EM's Review - Justice Buried by Hilary Thompson

Release date: January 15th 2014

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:
The people need Justice, but she's not listening. One hundred years before, the Great Sickness reduced the world to three cities. Now the community of Asphodel is trapped underground, waiting for the prophesied maiden of Justice to return and save them from their Fates.

Sixteen-year-old Astrea is supposed to be this savior - too bad for them she isn't a believer. Trea fights against her false destiny: she rebels against her family and friends, then refuses her arranged marriage to the charming but deceitful Lexan. Learning her life is in danger, Trea is forced to trust Lexan - until she discovers a power she never knew she had, and one he already knew he did.

As betrayal closes every door, Trea decides she must submit to her stars and accept her fate. Then a handsome stranger offers her an unexpected escape and the chance to create her own destiny.

About the Author

Hilary Thompson is an independently-published author who released her debut Young Adult novel, Justice Buried, in January, 2014. Justice Buried is the first in a dystopian fantasy series incorporating mythology and astrology, with the second full-length title due later in 2014.

She also teaches high school English, which gives her some insight into her target audience, and helps her maintain a thick skin.
hilarythompsonauthor.blogspot.com | twitter.com/HilaryLThompson

EM's Review

Justice buried delivers exactly what it's selling. YA Dystopian, complete with a sizzling love triangle! The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking, "If City of Ember and Divergent had a baby...." While some of the themes have been done, I enjoyed exploring Ms. Thompson's world and learning about the apocalyptic events of 100 years ago. There are still many mysteries to unravel though, and I'm hoping the next books take us deeper into the past.

The book is fast paced and, though I'm a slow reader, it only took me a couple of days to finish. It's an easy read with good characterization and great action. My only complaint would be the lack of description. I spent most of the time visualizing scenes in a sterile environment because my senses weren't engaged in the writing style. Still, the book is a great read and I can't wait for the next one to come out!

I found the religion based on Zodiac signs to be intriguing and loved the chapter starters from personal journals and religious text giving the reader insight on the world Ms. Thompson created. It's a great touch and made the story feel even more real. 

This is true YA with mild kissing scenes. There is combat, blood, and death though not constant and no where near as intense as say 'Hunger Games'. The heroine is a bit on the flip-floppy, whiny side, but...well...aren't they all? LOL!

This is a great read that will have you itching for the next installment!

Dream Cast

Chloe Mortez as Astrea

Cody Linley as Lexan

Taylor Lautner as Stian

Promo - Forager by Peter R. Stone

Dystopian

Date Published: November 2013

Eighteen-year-old Ethan Jones lives in Newhome, a town built upon the decaying ruins of post-apocalyptic Melbourne, ruins haunted by the ferocious Skel, a nomadic tribe of degenerate savages. 

The Skel are ramping up their attacks on Newhome's foraging teams and infesting Melbourne's ruins in ever greater numbers. Is this part of a larger plan that could spell the town's doom? 

Meanwhile, the last thing Ethan expects when he and his companions rescue a two-car convoy from the Skel is a Japanese teenage girl with an outlandish dress-sense, who after they take her back to Newhome, goes to great lengths to ingratiate herself into his life. But is it in gratitude for saving her life or is she seeking something more? 

And what a quandry she places him in, for he knows the rules, that no man is permitted to be alone with an unmarried woman. But how can he drive such a gentle soul away when she touchs his heart so deeply, even though she clearly carries the pain of a broken heart. 

At the same time, Newhome's police force, the Custodians, are suspicious of Ethan's foraging team's successes and are pulling out the stops to find out which member of his team has the illegal mutant ability that gives them an edge over the other teams. Should these peacekeepers discover Ethan is the mutant they seek, they will haul him away and dissect him like a frog.

EXCERPT

Michal, our driver and my best friend, clambered into the truck first, having to duck his head down just to get through the door since he easily topped six-foot-four; and at seventeen I suspected he hadn't even finished growing. I clambered in beside him while Leigh, David and Shorty climbed into the back seat. 

Michal looked down at me, clearly displeased about something. "You gotta be more careful, Ethan."

"Me?" I asked, not having the slightest inkling of what he was referring to.

"Yes, Ethan, you," he confirmed as he turned the key in the ignition and pumped the accelerator gently to get the engine started. The truck was pretty old and I doubted it had a single part that hadn't been replaced or refurbished at some stage. "I'd wager my bottom dollar they're here 'cause they want to find out why our team brings in more metals than the others."

Our team was one of many that foraged in the ruins outside for non-corrosive metals, such as gold, platinum, copper, bronze and lead, that had survived the decades since the Apocalypse. We would take them back to the Recycling-Works where they would be sorted, melted down, and handed over to the factories. 

"What do you mean?" I replied, feigning ignorance.

"Them other three goons," he whispered as he jerked his head back to indicate our workmates in the back seat, "they ain't too bright. They think you just know the best spots to look, but not me. I've seen you."

That sent icy tendrils of dread creeping back into my gut. "Seen me what?"

"You can drop your act with me, okay?" he said softly as he shifted the truck into gear and drove it out of the Recycling-Works yard and towards the town gates. "I've heard about people like you, and you're secret's safe with me. Just don't keep hitting pay dirt every day from now on, 'cause those Custodians, they're not here to protect us from the Skel like they claim, otherwise they'd have brought a Bushmaster instead of that G-Wagon." 

About the Author

Peter Stone, an avid student of history, was reading books on Ancient Greece from the age of four. Periods of interest include the ancient world, medieval era, Napoleonic times, and the Second World War. He still mourns the untimely passing of King Leonidas of Sparta and Field Marshal Michel Ney of France. 

A product of the Cold War Generation, Peter Stone studied the ramifications of a nuclear missile strike when he was in his senior year of high school, learning the effects of nuclear fallout and how to (hopefully) survive it. He has ever been drawn to post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels and films, and eagerly devoured The Day of the Triffids and John Christopher's Tripod Trilogy when he was a child. He is also an avid fan of science fiction, and his favorite books include the Lensmen Series by E.E.Doc.Smith, anything by Alastair Reynolds, and the Evergence trilogy by Sean Williams.

Peter Stone graduated from Melbourne School of Ministries Bible College in 1988. He has been teaching Sunday School and playing the keyboard in church for over twenty-five years. His wife is from Japan and they have two wonderful children. He has worked in the same games company for over twenty years, but still does not comprehend why they expect him to work all day instead of playing games.

Website: http://foragertrilogy.blogspot.com.au/

BUY LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Forager-A-Dystopian-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00GUB9DGA/

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EM Reviews - Home World by Bonnie Milani

About the Book

Centuries of ruinous war have left Earth little more than a dusty tourist world within the star-flung Commonwealth she founded. Now, amid the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Hawaii, Jezekiah Van Buren has found a way to restore Earth – Home World to the other worlds of the Commonwealth – to her lost glory. 

The most ingenious prince even the genetically-enhanced, Great Family Van Buren has ever produced, Jezekiah has achieved the impossible: he has arranged a treaty that will convert Earth's ancient enemies, the Lupans, to her most powerful allies. Once he has the treaty sealed, it will not only make Earth rich again, but it will grant him the chance to escape the Ring that marks him as Earth's next ruler. Once the treaty is signed, he will be free: free to create his own future, and free to marry Keiko Yakamoto, the warrior-trained woman he loves. His future and Earth's is assured. Assuming he can convince his xenophobic sister to accept the Lupan's alpha warlord in marriage before the assassin she's put on his tail succeeds in killing him. Assuming he can thwart another deadly uprising by the interstellar criminal organization called Ho Tong. And before his ruling relatives on competing worlds manage to execute him for treason. 

Jezekiah manages to stay one step ahead of his foes, until his Lupan warlord-partner reaches Earth. And these two most powerful men suddenly find themselves in love with the same woman. A woman who just may be the most deadly assassin of them all.

Interview with Author Bonnie Milani

EM: We welcome Bonnie Milani, author of Home World to the blog today. I met Bonnie when I joined an online critique book. I'm not exaggerating when I say this woman taught me how to write. Maybe not single-handedly, but pretty a major factor. Needless to say, she is an amazing person and even more amazing writer. You're not going to want to miss this book. SoBonnie, you have created a phenomenally detailed world in your book Home World. Where did you draw inspiration from?

Bonnie: Pretty much everywhere: in the case of Home World, the entire story started with a dream. Then as I tried to work through where my heroine - a Samurai-trained young woman who was pretty definitely not Japanese - could possibly come from I realized the story could only happen in Hawaii. Voila! All of a sudden all sorts of elements started to fall into place. I'm lucky enough to live in CA, so I've been doing the island hop at least once every couple of years for ...welllllll....a lot of years. I've been there often enough to have gone exploring outside the tourist areas, to sit & listen to teens chat, catch the flavor of the local dialect. Over the years I also picked up a good many of the local stories about Tutu Pele, Hawaii's volcano goddess. Every last bit of it helped inspire Home World's story.

EM: I didn't know this all started as a dream! That's pretty neat. And so is being able to spend time in Hawaii! So you mentioned your heroine. I have to say, through the first part of Home World, I wasn't sure who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. Each character is drawn so completely that you have sympathy for each one. Seriously....Letticia is my favorite villain of all time. I want a t-shirt that says "Team Letticia". Did you mean to make your good guys do bad things and for your readers to have such sympathy for the villains or did that just naturally happen as you wrote the characters?

Bonnie: Oh, my dear, you DO warm my heart! Actually, the blurred lines between good & evil, and the sympathy for Letticia really was intentional. I wanted to explore the inner worlds of each character, so that readers could see why each of these people did: that they were working to protect themselves & their worlds. I wound up surprising myself by developing a real respect for JP & discovering that Octavian is actually quite an honorable fellow, & embarrassed as hell about it. With Lush - I wanted readers to be rooting for Lush to redeem herself. Hell, I kept hoping Lush'd redeem herself. Only she just wasn't going in that direction. Which was a GOOD thing for the story! Funny thing was that the only character who really gave me shudders was Grandfather Ho. He's even scarier than the Ta'an assassin. Incidentally, it was the Ta'an in this story who got me thinking about another character I'm hoping will fit into the sequel (God should grant me life enough to write it!). That one's Koh, a Ta'an who gets his first-ever introduction to kindness and compassion from Keiko and discovers there just may be other things to do with new & interesting people besides killing them. Don't know where or whether or if he fits, but now he's awake he's doing the damned cat-around-the-legs routine.

EM:

SEQUEL!!!!! Oh yes! So you've told me before that it took a long time for you to write Home World. Now that you have one book under your belt, do you think it will be easier/quicker to write and publish another? Bonnie: Yes, feels to me like the old adage 'first time is always the hardest' holds true for story-telling, too. I learned far more about structure & character & conflict by writing (& re-writing &re-writing & re-writing....) Home World than I ever did by either taking classes or teaching them, for that matter. And as any teacher will tell you, you learn more about your subject as a teacher than you do as a student. That is SO true! Now...thanks to Home World I don't just have the outline for the sequel in my mind, I'm now able to see how the plot needs to unfold, to see what has to happen where in the through line for the story to make sense & develop the emotional wallop it needs. (If you think HW has a bittersweet ending just wait till you see the next one!) Time-wise: I hope to GOD it doesn't take me longer to write than Home World! Right now, though, I'm working on a few of the short stories that've been kicking around the back of my mind for a number of years. Emotionally, I need to work on some SHORT stuff for a while to build up the energy to tackle the next installment of the Home World series.Mind, I haven't left the Commonwealth even in the shorts. I'm just doing a bit of a tour of its outlying regions. The other thing that's been a pleasant surprise is how effective working with a micro-publisher has been. I've done the agent routine in the past, and even got an early version of Home World picked up by one of the legacy publishing houses for a proposed new line of sci fi novels. Only that deal fell through leaving me high & dry. I knew then I did NOT want to spend a year or two trying to get some 'name' publisher's attention. I was thrilled when a dear friend &mentor introduced me to Promontory Press. Here's hoping this works out as well as I expect! EM: I hope it all works out for you too, Bonnie. You and Home World really deserve it. So you talk about the bitter-sweet ending. There are many of those moments in the book. What scene in the book was the most difficult to write for you emotionally? Bonnie: Hands down, no questions asked, the most difficult scene emotionally was the scene where Teufelsman & his henchmen subject Keiko to Venus Seed. That was just ...So. Damned. Hard. It came too close to home, dredged up some memories I'd managed to submerge. But that's part of the reason writing is both so painful and so healing. If you as a writer try to protect yourself from what your character is suffering, if you try to keep the terror or agony or shame at arm's length,then you cannot tell the truth of your story. As a writer you just have to wade through it with them, even if that means you can't see the screen for the tears. What makes it worthwhile is that by enduring the pain with your character, you have to force yourself to take control of the memories you must call on in order to create the scene. You have to force yourself to re-live them - but this time by molding them into another shape. By taking control of them. Once you've managed to do that you drain those memories of the power to hurt you again. You don't just shove them back into the genie's bottle; you bend that amorphous, pervasive threat into a concrete, controllable blot & expunge it by embedding it in the page. So terribly painful? Emotionally draining? Yes, on both counts. But worth it many time overs. EM: And I think this is why Home World is such an amazing story and you are such an amazing author. You have literally POURED yourself into it. I think this is something aspiring writers need to know. You're stories won't pack a punch unless you take the same punches your characters do. Are there any other words of wisdom you would have for someone thinking of writing a novel? Bonnie: Wisdom she wants... I don't know about wisdom, but I can sure talk to getting the book written.  There are two consistent complaints I hear from aspiring authors: 1.Lack of writing time 2.Lack of helpful feedback Taking these in order:  when it comes to writing time, you will never find time to write.  Trust me on this.  Scrubbing down the kitchen never feels quite so appealing as when you're staring at a blank page that does nothing more than stare back.  Then there's that cousin you've been meaning to call for the past month - suddenly that call just feels urgent.  And, of course, there's always the family, who're more than happy to soak up every second they can possibly get.  Something, some how, will always get in the way of your story unless you recognize your writing time as your own, uniquely personal form of worship. I read once that while the entire human species loves a good story, only about 1% of us actually have the gift of story-telling.  Don't let those millions of indie books on Amazon or Goodreads or Wattpad fool you:  take one look through the majority of them and you'll realize that simply slapping words onto a page does NOT, a story make.  I'm not trying to be snooty or elitist.  It's just that those of us with the gift LIVE with a whole universe of unexpected people popping in and out of the back of our minds.  To make those characters come alive on the page for readers who've never met them (or had to listen to them spout off in the middle of Uncle Arnold's 450th recounting of winning that blue ribbon) we have to learn the craft of writing.  We have to learn structure, learn HOW to make the excitement we feel work on the page, HOW to weave an action-reaction pattern into a through line and then fit the protagonist's character arc into the whole.  And that's just flat out HARD.  And the only way to learn it is to park your butt in the chair and MAKE time to DO it.  Suggestion?  Pick one set time of day and one specific work spot.  Then declare that spot and that hour your sacred time.  During that time you don't answer the phone, or spouses, or kids (okay, so for little ones the rules get bent) or do anything else.  That is the time you give to yourself to use the gift God gave you.  It works.   Lack of feedback is a real challenge.  It amazes me just how difficult it is for any aspiring writer to find a reliable critiquing group.  Even in our internationally interconnected internet age it's still terribly hard to find a real writer's group whose member provide useful, honest, yet supportive feedback.  Family's nice - but let's face it, 'Wow, cool!' doesn't help a whole lot.  Yet hard as it is to find a compatible group it's worth the search.  No one can grow as a writer without fresh, unbiased eyes to say whether a scene creates the emotional impact we think we wrote into it - or even works, for that matter.  The GOOD news is that there are some great blogs (shall we mention names?) that can provide helpful links and recommendations.  I cannot urge your readers strongly enough to invest the time and effort to find a group that fits their individual needs. Of course, there's another side to feedback.  And that's learning how to take it.  Maybe the hardest thing for any newbie to learn is to separate him or herself from the words on the page.  The 'giving birth' analogy is quite apt.  Stories are like our children in so many ways.  While they're in us, they need to be nurtured and shaped and disciplined.  But once those stories hit the page they turn into teenagers and have to be able to stand on their own.  A good critique points out what's right AND what's wrong with a story.  To become a good writer you have to learn to step back from the emotion you've invested in the story and see the words on the page for themselves.  Otherwise, you'll never be able to fix the flaws in your story.  You'll just spend a lot of hours nursing a broken heart.

