Know what I hate? Writing reviews. "You probably write for the wrong site, Dean," you point out smugly. Yes, I know. And lord knows I am not short on opinions, but for whatever reason, putting them down in review format (unless it's something like my recent review of Sing Me Your Scars, where I can just drool all over it and call that a review) is somehow hard for me.
"We just want your reading list, Dean," you continue with an annoyed tone. Well, FINE. But you also get a REVIEW list, because I am going to review each of these books in upcoming Adventures in Indie Publishing posts.
As one brief aside before I give you my list (do try to contain yourselves), when I was approached about writing AiIP for this site, we discussed making it a place to showcase the better indie books out there. Results were... disheartening. Books I found, books authors sent in were lacking in quality in nearly every area that counts- structure, writing, editing, art- all of it. Which is one of the reasons the AiIP archive is me ranting a lot. However, recently standards seem to be on the rise. Two of these books were sent in and they look good. I obviously haven't read them yet, but books that look appealing is a pleasant shift.
On to the list, in no particular order:
The Glass Falcon, E. Catherine Tobler:
An ancient Egyptian riddle.
The rumor of strange creatures moving beneath the streets of Paris.
Eleanor Folley knew she was in for a challenge when she accepted the task of cataloging Mistral's archive of purloined artifacts, but she never expected to discover an Egyptian mystery buried in the heart of Paris.
When Anubis and Horus task her with a quest, she cannot refuse the ancient gods, even if it means venturing into the cathedrals of bones that clutter the catacombs of Paris.
The Deep Link, Veronica Sicoe
Taryn's dream of forging an alliance with a powerful alien race has become a nightmare. She is linked to a ruthless warlord, an alien killing machine who could destroy humanity on a whim.
Taryn will go down fighting before she surrenders to the monster invading her mind.
But in her struggle to regain control, she finds her tormentor has irreversibly changed her, and she has in turn changed him. The link is turning her into a weapon, drawing strength from the world-slayer who had no regard for another's life—until now.
As death and destruction erupt around them, they carve their way out of their old lives with a single common purpose: unite their forces and change the future.
Emergence, Nick M Lloyd
On Earth, Jack Bullage survives a horrendous car accident.
Reporter Louise Harding has a score to settle with Jack. She investigates all the options, even the most unbelievable ones.
How did he get to be so lucky?
The Gadium have the answers. They know why Jack is special. It’s just evolution; he’s developing the ability to ‘ride the parallels.’
This could herald Earth's Emergence, a new era, an end to its isolation in the galaxy – but Gadium approval is not assured and Jack may be evolving too fast for their plans.
Tide of Shadows and Other Stories, Aidan Moher
(Other stories- EEEEEE- Ed.)
“A Night for Spirits and Snowflakes” is the story of a young man reliving the last moments of his fellow soldiers’ lives; “The Girl with Wings of Iron and Down” tells the tale of a broken family and a girl with mechanical wings; “Of Parnassus and Princes, Damsels and Dragons” introduces a typical prince, princess, and dragon—and a not-so-typical love triangle; “The Colour of the Sky on the Day the World Ended” follows a girl and her ghost dog as they search for a bright light in the darkness; and “Tide of Shadows” is about a soldier and his lover, a mother, and planetwide genocide.
-DESR
Dean is the author of the 3024AD series of science fiction stories (which should be on YOUR summer reading list). You can read his other ramblings and musings on a variety of topics (mostly writing) on his blog. When not holed up in his office 