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Book Review: Definitely Not Kansas: Book One in the Nocturnia Cycle by F. Paul Wilson and Thomas Monteleone

Definitely Not Kansas  Curses! The problem with missing out on getting up a review in a timely fashion is that this book, Definitely Not Kansas: Book One in the Nocturnia Cycle, initially published in a limited edition, is not currently available. I hope the publishers will put it out as a trade paperback or at least an ebook soon, though, as that’s the best way to reach the market this is actually intended for. Most readers of YA or middle grade fiction aren’t seeking out small presses for their reading material, and this sounds like a book that would definitely snag their interest. Here’s the review for Definitely Not Kansas, anyway, though, because with a recommendation this enthusiastic, certainly those outside the horror community ought to know about it. You know, like librarians. Who can’t purchase a book that is out of print, so come on, great publishers, and get that book out in a more easily available edition! Read on for a great review and go hassle these folks into getting it out into more hands.

–The Editor

 

 

Definitely Not Kansas: Book One of the Nocturnia Chronicles by F. Paul Wilson & Tom Monteleone

Borderlands/Gauntlet Press, 2013.

 

We’re definitely not home anymore, and I doubt Dorothy would last a minute in Nocturnia. Munchkins would likely find themselves on a menu in this imaginative, fascinating homage to Oz.

The last time Borderlands Press and Gauntlet Press combined their talents to produce a single book, readers were treated to Shadow Show, which garnered a Bram Stoker Award.  So when the two presses decided to collaborate again, fans wondered how the presses could top that title.  The result of their partnership is a young adult novel penned by two well-known authors.  F. Paul Wilson and Thomas F. Monteleone are no strangers to awards, blockbuster books, or each other.  Where many collaborations fall short due to varying factors, these two created a fantastic, delightfully horrific world , with writing that flows effortlessly. It could be due to the fact that they’ve been buddies for decades or that they both know how to tell a lean, mean, story.  Merging styles is difficult– here, however, the writing is seamless and it feels like a single author penned the entire novel.  Not once does the reader feel as if he or she is holding a book; instead, the covers disappear as the reader falls into the grand world Wilson and Monteleone have created.

Definitely Not Kansas owes something to The Wizard of Oz, of course, but that inspiration is merely jumping off point.  Nocturnia is a much darker, more frightening place and when the tornado drops Emma and Ryan into the strange world, the similarities end and all bets are off.  On a quest to find Telly, their missing older brother, Emma and Ryan are pulled through a vortex where reality ceases to exist. Nocturnia operates in parallel to Emma and Ryan’s world, separate and deadly, as readers discover the origins of these creatures on Earth and even the flowers can kill.  The nation of monsters is a nation of states which exist uneasily with each other and something much darker frightens them all.

Humans are considered slaves and cattle, bred for labor– and food — in a land inhabited by vampires, werewolves, zombies, and more. This could be considered a “kitchen sink” story, cashing on popular tropes, and likely would be just that in lesser hands. Yet here, the setting is character, and the creatures reside in a well-constructed world where they are anything but clichés.

Emma and Ryan propel this tale as they take the reader along a journey of survival and discovery. Both are strong lead characters and the cast of monstrous villains are anything but cookie-cutter caricatures. Surprises await around every corner and one can only imagine where the next book will travel.

An interesting afterword is included, on how the series was created by both authors, and will only further intrigue the reader. Monteleone and Wilson obviously love living in Nocturnia, and it shows on the pages.  It’s doubtful that readers will be able to resist, either, on this frightening, but fun, ride.

Nocturnia takes the reader by the throat and the heart, and never relents. Anyone who loves a good story, and who still embraces the youth within, will tumble head over heels into the vortex for this new series.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on May 12, 2014 by , Reply

Review: Four Elements by Charlee Jacob, Rain Graves, Linda Addison, and Marge Simon

It’s not traditional for us to publish our reviews right here on the blog, but with Women in Horror month just ended and Stoker season already here,  I wanted to share a review here that showcases a book belonging in both categories. This will appear on the site as well, as soon as there’s an opportunity to post it. Sumiko Saulson also published an interview with Linda Addison about Four Elements, which I’ll link to here.

