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"The Ringmaster's Interview"
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“Then the world exploded.”
For Stefan Hannberg, the pen is mightier than the sword. He is a small town journalist with a big influence on the local eatery scene, which often translates into free meals and tickets to special events. One day, Stefan finds a magical invitation left on his office desk, which grants him access to an alternate realm where he meets a whole cast of carnival characters that exist beyond the veil. Through them he learns that his words have more power than meets the eye, in “The Ringmaster’s Interview”.
For Stefan Hannberg, the pen is mightier than the sword. He is a small town journalist with a big influence on the local eatery scene, which often translates into free meals and tickets to special events. One day, Stefan finds a magical invitation left on his office desk, which grants him access to an alternate realm where he meets a whole cast of carnival characters that exist beyond the veil. Through them he learns that his words have more power than meets the eye, in “The Ringmaster’s Interview”.
Readability
The story is essentially split into two parts that contrast the opposing forces featured in “The Ringmaster’s Interview”. The narrative has a loose plot, which follows the development of one main character from a third person perspective. The chapters in this novella are titled to summarize, and the events therein are fast paced. Structurally the narrative focuses on world building and uses one dimensional side characters to bring specific ideas to life. The writing probably should have undergone at least one more round of proofreading for additional line edits, because there were enough typos, autocorrect errors, and incomplete sentences to make a difference in how easy it was to read through the text. Despite the grammatical errors, I was still able to figure out what was happening in the story. I would have liked to have seen a functioning T.O.C. included for the reader's accessibility, because not only does it help with navigating between chapters, but the Kindle Create app makes it too easy to add, during the formatting process, to not have one.
Creativity
Martin mixes elements of fantasy and science fiction in “The Ringmaster’s Interview”. The protagonist of the story is caught between two interdimensional forces that influence the way of the world. Instead of the cliché “good vs evil” Martin classifies the opposing powers that be with fictional labels that are reminiscent of works from the fantasy genre:
The Vitalians vs The Theogrants
I thought that was a creative way to sum up the fact that some of the characters in this narrative are free spirited with a “zest for life and vitality” as well as others who are more dogmatic with rigid convictions. The Vitalians in “The Ringmaster’s Interview” exist in a kind of interdimensional carnival and they all have names like, “The Magician”, “The Reptile Woman”, and of course “The Ringmaster”. The Theogrants have less glamorous names like “The Bishop”, “The Inculcator”, and “The Counselor”. I liked the idea of using the carnival theme as a means of conceptualize the names of the Vitalian characters. Clearly there was less imagination involved with the creation of the Theogrants, as they were coercively obtuse by comparison, but remarkably similar in concept. The prose in this first novella written by Colin C. Martin isn't exactly poetry in motion. The story reads like a fast paced series of events, and the language leans more towards descriptive rather than illustrative.
Delivery
The world building takes place through the essay-like dialogue by each of the one-dimensional (interdimensional) characters featured in the plot. It was as if they were specialized professors just giving lectures on specific metaphysical subjects, rather than having an actual exchange with the main character. The subject matter discussed within the story gives off a disillusioned vibe towards themes surrounding politics, religion, and other social ills of the world. I thought these character dialogues contained the most intriguing material in the novella, but much of the subject matter was about ideas that I was already familiar with and they also served no relevant purpose in plot. The main character never uses any of the info he becomes privy to in a meaningful way which serves to further the narrative (at least not in this novella).
The main character struck me as grey rock in terms of personality and it was difficult for me to fully realize Stefan’s character development. Before he is launched into an alternate realm, he seems like a normy who's content with his life as a fence sitting journalist. The whole warrior mentality at the end didn't resonate with me and came across as something that came out of left field (or the left hand path, if you will).
I could understand why Stefan wouldn’t like the Theogrants, based on what they subject him to in this novella, but I had a hard time grasping the motivations behind the two opposing forces. One side is trying to harness Stefan’s “will to power” as a god-like figure for the purpose of keeping the story of the Satanic Players Society alive. The other side wants to harness Stefan’s will-to-power to turn him into a messiah to serve their agenda. Their aims are effectively the same. Stefan’s character is thrust into a position where he must decide which side he’s going to become a pawn for. What's missing from the conclusion was an explanation as to what was in it for Stefan’s character. What was missing from the plot was why the reader should care about the choice Stefan’s character makes.
It seemed like the aim of the narrative was for the reader to care more about the strife between the one dimensional characters that Stefan meets, but those characters only represent ideas. The side characters didn’t express much in terms of emotions, motivations, dreams or aspirations that would have individualized their personalities and make them relatable characters for the reader to root for. Stefan’s character was like taking an NPC and trying to make him a hero. I didn’t care about him, because he had nothing interesting or dramatic about his character. Maybe that explains why he was attracted to the circus, but his character is so naïve, as if he believes the Vitalians aren’t capable of being dishonest about their intentions, just like the Theogrants (except their nefarious manipulation just happens to be more subtle/crafty). The greatest trick the devil ever pulled...
