Official Review: The Arcane Arcade

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ayoomisope
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Official Review: The Arcane Arcade

Post by ayoomisope »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Arcane Arcade" by Jay Dubya, Leonard Streitfeld.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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The Arcane Arcade by Dr. Leonard Streitfeld and Jay Dubya is a collection of 16 unique and captivating short stories, novellas, and novelettes about paranormal experiences.

The first story, “The Chess Set,” presents Harry Wilson, a multimillionaire and master chess player who loves to collect chess pieces. During an outing with his wife, he buys a peculiar and magnificent chess set with a suspicious origin, leading to an eerie and shocking tale. “A Christmas Doll” is a story about Edward Thomas Brown, who is on a mission to get his daughter her dream Christmas gift but experiences a series of strange encounters after purchasing the gift. “The Cups” follows the life of Albert Martin and Marian Martin, a couple who loves collecting antique cups. After acquiring a particular set of beautiful cups, Albert goes missing on a business trip, and Marian notices strange things on their beloved set of new cups. What do the changing cups have to do with the missing Albert?

“Premonitions” is about Len Streitfeld, a B-17 bombardier during World War II who started having dreams that ultimately changed his life. “The Talismans” is a short story about young Malik Kannan, who finds a strange stone while working on his father’s farm. Malik discovers it is no ordinary stone and that it possesses powers that comes with a price.

I love how descriptive the authors were, painting scenes and characters vividly and giving readers the ability to feel as if they are experiencing the scenes and physically interacting with the characters. Furthermore, the stories are noncomplex and engaging—with an air of mystery and suspense, a touch of humor, and an intelligent use of words. Even though each story’s plot revolved around cryptic and mysterious events and objects, moral values and life principles are clearly and masterfully communicated.

Nevertheless, I do not appreciate how the sanity of most of the main characters is questioned, and the characters usually become depressed. Furthermore, I would have preferred if some of the stories did not end in a far-fetched manner. In addition, the book was not professionally edited—as there are several grammatical errors, punctuation errors, and run-on sentences in the text. For instance, hyphens are misused in terms such as curled-up, en-route, dozed-off, and sat-down.

I assign The Arcane Arcade a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. Although it was not professionally edited, most of the stories were quite engrossing. I would recommend the book for avid mystery readers, and it is suitable for even young readers, as it does not contain any vulgar language whatsoever. However, there are a few dark scenes involving occultic practices, so I would not recommend the work for people who dislike such.

******
The Arcane Arcade
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Splendour0606
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Post by Splendour0606 »

I am captivated by the mysteries attached to each story, especially, "The Talismans” and "The cups". I am interested to read this book. Thanks for the review.
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hasincla
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Post by hasincla »

Hm, I'm not really a fan of short stories and prefer something to really get into. Adding to that, some of the stories end in fantastical ways I think I'll pass on this one. Thank you for your honest review!
Nath_chuks
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Post by Nath_chuks »

The mysteries attached to each story makes it intriguing. Imagine buying gift for someone and it turns out evil?. Thanks for honest an review.
Kachi_Ejiogu+_
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Post by Kachi_Ejiogu+_ »

I love it when writers are so explanatory to the point that you feel present, it keeps me glued on. It's going to be an enjoyable read for me. Thank you for your honest review.
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Lisa A Rayburn
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Post by Lisa A Rayburn »

The title, Arcane Arcade, immediately captured my attention since I am extremely fond of books with a paranormal based plot (or in this case, plots). You use the words "eerie," "shocking," and suspense(ful). That's good enough to entice me to give it a try! Thanks for the recommendation!
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Post by Jajachris »

If i have to read short stories, then they have to be collection of poems.

Good read for those that like such books but I like books i can immerse myself in for days.
Ediomis_Enwongo01
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Post by Ediomis_Enwongo01 »

Short stories can be a fun to read. For instance, out of the 16 short stories in this book, one may get attached to a particular one of interest. This would go a long way to generating the passion for the book. Good review.
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Post by NetMassimo »

The stories seem intriguing despite the problems you pointed out. Considering the paranormal subjects, you can expect some of the protagonists' sanity to be questioned, but too much is too much. Thank you for your great review!
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Massimo
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Post by Nujudee »

Collection of stories put me off as I'm particularly bad at keeping up with them.
I love the way you explicitly explained your novels.
Thank you for an honest review.
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Claudius1964
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Post by Claudius1964 »

Interesting take..... I'm not into short-stories unless it's by a favorite author of mine. I like the way you cover all that's required in your review. Good on you.
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Frannie Annie
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Post by Frannie Annie »

I'm usually not a huge fan of paranormal stuff but you make this book sound interesting. I'll add it to my list.
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