Blake Northcott

Going into this book, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Once I realized that we had another "battle to the death" type of game, I expected to hate the story. (I'm just a little over dystopian societies and their ills.) Northcott really sucked me in quickly, though, and I found myself unable to put the book down. I was definitely rooting for Mox, and I loved all the dynamics between the various characters. Sure, the good guy had to win, but HOW he won was just as important. I'm actually show more looking forward to reading the second novel and see how the repercussions of Arena Mode play out. show less

Fun YA Mash-up of Spies & Magick
Review of the Independently Published edition (2018) based on the crowdfunded Kickstarter edition "The North Valley Grimoire" (2018)

[3.5] I never caught the magic & fantasy bug and only ever managed a few pages of the first Harry Potter. Even adult styled works such as "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" and "The Magicians" became part of my DNF list. For this current work, I even had to look up that grimoire meant a textbook of magic rather than the sad French show more mirror of my imagination.

Espionage, dystopia, coming of age, fish out of water and Lovecraftian (sorry, I associate anything with tentacles as Cthulhu-adjacent) are right in my bailiwick though, so Blake Northcott's independently crowd-funded novel was a definite draw. The crowd-funded aspect itself was of interest as it does seem to be an indicator for future publishing with even literary translations such as "Cleopatra Goes to Prison" (Kickstarter) from Dedalus Press or small Independent Press prizes such as the Republic of Consciousness Prize (previously Kickstarter, now Patreon) being funded through that method. In addition I discovered that Northcott is from my own hometown of Toronto, Canada so let's support our local authors as well!

I did mostly enjoy The North Valley Grimoire but did feel that there was an odd change in allegiances about halfway through the novel that just felt off and which subverted my enjoyment for the rest of the work. Saying anything more about that would be a spoiler. Still it was suspenseful and compelling enough for me to finish and to look forward to what seemed to be the promise of a sequel. Northcott is currently (September 2019) crowd-funding a graphic novel Everglade Angels show less

Girls' Baseball Team vs Mysterious Gang
Review of the Northwood Publishing crowdfunded edition (2020)

Everglade Angels use the standard horror trope of the group of teenagers lost in a not-very-welcoming off-the-beaten-track location facing unknown evil forces. It branches off on its own with having the teenagers be an spunky all-girls' baseball team who are ready to swing their bats into action to defend themselves and their friends. The art style compliments the story with its dark palette show more which occasionally erupts with splashes of chemical reds.

When rating a crowdfunder you are instinctively rating not just the final product but also the communication process and delivery. Blake Northcott was the lead creator in this respect as the campaign was in her name and the shipping was her production. All of that was handled extremely well with regular updates to the customers. There is a considerable over-delivery of 104 pages in the final product vs. the promised 48 pages in the original crowdfunding proposal. The extras include the opening pages of a movie script version of the Everglade Angels plot, several pages of notes and draft sketches of the Everglade Angels, and a bonus short story Truthbomb.

On the downside there is a major continuity issue about the number of baseball players on the Everglade Angels team. Instead of the expected 9 players, there are only 5. The 5 are actually a reduction on an originally planned 6, which is explained in the sketch book section where the 5 final players are identified by name. In the story itself it is very difficult to distinguish each of the 5 at first as they are introduced very haphazardly. There is also an editing mistake that still uses the original 6 characters on page 24, where 1 has left the van and yet there are still 5 people sitting in the van.

I picked up Everglades Angels as I have been interested in the recent increased activity of independent crowd-funding of self-published comic books, graphic novels, novels and novel translations via the Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Hooandja platforms. And yes, I'm from Toronto as is Blake Northcott, so support your local writers!

Trivia and Link
Blake Northcott is the writer of a new ongoing comic book series Norah's Saga (2020) about a young girl who time shifts into the Viking Age. It is expected to be distributed to Walmart stores and other outlets in April 2020. This may be delayed due to the ongoing pandemic situation. Look for updates at the Allegiance Arts Indiegogo. show less

Issue 1 of 5

I owned #2469 of 3000
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Who couldn't love Evanescence but what really drew me to it was that I could own a bit of Abigail Larson's art in story format and she does not disappoint!! 5* on that.

Includes two stories:
-- Wasted on You - from the intro "... is about finding the strength within yourself to break through those chains in your mind..." Abigail's art *all the heart eyes* and the storyline encourages you to find the strength within you to make change. show more It's a nice reminder, encouragement.
-- Better Without You - (You is fear) from the intro "... you can't have the sweet without the bitter..." The story assumes there is life after death and since there is no guarantee, I prefer to live here and now.
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I've already ordered book #2 but I kinda regret that purchase. Hopefully when I actually own and read it, I'll have a change of opinion. show less