20230228 - Inside the Jack o' Lantern [Summond the Scarecrow Official Release]

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The scarecrow, looming, // consumes every Hallowed Eve; // dead leaves, rustling. 

HAIKUPRAJNA - Inside the Jack o’ Lantern

Read online [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2023/02/20230228-inside-jack-o-lantern-summond.html ]

...

Hello readers,.

The latest and greatest Terraform story from The Wisps Book, Summond the Scarecrow is now available to read!

Download your copy now or start reading with Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon [ https://www.amazon.com/Summond-Scarecrow-Wisps-Book-IV-ebook/dp/B0BWWHW25N/ ]

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Trailer [ https://youtu.be/ExmNwcsetoY ]

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Summond the Scarecrow is about the titular Giant consuming the patrons of the Sorauren Farm’s pumpkin parade, and was inspired by the 2022 Inktober prompt list along by a trip with April [who co-wrote this story!] to a number of parks across Toronto; April likened Summond the Scarecrow to E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, and I have taken inspiration for the Overseer from superhero characters like Marvel’s Spider-man and Doctor Strange.

Cover designed by Allen W. McLean 

Intro to Summond the Scarecrow 

[Blurb]

“ Summond the Scarecrow had consumed the Overseer of the Forest.

The Seer had brought the Giant jack o’ lantern head to a post-Halloween pumpkin parade.

They were forced to watch in the form of timeless spectating Shadows, while the daemon rolled through the annual Halloween event and caused people to go missing every year. But, in part of their plan to free the patrons trapped in the pumpkin, the Seer had to tempt Summond into consuming more.

The Overseer issued the Terraform a dire warning; the Scarecrow would burn unless they released those who Summond had been consumed. “

Thank you for reading.

Allen W. McLean 

...

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I write mindfulness meditation scifaiku and haiku poetry on my book reviews and on previews of my metaphysical stories, such as "Escape Perennial City". Learn more about my reviews here [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/book-review-summary-study-notes.html ]

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Thanks to you, over ONE-THOUSAND (1000!) readers have joined us on Medium! Need to stay in the Medium Partner Program? Please follow and turn on email notifications; I will follow you back! "Ado the Owl" and "Hector Blake" are available to read, right now, on Medium. [ https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe ]

April's psychedelic music videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms; Electric Armchair - Mister Valentine (Official Animated Music Video) (With Lyrics) [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrJcLSsCSsQ ]

Electric Armchair - After Party (PRE-SAVE ALBUM [ https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/electricarmchair/after-party ]

"Falgara the Giant" is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Add to Goodreads and learn more [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/falgara-giant.html ] 

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These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection.

20230226 The Electric Tale of Pikachu [Book Review] [Pokemon Day 2023]

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An electric mouse, \\ with positive energy, \\ found chewing live wires.

#HAIKUPRAJNA - The Electric Tale of Pikachu [Book Review] [Pokemon Day 2023] 

Read online [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2023/02/20230226-electric-tale-of-pikachu-book.html ]

...

Hello readers,

It’s the 27th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise, so this Pokemon Day we are celebrating with a copy of "The Electric Tale of Pikachu" along with some anime. [This review also includes volumes two through four; "Pikachu Shocks Back", "Electric Pikachu Boogaloo" and "Surf's Up, Pikachu"]  

This Pokemon World is slightly more realistic, grounded and mature in tone and art at times than the games or anime. What was most interesting to me about this Pokemon World was how most citizens seem to have given up on training after a few months, where it is said that very few continue into adulthood, and that the majority see Pokemon as animals, pests or supernatural spirits and beings; the way people in this Pokemon World grow reminds me of how I have grown with the series, as one can argue that I have retired from training Pokemon in new regions, but I still live in a world with Pokemon and I still experience stories and adventures from the rest of the franchise outside of the mainline games.

This was the manga I read from my school library when I was six or seven years old before reading Pokemon Adventures, and along with the N64 plus the NGC games and the anime, this manga series was among my earliest exposures to the franchise; I have read online that Electric Tale was the first Pokemon manga to be translated into English.

Like the anime, Electric Tale of Pikachu follows Ash Ketchum’s journey to fight the various Gym Leaders for their badges in order to compete for the title of Pokemon Champion through the Indigo League and the Orange Islands, but these comics came with a number of refreshing differences that set it apart from its contemporaries including how Ash and Pikachu met and how often Misty and Brock traveled with them, while still managing to hit plot points like Team Rocket and the Eevee Brothers. Personal highlights of the series include Bill's story about the Venusaur, Sabrina and Brock talking to Ash about a godlike Haunter, and the Bulbasaur family story in Volume 3.

