Michael Merriam
Autor von Last Car to Annwn Station
Über den Autor
Bildnachweis: Michael Merriam. Photo by Tim Cooper.
Werke von Michael Merriam
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Wissenswertes
- Gebräuchlichste Namensform
- Merriam, Michael
- Rechtmäßiger Name
- Merriam, Michael Scott
- Geburtstag
- 1965-02-19
- Geschlecht
- male
- Nationalität
- USA
- Geburtsort
- Flint, Michigan, USA
- Wohnorte
- Hopkins, Minnesota, USA
- Ausbildung
- University of Minnesota
- Organisationen
- The Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers
The Outer Alliance
The Science Fiction Poetry Association
The SteamPunk Artists and Writers Guild
The Online Writing Workshop - Kurzbiographie
- Michael Merriam was born in Flint, Michigan, in 1965. He spent most of his life in west-central Oklahoma and north Texas before moving to Minnesota in 1999.
Like most writers, Michael has done a variety of odd jobs over the years: actor, poet, late night disc jockey, short order cook, bassist in a rock-a-billy band, and booking agent for a puppet troupe. Michael is legally blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, and started writing seriously in 2003. Since then he has published over 70 pieces of short fiction, two novella, edited an anthology, and his first novel is set to be released in 2011 by Carina Press.
Michael is an Assistant Organizer and Convention Liaison for the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers, as well as a member of The Outer Alliance, The Science Fiction Poetry Association, The SteamPunk Artists and Writers Guild, and is a former member of The Online Writing Workshop.
Michael lives in Hopkins, Minnesota, with his wife and an ordained cat.
Mitglieder
Rezensionen
This book has a lot of elements that might attract readers: a magical streetcar, a zombie child, a multitude of fae creatures, references to Welsh mythology, and a bit of f/f romance. While many of those elements interested me at first, I found Last Car to Annwn Station to be so-so overall.
I felt like I spent a lot of this book waiting for things to happen. Through “Chrysandra”'s wall writings, I knew what was going on with her – mostly, she was trapped in one spot, trying to survive, watching the real Chrysandra rot, and waiting for an opportunity to either get help or attack her captors. I tended to prefer the scenes with Mae and Jill most when something more than information-gathering was going on – when they were being attacked by the hounds of the Wild Hunt, looking around or breaking into the Arnesons' home, or entering Annwn. Unfortunately, large portions of the book tended to bore me. There were too many scenes of people sitting or standing around, debating what to do.
The development of Mae and Jill's relationship seemed a little awkward. I found myself thinking that they would have made better, more natural friends than lovers. For a good chunk of the book, Mae was somewhat interested in Jill but wasn't really sure if those feelings were mutual. She didn't see how they could be, since she thought of herself as plain and Jill as gorgeous. Their first kissing scene was, in my opinion, badly timed – Jill was bandaged up quite a bit, and I kept wondering when Mae would accidentally hurt her. Their relationship did get to a point where it felt more natural, but the progression to that point could have been smoother.
The fantasy elements were a bit bland. This was not a book that reveled in complex magical systems or even descriptions of various faerie cultures and creatures. I'm still not really sure how an old Minneapolis streetcar fits in with Welsh mythology and, although I know that there were several fae creatures that looked different from each other, I couldn't tell you much about them besides that. The one thing that probably got the most attention was Annwn itself. Oh, and Death.
I was a little surprised at the book's horror elements, coming in the form of a rotting, zombified Chrysandra. There were several times I thought I'd gotten used to her and found myself sighing at yet another one of “Chrysandra”'s reminders that the real Chrysandra was rotting...and then something would happen that horrified me anew. I actually found myself more interested in Chrysandra and how she was getting on than I was in any of the fae creatures.
The last 20 pages or so really picked up the pace and grabbed my interest to the point where I stayed up a bit later than I had planned. I would have preferred it, though, if the book had wrapped up with something other than one of “Chrysandra”'s diary entries.
This wasn't a bad book. I worried about Chrysandra and her double, and I liked that the f/f elements were tastefully done (never once did it feel like Mae and Jill were putting on a show for male readers). I wondered how and if Mae and Jill would manage to save themselves and protect Chrysandra. However, the book didn't really have anything to it that grabbed me or would prompt me to reread it.
(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (mehr)
I felt like I spent a lot of this book waiting for things to happen. Through “Chrysandra”'s wall writings, I knew what was going on with her – mostly, she was trapped in one spot, trying to survive, watching the real Chrysandra rot, and waiting for an opportunity to either get help or attack her captors. I tended to prefer the scenes with Mae and Jill most when something more than information-gathering was going on – when they were being attacked by the hounds of the Wild Hunt, looking around or breaking into the Arnesons' home, or entering Annwn. Unfortunately, large portions of the book tended to bore me. There were too many scenes of people sitting or standing around, debating what to do.
The development of Mae and Jill's relationship seemed a little awkward. I found myself thinking that they would have made better, more natural friends than lovers. For a good chunk of the book, Mae was somewhat interested in Jill but wasn't really sure if those feelings were mutual. She didn't see how they could be, since she thought of herself as plain and Jill as gorgeous. Their first kissing scene was, in my opinion, badly timed – Jill was bandaged up quite a bit, and I kept wondering when Mae would accidentally hurt her. Their relationship did get to a point where it felt more natural, but the progression to that point could have been smoother.
The fantasy elements were a bit bland. This was not a book that reveled in complex magical systems or even descriptions of various faerie cultures and creatures. I'm still not really sure how an old Minneapolis streetcar fits in with Welsh mythology and, although I know that there were several fae creatures that looked different from each other, I couldn't tell you much about them besides that. The one thing that probably got the most attention was Annwn itself. Oh, and Death.
I was a little surprised at the book's horror elements, coming in the form of a rotting, zombified Chrysandra. There were several times I thought I'd gotten used to her and found myself sighing at yet another one of “Chrysandra”'s reminders that the real Chrysandra was rotting...and then something would happen that horrified me anew. I actually found myself more interested in Chrysandra and how she was getting on than I was in any of the fae creatures.
The last 20 pages or so really picked up the pace and grabbed my interest to the point where I stayed up a bit later than I had planned. I would have preferred it, though, if the book had wrapped up with something other than one of “Chrysandra”'s diary entries.
This wasn't a bad book. I worried about Chrysandra and her double, and I liked that the f/f elements were tastefully done (never once did it feel like Mae and Jill were putting on a show for male readers). I wondered how and if Mae and Jill would manage to save themselves and protect Chrysandra. However, the book didn't really have anything to it that grabbed me or would prompt me to reread it.
(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (mehr)
I have to say this is a very interesting story. I always find it interesting when a man writes from a woman's point of view, sometimes its done really well and sometimes it just rings as a man saying what he thinks women think about. I have to say that this was a pretty good women's point of view, especially since the man author wrote a book with mostly women main characters.
This to me felt more like a romance set in a paranormal/fantasy setting. There is definitely romantic intent on Jill's part toward Mae, and I personally think they are pretty cute as a couple. I think Jill is a solid character, much more sure of herself than Mae. She is more the aggressor in the relationship, but also she is a stanch fighter for those she cares about, especially Mae.
Mae I think is a highly inquisitive person, she wants to get to the bottom of thing, even when people try and shoo her away from them. This is how she finds herself in the middle of two worlds, the human world, and the fae world. She takes this newfound knowledge and ends up embroiled in more than even she bargained for. But Mae is a good person at heart, so she tries to do the best she can under the circumstances, and help as many people/worlds along the way.
I think this is a pretty decent book. I think anyone who enjoyed paranormal romance will enjoy this book. Also is you are looking for a romance that is a lesbian romance, then this is your book, it's a solid romance, with good foundation. The paranormal elements are also interesting and intriguing, and keep you turning the page.… (mehr)
This to me felt more like a romance set in a paranormal/fantasy setting. There is definitely romantic intent on Jill's part toward Mae, and I personally think they are pretty cute as a couple. I think Jill is a solid character, much more sure of herself than Mae. She is more the aggressor in the relationship, but also she is a stanch fighter for those she cares about, especially Mae.
Mae I think is a highly inquisitive person, she wants to get to the bottom of thing, even when people try and shoo her away from them. This is how she finds herself in the middle of two worlds, the human world, and the fae world. She takes this newfound knowledge and ends up embroiled in more than even she bargained for. But Mae is a good person at heart, so she tries to do the best she can under the circumstances, and help as many people/worlds along the way.
I think this is a pretty decent book. I think anyone who enjoyed paranormal romance will enjoy this book. Also is you are looking for a romance that is a lesbian romance, then this is your book, it's a solid romance, with good foundation. The paranormal elements are also interesting and intriguing, and keep you turning the page.… (mehr)
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Statistikseite
- Werke
- 10
- Auch von
- 4
- Mitglieder
- 39
- Beliebtheit
- #376,657
- Bewertung
- 3.9
- Rezensionen
- 3
- ISBNs
- 7
We get the story from 3 points of view, all of which are in first person. I didn’t always pick up whose viewpoint we had shifted to and had to backtrack a few times.
The plot… well, weirdness happens, and the characters try to deal with it :) No point thinking about plausibility or realism since it’s not the kind of story you want to pick apart that way.
Overall, a fun popcorn read with miild horror.… (mehr)