Review: “The Overtaking” by Victorine E. Lieske (B+)

“If your friends and family were disappearing in droves, wouldn’t you worry? Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to stop it?”
Sympathy filled her eyes. “Of course I would.” She lowered her voice. “Unless…I understood the whole picture.”
–The Overtaking (The Overtaking Series) By Victorine E. Lieske (p. 16).

The people of the planet Maslonia are being kidnapped by the thousands, having their memories, powers, and their planet stolen from them. And the young foot soldiers of the Dyken’s believe they are doing it for their own good. This is the premise for the Sci-Fi/Romance “The Overtaking” by New York Times Bestselling author, Victorine Lieske.

Title and Cover:
The title for this book is interesting and the cover is beautiful, but considering this is a book by an already bestselling Self-Published author this makes sense. Many Self-Published authors could learn a thing or two from her on how to market a book.

Plot: B (A- for a Romance)
Why the distinction? Ms. Lieske bestseller is a Romance/Thriller. Her talent for Romance does come through clearly in “The Overtaking,” but there are choices she makes which a more experienced Sci Fi author wouldn’t. From the first chapter Lieske gives away a lot of what is going on removing chances of intrigue and leaving the first chapter a bit dry and rushed. The story doesn’t really begin until chapter two, but because of the opening chapter the reader knows almost too much. However, if the story is enjoyed more as a Romance than a Sci Fi story, the knowledge the reader learns early on makes the scenes between the two love interests more compelling.

The ending also seems to work better in the plot of a pure Romance novel than a Sci Fi novel. The conflict between the two lovers ends in a satisfying way. The main plot however seems to just stop, leaving the heroes to solve all of their problems in another book.

So if you are looking for pure Sci Fi, you may find the plot a bit lackluster. If you pick up this book for a Romance with a hint of Sci Fi Flavoring, you will not be disappointed.

Characters: B+
Lieske does have a talent for making her lead characters feel like real people, which is important in a Romance.

Shayne Bartlet is a powerful telepath, and all around nice guy. He is handsome, resourceful, heroic, and everything you want in a romantic leading man. He comes home to discover his mother and much of the population of his planet has gone missing. Motivated by his loss, he joins with the Council working to stop the abductions. However, by the end of chapter one he is captured.

Chapter Two begins with Shayne’s memory wiped and beginning his new life, unaware that he is a telepath or a prisoner.

As the story progresses he learns of his abilities and situation, taking it all in stride and cleverly trying to thwart his captors and regain his freedom.

He isn’t too angry with all of his captors however, because he is falling in love with one of them.

Danielle Darmok came to Maslonia intending to save the people of this supposed war torn planet from themselves. When she captures Shayne, in chapter one, she is almost instantly attracted. In chapter two she is assigned to watch over his people’s integration into their new home. As she interacts with Shayne, her attraction blossoms into love. But can their love work when everything between them, including Shayne’s life, is a lie?

Danielle is strong, kind, smart, and attractive, basicly everything you want in a romantic leading lady. My only issue with her is how easily she and her fellow Dyken soldiers are fooled by the true villains of the piece.

The romance between Shayne and Danielle is entertaining and touching. Coming from someone who doesn’t normally read Romance, that is a high compliment.

The other characters sadly, do not get the same focus as Shayne and Danielle. I think part of the problem is how the point of view jumps around between the other characters. None of them receive the same focus that the too leads receive, which makes sense for a Romance, but leaves the secondary characters a bit flat. Lieske does try to present poignant scenes for these other characters, but they don’t work as well. Perhaps if some of these characters had been combined and focused on more they would have worked better. The most glaring example of this problem is found in the ending. The underdeveloped villain has a confrontation with a secondary character. It is a scene important to the plot but I had a hard time feeling invested in it.

World Building/Setting: A
Lieske does an excellent job of putting the reader into the story. The technology is well defined without the need of techno-babble. Everything that seems scientifically questionable in earlier chapters is explained well, but not overbearingly, in later chapters. This element of Sci-Fi Lieske got right.

Theme: B-
The themes are subtle, maybe even a bit too subtle. The ideas of “forgiveness,” “don’t be fooled by appearances,” and “those you fight may not really be as bad as you think” are all there, but only lightly. This isn’t thought provoking Sci-Fi, but it doesn’t really need to be.

Grammar/Style/Word Usage: A
You would hope a bestselling author’s second book would be well edited.

Overall: B+
I did enjoy “The Overtaking.” If Lieske does publish sequels, I do hope she sharpens up the plot and develops the secondary characters a bit more. Nonetheless if you are looking for a compelling Sci-Fi/Romance, you won’t be disappointed.

“The Overtaking” is Available at:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Overtaking-Series-ebook/dp/B0050P4ZEC

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overtaking-victorine-lieske/1101186976?ean=2940012413246

And Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/89215

Some Changes

The schedule for reviews has changed. I was going to Review “The Rune that Binds” by Jonathan Goff. Instead I will be reviewing a book by bestselling author, Victorine E. Lieske, “The Overtaking”. It is another Sci Fi book, but it is a good one. Still, I need to get more Fantasy in the line up.

The current schedule from now through Feb is:

Nov 22nd  “The Overtaking” by Victorine E. Lieske

Nov 29th  Off for Thanksgiving weekend.

Dec 6th    “Immortal Reborn – Arianna’s Choice” by Natalie D. Wilson and Michael Drummond

Dec 13th   “CATALYST” by Adam Wolf

Dec 20th   “Small Town Witch” by Kristen S. Walker

Dec 27th- Jan 3rd Off.  Happy New Year.

Jan 10th    “Over Mount Fuji” by Joel Huan

Jan 17th    “Emeralds And Pearls” by C Spencer-Upton

Jan 24th    “The Key and the Broken Wing” By Jessabell Tales

Jan 31st    “Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc.” by PK Hrezo

Feb 7th     “Glimpse” by Steven Whibley

Feb 14th   “Stowaway to the stars” by Graham Keeler.

Feb 21th   “Spirit” by Lauren Ritz

Feb 28th   “The Hunter” by Luke William

Also, I’m changing the grading system. I’ve never had a blog before, so this is a learning experience for me. I want to present the books I’m reviewing as fairly as possible and I want my readers to know they can trust what I am telling them about the book. I also don’t want to overload you with information you do not need.

Therefore, I will no longer be grading the Cover, Title, or the Price and Availability of an ebook. I will still comment on the Cover and Title, but there will be no grade. I will only grade the books on content from now on. The rest of the reviews will not change.

If you have any suggestions on how I can improve Indie Epics, please leave a comment.

I’m looking forward to reviewing “The Overtaking” this Friday. The following week there will be no review because of Thanksgiving.  I might try to post something, but reviews will resume in December.

Thanks for reading.

Review: “Rex Rising” by Crystalla Thoma’s( A- )

Elei’s had a good life all things considered. Yes, he was possessed by the parasite Telmion, which made him meek, covered him in gray snakeskin marks, and nearly killed him. And yes, to save his life, he was given the parasite Cronion, which made him aggressive and changed the color of one of his eyes. But the two parasites found a balance within him and he had a good job working for Pelia, a woman who was more like a mother than employer to him.

Everything changed when Pelia was shot and killed.

Now the Gultur, an all female race possessed by the parasite Regina, are chasing after him. They believe he has something that could destroy their kind forever, a cure for Regina.

And they maybe right.

Crystalla Thoma’s “Rex Rising” is a thrilling tale in a Sci Fi Dystopian world.  It is my pleasure to review it for you.

Cover: A+
This cover is beautiful and it perfectly illustrates the main character, Elei, and the tell-marks of his parasites. I don’t think you could come up with a better cover for this book.

Title: A
Rex means king in latin, and Regina means queen. In this story a king is rising to bring down the queen. Besides being a perfect fit, the title is unique and eye-catching.

Plot: A-
The story is well paced and gives the reader the right amount of tension and conflict to keep them engaged. Even in the parts where the characters can take a breather, the reader is aware the Gulturs are always close and ready with guns and bombs to blow them to oblivion.

