By the Book - Death Troopers

Welcome back!

            In honor of Halloween, October’s book review will be horror theme. The novel in question is entitled Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber,  book inspired by one of the most popular sci-fi opera’s out there; Star Wars. This story was meant to be a sequel to Red Harvest, which I reviewed earlier this year.

            When I went to Amazon to order some new material for my library back in April, Star Wars related content was high on my list of interests. That's when I came across Death Troopers, a cross between zombies and a popular sci-fi franchise. I later selected Red Harvest when I found out it was its prequel.

The story begins in the Imperial prison barge Purge, as it breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space. Its only hope appears to lie in a seemingly abandoned Star Destroyer, drifting nearby. When a boarding party is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back, bringing with them a deadly contagion. Within hours, half the Purge’s population die, come back as zombies and begin to hunt the survivors. In an attempt to escape, the survivors take shelter in the Star Destroyer, unaware of the horrors within.

Back of the Book:

When the Imperial prison barge Purge–temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels, and thieves–breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space, its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting, derelict, and seemingly abandoned. But when a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back–bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours nearly all aboard the Purge die in ways too hideous to imagine.

And death is only the beginning.

The Purge’s half-dozen survivors–two teenage brothers, a sadistic captain of the guards, a couple of rogue smugglers, and the chief medical officer, the lone woman on board–will do whatever it takes to stay alive. But nothing can prepare them for what lies waiting aboard the Star Destroyer amid its vast creaking emptiness that isn’t really empty at all. For the dead are rising: soulless, unstoppable, and unspeakably hungry.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

What I Learned From This Book:

• Crossing genres: The most obvious aspect of this story, is how it crosses two very distinctive genres, Zombies and Star Wars. Each genre are pretty solid on their own, but combining the two is something that has been rarely seen. The author successfully managed to integrate both genres into one epic story. For more information on integration, visit one of my previous writing prompts on the subject.
• Safe characters: One of the first rules of writing a zombie story, is that no character should be safe from getting killed. The promise of death should threaten all characters in a horror novel. That is why when these types of books suddenly include ‘’brand name’’ characters (in this case, Han Solo and Chewbacca), the story loses a large amount of tension, cause we know those characters aren't in real danger. Another prime example of this phenomenon is the Resident Evil movie franchise; at some point, the story loses tension because we know the main character will be back for a sequel.  
• Futuristic vision: The story takes place aboard a prison ship. Seeing the author's futuristic interpretation of a setting inspired from a modern day establishment such as a prison was pretty interesting. It is a great example of how science-fiction writers take an idea, and push the boundaries. Please see my previous article for more details on writing science fiction

Joe Schreiber is an American novelist best known for his horror and thriller novels. His works include Chasing the Dead, Eat the Dark and No Doors, No Windows. In October 2009, Joe created his first contribution to the Star Wars universe; Death Troopers. Schreiber was born in Michigan (1969), but is currently based in central Pennsylvania, where he works as an MRI technician and lives with his wife and two young children.

For those interested in reading more books from Joe Schreiber, please check out these following websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Schreiber

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/69772/joe-schreiber

http://joeschreiber.blogspot.ca/

In closing, I would like to thank you all for dropping by and following my blog. Your encouragement is always appreciated. Don’t forget to hit the like/follow buttons!

Until next time!

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

Thrillers and Suspense

Welcome back!

Inspired by Halloween, I decided to focus this month's writing article on a genre that specializes in thrills, chills and spills! We will be discussing Thrillers and Suspense as a genre in fiction.

The basics of a story is a plotline which follows the exploits of the main characters as they attempt to resolve a conflict while making their way to their intended goal. So how exactly does Thriller and Suspense differ from other genres? Suspense in fiction happens when dramatic tension escalates, and becomes charged with anticipation. So the genre isn’t necessarily about plot as much as it is about emotion, defined by using tension to create anxiety, uncertainty, or surprise. So it is easy to see how this can cause confusion, as these characteristics are applicable to a broad range of literary genres. Thriller/Suspense can stand on its own, but can also be incorporated into other genres, such as crime/thriller, western/thriller, fantasy/thriller, horror/thriller, and many more.

