Tom Mock

(A NOTE, brought on, in part, by Lilly Anne Crow’s If Light Above)
Maybe I’m just in a weird mood this morning, but I’m actually getting kind of emotional over how good this is, and so many of the books in the blog-off are. I’m only looking at the openings, and the stories have hundreds of pages yet to develop, but still

I suppose it’s that I feel traditional-corporate publishing and bookstores have failed me. To think, I never would have encountered these incredible stories and their talented authors if I only browsed the shelves at B&N.

It makes me sad. It makes me angry. Especially when I think of all the bland, thrown-together novels I have seen clogging up the shelves from Names.

This isn’t an attack on anyone. I know how hard it is to write a novel. I know the editors want to work with new, inspired authors. I’m just disappointed in the industry.

I know many of you (most?) didn’t even query your stories, and for good reason. The industry’s lack of support for “mid-tier” & new authors, their delays, lack of transparency, or fair pay, or hassle, dissuaded you from bothering.

I guess we keep building it ourselves. I suppose that’s also what’s affecting me as I look through these books. The more I read, the more I feel a part of something truly worthwhile.

The authors and reviewers and bloggers, thanks for all you do. Special thanks to Mark Lawrence for organizing the SPFBO. Special thanks to all of you for your own events and competitions and streams and reading threads.

I’m very much looking forward to what else you have to offer, and to sharing what I’ve been working on.
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams.
—-

NOTE: This is a backlog of my notes from SPFBO9. It may look a little rough. My apologies!

You can read my final thoughts on the contest here: Tom Mock’s SPFBO9’s Opening Reads Final Thoughts | JamReads – Making your TBR closer to infinite

160. SC, ZA, & DLC Gowland, Delusions & Dragons
     This one starts a bit unfocused. There’s a good sense of voice to the prose to go along with the MC in ch1, but it almost feels like the author keeps changing their mind about the story.

We start present day. Ordinary life. The narration is writing in 3rd person close and feels at first like it slips into 1st person at times. Our MC is going home.

But our MC / the narration is opining about society before we’ve really gotten a chance to know about them personally. Their relationship with their wife is perfect… or maybe it’s not?

We spend a lot of time with the MC’s general thoughts, but after many pages I come away unclear about much except that they like to play video games. It’s fair to say that the narration rambles.

There are also occasional bits of narrative flair – I think they’re intended as creative descriptions – that confuse me rather than delight. “Energy drinking vampires” is presumably an allusion to … ordinary street kids?

In Neverwhere, Gaiman (& his writing partner) did something very smart by introducing an odd bit of supernatural whimsy to the story’s ordinary-life, middle-class loser opening, which promised more to come. This doesn’t do that.

This 1st chapter is a character/tone introduction. It is short and nothing much happens. I think this author is talented and this might be a fun read if these opening chapters were half as long / twice as focused. I pass.

Day 59

161. Lilly Anne Crow, If Light Above
     Charge! The Captain General Osmund Benwickery plunges into battle at the center of his cavalry line against the armored line of the Worgarren army and their braceletted crystal wielder’s unpredictable magic!

This is a roaring, active opening that plunges the reader headlong into the world of the story and the immediate necessity of its viewpoint character. We know exactly what we need to know to keep the pages flying by.

The scene and story builds and builds as the details expand our understanding of the conflict and its participants.

There’s a bit of whimsy to the prose that goes beyond the clash of steel and sudden terrible crush of magic. There is a playfulness here in the names and literary devices that makes this opening all the more charming.

I very much like reading about magic from the perspective of people who do not wield it themselves. It makes the power of the wielders seem all the more awesome and terrible and, well, magical.

This has a personality all it’s own. It’s easy for me to see already how this was chosen as a semi-finalist. I love that I’ve found it. And only 10 ratings on goodreads?! This needs many, MANY more! I’m getting my copy!
I’m in!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60555148-if-light-above

162. Eileen Mueller @eileenmuellernz, Anakisha’s Dragon
     Young Anakisha hurries to keep up with the constant flow of patrons at her family tavern in the days before a tournament she has been forbidden from entering – but the prize could mean more to her family’s fortune than their customers.

This was the most active, working-in-a-tavern scene I’ve ever read. It deftly grounded me in the story and kept me turning the pages, getting to know the MC and her small, hard-working family.

