The Court of Broken Thoughts

Hey everybody,

So I finished reading Anna Smith Spark’s The Court of Broken Knives today.

Because a few people asked me about it, I decided to share my thoughts here.

As usual, I hesitate to call this a review.

Instead, I will share my thoughts.

It will be biased.

This is something of a divisive book.

Like Mark Lawrence, I have read 5 star and 1 star reviews.

Some delighted people have devoured it in one sitting, and other disgusted people have stopped reading it after a few chapters.

Delight and Disgust.

Now I buy a considerable number of books each year, but I still live on a limited budget so those same reviews inspired me to add it to my Amazon wish list, remove it, and then add it again.

It had actually re-landed high on my wish list when I won it on facebook…

Made me feel like I received an ARC, it did.

Of course, Brandy and I had just decided to start reading the Stormlight Archive which took a considerable amount of time…

But then I got to it.

Okay… Thoughts time.

Anna Smith Spark (as you can see on twitter) is the self-proclaimed (others have also proclaimed it) Queen of Grimdark Fantasy.

To that I say…

Hail to the Queen, baby.

She is a phenomenal writer.

She uses words like damn Shakespeare (a claim I can make because education reasons).

The book switches tenses a few times between chapters, a fact I thought would jar me, but freakin’ didn’t. Instead, it provided insight and perspective.

Her words, like the broken knives in her courts, are often jarred loose from sentences. Fragmented. Immediate. Repeated. Repeated. Repeated.

It makes the story vital. It gives it a need to be communicated. Urgent.

And there is a lot of urgency. and pain. and death. death. death.

Back to our protags.

Marith – Homicidal banished emo prince. Demon-spawn hellthing. Distant relative of Dragons. Junkie. To quote a friend, “World’s Nastiest Murder Man.” But he is so beautiful.

Thalia – Ex-high priestess. Performed human sacrifices (including children – though none on the page I can think of. As a father with young kids, I don’t know if I could have stomached that). In love (maybe) with Marith. Discovering a whole new world.

Orhan – Government official. Wants to murder the emperor. Ends justify the means kinda guy. Marriage of convenience to a badly disfigured woman (poor thing). Not-so-closeted homosexual in relationship with another government official. Plagued by his conscience.

Chaos ensues.

I can honestly say, I didn’t expect the story to go as it went. To be fair, I didn’t super know where it was going to begin either… I went in with little to no background on the plot.

It kept me guessing…

Or at least I would have been guessing if I wasn’t so busy reading.

My prediction: future authors will rip off her style.

So why 4/5 stars if I loved it?

Because the people I’m barely acquainted with on Facebook are the only people I can tell to read it. I know no one in real life who I think would enjoy it. Well…who would read it long enough to enjoy it. It is a 5 Star Book… [this is an edit while reading through the post. Knocking off a star for that seems stupid. I’m’a just give 5 stars…There. Done.]

It’s brutal. Death is the answer to every problem.

So…if none of that turns you off. Buy it. I gave you the link above. Read it. And then leave YOUR thoughts on YOUR blog…and on Goodreads.

Also, I truly look forward to the sequel.

Thank you, Miss Smith Spark, for this book.

Not only for the copy you sent me, but also for the story.

You are an exceptional storyteller.

scritch out.

Goodreads

Hey everybody,

I know I did this recently, but I still wanted to write it down.

Mostly for my own accountability.

For the first time in ever, I’m actually using Goodreads to track my reading!
This was inspired by my wife’s boss who tries to read 50 books a year.

They’re in publishing so that makes sense.

I decided, fancying myself a fledgling writer, to really work on reading to better improve my writing (excluding this blog because, let’s face it, this hardly counts).

Therefore I am going to try to stick to reading the following list of books (in this order)

1. Fool Moon by. Jim Butcher (Finished 3/24)
2. A Darker Shade of Magic by. V.E. Schwab (Finished 4/29)
3. Salvation by Allegiance Alone by. Mattew Bates (Buy Here)
4. The Judge of Ages by. John C. Wright (15% in)
5. Speaker for the Dead by. Orson Scott Card
6. The Reader by. Traci Chee (Finished 5/13)
7. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Finished 5/22)
8. Grave Peril by. Jim Butcher
9. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen (Finished 5/1)
10. Station Eleven by. Emily Saint John Mandel
11. Storm of Swords by. George R. R. Martin
12. The Silmarillion by. J.R.R. Tolkien
13. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G.K. Chesterton (Finished 5/19)
14. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (Finished 5/30)

AND on Audio Book

1. That Hideous Strength by. C.S. Lewis (Finished 3/28)
2. A Crown of Swords by. Robert Jordan (Finished 4/6)
3. The Path of Daggers by. Robert Jordan
4. Wheel of Time 9+

My goal for the year is 25. I think that’s doable.
I may bounce around this list a bit, but I want to get through all of these as part of my 25.

I am already 5 books in, by the way, having read:

1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by. Susannah Clarke
2. Lord of Chaos by. Robert Jordan (audio book)
3. The Hermetic Millenia by John C. Wright (so glad this is done)
4. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by. NOT J.K. Rowling
5. Storm Front by. Jim Butcher

Mind you, all of this while revising Bloodseeker and reading/memorizing scripts.

It really is a good time to be me.

-scritch out

Bloodseeker – Official Announcement

Good afternoon everyone,

After months of typing and hacking at various keyboards, I have a rough draft of my forthcoming novel: BLOODSEEKER.

“Three times a year, the dried blood of St. Januarius, Patron Saint of Naples, is said to miraculously turn to liquid. If it does not, it is believed to signal the start of a period of war, disease, or famine. The last time the miracle failed to occur was in 1980 when the earthquake of Irpinia killed 2,900 people in Italy. In 1973, it served as a precursor to an outbreak of Cholera in Naples, and in 1939, 1940, and 1943 it closely corresponded with Italy’s involvement in World War II.

On December 16, 2016, for the first time in 36 years, the blood did not liquefy. While many, including some within the Catholic Church, regard the ceremony as nothing more than coincidence and superstition, Adrian Ramsey knows better; he knows this means hell is literally about to break loose.

On November 23, 1980, the same day the earthquake of Irpinia devastated Conza della Campiana, Adrian’s parents opened the gates of Hell.

Thirty-seven years later, Adrian Ramsey has betrayed his oath as a Bloodseeker—an ancient order dedicated to self-empowerment— so he can use his abilities to combat the escaped creatures and correct his parents’ treachery against humanity. When he and his assistant, Kiara Wells, hear of the sign of St. Januarius, they begin a desperate quest to prevent the world from being plunged into the chaos of the Hellscape.”

Please let me know what you think, and if you’re interested in being a beta reader.

I’m currently hard at work revising and editing the first draft and would love some feedback once it has made a round through rewrites.

My sincerest thanks to everyone,

J.L. Scritchfield

Catalyst Moon: Incursion – A Review

Hey everyone,

Sorry I didn’t write last week (for all 4 of you that care).
I had something of a busy week preparing for our family Christmas!
We have 3 more weekends of Christmas forthcoming too because of how spread out our family is, but I digress.

In my down time (or whatever you’d like to call it) while feeding Kaeden, I have been reading Catalyst Moon: Incursion by Lauren L. Garcia.

Catalyst Moon is Inkitt’s first published novel, and their second published book I’ve taken the time to read. I had not intended on doing a review, but considering how gracious Ms. Garcia was when I wrote my review of both Inkitt and Esper Files, I deemed it necessary to put my thoughts out there regarding her book too.

Especially considering I loved it.

Blurb stolen from Amazon:

Magic is new to the country of Aredia. Mages are enslaved for their abilities, locked behind high walls and guarded by sentinels – elite warriors with an unnatural immunity to magic.

Kali, a crippled mage who longs to escape her painful past, travels to meet a powerful healer in Whitewater City. But on the way her sentinel escort is decimated by monstrous raiders, leaving her with a single guardian, Stonewall: a sentinel with nothing but his chosen name and his faith in the gods. Together, Kali and Stonewall must learn to work together to survive a harrowing journey while demonic creatures from the north invade their lands.

Meanwhile, the mages and sentinels of Whitewater City are drawing battle lines and preparing for war – against one another.

What will await them should they ever reach their destination?

Let me first say, I read a few of the negative reviews on Amazon.
I try to look to the negative first because I’m a terrible person.
If you look the book up, do not let that dissuade you.

This is an excellent start to a series I believe is right up the alley of New Adult Fantasy readers.

Reading CM, I could tell Ms. Garcia has this world well envisioned and what’s truly great about this specific story is…The main story line really takes place along one road.

One road in this entire fantasy world.

She also doesn’t weigh the reader down with unnecessary exposition.

Instead, the reader is thrust into this world and left to discover it through the experiences of her characters.