It is a very popular genre in writing, however it’s classification seems to elude many. They tend to get scattered around with other genres, being categorized as Horror, Science Fiction or even Mystery.

To understand Thriller/Suspense fiction, you need to understand it’s perspective. The storytelling approach when dealing with a crisis focuses on being proactive, with a hefty dose of drama. In order to be proactive, events need to happen in the beginning of the story, forcing the protagonist to react. To better understand, let us have a comparison:

• Mystery: A crime happens, then we see the protagonist spend the rest of the story trying to find out what happened. He is therefore reactive.
• Horror: Unspeakable terror happens, then we see the protagonist spend the rest of the story trying to escape it. He is therefore reactive.
• Science-Fiction: Something out of the ordinary happens, then we see the protagonist spend the rest of the story dealing with the situation. He is therefore reactive.
• Thriller/Suspense: The protagonist receives information about impending doom, then we see him spend the rest of the story attempting to prevent it. He is therefore proactive.

 

The key to writing Thrillers/Suspense fiction is not to ask “What needs to happen?”, it’s to ask “What can go wrong?”. Four factors need to be taken into account when writing this genre: reader empathy, reader concern, impending danger and escalating tension. So the tension in the story needs to escalate, or else the suspense will evaporate before it reaches a climax.

Here are some important points to remember when writing Suspense Fiction:

• Create a good hero. This may be true to any story, but the suspense hero has to be someone the reader will worry about. In Suspense, the hero helps create tension by having their life, needs or desires in jeopardy. We push suspense even further by keeping said aspects away from the protagonist, emphasizing how deeply the character wants it, and showing what consequences will result if they don’t get it.
• Create a good villain. In a suspense novel, the identity of the antagonist is known early, and they are very visible to the audience. It is therefore important that the villain be a worthy opponent to the hero. Explore who the antagonist is; what is their motivations, background and character. Show the reader why they should fear this person.
• Understand tragedy. It is important to understand the importance of loss. The goal of Suspense stories is to engage the reader's concern by heightening the impact of the tragedy. But if the story contains hundreds of murders, each explained in detail, then the act of murder will seem less tragic, and readers won’t feel concerned by it. To build tension, don’t emphasize the violent act, increase the reader's apprehension about the violent act.

• Modulate Suspense. Building tension takes time. Suspense happens in the stillness of your story, in the gaps between the action sequences. Create a feeling of apprehension by slowing down time; use longer, more complex sentences rather than being short and to the point. This can help to increase suspense. Break the tension by inserting a pause into suspense; a moment of comic relief, reveal a clue that advances the plot or maybe character development. Use this technique of inserting a brief respite to give readers a break, then return to the suspense to keep them hooked.

• Promises and Payoffs. A promise is anticipation that a dreadful event is going to happen; the payoff is the action taken against said event. There can be a suspense sequence early in the novel, and the tension should build up the farther into the story the reader gets. The bigger the promise, the bigger the payoff. It’s important, however, that those promises always be fulfilled, or else the readers will end up feeling disappointed.

• Create dilemmas. Events in the storyline should come at a price. The protagonist needs challenging dilemmas to test their character, and must seemingly be a lose-lose situation. By their nature, protagonists can’t stray from their morals or promises, so they will need to face dilemmas, no matter how difficult.
• High stakes. The story must be about a cause so important to the protagonist, that they are willing to do anything to prevent it from being in danger. Place said cause in some sort of peril, then raise the stakes by making the danger more imminent, intimate, personal and devastating. Postponing the resolution will help sustain the suspense, and ensures readers will empathize with the protagonist.
• Apply pressure. A key way for writers to create tension is by pitting the protagonist against what seems to be insurmountable odds. Pile on the problems by giving the protagonist more things to do than they can handle; working against the clock, waves of enemies, elemental disasters, allies in distress, unexpected obstacles, etc. Push them further by removing their tools, escape routes and support system. The protagonist should be working every minute to achieve their goal, which should feel just out of reach. Heroes should be stretched to the breaking point in order to save the day.

• Foreshadow rather than telegraph. The line between foreshadowing and telegraphing is a subtle one. Creating a scene that ends in foreshadow is meant to hint at something more sinister to come without out giving away the punchline. Telegraphing is when the reader guesses what’s coming, effectively ruining the suspense.

• Point of view. The reader should have foresight into the actions of both the protagonist and the antagonist. By making the readers aware of the trouble before the protagonist, they get to see the lines of convergence between the protagonist and antagonist. This technique builds tension from the reader’s self-imposed fears of knowing the consequences of the perils ahead.
• Turn up the Sensory Detail. Heighten anticipation by focusing on the right sensory detail. By making your character hyper-aware of sensations, you add a feeling of impending danger, which contributes to dramatic tension. The absence of sensory detail, such as stillness and shadows, can also suggest a hidden menace. Furthermore, using the protagonists internal dialogue allows the reader to experience the tension firsthand.

In closing, the most important thing I learned today, is to be unpredictable. Make nothing straight-forward. Readers will try to predict what will happen, but they want to be wrong. The reader might know what the story’s endgame is, but not how it’s going to get there. Give them more than what they are anticipating.

Until next time!

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

Current Projects Part 33

Welcome back!

          September was an invigorating month in terms of projects! I got a lot of artistic work done, and managed to finish my basement renovations just in time for my girlfriend's birthday party on the 30th. I still have some ideas to work on, but they will have to wait till later in October.

We are now approaching my second most favorite holiday of the year; Halloween! Soon the neighborhood will be full of creepy decorations, shops will be selling discounted candy in bulk, a variety of costumes will be on display in stores, and (my personal favorite) it is time for my yearly Horror Movie Marathon!

           Sadly, I didn’t get much done this past month in terms of writing or reading. My time was divided between my week on vacation, basement decoration and renovations and one poor sick puppy. Fortunately, I did have time to work on a few Halloween inspired articles for the month of October. I hope you all enjoy them!

            The majority of my writing time was spent working on this month’s featured post; Thrillers and Suspense. I did a fair amount of research on the subject, and put everything I learned into one writing article. A lot of work went into this piece, so I trust you will find it as interesting as I did.

             In honor of Halloween, my next book review will be on a Sci-Fi/Horror novel. The story was an interesting twist a popular Science Fiction franchise. I hope you all love a good mash-up!

In regards to my story, I chipped away at the main antagonists character sheet, filling in some details to his backstory. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the progress I made this month.

In regards of new material from Missing Worlds Media, there has only been one releases in the past month, but it’s a good one! The article covers MWM’s presence at the PAX Expo, and contains a video of a panel we did there. It goes into detail of our progress, and give some details as to what you can expect. You can read the full articles on our kickstarter page:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans/posts/1983086

That is all I have for this month. In closing, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to visit my blog, your support is truly appreciated. Feel free to contact me on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter (@OzmosisCoH) if you have any questions or comments. And to all, have a Happy Halloween!

Until next time.

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

By the Book: Aliens versus Predator: Prey

Welcome to my latest book review!

In my latest installment of By the Book, I will be reviewing “Aliens versus Predator: Prey” by father-daughter team Steven and Stephani Daniel Perry. Having found it during my spring cleaning prompted me to give it another read.

Way before any of the movies came out, “Aliens versus Predator” actually had a short series from BANTAM Books publishing. Being a big fan of both the Alien and the Predator franchises when I was a kid, it comes as no surprise I was drawn to this series. This novel came out in the early 90’s, which is when I originally purchased it as part of my “English as a Second Language” class in high school (french being my first). I’m glad I kept it, as I found it better the second time around.

