Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman & Dead Eye: The Skinwalker Conspiracies by Jim Bernheimer (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Jim Bernheimer Website

Order “Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman” HERE

Read an excerpt HERE

Order “Dead Eye: The Skinwalker Conspiracies” HERE

Read an excerpt HERE

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Jim Bernheimer lives in Virginia with his wife and two daughters. He has previously worked in the IT field since the past decade. He was inspired to start writing after reading the works of Robert Heinlein, Edgar Allen Poe, J.R.R Tolkien, and C.T. Westcott. He has previously written quite a few short stories which can be found here. By day he works as a Network Admin and runs his own computer consulting firm.

About Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman: My name is Mike Ross. I'm a Ferryman. I help people with ghost problems, or ghosts with people problems. Funny thing, no one ever helps me with my problems. Civil War ghosts bent on killing me, Skinwalkers who just want my body, and a vindictive spirit linked both to my bloodline and my destiny. The dead still hold a good deal of influence over the world, and they don't want to give it up.

About Dead Eye: The Skinwalker Conspiracies: My name is Mike Ross and I’m a Ferryman – like in the Greek myth. I didn’t ask for, or really want, the job, but I’m trying to make the best of it. Most ghosts are okay and just need a little help to get where they need to go. Unfortunately, there are lots of exceptions, like power-mad psychopaths, spirits still trying to fight battles long since lost, and the worst of the lot – the Skinwalkers. They live vicariously by possessing people and controlling them like puppet masters. Then they toss them aside when they’ve outlived their usefulness. One of them stole some one close to me fifteen years ago, and now I’m going to make that ghost pay.

CLASSIFICATION: The Dead Eye series is a multi volume urban fantasy series which combines the mystery plot aspect showcased in books by John Connolly & Harlan Coben with the dark humor laced prose of Jim Butcher & Tim Marquitz.

FORMAT/INFO: Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman is 258 pages long divided over thirteen numbered and titled chapters. Narration is in the first person solely via Mike Ross. Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman is the first novel of the Dead Eye Chronicles. May 18, 2009 marked the Paperback and e-book publication of Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman via Gryphonwood Press. Cover art is done by Shannon Farrell.

FORMAT/INFO: Dead Eye: The Skinwalker Conspiracies is 248 pages long divided over sixteen numbered and titled chapters (The numbering however is continued from the first book and so the first chapter is numbered fourteen and so the last chapter is twenty-nine). Narration is in the first person solely again via Mike Ross. Dead Eye: The Skinwalker Conspiracies is the second novel in the Dead Eye Chronicles. September 18, 2011 marked the Paperback and e-book publication of Dead Eye: The Skinwalker Conspiracies via Gryphonwood Press. Cover art is done by Shannon Farrell.

ANALYSIS: The Dead Eye series is a urban fantasy series that had its first book released nearly three years and as usual with my past record of discovering books later than usual, I happened upon it last year when the sequel was released. For this review I’ll be jointly reviewing both the books as they run in continuation as the chapter numbering indicates. The blurb details pretty much cover of what the story is about in both cases. However I didn’t know what to expect exactly, of course I had an assumption about it and in a way it was wrong as assumptions usually go.

The first book begins in a laconic fashion with the narrator Mike Ross explaining how he life took its first turn for him after he joined the army and went to Iraq. Things however don’t work out for him abroad as he’s injured in an attack which leaves him visually handicapped and soon is sent back home wherein he receives a new transplant for his damaged right eye. He plans to begin college and so enrolls in a local college called Montgomery College. That is wherein he meets Jenny Goodman, a girl whose interests align a bit with his own, things however soon start taking a weird turn when Mike starts seeing ghosts with his new eye and then finds out his role-to-be as a Ferryman. Ghosts soon start popping up alarmingly around him and he gets embroiled in matters of a supernatural origin involving civil war era ghosts and the origin of Mike’s Ferryman Status.

The second book starts off quite close to the end of the first one and deals with the revelations which occur in it. Mike has some pretty heavy stuff revealed to him in regards to his powers and his ancestry. These revelations put him on a road to dealing with the people who are called Skinwalkers especially since one of them has interfered with his family in the past leading to the current situation in the Ross household. From here the story escalates wildly as the author tries to enmesh the multiple plotlines introduced in the first book along with those rising in the sequel and make the world settings deeper than they are visible. To further discuss any more of the plot would lead to spoilers about its predecessor and so I'm going to refrain from doing such.

The story begins on a very personal front and takes it time to coalesce, until then the reader is given a nice dry overview of life, social standings and other things by the world-weary narrator and even though he’s only twenty-three years old, it doesn’t come off as impetuous or whiny. What also helps the tone of the book is that the narrator Mike Ross who is an everyman hero and who unlike Peter Parker doesn’t even have any superpowers to bank upon. What he does have in spades, is an iron willed determination and a sarcastic sense of humor which keeps the reader chuckling along. The story unlike most urban fantasy stories begins slowly and doesn’t really herald a world completely aligned with the fantastic. The world showcased is very similar to our one in its mundaneness and inanity. However once Mike starts experiencing his new ability is when the story really progresses into the supernatural zone. This plot progression is smoothly enmeshed within the story and I enjoyed how the author showed that while things are heating up on the paranormal front, the normal human part of Mike’s existence isn't left in a limbo. We find out how his normal life is progressing or rather hampered by the other side.

The ghosts described in this world are as vindictive, moody and as vicious as the humans inhabiting the world alongside them. Mike then discovers certain irregularities involved with his eye transplant and it’s from this turn that the book involves Civil war era history, ghosts, the writing of Edgar Allen Poe and much more. The prose is very accessible and makes for an easy read. The paranormal settings are revealed quite steadily and this helps the reader as nothing is out of the left field except for the twists of the plot. Overall the best parts of the story are its narrative voice, easy prose and difference in the story approach from the usual urban fantasy trappings. The negatives to this story could be that readers who are so used to finding vampires, Lycans and other supernatural folk frequently in their stories might find their absence a bit disorienting, as they are accustomed to. This is however less of a concern in the second book wherein the supernatural aspects are increased exponentially. Another concerning feature is that sometime the sub-plots take a life of their own and threaten to overwhelm the main plot but the author manages to keep them in check in both the books. It’s never made certain whether this is done intentionally to show the chaos in Mike’s life or was something which developed during the writing process.

CONCLUSION: Jim Bernheimer is an author who has done things differently with his urban fantasy books and this just proves that even in an almost saturated sub-genre, one can still use their imagination to craft a story which delights and thrills readers who are fast getting bored of reading all-too-familiar stories every year. For all urban fantasy and mystery readers, these books are definitely worthy of your time & money, as for me I can’t wait to see where the author takes our beleaguered protagonist next and what new travails await the young Ferryman.

"In the Lion's Mouth" by Michael Flynn (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Michael Flynn Blog
Order "In the Lion's Mouth" HERE
Read FBC Review of "The January Dancer"
Read FBC Review of "Up Jim River"

INTRODUCTION: "In the Lion's Mouth" is the third *but not* final book in the series that started with "The January Dancer" and was followed by "Up Jim River". In my reviews linked above, I described these books as "Celtic space opera".

"The January Dancer" was both intriguing and well executed but "Up Jim River" had some structural issues that detracted from my full enjoyment, so "In The Lion's Mouth" was a book I planned to read but did not expect to engross me so much that I literally could not put it down one recent evening I started seriously reading it, until very late when I finished it. Besides how much I enjoyed it, the major surprise was that the series was not a trilogy as this novel ended on a (semi) cliffhanger and the direction of the fourth installment has now clearly been set.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I will present a rough outline of the set-up - there is more in the above reviews - and of course the following has inevitable spoilers for the previous two books, though as I would say that a major part of the series' attraction is its execution - style, characters, world building - these spoilers are not that important in detracting from a new reader's enjoyment.

In the far future, humanity is split into two parts by the structure of space time, as ftl is possible only through special "hyperspace tubes" where somewhat different physical laws hold - eg the speed of light is still the supreme such but it is much higher than our c - while being still close enough to allow human ships to go. The originally settled core including the now downtrodden Earth is called The Commonwealth of Central Worlds and is dominated by a dictatorship of "Those of the Names", humans (?) with special powers and of sinister reputation, while their secret police, the "Shadows" enforce their rule.

However most of the action so far took place in the former "wild", across a huge gulf of space with few and narrow such hyper-tubes connecting it with the "core", where undesirables thrown in exile a long time ago fashioned various civilizations, most notable being the United League of the Periphery with its Celtic overtones I have been mentioning and with the "Hounds" being the analogue and of course sworn enemies of the Shadows.

The long cold war between the two civilizations has been disrupted once by an alien artifact called "The January Dancer", while some two decades later, Donovan, a strange older man with multiple personalities and a shadowy history, agent of both the Commonwealth and the League in turns and main participant in the "Dancer" resolution, discovered that the past contained even more surprises than he expected and was compelled by one such "surprise", the young "Harper" Lucia Thompson aka Mearana to go finding her missing mother, famous hound, Francine Thompson aka Bridget ban...

In the current novel, it is Donovan, expected for a family rendezvous with Mearana and Bridget, who is missing and the book starts dramatically with Shadow Ravn Olafsdottr once tasked with Donovan's elimination at the first sign of disloyalty towards "Those of the Names" who turns fearlessly in her enemy's lair to discuss Donovan's fate with his daughter and former lover...

So two threads, one taking place in a short period of time and going forward where Ravn is cautiously listened to by Mearana, Bridget and her ready to shoot on sight minions, and the other that has already taken place and involves Donovan and his unintended return to Commonwealth space where civil war is brewing and some of the rebel Shadows seem to need him for their reasons.

A structure not unlike the one in The January Dancer with the tale sung by Mearana to Donovan decades later in a bar on an obscure planet, with the girl trying to coax the unknown details from her newly found father and like there it works beautifully as the tension heightens page by page, though this time we end on a semi-cliffhanger in both threads that of course prepare to converge...

As in "Up Jim River", Donovan and his multiple split personalities is the star of the novel, while this time Ravn is his "sidekick" - ok part captor, part friend - rather than Mearana, while here the girl and her mother are more of bystanders, though they both exude strong emotions as Ravn keeps narrating and Donovan's fate seems to be sealed.. Or is it?

Prepare to be surprised as twists and turns abound when the action moves into the "Those of the Names" space and a lot of past mysteries and revelations appear taking this series to the next level. The same archaic prose style works wonderfully here - no more silly accents and no more exoticisms that conflict with it either - and "In the Lion's Mouth" (top 25 novel of mine) shows Mr. Flynn on top of his form, while the next installment moved back to my "highly expected, get and read asap" list.

On Some Recent Reviews (by Liviu Suciu)

There is no secret that my top two books of 2011 were "1Q84" by Haruki Murakami and "Parallel Stories" by Peter Nadas and that both are books I expect I will be reading for a long time.

Even so, I greatly enjoyed this scathing review of Parallel Stories written by Tibor Fisher in The Guardian. While I have no idea why the review was written since when relatively well known authors like Tibor Fischer discuss other even better known authors like Peter Nadas, there may be a lot of history behind, there is a kernel of truth in it and the book may easily turn readers off.

Another notable point of the review is the placing of the novel in context and suggesting a few "substitutes" the reviewer finds much better, suggestions which are quite useful in themselves.

As for "1Q84" I also saw a lot of criticism that amused me as a large part was directed toward its "genre" elements. There were even some very funny Amazon reviews from people who thought they were getting a sff novel and found explicit scenes in the novel; horror of horrors, explicit writing in genre, oh no that should be banned immediately!

But that at least is somewhat funny; however when you read a review that starts with a paragraph like the one I will quote below and that clearly indicates a hostile agenda - in this case to successful indie authors - and when said review is published in a venue like Strange Horizons that supposedly has review editors, that needs calling attention to.

In many ways I was saddened to see this crude genre bashing as I thought the venue has improved markedly from a few years ago when genre bashing was regular as I noticed in a few comments there, as comparing the two reviews of the same author, same series, books 1 and 2, linked above will show.

Anyway read the opening of this recent review of Theft of Swords and wonder at the envy that it projects and the agenda it at least honestly admits of following:

"Michael J. Sullivan is that rare beast, a man who self-published six books to moderate financial success, and parlayed that success into a deal with a major publisher. Theft of Swords collects the previously self-published The Crown Conspiracy (2007) and Avempartha (2009) in one volume. As of this writing, I want to hunt down every single soul associated with the decision to give this series the imprimatur of a major publishing house and rub their noses in it like a bad puppy. Sloppiness in amateurs is understandable. When professionals are involved, there should be consequences. I have words for these people. Bad words. But I'll restrain myself, and restrict my vocabulary to standards acceptable in polite company. The book's own words ought to be enough to condemn it."

Note that while I greatly enjoyed the first few books in the series and loved The Emerald Storm and Wintertide, I was disappointed to a large extent by Percepliquis and talked about why recently, but I still find The Ryria Revelations a very entertaining and well executed traditional fantasy series that started light and improved markedly with every volume, except for the too cute wrap-up imho...

Anyway as I put it in the comments to this hit piece masquerading as review, the success of indie authors is the future so just deal with it!

Edit Later 1/16/12: As this issue has degenerated and our purpose here at FBC is to discuss interesting books and pursue our love of reading, I will close the comments here and refrain from mentioning this issue again as it is not useful. For anyone interested in pursuing this further, feel free to use the email linked on the site.

I also want to make clear that while I question the judgement and the way of expressing it in the above linked reviews and a few others alluded in the comments, I do not know personally the reviewers involved, have no reason to question their motives beyond what their public words say and I deeply apologize if my comments have been construed as personal attacks. I also do not condone attacks based on race, ethnicity or gender.

Talking about books is a very subjective matter and I am quite happy that it still can give rise to such passion, but let's keep things in perspective. And to close on a personal note, I want to note that I have been involved in the online sff scene since the rec.arts.sf.written of the early-mid 90's when the excitement at finally having a place I can share my interests with people from everywhere, gave quick rise to disillusionment due precisely to everything boiling down to attacks, mud flinging and all, so I may be over sensitive at such and too quick to react when I see the kind of review that reads to me very vitriolic.

The sff online community is a great thing and I think we are all better for it, but it is also an easy thing to shatter and I again apologize for contributing to ill will feelings.

Edit 1/16/22: As Mr. Martin Lewis had this blog post "On Being Libeled by Liviu Suciu", I posted there the following comment which I will re-post here:

"For what is worth I apologize explicitly for attributing any personal bias to you and as an organization to Strange Horizon. I stand by my claim that your review mentioned and the one of Theft of Swords are both misguided and use language I find objectionable, but that is my personal opinion.

As for claims about Strange Horizons, while in the heat of the argument sometimes strong words are exchanged, my argument that this harsh language of the two reviews mentioned is used only selectively still has not been addressed. It may simply be a coincidence as I do not have the time and interest to follow all reviews, so I sure could have missed a few similar ones and as you and the editors have assured me that this so, I am happy as mentioned to recognize it and retract my claims as I do now.

I will post this as a second update on FBC and I hope that this will put the issue to rest. I am flattered by your words: “rather he is considered a respected reviewer by a large chunk of the fantasy blogosphere”, while for the rest I leave the words said to stand by themselves.

I do not want to escalate this but I also want to note that using terms like “libel” is a major escalation and can be construed as a threat and I think that we do not want to go there as it’s not worth it."

Thoughts on Two Series Ending Novels: "The Daemon Prism" by Carol Berg and "Percepliquis" by Michael Sullivan (by Liviu Suciu)

INTRODUCTION: Two highly expected novels of 2012 scheduled for January publication that ended their respective series turned out to share a few characteristics that disappointed me to some extent - after earlier installments in which traditional fantasy elements were understated, both The Daemon Prism and Percepliquis went heavily the "true and tried" way with evil from long ago (the 1000 year fetish in one case raised its head again, while in the other there were a few thousand years I think), heroes that have to vanquish it or else life as we know it will end etc, etc.

However Carol Berg's The Daemon Prism managed to overcome the above with a great character cast, moral complexity, universe expansion and superb writing, while considering its excellent ending, it pretty much fulfilled my ultra-high expectations and will be a top 25 2012 novel of mine.

On the other hand Michael Sullivan's Percepliquis accentuated all the weak points of the earlier installments - most notably the sandbox world building which was easy to overlook when the main heroes were a pair of adventurers thieves but became a glaring weakness when the "heroes save the five city world" became the essential plot, while its cookie cutter ending added to the breaking of suspension of disbelief.

Still considering The Ryria Revelations as a whole, I would also recommend Percepliquis even if only for finding out what happens and spending more time with the heroes. But I much preferred Hadrian and Royce as gentlemen thieves than as world saviors and The Emerald Storm and especially Wintertide remained the very high points of the series for me.

Below I will add a few specific points about each novel while you can find full length reviews of the earlier installments in both series in our Review Index Page.

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The Daemon Prism Short Discussion:

- Dante narrates for the most part especially in the first half, but there are interludes from Anne that eventually grow in length and we even read Portier's thoughts once again and Ilario for the first time, so all the main series characters narrate at least a little.

- the transitions are handled well though there is this tiny lack of smoothness in places as opposed to the one narrator earlier books.

- the novel has a lot of magic, way too much for me and the story becomes a very traditional one with a lot of stuff I've seen in countless novels to date, so again the originality of the first two books is somewhat lacking.

- the extraordinary characters, beautiful prose and superb ending more than make up for the above; I cannot emphasize how hard is to end series well and this novel does it pitch perfect imho with literally a final scene that is quite memorable.

Overall a top 25 book for me and one that should satisfy the fans of the series to date, while being quite accessible to people who have not read the earlier two volumes - though of course I highly recommend them to do it - as the necessary back story is recounted, while here the action moves in very different places with generally very different secondary characters than in the first two books.

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Percepliquis Short Discussion:

- this book in many ways came a year too late for me as I have been moving away from its subgenre; I still enjoyed it to some extent but I thought it weaker than both Wintertide and The Emerald Storm; those two books and especially Wintertide are the peak of the series for me.

- killing untold numbers of un-named or bit part characters and wreaking havoc on the world is much less emotional and effective than the tragic death of one main character which gave so much power to Wintertide.

- there were quite a few other issues I had - things are tied way too well in the end giving an impression of "all this is a game" rather than a real book as reality is messier; there were moments I felt that the few main characters were the only "real people" and the rest were just puppets that the author moved for the benefit of our heroes.

- the 1000 year timeline which here becomes essential is a bit ridiculous as a millennium is a really long time; maybe in prehistory when things moved slowly, yes but in historical time 1000 years are a lot; in earlier volumes this was more of a prop, but here as this moved to the forefront, it really seemed very simplistic.

- the world building also suffers when the plot becomes "save the world" as the limited universe of five cities (ok maybe slightly more, but you can count them easily) is pushed to the forefront and we see what a small sandbox the author has been playing in; in the earlier books this has not been an issue as their geographical action is limited except in The Emerald Storm and even there the action is local; here though when the action is global this "universe smallness" emerges as a major weakness.

Overall, "Percepliquis" which I would still recommend as the closing novel of a pretty good series overall, will appeal to readers who want every i dotted and every t crossed and do not mind a pretty simplistic way of doing that; as the series went on, I always have thought that the main twist at the end won't happen as I thought it would be really corny and make the series weaker.

"The Fiend and the Forge: Book Three of The Tapestry Series" by Henry H. Neff (Reviewed by Cindy Hannikman)

Visit Henry H. Neff's Official Website Here

OVERVIEW: The Fiend and the Forge, is an unforgettable dystopian adventure across a landscape overrun with goblins and trolls. The world has changed almost beyond recognition, for with the Book of Origins firmly in his possession, the villainous Astaroth now has the power to reshape history at will. Plucking pivotal discoveries from mankind’s past, he has reduced the world to a preindustrial nightmare.

But while most humans toil as slaves within four demonic kingdoms, Astaroth allows those at Rowan to thrive in peaceful isolation. Theirs is a land where magic and nature flourish . . . so long as none dare oppose the new order.

That proves too steep a price for Max McDaniels. Unsure of his place at Rowan, Max sets out to explore the shifting landscape of the world beyond. In the course of his travels, he will become many things: Prisoner. Gladiator. Assassin. But can he become the hero that mankind so desperately needs?

FORMAT: The Fiend and the Forge is the third book in The Tapestry Series. The Tapestry Series is a children’s/YA novel with hints of magic, adventure and in this book a bit of a dystopian twist. It stands at 560 pages.

ANALYSIS: At the end of the second book, The Second Siege, I had made a comment in regards to this book’s similarity to Harry Potter. The series up to that point was very similar to Harry Potter series that it was virtually impossible for it to live up to reader’s expectations. It would take a dramatic turn of events, or a major plot twist to really win readers over and allow this series to step out of the shadows it was lurking in. Henry H. Neff does just that with this third installment of The Tapestry series.

Over the course of three books, readers have not only seen the main character Max mature and grow, but they’ve seen Neff as an author grow. There just seems to be a maturity to Neff’s descriptions and wording that was majorly lacking in the previous books. In fact, it seemed like a completely different writer. I truly believe had the other books been written at these standards this series would have gained a lot more attention.

For example, one of the most frustrating elements of the past books was Neff’s continual repetitive nature of words. The word “pudgy” comes to mind. He seemed to have gotten away from the habit of having to repeat descriptive words to readers. Another habit he broke was the constant referral to everyday objects. Readers don’t need to know that a tree is as brown as a desk or other things.

While I did enjoy this novel there is still the habit of tossing in the completely unbelievable and totally unnecessary parts of the plot. The biggest one that stuck out was the whole making Max a part of the staff. It served nothing to the plot, took away from the dark side of the book and just seemed out of place. However, these out of character plot elements were fewer and far between than previous books (think the whole element of allowing Max's dad to stay at school).

Neff really ups the ante with The Fiend and the Forge. Sure, there are many similarities to Harry Potter, but it’s almost impossible for any fantasy book not to have some traces of past successes somewhere. I really enjoyed this novel and I am proud to say that “I read Neff when” because if this is any indication to how he is as a writer, this series not only brought great plot twists but really showed that authors who apply themselves can really grow and change with the times.