Sean Dustman

Hard SciFi turns into eldritch horror

Reviewed: 05-13-25

I picked up the book because I'm a fan KJA and didn't read the blurb because sometimes I want a total surprise. Yup, this one did it. An anomaly is discovered at the edge of the solor system, probes are sent out and after some blurry pictures, one disappears and a couple of years later, the signals from the probe come in from light years away, it had gone througha worm hole. A super rich guy has been secretly preparing for this moment and gathered a crew of the best to go. Things start going from hard science fiction to down a Lovecraftian horror tunnel. It had the hairs standing up on my neck a few times.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Overall, important ideas to think about

Reviewed: 10-22-22

While I think there were some parts of the story that needed better editing, the story brings up a lot of subjects about the future that the human condition tends to brush aside such as future over population, how are we going to feed those extra mouths, out of control inflation. We need more accountants in higher levels of government, not wishful thinkers.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

So much for the chosen one

Reviewed: 04-13-22

On second book of Shroud Of Prophecy series, if you haven't read book one, get that first. I'm dropping more of a review of the whole series.

Our main protagonist is Aaslo, a forester in training. Foresters are responsible for keeping the forests healthy. His best friend is Mathais, whom his has trained and grew up with. A wounded rider comes to their village and something about that even causes his Grandmother to take Mathais and flee into the night. We find out that Mathias is the one spoken of in prophecy, the only way to survive the coming darkness and on that first night, he is killed. Aaslo follows and they are attacked and suddenly, his best friend is dead, the last hope of humanity. We find out Gran isn't even related to him and is his guardian and also the high mage, perhaps the most powerful magic user on the planet. She tasks Aaslo with taking Mathias's head to the king things get weird, Mathias head starts talking to him and as adventures happen, fate seems to have it in for Aaslo, he finds his education and training beside Mathias were given by the best. Poems learned were spells, the martial training was given by a legend and he keeps falling into new magical abilities.

I'm always willing to drop a credit on Kel, her plot lines are strong and twisty, this being an audible, sometimes you have to really pay attention to what is going on, I'm actually on a second listen because I missed a name that later became important to the greater story, actually, there are a bunch of small hints that give voice to another story lurking beneath the main plot.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

ties it all together

Reviewed: 03-20-22

inishing The Perfect Run by Maxime J. Durand a 3 book series with the same name but with a 1, 2 and 3 and it's sort of like 1 huge book or a bunch of timeloops of Ryan Romano aka Quicksave lives out the same portion of time from a point that he can set a reset at. The series starts off sort of simple with this maniac vigilante Ryan in a post a super powered, apocalypse vaguely explained and random events casually dropped into the dialog and no real goal, but Ryan is feeling out the town from every angle, taking on every big bad and dying, dying a lot actually, investigating the case through all sides and getting to know the players, each run becomes clearer and the world more real as the mystery unfolds like a flower. It takes you to places unexpected and it's a fun ride.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

The opening story by Neil Gaiman reminded me

Reviewed: 02-25-22

Of this mystical book that grabbed my attention at a teen. There are a lot of strange boys in the world who read an #ElricofMelniboné book as an unwitting primer for their future personality traits and I to am one of those and so seems to be is Neil who wrote a story about a boy who fell into that world like I did as an opening story to this Audible collection. A set of books that changed you but no one ever talks about it, we sort of just pass these paperbacks around like they have their own flavor of mystical power. In fact, I even have a couple in the back seat of my car that just lurk there for an appropriate moment. Us Michael Moorcock urchins, it's like some secret code running in the background that we don't notice till it's actually identified. Thanks Neil, I needed some magic inserted in my life tonight and it was a fine visit to a lost land that I had mostly forgotten in dreams.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Imagine 7 years after Don't Look Up

Reviewed: 02-18-22

and the world is in a nuclear winter, all of the human survivors are in bomb shelter like places that luckily survived that particular apocalypse. But they're not the only ones to survive. Hidden at night and the world in their underground lairs and being super human and not needing to breath, vampires survived too. Pretty good spooky listen.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

This is a great beginning to an epic adventure

Reviewed: 01-06-22 Listener received this title free

The book starts off with an expensive expedition to a desolate waste to retrieve powerful artifacts from a lost civilization and a bunch of high powered magic users were killed off by the nightmare residents of the area.  The chapter ends with the team lead finding this book.

