Troll Mountain Episode 2 By Matthew Reilly - Ebook Review

All three volumes of Matthew Reilly's fantasy saga Troll Mountain have now been released so I'm a bit behind with my reviews as life has got in the way, but I'm determined to catch up. So we come to episode two of Matthew Reilly's epic fantasy adventure and as episode one dealt with the introduction of the premise and the characters I'm pleased to say episode two doesn't hold back and gets straight into the action. We finally reach Troll mountain, but before then our heroes come under heavy attack from a bunch of hungry and sarcastic Hob Goblins. Once we arrive at Troll Mountain though the action never stops. We meet the King of the Trolls, his son and the she troll he's betrothed to and our hero finally locates the highly coveted elixir before being captured and facing almost certain death.
This is a brilliant episode with only one real drawback, and that is having to buy the next installment to discover how everything turns out for our band of heroes. I personally can't wait.

Troll Mountain Episode 1 By Matthew Reilly - Ebook review

I have been a fan of Matthew Reilly for quite some time now, indeed I had the privilege of attending one of his book launches once and found the man himself to be incredibly welcoming and friendly, and when you follow a author you are often taken on a journey as the writer in question develops and grows and occasionally will step out of their comfort zone and attempt something different. While I have enjoyed each and everyone of his novels they mostly follow the same formula, which is usually an action packed movie in book form featuring tough but likeable characters. The last two projects, The Tournament and Troll Mountain have been like a breath of fresh air.

I'll save my opinion of The Tournament for another day and solely concentrate on the first episode of Troll Mountain for this review. It's a departure for three important reasons. Firstly it's being released in a serialised format, secondly like Hover Car Racer it's being released as an ebook with presumably a paper back edition to be released at a later date and thirdly it's a fantasy story that reads like a cross between The Hobbit and The Dark Tower series. The story is set in undetermined time and features a tribe of humans who live in fear of the trolls of troll mountain. The humans and trolls are dying from a terrible illness, but there are rumours that the trolls have found the cure in the form of a fabulous elixir.A young man named Raf is spurred into action when his sister Kira succumbs to the disease and the tribe refuse to help him and decides to journey alone to Troll Mountain and steal the elixir for himself and so begins his seemingly impossible quest through dangerous swamps, haunting forests filled with wolves, hobgoblins and of course rogue trolls.

Being the first volume in the series a lot of time is spent setting up the locations, characters and of course the quest to Troll mountain in which our main character sets out to find the elixir to save his sister which is of course the perfect way to hook the reader. As a teaser for the rest of the series it works a treat and certainly whets the appetite for future installments. Personally based on the strength of this first episode I can't wait to see how the rest of the journey unfolds.

Jez Cartner
Sunday 13/04/2014

The Snow Globe By Kristen Harmel: A Book Review

                                                                  Photo Source: Amazon


You can't judge a story by it's word count. This is an accurate statement when it comes to this ebook from author Kristen Harmel. I'll be honest I downloaded this simply because of it's price but I have to tell you I'm glad I did. This is a very short story clocking in at just fifteen pages, but I guarantee this story will resonate long after the last page is turned.

The story is set in 1942 Paris on Christmas Eve.A boy stands beneath the statue of Liberte in the Jardin du Luxembourg on the eve of his sixteenth birthday. It is close to curfew and he needs to get home but he catches sight of a young girl Rose and his fate is sealed. Although we don't we have very long in the company of our lead characters, you will definitely feel their plight by the end and keen to find out how their story ends. The story sets up the events of the novel The Sweetness of Forgetting, and if this short story is anything to go by it's one novel I'll definitely be checking out. Short, but definitely sweet.

Balancing Act - Living with a balance disorder

A Personal account of the day to day life I have no choice but to live with.

As a young man I had always considered myself to be a fairly balanced individual, but at age thirty five it was officially confirmed I was anything but. Now I don't want you to assume from reading the above that I'm some sort of unbalanced maniac who at any given moment will leap through the screen and knife you, rather if you just give me a minute while I put this knife quickly away I'll try to explain.

As a child I had always been prone to headaches. At the time my headaches were dismissed as sinus and mild allergies and during my schooling I spent much of my time in the school sick bay, so much so I began to think of it as my second bedroom. As time went on I did my best to live with the headaches with varying degrees of success. Somehow I made it into adulthood and once I achieved one of my many goals by marrying my girl and starting a family the headaches had transformed themselves into full blown dizzy spells. At first I was treated for everything from inner ear infection to vertigo but my condition continued undeterred. As a last resort I was referred to a neurologist who after some tests announced I had a rare condition known as episodic ataxia type two, a neurological condition which can cause dizziness, slurred speech and on occasions black outs. Between attacks I'm perfectly alright, but when they occur it's like being on an out of control roller coaster with absolutely no way off. I simply have to sit down and wait for the ride to end, which it eventually does. Fortunately this condition is treatable and I began a course of medication which at first appeared to be working, until the side effects kicked in and I developed kidney stones. I spent the next few months in and out of hospital (I won't begin to discuss the food). I was in constant pain for almost two months waiting for surgery, and naturally my medication was stopped for fear of doing more damage to my kidneys. Once this hurdle had been the jumped the hunt was on for an alternative medication, and the attacks began once more and unfortunately much more frequently.

