Review: "Hero's End" by JC Cassels

"Hero's End" is the second book in JC Cassels' "Blackwing Chronicles."  For my review of the first book, "Sovran's Pawn", please go here. Cassels can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

Over-all rating: 4 stars

"Hero's End" is a better book, both stylistically and story-wise, than "Sovran's Pawn".  The characters are alive with rich background details. Scenery is described in dramatic fashion but not to the point that a reader becomes bored with every descriptive nuance.  The story is well paced with a good blend of action and exposition. If you love the lush settings, blood-curdling action, and cliffhangers of George RR Martin's "Game of Thrones" series, you will like this book.

Plot (no spoilers): 4stars

Blade Devon and Bo Barron are back to save the galaxy each other.  While there are certainly over-arcing political plotlines within "Hero's End", this is the story of Blade and Bo.  As the second in a series, the book does a good job of treading the fine line between re-telling the first book and plunging the reader into the action with no point of reference.  The first three chapters are a bit slower paced than the rest of the book, but still manage to draw you in.

This series of books is good, classic, space opera.  The plot is character driven and centered around the romance of the two protagonists. Don't be misled, though.  This is not a sappy romance novel set in space. Cassels has created an entire galaxy full of competing star systems, power-plays, holo-feature starlets, and mystical wisemen.

There's more mysticism in this story than in the prior book.  I always have to give myself a good mental shake when there's talk of telepathy.  Yes mind reading is all very sci-fi, but the book does take place on spaceships and alien planets.

Formatting: 3 stars

I'm still an ebook snob, so I'm not going to over-look the lack of a working Table of Contents or chapter hyperlinks.

Final thoughts:

I stayed up until 4am to finish "Hero's End". Be warned, it ends in a cliffhanger that is so wrenching as to make me curse aloud.  Fans of space opera will not want to miss this book.

Space Station Grub

I thought it was about time y'all got to read what I've been working on.  Here's a snippet of the up-coming sequel to Dremiks.  Hope you enjoy; feedback is appreciated.

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“This is the canteen.”  John opened a very human looking door and stepped over the slight rise of the frame.

Lilly took in the dark paneled walls, the dim lighting, close packed chairs, and general cozy feel of the place.  “Looks more like a pub to me.”

He seemed to consider this while leading her to the bar.  “I suppose that’s a better definition. I’m still getting used to eating in a room not called a “mess”, though.” He nodded to the attractive human woman behind the bar. “Evenin’ Callie.  Bowl of Texas Red and a stout, please.  Oh, and, whatever Agent Diaz here wants.  Throw it all on my tab until we get her a line of credit, k?”

Callie had dark auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail, without bangs.  Her hazel eyes were framed with crow’s feet to match the laugh lines around her full lips.  She flicked a glance over Lilly while she filled John’s beer from the tap. In a voice hinting of Eastern European roots, she said, “What’ll it be?  I’ve got a bit of that pumpkin bisque left, some fried chicken, borscht, and chili.  Hold one.”  She turned her head and yelled, at an impressive volume, “Georg!  That bread out yet?”

If Georg answered, Lilly couldn’t hear him.  Callie ladled chili into a bowl and pushed it toward John.  “So, no bread yet.  About anything you want for drink, 'cept I’m critically low on bourbon.”  This seemed to be a point of contention between her and John, since she shot him a nasty look.  He shrugged while juggling his beer and bowl. 

“I’ll be over there when you’ve got your grub.”  He jerked his head in the direction of a back corner.

Lilly wanted to ask how a pub on a space station—an alien space station—could make pumpkin bisque and fresh bread, but Callie appeared to be short on patience.  “Uh, the bisque and a coffee please.”

Kindle MatchBook

I received, this morning, an email from Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing team. It read:

Hello,

We are excited to introduce Kindle MatchBook, an innovative new program which enables you to offer your Kindle book at a discount when readers purchase your print book, so you can sell more books. It's easy to enroll.

Here's how it works:

1. Select your Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) title on your KDP Bookshelf and check the Enroll box for Kindle MatchBook on the "Rights & Pricing" page.
2. Set the discount for your book by choosing a promotional list price of $2.99 or less.
3. Save your Kindle MatchBook preferences.

By enrolling your book, you will be among the first to be able to take advantage of this new program. The Kindle MatchBook discount you select will not appear on Amazon.com until the program is fully launched in the coming weeks. We will notify you by e-mail as soon as your Kindle MatchBook discount is live. Your readers will soon have an easy and affordable way to read your book in both print and digital formats.

Visit your KDP Bookshelf today to enroll your books in Kindle MatchBook.

Best regards,
The Kindle Direct Publishing Team

My first impression is that this program is very similar to Amazon's AutoRip service.  When purchasing certain "hard copy" (CDs mostly but there are a few vinyl options) albums,a consumer can automatically download MP3 versions of the music for free.

I find this approach works better with music than with books.  I like having a CD for my car and MP3 for my computer or MP3player.  The only time I've purchased a digital copy of a book after having already bought a hard-copy was when I had a book sustain water damage during a move. Furthermore, the majority of my paperback sales have not been via Amazon, so my paperback customers would not be able to take advantage of this program.

However, I am the queen of "early adopters"; so, I have enrolled Dremiks in the program.  I'll keep you updated on the status of sales and the efficacy of this new program.