Division By Zero: 1 (Post Mortem) by MiFiWriters

Division By Zero is an anthology of short stories with works from five different authors. The stories include elements of urban fantasy, paranormal,  science fiction, and young adult and each instalment offers a new voice and perspective on the anthology's central theme: after death.                                                                                                          

Each writer brought their individual style to the anthology. My personal favorite, Strange Aeons, focused more on character development and emotional investment, and really drew me into the work.

Along with death, religion is a major theme and I enjoyed the various portrayals of religions/gods, both current and ancient, throughout the short stories.

Overall, the writing is crisp and well edited and each self-contained story offers a unique voice and a suspenseful build-up: 4.5 stars out of 5.            

Amazon (2.99)
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The authors: MiFi Writers

Cratchit & Company by Garrett Gilchrist

Summary: Bob Cratchit, a poor, underpaid clerk at the counting-house of Scrooge and Marley, has lost his youngest son. He is alone and freezing to death on a cold Christmas Eve, when he is visited by three spirits ...
Garrett Gilchrist brings you a new perspective on the classic characters from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Cratchit & Company is a retelling of A Christmas Carol from the perspective of Bob Cratchit—with a twist: Ebenezer is the same miserable Scrooge he was before his ghost-induced change of heart. For any lover of Dickens or the beloved Christmas tale, this novella is a great tear-jerking read;  4.5 stars out of 5.

In the opening of the story, the author acknowledges that the reader has probably heard the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and that Bob Cratchit was simply a tool in telling Scrooge's story. The story begins with the death of Tiny Tim and a death-like figure discussing how history only remembers the mighty—and hence will not remember Bob Cratchit. Cratchit's story that follows is emotional and follows in the descriptive vein of Dickens; the writing is polished and a more contemporary version of Dickens' style.

Cratchit & Company is a lovely and new retelling of A Christmas Carol, and would compliment any readers Christmas-time book-list.  

Paperback: Lulu (7.82)
Kindle: Amazon (0.97)

Goldfish Tears by Curtis Ackie

Summary: A perturbed bachelor is beleaguered by his misbehaving shadow; a reclusive alchemist builds a machine to right his wife’s disfigurement; the sun forgets to rise over a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere. Equal parts haunting and outlandish, Goldfish Tears is an enchanting collection of short stories from the author of The Door to Freedom.

Goldfish Tears is a collection of 14 short stories. While each story had moments of brilliance, and the illustrations that accompanied each story were wonderful, the writing suffered from an excess of description; 3.5 stars out of 5.

The narrative was often too descriptive (scenery/background wise) for the short amount of plot that occurred. The overuse of adjectives dampened the poetic style needed for this sort of collection. I understand that creating the atmosphere of each piece is important, but I feel like the plotline and intensity of each story suffered. In terms of plot, the writing was often too vague, and appeared to be building up to something bigger that the reader was not privy too; each story appears to be missing something that makes it its own stand alone story. 

Overall, the collection of short stories is enjoyable, but could benefit from some polishing. With some refining of the description and added plot, it would be an engaging read. 

Smashwords (12.38)
Lulu (12.38)

The Midget's House by Anita Bartholomew

Summary: The Midget's House is a tale of two women (one alive, and the other long dead), each mourning lost love and struggling for control of the one place that feels like home.

Marisa Delano is thrilled when she unexpectedly inherits the fairy tale-like cottage on the bay--until she learns that Lucinda Lacey, a sideshow midget who died on the property in 1924, still inhabits it. As Marisa searches for answers about the unwelcome presence in her new home, all the clues lead to one conclusion: on the day Lucinda died, she murdered her lover, circus owner Cyrus Parker.

Alternating between Lucinda's and Marisa's perspectives, The Midget's House takes readers from the carnivals, circuses, and freak shows of the early twentieth century, to the boom-and-bust of today's Florida.

Haunting in every sense of the word, this genre-blending tale will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

The Midget's House is an enjoyable story of love, loss, and deceit. The overall plotline is unique and memorable, however the novel is in need of streamlining; the opening is plagued by an over-usage of adjectives and a misuse/absence of commas. Overall, the narrative is easy to read and the multiple points of view weave together quite well, but the clutter of adjectives detracts from the narrative flow. 3.5 stars out of 5.

The story is told from multiple points of view. The retelling of the circus and the present day points of view interacted nicely, however Lucinda's small sections as a ghost did not quite fit with the rest of the story. The fact that Lucinda was a ghost might have worked better if revealed at the end (or not at all: the reader could decide for themselves whether Lucinda's ghost was real or if it was Marisa's imagination). 

There is also a noticeable lack of suspense/drama at the beginning of the book. There needs to be more of a catalyst to get the reader invested in the story. Similarly, Lucinda's backstory would benefit from a more dramatic/emotional telling; there was too much description of the circus, not enough solid plotline and character development.

Overall, the narrative flows nicely, but adjectives need to be trimmed. With another round of edits, and perhaps a more dramatic/suspenseful retelling of events, The Midget's House could be a great romantic read. 

Amazon (2.97)

The Hunting of the Bubblenuff: A Fabian Vermeer Adventure by Joshua Goldfond

Summary: The Hunting of the Bubblenuff follows the adventures of Fabian Vermeer, an eccentric 19-year-old who lives in the fictional world of Lornholm. He is both a Priest and Inquisitor by profession, acting in the service of the Church of Solomn, god of Justice and Fluffy Clouds. Yet Fabian’s true, lifelong passion is “Cryptonaturalism”: the study of hidden, mythical beasts like the Sugar Moose (a rare but friendly creature whose candy cane antlers are treasured by hunters), the Solardillo (a bioluminescent armadillo used to replace campfires), the Hamsterdon (a 40-foot high hamster that runs around in a giant bamboo ball and is used to clear brush), and the dreaded Bubblenuff (which can only be slain with a sharpened yam).

