Slushpile Sleuths

Fire Boy by Sami Shah

Wed, 14 Jun 2017 11:13:22 GMT

Posted by: fred_mouse

I picked this ebook up from one of the assorted bulk SF/Fantasy 'free ebook' pages, which I *think* took me through to a 'sign up for the author's newsletter to get a free book' site.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book - urban fantasy, set in Karachi, incorporating aspects of Islam and the local supernatural traditions as well as some of the political history of Pakistan. The world building is delightful. The level of detail is possibly obsessive, but useful to me as a foreign reader from a different religious tradition, and gave a really good sense of place. I found the protagonist annoying, but it is a coming of age story for a young man who is the only son of a somewhat wealthy family - it is understandable that he starts as somewhat of a brat. Some of the other characterisation was a bit weak, making it difficult to keep track of some of the secondary characters, and making the villains a little bit bland.

Main complaint is that it ends abruptly, after doing a lot of set up, but without a sense of having resolved anything.

It is listed as a duology, but book 2 is not out.

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Review of Promises by Marie Sexton

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 03:19:07 GMT

Posted by: yourlibrarian

I found myself not only staying up late to read this book but also thinking about the characters the next day and being sorry their story was over. To me that's a definite winner.

( Read more... )

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Review of Wanting by Piper Vaughn

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 01:19:42 GMT

Posted by: yourlibrarian

Given that this is a free ebook (I picked it up at the http://allromanceebooks.com site) I thought others might be interested in checking it out since the author has various other male/male titles, most of them only a few dollars.

( Read more... )

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Review: The Hour Before Morning, by Arwen Spicer

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 06:33:55 GMT

Posted by: elf

I was given a copy of this to read & review, and while it's been on my mind, it's taken me a long time to get around to it. It occurs to me that that's worth mentioning--months later, I'm still thinking about this book, mulling over scenes in my mind, contemplating how the characters would react in other situations. This one set down roots and sunk in deep.

From the description at Amazon: Three people lie in a prison cell. One is a murderer. Can his companions help him unlock the door to his own mind before his unreasoning rages claim their lives. The Hour before Morning explores a distant future in which the human heart is much the same. The Ash’torians see their conquest of the Outliers as a triumph of civilization. The Outliers see it as servitude. Their resistance takes many forms, from non-violence to terrorism. Yet one thing remains constant: though lives are shattered, compassion endures.

( What I liked about it )

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Book rec: A Matter of Oaths

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:42:49 GMT

Posted by: cesy

To quote liv, in response to a request I made for recommendations: Helen S Wright: A matter of oaths, which you can download free from her website has lots of awesome women in space. It does have some romance, but mainly m/m, the women are too busy being awesome to bother with relationships. It's not quite up there with the Vorkosigan saga, but it's a similar type of thing and very readable.

I also just read it and enjoyed it. Sadly she hasn't got anything else published, but I'd recommend this one.

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Review: Crack-Up, by Eric Christopherson

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:32:07 GMT

Posted by: elf

I took a chance on this a while back, and am very glad I did. I think it was on sale at the time; I have trouble believing I'd pay $3 for a book entirely outside of my normal genre choices. (Yeah, it's not much, but there are plenty of $3 books *in* my genre range that I'm not buying yet.)

From the description at Smashwords: Argus Ward is a former U.S. Secret Service agent who runs a protection agency catering to the rich and famous. His best-kept secret--which he shares with lawyers and doctors and even psychiatrists--is his status as a high-functioning paranoid schizophrenic. One day, with little warning, he turns psychotic for the first time in twenty years. He lands in a secure psychiatric facility, charged with the murder of his most famous client, high tech industry billionaire John Helms, the wealthiest man in America.

Also notes: Best Mystery Novel, Red Adept Annual Indie Awards 2010. Which is why I was willing to try it; I'm intrigued by anything focusing on non-neurotypical characters, and if it won an award, the writing must at least be decent.

( I should look into more award-winning books, I think. )

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Review: Dancing on Coals, by Ellen O'Connell

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:25:04 GMT

Posted by: elf

I bought this a few weeks ago, and dragged my feet on reading it, because I knew that (1) I'd love it and (2) then I'd be done, and the author doesn't have any more books for me. (Have read them all. They're all wonderful.)

Description from Smashwords: After escaping murderous bandits, Katherine says, "I jumped from the frying pan to the fire. Soon I’ll be dancing on coals." The thieves were the frying pan. The young Apache who saved her was the fire. The coals? Gaetan. Filled with rage and hate, Gaetan is Katherine's one chance to stay alive. When the struggle to survive forges a bond that turns to love, can he admit it?

( Squee inside. )

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Review: Magic University: Book 4 The Poet and the Prophecy by Cecilia Tan

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:32:41 GMT

Posted by: jumpuphigh

I loved the first two books of this series* so I was really looking forward to this book where everything was supposed to come together. I like Cecilia Tan’s writing style. I am able to really get into her stories. I don’t normally read professional romance/erotica but I got the first book of this series solely to support the author with her awesome pro-fanfic ways and I discovered that I loved her. I am fascinated by her characters and was really ready for more about them.

Unfortunately, this book was a hot mess. I spent a good portion of the book wishing I was a beta, not a reader, so that I could reply with “What? What?!? Huh? What just happened there? OMG, don’t do that!”** This was supposed to be the culmination of Kyle’s four years at Veritas University (the magical counterpart to Harvard), but I felt confused for much of story. The story was choppy and frequently felt like it was missing really important paragraphs/sentences which would have explained things.

One of the things I have loved about Cecilia Tan’s books in the past is the inclusiveness without an obvious “hey, I’m being inclusive here” feel. This book changed all of that. Suddenly, there was this heavy-handed lecturing throughout the book. *facepalm* No. Please, no. I just want a good story. I don’t want some call to social action. This is supposed to be a romantic smut book.

It really disappoints me that I wasn’t able to walk away from this story with a “wow, that was a great ending to the series” feeling. I had really been looking forward to this book. I’d really love a re-mix of it from Timothy Frost’s viewpoint. Actually, I’d love that for book 3 as well. Hmmmm. Actually, now that I’m thinking of it, it would be cool to have all four books remixed from Frost’s viewpoint. No. I’m not going to write them. Stop it, bunnies. Just stop it.

*Book 3 was triggery which wouldn’t have been such a problem for me personally if I hadn’t just experienced Duainfey recently. Unfortunately, I spent the entire book groaning at the plot devices used.

**Yes. That is pretty much how I beta. It takes a special kind of writer to handle my blunt ways.

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Online short stories

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:15:13 GMT

Posted by: alitalf

There is an online magazine called The Edge of Propinquity, where there are many good short stories. The one I want to recommend just now is Uncle Sam by Seanan McGuire. She has rapidly become one of my favourite writers, since I read Feed, written under her nom de word-processor, Mira Grant.

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This is why we have editors (anti-rec of sample of Familiar Scars by Christy Leigh Stewart)

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:02:07 GMT

Posted by: elf

Because of the recent YAGay fiasco, I went looking at Smashwords for YA (or close to that) GBLT fic. I did my normal filtering... ignore anything over $6 and anything with cringe-inducing errors in the blurb and anything without a preview.

I found a promising-looking story: Familiar Scars by Christy Leigh Stewart; just under 30k words for $1. I clicked on the listing.

Compelling (or at least interesting) book cover art by Megan Hansen; I'm going to try to remember that name, because I like her art style.

( I was disappointed in the text )

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Book Anti-rec: Duainfey by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 04:15:41 GMT

Posted by: jumpuphigh

I finished Duainfey by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller last night. I have really enjoyed their Liaden Universe books as well as Sharon Lee's Carousal Tides so I am trying very, very hard to keep Duainfey from causing me to take back every single positive thing I said about them. However, it is very hard.

For most of the book, this narrative jumps between three separate stories. Yes, the stories do eventually start to come together in the last few pages but it was quite disconcerting. ( Warning for triggers ) I forced myself to finish it only to discover that they decided to do that "to be cont'd" type of ending a story instead of, you know, actually ending the story.

So, no, I don't recommend this book. I'm not sure I'll be reccing any of their other books in the future because of it as well.

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Book rec: Impulse Control by Susan Bischoff

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:05:06 GMT

Posted by: elf

Description from Smashwords: Talents, kids with supernatural powers, are taken from their families and forced into government research facilities called State Schools. At one such school, a group of Talents must work together to stop a dangerous experiment that’s already killed two of their peers and threatens others. If they’re caught they face Detention, and Detention at a State School has a whole different meaning.

( Commentary inside )

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Review: Brushback and Death of Davy Moss

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 01:05:54 GMT

Posted by: yourlibrarian

I'm not reading much in published fiction as fanfic is plentiful and, I've found, often far more entertaining. Case in point, two books that are supposed to be romances with a mystery angle. ( Read more... )

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Review: 2 books by ZA Maxfield

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:52:22 GMT

Posted by: elf

Notturno and its sequel Vigil center around an antique literature appraiser and his vampire lover. The books are hot, well-plotted with terrific characters, and professionally edited & produced. They are, however, solidly in the "gay vampire porn" category, and that's probably not a big draw for everyone. If you like that, these are terrific; if you've been considering dabbling in gay vampire porn, this is a great place to start.

I've loved ZA Maxfield's other ebooks; I was hesitant to try these (this, really; I tried Notturno first and got hooked) because paranormal erotica is outside of my normal reading range. The erotica's fine; I hate reading botched paranormal concepts, and a lot of the genre isn't well-thought-out. These have paranormal/otherwordly politics that unfold slowly because they're running through the filter of the human's perceptions, and he doesn't want to believe any of this is going on at first, and then doesn't want to believe there's any real dangers.

They're both available at Fictionwise from MLR Press:
( Notturno )

( Vigil )

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Book rec.: Origami Rose

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:21:36 GMT

Posted by: alitalf

Author: Mike Higgins
Title: Origami Rose
Genre: Science fiction detective

There are only so many new ideas around at any given time, and the science fiction plot device has been used elsewhere in other ways, but that didn't stop the book from being a page turner.

I read this a while ago, and haven't time for a proper review, but: Origami Rose costs 99 cents here and you can download a pdf sample first. Children are being kidnapped, and apparently killed, and the story opens with an investigator looking at a case file.

The text is pretty clean, though one or two grammatical or punctuation errors hit me in the face. I noticed few typos, the one that stuck in my mind is "Seventh Calvary", maybe because it occurred more than once.

When I read the book the first half was free to download, and the whole book cost $3. I had no hesitation in buying it when I had finished reading the first part. I suggest you look at this one, if you like either science fiction or detective stories.

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Ego, or how to pretend the competition doesn't exist

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:51:43 GMT

Posted by: elf

At some point, hopefully soon, I'll write a squee-filled rec for Sing My Name by Ellen O'Connell, and exhort all my friends who have any hint of interest in historical romance to go read it, and hey look, if you're not sure it's to your tastes, you can download & read the first 50,000 words to decide if it's worth paying $3 for the rest. (It's worth it. I've never read a romance novel with slashy subtext minor characters before, and now I want fanfic for Beau and Roddy.) (I will be asking for this book at Yuletide. Really.) O'Connell has two other books; I've read one and it was great (this is better) and I've now bought the third, which doesn't say "romance" but I've decided I no longer care. She goes on the short list of "just buy it all."

This isn't that squee. This is a raised-eyebrows, look-over-the-glasses, oh-no-he-didn't look at a different ebook: The Berlin Sex Shop Episode, by Mister Average, which I suspect is a pseudonym. I found this one by browsing recent uploads to Smashwords (because that's about the only way to find anything at Smashwords) and I was just... boggled.

He (there's no rule that says "Mister Average" has to be a he, of course, but I'm going with the standard conventions here for pronoun use) has 6 other "ebooks," which average about 4000 words, and each of which are priced at $2.99. That's right; he wants $2.99 for this 4150 word short story, just like O'Connell wants $2.99 for her 135,000-word epic.

( What this means for me as a reader )

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Ebook rec roundup

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:18:36 GMT

Posted by: elf

Public ebook reviews by people who aren't members here:

akk: Book recommendation - Encrypted; Encrypted (a science fantasy romance) By Lindsay Buroker; Smashwords, 104014 words, $2.99, 50% free preview.

annathepiper: 2011′s first proper book roundup. Brief recs for:
Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories, ed. JoSelle Vanderhooft, $6.99 multiformat
47 Echo, by Shawn Kupfer, 72,800 words, $4.49 at Carina Press (epub, PDF), $3.89 Kindle edition.
... among others which were purchased happily with expectation to enjoy, but no specific recs.

davidmack: Egads! The Dread Remora!; Birth of the Dread Remora by Aaron Rosenberg, $2.99, multiformat.

instantramen: Pale crocodile; Zoo City by Lauren Beukes , 384 pages, £4.49/$5.99 epub, $4.69 Kindle edition.

solarbird: cracksman betty; Raffles books by E. W. Hornung (Gutenberg link); various sizes; free; multiformat.

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Review: Melanie, by Jose Rodriguez

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 04:33:07 GMT

Posted by: elf

Author: Jose Rodriguez
Title: Melanie (Smashwords link)
Genre: Fiction, Drama
Topic: Memory loss, personal identity, race identity

Copyright Status: "This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form."
Content Notes: Contains plot-device amnesia

The description intrigued me enough to download and read this one:

A middle aged and lonely Melanie wakes up with no recollection of her past. Her lack of personal memories forces her to impersonate the old Melanie, a person who she now dislikes and cannot understand. The new Melanie proceeds to fool the world into thinking that nothing has changed while trying to recover her memories but also trying to reinvent herself as a new and improved person.

The book is heavy on introspection and self-identity issues, and those parts were enjoyable, if a bit long. The "adult" rating is justified; there's sex and nudity and crude behavior, but it's not gratuitous or overwhelming, except for the occasional sensory overload when Melanie concentrates on physical sensations because she has no past to connect to. Several times, she realizes she *should* have memories to connect to this-or-that act, but does not.

( Not a bad book, just not quite good enough to recommend, unless you really like that kind of thing. )

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Review: The Binder Of Shame Presents: The RPG.net Rants

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:46:10 GMT

Posted by: elf

Author: Al Bruno III
Title: The Binder Of Shame Presents: The RPG.net Rants (Link to Smashwords listing)
Genre: Nonfiction, more-or-less. I believe (gods, I hope) there's some exaggeration and/or embellishment going on here.
Topic: RPG Gamers. Specifically, 80's tabletop games with bags of differently-sided dice.
Copyright Status: Effectively CC BY-NC-ND; disclaimer says "This free ebook may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration, and the reader is not charged to access it."
Content Warnings: this book contains instances of homophobia, sexism, ableism, fatphobia, various other -isms I'm probably blocking out, and outright gross & disgusting behavior. However, the narrator seems like a genuinely nice guy (not a creep who claims to be nice) who is working against all those things.

I recommend skipping the Smashwords version (well, except to drop a note to the author) and downloading the RTF I put at Google Docs instead. I cleaned it up.

It needed fixing, and it was totally worth it. If you did gaming in the 80's, especially if you bounced between systems looking for that perfect one that would allow *everyone* to enjoy every game, you need to read this book.

( Bad formatting, bad grammar, bad fonts; could not stop laughing long enough to care. )

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Admin post: Seeking suggestions

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:46:16 GMT

Posted by: elf

This post is a place to drop suggestions for Slushpile Sleuths. These can be suggestions about the community admin details (membership, posting access, rules of participation), ebook review suggestions (posting templates, genre preferences, review lengths, specific books), blog details (layout, tagging ideas, related blog links), and so on.

Some of the ideas we may consider are:

( Continued under the cut-tag )

We'll also need to establish membership & posting guidelines--do reviewers need to be members of Mobileread? Can anyone offer a review, or do they need to join the community? Who's in charge in case of conflicts? (Suggestion: not me.) Should admin posts & discussions of community policy be public or not?

( Other considerations )

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