Aphelion Review # 27

Milky Way Marmalade

By Mike DeCerto

Review by Dan L. Hollifield

Type of music/work:

Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Humor

First of what I haope are many works yet to come from Mike DeCerto.

Musicians/Performers/Author(s):

Mike DeCerto
Cover Art and Design by Martine Jardin

Webpage for the book

Published by Zumaya Publications

ISBN: 1-894942-21-3

General impressions of the album/book:

From the very first page, I slipped into the book's reality like slipping into a new, favorite daydream. A fun read and a fantastic novel. This is my kind of quest to save the universe!

Specifics:

This book scoops you up and sweeps you along. Its rapidly paced, crammed with humor, classic Rock and Roll references, and sheer joy. As the adventure unfolds before you, like a rock 'n' roller coaster, you don't want to put the book down for any reason. Every time life forced me to stop reading, I was impatient to get back to this book. As the plot progresses, I could almost hear the soundtrack as I remembered the classic music referenced in the text. That is a very good effect, actually. One could wish that more writers could take advantage of the technique. And the footnotes are a riot!

The characters are well written, fleshed out, and quirky enough to be fun to be around. Even the minor characters shine with a light all their own. The set dressing contains some of the best backgrounds I've ever read. Decerto describes his place settings very carefully, but from within the character's point's of view. This way the details come at the reader from several different characters and improves the layering of the background description, which aids the reader to visualize the scene. The plot grabs you and takes off like a runaway horse. Once you immerse yourself in the adventure, you don't wan't it to end. DeCerto's writing is vivid and expressive, drawing the reader into his universe as if visiting an old friend you've misses for a long time. Its a very apt book for the visual type of reader as there is so much there for your imagination to work with. All-in-all, this book was one of the most fun reads I've had all year. And it promises very well for further work from Mr. DeCerto. I'm looking forward to his next book, eagerly.

This book is crying out to be made into a movie. You can see and hear it as you read along. Thank you Mike, thank you for a job well done! Best of luck in the future and I hope to be reading more of your work soon.

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