Sherwood Nation by Benjamin Parzybok

Sherwood Nation, Benjamin Parzybok.  Easthampton Mass.: Small Beer Press, 2014. eBook 444 pps.

https://twitter.com/sparkwatson  Benjamin Parzybok on Twitter (tm)

http://levinofearth.com/  on reddit (tm)

     Benjamin Parzybok has also written the book Couch which I read and reviewed some time ago.

     Portland, Oregon is hit with a drought. Corrupted politics separates the haves from the have nots. A young woman inadvertently sets up a micro-nation. She earns the nickname Maid Marian.

sapphoq reviews says: I am a fan of Benjamin Parzybok. I found Sherwood Nation to be an excellent depiction of what could be, especially in regards to the droughts that the western part of the United States experiences with regularity. The characters were vibrant and leapt off the pages, demanding to be heard. Yeah, highly recommended.

Up the Rebels! by SpikedUp Frog

Up the Rebels!, SpikedUp Frog. self-published, 2014. e-book, 131 pps.

@SpikedUpFrog on Twitter (tm)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/SpikedUp-Frog?store=allproducts&keyword=SpikedUp+Frog

     I cannot be disingenuous here. Up the Rebels! is my book written under my Twitter (tm) alias and one of my pen names. So what I will say is that Up the Rebels is dedicated to my brother Stanley Cohen [@StanleyCohenLaw on Twitter (tm)] and to my hero Edward Snowden. Early excerpts from it have appeared in one of my other blogs. Now I have learned how to format the thing [a very long process of over ten hours and a steep learning curve].

     The book just hit the Barnes and Noble online site this morning. It is an ePub with NO DRM. I gave it a creative commons license because I support releasing my books on the torrents. And hey, if no one else puts it out there, I'm going to do it myself. Just as soon as I recover from learning how to format.

     So if you like hacker fiction or slacker fiction and want to read a book with a Muslim fella named Jesus in it, some Anonymous protesters, N.S.A. drones, a rather hefty cat by the name of Majestic, a fourteen year old, a cute kitten named Freedom, some homeless folks, some prostitutes and their evil bosses, a hapless mental health professional or two, and a few folks who escape the clutches of the ahem behavioral health system, then this book is for you. And Dree RainCave is in it. He is Ed SnowDen used in a purely fictitious manner hiding from the government in Newark, New Jersey  of all places.

     Some of my Twitter (tm) buddies are also in it, again as pure fiction. You will find That Damn Stan (@StanleyCohenLaw), Kenneth Lipp (@kennethlipp), and Tor Ekeland (@TorEkelandPC) within the story.

     Briefly mentioned are Todd Kincannon (@ToddKincannon), Ashely Kincannon (@AshelyKincannon) [Todd and Ashley Andersen in the book] and Noodle Kincannon (@TheNoodleK), again as fiction.

     I'm sorry that I couldn't fit all of my Twitter (tm) buds in the book. There will be more books to follow.

     I endeavored to keep the cursing down to a minimum but there is bits of cursing in it. Enough that parents may wish to read the book before allowing their teens to do so.

     Take care everyone and know that today-- the first day of the release of Up the Rebels! as an eBook-- means that I am happy happy happy!

     

21 days in May by Crispy Sea

21 days in May, Crispy Sea.  self-published: Smashwords Edition, 2013.  3-book, 474 pps.

http://crispysea.blogspot.com/
@CrispySea on Twitter
Crispy Sea is also found elsewhere on the Web.


I first became aware of Crispy Sea on Twitter.  I found Crispy to be an engaging, forthright, and intelligent atheist.  I read Crispy's blog and discovered a book there.  So I bought the book.  I was not disappointed.

     Crispy describes 21 days in May as being "hope fiction."  The hope is in the revolt, not in the status quo.  Business as usual sucks and the people don't yet know that.  Martha knows that.  Martha is doing something about it.

 

 

Martha has given her life to the work she is doing.  It is very important work involving genes.  Martha's company is the hope of humankind.                                                                                       

 

 

 

sapphoq reviews says:  Crispy Sea has penned an extraordinary tale of the future.  The hope of the earth-- modeled after our earth-- is in genetic modification, vaccination, and population control if the human race is to survive.  I've heard it said that science fiction writers are great predictors of the future.  21 days in May is that kind of a novel-- containing hints of what our present technology can flower into-- for passionate fans of possible futures.  Highly recommended.  Up the rebels!