Some people say you should never read reviews of your own writing. That it can bum you out and block you from writing again. I see their point. But I just can't help myself!

And luckily, with the exception of one grumpy gus at Kirkus, I've had some really positive reviews. The best reviews are those that have the space to expand and examine the book, instead of giving a one-paragraph summary with a one-line "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" opinion sentence.

So I was really happy to see another review of The Wannoshay Cycle pop up at the excellent speculative fiction news and reviews site SF Signal (click the link now to see my novel featured Right There on the home page!).

Here's a snippet of what reviewer Scott Shaffer had to say about the book:

Each of these characters impact the Wannoshay and the Wannoshay impact them alike. Ally helps some of the aliens get high, for example, but then comes to lament the addiction she causes. Her emotional reaction is one we can all at least understand, if not truly empathize with. The same is true for all Jasper's characters, but Father Joshua is the one we can identify with the most. He is honest and sincere in his attempt to understand the aliens. His frustration with their nearly unfathomable behavior is palpable. Jasper does a wonderful job conveying this and making the resulting actions natural and expected. When I found myself knowing that Father Joshua was going to do before he did it, I felt I really understood the man and his outlook and that is a credit to Jasper's writing.

The story is largely character-driven and it works well on that level. However, there is a plot - the Wannoshay are sick and getting worse. How this plays out and how it impacts the humans is entertaining and helped keep me turning pages right up to the end. I won't give anything away, except to say that the book has a satisfying ending.

Read the rest of the review.

Also, I think the reviewer should write all my novel synopses for me going forward, because his "Brief Synopsis" at the start of the review really kicks ass, and it's much better than I could've ever done. What can I say? I'm a writer, dammit, not a salesman! Later...