5zQpeAZD1Ziftzc_lWz9gvz1yN6KrF1GVrq6s/?imgmax=800" width="260" /><br /><br />Ponies, won the 2010 Nebula award for best short story, and I was fortunate enough to hear Kij read it at World Fantasy soon after it came out on Tor.com. This tale is an allegory about growing up, although this one is in a world where all the little girls get pretty winged, talking ponies, but if the girls want to be part of the popular crowd they have to, shall we say, make some changes to their beloved ponies. This is such an awesome story and when I read it in this collection, I heard Kij, in my mind reading it like she did back at World Fantasy, like she was reading a sweet story to kids, when in truth it’s a nightmare.<br /><br />There are a lot of other great stories in this collection, and I’ve savored them, letting the beauty of the words, and the expertise of the writing wash over me. The technical brilliance is one thing, but the way some of the stories stick with me is uncanny.<br /><br />The title story, At the Mouth of the River of Bees, was a new one for me as well, and I saved it for last. It was about a woman (the same one from the Trickster stories) who is on a journey across the country with her old German Shepherd dog, who is dying. They run into a roadblock, the Bee River is flooding, but it's unlike any flood you've ever heard of, and the main character is drawn to find the source of the flooding. It's a journey of the heart and the mind. <br /><br />Kij Johnson has a way of getting you to believe 100% in whatever world she creates, and then slips in some fantastical concept, like a river of bees stopping traffic, and it makes perfect sense.<br /><br /><img alt="Kij Johnson.jpg" border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbG2NEfUiooqd-9hFNa5ypIqLi2JoqirCzX-PMEwCVN-DmFNUBYh6bJu6nhh0Ulbg6_PyIr6KoAA1Cd1V_zPWg75TqJMWbJjXq-Juw3s2LV4zXU8iihyBcMnKC4b_elHLoZEDGiB2YuY/?imgmax=800" width="181" /><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kij_Johnson">Learn more about this amazing writer here</a> or find this collection <a href="http://www.amazon.com/At-Mouth-River-Bees-Stories/dp/1931520801/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364616838&sr=8-1&keywords=kij+johnson">on Amazon</a>.<br /><br />HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 5/5 STARS<br />Paul Genesse, Author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Book-Iron-Dragon/dp/0985003820/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364622201&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Golden+Cord">the Iron Dragon Series </a>and Editor of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Pact-Patrick-M-Tracy/dp/0983263159/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364622251&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Crimson+Pact+volume+1">The Crimson Pact Series </a><br /><br /><img alt="RiverOfBees.jpeg" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJt7XH_ZDDXC1hdkiIrvrbKBhffLmDYhX0Jq1KIdftc2kIxGCLy8MwkoEHQsUL49LNVkqF8HPZyjVLaMXrr9ysdioe3o-d-CPC4ER1hPuXbxJ8IbRJo8dnO0oe-N8pPXgQyQutn82mOw/?imgmax=800" width="300" /><br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-17611697369126273002013-03-23T20:53:00.001-07:002013-03-23T20:53:32.694-07:00FUN YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="250px-Fire_Season_by_David_Weber_and_Jane_Lindskold.jpg" border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC7O5Cf7xPT0T0R_Z8iM2V1Gbrgt9Jc9Nd6uNMjEUi4P7jyqnOhyphenhyphenFz4in9iDuqAb7_RCDG8XrZnpTvABgBdmOlG5PhIYQ6uz3lNq6Mm4H221doBKlNEoAW0Y8YA9rju1eHKs2jj0yw7w/?imgmax=800" width="250" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145163840X/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img">Fire Season</a> by David Weber and Jane Lindskold<br /><br /><br />(very minor spoilers)<br /><br />This is the second novel about Stephanie Harrington and her treecat companion, Lionheart, set on the fascinating treecat home world. I hadn’t read the award winning first book, A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber, and came to this novel as I’m a fan of author Jane Lindskold’s short fiction and her novels (Through Wolf’s Eyes, Thirteen Orphans). You don’t need to read the first book in this series, A Beautiful Friendship, to understand this one, as I was never lost, but I’m sure it would be good to start at the beginning.<br /><br /><img alt="225px-A_Beautiful_Friendship_cover.jpg" border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9B9zyAFSBhEgFds8GiiVVITRu10Kf6XTa6kW_veladWnsX8uqCJLbe5wEL7mjX6DWFc79WbfMEI7SSfqTTNd26kWO8gV66lRgM6ZyYTR7vRnxH_DgObPeSFkY-3GfTCOYd7xzd3mJFQU/?imgmax=800" width="225" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Friendship-Star-Kingdom/dp/1451638264/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364097030&sr=1-1&keywords=A+beautiful+friendship">A Beautiful Friendship on Amazon</a><br /><br /><br />If you’re a reader of David Weber’s Honor Harrington novels, I think you’ll enjoy this prequel novel series. Fire Season is set a few hundred years before Honor was born, and this is not a space opera with lots of the big battles Mr. Weber is famous for. It’s a coming of age novel, mostly written to appeal to teenaged readers (12 and older), about a brilliant young woman growing up on an alien planet, who just happens to be the first person to ever bond with a treecat. The telepathic, empathic, six-legged (hexapedal) catlike creatures with long tails—two of their six legs have actual hands on them—are the stars of the book.<br /><br />I found the most fascinating aspect of Fire Season to be the relationship between fifteen-year-old Stephanie and the treecat who adopted her. Lionheart is what Stephanie calls him, but his true name among the People (the treecats think of themselves as The People), is Climbs Quickly.<br /><br />The treecats are telepathic with each other and empathic with humans, so communicating with humans is quite difficult for them, though they can read human emotions very easily and affect them in some minor ways. The treecats think that humans make all sorts of funny mouth sounds, use hand gestures, and isn’t it sad they can’t speak to each other with their minds and have to rely on such poor communication methods?<br /><br />It was hilarious and awesome when two treecats were communicating telepathically with each other and one treecat noted how well the human (Stephanie Harrington) had been trained by Climbs Quickly. The big question in this book is if the treecats are intelligent enough to be considered sentient by the human scientists.<br /><br />Climbs Quickly can read Stephanie’s emotions and enjoys her “mind-glow” very much. I loved reading the chapters from Climb’s Quickly’s point of view, and it was fascinating how the human scientists are trying to determine if the treecats are a sentient race, while the treecats are trying to understand if they should avoid the humans who have come to their world, or if they should interact with them more.<br /><br />The book has the feel of an un-contacted tribe of native Americans first coming into contact with a highly civilized group of Europeans. That would be Europeans who are not trying to enslave or destroy them. What a concept. There are a lot of great messages in this book that will get younger and older readers thinking.<br /><br />Fire Season is naturally set during the dry season when forest fires often rage across the mostly tree-covered world. Stephanie Harrington, and her big brother friend Karl, are provisional rangers with the forestry service, and they participate in watching out for fires and sometimes fighting them, and of course rescuing animals caught in the path of the flames.<br /><br />Much of the book is dedicated to Stephanie becoming an adult. She has to learn to interact with kids her own age, a very difficult thing for a genius introvert, and of course deal with her well-meaning but socially clumsy parents. I think teens will easily connect with Stephanie, as she’s a very well drawn character.<br /><br />I highly recommend this book to teen animal lovers—especially young women—and to fans of the Honor Harrington series who want to see where the treecats came from. This is a good starting point for younger readers, and I think this would be a great gift to a friend or relative that you wanted to expose to science fiction. It kept my interest throughout, had a good conclusion that wrapped up nicely, and I’m excited to read the sequel, Treecat Wars.<br /><br />View it on Amazon<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145163840X/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img">: Fire Season by David Weber and Jane Lindskold</a><br />Highly Recommended, 4.5 out of 5 Stars<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Author of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Book-Iron-Dragon/dp/0985003820/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364097087&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Golden+Cord">Iron Dragon Series</a></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-60895505804186444792013-02-04T05:31:00.001-08:002013-02-04T05:31:04.973-08:00LTUE 2013 Schedule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="banner.jpg" border="0" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJs5Y6UBFd_V2IJ1HpaBBniYZsta_wUvT-N8xuRGkFtjQQhjhkeXt1ZIfX8YZwL6DNO7_7vEzgsGCfQ9LjH4Yz1lya-l2c85M4LWukEABsxTX9mP16bnxrkk_kf7PmbOG6f7k4HvTDtnQ/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br /><br />Life, The Universe, and Everything<br />Provo, Marriott Hotel Conference Center<br /><a href="http://ltue.net/">http://ltue.net/</a><br /><br />My Schedule:<br /><br />Thursday February 14<br /><br />9:00 AM<br />Tolkien's "The Hobbit"<br />The Book and the Movies<br />Paul Genesse, Blake Casselman, David Farland, Tracy Hickman <br /><br />Lunch with friends<br /><br />1:00 PM<br />What is "Punk" Literature and Its Many Genres?<br />Aneeka Richins, Paul Genesse, David Butler, Steve Diamond, Larry Correia <br /><br />Take my beautiful wife, Tammy to see Ballet West's "Cinderella" for Valentines Day. Fun times.<br /><br /><br />Friday February 15<br /><br />Lunch with friends<br /><br />3:00 PM<br />Characterization that Isn’t Overwrought or Uneven<br />Tristi Pinkston, Paul Genesse, Clint Johnson, Deren Hansen, J. Scott Savage<br /><br />8:00 PM<br />Mass Autograph Signing<br /><br />Saturday<br />11:00 AM<br />Main Address: I'm attending, not giving it.</div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-34226810365385363822013-01-12T18:05:00.001-08:002013-01-12T18:05:25.941-08:00Zero Dark Thirty Movie Review and more<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Three Reviews:<br /><br />Zero Dark Thirty (Movie, 2012) 5/5 Stars<br /><br />No Easy Day by Mark Owen (Book, 2012) 5/5 Stars<br /><br />The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden by Mark Bowden (Book, 2012) 5/5 Stars<br /><br /><br />Movie trailer for Zero Dark Thirty<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cAtWcvCxPhc" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br />I cheered when I learned Osama Bin Laden was killed by Seal Team 6 on May 1, 2011. I’ve wanted that evil man dead ever since I learned he was behind the 9/11 tragedy. Fuck Al Qaeda, and all the deluded jihadists who think terrorism is the way to change the world for the better. Terrorism is not the answer.