Rise Reviews

You will not find many publications that puts out as much material as Golden Vision Magazine. The magazine publishes two issues at a time. One is a print version and the other a free online publication. Each is distinctively different. This review is dedicated to the online version.
The online version boast part one of a serial, two previously published short stories, a new short story, and 21 works of flash fiction. The previously published and serial have not been read but that still left plenty of material to look over.

There are many ways Danika Dinsmore’s debut novel, Brigitta of the White Forest, could go wrong. As a concept, a young adult novel about a world almost entirely populated with fairies by a debut author is something I would hesitate to pick up. Yet I found myself quickly charmed by her characters and setting for what proved to be a wonderful read. Dinsmore weaves a coming of age story through a world that is both fantastic and believable.

Brigitta and her younger sister, Himalette, live in the enchanted and protected realm of the White Forest. Each season cycle the Elders must perform the ritual that restores the Hourglass of Protection that keeps intruders out of their peaceful land. Before the ritual can be performed, a magical attack incapacitates everyone except for the two sisters. Desperate to save the White Forest before the sands in the Hourglass run out, Brigitta and Himalette must leave the forest and seek help from the only fairy that may have a way to fix things: Hrathgar, the dark fairy that lives in exile after trying to take over the White Forest.

Flying Pen Press’ Full Throttle Space Tales series, four volumes so far, has solid stories, with each anthology covering a different theme. The first was Space Pirates, the second Space Sirens, and the third Space Grunts. Like the previous volumes, Grunts contains stories by writers with names both familiar and new. Headliners of this anthology include the editor, Star Trek writer Dayton Ward, Selena Rosen, and Robin Wayne Bailey. The lesser known but familiar names include Brad Sinor, Kristen Bayer, and James Swallow. In total, the anthology features 18 tales.

The anthology opens with Julie McGalliard’s solid “98 Hill,” told as a letter from a female soldier to her mother back home. The story chronicles a fire fight with an alien menace called Dangs. A gritty story with solid action and a strong protagonist, the story winds up as a tragic tale.

They Had Goat Heads is a collection of “bizarro” fiction by D. Harlan Wilson. The thirty-nine stories are very short; one of the stories consists of just six words.

Because the stories are “bizarro” fiction, they are all very weird and a lot of time have no plot or make no sense. This is the second collection of “bizarro” fiction I’ve read, and I’ve realized it’s not my favorite genre. However, although not my cup of tea, They Had Goat Heads had some great stories; a couple of them made me laugh out loud.

It’s hard to know how much scrutiny to apply to a novel like Karen Anne Webb’s The Chalice of Life, the first in her Adventures of the Carotian Union. To a younger, or perhaps less jaded, reader this could very well be a fun light-hearted read. For me, this read like a rough draft written by new author, with the manuscript needing a lot of revision. It is filled with passion for the material but I found the book frustrating to read in many places.

Set in a universe with high technology and magic, seven heroes are chosen by the goddess Minissa to rescue a lost prince who is trapped outside of space and time. They will need to travel through seven portals to seven different worlds in order to rescue this prince. This first book details the adventure they have in the first world to which they travel. Upcoming sequels will each cover another world.

Archaeologist Shep Smythe has based his entire career on proving that Cleopatra was murdered. He goes to Mexico after a statue of Cleopatra is unearthed at an Olmec dig site. Instead of finding proof of his theory, he gets caught between Victoria Kent, a famous international thief, and Dmitri Kronastia, a Russian mobster nobody wishes to cross.

Victoria has stolen rare, priceless items from the dig site, including any proof Shep may have been able to use in proving that Cleopatra was murdered. Dmitri must find those items before it’s too late – Dmitri and Victoria are part of an ancient world of gods, the supernatural and history. Shep must help Dmitri find Victoria and the artifacts, and put together the puzzle that will prevent the end of the world on 12.21.12.

This month’s entry for the webzine Giganotosaurus is “Hero-Mother” by Vylar Kaftan. An unconventional tale to say the least, Kaftan does the work of crafting an entire race of creatures in order to explore the instinctual call to motherhood.

We are introduced to Keloc and Duv, a pair of creatures decended from treecats and living in some heretofore unknown society, as they attempt to mate. The act itself is described in loving and gruesome detail. The females of the species have no opening to their wombs and therefore the male member must literally drill its way into her body in order to “inspire” a cub. Kaftan turns the parental cycle on its ear, making the coupling a painful process that needs be endured and the actual child birth becomes the orgasmic moment. The result of this is selected breeding, as only females with a certain pain tolerance are able to give birth by council law.