Review: Dark Escape: Tales of Arabella ~ Aaron Gee

When Tam rescues Indura, he makes the fateful decision to spare her life. Despite their differences, they fall in love and begin a forbidden romance that threatens to plunge their two kingdoms into a devastating war. During a secret meeting between the two, Tam is captured. In order to save him, Indura must enlist the aid of Tam’s mentor, Captain Athon, and embark on a daring rescue. The only hope of rescuing Tam from prison is the protective cloak of darkness. But, how can there be darkness in a world where the sun never sets?

This is the first instalment of the Dark Escape series.

This novel is interesting, it isn’t quite Sci-fi and it isn’t quite Fantasy, it’s more a hybrid born of both worlds.  But even though it doesn’t sit firmly in either genre, I would still classify it as an epic, with maybe a toe hovering over the Steampunk world depending on which direction the Author takes the other books.

The characters are well thought out, and nicely developed with there being not one, but two main leads; a male and a female.  The male lead is quite likeable and full of all the characteristics we would expect of a person of his position; unfortunately the female lead is his total opposite and, at times made me think of Sansa in the Game of Thrones series.

The descriptions in the novel are sweeping and epic, setting the scenes nicely for what will come in the future, and raises questions in the reader’s mind that I hope will be answered as the series progresses.  However, there were a few images I found a little too fantastical even for me, and this did detract from the overall feel of this novel

As with all first instalments it is hard to say whether or not  the remainder will be a success, as the Author is just getting his breath and setting off on his journey with his characters and in their world.  Personally, I would like to see the Author add some elements of Steampunk into his later works, as I feel this would add an extra dimension to the series, and really make it well worth the readers’ time.

I would highly recommend this book to Teens/YA and adult readers alike, and also to those lovers of the sci-fi and fantasy genre.  This is a quick read that moves along at a steady pace, and doesn’t need to be over thought, so ideal when you’re travelling.

Review: Sojourner ~ Lee Foust

Sojourner gathers short stories, poems, experiments, and prose poems from the author’s 25 years spent traveling, sojourning, and then residing in various US and European cities. Each of the multiform texts of Sojourner seek to engage the mystery of our experience of place, our sense of belonging, and our desire to escape into unknown territories. Of the many voices included in the collection, we hear from teenagers in obscure California suburbs, San Francisco apartment hunters and soon-to-be-unfaithful boyfriends, European backpackers, junkies, prostitutes, South American refugees, mourners in Texas, revolutionaries in Brooklyn, dreaming Manhattan barflies, Arctic lovers, victims of Vesuvian politics and Partenopean trash bags, a refiguration of Poe’s amontillado-tippling Fortunato, Florentine ghosts, Tuscan expatriates lost in summertime reveries, and the Mad Hatnik in Poznan, Poland, along with his evil doppleganger and imaginary accomplice.

 I feel like I have just returned from travelling, full of all the wonders I saw, and the flip side of life that can bring us down.

Such is the way this book of poems, short stories and other gems affects the reader.  As it is an anthology of different writing styles by the same Author, there are no characters to dissect or explain; no plot that needs to be waded through, just the unadulterated pleasure of reading words artfully and expertly strung together in a manner that will touch all readers in some fashion. The covers both front and back, are endowed with beautiful glossy photographs, that make you immediately know that this book is going to be something quite extraordinary, and worth your time to investigate.

‘House Hunting’, the first short in this anthology, sets the scene delightfully for what is to come as we travel the world with, and experience it through, the writers’ eyes. And, a story most of us can relate to as we try to find our own ‘castle’ in the world. ‘Sparagmos’ takes us a whole new direction, as do most of the pages as the reader turns them, and was my favourite prose poem in the book.  Another favourite of mine, was ‘American Cemetery’.  Having visited several of these while we were living in Europe it was easy to feel the underlying conflict between beliefs and decency, an indication of just how well this outstanding collection is written.  As always when visiting one of these sites, I take the time to reflect over what has gone, and what we have now; this is also captured well in the lines of the piece and made me take a few moments in its reading for some gentle meditation on the aspects of war.

There is not much I can say about this collection, without going through it here page by page, and then nullifying any need you have to read it for yourself, and you do need to read it for yourself.  There are pieces that will offend the overly sensitive, but there always is in good writing; this is good writing. It is full of hope, despair, horror, humour and seduction.  Most of the contents are easily understandable upon the first read but, like an onion, they contain several levels and it is worth the time to revisit them and gradually peel those levels away.

I am highly recommending this to anyone who likes short stories, poems or just exploring something new.  I have carried this in my messenger bag from the day I first opened its covers to dip in and out of when I had a break in my schedule, and will probably continue to do so until it falls to pieces, maybe I need to buy another copy for when this day comes, as every time I read something it contains, I find a new viewpoint that I hadn’t considered before.