A Shadow in the Flames

The New Aeneid Cycle #1

by Michael G. Munz

Northgate is in turmoil. Decaying, violent, and corrupt, it is a common enough city in 2051, yet soon, discoveries beneath the Moon's surface will mark the city with their first distant echoes.

New arrival Michael Flynn is jobless and down to his last few dollars, but he still dreams of making a positive difference of his own. He has no family, no friends--save for the freelancer known only as Diomedes--and tonight the apartment they share will burn to the ground.

When Diomedes becomes his mentor in a search for the arsonist responsible, Michael will get the chance to realize his dreams. Joining them is Felix, a wise-cracking "information bounty hunter" who claims that neither the arsonist nor the man Michael idolizes are quite what they appear.

Will Michael find the courage to pass through the flames unscathed, or will the violence that surrounds him incinerate all that he is? Those who search the Moon will be watching...

Booktrope edition, released December 2014. Original publication date: November 2007.

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Ebooks, Amazon, Thriller, Fantasy, Fiction

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

An award-winning writer of speculative fiction, Michael G. Munz was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Washington State in 1977 at the age of three. Unable to escape the state’s gravity, he has spent most of his life there and studied writing at the University of Washington.

Michael developed his creative bug in college, writing and filming four exceedingly amateur films before setting his sights on becoming a novelist. Driving this goal is the desire to tell entertaining stories that give to others the same pleasure as other writers have given to him. He enjoys writing tales that combine the modern world with the futuristic or fantastic.

Michael has traveled to three continents, and has an interest in Celtic and Classical mythology. He also possesses what most "normal" people would likely deem far too much familiarity with a wide range of geek culture, though Michael prefers the term geek-bard: a jack of all geek-trades, but master of none—except possibly Farscape and Twin Peaks.

Michael dwells in Seattle where he continues his quest to write the most entertaining novel known to humankind and find a really fantastic clam linguine.

Reviews

[J.M. Guillen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Minions. This was a good one.

If nothing else, I am a connoisseur of words.
I love “Cacophony” for example. “Demesne," “Dulcet,” “Halcyon.” All favorites.

As I am, obviously, a genius, it makes sense that I have wonderful taste in words. Therefore, when I read the opening few pages of “A Shadow in The Flames” I suspect I’m reading something that will make me happy.

Michael Munz (also known as CODENAME: DARKPLUME) is one of those most rare of writers- an actual worldbuilder. With wonderfully creative names for places (the Dirge, the Flaming Pyre) as well as cool code names for characters, AND well done cyberpunk tropes, I was sucked right in.

Which of course, is why I hated it.

Where, Darkplume, did you get your wonderful ideas? From what dark well of creation did you pluck this brilliant story? What secret demonic names did you cry to wrest this tale from the nether?

It matters little. It's a wonderful story.

Bravo, Darkplume. You've won this round.



Our protagonist is a young man seeking his place in the world, and who seems to feel as if he has found it by taking a security/freelance course through a company named Aegis Security (Yep, another cool name). Of course, nothing really has worked out for him so far, but we scarcely get a grip on that before we are hurled face first into fiery explosions, fights with vampires, and mysterious discoveries on the moon! I haven’t even brought up enigmatic arsonists or the Arena, or the different kinds of cool tech.

See how that all sounds crazy? Vampires? Secrets on the Moon? NO. NOT CRAZY. Listen. It makes sense. It all meshes in a wonderful way.

Brilliant, sir.

There truly is a difference between writing and storytelling, and Darkplume knows both. He teases us with scenes that we know, KNOW must be related, but can't quite put together. The entire time, we watch a certain ticking time bomb of a character, waiting for the moment when the countdown hits zero.

Meanwhile, the Moon's terrible secret awaits.

Darkplume, I sincerely hope that you have the rest of the series coming soon. If you notice any Quantum drones in your vicinity, they are definitely not there to steal your DNA. There is no such thing as a "Creativity Siphon™"

I cannot recommend the book enough. It was a pleasure to read, and I hope that soon I will be immersed in this world again. I know exactly where I will start.

A Memory in the Black

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this was a pleasant surprise.... I picked this up as a free ebook, and found it to be a pretty decent cyberpunk novel. Yes it's the first book of a series so it ends with a number of unresolved questions, but hey, it's the style right now.

