Chronicles #2

When an alien invasion threatens the existence of all the knowledge in the universe, eighteen-year-old Johanna Charette and seventeen-year-old Jackson Roth must rely on their wits, guts, and pluck to save the fantasy-come-to-life world of the Library of Illumination. It wouldn t be so bad if Johanna and Jackson weren t the ones responsible for breaching the portals to a dozen distant worlds. Now, outside forces are causing shock waves in the space-time continuum, and if that isn t awful enough, someone from another dimension is trying to steal a book of powerful spells created by a very famous wizard. At first, traveling to other realms in a time machine seems like a fun perk. However, discovering some inhabitants want to obliterate the teens doesn't leave them with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Instead, they find themselves forced to sacrifice their own welfare and the safety of their loved ones for the greater good.

Second Chronicles: The Library of Illumination  (Fantasy/SF/YA)

Books 5, 6 & 7

By Carol Pack

Artique Press

ISBN #978-0991542857

Price $25.96 (hardback)

480 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“An Imaginative And Delightful Read.”

Book #5, PORTAL, was actually in Chronicles #1, but is added here to lead into Books 6 & 7. In PORTAL, Jackson Roth causes a portal to open that sends him and Johanna Charette into another Realm, where they get into trouble, plus opens the door to an invasion to other Libraries in the rest of the Realms.

Book #6 THE OVERSEERS takes up from there. One of the  Overseers, Plato Indelicat, was killed in PORTAL, and Prime Realm Lamina is giving the dead Overseer a funeral and preparing for his replacement. Mal comes after Johanna and Jackson to take them to Lamina for the ceremony. Mal is one of the contenders for the Overseer position, plus the kids might be able to provide witness testimony against Nero 51 of Realm Terroria, for his part in the invasion and death of Plato Indelicat. The Realms are these twelve: Comedia, Inspiracon, Mysteriose, Numericon, Terroria, Dramatica, Romantica, Adventura, Educon, Scientico, Juvenilia, Fantasia (Earth), and (13) Lamina (Prime Realm). There is much stress in selecting the new Overseer.

Book #7 MYRDDIN’S MEMOIR takes up about 60% of the book. There is a lot going on in Book #7. Terroria is once again invading the Realms, led by Nero 51, and Johanna and Jackson are trying to discover who is after Myrddin’s secrets. A side story involves the child of one of the Overseers. We will probably hear more about this in Volume #3 of the series. In fact, some things are not actually concluded in Chronicles 2, and will continue in the next volume. The author’s switching POV three and four times within a chapter was awkward, but probably the best way to handle all the different scenes happening at the same time in the story. Over all, this is a fun series, and I highly recommend it to YA readers.

Tom Johnson

Author of THREE GO BACK

AGE OF THE UNICORN

AGE OF THE UNICORN #7, from 1980. Tom Johnson’s original publication of FROM SHADOW TO SUPERMAN, with a cover by Frank Hamilton. This was the first study done on Dennis Lynds and the BELMONT SHADOW series.

Freed Men

The young slave Bass Reeves is captured by a Yankee spy during the 1862 Civil War campaign in Arkansas culminating in at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Set free by his captor, Bass wanders into the encampment of the 2nd Cherokee Mounted Rifles of the Southern Army. Colonel Stand Watie, directs the lost slave to stand and fight with them, which he does, all the way to the Confederate retreat from Elkhorn Tavern. Battling shoulder-to-shoulder with the brave Cherokee warriors during the fierce combat, Bass’s life is forever changed in a way he never before dreamed.

West of The Dead Line (Historical Western)

Episode #2 Freed Men

By Phil Truman

AWOK Westerns www.awok.com

ISBN #978-1620161050

Price $0.99

24 Pages

Young slave Bass Reeves becomes Colonel Reeves boy during the war between the states. He had been Reeves’ father’s slave before that. While hauling water from the creek for the colonel he’s captured by a Yankee spy and carried off a ways, then released. Making his way back to the camp he runs into the Second Cherokee Mounted Rifles from the Indian Territory setting up an ambush for the Yankee cavalry. Fighting with them, he captures a gun and honors himself during the battle. When Colonel Reeves finds him again, there is eventually a confrontation because of the gun and Bass’s new attitude, and before the colonel can have Bass whipped for insubordination, he escapes.

This was a well written short story about a real life historical slave, with well researched material for the content of the story. Highly recommended for the western fan, especially historical westerns.

Tom Johnson

ECHOES Magazine

Go! Hold On! Season Two

Go! – Hold On! Season 2

On the run! Their sister taken! And their only hope—is a broken man!

Brandon Drake has escaped from Leavenworth, aided by a new player who has entered the game. Tyler Faraday is the heir to an empire—and Brandon’s long-lost brother. Tyler enables Brandon’s reunion with his lover, Belinda, but Brandon is no longer the man she once knew. Haunted by memories of a life that never happened, he succumbs to the lure of alcohol.

Tyler has discovered he and Brandon have another sibling. Having been raised in a convent, their sister, Emily, has a crisis of faith and flees. On the road, she is kidnapped by a ruthless human trafficking organization run by a mysterious kingpin called Sapphire. Brandon, Tyler, and Belinda learn of Emily’s plight and begin their search for Sapphire’s location, hampered by Brandon’s growing alcohol dependency.

Meanwhile, Andrew Wilmot, new leader of a rogue government faction, seeks to use Brandon for his own nefarious plans, and hunts him down. 

Brandon, Belinda, and Tyler’s quest leads to Los Angeles, where they search for the only one who knows Sapphire’s location—a former captive known only as Siren, and who may not even exist. Their quest is destined to lead to the most explosive action in the series so far.

Go! (Thriller)

By Peter Darley

Hold On! Season Two

ASIN #B00YD8497U

Price $2.99

353 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

At the end of HOLD ON! Season One, Brandon was convicted in a military Court Martial at Fort Bragg and sent to Leavenworth. It’s now two years later, and he has escaped with the help of his brother Tyler. With Brandon safe at the Aspen cabin, recovering from a gunshot, Tyler picks up Belinda Reese before the CIA can get to her. Now they must wait until Brandon has recovered enough to go in search of their sister, Emily. Meanwhile Emily has left the convent and became entangled in a white slavery outfit, where she’s to be sold to the highest bidder. Brandon, Tyler, and Belinda head for L.A. to rescue her, while the CIA is in pursuit, and closing in on them.

Brandon is still trying to control his alter ego, The Scorpion, but the beast is hard to tame. It may be best to let the beast loose, as they are up against a vicious Chinese Tong in California who kill wantonly.

Season Two continues the fast paced action as the first, also ending in a cliffhanger, to be concluded in Season Three, “Run!”, out soon. The writing is smooth and easy reading, with a good plot and characters. I was disappointed in the amount of profanity in the novel, and felt it wasn’t needed to tell a good story. But for readers looking for an action-filled novel, I can highly recommend this cliffhanger series. Just be warned, it doesn’t conclude until Season Three.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

Tarzan: Return To Pal-ul-don

With the African continent engulfed by World War II, John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, abandons his role as Lord of the Jungle in order to combat the spreading Nazi menace.

Flying a P-40 Tomahawk warplane, Clayton is sent on his first mission: to rescue the missing British Military Intelligence officer code-named Ilex. But the daring task plunges him into his savage past after he’s forced down in a lost land that seems hauntingly familiar.

When Tarzan of the Apes returns to the prehistoric realm called Pal-ul-don, he must revert to his most savage persona, that of Tarzan-jad-guru––Tarzan the Terrible!

Tarzan: Return To Pal-ul-don (SF/Adventure)

By Will Murray

Altus Press www.altuspress.com

ISBN #978-1618272098

Price $22.46

380 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Back To Pal-ul-don!”

With Nazis in Africa, Tarzan joins the RAF, and as Flight Officer John Clayton, he is given an assignment to fly from England to the African continent to locate a missing British agent code-named Ilex, whose plane has crashed somewhere on the Dark Continent. Given the coordinates of the downed plane, Clayton’s P-40 Tomahawk is knocked out of the sky by a huge pteranodon when he reaches the area. On the ground he discovers an elephant he names Torn Ear, who becomes his companion is this wild valley of prehistoric creatures. Tarzan soon discovers he is in Pal-ul-don (Land of man). First coming across a tribe of turtle men, he stays with them awhile, then sets out again on his mission to find the missing secret agent, and is soon joined by Mu-bu-tan, a hairy man with tail. From this point on they are beset by a race of spider-men who carry poison darts with spider venom, and go through several captures and escapes, eventually finding Ilex also in the spider-men’s lair.  Tarzan once again becomes Tarzan the Terrible, and goes to war with the spider-men.

This was certainly an action-filled adventure, which Will Murray handles quite well. Perhaps it was about 100 pages too long, as there are a lot of repeats that weren’t needed, but the author is just satisfying the current trend for lengthy novels. I did get a kick out of Mu-bu-tan’s perfect diction, and use of words 8 and 9 letters long for a prehistoric man-thing that should have a limited vocabulary. You’d have thought he went to Harvard with Ham Brooks. There are no Nazis, which is also a shame, after all this is WWII. I thought I knew who Ilex was by page 148, but I was wrong. I will leave it at that. Whatever faults this novel may have you can contribute to it being Will Murray’s first Tarzan novel. After all, Burroughs originally put tigers in Africa. I hope the author continues writing the series. This is the first good one since Fritz Leiber’s TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

ECHOES MAGZINE