Jacob’s sister wrote a book, too, you guys! 😀
Psychological thrillers are a bit out of my wheelhouse, but thanks to this one, I may have found a new genre worth exploring.
A Flash of Red by Sarah K. Stephens tells the intertwining stories of three characters: Anna Kline, a psychology professor afraid that she’s traveling down a dark family path; Sean, her husband, who struggles with feelings of inadequacy; and Bard, a student of Anna’s who has a particular interest in his professor and her subject matter, for potentially dark reasons of his own.
To say more would be to give away spoilers, as one of the novel’s greatest strengths is how it reveals its characters’ secrets and how it plays on reader expectations. As a new reader of psychological thrillers, I’m generally unaware of the genre’s tropes, but nonetheless I found myself tricked into making certain suppositions in each chapter, only to be surprised by the truth (or developing truth) of the matter some chapters later.
The chapters are also short and quick, which propels the story along at a healthy pace, and despite their length, they convey a lot of information. Stephens is efficient with her characterization, telling the reader exactly what they need to know when they need to know it, often in lovely turns of phrase.
Characterization is, of course, key in a genre as necessarily character driven as the psychological thriller, and Stephens deftly manipulates how readers view her characters from chapter to chapter, careful to balance their flaws and sympathies. Anna has a very real mental struggle, but she’s also a pretentious intellectual ass; Sean is a manipulative bastard, but he’s also unappreciated by his wife, despite genuine efforts to show his affection; Bard is deeply concerned for his professor and has legitimate reasons for asking her advice about schizophrenia, but he has a manipulative streak as well. Thing is, Stephens writes them so that, from scene to scene, the reader doesn’t know which traits are the dominant traits in each character; in some scenes, they’re all basically sympathetic, but the other scenes sneak a haunting “What if?” into the backs of readers minds.
A “What if?” which lingers even after the final page.
Engaging, fast-paced, and psychologically complex (especially for its length), A Flash of Red is a must-read for people who like to get into characters’ brains – even if they’re disturbed by what they find there.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
The Messenger – Book Bomb
Hey, mecha fans! We know some of you are still reeling from the end of the Seraphim Revival series, and though we’re giving its characters a much-needed rest, we totally understand your need to read more action-packed giant robot goodness.
Luckily for you, one of our #authorbuds, Terry Maggert, teamed up with J.N. Chaney to release a thoroughly kick-butt giant robot space epic! 😀
H.P. just finished barreling through The Messenger, and if you’re a fan of Gundam, Voltron, Mass Effect, or really anything that involves big-a** tech blowing junk up in epic fashion, it’s a fun read!
Dash never asked to be a mech pilot, but fate has other plans.
On the run and out of chances, he guides his ship and crew into the heart of a relic older than the galaxy itself–and finds himself on the edge of an eternal war he never knew existed.
The relic is a mech, lost to history and forgotten by all who remain. Built by an ancient race to be the ultimate weapon, the machine is capable of unspeakable destruction, and its discovery could unhinge the balance of power throughout known space.
Worse still, the A.I. inside the machine speaks of an ancient evil that will soon arrive–a race whose power far exceeds anything humanity has ever witnessed.
Only the Messenger can stand against them, the A.I. tells its new pilot. Only you can do what must be done.
Even better, if you enjoy it, the sequel is already available for Pre-Order (Release Date Sunday, October 20th)! 😀
UPDATE 12.21.19: There are more! 😮
The Epic Tale of Nova
If you follow our Instagram, you’re familiar with Nova, Novabun, NovaNO, Catboss of Holo Writing, Occasional Typo Inserter, Blesser of Shoes, Stealer of Socks and General Queen of House Holo, but you haven’t heard the tale of how she earned those titles.
This is that epic tale.
Prologue
This is a story of two people:
One who politely tolerates animals, but would rather not put up with their mess.
And one whose first adult purchase was a house, whose second was a cat to put into that house, and who renovated her house so her cat could have maximum windowsill space on which to stretch out. And then got another cat.
This makes “I love you more than cats” the highest compliment the latter could have paid to the former.
This makes her decision to ease her cats from indoors to outdoors that much more meaningful.
This makes the fact that that they ran away right after discovering the wonders of outside that much more crushing. 😭
But as the latter said to the former, “I love you more than cats.”
…
This did not mean she would stop trying to adopt a new cat. 😈
Part 1
H.P. here. I entered adulthood like any women’s-college-educated millennial feminist, which is to say that I assumed I would spend my life assembling a horde of cats so that I might one day achieve my final form as Craziest Cat Lady Who Don’t Need No Man.
Then I met Jacob, who was basically Me But An Engineer And Also Organized, and figured my first plan was hecka boring by comparison.
But see, the thing about Jacob is that he’s tidy. Not fold-your-underwear and line-up-all-your-socks tidy, but definitely tidy enough that the sight of all the cat hair in my house on our first date made him wonder if maybe he had not in fact found his soul mate.
Spoiler Alert: He had. He just didn’t realize it until later.
I didn’t realize it until later, either, when it occurred to me that I’d be willing to move my cats outside, should sharing a house with Jacob ever be a thing that happened.