Likes:
* There's a mystery object on the moon that we learn more about in bits and pieces. That part of the book provides a nice backdrop, a larger and more consequential reality, against which the events in the lives of the characters play out.
* Unlike a few other reviewers, I found the pace to be reasonably brisk. Mr. Munz spends very little time introducing characters, before immersing us in the story arc.
* In the Epilog, we are treated to a reveal of just what "The New Aeneid Cycle" refers to, giving us a tantalizing glimpse of where this series is going.

Dislikes:
* For most of the book, the lead protagonist is about as dumb as a box of rocks. No one that dense could survive for any length of time in the dystopian future presented.
* Although the possible perils of cybernetic implants was treated quite well, I felt Mr. Munz missed the boat in his description of communications and surveillance technology. In many ways the technology of today has already surpassed the technology described in the book.

All in all, this book is a great choice for anyone who enjoys the cyberpunk genre.

[Liquid Frost · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say about this one? Not knowing about the series and treating this book as a story - it is a bit of a snoozer. You have a cast of characters, that aside from Felix, are pretty dull. The resident BA, the kid trying to find his way, the intellect, and a reporter trying to get out from daddy's shadow. So far, okay. But the amount of dialogue far outweighs any action. Loads of walking, talking and flying around with little substance. Readers get a decent glimpse of the dystopian world, but then we have cutaways to the moon. They were sporadic and only very, very loosely tied to the "action' that was going on down below (Earth). Perhaps it is a foundation piece to a good series - IDK and won't find out. This book could have been a short prequel to the set.

[Daniel J. Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review originally posted at: http://digerbop.ca/2014/04/a-shadow-i...

Mature-Content Rating: PG (Coarse language and violence)

What would you do if in a single moment, the whole world you knew went up in flames? No, I am not talking about the proverbial flames of societal/relational loss, but actual flames. You know, the orange-tipped red tongues that lick at the night sky, dwarfing the stars with their wonder, fire exploding in arson's wake, and there is only one obvious answer: find the bastard that destroyed your life. Enter the world of "A Shadow in the Flames," a futuristic thriller with moon exploration, vampires, explosions, airships, and cybernetics. Sounds too good to be true? Well... it is.

The Good:

This is a real struggle for me. Normally I try to find what the author does well before getting into the bad, but I find myself scratching my head a lot while trying to come up with something to say under this heading. Why rate it 2 stars instead of 1? Short answer: I managed to finish the book. Long answer: there is a bit of humour in the dialogue... Okay, so that answer wasn't much longer. Looking at the book with a broad perspective, it is not that the book fails to hit every mark, and indeed it tries for many of them, but it is just rather bland.

The Bad:

The biggest issue that "A Shadow in the Flames" had was consistency. Have you ever eaten a piece of meat that is full of tiny bones and you have to chew carefully, then inevitably stop eating to pull them from your mouth? Reading this book felt a bit like that. The POV jumped all over the place adding much confusion to things. Not only than, there is a completely separate POV/plot line where almost nothing happens and it remains 90% unrelated until the very end. A poorly written Epilogue tries to tie the two together, but mostly it just prolongs the ending. I wish that the moon exploration plot pieces were completely taken out of the book. I understand, based on the ending, that such plot lines will be the focus of the sequel, but if so, all of that plot should have been kept under wraps until that book was ready to be released.

Not only does the plot jump around, and the POV changes cause confusion, but one character has three different names throughout the book. This can work, if certain people call them by one name, and others call them by something else, but the names seem to be virtually interchangeable. There is some kind of mystery woven in about the character's "true" identity being a secret to some people, but then everyone ends up using that "true" name at one point or another, so that left me confused. It especially becomes strange when that character is the POV focus for a scene. They call themselves by all three names throughout the scene, which made me wonder if the character was actually multiple people at times, but then I remembered that they just had three names for no reason.

Also, there are far too many elements involved. No, not in the plot, but in the general world that the story takes place. This wouldn't necessarily have been a problem if the book was longer and the author spent more time addressing each cultural/world nuance, rounding things out. Instead, they are poorly explained, or just thrown in because someone thought it was cool. The book reads mostly as a police procedural without the procedure, even though it is marketed as a science fiction novel. Yes, it has flying machines, people with enhanced vision or hearing, and vampires (for some random reason), but they add nothing to the story and often get in the way of the plot.

