Rick AnthonyBesprekingen

"Myrmidons were known for their cruelty. They maintained order and enforced Empire law without
question, protest or pity." Mia and her underground renegades are desperately trying to get out from the rule of the Empire. With the help of a drug made of Ku, some people are able to affect physical changes and become more than they are or something else. With the drug in hand Mia and her friends Grere, Kale, and Shari fight to the bitter end and hope that Mia has the strength to do what needs to be done.

Action-packed and quite enjoyable! There were some gory and disturbing parts, but overall I really liked this novel. I especially loved all of the various shifts, but Mia's especially, of course.

I was surprised by this book, It was definately a twist from what the normals come of shape shifters and their lives. It was packed full of suspense from the first page to the last I was eager to keep turning the pages and feeling out how the story would go. The characters were their own individuals without feeling they had blurred the lines and/or got lost in translation while others took a fore front. I am very pleased by how this book went and look forward to more the author has to write. I can't wait to see what might next pop out of their mind.

Red Smoke Rising has everything in a fantasy novel I love...action, lots of fantasy characters, including a minotaur, and a gritty, well thought out storyline that kept me interested from the very beginning. Sure, there are a few tiny story line character issues, things that happen which don't quite jive with the character's traits, but they are so insignificant that I am not even sure they are mistakes and maybe Mr. Anthony meant for them to be there. I can't wait to read another novel by Mr. Anthony as after reading Red Smoke Rising it isn't hard to tell that he is a very talented writer!

I was excited to get this book as a members give away. The beginning of the story is a little confusing, it jumped into action so fast that it did manage to pull me in so that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. But I never fell in love with any of the characters, one of them was down right terrifying. I had a hard time finishing the book, I wanted to give an honest review so I completed it. . Its true I am not a writer or an editor but as a reader I saw in this book a gem that was cut with too many faucets, its too bare bones. It is a great concept that needs more back story and more character development. It may have enough action to fill out two or three books if the characters were fleshed out and the back story of how they became suppressed. I am going to keep my eye out for more books by Rick Anthony, he does have an eye for interesting story lines. I would also like to see this book revised. Thank you for the opportunity.

I received a free copy through Member Giveaway

The basic story of this science fiction/fantasy novel is a group of oppressed people wish to drive out their oppressors. To do so, they have developed techniques using a special drug. Anymore specifics, and the story will be ruined.

And this is one story you want not to spoil. I was hooked from the first few pages! The plot is very fast-paced with unusual complications and surprises. The characters are interesting, especially some of those that appear later in the story. One character is downright chilling! While I'm not a huge fan of fantasy creatures, such as ogres or a Minotaur, in this story, they worked well and fit perfectly into the story-line. The writing is well done with only a few grammatical problems. The dialogue is terrific!

The only bad thing I have to say is I wished the author would have included a bit more description of his fascinating world. The book depends greatly on dialogue to move the story a long with short paragraphs of description. Maybe it's because I tend to read books with pages of description and only snippets of dialogue, but I would have like very much for more details and more background information on some of the minor characters and on the events. I really want to know more about this world Anthony created!

Overall, I was very impressed with this book, especially considering this is a first novel. I may not read it again for sometime, but I will be recommending it to friends. I will be looking forward to more books by Rick Anthony.

RICK ANTHONY'S "RED SMOKE RISING" (REVIEW)

A menagerie of imaginative creatures! This book was wonderful. Set in what seems to be a dystopian age, the war between the Myrmidon's and the population of shapeshifters begins. The villain Mir you will not soon forget as she poses a formidable obstacle.

This sci-fi/fantasy novel is fantastic, you don't want to pass up the chance to read it. After the realization of the secrets held in the Kuvale drug, the land is tossed into servitude to the Nor army.

The only ones that can stop it are Mia and her band of rebels. This book had non-stop action and a satisfying ending, a true must-read for fantasy and sci-fi fans.

-Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud Book Club

Fantastic book, the action didn't stop till the end. Can't wait for the next instalment by this up and coming author.

Rick Anthony's debut novel is a hell of a ride. The action starts off right away and doesn't stop. Anthony weaves the action deftly keeping the reader engaged from cover to cover.

I enjoyed this book. the world in which it is set is easy to understand. one country has found that auras can be manipulated by people under the influance of a certain drug, these have then taken over the country where the source of the drug is based.
Auras can be manipulated in a number of ways, to heal or cause pain, to augument people or animals (add strength or speed. with an army of extra strong men on fast horses how will the underdog ever escape from the tirrony.
this is the story of the hero and how this happens

I frequently hope when I pick up books by the smaller publishing houses, or those published independently that I will find originality and freshness. Being separate than what one might call 'more mainstream' publishing, I hope to find something new. Unfortunately, that isn't what I got with this book.

