"Daughter of Dreams" by Marshall Miller

Book Details:
Title: Daughter of Dreams
Author: Marshall Miller
Published: 2011- Self-published
ISBN: 978-1-456-36814-2
Pages: 634 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4 of 5
Read In: 11 days

My Review:
Miller's Daughter of Dreams takes place in a futuristic, post-pandemic world closely resembling our own. The planet is divided into territories and technology has advanced, making bugging and eavesdropping a daily concern for everyone. Following a vast epidemic of the 'zeta virus', a weapon meant for biological warfare, a scientist living in the territory known simply as the City discovers the miracle cure. Unfortunately, it is this discovery that plunges him and his daughter Serda into a whirlwind of fleeing, terror, and most importantly for Serda, self-discovery and eventually acceptance of her uncanny abilities to sense and decipher the souls of those around her.

This novel gets uncomfortably deep in philosophy at some points, but was overall a breath of fresh air in it's ability to combine complexity with a gripping story line and elaborate history of all of it's main characters. The author include a fair amount of central characters and shares the story-telling among all of them, giving each sufficient time in the limelight.

Even the places the author has created for his world are intriguing and contain histories in their own rights. The Communes is a society that keeps space between themselves and the rest of the world, sharing a common set of beliefs known as the Way. These people value their relationship with the earth and value society and the good of all over the good of the individual. The City is the other territory highlighted thoughout the novel. It's a vast metropolitan area rife with politics, crime, and survival-of-the-fittest. Technology is greatly utilized and the border of the City is guarded by Tracers, pods that can scan and detect specific individuals' DNA to aid the Guardian police force in capturing fugitives. Another territory is briefly visited: the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth, though not as specifically described as the Communes and City, seems to be little more than  a peaceful suburban area.

The philosophies devised in this novel center around the soul and it's connection to dreams, and to a lesser degree, the power of love. Serda, later known as Maya, discovers she is a Dreamer while hiding in the Communes from a corrupt Councilor looking to torture the cure for the zeta virus out of her father for his own political gain. She begins to see that she can feel and visualize the feelings of those both physically and emotionally close to her. She meets Ian in the Communes and he begins her adventures to understand and contain her power, which later becomes her greatest defense. Though her power makes others unsettled and dangerously vulnerable in her presence, Maya finds that those who truely love her are unaffected by the negative affects of her power, allowing her the close human connections she has longed for her entire life. Much of the book centers around Maya and her extraordinary power, while the race to protect and properly utilize the cure sometimes takes the back burner.

I have given this novel four out of five stars. Sometimes it becomes very abstract and difficult to wade through, but the conclusion could not have been any better.

"Switched" by Amanda Hocking

Book Details:
Title: Switched (Trylle Trilogy #1)
Author: Amanda Hocking
Published: January 2012- St Martin's Press
ISBN: 978-1-250-00631-8
Pages: 293 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Rating: 5 of 5
Read In: 2 days

My Review:
Most young adult novels follow a similar pattern- girl meets boy, girl falls hopelessly in love with boy, something tears girl and boy apart, girl gets into trouble, boy runs to her rescue, the end. Many very popular series follow this model successfully and become huge hits, like the Twilight Saga and House of Night series. Others miserably miss the mark and land with their face in the mud. Thankfully, Amanda Hocking's Trylle trilogy is off to an amazing start in Switched.

Female readers everywhere will fall in love with girl's main squeeze, the mysterious and hard-to-get Finn. "Girl" is Wendy- she's clumsy and scatterbrained and you can't help but feel for her, especially in her fight for finn and her struggle to remain herself while everyone around her demands she be someone else.

This particular story has one quality I feel really sets it apart from the rest- there are no vampires. I was a little disappointed myself at first, but Trylle are something better than vampires, they're trolls. But not in the living under bridges eating goats sense, but in the magical abilities, lots of money and glam fashion. Now what makes these creatures better than vampires? They don't have to drink blood to maintain their abilities and composure, so aside from the overall waning of abilities among their species, they really have no weaknesses.

I really enjoyed this book, aside from the infuriating ending. I seriously recommend waiting the extra month after publication to buy the second at the same time, because the need for the next book is far too strong! I could not put Switched down for two whole days and it leaves me sad it's over.

I give Switched five out of five stars only because I can't give it six, and I strongly recommend any fan of young adult novels not miss out on this series.