There are translation differences between localizations, to cut page count and due to some of the art by the book's graphic artist Toshihiro Ono, and the second half felt more comical than the first, but the series as a whole has that kind of charm to it too. Ash grows as a Trainer, his rivalry with Gary is revisited often, and he got to challenge another Pokemon League to iron out the mistakes he learned over the course of the story, becoming--spoiler alert!--the Champion of the Orange Islands with the help of Pikachu.

Thank you for reading.

Allen W. McLean 

...

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Banner : Tomothy and the Overseer of the Forest

Connect via email or social media [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/follow-on-social-media.html ]

Readers are gifted a Kindle eBook on Fridays and Mondays--short story selection rotates every few weeks, so visit My Author Profile and follow via email [ https://www.amazon.ca/Allen-W-McLean/e/B0867C5D24 ]

I write mindfulness meditation scifaiku and haiku poetry on my book reviews and on previews of my metaphysical stories, such as "Escape Perennial City". Learn more about my reviews here [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/book-review-summary-study-notes.html ]

Read the latest Project Roadmap [ https://medium.com/haikuprajna/20221230-my-year-in-reviews-project-roadmap-2022-12-6b6c671e575 ]

Thanks to you, over ONE-THOUSAND (1000!) readers have joined us on Medium! Need to stay in the Medium Partner Program? Please follow and turn on email notifications; I will follow you back! "Ado the Owl" and "Hector Blake" are available to read, right now, on Medium. [ https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe ]

April's psychedelic music videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms; Electric Armchair - Mister Valentine (Official Animated Music Video) (With Lyrics) [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrJcLSsCSsQ ]

Electric Armchair - After Party (PRE-SAVE ALBUM [ https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/electricarmchair/after-party ]

"Falgara the Giant" is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Add to Goodreads and learn more [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/falgara-giant.html ] 

Support by buying a sticker [ https://haikuprajna.redbubble.com ]

Kindle ebooks can be read on any device at www.read.amazon.com

These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection.

20230223 - A Christmas Carol [II] [Book Review]

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Dethaw a deep freeze, // spirits with hallowed warnings. // Wretched mindlessness.

#HAIKUPRAJNA - A Christmas Carol [II]

Read online [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2023/02/20230223-christmas-carol-ii-book-review.html ]

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Hello readers,

In "A Christmas Carol", Charles Dickens used the cold of London to describe Ebenezer Scrooge, compared to the warmth and glow of those around him. Due to his focus on his own gain and his ignorance of the poverty of others, he thought it wise to be able to determine who should live and die by his subjective view on what was in surplus.

The one weakness, in my opinion, of this book could be found in Dickens's narrator, but it was strong at times which might make up for when otherwise, depending on the reader.

The narrative made use of horror as a subgenre by not only having Scrooge deal with unbelievable yet real aspects, such as seeing himself in Marley's wretchedness, but Dickens also carried the reader through the imagery as though the narrator were another spirit following Scrooge. 

From the invocation in the preface onward, A Christmas Carol used Christian (almost Gnostic) Idealism as its subject matter, with its invisible world of ghosts having lost individuality who yet clung to what they wished to change, for the better, while being weighed down in a literal manner by their history and inaction. 

Other sentiments which make A Christmas Carol one of my favorite stories were all said by the Ghost of Christmas Present; the earth needing to pass into eternity before its good is all developed, mortal life being too short for its vast means of usefulness, no space of regret amending an opportunity misused, and telling Scrooge that men do things in the name of the Ghosts, but that such men are as strange to them as if they had never lived. 

“Cold, isn’t it?” “Seasonable for Christmas time. You’re not a skater, I suppose?” “No. No. Something else to think of. Good morning!”

These hallows were focused on establishing a sense of  mindfulness in Ebenezer; if I interpreted things right, Marley granted Scrooge's request to have all the ghosts visit at once, maybe because he was willing to do what was necessary, despite his initial resistance, rather than continue to decline Marley's offer. With the Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge was rebuked for failing to realize that he was wishing to cap the Ghost’s light, his own memories--shown to be a source of joy for many. The Ghost of Christmas Present told Scrooge to look upon him, to be mindful when Scrooge thought himself unworthy to, and, indeed, Ebenezer was shown that both Ignorance and Want cling to the Present, that, according to Scrooge, they seem doomed to workhouses and prisons--unless shown kindness, like the spirit of Marley had on Scrooge. Even with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Scrooge was being shown how one’s material remains leave nothing good outside of their memories and one’s remembered love. 

In A Christmas Carol, Dickens seemed to be critical of mindless urbanization and its effects on sustaining the poor masses for the benefit of the rich; as far as I know he suffered from the effects of the uneven distribution of wealth in his youth. 

According to him, it is better to let others laugh at you, for ignorance in joy, while still rude, was still less bad than ignorance in hate; Love and Christmas Spirit are equal, and thus one will find joy in shared mindful experiences like education, dances and festive dinners. 

Previous review [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2020/12/20201225-christmas-carol.html ] 

Thank you for reading.

Allen W. McLean 

...

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Readers are gifted a Kindle eBook on Fridays and Mondays--short story selection rotates every few weeks, so visit My Author Profile and follow via email [ https://www.amazon.ca/Allen-W-McLean/e/B0867C5D24 ]

I write mindfulness meditation scifaiku and haiku poetry on my book reviews and on previews of my metaphysical stories, such as "Escape Perennial City". Learn more about my reviews here [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/book-review-summary-study-notes.html ]

Read the latest Project Roadmap [ https://medium.com/haikuprajna/20221230-my-year-in-reviews-project-roadmap-2022-12-6b6c671e575 ]

Thanks to you, over ONE-THOUSAND (1000!) readers have joined us on Medium! Need to stay in the Medium Partner Program? Please follow and turn on email notifications; I will follow you back! "Ado the Owl" and "Hector Blake" are available to read, right now, on Medium. [ https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe ]

April's psychedelic music videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms; Electric Armchair - Mister Valentine (Official Animated Music Video) (With Lyrics) [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrJcLSsCSsQ ]

Electric Armchair - After Party (PRE-SAVE ALBUM [ https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/electricarmchair/after-party ]

"Falgara the Giant" is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Add to Goodreads and learn more [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/falgara-giant.html ] 

Support by buying a sticker [ https://haikuprajna.redbubble.com ]

Kindle ebooks can be read on any device at www.read.amazon.com

These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection.

20230213 - Summond the Scarecrow [Official Reveal Announcement]

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Passersby watching \\ the shadows dancing inside, \\ watching from within.

#HAIKUPRAJNA - Summond the Scarecrow

Read online [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2023/02/20230213-summond-scarecrow-official.html ]

...

Hello readers,

The next Terraform title, The Wisps Book IV, is Summond the Scarecrow. 

Summond the Scarecrow will release as a digital ebook on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. 

In this story, the Overseer of the Forest plots the escape of those being consumed by a Giant jack o’ lantern from the Deeper Forest.

[Title page screenshot of Summond the Scarecrow]

[Intro to Summond the Scarecrow by Allen W. McLean]

[Blurb]

“ Summond the Scarecrow had consumed the Overseer of the Forest.

The Seer had brought the Giant jack o’ lantern head to a post-Halloween pumpkin parade.

They were forced to watch in the form of timeless spectating Shadows, while the daemon rolled through the annual Halloween event and caused people to go missing every year.

But, in part of their plan to free the patrons trapped in the pumpkin, the Seer had to tempt Summond into consuming more.

The Overseer issued the Terraform a dire warning; the Scarecrow would burn unless they released those who Summond had been consumed. "

I know this is a late Halloween story (April and I actually used the Inktober 2022 prompt list as inspiration for this story!), but I know its whimsical horror will capture and entertain any time of year and every October; Summond the Scarecrow will release February 28th 2023.

Thank you for reading.

Please share your thoughts in a comment.

Allen W. McLean 

...

Need more Bite-sized Insights to relieve your stress and suffering?

Banner : Tomothy and the Overseer of the Forest

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Readers are gifted a Kindle eBook on Fridays and Mondays--short story selection rotates every few weeks, so follow via email or visit My Author Profile [ https://www.amazon.ca/Allen-W-McLean/e/B0867C5D24 ]

I write mindfulness meditation scifaiku and haiku poetry on my book reviews and on previews of my metaphysical stories, such as "Escape Perennial City". Learn more about my reviews here [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/book-review-summary-study-notes.html ]

Read the latest Project Roadmap [ https://medium.com/haikuprajna/20221230-my-year-in-reviews-project-roadmap-2022-12-6b6c671e575 ]

Thanks to you, over ONE-THOUSAND (1000!) readers have joined us on Medium! Need to stay in the Medium Partner Program? Please follow and turn on email notifications; I will follow you back! "Ado the Owl" and "Hector Blake" are available to read, right now, on Medium. [ https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe ]

April's psychedelic music videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms; Electric Armchair - Gotchu (Official Music Video with Lyrics) [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPXMxd-LCS0 ]

Electric Armchair - After Party (PRE-SAVE ALBUM [ https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/electricarmchair/after-party ]

"Falgara the Giant" is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Add to Goodreads and learn more [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/falgara-giant.html ] 

Support by buying a sticker [ https://haikuprajna.redbubble.com ]

Kindle ebooks can be read on any device at www.read.amazon.com

These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection.