<br /><br />When I heard there was going to be a big Hollywood movie I knew I was going to watch it. I also knew I was going to read some books about the hunt for Bin Laden. I think it’s therapy for me, closure for the horror that was 9/11, one of the worst days of my life. Those of you too young to remember what happened, may not feel the same way, and I think that’s fine. I hope you aren’t traumatized like I was.<br /><br /><img alt="ZeroDarkThirty2012Poster.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsdYPSQ5F5uyEzwt5pXylXNwmcGGSlsHifn_DBy1LwV3ScIcstBgmyqRruaJ4hrbWyTCE7rJRF1gG3U5HPVS6iZ-6-k8u6ZTHVzwk6g9WvZGVhyWsELHM6RIy1FYz96hyphenhyphenYWih4nBaFDY/?imgmax=800" width="269" /><br /><br /><br />I’m not going to forget what al Qaeda did on September 11, 2001. I’m not going to forget United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania because the passengers fought back. They saved the Capitol building in Washington D.C., or possibly the White House. The terrorists responsible deserve to die or spend the rest of their lives in a very uncomfortable prison.<br /><br />I've now read two books about this topic, The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden by Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, which is more of a historical account with high-level interviews and tons of fascinating information, and No Easy Day by Mark Owen, the Navy Seal who was there on the raid. I learned from those books, and from terrorism expert Peter Bergen's online articles that the info that led to Bin Laden was not gained from torture. I do not support torture, though I can’t say I’m unhappy about certain terrorists suffering. Still, torture is wrong.<br /><br />The facts are that torture did NOT give us the info that led to the killing of Bin Laden. The movie, Zero Dark Thirty, hints that torture helped get the info, which is wrong, but it lets the audience draw their own conclusions. If you want to know the truth, read those books I’ve mentioned and the forthcoming one from terrorism expert, Peter Bergen. I might read it, as I don’t know yet if I can close this chapter of my life. I want to close it.<br /><br />I personally felt that the movie makers (Kathryn Bigelow--director, and Mark Boal--the screenwriter) were indicting the use of torture, not glorifying or justifying it. They will not come out and give their opinions to the press, but I think they do not agree with torture. They just didn’t want to make their position clear in the movie. The movie is not partisan. Both the right and the left can appreciate and enjoy this movie. It's a little slow for some people, but I found it fascinating from beginning to end.<br /><br />Now, I believe the people who freaked out about the torture shown in Zero Dark Thirty missed the point. The writer/director are putting the abuses by the United States government on the record. Forever.<br /><br />The U.S. should not have used “enhanced interrogation techniques” because torture does not produce good intelligence, and it’s morally wrong. The FBI model of interrogation is far superior to the CIA method used in the wake of 9/11, and documented in Zero Dark Thirty. Read up on the subject if you want to learn more. Draw your own conclusions.<br /><br />I personally think the movie was great. One of the best of the year for sure and worthy of the Best Picture Oscar nomination. I'm glad I read the books first though, but Zero Dark Thirty is an exceptional film and presents the spirit of what happened, if not the exact details as I’ve learned them.<br /><br />It’s a thriller, combined with a CIA procedural, and Jessica Chastain, playing the CIA analyst, “Maya,” was incredible. Extreme dedication and tenacity can accomplish anything. Sometimes you piss people off along the way of getting the job done, like she did in real life. I applaud the real Maya, and all the people who worked on finding Bin Laden. The two books give a lot more information about specific details regarding her that did not make it into the movie. Read them for more.<br /><br /><img alt="Jessica_Chatain.jpg" border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd46N_oJdz5KVvj_m0E_pAIZbJiRh9VMmI-pv2s3l_xQGaLa95GkK7k2sVH8LGYH1MjLyf-fi7be68w_4Ynxnv8ducIwT19qL-ti62-RSHYuapyp8zUKR0KPxjBqT0b1b1Yh7gpjgbtRU/?imgmax=800" width="660" /><br /><br />I hope Jessica Chastain wins an Oscar for her performance, and she was nominated for Best Actress. She’s my new favorite actor. I first saw her in auteur director Terrence Malick’s movie, Tree of Life (2011) where she stars alongside Brad Pitt. It’s a bizarre and beautiful movie. Worth a watch, but in Zero Dark Thirty, Chastain provides the thread that spans the TEN YEAR hunt. See her also in director Guillermo del Toro’s horror film, Mama coming in early 2013.<br /><br />The U.S. intelligence and military people kicked ass, and though it took a long time, they tracked that piece of trash Bin Laden to his hideout and killed him. The Seal Team would have captured him if he surrendered, but he did not surrender, and presented a threat to our soldiers, so they shot him. In the eye. Then in the chest a few times when he was twitching on the ground in his room with two of his wives standing over him.<br /> <br />Read Mark Owen's book (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/No-Easy-Day-Firsthand-Account/dp/0525953728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358042080&sr=8-1&keywords=No+Easy+Day">Amazon link here</a>) to learn more about the raid, but the movie shows it in almost real time what the soldiers were doing. I highly recommend the Navy Seal account, but Mark Bowden’s book has some details that really complement the first hand account.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="no_easy_day_book_cover_a_p.jpg" border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxbhEBLvSuPTD0m8TphBgAmcoUv_scMmOS3OR4u_GdzkeKOjrRiOUMA0-kxmgr3Nop-AcsrrgnhrpAvbsmh4bRiu-6e1u77Q2F8_xNCaYkHTrnSRndXSZ8WuuHIxOEVpqV5uWmghvTKg/?imgmax=800" width="349" /><br /><br /><br />My quick review of No Easy Day by former Navy Seal, Mark Owen is simply this: it’s a great book. It should have been written. Mark Owen (not his real name of course) fought for the U.S. Constitution for over a decade, which guarantees his rights to have written the book, which does not include any classified information. To those who revealed his real name and put his life at risk: shame on you, Fox News. Mark Owen is not a fan of Barack Obama. You idiots went after a guy on your own team. Did you even read the book before you decided to out him? Morons. I guess I should not be surprised.<br /><br />So, No Easy Day chronicles Mark Owen’s life as a Navy Seal. This is his autobiography, and most of the book is about his experiences leading up to his last mission. I found it all incredibly moving and a tribute to the U.S. military, as he intended. The Navy Seals, and all their support are true heroes. The chopper pilot who saved the mission is the biggest hero of all. He gets shorted in the movie, but not the books.<br /><br /><img alt="TheFinish.jpeg" border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBCebrNslorGcesIz6VujY3eQK12bEiWSqV3lGmGWmT12F1hf5aR5uU_bQ1maLjwwIXapTObgwNI9PkfSiNo0uRrikUCEFhiFKm6svQStps8TY7v3-PN_8PJdTG7lr6kL3QRdMTsbtjM/?imgmax=800" width="314" /><br /><br /><br />My review of The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden by Mark Bowden: It’s an amazing book (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Finish-Killing-Osama-Bin-Laden/dp/0802120342/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358042172&sr=1-1&keywords=the+finish+mark+bowden">Amazon link her</a>e). I became a fan of Mark Bowden after reading Black Hawk Down, which describes the tragic events in Somalia where a mission went wrong in 1993. Bowden is a fabulous journalist and writer. This is a very fair account of what happened during the ten years leading up to the raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This book divulges a lot more information than No Easy Day, but it’s all unclassified, which amazes me. There is far more sensitive information in The Finish than No Easy Day. I wonder if I should really know what I know about our intelligence services. Let’s just say that super computers and game changing tactics wiped out al Qaeda in Iraq, and helped find Bin Laden. <br /><br />The analyst, “Maya,” and a whole heck of a lot of other people helped bring Bin Laden down. As an aside, I learned that the real Maya was given an award and a monetary bonus for her incredible work, but she was refused a promotion. That is serious bullshit. Unless she’s so good at the level she’s at, and that’s why they didn’t promote her, but from what I’ve read, her bosses don’t like her attitude or whatever. I don’t know all the facts, but it seems totally wrong to me. Promote her. That woman knows how to get things done. The speech that Maya makes in Zero Dark Thirty to her boss, and is hinted at in the books, will blow you away. I want to watch the movie again just for that.<br /><br />I felt a lot of closure watching Zero Dark Thirty, and reading these two books, regarding the trauma of the 9/11 attacks I still carry around in my head. Learning so many of the details helped me deal with the horrors I remember. <br /><br />The movie and the books also hold up a mirror to what the U.S. and our allies have done to combat terrorism, and a lot of it is not good. Torture was the wrong way to go. The movies and books also show the true evil of al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, a mass murderer and coward of epic proportions.<br /><br />Go see Zero Dark Thirty and judge for yourself. See the movie, then read some books.<br /><br />Here’s a pure movie review I agree with:<br />Movie Review <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/55586120-223/cia-bin-laden-maya.html.csp#comments">http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/55586120-223/cia-bin-laden-maya.html.csp#comments</a><br /><br />This is a well written and balanced article about the movie, written by Andrew O’Hehir.<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/12/29/the_zero_dark_thirty_debate_isnt_really_about_torture/">http://www.salon.com/2012/12/29/the_zero_dark_thirty_debate_isnt_really_about_torture/</a><br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-23635400798355936572013-01-07T09:00:00.001-08:002013-01-07T09:00:50.586-08:00Let the Right One In<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Review of "Let the Right One In" (book and movie) and; "Let Me In" (movie) and; "Let the Old Dreams Die" (short story)<br /><br /><img alt="LetTheRightOneIn.