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Randy McCharles
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Necromancer Candle, The: And Two Additional Tales of Contemporary Fantasy Kindle Edition

by Randy McCharles (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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A collection of three new novellas by Canadian Speculative Fiction author Randy McCharles.

The collection includes:

The Necromancer Candle

Cassidy’s family has a secret. An ancient, ugly candle passed down through the generations until it is has been all but forgotten. But now someone is looking for it, or so Cassidy thinks. A victim of terminal brain cancer, Cassidy no longer trusts what she sees. But real or imagined, the upheaval of Cassidy’s life is moving quickly toward an end where Cassidy’ greatest wish is to die on her own terms. But is that long enough to solve the mystery of the necromancer candle?

Full House

When Jonas loses his job on the same day a neighbor is murdered, he finds his days at home more challenging yet rewarding than he ever imagined. Against a backdrop of healing family relationships and expounding upon life with his poker buddies, Jonas finds himself pressured to solve the murder. But the more he learns, the more Jonas sees that this is no simple murder, but a mystery that has spanned centuries.

Merlin’s Silver

Joan gets more than she bargained for when she buys an expensive tea service at auction to shake up a lackluster marriage. It seems the tea service is sought by black magicians who will stop at nothing to get it, with only a peculiar little man named Odds Bodkins standing in their way. But who can Joan trust? The mysterious voice on the phone offering to buy the tea service? Her best friend Sally who offers to take it off her hands? Or Odds Bodkins, whose designs grow more unfathomable by the hour?
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  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    July 31, 2014
  5. File size
    1680 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Randy McCharles is active in Calgary, Alberta's writing community with a focus on speculative fiction, usually of the dark and humorous variety. In 2009 he received Canada's most prestigious award for speculative fiction, the Prix-Aurora Award, for the novella Ringing in the Changes in Okotoks, Alberta which appeared in Tesseracts 12 (Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing) and was also reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy 9 (David Hartwell and Kathryn Kramer, ed). Additional short stories and novellas have appeared in anthologies listed on the Anthologies page. When not making up tall tales, Randy organizes literary events, including chairing the When Words Collide festival for Readers and Writers: http://www.whenwordscollide.org

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00MC1SATS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing (July 31, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 31, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1680 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

About the author

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Randy McCharles

Randy McCharles

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Randy McCharles (1959-) is a Canadian author of speculative and crime fiction with numerous novels, short stories and novellas published in various anthologies available from Tyche Books, Edge Press, House of Anansi, Reality Skimming Press, and Coffin Hop Press. He is the recipient of several Aurora Awards (Canada's most prestigious award for speculative fiction). In 2013 his short story Ghost-B-Gone Incorporated won the House of Anansi 7-day Ghost Story Contest.

Randy's most recent publications include the 1st 3 titles of the Peter Galloway private detective series, the 2016 Aurora Award shortlisted novel Much Ado about Macbeth from Tyche Books, and the 2017 Aurora Award shortlisted novel The Day of the Demon.

Upcoming books include additional titles in the Peter Galloway crime series and A Connecticut Gumshoe in King Arthur's Court (Tyche Books).

In addition to writing, Randy chairs the award-winning When Words Collide Festival for Readers and Writers as well as organizing various reading and craft events for writers.

Website: www.randymccharles.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/randy.mccharles

Festival: www.whenwordscollide.org

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michael J. Martineck
4.0 out of 5 stars This is an odd book to love. The title story is dark - and funny
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is an odd book to love. The title story is dark - and funny. I looked around for permission to laugh. It didn't feel right, but I loved it.
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Blaire
5.0 out of 5 stars Three Compelling Tales
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2014
Reviewer for Paranormal Romance and Authors that Rock - 5 Fangs

The Necromancer Candle and Two Additional Tales of Contemporary Fantasy is a collection of three novellas by Canadian Speculative Fiction author Randy McCharles. Yes, I had to look it up too, because I had absolutely no idea what speculative fiction was. Being an avid reader, I tend not to pay much attention to genres. I just know what I like. The easiest way to put it is a broad genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical or futuristic elements, simplistic but understandable. With that out of the way, The Necromancer Candle is a trio of delightful short stories that I absolutely adored. Randy McCharles has a way of writing that grips the reader and pulls them in hook, line and sinker. The weaving of the stories is done in such a way the reader will feel they have read a complete novel, rather than a novella. Bravo, Mr. McCharles, each story was unique and different, a wonderful reading experience.

The startling prologue of The Necromancer Candle involves a very dark, past evil. In the present, Cassidy Faith is burying her mother, who was murdered during a break-in. We find out Cassidy has inoperable brain cancer and has been in and out of the hospital for the past year. The last thing anyone expected was that her mother would die before her. Her father took off when they got the news she was sick. All Cassidy wants is to stay out of the hospital until absolutely necessary. After a break-in where the shop is trashed, it becomes apparent someone is looking for something. As evil stalks her and those around her, Cassidy has to sort out what is real, and what are delusions caused by the cancer or drugs. With the introduction of an extremely intractable woman from Child Welfare Services, and her father coming back into her life, Cassidy is being bombarded from all directions. The intertwining of past and present was done in a way that totally took me by surprise. I loved this story of an extremely courageous and resourceful girl, and the mystical tale involving the "ugliest candle in the world".

In Full House with a cast of characters including a just laid off pipe flow controller, his wife, his wife's lunatic sister (who came for a visit years ago and never left), his traumatized divorced daughter, the abusive ex-husband who won't give up, the poker buddies, and a family who rarely leaves their house, with a daughter they deny having, where can you go wrong? In this page-turner, we see Jonas laid off from his job coming home to tell his wife the bad news on the day, William Badlin, one of the neighbours' sons, is murdered. The Badlins are the mystery of the neighbourhood, rarely ever seen let alone talking to anyone. Jonas, and his poker buddies, who use night-vision goggles to watch the comings and goings from Jonas' attic, are all trying to figure out what really happened. While trying to paint the house, Jonas is told he must solve the murder or things will get worse. Jonas, confused as to why anyone would think he's a detective, sets out to do just that. This story is about just your average guy, bewildered by events in his life, who rises above them masterfully. Full House is filled with mystery, adventure, and an untold number of surprises, intertwined with shades of King Arthur.

Merlin's Silver is a captivating tale of an ordinary woman's life gone off the rails big time. Joan purchases a silver tea set at an auction and, by the time she gets home, well, there is no home anymore. This sets off a chain of events that leaves Joan totally confused and not knowing who to trust, even her best friend is suspect. Chased after by Dark Magicians and, seemingly, being helped by a strange little man named, of all things, Odds Bodkins, Joan tries to contend with the disappearance of her husband too. What is up with this silver tea service, and why does everyone want it so badly? The answers come in the most magical way possible. A truly delightful story.
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Elise Abram
3.0 out of 5 stars Review: The Necromancer Candle by Randy McCharles
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2014
Randy McCharles, author of "The Necromancer Candle" (Edge Publishing) is a master storyteller in this collection of three novellas. Each of the novellas tells a compelling story with well-rounded characters.

In the first story, “The Necromancer Candle”, teenage Cassidy is reeling having just lost her mother in a break-in. Cassidy is dying from brain cancer and struggles coping with her mother dying before her. She must battle Child and Family Services and the return of her estranged father. If that wasn’t enough, she sees visions of a dishevelled man she’s not sure is real, or a product of her cancer addled brain. Her life is thrown into further upheaval when she learns her family has been tasked since medieval times with protecting the necromancer candle.

In “Full House”, unemployed Jonas spends his time painting house and playing cards with his neighbours. When a neighbour is murdered and the head of the family tasks him with finding the murderer, Jonas is swept into an age old quest for the holy grail with ties to King Arthur and Merlin.

In “Merlin’s Silver”, Joan buys a silver tea set on a whim at auction. Amidst requests by shadowy figures to purchase the tea set from her, Joan contends with a wave of deathly bad luck. Though Joan is in this adventure with her husband, best friend, and a peculiar stranger, she alone must decide what to do with the tea set.

I read "The Necromancer Candle" inside of a week. I found the stories gripping and the characters interesting but marred by the deus ex machina method of plot resolution. “The Necromancer Candle” has wisps of the supernatural woven throughout, but the true supernatural aspect of the candle is not revealed until the climax and denouement. There is nothing paranormal about “Full House” (with the exception of a false reporting of a pentagram in a neighbour’s basement) until the climax. By contrast, “Merlin’s Silver” is rife with references to black magic and Merlin, but the magic doesn’t manifest until the climax. Though I was drawn in by each of the stories (with the exception of “Merlin’s Sliver” which seemed more farcical than not), I was let down by the climax.

In "The Necromancer Candle", McCharles has great potential, but it falls flat. Perhaps this is due to the choice of narrative point of view. In each case, McCharles chooses the viewpoint of an outsider, totally uninitiated into the world of the supernatural. Had the first story been narrated by Cassidy’s father instead of Cassidy herself, for example, the same story might have had a more satisfying climax, as the reader would be in on the magic from the start.

One last note: I received a free copy of "The Necromancer Candle" by Randy McCharles in exchange for this review. My hope for this novel is that Edge plans to edit further before publishing to eliminate many of the typographical errors within.
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JC82
4.0 out of 5 stars 4 Fantasy Fun Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2014
This book is comprised of three tales of mystery, legend and magic. It's a wonderfully perfect read for this time of year when we all get in the mood for a little scare and some magical thrills.

Despite the brevity of each tale, as they average around 70 pages, each story packs a fine tuned and thorough storyline that will leave you perfectly content with the endings. I also enjoyed how each story centered around characters that needed to have more faith in themselves and the courage to do what was needed.

In Necromancer's candle we meet Cassidy who is facing near death and yet she perseveres not only in the face of her illness but also in the increasing danger of a powerful Sorcerer. In Full House its Jonas who after being down on his luck finds the strength within himself to solve the crimes plaguing his neighborhood. And Finally in Merlin's Silver we meet Joan and Patrick who never do anything outside of the ordinary but soon find themselves thrust into a centuries old pursuit of a magical tea service. Forcing them to step out of their comfort zone and take a leap of faith into adventure.
These tales are highly enjoyable and the writing is smooth. They have just the right amount of excitement, magic and wonder that will satisfy your creative fantasy tastebuds. Good, fun read especially during this time of year :)
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