Michael G. Munz

Zeus Is Dead is a 2015 IAN Book of the Year Award Finalist!

August 16, 2015 By Michael G. Munz Leave a Comment

Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure just got its first big honor: a FINALIST in the 2015 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards! And there’s even a snazzy looking seal to prove it…

Zeus Is Dead: 2015 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Finalist

See what all the fuss is about: Click the image to grab your copy!

So of course I’m taking the opportunity here to re-plug the book, which fantasy author Jody Lyn Nye called “full of laugh-out-loud moments, lashings of sly wit, moan-worthy puns, and a complex, fast-paced storyline.”

“I have not enjoyed a tongue-in-cheek comedy book this much in a long, long time.”
–Abyss & Apex Magazine

THE GODS ARE BACK.
DID YOU MYTH THEM?

Book Review: Crooked by Austin Grossman

August 13, 2015 By Michael G. Munz Leave a Comment

My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5)

“What if our nation’s worst president was actually a pivotal figure caught in a desperate struggle between ordinary life and horrors from another reality? What if the man we call our worst president was, in truth, our greatest?”

These are the questions posed by the new novel Crooked by Austin Grossman—indeed, the quoted text is from the official book description—into which I recently immersed myself.

The moment I heard Crooked’s premise, it grabbed my interest: a supernatural, Lovecraftian layer to not just the Watergate scandal but to Nixon’s full political career, the entire Cold War, and the institution of the U.S. Presidency itself. (Note: The novel is alternative history, and not meant as some sort of non-fiction conspiracy exposé.) I knew I was going to read it. What I got was a book with a fantastic first half that stumbles toward the end and ultimately leaves me disappointed. [Read more…]

Guest Geeks: How Geekery Saved K. Williams

August 11, 2015 By Michael G. Munz Leave a Comment

Today I return to the Land of the Guest Geeks, this time with fellow geek, author, and collector K. Williams. (Seriously, look at all those geek collectables! The best I can do is a tribble, a LEGO X-Wing and a Dalek Christmas tree ornament. …Well, and some few other things.) We all gravitate to our own particular flavors of geekdom, each of us drawing particular rewards, enjoyment, and encouragement. Today, she shares some of her own journey. Her story especially resonates with me as a writer—I can relate far too much to the gauntlet-O-rejection that is the publishing world. But even if you’re not a writer, I think you’ll love this one… [Read more…]

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse – Ch 17

August 5, 2015 By Michael G. Munz 6 Comments

In which Luke experiences rapid deceleration trauma!

Finally I’ve gotten a chance to read more Percy Jackson! Aside from other things I’ve been busy with on the blog, and novel-writing, my laptop went on its own little adventure back to the ASUS repair center because it suddenly no longer believed it had a hard drive or operating system. It was ever so much fun! But enough of that, because we’ve got…

A climactic battle, an impossible-to-survive fall, and I feel silly for not having realized something long before now. But hey, watching me feel silly is part of the fun, isn’t it? So let’s take a look at chapter 17 for Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse…

I Put on a Few Million Extra Pounds

[Read more…]

Totem Animals and the Doublesight Novels

August 1, 2015 By Michael G. Munz Leave a Comment

Hi everyone! I’ve got a special guest post for you today. My fellow author Terry Persun’s new fantasy novel Gargoyle, the 4th book in his Doublesight series, has recently been published by Booktrope, and I’m pleased to have him here today to tell you about his Doublesight series, and the shape shifters therein. Take it away, Terry! (And be sure to check out the Rafflecopter at the end for a chance to win some free books!)

Totem Animals and the Doublesight Novels

I read a lot. So when I come up with an idea, I try to separate my idea from what everyone else appears to be doing. This isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the effort every time. So when I started to play around with the idea for my Doublesight series, I wanted my shape shifters to be unique. [Read more…]

Book Review: The Primary Protocol

July 31, 2015 By Michael G. Munz Leave a Comment

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5)

J.M. Guillen’s The Primary Protocol wastes no time in plunging us back into his eldrich world of technologically augmented agents waging a secret battle with Lovecraftian forces that threaten to overrun our rational realm. The cosmic horror of the Vyriim, introduced in Rationality Zero (the spawn point of this series), have threaded their nightmarish tentacles further into our world, seeking a beachhead, and as The Primary Protocol begins, we—and protagonist Michael Bishop—are already right in the thick of it. [Read more…]