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The Bryanae Series #3
[(A Lesson for the Cyclops)] [By (author) Jeffrey Getzin] published on
Dare to Hope?Maria leads a lonely existence of silent misery. Horribly disfigured, she earns a meager living as a sideshow freak. Her very existence is one of mockery, contempt, and ridicule. She has no hope, no dreams. No future.But when a dashing swordsman stumbles onto the circus grounds, wounded and feverish, Maria is able to imagine a life beyond the confines of her dreary world. Could a swashbuckling hero ever fall for a freak like her?
- GenresFantasy
Paperback
First published April 2, 2013
7 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Getzin
8 books45 followersJeffrey Getzin graduated from Clark University where he won the Loring Holmes and Ruth Dodd Drama Contest for an original one-act play. He has a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Jeffrey is a former employee at Google and now lives in New Jersey, where he lives with his long-time girlfriend Kate and a seemingly infinite number of cats.
Jeffrey is a lifelong practitioner of various martial arts, and currently holds a purple belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu under Renzo Gracie black belt Jamie Cruz and has trained in Muay Thai under legendary fighter Kaensak Sor Ploenjit. He has competed in table tennis at the national level. Jeffrey is an avid film and home theater buff. Also, his mother says he is very handsome.
Jeffrey is a lifelong practitioner of various martial arts, and currently holds a purple belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu under Renzo Gracie black belt Jamie Cruz and has trained in Muay Thai under legendary fighter Kaensak Sor Ploenjit. He has competed in table tennis at the national level. Jeffrey is an avid film and home theater buff. Also, his mother says he is very handsome.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 3, 2013
I loved this story. This is so different from the usual "nice girl with self-esteem issues gets well needed ego boost and romantic attention from a guy with a magical fairy tale fix in the end" kinda thing. Maria (obviously I love this name) is made to accept herself for who she is now and let go of what she was in the past (the good and the bad). D'Arbignal is not your usual hero. In fact he isn't a hero at all. But like Maria we cant help loving him nonetheless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2013
Today I am reviewing a novella. As you know, I normally like my fantasy like I like my heroes—Big, Epic and Gorgeous, but I always make an exception for the work of indie author Jeffrey Getzin. Despite this being a novella, Jeffrey Getzin succeeds on ALL counts! A Lesson for the Cyclops is a wonderful way to spend an evening and it features one of my favorite characters from Getzin’s first novella, Shara and the Haunted Village.
The Blurb
Maria leads a lonely existence of silent misery. Horribly disfigured, she earns a meager living as a sideshow freak. Her very existence is one of mockery, contempt, and ridicule. She has no hope, no dreams. No future.
But when a dashing swordsman stumbles onto the circus grounds, wounded and feverish, Maria is able to imagine a life beyond the confines of her dreary world. Could a swashbuckling hero ever fall for a freak like her?
My Review
A Lesson for the Cyclops picks up the tale of D'Arbignal, the hero from Getzin's wonderful novella, Shara and the Haunted Village (Bryanae). When the tale opens, our hero finds himself in a bit of a pickle. He manages to extricate himself and stir things up with his usual panache. A terribly disfigured woman whose pain and suffering is handled with compassion by the author, a circus with many wonderful minor characters, jealousy, romance and revenge--all combine to make this novella true classic. I must confess, I am a bit in love with D'Arbignal and I am now champing at the bit to get my hands on the next tale of my favorite swordsman.
I want to see D’Arbignal with his own novel! Mr. Getzin, please write me a story—a nice, loooong, epic saga of D’Arbignal’s adventures!
The Blurb
Maria leads a lonely existence of silent misery. Horribly disfigured, she earns a meager living as a sideshow freak. Her very existence is one of mockery, contempt, and ridicule. She has no hope, no dreams. No future.
But when a dashing swordsman stumbles onto the circus grounds, wounded and feverish, Maria is able to imagine a life beyond the confines of her dreary world. Could a swashbuckling hero ever fall for a freak like her?
My Review
A Lesson for the Cyclops picks up the tale of D'Arbignal, the hero from Getzin's wonderful novella, Shara and the Haunted Village (Bryanae). When the tale opens, our hero finds himself in a bit of a pickle. He manages to extricate himself and stir things up with his usual panache. A terribly disfigured woman whose pain and suffering is handled with compassion by the author, a circus with many wonderful minor characters, jealousy, romance and revenge--all combine to make this novella true classic. I must confess, I am a bit in love with D'Arbignal and I am now champing at the bit to get my hands on the next tale of my favorite swordsman.
I want to see D’Arbignal with his own novel! Mr. Getzin, please write me a story—a nice, loooong, epic saga of D’Arbignal’s adventures!
April 6, 2013
This is the second novella from Jeffrey Getzin that I've thoroughly enjoyed reading. As a, 'read in one sitting', it can't be beaten for the price. It's book filled with wonderful characters, some new and one that has crossed paths with us before, and also an article that readers of the previous texts will also recognise. For a piece that's based in one place, the characters have to be rich and rounded, and these certainly are. Well done, Mr Getzin!
August 10, 2013
This is the second of Mr. Getzin's novellas I've read and I'm certainly hoping it won't be the last. He's got a strong and easily understandable writing style, engaging and fun characters (love the witty dialogue), and some of the most fun, hopeful, and thoroughly developed plotlines I've read in a long time. Good fiction does not have to be depressing. Nicely done.
July 30, 2013
A novella rich with wonderful characters and a dark tale with a much lighter ending.
August 5, 2013
What a delightfully fun book. I have to admit that I have a habit of downloading lots and lots of books all at once and then days later looking through them and randomly picking one out to read. And because my memory is way worse than a goldfish I never remember what the book is suppose to be about when I start reading it. Sometimes this is a bad thing because I get a chapter in and start thinking to myself that I must have been crazy when I downloaded the book or, like the case with this book, I get a wonderful surprise and then wonder why I didn't start reading it sooner.
With that out of the way even rereading the synopsis of this book I still wouldn't haven't have expected everything that happened. It was how I would imagine a circus to really be run, especially the treatment of the freaks. Then of course there is always that one woman that thinks to much of herself and makes life harder on those around her, and her poor husband that can't see past her.
D'Arbignals character was amazing, I loved everything about him. He did just the kind of things I like to read about, and had a great personality. I didn't expect much from him in the beginning but the more I read the more I grew to really like him, and by the end I wanted to swoon with all the rest of the women that followed him around.
Then there is poor Maria, I felt so bad for her and how she had to live, but I would have never in a million years guessed at her back story. It really opened your eyes to understand to why she was the way she is, and honestly I really did think she was a freak right up til she told me other.
The ending was unexpected, though I did think that there was going to be something surprising, just not as surprising as it was. I have no complaints with it at all, mainly because it made me smile right up to the very last sentence.
If I had one thing to complain about it would be that it was to short, though that is me being picky because really it was the perfect length. To much more would have ruined it, I just wanted to read more about D'Arbignals, which I can because there are more books with him in it.
Would I recommend this book? Sure, its a fun read short read that is packed with all the things I love to read about.
http://zephyrbookreviews.blogspot.com/
With that out of the way even rereading the synopsis of this book I still wouldn't haven't have expected everything that happened. It was how I would imagine a circus to really be run, especially the treatment of the freaks. Then of course there is always that one woman that thinks to much of herself and makes life harder on those around her, and her poor husband that can't see past her.
D'Arbignals character was amazing, I loved everything about him. He did just the kind of things I like to read about, and had a great personality. I didn't expect much from him in the beginning but the more I read the more I grew to really like him, and by the end I wanted to swoon with all the rest of the women that followed him around.
Then there is poor Maria, I felt so bad for her and how she had to live, but I would have never in a million years guessed at her back story. It really opened your eyes to understand to why she was the way she is, and honestly I really did think she was a freak right up til she told me other.
The ending was unexpected, though I did think that there was going to be something surprising, just not as surprising as it was. I have no complaints with it at all, mainly because it made me smile right up to the very last sentence.
If I had one thing to complain about it would be that it was to short, though that is me being picky because really it was the perfect length. To much more would have ruined it, I just wanted to read more about D'Arbignals, which I can because there are more books with him in it.
Would I recommend this book? Sure, its a fun read short read that is packed with all the things I love to read about.
http://zephyrbookreviews.blogspot.com/
May 3, 2015
***Spoiler Alert***
3.5, I'll round up to 4
I have to be honest; I'm not generally a huge fan of novellas. They don't allow enough pages for a lot development. This isn't the fault of any author, just a characteristic of the genre. They're a little easier to take when it's a series following a single character, here D'Arbignal, because you feel you know at least someone going in. And, as this is the second of D'Arbignal's stories that I've read, I do feel as if I've got a handle on his personality.
In this instalment of his adventures he meets and restores the self-respect of a shattered woman. I enjoyed it, but also felt it was a bit shallow. He countered a lifetime of self-doubt and guilt in one conversation, miraculously (and apparently effortlessly) manipulated everyone involved in order to produce the outcome he desired and then selflessly donated staggering wealth to a practical stranger, before blithely walking away—fun, yes, but not particularly realistic or deeply explored. The reader never learns how he persuaded someone to gamble his livelihood away, for example, or how that person so peaceably accepted his loss. The happy ending also assumes everyone will keep their word once he's gone too.
So, all in all, I spent a pleasant hour or so reading this story, enjoyed it, but had to suspend a bit of disbelief to buy the ending.
3.5, I'll round up to 4
I have to be honest; I'm not generally a huge fan of novellas. They don't allow enough pages for a lot development. This isn't the fault of any author, just a characteristic of the genre. They're a little easier to take when it's a series following a single character, here D'Arbignal, because you feel you know at least someone going in. And, as this is the second of D'Arbignal's stories that I've read, I do feel as if I've got a handle on his personality.
In this instalment of his adventures he meets and restores the self-respect of a shattered woman. I enjoyed it, but also felt it was a bit shallow. He countered a lifetime of self-doubt and guilt in one conversation, miraculously (and apparently effortlessly) manipulated everyone involved in order to produce the outcome he desired and then selflessly donated staggering wealth to a practical stranger, before blithely walking away—fun, yes, but not particularly realistic or deeply explored. The reader never learns how he persuaded someone to gamble his livelihood away, for example, or how that person so peaceably accepted his loss. The happy ending also assumes everyone will keep their word once he's gone too.
So, all in all, I spent a pleasant hour or so reading this story, enjoyed it, but had to suspend a bit of disbelief to buy the ending.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews