M.H. Johnson

Val a veteran tries to find his MMoRPG teammate and ends somewhere else...
The story evolves in unexpected dimensions.
The MC meanders between super tough know everything and helpless.
Overall the story is good and the universe interesting.
BUT - there is a chapter in the middle of the book with some horrible self-justice story that is a) boring b) predictable c) stupid and also super not beliveable AND puts the MC in the light of being a super jerk. It gives nothing to the story but show more destroyes a lot of creditibility in that character.
Of course he can outsmart everyone, can talk a killer into writing a confession and to eat poison pills (because they are everywhere - easy to get) and get away with it.
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Short stories and prequels seem to be the latest way of attracting the attention of new readers by many authors even those with established followings. I have to say I consider a really good short story to be harder to write than a full novel. Anyway this short prequel felt with Jess, a girl from a military family, growing up wanting to be a knight. Her father trains her in warfare while her mother plans for an arranged marriage. When Jess goes to war college, she is paired in her first show more match with a boy who deliberately tried to maim , if not kill her. After healing, she is taken on by a group of squares led by a general feared as a warrior but considered to have no honor. This story covers the 3 years of college.
It was well written and the story was interesting enough to leave you willing to read more. show less

Really cool concepts hampered by technical issues and character.
1) a lot of spelling and grammar errors, but nothing a proofread couldn't fix
2) Strange narrative structure. Takes 30% of the book to get into the meat of the story and then around 60% of the way through there's an extended flashback that just ruins all of the tension of the book up to that point.
3) Character dialog was often bizarre. The way they talked and reacted just struck me as strange more often than not.

Very nice cultivation story with the sly silver fox using the MC Alex to reach his goals.