Stand-In by J.S. Frankel

February 18, 2020 By 1 Comment


Stand-In by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (230 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Bill Grissom, seventeen, doesn’t have long to live, and when he’s given a second chance as a substitute for his counterpart in a parallel universe, he jumps at the chance to become the Golden Guardsman.

Things go well at first. Along with Veil—Charlene Thompson, Matter-Man—Anders Nixon, and Monolith—Martin Bollock, the other members of the group, they dispense justice wherever it’s needed.
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However, Matter-Man’s insistence on getting paid for a job well done doesn’t sit well with Bill, and he becomes jaded and cynical about working for the Collective. To Matter-Man, and to the other members of the group, it’s all about the coin.

As well, more and more super-criminals start to appear, and when Bill discovers who’s coming and more importantly, why, he learns that being a hero involves more than simply dispensing justice. It’s all about living up to the ideals of being one—something that could cost him his life.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

The world building made me smile. There was a great deal of effort put into showing how superheroes in this universe were different from the ones that some readers might be expecting. For example, they weren’t universally liked for reasons I’ll leave up to other readers to discover for themselves. Explaining and exploring details like these brought this world to life for me. No sooner would one of my questions about how everything worked would be answered than a couple more would spring into place. It was a great deal of fun to figure all of this out.

I found the pacing of the beginning of this book to be slow. The main character had plenty of explaining to do about the world he lived in and the alternate universe he was about to discover. As intrigued as I am by superheroes, I found it hard to get into Bill’s story because of how slowly everything happened in the first several chapters.

The fight scenes were nicely written. I’ve been reading Mr. Frankel’s stories for years now, and his approach to writing about this sort of conflict has evolved in all sorts of interesting ways since I was first introduced to his stuff. It’s been a great deal of fun to see the different techniques he uses to describe what is happening in them and how he approaches a conflict that has multiple folks jumping into the fray all at once. I look forward to hopefully reading more of these scenes in his future work!

Stand-In should be read by anyone who likes superheroes.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Randor’s Moon by J.S. Frankel

November 4, 2019 By 1 Comment


Randor’s Moon by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (239 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Randor Delphin, shy teen prodigy, bio-scientist, and total nerd, lives a lonely, orphaned life on the planet of Malloran, a colony of the now-dead Earth. Malloran has been at war with the neighboring world of Falanar, a warrior planet, but their differences will be set aside if aid is given, as a plague of unknown origin has broken out, and only the scientists of Malloran can help.

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Once there, they learn that they need each other in order to survive against the predators of that world, those that are animal, and those more than animal.

Not every hero is brash and bold.

The action-packed opening scene drew me into the plot immediately. Randor was unlucky enough to live in a time and place where war had reached his town. With that being said, he was also lucky enough to be part of a community that banded together in tough times and did everything they could to protect each other. I enjoyed reading about how they responded to the bombing, and I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. This was a fantastic introduction to this tale.

There were a few plot twists that I found hard to believe. For example, I struggled to imagine how an eighteen-year-old who had virtually no experience flying a spaceship was given one when his culture was so short on supplies due to the war. Surely they could have spared someone to fly him to his destination since there was a ceasefire happening when he left? There was also a twist related to the plague and Randor’s search for a cure for it. As smart and educated as he was, I had trouble believing that one person could do all of the work on this problem that he did. I’m mentioning these criticisms as someone who loved the premise of this book and really wanted to give it a higher rating. If the sheer desperation of his elders had been explained in a way that made a better case for why they took these risks, I would have happily knocked my rating up by at least another star.

I couldn’t have asked for a more interesting main character than Randor. His shy personality and struggles with making small talk endeared me to him immediately. It’s not every day I read a science fiction novel about quiet, gentle protagonists who act like this, so it’s refreshing when it does happen. Any personality type can be heroic. Seeing what that looks like for those of us who aren’t the life of the party makes me hope that other authors will step outside of the mold and imagine even more ways of being a hero.

