I have been sitting on this book review for a while trying to figure out how I wanted to write it.
Basically, I am probably just going with what I have.
I want to tell you about a special book, one that has become special to me not only because it's a great read but also because of how I found it and how it (and its author) overcame my reticence.
In the Fall of 2023, I decided to give up reading regular print books with my precious nightly reading time (using eye balls) and instead focus just on comic books, mainly my huge TO-READ shelf -- with three big stacks -- of graphic novels. All other books would be consumed via audio. If there was no audio, the book would not get read.
Now, I do more reading in the summer when I try to get some hammock time on the porch several times a week. And so, in the fall, when that hammock time went away, I gave up on fiction and non-fiction in the reading before bed brief and precious time.
This book was the first one I read, breaking that decision, starting November 11th, 2023 and finishing it February 21, 2024.
As explained in the forthcoming comments, I went to a SF con not expecting to buy anything, and in buying a book by self-published writer, I did not expect to read let alone like it.
I was wrong, wrong, WRONG.
This book is really great. I loved it.
Not going to lie, it's probably the attractive green velvet dress RK Brainerd was wearing at the con that drew my attention first and her cool maps and book cover second. Then our conversation definitely overcame my resistance to purchases, especially since I was in a book buying freeze.
I am so glad I gave this book a chance and truly adored it, though I am first in line to NOT pressure RK Brainerd about the next book. We readers will get it when we get it and delays will happen given that RK now attends graduate school in England.
Here's her main sites and assorted links:
From her newsletter and then my comments on the book follow.
Hello, R. K. Brainerd here again. You recently signed up to be a part of my email community—I am STOKED you're here—and here is the promised email number two (of three).
Today, I want to talk about my debut novel. If you don't already know, Jagged Emerald City was published on January 21st, 2023, which was the first new moon of 2023. The New Moon has a particular significance for our main character, Fairian—which you'll have to find out yourself. ;)
JEC has been a long labor of love, something that I drafted and revised probably a hundred times over the previous decade.
In its embryonic form, back when I was a teenager, JEC started as scenes between two friends who were falling in love. (I didn't kiss actual people when I began to explore romance—I wrote about it.)
Since then, JEC has evolved and shifted forms so many times since then it's probably unrecognizable beyond character names and places.
| | Now JEC is about thriving after trauma, finding your people, self-discovery, and healing. With lots and lots of magic, adventure, and a slow-burn romance full of softness and angst. |
If you're curious about this journey, I've blogged quite a bit about it over the years:
Read MoreBlog posts following my journey writing Jagged Emerald City | | |
So far, responses to JEC has been incredibly positive, which is pretty surreal for me. I'm definitely not complaining!
Book 2 of Fairian and Daimyn's adventures is currently in the works. Mental health, environmentalism, found families, and identity will continue to be the main themes for The Obsidian Divide series. That said, this is also the kind of series that's going to evolve even beyond my biggest imaginings for it—and I'm so excited to see where it'll take us.
That's it for today! Thank you for reading, Chris. You'll hear from me (for the last email of three) soon.
Until then, I hope you're having a fantastic day.
Welcome to the promised third email, where I'll share some of my own story. This is the last of my introductory series, so expect not to hear from me for a while after this! (Unless there's a release soon. Or there's odd timing.)
So what can I say about me?
I've lived in the Pacific Northwest of the United States my entire life, with it's beautiful trees, mountains, and beaches. It has left its imprint on my writing.
I began writing at 12, a story where I went to a Bionicle world (if you had these growing up too, high five!) every time I went to sleep. That was my first foray into writing consistently. After that, I was hooked.
I wrote 2.5 books about an orphan girl who discovers she's actually a dragon stuck in human form (not wishful thinking at all). I like to say that the dragon story taught me how to write, though the manuscripts will likely never see the light of day, haaaa...
Also during this period I got really into raising and showing Nubian dairy goats—a joy I partook in for over a decade. | | |
| | It would be remiss of me to not also mention the off-grid, timber-frame, straw-bale house I built with my family as a teenager. (We don't have to guess why my passion for environmentalism sparked.) |
On the subject of environmentalism, I've always been concerned about the state of the world and planet, and I studied Political Science and Economics at university. This is something that has also heavily influences my writing.
Funny story: when writing my thesis for the Honors College, if I would get frustrated or stuck, I would switch to writing my stories. I'm pretty sure I wrote out Jagged Emerald City (my eventual debut novel) in its entirety for the first time during this period.
After undergrad, during my 20s, while trying to navigate being an adult and having a career in the corporate world, my writing focused primarily on Jagged Emerald City. This was the first book I intentionally wrote while thinking about my craft, and it went through a hundred iterations as I learned.
I did contract with a small press at one point (you can read about that here in fact), though it didn't end up working out and we amicably parted ways. After that, I eventually came to the decision that self-publishing was a path that worked for me, and I began planning for JEC's release.
Which basically brings us to now. I am working on the sequel to JEC, and very excited at where it is going. It, like many others I've written, is challenging my imagination and skills in ways both frustrating and exhilarating.
