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Book Review: Tears of the Dragon (Kiranis #4) by Ronald A. Geobey

 

 

cover art for Tears of the Dragon by Ronald A. Geobey

Tears of the Dragon by Ronald A. Geobey

Temple Dark Publishing, 2026

ISBN: 9781068250743

Available: Hardcover, ebook edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

The fourth volume in Ronald A. Geobey’s magnum space opus, Tears of the Dragon continues along the path established by the previous three volumes: multiple plotlines intertwined with many characters, all heading for various unknown outcomes. This is SERIOUSLY complex stuff, on the level with the most multi-faceted material Kim Stanley Robinson or Frank Herbert ever wrote. This saga is likely to have a very devoted following over time, but it’s for certain types of readers. In other words, the mass appeal may be a bit limited, but the fans of the series will love it.

 

I’ll admit I got somewhat left in the space-dust on where all of this is heading, and my comprehension of the plot is pretty limited. However, that did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. Here’s an analogy. I love the films The Departed and Interstellar, yet even after multiple viewings, I still can’t figure out all the plot points of either film. This series is much the same way. I can’t make head or tail of it at times, but it’s still a good read. I like seeing what the characters are doing, the action taking place, and all the twists to the plot. When this series finally reaches its conclusion, I fully expect that I may not even comprehend it, but so what? As the Grateful Dead famously said, “at least I’m enjoyin’ the ride.”

 

For all that, that doesn’t mean that the author has written an impenetrable story. This isn’t Finnegan’s Wake. I’ve always had trouble with stories that involve time travel and multiple dimensions, and this story has a lot of that. There’s also a lot to keep track of, and I forget things. I still enjoyed the story, though, especially the thread with Cassandra Messina as the Empress. I’m still not sure how she was cloned multiple times, with the original model appearing at the same time as a clone, years later, but again, no sense worrying about it. I found the story captivating, all the same. There was a discussion between two characters in the area of page 170 that I would like to see a bit more of in the series, almost a break to help explain part of the plot. More little sections like that would be helpful for readers like me, who struggle with hard sci-fi, and I would like to see a few more of those interspersed within each book.

 

Overall, this series is one that is likely to have individuals with very strong opinions about it, from both supporters and detractors. One thing is certain: the world-building and layering of plot threads is staggering. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done on this scale before. Regardless of whether you love or hate this series, it’s a monumental achievement that is almost impossible to ignore. Recommended for fans of the series. For new readers who want to give it a shot, make sure to start with the first book: you CANNOT read this series out of order.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on October 18, 2026 by , Reply

Book Review: Kiranis: Pawns of the Prophet (Kiranis #2) by Ronald A. Geobey

cover art for Kiranis: Pawns of the Prophet by Ronald A. Geobey

Kiranis: Pawns of the Prophet (KIranis #2) by Ronald A. Geobey 

Temple Dark Books, 2022

ISBN: 9781838259464

Available: Paperback, Ebook

Buy: Amazon.com

 

The saga continues…

 

The second volume in the Kiranis series, Pawns of the Prophet contains all of the elements that made Gods of Kiranis a breathtaking (or maddening) tale, depending on perspective.  If you enjoyed the first book, there’s nothing in this one to dissuade readers from continuing the journey through one of the most unique sci-fi sagas ever written.  New readers: you must read the first one before the second: you’ll be utterly lost, otherwise.  

 

The story takes place 100 years after the first book, but ties into those events, and the scale of the story has widened further into the galaxy.  Once again, it’s incredibly well written, with a multi-layered, extremely complex plotline.  It’s split into large sections, each focusing on a particular group, but unlike last time, the parts run in a more linear fashion.

 

Enjoying the book will depend greatly on the reader, and HOW you approach it.  There are some readers who will breeze through this and comprehend all the details and plot tie-ins with one shot, but they will probably be the minority, you’d almost have to have an eidetic memory.  There is no fluff or filler, everything is written with a purpose, with items that show up halfway through the 400+ pages relating all the way back to the prologue.  The details are important, but they are often quite spread out in how they relate to each other.  That’s what makes this book a little tricky to read.

 

My personal approach?  I’m a reader that likes to understand all the story links in the chain, I want to know how A connects to B, to C, all the way to the end.  So, I read a few chapters, then read them again and took notes on what I considered important.  No joke- I ended with 20 pages of notes, plus a list of characters with rough descriptions, it ran over sixty characters.  It was a lot of extra time, but it helped immensely with connecting the plot points, I used my notes often for story comprehension.  As a result, for me the story all made sense from beginning to end.  Most readers probably won’t need to do this, but that’s what it took for me to fully enjoy the book, and it was well worth the extra time.  This just helps to illustrate how intricate the plot is

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Don’t let the above scare you away-there are plenty of readers who will read this for pure enjoyment, zip through and enjoy it to the end, although they might not know exactly how they got to the end, or what just happened.  Fully grasping the author’s vision will likely take more time and thinking then it would for most books.  

 

Bottom line: highly recommended: there really isn’t anything out there like this, and the journey’s barely begun, since there are supposed to be at least 4 more volumes.  Do yourself a favor and take a chance on the series: epics like this are rare and deserve a look.

 

Recommended, highly so for lovers of elaborate stories.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on January 20, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Sha’Kert by Ishmael Soledad

Sha’kert: End of Night by Ishmael Soledad

Temple Dark Publications, 2021

ISBN: 9781685132040

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

 

The future.

 

The polar ice caps have melted.

 

Those who survived…(whoops, that was Waterworld.  Let me try again)

 

The future.

 

The Amish have crash-landed on a distant planet.

 

Those who survived…have adapted to a new world.

 

That’s the odd but entertaining genesis of Sha’kert, one of the more unusual sci-fi books of the past few years.  It’s a creative, enjoyable read for fans of human conflict stories, brought down only a bit by a somewhat muddled ending.

 

It’s important to note that this is not a survival story in the same style of masterpieces like Verne’s Mysterious Island and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.   There’s little detail concerning how the characters survive on a new world, while starting with minimal supplies.  The story’s focus is the conflict between the Amish and another family that survived the crash, consisting of Greg, his wife Louise, and their daughter Penny.  They aren’t Amish, but are the typical modern, tech-obsessed, cell phone-crazed family.   A doubting Amish youth, Henry, also contributes as a character who is sort of in the middle.  It’s the discord between old and new ways that the author concentrates on and he does a good job of it, presenting both sides without sounding preachy or political.  In the story, all the characters need each other at first to survive, but once they get established and survival is ensured, strife ensues over the possibility of outside contact.  Greg and Henry want to explore the planet in hope of finding others, while most Amish would prefer to have no contact with anything or anyone, preventing their being influenced by outside ideas.  It’s why the left Earth in the first place: dealing with outsiders was becoming unavoidable.  To the author’s credit, all the characters have viewpoints reasonably presented, and the book avoids coming off as biased towards either old or new ways.  It’s an engrossing story of personal convictions, and the problems that stem from the inability to compromise.  

 

It’s only the last quarter of the book that is a bit of a letdown.  The communication between the characters and what they are trying to convey gets somewhat confusing, and the plot wanders away from the original premise with a new religious angle that doesn’t fit with the rest of the book. The story could have been wrapped up in a neater, less metaphysical fashion.

 

Bottom line: this is a good sci-fi tale that does well when it stays on focus, and has more meaning and material worth pondering over then the standard science fiction novel.  Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson.

Posted on June 22, 2023 by , Reply