Thursday, January 17, 2013

Thursday Review: The Night's Legacy

OK, I said I'd stop doing these self-serving reviews this year, but right now there's jack shit in theaters and the only books I'm reading for the most part are my own.  Besides, this book should actually be of interest to people who read this blog.

The Night's Legacy, like A Hero's Journey, is a superhero novel.  Only this case the hero in question is called the Silver Seraph.  For decades the Seraph has been fighting crime in Renaissance City along with an ally known only as The Private Eye because he dresses up like a Sam Spade-type detective.

Meanwhile, young Lois Locke is hiding off the grid in rural Texas.  Lois has been on the run from her mother for about the last seven years.  Is her mother mean?  Is she abusive?  Has she lost her marbles?  No.  It's just the opposite really.  Lois's mother is super-duper nice.  And super-duper smart.  (Sound like anyone we know?)  Her mother is so nice and smart and overall perfect that of course everyone expects Lois to be the same.  But Lois isn't that way and so she finally runs away.

Except one morning in Texas she has a run-in with a couple of disgruntled diner patrons and circuitously ends up getting arrested.  Lois's mother shows up to negotiate her freedom.  The proviso is of course that Lois has to stay under her mother's supervision in Renaissance City, which is the last place she wants to be.

But with nowhere else to go for the foreseeable future, Lois takes up a job in the gift shop of the museum her mother runs.  There she meets the airheaded Megan and her sexy new boss Tony.

Not long after that Lois is in the museum with her mother one night when some burglars break in.  The Private Eye saves Lois while the Silver Seraph tangles with the burglars.  Except these aren't any ordinary burglars.

Later Lois is taken to the hospital where she finds out her mother has been badly injured, to the point she'll probably never walk again.  And soon Lois finds out the horrible truth:  her super-duper nice mother is also a superhero!  Or was.

That job soon enough falls to Lois.  She has to take up the mantle of the Silver Seraph to find out who crippled her mother and stop them before it's too late!

Now if I say the Silver Seraph wears magic armor to give her super strength and speed, her visor lets her see in the dark, the cape lets her turn invisible, and she has a magic sword, you might think, "Hurm, that all seems pretty familiar."  Plagiarism!  Yeah...no.

Long ago back in 2011 I was unsure I could ever sell A Hero's Journey and its accompanying sequels.  My favorite story of the series is actually Volume 6:  Future Shock, due out now in June.  I got thinking that maybe I could develop that story as a stand-alone book and try to sell it if I couldn't do anything with the others.  But just to be on the safe side I changed the names of most of the characters and the city and so forth.

Anyway, so basically The Night's Legacy is a bastardization of the Scarlet Knight series.  Bastardization is probably too negative-sounding though.  It mostly combines elements from Volumes 6, 8, and 1 with a little of the others thrown in.  Unlike A Hero's Journey there's less crazy shit thrown in.  There are no witches for one thing.  No Black Dragoon.  Not really an evil Egyptian goddess, but Egyptian mythology comes to play.  There is a smart-ass ghost though he's not as involved as Marlin.

So if you think A Hero's Journey is maybe a little too crazy, then this might be more up your alley.  Or if you don't want to read the entire series.  Or if you do want to read the entire series, you can read this to sort of get a peek ahead.

My main criticism (of myself because I'm objective like that) is that The Night's Legacy might not be action-y enough.  There is of course action but not wall-to-wall as much of the story revolves around Lois attempting to reconcile things with her mom.

You can buy the book for $2.99 from Smashwords, Amazon, B&N, and other retailers.  I make the most money if you buy it from Smashwords--I'm just saying.

Tomorrow is Week 2 of Box Office Blitz!

6 comments:

stephen Hayes said...

I can only imagine how happy you will be to have your favorite, "Future Shock, available for folks to read.

Rusty Carl said...

That actually sounds really good to me. I do have a tbr pile of print books that numbers about 75 or so, then probably 30 or 40 ebooks on top of that. It might be some time before I get around to checking this one out.

Tony Laplume said...

I like that it's a version of other stories you've written, not even so much that it's based on Scarlet Knight lore.

Briane said...

Hmmm. So this is basically "Space, 1999" to "Battlestar Galactica?" Or something like that?

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I haven't come across any books that resemble my stories. I think I would be weirded out if I did. I suppose I'm protected somewhat because my characters are gay and that's taboo for anyone that wants to make any money.

dolorah said...

Sounds intriguing. I'll put it on my TBR list. I'm trying to commit to reading one book a week. I may be aiming high :)

......dhole

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...