Spoiler Alert: He proposed, and it did, and so I began the process of introducing my cats Locke and Peek to The Outside.
Problem was, Locke and Peek enjoyed The Outside a little too much, and the first day I left them alone, they ran for freedom. It was a sad loss right before the wedding, but as a cat lady, I fully understand: cat’s gotta cat.
But also, cat lady’s gotta cat lady, and it wasn’t long before my inner cat lady re-emerged.
Throughout the early part of our marriage, Jacob and I mostly talked about three things: writing, video games, and why I deserved a cat. The latter was a very one-sided conversation.
See, where Jacob is 100% tidy, I and 100% NOT, and Jacob didn’t want to put up with both wife mess and cat mess, especially since he was statistically unlikely to enjoy any cat.
So we came to an agreement: We would get a cat when I either 1) fully cleaned the house to his satisfaction, or 2) finished The Wizard’s Quartet.
Jacob thought he was being clever because 1) was unlikely to ever happen and 2) would very likely happen, but would at least buy him a few guaranteed years of cat-free life.
He did not plan for Nova.
Part 2
Life happens, and so does sh*t, and both happened to us for a taxing year. In June 2014, I was diagnosed with melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. We caught it early enough that, after months of worry and doctors’ visits and surgery, it was fully eliminated, but the fact that it crept into my body from a mole that had been on my leg since childhood was rattling. And then, immediately after, we received the news that one of my grandmothers had left a similar weird skin spot unchecked. It turned out to be a melanoma, and it had developed into terminal cancer.
There are few experiences more disturbing than learning what you’re likely to die from and then having to watch as someone you love dies from that exact same thing. Her condition in her final days was such that, when she passed on Christmas Eve, the family all cried, but also released breaths we’d been holding for months – relief that she was no longer suffering.
Well. Most of us did. At the time, I saw too much of my own possible future in it.
Even though my personal experience with melanoma ended as well as cancer possibly can, those combined experiences unlocked a fear of every minor pain or ailment that rose up in me. Since cancer doesn’t necessarily hurt until it’s too late, I began to obsess over every minor unusual ache, wondering if each one somehow indicated a cell of melanoma that had escaped and metastasized into the hidden tumor that would be my undoing. In reality, most of these aches were simply weather or aging pains, but when one’s body is faced with its own mortality, one’s brain doesn’t necessarily handle it in a logical way. Those worries thus compounded and cumulated in the emergence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, an ailment which affected me far longer than the cancer that incited it.
But this is not a story about cancer. This is a story about cats.
Part 3
Fast forward to July 2015. The cancer is done; the anxiety is in the process of being handled.
My intense desire to hug every cat is no secret, and it’s not uncommon for friends to send me info about cats in need of adopting and spoiling. Out of respect for Jacob’s emotions – after all, I’d put him through enough in the past year, and he’d been a marvelous support – I’d stopped asking for a cat.
But then my pal and beta reader Jennifer shared a fateful Facebook post.
Over the past several weeks, a cute little stray cat had come to visit her condo, deliver sweet little cat blessings, and then spirit off on her cat adventures, as cats do.
Until the day she visited with a massive gash torn in her side. 😧
To this day, we’re not sure what happened – most likely a fight with a dog – but luckily Jennifer was able to take her to That’s What Friends Are For, a local organization that provided the funds to stitch her up.
Jennifer wanted to keep the cat – who she’d named Nova by this point – and offered to house her while she recovered at the very least. However, it was not to be. Jennifer already had two other cats, and these cats were Not Having Nova.
Thus the Facebook post. Jennifer was willing to keep Nova until she healed, but wanted to be rid of her by early August, for both her family’s sanity and that of her cats.
Even in those sad surgery photos, Nova had an ineffable sweetness that curled up right in the space left by my old cats – and by all the stresses I’d been through in the year prior – so, daring to be optimistic, I asked Jennifer for more details about Nova. In the process I learned of her ever-gentle manner, her talkative affection, her general cleanliness, her hesitance to even scratch – all in more detail than I’d ever learn from a shelter or adoption center. I knew that this would be our cat.
Of course, Jacob said no.
Thus began Operation Nova.
I began subtly, sending occasional cute gifs of cats, often with captions like “This could be life with Nova.”
Then I upped my efforts. I began to send articles about how research showed cats to be reliable stress-reducers (a significant point for me back then), among other data-backed points. Engineers love data.
Nova was even named for a Starcraft character – his favorite tournaments to watch on YouTube at that time – and as far as I was concerned, a coincidence like that could be nothing but fate.
At this point, Jacob began to see how serious I was about this cat, and so modified his earlier ultimatum: If I cleaned the house and kept it clean for a significant length of time, I would be a step closer to earning my cat.
He didn’t think I would do it.
I did.
But as the deadline approached, Jacob still wasn’t sure.
So I pulled out my nuclear option.
Your happy cry this morning set me to thinking about all the awesome and not so awesome stuff we’ve been through in the short time since we married.
Namely that time during cancer summer when we thought my cancer might be terminal. I planned on doing something practical like quitting work and finishing my novel…but you, knowing how much I wanted a pet, wanted to get me a cat with which to spend my last days.
All this to say, I love you, husband. 🙂
BUT ALSO THAT IS TOTALLY UNFAIR THAT I KICKED CANCER’S BOOTAY AND AM ALL SORTS OF ALIVE AND STILL DO NOT HAVE A CAT.
JUST SAYIN’
P.S. Here is a hovercat in case that made you sad.
I love you!
HP
I picked up Nova that weekend.
Epilogue
That’s not even the end of it.
For though Nova was supposed to be My Cat, we discovered within a week that Jacob is The Cat Whisperer and his lap is apparently far superior to the lap that drove for hours on end to pick her up and bring her to her new home in another state.
Only He can feed her.
She knows what time He comes home and waits at the door for him.
When He sits anywhere, she is on his lap in 2 seconds. We’ve timed it.
When Jacob’s not home to feed her or be her throne, she looks at me like “Well, I guess you’ll do.”
But then she cuddles up with me all the same. She is, after all, sweetness incarnate, and Jacob and I wouldn’t have her any other way. ☺️
***
BTW, if you’re the donating type, please consider donating to That’s What Friends Are For (or your local animal shelter). Without them, our little catboss wouldn’t be alive right now, and we’re eternally grateful for the services they provide. 😊😊😊
LibertyCon Panel Schedule!
From one con, right to another! Here’s what we’ll be up to at LibertyCon in Chattanooga, TN! 😀 (Full schedule here.)
PANEL SCHEDULE:
CROSSING STEAMPUNK II
FRIDAY, June 28th @ 10pm – Meeting Room 7
D. Alan Lewis moderates this panel on writing and mixing genres that cross Steampunk.
Panelists: D. Alan Lewis, Quincy J. Allen, Dan Hollifield, H.P. Holo, Tamara Lowery
INDY AUTHOR RESOURCES PANEL
SATURDAY, June 29th @ 10am – Meeting Room 8
Bad Ash Publishing owner Melisa Todd moderates this panel on where to find the best tools to assist independent authors.
Panelists: Melisa Todd, Douglas Burbey, Jim Curtis, H.P. Holo, Dave Schroeder, John Van Stry
WHAT’S NEW IN YA FANTASY?
SATURDAY, June 29th @ 1pm – Meeting Rooms 9 & 10
David Butler moderates this roundtable on what’s new in young adult fantasy.
Panelists: David (D.J.) Butler, Taylor S. Hoch, H.P. Holo, Cedar Sanderson, Lydia Sherrer
WORLD BUILDING FOR SPACE OPERA
SATURDAY, June 29th @ 1pm – Meeting Rooms 4 & 5
Our panelists will discuss the nuances of good world building in Space Opera. Mark Wandrey moderates.
Panelists: Mark Wandrey, Jim Curtis, Doug Dandridge, C.S. Ferguson, Jacob Holo, Ian J. Malone
BAEN TRAVELING ROADSHOW AND PRIZE PATROL
SATURDAY, June 29th @ 2pm – Meeting Rooms 4 & 5
Toni Weisskopf will be running the crowd through the best of what’s going on in the Baen universe. (And there will be giveaways!)
Panelists: A whole bunch. Just go; it’s fun.
INDUSTRIAL vs. MECHA
SATURDAY, June 29th @ 5pm – Meeting Room 8
Industrial / Mechanical Engineers square off against Mecha authors to discuss “Mech” realism and the realm of the possible. William Joseph Roberts moderates.
Panelists: William Joseph Roberts, J.D. Beckwith, Jacob Holo, Jon R. Osborne, James Schardt, Chris Woods
READING WITH JACOB & H.P. HOLO
SATURDAY, June 29th @ 10pm – Lookout Mountain Room
Come out and have a seat as our author guests read passages of their works.
Panelists: Jacob & H.P. Holo
KAFFEEKLATSCH
SUNDAY, June 30th @ 10am – Tennessee River Room
Have coffee / continental breakfast and chat with the pros.
Panelists: A BUNCH.
SIGNING SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, June 28th @ 6pm (Author’s Alley – Plaza Ballroom Mezzanine)
FRIDAY, June 28th @ 7pm (Autograph Session in Dealer’s Room – Plaza A/B/C Ballroom)
SATURDAY, June 29th @ 4pm (Author’s Alley – Plaza Ballroom Mezzanine)
SUNDAY, June 30th @ 11am (Author’s Alley – Plaza Ballroom Mezzanine)
ConCarolinas 2019 Con Update!
Sometimes you go to a con and have a fantabulous time, and then con crud sneaks up on you the moment you get home and knocks you on your butt. 😷
When that’s the worst you can say about a con, though, it’s a pretty good con. 😀
This was the first year that the stars and our schedules aligned for us to be at ConCarolinas in Charlotte, NC, and though we were insanely busy (ALL PANELS ALL THE TIME FOREVER), the fun was entirely worth the con crud.
Before we formally begin, though, we owe a special thanks to Guest Coordinator (and fellow author) John Hartness for allowing us in as last minute guests. We’d initially committed to LibertyCon for this weekend, but when LibertyCon changed dates (now June 28-30, btw), that left us some unexpected free time, and John was graciously willing to let us fill it at ConCarolinas. All that said, thanks, John! (Also go buy his stuff. And the stuff he publishes under Falstaff Books.)
ConCarolinas is one of those small cons that hides its size with huge enthusiasm and activity. Though a multi-fandom con, it places more emphasis on authors and books than most cons of its size, which meant that we were able to meet a bunch of new authors and add their books to our reading pile.
We hadn’t intended to come home with any new books because our pile is currently growing faster than it’s shrinking, but well…A.J. Hartley was a fellow guest, and Steeplejack has been on my to-read list forever, which was reason enough for me to just impulse buy the whole trilogy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByMGvDfALTr/
Then, when R.M. Hamrick described her space opera novellas as Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets Guardians of the Galaxy, we couldn’t resist snagging that, too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Byd97LVgn9o/
Next, Jeffrey Bardwell, among other books, wrote a series about medieval steampunk wizards, so naturally I was all over that.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByMHEaBgfoc/
Finally, I forgot to pick this up because by the end of the con I was 100% dead and incoherent, but Crymsyn Hart wrote a sci-fi romance titled Captured by the Alien Vampire Highlander which is something I think the world should know about for the title alone. (It’ll be on my digital reading pile soon.)
Speaking of books, we also need to give a special shout-out to Orielis Books, who carried our titles this weekend and also gave us an impromptu book-signing when we weren’t able to make our originally-scheduled signing on Friday. 😊
https://www.instagram.com/p/BydxsaHALdD/
They’ll be carrying some of our titles on their website and to other cons they visit, so be sure to check them out if you’re in need of some good reads!
Our adventures didn’t end with books, but you can find the rest of our ConCarolinas fun chronicled on our Instagram page.
And if you want to join us on our con adventures, come see us at LibertyCon, later this month in Chattanooga, TN!
Until then, happy reading! 😁
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
ConCarolinas Panel Schedule!
Our next convention stop is coming up this weekend! Here’s where you can find us at ConCarolinas in Charlotte, NC.
NOTE: The official schedule has us down for a Book Signing on Friday @ 2pm, but due to Other Job commitments (like…actually showing up to work 😜), we won’t be able to make it that day. However, if you find us at the con, we’ll be glad to sign for you. 🙂
THE BAEN BOOKS TRAVELING ROADSHOW
SATURDAY, June 1st @ 10am – Main Programming (Lakeshore 3&4)
Panelists: Tony Daniel, Nicole Givens Kurtz, David Weber, Jacob Holo
I LIKE BIG BOTS AND I CANNOT LIE
SATURDAY, June 1st @ 12pm – Lakeshore 2
Whether it’s Transformers, Gundams, or Jaegers, there’s no denying the popularity of giant robots in our media. Let’s talk about our favorite robots and why we think they’re such a prevalent fixture in our media and fandoms.
Panelists: Ramenwitch, Sherman Burris, Carol Cowles, Jacob Holo, Nickie Jamison
ARMING YOUR CHARACTERS
SATURDAY, June 1st @ 3pm – Keynes
What kinds of weapons are suitable for your story? Are there novels you’ve read in which the author handled weaponry in a unique way? How does the writer even learn about all this stuff?
Panelists: Nancy Northcott, Chris A. Jackson, Jacob Holo, Edward McKeown, Quincy J. Allen
SPACE OPERA
Saturday, June 1st @ 5pm – Keynes
From The Expanse to the Honorverse, stories set in space have always been thrilling. What makes outer space so exciting? Who are some of the best storytellers working out in the black?
Panelists: Tony Daniel, David Weber, Jacob Holo, Edward McKeown, Rebekah Hamrick
GASLAMP
SATURDAY, June 1st @ 7pm – Keynes
Melding fantasy and scifi – hey, you got dragons in my steampunk!
Panelists: Leann M. Rettell, H.P. Holo, Jeffrey Bardwell, Larry N. Martin, Jason Gilbert
ASK US ANYTHING
SATURDAY, June 1st @ 10pm – Walden
Our panelists answer your burning questions on anything – except writing. Ask about baking, the meaning of life, Flat Earth theory, their favorite composers – anything but writing! (Truth is not guaranteed).
Panelists: Dacre Stoker, Crymsyn Hart, D.R. Perry, Jacob & H.P. Holo
AN HOUR WITH…JACOB & H.P. HOLO
SUNDAY, June 2nd @ 10am – 3rd Floor Room
Join us for readings from The Gordian Protocol and The Wizard’s Way!
Panelists: Jacob & H.P. Holo
HOW MUCH SCIENCE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW TO WRITE SF?
SUNDAY, June 2nd @ 11am – Walden
Science fiction has “science” built right into the genre’s name, and many famous creators of classic works came had careers in science. But as the genre has evolved, the margins have gotten fuzzier. At what point does science fiction become pure fantasy? Are creators under any obligation to get their science right?
Panelists: James Maxey, Jacob Holo, Rebekah Hamrick, J.A. Sutherland, Michael Mammay
WRITING STRONG MAIN CHARACTERS
SUNDAY, June 2nd @ 1pm – Walden
What makes the protagonist that star of the show? Is it her story, or her personality? Maybe it’s the way he interacts with the people around him? Our panel talks about how to create main characters whose stories are the kind everyone wants to read.
Panelists: H.P. Holo, A.J. Hartley, Faith Hunter, David Weber, Stuart Jaffe
A BALANCING ACT: WORKING, WRITING, LIVING
SUNDAY, June 2nd @ 2pm – Walden
Few writers these days are only writers. Many of the writers you read are also working a day job, parenting, coaching, or just spending time doing other hobbies they enjoy. The panelists will discuss how they manage this balancing act, what they’ve learned about life and themselves through this process, and how others can successfully balance a full plate as well.
Panelists: D.R. Perry, H.P. Holo, Steve Murphy, Matthew Saunders, Aaron Rosenberg
Detective Pikachu – Movie Review
I showed up to an early preview of Detective Pikachu in my full-body Pikachu jammies, fueled by 20 years of Pokemon nostalgia and an insatiable love of bad movies, so there was no way I wasn’t going to like this thing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxQ1BhlnE6e/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Even so, you can imagine my delight when it proved to be not a so-bad-it’s-good travesty of Pokemon fandom, but legitimately good, entirely worthy of my Pikajams, and perhaps the only recent piece of entertainment (other than Avengers: Endgame) that has actually respected the dedication of its fans.
Based upon the 3DS game, Detective Pikachu follows once-aspiring Pokemon trainer-turned-insurance drone Tim Goodman as be begrudgingly teams up with a talking Pikachu to investigate the death of his detective father. Given what I’ve read of the game (I haven’t played it), it actually seems to be a pretty fair adaptation, but let’s be real, no one is seeing this movie for adaptive accuracy. We’re seeing it so we can squeal at the absurd miracle of getting 1) a big-budget Pokemon movie in which 2) Pikachu is voiced by Ryan FREAKING Reynolds and 3) the fan artist responsible for the “creepy realistic Pokemon” series was tapped to help design the Pokemon for the big screen. It’s not a perfect movie (I’ll get to that in a bit), but for our particular audience, Detective Pikachu is a treasure.
It’s unabashedly a fanservice movie, but it’s a fanservice movie done right. It watches as if the filmmakers somehow delved into all our Pokefan heads, found what we most wanted to see on screen, and then crafted a plot that allowed us to see it in a way that (mostly) made narrative sense. We get to see many of our favorite Pokemon, and we get to see Pikachu battle both a Charizard and a Mewtwo, all set up in a world that we would willfully inhabit if we could: a world that combines both the childlike wonder of the regions we remember exploring with the adult perspective of the world we grew up to live in.
Tim himself is very much a stand-in for adult fans, who wanted to be Pokemon trainers as kids but now find themselves in significantly less magical adult jobs. And though it’s a movie based on a children’s property, it’s not really a movie for children. Kids can watch it, of course (as long as parents are okay with them hearing Pikachu drop some mild cusses), but ultimately it’s designed for those of us who grew up with the franchise.
Which is why my inner 12-year-old was screaming the whole time, and my adult face literally hurt from grinning so much.
Half the people in my theatre squealed Pokemon names with delight every time they popped up on screen—perhaps the only time anyone has ever been excited to see Pidgey or Magikarp—and though I usually hate it when people talk during movies, this time I was squealing right along with them. Detective Pikachu’s filmmakers earned my trust the moment Tim comments about a cubone wearing the skill of its dead parent, and kept it right though the ridiculous end.
Make no mistake, this movie is an absolute love letter to Pokemon fans.
Its mileage with non-fans, though, will vary. While the Pokemon fan in me gives Detective Pikachu infinite stars, the analytical writer has to acknowledge that outside that context, it’s close to a 3.5-star movie. The opening act is solid, but near the middle and end, the plot undertakes some seriously complicated gymnastics to make itself make sense, and they don’t always land gracefully. Many plot twists are revealed through barely-earned flashback-style exposition dumps, and the device used to make these dumps—advanced holographic imaging tech that can piece together complex environments from video footage—introduces plot holes through its very existence.
Characters often lack information at the convenience of the plot, even though they should logically have that information because of the way the device gathers it. Never mind that some was gathered from police cameras that can apparently travel through time. Given that the source of its most essential information was police footage, Lieutenant Yoshida (Ken Watanabe ❤!) in particular should have had significant plot-affecting information that he conveniently didn’t, purely at the whim of the writers.
Unexpectedly, some of the plot gymnastics became less egregious upon a second viewing (Of course I saw it twice), but even then those come down to the cheap writing trick of cutting off important information the mere second before characters can actually receive it. Granted, it works to keep the structure of the film intact—and the film is tightly paced—but such devices also make the tension feel artificial and frustrating.
The film’s emotional beats also fall flat. It’s hard to take seriously as anything but a comedy, which means that its attempts at genuinely sad scenes don’t really work, especially when Tim is mourning his dad to a talking Pikachu of all things (despite a convincing performance by Justice Smith). When it combines its emotions with comedy, though, it excels—as when a devastated, lonely Detective Pikachu sobs the iconic Pokemon theme in a truly inspired gem of a scene.
Finally, though she’s essential to moving the plot along, Kathryn Newton’s unpaid intern-slash-aspiring reporter Lucy Stevens fills her role with every spunky reporter stereotype ever and as a result is, frankly, grating to watch. The way the movie uses her Psyduck partner, however, is hilarious.
Psyduck itself raises pesky world building questions—Why the heck would a person in a high-stress environment in the middle of a densely populated city want a Pokemon whose stress headaches can literally trigger apocalyptic geography-leveling energy pulses?—but then, those kinds of questions are ultimately irrelevant to Pokemon fans, given the absurd characteristics we’re accustomed to seeing in Pokemon lore (see again: cubone wearing its mother’s skull. And that’s not even the most WTF of them).
Pokemon’s is a world that functions best when you don’t think about it too much except in terms of how it’s awesome, which is something the filmmakers did quite well—even for Pokemon that didn’t necessarily merit it, and this is yet another great success of this movie.
I’ve never given two thoughts to Mr. Mime or Ditto except to be pissed at how hard it was to find them and how lame they were once I did. Detective Pikachu took two of the lamest Pokemon, used them brilliantly, and instantly turned them into two of my new favorites.
More than being mere fanservice, this movie contributed something new and wholly unexpected to the Pokemon universe—first by simply existing, and then by giving fans a movie that loves its world as much as they do.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to don my Pikajams and see it again.
***
EXTRA: Also, because they’re fun, the other promos, including the brilliant and adorable release day “full film leak.”
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Interview on The Baen Free Radio Hour!
If you’re not familiar with the Baen Free Radio Hour and love sci-fi podcasts, you need to GET ON THAT.
If you’re also a fan of The Gordian Protocol, Friday brought a reason to DOUBLE GET ON THAT:
Here’s part one of a 3-part interview with Jacob, David Weber, and Baen publisher Toni Weisskopf, led by Baen Editor Tony Daniel. (It also includes the latest installment of the audiobook serialization of Larry Correia’s Son of the Black Sword)!
Subsequent parts will be added as they’re posted, but if you’d like to follow them, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or listen in-browser on the Baen website.
Listen Here:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Interview with Keystroke Medium!
Earlier tonight, David Weber and Jacob joined Josh and Steve over at Keystroke Medium to chat collaboration, publishing, and The Gordian Protocol. Check out the interview below! 😀
And of course, for more interviews and writing insight, visit Keystroke Medium’s website and YouTube channel!
Also, LESS THAN ONE DAY TO GO, Y’ALL! 😀😀😀
Booklist on The Gordian Protocol!
The early review train is chugging along! Here’s what Don Vicha at Booklist says about The Gordian Protocol!
In the present, Benjamin Schröder, a history professor in South Carolina, has a mental breakdown dealing with the sudden appearance of a second set of memories as real and compelling as what he thought of as his normal life. Then, as he nears recovery, Raibert Kaminski appears at his door. He claims to be a historian from the thirty-first century with a story of how sixteen alternate histories have been bound together in a Knot—which Schröder holds the key to unraveling. If Schröder can’t help, each of those universes will come to an explosive end. But the cost to Schröder is less abstract and incredibly monstrous, and soon the two are facing a ruthless threat that shows no respect for the denizens of the past. The usual Tom Clancy-esque exposition of technical details that readers expect from Weber are leavened by absurd humor and bloody action. Echoes of Robert Heinlein mix with the inventiveness of Charles Stross and lots of exploding temporal spaceships and bodies. Weber and Holo must have had a ball writing this action-packed temporal/multiverse-travel novel.
Can confirm; David and Jacob had an ABSOLUTE ball. 😁
Read the Review on Booklist Here!*
*Review is behind paywall.
Suicidal Samurai – Book Review
Several years ago at Anime Weekend Atlanta, we had the pleasure to be table neighbors with Sarah G. Rothman, and when she described her book Suicidal Samurai as “a samurai-cowboy solves mysteries in Victorian Japan,” it was a natural insta-buy.
Of course, me being me, I didn’t actually read it until last month. But I digress.
Suicidal Samurai is an interesting combination of many things – a Western-style revenge story, historical adventure, and comedy of errors all rolled into a read that goes by much faster than its length would suggest.
The story centers around Mori Makoto, who has spent fifteen years exiled in the United States and now returns to Japan to exact revenge on the people responsible for the near-complete murder of his family – and his exile. His stealthy intentions are completely thwarted, though, when he’s seen in the wrong place at the wrong time by a dead body he didn’t kill, and suddenly finds himself wanted for murder. This murder, though, turns out to have some threads that might connect to the murders of his family, and so he decides to follow them to their source. On the way, he encounters bumbling policeman Yamada Kotaro, American tourist and actress Helen Arkwright, and mysterious shrine maiden Hayashi Emiko, and together they unravel a mystery that, in the end, threatens the very stability of Meiji Japan.
I say “together” very loosely, though, because Makoto has no real interest or intent to team up with any of them (except maybe Emiko, who in addition to being wildly beautiful, also has ties to his family’s old shrine). Rather, Makoto – in classic lone cowboy/lone samurai style – is determined to solve the case by himself, but he just can’t seem to stop crossing paths with Kotaro and Helen, who themselves have gotten wrapped up in more trouble than they were looking for. Helen, visiting Japan with her businessman husband, is bored in the hotel room and just wants a little adventure in this exciting new land. Kotaro is a low-ranking policeman who wants to ingratiate himself with the higher-ups and ends up tailing Makoto (against orders) once he finds something suspicious about the whole case. None of them ever plan to join forces and don’t actually do so until the very end of the book, and half the fun of reading is seeing how Rothman pulls their paths together. The story occasionally relies on too-convenient coincidences to make this work, but on the flipside, those contribute positively to the quick pacing of the plot, and even become part of the amusement.
See, Suicidal Samurai walks a fine line between revenge drama and light comedy. Makoto’s scenes are all serious, but they are balanced with the near-Shakespearean foils of Kotaro and Helen, who are such a buffoon and a busybody, respectively, that it’s hard to take them seriously even when they’re trying to be so. Their trope-ish repetitions of certain phrases only contribute to their humor (even if they’re sometimes a bit grating) – Kotaro frequently refers to himself as “The Great and Powerful Yamada Kotaro,” and Helen makes a persistent habit of quoting plays in case the reader forgets she’s an actress. Yet, despite these tonal differences, they’re woven together in a way that reads smoothly, much like the structure itself. It can be enormously hard to structure a story that relies on coincidentally-overlapping storylines without it reading like the characters know the plot ahead of time, and that Rothman was able to pull it off with such fluidity shows a truly deft writing hand.
The setting itself also deserves some mention. My knowledge of Meiji-era Japan is admittedly limited to what I’ve seen in historical anime, so I can’t comment on the literal accuracy. However, the level of historical detail present in the book suggests that it’s quiet well-researched. Rothman doesn’t shy away from the cultural biases of the era, especially in the form of the Japanese mistrust of foreigners and the West in particular. In fact, that fear of the coming era’s potential changes becomes key in the overall plot. Japanese law also plays a major role, and the sheer amount of effort Makoto has to make to 1) get his illegal gun into the country, 2) find time to put it together, and 3) get the necessary materials to even fire it could only have come about through intense research. Not to mention that Yokohama’s so well-described that I feel like a time machine could plop me down in its Meiji version and I’d have no trouble finding my way around.
All in all, readers looking for a fast-paced historical adventure would do well to pick up Suicidal Samurai. There’s some blood (’cause, you know, murder), and though an age range is not specified, I’d consider it safe for 7th grade and up, and if you like it, a sequel, Notorious Ninja, is reputed to be on the way!
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Easy to be a God – Book Review
In Robert J. Szmidt’s Easy to be a God, humanity has been expanding through the universe for 300 years, and not once has it encountered any other form of intelligent life – until a rough-and-tumble salvaging crew stumbles upon the 50,000-year-old remains of the first…and comes to regret it.
It’s not the last time humanity encounters alien life, though the next is significantly different – two civilizations that are still so planet-bound and primitive that humanity hesitates to interact with either, lest it negatively affect the development of the two. Trouble is, the two civilizations are about to engage in a war that could end up being genocidal for both, and some of the observers cannot let that stand. Acting under the name – and in the capacity of – Gods, they deliver messages and technology to the aliens under the humans’ watch, hoping to avert an atrocity.
In the midst of all this is Henryan Swiecki. He’s been assigned to thwart those interfering Gods, but his own situation is not so simple. He secretly agrees with the logic behind Gods’ actions, but if he fails, he’ll be sent back to one of the most psychologically oppressive prisons in human history, with no hope of escape. Between challenges to his morality and threats against his very life, he has quite a task ahead of him…
I read Easy to be a God on the recommendation of a friend and found it to be well worth the recommendation, but it’s a book that requires some effort. I had to read it twice to fully appreciate it, first because it’s divided into three wildly different parts that don’t seem to have any connection to each other until halfway through the book, second because it features two of the most truly alien cultures I’ve encountered in sci-fi. Neither of these are flaws in the long run, but if you don’t know to expect them, they can make for a challenging (and sometimes frustrating) first read. However, in the end, they all add up to quite an intriguing hard sci-fi novel.
The novel opens up on Nike Stachursky, a top graduate of the Federation Fleet Academy who, after some…ill-advised activity with the Admiral’s youngest daughter finds himself assigned to the Recycling Corps – a salvage unit with such a high casualty rate that it’s not-so-ironically referred to as the Recycling Corpse. There he finds himself amidst the ragtag crew of the FSS Nomad, beneath the coarse but weirdly charismatic Captain Henrichard Morrissey, as they search the wrecks of old battlefields for salvageable loot, and soon happen upon something altogether unexpected.
This section sets up a fun space adventure with a colorful, irreverent cast that could have easily carried through the whole novel, so you can imagine my disappointment when, just after the most exciting part of their own story, they’re dropped for a story and setting so alien that I first thought I’d accidentally opened up a different book (more on that later). Still, the characters make great use of what little time they have in the novel. Nike is a smart (if not exactly sensible) protagonist; Captain Morrissey is one of those odd characters who is a total asshole and yet so hilariously written that he becomes likable; and all the characters in between bounce off each other like a close-knit pirate family (which is essentially what they are).
It’s when their story takes a turn for the dark, though, that it becomes truly intriguing. What starts as the discovery of the “El Dorado” of spaceship hauls reveals that humans aren’t alone in the universe – and maybe haven’t been for a long time. Recollections of other salvage teams that were silenced after certain discoveries leads the crew to wonder if this perhaps wasn’t humanity’s first encounter with alien life – if the Federation has, in fact, known and been covering it up for some reason.
That dark thought aside, certain circumstances of the discovery lead the Nomad‘s chaplain in particular to have a distinct crisis of faith, with even darker implications for humanity.
Unfortunately, the novel never explores those characters or their discoveries beyond this point.
Instead it rockets without preamble into a meeting of the alien Suhurs, who are dealing with their own religious experience – a “Thunder Sower” gifted by the “Spirits of the Mountains” to one of the lowest-ranking members of their society (as opposed to a priest). Here Szmidt has created one of the most fascinating alien species and cultures that I’ve read about in recent sci-fi, with anatomies so unlike those of earth creatures that all Suhur sections necessitate multiple readings. Szmidt doesn’t hold the reader’s hand through these sections either, introducing the aliens with an avalanche of unfamiliar terms and expecting us to rely on context to figure out the relevant information. In retrospect, it’s a pretty cool way to make the reader realize, “Oh hey, these aliens are really alien, not just humans in prosthetics and makeup.” However, on the flipside, it did make for a frustrating initial read, especially since the shift comes out of nowhere following a group of characters we’ve grown to like and whose story has no connection to that of the Suhurs.
And especially since, immediately after, we’re introduced to yet another brand new set of characters. It was at this point on my first read when I began to wonder if any of the stories in this novel would actually connect, particularly because the fourth major shift seems to introduce another new character. (It doesn’t, just an established character using a pseudonym.) Fortunately, except for the first, most of the storylines ultimately do connect, but the abrupt way in which the novel as a whole is structured and the fairly slow reveals of how it all comes together might be enough to turn impatient readers off.
This is perhaps the novel’s greatest flaw; though it is an interesting novel, its very structure risks frustrating readers before they even get to the heart of the main storyline.
That storyline centers around Henryan Swiecki, who was a captain in the Federation Fleet before a corrupt officer allowed forty-two soldiers – including Swiecki’s brother – to die in a depressurization incident solely to hide evidence that he’d been involved in illicit dealings. When the officer escapes justice, Henryan takes it into his own hands, shooting him point-plank and killing him instantly.
This lands him in the Sturgeon Belt, perhaps the cruelest penal colony in the universe, with a warden so sadistically harsh that his prisoners routinely strive to commit suicide…but rarely get the chance in the colony’s tightly-structured and technologically-reinforced schedule (another element of the warden’s sadism). When Swiecki eases himself further onto the warden’s bad side, his punishment is to be in charge of preventing attempted suicides, which does nothing to endear him to the other prisoners – but what choice does he have when his failure results in unimaginable torture? The warden takes enormous pleasure in making Swiecki suffer in whatever way he can, physically and psychologically.
Which is why Swiecki is surprised to suddenly be summoned away from the Sturgeon Belt on orders that even the warden can’t ignore.
Under a new name, he’s been assigned at the space station Xan 4 to help with a secret project: The Federation Fleet has discovered its first (that is, “first”) two alien species and is observing them from afar – never interfering – as the Suhurs and rival Gurds prepare for what is sure to be a genocidal war. That’s not his only secret project, though. As mentioned earlier, the real reason he’s been summoned is to help root out the dissidents acting as Gods and interfering with the operation. His situation becomes even more complicated when Gods tries to recruit him, and he has to decide which he values more: his sense of morality, or avoiding the torture prison at all costs.
What follows is a complicated tale switching between the Suhurs and Gurds as they prepare for battle and Swiecki as he plays both Gods and the Federation to his advantage. At points, it’s almost like reading a spy novel with aliens. Though not as fun and likable as the human cast on the Nomad, Swiecki is capable and fierce, fueled by the disproportionate injustice done to him (and his brother and fellow soldiers), and determined that no one’s going to take advantage of him. If you’re looking to read about a character who takes no crap, he’s it, and you can’t help but cheer when he sticks it to anyone who tries to manipulate him.
All this said, Easy to be a God is ultimately a satisfying, entertaining read, albeit far from a leisurely one. It’s demanding of its reader; there’s a lot to unpack within its pages, and some readers will be frustrated by its structure and untied story threads. (As a small note, there are also enough translation quirks to notice – strange turns of phrase, unusual punctuation choices, etc. – which may be distracting for some). There are subsequent books, though, so one would expect that such threads are tied up in those. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the series seems to have gone out of print in English, but if you happen to come upon a copy, this one’s a challenging, recommended read.