20230206 - A Boy and His Dog [ Book Review / Analysis / Summary / Essay ]

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Survival is not \\ knowing when to kill; rather, \\ knowing what love is.

#HAIKUPRAJNA - A Boy and His Dog [II] 

Read online [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2023/02/20230206-boy-and-his-dog-book-review.html ]

...

Hello readers, 

I need to read the rest of the stories related to “A Boy and His Dog” by Harlon Ellison [Eggsucker, “Run, Spot, Run”, and the collected “Blood’s a Rover”].

As I referenced in the previous review, the title is deceiving, as this post-apocalyptic survival fiction story is R-rated with its descriptive gunfights, told from the protagonist’s point of view, and with its casual nudity, sex and social depravity.

I have read online that these stories served as inspiration for other nuclear wasteland franchises, such as the Fallout games, with shared features including gangs that upkeep local services, cutesy killer robots, nighttime nuclear monsters and an attention to epic gunfights or combat in a literary sense.

“A Boy and his Dog” followed Vic, a Solo from such gangs, who formed a pact with Blood, a telepathic dog; together, they were sniffing out Quilla June, a girl from a suburban downunder, which Vic later was lured into and was itching to escape from. Blood's pride in his telepathic parentage, and everything Vic learned from him, was a good way to provide readers with backstory and world-building.

Vic and Blood followed Quilla to an abandoned YMCA, but she was as depraved as him, highlighting the genre and setting through the conflicts of man vs self and nature. Blood's suggestion of burning down the YMCA, when they figured they were outgunned, was a great dramatization of this. 

Quilla later escaped, so Vic planned to chase her for revenge, and he fought Blood reasoning for them to tend to their wounds. 

Alone, Vic went downunder, where prewar suburban society had been frozen and bottled up, stopping progress. He realized Blood was right, that he was being lured into a trap. It is revealed to Vic that the men were impotent downunder and were in need of Vic.

An important aspect of the story is how resources, supply and demand, command not just one's impulsive desires, but also one's survival. 

Anyway, Vic schemed to abuse their hospitality in order to escape after killing Quilla.

But, when he had his chance, the two found she and he were legit in love. So, they teamed together to escape, killing her 'pa and fighting other townsfolk along the way out.

The line where they were climbing, where he kept telling her he loved her, was genius for being both true and for continuing the thematic thread of love being a universal idea, an evolutionary survival outline. 

When they got up top, Vic found Blood was still waiting, wounded and hungry. This was a complex situation; both Quilla June and Blood were fearful for their mortal wellbeing--both were dependent on Vic for their present situation. But Vic had to choose one of them, and choosing Blood was a given for Vic. Vic had picked both at different points in time, but he knew Blood was right about being lured, about love and history, since his love for Blood was stronger, despite the difficulty of feeding his dog. 

"A Boy and His Dog" is about, of all things, how it means to love something, the effects of love and the lengths one will go for the ones they love most.

Previous review [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021/01/20210102-wip-update-boy-and-his-dog.html ]

Thank you for reading.

Please share your thoughts in a comment.

Allen W. McLean 

...

Need more Bite-sized Insights to relieve your stress and suffering?

Banner : Tomothy and the Overseer of the Forest

Connect via email or social media [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/follow-on-social-media.html ]

Readers are gifted a Kindle eBook on Fridays and Mondays--short story selection rotates every few weeks, so follow via email or visit My Author Profile [ https://www.amazon.ca/Allen-W-McLean/e/B0867C5D24 ]

I write mindfulness meditation scifaiku and haiku poetry on my book reviews and on previews of my metaphysical stories, such as "Escape Perennial City". Learn more about my reviews here [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/book-review-summary-study-notes.html ]

Read the latest Project Roadmap [ https://medium.com/haikuprajna/20221230-my-year-in-reviews-project-roadmap-2022-12-6b6c671e575 ]

Thanks to you, over ONE-THOUSAND (1000!) readers have joined us on Medium! Need to stay in the Medium Partner Program? Please follow and turn on email notifications; I will follow you back! "Ado the Owl" and "Hector Blake" are available to read, right now, on Medium. [ https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe ]

April's psychedelic music videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms; Electric Armchair - One Hook Hooker (Official Animated Lyrics Music Video [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4oadYIAjBI ]

Electric Armchair - Amorphous I (FULL ALBUM) [ https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/electricarmchair/amorphous-i ]

"Falgara the Giant" is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Add to Goodreads and learn more [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/falgara-giant.html ] 

Support by buying a sticker [ https://haikuprajna.redbubble.com ]

Kindle ebooks can be read on any device at www.read.amazon.com

These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection.