Indie Author MCM - Fission Chips

When I read the blurb for Fission Chips from 1889 Labs I expected a serious PI story with a lot of tension. (I don't know what I was thinking!) What I ended up with was hilarity and ridiculous pseudo-tension.  These were not bad things, but they were not on my list of expectations.

Gare Marx is having one hell of a first day.  He and his partner are trying to open their own PI firm, but nothing seems to be going right, and they haven’t even opened for the day, yet.  Marx is battling with a worker who is putting  his and his partner’s names on the outside of the office.  When Marx loses this first battle, he runs downstairs to try and yell at the man on his way out of the building.  He never gets his chance, but he does manage to run into (yes, literally) a woman with three large, hot coffees.  Guess who she is, yep, his new secretary.

Things go downhill for Marx from here.  His partner, the only person in this operation with detective experience, Matt Richardson, is no where to be found, and Marx’s day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.  He encounters mob bosses, police who want to arrest him for murder, a tiny Asian woman who kicks his ass repeatedly, an ewok, and a mischievous dog, among other crazy things.  He also gets beaten up periodically throughout the day.

This book didn’t get the reader thinking any deep, profound thoughts, but it was good for a laugh.

The only drawback that I found to the entire book, and this is purely personal, is the heavy use of comments regarding all things ‘retarded’ and even one regarding a ‘severely autistic person’.  I do realize that the main character is meant to be a class one jackass, so I understand the use of these terms, but that doesn’t mean I like, or approve, of it.  Unfortunately, by making these jokes, it only perpetuates the stereotype and makes it harder for those individuals with disabilities.  Now, I will get off of my soapbox.

I’m going to end this review with my favorite line in the entire book: “It’s like a fucking Hallmark moment.  From the Fight Club aisle.  I’m all teary, honest.”

Indie Author MCM - The Virus Coder's Girl

I received The Virus Coder's Girl from 1889 Labs for review.  I was initially drawn to this book simply by the title and, yes, the cover art.  Being married to a computer programmer, I’m always intrigued to read about programming, hacking, virus creation, and the like. 

This is a story about Greg, an IT guy who is targeted by his boss to become a hacker and virus creator.  Just before being offered this amazing promotion, which Greg is under qualified and under educated for, he had fallen for a woman named Ilana at a company party.  Upon receiving news of this undeserved opportunity, Greg is told to stay away from Ilana at all costs because she is one of her boss’s favorite girls.  Greg assumes that he knows what this means and decides that staying away from Ilana is in his best interest.

As time goes on, Greg becomes good at his job, but it is not what it seems.  He becomes overworked during the months following his promotion, and appears to also become paranoid.  However, knowing the reach of his boss, his paranoia may be justified.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story, but unfortunately, I cannot say too much about it without giving away the ending.  I can however, recommend it to readers, even if you aren’t into the hacker/techie scene.  You don’t need an in depth knowledge of computers to understand, follow along, and enjoy this book.

The idea that Greg thought that he was programming one thing, and in reality he was programming something altogether different made no sense to me, until I had it explained.  He was using prewritten code, or tools, and putting these blocks of code together like a puzzle for a desire effect.  The effect that he was striving to create actually did something similar but in a different medium.  This is a very simplified explanation of the way Greg built his viruses.

The author’s use of pop culture buzzwords makes the story seem more dated than it should after only a couple years.  A reference to the once overly popular Digg website made me, as a Redditor, cringe.  I quickly checked the publication date to find that yes, Digg was the ‘top dog’ when the story was written.  Also, in the beginning scene, Greg is wearing a t-shirt with the word ‘pwned’ written across the chest.  While this colloquialism is still relevant, it will eventually fade and be replaced with something equally confusing for outsiders.

The story itself is intriguing and well written, and if I’d had the uninterrupted time to read the story from start to finish in one sitting, I certainly would have.  I did manage to sneak read throughout the day and finish the story before bedtime.  For now, I’m looking forward to my next MCM read, “Fission Chips” which I am starting tomorrow.  

Indie Fiction Kids - Rob the Robot Arr Marks the Spot

I love free books. I recently won a copy of Rob the Robot Arr Marks the Spot during 1889 Labs #1889party. After thumbing through the book, I wasn't sure that it was my kind of story, so I decided that my husband would be in charge of reading this one to our daughter.

This plan blew up in my face rather quickly. A few nights after getting the book, my husband went out with some friends, and Ava wanted to read the robot book. No biggie, Rob the Robot was the bedtime story.

There were a few reasons I figured that this book would bore me, here is a quick list: robots, space travel, pirates, skulls and crossbones, and treasure maps. I sat down with Ava and allowed myself an internal sigh, I would rather have read Fancy Nancy or Little Critter, but I would endure a hunt for treasure because she liked the book.

Boy, was I wrong about this book. It was excellent. I already knew that the pictures were incredible from my cursory glance, and after reading it a I noticed more positive qualities. As far as illustrations go, this book can brag bright colors, attention to details, and my favorite, informative illustrations adding details to the story like all good illustrations should.

As far as the actual story went, I was also pleasantly surprised. The basic story line is of four robot friends traveling through outer space when they find a bottle floating along the way. In the bottle, of course, is a treasure map with a big X. Obviously, X marks the spot of the treasure.

The story, while intense at times and bordering on scary (for a two-year-old), never actually scared my daughter, which as a parent, made me happy. While on their adventure, the robots hear sounds coming from a cave that they believe are a monster. The monster soon turns out to be a giant robot pirate. Yes, a friendly, giant robot pirate. The robots, including the pirate, continue to work together to find the X that marks the spot.

Rob the Robot has another bragging right: educational content. The parent and educator inside of me squeals with delight every time I read this book because of the learning potential. Maps, compasses, counting backward, vocabulary with quick, relevant explanation, and my favorite, the use of the word jig, which led my husband to show our daughter what 'dancing a jig' meant.

Rob the Robot is colorful, fun, has some learning focuses, and is well written with no glaring grammatical errors or typos. My only irritation with the book was the number of sentences that ended with exclamation points. I felt that the over use detracted from those lines that were really meant to be read with emphasis. That being said, I look forward to reading this with my children for a long time, I just wish there were more Rob the Robot titles to keep us busy.