Jon Del Arroz's Justified: Saga of the Nano Templar Book One

I recently had an interesting experience that made my face turn purple and made my head want to pop off: Someone (and I don't remember who) had posted something about fantasy authors in particular being unChristian. What really set me off was when I found out that one of the excoriated authors was C.S. Lewis. Why? Because EVERYTHING THE MAN WROTE WAS CHRISTIAN ALLEGORY!!! It kind of gets my goat, especially as a Christian who loves those books. That reminds me. I need to get copies for my eight year old.

Sorry.

I bring this up to underline this fact: Science Fiction and Fantasy have a long history of religious themes and that it works IF IT'S DONE WELL. Fortunately for Mr. Jon Del Arroz and those of us who consider themselves his fans, he's done a damn good job with Justified: Saga of the Nano Templar Book One. Seriously, I love this book.

Justified is the story of Drin, a Templar warrior serving the Elorian people. It has a lot of combat to be sure. That's good. It's Space Opera with a touch of Space Fantasy. If you like Star Wars and not Justified I don't know what to tell you. It's got that kind of epic scope and maybe even some similar weaponry.

Del Arroz himself has referred to Justified as Deus Vult in space (And no, Deus Vult is not a Nazi saying.) and it fits. This is definitely a Crusader style book set in a different segment of space where there are no humans. All of the characters are aliens, and he had to adapt the Gospel story to another setting but it works.

What works better, to my mind at least, is that Drin himself has a major crisis of faith. Sort of. Maybe it's less a crisis of his faith than it is a doubt that he's spreading it in the correct manner. When one spreads their faith through war and combat and the head of the religion (called Yezuah in the book) is a man of peace, it makes sense to take pause at the forcible seizure of real estate in the effort to convert the populace. I get it.

I also get the other characters in Justified and that's what makes the book work so well. A man of faith is a believable construct since they do exist in real life (on my better days I like to think I'm a good one) but not everyone is of God. That's not just a fact, it's a reality that must be dealt with on a regular basis. And not everyone in the book is a man of God. Most don't try to be. A few happen to be members of a competing religion. It's fairly obvious which one, too.

That's good though. Every epic saga needs a definable enemy and Del Arroz has picked an ancient foe of his religion.  The battle for souls is not a new one and it translates well over interstellar distances. Del Arroz has packed just enough history into his fanciful setting to make it work while still realizing that he's not writing history and he doesn't have to get all the details of the Siege of Wherever correct, because that's not what he's writing about.

The point I was trying to make before I so effectively derailed myself though is this: Drin loves to proselytize his religion. It's his calling. Not everyone he witnesses to believes at first. That's normal. It doesn't work that way in real life. In the end though, many do. That's also realistic. Christianity is the world's largest religion. It didn't get that way because people refused to convert.

The battles in Justified sometimes feel a little more Fantasy than they do Science Fiction. I think it has to do with Drin's use of a light sword and the enemy's use of battlemages. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. Battlemages are potent opponents and present a massive threat. It's fun to watch Drin sweat when he knows there's one around. Suspense is a good thing.

Most of the combat takes place on the ground. I'm good with that. In any real world military campaign the most important actions always take place between armies. Fleets are good and aircraft can certainly turn the tide of a land battle, but at the end of the day if one wants to take a city, they'd better put some boots on the ground. Justified is no exception. On the other hand, Drin spends a bit of time on a massive starship and I wouldn't mind seeing a deep space slugfest at some point.  I mean, this IS Space Opera.

Del Arroz does a fine job of mixing the cultures in his book. Not only do we get a good look at the culture of the culture of the hated Sekarans, but also the Skree and a bit about a race known as the Deklyn. I love the fact that space isn't covered with a monoculture. There are actually serious differences between the groups and it's fairly easy to tell which species someone is a member of based on how they're acting. That makes sense. Culture is a thing.

The world building here is both good and somewhat limited. Drin is separated from his fellow Elorians in the first few chapters and we don't see much of them after that. We get a good look at Drin's personal dislike of the enemy and how he manages to gather some allies but what we don't see a lot of is him interacting in his native culture. This is the first book in the series, so it's not like we won't see more in the future and it's also not like there was a whole lot of opportunity for it but it still strikes me as a bit weird that the only culture we don't see a lot of is the one the main character is part of. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to buy the sequel.


Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Nannites

Justified
Jon Del Arroz
Superversive Press, 2019

Justified is available for purchase at the following link:

Mikey Mason's M

Life as a blogger is often good. I get to read what I want and then tell the whole world (because Lord knows all seven billion people on the planet read my blog.😉) about it. Sometimes you get to interact with people whose work you admire when you wouldn't have been able to otherwise. That's awesome.

But sometimes...

Sometimes...

You send a message off to one of your favorite musical artists and offer to review his album on your blog if he will do an interview with you. And because he's an awesome person, he does. And then you realize.

OMFG DUDE! I'VE NEVER REVIEWED AN ALBUM BEFORE! I'M A BOOK AND MOVIE/TV GUY!

 

And maybe you freak out a bit because when you're a story guy, but then you listen to said music artist's podcast and he tells you that it's okay to write like shit and it hits you. "I can live up to THAT standard." I mean, I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking directly to me when he said it, but it still takes some of the pressure off. I'm breathing now and I'm pretty sure I can handle this.

In related news: Welcome to the first ever review of an album here on Jimbo's.  I'll be your only slightly flaky host. Since there is a method to my madness I'll be doing this the same way I review anthology style. This way you can all see the madness in my method.

I'm a cool guy like that.

I think.

Anyway...

I've really enjoyed Mikey Mason's M every time I've listened to it. There is more here than what I've gotten from it, too. I say that because some of these tracks relate to stories that I may not be familiar with. For example, one song is called "Letterkenny." It relates to the show which I haven't watched because *GASP* I don't have Hulu. Oddly enough though, I actually enjoy the song. The music works for me even though I don't geek out over the show. Go figure.

Speaking of which...

"Hat Full of Sky" is based on a book. I'm not even sure what book, but Mikey said it was last post. I enjoy it though. I sometimes think that Mikey writes some of this stuff and doesn't realize that it's actually uplifting. This one makes me smile for some reason. As long as I've got a Hat Full of Sky I can do anything right? And seriously, just the sentence "I'll build my wings on the way down," from his song "Build My Wings" got me through one of the worst days of my life. That sounds weird to me too, but when you're plummeting downward, well, it helps. Oops. "Build My Wings" is on another album. I don't honestly feel bad about mentioning it though. It's a good track.

"Because of You" is a break up song. We've all been there. "I'll make it through just to spite you," (It doesn't count as a spoiler if it's song lyrics, right?) is something I've actually lived. It's really up-tempo and light hearted though. I like this track and this concept. Being a single guy, I probably won't need this one for awhile, but it's good to know it'll be there if and when I do.

"Retrobituaries" is a song about people who post things that make me sad about things that happened years ago. Seriously folks, and I know Mikey agrees with me here, don't do it. And if you're confused as to why you shouldn't, or maybe if you just need a laugh, check this one out.

"Love And..." is a song that I wish I didn't identify quite so closely with. There are definitely times when I've been with a girl and exhibited signs of both love and revulsion. It usually comes right before a break-up. Dammit, Mikey, this one hit me in the feels. Good job. Probably.

"Shiny Math Rocks,"make that click clack sound.

Listen, if you're a table top gamer (or maybe if you just know and love one) and you can't relate to this one I can't help you. Especially if you play tabletop RPGs. Those of us who do all have a love/hate relationship with our dice, but if you ever want to see a tabletop gamer smile, roll your dice. BUT DON'T ROLL THEIRS OR YOU'LL INFECT THEM WITH BAD LUCK. You have been warned.

*SIGH*

Sorry, Riley.

"Letterkenny" is a song about a show I don't know anything about. but hey, if Mikey can talk about his favorite show I can relate. I mean, I may quote Star Trek or Firefly instead of Letterkenny but it's the same thing. And dude, he wants a good glass of beer. Who can't relate to the desire to have a drink?


