Looks normal enough…
I blundered into Truant’s fiction (and that of business partner/coauthor Sean Platt) in late 2020 into early 2021, when I tried and failed to finish The Beam, Seasons 1 and 3 -- never noticing that I’d entirely missed Season 2. Oops.
If we’re being honest, I was also intrigued by what I thought was an obvious pseudonym. Truant, real name or not, turns out to be an interesting guy -- a damn smart one, too. So I downloaded a couple of his books which were low-priced and thought I’d see how far I’d get. It was a generally good ride, although my mileage varied along the way.
Bear in mind that these are what he had available for free or nearly free probably back in late 2020 or 2021, these are surfacing now because I adopted the advanced reading technique of starting backwards from the oldest unread stuff on my Kindle. What’s missing because I didn’t know about it at the time, is that Platt and Truant also wrote a how-to on indie/self-publishing, Write. Publish. Repeat.—apparently with a ghost author. I’m genuinely interested in reading that, given my morbid curiosity about the indie/self-published SFF sector in general.
(And…I also noticed that I own more unread Truant — no Platt this time — the Epic series, all charmingly-named, and which look like they might be…self-help or self-improvement? At any rate, down they go, and I guess there’ll be a non-fiction part 2 to this post.)
Fat Vampire, Johnny B. Truant, 2012
This story poses an interesting question*: why are modern vampires so damn good looking? The answer, it turns out, is that there are standards, an application process, and heavy penalties for not measuring up. All of which Reginald discovers after being turned by Maurice, a senior vampire with a bad attitude about the rules. What ensues is quite funny, as Reginald struggles to find his place in an undead world. This is (naturally) the keystone to a long series, but it was a fine stand-alone story as well. Truant’s writing was crisp and the story moved along well. Reginald isn’t the deepest character in fiction but -- ugh, sorry, there’s a joke about taking stress eating to new levels that I can’t quite get out in one piece -- but, anyway, it was entertaining and really enjoyable.
Smirk factor: Acceptable: 1.5 pts (5 “smirking/smirked” in 196 pages, but every 20 pages is shaky.)
Immersion factor: Shallow water: 1 pt (Amusing, yes. Not wildly compelling.)
Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Character/plot development: Average: 1 pt
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 6.5/10 (3.25 stars, rounded up to 4)
* (“Interesting” in the sense of “not something that I’d ever thought to ask, but once it was asked, it’s not a bad question.”)
Unicorn Western, Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant, 2012
Clint Gulliver is a marshal with magical guns, who keeps the peace with the help of his trusty steed, Edward the unicorn. Edward’s attitude is bad, because Clint’s hanging up his guns and marrying Mai -- until an old enemy rolls back into the town of Solace, and Edward’s suddenly all that’s standing between Clint and doom. Too short for more than a basic plot or characters, but competently written and amusing. Aside from the weird fixation on turkey pie (I’m sure there’s a story there) this is decent -- it’s more of a YA thing, but there was enough there for me as an adult reader to keep turning pages. This isn’t my thing, but it could be yours?
Smirk factor: All clear: 2 pts (No smirks given, although only 89 pages.)
Immersion factor: Damp: 0.5 pts
Writing quality: Average: 1 pt
Character/plot development: Average: 1 pt (Edward the magical unicorn’s entire personality is snark.)
Innovative/interesting: Average: 1 pt
Total: 5.5/10 (2.75 stars, rounded up to 3)
Game of Fangs, Johnny B. Truant, 2020
LARPing and the Fat Vampire universe intersect, albeit briefly, in this campy and blood-soaked adventure. This felt like it took forever to get off the ground. Extensive LARP scene-setting added versimilitude but made me impatient for blood to start flowing. Once it does, there’s a fair amount of it -- along with the conversion of the LARP guild into the kernel of an unauthorized uber-geek vampire coven. The story is competently handled, but could have started faster. Not scads of depth or plot twists, but enjoyable.
Smirk factor: All clear: 2pts (Zero smirks, in what could have been a rich environment for them. Kudos.)
Immersion factor: Damp: 0.5 pts (Took too long to get going.)
Writing quality: Average: 1 pt
Character/plot development: Average: 1 pt
Innovative/interesting: Average: 1 pt
Total: 5.5/10 (2.75 stars, rounded up to 3)