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Creativity can't kill--or can it?
In Fred Warren's book, The Muse, creativity is a deadly serious thing. The story starts out with Stan--an ordinary guy working an ordinary job, who aspires to be a fantasy writer--meeting with his writing friends, a paranormal author named Jilly and a science fiction writer named Davos. As they commiserate over being stalled in their various works-in-progress, a sweet librarian-looking lady stumbles into their meeting. She introduces herself as Leila Starling, a freelance editor, and offers to help them.
Divine intervention, right?
Well, Stan's wife Charity isn't so sure. She thinks its just a little too coincidental. Stan gently ridicules her fears, but events quickly change his minds. He has several writing sessions where he doesn't remember writing a thing--yet fills 20 pages of the best writing he's ever done in his life. All three experience great writing and wonderful opportunistic meetings that Leila sets up for them. But when Jilly lands in the hospital, apparently in a coma, Stan decides that thy have to take action.
The Muse is a wonderful fantasy that is part hilarious, part creepy thrilller, and part heart-breaking. I teared up at the sweet, achy ending. And I laughed out loud at the three writers as they bemoaned their writing problems. Don't I know how that feels! Wanna-be authors will probably find this book especially fun to read.
I was impressed with the way the story was written. The dialog especially is natural and sounds like it's coming from real people, instead of cardboard characters. All the characters are easily distinguishable from each other and have their own, fun quirks. They all made realistic choices and I could identify easily with them. Another thing that impressed me was that there was no cussing or intimacy (beyond kissing and flirting between Stan and Charity).
Overall, this was a great read that I recommend to anyone that enjoys speculative fiction. Five stars!
~I received this book for free from Splashdown Books as a book reviewer~
Kat_Heckenbach
Posted May 29, 2010
Stan Marino needs a muse. He's written himself into a corner...again. A shot of inspiration is all he needs to finish his story ...where is he going to find it? What Stan doesn't know: Inspiration has found him. And it's about to take over his life. Ripped from reality, he must lead a band of lost souls in a life-or-death battle with a merciless enemy. Stan has found his muse, but will he survive it?
I did this a little differently--the above is the actual back cover blurb. I normally don't use that as an intro to a review because, to be honest, I rarely read back cover blurbs. I've found all too often that the book turns out to be nothing like the back cover description. NOT THE CASE HERE!
I also found myself wanting to copy the endorsements for this novel, because I actually agree with them. Descriptions like, "A light-hearted, family-friendly page-turner..." (T.W. Ambrose, editor of Digital Dragon magazine), and "Unique and imaginative, a humorous yet mysterious twist..." (Jill Williamson, author of By Darkness Hid).
I found The Muse by Fred Warren funny and heart-warming, with great characterization. I truly enjoyed reading it. I picked it up on a day that I was feeling pretty dumpy, and by the time I had finished it (and I stayed up late to finish it!) I was smiling :).
This is an engaging, slightly twisted tale of a trio of aspiring speculative fiction authors who do battle with that most dreaded foe--writer's block. Although this may sound like something to appeal only to authors, that is far from the truth. Fred Warren's deftly-designed characters and well-developed scenes will draw in a variety of readers and carry them along for the ride. I laughed and cried out loud and found myself wishing for certain denouements, most of which were different than the actual outcomes. Reality and fantasy blur then clear in this kaleidoscope of action.
It is an offbeat fantasy that begins without a hint of the direction it will take once the main characters welcome a mousy-looking copy editor into their little discussion group. I don't want to give anything away, but once again, it pays to remember that Satan can appear as an angel of light, and if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. While there are bits and pieces of this story that remind me of other tales (after all, there really is nothing new under the sun), Fred Warren has created a fresh novel for our enjoyment.
The Muse, by Fred Warren, takes the reader into the world of muses, thus the title. Stan is a writer who's having trouble figuring out where to go with his story. His writer's group, consisting of Davos and Jilly, are also struggling. Then along comes Leila, and suddenly they're able to not only get their stories back on track, but find buyers and break into the big time. But how? And more importantly, why?
That's the engine for this story as the seemingly innocent events grow to dangerous proportions. Our trio, along with Stan's wife, Charity, and his daughter, Hannah, are thrown into the world of a Muse intent on destroying them along with many others.
There is a Christian element to the story, but that is due to the characters being Christian, not an attempt to preach. Most anyone would be comfortable reading this, no matter what religion or non-religion they are. But you'll not find an attempt to deliver an overt message or belittle anyone else in these pages.
The strength of the story lies in Mr. Warren's well developed characters. He has a great cast, and they are well written. Their interaction provides much of the story's spark. The only character I felt who could have used more nuance was the antagonist. She starts out interesting enough, but by the end, she evolves into the typical, arrogant villain. But the rest of the cast had depth and interesting interaction, and was what kept the story vibrant.
I read this rather quickly. On my limited schedule, reading a book takes a month or more, but I found myself sitting in the chair, late into the night, with a cup of tea or coffee, reading yet another chapter. I finished it within four days of starting. Would I call it a page turner? Plot wise, not really, but the writing and characters were so well done, I had to find out what would happen to them, and that kept me reading.
Which is good, because for me, it was a slow burn on discovering that there was a danger to confront. Mr. Warren takes his time building to the point where we fully realize the danger Stan and his friends are in. I found myself wanting to "get there" much sooner than we actually did. That coming from a guy who likes fast-paced narrative. Your mileage may vary.
Related to that, I had watched the book's trailer. I knew at some point, our heroes would end up trapped in an alternate reality and have to fight their way out. If I hadn't been looking for it, I may not have felt this way, but the entry into this alternate reality doesn't happen until the last third of the book. I not only grew impatient waiting for them to get there, but wasn't ready to leave when they did. Mr. Warren introduces several characters once in the new world who I would have loved to learn more about. If I had my say, I would have preferred more time in the alternate world and less in the real.
The plot is a mixture of both original concepts and predictable moments. It isn't complicated, and I did feel more could have been done with it. Yet, the world of the Muse held interest, and I can tell Mr. Warren had invested the time in their back story. While the plot had a couple of holes, I had fun reading it. He paints the world, both real and alternate, so you feel you're there. The plot adequately displays his strength: the characters. If you don't need cliff-hanger action on every page, and prefer characters who you find interesting, my bet is you'll enjoy this novel as well as I did.
Stan Marino and his friends Jilly and Davos make up the Seventh Circle of Hell Writers' Society, a threesome critique group that meets at the Pensive Aardvark bookshop. Stan is working on his fantasy epic, Taron's Crusade, Jilly writes vampire romances, and Davos writes science fiction and all things spacey. While discussing Stan's latest bout of writer's block at a meeting, Leila Starling interrupts with the perfect solution. Stan is so thrilled to have solved his writing crisis that he invites Leila into the group.
Instantly all three writers become more productive. And all three start experiencing black outs. One minute they are typing away, the next? They wake up to find that hours have passed and they've accomplished tons of work on their stories. Weird. But cool, right?
Until Stan's wife, Charity, meets Leila Starling and the two women seem to hate each other. Charity warns Stan to stay away from Leila, but won't say why. Leila sets up a meeting for Davos and Jilly, and both sign major contracts. Stan doesn't see why Leila is so bad, and he wasn't to make his big break, too. But if he gives Leila too much control, will he ever get it back?
What would you do to fulfill your artistic dreams? Fred Warren offers a humorous, yet mysterious, twist on the journey to success that warns: if the deal is too good to be true, it likely is. The Muse is unique and imaginative. I got caught up in the story of love and Divine inspiration, which totally took me by surprise. I loved the idea that you shouldn't rush creativity, that it takes time to build art that entertains and gets people to think. A well-written delight, The Muse will inspire the readers to enjoy their own artistic gifts and the time it takes to create them.
Anonymous
Posted November 5, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
He's written himself into a corner...again.
A shot of inspiration is all he needs to finish his story
...where is he going to find it?
What Stan doesn't know: Inspiration has ...