Self-Published Historical NovelsRound-Up of Quick CritiquesWhen this website was new and I received fewer review books from major publishing houses, I was able to devote some time to self-published novels sent to me by their authors. The great majority of these exhibited flaws I have come to recognize as typical of self-published fiction. Reading and reviewing novels I cannot in good conscience recommend limits the amount of time available for novels I can, so on those rare occasions when I do review a self-published novel, my policy is to read only the early chapters, unless they prove themselves by capturing and holding my interest. Those I read all the way through get full reviews. The others are be discussed here, as time permits. Authors please note: Unless I specifically request a review copy of a self-published novel, these are no longer being accepted for review. Authors who would like me to consider requesting a review copy of their self-published novel should follow the procedure outlined on the Contact page. New printing technology (often referred to as "POD" for "print-on-demand") makes it economical to print and bind one soft-cover book at a time. Publishers like AuthorHouse, BookSurge, iUniverse, Xlibris, PublishAmerica and Lulu which use this new process refuse few, if any, manuscripts and do little, if any, editing. Authors considering publishing through one of these houses would be well advised to consider the pros and cons carefully before signing a contract (see, for example, the Writer Beware article on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website). It has also become easier for authors to set up their own small press publishing houses for the purpose of publishing their own work. Both categories of publications are essentially self-published. Since I have a number of unpublished novel manuscripts of my own parked on a shelf, I have great respect for the amount of time and effort these authors have put into their work. A few authors, such as Libby Cone, do have enough success with a self-published novel to attract a mainstream publisher - see our interview with Libby Cone. I hope the following brief critiques will be helpful to both authors and readers. Jump to: War on the Margins by Libby Cone - Available July 2009 in a new, revised edition from Duckworth The Brother Keepers by John E. (Ted) MacNintch War on the Margins by Libby Cone
Update: A revised edition of War on the Margins will be published by the U.K. press Duckworth on July 23, 2009. This was a promising novel in its self-published edition, so the new edition is likely to be well worth reading. The following brief critique refers to the self-published edition, not the new, revised edition.How much I read: 94 pages Basics: About a small group of informally organized women in St. Helier, Jersey, The Channel Islands, who resist the German occupation during World War II. Strengths: The story is well researched and the narrative is full of flair and wit. A local official is described: "Tall and slightly stooped, with wrinkled face and light, bushy eyebrows, he fancied himself to be avuncular, though nobody else did." A teenaged Bohemian (in flashback) "tried fueling her dreams with ether. The visions were astounding, sometimes terrifying, with monsters cascading down mountains of yellow fire, exploding into flaming debris. Was she tempting madness?" Weaknesses: The narrative is interspersed with lengthy German orders, regulations and official correspondence (sometimes including address headings more than half a page long) which make tedious reading. The narrative can be confusing as it jumps from scene to scene or as characters act on decisions they have made that the reader doesn't know about. Bottom line: This is a talented writer whose novel could have been quite good with more filling out of the story and judicious editing of the official papers. Readers interested in the Channel Islands during World War II may enjoy it. Author's website: www.WarontheMargins.com The Brother Keepers by John E. (Ted) MacNintch
How much I read: 18 pages, then skipped to p. 162 (chapter 11, "The Outbreak of War – 1914"), skimmed a few pages, then skipped to a random scene of warfare (chapter 22, "The MacNeil Raid") and read the entire chapter, pp. 379-392.Basics: A fictionalized version of the experiences of the five MacInnes brothers from Nova Scotia, the author's relatives, who fought in World War I, beginning with their childhood and carrying them through the WWI years. Strengths: The author has a clear prose style that reflects the more deliberate and formal language of the early 20th century. The depth and breadth of his research is impressive. The one battle scene I read was well-written. Since relatively little fiction has been written about the Canadian experience of WWI, this novel offers a fresh angle on the war. Weaknesses: At 762 pages of small type with narrow margins, this is an exceptionally long novel which could benefit from judicious editing. Chapters 2-10 are essentially backstory about the boys' childhood, with the real story not resuming until chapter 11. Some of the dialogue feels artificial, supplying information for the reader rather than conveying what the characters might realistically have said. Bottom line: As is, this novel must surely be treasured by the author's relatives as a fictionalized version of their family history. General readers are likely to feel impatient with the many chapters of backstory before the war begins, but those interested in the Canadian experience of WWI may find it worthwhile to skip chapters 2-11 and just read the war story. Author's website: www.thebrotherkeepers.com Excerpts from the novel are posted on the website. French Letters: Virginia's War by Jack Woodville London