Randor’s Moon should be read by anyone who has ever dreamed what life on other planets might be like.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

What the Gods Allow by J.S. Frankel

September 2, 2019 By 2 Comments


What the Gods Allow by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (230 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

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It’s never too late to try to fix old mistakes.

Some of my favorite parts of this book involved Meddy’s reaction to modern life. So much had changed in the world over the last few thousand years since her glory days. She was surprised by everything from the food to the fashion of the modern day, and I was fascinated by her adjustment to our era. There were certain things she noticed that I never would have assumed would be an issue, and other changes I assumed she would struggle with turned out to be no big deal at all. This was all thought out very nicely, and I appreciated how much effort Mr. Frankel put into it.

The pacing was perfect. I’d originally assumed it would be a little slow in the beginning as Meddy explained what she’d done to anger the gods, but the plot quickly jumped into showing what happened when she was given a temporary pardon from her sentence instead. While these details were given all of the attention they needed later on, I loved the fact that the audience got to move on to main storyline so quickly in this tale. That really kept my interest levels high beginning with the first page and going on through to the final one.

Meddy’s character development was handled wonderfully. She was always someone I sympathized with, but I only grew to like her even more as I got to know the parts of her personality that weren’t immediately noticeable. Yes, she had her fair share of flaws, but she also had a genuinely kind heart and a willingness to learn from her past. Those are always lovely things to discover about a character, especially when they’re followed by genuine personal growth.

What the Gods Allow was a stellar addition to J.S. Frankel’s long list of works. Whether you’re a new or longterm fan of his stories, I highly recommend checking this one out!

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cyber Sprite by J.S. Frankel

June 27, 2019 By 2 Comments


Cyber Sprite by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (252 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Jake Cullen, a disabled teen novelist, is contacted from the great cyber beyond by a person who calls herself Miranda.

It turns out that Miranda isn’t a hacker, but an AI program, a free-roaming, independent program that can go anywhere and do anything it likes within the confines of cyberspace. Jake finds her creator, Doctor Helena Schreiber, and receives the greatest gift—a way to link up to her creation, Miranda.

Jake enters the internet and finds a cyber world that’s much like our own, but more so. He and Miranda go exploring together, and also find out they’re more into each other than they thought possible.
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While all is fun and games at first, trouble looms in the form of Marvin Throckmorton, Schreiber’s former employer. He’s aware that Doctor Schreiber has created a sentient program, and he wants it.

To that end, he sends his enforcers to coerce the information out of Jake, and they attack him and threaten his life and the life of his mother.

What he does not know is Doctor Schreiber’s ultimate goal—to make her creation more human. Jake also has a goal—to survive. With Miranda’s help, he finds a way to fight back and discovers just where he truly belongs.

Nothing is impossible online.

One of the things I appreciate the most about Mr. Frankel’s writing is how his tales discuss characters who have physical or mental health problems that impact what they’re able to do. He has always written those scenes with a strong sense of compassion, and this book continued that trend. The best parts of it to me were the ones that showed how Jake dealt with his disabilities. He had more than one diagnosis, and all of his diagnoses affected him every day in ways that I couldn’t have guessed ahead of time. This is one of the many reasons why I enjoy this author’s work so much and why I continue recommending it to everyone I know who reads the young adult genre.

Not only was there a great deal of character development for Jake, the ways he changed as a person made perfect sense. No one can roam the Internet without learning and growing in some way, especially when all of their senses are telling them that everything they’re seeing, touching, and hearing is as real as our world. The only slight adjustment I would have made to this part of the plot would be to do a little bit more with Miranda’s character development as well. She did change, too, but I would have loved to see a few more scenes showing how her relationship with Jake had an influence on this. With that being said, this was something I barely noticed. I still had a fantastic time following their adventures.

The world building was spectacular. I especially enjoyed seeing what happened to Jake after he entered the Internet. How the human mind might adapt to such an experience is something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, and I was fascinated by the way Jake’s mind adapted to a digital world. There were a few plot twists concerning this that made me grin. They couldn’t have been written better, although I’ll leave it up to all of you to figure out what they were for yourselves.