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqD3rtp1B703VIauHpNsvZykWw0irkxbGd3W_TcvYLx4gDwH9RjMkTggw_HZU6u_8oPoOyVGKIOTT-PESibuBFztsZKAo3LT68-532jRyfl6_RXmj-AjFZxkZZcJU_Spw0Aa-ZGyVQgs/?imgmax=800" width="425" /><br />Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (English translator: Ebba Segerberg 2008)<br /><br />I read an incredible and gripping vampire novel, one of the best books I've ever read in the genre, Let the Right One In, the international bestseller by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindquvist. Five out of five stars.<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Let-Right-One-In-Novel/dp/0312355297/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357555880&sr=8-1&keywords=let+the+right+one+in+book">Amazon Link</a>:<br /><br />Before I read the novel, I watched both the Swedish and American versions of the movie, and then had to read the book to learn more about the fascinating characters. I was captivated and obsessed after watching the movies, both in the same night. I rented them from Blockbuster Video on Blu-ray, and they are available for purchase on Amazon as DVDs, On-Demand or Blu-ray.<br /><br />The translator (Ebba Segerberg) did a fantastic job and I highly recommend this to Stephen King fans and vampire fans. Overall, the book is in the same vein as the Anne Rice vampire novels, but with a great new spin that I shall not spoil here. Lindqvist has a fresh take on the vampire mythos, but gives many nods to the traditions of the modern genre. It's a horror novel, and it is quite gory and scary at times, but in reality. There is also a fair amount about pedophilia, and murder. Few of the characters are at all likable, but they are fascinating. Lindqvist is a master at characterization, and this book truly about finding great love. Yes, it's romantic. I swear!<br /><br />Let The Right One In (Swedish movie 2008)<br /><img alt="OskarandEli.gif" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrDHxr2uusW7lXiUoEMNHLVXsjw955qgtKO6I9pt4tq-VMC4A6VzpT4qLjg6GdGzIt3hWa0I27p73mpFw6kHFALezJxwzz1bAwI_ulEH9e2k52iE-ooMsFXf1ABj07ebldlqfgbY6pxI/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br /><br />The story is set in Sweden in 1981, and is about a 12 year old boy, Oskar, who is bullied and has some serious psychological issues. Oskar has a tough life and often fantasizes about killing his tormentors. He's going down a dark life path when a strange girl moves in next door. Her name is Eli. She does not go to school and appears to live with her father, and has absolutely no problem wearing a t-shirt and no shoes in the bitterly cold winter night. Makes you wonder what sort of person is immune to cold. Is she a little girl at all, or something more sinister?<br /><br />Swedish movie trailer (English subtitles). Five Stars<br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22560%22%20height=%22315%22%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/embed/ICp4g9p_rgo%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ICp4g9p_rgo" width="560"></iframe></a><br /><br />Let the Right One In (Swedish movie 2008) <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/">here</a>.<br /><img alt="OskarandEli.jpg" border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvm1ngOY9Zy37BAdwKzxyMverDSh_8jvSMELkRSHK2fvdXp2jq6CfBhFTSSEJOHJAJc7fbyWIgV0YvHv8h7711Uk1l3QTFBaOyAmbSb6s4ZOmjEGNlNrxwJc5r922PX_EDkjzSg9eQ69c/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br />Eli and Oskar become friends and the story goes from there. The novel has a lot more than the movies, as it has several other story threads from many different characters. It's really a milieu story, showing a lot about the world and the people who live in the Stockholm suburb of Blackberg. There are some really dark and depressing characters, especially Hakan, who appears to be Eli's father. He's a very sick man.<br /><br />I blasted through the novel and read it in only a few days. It scared the crap out of me a couple of times and Let the Right One in is an instant classic. It's easy to understand why they made two films (Swedish and an English version) from this novel.<br /><br />The ending of the book was good, but the movies did it even better. I'm glad I had seen the movies first and I think seeing the movies first is the better idea, as the book is always better, so you won't be disappointed in the movies, as they do leave out a bunch.<br /><br />The ending was not my favorite, because I think Lindqvist wasn't sure what to do. The fantastic news is that he wrote an epilogue to the epilogue! He put out a short story collection with the epilogue to Let the Right One In, called Let the Old Dreams Die. That is the title of the story about what happens to the characters in the novel. It's a brilliant short story and fills in the gaps and explains what happened. I loved it. The short story gave me chills and I've been thinking about it for days. If you do read the book and enjoy it, you must, must, MUST, read the short story: Let the Old Dreams Die. It was a little slow, but masterfully done and you will love the ending. The most important questions are answered.<br /><br />Let The Old Dreams Die by John Ajvide Lindqvist<br /><img alt="LetTheOldDreamsDie.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fN0ww1b2T7g_6nDTV9GIpRcbIZvPnUoeKkmMhL-J5uyv8YzVpxAWltgfw5QsqiKcfwwnKO-GUK5YiRyRyqmWpvoj9igxfGB-6EuXbHJWtOWqn2f1Lo9DQ7aZRQIdfOmT5PsJGFWgcvE/?imgmax=800" width="262" /><br /><br />Amazon Link for the book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Die-John-Ajvide-Lindqvist/dp/0857385496/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357555919&sr=1-1&keywords=let+the+old+dreams+die">here</a><br />I give the short story four and half out of five stars.<br /><br /><img alt="let me inPoster.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OUOhT5SxblSUXJ3I6iA1En53ueE0W4EbuQ_Nvhu8GHhhFltUB_zMh_S4N0vr6Qa8TnF5jed2QhAba7CAvBikUwPibn3e5eGsElRHpiolKBYcp7I14YMcp19WEiNUgDylm0I8PsCDYY4/?imgmax=800" width="275" /><br /><br /><br />The American movie is also great, though I liked the Swedish one better, Both were awesome, don't get me wrong. Both should be viewed. The Swedish one is slower, more contemplative, and the characters more likable, I think, especially Oskar. Consider watching the Swedish one first, as it's more pure and closer to the source material. The screenplay for the American version is terrific, though, and the actors top notch. The American version is faster, scarier, has more Hollywood effects, and you can tell you're watching a Hollywood horror movie.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO36Vw7Ll-S_6SFMHdBFonaMos3G3Mcn5os7Jbt4PCWajpoeu4LlNZ7O64Gm84mxgCqvtty4NnFzjdnNGcaxr94h9P1CG2LZNyK3tgpePmWpBjX1jw2wBYeu4Zyiy6qe-fH5MwyawZYYc/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="let-me-in.jpg" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO36Vw7Ll-S_6SFMHdBFonaMos3G3Mcn5os7Jbt4PCWajpoeu4LlNZ7O64Gm84mxgCqvtty4NnFzjdnNGcaxr94h9P1CG2LZNyK3tgpePmWpBjX1jw2wBYeu4Zyiy6qe-fH5MwyawZYYc/?imgmax=800" width="400" /></a></div><br />Chloe Moretz in Let Me In (2010)<br /><br />The American version, Let Me In (2010) stars Chloe Moretz (she was in Kick Ass) and Kodi Smit-McPhee. These young actors deliver astonishing performances. View it on IMDB: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228987/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228987/</a><br /><br />Here's the movie trailer for the American version. Four and half out of five stars.<br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22560%22%20height=%22315%22%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/embed/BA_USu7C2ZQ%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BA_USu7C2ZQ" width="560"></iframe></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-41499495752602467412013-01-05T08:14:00.001-08:002013-01-05T08:14:32.810-08:00THE FREE SAMURAI SERIAL NOVEL: THE DROWNING EMPIRE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="gote-preview.jpg" border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbk2JSb26grqniQqMF1QG0duigfR5ck_LegCxv7HzaMiS7eqGcL-sObPog7UtkLOWzaMmKk6rmYva1cvnExFGmMwy_t01cMNKsAvW6O_yyIq4uB0Pva6NwdwAzcdF2enas9Y0zUm2E5LM/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br /><br /><br />Okay everyone, here's the introduction to the SAMURAI SERIAL NOVEL I'm co-writing: "THE DROWNING EMPIRE" with my fellow "Writer Nerd Game Night" friends (we play once a month). It's basically Legend of the Five Rings fan fiction based on a samurai role-playing campaign I'm playing in with Larry Correia, our New York Times Bestselling author and Incredible Game Master. This is such a great story and Larry is sharing it free every Friday on his blog.<br /><br />Legend of the Five Rings is an incredible role-playing game. Check it out. Please.<br /><br />The details . . .<br /><br />The players/co-authors:<br /><br />Patrick Tracy--playing Moto Subotai of the Unicorn Clan, swordsman, archer, horseman, and poet--Subo is the best friend of my character Akodo Toranaka, and official hostage of the Akodo family--watched over of course by Toranaka. <br /><br />Me, Paul Genesse, playing Akodo Toranaka--top graduate of the Golden Plains Dojo, a man dedicated to all tenets of Bushido, a swordsman and tactician, destined to be a great Lion Clan general and follow in his father's footsteps someday . . . unless the Fortunes are cruel and his Secret Enemy (not in the group mind you, takes their revenge). <br /><br />Steve Diamond--playing Ikoma Uso of the Lion Clan . . . "Nothing to see here, I'm only a bard," Uso says (yeah right!) as he kicks everyone's ass with his giant sword, a "no-dachi." Uso has the help of one of his twisted ancestors, who haunts more than his dreams. Read Uso's intro to the campaign on the link below.<br /><br />Yoritomo Oki of the Mantis Clan, who is a lecherous and greedy drunken sailor with a gambling problem who is also the best archer of his generation, played with gusto by Tony Battaglino. <br /><br />The lumbering oaf of a warrior, Suzume Shintaro of the lowly Sparrow clan who is the most honorable and gullible samurai (with a huge bladed spear!) and wannabe historian you'll ever meet, played by with quiet panache by Zachary Hill, <br /><br />Lastly, Tamori Isao of the Dragon Clan, a half-mad shugenja (wizard-priest) who speaks with the spirits far too often, and is haunted by the death of his mother, killed by a terrible tsunami. Isao is played by Brad Torgersen, whose fiction in this serial novel will blow you away. <br /><br />All of the player/authors, and especially the game master, are excellent writers, and this is going to be a fun ride, as the samurai heroes try to save the Emerald Empire from certain destruction.<br /><br />Larry Correia has created an epic storyline and we've already written over 100,000 words in what we're calling, THE DROWNING EMPIRE. "Fear the water . . ." <br /><br />Read the introduction here on<a href="http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/the-drowning-empire-episode-1-not-an-ending-but-not-quite-a-beginning/"> Larry's blog</a>.</div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-70719131491209661462013-01-05T08:13:00.001-08:002013-01-05T08:13:56.117-08:00Ten Questions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></div><br /><br />I was tagged by awesome author, Bryan Young, who sent me these ten questions.<br /><br /><br />1) What is the working title of your next book? <br /><br />Medusa’s Daughter, Book 1 in the Medusa’s Curse trilogy.<br /><br /><br />2) Where did the idea come from for the book? <br /><br />I’ve always been fascinated in the Medusa myth, in which the god Poseidon is supposed to have raped Medusa, and then the goddess Athena curses vain Medusa (her own priestess!) with the power of the gorgon. I decided to spin the story in my own way, taking a more realistic approach, similar to what author Mary Renault did. Renault is the J.R.R. Tolkien of historical fantasies set in ancient Greece and I’m a huge fan. Medusa’s Daughter is quite a bit different though, as I didn’t write in the first person like Renault, nor did I take out all the supernatural magic. A Medusa story has to have magic.<br /><br />3) What genre does your book fall under? <br /><br />Mainstream or fantasy, depending on how it’s marketed.<br /><br />4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? <br /><br />Medusa: Angelina Jolie or Kate Beckinsale<br /><img alt="Angiewithsnake.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGjB_5A_o6JzR4GsLsUoW5d_hbfTQXjUUL_cRA2QJ1xcKlAnFbph_bzGxN9ErqKCNJ5eyj12fX9S5tojIJ_vnFPOOKg-rRH8oR3PiT431l3wOWAA0oy3lek5RCkkcndYVwdrfFgy9gdC8/?imgmax=800" style="text-align: center;" width="260" /><br /><br /><br />Nerissa (Medusa’s Daughter): Jessica Alba or Alexis Bledel<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-d6gywdr_rv_OKKDA6WY-qh-gDFZlEtIa1r8t7AlYloTC_CnfI4CHaCzL8yjt-vcBpVYHMp5eZRQo8Dki4-wLpurYR3GBKFb8q4HTTsQCCh_MAhOS8e4fKIGdpaqr9UK1xH-zU_pASGI/s1600/JessicaAlbasunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-d6gywdr_rv_OKKDA6WY-qh-gDFZlEtIa1r8t7AlYloTC_CnfI4CHaCzL8yjt-vcBpVYHMp5eZRQo8Dki4-wLpurYR3GBKFb8q4HTTsQCCh_MAhOS8e4fKIGdpaqr9UK1xH-zU_pASGI/s400/JessicaAlbasunset.jpg" width="361" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Nikandros (Nerissa’s love interest): Jake Gyllenhaal or Liam Hemsworth <br /><br /><img alt="JakeGyn.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh903csCZZWDtqi2LG42tyi1Hp4dPOhR2LJw_LjFMg3htz7kbyfUhsSUHCVFr0vxzv4z5H0vfk1E00NSENdqTJ7rK5rpMbw-v2H7xQ4_gRMKAUqtmbAwgvogIuCm3blZabtph79-K-Pksc/?imgmax=800" style="text-align: center;" width="307" /><br /><br /><br />5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?<br /><br />Medusa’s daughter has inherited her mother’s terrible curse and longs to escape her lonely life on the shattered island where her mother and aunts have been exiled, but when a mysterious sailor washes ashore she falls in love, then discovers there might be a way for the curse to be broken, she must look into the eyes of her true love, but if he’s not, she will kill the only man she ever loved.<br /><br />6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?<br /><br />It will be represented by an agency if all goes according to plan.<br /><br />7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?<br /><br />One year, but I shelved the first draft to work on other projects, and dabbled with it off and on for six years, not touching it for years at a time. Finally, it’s almost ready as of January 2013. I’ve got about 60 pages left to rewrite at this time. During those six years I worked full-time as a cardiac nurse at a big hospital, wrote and published three novels in my Iron Dragon series, wrote a dozen short stories, and served as the editor of the first four volumes in the Crimson Pact anthology series, which is made up of eighty-something stories, and clocks in at over half a million words. Medusa’s Daughter is finally my main focus again.<br /><br />8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? <br /><br />New York Times’ bestseller, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2012), which is set partially during the Trojan War, and is told in the point of view of Patroclus, the companion of Achilles.<br /><br /><img alt="Songofachilles.jpeg" border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvPBk0vCn0Lr6NLR_0kFlGa9FWPgjnoHZzxFatgVuwxcfqYFtQbI7ZE0IayP2H61s9uiJFHGKLArGgM4Ty_cpM2RyDTdfY65jJDPi3ow9rQ6MykvJkK1xaapuwl_a47M7jAKT0IlMmgI/?imgmax=800" width="260" /><br /><br />9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?<br /><br />Medusa, the evil gorgon who haunts my dreams.<br /><br />10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?<br /><br />I visited Greece in 2006 to do some research, and have read a lot on the subject over the past years, fiction and non-fiction. I’ve tried my best to imagine what it was actually like to live in ancient Greece, and create realistic characters and a compelling story. The main reason is to read about Prince Nikandros, and of course Nerissa, who has one of the most diabolical mothers of all time.<br /><br /><br />Read the opening chapter of the current draft of Medusa’s Daughter <a href="http://www.paulgenesse.com/reading.asp?ID=6">here,</a> or view the first novel in his Iron Dragon series here, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Golden-Cord-Dragon-Series/dp/0985003820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357396112&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Golden+Cord">here.</a><br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-37914036779310806492012-12-14T16:01:00.001-08:002012-12-14T16:01:40.705-08:00Movie Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="The_Hobbit__An_Unexpected_Journey_74.jpg" border="0" height="605" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1Fds3JgmNIRPpzDX04xdDJP6kXxGyPAGdAjyKAzR7G0ranqkP4PC9QzBvPI73HtOVf1dCymE-CnDNAOcpg1SyI-zjPncvAO4oT8Is54yyNNiQo8v-IPaV4WfMRLGQQButEWdjock65U/?imgmax=800" width="408" /><br /><br />The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Movie Review<br />4.5 out of 5 stars<br />(Minor spoilers present)<br /><br />I just watched a midnight showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I saw the 2D with my wife, Tammy, as she worried the 3D might give her a headache. I’ll see the 3D tomorrow night and will amend this post with my thoughts comparing the two.<br /><br />The movie was awesome and I loved it. Fans of the book will really enjoy the experience, as it portrays those iconic scenes in the book brilliantly. Nothing is rushed, and little is left out. Casual fans who don’t love fantasy or who haven’t read the book may find it too long with too much exposition and back-story. The movie clocks in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, and the first hour was mostly set-up. It felt like I was watching the director’s cut, though there are 26 minutes that will be added when the director’s cut comes out, and I do look forward to that. The 2D version was a little blurry in some scenes when the camera panned quickly, but I bet in the 3D version with 48 frames per second that problem will go away.<br /><br />Fellowship of the Ring (the movie), was better than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, as a film, and part of that comes from the actual storyline. The Lord of the Rings has a lot more gravitas than The Hobbit, which is why the filmmakers made the three Lord of the Rings films first. The other point is that the characters were more compelling in Lord of the Rings than in The Hobbit, in some ways. Just think about Aragorn, Arwen, Eowyn, Boromir and of course the four awesome Hobbits. There are almost no female characters in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, aside from Lady Galadriel, and that is a problem with the book in general. Still, it’s a pretty fascinating story, despite all the negatives and the nearly identical structure to The Lord of the Rings.<br /><br />In this movie we have 13 dwarves, and Gandalf, for the most part, on-screen all the time. I love the dwarves, but with so many characters it’s nearly impossible to adequately characterize each of them. I read that Peter Jackson agonized about doing this movie because of all the dwarves. As a writer, I totally understand why this is tough, and can only imagine how difficult it is/was for the filmmakers.<br /><br />The movie book by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Hobbit-Unexpected-Journey-Companion/dp/0547898568/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355494160&sr=8-1&keywords=jude+fisher">Jude Fisher, A Visual Companion to The Hobbit</a> I purchased really did a wonderful job describing the individual dwarves, and I think it helped me as I watched the film, as some dwarves faded into the background on the screen. Tolkien did a pretty poor job of characterizing most of them in the book, aside from Thorin Oakenshield and maybe Balin, but Peter Jackson and company did much better to be sure. I love the book and have read it roughly ten times, but it’s only 300 pages long, and you can only do so much with that sort of page count.<br /><br />I loved that director Peter Jackson took the time to establish the history of the Lonely Mountain, and to show Bilbo Baggins struggling to decide if he should go on the adventure. The scenes at Bag End are priceless and should entertain almost anyone. The parts that were so much fun in the book are right there on the screen, even some of the songs. The scene where the dwarves sing about the Lonely Mountain is also quite emotionally moving, and it was the first time I got a little teary-eyed during the movie.<br /><br />The movie opens with old Bilbo, played by Sir Ian Holm, writing his book, “There And Back Again” about his adventures, and we get to see Frodo, played by a very young looking Elijah Wood (digitally made to look younger), as they prepare for Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday party—right out of Fellowship of the Ring. It was pure magic, especially if you’re a big fan of The Lord of the Rings movies as you watch these scenes. Then we get to hear Bilbo speaking about the dwarves and the Lonely Mountain, called Erebor, which has been taken over by the dragon, Smaug. Those scenes were tremendous, seeing the mountain and the town of Dale burned and destroyed.<br /><br />Now we get a scene right out of the book, using much of the same dialogue from Professor Tolkien. Gandalf arrives and hopes to find Bilbo still excited about exploring the world as he was as a little hobbit. Gandalf is surprised he is not, but goes ahead with his plan, as he is an extremely good judge of character, and knows how to motivate Men, Dwarves, Elves, and even reluctant Hobbits.<br /><br />The next scenes with the dwarves arriving were magic, and the filmmakers did a great job by not having Thorin Oakenshield arrive until after the silliness was over. Thorin is a serious character and this change from the book, having him arrive later, was perfectly done. When I recently re-read the book, I figured this change would happen.