Tag: tolkien

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#BookReview: The Knives Before Christmas by J. Kent Holloway

Solid Laid Back Cozy Florida Mystery – With Magical Realism Tossed In. This is the book that exactly one person alive was capable of writing – particularly writing this well. That person being St. Augustine-based medical investigator and now pastor of a St. Augustine area church, Kent Holloway.

I’ve known Holloway for years. I first started reading his works when he began working as a coauthor with The New God Of Science Fiction Jeremy Robinson, and I’ve read most of his independent works since – even his nonfiction book I Swallowed A Goldfish, where he looks at his older day job (medical investigator) through the eyes of his newer one (pastor). I either know of or have read every project he names in the Author’s Note at the end of this tale, and I was largely around when he was coming up with all of them. Living in Jacksonville myself for nearly a decade now, I even finally got a chance to meet Holloway in real life a couple of years ago now… when Robinson came to St. Augustine and brought his annual gathering of fans and colleagues, Robinsonfest, with him.

As noted in the Author’s Note, years ago Holloway wrote a book called The Legend Of The Winterking. In its level of detail and blending of both fantasy and Christian lore – but with Holloway’s own particular Christmas-focused bent to it – it really did seem capable of standing right up there with Lewis and Tolkien. As I don’t read fantasy, I don’t *know* this, but being familiar with the overall stories of all three authors – despite never having read a word of any of their fantasies – I feel confident enough in saying that. Winterking was supposed to be Holloway’s Magnum Opus. It was going to be glorious and make Holloway as famous as those other two. Wait. Has anyone ever heard of them? 😉

Here, with this particular tale, Holloway actually does *better* than he has ever done before – including with Winterking. Yes, you heard that right. This long time fan and reader of Holloway is openly proclaiming *this* to be his best book yet – and I have strong thoughts on this.

Who else beyond Holloway would be able to create a Tolkien-level world… and then when that project failed, instead use it as a magical realism deep background element to an Agatha Christie level cozy murder mystery… that happened to be based both at Christmas and in Christmas, Florida? I know many more Florida based authors, from the few native Floridians to be found these days to transplants who have lived here various lengths of time, both longer and shorter than I’ve lived here myself. Literally not one of them – talented authors all in their own rights, many of whom I am an active fan of – could have pulled something quite like this off. Sure, many of them have done emotional family mysteries of various levels. A few have done scifi epics. But none of them have been able to combine fantasy and cozy mystery the way Holloway has here, and it shows just how strong a storyteller he really can be.

Who else could take the real-world Christmas, FL – a town on the opposite outskirts of Orlando from that place with the castle famously ruled by a rodent, a town that literally doesn’t have so much as a stop sign on its main road through town, a town where it is more than possible to imagine the rampant (recovering) alcoholism Holloway incorporates into this book being all too real – and use it quite the way Holloway has here? Even with the blatant set up of the name, I’ve not yet encountered anyone.

And yet Holloway takes all of this, takes his deep Christian faith and his deep love of all things Christmas (the holiday), and creates… this truly remarkable cozy mystery that somehow blends all of this, along with quite a bit of both heart and hilarity, into a tale that will be unlike most anything you will ever read from any other author.

Now, because of all of this – the several mentions of alcoholism throughout the book, the focus on Christmas, the magical realism based in nothing you’ve likely ever heard of before, the sheer number of characters (though from only a single perspective), the merry-yet-acknowledging-the-darkness, the (off screen) referenced child abuse, the (behind the door) attempt to cajole a young adult lady to have sex (played for both heart and a touch of comedic relief, to be clear), and perhaps any number of other issues… maybe this book isn’t for you. You do you. But I’m telling you as someone who has read over 150 books this year, who has read nearly 1800 books in a decade now… this is one of the most singularly unique books I’ve ever encountered, in so many of the best possible ways. Do what you need to do for your own mental health, I’ll never say otherwise there (so long as you’re not harming anyone else, that is, and choosing not to read a book is not harming anyone). But I’m not going to hide my opinion that this book is great for *all* readers.

Ultimately, this could yet be the opening chapter in Holloway’s true Magnum Opus. It truly is the best book he has written to date, bar none, and I for one cannot wait to see where he takes this world next.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Knives Before Christmas by J. Kent Holloway was originally written on November 18, 2025.

Jeff and the author at Robinsonfest 2024:

The entire Robinsonfest 2024 crowd on the pirate ship in St. Augustine. Jeff is at the front along the right rail, the author is in front of Jeff in the black shirt.

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Book Outrage In The Era of Self Publishing

Over the last couple of weeks, a couple of different outrages have been ravaging the book world. In one, a romance publisher that published predominantly non-white authors shut its doors claiming low sales, while a particular seller claims that sales of non-white authors’ books account for 60% of its bestsellers. In the other, at least one author is complaining about the amount of physical bookstore shelf space dedicated to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

These controversies wouldn’t normally seem to be linked, but in the era of self publishing they most certainly are.

In the era of self publishing and in the new freelance economy, quite honestly the Mega Publishers don’t have the stranglehold on the market they once did. There is no doubt that they still hold considerable sway, I’m not denying that reality at all. I am simply noting that in this new era, one does not have to possess the ability to churn out hundreds of thousands of printed books and distribute them to a worldwide network of physical stores to be able to publish a book and have it do well enough to support an author.

Indeed, in my near decade of being Kindle exclusive, I have read literally hundreds of books – over 400 verified books in just the last 3.25 years alone. While I do not keep track of the actual publisher of the books I read, I can tell you from having run experiments trying to find them in my local brick and mortar stores that such stores normally only carry about 10% of the books I’ve read. Using the 400 number, that means that I’ve read 360 books in 3.25 years that you will never find on a shelf of a physical bookstore. And since my average lifetime rating on Goodreads is around 4.8 stars, it is rare that I find a book I don’t like. So clearly there are many quality books out there that don’t find themselves on the shelves of at least the physical bookstores I have checked.

But what about the actual controversies? Should publishers make a concerted effort to publish minority books or books featuring minorities on the covers? Should physical stores devote less space to legendary authors in order to give a wider range of authors a chance?

I’m not going to directly answer those questions, as I think they are actually irrelevant.

You see, in the Era of Self Publishing, there are actually better questions to ask:

If I see a particular group not being served well enough, is there a chance to make money myself by serving that group? If I see a particular small subset of authors dominating a particular space, is there a way to make money by highlighting other authors in other spaces?

Ultimately, for authors and publishers in particular, the book business is indeed a business. Yes, you want to create things you are proud of, but you also want to be able to feed your family with the money you earn from people paying for your creation. And so that means that you have to find ways to do that – which is why these controversies exist. The thought there is that these authors are owed these publishers or shelf space.

Instead, why don’t we seek out alternatives? Invest in or create new publishers that serve these particular niches. Invest in or create new marketing companies to push these books just as hard as the Mega Publishers’ internal marketing personnel do. Figure out exactly how they operate – and it isn’t exactly a secret – and figure out ways to undercut and oversell them. Any elephant can be eaten one bite at a time, no matter how big or ornery it is.

And the Era of Self Publishing, the freelance economy, make all of this possible.

We see it every day. 20 years ago, the taxi cab companies were the only real way to get around many urban areas. Getting in with them was a pain, but nearly instantly rewarding. Now with the rise of Uber, Lyft, and others, far more people can provide cabbie services far more effectively… and the cabbie companies of old are falling.

Why can’t the same thing happen to the Mega Publishers? Are authors any less creative than Uber drivers? Can we not find some way to undercut the Megas?

Wait a minute. What if I as an Autistic began publishing Autistic authors via Kindle Direct Publishing (which now includes CreateSpace for actual printing of physical books)? Could I get an author published that a Mega might never take a risk on? Oh yeah, I’ve been doing that far longer than I’ve been operating this site, and almost longer than I’ve been reviewing books. And I’m open to taking on more authors. I’m open to showing you what I know so that you can serve your community just as I serve mine. I relish the opportunity to help others – and to compete with them. There is more than enough money to be had in the book space for all of us, there is no real reason to hoard knowledge or opportunity.

And there is no reason for outrage that someone else isn’t doing something that you can do for yourself with a little hard work.