The Journeyman (The Commons #1) by Michael Alan Peck

Paul, Anna and Zach all died in a tragic accident

But the afterlife is not all good. Once the Commons where all people gathered to complete their Journey and find out where they’re going next. But now Mr. Brill controls the Essence of life and creation, their power, the potential of their journeys all trapped and enslaved to increase his power and control and create his corporate empire.

These three have the potential, together, of finally loosening Mr. Brill’s stifling grip and restoring things to their natural balance.

In some ways we have a classic adventure story – with a normal boy, Paul Reid, discovering that he is so much more special. He enters the Commons as a normal person and discovers how very very special he is as he goes along, gains new powers and collects companions who are super loyal to him

It’s classic – but things are classic for a reason; it’s the every man adventure story that is often fun when done well – and this is definitely done well. What makes it special is the world.

This huge world that is made up of the imaginations of everyone who has ever passed through is so random. In a wonderful way. Whether it’s the ferret whisperer or the Mososaurs or the hippie soldiers (I LOVED the hippie soldiers in their peace symbol uniforms) and the humbolt squid and so many other random images and creations. It works because The Commons is created from the minds of so many people, everyone who has died and passed on to the next journey

It is fascinating and rich and incredibly fun and zany and the sheer vastness of it makes it an excellent read. It also combines with the complex, multi-faceted plot with three different figures all doing seemingly very different things to bring about the end result – all their missions are connected but in a world that is so outside of normal rules that the connections are almost impossible to see until the end.

I’m torn on this. On the one side it’s amazing, it looks amazing, it’s fun, it’s wildly imaginative and incredibly vivid. At the same time it feels almost like a cheat – but having a world with no parameters, no logical connections, where literally anything mankind can imagine all exists then you also don’t particularly have any onus to create a coherent world. In fact, a coherent world is quite the opposite of what is – because we have all these remnants of imagine smooshed together, all these disparate sources of Essence striving to communicate and fight against the repression of all their infinite potential. This is what makes the book so much fun and so different – because it’s so vivid and bright and random. But it also means that you have infinite supplies of Deus Ex Machinae. There comes a point when you don’t even try to follow the logic of the plot any more, just watch, enjoy and run with it because no-one ever said it had to make sense

Mama Cried by Talia Haven

Jenny doesn’t remember much before the playground where she plays with her friends and her puppies, but she does enjoy herself.

But her fun is at an end when one of the Guardians, Azula, arrives and takes her to make a very important choice.

This book is a very short story – which usually leaves me with little to say and kind of frustrated by lack of content.

But being a short story worked here. There was no need for exposition or world building. There was no need for epic description or even detailed characterisation. The past of these characters, the details about them, their history, their lives and even where they go from here are all purposeless. The nature of the world with the afterlife and the Guardians and the playground and the dogs all lack explanation – and don’t need it

Not only would any exposition be unnecessary, it would also really damage the power of this story

This story is stark and very present. It’s about the pain and grief and forgiveness and the shallowness of that and easy paths to redemption. It’s incredibly powerful, it cuts to the bone and it’s amazingly moving

This story is 12 pages long. It doesn’t need to be one page longer and never have I read something so short that had so much impact and emotion and thought provoking material in it.

Normally I wouldn’t read something so short and I certainly wouldn’t review it. Had I realised how short it was before picking it up I would have put it back down again. I’m very glad I didn’t.

Hereafter (Afterlife #1) by Terri Bruce

Even though she has to work the next day, Irene goes out drinking with the girls.  Her friends sensibly tell Irene to take a cab with them but Irene, realizing that she needs her car to get to work the next day hops behind the wheel of her car.  Irene then suddenly finds herself standing on the side of the road next to her car.  It takes a while for her to realise that not only is she dead, no one can see her or hear her.  Luckily for Irene she meets, Jonah whose interest in death rituals has allowed him to find a spell which allows him to speak to and interact with the dead.  Irene, with Johah's help, embarks on a mission to learn what comes next or more specifically, what to make of her undead life.

Fans of urban fantasy won't find much to draw them into this story.  Irene is indeed a ghost but this is far from a typical ghost story and is actually more of an examination of life - specifically what matters and what doesn't. There is little action to speak of and the one major question which is asked throughout the novel really doesn't get answered.  Despite that fact, Hereafter doesn't have an incomplete feeling and this is probably because I personally could not take another minute of reading about Irene the protagonist.

Irene is an extremely unlikable character and it is worth noting that I don't believe Bruce means the reader to identify with, let alone like Irene. She is very much in denial that she died as a result of drinking and driving and might even have a drinking problem.  Though Irene is a supposedly 36 year old woman with an M.B.A (a fact we are reminded far to often), Jonah, her 14 year old sidekick, is far more mature than her.  Irene vacillates constantly between fits of rage and remorse. She lashes out cruelly at Jonah though he does nothing but help her, risking the trust of his parents and his good school record.  At times, I honestly could not understand why Jonah kept coming back because Irene was certainly not worthy of his attention, let alone his concern.  Irene is beyond self absorbed and only seems to show momentary concern for Jonah when he is in physical danger.

The plot of Hereafter is quite slow moving.  Though Jonah encourages Irene to plan and act with agency, the only time Irene acts with any agency is when she is being petulant.  As a result, events just seem strung together with Irene simply reacting and Jonah playing the role of the clean up man. Hereafter is set up as an existential crises which is a boring read at the best of times.  I kept waiting for Hereafter to go somewhere and the ending was simply anti-climactic after all of those pages of angst.