The writing style feels a bit juvenile. There is an over-use of passive voice throughout (he, thought, he imagined, he wondered, he believed, he was scared, it was black, the job was simple, etc). Every POV change is littered with long drawn-out paragraphs filled with passivity in an effort to explain how someone is feeling, differentiating them from the other characters, but instead of rounding things out, it just make the writing quite bland.

Unfortunately, because this is exclusively how the author chose to develop the characters, once these paragraphs are over, all of the characters sound and act pretty much the same. There are slight nuances at particular points (one character being overly humorous) but for the most part, if the dialogue tags were taken out, the reader would not know who was talking when... and it wouldn't really effect the progression anyway. This makes the characters feel flat.

Conclusion:

I wish there was more good things to say about this book, but too much poor writing gets in the way of the potential and it was hard for me to identify. "A Shadow in the Flames" is a light thriller with specks of uninteresting mystery and pockets of humour. It suffers from POV issues, pacing problems, and lack of characterization as well as a poorly stitched together plot. It will not leave a sour taste in your mouth, just not much taste to begin with. I suppose its ability to remain bland is at least consistent.

[Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a step outside of the box for me, the whole "Cyber Punk" billing on Amazon. But I am a sucker for anything Greco-Roman and the "The New Aeneid Cycle" grabbed my attention. And I know that I shouldn't do it but yah that's a great cover. And really in the end I'm just looking for a good book.

I was not disappointed. Michael Munz did a great job of creating and developing a great cast of characters. The story essentially focuses around Michael Flynn (or is he Romulus), as he struggles to find himself in the futuristic world gone mad.

The characters who really make this book work so well are Felix and Diomedes. Felix brings that necessary touch of humour that every book needs, as well as being the "good angel" sitting on Michael's shoulder. And Diomedes is all action, he wants to help Michael but he is so jaded that he will only drag Michael down (i.e. the bad angel sitting on Michael's other should).

Certain parts of the story seemed a bit disconnected from the story itself, but I can tell that Munz has a bigger plan and I am certain that it will all come together in the end.

I will be reading A Memory in the Black. I want to know where this story goes.

http://www.2bookloversreviews.com/sha...

[E. Prybylski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got about a quarter of the way through the book when I realized I was dreading picking it up again. It isn't that the world is uninteresting (it's quite interesting) or that the characters are empty (they're all right as far as action characters go). The writing isn't even bad.

What killed it for me was the pacing. A quarter of the way into the book, and I don't feel like much has happened or much headway has been made. Some ideas have been introduced that seem wholly unconnected to the main plot, and I have a few characters floating around in the ether while the main character (or I assume he is the main character) fumbles about in the dark as a secondary character to someone I don't have much liking for.

I may try and finish this at some point because I bought several of the books in the series as a bundle, but I really did not enjoy the experience enough to keep me coming back to it.

[Dan Mullane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only 2 of the characters have any attempt at character development, the rest are just generic tropes that don’t even need names.

[Alyssia Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Shadow In The Flames is an interesting cyberpunk science fiction novel, but it fell a little flat for me. It's very slow going and has too virtually unlinked narratives throughout it which kind of come together at the end but its a very tenuous link. The main plot on Earth was interesting, although I found most of the characters fairly flat. But the secondary plot on the moon was tedious. Almost nothing happens, very little is explained and then there's a really tenuous attempt to link it back to the main narrative in the final chapter.

Some aspects of this are well done; the main plot was intriguing and I liked the various cyberpunk aspects of the world building with the body modifications and augmentations. The problem is that they didn't really add much other than to the setting; some characters are exceptionally fast or strong, others have visual enhancements etc, but they just seemed to be background details rather than essential to the plot. I did like the hints that augmentation could make people suffer mental breakdowns and would have appreciated that being more central to the main story; whilst it certainly does come into play, again it's more as a background element rather than a psychological necessity to the tale.

The mystery elements to the novel were largely well done. The pacing is slow, but that allowed the author to tease elements out, drip feeding you new hints and clues. A handful of the characters had decent development; I particularly liked the eccentric Felix. But the insistence on using multiple names for another character quickly became grating, plus his naivety wore on the nerves as well and Diomedes character felt lacking; he's a deuchebag for the sake of being a deuchebag most of the time. Other background characters are fairly forgettable.

All in all, somewhere between two and three stars. It is an ok book, fairly forgettable and could have done with more dynamic characters and cutting the whole moon section out in its entirety. It really didn't add anything substantial and just padded out the pages.