Her main two characters are deeply divided and seemingly different in every conceivable way (divided by social class and a myriad of other things) but as their story progresses, they learn to rely on each other and learn their similarities outweigh their differences.

Mild spoiler: The ending provides no solutions to the greater problems of social division and bias. Instead, the reader is left expectantly waiting the next chapter of their story. The reader is left to hope for a brighter future where magic can be understood and aren’t treated like second class citizens.

To be honest, I only had one minor gripe with it.

I didn’t like the use of modern curse words.

They characters swear using their gods’ various anatomy, but when pressed they’ll throw F**k out like it ain’t no thang. My only really issue with it is that it didn’t seem to fit the world. I would’ve liked to see a fantasy equivalent (e.g. Frakkin, Gorram, or that Guardians of the Galaxy one that’s escaping me right now). I eventually got over it by telling myself the characters weren’t even really speaking English in Aredia, so the author was writing English equivalents as to better communicate the story.

I don’t know…it worked for me.

Anyway, I’d give it 5 hematite cuffs out of 5.

I walked away from this story having looked through a window into an expanding world that I very much look forward to visiting again.

Read it.

-scritch out.

And remember.

And Happy Holidays!

P.P.S.
I just realized I didn’t plug my own book.

Go Read it free still on Inkitt! The Shadow of Fate

^WTB New Title

Am Reading

Hey everybody,

Even when I don’t have much to say, I’d like to get back in the habit of posting early in the week…And here I am.

So if you recall from one of my earlier posts, we closed Taming of the Shrew yesterday.

Adios

It was great time.

While you were setting up (or at dinner…I forget), a few castmates and I were discussing books and what we were reading.

I mentioned how my book, The Shadow of Fate, has been getting some good feedback and keeps turning up in some of Inkitt’s promotional material (pretty neat).

Side note: If you’re reading my book, I desperately want a new title…
I just can’t seem to contrive a better one.

During this discussion, someone said, “I’m one of those people that reads like six books at a time.”

A stack of books.

This got me to thinking…

How many books am I reading/listening (Audible) to right now?

Catalyst Moon: Incursion by. Lauren L. Garcia
This is an Inkitt winner. I have not had as much time as I would have liked to read it, but it is great so far (I’m about 25% through). You can pick it up on Amazon.

Audible

Lord of Chaos (Book 6 of the Wheel of Time) by. Robert Jordan
Holy crap do I want to get back to this, but I feel like I have no time for anything. Please, for the love of all that is decent and holy go read Wheel of Time.

A Storm of Swords by G.R.R. Martin
This one I’ve been on for awhile. Not because I’m not enjoying it…I am. It’s just mind consuming, and I haven’t had the mental prowess to tackle it more than a few pages at a time. It really is bumming me out.

Audible

A Tale of Two Cities by. Charles Dickens
To be fair, I just started this on Audible yesterday and listened to some today. My friend asked me if I loved it as much as he did…THERE IS ONLY ONE CORRECT ANSWER! I told him I hadn’t read it in years and he gifted me the audio book… Nothing like listening to Dickens to make me feel like a terrible author… I mean.

The Immortal Iron Fist by. Ed Brubaker
I’ve loved this so far, but haven’t finished it.

 

 

In the queue.

The Assassin’s Apprentice by. Robin Hobb
I’ve wanted to read this for awhile…So I took it out from the library… And it’s still sitting there… Accusing me.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Audible) by. Neil Gaiman
This is an extremely short audiobook (under 6 hours and I’m used to 30+). I will probably start this when I finish Two Cities.

Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell (Audible) by. Susanna Clarke.
I know literally nothing about this other than it’s good.

 

The Hermetic Millenia by John C. Wright
I would drop everything to start reading this today, but it’s in Pennsylvania… Wright’s Everness Chronicles changed me as a reader. They’re two of my favorite books. I read Count to a Trillion (the first book of this series) awhile back and have two, three, and four (and five just came out). I NEED to read them…

A Whole Bunch of Books on Inkitt.
The community has given me a lot of visibility, and I’d like to do the same for other authors. Unfortunately, I am so little damn time raising my sons.

To say nothing of the writing, movies to see, and video game playing I’d like to do…

C’est la vie.

#AmReading

-scritch out

 

 

 

P.S. Hopefully, I’ll have a more traditional post later this or next week.

P.P.S. A baby sucking on his/her hand is the single most annoying sound in the universe.

That is all.