In this novel, the reader follows the story of two protagonists. Primarily, we see main character, Machiko Noguchi, playing the role of corporate executive assigned to a ranching colony on a planet named Ryushi. Part of the story is also shown from the Predators angle, more notably from the eyes of pack leader Dachande. The Predators come to Ryushi in order to train new recruits, but the discovery of human colonists put a damper on their plans. An unforeseen mishap with the containment of Alien drones adds chaos to the mix, forcing human and Predators to unite in order to survive the chaos.

Back of the book:

“Machiko Noguchi accepted the assignment of supervising the ranching colony on Ryushi as a challenge. Little did she know that not only would she have run the colony, she'd have to defend it with her life!

First the carcass of a spider like alien is discovered. Then a rancher's family is massacred. Finally a creature unlike any ever seen before is brought to the colony medical center, near death. It soon becomes clear that not one but two strains of alien life have landed near the settlement of Prosperity Wells. One kind -- beetle black with shells hard as steel -- have been spawned as the prey in a deadly hunt. The other kind -- upright like humans but infinitely stronger and just as smart -- are the Predators. Between them are the human colonists, unarmed and vulnerable. With the entire colony at risk, Machiko Noguchi must choose between death and survival -- and may find her greatest ally in a Predator ready to kill her…”

Link to wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_vs._Predator_(novel_series)

What I learned from this book:

• Varying styles to accentuate PoV: Most of the story’s Point of View jumps back and forth between the human colonists and the Predators. In order to help differentiate the two, the authors have used different styles of narration for each species. Where the humans are more technical in their descriptions and dialogue, the Predators are more primal, using sensory details. I found this technique most interesting.
• Multiple PoV angles: There is a lot going on in this book. In order to keep track of all that is happening, the story often jumps location between multiples characters, even in the middle of chapters. The authors managed to do this in a way that is not confusing to the reader, which I thought was well done. I am curious to know if this is the result of having more than one author work on the same book.
• Knowing the Source Material: I have seen all the movies, so I went into this book knowing what usually transpires when these alien species are involved. So when certain events happen (not saying which cause I don’t want to ruin it for those of you who want to read it), I was worried that knowing where this was going to go would ruin the story for me. Well, I am please to say that I was still surprised! The authors have managed to take the source material, and still entertain the audience regardless of anyone’s expectations. In fact, the way the authors used the current Alien/Predator lore, it just added to the tension.

For those interested in reading more books from Steven and Stephani Daniel Perry, please check out the following websites:

• Steve Perry: http://www.soulofacarp.com/sperry/
• Stephani Perry: http://www.amazon.com/S.D.-Perry/e/B003ZOHTJ8

For those interested in learning more about the Aliens versus Predator franchise, you can check out this extensive user mader wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_vs._Predator. There you will find details about other books, movies, games and so on.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone for the encouragement and for following my blog. And thank you to my wife Linda for the support.

Until next time!

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

By the Book - Star Wars: Red Harvest

Welcome back!

            Keeping in line with this month's science fiction theme, I decided review a book inspired by one of the most popular sci-fi opera’s out there; Star Wars. The novel in question is entitled Red Harvest written by Joe Schreiber. It was meant to be a prequel to his earlier work, Death Troopers, which I will also be reviewing later this year.

            When time came to select a science fiction novel to review, my library found itself lacking. Everything I owned that was sci-fi had either already been reviewed, or given away. So in a hurry I went to Amazon to order some new material for my collection. Of course Star Wars was high on my list of interests, and that's when I came across Death Troopers. I was curious of the idea of crossing zombies with this popular sci-fi franchise. I later selected Red Harvest when I found out it was its prequel.