"Fezariu's Epiphany" by David M. Brown

Book Details:
Title: Fezariu's Epiphany
Author: David M. Brown
Published: 2011- Createspace
ISBN: 978-1-456-50059-7
Pages: 379 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5 of 5
Read In: 10 days

My Review:
This is the first installment in the Elencheran Chronicles series by David M. Brown. As a fervent fan of the fantasy genre, I found this book to be everything I expected and more. Not only are the characters well-developed and memorable, the reader is taken away to an equally well-developed fantasy world that rivals the worlds of popular, established fantasy writers, such as Robert Jordan and Mercedes Lackey.

Brown features a vast variety of both primary and secondary characters. Some are members of fantasy races the author himself creates, such as a canine-like people and humans with naturally purple hair. The main protagonist of this series is Fezariu, who is followed from birth in this novel. As he grows and enters different stages of his life, other characters enter and leave his life, always leaving a mark on his life. From his mother, a prostitute trying only to do the right thing for her son, to Fezariu's fellow mercenary friends, every character is memorable.

I was greatly disappointed that my copy does not have maps of Brown's fantasy world. He describes in great detail the geography of the various countries and cities, but they are expansive and difficult to follow without visual representations. However, each region has their own well-devised history, much of which the reader learns through the protagonist's travels. It is very clear that this series will be impressively in-depth and the author leaves no aspect of his world to the imagination. He has thought of everything, from the races inhabiting each region, the individual histories of his countries and cities, and even the different governing systems.

I am very excited for further installments of what is sure to be a hit fantasy series. I gave Fezariu's Epiphany five out of five stars and firmly believe it deserves every one. I feel I can be a tough critic of fantasy novels, but I hold this one in high regards and anxiously await the publication of its sequel!

"This Letter to Norman Court" by Pablo D'Stair

Book Details:
Title: This Letter to Norman Court
Author: Pablo D'Stair
Published: 2011- Pigeon Grift Press
ISBN: 978-0-6155-0553-4
Pages: 132 pages
Genre: Crime/Noir Novella
Rating: 1 of 5
Read In: 1 day


My Review:
This first of five novellas about petty crook Trevor English was one of the worst works of literature I have ever read. Not only is the entire thing lacking any kind of sentence or chapter structure, the grammar is painful to read through.

One reason many people enjoy books is the characters and how the author presents them and their personal growth and how much the reader can connect and enjoy the character. This Letter to Norman Court, however, had absolutely no likable characters. Trevor English is a pickpocket living life on the outskirts of society and barely getting by crashing on couches, drinking and smoking profusely, and lifting wallets to fund his habits. When he is offered two thousand dollars to deliver an incriminating letter, he takes advantage of the situation to make even more money by ruining lives of everyone involved in the letter. When his scheme begins crumbling around him, I found myself hoping and praying the cops would get him, because a person like that, even a fictitious one, deserves nothing less. Not only is the main protagonist is a miserable low-life, all the people he meets along his journeys have some hidden agenda or secret to hide.

Although pretty short, it was difficult for me to read through this mind-numbingly ridiculous novella. I give "This Letter to Norman Court" one of five stars, merely for the author's brave attempt at writing something another person may want to read. But that person is not me.

"On Lives Subway Supplement" by Michael J. Parish

Book Detail:
Title: "On Lives Subway Supplement"
Author: Micheal J. Parish
Published: 2009- On Lives Press
ISBN: None
Pages: 21 pages
Genre: Essays
Rating: 3 of 5
Read In: 1 hour


My Review:
Parish's booklet "On Lives Subway Supplement" is a smart collection of ten short essays on some pretty random topics. The author's chosen topics include walking, lawns, aging, and even online dating. Though they're not particularly mind-blowing, the essays are short enough to entertain anyone for long enough to avoid boredom in places such as bus stops, subways, or doctor offices.

"On Walks and Walking" discusses the author's thoughts on leisurely walking. He expresses that it has become a lost art and encourages readers to get up and walk versus leading a more sedentary lifestyle.

"On Lawns" is a funny little essay highlighting the history of the lawn and the extent people go to to keep their lawns looking nice (though usually hiring someone to do it for them!).

"On Aging" was a particular favorite of mine. Parish writes that between the sun damaging our skin and gravity pulling us down to the Earth, aging is aided by the very world we live in. He also explores the happiness and curiosity of children, asking why we can't maintain such attitudes as we grow older.

I found "On Online Dating" to be chuckle-inducing. Parish wonders if people who have such a difficult time finding and keeping a partner that they have to depend on the Internet to help should really reproduce. Survival of the fittest must be keeping these people from finding a sexual partner for a reason. Though he does express that some people are just far too busy to properly date outside the Internet, he stresses that anything as important as finding a partner should be given as much time and energy as we can allot to it.

