Review: Dark Companion ~ by Marta Acosta

A review written by Shellie for Dark Companion ~ by Marta Acosta.

Shellie’s quick take:

A retelling of the gothic classic Jane Eyre - it’s a special young-adult novel featuring snippets of Victorian genre classics at the beginning of each chapter. It also spotlights significant and current issues present in young women’s lives – such as romance, self esteem, drug abuse, violence - all in a readable, atmospheric story with a different type of vampire, and a sweet mythic thread.

Shellie’s description:

“Mousy girl” is Jane William’s nickname. She is from the lower-class and violence-ridden town called Helmsdale - or “Hellsdale” as they term it. Jane is an orphan and once ward of the state, who has lived in foster homes since she was 6 years old and remembers nothing of her previous life because of an accident. Although Jane’s life is not easy she has a stubborn tenacity, clinging to a belief that studying and getting high marks in school are her way out of the troubled and rough town - where the norm is drug addiction, prostitution, violence, and where the most ruthless males control the streets.

As a result of her good grades Jane receives an all expense paid scholarship to the exclusive and very wealthy boarding school “Birch Grove Academy”. Arriving at the school Jane is overwhelmed by her own little cottage, an expense account, and new clothes to replace the used hand-me-downs she’s become accustomed too. And just a few days after arriving, the school’s poised head mistress Mrs. Radcliff invites Jane to dinner. There Jane meets the Radcliffs’ model gorgeous son, Lucian, and their other son Jacob who is a down-to-earth musician, and not quite as cute as his brother. Jane is blatantly smitten with Lucian and annoyed by Jacob. But as are most things that appear just a little too wonderful - all is not as it seems. And this is only the beginning of the story, which is an intriguing retelling of the gothic classic - Jane Eyre.

Shellie’s thoughts:

First off, this is a physically gorgeous book. It’s a small easy-to-handle hardbound book which has a moody dark cover with a slightly metallic shine – so it glows gently. It has a stylish interior layout with gothic themed print and decorations giving this a book a flavor that would make it a special gift for someone. Best yet is that beyond the surface it’s jam-packed with layers of wonderful stuff.

The most stand-out element is that Marta Acosta includes an intriguing trope where quotes from 100 plus year old gothic literature are included at the beginning of each chapter. Each snippet has a significant meaning for the chapter. The quotes pull the reader into its classic writing, creating a desire to research the works that are highlighted (or at least it did for me!) Marta Acosta uses examples from authors such as Eliza Parsons, the Bronte Sisters, Henry James, Charles Dickens, Ann Radcliff, J. Sheridan Le Fanu and more. With 37 chapters and an epilogue there are loads of quotes to ponder and to “Google”.

The book also has multi-layered themes twisted to especially suit teens, containing many important elements and issues. For example, it has unique and well developed characters, great romance, a setting near San Francisco (gotta love that, since it’s my home), a “mythic” theme, and an interesting take on vampire mythology. More importantly, it also examines science, art, family, love, abuse, race and class issues (all important for everyone to think about.)

I listened to Dark Companion in audio (as well as read bits) where it features a realistic enactment from its talented reader - Kate Reading. But what I liked best was that Dark Companion is a story dealing with very real life issues that many teens face. I am also a big fan of gothic novels - the more I read them the more I enjoy them and the deeper I go. Let’s hope this book works the same magic on its younger readers as it did on me. A splendid retelling that I recommend for teachers to give to students, for parents/adults to give to teens, and to be read in groups for discussion. It’s a 4.5 stars for me, and highly recommended.

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Tor Teen | July 2012 | Hardcover | Young Adult Fiction |368 pages

Find out more about this book and Marta Acosta’s other novels. Visit her website http://www.martaacosta.com/

Here’s a blog post from Marta Acosta at Tor called Haunted Mansions and Eclipses.

Guest Post: R. S. Belcher author of ~ THE SIX GUN TAROT

Today we have a Guest Post written by R. S. Belcher whose first book – The Six Gun Tarot was released yesterday by Tor books. He’s a debut author who has created a fantastical version of a Western styled steampunk world - an alternative semi-historical world where steam-power is the norm. And just look at the wonderful cover!

Let’s welcome Rod as he shares with us how and why he created his fantastical yet historical world.

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One of the things that’s the most fun about writing fiction is creating worlds. The very best fiction I’ve read creates a universe so plausible, so detailed; you come to live in it and may not want to leave, or at least want to come back and visit as often as you can.