<br /><br />Overall, Jackson and his team kept to the novel, and let us ease into Middle-earth again. After the Bag End scenes are concluded the long journey truly begins. Certain details were changed regarding the scene with the trolls, but I thought it was great and hilarious. Doing the scene exactly as Tolkien wrote it would have been too silly, and Bilbo takes the main role instead of Gandalf, regarding distracting the trolls. Purists still have the book, but what works on the page doesn’t always work on the big screen.<br /><br />The next segment was injected with tension, and I won’t spoil it here, but suffice it to say, I enjoyed it very much.<br /><br />Rivendell was awesome, and so beautiful. Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman and Gandalf have a meeting and it felt like going home to me. Radagast the Brown was mentioned in that meeting, and if I were to choose my least favorite part of the movie, it would be a scene with Radagast where he can’t remember why he’s just traveled hundreds and hundreds of miles. Duh. When Gandalf gave him a toke of Halfling leaf to calm him down I was disappointed even more. The whole beginning of the scene was a little too much for me. I did like all the other scenes with Radagast, though, and liked Saruman’s comment about him.<br /><br />After Rivendell, the dwarves travel into the mountains, and there’s a rather incredible scene with some stone giants. The scene was mentioned in The Hobbit, but it didn’t feel necessary. It was pretty awesome, if unexplained. I think it could have been left out and probably should have been.<br /><br />The scenes with the goblins were incredible, and exciting. The dwarves are such great warriors and those were some exciting action scenes. The goblin king was a little too funny for my tastes, but I enjoyed him nonetheless.<br /><br />Bilbo meeting Gollum was amazing, and the filmmakers changed the way Bilbo finds the One Ring. It worked really well and was not so random as it was in the book. I liked the change. The scene with Bilbo and Gollum is probably the best part of the whole film. Riddles in the Dark was perfect and riveting. Andy Serkis out did himself as Gollum and was better here than in Lord of the Rings. I read the technology for capturing Gollum has gotten better, which explains part of it.<br /><br />The last part of the movie follows the book, but was amped up about ten notches. The dwarves are chased by the wargs and orcs. With nowhere left to run, they are forced to take refuge in the trees, just like in the book. However, unlike the book, Bilbo manages to climb the tree all by himself, then it gets really thrilling, and scary.<br /><br />I’m not going to describe the finale here, but suffice it to say, it’s way more exciting than in the novel. There’s danger and drama, and redemption. Bilbo shows his character, and we get a solid ending with a view of what is to come. The movie ended right where I thought it would end, aside from the final teaser. Thank you Mr. Jackson.<br /><br />This movie, and the teaser scene at the very end whet my appetite for the next film, The Desolation of Smaug, coming December 2013.<br /><br />I’ll add more to this post later, and plan on writing about Radagast, Dol Guldur, the Morghul knife, the ending, the prologue, the battle where Thorin got his name, Azog the pale orc (who I read was not CGI, but played by an actor in prosthetics), and more, but for now I’ll sum a few things up.<br /><br />Overall, I loved the movie. It didn’t have as much heart as Fellowship of the Ring, but that was to be expected if you know both stories. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a great tale, but this part of the book (and this first of three movies) is full of set-up for what is to come. The next two films will be more action packed to be sure, and I think each movie will be better than the one before it. I think this could have been done in two movies as originally planned, but with three movies we’ll get to see a lot of great stuff, and there won’t be that rushed feeling that would have come had only two movies been released. The roughly three hours of extra footage we’re going to get because of the three movies is fine with me. More time in Middle-earth is most welcome, though the casual movie go-er might not feel the same way.<br /><br />The book, The Hobbit, made me become a fantasy writer myself, but it’s not as spectacular as Lord of the Rings, either the books or the movies. It needed to be embellished and filled out a bit, expanded just as Tolkien expanded the story when he wrote Lord of the Rings. Remember, Tolkien didn’t know the Lord of the Rings story when he wrote The Hobbit back in the 1930’s, but later in life he came up with some missing pieces.<br /><br />Some of those missing pieces were used by the filmmakers. They took material from the appendices of Return of the King and created a more exciting story, tying together certain villains and events. You should read the appendix about the dwarves “Durin’s Folk” right now if you haven’t. It’s amazing and is in the Return of the King book. Also there’s information in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Tales-Numenor-Middle-earth-first/dp/B004UZGWL2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355494216&sr=1-2&keywords=unfinished+tales">Unfinished Tales</a>, a collection of stories published after J.R.R. Tolkien’s death by his son, Christopher Tolkien. There’s a chapter in Unfinished Tales about “The Quest for Erebor” that is quite fascinating. I recently reread it again, and now own the actual book.<br /><br />This film could have been stripped down, but I prefer my fantasy movies rich and layered. The writing team of Peter Jackson, Phillippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, and Guillermo del Toro did a fantastic job adapting the novel into a film, or rather three films. This movie is a must see for all fans of the books, and the Lord of the Rings movies. I believe the three films will be triumphant when they’re all out, and I’m excited about having the next two films to look forward to over the next couple of years.<br /><br />The long wait for the first Hobbit movie is over, and I’m so thankful it was finally made.<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Book-Iron-Dragon/dp/0985003820/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355494279&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Golden+Cord">The Iron Dragon Series</a>, (which features a lot of dwarves--however not Tolkien's variety, and dragons, but definitely no Hobbits).</div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-20770413106079237762012-12-10T08:53:00.001-08:002012-12-10T08:53:50.930-08:00JUST AS GOOD AS THE FIRST ONE, MORE PLEASE!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="BLUESKIESFROMPAIN.jpg" border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgHP7oPbdyB5exVtrSHQXcQ4N8S0dKU-iGkBfx6kZoXupCHOzheFbmnl3d6IEeXnzGiAs988AI5E7LDtfyUlYn_fX5rSkhk9YzhjwAAeiUOX5A5DS5vGX5eAeC6YY68q2SMuYrzrfBn8/?imgmax=800" width="316" /><br /><br />Review: of Blue Skies from Pain by Stina Leicht (no spoilers)<br /><br />“<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Skies-From-Pain-ebook/dp/B0073SY918/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355158167&sr=8-2&keywords=stina+leicht">And Blue Skies from Pain</a>,” a book of the Fey and the Fallen, the sequel to Stina Leicht’s fantastic novel “<a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-of-blood-and-honey-by-stina.html">of Blood and Honey</a>,” is just as good as the first one. It started right where book 1 left off, though it does have a fascinating prologue featuring Father Murray, and covers an event that weighs heavily into this book. We get to see a mission from when Father Murray was a young man, just starting out in his order, and it involves the ongoing war the Catholic Church is fighting against the fallen angels. <br /><br />Father Murray does have some point of view chapters, but the main character is once again, Liam, the former IRA wheelman and half-mortal shape-shifting fey, who has a fondness for punk music, and is quite the outcast in 1970’s Belfast, Ireland during the time of “Troubles.” This series is mostly about Liam, and he has grown quite a bit since his downward spiral in book 1, but he’s still haunted (literally) and can’t face the major loss he suffered less than a year before. He’s got a ways to go before he finds peace (and dare I say, enlightenment). I did love how the novel ended for him. There is some closure and resolution, but we want to see more.<br /><br />So, the main thrust of the plot (set up in book 1) is Father Murray trying to convince his superiors that the fey are actually not fallen angels, and the Church should stop killing them indiscriminately, as they have for countless years. Liam agrees to be a test subject and prove that he, and the fey, are not demons. Of course it all goes horribly wrong, and the IRA is not very excited about Liam refusing to work for them anymore as a get-away-car driver. <br /><br />The main characters are always in danger and keep getting put in situations that make you want to squirm. They get beat up a lot, and Leicht is particularly hard on her characters. “And Blue Skies from Pain” is not as dark as the first book in some respects, but the characters keep getting captured and roughed up. I think that the “getting captured” event has been a little overused in the first two books, but it always seems plausible. I’m just hoping Leicht has some other tricks up her sleeve for the next book, and I’m with an imagination like hers I believe she will come up with even more fiendish ways to make the characters suffer.<br /><br />This novel did expand and go into more detail regarding the fey, Liam’s people, and touched on the fallen angel war, but there is a lot of ground left to cover. I’m very much looking forward to the next book, and think it might be the juiciest one yet, as the first two have set up a great conflict and established some awesome characters and world-building.<br />Some of the most notable things in “And Blue Skies from Pain” involve the new secondary characters. I’m very much hoping the American combat nuns will return, (yes, combat nuns) and that the black haired girl, who might be a selkie, will be back.<br /><br />I’m a big fan of Stina Leicht’s work and very much enjoy her characters, and the fascinating world she’s created. Her vision is how I think dark urban fantasy should be done, not too much spoon-feeding of the readers, and not too much exposition about supernatural things, but with completely believable characters in tough situations.<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Skies-From-Pain-ebook/dp/B0073SY918/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355158167&sr=8-2&keywords=stina+leicht"><br /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Skies-From-Pain-ebook/dp/B0073SY918/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355158167&sr=8-2&keywords=stina+leicht">View it on Amazon.com</a>, or <a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-of-blood-and-honey-by-stina.html">view my review of book 1</a>.<br /><br />FIVE STARS, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-8212809242292693592012-11-09T07:44:00.001-08:002012-11-09T07:44:39.330-08:00Review of Monster Hunter Legion by Larry Correia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="monsterhunterlegion.jpg" border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxDPJ0hx7mUZULofRD5_EUwLXF7BEuYI4diJHSGO4A7KiQp90NKe57vP92KcH6PIPrTKm5chQ3naE1fHZL2aXNT-g3KBvYhyphenhyphenBof9i4HvJkpogaLiyfPnrsT6J7TnHdK4_q-LqVQNbpQc/?imgmax=800" width="328" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-Legion-Larry-Correia/dp/1451637969/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351956134&sr=8-1&keywords=Monster+Hunter+Legion">Monster Hunter Legion</a> by New York Times Bestselling author Larry Correia is a really fun book. I read it quickly and enjoyed every minute. I’ve loved the Monster Hunter series so much and this fourth book was the next step in the ongoing evolution of the story, and the main character, Owen Zastava Pitt, also known as “Z.” He’s the Chosen One, and he’s finally accepting what that means for him and his family. Nothing is easy for Owen, but then if it were, the books would not be half as compelling. Z is by far, my favorite monster hunting accountant of all time.<br /><br />The danger and excitement are off the hook for most of this novel, but Legion doesn’t start out as fast-paced as some of the other Monster Hunter books. In the opening scenes my favorite monster hunting company, Monster Hunter International (MHI: Proudly killing monsters since 1895!), is in Las Vegas, Nevada attending the very first monster hunter convention, where industry professionals from all over the world gather to talk shop and hang out. What could possibly go wrong?<br /><br />Well, there are of course the rival companies at each other’s throats (literally and figuratively), and of course there is the Monster Control Bureau (the MCB), who are always at odds with the private companies, and then there is Special Task Force Unicorn, STFU. The leader of STFU, a very pale man who calls himself Stricken, is a very scary dude and he is now in charge and has decided to shape events and lay the groundwork for the implementation of a secret program called Nemesis. If his plans kill, maim, or otherwise destroy the monster hunting companies of the world in the process, then so be it. Stricken does not care about collateral damage. Fans will remember Stricken from the last novel, Monster Hunter Alpha, and the events of that book come into play in a big way. <br /><br />In Legion, the worldwide spike in monster infestations is finally explained, though we still don’t know what or who exactly is driving the monsters to come out of hibernation, or why they are leaving their planes of existence to attack ours. That will be revealed in the next novel, I’m sure. Regardless, the plot of this novel is the culmination of all the other monster hunter books, and if you haven’t read them, start reading. This one won’t make as much sense to those who haven’t read the previous ones for sure, and if you’re a new fan, it’s a good time to begin, as you’ll be able to read four awesome books without having to wait that long for the next one, or by the time you finish these, the next one will be out.<br /><br />The series is building to such a fever pitch and my favorite characters were all represented well in this novel: Julie, wife of Owen and a deadeye sniper; Holly the former stripper turned monster hunter; Milo the genius inventor explosives guru; Skippy the orc helicopter pilot; Ed the Orc Swordfighter; Tanya, Trailer Park Elf Princess; Earl Harbinger werewolf KING, and of course Agent Franks of the MCB. He was referred to as a “National Treasure” in Legion, and I’ve heard there will be a novel from his point of view in the future. I can’t wait for that, and think he is an extremely fascinating character.<br /><br />Larry Correia is a superb character writer, and action-sequence writer, but what I love best about this series is the mix of humor and drama. It’s fast-paced action with a comedic vibe that comes out at just the right moments.<br /><br />I wrote out some of my favorite lines, which end the chapters: <br /><br />Chapter 2<br />“I said I was going back to bed, not back to sleep.” Julie grabbed a handful of my shirt and pulled me along. “Sleep is for quitters.”<br /><br />Chapter 6<br />“Chicken theft? That's totally going on his next evaluation.”<br /><br />Chapter 12<br />“Welcome to the smart team, Tanya . . . Now give me my marker back. You have to earn your own dry-erase marker.”<br /><br />Those are some fun lines, and you get the idea about how cool this book series is. I’d also like to mention one of the most unique names for a character ever: Management. Also, there is a scene that portrays the best use of a live chicken to fix a broken helicopter ever written.<br /><br />Monster Hunter Legion is the most ambitious and high-concept of all the books in the series, and fans will love the crazy ride and the break-neck ending. I’m really looking forward to the next one, Monster Hunter Nemesis.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-Legion-Larry-Correia/dp/1451637969/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351956134&sr=8-1&keywords=Monster+Hunter+Legion">View on Amazon: Monster Hunter Legion by Larry Correia</a><br />Highly Recommended, Five Stars<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Author of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Golden-Cord-Dragon-Series/dp/0985003820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352475730&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Golden+COrd+by+Paul+Genesse">Iron Dragon Series,</a> Editor of The Crimson Pact Series<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-11650448961639550092012-10-30T02:49:00.001-07:002012-10-30T02:49:12.417-07:00Review: of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="of-blood-and-honey-by-stina-leicth-adoi.jpg" border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-zumA_GiSIPlVpkloX6AJmXb6CDiPW8vSJm76h1t3LzSjl2hEnhIkR_sDCn6rQKbh90qHl-gPBJIX_jv5gliuhmouI-v03hX-nGihNSF67rZ38aOdslE7_Num0amAwhOrQ5vE6yhdig/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br /><br />Review: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Honey-Book-Fey-Fallen/dp/1597802131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351590149&sr=8-1&keywords=of+blood+and+honey">of Blood and Honey</a> by Stina Leicht<br />(Minor Spoilers Present)<br /><br />This first novel in the Fey and the Fallen series, of Blood and Honey, had my attention from the start and kept me fascinated the whole way through. Campbell award nominee, Stina Leicht’s debut novel is brilliantly crafted, fast-paced, and completely engrossing. It’s a very dark urban fantasy about a young Irishman, Liam, growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in Northern Ireland, mainly Derry and Belfast, as the fight between the Protestants and Catholics heats up. The historical backdrop is intriguing, and so different from most urban fantasies I’ve read. The unique historical setting is a huge plus for the book, but it is first and foremost a character driven novel, mainly about Liam.<br /><br />Of Blood and Honey doesn’t get bogged down in the details about what’s going on in the wider war or the historical context, but history buffs will enjoy the brief mentions of important events and historical figures for sure, though it’s never done to excess. If you want to know more about the history that Ms. Leicht is referencing, she provides an excellent list of books in the acknowledgements section.<br /><br />The book focuses on the main character, Liam who is trying to find his way in the world and has a tough home life with a jerk of a stepfather. You feel bad for Liam as he does not know who his real father is and that is a huge part of the novel. The truth about his parentage is revealed slowly and we learn that his father, Bran is one of the fey, and Liam has inherited at least some of his father’s dark gifts. This exploration of what Liam is, he has no idea for what feels like eighty percent of the book, is very well done. It kept me wondering and reading. If you like your fiction spoon-fed into your brain and everything explained in exact detail, this is not the book for you. If you prefer realistic, subtle and nuanced fiction, this novel is damn near perfect.<br /><br />I love books like this that don’t tell too much. I find them much more believable than novels who go into extreme detail about everything and leave little unsaid between the characters. Details can be great, but the mystery keeps me interested and reading onward. Too much explanation actually hurts my suspension of disbelief, and makes a lot of the fantasy elements seem ridiculous, and this book is serious and believable at every turn.<br /><br />One nitpicky issue: I don’t like the cover that much. It’s a great scene, well painted and on topic as it conveys the right mood, but it’s too dark for my tastes and I think this book deserved a rock star cover. The image for book two is similarly dark, which I suppose is a warning to the readers out there about what to expect in this series, but I wanted images that would POP more.<br /><br />Moving on . . . The biggest strength of the book: The way Leicht handles the interactions between the characters. The dialogue and the characters’ actual actions are particularly awesome and so realistic. My favorite were the scenes with Liam and his paramour, a strong female character named Mary Kate, who is quite politically minded and wants to be a lawyer. Liam is very strong himself, but he has trouble reading, and is constantly fighting the literal monster within him that is trying to get out and wreak havoc. He’s a tortured hero and his experiences change him over the course of the book a lot. Mary Kate has her own war going during this book and her actions cause a lot of trouble for the both of them.<br /><br />The other major character is Father Murray, a somewhat hippie Catholic Priest who has a keen interest in young Liam’s supernatural lineage, and the secret war between the Catholic church and the fallen angels who are terrorizing the world. The fey have gotten lumped into the fallen angel category and the Church has been killing them for centuries, not realizing the error of their ways. Of course Father Murray has many secrets and keeps Liam in the dark for most of the book, not telling him what is really going on to the detriment of Liam, really.<br /><br />The final major character is Liam’s mother, Katherine. She and Father Murray work together to help Liam, though the young man does not feel their assistance is helpful at all, and I would completely agree. You have to be honest with people at some point and Father Murray waited on this until a very bad moment to come clean.