Characters: A
The story centers around the teenage boy, Elei. As you can infer from the opening, Elei already had a lot to deal with. The book opens in the middle of what has to be the worst night of his life. He’s on the run. He is bleeding, and his only hope is a torn piece of paper stuffed in his hand by Pelia just before she died. When pushed to this low point, Elei shows strength, resourcefulness, and a keen mind. He grabs the reader’s interest and does not let them go until the last page. Even the chapters away from his point of view still connect back to him.  Elei is a wonderful character to carry a book.

The only other Point of View character is Hera. She is a member of the Undercurrent, the resistance against the Gulturs’ rule. She seeks out Elei believing he knows where the cure for Regina is. Her motives at first seem more focused on her mission than helping the boy, but things change as she gets to know Elei. She comes across abrasive at first, nonetheless I enjoyed her parts. Her motives are realistic and as the story progresses you begin to empathize with her.

The paper Pelia hands Elei leads to the home of Kalaes Ster, an old friend of Pelia’s and former gang member. Having lost so many he tried to help in the past, Kalaes at first tries to send Elei off. But after hearing Elei’s story and a scolding from his girlfriend, Maera, Kalaes decides to help Elei, taking in one more stray and hoping this time something good comes out of it.

Soon all four are on the run for their lives from the Gulturs. They can never stay anywhere for long, because the Gulturs always find them. Leading to only one conclusion, one of them is a spy.

All the characters feel like real people. The conflicts between them are believable and poignant. I found I cared about all of the characters; even the one I thought was a traitor.

World building/Setting: B
The grade is not a criticism of the world. The World of the Seven Islands is fascinating.  Ms.Thoma also does a wonderful job of drawing the reader into the world. You feel the sweat on Elei’s back. Smell the different scents the parasites give off. See the dark and rotted avenues of the different towns.

The grade is for the way the world is introduced to the reader. The reader is tossed into the pool of this story and told to tread water without any instruction. Words and ideas are thrown at the reader, which aren’t explained until several chapters later and sometimes never in text at all. Oh, there is a glossary at the end of the book and links to several articles proving this isn’t just science fantasy, but much of this information isn’t in text.

Is that a serious issue? No. It doesn’t affect the reader’s enjoyment of the book as long as he or she is paying attention. There is a big learning curve at the beginning of this book that makes some elements of the world very hard to visualize at first.

Theme: A
Loyalty and betrayal. Doing what is right even if it is not easy. Sometimes what is right isn’t clear. Prejudice against people who are ill. What if the cure is worse than the illness? Totalitarianism. Classism. Sexism, though for a nice change of pace it’s the men who are being dominated, however, it’s not overdone like in  some women controlling men stories. It is subtle and believable.

There are many thought provoking ideas for your mind to chew on once the book is finished.

Grammar/Word Usage/Style: A-
The minus attached to my grade is because the characters like to use the word “piss” a lot. I have nothing against the word, or swearing in fiction in general, but there are other cuss words. They even use a few others now and then. Sadly, there was so much talk of gods pissing, the situation pissing, or some emotion connected to pissing, that I needed to go to the bathroom. They do live on islands and much of the story focuses on water, so maybe that is the reason for all the urination talk. Nonetheless, it felt overdone; therefore I needed to point it out.

Overall: A-
Rex Rising is a thrilling and compelling story that deserves a place in your collection. And for a limited time the book is free on both Kindle and Nook. So go get your copy today.

Kindle link: http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Eleis-Chronicles-Chrystalla-Thoma-ebook/dp/B005GZPOQE

Nook Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rex-rising-chrystalla-thoma/1105098819

Related articles

• Rex Rising Book Tour (ipimpmyauthors.wordpress.com)

Review: “Serving Time” by Nadine Ducca ( A- )

Humans took delight in so many petty joys. If only they knew how haphazardly the universe functioned.
–The Goddess, Time, Serving Time, Ch. 8, Paragraph 4.

God and his angels have skipped out on the universe, leaving the Goddess Time and demons to run everything. This is the backdrop of the space odyssey “Serving Time” By Nadine Ducca.

“Serving Time” is a mix of Sci Fi and Fantasy, with a sprinkling of Philosophy and a dash of Dark Comedy. Does this Science Fantasy work? Let’s take a look.

Cover: B+
I’m judging only the 2nd edition’s cover. The cover is a decent Sci Fi cover, but I’m not sure if it is the best cover to represent the story. The woman in the background, I assume, is the Goddess Time. She looks nothing like she is described in the book, nor does she appear to be the supreme master of the universe. The ship, though eye-catching, is generic and doesn’t look like any vehicle described in the book. It’s a good cover, but it could be better.

Title: A
The Title is distinctive. I looked on various searches and if this book was not listed first, it was listed near the top. I don’t think a marketing team would have suggested anything better. Besides, the title fits the book perfectly.

On to content.

Plot: B+
For the most part the book stays on course and is engaging, but it does take some time to get going. Part of the reason for this is all the world building and character introductions in the early chapters of the book. While necessary and enjoyable, the early chapters could have been tightened to flow a bit better with the rest of the story.

Don’t let the slower pace in the early chapters dissuade you from picking this book up. The set up and characters are interesting enough that you might not even notice the slower pace.

Once the plot does get going, the story is a page turner making you wonder how the main characters will escape. Ducca is delightfully merciless to her characters. She does not let up until the end.

The one final issue is the story ends on a cliffhanger. Believe it or not, it fits the story perfectly, yet it would have been nice to have a more complete ending. Still, this is book one of “The Timemakers Trilogy” so that ending will come in time.

Characters: A

The Characters are the gems of this book. Watching them go through their trials is what makes it all worth the read.

The story centers around the Cross brothers: Tristan and Eneld. They were reborn together for the purpose of saving Tristan’s immortal soul. The book begins with Tristan as a reluctant assassin with lots of blood on his hands. Yeah, the saving of Tristan’s soul thing isn’t working out too well. Which is really bad because, it turns out, this life is his soul’s last chance for redemption. At least, when he gets back with his brother he is no longer an assassin. Instead he’s a THC brownie delivery boy.

Eneld chose to be Stan’s brother to help get him on the right path in this life. When Stan find’s him again he is a drug addict and womanizer. And he’s supposed to be the good one.

No wonder Tristan is going to hell.

The brothers are a mess but they are a fun mess to read about. I found myself caring a great deal for this murderer turned space travelling drug dealer and his druggie, engineer brother. Things take a turn for the worse when Tristan decides it’s time to turn over a new leaf and leave the drug foods business. His company disagrees and implants a brainwashing chip in his head, making him love his company and his spaceship. From that point on it becomes a race to get Tristan back to Earth to save his life, mind, and soul.

And it only gets worse from there.

On their journey, they are watched over by the master of the Universe, the Goddess Time herself. Time seems to blame Tristan’s faults on herself and wishes for his redemption. A rare flaw in her otherwise perfectly inflated ego. But she did take over running the universe when God left, so she is allowed her hubris.

Time sends out her servant Robert Westbook, the Demon Master and Necromancer, to find the brothers and bring them to her. Robert is jealous of Time’s interest in Tristan and is greedy for power. He came into Time’s service by offering her cream to smooth out her wrinkles, preventing spacefaring races from abusing them. In exchange she gave Robert one of her hairs, which he swallowed making him practically immortal.

The interaction between Time and Robert is wonderful and shows how messed up the Universe really is.

The book features: demons, cyborgs, androids, a rat-brain powered robot, crazy intergalactic colonists, wacky scientists, and Lucifer(Lucy) himself. All of them are trying their best, or worst, in a universe that is off the rails.

Which leads us to…

World building/Setting: A-

As the opening quote suggests the Universe is a mess. The God, Logos, set up the forge to make all mortal beings and gave all the true selves(souls) guardian keepers (angels) to guide them. He then made demons to devour all the faulty true selves and the devil to control the demons. After that he made the goddesses of Time: Past, Present(the Goddess who is running the universe), and Future. After he created this perfect balance, for no reason, he and the guardians left, leaving Time, the Devil, and his demons holding the bag.

The setting itself could make an interesting story and I hope later books will go into more depth about the history of the Universe. Fortunately, not only is the setting of the story clear, it weaved into the narrative naturally not overwhelming the reader. This setting enhances the plot and heightens the conflicts for all the characters.

I look forward to reading more about the Universe of this story.

Themes: A
This story gives a satirical look at life, God, time, religion, the universe, reincarnation, good and evil, fate, demons, space travel, space colonization, human relations, and many more topics you could find in any college philosophy or sociology class. All of these topics are laced delicately within the narrative allowing the reader to be entertained and yet to think over the topics presented. And even if the reader does not agree with the ideas suggested by the story, the thought experiment presented by the tale leaves the reader with a fulfilling experience.

Grammar/Style/Word usage: A
This is one of the best edited books I’ve read by a self-published author.

Price/Availability: A
At $2.99 this book is a bargain. It is available on Nook and Kindle.

Overall Grade: A-

This quirky Science Fantasy adventure is a joy to read. You will not regret adding this gem to your collection.

Related articles

• Serving Time (The Timemakers Trilogy) by Nadine Ducca (mytreeofknowledge.wordpress.com)
• Author Interview – Nadine Ducca (slamdunkbooks.wordpress.com)
• Serving Time (The Timemakers Trilogy) by Nadine Ducca (victoryinbooks.wordpress.com)

Review: Jessica Kaye’s “Rapunzel”, B-

It’s a tale we all know. Boy sees girl locked in a tower. Learns the only way to get to her is climb her braid. He climbs her hair. They fall in love. The old witch of a captor gets mad and says they will never see each other again. Then girl gets left in tower for two weeks and rescues herself by cutting her braid and climbing down her own hair to avoid starvation.

And that’s only the first few chapters.

   Jessica Kaye’s “Rapunzel” isn’t a completely faithful retelling. However, it is an interesting take on the classic story. But is it worth the $2.99 it currently costs at the Kindle store.

First I will grade the elements of the book and then give my overall grade.

Cover: C+
The cover does illustrate the content perfectly, but it looks like cheaply made clip art. If Ms. Kaye can afford it, paying an artist to draw a more eye-catching image would be helpful for the next edition.

Title: B-
Maybe a marketing department at a publisher could not have come up with a better title, but when I looked up the book on Kindle dozens of Rapunzels popped up. So the title doesn’t make the book standout.

Okay, I’ll stop judging the book by its cover.

Plot: B-
The first few chapters follow the classic tale. I found them the hardest to get through; however, this book is intended for young girls. Twelve-year-old girls might enjoy the budding romance between Rapunzel and Brendan more than I did. About a fifth way into the book, Rapunzel leaves the tower and the story starts to pick up. The pacing is decent until the end when it jumps to breakneck speeds. Thrilling though the end maybe, it comes out of nowhere and stops abruptly. Perhaps foreshadowing and expanding the end a bit would have resolved this issue. Overall the plot isn’t bad, but Ms. Kaye does need to practice pacing a bit more.

Characters: C
Sadly, the characters are the weakest element of the story.

All of the characters are bland, except Granny Aunt, who I found disturbing.

Let’s start with the narrator and main character Rapunzel. Rapunzel is a sweet girl, who loves sewing, hair care, and reading. She forgives anyone who harmed her, until the end. She is naïve, which makes sense since she has been trapped in a tower for most of her life. Still some of her choices are questionable. She has been taught her whole life that men are evil, but when Brendan climbs the tower and enters her room she doesn’t scream and freak out. She thinks he’s cute and has a nice chat with him. I would have liked to see a bit more of a reaction from her.

Until the end she has very little conflict with anyone. As I mentioned, she gets along great with Brendan from the moment she meets him. When she realizes her Granny Aunt was wrong for locking her up most of her life, she forgives her and never has any resentment. When she escapes her tower, she makes friends quickly and makes her way up through the levels of society, from peasant to lady-in-waiting for a princess, with few problems. There are some characters in brief scenes that turn their noses up in disapproval, but they cause Rapunzel no problems and are soon forgotten.