The prose is direct and expressive and easy to read. The dialogue sounds like people talking and reveals character, and the characters were what pulled me into the story, especially surprises like the 9-yr old cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

The fact that the MC’s family has recently met with tragedy, but they’re still carrying on with things, though they aren’t as easy as they used to be, touched me as a subtle, true detail.

This strikes me as a fun read with good pace. The MC has responsibilities. Because of how hard things are, and likely the inherent dangers of this tournament, the MCs father has forbidden her to participate.

But our young stalwart wants to participate, not least of all because of the prize money. The opening has motives, goals, conflicts, a sense of place, characters – I’m enjoying turning the pages & I’m interested to see what else it has. I’m in.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54672608-anakisha-s-dragon

Day 60

163. Tory Knowlton, Seekers
     This 1st chapter manages to be active and has an interesting character mucking about that does a good job of adding contrast to the stiffer tone of the MC, but ultimately I think this opening does too little.

There are a few story ideas here, but they feel deeply underdeveloped. We’re in some kind of desert camp somewhere out of the way, and then at the end of the chapter we find out there’s some kind of important(?) artifact that gets stolen…

It all feels a bit thrown together. The action, which is what makes this chapter go, happens before I ever really get my footing with the MC, and even that action feels delivered in summary.

This allows for fast development, but I don’t ever feel grounded in the action, nor the MC. Nor am I necessarily clear just what is happening until a single cloaked figure emerges. (I thought maybe there were monsters for a second?)

There are some florid, but evocative descriptions of the immediate setting at the opening of this. It certainly manages not to dither, and there are real advantages to that, but I don’t feel drawn into this one. It’s a bit too surface-level. Pass.

164. Nia Quinn, A Wreck of Witches
     Some kind of modern witch has a sentient house that delights in scaring passersby, but this time there’s actually a real threat lurking on her porch. Good thing there’s an app for that.

Fun is THE word that comes to mind reading this contemporary fantasy opening. It’s fast, light, and has a strong sense of I’m-so-over-all-this voice that I know so many of us can relate to.

The fun creativity just keeps coming too. Quinn has packed so many clever creations into this opening. It does a wonderful job of plunging the reader headfirst into the fantasy world of her MC, which exists alongside our own, but is very distinct from it.

Thank goodness when those distinctions break down and one of us Unawares stumbles across something magical, there are services our witch can turn to instead of having to deal with it herself. Whew, what a relief.

I do feel this is a beginning without proper introductions to our MC, her sentient house, or the shop she apparently has set up in her house (what kind of shop?)

But the humor and fast developments and witchy wonder of it have won me over. This is both a relaxing and energetic read. An easy, fun, clever treat. I’m in.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63167959-a-wreck-of-witches

Day 61

165. Freya Faust @FreyaFaust, Stray Dogs
     Young mercs working for the modern Order of Magic come to pick up a healer who’s been turning down work, only to find him waving a gun at the ledge of a building.

This one starts with action and voice, and although it suspends its action in favor of 1st person narration for a few pages, once we get to the real introduction of what’s going on, this becomes really interesting.

A little man on a ledge pointing a gun at a brother and sister who are there with him for reasons we don’t know is something, but a healer who’s been flaking on work for a secret magical Order is fantastical.

But it is also what the story is actually about, and when delivered in the noiry voice of Faust’s less-than-sympathetic MC, makes this opening jump out to me.

The dialogue is pointed and effective. Each character is distinct. We’re learning about the magic in this world, but without being overwhelmed, and we’re presented with an intriguing mystery right away.

Our MC working with her apparently earnest brother, contrasting with her own hard-heartedness, was a nice touch for me. Having a partner that is also a family member introduces all kinds of possibilities for motivation and tension.

This is spirited, has a great sense of voice, LGBTQ+ rep, and I’m interested to see just what’s gone wrong with this healer who works the dayshift as a janitor. I’m eager to meet more of Faust’s secret Order characters. I’m in.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55210657-stray-dogs

166. Mathilda Zeller @MathildaZeller, The Revenge of Bridget Cleary
     A Irish faerie, condemned to a human body, has to steal enough treasure during her 3 year banishment to satisfy the Faerie Queen. That won’t be so hard. Killing her father for murdering her mother may be.

This is the first faerie story I’ve read that really immersed me in the experience of being fae in the best way. What a unique opening! The first chapter establishes so much about our MC, her troubles, and the setting.

It has a character focused, effective voice (3rd person close), a simply introduced Victorian(or earlier?) English setting (“Damn this English country”), and no shortage of personal/fantastical conflicts for our MC.

Zeller packs a lot of punch into this opening: the spirit of our MC’s dead mother who accompanies her on her banishment, the drudgery of being a human scullery maid, and then a little something unexpected with one of the young ladies of the house!

The prose is quick and inviting. At no point does the first chapter stumble. I love meeting a down on their luck MC in a story that still manages to be a lot of fun.

This makes great use of faery myths and faery magic – something our MC is hardly in control of. I’m not sure yet just what kind of story this will ultimately be, but I’m eager to see where it goes! I’m in!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61930553-the-revenge-of-bridget-cleary

Day 62

167. Kristin L Hamblin @KristinLHamblin, Fated Born
     Spiritual beings watch the world, waiting for their time to be embodied there. They must not take on wordly emotion. Above all, they must not observe mortal love. Ardenis has just broken this rule.

The conceit of this story is immediately magical. The otherworld of our spiritual beings and their existence there when not watching mortals reminded me a fair bit of the angels from Good Omens.

The narration feels rooted in the voice of our MC Ardenis, who, like everyone else, is buttoned up and charmingly dutiful, and finds himself wonderfully worried when he follows Fate and the urging of his instinct and watches a nighttime tryst between star crossed lovers.

The circumstances of our young lovers – whom I hope remain important characters – has an almost fairy tale, Princess Bride quality. The farm boy and the lord’s daughter who are earnestly, and sweetly in love with each other.

For a moment, I was truly worried something terrible would happen between our young couple, but it seems the terrible thing is what our MC has done by observing them. How unique!

I can’t guess where this will go, but I find myself drawn into the story. It’s well focused, isn’t in a rush, and begins with something “life” altering for our MC. I very much want to know where this goes. I’m in!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62600979-fated-born

Day 63

168. Alexander Nader @AlexNaderWrites, Necrotown
     A rough-around-the-edges noir fantasy with living tattoos, sex, magic, violence, and a missing girl that’s going to send our man to the worst town in the world: Necrotown

This effective opening leads with voice and character, steadily introducing us to the setting through persistent narrative asides in that classic noir 1st person.

I might almost call this deadbeat noir, because our MC is sloppy, unwashed, and living in a sum with his missus, instead of equally down-on-his-luck, but still decked out in a suit and fedora. The difference is striking and effective, tho.

This oozes character with every word, drawing the reader into the story. The narration explains just enough for us to get the feel for where we are without dumping information on us.

This one isn’t in a rush, and yet nonetheless manages to start right away with an untimely knock on the door. I did scratch my head a little over what seemed an overreaction to the characters to that knock, but the author has me, nonetheless.

Style leads here, and that style is dripping with appeal. I want to see more of the magic in this weird world. I want to see more of the humor. I want to see just how bad things can get. I own the book. I’m in!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35518924-necrotown

169. Louise Gorday, Edgar and the Flyboys
     I find the prose in this next novel competent. It has a literary fiction bent. The scene is grounded, but the story can move when it wants to, zipping along through events.

Although this seems like it has an inventively magical modern setting – a little like Good Omens – my problem is I really don’t understand what’s happening at all. From word one, I’m lost.

I don’t know what our two characters on the page are talking about. I don’t understand what the issue is. We leave one of the characters very quickly, so I guess they aren’t very important…

The other character is a soul-shepherd of some sort, but he’s lackadaisical. That’s definitely interesting, except I don’t really get what he does or … if he’s just been sitting in this town for hundreds of years?

It doesn’t sound like it, and so I’m confused. He’s going to see Edgar Allen Poe (whose been alive for 200yrs?), and it seems like that’s actually where the story starts, whereas getting to him is filler to introduce our character his circumstances.

But, as I said, I’m nonetheless still confused about both. I feel like the things that would have really interested me about this story have been alluded to, but they remain in the background. What’s taking up space on the page is, frankly, much less interesting.

Seeing our immortal meet Poe for the first time and deciding to give him more life would be more interesting. Checking back in on him years later (surely not 100yrs!?) & finding the main problem of the story – also more interesting.

I like the premise of this. The execution has sadly lost me. I’m nonplussed, and so don’t care at all about what happens to our MC. Nothing seems to matter to him, and nothing he does particularly matters to me. Pass.