L F Falconer

The synopsis on the back of this book does not really give any clear description of the contents; it is really just one paragraph from the tale within its covers.

The two main protagonists are adolescents on a journey of discovery, and this tended to give the story an over the top dose of teenage angst. For my liking the Author did not develop these characters as individuals as fully as I felt they could’ve have been, but for some readers this may be the type of character they like; unfortunately they were not for me. I didn’t find anything endearing about either of them as they progressed through the book, that made me not care about them or connect with them on any level whatsoever, despite the themes of love, hope and destiny being there to provide them with fuel to become truly captivating.

Set in an unknown time and setting, all the Author hints at is that it is in medieval times, the book alludes at the possibility of becoming something more with brief mentions to magic and mermen; again, this was not developed into anything more than just a mention so the reader never truly finds out if this is one of those settings where magic can happen or not. Something that really pulled away from my enjoyment of this book was that it starts out being written in the first person, but as the story progresses and the action picks up, the Author tends to lose their way and keeps bouncing backwards and forwards between the first person point of view and having a narrator. This made it increasingly more difficult to follow what was actually happening and to keep things in perspective. Another thing that baffled me, and again some readers might understand, is the introduction of religion into the novel and this, in time, added an air of preachiness to the book that made me feel like I was being given a sermon. Given that the book is set in an unknown time, it was not easy for me to link this sudden introduction of the Christian religion with the uprooting of whatever beliefs were being followed, and eventually it just added nonsense to what could have been an otherwise fairly enjoyable read. However, despite all its flaws it was a well written book and, if you are a devout Christian would probably appeal to you. Unfortunately it was just wasn’t for me and I doubt very much if I would read anything else by this Author.

I would recommend this book to lovers of Christian Fiction, and YA readers that are active in their Church.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/10/11/review-hope-flies-on-broken-wings-l-f-falc...


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
… (altro)

This was a collection of "10 Dark Tales of the Strange and Deranged".
When I saw this was up for review at Horror After Dark, I claimed it and looked forward to reading this collection.

I preface this review with the fact that I love horror short stories. I've been reading them since I was a young teen, starting with Poe, and Lovecraft, and then I moved on to King, Etchison, Ellison, Laird Barron, Steve Rasnic Tem etc. I've read all kinds-dark, weird, flash, bizarro, etc. There isn't very much in the world of short fiction that I haven't read before. It takes something extra special to come through for me these days, and I'm sad to say this wasn't it. That said, this collection may be scary, weird or disturbing to novices exploring this genre. It will not be any of those things to anyone familiar with the short works of King, Barker or Lee.

The standouts for me were: "Sylvan Rain", which I thought was the most unique tale in this collection; the title story "Through A Broken Window" which was an exceptionally well done piece which didn't try too hard to explain things, and "When the Horseman Comes to Town" because I loved Mad Mike MacDougal.

There were a few sections that I thought could have been better edited. For example this sentence from the last story: "Sometime in the night, the Spirit Wind came up and took those few it wanted, then blew sand in from the desert around so fierce it buried the rest of the tribe..." It's an awkward sentence and it tripped me up while reading. Another example, also from the last story, "Yet she couldn't deny that to not to get on the rescue chopper seemed just as ludicrous."

To sum up, this was a decent collection of weird fiction containing a couple of exceptional stories, some moderately good tales and a few total strike outs. A novice to dark, strange, weird, short fiction might enjoy this collection a little more than I did, but I would try this author again in the future.

I received a free e-copy of this book to honestly review for Horror After Dark. Find this review and others like it at www.Horrorafterdark.com.… (altro)

The synopsis on the back of this book does not really give any clear description of the contents; it is really just one paragraph from the tale within its covers.

The two main protagonists are adolescents on a journey of discovery, and this tended to give the story an over the top dose of teenage angst. For my liking the Author did not develop these characters as individuals as fully as I felt they could’ve have been, but for some readers this may be the type of character they like; unfortunately they were not for me. I didn’t find anything endearing about either of them as they progressed through the book, that made me not care about them or connect with them on any level whatsoever, despite the themes of love, hope and destiny being there to provide them with fuel to become truly captivating.

Set in an unknown time and setting, all the Author hints at is that it is in medieval times, the book alludes at the possibility of becoming something more with brief mentions to magic and mermen; again, this was not developed into anything more than just a mention so the reader never truly finds out if this is one of those settings where magic can happen or not. Something that really pulled away from my enjoyment of this book was that it starts out being written in the first person, but as the story progresses and the action picks up, the Author tends to lose their way and keeps bouncing backwards and forwards between the first person point of view and having a narrator. This made it increasingly more difficult to follow what was actually happening and to keep things in perspective. Another thing that baffled me, and again some readers might understand, is the introduction of religion into the novel and this, in time, added an air of preachiness to the book that made me feel like I was being given a sermon. Given that the book is set in an unknown time, it was not easy for me to link this sudden introduction of the Christian religion with the uprooting of whatever beliefs were being followed, and eventually it just added nonsense to what could have been an otherwise fairly enjoyable read. However, despite all its flaws it was a well written book and, if you are a devout Christian would probably appeal to you. Unfortunately it was just wasn’t for me and I doubt very much if I would read anything else by this Author.

I would recommend this book to lovers of Christian Fiction, and YA readers that are active in their Church.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/10/11/review-hope-flies-on-broken-wings-l-f-falc...


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
… (altro)

A DEBT OF SURVIVAL BY L.F. FALCONER. I do love a book that on the first pages of the stories grabs you and keeps ahold to the very last page, and A DEBT OF SURVIVAL BY L.F. FALCONER is such a book. From page one till the very ending this book forces you to keep wanting more. Just when you think the rollercoaster ride is over, you get another twist , another turn & another scare. This is the first book of this author's I've read and it wont be the last! I advise you when you read A DEBT OF SURVIVAL that you keep the lights on and put your matches all over the house!

I recieved this book free from goodreads in exchange for a honest review.… (altro)