David Bridger (2)

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

The first thing I learned in reading The Honesty of Tigers was the meaning behind the title. Tigers, apparently, are the only big cats with markings on their skin that matches their fur. It seems an odd fact, but it goes well with this rather odd, but wonderful, book.

The feel is more magical realism with a Cornish twist than traditional fantasy. The fantastical element is a groundhog day stretched to a repeated lifetime. Ken Jackson relives his own show more existence from birth to death not once but three times before he figures out some things are not meant to change while others might have appeared straightforward that were not.

This book is a low-key, introspective, people story focused around the trauma and loss life brings, but at the same time, it’s hopeful. Not so much in the changes Ken makes each time, but in the person he becomes. All three times are written as a personal narrative directed to Clare, his wife and love who dies of breast cancer in the very beginning. He starts with a simple goal of preventing that moment, but learns life is not ever simple.

Between the trauma and losses, without even considering the explicit sexual language at times, this story is geared to an adult audience. It touches on common experiences in growing up and on not so common ones. The narrative explores love in many varieties and the realization that it doesn’t have to be as binary as the Western cultural narrative would claim. It also touches on the blinders people wear, such as dismissing reports of abuse without a second thought rather than accepting the possibility the reports could be true.

It looks at the integration of old cultures and new in the form of witches (another characteristic of magical realism) and consequences to actions that might not have been noticed at the time, but have a lasting impact.

The Honesty of Tigers is most definitely a thinking book. It draws you in with beautiful language, a clear love of the sea, and a sense of home, but it’s not just an introspective description of a small Cornish fishing town dying along with the fish. Beyond the lessons each pass teaches Ken, many of which are harsh and reveal his actions to be clothed in help but ultimately selfish, how he revitalizes and redirects his home to save it from dying is wonderful.

Ultimately, there is a core strength in this story. It doesn’t scream, shout, and rant. There are definitely moments of passion of pretty much every type, but the overall feel is of a man determined to make the most of this gift. His focus and growth bring him from a simple grief-stricken man blaming himself for things out of his control into a greater understanding of his world and the people in it. It’s a powerful transition taken one step at a time and with moments of peace to balance out the bad ones. Ken never accepts the peace he finds, though, or rests until he’s made things the way they should be, and it’s not what you might expect.

P.S. I received this book from the author in return for an honest review. show less

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

I am a long-term fan of David Bridger’s writing, as you might recall from previous reviews of his work. Storywalker marks his second debut, this time as an indie author, and as much as any of his previous works, is a wonderful tale full of complex characters and world building. Even more so, Bridger once again provides unlikely heroes and a non-traditional approach to what could have been a simple story in another author’s hands.

Storywalker has show more a large cast drawn from four separate worlds and many different races, both human and not. The two main characters are Molly, the storywalker with a much more complicated history she is unaware of, and Paul, a successful fantasy novelist…or so he thought. Molly also suffers from ME, a debilitating and potentially fatal disease that strips her energy and punishes her with crippling pain.

A disabled protagonist has been done before, but Bridger doesn’t let Molly get away with dismissing her illness. There are times when her storywalking leads her to leave her body behind, but not always. Managing her condition is a key component of the story, and her love and appreciation toward those who help her do so is wonderful. She could easily have become embittered and miserable. Instead, she carries with her a love of reading, a strong heart, and a willingness to help even with a full understanding of the costs.

Paul is a little more complex. He’s a nice guy with a few odd quirks who has not been able to put the loss of his wife, many years before, behind him to the point that he’s ready to move forward. His fortune came from his popular epic fantasy series, but where he’d promised ten books, the death of his wife and the way the final book wrapped up has kept that well dry for long enough that all but his most faithful fans have moved on to other story worlds.

We’ve barely met these two characters when their worlds are turned upside down. Paul discovers he has a twin brother, but more, his books have been a memoir of his brother’s life in a parallel universe. Molly discovers she can do more than lose herself in her favorite books…she can become part of the story.

The rest of the book occurs in the worlds of Paul’s novels. There, Molly and Paul go about on their own adventures, only crossing a couple of times. They meet all sorts of interesting people from a variety of backgrounds and worlds while going to fantastic places where they both find help and offer it.

This is not a children’s novel based on the language and some of the references, but at the same time, it has an almost childlike humor at points that can provoke a giggle just when I thought there was nothing left to laugh about. Just wait until you meet Bryn and his donkey (I have a soft spot for donkeys myself, so this was precious). The demons are complex people with different views and aims as much as any human or daemon character. The heroes in the traditional sense (as opposed to the leads) are not perfect while beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder rather than conforming to social norms, making the descriptions even more compelling.

Storywalker is a compelling blend of epic fantasy, tragedy, comedy, and even commentary on events in our modern world while even unrepentant troublemakers can have a change of heart in the right circumstances. I enjoyed my time with Molly and the rest. The book leaves me with a smile and a sense that there is hope even though there were moments of darkness and tears. It is well worth the read.

P.S. I received this book from the author in return for an honest review. show less

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

David Bridger is a very talented author whom I had the luck to encounter when he was just starting out. Since then, I have picked up most if not all of his titles, though I haven’t always had the chance to read them yet. Such was the case with Gifted, which waited patiently until now, so imagine my surprise when it felt very familiar. I originally thought it was a new book set in a world known to me, but then realized it was a reboot of an older show more book.

I’ve never read a reboot in book form before (though it happens with movies all the time) and found the process rather fascinating. The main characters in the modern timeline are new and different in so many ways while the older characters in the other timelines have only minor changes, at least based on my memory of The Weaverfields Heir, read a handful of years ago or more.

Gifted is a strong book that stands alone. At the same time, for those who read the first version, I can say that I, who does not tend to reread books, enjoyed this version a lot. The strength of the world with its characters having a connection to the fabric of the universe is still there. The way that power can warp perception is also there, preying on the good and evil in all of us. Also evident is the strength of purpose in Jessica when she takes on her newly discovered extended family while at the same time trying to find a way to help them.

This is a magical realism story in a lot of ways, though borrowing more from Romany culture than Latin American, but fundamentally it’s a people story. You get to visit the lives of many characters whose histories are planted on the net, as the connection is called, in all their glorious and hideous detail. Through three separate generations of net holders, Gifted explores the ways such power to control and manipulate can be used and misused, as well as what affect it has on the user. Jessica and Joe are the newest to the net, but they can learn from Nick, Peter, and Catherine both the beauties and the costs of their unusual inheritance.

The book includes cruelty, detailed sex scenes, betrayal, and consequences. It’s not a light read by any means. At the same time, Gifted explores the human psyche deeply both in moments of love and ones of madness. I’m glad I had the chance to experience this take on the earlier story. It’s powerful, unsettling, and thought provoking. show less

Originally published on Tales to Tide You Over

Damage Control is a novella with enough going on to fill a novel and yet told with just the amount of detail necessary to feel complete. The world is intriguing, and clearly much bigger than what comes out in this story, but the novella stands alone with all the information necessary to bring me to a satisfying conclusion. What’s interesting to me, as a long-term David Bridger reader, is that this is the first story of his I’ve read to fall show more smack dab in the center of the intended genre instead of showing his unique interpretation of what the genre could be. This is not, by any means, a criticism, though. Damage Control is a solid science fiction story.

It’s set against the background of a generation ship, once part of a twinned pair before disaster struck taking with it Kath Preston’s father and setting Kath up for the complicated life as the daughter of a martyred hero.

Kath and Jen are the main characters in our introduction to life on Romeo. They form part of a team that keeps the ship running, the equivalent of the team whose negligence was responsible for the Juliet’s destruction. The novella gives us enough grounding in their duties so that their roles are clear, but it’s not those roles that form the heart of this story.

Kath and Jen are in a relationship tangle because Kath is haunted by her father’s death. Their emotional disconnect is strong and clear throughout, forming the internal story to balance against how the two tackle head on situations those in command have neglected to recognize. They perform important research, solve mysteries, and otherwise have adventures both pleasant and not during the story.

These young women are not the quiet, retiring types, but at the same time, they only act when necessary. I was drawn in both by their strength and the way they recognize the strengths of those around them. Neither Kath nor Jen need to be in the lead. They’re focused on getting the job done whether that means doing it themselves or calling up those well-suited for the role. It says something for David’s skill that he manages to make their care for others such a solid part of the story without ever adding something that doesn’t serve to drive the story forward.

I’d be hard-pressed to identify anything in the tale that didn’t prove critical, a fact I find amusing because one of the elements is a scientific lecture about cosmic particles while another is hanging out with a dolphin.

Seriously, though, I’m talking around the story because I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s a solid win for science fiction readers, offering both social commentary in the form of alternate relationships and sexual predators, and a good dose of plausible science that takes an interesting turn. I could see the ship, feel the way the different pieces work together, and being me, I predicted some of the events not because they’re obvious by any means but because they’re well seeded.

David’s a friend now, but we came together over a critique exchange many years before. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read of his since whether for critique or purchased to read. This particular story he gave me a while back with no expectation of a review, but if ever I want to convince you to give an author a try, I’d be a fool not to review this one. If you look in my review archives, I’m pretty sure you’ll see a few of his titles. This is the first science fiction of his I’ve read, though, and he’s proved just as talented in this as in his other genres. show less