Midnight Reviews

One of the best surprises a writer can receive is an unexpected good review. My two vampire novels, 100,000 MIDNIGHTS and ACROSS THE MIDNIGHT SEA, each were recently reviewed by Bradley Krawchuk, who had some great things to say about both books. I thought I'd share those reviews here today.

In the interest of full disclosure, I do know Brad, though not very well. We've never met in person, so I guess we're what you might call friendly internet acquaintances. We first met several years ago on a forum devoted to the work of prolific comic book writer/ artist John Byrne. I later became Facebook friends with a handful of people from that forum, including Brad.
Brad is a voracious reader, going through hundreds of a books a year, many of which he reviews on Facebook. I did not ask Brad to read or review my vampire novels. In fact, I didn't know he'd purchased them until he posted his thoughts on the first one, so these were not solicited reviews.

Here are, in his exact words, Brad's comments:

"100,000 Midnights by Aaron Smith - Now, why didn't Facebook highlight Aaron Smith's name there? Ah! There it is! Hey Aaron, cool book! Dude, the "Miracle" was awesome - and a good name, too! And Perfection? That was just X-Filesy goodness.
So at first I didn't like it. I read a couple chapters and I thought I knew where it was going, and then when I realized I didn't, I assumed I knew where it was going anyway, and then I figured out where it was actually going but not, and then I understood it was just doing whatever it wanted and I held on for the ride. That's when it got really fun!
A young man with an old soul meets a young looking but much older vampire, and then proceeds to go on many crazy and (seemingly) disconnected adventures with her. That's pretty much the gist of it right there. It reads like an old fashioned serial adventure story; if you took out things like cell phone references (and an entire chapter about rock n' roll), substituted carriages for cars and steamers for airplanes, you could almost fool me into thinking this was written back in the early 20th century. John Carter, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes... you put a chapter a week in a pulp 100 years ago this would almost fit in. Almost.
Because while the serialized adventure style of the book hearkens back to a bygone era, the references to classic sci-fi and fantasy literature - both overt and subtle - has a decidedly nostalgic and sentimental undercurrent that makes it seem much more at home in modern literary times. It feels like it's of the past even while it yearns to be part of that past, an interesting and very entertaining line to walk.
The sheer lunacy of the ideas and the many disparate elements that get tossed in and taken out makes it feel like it could go in any direction, and like I said, once I understood I shouldn't anticipate anything, I left myself open to be pleasantly surprised by where it went. By the time I got to who was living in that castle, I was pretty much beaming as I said "of course!" As such, I can hardly wait to see where it goes next in the sequel!"

And, concerning the second book:

"Across the Midnight Sea by Aaron Smith - The follow-up to Smith's 100,000 MIDNIGHTS sees Eric (our human narrator) continue his relationship with the newly Elder vampire Siobahn, and his continued employment by Phillip, an older vampire with a mysterious past that isn't so mysterious after this volume.
The book picks up days after the end of the previous adventure, and while there are some twists and turns the novel overall has a more focussed narrative thread, without the numerous serial adventure side missions. There are certainly still nods to different popular stories, but this second outing delves less into the general supernatural themes of the first and spends time deepening the lives of the main characters. Phillip's aforementioned mysterious past is revealed, Eric's family naturally comes into the picture, and a possible love triangle emerges when Eric befriends an entirely human female closer to his own age than the near 300-year-old (and immortal, and vampiric) Siobahn.
Think of the first book as a rollercoaster, and this one like a Ferris wheel. You hardly catch your breath with the first, with the second you take time to stop and look around, but they're both still fun rides. I have no idea what the third book will be, and that's a good thing."

Those 2 reviews each made my day and I'm glad Brad (and other readers, I hope) looks forward to the next book in the series.

I found it interesting that Brad, being an observant reader, noticed certain differences between the two books, specifically what he calls the serial nature of the first book and the more focused narrative thread of the second. He's right on the money, and there are reasons for the differences (and I'm glad he seemed to enjoy both styles). The first book was indeed originally written as a series of short stories and intended to be a serial. I first created the character of Eric and Siobhan in two short stories, "100,000 Midnights" and "A Study in Shadows," which were published in Pro Se Press's magazine FANTASY AND FEAR. After writing those, I couldn't get enough of them, so I kept writing. I came up with plot after plot and soon had eight stories. It was then that I decided to try to put them all together as one novel. Those 8 stories became the 14 chapters of 100,000 MIDNIGHTS. After that book was accepted by Musa Publishing, I wanted to do a sequel. That story, ACROSS THE MIDNIGHT SEA, was meant from the first page to be a novel, which explains the difference in style from the first book. 