The story is essentially split into two parts that contrast the opposing forces featured in “The Ringmaster’s Interview”. The narrative has a loose plot, which follows the development of one main character from a third person perspective. The chapters in this novella are titled to summarize, and the events therein are fast paced. Structurally the narrative focuses on world building and uses one dimensional side characters to bring specific ideas to life. The writing probably should have undergone at least one more round of proofreading for additional line edits, because there were enough typos, autocorrect errors, and incomplete sentences to make a difference in how easy it was to read through the text. Despite the grammatical errors, I was still able to figure out what was happening in the story. I would have liked to have seen a functioning T.O.C. included for the reader's accessibility, because not only does it help with navigating between chapters, but the Kindle Create app makes it too easy to add, during the formatting process, to not have one.
Creativity
Martin mixes elements of fantasy and science fiction in “The Ringmaster’s Interview”. The protagonist of the story is caught between two interdimensional forces that influence the way of the world. Instead of the cliché “good vs evil” Martin classifies the opposing powers that be with fictional labels that are reminiscent of works from the fantasy genre:
The Vitalians vs The Theogrants
I thought that was a creative way to sum up the fact that some of the characters in this narrative are free spirited with a “zest for life and vitality” as well as others who are more dogmatic with rigid convictions. The Vitalians in “The Ringmaster’s Interview” exist in a kind of interdimensional carnival and they all have names like, “The Magician”, “The Reptile Woman”, and of course “The Ringmaster”. The Theogrants have less glamorous names like “The Bishop”, “The Inculcator”, and “The Counselor”. I liked the idea of using the carnival theme as a means of conceptualize the names of the Vitalian characters. Clearly there was less imagination involved with the creation of the Theogrants, as they were coercively obtuse by comparison, but remarkably similar in concept. The prose in this first novella written by Colin C. Martin isn't exactly poetry in motion. The story reads like a fast paced series of events, and the language leans more towards descriptive rather than illustrative.
Delivery
The world building takes place through the essay-like dialogue by each of the one-dimensional (interdimensional) characters featured in the plot. It was as if they were specialized professors just giving lectures on specific metaphysical subjects, rather than having an actual exchange with the main character. The subject matter discussed within the story gives off a disillusioned vibe towards themes surrounding politics, religion, and other social ills of the world. I thought these character dialogues contained the most intriguing material in the novella, but much of the subject matter was about ideas that I was already familiar with and they also served no relevant purpose in plot. The main character never uses any of the info he becomes privy to in a meaningful way which serves to further the narrative (at least not in this novella).
The main character struck me as grey rock in terms of personality and it was difficult for me to fully realize Stefan’s character development. Before he is launched into an alternate realm, he seems like a normy who's content with his life as a fence sitting journalist. The whole warrior mentality at the end didn't resonate with me and came across as something that came out of left field (or the left hand path, if you will).
I could understand why Stefan wouldn’t like the Theogrants, based on what they subject him to in this novella, but I had a hard time grasping the motivations behind the two opposing forces. One side is trying to harness Stefan’s “will to power” as a god-like figure for the purpose of keeping the story of the Satanic Players Society alive. The other side wants to harness Stefan’s will-to-power to turn him into a messiah to serve their agenda. Their aims are effectively the same. Stefan’s character is thrust into a position where he must decide which side he’s going to become a pawn for. What's missing from the conclusion was an explanation as to what was in it for Stefan’s character. What was missing from the plot was why the reader should care about the choice Stefan’s character makes.
It seemed like the aim of the narrative was for the reader to care more about the strife between the one dimensional characters that Stefan meets, but those characters only represent ideas. The side characters didn’t express much in terms of emotions, motivations, dreams or aspirations that would have individualized their personalities and make them relatable characters for the reader to root for. Stefan’s character was like taking an NPC and trying to make him a hero. I didn’t care about him, because he had nothing interesting or dramatic about his character. Maybe that explains why he was attracted to the circus, but his character is so naïve, as if he believes the Vitalians aren’t capable of being dishonest about their intentions, just like the Theogrants (except their nefarious manipulation just happens to be more subtle/crafty). The greatest trick the devil ever pulled...
#LFLR Indie Rating: 3/10
I honestly had high hopes for “The Ringmaster’s Interview”, as I have enjoyed some of Colin’s work on The Horrorific Podcast on Youtube. If you have never consumed anything culturally subversive before, then you may become enthralled by some of the eye opening subject matter discussed in this novella. Aside from that, there isn’t much of a story being told, and the text itself could use some polish. “The Ringmaster’s Interview” is the first book of The Ringmaster Series, which makes up one installment of a three book collection that are all based on this original SciFi/Fantasy universe created by Colin C. Martin.
I honestly had high hopes for “The Ringmaster’s Interview”, as I have enjoyed some of Colin’s work on The Horrorific Podcast on Youtube. If you have never consumed anything culturally subversive before, then you may become enthralled by some of the eye opening subject matter discussed in this novella. Aside from that, there isn’t much of a story being told, and the text itself could use some polish. “The Ringmaster’s Interview” is the first book of The Ringmaster Series, which makes up one installment of a three book collection that are all based on this original SciFi/Fantasy universe created by Colin C. Martin.
THIS BREAKDOWN IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE #LFLR NETWORK.
