Onward Christiam Spacemen!! -- Or Not??!! -- Review of Joe Chiappetta's "Star Chosen"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

May 1, 2014

Onward Christian Spacemen!! --- Or Not??!!

A Review of

Joe Chiappetta Star Chosen ( Self-Published, 2010)

126 pp $10.00 ISBN: 978-0-9644323-2-1

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

The Christians in this humorous science fiction tale, like Christians in real life, argue about all kinds of things among themselves, the central one in the story being whether or not evangelists should be sent to space colonies. Christians now have the opportunity to do so since the (anti-religious) Earth government has rescinded its ban on Christians traveling into space. The funniest of the anti-space arguments claims that any Christians in space will be left behind when the Rapture occurs. This is but one indication that, although the technology of the age has greatly advanced (they now have excellent spaceships and Virtual Reality games), the spiritual and theological condition of Christians has clearly not improved!

Although this portrayal is realistic, the framework of the story -- that the government deleted all history and the Bible from computers -- is lacking in verisimilitude. The story does have value in showing us the importance of knowing the Bible and history. Of course, the story does not claim to be "hard" science fiction -- the author designates it as "opera", a term which has now come into widespread use for non-hard sf.

The rapid construction of the special missionary spaceship was fun to read about, BUT this is followed by a let down in what transpires once it goes forth on its missionary journey. I would recommend reading the book up until the spaceship's launch and then putting it down. Also, if a film is to be made, omit the book's ending and show a glamorous ending with the spaceship blasting off into space, like a cowboy riding off into the sunset, with a pious voice proclaiming "Go ye into all the Cosmos and preach the Gospel".

Information on this and other books by the author is available on his blog http://www.joechiappetta.blogspot.com./

A Look At The Third Sulexian Story Of Aubrey Williams -- Review of His "The Warrior"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com

 

April 25, 2014

 

A Look At The Third Sulexian Story of Aubrey Williams

 

A Review of

 

Aubrey Williams The Warrior [Book Three of the Sulexian Chronicles] (Publish America, 2013)

                290 pp $24.95 ISBN: 978-1-62772-714-3

 

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

 

     I found the warrior referred to in the title to be the most interesting of the people in this story. There are also other interesting characters and some striking, unusual factors in the plot, although most of it is standard fantasy material. The story is worth reading but it takes a lot of effort to do so. There is considerable improvement needed. As it is, like the first two books of this quadrilogy, there are way too many characters and too many different kinds of mages and gods and realms, and way too much jumping around from place to place and from time to time and way too many magic battles. The result is a story that is very hard to follow and to connect all the different places and characters and events into a coherent picture. The author should regard this as a rough draft to be replaced by a revised version which corrects the noted deficiencies. Then it will be a great story.

 

     Information on the author and his writing is available at https://aewilliams.sqsp.com/

 

A Wizard Learns The Trade of Magic and The Magic of Love -- Review of Wizard and the Blue Witch by P J Renfroe

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

April 14, 2014

A Wizard Learns The Trade of Magic and The Magic of Love

A Review of

P J Renfroe Wizard and the Blue Witch (Create Space, 2013)

170 pp $7.95 ISBN: 9781481040600

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz

In this delightful tale by Peggie DeWine, who writes under the pseudonymn of P J Renfroe, both the Wizard and the Blue Witch are the main "good guys", who are arrayed against "bad guys" both supernatural (such as vampires) and political (The One World Order). I suppose that the main reason the tale is so delightful is that both the Wizard and The Blue Witch are such delightful characters, with whom it is easy to empathize and care about. If, at the end of a story, you have a longing to read more about characters such as these, then you know you have read a good read. AND we learn at the very end of the story that this opportunity will be provided because a sequel has been written which will be published a few months hence -- Cajax Learns The Trade. I am looking forward to it.

And that is about all I wish to say here, except for the addendum that the author also spins good tales in other genres, e.g. her science fiction story Blue Snake Running and her mystery story The Black Valise, which I also recommend. Information on Renfroe and the other members of the Henry County, Georgia based Heritage Writers Group, which she founded, is available at http://heritagewritersga.weebly.com/.

Treks and Tricks Galore in Lee Duigon's New Bell Mountain Book, The Palace

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

April 9, 2014

Treks and Tricks Galore in Lee Duigon's New Bell Mountain Book, The Palace

A Review of

Lee Duigon The Palace[Book 6 of the Bell Mountain Series] (Storehouse Press, 2013)

321 pp $18.00 ISBN: 978-1-891375-64-4

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

If I were to sing, instead of write, this review, the first verse would be "whole lotta trekkin' goin' on" followed by a second verse "whole lotta trickin' goin' on". Read it and see if you can make up an appropriate third verse. The trekkin' is similar to the treks in the previous stories -- military movements, abductions, people sneaking around, and the like. What really stands out in this, most recent, Bell Mountain book is the two examples of "trickin". The bad guys keep talking about a Thunder King (who actually does not exist), who supposedly is ordering them to do certain things and send (in his name) various decrees. And the good King, Ryons, who actually does exist, has two people impersonating him, leading us to say, as they used to on that famous TV show from days of yore, "Will The Real King Ryons please stand up??!!".

As with the previous stories, this one moves along with fast-paced exciting action and dialogue and is suffused with various Biblical principles and analogies. And, as with the others, it is written for juvenile readers but is also interesting, perhaps even more so, for teen and adult readers. Jack and Ellayne are back, and it has now been two years since the beginning of their adventure and some time is spent by them looking back over them. The picture on the front cover shows Jack's most hair-raising experience in this tale, climbing up the outside wall of a palace to escape from the room in which he was being imprisoned.

I highly recommend this story as I have the previous ones. Information on the author is available on his website http://www.leeduigon.com./

A Very Unusual Boy--And--His--Dog Story -- Review of Bruce Cameron's "A Dog's Purpose"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com

 

April 2, 2014

 

A  Very  Unusual  Boy – And – His – Dog  Story

A Review of

W. Bruce Cameron  A Dog’s Purpose (NY:  Tom Doherty Assocs., 2010)

                                     314 pp    ISBN: 978-0-7653-2626-3

Reviewed by:  Forrest W. Schultz

     Stories of a boy and his dog have always been among my favorites.  One of the best of these I have ever read – and the most unusual – is Bruce Cameron’s.  The title is well chosen because this is a story of a dog telling us how he found his purpose in life.  Or, perhaps I should say, “lives”, because this dog had to live several lives before he learned and achieved his purpose.

     This story is the best one I have ever read showing how things look from a dog’s perspective.  As this dog narrates his experiences we find ourselves empathizing with him.  The experiences range all the way from the mundane to the poignant to the humorous.  The story is so captivating and so well written that it is difficult to put down.  I highly recommend it.