For The Love of Reading

Joel has spent the last five years building maps of an imaginary city to deal with his grief. Or at least he thinks it's imaginary, until someone writes to tell him they used to live there. To Joel, it's just a hobby - a way to blank his mind until he figures out how to move forward to his life. 

But then things take an increasingly strange turn - and a dark one.

Scienceville by Gary Gibson is a fascinating sci-fi fantasy short story, with traces of steampunk fiction here and there. Absolutely brilliant. The author needs to either create a short story series or write a full-length novel. The concept of Scienceville - the metaphysics behind it - is just too damn interesting to leave inside one story.

It has been decades since a story evoked these kind of emotions within me. Do you remember the first time you read some really grand fiction that wasn't part of a school assignment, and you fell in love with reading as a consequence? Do you remember the joy of having worlds revealed to your imagination through the printed word? Granted, I read this on my Kindle, but that same "Oh, I remember why I love fiction so much" feeling came rushing back.

If you've been feeling burned out on genre stories, or feeling like you've read the same themes over and over, you need to read Scienceville!

As always,
AstraDaemon

The Ultimate Illusion

Death Mirror by Cameron Terence appears to be a mild horror story, with some foreshadowing...but appearances can be deceiving. Dean is a rather tedious fellow, about as interesting as his tuna sandwich, who suddenly find his reflection disturbingly independent and hostile. The pace is annoyingly slow as the author drags out Dean's daily thoughts and activities; the action comes and goes in spurts. However, the unexpected turn of events makes it all worth while. I will admit, the author is a damn genius. He planned out every detail perfectly. Well played, Terence. Well played.

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I feel like I've been put into place by Cameron Terence. I allowed myself to become overly confident in my ability to predict how a story will play out. What I thought was foreshadowing was bait. I fell for it. The author took me for a ride, tossed me out on my ass and hit me with the car, so to speak. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

As always,
AstraDaemon