Customer Reviews

Shifting

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This one is hard to describe. This is a monster story that actually has monsters in it, LOTS of them. I liked it, and it is mostly a horror book. But it's something of a crossbreed too, part dark heroic fantasy. This one takes a bit of imagination to really enjoy. If you loved something like Dark Tower by King, you will probably love this book. Or maybe if you just like some of those zombie slaughter movies, you'll be into it too. But I mean the serious kind of zombie movies, the nasty kind not the "haha" kind. Great book, great editing and dirt cheap. Read the sample and see if it hooks you, that's the best way I suppose to know if this book is for you.

I particularly liked the flying slabs of meat with gnawing mouths... Nasty!

I can't believe I how lucky I was to stumble on this book. It grabbed me from the first chapter and held me tight. A world where guns don't always fire but where a stone created by a hoofprint from a glowing being can sharpen a sword so that it will cut through anything. A world where elves and hags have come back to life after sleeping for hundreds of years and mundane humans are being transformed both for good and evil. I couldn't put it down and I'm currently rushing to see what else this author has put out..there goes my kindle budget for the month.

This is an apocalyptic story that takes place in a changed world. People are changing and it is not a good change. They are turning into strange mythical beings. The world is also a changed and incredibly dangerous place to live. People are either changing into monsters or being killed by them. We follow a man named Gannon as he tries to keep the remaining townspeople alive. There are mythical creatures everywhere. But the ones you really have to watch for are the ones that might look normal. What is your neighbor hiding under his clothing?

This is a really creepy story. I'm not usually a big fantasy buff, but this story was just the right combination of fantasy and horror. It is a great deal for the price on the kindle. This was a very scary world to live in!

What an interesting, spooky, fantastic and completely unique book! Shifting by B. V. Larson is about a young lad, Gannon, who is one of a small band of the last living humans in a small town in Indiana...well, the last of the NORMAL humans anyway. Everyone else has shifted into something else...werewolf, spider, troll, elf, hag, and any possible crazy combination of creature, mythical or otherwise. Most of these creatures are deadly, full of rage, so the remaining humans have to protect themselves against those who have shifted, as well protecting themselves from shifting. Gannon looks after his younger brother and the other remaining people in town, as they struggle to adapt to their new world, and to decide where the line between monster and human should be drawn.

Gannon's world is strange and disturbing, and weeks after reading it, I still find myself thinking about it and mulling it over in my head. The characters are complex and interesting; Gannon, in particular, is compelling as a young man trying to be brave when faced with surreal, terrible, and difficult circumstances. Well worth reading.

Gannon is a brave young man fighting for what he loves in a world that no longer makes sense - monsters now roam his quiet hometown, some of whom were once his friends and neighbors. As the small group of survivors bands together in hopes of making it through the attacks, secrets are revealed and character tested. Magical and captivating, I didn't want this great story to end. Can we get a sequel please?

very original scary take on unnatural... highly recommended

can't wait for part two

Larson's SHIFTING marks my first purchase of a self-published Kindle book, and I am happy to say that the author's efforts give me the confidence to try again.

I'll leave out the summary/premise and offer some critical points:

* The book starts *very* strong. Larson introduces the world through pure "show" and not "tell," and there's plenty of action to keep the pages turning. I actually emailed the author to compliment him(?) and ask whether he'd tried to have the book represented (no response as of this writing, though I'd look forward to one!). I get bored with books very easily, but Larson had me gripped for about two-thirds of the book, which I read in two evenings.

* The author has a strong handle on figurative language. My e-book version has plenty of notes where I complimented his craft.

* There are several line-edits to be made, but I have to say that I've seen published, hardcopy books with more errors. One repeated error (or odd style choice) is Larson's frequent use of comma splices. These did hinder comprehension at times.

* Things get weird, eventually, and I started to pull away from the protagonist. Another reviewer suggested that the point came in about halfway through; for me, it was in Chapter 31 (69% on Kindle). Until this point, I trusted that the author had a big plan in mind for the tale--that I would get to see what this new world was really about, and what Larson might think of our all-too-mundane existence. Rather, things break down so that the narrative relies more on a plot device than anything. Also, a few characters act oddly. Without saying too much, the Captain, for instance, makes a sudden attack on someone with a newly developed deformity, when he is perfectly willing to work for an even more deformed (and much shadier) character prior to this. There's another odd element, but it's hard to discuss without spoiling. Let's say this: Would you cut off your limb to stop an infection if someone has already told you it won't make any difference--that everyone's going to get infected (including you) no matter what?

* The shifting rules start to get . . . bizarre later in the book.

* Some characters exist as fonts of exposition--that's all right, but at times it's too thinly veiled, AND the reader wonders why the character knows these things to be true.

* The ending feels rushed and doesn't tie up the universe or theme. Throughout, the book felt like it was ABOUT something--a concept, a perspective on our world--but in the end, it wasn't. A character who's hard to care about steps into the last scene, fixes some issues, and does something odd that the reader can't quite digest because we're confused by the "rules" of the magical effect.

I realize that these points sound mostly negative, but I actually liked most of the book; I spent about five hours straight reading SHIFTING. I believe the writer has plenty of promise, and if one of his other books sounds like a fit with me, I'll pick it up for sure.

SHIFTING is a steal at under a buck. Lovers of Fantasy/Horror hybrids set in modern times will enjoy the novel, but I wonder if readers who love to ponder their author's worldview will be disappointed.

What a hard one to describe. Another masterpiece by Larson.
This book sinks its bloody venomous fangs into your mind. In a world where another age has come.
Where magic has come back. and seemingly for good.
down in the deepest caves things stir.
in the air to the highest peaks things flap.
the world has gone mad, and eats its self.
and all those who are unfortunate to inhabit it.

I really enjoyed this story. I liked the principal characters and the idea of magic spontaneously appearing in the world periodically is a fascinating idea. My only complaint is that I finished the story too quickly. BV Larson, when do we see the next installment of this story? This idea and these characters could easily be expanded into 2 or 3 more novels.

This was a good take on an old theme and worth the price. Though it was kind of short, the story was such that it left you wanting more. I would gladly purchase a sequel set in this world.