J.S. Bailey

A very cute book starring a teenage girl, complicated like all teenage girls, but smart, empathetic and perceptive. After making who knows what disaster and losing her memory due to a fall, Laura ends up in a time-space portal that deposits her in Sparkling Falls. The small town seems to be taken over by the past, but if so, it is not the past she knows. Even the deity the villagers worship has nothing to do with the God she knows and has disturbingly human traits. Soon Laura discovers that show more she is not the only one from another reality and finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy. As her memory gradually returns, she realises that someone has been playing with space-time rather casually. Pleasantly unclassifiable, this is a genuinely entertaining novel and even the final hook, which hints at a sequel, does not bother. Too bad about the cover, because it is really ugly. show less

Dalton Kane and the Greens by J.S. Bailey
The Adventures of Dalton Kane #1

Unique, intriguing, well-developed world filled with aliens, humans, sentient carnivorous tree-like beings, and…a whole lot more. I was a bit on the fence for the first part of the book but as the story progressed, I found myself drawn into the story and caring about the outcome of the characters in Richpoint on Molorthian Six.

What I liked:
* The space-cowboy vibe with unique weapons of defense
* The plot, pacing, show more setting, world building, and my ability to relate to the characters
* The quirkiness that was almost comedic at times but was oh so very real in threat level at others
* The friendship that developed between Dalton and Chumley and learning more about their pasts – almost liked Chumley more than Dalton
* The look at good and evil as well as kindness and how each of these impacted the story and its characters
* Meeting the supporting characters and wanting to know more about them – would like to know more about more than one of them!
* The shapeshifter element along with the cube the shapeshifter had
* Thinking about the difficulties and stresses there must be living on a planet like Molorthian Six
* Being able to thoroughly dislike the bad guys while seeing good in some that were considered evil
* Knowing that there is going to be another book in the future

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about what creates evil people and wondering how they can do the evil they do

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars show less

NOTE: I received a free eBook copy of this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers (July 2023).
ANOTHER NOTE: When I first heard about this book, I was dating a guy named Dalton, so the title naturally jumped out at me. Not long after I acquired a copy of this book, Dalton dumped me and broke my heart. I will do my best to not let this unfortunate turn of events have an adverse effect on my review of this book.

In this sci-fi Western, a modest settlement of humans on a "backwater" colony show more planet faces existential threats from the native inhabitants of their mostly-desert planet. Dalton Kane, the reluctant sheriff of a mid-sized city on Molorthia Six, has his hands full not only with the conflict at hand, but also with the quirky settlers, a tragedy in his past, and the arrival of one Chumley Fanshaw. J. S. Bailey builds a strange world that is somehow eerily reminiscent of Earth, in that some human problems never change. I liked that the cast of characters was both racially diverse and included a non-binary character in a key secondary role. The primary conflict in the novel takes several twists and turns through the introduction of new tribes of opposing forces that made me question whose side I was on and kept me on my toes as I read. The ominous plot is punctuated with moments of dry humor and wry narration that lighten the mood effectively. There is an air of an environmentalist message in "Dalton Kane and the Greens," but it is never preachy. Though the novel manages to wrap up its central plot neatly, its Epilogue (which takes place on another planet) leaves the door open for a future sequel in which we'll surely learn the fate of one interesting hamster. Not being a big sci-fi genre reader, I am pleased to say that this book held my attention from beginning to end, and I will keep my eye out for the sequel. show less

Anthologies don't always work for me. I either get bored with the collected works of one author or I find the collection to be a rather random selection of stories, poems, etc. The Whispered Tales of Graves Grove works well for me as it is more a collection of related stories written by various authors (23 short stories by 17 authors, in this case). What I did enjoy is that the collective focus of the stories is on Graves Grove as the setting and the unusual (translation: creepy paranormal) show more events that occur in this otherwise sleepy little town. A number of characters - such as Mamie Rue Le Doux - and themes - such as the way that the bronze statue of the town's founder seems to mysteriously change its clothing on a regular basis - repeat themselves. Even with a common setting and the repeating characters/themes, each story is different. What does remain consistent is that all of the stories have an element of horror running through them. The good news for me (being the scaredycat horror reader that I am), the stories were not creepy to the point of causing me to lose any sleep, but still creepy enough for me to mentally call out to the characters things like, "Oh, you don't want to go there" or "You don't want to to do that". Never thought I would come to love a character in a horror story collection but I have to say, Mamie Rue Le Doux is a fascinating character! Filled with everything from fairies, witches, demons and shapeshifters to aliens, ghosts, and vampires, these stories do not lack for imagination. If I ever come across a town with a large sycamore tree that doesn't seem to feel quite right, I believe the stories in this anthology will come bubbling to the surface of my mind as a warning.

Overall, I like the result achieved with this anthology and would like to read more anthologies where the editors create the setting and a short backstory and let the individual authors loose to create away. show less