The tribes and races of man believe the god Kuiper created the cosmos and the stars. The material left behind became the belt that surrounded the solar system of Trine, protecting it from the fiends of the dark. The god Kuiper supposedly created the Belt, the wall of moving glittering rock seen as a line of white in the Dark. He created dragons, immortal guardians of the belt to protect Trine, cradle and home to the races. It was the dragons who were there to destroy any of the outer dark that found its way through Kuiper’s belt. Dragons are immortal, but immortal doesn’t mean unkillable.

* * * * *

“How long until we get there?” Anvresus growled irritably. “And don’t say soon. I’m tired to death of ‘soon’.” General Anvresus was the overall leader of the expedition, but he knew that their very lives were in the hands of the wizards that kept them safe from the emptiness of the dark. Dressed in a peacock display of aqua, yellow, red, and black, Wizard Secundus Perrin Nott smiled irritatingly at the General.

“We’ll get there … soon enough …”, he said with quiet superiority. “Nordaadan knows her way. We’ve seen it and she knows her destination. She can’t do anything else.”

Nordaadan soared through the Void oblivious to the frayed tempers within her. Her huge ivory wings beat against the aether, their tireless movement propelling her towards the Kuiper belt. The faint light of the stars gave her scales an iridescence at odds with her tattered skin that barely covered her oddly sprung ribs and stomach. In this distorted portion of her body protruded a clear crystal tube rounded on each end. The tube occupied the entire space from her ribs to to her pelvis.

All internal organs were removed excepting the brain and the heart to hold the spells required to animate her corpse. Inside the crystal cylinder were spheres of darker glass where her ‘passengers’ survived safe from the cold of the Void. They rustled about in their crystal pressure hull walking from one greenish sphere to another. All told there were forty men and women who maintained the spells to the brain to coordinate the body and the heart to recycle the air in the crystal and spread magic through the body to allow animation. Also on board were one hundred of the Banoor Empire’s best soldiers. Their destination was the Kuiper’s belt – the rumored protection of the world and Nordaadan’s original lair.

General Anvresus’ scowl deepened.

“How. Long. Willuk.”

The Wizardus sighed dramatically, irritated by the deliberate omission of his title.. He turned with a swirl of his robe and then turned back to face Anvresus. “I don’t know. The dragon’s memories do not count exact bits of time. Those who are keeping the brain know we are close, but how close is measured in draconian considerations, not human.” He paused and presented a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “So, please, stop asking.”

I got to thinking about light speed and came to perhaps a different conclusion than the accepted norm. As something approaches the speed of light, time slows down around it. The limiting factor might not be speed but time. If you exceed the speed of light, would time stop? Would it reverse itself? I doubt the latter but the first may be possible. There is a speed barrier at the speed of light, much like how there was a barrier to the speed of sound for aircraft flight. I don’t know what it will take to exceed it, but I do believe (without solid science to back me) the speed of light can be exceeded. It make take doing a lot of experimentation with time as the barrier due to the changes occurring in and around an object that approaches light speed.

‘A Classic Beginner’s Mistake’ is an interesting title in the sense it’s about a situation that is minor to the story but does encompass the entirety of the story. The main character is a fencer, currently closer to a beginner than a master swordsman. Asking a question prompted by his instructor Odessa Rae Clover, to swordmaster Vergil whom he was reporting to in order to correct a problem, Trevo was told by Vergil that if he wanted the answer he would have to fight for it.

The story is well crafted and detailed enough to help the reader through the action scenes without slowing down the pace. The world and the reason for Trevo’s assignment to well described in a unique setting that adds a detailed background that does an excellent job of supporting and coloring the main story. I enjoyed this story and would recommend for the swordplay and the unique magical realm that the story is centered in.

This is a misleading statement but it’s also a true one.  AI is amazing and the design and production is increasing rapidly.

Dangerous Inspiration is very much a nuanced statement for the title and the novel itself. it describes the situation all the artists that are accepted at the art colony ‘Interlude’ only to be trapped by a Nor’easter storm that traps them in the colony where an exotic series of murders occur. Interestingly, every member of the colony has a situation where violence and/or death occurred in their past life that they may or may not have deliberately taken part in.

The protagonist, Ronan Mezini, also has his own brush with death, being the detective that solved a notorious serial killer case. But there was a scandal involving brutal interrogation techniques in his past that he may or may not have taken part in. All of it combines to create an atmosphere of misdirection where more than one artist could be linked to a murder that occurs.

The writing is a little jerky at the beginning, but smooths out quickly and is very entertaining. The occurrences at the colony are like half-seen through rippled glass. There’s enough description to give you an idea of who and how something happens, but not enough for you to really grasp what the reason was and who might have been involved.

For me, when the group of artists switches location to another hotel, does the story shift to a higher gear. The activity is more sparse, but the dialog and flow more than make up for the shift in perspective. It was my favorite part of the story. The ending felt a little overcomplicated, but the information did connect together logically and the deductions and reveal do allow you to look back and see in the earlier parts where those clues surface.

This is an intriguing and fun read, especially in the second half of the book. I plan on getting a copy to enjoy.