Archives for September 2020

Rev Req: The Irish Fiasco, by Geoff Quaife

September 16, 2020 By S.D. Reeves Leave a Comment

I received this book for an honest review. All expressed opinions, cynical or otherwise, are my own.

As I think I have illuminated before, historical fiction is a difficult genre to tackle. You are either going to irritate a history nerd, or a fiction nerd; almost always a no-win situation. This isn’t non-fiction, and it takes more than pure research to make these characters live again. In this matter, how does The Irish Fiasco fair, by Geoffe Quaife fair? It does OK.

Rev Request: Imagining Violet, by Mary E. Hughes

September 14, 2020 By S.D. Reeves Leave a Comment

Imagining Violet by Mary E. Hughes tracks Violet Courtenaye, an aspiring musician in the late 19th century, via a series of correspondents. These letters, natural, use a journal format – one that is notoriously difficult to execute. Sadly, I found that the attempt was out of tune.

Rev Request: Carnival of Heaven, by Ryan Olson

September 2, 2020 By S.D. Reeves 2 Comments

I have reviewed a lot of books over the years. Folk tales, mysteries. Space Operas. Heaps of fantasy novels. There have been several good stories among them. And nearly thrice as many bad. It is however the rare work that can squeeze any emotion out of my dark, dream crushing heart. Carnival of Heaven, a unique mix of memoir and fantasy by Ryan Olson, is one of these.