The plot, such as it is, boils down to Dune meets Warhammer40K with furries. The story reads like the setting for a tabletop role playing game, but without the rich lore that usually accompanies such things. The author tries to fit so much in that nothing is allowed any substance. While I can appreciate the blurring of the line between science fiction and fantasy that was attempted, it was not enough to distract from the fact that there was no character development. Everything seemed to just HAPPEN. This was further reinforced by the writing style. The author uses passive voice the entire time, which usually indicates very amateur writing. Furthermore, the author seemed particularly fond of certain phrases and words like 'sunk deep into flesh,' or 'snapped back to reality.' Sometimes these words were used more than once on the same page.

I didn't care about any of the characters and the drama/danger was presented so energetically that it seemed like the literary equivalent of the author waving his arms and saying, 'There's suspense here, take my word for it!'

Some of the ideas had a lot of potential, and I was mostly disappointed to not see them developed. Everything felt rushed.

I'm glad that other people enjoyed it, and I guess I have to wonder if I was just going in with too high expectations, but altogether I found this book trite, boring and poorly written. Quite literally, the best thing about it was that it was so short and only took a couple of hours to slog through.½

When I first received Red Smoke Rising, I wasn't sure what to expect. Even now, I'm not sure whether to categorize it as fantasy or scifi. What I do know is that it is one crazy ride. The first two hundred pages are like a roller coaster ride, the ups and downs so fast it is hard to keep your breath and, just as you reach the top and get a bit of a breather, the car drops and your stomach goes with it. But, if that's the first two thirds of the book, the last one hundred pages are like a free drop, never stopping, never slowing, until you reach the end and you realize you have been holding your breath the entire time. And, when you finally do catch your breath, all you can think is "I wanna go again!"

This is Rick Anthony's debut novel and, if it is any indication, he is definitely the guy to watch.

I’m not really into fantasy, at least lately. I have read quite a few in my teens, but later I was more interested in sci-fi. So I’m not a fantasy expert, but someone who wants to discover it. Red Smoke Rising is a good start, I can tell.

Fantasy books use different sources to explain how their magic works. In this book it is the drog called ku which makes possible shifting shapes, modifying material, augmenting human capabilities (and other magic) by altering the aura.

The story is about fighting over the possession of the drug. Who owns the ku, owns the magic, therefore owns the power. The story also about rebellion against oppression and fighting for liberty. The Nor empire took over the land of Muoro, and now it is the time for the slowly developing underground rebels to strike back and expel the powerful Myrmidon soldiers.

The book is fast paced, full of action, I liked that. I also liked that I met many kind of fantasy creatures like ogres, zombies, golems, werefolfs, trolls, even a minoatur and a dragon. The author gave explanations how they came into existence, and placed them in the story well. During the first two thirds of the story it was already interesting and entertaining, and in the third one it intensified and lead to a great battle of freedom. At that point I didn’t to put it down until the last page.

Concerning the characters, I would have appreciated some more build up. There were some minor things out of place, related to how they reacted in certain situations, but overall, they fulfilled their roles in the story. They were likable, even Oni, the ogre, and I could identify with them.

This is a truly engaging and entertaining read. I really enjoyed the way the author slowly fed the reader the background information about the world and society, I have read other books where the writer tried to pull this off and was left wondering about the motivation of the characters. This was not the case in Red Smoke Rising, the back story is there, the characters are well developed, and the action moves fluidly and smoothly. I highly recommend this book.

A Strong fantasy book will bring readers immediately into a world where danger lurks around the corner. World building is interesting and the characters are well defined and wonderful to take the ride with. Only flaw is the reader for the first few pages are left wondering what is going on, but stick with it because it is worth it.

I read this book in its entirety within a day, for the story had me captivated from the start. But I tend to agree with cat8864's review, in that I too, felt like I was missing parts of the overall story. A deeper sense of the Nor & Muorikin history, along with a better understanding of how the whole "aura" manipulations worked, would go along way in making clear to the reader, throughout the book, just exactly the entire meaning/purpose of the how's, why's & what the characters experience along their journey & as they work at defeating the Muorikin's. It's not entirely clear as to why there's such conflict between the two groups. Despite that...the story definitely has the required "backbone"/foundation needed to be a great story.

When I started this book I wasn't sure if I would like it. Before I knew it the book had sucked me in and immersed me in the story. I read it very fast and liked it quite a bit.

For "high fantasy" the book read more like something happening in our world. All the fantasy elements were written about like they were everyday things (which they were in their world).

Nice fast read for anyone.

A fairly engaging novel for something that had little detail.
I`ve seen books where drugs and `mutations` are featured as the norm, but this delivers it in a more or less natural manner that doesn't take over the entirety of the tale.
I would have liked to see more history on the Nor and Muorikin, as well as a better description of aura and it's manipulation. A lot of detail was left out - it made me feel like I forgot to read the previous book!
A bit more detail and character development and we`d be looking a sequal or trilogy from the entire plot.

"...I literally could not put this book down and read all 320 pages in one day...Rick Anthony is now at the top of my list of new authors to watch."

"...A well-executed SciFi/Fantasy novel can be tough to beat for pure entertainment, and Rick Anthony’s Red Smoke Rising is a near-perfect crystallisation of that form."

See links to full reviews at www.redsmokerising.com