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The Midnight Jury #1
Any Minor World
For Roy Mackey -- a recovering addict who makes his living as an unlicensed PI and occasional muscle for hire -- tracking down a dead writer's final manuscript should be a walk in the park. Too bad his client is a phony, the dead writer is a thief, and shadowy men are watching his every move. All clues lead to a canceled pulp-adventure comic, The Midnight Jury, and its mousy, reclusive author. Lucy Langenkamp is living a quiet life as an art restorer in Las Vegas; when Roy helps her escape from a crew of armed kidnappers, she's as baffled as he is.
Then one of her own characters, a flamethrower-wielding "human exterminator," steps out of the pages of her comic book and into the real world. He's intent on hunting her down, and he isn't alone. The pulp villains spawned from Lucy's childhood imagination are coming to life, searching for their long-lost author. Her most sinister creation, the Illustrated Duke, has a dark plan in motion.
This is a job for Lucy's two-fisted vigilante, the Midnight Jury. But the Jury is missing. To save the day, Lucy and Roy must descend into a noir-drenched nightmare city on a rescue mission. The walls between fiction and reality are shattered, there's wild magic in the air, and it's up to two unlikely heroes to risk it all and save the day.
Then one of her own characters, a flamethrower-wielding "human exterminator," steps out of the pages of her comic book and into the real world. He's intent on hunting her down, and he isn't alone. The pulp villains spawned from Lucy's childhood imagination are coming to life, searching for their long-lost author. Her most sinister creation, the Illustrated Duke, has a dark plan in motion.
This is a job for Lucy's two-fisted vigilante, the Midnight Jury. But the Jury is missing. To save the day, Lucy and Roy must descend into a noir-drenched nightmare city on a rescue mission. The walls between fiction and reality are shattered, there's wild magic in the air, and it's up to two unlikely heroes to risk it all and save the day.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 26, 2022
80 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Craig Schaefer
43 books1,332 followersCraig Schaefer's books have taken readers to the seamy edge of a criminal underworld drenched in shadow (the Daniel Faust series), to a world torn by war, poison and witchcraft (the Revanche Cycle), and across a modern America mired in occult mysteries and a conspiracy of lies (the Harmony Black series).
Despite this, people say he's strangely normal. Suspiciously normal, in fact. His home on the Web is www.craigschaeferbooks.com.
Despite this, people say he's strangely normal. Suspiciously normal, in fact. His home on the Web is www.craigschaeferbooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
February 27, 2023
““And you,” Verna said. “You must be God. Pleased to meet you.”
If there's any author who could make me somewhat fangirl
Anyhoo and stuff, what is kind of funny/wonderfully ironic/slightly glorious about this book is that some of the characters' traits seem to define Schaefer herself. Because only someone "crazier than a shithouse weasel" and with a "seriously messed up imagination" could come up with this type of story. And/or with the splendidly mind-blowing First Story metaverse (which this book belongs to).
Anything else? Oh yes, I have yet another highly mathematical equation to share with you
Danielle Faust Investigations + Mr Smith and the Network + Nightmare logic + lionnesses-in-training + teddy bears and canopic jars + Mr Smith and the Network + serial-murdering cannibalistic sociopath + spoiler spoiler spoiler + most delectable First Story references =
P.S. Rumblebones is mine mine mine. Just so you know and stuff.
[Pre-review nonsense]
Oh yes, slightly scrumptious indeed this one is.
➽ Review to come and stuff.
[April 2022]
It's scrumpalicious Schaeferistic Patreon-Serial-Turned-Book (SPSTB™) time again!! So why should you read this one, you ask? First, because it is a truth universally acknowledged that anything Schaefer writes, read post haste one must and second because this one is based on the infamous Tangerine chapter in The Locust Job (if you know what I'm talking about here, then YOU KNOW).
Long story short:
May 8, 2022
Curiosity had Roy on a leash. He felt it tethered to his throat as he plunged down the rabbit hole, rope spiraling down after him into the dark. Maybe it would last forever. Or maybe it would run our and yank, sharp and hard and fast, snapping his neck before he reached the bottom. Leaving him dangling there, dead and blind, a warning to anyone else who dove in looking for answers.
Wouldn't help. One you jumped into the rabbit hole, there was only one way you could travel: straight down, all the way to the end of the line.
I think it's pretty clear that I'll read - and love - pretty much anything that Craig Schaefer offers, at this point. But these books, and this author, just really are that good!
Previous novels have definitely dabbled in that noir feeling, but Any Minor World jumps all the way in. While tangentially connected to the Faust/Harmony Black novels, most of this book is entirely its own separate story, with new main characters to fall in love with, and a plethora of villains to admire and fear. Seriously, there's a whole team of bad guys this time, and not only does that reinforce the noir, us-against-the-world thing, but it gives the author space to really get inventive, and bad guys is something she already did so well - some of her best, most terrifying ideas found room here.
It's relatively short, especially compared to The Hungry Dreaming, but it's no less brilliant for it. Any Minor World was bold and I loved it.
Wouldn't help. One you jumped into the rabbit hole, there was only one way you could travel: straight down, all the way to the end of the line.
I think it's pretty clear that I'll read - and love - pretty much anything that Craig Schaefer offers, at this point. But these books, and this author, just really are that good!
Previous novels have definitely dabbled in that noir feeling, but Any Minor World jumps all the way in. While tangentially connected to the Faust/Harmony Black novels, most of this book is entirely its own separate story, with new main characters to fall in love with, and a plethora of villains to admire and fear. Seriously, there's a whole team of bad guys this time, and not only does that reinforce the noir, us-against-the-world thing, but it gives the author space to really get inventive, and bad guys is something she already did so well - some of her best, most terrifying ideas found room here.
It's relatively short, especially compared to The Hungry Dreaming, but it's no less brilliant for it. Any Minor World was bold and I loved it.
July 5, 2022
Another delightful, if a tad terrifying series by Schaefer😀
*** 4.44 ***
Pure pulp-noir, delivered with all the bells and whistles of the old noir movies and pulp comic books 📚. I loved being back in the worlds created by Craig Schaefer! You know what I mean if you have ever read the Daniel Faust or Harmony Black series. If not and you like pulp fiction, you have to try them out! They are full of imaginative mysteries, some magic, a lot of sleight of hand, violence, but most of all, they will keep you glued to the pages and never slow down... They are exhilarating! Not for the faint of heart or the sensitive to violence or political correctness... Give this author a try - totally worth the money👍😎😎!
*** 4.44 ***
Pure pulp-noir, delivered with all the bells and whistles of the old noir movies and pulp comic books 📚. I loved being back in the worlds created by Craig Schaefer! You know what I mean if you have ever read the Daniel Faust or Harmony Black series. If not and you like pulp fiction, you have to try them out! They are full of imaginative mysteries, some magic, a lot of sleight of hand, violence, but most of all, they will keep you glued to the pages and never slow down... They are exhilarating! Not for the faint of heart or the sensitive to violence or political correctness... Give this author a try - totally worth the money👍😎😎!
January 31, 2025
Great start of new series!
Any Minor World
By Craig Schaefer
I love his other series and saw this one. Wow, it sure has a strong start. Great fantasy, characters, action, worlds, and plot. Definitely want to follow this series of his, too. Great imagination.
Any Minor World
By Craig Schaefer
I love his other series and saw this one. Wow, it sure has a strong start. Great fantasy, characters, action, worlds, and plot. Definitely want to follow this series of his, too. Great imagination.
May 9, 2022
Any Minor World immersed me from the first chapter. Completely. I started it on a bus that took me on a hiking trip and finished in the tent in the mountains of North Macedonia. So, yeah, I loved it.
It blends all the ingredients I crave - dark urban fantasy, noir, and horror. In addition, it offers an exciting twist to superheroes and excellent, tight plotting.
