Galactic Mandate: The Scream

Galactic Mandate: The Scream is a 2019 science fiction novel by M. R. Richardson. It was released in early 2019 and published by Room 10 Publishing. I received an advanced copy of the book in order to write this review.

The novel follows a clone named Mato. After being taken from the planet he calls home, he’s taken on a journey across the galaxy. During the course of his journey, he’s forced to decide between what’s best of his oppressed clone brethren and the greater good. When his journey leads him to encountering the sinister Scream, Mato and his allies must figure out what they want and what lengths they will go to to get it.

The first thing I want to say about this book is that the author clearly has a very expansive universe. This story doesn’t take place on just one planet, or even two. Mato seems to go from one end of the galaxy to the other over this rather short novel. There are a lot of big ideas that the author wanted to put on display. There are strong plot elements and a unique story to be found. Richardson’s ideas are very creative and even if plot elements are sci-fi staples, such as clones, he’s found a new way to tell a story about them. The action scenes were interesting and fast-paced and there were a few moments where the outcomes of battle scenes truly surprised me. The story had a lot of potential and a lot of great ideas it was working with.

The biggest problem with the novel, however, is its length. The e-book is under 175 pages, and there aren’t enough pages to fully do the story justice. Events seemed to rush by far too quickly. Mato goes from his home planet, to being in a sticky situation on a space station and there isn’t enough time for the author to elaborate on the context of certain scenes or the motivation of characters. Jay, one of the people traveling with Mato, has a history with a number of people they encounter over the length of the journey, but there’s barely information given explaining his history with them. Events don’t feel like they have any kind of weight because the reader isn’t given a chance to absorb them before the scene changes. I feel like I would’ve enjoyed this novel far more if it was a longer, giving the author time to do some important world-building and let the story breathe a little more. As it currently is now, I don’t know how I felt about the characters, because I barely got to know them. I can’t really say that I enjoyed the plot because it felt incredibly rushed. There were scenes that were important to the overall story that I didn’t realize were significant until the very end because they were treated the same as scenes meant to move the characters from A to B.

I finished the book with a lot of questions still unanswered. Questions that I thought I’d get at least a partial answer to, within the story. I wanted to know at least a little more about the clones and how they were created. I wanted a little more context regarding the past conflicts between the clones and the Acolytes. Names were being thrown around in the story, such as God-Wrath and Dark Reign, without an explanation of who or what they are and the reader is supposed to fill in the blanks with very little information. The author probably wanted the reader to have questions after the novel ended, but in my opinion, I had too many questions when I was done.  The story felt a bit incomplete as a result.

Galactic Mandate: The Scream was underwhelming to me. There was a lot of potential in the story and the author’s ideas, but there weren’t enough pages to do it justice. Scenes felt rushed, some felt like they were thrown in. Important moments weren’t given enough attention. I do feel like, if given a longer page count to work with, the author could’ve written an amazing novel. I hope M. R. Richardson’s next novel is given the length it deserves.

Rating: 1.9 Stars

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In Defense of the DNF

I feel like both readers and authors take DNFs particularly hard. For those who don't know, "DNF" stands for "Did Not Finish" and if a reader DNFs a book, they started reading it and decided not to finish it. While I feel like readers and authors take DNFs hard, I can understand why. As a reader, you've chosen a book that you expected to like and it turned out not to be to your liking. It may feel like giving up. As an author, you've spent months or years working on a book only for someone to come out and say they didn't like it and didn't even finish it. Today, I'd like to share my perspective on DNFing a book and why I don't think it should necessarily be considered a bad thing.

I asked people on Twitter why they DNF'd the last book they chose not to finish. The majority said that they DNF'd the book because they simply weren't enjoying it. A few mentioned not having time, but most said they weren't enjoying the book and stopped reading to find a new selection. More often than not, that's the same reason why I've chosen not to finish a book. I love reading, I love books but not every book is going to fit every reader's tastes. It's unfair to the reader, and even more unfair to the book and the author, to be expected to finish a book the reader isn't enjoying. If I force myself to finish a book I don't enjoy and didn't want to keep reading, rather than just DNF it, when I go to rate it, as I do with every book I finish, it's not going to get higher than 2 stars, maximum. I don't think this is fair to the author when I might not be the book's intended audience. Or the novel might be one of my favorite genres, but I've decided I need a break from that genre. If I don't finish a book, I don't rate the book. Then, I continue on with my day.

Another important factor to consider, when discussing DNFing a book, is a reader's personal tastes pet peeves, and boundaries. This fits in somewhat with the above point, but I wanted to discuss separately. Some readers strongly dislike books written in the first person perspective; others love it. There are a few readers I know who started reading a specific book, realized they just really didn't like the first person POV and DNF'd it, even though they liked the story. Some readers don't enjoy novels written in vernacular language (a la Huck Finn) or with flowery language, and reach a point where they decide they have to stop. Sometimes, unfortunately, there is an issue with subject matter. Authors don't always provide information up front about a book's subject matter when it deals with heavier themes or topics, such as mental health, trauma and things of that nature. Readers may choose to DNF a book because they picked it up, not realizing it was going to be about such a heavy topic. Maybe they simply aren't in the right headspace to read it at that time. It's important to note that, in most cases, when a reader DNFs a book, they're basically saying "it's not you, it's me". The book hasn't "done" anything wrong.

There seems to be this unspoken assumption that if you DNF a book, that's the end-all, be-all for it. The reader is going to drop the book like a hot potato and never look back. That isn't necessarily the case. People change, their tastes change. If I DNF  a book today, I'm not barred from deciding to maybe give it another try in a year or two.

A book being DNF'd is an unavoidable part of that book being published. Just like how every book has at least one negative review, every book has at least one reader who elected not to finish reading it. It's just part of the process. On its surface, it's essentially a neutral thing, yet it's viewed as a negative. The stigma around DNFing books, or your book being DNF'd is undeserved in my opinion. It's unavoidable and better than the alternative: continuing to read a book you dislike and giving it a terrible, scathing and usually unwarranted review.

Do you DNF? What's your opinion about DNFing a book?

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White Elephant

White Elephant is a 2019 historical fantasy novel by V. E. Ulett. It is the second novel in the Code Black series. While it’s a part of a series, the story itself is a stand-alone novel. I was provided with a free copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

The novel follows Miriam, a crew member on the airship Nonesuch. In order to keep her place on board, she must complete a mission for Lord Q and persuade the first white rajah of Sarawak to become loyal to the British Crown once more. When Nonesuch crash lands on the coast of Borneo, Miriam’s mission changes to one of survival. In order to rescue the crew of the Nonesuch, she must trek through the jungle guided by a team of elephants to the would-be empire builder’s capital. The jungle has it’s own laws, however, and Miriam may not emerge with her mission and loyalties unchanged.

Before I get into my review, I wanted to point out a few topics/themes this book deals with. There are multiple mentions of rape and allusions to it. There are scenes involving animal cruelty. There are a few scenes where medical discussions happen, and the description of some of the injuries and conditions might make the reader squeamish.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this novel, especially since it is the second book in a series and I hadn’t read the first Code Black book Golden Dragon. Thankfully, the novel works as a stand-alone book and I was easily able to follow the story without getting confused by the dynamics between characters. I suspect Golden Dragon provides a little more detail about Miriam’s backstory and fleshes out the character of Lord Q a bit, but doesn’t impact this novel beyond that.

I enjoyed the characters in this story a lot. Miriam, the main character, was smart, while also having an edge to her that I liked. She’s a Muslim woman from Tehran and her education and resourcefulness is why Lord Q recruited her. Her behavior and attitude were very realistic for the setting of the story and I enjoyed the journey she went on as a character. My second favorite character was Maximus Thorpe, Miriam’s lover and the captain of the Nonesuch. While most of the story is told through Miriam’s eyes, there are chapters told from Maximus’s as the story begins to come together and the truth about the white rajah starts to become clear. Maximus is very intelligent, and I appreciated the fact that he was skeptical of information he was being told and went with his instincts, on more than one occasion, rather than simply believe what others told him.  This novel has a very diverse cast of characters, including some transgender characters, which was surprising read as historical novels tend to focus on white characters with very few non-white characters included in the background or they’re written as one-dimensional. This is the first historical novel I’ve read to include a trans character.

While the novel is not intended to be an action or adventure story, the actions scenes are well-written and the author maintains the tension through all of the fast-paced action scenes throughout the book without making things seem repetitive. Each scene is unique and each fight feels just as intense, if not more intense, than earlier ones. The novel as a whole is very well-written. The story kept me engaged and the author clearly did a great deal of research in writing it. I was especially impressed when it came to how much information about elephants and their behavior patterns was included. While the elephants start as being just a mode of transportation, they soon become characters in and of themselves. One of the book’s subplot involves the plight of the wild elephants and their treatment at the hands of both the native population and the British hoping to colonize Borneo.  

