Reader's Review: "Cracks in The Tapestry" by The Tapestry Group

Synopsis from Amazon:

What happens when the mundane and the fantastic meet? We get Cracks in the Tapestry.

Review for Cracks in the Tapestry follows description.
A former secret agent’s sister return from the dead, bringing with her mysteries surrounding her miraculous return?
A Reverend takes his message from God to a new planet eager to spread the gospel.
A NASCAR driver discovers there is much more happening on the track then he ever had imagined.
A thief must steal her love’s most prized possession.
A scientist discovers something very peculiar about an archeologist exhibiting odd behavior.
A newborn siren discovers a man who can resist her song.
A Sioux warrior must face off against the might of the US Military Remnant to defend his home and people.

Will you peer through the Cracks in the Tapestry?

>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

Ever since publishing Princess of Undersea for the first time in 2016, I had been looking for more publishing opportunities. In 2017, I contributed a short story to Dreamtime Dragons, and it was about that time that another group of authors from a writers' group I was part of on Facebook decided to produce an anthology, and we called ourselves The Tapestry Group.

The theme for the anthology was "when fantasy bleeds through into reality", and now that I have finally read all the stories involved, I wanted to review some of them!

Cracks in The Tapestry starts out reasonably well with "Ghosts of the Past" by Arthur David, a rousing crime-thriller style mystery tale of two sisters who had once been agents of a clandestine organization, until one sister got killed and then the other sister decided she wanted out of the organization. The twist? Five years later, the "retired" sister gets recalled when she receives word of an attack perpetrated by none other than her long-dead sister. What is really going on, here? Is someone impersonating her sister, or has the organization managed to do the impossible in her absence? I found the story relatively intriguing, although the pacing was a little clunky in places, and the ending felt rather abrupt--but all in all, a great start to the anthology, for sure!

Next up was "The Revival of Om" by R. Eric Smith--and I have to say, I found both his stories (he also had a second story in the anthology, "Through The Eyes") highly entertaining and unique! "The Revival of Om" is set up like a story of a preacher heading to the Wild West to present the Gospel to the native cultures, complete with a language barrier and a famously loose grasp of contrasting cultural practices... except that this preacher is coming from Earth and attempting to stage a revival on an alien planet. I was especially intrigued to see the way the preacher tried his best to stay straightforward in his presentation, yet when the translator attempted to further "translate" not just his words but the ideas into concepts more akin to the aliens' own belief system, the resulting communication gave new meaning to the phrase "lost in translation"! 

Smith took me on a journey again in "Through The Eyes", as a doctor heads to an asylum in the Congo Republic, where a brilliant researcher has suddenly and mysteriously gone insane, responding violently to her colleagues and babbling in some strange language. The doctor's process of figuring out how to calm her down, and then communicate with her yields some fascinating results--and the twist at the end that brings the payoff to all of the confusion and strangeness had me grinning with admiration! Smith is definitely an author I would read again in a heartbeat!

Of course, there was one story in the anthology I was most excited to read, because I am already a fan of the author. "Life at The Speed of Time" by J. D. Cunegan once again puts on display his strongest skill, and the one I most consistently enjoy across any of his stories: his sense of characterization. A NASCAR driver competing in Daytona experiences a strange sensation while in the middle of his race--not quite deja vu, but almost like magic. His reality is shaken, but as he learns more about it from his own racing team, he discovers that all is truly not as it seems! I think this story was probably my favorite out of the entire anthology! Cunegan does storytelling so well, throwing the reader right into the midst of the action through the eyes of a relatable point-of-view character, and we feel all the chaos, confusion, and curiosity that comes along with the incredible journey! (Definitely check out my reviews of other J. D. Cunegan books at the end of this review!)

The other stories in the anthology were quaint enough, just not as spectacular as the ones I've already mentioned. "The Sky-Rock Thief" by C. Scott Davis and "The Sioux" by Benjamin D. Pegg were both somewhat stories that followed characters from Native American backgrounds, with Davis' tale taking place far back in history, while Pegg's story brings the Lakotah culture far into the future. I found the contrast of time relatively interesting, but as far as the characters themselves, or even the plot, it just wasn't as thrilling as the others. And the final contribution to this anthology was a simple poem by Lorna Woulfe, a few stanzas describing the sensation and the experience we wish for the readers in this collection of stories, as they witness these "Cracks in The Tapestry."