The main character is Siobhan Naught, her father seems to be some minor crook who gets them tossed from town to town and steals the book.  He is caught but she escapes and runs back to their room and sneaks in a window and flees with it.  The magic book had an artifact hidden inside and slips away from pursuing coppers and is rescued by a rich guy trying to improve the lives of the poor through some what shady means.  Hiding, Siobhan accidentally activates the artifact and it disguises her as a man, actually, transforms her. 

She was in that city because best magical academy on the planet is there and she was planning on taking the exams and attending.  Now?  She's a wanted criminal but not as a man.

The book is a bite of fresh air, the main character is a magic prodigy, picking up everything magical who thirsts for more, like a lot of really smart folks, they miss social clues and sometimes make bad decisions about normal things in life.  The magic system of this world is logical and well planned out, the book really gets into the knitty gritty of how the society works, the historical background, logistics of the economy with deeper stories that run underneath everything that break the surface like a monster rising from the deep.   It broke into my dreams after keeping me up late, don't recommend if you have important things to do the next day.  5/5 stars

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Don't read that blurb up there

Reviewed: 10-29-21

Listing to a book with a lot of history with me, I first read #TheTimeGod by #lemodesittjr around 1984, I think under a different title, #thefiresofparatime , borrowed it from the library and the plot stuck to my brain but I had forgotten the author and the title, just a story in my brain, then I read #themagicofrecluce and one book after another in the series and I was following his work. The Timegod was reprinted and I read that and realized that it was the same story that I had been thinking about for years.

In August, it came out in Audible and I picked it up for a 4th reading in another medium. The protagonist is Loki and this book shaped what I thought about Loki for my entire life, there is a planet with people who can time travel, they're basically parasites who skim off the cream of civilization, if something challenges them, they end the civilization, they seed ideas and come back for the final product whenever it pops up. Their own civilization is supported by a small group of time guards. Loki realizes that what they're doing isn't right and things get epic.

This book takes myth and puts an entirely different spin on it. L.E. Modesett's books are always thoughtful and is a good voice of reason in a chaotic world. If you're a heavy reader, you can see parts of this book scattered across the SciFi and Fantasy sphere and probably like me before picking it up the second time, they don't even realize that they picked it up here. Also, Audible has the totally wrong blurb up for the book.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

Maybe the best 2012 story

Reviewed: 09-21-21

Sometimes I find a book that is so thoroughly researched and logical that it comes across almost as history, the latest book to add to that list is The Actual Star.

It's a novel that takes place in 3 times based on the Mayan long count calendar, 1000 years a part, the middle portion taking place in 2012, the early part takes place 1012 and marks the collapse of the Mayan civilization and the last part takes place in 3012 well conceived probable future sort of utopia from the viewpoint of one.  That's just the basic framework that encompasses a believable tale of reincarnation, a history of Mayan culture and a story that shouldn't be believable as it is.  This book might take my brain a couple of days to unravel after finishing but if you're looking for something totally unique in flavor and mindset, I totally recommend this.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

Spooky realistic apocalypse novel

Reviewed: 12-21-19

I'm a fan of end of the world fiction and this plays as something that could happen tomorrow. I stayed up late and woke later dreaming about it. Government, if you're watching, this is what you should be guarding against, we as the human race is moving towards a society that is dependent on cyberspace and what happens when that is used to attack us? This novel is a logical look at what happens and it does it well, I will be thinking about it for years to come.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful