Review - Confessions of a D-List Supervillain by Jim Bernheimer (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Size: 164 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace 
Release Date: April 10, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1461084747
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Copy from author for review
Rating: 4/5 stars
 
I got an e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  This book is an expansion of a novella included in Horror, Humor, and Heroes by Jim Bernheimer.  The first part of the book is that same story, but it is expanded to look at events that take place after the end of the original novella.

MechaniCAL was a bottom of the barrel supervillain until evil mind-controlling bugs took over the world.  Now he seems to be one of the only people with uncontrolled thoughts and is stuck living in his supersuit to stop the evil bugs from attaching to his neck and controlling his thoughts.  A group of superheroes called The Olympians have also been taken over by the bugs.  MechaniCAL is going to do his best to try and win over the Olympians so he has some sort of help in turning back the buggy invasion.

This story is a lot of fun to read, very tongue in cheek, and well-written.  If you liked the novella you will enjoy this version; finally we get to read about the aftermath of the bug invasion.  There is a lot of action in this book and the scenes are very well-done.  The characters are very human, they all have their flaws.  They are also a bit over-characterized at point; but that only serves to add to the humor of the story.  The book manages to be very funny and light, yet still touches on some deep issues.

You can't help but love the main hero/villain MechaniCAL.  He is intriguing and finds himself in an incredibly unique situation.  The superheroes are also interesting; although the majority of them are not as filled out as characters as Cal is.  The book is very creative and Bernheimer thinks of scenarios and superpowers that are both creative and laugh-out-loud funny.

Overall this was a fun and engaging read.  If you like reading about superheroes, supervillains turned superheroes, and enjoy humor in your story then you will definitely enjoy this book.  It was a fun and easy read and was very entertaining.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- E-book Reading Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge

 

Anthology Review - Horror, Humor, and Heroes: Volume II Edited by Jim Bernheimer

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
Size: 274 pages
Publisher: CreateaSpace
Release Date: December 4, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1456435783
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eBook from Author
Rating: 5/5 stars

I got a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  For the most part I enjoyed the book.  It is a solid collection of stories with a good mix between classic fantasy and urban fantasy.

My favorites of this bunch were Boomerang by Matthew Schocke (a story about a mage that takes on an evil lab) this story had wonderful action scenes and a great array of characters.  I also really enjoyed Fate's Apprentice by Brian James, a story about some apprentice mages competing.  The Wild Field by Susan Nance Carhart was a wonderful story that blends fantasy with Russian folklore.  My Mace Craves Blood by Jim Berheimer was a classic fantasy

story about a mace with a mind of its own which was very engaging and enjoyable.  The last story that really caught my eye was Hell's Recruiter by Heather Sinclair; this was a fun story about a Hellish recruiter who takes on more than she can handle.

That being said there are a lot of well-written and creative stories in this set.   It was fun to read stories written by a whole bunch of unknown writers and have so many of them be so entertaining.  There are a few in here that I wasn't super impressed with, but there aren't really any bad stories.

If you are a fan of fantasy and urban fantasy you should find a lot here to interest you.  Who knows you may even be reading a story by the next big fantasy/urban fantasy writer :-)

Overall it is a solid and entertaining collection with a good variety.  The majority of stories incorporate some irony or humor, so you way find yourself chuckling out loud at points.  See below for brief synopsis and comment on each of the stories.

- Pest Control by J.B. Ward (4/5)

Humorous story about a young man who ends up as a trainee for a pest exterminating job.  He finds the pests he's eliminating are more monstrous then originally thought.  With witty dialogue this was a amusing story feature vampires, zombies, and the poor schmuks that get saddled with hunting them.

- Maiden Quest by Clell Harmon (3/5)

A Dungeons and Dragons type story told from the dragons point of view.  The dragon is with your classic contingent of fantasy characters (paladin, elf, sorceress, dwarf) on a quest to destroy an evil mage.  Time is taken to go back and give brief histories for the characters  It was written well enough, but a bit rambling and the action scenes could've used some polishing up.  An okay read.

- Forever young by Keith McComb (3/5)

A one sided interview with a woman who has lived over a hundred thousand years. This was okay but a bit rambling and sometimes the lack of the question side of the interview made things a bit confusing.  Overall it was interesting to hear the supposed perspective of someone who has lived that long.  The story also had a nice ironic twist at the end.

- Boomerang by Matthew Schocke (5/5)

An excellent urban fantasy story about a mage and crew who go up against an evil lab.  Tons of action, well written, and great characterization.  Has a bit of a Dresden Files feel to it.

- Fate's Apprentice by Brian James (5/5)

An exceedingly well written and well woven story. This is a fantasy story about a competition between mage apprentices.  It is incredibly ironic, has a cleverly woven plot, and a touch of humor.  The best story in this anthology so far.

- The Quantum Garage Mechanic by Ted Vinzani (3.5/5)

Story about a quantum garage mechanic who uses his practical knowledge of quantum mechanics to save the world.  It was amusing and decently written.  All the years and times that are thrown around are a bit hard to follow though, I felt like I should write out a timeline to keep track of everything.

- Upon Crystal Shores by Joe Ducie (4/5)

A man and his friend enter the subway to take revenge on an evil killer for the death of his brother.  Only he finds himself suddenly embroiled with a fight not only to destroy a demon but to save mankind itself.  This was well-written with excellent action scenes; a great urban fantasy.  Looks to be the prelude to other urban fantasy stories.

- The Wild Field by Susan Nance Carhart (5/5)

A very well written story about a woman warrior and a Prince who have to deal with something evil in a bog.  This story has a classic fantasy tone to it and pulls in things from Russian folklore.  I really enjoyed it.

- Scarecrow by Anne B. Walsh and Britnee Bloschichak (4/5)

This story was well written, but it was almost identical to the episode in the first season of Supernatural called by a similar name.  I was kind of expecting to find out that may that TV episode was written off of this story or visa versa.  That being said I enjoyed the characters.  Probably the creepiest story of the bunch.

- Dryad by Tom P. Arachtingi (3/5)

This is the story of what happens when you sleep with a Dryad.  It was okay, decently written but fairly predictable.

- Incarnations of Empathy by P.R.S. (4/5)

About an a guy who investigates supernatural activity and banishes it...kind of.  It was well written and humorous.  I would enjoy reading more stories about these characters in the future.

- My Mace Craves Blood by Jim Bernheimer (4/5)

Well written classic fantasy story about a Mace that forces its wielder to go berserk.  The reader only gets the beginning of the story; I really wanted to know what happened next and can see the main character embarking many more fantastic adventures.

- Hell's Recruiter by Heather Sinclair (4/5)

A cute and funny story about what happens when a recruiter for Hell has the tables turned on her by a sneaky force of good.  I really enjoyed this and thought it was a fun read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

 - Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- E-book Reading Challenge
- Zombies! Reading Challenge

Review - Rider (Spirals of Destiny, Book 1) by Jim Bernheimer (4/5 stars)

This is the first book in Bernheimer's new series Spirals of Destiny.  Previously he has written Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman and a collection of short stories called Horror, Humor, and Heroes.  I really enjoyed both of these books and looked forward to reading this one.  I got a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  I am excited to say I really enjoyed this book; it is a creative take on unicorns and female warriors.  Write now the Spirals of Destiny series is planned to be 3-5 books in length.

Majherri is a unicorn who has survived the death of his rider, this never happens at least not until it happened with Majherri.  He is lost and unsure what his survival means and is an outcast in the herd.  Kayleigh Reese is an outcast in her community; her mother is an artist and her father is unknown and they lead a somewhat nomadic life living in each town a couple years before moving on.  When Kayleigh and Majherri meet they form a bond of unicorn and Battle Maiden.  The only problem is Kayleigh is sixteen, three years older than Battle Maidens are normally taken in.  As a result both Kayleigh and Majherri are as much outcasts at the Battle Maiden Academy as they were before they bonded.  As they struggle through training unrest is growing in the west.  The things happening in the west are bigger than anyone realizes and Kayleigh and Majherri will be sucked into the center of the problems.

This was a very good book.  The viewpoint switches between that of Majherri and Kayleigh.  Bernheimer was dead on in how he wrote the scenes from Majherri's point of view.  Kayleigh is a character you can sympathize with and she is easy to relate too.  The style that each characters tells their portion of the story from is very well defined and easy to read.  The plot moves along at a good pace.  The majority of this book deals with Kayleigh and Majherri journeying to the keep and with them undergoing Battle Maiden training.  Towards the end of the book things get more urgent and the world is broadened quite a bit.  This book is appropriate for a young adult or adult crowd, I think either would enjoy it.

Bernheimer has done a great job with characterization in this book and an even better job in writing great action scenes.  There is a touch of humor throughout so that things don't get too serious.  His writing style is easy to read and follow.  I enjoyed the fact that the unicorns had their own sub culture outside of the humans they bond with.  The book was nicely balanced in dealing both with the unicorn culture and the human culture.  I am always impressed with how much story Bernheimer can get in a novel.  The bond between Kayleigh and Majherri is reminiscent of the bond between the Companion horses and Heralds in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar world.  Outside of the bond similarity there isn't much else that is similar; magic is dealt with in a very different way (that I found intriguing), the unicorns can only communicated in images and emotions with their riders, and the unicorns have a society that is all their own.

There were a couple small things that I would have changed.  I really would have liked Majherri and Kayleigh to get through the training part of the book faster and get involved in the bigger threat to the world sooner.  I was also a little disappointed that at the end of the book you have more questions than answers.  But, this is the first book in a series so I guess I will just have to eagerly await the next book to see what happens.  That being said the ending did hold a lot of interesting twists and turns which really kept things interesting.

Overall this was an excellent start to a great new young adult fantasy series.  I think both adults and young adults will enjoy this series.  It has a creative take on unicorn-human interaction, a nifty magic system, and some great action scenes.  There is just a tad of romance as well.  This book sets things up wonderfully and I am hoping for some excellent adventures for Kayleigh and Majherri in the next book.

To read an interview I did with Jim go HERE.

This book goes towards the following challenges:
- The Debut Author Challenge
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- 1st in a Series Reading Challenge

 

Author Interview and Book Giveaway - Jim Bernheimer

Today I am excited to run a feature on Jim Bernheimer!  He was nice enough to send me some of his books to read and I really enjoyed them.  He writes novels and short stories with a unique mix of urban fantasy/paranormal/horror/mystery/fantasy and throws a good dash of humor in them. 

Thanks to Jim for taking the time to answer some questions!  Below I have listed all of the books/short stories that Jim has published.  If you haven't read anything by Jim you should; he is an excellent writer and very entertaining.

Books:
- Horror, Humor, and Heroes

- Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman


Short Stories:
- Reality Bites!
- Cookie?
- Rob's Last Day
- Existence
- A Sharp Mind
- Fate's Heavy Hand

Website: http://www.jimbernheimer.com/Home_Page.php
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Now on to the Interview!

What made you want to start writing and why horror/fantasy?

 I’ve been a fan of science fiction and fantasy for pretty much my entire life, but I would read books and be dissatisfied with how the plot or ending went.  Finally, I decided to try my hand at doing better.  My 2^nd cousin’s success gave me inspiration.  She’s Nora Roberts.  I don’t know her all that well and have only met her once in my adult life, but she’s a class act and I’m hoping there’s some of her talent on my branch of the family tree.

When did you start writing?

Back in 2005, I started with fanfiction.  Eighteen years removed from my last English course, I chose fanfics as a way of concentrating on my storytelling while working on my mechanics.  It helped that I didn’t have to come up with massive backstories and characterizations because they were already there.  For me, it’s been a writing exercise that allows me to experiment and do crazy things like write an entire 23 chapter 180k story in 2^nd person present tenst.  Eventually, my fanfics were developing enough of a following that I decided to give original material a shot.

Of course, there is a downside.  There is a stigma associated with fanfiction.  Inevitably, people will say, “Oh, you’re just a fanfic writer.”  I prefer to think of myself as a writer who has written many things, fanfiction being one of them.

How long did it take you to first get published?

My first short story took about 8 months before I sold it to Norm Sherman’s Drabblecast.  There were 2 more short story sales in 2008 and things started to pick up in 2009.  I collected some of the sold ones and wrote a bunch more and self-published my short story collection (Horror, Humor, and Heroes) in early 2009.  One of the stories that didn’t appear in that was a 2^nd person horror story that David Wood at Gryphonwood published in the Tales of Loss and Dispossession anthology.  It opened a nice little door for me to submit the Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman manuscript, which he liked enough to buy and publish in May of 2009.

What has been the toughest part about writing?

Finding the time to do it.

You work in IT full-time, so when do you get most of your writing done?

I get up early, around five thirty and have about 60 minutes to write before getting the oldest up and off to school.  Then I have another 90 or so minutes before I take the youngest to day care and head for work.  Sometimes, I’ll stay up after the wife and children go to bed, but the wife and I have “negotiated” over this, so I don’t do it that much any more.

Who is your favorite current author?

I haven’t read a current book in awhile.  Most recently, I read Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines (very good book by the way) and that’s because he frequents the Permuted Press forum and I do as well.  With my limited time, what little I don’t spend writing or contacting people for reviews, I invest in working with the writing groups I’ve joined and offering critiques there.  Honestly, Stephen King, JK Rowling, or Jim Butcher don’t need to hear what I think of their books, but some other up-and-coming author might be very interested in what I have to say.

What projects are you currently working on?  Will there be another book in the Dead Eye series book in the future?

Dead Eye 2: The Skinwalker Conspiracies is about halfway done.  I’m hoping to have the rough draft to Dave Wood when we’re both at ConCarolinas in early June debuting my first epic fantasy novel, Spirals of Destiny Book One: Rider. 

Looking at all the crowds for the Harry Potter releases, I noted that the majority were teenaged and into their early twenties females and I was struck by the notion that I should try to write something for this demographic.  Spirals is an attempt to blend high fantasy along the lines of Lord of the Rings with a classic that would appeal to that female group such as Black Beauty.  I wanted to reimagine the unicorn and maiden folklore and give it a healthy dose of “buttkicking.”  Spirals is envisioned to be anywhere from 3-5 books and Dead Eye will go at least 3 books as well.

Also, there is a pair of short stories (Lieutenant Armchair and Prime Suspects) as well as a novella (Confessions of a D-List Supervillain) that I hope to make into full length novels in the near future.

Added to that list is I’m trying to increase my level of exposure.  On Amazon, I’ve been doing some cartoon video reviews of the excerpts for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition.  They’ve gone over pretty well and I’ve already received a few requests to do reviews of full length ones, so maybe I’ll do some book blogging in the near future.  The big problem now is that there are so many different ways to market yourself as a brand that to do them all would force me to eliminate all my writing time, so my advice is to pick and choose how much marketing you do and balance that with your writing time.

Hopefully, I’m not biting off more than I can chew.

If you could sit down with any author to discuss writing, who would it be and what would you ask them?

If we’re talking about the deceased, I’d pick Robert Heinlein in a second, even over Poe.  I’d spend as much time picking his brain about writing as possible.

For a living author, I’d be happy to speak to any of the following – Eric Flint, Piers Anthony, Clive Barker, and Mercedes Lackey.  Those are the ones that come off the top of my head.

I see that you have C. T. Westcott as one of the authors who influenced you to write.  To be honest I had never heard or him but upon looking up his writings found that he writes military sci-fi of a sort.  Pennies for the Ferryman also features an ex-military man.   Is your life or writing influenced by the military in some way?

I spent a little over 8 years in the US Navy from 1989 to 1997 and still work as a contractor to the Navy to this day.  Mr. Westcott’s work is also written in first person and filled with the sarcastic ravings of an anti-hero fighter pilot named Will Bucko.  It’s a somewhat obscure choice, but Eagleheart is my favorite trilogy even over The Lord of the Rings.  

I had a great time in the military with no real bitterness on my part, but knew when it was time to go and do something else.  That said, I met many people along the way that didn’t have such a great time in the service and I drew on those recollections to create the disaffected voice of Mike Ross.

Another writer who influenced you was Edgar Allen Poe; what is your favorite Edgar Allen Poe story?

The Telltale Heart is probably top of the list.  It’s followed closely by The Cask of Amontillado.

Your short stories are really excellent and you do a great job of creating a detailed world in a small amount of space.  What came first for you writing short stories or novels?  Which is harder for you to write and which do you enjoy writing more?

Short stories came first, while I was getting a feel for my style.  Short story writing is tough and can only be considered a labor of love.  There’s no real money in it.  The best you can hope for is that the exposure helps get your name out there and drive novel sales.  To make matters worse, the market contraction is taking a toll on the pro paying venues and editors have a selection of “the absolute best” that comes across their desk, so the competition is fierce.

Comparing the two is difficult.  Sometimes I’m in a mindset to write a short story and it detracts from my ability to crank out another chapter of what I’m working on until I stop what I’m doing and write a draft of that darn thing to get it out of my head.  Many people don’t understand this, but a short story requires almost as much care as a full length novel, if you hope to sell it to even a semi-pro market.

In the end, they both bring their own rewards.  To borrow some football metaphors (hopeless Buffalo Bills fan … literally hopeless, they haven’t made the playoffs in a decade), selling a short story is like converting a critical first down.  It keeps your drive alive.  Seeing a novel in print is completing that post pattern and scoring a touchdown.

Let's say you are Mike Ross from Pennies for the Ferryman, if you could see any ghost which ghost would you choose?

My wife and I watch a lot of those News/Mystery shows.  I’d probably want to solve some kind of mystery once and for all such as who killed that little Ramsey girl in Colorado, or what happened to Natalie Holloway in Aruba, did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone – those kinds of things.  If I had Mike’s powers, that’s what I’d try to do with them.

If I were limited to just a sit down with a single ghost for a conversation and not do the whole “mystery solving thing,” I guess I’d have to choose between Churchill, Jefferson, John Adams, Mark Twain, or maybe Ben Franklin, though I suspect Jefferson and John Adams would be a trifle boring, but Churchill, Twain, or Franklin would probably be a hoot.

What is your favorite food?

There is no substitute for the Reese Peanut Butter Cup – the classic and not all these white chocolate/dark chocolate/big cup/ peanut butter on the outside/other variants. C’mon now, why fiddle with perfection?  Frozen is good, but fresh is better.  If you’ve ever gotten a package that’s sat on the shelf too long, you know what I mean.  It borders on criminal neglect, in my opinion.

Where is your favorite place that you have visited and why did you visit?

Hawaii.  The first time for our honeymoon and the second to see one of Kim’s cousins get married.

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Thanks to Jim for the excellent interview and for all the time he took to answer questions.  He's provided a couple signed books for me to giveaway on my site.  See below for giveaway details.

You will win signed copies of both:
Horror, Humor, and Heroes and Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman

To enter the contest you must be a follower.  This contest is open to US Residents only. You must be 13+ years of age to enter.  JUST FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW.  You can post an entry about this contest on your blog for extra entries.

The contest is open until May 24th 2010. 

Review - Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman by Jim Bernheimer (4/5 stars)

I got this book from the author in exchange for an honest review :-)   I really enjoyed it a lot; it's a great paranormal ghost action story that is fast paced and creative. 

Mike Ross returned from fighting in Iraq less an eye and with some hearing loss.  His eye is replaced with a donor eye upon his return home.  There is only one thing wrong, now he is seeing ghosts with his new eye.  As if life for a recuperating vet wasn't tough enough, now Mike's got ghosts hunting him down because they want him.  Apparently Mike is a rare type of person called a Ferryman; a Ferryman hasn't existed in the States for over a century and he is plunged into the dangerous world of ghostly politics.

This was a really good book.  The book is broken into thirteen episodes.  Initially each episode deals with Mike solving a ghostly mystery and the episodes are somewhat contained.  As the story continues there begins to be more of an over-arcing story that ties everything together.  The book is nicely wrapped up but has a couple loose threads that need to be answered in another novel.

In the beginning the writing is a bit rough and the characters a bit over-characterized, but after the first couple episodes Bernheimer really hits his stride.  Mike isn't the most likable character; he is crass, prone to anger, and in some ways your typical ex-army guy, yet Bernheimer gives Mike a noble streak that makes Mike likable and real.

The idea of Mike seeing the dead with his implanted eye and the whole way Mike interacts with the ghost-world was very well done and creative.  I really enjoyed learning about it.  Again, Bernheimer does a great job of making Mike's interaction with the dead reasonable and believable.  The plot is non-stop and propels the reader forward making the book hard to put down and the action scenes are really well done.  Bernheimer does a great job throwing in some dry humor to keep things from getting too serious.

I have a couple small complaints; Berheimer's characterization of women is a bit rough at times.  Most of the female characters are annoying as all get out and a bit cliched.  This was something that got better as the book continued.  The female characters introduced later in the novel were more reasonable and interesting.  Bernheimer did do an excellent job characterizing the male characters.  Also in the beginning of the book I thought some of the language felt a bit forced and the characters were a little over done; this is also something the went away after the first couple chapters.

Overall this was a great read and a lot of fun.  I really enjoyed Bernheimer's take on ghosts and interactions with them.  I think this is a start to a wonderful new series and really look forward to reading the next book in this series.  Bernheimer is definitely a writer to keep an eye on; he has some great ideas and a fun writing style to read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- 1st in a Series Reading Challenge
- Thiller and Suspense Challenge

 

Review - Horror, Humor, and Heroes by Jim Bernheimer (4.5/5 stars)

I got this book from the author directly in exchange for an honest review :-)  This is a great collection of stories that vary widely but focus on mainly urban fantasy and sci-fi stories with a touch of humor.  Story length varies from very short (a couple pages) to novella size (a 70 page novella).

There are thirteen stories in this book, along with a preview of Bernheimer's new book "Battle Maidens".  As I said the stories vary widely, most of them were really well done.  "Confessions of a 'D-List' Supervillain" was the novella and was great; it is about a low rank supervillian who has to save the world from mind altering bugs who are trying to take over the world.  I also liked "Cookie?" in which a toddler teams up with a supernatural force to make cookies in her Easy Bake oven that people will do anything for.  Then there was "Reality Bites!" in which a vampire tries to take on an insurance company to get his death benefit, which was also good.  I enjoyed "Lieutenant Armchair"; in which we get to watch soldiers struggle in an America filled with animals of more than gigantic proportions.  "Charlie Horse" was another enjoyable story that dealt with zombies being used as a power source, I loved the irony in this one.

Really almost every story in this book was interesting.  The only one I thought was a bit weak was the first story "The Wolf's Cry" which had some awkward sounding dialogue.

Bernheimer did a great job changing the tone of his writing to match the wide variety of characters in his stories.  The writing was easy to read and really propelled the reader forward; in most of the stories the dialogue was witty and funny.  Bernheimer writes especially good action scenes and does a good job of taking a creative idea and making it into a great short story.  Most of the humor was of the ironic kind or slightly dark; I enjoyed it a lot.

There are some really short stories in here, only a couple pages long.  I am always interested in these types of stories because short stories are hard to write and make complete.  Bernheimer did an excellent job of putting a lot into these short stories, they are very well put together, the writing is concise and no space is wasted.  I was impressed with how much story he conveyed in such a small amount of space.

In general I really enjoyed this collection of stories and was glad I read it.  I also have Bernheimer's book "Pennies for the Ferryman" which I plan on reading shortly and I am looking forward to reading it.  If you are a fan of urban fantasy, humorous sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, short stories, zombies or just speculative fiction in general, I would pick up this book.  It is a fun read and there are a lot of creative stories in here.   I look forward to reading more of Bernheimer's work in the future.

This book went towards the following challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge