Chandelier

CHANDELIER is the genre-bending sci-fi/fantasy-romance novel follow up of Michael Leon’s 2019 fantasy-romance book, PHANTOMS. A century has passed since the fabled Phantom ruled the Garnier Opera House. Technology has advanced, and AI has evolved beyond human knowledge. They reside in a virtual Earth, free from the ravages of an environmentally damaged Earth where humans and post-humans live under AI’s qualified governance. CHANDELIER follows one AI sentient’s journey, Benny, whose loyalty for a famous opera singer, Madame D’Arenberg, sets him on a dangerous course, entangling him in The Phantom of the Opera’s deadly web.

my review...

Chandelier is Book 2 of a “so far” 2 book series. I also read the first book, Phantoms. Michael Leon has kept to his same style of good writing in this book as well as his great mix of science fiction and the other-worldly. It’s obvious Leon has been a traveler as he says and his love for music shows too. Maybe it isn’t just music, but what I’ll call the drama of opera. It’s stories and it’s characters. I’m speaking of the opera’s character roles as well as the “characters” that always seem to surround music and the theater. We still have a Diva in this story. What would an opera be without a diva and a few prima donnas? Strange, sadistic, Erik is around in a way too.  

This is a good book. It also is intricate and not something that’s what they call a beach read. You need time to enjoy and concentrate to keep up with the layers of the story. When I reviewed Phantoms, I said I thought it could be listed in a lot of genres. I think the same is true of Chandelier. Nonetheless, either one will keep your attention, provide you with  a good read, and maybe even teach you something at the same time.  

read an excerpt...

A human whistling sound, distant but growing louder permeated the chill of the room. An unearthly chilled breath wafted over his face. He opened his eyes and looked up to its source, but he was alone, until light formed on the wall behind Gaston's bed. Shapeless light swirled as if blown by that same breeze. The foggy disturbance slowed, allowing the swirling shape to take form. It was human but completely covered in black, bar the shape of a smooth ghost-like face. As the contours sharpened he realised it was a mask. Was he looking at the phantom? If he was, Gaston's stories had all been real!

Fear gripped him to the seat. He wanted to flee but dared not move. Before the apparition suddenly looked Flynn's way, turning his fear to terror.

"Who are you?" He asked feebly, but the apparition remained silent.

Flynn went to stand but a second shape appeared from behind him. A man dressed in white walked toward Gaston's bed, making no sound as it glided across the room. Both apparitions studied the body for a time, ignoring Flynn before vanishing through the bedroom wall, leaving Flynn alone. He immediately stood and left the room, fearful they may return, not daring to look back. Whatever he witnessed, he didn't wish to see again. Flynn was a scientist who staunchly refuted Gaston's ramblings about ghosts as the product of a vivid imagination. They had spent many years arguing over their existence. Perhaps this was his friend's final wish, to show him that everything he had written and said was true.

about Michael Leon...

CHANDELIER is the genre-bending sci-fi/fantasy-romance novel follow up of Michael Leon’s 2019 fantasy-romance book, PHANTOMS. A century has passed since the fabled Phantom ruled the Garnier Opera House. Technology has advanced, and AI has evolved beyond human knowledge. They reside in a virtual Earth, free from the ravages of an environmentally damaged Earth where humans and post-humans live under AI’s qualified governance. CHANDELIER follows one AI sentient’s journey, Benny, whose loyalty for a famous opera singer, Madame D’Arenberg, sets him on a dangerous course, entangling him in The Phantom of the Opera’s deadly web.

If you like the sound of CHANDELIER, read the prequel, PHANTOMS, available on Amazon.

Author and Links

Michael Leon is an explorer, writer and author of the new novel, Sentient. Professionally trained in international trade, Michael has spent the last decade reading and writing SFF novels about new worlds to be explored in the future. His latest work, Sentient, imagines Earth in the year 2120. His next novel, Chandelier, will be released in 2022. Michael has travelled extensively around Europe, walking the paths of his characters, from the famous European opera houses in Phantoms to the mountain tops of Switzerland in Emissary.

 

Website: https://www.michaelleon.com.au

Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelleon0433

Blogger: https://michaelleoncommentspage.blogspot.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5369984.Michael_Leon

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Leon/e/B01LNQALBW 

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