Sam B Miller II

Plot with Roots to Grow a Series

The Last Magus (Book One) by Mavericks Ghost, is the first story in a Series about Joe Winstanton, a fellow who discovers he can use and control magical energy. The fact that he has a 400 foot long Dragon to help him is a nice plus. The characters, both male and female, are engaging and easily liked or disliked by the reader. It appears that the Author has a firm distaste for bankers, specifically, and banks in general. The story is engaging if somewhat long in the telling. I found myself thoroughly enjoying Joe’s learning process and the results of magic use. I will admit to speed reading through some of the chatter that the Author employed to make the characters ‘relatable’ to the reader.

Based upon the fundamental premise of the Book, it appears the Last Magus, Joe Winstanton, will be forced to face an ultimate foe, the currently sleeping Demon known as Ghord. The Preface and first chapter of the Last Magus is an encyclopedia of the history of the Universe and what happened to Ghord. There is little if any dialogue in the beginning the Book, and I was curious about when or if the Author would begin some dialogue between his characters.

The Author has chosen a writing style that leaves very little to the reader’s imagination. I found the extreme detail of conversations and private thoughts of the characters a little disconcerting. It’s as if the Author felt the reader wouldn’t be engaged with the story unless every detail was laid out in painstaking descriptions. One thing I did find problematic was a lack of punctuation in places I thought needed it.

I want to read further into the series to see what The Last Magus discovers as he searches the World for the Towers of the Schools of Magic.

I rate the book, The Last Magus, as an overall 3.5 out of 5.

The Meaning of Death

Well thought and delivered group of stories. Merail has a unique way of writing that makes the reader remember the way fairy tales sounded when read for the first time. Writing is a difficult task, and it is obvious Merail has the talent. I urge her to keep up the good work.

Grady Harp - Book Review

Tennessee author Sam B. Miller II makes his literary debut with this book, THE ORIGIN OF F.O.R.C.E. Sam received his education firm the University of Tennessee - Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance. There is no evidence from his biographical data that he has published articles or short stories on the genre he has chosen for this book - science fiction - but it is evident that he has a keen interest in fantasy and how fantasy can prophecy possible reality! He lives in Northeast Tennessee with his wife and five children.

Science Fiction tales, be fantasy, require strange names for creatures from planets other than our own. Some writers stumble on these strange names, making them almost hieroglyphic, and that is one of the first signs that Sam is heading in a successful direction with this projected series. His names from the `other planet' are well considered manipulations of letters - DrrTrr, Zennk, WrrNrr, Chrysalis etc - and they add a note of light to even the opening Prologue.

Another aspect of success in sci-fi writing is relating the created story to facts and real places - something that gives the reader the opportunity to get involved readily. Sam knows this and makes his opening chapter offer a bit of real unsolved mystery with which most of us are acquainted. For example, Chapter 1 - Roswell, New Mexico `There is a widely held belief that on the evening of July 8, 1947, a disc shaped space craft crashed in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico. Just look up the references yourself. What really happened was one of the most closely guarded secrets the U.S. Government ever kept. The key word in that last sentence is `was'. Now that the cat is out of the bag so to speak, it is up to me to chronicle events spanning a time period of more than 6 decades. John Paul Moon Seeker was born Navajo and after 35 years in the New Mexico desert felt comfortable with his Native American heritage. Constant exposure to the sun had already begun etching the permanent dark creases at the corners of his eyes and mouth despite his young age. He had grown up a cowboy at heart and had spent way too much of his hard earned cash on the huge steel belt buckle engraved with his initials currently wedged between his stomach and saddle and on the spurs strapped to the well-worn leather boots pushed into the stirrups of his equally well worn saddle.' In this way Sam has piqued our interest and glued our imagination to the tale he is about to unfold - from the Roswell flying saucer incident on.

Sam offers a tidy synopsis for this story: `Ever wondered about the real purpose behind the polio vaccine? How about what really goes on at the secret military base 135 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada? Ever met a tall, enigmatic person wearing a dark green trench coat, a fancy sombrero, and dark sunglasses? The Chrysallaman Empire has colonized every habitable planet in the galaxy, ruthlessly exterminating any sentient race that dared object to their benevolent conquest. Now they have completed a six month exploratory mission on Earth and found it to be an ideal colonization planet with a temperate climate, vast water reserves, lush vegetation, and a ruminant population of semi-intelligent animals called humans who pose no threat to the superior technological, mental, and physical strengths of the mighty Chrysallamans. In fact, when ground into a gritty paste, the humans are quite tasty. By sheer luck, the humans disable one of the Chrysallaman spacecraft in 1947 at Roswell, New Mexico, and capture a Chrysallaman youngster vacationing with his father. Now, with only 65 to 70 years until the Chrysallamans return to Earth with an immense invading fleet of warships and millions of colonists, humans have to prepare mentally, physically, and technologically, for the battle that will determine whether every human lives or dies. A special group of men and women are chosen to save humanity from the impending invasion. An eccentric scientist, red-headed hellion specializing in reverse engineering, DNA specialist, Xenobiologist, and an assortment of specialized military commandos are assembled by the Pentagon into F.O.R.C.E., the Federal Organization for Response to Celestial Enemies. The Chrysallamans just may have met their match!'

This is an especially fine debut novel, blending fact, possible fact, humor, mystery, high-class fantasy and human interest into one very successful novel. Doubtless we'll be seeing more from Sam B. Miller II! Grady Harp, July 15