My story "Heartsong", I'm opting not to review, but you can read a review of it from another reader by clicking the hyperlinked text! Here, I will just mention that it takes the archaic superstition that "a woman aboard a ship brings trouble" so the common response was just to throw her overboard, and turns it into "origin lore" for the mythical siren, a beautiful creature who could sing such alluring songs that men would throw themselves overboard at the sound of it. It was a fun tale to develop, not quite "Little Mermaid" but more along the lines of a gender-swapped, mermaid-themed "Beauty and The Beast", as my main character, a woman who became a siren after she was tossed overboard, and discovers a man who seems immune to her songs. She holds him prisoner until she can figure out what to do with him, or why she can't seem to drown him like the others.

On the whole, Cracks in The Tapestry celebrates the weird and wonderful dimension just beyond the "real world", and the writers who attempt to peel back that veil separating the two and give readers a glimpse of what is possible on a true flight of fantasy! I'm rating this anthology a solid ****4 STARS**** for the great storytelling on display, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody looking for a pleasant little "sample pack of imagination"!

Further Reading: (Anthologies/Also By The Authors)

The Jill Andersen Series--J. D. Cunegan
       -Bounty 
       -Blood Ties 
       -Behind the Badge 
       -Behind The Mask 

Punk Anthologies--Writerpunk Press Group
      -Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 1 
      -Once More Unto The Breach: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 2 
      -What We've Unlearned: Classic Literature Goes Punk

-Road Brothers--Mark Lawrence

-Dreamtime Dragons--Dreamtime Fantasy Authors

-The Longest Night Watch, Volume 1--Lacey D. Sutton (Editor)

-Notna--J. D. Cunegan

-The Night Alphabet--David M. Donachie

-Mythical Doorways--Fellowship of Fantasy

"What We've Unlearned: English Class Goes Punk" by Jeffrey Cook, et al.

Synopsis from Amazon:
14 high school English class favorites reborn. 14 ’punk versions you’ll have to read to believe! As a Connecticut Yankee is drawn from her bleak future life into the past, will the love and purpose she finds endure? After the robot Tom Sawyer’s house burns down, will Aunt Polly be safe if she takes him in? When Beowulf’s diesel-mechanized force of mercenaries goes up against their strongest foe yet, will it survive the conflagration that threatens their entire world? What We’ve Unlearned: Classics Go Punk is the fourth book in the series of ’punk stories (steampunk, cyberpunk, dieselpunk and more) inspired by classic stories you likely read in high school English class. Original stories are by Hans Christian Andersen, Jane Austen, the Beowulf poet, Carlo Collodi, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, Christopher Marlowe, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Mark Twain. All profits are to be donated to PAWS Lynwood, an animal shelter and wildlife rescue located in the Pacific Northwest. If you like a fresh take with a unique spin—including dirigibles, roaring diesel engines, and mechanical beings becoming alive—then you’ll love this anthology by Writerpunk Press. Unlock What We’ve Unlearned: Classics Go Punk to stray a bit from the beaten path and reexamine what you love about your favorite stories.
>>>>>>>>>

My Review: 
 

It isn’t often that I reach the end of a book and immediately want to read it over again from the beginning... But when I do, it is definitely a good book.

The Writerpunk group does it again! I swear, this is one group of artists who don’t quit! After being slightly “on the fence”, as it were, about my feelings for the second Shakespeare Goes Punk anthology falling slightly short of the rousing success of the first, I can definitely return to those first feelings because SWEET MOTHER OF ALL THINGS PUNK everybody absolutely nailed it this time! I could practically hear the original authors laughing and applauding at the fantastic adaptations these writers accomplished!

The anthology begins with "A Connecticut Rigger In King’s Court" (based on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court), a delightful cyberpunk/steampunk adventure by none other than Lee French. I knew I was in for a treat when I reached a certain exchange of dialogue and could not stop laughing! It was a delightful synthesis of two eras, exactly the way Twain tried it two hundred years ago, and it boded well for the rest of the book!