How much I read: 25 pagesBasics: About a small Texas town during the World War II year of 1944. Strengths: The author has an ear for authentic dialogue and a capable, unaffected prose style that reflects the time and place of his story. Weaknesses: The opening of the story is confusing. A prologue describes an altercation at a funeral without giving the reader enough clues to relate to why people were upset. The first chapter establishes a high level of tension when it seems to open on a World War II battlefield with young soldiers risking their lives in a firefight, but the tension falls flat when after several pages it becomes evident the "soldiers" are actually children at play in their Texas home town. Bottom line: This is an author with considerable talent and promise who does not play fair with readers in this particular novel. Author's website: www.virepress.com Lenape Homeland by James G. Landis
How much I read: 10 pages (chapter 1), then glanced ahead to skim a couple of chapters near the endBasics: A chief of the Lenape, a Delaware Indian tribe, tells a boy the story of the Lenape's history. This is the first in a four-part series with a Christian message, in which the boy grows up, converts to Christianity, and dies as a martyr. Strengths: The author's research about this lesser-known tribe appears to be sound and extensive, and his affection for the Lenape is evident. Weaknesses: Although I could find no reference in any of the promotional material identifying this as a children's book, the prose style seems aimed at elementary schoolchildren. The narrative's stronger focus on history and Lenape culture than on plot and character development makes it seem less a novel than a teaching tool intended for use in parochial school history classes. The strong focus on correct pronunciation of Indian names reinforces this educational emphasis: "I am Glikkikan. I like my name. It has a musical tapping sound to it. GLIK-ki-kan. It sounds good. But I like my name most of all because o-wee-CHEE-la gave it to me." Bottom line: Parochial schools may find this of interest. Author's website: www.conquestpublishing.com Night of Flames by Douglas Jacobson
How much I read: 26 pagesBasics: A World War II story about a young married couple during the German invasion of Poland in 1939. It opens with the wife in Krakow during a bombing raid and the husband with the Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade, preparing to engage the German Eighth Army. Strengths: Of the novels set in World War II Poland, few are about military officers, so this novel offers a fresh angle on World War II Poland. The physical setting is made vivid for readers with a number of striking images, such as a door after a bombing raid that is "split down the middle, hanging from the top hinge." Weaknesses: Although the two main characters seem like caring, responsible people, little is done to individualize them and make them memorable or intriguing to readers. The writing is frequently melodramatic ("Was her father safe? Was Jan? Oh, God, Jan!") or cliched ("as abruptly as it started, it was over" and "steely eyes boring into his soul"). Bottom line: Readers with a strong interest in World War II Poland may find this worthwhile. Author's website: DouglasWJacobson.blogspot.com The Olympian: A Tale of Ancient Hellas by E.S. Kraay
How much I read: 33 pages, then quickly flipped through the restBasics: While waiting to see the Pythian Oracle, an old man happens across a group of men from the Island of Thasos who are puzzling over the oracle they have received. He tells them it refers to the late Theagenes, an Olympian athlete from their island whom he remembers with great admiration, though not for his athletic ability. The man journeys with them in order to tell them a story about Theagenes. Strengths: The author writes with comfortable authority about the ancient Greek setting. The elegiac tone of his graceful, rhythmic prose suits the subject matter: "Even though my whiskers are white, my calves remain hard and my heart is strong for I make journey often…. Every four years, as I learned from my father, I heed the call of the Elean runners and find my way to the stadium at Olympia; it is a grand and festive sight. More frequently, I travel to the holy grove at Delphi to take the Pythia's counsel. As the gods weave the pattern of my life, I am enlightened and seek the words the priestess imparts to me and to others as well." Weaknesses: The frame story overwhelms the narrative. Theagenes, who is supposed to be the main character, does not appear except as the subject of other characters' dialogue or inner reflections until after page 93 (a third of the way through the novel), where Chapter 6 closes with the line "I … proceeded to relate the story of my first encounter with Theagenes." Bottom line: Patient readers with an interest in philosophy may enjoy this. Author's website: www.eskraay.com/theolympian Partners by D.M. McGowan
How much I read: 3 pagesBasics: About a loner in the Canadian Old West whose life is changed when he meets a tenderfoot he feels is in need of his guidance. Strengths: Few of the many novels of the Old West are set in Canada, making the setting intriguing. The author seems well-versed in the geography and peoples of nineteenth century Canada, peppering the narrative with smoothly integrated references like "Pembina in Dakota territory," "the Palliser maps," and "full-blood Indians who would not be as friendly as the Métis with whom he had camped." Weaknesses: The prose is often sloppy, reading like a first draft. In the opening paragraph, the main character guesses it is "June 29, 1866, two months to the day since he had ridden away...," but two pages later, he refers to this date in the future, saying that on "June 29, 1866, he would turn thirty-six." The character's description makes him hard to visualize: "Even though his legs were slightly longer than his torso, many overestimated his weight for he was as thick through as he was wide." Laboriously spelled dialect in the dialogue creates another stumbling block. Bottom line: Readers with a strong interest in the Canadian Old West may be willing to overlook the rough prose. The Queen's Tale by Donald BirminghamHow much I read: 35 pagesBasics: An brooch inhabited by the evil spirit of an ancient Irish queen wreaks havoc during the time of Robert the Bruce of Scotland and Edward I and II of England. Strengths: Imaginative and dramatic. Weaknesses: Even allowing for the fantasy elements in the tale, the characters' behavior often seems unlikely. The tone of the dialogue is inconsistent, mingling modern turns of phrase with archaisms ("'Everyone can go to hell for all I care! . . . If Ireland is destroyed in the process, then so be it.'"), while the Irish characters slip in and out of an exaggerated brogue ("'Tis me lucky day!'"). The prose is often purple. ("Then on one fateful stormy night, as flashes of forked lightning exploded and danced across Kildare's sky ...") Bottom line: An unusual take on the time of Robert the Bruce written in a style reminiscent of a 1950s B-movie. Red Clay, Blood River by William J. Everett
How much I read: 26 pagesBasics A contemporary frame story introduces parallel narratives about nineteenth century German immigrants to the U.S. who become involved in the Trail of Tears, and the South African Great Trek. Strengths: A worthwhile goal of the author was "to connect history with ecology." The Great Trek, a migration similar in ways to the Trail of Tears, is an interesting historical episode that has not often been portrayed in fiction. Weaknesses: The eight or so characters presented in the opening 26 pages are all nice, polite people whose flaws or differences of opinion, if any, are not revealed, leading to a fatal lack of conflict or tension. The voice is often labored, clichéd or overly precious: "The sails clapped in percussive reception of [the wind's] invisible conduction." "Valentin's heavy boots nearly danced on the rutted road, sending up little plumes of dust as he hurried over to the Janz's home." Bottom line: During the first 26 pages, the author convinced me he was a nice person, but not that his narrative would ever engage my interest. Author's Website: www.RedClayBloodRiver.com Viking: 'The Wanderer' Part 2: The North, 984-988 by R. Hyslop
How much I read: to page 10 (the one-page foreword plus the first four pages of narrative)Basics: This is the second in a trilogy about a group of Vikings in the late tenth century; in this volume, they arrive in Iceland and spend some time there before traveling to Sweden, Gotland and Finland. Strengths: Names like "Hjalti Squat-Nose" and "Hrapp the Soft-Voiced" are vivid and memorable. Weaknesses: A multiplicity of characters are introduced in the opening pages, with little indication which character the story revolves around, and little distinction between the characters. Though the foreword identifies Ethelwulf as the hero, his actions are buried amid a flurry of actions by other characters which seem more important. It's not clear whether Edwy, Edwine and Ethelwulf are different characters or different versions of the same character's name. The author's inclusion of endnotes and a table of contents suggest he is unfamiliar with the layout conventions of published novels; perhaps reading more fiction would familiarize him with storytelling conventions as well, helping him to produce a more readable novel. Bottom line: This novel needs a good deal of work before the typical reader will find it inviting. Williamsburg: Virginia on the Eve of Revolution by Jack McLaughlin
How much I read: 67 pages (the first five chapters)Basics: About life in Williamsburg, Virginia, as discontent with British rule builds toward the American Revolution. Strengths: The author has a prodigious knowledge of the physical setting of Colonial Williamsburg, customs of the time, and the history of the period. His prose reflects the language of the time but is clear to a modern reader. Weaknesses: The sense of story is lacking. Although interesting events are witnessed by the main characters, referred to in flashbacks or discussed in their dialogue, during the first five chapters none of the main characters directly participate in events of dramatic significance within the actual time frame of the narrative. Bottom line: Readers interested in life in Colonial Williamsburg may enjoy the historical picture presented in this novel. Author's website: www.williamsburgthenovel.com The opening chapters of this novel are posted on the website. The Woman in the Wing by Jean Sheldon
How much I read: 90 pagesBasics: About a young woman who joins the WASP program during World War II because she loves to fly, but is assigned instead to do undercover work as a riveter in an airplane factory where German sabotage is suspected. Strengths: A competent, straightforward prose style and solid pacing. Weaknesses: After the first 30 or so pages, the plot becomes steadily less likely, and by 90 pages in, it strains credibility. While the author seems on solid ground in her portrayal of the WASP program, I had trouble believing a young woman with no training or interest in spycraft would be assigned against her will on short notice to serve as a spy. Germany did, in fact, send saboteurs to the U.S. in a failed attempt to infiltrate American factories (see the article about George John Dasch on the FBI website), but the portrayal of the sabotage program in this novel is unconvincing. Bottom line: Readers looking for a credible portrayal of spycraft during the World War II period will find this novel lacking. Website: www.BastPress.com Top of Page
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