Tag: fantasy

  • The Path of the Fallen by Dan O’Brien {Book Review}

    The Path of the Fallen
    by Dan O’Brien
     
    About the Book: The world is broken. The coming of the Intelligence pushed the remnants of humanity deep into the tundra. What remained was a vast sea of ice and the machine city, Culouth. E’Malkai Armen, descendent of the Fallen, has been a citizen of Culouth his entire life. A bitter betrayal, and the inception of a war that will destroy millions of lives, forces E’Malkai to confront the past and undertake a pilgrimage that is his by birthright. As he travels to the cold tundra of the north, the realm prepares for war. The Path of the Fallen is a lonely and arduous path, but it must be walked for the sake of all mankind.
     
    About the Author: A psychologist, author, philosopher, freelance editor, and skeptic, Dan O’Brien has published several novels and currently has many in print, including: The End of the World Playlist, Bitten, The Journey, The Ocean and the Hourglass, The Portent, The Path of the Fallen, Book of Seth, and Cerulean Dreams.  He also works as an editor at Empirical, a national magazine with a strong West Coast vibe.
     
    My Thoughts: When I first got this book, my thought was “That is a BIG book”.  I haven’t picked up a book that thick in quite some time.  I have some mixed feelings about The Path of the Fallen. I feel it has a very strong storyline, but it is lacking in areas. I think the author has assumed too much of his readers, and leaves out some pertinent information. I do enjoy when the author lets the reader imagine what happens, or lets us infer an emotion. Mr O’Brien seemed to allow too much of that in this book for me.
    I quite thoroughly enjoyed the concept behind the book. It’s a different take on life, death and the creation of mankind. It’s a book we can all relate to in reference to life, and what things are most important to us. What are we willing to sacrifice for the greater good?  What darkness may have a hold on our hearts?  Can we let go of that? Are we good enough to give all, whether we truly know what it is we’re giving?
     
    Buy It
     
    Connect
     
  • Book Review: The Gatekeeper


    The Gatekeeper
    Book 2 in the Marenon Chronicles
    by Jason D Morrow
    About the Book: Silas Ainsley is on a quest to find the Gatekeeper. The one person who knows the prophecy of the Deliverer. Silas is the Deliverer, but doesn’t know who he is to deliver.
    While Silas is searching for the Gatekeeper, the Dunarian Council is in trouble. Has Julian found proof of their traitorous acts?
    About the Author: My name is Jason D. Morrow and I currently live and teach English with my wife
    Emily in Gwangju, South Korea.
    The past few years have been a wild ride.
    Going to college, it took me a better part of two years to figure out what I
    wanted to do. I knew I wanted to write. I knew I wanted to be a novelist since I
    was a child, but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish a manuscript. I started
    and stopped several novels in college. I took a creative writing class where all
    I learned was that other people like the stories that I write. If anything it
    was an encouragement.
    Then one day, in the middle of one of my political
    science classes, the land of Marenon was born. Characters, locations, plots…
    all were forming everyday in almost every class. I knew I should have been
    paying attention, but Marenon needed me.
    I had to pick a major at some
    point, so I chose journalism, because I loved to write. It was fun for a while.
    I had good internships and a good editor spot with the university newspaper, but
    it all got in the way of fiction. Marenon would have to wait.
    I fell in
    love with the woman who is now my wife. I graduated college. I moved to Georgia
    to work for a newspaper. There was no time for fiction.
    About six months
    into my job at the newspaper, Emily and I got scared. We looked at each other,
    knowing we didn’t want to get stuck in that small town with student loan bills
    towering over us. We then decided to make the move to South Korea and teach
    English.
    It has been an adventure. There is so much to see and a new
    culture to get accustomed to, but it also allowed for a lot more free time.
    That’s when I came back to Marenon. That’s how The Deliverer was finally
    finished. Between teaching English classes, I would type at the computer. I
    would go home and type. I would just keep typing. No matter what the
    discouragement, I was going to finish The Deliverer.
    And I did.

    It was one of the most rewarding experiences to see the book in its
    final state. My cover artist (Jen Lee) did a fantastic job, my editors, (my wife
    Emily, my mother-in-law Kathy, and my sister-in-law Beth) all came through for
    me.
    Now I have a series. The Gatekeeper, Book Two of the Marenon
    Chronicles is the newest edition, and I can’t wait to have the third book
    finished. The three books will complete the series, but that doesn’t mean there
    won’t be more Marenon in the future.
    I plan to make so many more books
    for you the reader. I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head that I can’t
    wait to get them down into a completed manuscript. The plan is to have a book
    out every four months, so you will get frequent updates. Be sure to sign up for
    the mailing list to receive updates of when new books are released.
    I
    couldn’t have done any of this without my Creator, my wife, friends, family, and
    of course… you.
    My thoughts:  If you haven’t read my review of Book 1, you should. You can find it here.  You should also go get a copy of book 1 and 2 because book 3 is on it’s way to being published!! 
    I am impressed. Jason has really shined through as a self published author. Book 2 in the Marenon Chronicles does not dissapoint. I was a little worried when I first started reading. I thought there may be too much backstory to book 1 being given, but ultimately I found it helpful since it had been awhile (with many books in between) since I read the first book. It’s a fast paced book, that keeps you reading at all hours. There were some memorable nights of me reading, falling asleep, waking up a few minutes later and trying to “just finish the page”, while falling asleep yet again.  Mind you I was not falling asleep because of the book, but rather because I have 4 small children at home.
    The Chronicles of Marenon are my new favorite series.  I can not wait for Book 3 to come out to complete the trilogy, but I also don’t want it to end. I love getting lost in Marenon.
    Keep up with Marenon on Jason’s blog or Twitter.
    You can purchase a kindle copy or paperback through amazon
    *I was provided a copy of the book for my review at no cost. All opinions are solely my own.