After the feel-good story, the anthology took a dramatic turn into the sweet-and-slightly-creepy clockpunk rendition of Pinocchio, called “Aurelia Awakes.” The sheer magnitude of the concepts addressed in the story had me gasping. Those who know the story know just how dark it really is, even the Disney version, and it fits nicely into the genre twist, near-gothic vibe of the tale. Excellent choice, and a striking adaptation!

There was a “classic punk”edition of a Sherlock Holmes mystery… but I wasn’t altogether sure where the “twist” part came in, since it felt more like a repeat of the original than the other stories here, but oh well!

I admit I was terribly excited to arrive at last at Nils Visser’s contribution, "The Rottingdean Rhyme"—a delightful little steampunk adventure based on a Rudyard Kipling poem I hadn’t read… but all the Visser charm worked together to make a marvelous story and characters I was positively smitten with!

The next few stories were fascinating, more because I was unfamiliar with the source material for most of them, but on the whole, I found them interesting stories in their own right: In "The Scout", the cyberpunk rendition of a Jack London short story carries all of the weight of peril and isolation that comes with exploration in barren lands that the original author communicated—this time, on a faraway planet, cut off from the rest of civilization by many lightyears instead of miles of ice. I wasn’t familiar with the source for the story "The War Room", and while I found the dieselpunk "Bea Wolf" entertaining, again, it didn’t carry the familiarity of some of the others—such as the steampunk Tom Sawyer, "AutomaTom."

Zounds, Gyzander is good at what she does! Consistently, in all the anthologies, she delivers a poignant, heartfelt story with vibrant characters and top-quality entertainment value… and this was no exception! Aunt Polly’s interactions with the automated Tom hold a quaint sort of intrigue, and the conflict she builds is both singular and full of hope. Marvelous!

Of course, as I ramble on through this review that wasn’t supposed to be this long (I’m trying, I promise!) I cannot dismiss my feelings for the “myth-punked” version of The Little Mermaid, titled "Muddy Water Promises." Striking, beautiful, and enchanting—it would be exactly what I would want someone to come up with, as far as adaptations of this story go, and Michelle Cornwell-Jordan executes it spectacularly.

As for the rest of the anthology, they were mostly steampunk: Anne, Buttons and Birds, based on Anne of Green Gables in absolutely the best way possible; a beautiful multi-punk rendition of a poem I didn’t know; A new rendition of Northanger Abbey (Set in a space colony, no less!) called "Of Folly and Fallibility" (Though this source work is one of the few Jane Austen I hadn’t read, but her quaint charm effused through even this delightful adaptation!); Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins (or as I like to call them, “The Wonder Duo”) teamed up again for a Steam-, cyber-, and Teslapunk version of A Christmas Carol called "The Consolidated Scrooge" and it is not to be missed—finishing off with a rousing steampunk “Huck Finn Versus The World”, which had quite a lot to say about the portrayal and judgment of “coggers” that would have had Twain himself handing out lusty huzzahs!

It goes without saying that this book gets a *****5 STAR***** rating, and the biggest most heartiest Upstream Writer Certified EMPHATICALLY RECOMMENDED. This review has rambled on long enough, but I cannot stress how important it is for everyone reading this to add this delectable tour of classic literature in new and exciting ways to your bookshelf, as a fitting contemporary companion to all the works represented therein.

Further Reading: (Other Works By Contributing Authors)

Punk Anthologies--Jeffrey Cook et al.
      -Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 1
      -Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 2: Once More Unto The Breach

Dawn of Steam Trilogy--Jeffrey Cook
      -First Light
      -Gods of The Sun
      -Rising Suns 

The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
        -Foul is Fair
        -Street Fair
        -A Fair Fight
        -All's Fair

Spirit Knights--Lee French
       -Girls Can't Be Knights
       -Backyard Dragons  

Lord of the Wyrde Woods--Nils Visser
     -Escape From Neverland
     -Dance Into The Wyrd

Literary A-B-C's

If you have....

Aslan in the Alley, or

  Boggarts in the Bath,

  Centaurs in the Courtyard,

Dustfinger on the Dash—

If Edmund eats his Eggs, and

  Farid forages Fruits, while

Glass men gild the Gas lamps, at

  Hogwarts, in the Hearth;

If Ix is Inconceivable, and

Jadis is a Jerk; if

  Kingsfoil by the Kilo leaves

  Lothlorien in the Lurch;

Or learn that...