I do plan to write a third novel continuing the story of Eric, Siobhan, Phillip, and the other cast members. I haven't started it yet, but I have a few ideas. 

Those interested in my vampire novels can find them on Amazon for Kindle:

100,000 MIDNIGHTS  

ACROSS THE MIDNIGHT SEA      

or for Barnes & Nobles' Nook e-reader:

100,000 MIDNIGHTS 

ACROSS THE MIDNIGHT SEA

or at the Musa Publishing site.  

Thanks again, Brad, for the great reviews! 

 

A Bloody Good Book

Christopher Farnsworth has some serious guts. Sure, all writers are brave people. We bleed on paper, putting some of our most personal thoughts and dreams out there for the world to read, even if we do often disguise them as the actions or ideas of our characters. But I'm talking about a different kind of creative courage.

If there's one thing that's most precious to writers, it's ideas. We need ideas to ply our trade. We horde them away as if they were as valuable as Faberge eggs. We collect them in Word files, on the backs of used envelopes, on little scraps of paper stuffed Columbo-like into our trench coat pockets, and we'll even resort to scribbling on toilet paper before an ethereal inspiration slips away in the night. So when, on page 20 of Farnsworth's latest novel, Red, White and Blood, I read, "Only a week ago, they had dealt with a squad of men who'd learned to use Spontaneous Human Combustion to make themselves into living bombs..." my jaw hit the floor. What Farnsworth did there was take an idea worthy of at least a short story and maybe even a full novel, and fire it at his readers like a single bullet just to make that one paragraph more interesting. I'd be overjoyed to come up with an idea that good and I'd probably milk it for every word it was worth...and Christopher Farnsworth uses it as a little detail! My respect for his writing doubled at that moment, and it was already at a pretty high level to begin with.

Red, White and Blood is the third novel in the Nathaniel Cade series. The premise of the series is partially based on a real historical incident. President Andrew Johnson once commuted the death sentence of a man accused of being a vampire. That part is fact. What Farnsworth did was take the idea further and attack the question of what if it really was a vampire? What if this blood-drinking undead being has secretly been working as a government  operative for every U.S. president from Johnson to today (although the current president in the books is a fictitious character instead of Barack Obama). It's a great concept and the books are even better than they might sound from my brief summary.

I've read and enjoyed all three books so far, and each has gotten better. The first, Blood Oath, introduces readers to the vampire Nathaniel Cade, his president-appointed "handler" Zach Barrows (a young man who knows politics but has to learn the hard way how to navigate the terrors of the night), and various supporting characters. Blood Oath  focuses on events involving a modern day Frankenstein-type character,

The second Cade book, The President's Vampire, was even more thrilling for me than the first, as it contains elements inspired by the work of one of my favorite writers, H.P. Lovecraft. It also tells us what really happened to Osama Bin Laden!

So I recently read the third installment, Red, White and Blood, and I'm happy to be able to report that it's the best one yet. The plot, which centers on a thing called the Boogeyman, a seemingly indestructible  incarnation of the serial killer or slasher archetype, is interesting, fast-paced, suspenseful, and even heartbreaking at times. After this one, I've also come to the conclusion that Christopher Farnsworth is one of those writers with whom no character is truly safe, which is yet another reason his work impresses me.

The Cade novels aren't strictly horror stories. They tend to cross genres between gruesome horror and intense action, with bits of mystery thrown in as well. And I can't forget to mention the references. Farnsworth ties together all sorts of historical facts, conspiracy speculations, occult ideas, and other details in ways that will make fans of the things he refers to smile, while not getting in the way of the enjoyment of readers who might be unfamiliar with such things. In other words, the style in which these books are written will welcome both hardcore genre fans and casual readers alike.

As the author of two vampire novels myself, I'm occasionally asked about my favorite vampire books or movies. There are many bloodsucker stories I've enjoyed over the years on either paper or film, but Farnsworth's Cade series is easily my favorite currently running vampire series of any kind. These are excellent books, with each better than the last. I look forward to the fourth book in the series.