Joey Madia, New Mystics Reviews

(United Kingdom, 2020), ISBN-13: 9798633753684 As a fantasy writer, I know quite well the challenges (and rewards) of writing in a genre with abundant tropes and forebears with names like Tolkien, Lewis, and Martin. There is much to live up to and every opportunity to make anew, with a fresh perspective or unique element, must be seized. Daniel Lawley has succeeded in honoring the fantasy genre, while emphasizing adventure and religious–philosophical elements that allow his novel to stand on its own amidst excellent company. Each chapter of Bliss begins with an excerpt from an ancient book, rhyme, song, or proverb. This is a crucial device in Fantasy to give the world depth, history, and substance. These epigraphs also cue the reader to the philosophical themes being explored in each chapter, working, in quatrains, like a Greek chorus. The world of Bliss has two suns, which is interesting because the story is rich with dichotomies… life and death, light and dark, powerful ...

 (Beaufort, NC: Pirate Privateer Productions, 1994). ISBN: 0-9658878-0-4 by Joey Madia Four months ago my family and I left the mountains of West Virginia for a new life near the water in the idyllic town of Beaufort, NC, on the so-called Crystal Coast. Without a doubt, Beaufort lives up to its billing as one of the best little towns in America. Its waterfront is packed with quaint shops, excellent restaurants, and an always changing array of sailboats, fishing trawlers, and yachts, and the locals truly do exude the legendary Southern Charm. Another interesting aspect of Beaufort is how it loves its pirate traditions. Although details are sketchy, it is recorded that Spanish privateers made off with several ships docked in Beaufort Harbor on June 4, 1747. Emboldened by the lack of resistance, they returned on August 26, 1747, taking over the town. They were soon repulsed by a force of militia and never returned. This local triumph is celebrated through an elaborate re-creati...

(available through Amazon in paperback and for Kindle), ISBN: 978-1511572552 By Joey Madia About 18 months ago, I reviewed P. S. Bartlett’s Fireflies , which I touted as a “novel that tells, simply and elegantly, the story of a family’s love.” Although family love is a strong undercurrent in her latest offering (the second book in the “Razor’s Adventures” series), Demons & Pearls is a much different read, taking as its subject matter the high-adventure world of pirates in the 1700s.             Pirates are immensely popular these days, with the success of Black Sails on Starz, last year’s take on Edward “Blackbeard” Teach   by NBC, called Crossbones starring John Malkovich, and the buzz around the latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. There are also an increasing number of re-enactors and cos play participants donning pirate attire and a national “talk like a pirate day” that is always fun to...