Location: United States
Member Since: March 31, 2010

David Drazul


Biography

I'm a stay-at-home Dad who survived dotcom burnout and a chemical engineering career that fizzled. When I'm not chopping wood, renovating some part of the house or making sure the kids are doing their homework, I write stories.

Where to find David Drazul online

Website: http://www.daviddrazul.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/foreverded/
Blog: http://www.daviddrazul.com/launchpad/

Where to buy in print

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/armistice-day/6525593

Books

Collection Notice    by David Drazul
Price: Free! 1740 words. Published on November 10, 2010. Fiction.
0.25 star(4.33 from 3 reviews)
A short story. Senator Bartleby gets a visit from a man demanding restitution. The odd thing is the fellow claims to be from the future.
Tile    by David Drazul
Price: Free! 4450 words. Published on August 18, 2010. Fiction.
(5.00 from 1 review)
A short story. Silvio's tiling skills are top notch, but his luck isn't. He's hired to rebuild an ancient ceremonial bath for a private collector of antiquities. Although the job pays well, he suspects that his work will be put to use for something other than a creepy fetish. Originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of The Harrow. The rights have since reverted back to me.
Armistice Day    by David Drazul
Price: $2.99 USD. 66920 words. Published on March 31, 2010. Fiction.
The Krendorian Empire has staged an intervention for our own good. Whether we liked it or not, they were here to stay. Armistice Day is here and Earth is to be incorporated into the Empire. Aaron Osborne stumbles upon a plot to wreck the peace and rekindle the war. But in order to prevent it, he needs the help of the alien responsible for his best friend's death. Reviews at: daviddrazul.com

David Drazul’s tag cloud

albania    alien invasion    artifacts    balkans    horror    illyrians    interstellar empires    invasion of earth    political    satire    science fiction    scifi    scifi thriller    tile    time travel   

Smashwords book reviews by David Drazul

  • Fixing Mr. Styx on Oct. 29, 2010
    star star star star star
    Mr. Styx, an alias for our protagonist, Sherman, finds "things" for his clients. Typically they're magic items, but sometimes he solves missing persons cases. Unfortunately, these are people who would prefer to stay missing. While he won't get his hands bloody, his conscience looks the other way if his clients make a mess of the mark. When we meet Sherman, he's in his favorite diner (not so much for the food as it is for the plethora of exits) being offered a job he's not allowed to refuse by a couple of lineman-sized thugs who are far more sinister than they appear to be. Despite all of Sherman's flaws, Thorne makes him out to be a likable character. He's aware of his moral shortcomings, but acknowledges they're necessary for survival in the line of work he's in. Thorne spends a good deal of time exploring Sherman's character and reveals how he came to be the man he is. While on the surface, he resembles a Gen X version of the hard-nosed detective of many a pulp fiction story, underneath there's a vulnerability that belies that exterior. Thorne's writing style makes for an entertaining read. To add to the almost noir-like atmosphere, he pours on the similes and metaphors like syrup over a steaming fresh stack of blueberry pancakes. Mmmmmm. It fits in well with establishing Sherman's character, his clients and the grim city he lives in. As for the technicals, there are several typos. They were easy enough to find and could easily have been eliminated if a second set of eyes had gone over the manuscript before publishing. However, none of them were bad enough to detract from the story. Small bumps in the road as it were. I understand that this is the third story in Thorne's "Grim Arcana" series. I'm not sure what the other titles are but you don't need to have read them to enjoy this story, though I suspect you'll want to. With "Fixing Mr. Styx", I feel like we've come in at the end of a story, and I'm left wanting to know how we got here. Only in Resident Evil can you have a sequel to "Apocalypse." Thorne throws us enough bones to want to read more about Sherman's past exploits that led up to this encounter. A novel, or a collection of novellas, highlighting his misadventures in expanded form is what I'd like to see. All-in-all, "Fixing Mr. Styx" is a highly enjoyable excursion into a dangerous world that exists just outside the corner of our eyes.
  • Mirror Shards: Volume One on Sep. 22, 2011
    star star star star star
    Much like Carpenter's novel, The Digital Sea, the stories in this anthology all have augmented reality (AR) as a common element integral to each story. However, how each author incorporates AR into their story is as varied as the authors themselves. It would be difficult to provide a detailed analysis of all 13 stories so I will provide a taste of each. We're shown how a submarine pilot guides a gaggle of tourists in the depths of the Indian Ocean in "The Watcher" and jacked in with a bio-engineered assassin dropped on a distant ring world in "El Matador". AR is a positive force that advances the effectiveness of smart detectives in "Witness Protection" while helping a young woman survive an encounter with a crime syndicate in the cold of eastern Russia in "Of Bone and Steel and Other Soft Materials". It enables a singer to adopt new personas while Earth is under the boot of alien overlords in "Stage Presence, Baby". And it enables revolutions in the corporate dictatorship of "Gift Horses". The darker side of AR is explored as well. It is used to bring about an advertizing apocalypse in "Below the Bollocks Line" and adds a new dimension to imprisonment in "The Sun is Real." It fosters the ugliness of narcissism in "A Book By Its Cover". Some stories balance the two. It props up the ego of the actors in "These Delicate Creatures" but also restores their humanity when art becomes protest. And in the sexual slavery of "More Real Than Flesh" it provides an escape hatch. I have to say that there isn't a bad story in the bunch but I was still able to pick out two stellar stories that rose above the rest: "Music of the Spheres" and "The Cageless Zoo". "Music of the Spheres" is probably the best math story I've ever read. A math major helps his sister with her geometry homework and it doesn't come across as dull, instead it turns into a lesson she has to teach him later in life. The underlying theme is about what happens to those who are left behind when AR takes over society. The author, Ken Liu, poignantly shows how one can cope with watching dreams die. My favorite is Carpenter's own, "The Cageless Zoo", which is about a widow and her two children visiting a zoo full of predators who are kept from eating people by AR implants. The mother is confronted by a zoo official who demands a copy of her late husband's research, which she doesn't want to surrender for fear of it being buried by the Darwin Institute. Not only does Carpenter's story present us with a unique use for AR but it provides us with an excellent demonstration for how epigenetics could work in nature on a fictional beast. But forgetting the science for a moment, it was a fun read along the lines of Jurassic Park, but without the dinosaurs. Carpenter has amassed a diverse collection of highly entertaining and thought provoking AR stories in Mirror Shards, Volume 1. As with all good anthologies, I now have another list of talented writers whose works I can explore further. I look forward to the next installment of this series. Highly recommended for all sci-fi fans.
  • The Godhead Machine (Digital Sea #2) on April 10, 2012
    star star star star
    The Godhead Machine is the second novel in Thomas Carpenter's Digital Sea series. In the first novel, we followed Zel Aurora across the planet as she sought the cure for her daughter's illness while evading capture by her former employer, the mysterious Djed. Two years have passed. Zel's still on the run, though she tries to give her unappreciative adolescent daughter a normal life. An old foe, who she thought was dead, has resurfaced and is hunting her down. Running out of options, she joins the Wiki, but finds that the accompanying reality binder comes with its own perils. The Wiki is an open source religion. You know about Wikipedia - where everyone can contribute to the building of the encyclopedia. In this case, members are trying to crowdsource their way to create the one true faith to get God's message. Unfortunately, there's too much of a social media aspect inherent to the Wiki that leaves it ripe for abuse and manipulation. When religious leaders are allowed to re-write the rules and twist the message, you're not dealing with spirituality anymore. You're preparing for war. The other two major characters in the story are Sigh, an orphan girl living on the streets of London, and Nari, a pop megastar whose endorsements build fortunes for corporations and governments. Zel's fate becomes entwined with them. Carpenter keeps us hooked through their predicaments. While I've read stories where the protagonist was female, I think this is the first novel I've read where all of the major characters were women. Men were relegated to the roles of minor characters and villains, not that he bashes them in a fit of self-loathing. It just so happens that these are three strong, diverse women who are masters of the worlds they inhabit. When forced to deal with adversity outside their domain, their resourcefulness enables them to persevere. Carpenter's writing has matured. While I enjoyed, The Digital Sea, The Godhead Machine shows a definite improvement. His writing is tighter and more focused. There is no filler here. Action is sparse, but well-utilized. Carpenter would rather have his characters survive by their wits than violence. The dialogue moves the story along at a good pace and is effective at revealing the nature of the characters. Carpenter efficiently weaves the three storylines together, discarding anything that doesn't develop the characters or contribute to the plot. Carpenter's augmented reality novels are building his reputation as a skilled writer in the new generation of cyberpunk novelists. So before you buy your Google Glasses at the end of the year, be sure to check out his work to see where the future is taking us.