(2011) Fantasy written by the husband of the couple that broadcast Eclectic Review each week. First I have read by him. I liked the book but may not read any subsequent ones. The book seemed to be almost a video game on paper and a little simplistic in plot. Depending too much on violence and coincidence to be even plausible. Malja is on a quest to kill the two men who raised her then abandoned her after killing her uncle. Along the way she rescues Tommy, a young boy who is acquiring magical powers. Also joining her are a group of people with various motives who want to kill the two men. Ends as a floating castle plunges to their demise and the group just barely escape (of course).(Smashwords) Short descriptionMalja wants answers. The most powerful magicians in Corlin ripped her from her mother's arms, raised her to fight, and abandoned her to die at age ten. Now, as they attempt to recreate the spells which wiped out most of the world's population, Malja pursues vengeance with a single-mindedness that may destroy all she holds dear, forcing her to choose between those she lost and those she has gained. Extended descriptionMalja wants answers. She wants to know why the two most powerful magicians in all of Corlin ripped her from her mother's arms, raised her only to fight, and then tossed her away to die at age ten. She wants to know why they are trying to recreate the spells which caused the Devastation that wiped out most of the world's population, leaving behind skeletal cities and abandoned technology. And she wants to kill them.With Tommy, an orphan bearing the tattoos of a sorcerer, she crosses this shattered land. Despite the challenges they face -- crazed magicians, guitar-playing assassins, mutated beasts -- Malja pursues her vengeance with a single-mindedness that may destroy all she holds dear, forcing her to make a terrible choice between the family she lost and the one she has built.

Disclaimer: This was read and reviewed at the request of the author, who provided me with a free digital copy of the book in order for me to do so.

Stuart Jaffe’s THE WAY OF THE BLACK BEAST is a post-apocalyptic fantasy novel featuring a strong female lead who is skilled with weapons and fighting. Abused and abandoned as a child, Malja is out for revenge. In her quest to find the responsible parties and exact her revenge, Malja is accompanied by a small, diverse (perhaps mismatched?) band. Most of them are human. One is mute. Membership in this band is rather fluid. While these companions generally help her in her quest but they occasionally cause diversions. Sometimes they get in her way; sometimes they draw her away.

Malja's personality comes across well. She’s a no-nonsense, abrupt woman who knows what drives her but who feels conflicted about killing. Jaffe skillfully lets Tommy express strong feelings, even though he can’t talk. Fawbry is a complex character, not very likable but not completely despicable, and certainly not predictable. Tumus is a human-like being who seems to spend much of every waking moment in sorrow and despair.

The basic storyline is a classic one. The protagonist sets out to achieve her revenge but endures pangs of conscience along the journey. The guilty parties meet their demise in the end, but not because the protagonist is successful. Instead, fate has judged them and found them wanting, and the protagonist has a role in that judgment being meted out. The protagonist has come to a deeper knowledge of themselves and has made a change for the better. Along the path to self-knowledge, the protagonist encounters various obstacles, both physical and psychological, that stand in the way of reaching their goal.

World-building in science fiction and fantasy stories is critical. Many fantasy novels are lengthy simply because it takes a lot of words — even in the hands of a talented writer — to create a world for which we are willing to suspend our disbelief. I found Jaffe’s world-building challenging in several areas.

First, the naming of people (and vaguely-human creatures). There is a mix of names in this novel that range from the commonplace (e.g., Tommy) to the unusual (Tumus the Chi-Chun). I was confused why there should be such a mix. To me, there should be at least a suggestion of a certain logic behind selecting names, even those that are totally contrived. The names in this novel seemed randomly assigned.

Second, the history of Jaffe's world. This history includes a catastrophic event called the “Devastation.” Because of the event (described as an explosion), the appearance of technology (including electrical power), and the use of some common names, it would be natural to assume that Malja’s world is a future version of our own world. (The use of titles such as "Mayor" and "Ms." also contributes to this.) The nature of the Devastation is never adequately explained, nor how magic and technology are able to coexist (with magic ascendant).

Third, creatures. Strange and dangerous creatures -- mutants from the Devastation -- are commonplace in this world. Jaffe is certainly imaginative in coming up with these creatures, but I felt that the story attempted to weave in too many kinds of creatures too quickly. In the first quarter of the book alone, there are seven of these creatures introduced. Masters at creating post-apocalyptic bestiaries, such as Terry Brooks and Justin Cronin, only introduce as many new creatures as they need — no more and no less — and they do this at a more measured pace.

Finally, Jaffe's systems of magic - involving tattoos and music - are well-developed, but religion seems out of place. The relationship between the two predominant religions is explained, but the concept of religion really plays no important part in the story and could have been left out.

The story of Malja and her companions continues in a handful of sequels to this novel. I expect that the unanswered questions from this first story are answered in the later tales. In the end, THE WAY OF THE BLACK BEAST was entertaining, but not compelling.
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The Way of the Black Beast (The Malja Chronicles #1) by Stuart Jaffe is an awesome, female kick ass lead character, fantasy/sci-fi novel that kept me intrigued, excited, and tensed up. I felt like I was doing the fighting the writing was so realistic. My muscles were so sore from tightening up! I love his books anyway and I loved this book. I got the audio narration so I could read and/or listen which is great and only a few dollars more but well worth it if I needed to do something I can continue the story. This has great characters, a wonderful plot, and great action, magic, fantasy, and more! I can't say enough about this book. I have book 2 read to go! ( )

When you are twisted by two magicians, you learn how to fight without thinking.

Malja hates magicians. Tommy isn't one yet, and if she has anything to do with it, he never will be. Unfortunately, it isn't possible to interfere with the fate of another.
When she was a child, Malja was taken by twin magicians who trained her to kill. When it became obvious that she had no talent for magic, they tossed her out. Lucky for Malja, she wasn't killed as ordered. Now she travels the wasteland of her destroyed world seeking the twins with one aim, to kill them.

The black beast drives her with its rage to destroy whoever gets in her way. ( )

Disclaimer: This was read and reviewed at the request of the author, who provided me with a free digital copy of the book in order for me to do so.

What can I say about this book? In short.. It wasn't all that great. The plot was bland and repetitive, the bad guys were very stereotypical and weak, and the main character.. She wasn't interesting at all. No personality, nothing to make me either like or dislike her. The side kicks all felt very interchangeable, you couldn't really differentiate one character from another. They all felt the same; very one-note and boring.

As for the world building... It hit on one of my pet peeves. The story reads like it's set on earth.. But it's not earth, it's some other place. I can't even recall the name of this other planet/place, because it was only mentioned once. But for all intents and purposes, it was earth with a new name and a couple new words/terms thrown in along with a couple of invented creatures. This annoys the shit out of me. For the love of God, if you don't want to invest some real time and energy into world building, just call it earth. It was supposed to be post-apocolyptic anyway, why does it need to be PA on another planet? It just feels lazy.

Back on the plot.. Bland. Repetitive. Yes, I used these words before, but I feel like they needed to be used again. It was just the same thing over and over.. Tracking down the bad guys, a plot point hurdle to jump, an anti-climatic battle scene, rinse and repeat. And talk about anti-climatic.. The final battle? Really lame. Just saying.

The only reason this is getting two stars instead of one is that it was actually written pretty well, all things considered. Any time I read a self published author, I go into it expecting typos galore and awkward writing.. I didn't see much of that at all in here. There were a few typos here and there, and a couple of sections where the writing made me cringe, but overall it was much better than I expected. ( )