Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Review: At the Walls by Alon Shalev - A Great Read!



This was a great, easy read! The characters were well-rounded and lively. The story has some of the typical elements of classical fantasy, but with fresh twists which keep things interesting. The action is fast-paced, and the author's imagery and descriptive writing is very good! Unlike so many fantasy novels these days, Alon Shalev was able to keep his story brief and to the point. And as a side note I was surprised to find that his book is also very well edited. Good job, Alon!

Without giving too much away, At the Walls is the story of a young elf's rise to power and his struggle with his destiny. There's plenty of action, unexpected plot twists, and even a romance to keep things interesting. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of the genre!

Check out the book here: At The Walls of Galbrieth

Monday, February 25, 2013

Sneak Peak at the Cover Art for Dark Space

Coming soon in early April!

Still accepting ARC readers to give me feedback on an early version of the story! If you're interested, send me an e-mail to JasperTscott@gmail.com!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Review: The Forever Gate 2 was Brilliant!


The Forever Gate 2 by +Isaac Hooke was a great follow-up to the first book in the series. Here the mystery of the "Outside" continues, but now we are given a glimpse of just what that outside looks like. The characters are more fully developed in this book, now with the focus shifting to Hoodwinks' daughter.

Every chapter has something suspenseful happening, making the book was very hard to put down, and Isaac's writing style flows like few others. To top it all off, the editing was superb.

As a fellow Science Fiction and Fantasy author, I was able to honestly say upon finishing Isaac's first two novels that there's a lot to admire about his books. And as a reader, I was able to honestly say that I was never bored and never disappointed. Forever Gate 1&2 were both a very entertaining read! These books are a must-have for any Sci-Fi and Fantasy fan. The only negative thing I have to say, is that we still have to wait for Forever Gate 3!

Check the books out on Amazon here

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Shorter Novels Trending?



With Kindle books on amazon routinely selling for 99c, I've noticed a new trend among indie authors. We tend to publish shorter and shorter stories, with the sweet spot being around 80-100 pages. My own novels are a far cry from this length, sitting at 500-600 pages each, but these trends have definitely made me consider writing shorter books.

With shorter books you have the option to string them together in a series (even when together they'd technically make a standalone novel), effectively making one book into two to four episodes. In this way books begin to resemble TV series, and we can get our reading fix in just a few hours. I had this idea a long time ago, but for a different reason. People don't have the time to read long books. We're used to getting our entertainment packaged into a few hours, not days. TV, the internet, movies, and most of all cell phones, have trained us to have short attention spans. Between that and the obvious economic benefits to the writer, I suspect that the era of long books is now passing us by. In the future it's going to be hard to find long, epic novels. Instead we're going to see novellas strung together in series, with each installment sold for 99c, and each of them conveniently ending on a cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more.

A great example of this is a series I've recently been reading by a fellow indie writer, Isaac Hooke. He  wrote the first book in the Forever Gate series at just 86 pages. At first, when I saw this, I thought it seemed like a cheap shot to the readers. I thought no one would pay 99c for a short novel, but when I read Isaac's debut, I realized just how effective that length was. It was a great, fast read--never boring, never slow. Forever Gate had my attention from the first page straight through to the last, and whatever depth I felt was missing, I later found in the sequel. If anything, the shorter length only left me wanting more and made me more willing to buy the sequel. Overall, this was a brilliant business strategy, but also in my opinion, a better way to write a book.