Book review: A Soul Divided by Daniel M. Quilter

Here, then, is the next phase in my stumbling efforts to support fellow indie authors. This is the first of a (probably very) occasional series of reviews, recommending works that could be well under your radar.

First up, David M. Quilter's A Soul Divided.

Amazon blurb incoming:

When the princess of the technologically advanced Human Empire is kidnapped by an agent of the Mystic religion, they’re forced to turn to the last person they’d ever expected to ask for help: Drake Ashbell, a snarky pirate who has a problem with authority, and a dark secret. 
When he’s pulled into the conflict, Drake finds himself caught up in a fast-paced adventure that will take him to distant worlds, make him face his tragic past, and test the limits of his soul.

Sci-fantasy. That's what we've got here. I'm far from the biggest sci-fi fan, (I enjoy it on the screen but don't follow much of what goes on in books) but I do think that magic in space is a pretty novel idea, and can't imagine that there's been too many variations on this idea. Immediately, then, there's a freshness to the work, difficult to achieve in any flooded field.

Things get off to a pretty quick start. Olivia, Princess of the Human Empire, looking forward to an evening of staring the stars, finds herself watching as five soldiers are taken down by a single man, and we're only a couple of pages in. The action is taut and tightly written throughout the book, and it's the speed of events that really helps the book. The ideas are a tad cliche, but when done with gusto the whole story makes for a rollicking adventure that will keep those pages turning.

The characters aren't the usual cardboard cut-outs either. Olivia in the above scene finds the confrontation an 'interesting' diversion from the norm. The brothers Vahn and Drake offer up interesting contrasts. Vahn, sent on a quest to find his criminal half-sibling, is diligent, Drake is a Han Solo-esque rogue with a knack for a snappy line (he's the kind of guy who'll jump through a window if you don't let him use the door). Not long after we meet Drake we're into a chase scene. In fact, it's to the book's credit that we never sit still for long periods of exposition. In that sense, A Soul Divided is very reminiscent of original trilogy Star Wars or Indiana Jones.

My only niggle is that the cover doesn't do a particularly good job of representing the story, so I recommend any prospective readers look past it (and we all know the proverb about judging and book covers...). There's a review I've seen that complains about the paragraphing, but that's not a problem I had, unless it applies to the print version? Anyway, kindle edition is laid out correctly and easy to read. A couple of editing issues here and there, nothing overly bothersome though.

A Soul Divided, then is recommended if you're after a real blast of adventure set around a solid magic system that sticks to its rules.

As a bonus, the kindle edition is only a couple of quid. Get it here

Back to promoting myself/babbling rubbish soon.

Laters

The best tv isn't on tv

By which I mean traditional tv.

See, I'd given up on the box in the corner of the room. I've been after a new telly series for a while, and we have all kinds of channels, but there's simply not a lot on them. I don't have much inclination to carry on with Game of Thrones (got to halfway through season 5, and that'll do), or The Walking Dead (think we watched the second episode of season 7, can't really remember, not that bothered either way).

Now, I knew Netflix had been creating their own original content for some time, but the truth is that I was being a bit of a snob about the whole situation. I didn't really believe that the standard of their shows could possibly be very high. I thought it would all look cheap, be clichéd, and poorly acted.

(Before we go any further, I know most of us watch Netflix on tv, so that makes my title a load of old nonsense, but it's a streaming service, not a channel. Although actually it is on a channel on Virgin Media, channel 204, so I've just ruined my own argument again. Shut up.)

E knows how much I love Lemony Snicket, and she got me to watch the first episode of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It didn't quite grab me (think I love the film too much and I'm desperately sad that there'll never be a sequel), but it's VERY well made, and I can see why it's getting a lot of positive reviews.

It got me wondering what Netflix's other series are actually like.
I've been missing out.
And I'll tell you what, it's all about the time travel at the minute (or the last minute, or the next minute).

Travelers



I'm terrible for having stupid reasons to avoid trying new things. This show stars the guy out of Will and Grace. That put me off. I'm not a fan of that show. It seemed to be endlessly loud and squeaky. It was like being attacked with comedy.
Turns out he's pretty great in a cast full of stand-out performances.

So, in this one, the future has gone bad. Surprise, surprise, we humans screwed it all up.  It's gone so horribly wrong that an AI consciousness is sending individuals back into our time, where they take over the bodies of people who are seconds from dying. They need to continue these people's lives whilst fulfilling missions that will help to put the future right. This means the Travelers have to deal with whatever issues those bodies have. Most famously right now is the guy with heroin addiction (and it's quite surprising how they deal with that one), but there's also the woman with a learning disability and a support worker who's in for a surprise, and him off of Will and Grace is a detective with a wife - unfortunate his lover from the future has also come back with him. Lots of fun.

It's not a show to over-think - I suspect that there's plot-holes ahoy. However, when I'm enjoying the storytelling, I'm not too bothered if it's all stitched together perfectly.

Frequency

This, again, sounded like it might be a bit dumb (see what I mean about how quickly I judge stuff?), and if you've seen the movie this is based on, then you'll know what I mean. In 2016, Raimy has a quick dabble on her late father's ham radio, and manages to talk to him on it... back in 1996, before he is killed undercover. She, of course, helps him avoid dying.

Now this is my idea of fast-paced story development. I thought it might feed out info and revelations quite slowly, a little bit per episode. Wrong! By the end of the second episode the lead character's life is completely upside-down and inside-out. There's a couple of jaw-droppers that result from changes made to the past, changes that resonate in her present.
In fact, this turns into a CSI-style police procedural with sci-fantasy overtones, with father and daughter trying to solve the over-arching serial killer case from separate points in time. That's a bit of a new one on me, and I'm a bit of a sucker for a new angle on an old story archetype. Once again, though, it's the writing and performances that sell this. The characters are not quite as stereotypical as you might expect, and the leads do a good job of investing the viewer in their relationship. I'm half way through this series, and so far no drop in quality.

Binge watching series like this is perfect for the writer in me. This is my ideal way to write - some people like silence, I like some music at the very least, or a couple of films or a good series in the background. Something about other stories makes me want to write my own.

I've got more stuff queued up on my Netflix list - The Expanse, The O A, Glitch. Plenty to look forward to. I will keep you updated on my continuing research.

TV is dead. Long live TV.

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