EM: Thank you so much Bonnie for taking time out of your writing schedule to speak with me. I wish you all the best of luck with Home World. Readers...if you like scifi....GET THIS BOOK!  You will not be disappointed.

My Review

I reserve my 5 star rating for books that have that have a lasting effect. Home World has that power. I had the honor to read an advanced, advanced review copy and it is simply amazing. It's everything good scifi should be: well built future world with lots of tech and history, new and interesting "types" of people, and a vision of future earth that is believable. Milani also throws in a love.triangle...or square, but not in a cheezy way. Her characters are so vivid, you will be cheering or screaming at them. If there were a t-shirt....I'd be on team Letticia! She has to be my favorite villain of all time!

It has mild language, but there are some sexual themes that will probably preclude younger audiences from reading, but older teens and up will enjoy this masterful work of Science Fiction.

Buy Links

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EM's Review - Sanctuary by Pauline Creeden

About the Book

Release date: September 30th 2013

Publisher: AltWit Press

Purchase: Amazon

In a heart-racing thriller described as Falling Skies meets The Walking Dead, Jennie struggles to find a safe place for what’s left of her family. But it seems as though there is no place sacred, no place secure. First the aliens attacked the sun, making it dimmer, weaker, and half what it used to be.

Then they attacked the water supply, killing one-third of Earth’s population with a bitter contaminate. And when they unleash a new terror on humankind, the victims will wish for death, but will not find it…When the world shatters to pieces around her, will Jennie find the strength she needs to keep going?

Book Trailer

About the Author

In simple language, Pauline Creeden breaks down Biblical stories and applies them to real life in new ways. Her methods of teaching have brought new light to old scriptures. Pauline is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy.In her fiction, she creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long.

PaulineCreeden.com | twitter.com/P_Creeden

EM's Review

Sanctuary is not your ordinary end of the world novel. Ms. Creeden realistically combines Biblical end times prophecy, with other popular apocalyptic themes including zombies AND aliens.  You might think all that is a little too much, but it does work! I loved the Biblical quotes from Revelations at the beginning of many of the chapters. It's an imaginative take on old tired theories. 

This book is an action packed emotional ride. Ms. Creeden doesn't hold any punches when it comes to danger, loss, faith, and gore. (The gore isn't over the top though.) The book jumps right in on the plot with little lead up and you barely stop to catch a breath. This really adds to the immediacy of what the main characters are facing and I found my self holding my breath and tapping my foot in the most intense scenes. You do get to know the characters along the way though, and they are well drawn out.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this read, I need to mention a couple of things. While the writing, plot, characterization were all good, there were places I felt I was being told how to feel a about a character instead of being able to make up my own mind. The characters are well written so this was unnecessary and distracting. I also found the decay of society unrealistic, like the utilities continuing to work even after two thirds of the population had disappeared. I was also unsatisfied with the ending. It's obvious this book is meant to be the first in a series. I didn't feel that there was significant resolution or forward motion in the plot to consider it a well rounded novel.

I consider the first two points minor distractions. The last, though frustrating, would not deter me from standing in line to get the next book. The creativity and ease of reading more than make up for it!

While the main characters are all in their early to late 20's, and there is a love triangle, the interactions are tame. A younger child that is sensitive to themes of loss and death may need some parental guidance, but it's far less intense than the Hunger Games.

This is an overall great, clean, YA read. You might even say it's inspirational. 

Buy Links

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