Author: cherylmahoney

I'm a book review blogger and writer. I have published four novels, The Wanderers; The Storyteller and Her Sisters; and The People the Fairies Forget; and The Lioness and the Spellspinners. All can be found on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. In my day job, I'm a Marketing Specialist. Find me on Twitter (@MarvelousTales) and GoodReads (MarvelousTales).

Book Review: Protector of the Refugee Planet

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction1 Comment

https://i0.wp.com/www.dennismahoneystorycrafter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/front-196x300.pngWriting seems to run in my family, with a few different storytelling (or writing) relatives.  And today I’m very happy to review Protector of the Refugee Planet by Dennis Mahoney.  It’s a little hard to claim this is an unbiased review, since that’s my dad! 🙂

Protector is a sci fi adventure set in the fairly distant future, centering around Steven, a member of the Order of Protectors.  After breaking up a drug ring goes bad and Steven accidentally kills the drug lord, he begins having hallucinations (or visions?) of the Order’s founder, D. F. Nathaniel, who is not at all pleased that Steven broke the Order’s strict rule against taking a life.  It doesn’t make things easier when Steven develops a crush on his assigned psychiatrist, Sheera, someone he is absolutely forbidden to date.  Both problems pursue him to Pitcairn, an edge of the civilized galaxy world where Steven is sent to stop a harpy-like alien who’s been on a rampage–but he has to do it without killing him.  Or breaking the code against romancing Sheera.

This is a fun sci fi romp in an old style–think Heinlein at his more innocent.  The protagonists are young/new adults, and this would be a good one for young adult readers too.  Even killing a drug lord doesn’t get too violent, and there’s only a slight amount of romance. Continue reading “Book Review: Protector of the Refugee Planet” →

Favorites Friday: Chosen Ones

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday1 Comment

I recently finished NaNoWriMo and working on a novel about the Chosen One, fated to defeat great evil in an ancient prophecy.  Well, actually, it’s about his very smart best friend who gets a bit overlooked.  Playing with the tropes?  Oh, definitely!  So I thought it would be fun to look at a few other stories about Chosen Ones…

1) Harry Potter series by JK Rowling – This is, of course, the juggernaut, the one that, for this time period at least, defines all the others.  I like Harry Potter a lot though I’ve never been one of the really dedicated fans.  And I like Harry the individual reasonably well, although…how great is Hermione???  I reread these not long ago, and my experience reading Harry Potter as an adult was mostly that this whole fight against Voldemort would have been over much sooner if Hermione had been allowed to take the lead.  Inspiration for my recent novel draft?  Oh, definitely!

2) Wizard’s Hall by Jane Yolen – Eerily similar to Harry Potter in many ways, though only one, much shorter and also simpler book.  I do especially like Henry in this one, and while he has a smart female friend, he carries his own load in defeating the big bad villain.

3) Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier – A different style of fantasy from all the others here (not a boarding school, for instance), this is a really interesting story of prophecies and people who believe in them, with (at the risk of a spoiler) a very nice twist besides.  And a female lead, incidentally!

4) Carry On (Simon) by Rainbow Rowell – An interesting backstory here, because Rowell wrote Fangirl, where the lead character Cath is writing a fanfiction novel called Carry On, Simon about a (I assume!) Harry Potter-inspired Chosen One character from his own (fictional) series.  And then Rowell wrote Carry On about said-character, which is sort of Cath’s novel, but not…  Anyway, with or without said-backstory, it’s a fun adventure that, not unlike mine, is deliberately playing with some tropes of fantasy Chosen One stories.  Great fun.

5) Percy Jackson series + Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan – Chosen One fantasy with a mythological twist, Percy fits right in the mold with Harry and Henry, and Annabeth would probably be best friends with Hermione (if they didn’t turn into fierce competitors instead).  I like Percy–and I love Annabeth–and getting some parts from her point of view is one reason I actually like the second series better.  Riordan is funny and clever and rarely have I seen a Chosen One story where it was SO clear that Percy’s apparent weaknesses turn into his strengths.  As happens in good kid fantasy, of course.