While I enjoyed the novel overall, I do have a few criticisms. The dialogue can be a bit hard to follow, given that it’s written in vernacular English. For characters who either don’t speak English well or have a strong accent, their dialogue is written to imitate how they’d actually sound. For example, “Miriam” and “England” are spelled like “Maryam” and “Inglang” respectively on several occasions. It’s hard to follow at the beginning, but the more you read of the book, the easier it is to follow. This style also applies to Maximus, who’s Scottish and his dialogue is written to emulate a Scottish accent. I wasn’t a big fan of the climax of the story, due to the way it unfolds. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the reader isn’t able to witness as much of it as I’d hoped. Similarly, the antagonist is described as having gone mad, but the reader isn’t shown enough evidence of this. The reader is shown evidence of him being a terrible person, but the madness, the urgency of Miriam’s mission, really isn’t delivered on. Lastly, there are a few in-universe things that Miriam does that don’t completely make sense. Perhaps I wasn’t pay close enough attention, but for some events, I felt like a little more insight on Miriam’s thought process or feelings would’ve gone a long way.

Overall, I enjoyed White Elephant. It was an engaging read, which I ended up liking a lot more than I expected to. While there are some kinks that need to be worked out and things the author can improve upon, it’s a good novel. I might go back and read the first novel in the series now that I’ve read this one.

Rating: 3.4 Stars

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Tolkien Book Tag

I was messing around online, trying to come up with an idea for blog posts, when it occurred to me that I might get  some inspiration if I searched "[book/series] + Book Tag". I decided to do that, which was how I found this tag, the Tolkien Book Tag on BookWormMuse's blog. It looked interesting, and Lord of the Rings is my favorite series of all time, so I decided to give it a try. With all of that (over) explained, I'm going to start completing the tag now.

HOW DID YOUR JOURNEY TO MIDDLE EARTH BEGIN?

It's actually a funny story. When I was in elementary, my teacher informed my parents that I was having problems reading aloud in class. My reading level was fine, but when I needed to read aloud, I'd stutter and stumble over words, even though I knew how to read what I was reading. She suggested that one of my parents have me read aloud at home regularly to improve. My dad volunteered to be the person to read with me, and since he didn't want to listen to me read The Cat in the Hat or other kid's books aloud, he got to pick the book. He chose The Hobbit. We started reading it together, my reading improved and by the time my teacher said we didn't need to do that anymore, I was already invested in the story. So, I kept reading the book. And then I read The Lord of the Rings.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE MIDDLE EARTH BOOK?

The Hobbit will always have a special place in my heart and it's the obvious answer. At the same time, I will say that my favorite Lord of the Rings book is The Fellowship of the Ring. There's just something about that book, about the very beginning of this amazing story, that stuck with me more than The Two Towers and The Return of the King. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

Return of the King, hands down. I love the way it's paced. I love the battle scenes. I love the way it was shot and how the plotlines all come together. Also, Aragorn's speech in front of the gates of Mordor gives me chills every time. And the extended edition of Return of the King is amazing and worth the four hours of time it takes to watch it.

MOVIES OR BOOKS?

Books. The book is always better. However, I have watched the movies more often than I've read the books. Also, the movies are pretty true to the books, which is probably why I like them so much. The films are visually stunning. You know you made a good adaptation when a complete Tolkien nerd (aka my dad) watches the films and the only complaint he can come up with is annoyance that Tom Bombadil doesn't appear in the film. 

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS?

The better (easier) question to ask would be what characters don't I like, but I digress. I love Frodo and Samwise Gamgee. I'm also a big fan of Pippin and Merry. Also, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Eowyn. And Gandalf and Arwen and everyone else. However, if I absolutely have to pick one character, I guess I'd have to say Sam.

WHAT MIDDLE EARTH RACE WOULD YOU BE?

A Hobbit. I feel like a lot of people would say "elf" or "wizard" because they can do cool things, but if I'm being realistic, I'm more like a Hobbit than anything else. They eat all the time, they don't usually get involved in the shenanigans of the outside world and they build their homes for maximum coziness. Sounds like the perfect life for me.

BEST ACTOR/CHARACTER CASTING MATCH?

Oh, this is a hard one. They got so much of the casting right with these films that narrowing it down to just one choice is hard and I'm not good at making decisions. I feel like a lot of people would say Ian McKellan, and I'd agree, but thinking back, I'm going to go with Richard Armitage as Thorin. That was an excellent casting choice.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE IN MIDDLE EARTH?

Rivendell, because it's absolutely beautiful. A runner-up is defintely the Shire, for how quaint and quiet it appears to be. I also really liked the design of Minas Tirith, so if I could go to Middle Earth, I'd definitely visit there.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE FROM THE BOOKS OR THE MOVIES?

Another difficult question. I could start talking about how pumped I get when I see/read one of Theoden's epic speeches. Or mention a few lines that make me laugh, but then that's not really answering the question. So, I'll pick three, a favorite and two run-ups.