The process for creating the town of Golgotha was a big part of how and why The Six-Gun Tarot is structured the way it is. Golgotha, itself, is a major character in the book and I wanted it to be a memorable place, unique, but also historically realistic. I also wanted it to reflect the mythological west many of us grew up with on TV and movies.

To that end, first I made a crude map of the town and the surrounding terrain. I tried to add features that relate to the long and very strange history of the land, even before the town sprung up there. I wanted Golgotha to have secrets and to hint at them at every turn. The map got adjusted as the writing went along, but it was invaluable to me in giving the feel of my characters moving through a real three-dimensional place with streets, and landmarks. I think that adds a lot to making the town seem real.

I studied a lot of material on the wilder western towns and on the skeletons of those boom towns, the ghost towns. Till and Jordan’s Great Ghost Towns of the West, and Davis’ The American Frontier, gave me lots of ideas and some grounding to build my world.

Most of the fantastical parts of the geography grew up out of the characters’ back stories. To the naked eye, Golgotha seems like a pretty normal town, circa mid-to late 1800’s. It’s actually a bit more grown up than most towns its size (I figured a population of about 610 people or so—at least that was what my map declared. That number goes up and down a lot depending on what trouble is blowing through town at any given time.). Elements like Johnny Town, the squatter camp on Argent Mountain, the fine homes on Rose Hill and the Mormon temple are all amalgams of larger communities, but I wanted them all in Golgotha, so there they are.

One last bit of social architecture I settled on when designing Golgotha was the premise that the town attracts the best and worse people in the world, and that all of them are weird as hell. I wanted the majority of the town’s population to have odd stuff in their back stories. I finally decided that while not everyone in town is WTF-freakish, a lot are, and even the ones that aren’t have developed a certain resistance to all the insane stuff that goes on in town.

I hope, if I get the opportunity to write more Golgotha books, to tell the stories of some of the places in town touched on in The Six-Gun Tarot, like the cave dwellings, the old well and the creepy old cemetery at the edge of town.

I was actually kind of surprised that Six-Gun was being considered a part of the Steampunk aesthetic. It’s very cool, but it was kind of a pleasant surprise. Looking back now, the character of Clay Turlough would fit into the mold of a Steampunk mad scientist, pretty easy. I wanted a character, in Clay, who was brilliant, alienated and both creepy and tragic. When I began to build the story arc for Auggie, Gerta, Gillian and Clay, It seemed natural to tip my hat to Shelley’s Frankenstein. I decided to make Clay a fan, and it wasn’t until the first few bits of reporting talking about Six-Gun did I realize, “yeah, it does have Steampunk in it.”

The sequel to Six-Gun I’m working on now includes a continuation of Clay’s story and has even more elements that are very, um…Shelley-esque, very Steampunk.

I write what I think is cool and I go for the “neat-o” factor a lot. I try really hard to avoid being pinned in one genre; I think it’s more fun to mix and match- like when you were a kid and you’d put some of all the different sodas into your cup from the fountain at the 7-11 (we called them “suicides” and they were a rite of courage and independence- especially when you parents would look at you like you were crazy!) Sometimes it tasted great, and sometime it was swill. I’m hoping folks are enjoying the genre mash-up in The Six-Gun Tarot.

Thanks so much for your interest in my book and having me as a guest. I hope we can talk again very soon. I enjoy letters and comments and you can email me at sixguntarot@gmail.com , or reach me through my website: www.sixguntarot.com , or my facebook pages: The Six-Gun Tarot, or Author R S Belcher.

Take care,

Rod

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Tor; Hardcover; 368 pages; January 22, 2013.

About The Six Gun Tarot:   Nevada, 1869: Beyond the pitiless 40-Mile Desert lies Golgotha, a cattle town that hides more than its share of unnatural secrets. The sheriff bears the mark of the noose around his neck; some say he is a dead man whose time has not yet come. His half-human deputy is kin to coyotes. The mayor guards a hoard of mythical treasures. A banker’s wife belongs to a secret order of assassins. And a shady saloon owner, whose fingers are in everyone’s business, may know more about the town’s true origins than he’s letting on.

