Ken Preston guides us through the fascinating world of Caxton Tempest, the Victorian adventurer, a world of slums and palaces, of high society and lowlife. Preston presents the enthralled reader with murder and mayhem, demons and vampires, ghosts and characters who defy genre. With his wonderful narrative style, Preston makes the reader feel as though he or she is walking the dark streets of Whitechapel, or is among the criminal elite at their secret meetings.
The style is akin to Conan Doyle, in that it is precise, concise and imaginative; Preston’s creativity comes to the fore when he creates a milieu that is at once both factual and fictional, legendary in it’s timeless squalor and evil, yet one can never forget that the era Preston writes about was everything and more than the myths of Victorian England would have us believe.
Tempest himself is rather like a Van Helsing of the Victorian underworld, a man who doesn’t suffer fools, a detective par excellence. He is the 19th century equivalent of J.B Priestly’s Inspector Goole - an investigator who plays on the conscience of those he interrogates, and whose presence alone is usually enough to discover the culprit; to our delight, their confessions make for spellbinding reading. Tempest is Holmesian, no doubt, but his understanding belongs more to Dr Watson. Reading Preston’s novel is an experience that reminds one of those great Hammer films from the 1950’s onwards, in which a serious investigator gets to the root cause of the often terrifying events in a cool, detached manner whilst all Hell breaks loose around him.
There is a dignity and gravitas about Tempest that adds an Apollonian atmosphere to the Dionysian revels taking place. In conclusion, this superb first novel leaves the reader dissatisfied - we want more from the pen of Ken Preston! ...........Steve Sweeney.
Christopher Scott Silva is currently working on his novella, ’A Galaxy Apart,’ a wonderful-fast paced science fiction experience, taking the reader into a swash buckling adventure in a far away galaxy. His recent horror ’Dark Day’s in Sharma El Sheik’ is a frightening tale, with more twists and turns than a shrubbery labyrinth. His short stories have us greedily glued to each word always wanting more. One recent short that particularly sticks out in my mind is Encounter, a micro short that simply entranced all his readers. Chris Silva is definitely a writer to keep an eye on, with a bright and exciting future in the realm of sci-fi and horror.
Not only is Chris a great author, but also a true source of encouragement. Indeed, his inspiring work with young writers, offering guidance and editing, is an example for all of us who eek out a living with the written word........Mairi Angus
Davy lee Jones. The hallmark of a classic story is that it has the distinctive style of taking the reader in numerous intriguing yet unexpected directions. Just when you thought you had the story figured out a main suspect died or an overlooked clue took on new significance. That change converted reader expectations to fervent anticipation and quickened the heart thus making the story a true’page turner’. Mars Voratu has that distinction and is destined to be a Sci-fi classic.
In Mars V, author David Lee Jones presents his own distinct literary style as he carefully crafts, and then unveils the story as if it were a secret so ancient and devastating that knowing it would alter the course of mankind. Mr. Jones takes the reader on a journey that spans worlds of space and time and intuitively threads these worlds to explain a myriad of the human mysteries of this planet that have astounded and confounded historians and archeologists since time immemorial.
I am a science fiction nut including the proverbial dedication to the Star Trek television series and its many variations. I have read the greats stories from Azimov, Clarke and Bradbury and enjoyed their literary expertise. I spent many continuous hours reading Hurbert, Brooks, and the indomitable story teller, J. R. Tolken. At the heart of all these authors was a passion for their subject and a brilliant mind both focused on explaining their tale in a way that enthralls the reader. Mr. Jones shows no less vigor or intelligence in his expressive and fast paced first book, Mars Voratu. It is one of the best stories I have read in a long while and it is most imaginative story I have ever read. Kudos to David Lee and congratulations-Ican’t wait for the sequel...... Dr. Daniel Norris IT Professor at University of S.C.
Oliver Rowe
’Thatollie’ is one of the more enigmatic members of ’My Writers Circle’. He claims to be a Hobbit from The Shire and no-one has yet managed to disprove this. His many contributions to the ’Station Shorts’ collection, available from Lulu - the online publisher not the singer - are both idiosyncratic and amusing.
Amongst his entries in the collection ’TO’ - as he is affectionately known - writes a fight scene in which a Highwayman’s woman has a scrap with a present day nymphomaniac, pushes the boundaries of good taste and tugs at the heartstrings with a tale abut a young boy nicknamed Moles (Moles Ted), and introduces us to a gentle alien shopkeeper/house-husband who bears an uncanny and unfortunate resemblance to a shark.
In ’Unguarded’ a suspicious package turns out to be an abandoned baby, written out of a story by an unfeeling author.
In a later tale TO writes a whole story from the viewpoint of a left shoe, left as in footed, not abandoned.
I was tempted to say TO’s imagination knows no bounds, but it’s full of them, along with leaps and a twisted logic all of his own. A young writer who definitely ploughs his own furrow, often turning up surprising gems hidden in the freshly tilled earth......John Craggs
Miranda Dickinson
"I don’t think I’ve ever related so closely to a character before… Great writing..." Blue
"Superb writing… I look forward to reading more of your work." Chris, editor, MyVillage.com
Mairi Angus is a dynamic member of the new world of Internet Writers born on the the world wide web and bred for success. Mairi has a fast paced prose and twist style that keeps readers red eyed and glued to their monitors. Her recent acclaim for tales such as The Undertaker left her readers breathless and begging for more. Her recent humourous work; Nan’s not going to bingo and the odd anacronistic; A Gypsy tale has left us all gorged but still hungry for more. Let’s welcome this new maverick to the fold.....Christopher.S.Silva