As I write this I am still awaiting my medication, which for various reason keeps getting delayed, in fact I now keep a journal entitled "And today's excuse is...." just to lighten the mood, but with support from my family and support base I know I can overcome this condition. I am now able to spot the warning signs when an attack is imminent, and nine times out of ten I recover straight away in order to get on with what needs to be done. One final thing; as we all know the earth is constantly spinning and due to gravity we simply don't notice. Well I and others who are unfortunate enough to have this condition know exactly what it's like, and I'm happy to say once you manage to get used to it it's really not that bad, it's not fun but it's manageable.Sharing this experience is honestly like having a massive weight lifted from my chest, and I know one day hopefully in the not too distant future my balance will be restored. Thank you for reading.

Update: Since writing this Hub I have now been placed on a steady medication. While there is no cure for my condition my medication has stabilized my attacks, so I very much live one day at a time, which isn't a bad thing. Through it all my wife has been my rock and I dedicate this article to her. Without her love and support I would never have made it this far! I'm the pen and she is definitely my paper!

Yours in writing,

Jez Cartner

The Empty Park - A poem

* I'm no poet, but I love a challenge, and poetry is quite a challenge. I was inspired to write the following poem after walking past a park one day which was missing one very important ingredient: Children playing. The following poem is the result of me trying to work out exactly why would be. I hope you enjoy it.

The Empty Park

A playground with children at play.

The sound of laughter and fun,

Ring out like a bullet from a gun.

"They're happy." The mother will say,

Knowing there's only so many minutes in a day.

Time moves on, as it inevitably does.

Emptiness has left it's mark,

Like a lighthouse beam cutting the dark.

Silence fits snugly, like hands in a glove.

The unlikely resting place of peace's dove.

The ghosts of before; this was their realm now.

And the present knows not to interfere,

So if a pin were to fall everyone would hear.

No-one played, and no-one dared go.

A forbidden place where even grass won't grow.

A father and son stand side by side.

They survey the park, never a word being said.

Both are haunted by strange thoughts in their heads.

The father from images that had not yet died,

The boy from swings and slides he was unable to ride.

The father had heard it's secrets in his youth.

But there's a fine line between truth and fiction,

Which causes it's own share of friction.

But he had seen enough to have his proof,

And he knew the park was mysterious and aloof.

"Dad, can I play?" The boy was to ask.

The reply "I'm afraid not, for it is not ours to use.

It's full of danger, like a lighted fuse.

The park you see is but a mask,

It's all that remains of a troubled past.

The truth is so vast, and well I'm not up to the task.

"It's sad." He went on. "The park was once a happy place,

But as your mother says the past and present seldom meet.

To us the park is empty, like shoes without feet.

But somewhere though the children play still, with smiles on their faces.

And you can be sure in that somewhere the park is no longer an Empty place."

Jez Cartner - 19/01/2013

Copyright the Author

Little Girl Lost

Doctor who fan fiction.Based on information in the SJA episode Death to the Doctor in which a former companion of the good Doctor by the name of Dorothy is said to be running a charity named A Charitable Earth. Doctor Who is of course copy right BBC and not to be reproduced.

                The office was quiet and still. The last of the volunteers had left for the evening, and Dorothy had been left to lock up. Not that she minded this though; she actually looked forward to it. While she found the work she was doing very rewarding, it was literally worlds away from the world she once led. She cherished these few hours in the evening because they gave her the opportunity to relax and get in touch with the person she had once been.

            Dorothy glanced out the window and with a chill saw that the battered old police box she’d noticed earlier that day was still there. She gave a wry smile. It was just like him to drop in now she’d officially left that life behind. It was true she had often thought of him, attempting to imagine what mischief he was getting up to without her. A quiet voice from behind her suddenly disturbed the silence, as if diving into a pond of recently awakened memories.

  “Hello Ace.”

  “Professor.” She replied and turned to face her visitor. He was literally a different man than the time lord she had spent all those years travelling with, but there was no doubting this was the Doctor. He was sitting in the chair she herself usually occupied, looking a good deal younger than when she had last seen him. He was wearing a long brown coat, brown trousers and trainers on his feet. He had thin spiky hair and, incredibly, his eyes were made him appear older and wiser which of course contrasted with his youthful appearance.

  “It’s been a long time Ace.”

  “Almost a lifetime in fact.” She agreed

  “You haven’t any cans of nitro nine hidden around here by any chance?”