The story is about leader of a Sith Academy, Darth Scabrous, who is attempting to create a serum that will grant him immortality. He hires a Whiphid bounty hunter named Tulkh to steal a key ingredient he requires; a Murakami orchid. The plant is located in the Jedi Agricultural Corps facility on the planet Marfa. When Tulkh steals the orchid, he finds that he cannot take it without the plant's handler, Padawan Hestizo Trace, or else the plant would die. Tulkh takes them back to the Sith academy, where Scabrous mixes the orchid in a strange device. The machine is hooked up to Sith apprentice who, once injected with the orchid infused serum, dies and comes back as a zombie. This infected student escapes, and quickly spreads ‘’the sickness’’ throughout the academy in a single night. Hestizo and  Tulkh soon finds themselves trapped, trying to escape the planet while fighting off hordes of zombies.

Back of the book:

Unlike those other Jedi sidelined to the Agricultural Corps—young Jedi whose abilities have not proved up to snuff—Hestizo Trace possesses one extraordinary Force talent: a gift with plants. Suddenly her quiet existence among greenhouse and garden specimens is violently destroyed by the arrival of an emissary from Darth Scabrous. For the rare black orchid that she has nurtured and bonded with is the final ingredient in an ancient Sith formula that promises to grant Darth Scabrous his greatest desire.

But at the heart of the formula is a never-before-seen virus that’s worse than fatal—it doesn’t just kill, it transforms. Now the rotting, ravenous dead are rising, driven by a bloodthirsty hunger for all things living—and commanded by a Sith Master with an insatiable lust for power and the ultimate prize: immortality . . . no matter the cost.

The era of the Old Republic is a dark and dangerous time, as Jedi Knights valiantly battle the Sith Lords and their ruthless armies. But the Sith have disturbing plans—and none more so than the fulfillment of Darth Scabrous’s fanatical dream, which is about to become nightmarish reality.

What I Learned From This Book:

• Crossing genres: The most obvious aspect of this story, is how it crosses two very distinctive genres, Zombies and Star Wars. Each genre are pretty solid on their own, but combining the two is something that has been rarely seen. The author successfully managed to integrate both genres into one epic story. For more information on integration, visit one of my previous writing prompts on the subject.
• The ‘’I WIN’’ button: While reading this novel, I came across a plot device that kinda irked me; the protagonists power to kill zombies by growing plant spores inside them. The plot device works somewhat like a deus ex machina in the sense that it is similar to an act of God, but is more integral to the story, in the sense that it is an innate power the character has. What bothers me is that the ability is so powerful, that it basically negated the threat of the zombies. It feels as though the author knew this, and had to severely limit access to said ability, which is kinda odd since the ability is innate. This is something to keep in mind for future stories; don’t make your characters overpowered.
• Survivor rate ratio: This is a term I came up with in an attempt to explain this phenomenon. It is fully expected that in a zombie story, characters will die. However, some will have ‘’screen time’’ before meeting a gruesome fate. The question I faced was; how much time is too little/long given a certain character? I understand that in order to their death meaningful, the audience needs to spend time with the character beforehand. In this story, I felt some were not given enough time to fully reach their storyline potential, while others had too much time. This is something I will need to research more for future stories.

Joe Schreiber is an American novelist best known for his horror and thriller novels. His works include Chasing the Dead, Eat the Dark and No Doors, No Windows. In October 2009, Joe created his first contribution to the Star Wars universe; Death Troopers. Schreiber was born in Michigan (1969), but is currently based in central Pennsylvania, where he works as an MRI technician and lives with his wife and two young children.

For those interested in reading more books from Joe Schreiber, please check out these following websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Schreiber

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/69772/joe-schreiber

http://joeschreiber.blogspot.ca/

In closing, I would like to thank you all for dropping by and following my blog. Your encouragement is always appreciated. Don’t forget to hit the like/follow buttons!

Until next time!

Cheers,

            Patrick Osborne