[Stan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. I really enjoy the cyberpunk genre. As others have commented, it is heavy on dialogue and short on other things. We see the main characters, and the main is definitely in a state of discovery - young and raw - so character development is featured.

The tech is described well. Given that pretty much all the characters have cyber enhancements of some kind, one wonders whether the whole population has them. It doesn't seem so, but there is no real exploration of this.

A little more profanity than I care for too. Unnecessary, really.

For the Kindle version, there was no gap in the text when scenes changed within a chapter. So, one is reading about something on earth then the next paragraph shifts to a scene on the moon with no indication that a change in scenario occurs. This was very distracting.

If you like cyberpunk, this is a pretty good read. Enjoy!

[Vesselin Bakov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually felt a bit chaotic at moments, which made it quite a drag to finish from one point onward, even though the stories themselves are okay-ish, but it's the last several pages that actually connect them and sets the scene for the next book in the series. While I was a bit bored, while nearing the finish, the possibilities for the second book look intriguing, but I doubt I will decide to finish the series.

[Kavita Favelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this. The story and characterisation are, at times, a little simple but the writing itself is great and the plot keeps moving nicely.

[Karen Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Can't Stop Myself

I bet you can't read just one book of the series. I couldn't, and the story keeps getting better. The story evolves along with Michael Flynn, very satisfying.

[Jada Ryker · Rating 5 out of 5]

He Checked into his Room, Only to Find Gideon’s Bible

In a violent, futuristic city in which people sport cybernetic enhancements like electronic eyes, computers installed in artificial arms, and armored overcoats, Michael’s life couldn’t sink much lower. His Uncle Frank, Michael’s only family, had lost his farm to the bank and his life to a heart attack. Michael had spent most of his money on bodyguard training but was unable to find a job. His apartment in the slums, also known as the The Dirge, had exploded, leaving him and his roommate Diomedes, a freelance bodyguard, on the street and homeless.

After their apartment is destroyed by fire, Michael and Diomedes are offered an assignment by a mysterious stranger. He wants to hire the duo to find the serial arsonist ravaging the city. The stranger states the arsonist matches the vague description of the Wraith, a vigilante who fights crime on the streets.

A Shadow in the Flames, by Michael Munz, is an action-packed science fiction story of the naïve young Michael and his prickly partnership with the grim Diomedes. Years before, Diomedes had worked for Michael’s uncle’s as a farmhand. Now, Diomedes is the quintessential hard-ass bodyguard with a new name and farm work a thing of the murky past. As Michael takes on the role of assistant mercenary, he gets the cool new name of Romulus.

Michael and Diomedes are also helped, for a price, by Felix, an eccentric being with an unappreciated sense of the absurd and broad knowledge of pop culture. Simultaneously, the investigators are dogged by Brian, the red-haired, wet-behind-the-ears reporter also on the trail of the elusive Wraith and eager to make a name for himself. The investigation of the fanged Nosferatu cult, who may or may not be vampires, could be a dead end ;).

At the same time, events are unfolding on The Moon. Years before, the European Space Agency (ESA) had constructed the Alpha Station, the first major lunar base. Since then, ESA had staked its claim to the land surrounding the station and sold mining contracts to other companies. As an employee of Saratoga Mining, Parker is based on the lunar station. When one of his employees finds an eerie metal object, foggy gray yet solid, Parker reports the find to his superiors.

Diomedes reveals his low value on human life through his particularly bloodthirsty actions, straining the bond of friendship as well as his protégé/mentor relationship with Michael/Romulus. As an adult and not a boy mesmerized by the older man’s tales, Romulus must decide between humanity or a spiral into darkness and madness.

This is an excellent science fiction work. Mr. Munz’ exploration of the relationship between Michael and Diomedes reflects best-seller-level creativity and writing. The dialogue is excellent, with the descriptions and action scenes wonderfully sketched in both bold and delicate strokes. The pacing was perfect, and the action kept me turning the pages.

[Shannon Flowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a review copy of this near the end of the podcast, and wasn’t able to finish it till just recently, sorry Mike! A Shadow in the Flames is the first in The New Aeneid Cycle by Munz, previously written from way back in 2007 then self published and revised in 2013, now picked up by Booktrope in 2014. If you remember, we had Michael G. Munz on the podcast back in Episode #231 from 9/3/2014. We spoke mostly about his newest book, Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure, which was immensely funny.

