New Features on my Blog
Now that I have a few more followers, I wanted to add a little more structure to how my blog posts run. I’m going to try going to the twice a week posting schedule, once on Mondays and once on Thursdays. On Mondays, I will run a personal post about writing trends, the craft of writing, etc. On Mondays, I will also give an update on what I’m working on that week. On Thursday, I will run a feature, such as a book post, a website review, etc. If something really great happens in between, I’ll post about then whenever.
I’d like to start off this schedule with a book review of “The Hidden Sun” by J. Lloyd Morgan.
(Note: I’m trying out a new review format. My reviews will have two sections: What I Liked as a Reader and What I Learned as a Writer. For the first part, I’ll put on my reader’s hat (a nice casual panama hat) and give a traditional review about what I thought of the book. In the second section, I’ll put on my writer’s hat (a dapper top hat) and will talk about what I noticed either good and/or bad that we all can learn from.
What I Liked as a Reader
The first thing that impressed me about “The Hidden Sun” was that it walks a path that few books these days do: it has a medieval setting, but does not rely on fantastical elements to tell the story. “The Hidden Story” is a wonderful story of political intrigue and family legacy. I genuinely cared about the characters and the action kept me hooked on the story.
The reader might find the names a little difficult, but the author has provided a helpful pronunciation guide at the beginning to help you out. When reading, be sure to keep the characters straight as the story sometimes jumps around quickly from one character’s story to another.
One thing I noticed about the names was the theme of sunlight throughout the book, which is reflected both in the actual weather and in the names of the characters. I can’t say much about the names without giving the plot away, but I feel that this was elegantly done and added both depth and beauty to the story.
“The Hidden Sun” was just released in its second edition, with a beautiful new cover. It will be continued with “The Waxing Moon”, another exciting installment in the story.
What I Learned as a Writer
Sometimes the best way to draw the reader in is to do something a bit unexpected. When I saw the medieval setting, I thought “Where’s the wizard?” and “There are bound to be some elves showing up any time now.” Instead, it read a lot more like historical fiction, which I also really love, and instead focused on the political intrigue and family legacy. That resulted in a satisfying read.
Books by Michael D. Young 