That’s a handful, but there must be many more!  Do you have a favorite Chosen One of literature?

Book Review: Read My Mind

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews1 Comment

Read My Mind by [Haworth, Kelly]During NaNo, when I was reading but not reviewing, I read and thoroughly enjoyed Read My Mind by Kelly Haworth.  A little outside my usual genres, it’s a paranormal LGBTQ romance, the first in a series.  The characters and the world-building are wonderful.  Full disclosure, Kelly is a friend of mine, but that’s not why I liked the book!

Set in an alternate Earth, Kelly’s world features a pantheon of gods who have gifted humans (some of them) with a variety of magical abilities, like healing or telekinesis.  The story centers around Scott and Nick, incoming freshmen at the University of Frannesburg (think alternate San Francisco).  Scott is devoutly religious, while Nick, a telekinetic, is much more interested in the pop culture, comic book and action figure version of the gods.  The two begin sparking while negotiating exploring each other’s different experiences of the gods.  When Scott unexpectedly develops telepathy, it creates rifts in his family, while Nick struggles with grieving his mother and dealing with a distant relationship with his father–all problems that interfere with their growing romance.

I loved the world-building in here.  I’m fascinated by Kelly’s created religion, and I love the way it’s involved in the plot and the characters’ lives.  Although this is the first published in the series, Kelly actually wrote another volume first, but decided this was a better introduction and I think that was a great choice.  Because Scott and Nick are each learning from the other about different aspects of the gods, the reader gets to learn too in an organic way.  I also love the way they handle learning from each other–though it seems like an obvious conflict, they approach each other with mutual respect and openness which was just lovely. Continue reading “Book Review: Read My Mind” →

Blog Hop: Christmas Focus?

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop2 Comments

book-blogger-hop-finalToday’s Book Blogger Hop question is: If you celebrate Christmas, do you feel the need to stop reading anything but Christmas-themed romances as the holiday season starts?

I sometimes read a Christmas book or two in December, but I definitely don’t stop reading other books, and I wouldn’t say my Christmas choices tend particularly towards romances either.  Admittedly, my very favorite is The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig, which is a Christmas-set romance.  But my other two favorites are not romances, or much like each other: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.

I actually do more Christmas movie-watching than reading, though.  Always The Charlie Brown Christmas, often It’s a Wonderful Life and recently whichever past Dr. Who Christmas Special strikes my fancy–and the new one, of course!

Do you read Christmas (or other holiday) books in December?  Does it become your main focus, or a kind of add-on?

 

Book Review: Believe Me by Eddie Izzard

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

I have had quite good luck listening to comedians read their autobiographies (because, after all, they know how to be funny!) and Eddie Izzard’s Believe Me audiobook was particularly good.  Izzard is a British comedian who does stand-up tours and is also rather famously a transvestite (or transgender…more on that later).

As autobiographies do, Izzard’s goes through his life from childhood (actually, he discusses his parents’ lives before he was born too), how he got into acting, how he began expressing himself as a transvestite and how his career progressed on up to the present.  And because he’s a comedian, it’s funny–probably much more so in the audiobook even than the printed version, because he digresses.  At length.  Frequently.  And it’s delightful.

Izzard’s comedy style is very conversational monologues, often telling stories with frequent asides and remarks.  (See my favorite, the Death Star Canteen.  Mature language warning.)  He often gives the impression of ad libbing at length.  I have no idea if it’s true on stage, but it definitely is in the audiobook, as he’ll frequently seize on something, discuss at length, remark, “that wasn’t in the book.  Okay, back to the book!”  The book also has footnotes, and he uses these as opportunities to expound and digress, often closing them with “end of endless footnote.”

You can’t expect the book to be too linear.  It’s not even structured very linearly (roughly chronological, at least as far as childhood, young adult, early career, later career), with a lot of circling around within rough time periods.  But as long as you’re willing to ride along with him, it’s very funny throughout. Continue reading “Book Review: Believe Me by Eddie Izzard” →