My favorite is Gandalf's speech when Frodo says he wished the ring had never come to him.

My second favorite is the scene in Return of the King when Eowyn kills the Witch King of Angmar and their exchange. You know the one. Very Macbeth inspired.

Third choice is Pippin and Treebeard's conversation in Fangorn Forest, when he convinces Treebeard to head south, since "the closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm". I feel like that moment is underrated, even though it shows how smart Pippin can be.

And that's the tag. I hope you enjoyed. I hope I haven't bored anyone who doesn't like Tolkien. I don't know how many of you are Tolkien nerds like I am, but if you are a Tolkien fan and haven’t been tagged by anyone, consider yourself tagged.

The First Girl Child

The First Girl Child is a 2019 historical fantasy-romance by Amy Harmon. It was published in August 2019 by 47North. The story is set during the Viking era. I discovered the book while browsing Kindle Unlimited one day.

The novel takes place in the kingdom of Saylok. The story follows Bayr of Saylok, the bastard son of a powerful chieftain who is haunted by the curse his dying mother cast upon the land. With her dying breath, she cursed Saylok to not have any daughters. Raised among the Keepers at Temple Hill, Bayr is gifted with inhuman strength. But he’s also blessed with an all-too-human heart that beats with one purpose: to protect Alba, the first girl child born in nearly two decades and the salvation for a country at risk. Now the fate of Saylok lies with Alba and Bayr, whose bond grows deeper with every whisper of coming chaos. Charged with battling the enemies of their people, both within and without, Bayr is fueled further by the love of a girl who has defied the scourge of Saylok.

Overall, I think this book was a miss for me. Judging by the blurb, I was expecting a novel that was a mix of fantasy and historical romance, but the book doesn't quite deliver. It is a historical romance with just a dash of fantasy elements thrown in. The magic system of curses and blood runes was under utilized in my opinion. The magic system itself had potential, but it wasn't expanded upon enough or taken proper advantage of. The system was unique and could've made the story interesting, but seemed to mostly serve the purpose of setting the plot in motion and being referenced occasionally later on. The curse itself created an interesting conflict, there are no girls being born and no one knows why, but it too is shunted to the side to focus on the romantic plot. I was also expecting something a little more action-oriented, since this is a Viking romance. There's nothing inherently wrong with the way the story is told and what plot elements received the most emphasis, but this novel simply wasn't for me.

Another issue I had with The First Girl Child was the overall pacing. The novel takes place over the span of about twenty years. It's a slow burn romance with not much action. There are parts of the book that move very slowly and I feel could have been consolidated down or explored in a different, less meandering way. It felt to me, upon finishing, that there were a lot of scenes that didn't really serve a purpose. If the author had chosen to skip over some of those moments, the book would flow a lot more naturally. The issue with pacing also applies to one of the later plot twists. The twist is introduced too late in the plot to be effective and by the time it happens, I was already expecting it. Due to the amount of filler, and amount of discussion happening in the story about Saylok's daughter problem and its consequences, it was almost a given how the king of Saylok would try to resolve the conflict. It also felt ineffective because it didn't conflict with the plotline I was the most invested in. I was curious about when and how the truths about Bayr and Alba were going to be revealed, not what the king was scheming about. So, I didn't really find the twist to be very groundbreaking.

I found it somewhat difficult to connect with any of the characters. The reader is meant to connect with Bayr and Alba, being the main characters, but they don't have much substance. It was hard to feel invested in their relationship as a result as well. The king of Saylok is the villain of the story, and it's very clear from his first appearance that he's meant to be the villain. Every subsequent scene is meant to show how evil he is, but the reader already knows that and those scenes instead put emphasis on the other, secondary characters around him, which doesn't feel intentional. I found myself liking the secondary characters, such as Ghost and Dagmar, more than the main ones, because they had much more nuance and complexity to them.

This review has been negative so far, but I don't want it to seem like I completely hated the book or the author. Harmon is a very skilled writer. The prose was captivating and made it difficult for me to put the book down, despite the aspects I mentioned above. She creates a vivid picture of the world of Saylok and, despite my disappointment in this novel, I want to read more of her work. I found the core idea of this story intriguing, but not the execution.

The First Girl Child was a book that didn't quite work for me. I expected a different story than I ended up reading. I don't want to discourage others from reading this book simply because it didn't fit my tastes. Romance isn't a genre I tend to enjoy, but I wanted to give the story a try. If romance is a genre you enjoy, and this story interests you, I hope my opinion doesn't sway you from deciding to read it. It's objectively a good book, just not the one for me.

Rating: 2.7 Stars

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