rhetorical excursions

There is clear evidence of hard work, endless researching and quite a bit of maturity to be found in Jonathan Maas' latest book, Dion: A Tale of the Highway . The story opens in the barest, most confusing fashion possible, for both reader and character. Dion awakes on the side of a road, completely naked and unsure of who his is and where he’s at and most importantly, how he got there. A strange dream still lingers on his memory. Besides him there is a car and in the car, a note: “ Drive this vehicle. Drive along this road, in the direction that the vehicle is pointed now. Drive until this road ends, and then drive some more” That’s not creepy, right? I thought initially, okay, this is going to be a travelogue about Dion, and along the way he’ll meet some people and do some things and they all learn something about themselves and the world around them. Maybe a subtle and modern tip of the hat to Kerouac . I couldn’t have been more wrong. This story is so packed fu...

I mistakenly read the Spaceman books out of order, starting with Near Enemy first, for some ridiculous reason. But as soon as I cracked this opened I realized that although the series shares common themes and characters they're in fact suitable as stand-alone stories. In the 1st Spademan book we learn who David Spademan is, or rather used to be and who he has now become. Reduced to taking on the ever popular but slightly challenging role as hit-man. A used-to-be bed hopper, since recovered, he spent all of his time and money tapping into the limnosphere. The next big thing. Where most people live out twisted fantasies, Spademan chose to just float in a vast, black void. Emptying his mind and life all all the noise and strife. Oh, how envious I am of that. The story felted very balanced, and evenly paced. I especially enjoyed how Sternbergh chose to type his lines and dialogue. Very quick. Very short. Packing a huge punch to the face. Shovel Ready gives us a detailed acc...

I greatly appreciate the work that Jonathan Maas offers his readers; it’s very apparent within the first few pages the shear amount of research and dedication he puts forth through his words. Each book has been an amazing ride for me. I initially started with Flare [3rd Book], which was a hard punch to my face, followed by Spanner: The Fountain of Youth [2nd Book] and have recently finished City of Gods: Hellenica [1st book]. Throughout these 3 novels I’ve noticed subtle themes, or undertones of a greatness locked within one’s self and through persistence and diligence a person can will truly understand themselves and find real happiness. City of Gods: Hellenica for me was thoroughly entertaining. Many of the characters [Gods/Spirits/Demons] we learn about early on in our lives, whether in school or just out of general curiosity make an appearance in this novel. Some, such as Hercules are portrayed as blundering fools allowing their strength to dictate their actions, while oth...

David Spademan is good at one thing, being a garbageman, his father was a garbageman and he followed suit, but seeing how the once great city of New York is now basically a memory that has all been wiped out by a "dirty bomb" , he's been reduced to peruse other areas of trash related work. The people that still inhabit the fringe neighborhoods that once surrounded Time Square spend their time locked into a dreamlike virtual reality where anything goes, Spademan still manages to take out the trash, but in the form of a box-cutter to the jugular while creepy perverts who broke an unwritten rule are locked into la la land. Technically there are no rules in this altered reality known as the Limnosphere, so in short, Spademan takes out whomever his clients ask, so long as he's paid in cash. He likes his job, to a degree. But his latest target, Lesser, a fat sloppy bed-hopping pervert who likes to peek in on other people's fantasies sends Spademan down a weird and...

This book is yet again another testament of the brilliant artistry of Johnathan Maas. His ability to weave several story lines into 1 book amazes me. Spanners: Fountain of Youth, is a book about a group of individuals who have been granted specific abilities outside of the average human being; some live briefly, 30 days or less, but within that time can learn and achieve more than an entire nation combined. Some Spanners are built with the strengths of 10 men, some control fire and others can take your life with a single touch. Some Spanners have been granted immortality and with that burden a clear and concise memory of every wrong done and evil action to ever exist alongside them. This is the story of one such immortal and his plight to not only save the collective human race, but the Spanners race as well. An evil has been awoken by the name of Juan Ponce de Leon and his aim is to destroy all life with the exception of a handful of his fateful follows and reduce the earth’s po...

This book was the most incredible piece of literature that I’ve had the privilege to read in a number of years. A stark dystopian world ravaged by the very essence that once gave us life is slowly consuming the world and its inhabitants. The Sun’s massive power explodes without warning sending millions of death rays killing off most mammals and plant life in a matter of minutes. Those lucky enough to survive are forced into a world of survival of the fittest. Not a world of the strongest, but a world of the wisest and cleverest. The pages of this book are filled with mass murder outside of the sun killing people, cannibalism and even entire groups of civilization forced back further than the dark ages in order to survive. New groups emerge as vicious drug addled monsters hell-bent on controlling the surface all the while a smaller more sophisticated group creates an underground utopia where the world’s leading experts in all things left to know are rapidly creating a system that s...