Atlantis Rising – The Final Myth Hunter Book?

Posted on August 1, 2016August 1, 2016 by Percival Constantine

This is the proposed cover for the sixth and final book in The Myth Hunter series. I’m currently in the middle of writing the book right now, at about 21,000 words at the time of this post. That means I’ll probably finish the book within the next week.

The book is tentatively scheduled for an October or November release. It’s been a lot of fun writing the adventures of Elisa Hill over the past few years. So why end the series? No more ideas? No more interest?

Actually, it’s neither. I still have a lot of fun writing these characters and due to the nature of the series, there’s almost no limit to the number of myths and legends I could easily mine for story ideas. Instead, I’m going to wrap up some of the long-running plot threads with this book and move onto something else.

Why? Because unfortunately, The Myth Hunter, like Infernum, is just not a very big seller. It’s a little tough to define the series in terms of the genres out there right now. That makes it much harder for the series to gain traction. The lack of reviews isn’t helping, either. The first book has only twenty-five reviews and the second through fifth books have less than ten. If a book doesn’t have at least fifty reviews, it might as well be invisible to Amazon’s algorithms. So the lack of reviews is also hurting the series’ potential.

If you’re a fan of the series, then this will be the last book unless that changes. Review every book in the series if you haven’t, encourage other people to read the series and review, and see if we can get that changed. If you want to help the series survive, you can go straight to Amazon right now and review all the books.

Otherwise, this will be the last Myth Hunter book. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the series and this will prove a satisfying conclusion.

Fat Vampire review

Posted on October 8, 2015October 8, 2015 by Percival Constantine

Fat Vampire starts off really good. The first book in the series is without a doubt the best. Anyone who’s listened to the Self Publishing Podcast or Better Off Undead/Worst Show Ever knows that Johnny B. Truant is a really witty guy, and that definitely shines through in this book. There were so many lines that had me chuckling and the scene when Reginald is running had me in stitches.

As the series goes on, the humor becomes a lot more subdued. While this is made up for in a really intriguing story and some great characterization, I did find myself missing the humor of the first book. The fourth and fifth books felt a little slow for me, but the sixth book ended the whole series on a perfect high note.

Truant’s imagination really shines through in the sixth book. It’s hard to say too much about it in this review because I don’t want to spoil it for new readers, so let’s just say that Fat Vampire 6 may as well be a textbook case study in world-building. There’s a lot of thought put into many different aspects of the world, but it’s never told in an info dump fashion and is instead dolled out in little bits just when we need it.

The humorous bent of the first book is what caught my eye, but it’s really the characters that kept me reading. Reginald is an extremely endearing character, someone that I think many, many people can relate to, and he plays wonderfully off the diverse supporting cast. There are quite a few characters in this series, but every one of them manages to have their own unique voice, something that can be difficult to pull off.

Although I missed the laughs of the first book, this was still an extremely enjoyable read and one that I recommend.

Pick up Fat Vampire: Big Fat Box Set on Amazon or iBooks.

The Descendants Volume 1

Posted on April 18, 2015April 18, 2015 by Percival Constantine

I first discovered comic books in the early 90s. I was a huge fan of the X-Men and Batman: The Animated Series and my brother, whose sports collectibles shop sold comics as well, shipped me some unsold issues of various comics. Although I first came to comics in the 90s, I became quickly addicted and through the use of my local library and back-issue bins, quickly began devouring older stories from the Silver and Bronze Age. And of the comics I read, the Bronze Age ones were undoubtedly my favorite.

For those who aren’t aware, the Bronze Age of comics generally refers to the period between 1970-1985. There was also a mixture of darker, more socially relevant storytelling. This is the era that brought us such classic stories as The Dark Phoenix Saga, The Night Gwen Stacy Died, Snowbirds Don’t Fly, and Frank Miller’s groundbreaking run on Daredevil. But even with the darker stories, there still remained elements of the fun of the Silver Age stories (unlike comics that followed and continue to this day, where grim ‘n’ gritty is used as a shortcut for good storytelling).

It’s clear that Landon Porter and I are cut from the same cloth, because The Descendants definitely follows in the mode of those stories. The group of young superhumans we meet in Welcome to Freeland House have some been through some trying situations, but they still maintain their youthful exuberance and act just as any other teenage kid would act. And like the Bronze Age comics of old, Porter gives us short, self-contained stories with larger story-arcs playing in the background.

Porter proves himself a master of the serial format, expertly weaving in and out the multitude of character arcs and plotlines that never drag on for a page longer than they should.

Some of the story elements didn’t win me over as much. I didn’t quite understand why the story was set in the future as the setting seemed like it could easily be the modern-day. I also wasn’t very fond of the non-powered friends of Warrick and Cyn. But the interactions of the residents of Freeland House, particularly Warrick and Cyn, more than make up for these weaker points.

Pick up The Descendants Complete Collection Volume 1: Welcome to Freeland House from Amazon or read it in serial format at the website.

If you’re looking for more superhero action, check out my Vanguard serial (issue #4 coming out Monday, April 20th!).

Lucian: Dark God’s Homecoming

Posted on February 10, 2015February 10, 2015 by Percival Constantine

Lucian: Dark God’s Homecoming by Van Allen Plexico

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a huge fan of Van Allen Plexico’s Sentinels series. Normally I don’t go in for the more space opera-type stuff, so I was curious to see how this book would read. It’s a very enjoyable story with some great action set-pieces. I liked the interaction between Lucian and his human companion, Evelyn. However, I did feel the first-person style was a bit of a weakness from the book. Lucian is a very self-centered character, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, the perspective of the story felt like we got a bit too much of Lucian.

I understand this book is connected to Van’s other space opera books, which I am looking forward to reading. Although I didn’t enjoy Lucian as much as his superhero Sentinels series, it still gave me enough of a taste of this wider universe that I’m interested in discovering more.

Pick up LUCIAN: DARK GOD’S HOMECOMING

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