A Shadow in the Flames takes place in Northgate in 2051. Our protagonist Michael Flynn has just arrived looking for work. He finds his old friend, Diomedes, a “freelancer”, a type of detective for hire to do practically anything for the right price. Flynn takes on a freelancer name himself, “Romulus” to keep his real identity secret. Romulus moves in with Diomedes and soon after their apartment catches on fire. This very suspicious event joins not only Diomedes and Romulus, but a verbacious bounty hunter named Felix and a ginger haired reporter Brian, to find out who set fire to their apartment, possibly the actions of an entity named Wraith.

This book is subtitled “Book One in the New Aeneid Cycle“, so I looked up “Aeneid” to see if there were any possible correlations. The Aeneid, an epic poem authored by Virgil, tells of the story of the fall of Troy. It’s where the story about the Trojan Horse is told. I’ve never read The Aeneid, but just the description of the fall of Troy seems like what is happening in A Shadow in the Flames. The city in the book, Northgate, is crumbling, not just physically, but the population of the city is also decaying. Other than that, I wasn’t able to see how close Shadow follows the Aeneid. Those fans of ancient Roman poems, might have more luck.

The character Felix is by far the most entertaining character in Shadow. He talks a big game and sometimes backs it up. His relationship with journalist Brian, is really fun and strengthens through the book. Not only does the book take place in Northgate, but also in space following the mining crew of Saratoga who have found something mysterious on the Earth’s moon. This storyline continues in Book Two, A Memory in the Black.

The only problem I had with the book, is that there are so many characters, the author switches between Michael Flynn or “Flynn” to Romulus fairly regularly so it’s hard to keep track of who he’s talking about. Once Michael Flynn is doing “freelancer” stuff, in my opinion, he should only be called Romulus.

Whether you’re familiar with the Aeneid poem or not, this is a great cyberpunk-y space thriller that is sure to continue on as great as it started. You can get A Memory in the Black now, the ebook is around $4.99, and don’t forget to sign up on Munz’s website to get updates on The New Aeneid Cycle books‘ releases.

[Viviane Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diomedes lives in the Dirge area of an unnamed futuristic city and works as a freelancer. Beyond that vague reference, the reader infers that he’s a criminal who does contract work for an unnamed source. Michael is an old friend who Diomedes takes under his wing after Michael loses his Uncle to a heart attack and then loses the farm he’s lived on all his life. Michael is not a lightweight but definitely is “learning the ropes” from his friend. Only now his training is about to jettison into high gear when Diomedes’ apartment explodes and all of his possessions are destroyed in the fire. To say he’s furious is an understatement and he’s determined to find out who is behind it. Yes, killing is on his mind!
First they hire a shyster named Felix who is capable of discovering secret sources; many pay Felix for his knowledge. But this is no regular human society. The characters are living in a dystopian cyber society where parts of the body are machines that can out-perform any human organ by a thousand-fold.
The plot then switches to the Moon where humans are mining all available metals until a freaky discovery is made. Is it man or machine? One isn’t sure but it definitely looks like a metallic porcupine that in a flash of light leaves behind a strew of dead bodies. Anything to be learned about it is immediately cut off by the major company running the mining project – and more behind that obvious cover. It is Marette Clarion who refuses to be shut up and who wants to know precisely what happened in one devastating event to cause the death of so many. So we have two separate searches for information plots with no idea of who is responsible for either scenario.
To say more would be a spoiler. The plot picks up about to become quite an adventure but one must wade through too many conversations about who knows “something” from the secret sources that remain vague references before you get to a viably moving and developing story. It’s worth the wait as all the circumlocutory discussions eventually get somewhere. But there’s no clear-cut final solution to the two parallel plots but enough of a hint to keep the reader wanting more. Yes, A Shadow in the Flames… is quite a sci-fi tale that becomes riveting toward the middle of the story.
Thieves and murderers, gangs, vampires, business leaders with far too much power, a journalist, and more fill these pages to provide quite a good read! Interesting dystopian literature – dark, violent, mysterious, and suspenseful – for those who love the genre!

[audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Flynn and Diomedes live on the outskirts of Northgate, a futuristic city rotting from its own violence and corruption. When their apartment is torched they decide to find the culprit themselves. Informants and dubious contacts help them navigate the city's underbelly but their actions quickly become entangled with the covert operations of a secret organization. This is the first book within The New Aeneid Cycle.

A Shadow In The Flames is a cyberpunk story with an interesting dystopian world. The story centers around an extensive investigation with perceptive characters whose deductive reasoning and observations are exhibited in detail. At times it was a bit too descriptive for my tastes but it enabled me to appreciate other elements of the story.

The characters were an interesting mix of different personalities. I liked reading there interactions with each other and the different relationships that formed. Michael Flynn's character was naive and impressionable which annoyed me a bit but it was interesting seeing how the other character's influenced him. Felix was my favorite character in the story. He added a comedic touch and had the best dialog. I found Diomedes the most interesting because he seemed like a product of the city's mercenary culture.

The world building stood out to me the most while reading. I liked the embedded references to Virgil's Aeneid. I also liked the different subcultures of the city that were highlighted. The cybernetic enhancements were interesting and I really liked how they were incorporated into the story.

My favorite chapters were probably the ones that showcased a discovery mining expedition on the moon. They had a nice bit of suspense and I was eager to learn their connection to the main story and characters.

The last few chapters were wonderfully unexpected. Though it ended on a cliffhanger, loose ends were tied up along with a good amount of character growth and continuing conflict that made me eager to continue reading the series.

[Disclaimer: I received a copy this book as part of the Zeus Is Dead launch celebration bonus offer.]

[Miranda Lukacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the beginning of this book, I had a hard time understanding why some of the scenes were given, but after finishing the book, they tie in nicely. They move the story along, giving information when needed to connect the dots. They also set up some back story for the next book in the series.
The author has exceptional skill with describing the scenery as well as thought processes. You can visualize the park and the sky so precisely that you feel in tune with the characters as they navigate the world. He also is very good at dialogue. I think this is his best skill. Dialogue is one of the propelling aspects of this story and each person has their own style of talking making it easier to tell who said what and when.
I really enjoyed the way each new evidence tied into the overall plot and the added cybernetics made it much more exciting to imagine. The characters struggle a lot in this story and it does help with tying everything together, but I don't necessarily see the characters pushing the story forward, so much as the plot is pushing it forward. I see this as somewhat of a downside, but that doesn't mean it was not a great story. I especially like the character Felix: a little insane with his ramblings but level-headed and exceptionally smart.
Overall, this was a very good book to read and I really enjoyed it.

[Chris Philbrook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I debated giving this book a one star review, but I finished it, and for the most part, I thought it was okay. However, there were some sizable flaws for me in the book, and I wanted to share them in a constructive way.

First and foremost, most of the characters were underdeveloped. The first two characters introduced into the book you learn very little about despite them being in the entire book. One is a country bumpkin obsessed with his mercenary roommate (who seems like a d-bag), and the other is the d-bag roommate. The first is boring, and the second is just unlikeable.

The Felix character is the best one in the book, but he's brought on as a hireling by the first two mooks. He's clearly the most interesting and well written character, but again, he has almost no back story, and nearly no arc.

In fact, most of the characters exist in the story sans arc. They are snapshots of people: fully developed, or fully underdeveloped, not changing or evolving in any meaningful way. They end the book pretty much as they start the book, with some very tiny moments of growth.

The action is well written, and the concept has legs, but for me, a cast of unlikeable characters means I won't be trying book two.

[Yves Fey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this by the evocative title, and the mythic element suggested by the Aeneid subtitle. My hope was for something along the lines of Samuel Delaney. While I didn’t feel that the novel really evoked that mythic quality (for me), it did do an excellent job of dystopian world-building, and the ending made me wonder if the sequels might conjure more of the mythic quality I was looking for. Other readers may well find the action evokes the grittier side of Homer and Virgil. While it was a bit grungy and hard-edged compared to my usual fare, I got caught up in the sympathetic characters and the well-developed, multi-layered plot. I save five stars for books with a bit more stylistic flourish, but the writing was clean and solid, the dialogue wedded to the characters, and the style suited the world. The action is balanced by the internal conflicts of the narrators, and there is a pervasive sense of menace that lures the reader onward. I think Sci Fi fans will delight in this series.

[Veera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael did a very good job on this book. At the very first part, I wasn't sure If i was going to like this book. But from the middle of the second chapter and through all the book, I found myself avid of discovering more.

The book has mystery and adventure. It was a very good mix-up, it has a little of everything.
As the plot goes on, we find a lot of things that makes us think about them twice, like unexpected meetings that at first leaves you thinking that you missed a part of the book because you don't get it... but after a while of reading and going deeper into the story, you find that everything makes sense and you find the pieces for the puzzle.

I know I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I did.
To be honest, I wasn't sure about the plot but the cover dragged me into a thought that it might have been an amazing book that you just let it go.
But just look at that picture. It lets you know there is something going on. Its a very wild cover.

Originally posted on: http://onceuponabookva.blogspot.mx/20...

[emma pawz clawz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This kind of book really isn't my thing, but it was ok. Most characters are underdeveloped except Felix, who didn't get enough air time.
Every few chapters the author throws in a parallel story of a moon mining discovery, which he does not link to the main story. Why do this? Why not wait to use that sub plot in your next book and apply it to the main story? Anyways I kind breezed through it to get to the end.
Witty conversations, but ultimately many of them are repetitive. Like the 1st half of the book each character is basically just trying to get information out of other characters....but no one actually knows anything. After like 5 chapters of this it get frustrating. I just wanted to say "when is diomedes and Flynn finally going to discover something?" Dead ends are necessary sometimes but repeating them over and over gets really taxing on the reader.

[Angie Boyter]

A third of this was enough for me, but I won't rate it since there was a lot left unread, and many people obviously enjoyed it. It was not a badly done book; there was some nice prose and potentially enjoyable characters, but the plot and setting were not at all to my taste. It is set in a future featuring "freelancers", mercenaries who operate as security in a rather dystopic society. A good bit of what I read takes place while the protagonists are exploring the sewers looking for a group of Nosferatu, a cult of vampire imitators. Meanwhile something is found on the moon that may introduce a real science fiction element to the book, which is what I was expecting based on the description, but I was not motivated to hang around to find out.

[Camela Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot going on in the first of this Cyberpunk series, and Munz handles weaving all of the moving parts together expertly. I often find myself frustrated with loose threads and plot holes, but that was not the case with A Shadow in the Flames. The characters are well developed and I found myself finding favorites in this multiple-character perpective novel. Even Diomedes was interesting if unstable. I found the few female characters well rendered. The added technology was interesting. If you like sci-fi and a lot of action, I recommend this book. I'm already midway through the second (A Memory in Black), and can't wait for the third. Well done.

[Adrienne Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, this is not my genre, but wow, what a great and well developed story. I really enjoyed it. There was a bit of a problem with some of the writing mechanics, which made it hard for me to form the dialogue perfectly in my head, but Michael always cleared it up at the end and you are never lost. The transitions is done beautiful and I love his characters, especially Felix. Coming from someone that doesn't love stories about Bodyguards and what-knots, this author has really wowed me with his imagination.
I will recommend it to everyone.

[Phi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting plot and characters limited by awkward prose

If you can get past the awkward prose and clunky dialogue of the meandering early chapters the plot begins to tighten up as the characters sprout interesting depths and conflicted agendas. The most compelling subplot is frustratingly kept on a low simmer until very late, in favor of a character arc which plays out against a mundane techno heist thriller adventure with comic book elements.

I may be a sucker, but I'll give the second book in the series a shot on the strength of that subplot's potential...

[R. James · Rating 3 out of 5]

What you would expect from a Cyberpunk novel. A little disjointed with the moon segment - should have been fleshed out and wound a little tighter into the main plot.

Good story overall - nice world building. The characters were a bit one-dimensional and hard to tell from one another. The book could use a closer eye of a good editor, though - found quite a few errors in punctuation, as well as typos.

Recommended for those with a liking for Cyberpunk / SciFi.

[Sarah Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting first novel. It's science fiction with depth as the characters struggle with issues of trust and use of force. There are some loose ends which hint at a series. I look forward to more as the author continues to hone his craft.

[Lonna Cunningham · Rating 2 out of 5]

not bad. a few wording glitches that snagged my attention and brought me out of the story, but I am picky. interesting universe, reasonably well explained. not chomping at the bit to read the rest, but if they showed up I'd probably give them a go.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting future society type novel.
The characters are neither good nor bad, but instead some combination just as they are combinations of human and cyberg (a term not used in the novel). The book ends with a couple of nice mysteries for subsequent novels.

[Jeannine Puhlman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book! Hard to put it down!