Cyber Sprite was a wonderful tale I’d recommend to anyone who has ever had a problem that they know will be permanent.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Auctioneer by J.S. Frankel

April 8, 2019 By 2 Comments


The Auctioneer by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (247 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Matthew Carter, eighteen and orphaned recently due to the death of his father, continues on the family tradition of auctioneering. It is not his chosen profession, but one that is thrust upon him by circumstance.

Offered a chance to make some money by a man named Baltarus, Matthew reluctantly agrees, and to his surprise, ends up on an alien star-port where he auctions off rare items from all over the galaxy.

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Life is good, but all that changes when he becomes a target of unknown assassins. Additionally, he is forced to sell a planet named Volarus, something that goes against his conscience.

Matthew finds out there’s more to life than making money, and races against time to find a loophole in order to stop Volarus from being next on the bidding block, as well as finding out the faceless killers who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

How would you react to a job that forced you to do unethical things?

The romance subplot was handled beautifully. I was pleased with how naturally the relationship between Matthew and Anarra unfolded. They spent time genuinely getting to know each other as individuals first, and that’s always something I appreciate in this sort of storyline. It makes the thought of two characters possibly ending up together for good even sweeter in my opinion than it might otherwise be.

I would have liked to see more attention paid to the character development in this tale. Matthew was a fascinating guy who’d been through a lot in his short life. As interesting as it was to get to know him, I didn’t see the kinds of personal development in him I was expecting to find. He had plenty of opportunities to grow as a person. I simply needed to see more examples of him doing that during the course of his adventures.

Speaking of characters having adventures, though, this book was full of twists and turns. Once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down again until I knew how everything would turn out for the protagonist and all of the folks he met along the way. One of the things I enjoy the most about Mr. Frankel’s stories is how much action he packs into his plots, and this one was just as exciting as everything else he’s written so far.

The Auctioneer should be read by anyone who likes adventurous science fiction.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Incredible Aunty Awesomesauce by J.S. Frankel

September 10, 2018 By 2 Comments


The Incredible Aunty Awesomesauce by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (294 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Sam Aushumness, sixteen, orphan and high school outcast, meets his long-lost aunt at his parents’ funeral—or the woman he thinks is his aunt. It turns out that she isn’t his aunt, isn’t from around here, and isn’t even from this galaxy.

It seems the person masquerading as his aunt is a refugee from a faraway world, and she’s being pursued by a small band of mercenaries who have been hired to bring her back dead or alive—preferably dead.

Secrets have to be kept, and only Sam and his girlfriend, Kym Kim, know who Aunty Aushumness—nickname Aunty Awesomesauce—really is.
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However, the secret soon gets out, and soon the mercenaries, the police, and every branch of the government are on the hunt to find Aunty Awesomesauce, what she knows, and what secrets she carries.

Aunty A, though, isn’t one to back down from a fight, and when push comes to shove, the mercenaries find out how bad she can be.

Not every alien is a little green man.

The world building was fabulous. I especially appreciated how much time the narrator spent describing what Aunt Aushumness’ home planet was like. There were a lot of details about the various creatures that called that place home that made it easy to imagine how that world was both similar to and different from Earth. Having all of this information also meant that I couldn’t wait to see what would happen when humans and aliens began to interact with each other. There were so many opportunities to show what this sort of thing would be like, and Mr. Frankel took advantage of all of them in order to make the setting and characters come alive in my imagination.

There were some mild pacing issues. I noticed them about halfway through this tale, and they popped up here and there until the characters began moving towards the ending. While they weren’t serious, I would have liked to see the middle section move as quickly as the beginning and end did. I would have selected a much higher rating if this hadn’t occurred.

Sam was an interesting and well-developed character. He didn’t always know what would be the right thing to say or do in an unusual situation, and he dealt with a lot of unusual situations in this book. The fact that he occasionally struggled with this made him quite relatable to me. I liked the fact that he behaved so much like an ordinary person while being involved in such extraordinary events.

I’d recommend The Incredible Aunty Awesomesauce to anyone who is in the mood for an adventure.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Ether by J.S. Frankel

September 3, 2018 By 2 Comments


Ether by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (238 pages)
Age Recommendation: 16+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Teenager Sam Timmins, school outcast and total nerd, is saved one day from getting run over by the wind. Only it isn’t the wind that saves him, but a mysterious wind-sprite named Esther. The result of a botched lab experiment, Esther and her mother, Nita, the lead scientist on a matter-transportation project, now exist as wind beings.

Sam begins a relationship with Esther, even though he cannot see or even hold Esther, but they grow as close as two people can under the circumstances.
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The forces of evil, though, will not be denied. Morton Ramsay, the head of the project, needs Esther and Nita back for his own purposes. He sends his two chief henchmen, Harsky and Stutch, to intimidate Sam. When that doesn’t work, they resort to murdering his mother.

Now, Sam is out for revenge. Aided by Esther and her mother, he finds out just who he is and what he is capable of. More than that, he finds out what science is capable of creating—and destroying.

Some folks naturally march to the beat of their own drum, and Sam is one of them.

Sam was a well-developed and interesting character who felt like a real person to me. There were times when he made impulsive choices or accidentally said the wrong thing, but this is in no way a criticism of him as an individual. I really liked the fact that his weaknesses involved stuff that influenced how the plot turned out. Protagonists like this one are one of the reasons why I get so excited when Mr. Frankel releases another book. He knows how to create characters who are multi-dimensional, and Sam was an excellent example of this.

I loved seeing how the romance between Sam and Esther developed. They had such similar personalities and interests that I couldn’t help but to root for them to end up together. The compatibility between them seemed to be pretty high from the beginning, and I only found more examples of things they had in common as I got to know both of them better.

The pacing was handled perfectly. Sam encountered new twists in his adventures at precisely the right moments. My interest in finding out what would happen in the next scene remained high. There was always just enough new information to keep me reading without pushing the plot faster than it should have unfolded. I especially liked the fact that the main character had plenty of time to introduce the audience to the people who were important to him before too many things that defied explanation began happening to him.

Ether is a must-read for new and longterm fans of this author’s work alike. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Azreal by J.S. Frankel

May 29, 2018 By 2 Comments


The Undernet 2: Azreal by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Suspense/Mystery, Horror, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (238 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Milt Edwards, survivor of an incident that almost took his life six months previously, is back. He and his girlfriend, Roberta (Robbie) Jones, both suffer from PTSD as a result of their ordeal, and they attend counseling sessions in order to help them work through their mental anguish.

Nothing helps, but then a friend of Milt’s is killed, ostensibly by the same person who designed the Undernet—Azrael. Galvanized into action, Milt once again joins forces with the FBI in order to find out who Azrael truly is, and he is paired with a rookie agent, Nasraana Shaksy, an American Muslim who has her own battles to fight.

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Some monsters have become very good at hiding their true selves.

Milt’s character development was well done. I’d mentioned wanting to see more of it in my review of The Undernet, so it was nice to see how much this character changed in his second adventure. He had been pretty badly traumatized from being kidnapped and tortured back then, and he was still dealing with the repercussions of that when this case began. It was neat to see so much continuity for him there as he continued to heal.

The cast of characters was really large. Milt and the FBI agents he was working with kept finding more and more people on the Darkweb who were involved in child trafficking as the story progressed. While Mr. Frankel’s descriptions of everyone were thorough, I sure would have liked to have a list of all of the characters to reference when someone who hadn’t been seen in a while popped back up again. There were a few times when I had trouble remembering certain people who played small roles in the plot because of how many other folks there were to keep track of as well.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this story was trying to figure out who Azrael really was and how he’d evaded the authorities for so long. This wasn’t an easy mystery to unravel. There were a sufficient number of clues to work with, but they didn’t appear right away and all of them required the readers to think critically about what we’d just read.

The first book in this series was in the young adult genre, but this standalone sequel took a much darker and adult-oriented turn. While the many references to child trafficking and pedophilia did not include any scenes of a child being sexually abused, such disturbing subject matter is really only appropriate for an adult audience.