            She chuckled at the reference. “No, you can relax. I gave that up a long time ago.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Her expression hardened for a moment.

  “Why are you here professor?”

  “You could say I’m getting my reward.”

  “Your reward?”

  “It’s complicated. A lot has happened since we last saw each other.”

  “For both of us.”

  “I’ve been meaning to come and see you for some time but, well you know how it is. I’ll be honest though finding you running a charity is the last thing I expected to find you doing.”

  “I suppose it would have been more in character with the Ace of old to blow it up rather than to run it, I don’t know somehow this seemed right for me.” She paused, gathering her thoughts before proceeding.

  “For a while I attempted to carry on doing what we always had, you know travelling around saving planets, overthrowing dictatorships, but I felt I was just trying to re-create your life when you’re more than capable of living it yourself. I still wanted to make a difference, but I wanted to do it on my own terms. When this opportunity suddenly presented itself I grabbed it with both hands.”

  “You’ve done well, from what I understand. I like the name by the way, A Charitable Earth. Rather appropriate.” She grinned.

  “Yeah, ironic isn’t it.”

            For a moment the Doctor made no reply. Dorothy braced herself. She knew the Doctor had a reason for coming to see her, but wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to hear what he had to say.

  “I never had a chance to apologize for everything I put you through while we were together. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing but now I realize it wasn’t fair on you, and well I’m sorry.”

            Dorothy turned away, confused by the emotion that suddenly overwhelmed her. In the past whenever she had been confronted by conflicting emotions she would attempt to cover it with bluster and aggression. It was a character trait she was yet to out grow.

  “Like I told you a long time ago I’m not a little girl anymore and I can take care of myself.” Her voice softened. “But thank you.”

            She smiled and turned back, but the Doctor was gone.

            The girl who once referred to herself as Ace sat down and silently thanked the Doctor for his timely visit. While the path she had chosen for herself could be seen to be an unusual choice, but she was certain it was the right path for her. She smiled and sat back and waited for her future to claim her. Tomorrow was indeed a new day.

END

The Dark Tower - An Appreciation

Youth, Hobbits and Wizards

Like most young people I grew up in a world filled with hobbits, Orcs and wonderful wizards who out of the blue would turn up on your doorstep with the promise of adventure and excitement. The Hobbit was the first real book I ever read (if you discount the spot is a dog variety), and I would spend hours sitting in the tree at the back of my Aunts house engrossed in this magical world I never knew existed. I tried my hand at many fantasy novels after this, and while I enjoyed them at the time none have set up home in my imagination in the same way that the Hobbit did. It wasn't until I hit my teens that I discovered the story of the Hobbit continued in the form of The Lord of the Rings. This was a very different beast to the Hobbit, but it well and truly delivered and the epic quest was at time mind blowing, and I was there for every step and stumble as Frodo and Sam struggled to complete their quest to destroy the one ring in the fires of Mordor. I never again encountered a novel that captured my imagination like these two books did, but that never diminished my love for reading and indeed writing as my creative flame was well and truly ignited.

Enter Stephen King

Skip forward many years and I discovered the works of Stephen King. I devoured each novel like a homeless person devours a well cooked meal, but it wasn't until someone pointed me in the direction of the Dark Tower series that I finally found a series that finally gave the Lord of the Rings a run for it's money. I wasn't too surprised when I discovered that Stephen King himself drew inspiration from the works of J.R.R Tolkien himself. Each book was eagerly anticipated as each volume bought me closer to elusive Dark tower. The wait between books was excruciating but ultimately worth the months (and sometimes years) we had to endure. Throughout each book Roland of Gilead, the gunslinger who was forced to earn his guns early, and his eventual ka-tet Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean & his wifeSusannah Dean grow from unwilling travelling companions to eventually gunslingers themselves. While each novel is an exhilarating ride Stephen King doesn't limit his unique world solely to the Dark Tower but ingeniously draws establish's a link between the Dark Tower novels and his previous works. 1984'sThe Talisman and it's sequel Black House immediately spring to mind. When the final volume The Dark Tower was published I wasn't disappointed, because I somehow knew there more stories that were just waiting to be discovered.

So it didn't come as much of a surprise when a series of Graphic novels were released chronicling Roland's early days and his adventures with his first ka-tet. Now Stephen King has published a further novel, The Wind through the Keyhole, set roughly between the fourth and fifth books. It's a stand alone novel that can be read without reading any of the titles, although I recommend reading books one to seven first. I have a feeling Mr King will never really leave the world of Roland behind, and I for one am entirely grateful. If I have the good fortune of meeting Stephen King in the flesh I intend to tell him so. I ultimately owe him and the great Tolkien a great deal of gratitude because ultimately if it wasn't for these two gentleman I never would have put pen to paper in the first place. I say thank ye!

Yours in writing,

Jez Cartner