C. J. Moran

The Model of Friendship

On April 28, 2021

In All Posts, Brain Soup, Lloyd Alexander

In The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha by Lloyd Alexander, Lukas (self-proclaimed town laze) pays a street magician for a trick. The magician dunks Lukas’s head in a tub of water, transporting him to a distant kingdom. There Lukas is crowned monarch—but everyone thinks he’s named Kasha.

The kingdom is a disaster. The threat of war looms, and selfish ministers scheme. However “Kasha” makes some friends: a strong-willed freedom fighter and an impudent versifier. Together, the three heroes stabilize the kingdom. Kasha might just be falling in love with the freedom fighter.

Review: Oathbringer

By CJ Moran

On November 13, 2018

In All Posts, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Fantasy Reviews

Sorry, Canada, for the delay in writing and posting this review. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this.)

Oathbringer is the third installment of the Stormlight Archive. If you haven’t already, check out my double-feature review of the first two books here.

Optimize Your Life! Now!

By CJ Moran

On November 4, 2018

In All Posts, Brain Soup, Fantasy

Seems like we’re due for another blog post, considering I haven’t written one in 500 years. After work, all I feel like doing is hanging out on the couch in plaid sweatpants. On the weekends, I’m tied up thinking of obscure worldbuilding details for my alternate history fantasy novel (like the boardgame titles), narrating my dog’s internal monologue, and doing a spot of laundry.

Retro Review: A Wrinkle in Time

By CJ Moran

On May 20, 2018

In All Posts, Book Reviews, Fantasy Reviews, Young Adult Reviews

Now introducing Retro Review, where I review books from the past. Books aren’t like technology; they don’t become obsolete after time. Dive in to discover great reads you might not have known about.

Verdict: A classic, that you should have read, like yesterday

Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time is a classic of children’s literature, staring one of the first heroines of sci-fi. Young Meg Murry is struggling. Her scientist father left to work on a top-secret government project, and the Murry family hasn’t heard from him in months. Meg is an outcast at school, where teachers accuse her of using her father’s disappearance to justify bad grades. Classmates mock her. Even at home, Meg feels like she doesn’t fit in with her brilliant family, despite her scientist mother’s assurances that Meg is a late bloomer. One dark and stormy night, a strange visitor drops by the Murry house. This visitor, Ms. Whatsit, leads Meg on an epic journey to rescue her father from a hostile force on an alien planet.

Double feature review: The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance

By CJ Moran

On May 20, 2018

In All Posts, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Fantasy Reviews

Hold onto your seats, it’s two reviews for the price of one! Which is to say, still free.

Verdict: The first two installments of a modern must-read fantasy series

In preparation for my review of Oathbringer, I’ll be reviewing the first two installments of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. Sanderson starts things off with The Way of Kings, where we are introduced to the land of Roshar. The Knights of Radiance, who once protected Roshar, abandoned their oaths thousands of years prior to the start of the series. Highstorms sweep across the land, destroying everything but rock while infusing gemstones with magical energy. Most kingdoms in Roshar have a rigid class system, where nobility is based on eye color. One kingdom, Alethkar, wages an endless war against the Parshendi for assassinating the Alethi king.

Lions, Tigers, and Audiobooks, oh my!

By CJ Moran

On February 25, 2018

In All Posts, Brain Soup, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Keywords: Audiobooks, ebooks, learning styles

I have a friend who almost exclusively reads audiobooks. Another listens to them while driving. Plenty of people love audiobooks. I don’t get it. They have never held the same appeal for me. Print has always seemed better: easy to find, and tangible. Plus, old books have that distinctive smell (yes, I’m that weirdo).

Stranger Things in Cynical Times

By CJ Moran

On December 12, 2017

In All Posts, Brain Soup, Science Fiction, Science Fiction, TV shows

Netflix dropped Stranger Things 2 onto its streaming platform the weekend before Halloween, and I snapped up all nine episodes before Monday rolled around. Yes, it’s that addictive. Since then, I’ve been meaning to write something about it, but needed more time to formulate how to discuss it. This time, I’m going to try something different from other blog posts.

Stranger Things 1 was magic. It was a sheer joy to watch, with well-developed relationships and a gripping story, soaked in atmosphere. Stranger Things 2 didn’t quite recapture that magic, which would have been a feat, though it was still great television. To its credit, season 2 devoted time to plot elements that vexed some viewers from the first season, including justice for Barb.

To Adverb or Not to Adverb

By CJ Moran

On November 23, 2017

In All Posts, Brain Soup

That is the question.

Authors get a lot of conflicting advice about whether adverbs are good, bad, or the scourge of the earth. Some top authors recommend against using any adverbs, while a number of bestsellers contain copious amounts, and the debate rages on. Knowing how to use adverbs is about developing judgment to figure out how they effect the style of your piece.

Beware the Anti-Pollyanna

By CJ Moran

On November 12, 2017

In All Posts, Brain Soup

How does an author craft a memorable fictional character? Authors have asked this question for hundreds of years. Having an exciting plot is an asset to a story, but a story needs well-developed characters to make it exceptionally readable. No one wants to read a book populated by flat or boring characters.

The Four Day Sprint

By CJ Moran

On October 24, 2017

In All Posts, Brain Soup, PKD, Science Fiction, Science Fiction

On October 12^th, I got an e-mail announcing the Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards. The e-mail included a call for genre short stories between 1,500 and 4,000 words with an early bird deadline of October 16^th. Winners would get their work published, receive prize money, and be paid to attend a conference.