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Just a Series #1
A Series of Unrelated Events
Dear Reader,
I’m sorry to tell you the book you have picked up is extremely unpleasant. If you wanted something convivial, I’m afraid you’ve chosen the wrong book altogether, because of all the books describing unhappy endings, these stories may very well be the most miserable yet. The book you are holding in your hands tell the tales of events never heard or long forgotten. Tales of misery and pain and anguish lost to the innocent.
In fact, in one story alone, a man is forced to face his biggest fear, has his oaths tested and attempts to have carnivorous sex with a beast. In another, a woman is forced to make a decision that will devastate the rest of her life.
It is my honored and sorrowful duty to record these events. I must spend days and nights with the memory of these affairs, but you do not. If you expect something cheerful and lighthearted, you have chosen the wrong book.
In all sincerity,
Kaylyn Marie Dunn
A Series of Unrelated Events is the first novel in a quadrennially published anthology series of short stories written and revisited over a course of the four years. These stories follow the narratives of monsters, ghosts, cannibals, witches and prophecies, each of which features a different genre or theme…
I’m sorry to tell you the book you have picked up is extremely unpleasant. If you wanted something convivial, I’m afraid you’ve chosen the wrong book altogether, because of all the books describing unhappy endings, these stories may very well be the most miserable yet. The book you are holding in your hands tell the tales of events never heard or long forgotten. Tales of misery and pain and anguish lost to the innocent.
In fact, in one story alone, a man is forced to face his biggest fear, has his oaths tested and attempts to have carnivorous sex with a beast. In another, a woman is forced to make a decision that will devastate the rest of her life.
It is my honored and sorrowful duty to record these events. I must spend days and nights with the memory of these affairs, but you do not. If you expect something cheerful and lighthearted, you have chosen the wrong book.
In all sincerity,
Kaylyn Marie Dunn
A Series of Unrelated Events is the first novel in a quadrennially published anthology series of short stories written and revisited over a course of the four years. These stories follow the narratives of monsters, ghosts, cannibals, witches and prophecies, each of which features a different genre or theme…
129 pages, Paperback
Published November 23, 2020
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Kaylyn Marie Dunn
4 books4 followersBest known as a student, Kaylyn Marie published her first book A Twisted Fate as a high school senior. Although, she's said to have been writing it since 8th grade. Kaylyn was born in Maryland, but spent most of her childhood moving around as a military brat. Since publishing her debut novel, Kaylyn has continued writing, appeared in newspapers, and become a teacher.
Kaylyn Marie is the owner of Kada's Bookstore, a publishing company founded in 2021. Kada's Bookstore believes that anyone can be a successful writer. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of The Empyrean Literary Magazine which began in December 2021. Empyrean's mission is to give new writers a chance to express their voices and ideas, and be introduced in the world of publishing.
Also see:
K. M. Dunn
Kaylyn Dunn
Kaylyn Marie is the owner of Kada's Bookstore, a publishing company founded in 2021. Kada's Bookstore believes that anyone can be a successful writer. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of The Empyrean Literary Magazine which began in December 2021. Empyrean's mission is to give new writers a chance to express their voices and ideas, and be introduced in the world of publishing.
Also see:
K. M. Dunn
Kaylyn Dunn
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 16, 2021
Review originally published https://amanjareads.com/2021/06/10/a-...
Thank you to author Kaylyn Dunn for providing me with a copy of her book in exchange for this honest review.
A Series of Unrelated Events is a collection of short stories that aim to be disturbing, distressing, or otherwise unpleasant. Author Dunn does a good job of finding topics that perfectly fit this goal.
The book opens with a story about children. Since this book states on the back cover that it is not meant to be a happily ever after kind of book you can guess that it doesn't end with the children maintaining long and successful lives. I have to give props to any book or movie that kills off kids. It's a gutsy move that many are not willing to take, this book opens with it.
From there A Series of Unrelated Events proceeds as most short story collections do, with a bunch of tales uneven in quality. A couple of the stories are stand outs and many others are forgetable. The Heir and Whisper Pockets were the stand outs to me. Very original and creative stories. Whisper Pockets even taps into lore I was previously unfamiliar with.
Overall the stories read more as teasers than complete plots. They are very short, only a handful of pages each, none taking more than five minutes or so to read. The main problem with this is that they don't feel like complete stories. Most of them feel like the beginning to a story or the summation of a story. A story that I'll never get to finish.
A great short story is a full story that just happens to be shorter than a novella. It will have a beginning, middle, and end. As well as character development, conflict and resolution, and all of the other pieces of a great story. The stories in A Series of Unrelated Events felt more like workshopping outlines for larger ideas. Almost every single one of them needed fleshing out.
In addition to being underwritten the book as a whole needs editing. There are some fairly egregious typing errors on these pages. I usually give a pass to self-published books having an above average number of proofreading errors but I make exception when a typo changes the meaning of a sentence. That is always unacceptable.
The largest redeeming factor for this collection is its unbridled creativity. Dunn clearly has some great ideas for stories, she just needs to pick a few of these and focus on making them fuller. She's created this book for quantity but if she picks her favorites and converts them to quality we'd have some real winners. The story The Heir would make a marvelous fantasy series and The Whisper Pockets has strong potential as a horror novel that I would definitely be interested in.
I hope to see more from Dunn as she grows as an author and I recommend this to anyone who would like to help her acheive that growth.
Thank you to author Kaylyn Dunn for providing me with a copy of her book in exchange for this honest review.
A Series of Unrelated Events is a collection of short stories that aim to be disturbing, distressing, or otherwise unpleasant. Author Dunn does a good job of finding topics that perfectly fit this goal.
The book opens with a story about children. Since this book states on the back cover that it is not meant to be a happily ever after kind of book you can guess that it doesn't end with the children maintaining long and successful lives. I have to give props to any book or movie that kills off kids. It's a gutsy move that many are not willing to take, this book opens with it.
From there A Series of Unrelated Events proceeds as most short story collections do, with a bunch of tales uneven in quality. A couple of the stories are stand outs and many others are forgetable. The Heir and Whisper Pockets were the stand outs to me. Very original and creative stories. Whisper Pockets even taps into lore I was previously unfamiliar with.
Overall the stories read more as teasers than complete plots. They are very short, only a handful of pages each, none taking more than five minutes or so to read. The main problem with this is that they don't feel like complete stories. Most of them feel like the beginning to a story or the summation of a story. A story that I'll never get to finish.
A great short story is a full story that just happens to be shorter than a novella. It will have a beginning, middle, and end. As well as character development, conflict and resolution, and all of the other pieces of a great story. The stories in A Series of Unrelated Events felt more like workshopping outlines for larger ideas. Almost every single one of them needed fleshing out.
In addition to being underwritten the book as a whole needs editing. There are some fairly egregious typing errors on these pages. I usually give a pass to self-published books having an above average number of proofreading errors but I make exception when a typo changes the meaning of a sentence. That is always unacceptable.
The largest redeeming factor for this collection is its unbridled creativity. Dunn clearly has some great ideas for stories, she just needs to pick a few of these and focus on making them fuller. She's created this book for quantity but if she picks her favorites and converts them to quality we'd have some real winners. The story The Heir would make a marvelous fantasy series and The Whisper Pockets has strong potential as a horror novel that I would definitely be interested in.
I hope to see more from Dunn as she grows as an author and I recommend this to anyone who would like to help her acheive that growth.
Displaying 1 of 1 review