Classification of Stories

The normal classification of Novels, short stories and the like are often uncertain, which is good, but how do I know I've written a Novel (in word count) if my story has 34,000 words?

Welp, here is a chart I found to help classify. Don't worry, these aren't the rules, and some may go by different measures, but I thought it could help. 

Novel: over 40,000 words
Novella: 17,500 to 40,000 words
Novellette: 7,500 to 17,500
Short Story: under 7,500

^.^ -Sam

Book Review: The Skin Map, by Steven Lawhead

Imagine Celtic mythology and medieval Europe meeting Doctor Who without the Doctor. That's pretty much what this story is like. Some people may not like this kind of Science Fiction, because it may come across as being too random and out-of-the-ordinary, but if you give it a chance, you may be in for a surprise.


Rating: 3.5 out of 5.


The Plot

Imagine rain pouring from the sky, thunder booming right above you. You look down the street and it's bright and shiny down there, not much of a long walk away, while you have rain showering down on you. Why don't you leave that spot? Your great-grandfather has appeared. You thought he was dead, but he's obviously not, because he's standing right in front of you. He wants you to come with him, and when you do, you find yourself in a place that you can't explain - a part of town that you thought you would have known had existed. It's like a place where people are reenacting a scene from a hundred or so years ago. To make it even more odd, they act real, as if the way that you see them living is actually how they live.

This is what happens to Kit Livingstone, a young, well-to-do bloke who doesn't think much of the supernatural or anything of that sort. It isn't until his great-grandfather appears to him and brings him to experience things beyond the ordinary that Kit realizes that there is more to life than what we see with the naked eye.

The ancient Celts believed that there were places in which a person could enter, and he could emerge on the other side in a completely different universe. While we might hear a notion like that and shrug it off as nonsense, this story asks the question, "What if you find that such a belief is somewhat true?" What if you could find a place or an object - a portal, if you will - that could allow you to travel from this universe and into another one? Not only that, but you might be able to travel to the past, if not also the future.

But how do you find these portals? That's the key, and that's the mystery. What if someone made a map of the portals, allowing you to find them and use them properly? What if the person who made the map, instead of charting it on paper, tattooed it upon his own skin?


Positive Elements:

Although the protagonist characters show no sign of perfection in virtue, there is a strong sense of loyalty to one another. Although characters such as Wilhelmina may be disliked, her new-found love of life is something for which many of us may wish to find. Honour is key, and the virtue that the characters do show provide a glimmer of hope in the middle of a hopeless scenario.


Spiritual Content:

The involvement of Celtic beliefs and medieval/renaissance Europe inevitably brings up spiritual topics. There is no in-your-face Christianity to be found, but there is certainly a spiritual undertone. If you're not looking for it, you won't find it - or, at least, it may not appear to be very strong - but if you are familiar with religious topics, you might find a glimpse as to where the story will go.


Violence:

The Skin Map is nowhere near being as gruesome as that of other stories, but it doesn't shy away from the fact that people do get physically hurt. A couple of people get slugged across the face. There is at least one fight scene. Nothing incredibly explicit is described.


Inappropriate Content:

There are mentions of beauty and flirting, but nothing beyond that.


Foul Language:

While there is the possibility of "d--n" being used once or twice, nothing further of such nature is spoken.


 Technical Issues:

Some people might consider the writing style to be boring and the characters flat. The writing style is more British than American, due to the fact that the author is British. The story may not seem very intriguing to everyone, and to those who dislike this kind of story, there may not be much to compel the reader to continue reading, but for those who do like this kind of story, although the story could have begun in a more interesting way and there may be some painfully boring parts, readers will find it rewarding when they do read through the entire book.

Though the characters may be flat, the plot tends to be interesting enough to keep the reader reading.

If I explained much more, I'd give too many spoilers.


Conclusion:


While there may be somewhat of a disliking for this novel, the concepts and story-lines will be thought-provoking. An obvious theme throughout the work is the idea of otherness. Imagination is key, and the possibilities are endless. There is no easy way to explain the depth of this book to those who have not read it, and although it may not be a perfect work, it still opens the imagination to ideas "outside of the box," so to speak, and some people may not want to miss the adventures that this story has to offer.

~ Fintan

Fear of the Unknown - Part 1: An Example Story

Imagine a man named George who was walking one day through a crowded street. All was normal, and he was not thinking of anything that would be out of the ordinary. However, when ahead a part of the street was clear of most people, he saw five little animals walking about the place on all-fours and had their faces to the ground. Curious, he got a little closer. Before getting dangerously close, he stopped. One of the animals raised its head to look at George. Their eyes met. George stared at it, stunned. It had a face like a pug dog, but this thing was taller than one of those kinds of dogs, had big eyes with pupils like a goat’s pupils, three little horns poked out of its forehead, and right below the horns, between the two disturbingly strange eyes, a little light from an unknown source flashed red, green, yellow, and blue. The little thing, standing about three feet high, approached George, came too close for his comfort and stopped. They stared at each other for a longer time, then a low, gurgling growl came from the animal. It bared its tall fangs which looked red from blood, whether it was its own blood or something else’s blood, George could not discern. George backed away, looked at the person next to him, who, amazingly, acted as if nothing strange was happening, and looked back at the animal, from which he had not kept his gaze more than a second. However, when George brought his eyes back to where the animal was, all five of the creatures had vanished.

George did not know how long he had been staring at those things. Maybe he was hallucinating, he thought. He went to a man nearby who was selling out water and asked the water-man if he had seen the things, describing them to the man and telling him how they had vanished.  The water-man became concerned for George and gave him a couple of water bottles for free. George accepted it, went to sit on a bench, and tried to not let himself think about it anymore.

He walked home alone, which was not far from the place. It was getting dark, and he hoped to get home before sundown, because he did not bring a flashlight with him. He heard a noise on the side of the road which he assumed was made by a squirrel or something of the like. He thought little of it until five dark shapes started appearing ahead of him, coming from both sides of the road.  Four of them had their heads facing the ground, just as he had seen them do in the town. The fifth one looked around a bit, almost as if to see if anyone else was watching, then approached George. It got even closer than it had before. George dared not move. The thing looked him up and down, then it opened its mouth and, instead of barking like George expected, it let out a low, rumbling noise like thunder in the distance. The five other creatures looked up and slowly walked toward George. They surrounded him, all with their strange, disturbing faces looking at him, motionless. George trembled in fear. The odd faces the things had were what kept George from doing anything in self-defense. These things were not dogs, and they certainly seemed much more ferocious than any dog he had ever seen. For all George knew, these animals could do anything to him, and they did not seem to want to do a nice thing. George and these animals stood there seemingly for an eternity, until the five things moved closer and closer to him. Another low, thunder-like rumble sounded, and the creatures vanished.

George did not know whether or not he could move. If they could instantly become invisible at will, then he did not want to move, touch one of the invisible things, and make them angry. He stood there for a while, not knowing whether to think of himself as an idiot for believing a silly hallucination or to really believe what he saw.  Finally, he built up the courage to take a step forward. Nothing happened. He took another baby step. Still, nothing happened – no sound, nothing touching him, no odd smells, nothing invisible reappearing to scare him again. He remained motionless once more, heart pounding, breathing heavily despite his trying to be quite. He clenched his fist and ran down the road until reaching his home, locking all of the doors, closing and covering the windows, and ended up sleeping with several lights still on in the house.

He never saw those animals again.

~ Fintan.