I am a Dungeon Master, and if there is one song on the entire planet that my players want me to listen to, it's "Loot the Room". Apparently I don't give out enough treasure. My bad. At any rate, this is another one that anyone who has ever played a tabletop or computer/platform RPG or really a lot of first person shooters like Medal of Honor can identify with. We've all gotten the stuff. Sometimes we've done it without setting off the booby trap. Dude. I said sometimes.

So what are we going to do tonight, Brain? "Take Over the Room" is a Pinky and the Brain track. It doesn't get much better than that. We all loved this show back in the day, right? And now we get to love it all over again, only this time with a guitar track. YES!!!!

"Breathe" is a melancholy reminder that sometimes you just have to push through, or in Mikey's words, breathe. I know it's not easy. I tell my kids to push through things all the time and pushing is how I get through life when it gets rough. It's a good message.

"Whisper" is a love song. It's a really good one.

There are "No Happy Endings" because nothing ever ends...

I remember when I first saw the title of this song, before I had listened to it. I thought it was going to be depressing and that kind of sucked because one of the things I like about Mikey's music is that it makes me happy. I'm happy to report that I was wrong. This is absolutely an upbeat song in terms of both tempo and mood. Nothing ever ends...

Except M because this is the last track.

I like this album. I play it a lot. I'm a Lyft driver and I spend an average of like ten to twelve hours every workday in my car. As someone who rarely drinks and doesn't smoke or take anything I can get arrested for possessing, I need another way to relieve stress and get through the day and music is what does that for me. Mikey Mason, whether on M or another album, is a big help with that. I drive for a living. Go listen to a Mikey Mason track called The Button. If you can honestly listen to that track and not know why I love it you don't have a brain.

Seriously.

Anyway, buy the album. Listen to the album. Tell all of your friends about it. And when you get hooked and buy a bunch of his other stuff, don't blame me. It's all Mikey's fault.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Guitar Picks

M
Mikey Mason
Self Published, 2019

M is available for purchase at the following link:

Interview with Comedy Rock Star Mikey Mason

(Picture blatantly stolen from Mikey Mason's Bandcamp page.)

Hi everybody! I'm geeked. No, I didn't just say that I AM a geek (although I am) I said I'm geeked. Why? Because I've got an awesome person to interview for your reading pleasure today.  Seriously, we're going to have a good time.

See, once upon a time I was cruising around Youtube watching some videos and I came across one called Best Game Ever. If you're not familiar, you should be. It's the story of a Dungeons and Dragons group and that one annoying guy that they all hate and screws everything up. Remember that guy? Every tabletop RPG player  has had to deal with some version of the dude at some point. I got a bit kick out of it. Actually, I kind of freaked out and started annoying my co-workers and roommates by playing it too much.

Anyway...

The song was by a guy named Mikey Mason, and eventually, I wandered over to Spotify to see if I could find him. He had a ton of stuff on there and has added more since. We'll get to the whole catalogue soon, but rest assured if you don't already love tracks like Kobolds Ate My Baby, Waiting to Wait in Line, (Love at) Warp Factor 9, and Build My Wings you will soon.

So, welcome to Jimbo's Mikey! Say hi. How are you today?

Tired, but working. Still recovering from DragonCon, actually.

Cool. How was Dragon*Con?

DragonCon was amazing as usual. It’s weird… I’ve been performing there for 5 years, and it’s only in the last two or three that I’ve actually let myself enjoy it a bit. DragonCon (or any convention, really) is different for performers who perform for a living.

At DragonCon, most of the performers you’ll see have a day job somewhere, and they look at DragonCon as a way to build an audience while on a vacation where merchandise sales can defray the costs. Performers have a break-even point, after the travel costs, the hotel costs—which are always at the maximum rate they’re allowed to charge, the costs of food, etc… Once we cross that break even point, we’re actually earning our salary for the week. It’s a bit harried.

Performers don’t get paid time off from work, and many of us can’t afford vacations. Still, I’ve never worked a DragonCon where I didn’t make money. Because of the costs involved, it’s never as much as it seems it should be, but it’s always a good time.

Good! I'm glad to hear it. So, to start things off Mikey, tell us a little about yourself and your music. I'm a huge music fan and a geek too, but what led you to get into making music for geeks? I mean, I love it but there have to be bigger markets out there. Why that one?

I’m a geek, that’s why. I was doing musical stand-up comedy, full-time, touring the US and beyond and writing material that I didn’t really care about or for. I wrote a song in 2011 called She Don’t Like Firefly, and it went viral (viral for back then—nerdist.com, Time Magazine, SyFy, and several other national mentions helped. Once I realized there was an audience for the things I really cared about, I started making a concerted effort to write more material that I truly enjoyed.

That's awesome. So you're obviously a gamer. You've done a ton of songs about games like D+D, Kobolds ate my baby and even one about World of Warcraft (which had me dying laughing) . What are some of your favorite games and can you give us one little known gem that we all need to play?

I love RPGs. Kobolds Ate My Baby is a super-fun, rules-light system that lends itself to having a good time. I mostly play D&D Savage Worlds, but for a lesser known system (it’s not really that lesser known) I’d have to recommend Fiasco, especially if your friends are into theatre and improvisation.

Before we get started on your work, I'd like to ask a question regarding my personal crusade here at Jimbo's: How do you define what is Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I know that there are people out there who would limit it to just the traditional arenas of writing, television and film, but what about other things like gaming (whether tabletop stuff like Dungeons and Dragons or video games like Halo and World of Warcraft)? What about songs like Not Quite the Chosen One or The Button, both of which are by you. Where do those fall on your list of what is and is not Science Fiction or Fantasy?

The Button is science fiction/fantasy. Not Quite The Chosen One is is pure comedic fantasy. I try not to get hung up on definitions as much, anymore. I gravitate towards things I enjoy or am interested in. So even if someone doesn’t categorize those two songs the same way I do, if they liked music and those genres, they’ll probably enjoy the songs.

You bill yourself as a Comedy Rock Star on your website and your Facebook page, but yet you've done some serious tracks too. I consider Opposite of Cool to be my personal theme song, and it's the kind of thing that anyone who grew up as one of the less popular kids in school can definitely identify with. I had a really neat conversation with my daughter after listening to Celebrate because she's going to be starting her last year of Middle School in a few days and it had me thinking about how her life is going to change and why she's going to want to try to remember some of the stuff I wish I could. Talk about that for a second. How does the guy who wrote She Don't Like Firefly suddenly veer off into some serious content for a second?

Comedy Rock Star was a branding choice from when I was a musical standup comic that just kind of hung around… When I started getting comedy gig and performing out of state, I’d take time off from work when necessary to facilitate it. On the paid time off form, I’d write “going to play comedy rock star” as the reason. I had an incredibly supportive company and they were as flexible as they could be with my schedule.

When I started doing geek rock music, it was all comedic, because that was what I was transitioning from. At the time, I didn’t think folks would want to hear a serious song from me, so I didn’t bother putting them on albums. I simply didn’t consider it. I’d still write them when I felt like it, but performing or relating them didn’t really occur to me.

It wasn’t until my fifth geek rock album, Red Letters, that I put a serious song on an album. My mom had died earlier that year, and the writing/recording of the album was very cathartic for me. It’s an angry album, ostensibly about holidays and special occasions (“red letter” days,) but all the songs are about frustration, loss, cruelty, isolation, self-destructive behavior, or regret. Yet it still manages to be funny. Angry? Yes. Vulgar? In places. But funny. Except for Eulogy, which is a song I wrote in college after a friend died, but which took on whole new realms of meaning when my mom passed.

I played it live whenever I did a show that year. I remember playing it at ConCarolinas, openly weeping in front of a packed ballroom of folks, many of who were weeping with me. It was a song that had meaning to us, like the other, funny songs I try to write, but simply about the human experience. It changed my views of what my fans would deem acceptable on an album.

I know you do a lot of cons. I'm guessing you've got some good celebrity stories. Have you met anyone super-cool? Do you have a story or two you could share with us?

I meet super cool people all the time. Most of them aren’t famous. Famous people can be very cool, too—don’t get me wrong—and I do have some celebrity stories. I played a game with Will Wheaton at GenCon one year. He killed me with ruthless efficiency, and was very kind about the whole thing, treating everybody at the table as a peer. Ernie Hudson was great to talk to, and as generous as he could be with his time. Willem Dafoe is super-intense but very polite and smells great.