Set in two realities (including Noir York), Any Minor World follows an unlicensed PI and recovering addict named Roy Mackey. Roy gets a chance to earn BIG & EASY money. He just needs to track the dead writer’s manuscript that turns out to be a rip-off of The Midnight Jury, a canceled pulp-adventure comic.
After identifying and tracking the actual author, Lucy Langenkamp, Roy’s life gets bonkers. Up to around one-third of the book, Any Minor World reads like a fast-paced noir thriller, but then the story reaches an exciting and preternatural twist that speeds up the (already fast) plot. Lucy’s imagination is twisted, and her creations, including a flame-thrower wielding exterminator or ancient Egyptian necromancers and giant skeleton-snakes, somehow step into the real world.
Beneath a rough physique and an addiction, Roy attempts to forget a tortured past, that of a police job and forbidden love gone wrong. Schaeffer loves using archetypes and tropes to create memorable characters. Roy is a stereotypical down-on-his-luck PI who takes the case and understands his role in the story. He’s the guy who throws lines like this:
I couldn’t help but like the guy. Lucy starts as a mousy art restorer with steel hidden underneath her frail physique and a fear of the confrontation. Of course, the villains are over-the-top, but long-life fans of comic books, superheroes, and supervillains will be thrilled to meet them. We’re getting undead, psychopaths, The Network (Mafia of the Mafias), and more (without getting into spoilers).
Any Minor World is a fast-paced and clever superhero noir. Sign me up for the Midnight Jury fan club :) I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. Schaefer is my favorite pulp writer, and Any Minor World cements her position.
It blends all the ingredients I crave - dark urban fantasy, noir, and horror. In addition, it offers an exciting twist to superheroes and excellent, tight plotting.
Set in two realities (including Noir York), Any Minor World follows an unlicensed PI and recovering addict named Roy Mackey. Roy gets a chance to earn BIG & EASY money. He just needs to track the dead writer’s manuscript that turns out to be a rip-off of The Midnight Jury, a canceled pulp-adventure comic.
After identifying and tracking the actual author, Lucy Langenkamp, Roy’s life gets bonkers. Up to around one-third of the book, Any Minor World reads like a fast-paced noir thriller, but then the story reaches an exciting and preternatural twist that speeds up the (already fast) plot. Lucy’s imagination is twisted, and her creations, including a flame-thrower wielding exterminator or ancient Egyptian necromancers and giant skeleton-snakes, somehow step into the real world.
Beneath a rough physique and an addiction, Roy attempts to forget a tortured past, that of a police job and forbidden love gone wrong. Schaeffer loves using archetypes and tropes to create memorable characters. Roy is a stereotypical down-on-his-luck PI who takes the case and understands his role in the story. He’s the guy who throws lines like this:
“Recent events have left me with some frustration to work out of my system. So I’m going to go out there, I’m going to politely introduce myself to Mr. Malone, and then I’m going to beat the undead shit out of him. It’ll be good for my overall sense of well-being.”
I couldn’t help but like the guy. Lucy starts as a mousy art restorer with steel hidden underneath her frail physique and a fear of the confrontation. Of course, the villains are over-the-top, but long-life fans of comic books, superheroes, and supervillains will be thrilled to meet them. We’re getting undead, psychopaths, The Network (Mafia of the Mafias), and more (without getting into spoilers).
Any Minor World is a fast-paced and clever superhero noir. Sign me up for the Midnight Jury fan club :) I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. Schaefer is my favorite pulp writer, and Any Minor World cements her position.
March 24, 2023
This was another excellent book set in the same UF world as Schaefer’s Daniel Faust and Harmony Black series. Just like those books this one was a compelling urban fantasy tale with great characters, fun twists and turns, and a great balance between light humour and dark drama.
The story was pretty fun. Roy Mackey is a down on his luck PI hired to track down the missing manuscript of an unfinished comic book series. It seems a simple case but Roy quickly learns that is not the case as the author had plenty of secrets and the clients who hired him were no less secretive about their motives or intent!
Roy and Lucy proved easy to root for leads and I definitely enjoyed how Lucy in particular was not your typical Schaefer style lead character. She got the chance to grow as a character over the story which was an enjoyable element of the story.
The best thing this book had going for it was it combined three of my favourite things. First it was set in my absolute favourite UF world which meant a few fun cameos from familiar characters from Schaefer’s main books. Second was the fact that this was as much a comic book tale as an UF story and I always enjoy a good comic book tale when they are done right! Third was the presence of another of my favourite tropes; book characters coming to life of folks being sucked into crazy book worlds!
All in all I loved this one and cannot wait for the next instalment of The Midnight Jury series!
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Audio Note: Susannah Jones did a good job with the audio. She always does well with the Schaefer books as her voices are good and she gets the mix of drama and humour in the stories.
The story was pretty fun. Roy Mackey is a down on his luck PI hired to track down the missing manuscript of an unfinished comic book series. It seems a simple case but Roy quickly learns that is not the case as the author had plenty of secrets and the clients who hired him were no less secretive about their motives or intent!
Roy and Lucy proved easy to root for leads and I definitely enjoyed how Lucy in particular was not your typical Schaefer style lead character. She got the chance to grow as a character over the story which was an enjoyable element of the story.
The best thing this book had going for it was it combined three of my favourite things. First it was set in my absolute favourite UF world which meant a few fun cameos from familiar characters from Schaefer’s main books. Second was the fact that this was as much a comic book tale as an UF story and I always enjoy a good comic book tale when they are done right! Third was the presence of another of my favourite tropes; book characters coming to life of folks being sucked into crazy book worlds!
All in all I loved this one and cannot wait for the next instalment of The Midnight Jury series!
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Audio Note: Susannah Jones did a good job with the audio. She always does well with the Schaefer books as her voices are good and she gets the mix of drama and humour in the stories.
June 1, 2022
A great new book with an all new story (separate from but still connected, loosely, to the worlds of Faust and Black) from one of my favorite storytellers - interesting and intriguing new characters combined with a deeper dive into a mysteriously new (briefly/previously mentioned) alternate universe, you may remember if you read the Daniel Faust books, which isn't necessarily necessary 😉 (Noir York) make for a fun and exciting new entry into the ever expanding Schaefer-verse series of novels. I really love how Schaefer weaves and connects all these different realties, stories, and characters together while still keeping each one fresh and unique to their own core voice (I don't know how he does it, but it's impressive - I imagine it looks a lot like Carolyn Saunders secret closet must've looked in all it's red stringed glory and chaos which only he can truly comprehend). Highly recommend it as I do all Schaefer's works.
May 11, 2022
Always a fan
Well I've enjoyed everything I've read by Mr. Schaefer and this book was no exception. It felt predictable at times, but then most of my predictions were wrong. I'm looking forward to see where this one goes.
Well I've enjoyed everything I've read by Mr. Schaefer and this book was no exception. It felt predictable at times, but then most of my predictions were wrong. I'm looking forward to see where this one goes.
May 10, 2022
Very much looking forward to more of this, from all the other things we've learned of Schaefer's world (through his other novels) I'm very curious to see where else this story is going to go.
April 5, 2024
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I read this book as a judge for the third annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: graphic violence, gun violence, blood, gore, murder, death, kidnapping, drug use / addiction, cannibalism, swearing
--
Any Minor World is a fantastic clash of crime noir and superhero fiction that well and truly pulls you in for the ride.
A freelance personal investigator, Roy Mackey gets hired to find a lost manuscript. It’s a job that suspiciously pays too much and where all the details don’t add up. Roy follows the breadcrumbs to Lucy Langenkamp, the young author of a discontinued comic book series – The Midnight Jury – that has links to the mysterious manuscript but which she is clueless about. After saving her from being kidnapped and all but putting a bigger target on his back with the sketchy client who initially hired him, Roy soon finds that he may have more pressing concerns when characters from the actual Midnight Jury comic book start showing up trying to get their hands on Lucy too.
If I was to choose one word to describe this book it would be cinematic. From the first chapter the snappy pacing flows so well, you’re immersed right into the world and the characters fly off the page. Honestly Shaefer’s characterisation is phenomenal, each and every one of the characters fells well fleshed out and you get a real sense of their personalities within a few pages.
There is fair bit of violence in this one but the action is SO GOOD and alongside all the suspense there is this adventurous undertone that makes the book such a page turner.
The story has a very DC Comics feel to it, the setting was giving me flashes of Gotham for sure and I also found my mind drawing parallels to Watchmen and The Sandman too. Though I have to say that as a whole it leans much more towards gritty urban fantasy than science fiction for me and this is probably because when it comes to the more speculative elements there is a lot more magic/black magic involved than science.
As someone who loves it when SFF in paired with mystery/crime I still had such a fun time with it though.
Whilst the direction of the plot is unique there are some very cliché, classic comic book-esque moments along the way too. By the end the events that take place over this one book are concluded really nicely however, there are also some loose threads left early on which hint at a series continuation and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for that in the future!
**I read this book as a judge for the third annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: graphic violence, gun violence, blood, gore, murder, death, kidnapping, drug use / addiction, cannibalism, swearing
--
Any Minor World is a fantastic clash of crime noir and superhero fiction that well and truly pulls you in for the ride.
A freelance personal investigator, Roy Mackey gets hired to find a lost manuscript. It’s a job that suspiciously pays too much and where all the details don’t add up. Roy follows the breadcrumbs to Lucy Langenkamp, the young author of a discontinued comic book series – The Midnight Jury – that has links to the mysterious manuscript but which she is clueless about. After saving her from being kidnapped and all but putting a bigger target on his back with the sketchy client who initially hired him, Roy soon finds that he may have more pressing concerns when characters from the actual Midnight Jury comic book start showing up trying to get their hands on Lucy too.
If I was to choose one word to describe this book it would be cinematic. From the first chapter the snappy pacing flows so well, you’re immersed right into the world and the characters fly off the page. Honestly Shaefer’s characterisation is phenomenal, each and every one of the characters fells well fleshed out and you get a real sense of their personalities within a few pages.
There is fair bit of violence in this one but the action is SO GOOD and alongside all the suspense there is this adventurous undertone that makes the book such a page turner.
The story has a very DC Comics feel to it, the setting was giving me flashes of Gotham for sure and I also found my mind drawing parallels to Watchmen and The Sandman too. Though I have to say that as a whole it leans much more towards gritty urban fantasy than science fiction for me and this is probably because when it comes to the more speculative elements there is a lot more magic/black magic involved than science.
As someone who loves it when SFF in paired with mystery/crime I still had such a fun time with it though.
Whilst the direction of the plot is unique there are some very cliché, classic comic book-esque moments along the way too. By the end the events that take place over this one book are concluded really nicely however, there are also some loose threads left early on which hint at a series continuation and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for that in the future!
May 19, 2024
Oh I SO look forward to a return trip to Noir York City. Roy reminded me of Slam Bradley from the “Trail of the Catwoman” comics. We’re not even gonna get into how much I loved Danielle. And I expect we’ll see Verna on the fringes of the wider Schaeferverse. If I ever wanted a noir comic book in novel form, this was it!
May 22, 2022
Couldn't have enjoyed it more
Villains, heroes, nightmares and more, this book touches on all my interests. This is a fantastic adventure that is both gritty and dark while featuring realistic heroics in combat against villains that rival any of those found in comics. There are references to characters from other novels by Schaefer but done in a way that the knowledge isn't necessary to enjoy the story. This is easily one of my favorite books of 2022.
Villains, heroes, nightmares and more, this book touches on all my interests. This is a fantastic adventure that is both gritty and dark while featuring realistic heroics in combat against villains that rival any of those found in comics. There are references to characters from other novels by Schaefer but done in a way that the knowledge isn't necessary to enjoy the story. This is easily one of my favorite books of 2022.
May 9, 2022
A fabulous book!
I loved this new series! From the characters, to the setting and on to the ending it was a thrill ride. As everyone jumps onto the multiple universe bandwagon, this story gives a new perspective on them. I can't wait to see what happens next. And I hope there's a graphic novel in the works for Midnight Jury too!
I loved this new series! From the characters, to the setting and on to the ending it was a thrill ride. As everyone jumps onto the multiple universe bandwagon, this story gives a new perspective on them. I can't wait to see what happens next. And I hope there's a graphic novel in the works for Midnight Jury too!
May 13, 2022
Another winner from Craig Schaefer
I am a big fan of Craig’s writing and this book did not disappoint. Great characters and a really fun story.
I am a big fan of Craig’s writing and this book did not disappoint. Great characters and a really fun story.
March 20, 2024
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when I started this book, but it wasn't what I got. I was expecting more science fantasy, since this can be described as a multi-world superhero book. Instead, the book felt more like a gritty crime noir story, with the first half of the book only barely touching on the superhero (or, more accurately, supervillain) aspects. The book always felt more focused on the detective angle than any SFF or superhero angle.
I hesitate to know how to talk about this book. If I had been at a bookstore and skimmed the first few chapters trying to decide whether to pick it up, I probably wouldn't have gone any further than that. This book is much darker and grittier than my usual fare. It's just not the kind of book that I will usually pick for myself. However, since someone else picked it for me, I did keep reading and I was fascinated by the concept. You could tell that there was a lot of depth to this book beyond what was shown on the page, and I found myself wondering more than once whether Schaefer had written / commissioned the actual Midnight Jury comic books to have as a visual reference.
The characters, for the most part, felt like comic book characters. (Which makes sense, all things considered.) Honestly, even the two main characters from the "real" world felt very frequently like comic book characters. And yet, for me, there wasn't much of a visual picture of the characters. The images that stuck with me were more about the characters' accessories than their appearance. (Except for Mr. Smith, who I couldn't help but picture as Agent Smith from the Matrix movies.) Roach had his homemade flamethrower. The Duke is a canvas for tattoos. Rumblebones has her teddy bear. But what do they look like? I'm not sure. (Though honestly, that feels very "comic book" to me, too, where the artists change periodically and the character appearances change with them but the accessories stay the same.)
I really enjoyed the (all too brief) discussion of the way authors create stories and some of the stories linger and create their own worlds that are populated by their characters. We got just enough of the creation stuff to move the main plot forward, though, and no more. I would have loved to see more of it, but that would have made for a slower book. This one was more focused on action, and that meant leaving the philosophical "what happens when we dream up other worlds" stuff for another time. We got enough of it in this book to understand why it was a plot point, but it stopped there.
When I got to "The End," I found that I had enjoyed my time with this book more than I expected to based on the opening. I don't know how many of my regular blog readers I can recommend this to, though, since I know that, like me, many of my regulars enjoy cozy books (which this is NOT). However, there are also some readers of this blog who like darker stuff than I do, and those of you who are looking for something interesting with great worldbuilding and more grit than is present in the kind of books I typically review might enjoy this book.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
I read this book as part of the judging process for the 3rd Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), and I was provided a review copy for judging purposes. My opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of my SPSFC3 team or the competition as a whole.
I hesitate to know how to talk about this book. If I had been at a bookstore and skimmed the first few chapters trying to decide whether to pick it up, I probably wouldn't have gone any further than that. This book is much darker and grittier than my usual fare. It's just not the kind of book that I will usually pick for myself. However, since someone else picked it for me, I did keep reading and I was fascinated by the concept. You could tell that there was a lot of depth to this book beyond what was shown on the page, and I found myself wondering more than once whether Schaefer had written / commissioned the actual Midnight Jury comic books to have as a visual reference.
The characters, for the most part, felt like comic book characters. (Which makes sense, all things considered.) Honestly, even the two main characters from the "real" world felt very frequently like comic book characters. And yet, for me, there wasn't much of a visual picture of the characters. The images that stuck with me were more about the characters' accessories than their appearance. (Except for Mr. Smith, who I couldn't help but picture as Agent Smith from the Matrix movies.) Roach had his homemade flamethrower. The Duke is a canvas for tattoos. Rumblebones has her teddy bear. But what do they look like? I'm not sure. (Though honestly, that feels very "comic book" to me, too, where the artists change periodically and the character appearances change with them but the accessories stay the same.)
I really enjoyed the (all too brief) discussion of the way authors create stories and some of the stories linger and create their own worlds that are populated by their characters. We got just enough of the creation stuff to move the main plot forward, though, and no more. I would have loved to see more of it, but that would have made for a slower book. This one was more focused on action, and that meant leaving the philosophical "what happens when we dream up other worlds" stuff for another time. We got enough of it in this book to understand why it was a plot point, but it stopped there.
When I got to "The End," I found that I had enjoyed my time with this book more than I expected to based on the opening. I don't know how many of my regular blog readers I can recommend this to, though, since I know that, like me, many of my regulars enjoy cozy books (which this is NOT). However, there are also some readers of this blog who like darker stuff than I do, and those of you who are looking for something interesting with great worldbuilding and more grit than is present in the kind of books I typically review might enjoy this book.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
I read this book as part of the judging process for the 3rd Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), and I was provided a review copy for judging purposes. My opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of my SPSFC3 team or the competition as a whole.
August 11, 2025
3.75 stars
Any Minor World by Craig Schaefer is unlike anything I’ve read before. The old time noir vibe mixed with a pulp comic book feel completely pulled me in. The atmosphere is gritty and it’s easy to imagine yourself walking down the streets, caught between heroes and villains.
Schaefer does a good job in writing Lucy, the female main character (shoutout cause normally the way men be writing female characters in fantasy books…) She’s not written as overly perfect or the cliché “tough girl”, but has her own qualities that makes her strong and powerful. The relationships between all the characters in the real world and the comic world are layered and dynamic. The backstories of everyone has you rooting for them individually. new genre unlocked: urban fantasy ;)
Any Minor World by Craig Schaefer is unlike anything I’ve read before. The old time noir vibe mixed with a pulp comic book feel completely pulled me in. The atmosphere is gritty and it’s easy to imagine yourself walking down the streets, caught between heroes and villains.
Schaefer does a good job in writing Lucy, the female main character (shoutout cause normally the way men be writing female characters in fantasy books…) She’s not written as overly perfect or the cliché “tough girl”, but has her own qualities that makes her strong and powerful. The relationships between all the characters in the real world and the comic world are layered and dynamic. The backstories of everyone has you rooting for them individually. new genre unlocked: urban fantasy ;)
January 12, 2025
The premise was interesting, but the writing is pretty weak. I can somewhat tell what the author intended these characters to be, and how they should act, but the writing doesn’t hold up.
Edit: worse and worse—the further I get to the end, the more “meta” this story gets. Meta in that the story within the story was written by a teenager, and the actual book reads like a story written by a teenager.
Edit: worse and worse—the further I get to the end, the more “meta” this story gets. Meta in that the story within the story was written by a teenager, and the actual book reads like a story written by a teenager.
March 20, 2025
I cannot believe I didn’t discover this book while I was reading the Daniel Faust and harmony black series,I thought it was a complete stand alone when I started it but then we met characters that we were introduced to in the Daniel Faust series and I have to say the way this authors intertwines his stories is masterful! But it doesn’t make you feel like you HAVE to read the other books to truly enjoy it or understand it. The book never had a dull moment,and the characters are fleshed out despite most of them literally being comic book characters. This was definitely another hit by Craig Schaefer
May 8, 2022
Fantastic
I've been eagerly waiting for a new book by Craig, and this one checks all of the boxes. A new story and universe, but with all of his twisted storytelling!
I've been eagerly waiting for a new book by Craig, and this one checks all of the boxes. A new story and universe, but with all of his twisted storytelling!
March 10, 2024
Any Minor World by Craig Schaefer follows Roy - a sort of private detective/"hired muscle" who is approached by a bit of a suspicious client. Despite his misgivings, he takes the job and goes after a dead writer's unfinished manuscript and begins to unravel a mystery surrounding this author's books. The mystery brings him up against a legendary criminal network and introduces him to Lucy Langenkamp, an art restorer who once wrote a cancelled comic. As they struggle to survive the crazy adventure that springs up around them, Roy and Lucy slowly grapple with their own pasts as well. It's a well-written book with a very distinctive noir/pulp vibe to it.
Before I go on, I have to comment on the descriptions. I'm usually someone who doesn't enjoy/gets bored by descriptions, but I found the ones in this book to be well-written. They're interesting and paint some very vivid pictures that enabled me to imagine exactly what some of these characters and places were like. Definitely an interesting experience for me and that alone made think the book was very well-written.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was that it wasn't easy for me to predict what was going to happen. The book continued to surprise me, with more of the Sci-Fi/Noir elements coming through as the book progressed.
It was a bit weird to be reading a book so focused on authors and how they think/world-build and how the publishing industry works at the beginning there. Then the story progressed to include and show us more of the characters and places in the world of the comic books that Lucy wrote and it became an important part of the story.
Roy was a good main character to follow the story with, but I also really enjoyed the brief glimpses we got of Lucy's personality and inner thoughts. I feel that I may have enjoyed it a tiny bit more or been more invested if it focused on Lucy more, but at the same time, I realize that the story structure relied on being more from Roy's POV and it did work well.
Overall, the book was well-written and had a satisfying ending. I almost didn't realize there would be a continuation/more books in the series, because it ends pretty conclusively and can be read as a stand-alone. Definitely an interesting first foray into crime/noir novels for me and worth checking out even if you're not familiar with the genre!
I read this book as part of my SPSFC3 judging for team Peripheral Prospectors and can definitely see why it made it to the semifinals round. This review is only my own thoughts on the book and doesn't reflect any final decisions regarding the book's progress yet. Any such decisions will be made by the team as a whole once we've all read our assigned semi-finalists. I look forward to discovering more great reads!
Before I go on, I have to comment on the descriptions. I'm usually someone who doesn't enjoy/gets bored by descriptions, but I found the ones in this book to be well-written. They're interesting and paint some very vivid pictures that enabled me to imagine exactly what some of these characters and places were like. Definitely an interesting experience for me and that alone made think the book was very well-written.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was that it wasn't easy for me to predict what was going to happen. The book continued to surprise me, with more of the Sci-Fi/Noir elements coming through as the book progressed.
It was a bit weird to be reading a book so focused on authors and how they think/world-build and how the publishing industry works at the beginning there. Then the story progressed to include and show us more of the characters and places in the world of the comic books that Lucy wrote and it became an important part of the story.
Roy was a good main character to follow the story with, but I also really enjoyed the brief glimpses we got of Lucy's personality and inner thoughts. I feel that I may have enjoyed it a tiny bit more or been more invested if it focused on Lucy more, but at the same time, I realize that the story structure relied on being more from Roy's POV and it did work well.
Overall, the book was well-written and had a satisfying ending. I almost didn't realize there would be a continuation/more books in the series, because it ends pretty conclusively and can be read as a stand-alone. Definitely an interesting first foray into crime/noir novels for me and worth checking out even if you're not familiar with the genre!
I read this book as part of my SPSFC3 judging for team Peripheral Prospectors and can definitely see why it made it to the semifinals round. This review is only my own thoughts on the book and doesn't reflect any final decisions regarding the book's progress yet. Any such decisions will be made by the team as a whole once we've all read our assigned semi-finalists. I look forward to discovering more great reads!
December 28, 2023
We open[1] on Roy, a private eye fixer-type on a job. It's a very cool intro, giving us an idea of Roy as a person and what he is capable of in terms of brute force and complex planning. He's contacted for a new job and ... I like the setup and his new mission and all, but I was continually questioning how this book could be considered a sci-fi. Guess we just need to read and find out[3], eh?
Roy is hired to track down the unpublished sequel to a "bestselling" novel, the author of which was killed (in what seems like an accident). His search for the missing manuscript, of course, takes him deeper and deeper into a rabbit-hole of fandoms where less and less makes sense about his original mission as he goes, and leads him ultimately to the comic book original ... and from there it gets considerably weirder.
We take a break momentarily from Roy and his strange private eye gig, to check in on the Gothamest, Arkhamest bunch of freaks ever to appear at a crime scene. This would be a good point to admit that I was quite drunk at one point while reading an entire segment of this book and making notes - it seemed to fit the characters and setting - so I have just written down here that Trigger Mortis is the greatest character name ever, and why is the city coroner a purple eyed mutant, is this the sci-fi? And a tattooed guy named Duke Ellery shows up and gets weirdly sexy with the coroner (whose name is Dr. Contraire, yes, Mary Contraire, I shit you not), and what is happening?
This, at least, answered my standing question about whether this was a sci-fi. Whether the bizarre comic-book villain noir scene-shift was sci-fi in the purest sense or if it was just comic fantasy, there really were only so many ways it could fold into the Roy narrative and those ways were mostly sci-fi ways, so we were all good there.
A grimoire is mentioned at about this point, and my suspicion that we were seeing a piece of the MacGuffin manuscript or possibly the original comic from which the manuscript was taken seemed to be confirmed but then Roy was also (maybe?) having a dream about the magnificent comic-fantasy city of Noir York, and I was sober by now and it didn't have a noticeable impact on my demand to know what is happening?
Well, I'll tell you what was happening, because it seems to have been spoiled in the blurb for the book anyway and I don't necessarily think that was a good idea (like I said in the footnote), but I guess the author did what they had to. The creator of the comic book had been so very imaginative, and the story so very real, that the tiny spin-off universe created (as happens every time anyone imagines anything) had survived and flourished to become a fully-fledged alternate reality, and the cartoonist had stopped caring and the universe began to collapse, and the characters came through into this universe to stop it from happening. That's what.
It was absolutely fucking outstanding, and I couldn't put it down, and is our world breaking because someone in some other universe has given up on it and isn't imagining it anymore because it's depressing and they weren't making any money from the whole idea? Really makes you think, doesn't it.
You can try to run but you can't hide from what's inside of you.
- Dan, Steely
While retaining the tough skeleton of a private eye gumshoe action thriller, Any Minor World unfolds into a mad blend of The Never Ending Story and Stephen King's The Regulators / Desperation. It was highly readable, extremely enjoyable and so vivid in its settings and characters, I'd say it gives Gotham and New York City (of The Fifth Element) and their inhabitants a run for their money. And, although there really are no endings (that's a reference to the book's philosophy that is), this one had solid closure.
Sex-o-meter
Roy and Carmen get flashback sexy with it, Duke and Mary Contraire get weird, but for the most part there's more important shit to worry about than playing Slip The Noir Reference Into The Narrative. Any Minor World scores a dame with gams up the ya ya who everyone knew was trouble as soon as she walked in out of a possible that scene from Naked Gun 331⁄3 where the camera pans up the woman's legs and she has like three sets of knees, you know the one. It's stupid, and this book wasn't stupid.
Gore-o-meter
Some classic scenes of murdered bodies and crime scenes, a lot of punch-type violence and running gunfights and stuff. The Roach is good and nasty and once we get deeper into the comic book atrocities we are treated to some solid (or, you know, kind of dissolved) gore here. All in all I'll give it two and a half flesh-gobbets out of a possible five.
WTF-o-meter
11% into the book and I had no idea how this was a sci-fi. At the 75% mark I still wasn't convinced it was a sci-fi but I had to call it something and "sci-fi" ultimately filled the required field. There were some weird bits at the start of the story where I was flailing (yes, and maybe drunk at one point), where Roy passed his twin on the street and then lost them, and I'm pretty sure he dreams of Noir York before ever going there or knowing much about it (aside from some reading), and those parts don't really come back. Are they little nuggets for later exploration? Who knows. A rich deposit of WTF in this one, anyway. I give it a London Below and three Narnias out of a possible Dark Tower on the WTF-o-meter. Look, Neverwhere is a fine story and The Chronicles of Narnia is a classic, but I just think Stephen King needs further recognition for the sheer volume of drugs he was on when he came up with the Gunslinger's story, and I make no apologies for that.
My Final Verdict
Five stars? Five stars. Just for the sheer imagination. Goddamn. Excellent story.
---
[1] Any minor world that breaks apart falls together aga-hain, isn't that a song lyric? There was a strong addiction / depression message in that song as I recall[2] and interpret ... could that mean possible spoilers for this book? Let's find out.
[2] Follow-up after getting to the author's note: hah! I resent that. But hah! No, I didn't remember it was Steely Dan but I was reminded of the song, and not just because of the title of the book (although that did probably send me down that path).
[3] The blurb does sort of spoil what's going on, so I won't take too much care with it ... but as a style note, I did not read the blurb going in and I think the "twist" works way more effectively that way. The shock of Roach's appearance has a From Dusk Till Dawn quality to it, even if the nature of the universes was teased with the Duke chapter and Roy's dream of Noir York (which still wasn't exactly explained ... was it him having that dream? Was it a dream? Hmm.
Roy is hired to track down the unpublished sequel to a "bestselling" novel, the author of which was killed (in what seems like an accident). His search for the missing manuscript, of course, takes him deeper and deeper into a rabbit-hole of fandoms where less and less makes sense about his original mission as he goes, and leads him ultimately to the comic book original ... and from there it gets considerably weirder.
We take a break momentarily from Roy and his strange private eye gig, to check in on the Gothamest, Arkhamest bunch of freaks ever to appear at a crime scene. This would be a good point to admit that I was quite drunk at one point while reading an entire segment of this book and making notes - it seemed to fit the characters and setting - so I have just written down here that Trigger Mortis is the greatest character name ever, and why is the city coroner a purple eyed mutant, is this the sci-fi? And a tattooed guy named Duke Ellery shows up and gets weirdly sexy with the coroner (whose name is Dr. Contraire, yes, Mary Contraire, I shit you not), and what is happening?
This, at least, answered my standing question about whether this was a sci-fi. Whether the bizarre comic-book villain noir scene-shift was sci-fi in the purest sense or if it was just comic fantasy, there really were only so many ways it could fold into the Roy narrative and those ways were mostly sci-fi ways, so we were all good there.
A grimoire is mentioned at about this point, and my suspicion that we were seeing a piece of the MacGuffin manuscript or possibly the original comic from which the manuscript was taken seemed to be confirmed but then Roy was also (maybe?) having a dream about the magnificent comic-fantasy city of Noir York, and I was sober by now and it didn't have a noticeable impact on my demand to know what is happening?
Well, I'll tell you what was happening, because it seems to have been spoiled in the blurb for the book anyway and I don't necessarily think that was a good idea (like I said in the footnote), but I guess the author did what they had to. The creator of the comic book had been so very imaginative, and the story so very real, that the tiny spin-off universe created (as happens every time anyone imagines anything) had survived and flourished to become a fully-fledged alternate reality, and the cartoonist had stopped caring and the universe began to collapse, and the characters came through into this universe to stop it from happening. That's what.
It was absolutely fucking outstanding, and I couldn't put it down, and is our world breaking because someone in some other universe has given up on it and isn't imagining it anymore because it's depressing and they weren't making any money from the whole idea? Really makes you think, doesn't it.
You can try to run but you can't hide from what's inside of you.
- Dan, Steely
While retaining the tough skeleton of a private eye gumshoe action thriller, Any Minor World unfolds into a mad blend of The Never Ending Story and Stephen King's The Regulators / Desperation. It was highly readable, extremely enjoyable and so vivid in its settings and characters, I'd say it gives Gotham and New York City (of The Fifth Element) and their inhabitants a run for their money. And, although there really are no endings (that's a reference to the book's philosophy that is), this one had solid closure.
Sex-o-meter
Roy and Carmen get flashback sexy with it, Duke and Mary Contraire get weird, but for the most part there's more important shit to worry about than playing Slip The Noir Reference Into The Narrative. Any Minor World scores a dame with gams up the ya ya who everyone knew was trouble as soon as she walked in out of a possible that scene from Naked Gun 331⁄3 where the camera pans up the woman's legs and she has like three sets of knees, you know the one. It's stupid, and this book wasn't stupid.
Gore-o-meter
Some classic scenes of murdered bodies and crime scenes, a lot of punch-type violence and running gunfights and stuff. The Roach is good and nasty and once we get deeper into the comic book atrocities we are treated to some solid (or, you know, kind of dissolved) gore here. All in all I'll give it two and a half flesh-gobbets out of a possible five.
WTF-o-meter
11% into the book and I had no idea how this was a sci-fi. At the 75% mark I still wasn't convinced it was a sci-fi but I had to call it something and "sci-fi" ultimately filled the required field. There were some weird bits at the start of the story where I was flailing (yes, and maybe drunk at one point), where Roy passed his twin on the street and then lost them, and I'm pretty sure he dreams of Noir York before ever going there or knowing much about it (aside from some reading), and those parts don't really come back. Are they little nuggets for later exploration? Who knows. A rich deposit of WTF in this one, anyway. I give it a London Below and three Narnias out of a possible Dark Tower on the WTF-o-meter. Look, Neverwhere is a fine story and The Chronicles of Narnia is a classic, but I just think Stephen King needs further recognition for the sheer volume of drugs he was on when he came up with the Gunslinger's story, and I make no apologies for that.
My Final Verdict
Five stars? Five stars. Just for the sheer imagination. Goddamn. Excellent story.
---
[1] Any minor world that breaks apart falls together aga-hain, isn't that a song lyric? There was a strong addiction / depression message in that song as I recall[2] and interpret ... could that mean possible spoilers for this book? Let's find out.
[2] Follow-up after getting to the author's note: hah! I resent that. But hah! No, I didn't remember it was Steely Dan but I was reminded of the song, and not just because of the title of the book (although that did probably send me down that path).
[3] The blurb does sort of spoil what's going on, so I won't take too much care with it ... but as a style note, I did not read the blurb going in and I think the "twist" works way more effectively that way. The shock of Roach's appearance has a From Dusk Till Dawn quality to it, even if the nature of the universes was teased with the Duke chapter and Roy's dream of Noir York (which still wasn't exactly explained ... was it him having that dream? Was it a dream? Hmm.
November 8, 2025
I tried not to spoil anything relevant but there is one core aspect which is not being revealed immediately at the start of the story which I kind of can not get around talking about. I tried to spoiler some of the most obvious mentions but you can probably still guess whats going on form the rest.
You have been warned.
The author has a certain skill with words no doubt. But the initially intriguing well-paced story crystalizes into just a bunch of tired clichés full of characters without any depth beyond the tropes they are built from. Many authors eventually write one of these, a book about an author writing stories. These are usually very flawed but this one is unusually bad. The author seems to be enamored with his own genius of weaving his meta-commentary about the nature of stories into the story itself. But when writing a deeply clichéd and uninspired story, pointing out the kind of formulas and tropes used to the reader doesn't make it any less formulaic. I've seen this many times before. For some reason many authors have this idea at some point that a story about story-telling is this smart and original idea, seemingly not realizing that the idea in itself is deeply formulaic and unoriginal by now.
Towards the middle the author starts to slip in a different way that is arguably a lot harder to avoid and a lot more of a question of taste.
I've come to call it the Musical Effect. It's when the world and characters start to behave in a choreography according to e.g. the plot in an obvious way and start to act against reader expectation.
Usually this is called author puppetering or something like that. But those are clearly negative labels. And yet, just like choreographed songs and dances in musicals, some stories do it and lots of people enjoy them just fine. Logical consistency just doesn't matter in the same way depending on the story and the readers' preference. There are ways of telling stories that intrinsically rely on different qualities.
I think it is important to recognize that this is not necessarily a flaw and calling it the Musical Effect better captures whats going on.
All that being said, this story starts out on one end of the spectrum and then moves further and further to the other end. The climax reads more like a story being made up on the fly by a five-year-old. Stuff happens left and right, rules change, facts change. The only goal is how cinematic any given scene is without much consideration for consistency of any kind. The fights are similar, physics or spacial consistency are not a concern to the author. It all gives off old trashy superhero movie vibes, but the bad kind.
What also starts to happen later into the story is that every now and then character drop the most clichéd and trite lines of all times in full seriousness which caused me almost physical pain to read.
Many of these are just as preachy as they are clichéd. Deep wisdom and moral ideals like "stand up for yourself" and "be loyal to your friends" and "take responsibility of your actions" are shoved down your throat by the hand full with no subtly or nuance whatsoever. And the author seems to use his meta-narrative about storytelling as an excuse to justify all this.
I disliked the ending which felt like it was very much planned and written towards, but while its not a generic good ending, it still felt too easy. The characters give into it all way too easily which makes it feel very rushed and out of place. It involves a bunch of people changing their minds at the drop of a hat for plot convenience which made it feel very forced too.
My last point has to be about the weird male-gaze writing of most of the female characters. They are all sexualized in an uncomfortable way. It's not precisely tasteless, but all of the female characters () are like that. They all have the same type too as if the author has a preferred type and just wrote all the women to this taste. It's this femme fatale kind of thing with a husky voice, very attractive, knows what she wants, and pursues the main character for fun without romantic interests, while also not being averse to fooling around with each other (because lesbians are hot or something I guess).
This makes it sound like this is some sort of erotica but it's not graphic at all. It's really rather tame especially compared to the graphic violence. And I don't mind that type of character in principle but its just so obvious how all the women are like that without any depth beyond being these attractive people to be intrigued by which makes it feel icky to me somehow.
Overall it very much feels like a story the author wrote for fun and to explore his witty story idea about the thing without much focus on crafting and polishing the best possible story with the most believable characters. It reads like a sloppy meaningless throwaway adventure.
I was hoping for a lot more depth based on all the tricky writing shenanigans the author does and techniques he uses in deliberate ways. I think that is what disappointed me so much. There was so much technical skill demonstrated here but the story being told using all this skill nonetheless felt so generic, derivative, and inconsistent that it might as well have been the bad debut novel of a new author.
You have been warned.
The author has a certain skill with words no doubt. But the initially intriguing well-paced story crystalizes into just a bunch of tired clichés full of characters without any depth beyond the tropes they are built from. Many authors eventually write one of these, a book about an author writing stories. These are usually very flawed but this one is unusually bad. The author seems to be enamored with his own genius of weaving his meta-commentary about the nature of stories into the story itself. But when writing a deeply clichéd and uninspired story, pointing out the kind of formulas and tropes used to the reader doesn't make it any less formulaic. I've seen this many times before. For some reason many authors have this idea at some point that a story about story-telling is this smart and original idea, seemingly not realizing that the idea in itself is deeply formulaic and unoriginal by now.
Towards the middle the author starts to slip in a different way that is arguably a lot harder to avoid and a lot more of a question of taste.
I've come to call it the Musical Effect. It's when the world and characters start to behave in a choreography according to e.g. the plot in an obvious way and start to act against reader expectation.
Usually this is called author puppetering or something like that. But those are clearly negative labels. And yet, just like choreographed songs and dances in musicals, some stories do it and lots of people enjoy them just fine. Logical consistency just doesn't matter in the same way depending on the story and the readers' preference. There are ways of telling stories that intrinsically rely on different qualities.
I think it is important to recognize that this is not necessarily a flaw and calling it the Musical Effect better captures whats going on.
All that being said, this story starts out on one end of the spectrum and then moves further and further to the other end. The climax reads more like a story being made up on the fly by a five-year-old. Stuff happens left and right, rules change, facts change. The only goal is how cinematic any given scene is without much consideration for consistency of any kind. The fights are similar, physics or spacial consistency are not a concern to the author. It all gives off old trashy superhero movie vibes, but the bad kind.
What also starts to happen later into the story is that every now and then character drop the most clichéd and trite lines of all times in full seriousness which caused me almost physical pain to read.
Many of these are just as preachy as they are clichéd. Deep wisdom and moral ideals like "stand up for yourself" and "be loyal to your friends" and "take responsibility of your actions" are shoved down your throat by the hand full with no subtly or nuance whatsoever. And the author seems to use his meta-narrative about storytelling as an excuse to justify all this.
I disliked the ending which felt like it was very much planned and written towards, but while its not a generic good ending, it still felt too easy. The characters give into it all way too easily which makes it feel very rushed and out of place. It involves a bunch of people changing their minds at the drop of a hat for plot convenience which made it feel very forced too.
My last point has to be about the weird male-gaze writing of most of the female characters. They are all sexualized in an uncomfortable way. It's not precisely tasteless, but all of the female characters () are like that. They all have the same type too as if the author has a preferred type and just wrote all the women to this taste. It's this femme fatale kind of thing with a husky voice, very attractive, knows what she wants, and pursues the main character for fun without romantic interests, while also not being averse to fooling around with each other (because lesbians are hot or something I guess).
This makes it sound like this is some sort of erotica but it's not graphic at all. It's really rather tame especially compared to the graphic violence. And I don't mind that type of character in principle but its just so obvious how all the women are like that without any depth beyond being these attractive people to be intrigued by which makes it feel icky to me somehow.
Overall it very much feels like a story the author wrote for fun and to explore his witty story idea about the thing without much focus on crafting and polishing the best possible story with the most believable characters. It reads like a sloppy meaningless throwaway adventure.
I was hoping for a lot more depth based on all the tricky writing shenanigans the author does and techniques he uses in deliberate ways. I think that is what disappointed me so much. There was so much technical skill demonstrated here but the story being told using all this skill nonetheless felt so generic, derivative, and inconsistent that it might as well have been the bad debut novel of a new author.
March 9, 2023
Welcome back to Craig Schaefer's multiverse of madness. Any Minor World is the author's loveletter to dark, pulpy comics and the noir genre in general. A grizzled, disillusioned ex-cop turned fixer/P.I. gets hired for a job that very much isn't what it seems and a shy, mousy young woman discovers the terrifying power of her own imagination.
Like most Craig Shaefer novels, Any Minor World is a fast paced, high octane trip from beginning to end. To be honest, this one actually could have done with a few more breaks and a little room to breathe, because for all the action, character development fell a little flat and one major plotline just seemed to get left behind along the way. But while many of the characters, including the main characters, do feel more like templates than like actual people, this is very much in line with the pulp story premise of the novel, so it kinda fits. Also, some of the supervillains were utterly terrifying,
Furthermore, there are a couple of nods to Craig Schaefer's other series, notably the Daniel Faust series, which tells us that this takes place in the same shared universe as all of the author's books apart from The Ghosts Of Gotham series. There isn't anything as big as a cameo or a crossover, but the fact alone means that we might meet some of those characters again further down the road in one of Schaefer's other series.
That being said, Goodreads tells me that Any Minor World is The Midnight Jury #1, so this seems to be intended as a new series. I'm not sure how I feel about that, because while this novel works really well as a pulpy oneshot, it might be a little bit too gimmicky for a full series. But on the other hand, Craig Schaefer hasn't let me down thus far.
Like most Craig Shaefer novels, Any Minor World is a fast paced, high octane trip from beginning to end. To be honest, this one actually could have done with a few more breaks and a little room to breathe, because for all the action, character development fell a little flat and one major plotline just seemed to get left behind along the way. But while many of the characters, including the main characters, do feel more like templates than like actual people, this is very much in line with the pulp story premise of the novel, so it kinda fits. Also, some of the supervillains were utterly terrifying,
Furthermore, there are a couple of nods to Craig Schaefer's other series, notably the Daniel Faust series, which tells us that this takes place in the same shared universe as all of the author's books apart from The Ghosts Of Gotham series. There isn't anything as big as a cameo or a crossover, but the fact alone means that we might meet some of those characters again further down the road in one of Schaefer's other series.
That being said, Goodreads tells me that Any Minor World is The Midnight Jury #1, so this seems to be intended as a new series. I'm not sure how I feel about that, because while this novel works really well as a pulpy oneshot, it might be a little bit too gimmicky for a full series. But on the other hand, Craig Schaefer hasn't let me down thus far.
March 15, 2024
Any Minor World by Craig Schaefer was my fourth and final full read planned for the second round of SPSFC-3 competition. The ratings, scored and thoughts below are of my own and in no way reflect team Peripheral Prospectors or judging for the competition in general. As this round is fully under way I just want to express my favorite part about these events. The chance to discover authors and stories I may never have come across without it.
I'd also like to point out that all four of the books our group was assigned for the second round were very different from each other. I'm not sure I've ran across that from groups in the past when assigned reads like this. For me this kept things fresh and allowed each of the stories to stand alone and present their own unique qualities.
The pacing was fast but smooth in this read. I once again had the benefit of an immersion read both via Kindle as well as the audio version narrated by Susannah Jones who did an excellent job bringing this story to life. As creative and odd as this story was, I don't have much bad to say regarding the layout and how it was presented. No issues with names of characters or places that tripped me up. We do have a good number of characters but I never felt overwhelmed. Each character seemed unique and well fleshed out. Again Susannah's narration helped give each character their own feel as well.
The world building was nicely done. I believe this was my first read where a character/author's imagination was actually populating an directly affecting the worlds. I would assume this isn't the easiest thing to achieve. The first part of the book definitely seemed like we were being tossed into a rather dark world with peril around almost every turn. Well things don't get much better for our characters as things unfold. As a reader though, it only got more and more interesting.
I feel the character development might be this book's strongest aspect overall. As I mentioned we have quite a few characters to keep track up and I felt we got to know quite a bit about each of them whether they were a protagonist or antagonist. We have several that fall in both categories and a couple that might fall somewhere in the middle even. Without giving away spoilers I will say one of my favorite takeaways for this book and story is that each of us have different levels of heroes and villains within each of us.
All in all this was a solid read and I have enough fun with it that I'll be keeping an eye on where The Midnight Jury series goes from here. Again, this is a read and author I might never have come across without the opportunity given to me with judging for SPSFC-3.
I'd also like to point out that all four of the books our group was assigned for the second round were very different from each other. I'm not sure I've ran across that from groups in the past when assigned reads like this. For me this kept things fresh and allowed each of the stories to stand alone and present their own unique qualities.
The pacing was fast but smooth in this read. I once again had the benefit of an immersion read both via Kindle as well as the audio version narrated by Susannah Jones who did an excellent job bringing this story to life. As creative and odd as this story was, I don't have much bad to say regarding the layout and how it was presented. No issues with names of characters or places that tripped me up. We do have a good number of characters but I never felt overwhelmed. Each character seemed unique and well fleshed out. Again Susannah's narration helped give each character their own feel as well.
The world building was nicely done. I believe this was my first read where a character/author's imagination was actually populating an directly affecting the worlds. I would assume this isn't the easiest thing to achieve. The first part of the book definitely seemed like we were being tossed into a rather dark world with peril around almost every turn. Well things don't get much better for our characters as things unfold. As a reader though, it only got more and more interesting.
I feel the character development might be this book's strongest aspect overall. As I mentioned we have quite a few characters to keep track up and I felt we got to know quite a bit about each of them whether they were a protagonist or antagonist. We have several that fall in both categories and a couple that might fall somewhere in the middle even. Without giving away spoilers I will say one of my favorite takeaways for this book and story is that each of us have different levels of heroes and villains within each of us.
All in all this was a solid read and I have enough fun with it that I'll be keeping an eye on where The Midnight Jury series goes from here. Again, this is a read and author I might never have come across without the opportunity given to me with judging for SPSFC-3.
January 17, 2025
Possibly a case of the book blurb/premise being more intriguing than the actual book.🤔
Not sure why exactly, but this just didn’t grab me. Could be the hard-boiled dialogue, cartoonish two-dimensional characters (complete with stock villains) or perhaps the pulpy noirish elements of the setting. In any case, I just didn’t connect with it. The plot is very basic and action-forward, the writing style chock full of generic description and hackneyed metaphors. Whatever reason, I felt overall unaffected and neutral, so this was fundamentally a meh read. Nothing especially awful, but nothing especially memorable. What sort of irked me was the ending, like the book just ran out of road. Once the predictable “resolution” is reached—the superhero mantle passed—some plot threads just sort of dangle unresolved, ending up as a slew of red herrings and plot holes. (What happened to Charikleia the Dark Druid? What purpose did the magic grimoire plot coupon serve? Why was Roy dreaming about Noir York? Why did the Duke and his henchmen just back off?) I was left dissatisfied with the hasty, rather anticlimactic wrap up.😕
Points for the RPG shout out, but I guess if I wanted to read a comic book, I’d read an actual comic book.
Some additional lingering thoughts:
• Definitely a missed opportunity to make the story more compelling.
• Lucy is described several times/ways as “mousy”—again cliché—yes we get it. She’s timid (like a mouse) and ordinary (like the color mouse brown).
Not sure why exactly, but this just didn’t grab me. Could be the hard-boiled dialogue, cartoonish two-dimensional characters (complete with stock villains) or perhaps the pulpy noirish elements of the setting. In any case, I just didn’t connect with it. The plot is very basic and action-forward, the writing style chock full of generic description and hackneyed metaphors. Whatever reason, I felt overall unaffected and neutral, so this was fundamentally a meh read. Nothing especially awful, but nothing especially memorable. What sort of irked me was the ending, like the book just ran out of road. Once the predictable “resolution” is reached—the superhero mantle passed—some plot threads just sort of dangle unresolved, ending up as a slew of red herrings and plot holes. (What happened to Charikleia the Dark Druid? What purpose did the magic grimoire plot coupon serve? Why was Roy dreaming about Noir York? Why did the Duke and his henchmen just back off?) I was left dissatisfied with the hasty, rather anticlimactic wrap up.😕
Points for the RPG shout out, but I guess if I wanted to read a comic book, I’d read an actual comic book.
Some additional lingering thoughts:
• Definitely a missed opportunity to make the story more compelling.
• Lucy is described several times/ways as “mousy”—again cliché—yes we get it. She’s timid (like a mouse) and ordinary (like the color mouse brown).
March 19, 2024
I read Any Minor World as part of a judging team for the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), where it is a semifinalist.
This is a mashup of a few subgenres I don’t especially care for (noir/superhero/thriller), but it’s told so well that it got me pretty well onboard regardless. The first third sees a detective with a dark past traveling the US trying to sort out precisely why a mysterious agent has hired him to do a seemingly minor job. As someone who is always down for mysterious motives, it’s utterly compelling.
As it progresses, it becomes a bit more of an action-heavy thriller, and a bit farther outside my taste, but the quality is high enough to keep me engaged. I imagine it would hit even better for fans of thrillers.
I do have a minor complaint about how well the initial mystery connects to the ultimate story direction—the connection is there, but I’d have liked to see it fleshed out a bit more—but this comes together in a way that’s satisfying on its own but leaves open the possibility for future stories.
First impression: 15/20. Full review and SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
This is a mashup of a few subgenres I don’t especially care for (noir/superhero/thriller), but it’s told so well that it got me pretty well onboard regardless. The first third sees a detective with a dark past traveling the US trying to sort out precisely why a mysterious agent has hired him to do a seemingly minor job. As someone who is always down for mysterious motives, it’s utterly compelling.
As it progresses, it becomes a bit more of an action-heavy thriller, and a bit farther outside my taste, but the quality is high enough to keep me engaged. I imagine it would hit even better for fans of thrillers.
I do have a minor complaint about how well the initial mystery connects to the ultimate story direction—the connection is there, but I’d have liked to see it fleshed out a bit more—but this comes together in a way that’s satisfying on its own but leaves open the possibility for future stories.
First impression: 15/20. Full review and SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
July 20, 2022
The time is always right *
for a series that leans into the noir elements of Urban Fantasy and this one does it well. Schaefer's newest continues his tradition of excellence with a deft blend of noir, Urban Fantasy, classic graphic novels and pulp fiction. When you add a little of the feel of American Gods you've got an outstanding beginning to what will hopefully be a long series. My only complaint ? I'm already impatient for the next book, and the one after that ... I feel like the author has only scratched the surface of his ideas for the stories possible in this new world, and I for one am excited to go along for the ride.
*the time never changes in Noir York - just a bad attempt at a little humor on my part - don't they always say start off with a joke ?
for a series that leans into the noir elements of Urban Fantasy and this one does it well. Schaefer's newest continues his tradition of excellence with a deft blend of noir, Urban Fantasy, classic graphic novels and pulp fiction. When you add a little of the feel of American Gods you've got an outstanding beginning to what will hopefully be a long series. My only complaint ? I'm already impatient for the next book, and the one after that ... I feel like the author has only scratched the surface of his ideas for the stories possible in this new world, and I for one am excited to go along for the ride.
*the time never changes in Noir York - just a bad attempt at a little humor on my part - don't they always say start off with a joke ?
January 8, 2023
Prolly my least favorite book from one of my favorite authors of the last several years. It isn't bad at all; it's extremely readable and very much in keeping with the style. I genuinely enjoyed it the whole way through; it just isn't on par with the last several books from Schaefer (Wisdom's Grave Trilogy, the Faust and Black series). Still an easy recommendation, but if I was going to recommend this, I'd likely recommend several other books from this same author first.
Good, not top of the author's game. Recommended, but read everything else they've written first.
Good, not top of the author's game. Recommended, but read everything else they've written first.
June 1, 2022
Loved it
I was so excited to dig into this new series. If you've read any of Craig Schaefer's books than you probably know you're going to like this as I did. There are some really weird things going on and a few somewhat familiar surprises. I loved all of it. The names of the villians and the other world lol. This is a must read for a Craig Schaefer fan and for those just picking up a book from him. Enjoy!
I was so excited to dig into this new series. If you've read any of Craig Schaefer's books than you probably know you're going to like this as I did. There are some really weird things going on and a few somewhat familiar surprises. I loved all of it. The names of the villians and the other world lol. This is a must read for a Craig Schaefer fan and for those just picking up a book from him. Enjoy!
July 17, 2023
I think this is one of the best of CS’ books, introducing a vast cast into a easily accessible world. Action packed from start to go, without skimping on character development. I did think the main antagonist was a bit underdone, but thats a minor grizzle. And you don’t really need to know much about the Faust world to get into this now. Excellent.
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