And now, the review.
    Four Elements by Charlee Jacob, Marge Simon, Rain Graves and Linda Addison

Bad Moon Books/Evil Jester Press, 2013

Available: New paperback, Kindle edition

ISBN-13: N/A

 

Four Elements is a collection of poetry and short fiction by four women of horror who are all Bram Stoker Award winning poets. Each writer takes on one of the four elements of nature—earth, air, fire and water—and brings their own vision to each.

“Earth” by Marge Simon contains poems and stories that all deal with various consequences of people’s actions including war, desolation, destruction and death, including “A Time For Planting” about the consequences of love and lust and “Quake” about how short our time can be.

“Water” by Rain Graves which includes many pieces dealing with destruction through mythology, including a series of six poems, which I loved, titled “Hades and Its Five” that encompasses all of the myths of Hades, the river Styx and the ferryman.

“Fire” by Charlee Jacob that includes works dealing with death and destruction.  My favorite here is “Accidental Tourists” about a couple of voyeurs who find love at the scene of a horrific car accident and their many names for the color red—the color of life and death.  There is also a series of ten poems called “Reaching Back to Eden” that involve the consequences of the actions of Adam, Eve, Lilith and Satan.

“Air” by Linda Addison contains poems about the power of the wind to shape life and our environment as well as describing the soul as air versus the body.  “Lost in Translation” is one of my favorites here, about air as a hidden, living being.  “Upon First Seeing Ongtupqa” is a beautiful description about air moving through canyons, wearing away the earth and exposing millennia of past life.

All of the prose and poetry is dark, beautiful and vivid in its imagery. There is emotion behind the words that will draw a visceral response from the reader. All of the poetry by these four amazing women is so powerful you will find yourself reading Four Elements again and again.  I have already read through it twice.  If you are a fan of dark poetry then Four Elements is for you. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Colleen Wanglund

 

Posted on March 2, 2014 by , Reply

“I’d Like To Submit A Request For Review”

Monster Librarian receives a lot of requests for review. In addition to mainstream and independent publishers, there are many teeny tiny small presses and self-published authors who request reviews. I’m sharing this information especially for them.

Everyone who works on the site is a volunteer. They all have busy lives and they donate their valuable free time to reading and reviewing.  We can’t review everything we are requested to review. Even when we do plan to review a book, it can be awhile before the book is read, reviewed, edited, and posted. To those of you patiently waiting for reviews, thank you for your patience.

Here’s how we handle review requests. When someone requests a review, I send the request on to our reviewers, and if any of them are interested, then they tell me and I let the person who contacted me know who to send it to.

So if you want to get your book reviewed, you’ve got to hook them with your request, and you have to do it fast. I don’t know about you, but in my personal email account I am overwhelmed with email, most of which isn’t very important. I don’t read every one that I get, and many of those I do get I just take a few seconds to look at, to see if they’re a.) important or b.) interesting. So there isn’t much time to get my attention, and if someone wants me to read what they’ve sent, they have to do it pretty fast. I think most people handle the clutter in their inboxes like that. There isn’t time for more without having your life consumed by email.

I bring this up because I have received a number of requests in the past few weeks for “an anthology of horror short stories”. Occasionally that’s expanded to something along the lines of  “a collection of unique/original/chilling/entertaining/frightening short stories”.  Describing a book this way is pretty generic.  Describing the contents in detail isn’t necessary, just tell us what makes your book stand out enough that we should take time out of our lives to read and review it. If you can’t get it across in a brief paragraph, your request isn’t going to stand out and it probably isn’t going to provoke a reviewer’s interest.  There are plenty of people who DO write requests that tell us what makes their book unique who still don’t get reviewed because of the limited time and energy our reviewers have available, or because it doesn’t fit their interests.

I love to be able to write someone who has requested a review and tell them that we have a reviewer who is interested in reviewing the book. If you would like to be one of those people, please keep in mind that providing us with information about the book that will hook a reviewer makes that much more likely.

We do have a FAQ for authors, located here, which tells you, among other things, what information we need from you to forward a request. Thanks for taking a minute to consider how best to structure a review request, and have a great day!

 

 

Posted on January 15, 2014 by , Reply
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