Monthly Archives: April 2015

Romeo Checks In … Again.

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Hey everyone!
Thought I would do a bit of a roundup post again as a lot has been going on recently.

As many of you know, my wife Kat is currently in hospital. She was admitted two weeks ago and is quite poorly with her Crohn’s.
She has had it for twenty five years and I can tell you this, she will not let it beat her!
I wanted to thank all of you who have sent us some lovely messages over the last couple of weeks it means a lot to us both.

In other news I have some links to share of what trouble I have been getting up to.

So I did a Cornish Fae-noir short story for the fantastic Fox Spirit Books blog which you can read here. http://www.foxspirit.co.uk/spinning-tails-animals-and-cornish-spyrys-fae-by-r-a-kennedy/

This story was then reviewed by the lovely Steve Taylor-Bryant for  The Garbage File. And it’s lovely
http://www.garbage-file.com/2015/04/short-story-spinning-tales-animals-and.html?m=1

So, then the wonderful S. C. Flynn interviewed me as part of his fantastic series in which he is interviewing bloggers from the SFF community and I really urge you to take a look at the series if you haven’t already done so. My interview is linked below. It was a lot of fun
http://scflynn.com/2015/04/17/interview-with-romeo-kennedy-the-moustached-man/

And last, but by all means not least, I’m now a part of the team for Vent Spleen. Which is a fantastic blog run by the wonderful David Martin. I will be a regular contributor on the site and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to be part of something quite special as I get to ramble on about things that I haven’t had the chance to do on here. There is something for everyone on the site. Check it out, as the cool kids say.
So my recent article on the VS site is about the brilliant TV series Dark Angel and the predictions it made.
http://ventspleenuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/through-glass-dark-angel-glimpse-of.html?m=1

And that’s it. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Stay cosmic.

Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson: Review

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“Found guilty of a terrible crime he didn’t commit in 1986, 15-year-old necromancer Finn Gramaraye was exiled to the Other Realm for 25 years. But now he’s back in the mortal world and is disappointed to discover that he’s middle-aged, DeLoreans can’t fly, and he’s been framed for using dark magic, again.

All Finn wants is to pick up the pieces of his life and patch things up with his family: his mad scientist father, the ghost of his mother, a sister who is allergic to magic, a younger brother who thinks he’s a werewolf and an older brother who is most unhappy to see him. But with just three days to clear his name before he’s sent back into exile forever, Finn will need all the help he can get to figure out who wants him gone, and why.”

We all love a bit of nostalgia. And Henderson’s debut is packed full of good old geeky nostalgia. Whilst at the same time opens the readers eyes to a modern day fantasy with all its rules and regulations vigilantly kept in check by the Arcana.
The mixture of both of these elements added with the comedy factor makes for a very quick paced and engaging read.

It becomes quite clear to the reader from the start, that Finn is a bit of a geek, but Henderson hasn’t written the main character in the stereotypical fashion.
Big Bang Theory, I’m looking at you.
Added with the fact that Finn is a Necromancer and can talk to the dead. Henderson has certainly created an interesting character flaws and all.
Then we have Zeke. Who is an ex ARC enforcer (Arcana Ruling Council)
Now, Zeke is reluctantly thrown into Finn’s crazy life and even more reluctantly helps Finn to prove his innocence. Zeke can only be described as an amalgam of Don Johnson, B. A. Baracus, and a Viking. Very much a badass with a heart. As well as being able to hold his own against the Fae (who after years of war have a very fractious relationship with those of the Arcana) Zeke can also do magic with … um, urine.
Then we have Vee who is a were-squirrel. And is also Zeke’s sister as well as being an integral part of Finn’s story, piecing together lost memories of Finns when he came out of exile and being rather handy in a fight.

Henderson has crafted an intriguing world within a world with it’s own laws and diversity. The magic system is simple and effective, and has everything I love about magic,  endless possibilities but also harsh consequences.
I’m not going to spoil the ending but I really didn’t see it coming, actually I think I used a swear to show my disbelief. In a good way of course. It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens to Finn next.

Finn Fancy Necromancy is a fun fast paced novel. The A-Team meets magic and mayhem. Or as I like to call Finn’s friends and family, The Fae Team!
A really strong debut that leads to what looks to be a really cool series with a great cast of characters.
The eighties nostalgia is a brilliant touch, and as someone who was born in 86 I approve muchly.

P.S Finn thinks a bluetooth is called a Bluebeard. I propose we change the name Bluetooth to Bluebeard.

Finn Fancy Necromancy is out now from http://titanbooks.com

Romeo Checks In

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Hello lovely people.
So, things have been a little quiet on the ol’ blog recently.
Don’t worry I’m not going anywhere.
I have been a busy Pisky of late, and in between working on my novel and various short stories, tackling the wonderful Malazan series and some other fabulous books that are waiting to be read in the TBR pile, and badly burning my hand on a pizza (Ouchy)
I have also been working on a few articles for other folk on the Interwebz. Two of which dropped this week which I shall post the links to below.
So I thought I would check in and let you know that I haven’t been kidnapped by Goblins … Yet.

As I’m sure you are aware the SFF community lost two Giants recently in the form of Leonard Nimoy and Sir Terry Pratchett whose deaths really affected me, and it took me a while to be able to write down some thoughts about it. The lovely Paul Weimer @PrinceJVstin  put out a Mind Meld invite on Twitter and many responded. The topic was about the Impact that both Nimoy and Pratchett have had within the community. The Mind Meld on SF Signal are always worth checking out and I’m honored to have participated (plus my name is next to Scott Lynch :mrgreen:) http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2015/04/mind-meld-remembering-terry-pratchett-leonard-nimoy-part-one/

I’m also over at the Horror Blogsite Haddonfield Horror talking about the 1982 classic Poltergeist as well as this years remake. I also relay my opinion on remakes in general. http://www.haddonfieldhorror.com/2015/04/remake-remake-mommy-tv-people-are-here.html?m=1

Stay tuned for an Incoming review of Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson.

Stay cosmic folks