I am also headed to England in October of 2024 for a year-long Masters degree program in Political Ecology. After 10 years and a huge life upheaval, I've decided to go back to school, adventuring halfway around the world.
Which basically brings us to the close here.
And now, just for fun...
Here are two truths and a lie. Reply here to guess which one is the lie!
- I believe the perfect amount of goats for a herd is 13
- I completed my first novel at 14
- My first cat was black
Thank you for reading! I hope this was fun and valuable to you, getting to know me, my debut, and my career a little better.
As a reminder if you haven't already, make sure to add me to your safe senders list so you can be sure to catch further updates as they go out! Also, you can always unsubscribe or opt to receive less email with the links at the bottom.
If you have any questions or want to know more about something, feel free to hit that reply button and I'll respond as soon as I can!
Thank you again, and I wish you the very best in all your adventures.
SPOILER ALERT!!
Read on at your own hazard of learning things about the story.
Here's the comments what I shared directly with the author:
Okay, JEC -- Jagged Emerald City =
AMAZON.
Wow.
Just wow.
So very good.
Honestly, I was not expecting to like it. No offense. It's not because if you. It's my issue as I will explain.
I went to Orycon determined not to spend any money. Furthermore, I was pressed for time, so I was literally there for a little over an hour. But your concept caught my attention first and foremost: the ecological fantasy angle. I can’t remember the exact words at your table because they are not on your website. Anyway that intrigued me. Plus, you had a map. I love maps. Plus, I loved your dress. And I liked the cover a lot. So I decided to buy your book.
I have a TO READ BOOK CASE and that’s just the recent stuff not the back log SF and Fantasy I bought decades ago and lug around as “resources” and “will read someday.”
My expectations for self-published and small press writers was very very low. The last few that I read were dreadful. So, I knew I was probably not going to read it when I bought it. Maybe some day. I buy a lot of books simply as support for writers.
But then, I gave it a few minutes. I mean, why not? Just check it out because of all the ways you and your table intrigued me. And I was hooked.
WOW. I was really hooked. Now, remember, I had not been reading prose books with my eyeballs. Just comics and graphic novels and some nonfiction and my own work.
Great start. Opening scene with action and a strong character voice. And we meet Daimyn.
And then I knew I would keep reading until I was done despite my “policy” about my precious eyeball reading time (because your book has no audio version), and I LOVED IT. As I shared, in the past with more time and less work (or the ability to blow off work more often), I would have finished it in a couple of days rather than three months. But I like that I spent that much time with Fairian. She’s a great character.
Maybe I will be less snobby about self-published writers from now on. Maybe there are others as good as you, but I am dubious. I mean, I’m sure there are, but I don’t seem to find many of them.
That said, did you try to get an agent and go the traditional route? You could. This book is just as good or better than lots of the dreck out there.
Had I been your editor/publisher, I may have asked you to revise some things, but they are all little things in the character voice mostly. All the big stuff is... TIGHT. AND GOOD. So good.
As I shared, my first thought when TASA showed up was that Fairian should tell Daimyn, which would blow TASA's plan and their hold over her. I am glad that she eventually did that and then this is the very thing that makes her SUPER RECKLESS and gets her captured by the Strigoi.
I love that she saved herself. As those scenes are unfolding, I was thinking to myself that if Daimyn just shows up and rescues her like Vincent at 9:50 p.m. in the old Beauty and the Beast TV show, like she is some damsel in distress, I am going to be so pissed. And then she saves herself... and it’s not going well (I was still reading when I wrote this part).
I am very intrigued and liked a lot what she learns of her gift and how she used it in her rescue. This is a place where the writing at times seems a little off target but only for a minute and then you come back to something grounded and clearer.
Of my several issues with the ending, I would have liked just one more nugget on her gift – discussing more (or at all) with Daimyn and a bit more than the little advice given her by Cebille. Just a bit more. Obviously, you want her to explore her powers in the upcoming books. But a little more progress there would have been nice.
There’s two bigger things. I don’t get why Daimyn loves Fairian. I mean, I get why she has feelings for him because we’re in her head. And I get why I LOVE her because I just went on a nearly 500 page journey with her. But I don’t have quite enough of Daimyn’s reasons. It all seemed a little easy. A little too quickly forgiven for her bad handling of the TASA thing. And he’s a little too stoic, or at least, you had the scene, with the books, in which to give the reader just a little more. Again, my preference. It’s not WRONG or flawed. Everything you do works and works well.
The other thing I wanted was a resolution to the plot of the entire book: who is trying to kill her? I get that this is a huge question, so maybe it’s not possible to have the answer, but it would have been nice to have just a little bit more of the puzzle. Because my mind went all kinds of places. TASA is an obvious choice. But too obvious. Then I wondered if it’s someone she knows, which would make it even more devastating in the reveal.
Those are some of my thoughts. But I loved it. In fact, once she was captured, I read nothing but JEC until I was done. Such a great sequence. Also, LOVED the goblins. So much good stuff.
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2501.11 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 3480 days ago & DAD = 136 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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