Of course, you do more than music. I remember how happy your Friendship is Tragic T-shirt made my now ex-girlfriend when we were still dating. (She's a good person. Long story.) So tell us a little bit about your non-music offerings. Now might be a good time to throw in some links to places where people can buy your stuff too.

I…well… I do stuff. I’ve always considered myself an artistic and creative person. I make art (which is now mostly confined to t-shirts, as I don’t sell prints from a shop anymore, at least for the time being.) You can find my t-shirts at https://comedyrockgeek.threadless.com/

Music you can find on YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, etc… But if you want to buy directly from me, you can go to https://mikeymason.bandcamp.com/ and buy albums or single tracks. There are links from there to buy physical discs, as well.


I know you've got a Patreon as well, Mikey. I'm a happy subscriber. So why don't you tell people where they can find you on Patreon and what the benefits are. You know, like how I can get all of your tracks early.

Thanks! You can find my Patreon account at https://www.patreon.com/MikeyMason . As for benefits, I try not to stratify the people who support me too much. The basic benefit is this: if you support me at $1/month, every time I record a song (and sometimes when I write one and do a scratch demo or whatever) you’ll get a copy of the song. All of them. For $1/month. There are other, more ephemeral benefits to supporting at a higher amount, such as getting handwritten postcards or being credited by name on every track that came out while you supported at a certain level, but I know some fans will try and support beyond their means, and I’m adamant that people take care of themselves and their bills before trying to take care of me or mine.

So, if someone supports what I do and can afford $1/month, that’s awesome and helpful. If they can afford more, just as awesome and appreciated. I just don’t want to “upsell” anyone.

I’d rather have 1000 supporters at $1/month than one supporter at $1000/month. Like Ryunosuke Satoro said, “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean."


I know you do some podcasts too, including In the 'Verse with Mark Gunn. I think I'm forgetting something. Why not drop a link or two to those and tell us a little about what you're working on there?

Currently, the only podcast I’m actively working on is In The Verse: Songcrafting In The Firefly Universe. You can find it here: https://fireflydrinkingsongs.com/intheverse/

In each episode of the podcast, fellow Browncoat musician Marc Gunn and I rewatch an episode of Firefly, discuss it from an artistic/structural perspective, and then each back off into different corners and write a song inspired either by the episode or something in the episode. As you can guess, our songs, like our musical styles, differ greatly. But the music is good, and Firefly-centric. And when we’re done, we’ll have an album or two. (Maybe three?)

My Patreon patrons get copies of all those finished songs as well as many of the demos.

Oh, and of course your social media accounts. Where can fans follow you online so that they can keep up with Mikey Mason? Is there anything special that you share there. Don't forget to drop the links again.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ComedyRockStar/
Instagram: @crsmm
Twitter: @comedyrockgeek
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/squedge
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/comedyrockgeek
And you can find links to all those things and more at mikeymason.com

And of course, I know I'm not a perfect interviewer. I know that you were just bursting to tell my audience something that I forgot to ask. So here's your chance. What do you wish I had asked you? Don't forget to answer your own question.

What’s your favorite book? Well… I love a lot of books and have written more than a few songs about literary characters: Hat Full Of Sky, Wisdom Of Hounds, Dibbler’s Lament, A Moment’s Courage, Electric Monk, etc… but I’ve only written an entire EP of music about one book: American Gods by Neil Gaiman. You can find it on my Bandcamp site.

And that's it! Thanks for stopping by Mikey! I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me.

Thank you!

Links to a couple of Mikey Mason's albums are listed below (Just in case you didn't use his links and are too lazy to page back up):

Russell Newquist's War Demons

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So what would you do if you were a combat veteran who got stuck fighting something you didn't recognize? What if it killed your buddy? What if it followed you home? How badly would that suck? Yeah, I'm not really sure how that would feel either, but if you wanted to ask Sergeant Michael Alexander, main character of Russell Newquist's War Demons I bet he could tell you. I mean, I'm not sure the answer would be all that pleasant, but that's kind of beside the point, right? I mean, not if you were asking for the truth.

I'm going to start this thing at the beginning though: Ward Demons had a prologue that I actually enjoyed and found relevant. There aren't too many books that can say that. Of course, explosions do help here but I still think that this was well written. It's also indicative of a wider world than the one we see throughout the rest of the book and I notice that Russell has a sequel planned (this is, after all,The Prodigal Son, Book One.) This is good. Most of War Demons takes place in a southern college town and it might be fun to see it go worldwide if that's what Mr. Newquist wishes to do. He may or may not. I'm just saying I'd read it if he did.

I really enjoyed Newquist's portrayal of Alexander. The good sergeant is a complicated man. He's been there, done that and gotten the t-shirt. Dude has been places that most people have and done things that most people never will. He's faced things that have others who have similar experiences doubting that they actually happened. He truly is on the outside of just about everything. He also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but it doesn't rule his life. He's a good guy with some stuff to work through and a good heart. I like this character. I'd have a drink with this dude.

The rest of the heroes are pretty cool as well. I kind of got the feeling that maybe Newquist has seen and/or read some post-apocalyptic fiction featuring some weird weapons, but that's okay. It makes  for some interesting reading and it's not like every random townie is going to have a huge stockpile of firearms and the knowledge to use them effectively while being attacked by a massive wave of enemies.

Of course, there are also the villains. Let's start out with the mooks. There are lots and lots and lots of mooks in War Demons. They fight, they die and then there are more. I'm glad I'm not in charge of Newquist's Magic Mook Generator because if I were, I'd be overworked. The thing is, the use of so many mooks works. Why? Because A.) They present a palpable threat to our heroes and B.) they keep the good guys from getting to where they're going too quickly. War Demons is a book that generates a lot of suspense, and a lot of it comes from the little guys getting in the way.

Oh, and by the way..

If I admitted that part of my love of the mooks comes from a desire to screen shot a few of these pages and email them to the D+D group I DM with a caption like, "I wonder how you guys would handle this. I'll see you Thursday!" then, well...

I mean...

It's true. How could I be a Dungeon Master if I didn't have a bit of a sadistic streak? Honestly? How?

Of course where there are mooks, there needs to be a Big Bad of some type. I'm not going to say who, what or how, but there is definitely someone worth hating here. That's good. I like hating bad guys. It makes it more fun to cheer for the good guys. I have a strong dislike of the big bad in this one for a very particular reason, but I'm not going to say what it was here. If you really want to know, feel free to buy the book (as you should anyway) and find out what it was for yourself. I kind of feel like it should be fairly obvious to anyone who pays attention.

Something Newquist does get into a bit here is religion. I'm okay with that. The religion he's espousing is the one that both of my daughters were baptized into. I find that it works well within the story. I think that it really does add a dimension to what's going on. I just know that there are those of you out there who style yourselves as atheists and would be repelled by the thought of a book that includes religion. That is your right. I think it's a good story, but I'm telling you now so that you can't say I didn't warn you.

Overall though, this isn't a truly religious work and if some of the framework of Catholic belief seeps in, I'm alright with that. If you've read my reviews of Declan Finn's work you shouldn't be surprised about that anyway. As long as it fits the internal logic of the story and moves things along then it belongs there. I once read something similar in a book by Leonard Nimoy and I agree. He was speaking about the use of characters and why he wouldn't do Star Trek: Generations but the gist is the same. If it works, use it. If it doesn't, don't. In this case, it does.

As a complete work, I really enjoyed this book. The characters are believable. The action sequences are fun. If I wanted my shift at work to end earlier so that I could read War Demons, I suppose I'll have to forgive the author. That just means he did his job well. I'm looking forward to the sequel and I'm wondering when I'll see it. That's also a good thing. When the audience wants more, you know they loved what you've already done. We'll see when it hits. I'll make sure you see something here.

Bottom Line: 4.5 out of 5 Yellow Noses

War Demons
Russel Newquist
Silver Empire, 2019

War Demons is available for purchase at the following link:



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