<br /><br />I enjoyed the journey of Liam as he dealt with all the chaos of living in Belfast during the “Time of Troubles” and devoured this book reading it only a few days. It’s stuck with me for some time and that is a mark of a great book. I admit that I had to put it down a few times when certain gut-wrenching events occurred. I’m tough, but I want to warn the squeamish readers that this book might not be for you. There are several scenes of torture and extreme abuse. I think four times I had to put the book down for a few minutes as I recoiled in horror at what was happening, or what had just happened to a beloved character. Of course I couldn’t help myself and went right back to reading after a few minutes and powered ahead as I had to find out what happened next.<br /><br />The plot and the overall idea of the secret war going on actually reminds me of The Crimson Pact anthology series that I am the editor of, where demons have infested our world (actually many different worlds) and a group of hunters are fighting them. In a way, of Blood and Honey fits perfectly in with the Crimson Pact core idea, which is another reason I loved this book so much.<br /><br />There were so many twists and turns in of Blood and Honey and it kept me guessing right up to the ending. I’m very excited because I own book two, And Blue Skies from Pain, which continues this novel in a big way. There is so much more to be explored and I trust that the war between the fey and the fallen angels will get more page time in book two and subsequent novels. View it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Honey-Book-Fey-Fallen/dp/1597802131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351590149&sr=8-1&keywords=of+blood+and+honey">Amazon</a>.<br /><br />Highly recommended, Five Stars<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Author of the Iron Dragon Series and Editor of The Crimson Pact series</div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-43225123972001541982012-10-03T18:14:00.001-07:002012-10-03T18:14:51.624-07:00Monster Hunter International Role-Playing Game<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="MonsterHunterLegionCover.jpg" border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaeIcNXpnrkUN2QH1k7vruuo5wkLgwGya3reHQSfLaOtamFwm0U-Hmd-Nw1n1b3XKVCzrrJtatb0MUlmUFylwlbeXl9SVNGMT_JbJrOE7DQdBfQjoc2K-QcPahsWhiQ77h-DvqMWjrGc/?imgmax=800" width="313" /><br /><br />I just backed an awesome kickstarter that will fund a fun role-playing game, the Monster Hunter International Employee Handbook by Hero Games. I'm a huge fan of the novels and am so excited with the idea of playing in the world Larry Correia created. Check out the video and the link.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/herogames/the-monster-hunter-international-employees-handboo/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe><br /><br />Check out the kickstarter site here:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/herogames/the-monster-hunter-international-employees-handboo?ref=live">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/herogames/the-monster-hunter-international-employees-handboo?ref=live</a><br /><br />I went in big and will be getting a signed and numbered book if it ends up getting funded, but even small amounts will help out a lot. I'm also excited to read Larry Correia's new book, Monster Hunter Legion, which just came out.<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Author of the Iron Dragon Series</div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-43740817902434211132012-08-30T06:24:00.001-07:002012-08-30T06:24:34.523-07:00World Con 2012Paul's World Con 2012 Schedule<br /><br /><br />Thursday August 30<br /><br />Flight 11:20 on Delta<br />Arrive 3:05 in Chicago<br /><br />Stay at the Hyatt Regencty Hotel<br /><br />Faith in Fiction 4:30-6:30<br />Where: Crystal A<br />Shanna Swendson-M, Paul Genesse, Tim Akers, Laurel Ann Hill, Isabel Schechter<br /><br />Friday August 31<br /><br />Steampunk 1:30-3:00<br />Where: Gold Coast<br />Sarah Hans-M, Jay Lake, Michael Coorlim, S.J., Paul Genesse<br /><br />Autograph session 4:30-6:00<br />Paul Genesse, Charles Stross, Gra Linnea, Jay Lake, Sharon Shinn<br /><br />Electronic Publishing <br />Where: Gold Coast<br />Eric Flint-M, Paul Genesse Amanda Luedeke, Jason Sizemore, Joshua Bilmes<br /><br />Saturday September 1<br />Open<br /><br />Leave Sunday<br />Flight at 1:45<br />Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-86835555909481264432012-08-28T02:03:00.001-07:002012-08-28T02:03:25.737-07:00True Blood -esque Novel Set In Russia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Anna-Paquin_510x316.jpg" border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUJY6ItEkG27MGp4nm7mZbJY7fH6o3D91UXR6CPIPdxTfx1iWgXasl1vIdNy_g52lq2biNjTS2gqO4QaGS7VIOcNB_ZX5M01G9RRTaXAaJ2U3v-G2pGtgLhC4EHURJCTw91dOFOm4wy0/?imgmax=800" width="510" /><br />(from the season five finale of True Blood on HBO)<br /><br />I just watched the season finale of True Blood. Wow, what a great ending to the best season in years. I loved it and of course can't wait for the next one, which is going to be so awesome, judging by what they set up in the past ten episodes.<br /><br />If you miss watching True Blood, check out this novel: Midnight in St. Petersburg, which is a very entertaining urban fantasy novel in the same vein as HBO's True Blood series--which is based on New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels . . . but this book is set in the broken and predatory city of St. Petersburg, Russia, a dirty jewel of a city on the shores of the Baltic. The dark aura of the city radiates from the pages and is always present, watching and waiting to strike the well-drawn characters pulled into its hungry shadow.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="MidnightInStPetersburg.jpg" border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmHbl0cO5xgif5andOPGF94-U0vmxX1f9MSOd17wWCuC2gzCPGYCA1FkSUBVIEMZo6FRqkH5V9D_Lhpv6NrOeSODFnn85h3uIlyU6p_U36Jn__LPdzc7NauuCi7zM3bwmU2WwCN9DC6Y/?imgmax=800" width="312" /><br /><br />Author Barbara J. Webb gives us a fascinating view of the old world and all the supernatural creatures that have been secretly living there for millennia fighting an Invisible War with each other, and against "voiders," humans who use dark magic to level the playing field. St. Petersburg has been the site of many recent murders of vampires and voiders both, and if the killers are not found out soon, the Invisible War will be explode and many more voiders and vampires will die. (read the rest of my review on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-St-Petersburg-Invisible-Volume/dp/0615648061/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346079885&sr=8-2&keywords=Midnight+in+St.+Petersburg">Amazon</a>.<br /><br /><br /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-59506991259730917062012-08-28T02:02:00.001-07:002012-08-28T02:02:39.000-07:00A Little Short For An Alien by Frances Pauli<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="shortforanalien4.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="http://paulgenesse.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/shortforanalien4.jpg" width="399" /><br /><br />The Genre Underground blog, where I recently did an interview is giving away some free eBooks from authors who are friends of the blog. You can go to <a href="http://www.genreunderground.com/">http://www.genreunderground.com</a> to learn more. I know that prolific speculative fiction author Frances Pauli, among others is giving away some eBooks. This is time sensitive, so check out Frances' books on her blog and leave a comment to be entered to win a free eBook.<br /><br />Here's her blog address. <a href="http://francespauli.blogspot.com/">http://francespauli.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Author of the Iron Dragon Series and Editor of The Crimson Pact Series</div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-75157708496431150072012-08-23T09:27:00.001-07:002012-08-23T09:27:47.243-07:00Genre Underground Interview<div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><br /><br /><br />Short interview with details on Crimson Pact Vol. 5 and more: h<a href="//www.genreunderground.com">ttp://www.genreunderground.com</a> published on August 23, 2012.<br /><br />Paul Genesse<br />Editor of The Crimson Pact anthologies and the Iron Dragon Series<br /><a href="http://www.paulgenesse.com/">www.paulgenesse.com</a></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-63034078228019607272012-08-04T19:21:00.001-07:002012-08-04T19:22:23.741-07:00Once and Future Podcast About Gen Con Writers' Symposium<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="E36A8687-3B7E-442D-9973-D64265A36732.jpg" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlb62kIv9MlENjO1rf8NfWZZenK7Cna9lqz9cRj9PkJIu2u-PWkHKftGEWk0URkGjHfwhZc7m3QoQenGHSSWo5ZDe_PSo-MD9uPz_z0rnGZYmHbCV943tFpSKWK3fRmXgvHR0PuuMdAPY/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<br />
Cool podcast about the Gen Con Writers' Symposium I've been a part of for years. It's hosted by the awesome and hilarious, author Anton Strout: <br />
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<a href="http://blog.antonstrout.com/2012/07/29/of-podcast-ep-40--gen-con-2012.aspx">http://blog.antonstrout.com/2012/07/29/of-podcast-ep-40--gen-con-2012.aspx</a></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-65159135044709606212012-08-01T10:00:00.001-07:002012-08-01T10:00:08.033-07:00The Crimson Pact Volume 4 is out now!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><br /><img alt="Slide1.jpg" border="0" height="448.5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1hoOZtYKosFnHdNj1vTXmJvOLHTlJDwJ462BYUOo2jp0v3GhBpqKKcfbxdZqDnMh5_e2Cy5PPAtC0DpVr8mfIOmzhFB8Qntplp0i66Ar7aWmCYR_71BJzYQyvvY8-Jy9takcvbOTUJs/?imgmax=800" width="336" /><br /><br />By a bullet or a blade, the Pact will have justice.<br /><br /><br />A gunslinger rides down a dark road<br />in an alternate history Old West . . .<br /><br />A lone woman tries to save a distant planet <br />from a diabolical invasion . . .<br /><br />A rogue demon seeks vengeance <br />on his former queen . . .<br /><br />Read the supernatural Western, “Darkness of the Sun,” a novella by Patrick M. Tracy, and sixteen other action packed and terrifying stories that run the gamut of urban fantasy, horror, science fiction and fantasy, with stories by Michaele Jordan, Usman T. Malik Brett Peterson, Sarah Hans, Daniel Myers, Kelly Swails, Sarah Kanning, Valerie Dircks, John Perkins, Elizabeth Shack, Leigh Dragoon, Donald Darling, Steven Diamond, and Suzzanne Myers.<br /><br />Make your mark in blood and join the Crimson Pact!<br /><br /><br />Here's the opening of Darkness of the Sun by Patrick M. Tracy<br /><br />Part One: Dogs and Preachers<br /><br />I put my boot against the preacher’s neck and held him down. His claws reached up, scratching at my chaps, his needle-sharp teeth gnawing against my heel. He gave out a hellish growl that would put a cougar to shame, but I wouldn’t let him up. Not after all the nonsense he’d got himself up to—poisoning wells, swindling folks out of their life savings . . . shoot, he’d even stolen a few horses. In the Arizona Territory, such behavior was not tolerated. I unholstered my .58 Buxton and pointed it into his scarlet demonic face. We both knew what he was by then.<br /><br /><br />Check it out here: <br /><a href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/store.html">http://thecrimsonpact.com/store.html</a><br /><br />Tales From the Crimson Pact is FREE until the end of the week at Amazon. <a href="http://bit.ly/N9eMf5">http://bit.ly/N9eMf5</a><br /><br />Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still read it on the free Kindle apps for your computer or smartphone. You can download that at <a href="http://amzn.to/PjCULx">http://amzn.to/PjCULx</a><br /><br />Additionally, the first story in the Crimson Pact series, the one that sets the whole thing up, is available in PDF form from our website: <a href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/Failed_Crusade.pdf">http://thecrimsonpact.com/Failed_Crusade.pdf</a><br /><br />If you’ve been looking for a quick way to either start with The Crimson Pact yourself - or introduce a friend without overwhelming them! - these are a great opportunity.<br /><br />Tales From the Crimson Pact: <a href="http://amzn.to/PjCULx">http://amzn.to/PjCULx</a><br /><br />The Failed Crusade: <a href="http://thecrimsonpact.com/Failed_Crusade.pdf">http://thecrimsonpact.com/Failed_Crusade.pdf</a><br /><br /><br />Volume 3 is also available as a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B007SAPNA2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343836034&sr=1-1&keywords=the+crimson+pact+volume+3">trade paperback and as an eBook.</a><br /><br /><img alt="CPCoverVol3BigBorder.jpg" border="0" height="388.25" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HCgHoYfRuYV-sg0-cNhKwLf333vuet-PbbbWAEcIj7i66JJW6E1VgDI5wOcd0yRzjLoKl1m-XYvik1m9Mr49VAle5ODXS1mPD-63RHvnUCOpr0LiHZgUtJuAWPKInEXeNDgmIDe8l9E/?imgmax=800" width="300" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B005LXST8G/ref=tmm_kin_title_0">Volume 2 is is also available as a trade paperback and as an eBook.</a><br /><br /><img alt="CrimsonPactVol2Cover_2.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifP2z-5fpubSDIM6MSI8oMCSXXTVrGUxClhvvSAT3_gR7Cb9qpveYcSqfOVSMcVqP7dqvYKamVKCjfO7qUkmJ6wjWiaTeAclRKD9V8m5LCieY5_jZdER7YHeTkboJKzX8X1uS3N29pjKQ/?imgmax=800" width="225" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B004SY6A76/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2">Volume 1 is also available as a trade paperback and as an eBook.</a><br /><br /><img alt="GargoyleFinal666_2_2_2.jpg" border="0" height="275.8" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3pXh50lhGNpchonhBFfAJiSelwO8Phd8PPNcdEyA-I1sfNRx7Uk3I_VoZzh-GJfzG3PUOzQB5QiU_lX_dHftMwFryRAj3DFu2ftMqVu7ju3vBTkVtzuzElBOPyeSwytdeJ-Fh_TeIVw/?imgmax=800" width="206.3" /></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-89994173168755950682012-07-30T09:07:00.001-07:002012-07-30T09:07:59.127-07:00THERE WILL BE THREE HOBBIT MOVIES, NOT TWO!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="8594E6A8-4433-46C1-84F8-6B11608CCDD1.jpg" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxBxK9KVgJDlNtOKuDBQVOBM1qg3ATUmPp2P1WiXTK49zRqmYB1WRw7ETS8XEAHqA4IsODBEyS_dJ5dKmjPg9BB2WPqH1Z3AjMkZw17ja9GH3vZ8Xv5PQnjEgrJtYeC2KNFa7-I_LFAU/?imgmax=800" width="180" /><br /><br /><br />READ PETER JACKSON'S OFFICIAL ANNOUNCENT RIGHT HERE!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/notes/peter-jackson/an-unexpected-journey/10151114596546558">http://www.facebook.com/notes/peter-jackson/an-unexpected-journey/10151114596546558</a><br /><br /><br />I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEWS! </div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315290754458925141.post-37002785247025014662012-07-30T04:27:00.001-07:002012-07-30T04:27:58.702-07:00Review of The Coldest War<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="The Coldest War.jpg" border="0" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03UN5aeBvQUPx1lJxy61pEBN4Dk3ieifUc02hq45QJ_hcEvUWrafFwtnWWhLuhGGoAmZun0ia8Ctw173o-5k9F2CS3dLq3U9tLAV9oEB0sFZxVRtxlM3q9earwZa28trieDbfnByOK7w/?imgmax=800" width="358" /><br /><br /><br />Review of The Coldest War, (Book two in the Milkweek Tryptich) by Ian Tregillis<br /><br />(No big spoilers, except for a few minor ones that regard the set-up)<br /><br />I just finished <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765321513/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img">The Coldest War, book two of three in the Milkweed Triptych</a> by Ian Tregillis. I devoured it.<br /><br />I read book one, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Seeds-Ian-Tregillis/dp/0765361205/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b">Bitter Seeds (now out in mass market paperback by the way) </a>in about three days and the same applies to book two. I would have read faster if I’d had the time.<br /><br /><img alt="bitterseeds.jpg" border="0" height="545" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fUAzjeU3CWg/UBZuO1U3mNI/AAAAAAAABKE/pNe9BdUNW8c/bitterseeds.jpg?imgmax=800" width="356" /><br />(The mass market paperback cover)<br /><br />I'm so blown away right now from finishing this fantastic novel. Mr. Tregillis has created a brilliant book, and I concur with the blurb from Game of Thrones author, George R.R. Martin blurb, “A major talent,” indeed.<br /><br />The ending was so awesome, and redeems the grim nature of this book. More on that later . . .<br /><br />The same characters from book one are back, and it’s about twenty years after the end of an alternate history World War II, and is now 1963, the height of the Cold War. The Soviet Union appears to have all of Europe, even France.<br /><br />The alternate history is fascinating, but that is not the point of the book. This is a character novel and focuses very tightly on the protagonists, so we get three main point of view characters. There is very little detail given about the wildly divergent world so different from what happened after World War II in our world, but the details we do get are tantalizing, especially for history buffs.<br /><br />Raybould Marsh, the British super-spy, is now a broken down middle-aged man with a terrible home-life and he’s working as a gardener after getting fired from all his other jobs. His journey is incredibly bleak and sad, the most depressing of all the storylines. He should have listened to his warlock friend, William from book one, but he didn’t, and Raybould and his wife, Liv, had another child. BIG MISTAKE.<br /><br />William Beauclerk is also back, he was the warlock in Bitter Seeds who helped the British Empire fend off the Nazis who had super-human warriors. British warlocks negotiate with the eidolons (think demons) and accomplish feats of magic that boggle the mind, but the cost is high. Think . . . a blood price, and/or the souls of unborn children. William is no longer doing what he did before and has recovered from some of the horror of what he had to do during World War II, and he has the happiest life of all the characters. However, Will is still traveling down a very dark and dangerous road that is leading him toward a terrible confrontation.<br /><br />Klaus, the former Nazi superman warrior is also back, but he is a pale reflection of who he was before, when he was at the peak of his power. After twenty years in a Soviet research camp he is incredibly broken and his storyline is so sad and very often quite poignant. I felt so bad for him, as he has been abused his entire life.<br /><br />Raybould, William, and Klaus are the three main point of view characters, although there is one other with minor scenes, Reinhardt, another former Nazi superwarrior.<br /><br />The most fascinating character is still Gretel, who is the sister of Klaus. She has the power of precognition and is so devious and brilliant. Tregillis gives us a look into her thoughts at the end of the book, which is worth all the dreary sadness of what went before. All the groundwork Tregillis did in book one (and two) paid off big time at the end. Wow, standing ovation.<br /><br />Gretel can manipulate the time-line and might just be in charge of the future, but can she change it, or just delay things with her actions? You’ll have to read this book to find out.<br /><br />***Look for the short story available on Kindle, about Gretel that precedes this trilogy, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Doctor-Gottlieb-Saw-ebook/dp/B004K1ERZY/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1343647438&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=what+dr.+gottlieb+saw">“What Dr. Gottlieb Saw,”</a> and learn more about her as a teenager. It’s a great short story and worth the 99 cents, and you don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can read it on your browser while you’re on Amazon.com. Read it after you’ve read Bitter Seeds, not before, as it kind of gives things away.<br /><br />Overall, The Coldest War had a lot of tension, brilliant, razor sharp prose, and some pretty amazing action. There were so many great chapter endings and twisted moments. Tregillis is a master of the complicated and awesome plot, and I’m stunned at the foreshadowing he did in book one, which came out in book two. It’s a must, in my opinion to read these books in order, as the sequel builds on book one big time. There is some recap about what happened in book one (thankfully), but I think readers would be a little lost had they not read Bitter Seeds.<br /><br />Strangely, as I read Coldest War, I felt like the book was too perfect sometimes, meaning: "How the heck did Tregillis pull this off and make this book so great?!" It just felt like there was nothing wrong, and that bugged me a little. I kept thinking, “I'm going to see a chink in the armor here somewhere,” but it never materialized.<br /><br />The only real negative of this book was that it was so dark and depressing that some people will find it hard to take, but as long as readers get to the ending, it will all be okay. My feeling that the book was too depressing was erased with the fantastic ending of course. I’m not going to spoil it here, but suffice it to say that it will leave you floored and wanting book three, Necessary Evil (April 2013) really bad. <br /><br />So, yes, the book was harsh and depressing most of the time, but Tregillis kept the tension up so much that no matter the sadness I felt for the characters, I could still face reading on about them, as I wanted to find out what was going to happen. That is the mark of great writing.<br /><br />I’m just so impressed with this series and feel like Tregillis succeeded big time. I have no doubt that book three will be a triumphant conclusion to a great series.<br /><br />Five Stars, Highly Recommended<br /><br />Paul Genesse, Author of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Dragon-Series-ebook/dp/B006PU7PIE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343647487&sr=1-1&keywords=The+golden+cord">Iron Dragon Series</a> and Editor of <a href="http://www.thecrimsonpact.com/">The Crimson Pact anthology series</a></div>Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0