I found this booklet entertaining for a short time, but was not exactly impressed. My overall reaction was just as so-so as the three of five stars I have given this essay collection.

"The Deal" by Adam Gittlin

Book Details:
Title: The Deal
Author: Adam Gittlin
Published: 2008- Oceanview Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-933515-13-7
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 342
Rating: 5 of 5
Read In: 6 days


My Review:
Adam Gittlin's The Deal is an absolutely amazing thriller! the author uses deeply interesting character, infuses history into the plot, and then sprinkles pop culture on top to create one of the most addicting novels I have had the pleasure of picking up!

His main protagonist is Jonah Gray- a high-end commercial real estate broker in the heart of New York City. Following in his father's foot steps in every facet of his life, from his business ethics to his taste for fine things, Jonah finds himself acquainted with some of the city's highest rollers, the best of the best in business and the luckiest in life. While the reader follows Jonah around in what becomes a life-changing series of events, they get to know all sorts other characters, some of whom show their less-than-desirable sides, while others show that there really are good people still in powerful positions in the world. We become very familiar with Gray's business partners- the tough, successful leader Tommy, Jake, the partner who is rarely serious, but will go for the throat to close a deal, and the hard-headed, subtly alluring Perry. Stan Gray, Jonah's father, is his only remaining family since his mother died when he was young. A top gun in real estate, his father is Jonah's best and worst critic rolled into one, all in the name of helping his son succeed. We meet friends L and Andreu, who seem upon finishing the novel to be the respective angel and devil on Jonah's shoulders. I absolutely loved all of the characters, not just the select few mentioned here. Even the more minor characters, such as his father's chauffeur Mattheau, Angie, the girl Jonah finds to be too good to be true, and Parker, Jonah's doorman, prove to be multi-dimensional and the author allows them their own side stories and lives for the reader to be sidetracked into.

Another amazing aspect of this novel is the author's use of history in the plot. The first major problem the protagonist faces is when a stolen Faberge egg is planted on him at a party. This opens up doors to Russian and art history that is solidly visited throughout the novel and creates the central story line. I had only heard of these Russian treasures in passing, but The Deal explores their whole history, substituting a bit for the sake of the story, and exposes the reader to knowledge they may never have had the pleasure of possessing otherwise. For that, I am grateful to Mr. Gittlin.

Finally, Gittlin sprinkles popular culture all over throughout the novel to draw readers in to something they already are familiar with. This also serves, in my opinion, to show the reader that there is some similarities between them and this larger-than-life lifestyle the characters possess. While the reader may not have millions in the bank and maintain an honorable position in one of the largest and most successful real estate brokerage companies in the country, they can still appreciate the "Everybody Loves Raymond" reference, that the protagonist also listens to Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine, and Coldplay, or that he also has read and internalized Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. If the reader can not connect to the characters' lifestyles in no other way, this serves as a great way to remember that they are just as real (as far as the novel is concerned) and the reader.

I am very excited that I got to read this novel. The mystery and suspense kept me from putting it down multiple times. I give it five out of five stars and would absolutely jump at the chance to read another novel by this author.

"Valentino Speaks: The Wisdom of Rudolph Valentino, Cues and Views From the Other Side" by Wayne Vincent Hatford

Book Details:
Title: Valentino Speaks: The Wisdom of Rudolph Valentino, Cues and Views From the Other Side
Author: Wayne Vincent Hatford
Published: 2011- Whitley Heights Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9833436-0-8
Genre: Spiritualism
Pages: 317
Rating: 2 of 5
Read In: 9 days

My Review:
Though a great wealth of practical advice and experiences, I found Valentino Speaks to be painfully dry and difficult to wade through. I was also put back by its premise of being written through a process known as automatic writing. I believe I am very open minded when it comes to spiritualism, but the idea that the long-dead Rudolph Valentino was able to command use of the author's pen and write his thoughts and opinions on such a myriad of topics is difficult for me to accept.

Aside from the supposed way the book was written, some of the topics seemed a little ridiculous to me: bullfighting, clockwise, opera, and portals to name a few. The authors found plenty to say during vignettes such as these, but once I finished them, I felt like I didn't gain anything from them.

I gave this book two of five stars for some pretty deep, thought-provoking vignettes, despite those that did not shine. I could barely finish this book and would not consider re-reading it, but I would recommend it to someone more into self-help, spiritualistic reads.