Tag: fantasy

Tavern by Deston J. Munden – Book Review

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Tavern (Dargath Chronicles Book 1)

By Deston Munden

Reviewed by Ernest Russell

I always enjoy a good fantasy and an author who can twist tropes just enough to make the story interesting. The main character in Tavern, Xelnath of the Gnarled Root Clan, or Xel, is such a relatable character, full of flaws and self-doubt. A stout heart, loyal to his friends, and genuinely wants to protect his adopted home. All of this and he is not above using its secrets to make a living. He faces adversity despite his anxieties and depression while maintaining a positive feel to the story. You will quickly find yourself cheering and rooting for Xel rather than pitying him. In the first chapter, you learn what I mean by how well Deston Munden twists tropes in Tavern.

Xel isn’t the only well developed, every character is fleshed out, and you get to know them. The villain is one of my favorite types, they are the hero of their own story. You can see their point and still ask what made you think this was a good idea?

Tavern is the first of a planned series set in the world of Dargath. The world-building in this first book is impressive. Primarily set in the city of Lladad, a major seaport, you hear and see many of the different inhabitants of Dargath and their cultures. The city is alive in this story as you wander markets, slums, and royal abodes. Fear not, in Tavern, Deston Munden has resisted the urge to be overly detailed. There is enough description to set your imagination flowing while the characters and their dialogue drive the plot.

Role players who cut their gaming teeth on Chainmaile and Dungeons & Dragons while quoting Tolkien will find many characters they have known or played. If this series gains a following, campaign settings for D&D, Pathfinder, or any other fantasy RPG setting would be fun. I know I would play in them. Dargath is already a world where I would vacation and explore. That Tavern by Deston Munden reads like a game probably shouldn’t be a surprise considering his degree in Game Art and Design. Here is a description of the entire party assembled before a battle with the villain.

“Two forest orcs on the wrong side of the world, a tribeswoman assassin, a former dragon pirate turned mercenary, a lady from the Glade’s court, and a brilliant engineer in the shape of a dog. They were as rag-tag as they could get.”

These are my kind of people for an adventure.

The plot is well-paced, without being too fast or bogging itself down. This is a book in which the story is a joy to read. Tavern was edited by Dominion Editorial. I commend Deston Munden for seeking editors, so many independents do not, and sound editing makes a difference. The content editing and continuity are quite good in Tavern. The copy editing came up short. Dominion offers various packages for their service, and I don’t know if a copy edit was included.  Any book can miss a couple of things, often minor enough your mind fills in or corrects for it. These don’t tend to pull you out of the story. There are enough words missed, or incorrectly inserted, I was drawn out of the story multiple times. Fortunately, the story is strong enough and compelling enough to pull you back into it.

Tavern by Deston J. Munden is a book I recommend. The story is good. The characters are well rounded and developed, the subplots are well executed, and with all the elements combined, this is a book I can see becoming a favorite.

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

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CyPhaCon!! My Panel schedule…but wait! There is more….

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

One week from today CyPhaCon Returns to Lake Charles!

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Really excited as I prepare for CyPhaCon next weekend. Have my panel schedule and these are all going to be fun.

Friday

7 pm – Writing Science Fiction with Real Science
8 pm – Genres: Do They Still Matter?

Saturday

3 p.m. – Creating Memorable Characters
8 pm – Vampires, Zombies, Elder Gods, and things that go bump in the night

In a first for CyPhaCon and Pro Se Productions, Pro Se will have a table at CyPhaCon.

Come see us and discover new worlds within our pages!

For complete information on CyPhaCon please visit our website!

Visit the official CyPhaCon Events Page for more details of the great panels, guests and activities.

CyPhaCon returns April 12th-14th, 2019 to the Lake Charles Civic Center in Lake Charles Louisiana.
Pre Reg Tickets still on sale at Paper Heroes until Monday, April 8th. Tickets also available on Ticket Master and Civic Center Box Office up to and during the entire weekend of CyPhaCon.
Stop by and say Hi!
Thank you for reading
Ernest Russell

Nominated for Best Pulp Anthology

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

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I am delighted to have been an editor for this really fun anthology now nominated for Best Pulp Anthology at this years WINDY CITY PULP & PAPER CONVENTION.

Tales of the Interstellar Bartenders Guild is available on Amazon and Pro Se Productions.
To find out what else from Pro Se Productions has been nominated for awards check out our Facebook page.

Thanks for reading,

Ernest Russell

Serendipity Strikes!

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

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Took a break from book review which I am writing for a new magazine and came across an article in the New York Times, Every Building on Every Block: A Time Capsule of 1930’s New York.
It has some great street scenes from the 1930’s, since an upcoming digest novel coming out later this year and I have two works in progress, its sequel and another new novel, always enjoy looking at the old photos.

One in particular caught my eye and is going to find its way into a work in progress, Tales from The Sleeping Hare, is the Gnome Bakery. It should fit quite nicely into the Pulp Noir Fantasy world.

A quote from the Times article.

“In 1930, a small building on East 59th Street by the Queensboro Bridge was remodeled for the Gnome Bakery. By the time the tax photograph was taken, a retail bake shop in front had been turned into a loading dock for Gnome’s trucks.

Today, Gnome is gone, and the building is dwarfed by postwar apartment houses. Gnome was swallowed up by a larger baking company. After housing a picture-frame maker, an exterminator and a kitchen-supply store, the building became a chiropractor’s office with a rental apartment upstairs that was listed for $14,000 a month in 2015.”

Thanks for reading and sharing a momentary excitement about my writing.

Ernest Russell

(image from Pixabay)

‘SWORDS AGAINST THE SNAKES’

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STAND UP TO THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES MADE REAL! GLYNN OWEN BARRASS’ ‘SWORDS AGAINST THE SNAKES’ DEBUTS

Love, murder, insanity, betrayal, and terror lay in wait for readers of SWORDS AGAINST THE SNAKES by Glynn Owen Barrass, now available from Pro Se Productions in print and digital formats.

For most The King in Yellow is a largely forgotten tome written by a rarely discussed author. Except people on both sides of an eternal battle for good and evil have not forgotten the book and the author is discussed often, especially in the shadows cast by death and depravity. A book that carries risks with it for any who read it…insanity…death…or worse.

The risk to the agents of the secret government department The Yellow Cross is all too real. It is a danger that deranges minds, destroys lives, warps reality. One such mind belongs to Rebecca Thale, a woman who read The King in Yellow and was never the same again. Her path of murder and destruction attracted the attention of The Yellow Cross, agents Ashton and Phillips in particular. Two of the department’s top investigators, they undertake a journey of horror and self discovery that takes them across England and dimensions both deadly and unknown, as they unravel the mysteries of the terrifying entity known as The King in Yellow.

With a terrific cover by Marzia Marina and Antonino Lo Iacono and print formatting and logo design by Percival Constantine, SWORDS AGAINST THE SNAKES is available now at Amazon and Pro Se’s own store for 9.99.

This horror thriller is also available as an Ebook, designed and formatted by Constantine for only $2.99 for the Kindle. The book is also available on Kindle Unlimited, which means Kindle Unlimited Members can read for free.

For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies to review this book, contact Pro Se Productions’ Director of Corporate Operations, Kristi King-Morgan at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook .

Nightingale by Ellie Raine – A New Book Review

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

 

Nightingale – Ellie Raine

Pro Se Productions

Nightingale

One of my favorite parts of any workday is my lunch time. It’s not the food, it’s a solid block of time I can count on for one my favorite past times. Reading. This past week lunch has been really pleasurable as I devoured the most recent offering from Ellie Raine, Nightingale.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ellie Raine at Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention in November 2017. Her energy and smile were infectious. I picked up her first book, Willow of Ashes, and I immediately became an Ellie Raine fan.
Ellie Raine is a very talented author, bringing a distinct vision and fresh voice to her stories. I am glad to have an autographed copy of her first book. I will be getting her autograph for this one as well. She is an author in whom I believe will be a constant delight as she matures in her art.
When the chance came up to read and review Ellie Raine’s current offering from Pro Se Productions – Nightingale, I leaped at the chance. All I knew about it was from the promo tease, “A New Take on the Private Eye tale…and Death as well.” I already knew Ellie has a talent for writing fantasy that absorbs you into the story. Could she do it with a Detective Story?
Ellie’s main character Alastor Deus, P.I. seems to be the archetype of a man seeking vengeance for the murder of his father. Nightingale properly opens straight into the action. While “discussing” a lead to his father’s murderer, the interrogation is rudely interrupted by the murder of the informant. This is the last “normal” scene. From here on out, we are on the rollercoaster with Alastor as he finds his true family…even meeting Death. Just when you think you have a handle on the plot twists, Ellie finds a monkey wrench. But she doesn’t hit you over the head with it. Most of the plot twists came with a subtle lagniappe, a little extra. As a veteran reader of detective stories, it was quite refreshing. Imagine, reading a story that is almost predictable, but not completely.
The world of Nightingale is a very different, yet familiar reflection of our own. The twists in mythologies are highly creative and well imagined. The marriage of Private Eye story and the mythologies invoked is just shy of brilliant. Her prose is clever and evocative in the best tradition of Pulp detectives. The characters begin a little flat but each page reveals more of their past, adding shades of depth and grey motivations. There is not quite enough growth for them to become fully 3D but enough I wanted to see more of them. What else is waiting to be told? Between the pace of the story with new questions and revelations constantly expanding the backgrounds of the characters, Nightingale was very difficult to put it down.
As a pulp story, this tale really sings.

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.

The Blood in Snowflake Garden

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

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The Blood in Snowflake Garden
Author: D. Alan Lewis
Narrated by: Clark Clayson

Christmas can be murder, a murder most foul. Murder and a note from S. Claus, pleading for help, was the only thing which could draw retired Inspector Max Sneed back to active duty. A duty to investigate the murder of the North Poles Premier. Robert Watson, sent by a London paper to write about the jolliest place on Earth, is put instead straight to work by Max. In a twinkling he finds a merry chase through Civil Rights, Labor Disputes and Cold War politics. Robert’s sugar-plum laced pipe dreams of the cheeriest city on Earth are quickly shredded. The more Max and Robert slog through the sleazy, underbelly of the North Pole, the thinner the ice upon which they stand. This murder investigation is rife with a delicious trail of red-herrings, each with the lustre of new fallen snow. Do you want to know the secret history of Santa? How the city at the North Pole was founded? What is it about cupcakes? Once you know the answer, you may never see pastries the same way again.
The answer to these questions, and many more, will impact the world. The Cold War is heating up at the pole. Whoever is in charge at the North Pole could change the course of history. What is the connection between electronic toys and the military base proposed outside the warm zone?
The Blood in Snowflake Garden is one D. Alan Lewis’s earlier books. As such, while this tale does have a few rough edges compared to his later books, the visions within will dance in your heads. His talent for blending real world historical events combined with a different take on a well-known mythology will satisfy your sweet tooth for knowledge. Though you be in ‘kerchief or cap, and settled down in your bed, the last thing you will be taking is a long winter nap. Thoughts of all else, except what lies upon the next page, fly away like the down on a thistle.
The narrator, Clark Clayson, has just that right tone to bring the necessary grittiness upon the breast of the new-fallen snow sprinkled throughout the story. Switching easily between the world weary detective and the wide eyed reporter, err..journalist, to The Jolly Old Nick himself, Clark’s narration helps to create an alternate history you can believe as the tale is unraveled. His enunciations are clear and there is no background noise. His voice is the little old driver of the tale by which soon you will know, there is nothing to dread.

The Blood in Snowflake Garden

 

DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.

 

The Billy Goats Gruff – A Crime Noir Fairy Tale – Part 1

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Orland squinted as he tilted the bottle. Disappointed with how little remained, he downed it in a swallow; then held it upside down. Where were the answers that were supposed to hide at the bottom?
He knew why there were no answers. He already had them.
It was late and the office echoed. Still, he looked over his shoulder. Billy needed the new medastinum surgery to fix his lungs. Orland had lost his wife. He was not going to lose his son.
Before his last swallow of liquid nerve waned, he made a few quick pen strokes. There! It was finished. Tomorrow, as part of routine processing, a clerk would set up an ongoing transfer of funds to his secret account. He was an honest sort, but the company had refused to help. His salary was just not enough. The evidence was well-hidden and another clerk processing it was the final shield. Even the best auditors would be hard-pressed to track this back to him.
*****
Across town, splinters and dust flew as a stool attacked the wall. The wall won.
Detective Mikk Raud, enforcement services, had felt lucky his station was near home. He often stopped in for lunch. How could she? He never saw it coming. Knew she and the stoat had been friends. But he had been too trusting; it was a total shock coming home for lunch, maybe a little hanky-panky with the wife. Then he found all of her and their daughter’s things gone.
Numb from shock, he had gone on a toot. A few bottles of Ol’ Swamp Piss later and he’d woken to the landlord banging on the door. Stumbling over pieces of broken furniture, rubbing his sloped forehead, he’d answered the door. His landlord took a step back. “There’ve been complaints about the noise last night. I’m a nice guy, rented to you even though you’re trolls. Hope I don’t have cause to regret it.”
Mikk promised it would not happen again and shut the door. Then he’d crawled back into a bottle until, still on edge and hung over, he reported for his shift. He had thought routine might help. First call was a stupid teen goat. Had the kid just come peacefully he would have gotten a slap on the wrist. But no, he’d attacked and Mikk reacted. His natural trollish strength amplified by red rage, he let fly with all the pent anger at his wife. The kid was flung into a wall. With the crack of a homerun, his neck snapped, killing him.
Now, family gone, career ruined, Mikk perched on the skeleton of a chair, surveying the damage to his home.
Head falling into his hands, he wept.

Opus Marduk – Pt 2

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

It was then the scheme to gain the ultimate power came to me. The hope I dared not hope, nor let myself know I hoped it, ascendancy could be mine, ran his thoughts,  in that moment, slaking my thirst from the blood running down my axe. I smiled as the warband roared in jubilation with the prospects of battle, none the wiser for the part they might play.

Others were aware of this event; it was a glorious, bloody series of battles. All added to the skulls and blood offered to Ghurzil, Mechron, Dark Yllie, Daks, Servants of Kurupi all provided ecstasy and rush of battle. After each battle, each sacrifice, Marduk could feel himself growing stronger, more powerful, filled with a rage so pure as to be euphoric. As the weak follower of Kurupi succumbed to the might of Ghurzil, it breathed the last temptation; the artifact they sought was the Pandorica Libre. Of such intense power, even fabled librarians of Tezcatlipoca had sought it for millennia.

Breaking through the jungles, the mythical temples came into view. To bleed a sacrifice upon the altar of the pylons situated atop each of the twin ziggurats would open a stable portal into the warp. The power of chaos could flow freely and he, Marduk, with the aid of the Pandorica would become legend. From afar a glint of metals gave rise to knowledge; this would be a special battle. One against a most hated foe, the Ashen Cabelleros. A foe especially despised since their banishment of Ka’jagga’nath , Lord of the Bloodtide, chosen among Khorne, whose epic corruption of a Sisters of Fortune garrison on Van Horne songs are still sung.

The battle was the fiercest in many a year, as wave on wave of the Ashen Cabelleros raced to the challenge of the ancient ziggurats. The Marauders fought as demons themselves, and Ghurzil smiled. The Grand Master of the Ashen Cabelleros JonDuc intent upon reaching the chaos artifact within the temple cut his way through the fray, one of the dreaded a Adversary Knights at his back.

Finally, as the great land raider, Grim Skull crushed the temple to ruins Marduk emerged with his retinue. Wearing the skulls of fallen as a mask, they inspired fear in even the fearless. The hideous heat of the heavy flamer, in support of the Berzerkers against a group of Purifiers, lent its sulfurous fumes to the stench of melting meat.

Marduk strode forth, confident of his power challenging the Grand Master to single combat. As all the followers of the Corpse of Mankind, he treacherously accepted and stepped aside for the Adversary Knight to come forward. Marduk’s roar of rage at the cowardice shirking of battle could be heard over the battle field. With a thunderous crash of ancient ceramite and metal, the demon trapped within his weapon screaming, the rending shriek of metal as Marduk clove the Adversary Knight, reached into its belly and withdrew the mewling occupant within. In a snarling growl Marduk asked, “You Ashen Cabelleros are supposed to know Chaos, I am here to give you a chance..Give yourself to Ghurzil and live”, eyes blazing, the devastated body of the once proud purifier released his hand. The dead man switch clanked and clunked down the face of the ruined temple, closing his remaining eye, gave one last scream from his tortured lungs, “For the Empire!”, and the Adversary Knight exploded.

The blast wave washed over Marduk, hot, powerful, but nothing as compared to his fury being denied his prize. Ripping the head from the fallen warrior, he turned up the body as a grotesque tankard, pouring the blood down his throat and over his face.

True sanity, after one fashion or another, entails dissolving the normal ego. That piece of false security, competency adjusted, to our alien, material world. In that moment the final shreds of Marduks sanity and connection to this mortal plane began to dissolve. Turning began to stalk after the Grand Master.

 

Thank you for reading,

Ernest