A haven for the blessed and the damned, Golgotha has known many strange events, but nothing like the primordial darkness stirring in the abandoned silver mine overlooking the town. Bleeding midnight, an ancient evil is spilling into the world, and unless the sheriff and his posse can saddle up in time, Golgotha will have seen its last dawn…and so will all of Creation.

About the author Rod Belcher:   He won the grand prize in the Strange New Worlds SF-writing contest. This is his first novel.

Author’s photo copyright by David Hungate at Dominion Images

Review by John: AN UNMARKED GRAVE ~ by Charles Todd

A review written by John for (An Unmarked Grave: A Bess Crawford Mystery ~ by Charles Todd)

John’s quick take:

A murder mystery whodunit featuring a plucky nurse-cum-detective, set in England and the battlefields of France during the First World War.

John’s description:  Bess Crawford is a frontline nurse, serving in aid stations just behind the trenches during the grim battles of the First World War. She is also the daughter of a highly respected and well-connected Army Colonel – hers is a family that is steeped in military history and traditions.

It is early in 1918 and to add to the horror of war, the Spanish influenza epidemic is sweeping through the region, leaving behind a trail of destruction and death. Bess and her colleagues, already exhausted and close to breaking point, now have to deal with a huge influx of sick and dying soldiers that have been struck down by the disease.

Then in the midst of the madness, the body of an officer is discovered among the piles of dead waiting to be buried in mass graves; but he has been neither shot nor infected by the contagion – he appears to have been murdered. But before Bess can report the murder, she too falls sick and for a long time her life hangs by a thread. When she finally recovers, she discovers that the only other witness to the murdered officer’s body has reportedly committed suicide and the officer’s wife has received official notification that he died in battle. Bess is determined to seek justice, but with no body, no other witnesses and no-one but her aware that a crime has been committed, how can she identify and find the murderer among the killing fields of the Western Front? As she sets out to solve the mystery, she soon becomes a target for the unknown killer.

John’s thoughts:  This is definitely a book for whodunit fans, which is a category I don’t normally fall into, but the unusual setting drew me to the book. My grandfathers both served in the First World War, and like many whose close relatives experienced it I am fascinated (and absolutely horrified) by the madness of this terrible war. Needless to say anything set during that period has a good chance of grabbing my attention. And it did, because Todd does a good job of capturing some of the circumstances and atmosphere and conveying what it was like for people who were caught up in the war. So far so good.

Where I struggled a bit was with the storyline and the main character – it just didn’t feel realistic or authentic. The notion of an upper-class woman serving as a nurse on the frontline, able to frequently travel to England and back, fighting off attackers and roving the Western Front trying to solve mysterious murders just didn’t ring true for me. But perhaps that is the point and that An Unmarked Grave is intended as a piece of escapism. If that is your preference and you enjoy stories about amateur sleuths trying to solve heinous crimes, then this one is for you. The setting is unusual and certainly makes for a dramatic backdrop. So personally I’d rate this book three stars; it was an entertaining book and an enjoyable read that I’m sure many fans of the murder mystery genre will rate more highly.

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1/2/2013; Trade PB; Harper Collins.

This book review is included in and part of a book tour please link to our tour host - TLC’s site via the badge.

For more information about the two authors who combine to make Charles Todd link to the authors' website and their Facebook page. You can also take a look at the book trailer if you are so inclined.

For more reviews on this particular book here's TLC’s tour schedule for An Unmarked Grave.

Reviewed by John: THE KASSA GAMBIT by M.C. Planck

A review written by John D. for  (The Kassa Gambit ~ by M. C. Planck)

John’s quick take:

A couple of paranoid loners find themselves in a web of conspiracy in this science fiction thriller.

John’s description:  It’s far into the future and humanity has spread itself wide across the universe, seeking out new worlds that can be colonized and exploited for natural resources. In all this time and space, there has been no sign that another sentient species exist. It seems that humans are all alone in the universe.

Then Prudence Falling, a space trader in charge of a freighter and a ragtag crew, alights on Kassa, a farming planet that has been brutally attacked by secret assailants and whose population has been mostly slaughtered. She is soon joined by Kyle Daspar, a policeman who has been put in charge of a military patrol vessel. The space traders live on the edge of the law and naturally distrust everyone so she is suspicious of Daspar. Unbeknown to her Daspar is an undercover agent secretly acting against the powerful League for whom he supposedly works. He has been undercover so long that he is no longer sure who he can trust. The two are attracted to each other but their suspicious minds creates a wall of tension between them. 

While trying to help the survivors on Kassa, Falling and Daspar make a shocking discovery - an alien spaceship that crashed during the attack. It is clear that they were not supposed to find the alien craft and yet Daspar had been tipped off in advance that something on the planet needed investigation. They smell big trouble and despite their natural caution soon find themselves entangled in a complex conspiracy where nothing is as it seems. With their lives in constant danger and an alien invasion seemingly imminent, the two loners are eventually drawn to each other.

John’s thoughts:  I liked the story Planck has concocted. It’s a good mixture of science fiction, political thriller, and adventure romance. The two central characters are nicely developed and you have that feeling that they will end up together despite the difficulties, which adds a bit of spice to the mix. Also the future that Planck creates is interesting and has been well thought out, and is sufficiently different from the many other sci-fi novels that I’ve read recently – which helped to draw me in and keep me reading. It’s definitely a fast-paced book that can be breezed through quickly, and the plot also has enough twists to keep the reader guessing.

I like the two main characters and found myself rooting for them, though the relationship that develops between them isn’t the strongest part of the novel - it somehow felt a bit thin and unconvincing and not particularly lifelike. The other problem for me was the ending of the story; it was rather rushed and an awful lot was crammed into the final few pages. But beyond that this was a fun and interesting read and I’d rate the book 3.5 stars. It’s a fine first novel that will move me to look out for more work by Planck. If you like your science fiction mixed up with a bit of political conspiracy and a slight romantic element,  then this is definitely one for you.

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We have an interview with this debut author – M. C. Planck. It’s short-n-sweet, and intriguing.

Tor Books; 1/8/2013; 288 pages

About M. C. Planck:  After a nearly-transient childhood, Micheal hitchhiked across the country and ran out of money in Arizona. So he stayed there for thirty years, raising dogs, getting a degree in Philosophy, and founding a scientific instrument company. Having read virtually everything by the old Masters of SF&F, he decided he was ready to write. A decade later, with a little help from the Critters online critique group, he was actually ready. He was relieved to find that writing novels is easier than writing software, as a single punctuation error won't cause your audience to explode and die. When he ran out of dogs, he moved to Australia to raise his daughter with her cousins. Now he is a father, author, and immigrant. Fitzgerald was wrong. There are second acts to some American lives, even if they start in other countries.  http://mcplanck.com/   and  http://mcplanck.blogspot.com/

Giveaways: THE SIX GUN TAROT and UNTIMED ~ for the Back to the Future Hop

Two books up for giveaway are:

1. The Six Gun Tarot ~ has just been released by Tor.
2. And a signed copy of ~ Untimed.

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THE SIX GUN TAROT ~ by R.S. Belcher

A just released historical fantasy (with a steampunk twist) in a western setting - that I have a feeling is a “new adult” novel which means it works for both young adults and adults .

Author’s Blurb:     Nevada, 1869: Beyond the pitiless 40-Mile Desert lies Golgotha, a cattle town that hides more than its share of unnatural secrets. The sheriff bears the mark of the noose around his neck; some say he is a dead man whose time has not yet come. His half-human deputy is kin to coyotes. The mayor guards a hoard of mythical treasures. A banker’s wife belongs to a secret order of assassins. And a shady saloon owner, whose fingers are in everyone’s business, may know more about the town’s true origins than he’s letting on.

A haven for the blessed and the damned, Golgotha has known many strange events, but nothing like the primordial darkness stirring in the abandoned silver mine overlooking the town. Bleeding midnight, an ancient evil is spilling into the world, and unless the sheriff and his posse can saddle up in time, Golgotha will have seen its last dawn…and so will all of Creation.

Tor Books; 1/22/2013; Hardcover; 368 pages.

UNTIMED ~  by Andy Gavin

This is a young adult time travel/steampunk novel with a terrific cover that is receiving great reviews from trusted resources.

Author’s Blurb:     Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own mother can’t remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously. Still, this isn’t all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there’s this girl… Yvaine… another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine’s got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history — like accidentally let the founding father be killed — they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.

http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/ Paperback, 325 pages; December 17th 2012; Mascherato.

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Welcome to the ~ Back to the Future: A Giveaway Hop Across Time from January 22nd to 28th!

This hop features books in the past and future. Anything dealing with time-travel to historical times including Historical Novels and Futuristic novels.

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