Fearful of proving his own theories wrong, he drags his feet until the arrival of his new bodyguard: the massively tall, awkward, and kind-hearted female teenage soldier, Wilhelmina Turkle. Together, the two venture out, seeking to locate Fabian’s monsters.

The Hunting of the Bubblenuff is a fun fantasy novel that follows the adventures of the ever offbeat Fabian. The writing is crisp and clear, and the voice is whimsical and wandering in the vein of Terry Pratchett. 4 stars out of 5. 

The narrative is consistently quirky, filled with eccentric characters, religions, spirit animals, and mythology. The only possible improvement could be to quicken the plot and build more suspense, especially at the beginning of the book; but this is, at its core, a book crafted for style and voice. 

 

The Hunting of the Bubblenuff has a unique and quirky style, humourous enough to entice most readers, however fans of Terry Pratchett (and the like) are guaranteed to enjoy. Overall, a fun and funny read. 

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iTunes (1.99)

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Bound by Fire (The Twin Flames #1) by Ronald Craft

An ancient promise.
A forgotten treachery.
Seven souls, bound by fire, will begin their quest for the truth.

Ilian, an apprentice blacksmith, has the heart of a god sealed within him. When Karena, the beautiful red-haired assassin, kills his father and rips his soul from his body Ilian becomes entangled in a rivalry that has spanned over hundreds of years.

However, even with his life turned upside down, and treachery at every turn, Ilian soon learns that there are worse people he can have at his side than a woman proficient in the art of assassination.

Bound by Fire opens with Ilian and his father surrounded by Ilian's nervous peers as they all await  the start of the ceremony to become adults—essentially, to be branded by fire. Ilian seems a relatable enough character but his conversation with his father is stifling—either a more dramatic event or a more intriguing conversation between father and son would have benefited the introduction greatly. 2.5 stars out of 5.

At two pages in, multiple grammatical errors have occured and the remainder of the book continues to be plagued with misspellings and word confusion/misplacement. Similarly, the style from one sentence to the next does not quite mesh; the narrative jumps back and forth between a more formal/traditional fantasy voice and a more modern day voice. The use of fantasy-style rhetoric could have been better used if assigned to certain characters or if only used when describing the various gods and old religion.

The book would have also benefited from better pacing: a more dramatic event needs to occur earlier in the story to invest the reader, and more information about the characters and major plotlines needs to be revealed sooner. 

The overarching plot of Bound by Fire is good and has all of the makings of an intriguing fantasy book. With additional edits to quicken the pace, smooth out the voice, fix the grammatical errors, and give the story a more cohesive feel, it could be a fun fantasy read.

Amazon ($0.99)

B & N Paperback ($7.19)

Zero Sight (Book 1) by B. Justin Shier

Summary: Meet Dieter Resnick. Dieter is the sole child of an abusive single father, a perennial schoolyard brawler, and Ted Binion High's number one academic prospect. Dieter is terrified of staying poor. He has few friends and is absolutely obsessed with earning a college scholarship. He's also a latent mage--one of the few humans left that can bend the manaflows to their will.

Too bad no one told him. Now a boy is dead.

Meet Rei Acerba Bathory. Rei is a second year student at Elliot College, the premiere magical training academy in North America. She's also on an all-liquid diet. Rei acquired her odd speech and mannerisms living among her centuries-old kin--strange vampiric creatures that have carved out the Midwest as their playground. She can kill a man without blinking, but has a serious weakness for puppies. Thanks to a childhood spent living cloistered from the public, Rei knows little of modern society. She'd do well to make some friends, but her fellow trainees despise her. Rei is the first of her kind to be admitted, and many hope to make her the last.

Dieter was raised in the grimy outskirts of Las Vegas. Rei was homeschooled in a Chicago mansion. Both are on their way to Elliot College. Both believe the other is a creature of idle fantasy. In ten hours, they're going to be at the center of a war fought by shadow actors. In eleven hours, they're going to become a weft-pair, bound together by the most sacred spell in the magic canon. And in twelve hours? Well, in twelve hours, they've got to get to class...

Zero Sight is a solid foray into the fantasy world: there are some good ideas, fantastical and otherwise, however the book would benefit from better pacing and a balancing between description and action. 3 stars out of 5

The interesting, somewhat unconventional, opening to the story caught by attention, however the discussion/description that followed continued for too long. In the beginning, there is a lot of description followed by a lot of fighting—all without knowing why. Some deeper knowledge of the characters is needed earlier in the first chapter.

Overall, there is a lot of fighting, which could have worked except that the reader is too far into the book before any major plot points are revealed and the character personalities/back-stories developed. It was difficult to care about the fights and their outcome when I did not really know the characters or any of the overarching storyline.

Dieter is not an easy character to become attached to which also made becoming invested in the novel difficult. A better balance between plot development and action (fighting) would have helped.  

  

There are a lot of interesting elements in this book but it needs better pacing and better balancing. In some sections there was nothing but description and in other sections nothing but action: it needs to be woven together more.

Also for a fantasy book, the fantasy aspect is delayed too long. I lost interest in the fighting at school extremely quickly, although once the magical university was introduced, it functioned much too similarly to the world of Harry Potter. The magical university idea could work but needs to be revamped. Rowling does not have a patent on magical schools, but further separation from what has already been established by Rowling would have benefitted the book greatly.  

Amazon ($4.00)