The Undernet 2: Azrael should be read by anyone who is in the mood for a dark mystery.

Filed Under: Horror, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Touching Water by Viola Grace

June 1, 2017 By Leave a Comment


Touching Water by Viola Grace
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (58 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Lydra wanted to live a life as a researcher and focus on solving mysteries of genetics. She never intended to become one of those mysteries.

Trapped in an experiment gone wrong, she ends up blue and powerless on her own world, so she decides to be a freak amongst freaks elsewhere.
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Locals populate guardian Base Vidiaro, but Lydra gets by by doing her crime scene analysis until the day that the experiment that started on her own world takes its course. She goes from an anomaly to a hero and isn’t sure which she really wants to be.

Not every superpower is created equally.

Lydra was such an interesting main character. I was fascinated by the fact that she was so embarrassed over the color her skin after the science experiment she was participating in didn’t end the way she was expecting it to. It was knowing this fact about her that made her courage later on on the tale even more remarkable that it might have otherwise been. Facing what you perceive to be a weakness is never easy, but the way she handled it only made me like her twice as much as I did before.

The romantic subplot didn’t work for me at all. While I liked both of the characters involved in it quite a bit, I had trouble imagining them as a couple. The chemistry between them also never felt quite right. I could have seen them possibly becoming friends by the end, but I would have preferred to see more time spent developing their relationship before anything other than a completely platonic friendship was on the table. With that being said, I love romances that begin with a genuine and solid friendship, so I would have happily rooted for them if I could have seen more examples of why they’d make a good match.

The battles were nicely written. I especially enjoyed the fact that Ms. Grace spent so much time keeping them moving along smoothly. There was a lot going on during some of them, but I always remained on top of what everyone was doing and which science fiction or high tech devices were currently being used.

I’d recommend Touching Water to anyone who likes science fiction with a side of romance.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Catnip by J.S. Frankel

August 25, 2014 By 2 Comments

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Catnip by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (204 pages)
Age Recommendation: 16+
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Harry Goldman, a teenage prodigy thrown into jail for illegal research, is teamed up with a transgenic cat-girl and soon finds himself in love and running for his life.
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Harry Goldman, teenage DNA researcher, genius, and total nerd, is thrown into jail for illegal transgenic research. Freed by the FBI on the condition he works under their aegis, Harry is taken to New York where he meets Anastasia, a cat-girl and the product of transgenic engineering. No sooner do they get acquainted then they are attacked by another creature, a bear which is more than a bear, and are forced to flee for their lives. Along the way, they encounter furries, Doug the Dog, find out that they are more into each other emotionally than they’re willing to admit, and end up in the Catskill Mountains where Harry finds out the shocking truth about how Anastasia was created…and what she was created for.

Everyone is capable of doing things that may not be ethical, but not everyone is willing to admit when they’ve crossed that line.

Mr. Frankel pulled me into the plot through the use of one of the most exciting opening scenes I’ve read in a long time. Imagine two homeless men suddenly coming across something incredibly strange in the fetid, garbage-strewn alley they call home. It was most definitely not the introduction to this tale I was expecting. Not knowing what was happening made me eager to find out more.

I would have liked to see more character development, especially when it came to Harry. He experienced a few different traumatic events growing up that never quite had as much of an affect on his personality as I would have expected. His dazed reaction was completely understandable in the beginning, but this book would have easily earned a higher rating had the author spent more time exploring what happens when Harry’s numbness wears off. It would have been especially interesting to see which, if any, of his negative personality traits stem from this emotional paralysis.

Strong pacing from beginning to end made it hard for me to put this story down. I really liked how the author embedded crucial clues about Anastasia’s background into scenes that also had a lot of other exciting stuff going on in them. At times it felt like I was watching an action movie instead of reading a book. This was a smart approach for such an action-heavy plot.

Catnip is one of the most adrenaline-inducing tales I’ve read so far in 2014. This is a good choice for anyone who likes being perched on the edge of their seat in anticipation of what might happen next for 200+ pages.

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