The Other Side of Life - Jess C. Scott

A reminder again of how the scoring works: Low scores = GOOD. High scores = BAD. Points are earned based on flaws. They're taken away for super awesome moments. Star ratings are done based on number of points in comparison to the number of pages in the book. 0-20% = 1 20-40% = 2 40-60%= 3 60-80% = 4 and 80-100% =5.

REVIEW: THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE -  Jess C. Scott

SCORE: 10 points.

RATING: 5 stars

More often than not when I pick up a self-published novel, I get a little pit in my stomach. Is this going to be good, or am I going to regret my decision. More often than not I lean more towards the latter because while I’m all about the self-publishing industry, a lot of self-published authors need better editors to the point where I’m so distracted by mentally red-penning a book to death, I can’t enjoy the story. Yeah, so a lot of books have the occasional errors in them, but when they’re so plentiful they distract from the work, that’s usually a bad sign.

Hesitations aside, I started this book. The concept seemed too cool to pass up, and boy am I glad I did because this book is probably the best indie/self-published novel I’ve picked up in a long, long time, if not to-date.  I’m happy to say, I was able to enjoy this story and not be distracted, and boy is the story a good one. I’ll copy and paste the synopsis here so you can see for yourself.

Anya and Leticia are partners-in-crime who steal for a living. Their world turns upside down after a chance encounter with fellow rogue, Ithilnin—the enigmatic leader of an Elven band of thieves.
A scuffle to prove who’s “the better thief” transforms into more than Anya and Ithilnin ever bargained for. They retrieve the missing piece of an ancient poem, before getting caught in the secret dealings of a megacorporation. What they uncover threatens to alter the very essence of not just human life, but the other side as well.
Elven intrigue, cyberpunk action, and a deadly dose of danger come together in The Other Side of Life [Book #1 in the (Cyberpunk) Elven Trilogy].

WHAT WORKS
The story starts out quick enough. There’s hardly ever a time where it lags actually. It’s a great pace of information and action. What I especially like is that while you might be able to predict the romance line, it doesn’t follow into cliché story line patterns. The chemistry is real and it develops so fluently that I’m rooting for the characters in all of their adventures.

In fact, all of the characters in this book are diverse and developed enough where you’re interested in their lives. I find in a lot of books, an author only takes the time to hold the readers interest in just the main characters. That wasn’t the case in this book.
If there was something I loved the most about this novel however, it was that Scott was able to create a completely new world for me. With the plethora of cookie cutter fiction out there, this was a breath of fresh air for me. I got to travel to a world of corruption, technological dreams, and magic. She does a wonderful blend of magic and science, keeping it fantasy but believable with lots of good cultural references in the mix. In fact, the world was so believable and well described that when I went to bed that night I had a dream about breaking in to a corporate tower with a group of elves. I’m not lying. You have invaded my dream world Scott, and this is quite a feat to accomplish. ;)

WHAT DIDN’T WORK (aka earning the points)

Points were earned simply for some minor errors. Five points were given for some grammar blips and writing errors, and then another five were for some formatting problems. They weren’t anything distracting necessarily, but they were noticeable, so I can’t sit and give it a completely perfect score of 0. However, 10 points for a 200+ page novel comes out to being 95% perfection and puts it at a 5 of 5 stars.

Now, I charge you, Jess C Scott, with getting the next two books of this trilogy out so I can read them. I’m kind of on the edge of my seat here, and I’m pretty sure anyone else who picks up this book will be too. If you’re a lover of science fiction, fantasy, or just looking for something new and different that’s a fun, fast read? Pick up this book. You won’t regret it.

The Mind Entangled: Part One - Discovery - Courtney Conant

Courtney Conant has given me the honor of letting her book be the first review I put up on here.

With that said, I present to you a review for “The Mind Entangled”, a short story. Which is a huge thing to keep in mind when reading this, because it was definitely short. There's a lot going on, and a lot left unresolved. I don't think short story is the word I would use to describe it accurately though. I would call it Part One of some kind of novella. The story is about Adrianna, a young former dancer turned housewife and what happens when she finds out some shocking truths about her husband. I can't elaborate too much more on the plot though because it would be a lot of spoilers.

Real quick, let me remind you about how the scoring system works. Every time there's a moment where things were weird, confusing, or otherwise not working, a point is given. For everyone moment there's something good going on, there's a point taken away. The lower the score, the better. Eventually I'm going to figure out average percentages.

Score: 12. 

I gave it a twelve because while the story is interesting, I think the writing could use some tightening. Conant has a unique style. She's got a way with words and making them flow in a poetic sort of way, I'll give her that. I think it could really shine if she did the tightening thing.

Now, as for the story. I'm intrigued. A lot of ideas were brought up, but few were resolved. I'm guessing this has something to do with it being a two parter. What I wish for is more. I'd love to see more of the back story between Adrianna and her husband for example, or other things happening with the spoilery moments that I can't talk about. I'm guessing this will come in part two though. Right? RIGHT COURTNEY? Please, please, please say yes!

Over all, I think this is a great start to something interesting and unique. I'd check it out. Hook me up with Part Two A.S.A.P. And thanks for the read!

- Sack Boy, peace and marshmallows.