Another serious issue is Rapunzel’s voice. The story is told in first person point of view. Therefore Rapunzel tells us her story in her own words. In the early chapters of the book, Rapunzel doesn’t have much of a personality. Fortunately, as the book goes along Rapunzel does finally discover a voice, still bland but distinctive. I’m not certain if Rapunzel’s isolated childhood or Ms. Kaye’s lack of knowledge about Rapunzel is the cause of the vague voice of the early chapters. Either way, it would have been nice if the personality of the later chapters had been applied to the earlier chapters as well.

Brendan is a noble hero and all around nice guy. I’m glad he wasn’t the focus of the story, partly because of the theme of the book, and partly because he wasn’t very interesting either. If you have ever watched any of the old Disney movies, think of the personalities of the princes in those movies and you will know what Brendan is like. Having Brendan tell the reader exposition about his family and background in chapter two, does not give him a personality. Jessica Kaye will be publishing a sequel all about where Brendan was during Rapunzel’s story. Hopefully, he will be more engaging in his own book.

Rapunzel has several friends she meets throughout the story who help her along the way. Most of them seem to meld together, all of them squealing with glee at various successes. None of them particularly stand out, but their interaction with Rapunzel is enjoyable. I can see young teenage girls reading this story and imagining themselves hanging out with Rapunzel and friends as they search for the missing Brendan.

The only character I didn’t like was Rapunzel’s guardian/jailor Granny Aunt. Unlike the traditional story, Rapunzel’s captor is not a witch. Instead she is the main character’s great aunt, who took her in when her parents died. I think an attempt was made for the reader to relate and sympathize with the old bat. Perhaps this works for other readers, but not for me. Granny Aunt decided to lock her great-niece in a tower because a person commented that Rapunzel would attract boys one day. Well Granny Aunt couldn’t have that because all men are evil. Granny Aunt feels all men are evil because… her sister got dumped once… maybe? Her motivation isn’t ever really explained. If Granny Aunt truly despised all men, then why didn’t she live in the tower with Rapunzel?

However, that isn’t the reason I disliked the character. So after Granny Aunt shoos Brendan off and tells Rapunzel to never let him up again, she gets sick and leaves Rapunzel trapped in the tower until her niece must save herself. Why didn’t she tell anyone, “My niece is trapped in the woods and running low on food. Could you send her food or perhaps save her?”

And then when Rapunzel comes to Granny Aunt’s death bed, is her Granny Aunt happy to see her alive, well, and with her again? Nope. She flips out and yells at her. Then the next day after smiling at Rapunzel once, never telling her why she imprisoned her most of her life, she dies. I would have been more satisfied with a witch.

World building/Setting: B
Ms. Kaye does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the story. I was in the tower with Rapunzel, in the forest with her, and walking beside her all during her journey from the town to the palace.

The only had an issue with the magic of the story. Now, it’s possible as you read through this story you will wonder where the magic I speak of is. Rapunzel’s captor is not a witch and no one else in the story seems to have magical powers. Oh, Rapunzel does. Rapunzel has magic hair. Not only does she have enough hair to provide a climbing rope, something that it would realistically take a normal woman 178 years to grow. Not only has her Granny Aunt sold enough of Rapunzel’s extra hair over the years to supply the entire royal court with wigs. After Rapunzel hacks her hair short, she is still able to grow it into a long train of hair within months. This magic is never explained. Now one could argue this is a book for young girls. Who cares? Fair enough, but I think it would have been nice to know how Rapunzel’s hair developed this power.

Theme: B
Don’t wait for someone to save you. Save yourself and make something of yourself. I think this is a good lesson for young girls. The theme is the very reason I have recommended this book to my 9-year-old niece.

Grammar/Style/Word Usage: B-
This book was edited, but even still perhaps one more proofread would have caught a few mistakes here and there.

Price/Availability: C+
The book is worth the cost, but it is only available at Amazon on the Kindle or in print. (This grade does not affect the overall grade.)

Overall Grade: B-
Not bad for a first book. If you have a girl in your home, aged 8 to 12, I recommend giving her this book. She’ll enjoy it.