Marvin has a Migraine, and

Nymphs are Nervous wrecks;

Ophelia is Overwrought, and

  Puddleglum’s com-Plex;

If you play

  Quidditch in the Quarry, with the

  Redcaps splitting Rocks, you might see

  Slartibartfast Slide on down, while

  Treebeard stops to Talk;

If you've heard that....

Underhill thinks he's Unique,

Viola's twin is Very chic;

Wizards wave their Wands apace at

Xenophilius' disgrace. (X!)

If Yorrick's buried in your Yard,

And Zaphod's catching Zzzz's—

You know you might be saying

Your Literary A-B-C's!

References by Category:

The Chronicles of Narnia—Aslan, Centaur, Jadis, Puddleglum

The Spiderwick Chronicles—Boggart, Nymphs, Redcap

The Inkheart Trilogy—Dustfinger, Farid, Glass men

Harry Potter—Hogwarts, Quidditch, Wizards, Xenophilius

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—Ix, Slartibartfast, Zaphod

Lord of The Rings—Kingsfoil, Lothlorien, Treebeard, Underhill

Shakespeare—Edmund, Ophelia, Viola, Yorrick

Poetry Tuesday: Practice Makes Perfect

Cover design (and the poem's inspiration!) courtesy of Emily Ecrivaine

In front of the mirror

She primps and she preens,

Her name on the posters,

Her face on the screens,

Hanging out with the "cool" kids,

Who do what she orders,

But when the chips fall,

She has no true supporters.

Over and over, and do it again;

Habits spring out of the time that we spend—

If your life isn't quite what you were expecting,

Practice makes perfect,

So what are you perfecting?

They speak and she listens:

Their advice is her guide;

"It's about what you look like,

Ignore what's inside!"

"Keep up with the fashions,

And wear yourself thin!"

Satisfying the world's passions

Setting out to fit in—

Over and over, and do it again;

Habits spring out of the time that we spend—

If your life isn't quite what you were expecting,

Practice makes perfect,

So what are you perfecting?

It's not a big deal,

Just a drink, just a puff!

She'll know when to stop,

When she's had just enough—

But sooner or later,

To refuse will be tough,

With peers come great pressure,

And quitting is rough.

Over and over, and do it again;

Habits spring out of the time that we spend—

If your life isn't quite what you were expecting,

Practice makes perfect,

So what are you perfecting?

One day she will wake up,

Her dreams have all flown;

And weeds have now sprouted

From the seeds she had sown;

Her life is so empty,

Her future unknown,

In pursuit of perfection,

She perfected ALONE.

Over and over, and do it again;

Habits spring out of the time that we spend—

If your life isn't quite what you were expecting,

Practice makes perfect,

So what are you perfecting?

You don't have to look flawless,

A kind heart will suffice;

You don't have to be known

For your tabloid-grade vice!

Your habits stick with you,

And they come with a price

Since practice makes perfect,

Make your practice precise.

Over and over, and do it again;

Habits spring out of the time that we spend—

If your life isn't quite what you were expecting,

Practice makes perfect,

So what are you perfecting?

©Leslie Conzatti (2014)

Poetry Tuesday: "Entry"

*All Pictures acquired from Google.com

The words go spinning through my head
Centrifugal force pushes them out my fingertips
Dancing onto the page where they stick
Like mice on flypaper, like alphabet stickers
Haven't I said enough?
But my mind cries out the more
Haven't I written reams of things?
One dozen followers stand by as the syllables waste unseen
The waste of my mind, wasting
My time and the space in my skull
Concentration limited—

Computers make it so easy
To never look another person in the eye.
All you would have to do is watch their hands
A screen, a scalp; a console, a cowlick;
A whole generation of heads bowed
Not to pray but to prey,
Swaying in worship of the worth-ship
Am I enough to draw your eyes?
No mean sketch of the ball, the organic  ellipsis; I mean
To pull them out of their digital distraction,
To focus the energy on mutual attraction,
To make words with the mouth and get a reaction,
Instead of treating what you hear as a personal infraction—
 

The world is so much bigger than what you can 
hold in the palm of your hand,
See it, see them, see me,
See life in all it's intricacies
The infinity of a human face
More angel than animal, a distinct race
A race with the capacity to recognize other races
Not color-blind, but equal,
Unique colors and build, but all human;
Celebrated for the contents of the heart,
The inside of a man has no race or color,

Heart and mind makes the man,
And these don't come in different shades;
It is for man to name the creatures, 
and not merely for their different features,
Lion, zebra, gerbil, cat;
No other animal lays claim to that—
 

The words buzz, beeing, in flight, alive;
Keeper of ideas, my mind their hive
Each thought in a cell,
Not chained but resting
Awaiting the time
When a thread needs testing
Thinner than sight,
Stronger than might—
The web of inspiration spans
Impossible distances, yet plans
Have their fill and reach the edges

Of the cloth, as woven tapestries
Of tales spread over warp and woof,
And threads of plot weave in and out;
The color and weight of words
Selected for their value and purpose;
What it's meant to represent,
Not just a thread, existing to hang,
But a part of an interconnected web,

Meshing, crossing, folding, holding,
Drawing you in, wrapping you close,
Like the embrace of a friend,
Like a smile, returning to the sender;
And so my words, spun out of my fingers,
Return to my heart.

Poetry Tuesday: The Shepherd Knight

On a wondrous summer day,

I saw a marvelous sight

Galloping o'er hill and dale,

I saw a stalwart knight;

he rode astride a powerful steed,

a beast fit to bear his master,

The wind, it sought to drive him back,

but the knight persevered all the faster.

On that summer's day, I saw the knight,

I watched him from afar,

A dragon rose, with scales so bright,

they shone just like the stars;

The dragon roared, with fearsome fire

he claimed the kingdom, all:

"No hero may stand before my ire,

I rule! Fear me and fall!"

The knight, he stood upon the ground,

His head unhelmed he there;

His armor he cast all around,

and faced the dragon, bare.

"You say I am a hero, worm,"

The stalwart youth declared,

"Yet here I show you my true form,

and tell you, I'm not scared!"

"Only a sheep-herd they send to me?"

The dragon cried in a rage,

"Will you herd me, like a lowly beast,

will you close me in a cage?

I am the mighty dragon-lord,

King above all kings!

The seas are in my flagon stored,

I feast upon all things!"

"Not so, foul worm," the shepherd cried,

"A KING doth reign on high,

Who rules o'er earth, the seasons, the tide,

Whom you shall not defy!

You say you have a fearsome wrath,

You threaten to scorch the land;

but MY KING, Who sent me down this path

has given you into my hand!"

"See, even now I have no shield,

My horse you have devoured;

but to MY KING you must needs yield,

or die within the hour."

The dragon scorned, "Thou puny cur!

Within my emerald claw,

I'll crush you, boy! You dare not stir!

You'll die between my jaws!"

The dragon bent his mighty head,

to fulfill his boastful word,

Yet in his haste to make him dead,

the dragon forgot the sword;

The youth, still holding his weapon fast,

cried, "Oh King, deliver Thou me!"

From within the throat he cut, till at last,

'Twas daylight he could see.

And so it was, that mighty youth

cut off the dragon's head;

In spite of fire and boasts, forsooth!

The awful beast was dead.

The shepherd-youth returned to town,

and behold, the people cheered,

"Our humble hero has thrown down

the monster we all feared!"

The youth proclaimed, "Good people, hear!

List to my voice's sound!

You have no need for dread or fear

when THE KING ON HIGH bears His Crown!

'Twas He Who gave me the strength to fight,

But for Him I would have none;

My armor, my steed, my sword, my might,

Could not do what MY KING has done.

"This day, let us give thanks to Him,

for this, His latest act!

And sing His praises, psalms and hymns,

And trust His Word as fact!

No power there is that can prevail,

when He says, "THOU SHALT NOT."

'Tis He who makes the warrior hale,

in Him should strength be sought."

I tell this tale upon this hour

To remind all you who hear:

'Tis humble faith wherein lies power,

not arrogance, wealth, or fear!

So trust this day in the King on High,

Almighty is His Name!

Then when false dragons rise up nigh, 

You, too, can do the same!